The Elementals by Namacub95 (best book club books for discussion .txt) 📕

The next morning at breakfast Alice found Albus sitting at the Gryffindor table with a bowl of untouched porridge in front of him. Rose, Keith, Scorpius and Shauna sat eating their own breakfasts in silence, which was odd because there was always someone talking about something.

"Morning." She said sliding into the seat beside Albus. Albus then grabbed his bowl of porridge and sat on the other side of Scorpius. Alice looked confused at Albus's sudden move. Scorpius gave her a look that said 'we'll tell you later'.

Alice grabbed a slice of toast and tried to remember what she had done to make Albus act like that. She felt a strange prickling on the back of her neck that told her she was being watched. She turned to see Ellesheil glaring at her from the Slytherin table. She turned back around, eyebrows furrowed and wondering why Ellesheil was glaring at her.

Breakfast past in complete silence so Alice went to her first class in a state of utter confusion. Luckily her first class was Ancient Runes so Rose could tell her why Albus and Ellesheil were acting so oddly.

She sat in the middle row of the classroom and five minutes later Rose sat in the seat beside her.

"Sorry about Albus at breakfast." Rose said getting the books out of her bag.

"What's going on with him and Ellesheil?" Alice asked "She was glaring at me during breakfast."

"They broke up." Rose declared.

"Really?" Alice asked in astonishment "When?"

"Last night." Rose answered. "She accused Al of cheating on her…with you."

"What! B-But we never-" Alice began.

"We know." Rose said sympathy clearly evident in her voice "But Al is upset and he's looking for someone to blame. Unfortunately that person is you. Don't worry he'll come around in a few days."

Alice frowned and rested her head on her arms. She understood that Albus had every right to be hurt but surely he knew she wasn't to blame. Typical of Ellesheil to use her as a scapegoat because she was having relationship trouble. It hurt her to know Albus was angry at her when he knew she wasn't to blame.

In Defence Against the Dark Arts Albus was still giving her the cold shoulder and refused to let her sit beside him. Scorpius and Andrew had to play peacemakers and Scorpius sat beside her while Andrew sat with Albus.

She managed to stay out of Albus's way the rest of the day deciding that she would give him some space. She walked with Shauna and Rose down to dinner, Shauna offering to beat some sense into Albus all the way.

They were just entering the Great Hall when Ellesheil was entering.

"Whore." She snapped on the way by. Alice stopped in her tracks and so did Rose and Shauna.

"What did you say?" Shauna hissed turning to face the other girl.

"Stay out of this Longbottom. That bitch stole my boyfriend! She's nothing but a dirty whore!" Ellesheil growled.

"Unless you want your next period to come out your nose I suggest you leave."

"You don't scare me Longbottom. Better watch your back so that skank doesn't steal your boyfriend too."

"Don't Shauna." Rose warned. Shauna ignored Rose and slammed her fist into Ellesheil's face. There was a loud crunch as Shauna broke Ellesheil's nose.

"What's going on here?" Professor Longbottom arrived on the scene and Alice fled with Ellesheil's words ringing in her ears.

"Alice! Wait! Come back!" she heard Rose call after her. Alice didn't stop running she was too upset to think clearly and she wasn't really focused on where she was going until she arrived at the blank stretch of wall.

I need somewhere to cry

I need somewhere to cry

I need somewhere to cry

The door materialized and she shoved them open and slammed them shut behind her. The room was exactly the same as it was last night only the tapestries were blue and bronze only. Alice flung herself on a beanbag and sobbed. She knew that it was more than slightly childish but at the moment she just didn't care.

It could have been minutes or hours later when she heard the door open and footsteps approach her. She looked up, her hazel eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Scorpius sat cross-legged on the floor beside her.

"Rose sent you to find me right?" Alice asked rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah." Scorpius said softly "They were worried about you."

"They?" Alice asked.

"Rose, Shauna, Keith, James, Nicky, Fred, Lorcan, Lysander, Lily, Albus-"

"Albus?" Alice asked unsure if she had heard Scorpius right.

"Yep, even Albus." Scorpius said with a nod.

"But I thought Albus wasn't talking to me." Alice said confused.

"He saw and heard what happened in the Entrance Hall. Keith and Shauna were ready to punch him for being such a git. He's really sorry if it makes you feel any better." Scorpius said.

"Not really Scorp." Alice replied.

"It's not Albus giving you the cold shoulder that's the problem is it?" Scorpius asked.

"No." Alice answered.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm in love with one of my best friends and now I have to get over him." Alice said "I tell everyone I want to be single and that I love it but in all sincerity…I just want to find love. I want to find it, keep it and be happy and sometimes I wish I had the guts to actually do it."

"Alice-" began Scorpius.

"I know what you're going to say." Alice said "You're going to tell me that it'll all work out and not to worry etc."

"No actually I wasn't." Scorpius replied "I was going to say that I know that you've fancied Albus since third year. I also know that he liked you too."

"Liked?" Alice asked.

"Yes liked." Scorpius nodded "He just didn't know what he wanted then. He liked you but he also liked Ellesheil, he didn't know who or what he wanted. Of course Ellesheil made the first move and you know the rest."

"You're still not making me feel any better Scorp."

"Just listen Alice." Scorpius pleaded "Albus liked you and from what I know he still does. I know it's not very comforting but sometimes it's the little things that matter."

"Little things don't matter Scorp." Alice said in a deadpan voice. Scorpius was silent for a few moments before he looked up at Alice.

"You remember back in first year?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah." Alice answered unsure of what Scorpius was getting at.

"Remember the time when a group of Hufflepuff boys pushed me down the stairs and I broke my arm?" Scorpius asked "I went to the Hospital Wing and I had my arm in a sling for a month. Do you remember what you did when you visited me in the Hospital Wing?"

"Not really." Alice answered. She remembered the incident quite well but she couldn't remember her actions in the Hospital Wing.

"You hugged me and told me everything would be ok." Scorpius said with a smile "I believed you Alice, that day was the day you and me really became friends. You changed my world with a hug. Don't ever tell me the little things don't matter. I think it's time I returned the favour."

Scorpius shifted closer to Alice and wrapped his arms around Alice. Alice buried her head into Scorpius shoulder with a smile.

"It's going to be ok Alice." He said.

Chapter 17: Training

In the days after 'the incident' involving Albus and Alice there was an air of awkwardness that lay over the whole group. Whenever Alice and Albus were together they hardly talked to each other and during meals there was silence.

"Awkward silences are fun." Keith declared at breakfast a week later. Shauna rolled her eyes at Keith and everyone else snorted into their breakfast.

"There wouldn't be any awkward silences if it weren't for her." Shauna spat.

Albus and Alice cringed somewhat and kept their eyes down. Rose and Scorpius exchanged a short but worried glance and Rose bit her lip.

"Shauna." Keith hissed noticing his sister's mood. Shauna glanced up at Albus and Alice and muttered a barely audible

"Sorry."

"It's fine." Albus muttered. They once again lapsed into an uneasy silence. The silence didn't last long as a large barn owl swooped down and dropped a Daily Prophet on the table.

Rose picked it up and scanned the front page with a deep frown.

"What's happened?" Scorpius asked. Rose wordlessly handed him the newspaper and Scorpius read out the headline

Bodies of couple found. Ministry suspects serial killer.

"Killers." Keith corrected. Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions "Everyone's thinking it; I'm just saying it out loud."

"The Cult." Shauna growled.

"What's the article say?" Alice asked. Scorpius returned his eyes to the newspaper and read:

This morning the bodies of Howard and Lucy Appleby were discovered in their South Hampton home. The couples' bodies were burnt beyond recognition only muggle dental records positively identified them. This murder is being tied to the thirteen other murders, Head Auror Harry Potter urged the magical community to "stay vigilant" as the Ministry are suspecting the murders to be the work of a serial killer.

"The rest is just interviews with aurors saying their "doing all they can to catch the person responsible"." Scorpius said folding the paper and setting it on the table.

"They're obviously not." Shauna said rolling her eyes "If they were they would've known it was the Cult by now."

"Wonder what they did to get themselves killed." Albus mused.

"That's obvious too isn't it?" Shauna replied "The Cult's recruiting and the Applebys didn't want to join."

"What makes you so sure?" Keith asked.

"Shauna could be right." Rose said "After all they did lose members at Halloween. They might want to increase their numbers before trying to attack us again."

"That still doesn't explain why they decide to kill two innocent people." Scorpius pointed out "They're on a rampage."

"Well they might've thought the Applebys might expose them so they killed them to keep them quiet." Rose suggested.

"You realize now you five have to train harder than ever." Shauna pointed out "If they can kill two adults they'll have no problem killing five teenagers-"

"Thanks for the pep talk Shauna." Keith groaned.

"Keith let her finish." Alice admonished.

"As I was saying." Shauna said with a glare at Keith "You guys need to do some serious training. No offense but right now you're nowhere near ready to face the Cult. I'm calling a training session tonight. You guys' have to bump up your elemental training if you ever want to kick those Cult peoples' arses."

"Shauna has a point." Scorpius nodded "We still haven't mastered the basics and the Cult are getting more and more active. We'll need to step in soon or there's going to be even more innocent people killed."

Keith and Rose nodded in agreement with Shauna and Scorpius's logic. Alice and Albus glanced at each other before nodding as well; evidently there was still an air of awkwardness.

"Then it's settled." Shauna said with a nod, her eyes on Albus and Alice "See you lot after dinner at the Room of Requirement."

Shauna grabbed her bag and walked swiftly out of the Great Hall. Keith stared after her with a look