Valentine's Challenge 2022 - Day 4
Prompt: In-Laws
Find all stories of this challenge in the masterpost here.
A/N: I honestly didn't know whether to tag this as a Seliot or Sethel story. For real, I see where Artemis has got her talent to go and make stories about herself from. Ethel Hexley belongs to @the-al-chemist, the Gerard brothers belong to @kc-and-co
If there was one thing Ethel Hexley loved more than anything it was her family. You wouldn’t always think it when it came to her twin brother Jim, but Ethel loved even him. There wasn’t a lot she wouldn’t do for any member of her family, but this was especially true when it came to Selene Fraser.
Selene and Ethel had been each other’s ride or die from pretty much the beginning, and all Ethel had ever wanted for Selene was her happiness - which was why she had a hard time growing accustomed to the thought of Selene giving her heart to Eliot Gerad, of all people.
It hadn’t taken Ethel longer than a few minutes to come up with a lengthy list of most infallible arguments against a date with Eliot when she had been informed that she and Selene wouldn’t be spending this year’s Valentine’s Day together, but Selene had shrugged off each and every one of them.
After being so rudely disregarded, Ethel had tried to tighten the reins, but neither making Eliot’s laundry disappear from the washing nor sending him an owl telling him Selene had picked up a possibly fatal and definitely highly infectious disease yet unknown to wizardkind had served her purpose.
Unsatisfied with the result of her endeavours, Ethel now sat between two piles of dresses in their dormitory in Gryffindor Tower with a decidedly bad mood, watching Selene twirling in front of a floor length mirror.
Selene had been trying on dresses all morning, and none of them seemed to satisfy her. She was currently wearing a dark red one which made her eyes look even more green than usual. She stopped turning and stepped closer to the mirror, regarding her reflection critically. She then sighed, shook her head and held out her hand.
“Next.”
Ethel frowned as she reached for another dress from the quickly dwindling pile the two girls had compiled from their wardrobes. Selene tossed the red dress onto the pile of discarded clothes and took the navy blue one Ethel was holding out to her.
“Whatever shall I do if none of these dresses fit, Effy?” she called out, her voice muffled as her head vanished inside the dress. “I can’t possibly go wearing anything ordinary.”
“You can’t possibly go at all, if you ask me,” Ethel muttered under her breath, but Selene had heard her regardless. She glowered at Ethel when she emerged from beneath the fabric.
“You certainly aren’t of much help.”
“If I’m so utterly unhelpful, how come you have asked me for assistance instead of the Slytherin witches?” Ethel asked pointedly.
Selene finally decided the blue dress was to her taste and was now busy holding her hair up and away from her face - something Ethel had never seen her do.
“Do you think Eliot would fancy me more with my hair up or down?”
Ethel only snorted in response, which made Selene turn from the mirror and sit down on the bed next to her.
“I know you don’t like him, but do try to be a little bit excited, just for my sake, would you, Effy?” She took Ethel’s hand and looked suddenly worried. “You won’t do anything funny to spoil our date, will you? You have to promise me!”
Ethel was genuinely offended at the idea. “How could you think I would so much as dream of sabotaging you, Selly?” she cried out. “I would never!”
Selene’s face softened and she leaned against her best friend’s shoulder. “I know. Forgive me for saying that. I’m just nervous.”
“If anyone should be nervous, it’s him,” Ethel muttered. “He doesn’t deserve a witch as brilliant as you.”
“Effy…,” Selene said with a warning undertone.
Ethel tried her hardest to not say anything bad about Eliot until it was time for Selene to leave. As soon as she had gone, Ethel looked around the mostly empty common room, undecided on what to do now. Most students had gone to spend Valentine’s Day in Hogsmeade, and thinking about it, there was absolutely no reason for Ethel to not do the same, was there?
Everyone was going, she told herself as she bundled up in her coat, scarf and a woolly hat which covered most of her face; she was just taking out their pet for some fresh air, she reasoned, stowing Alan the ferret inside the pocket of her coat; who knew, she might even find some interesting birds to watch, she thought and grabbed the spyglass Jim had gotten for their last birthday and which had somehow ended up in Ethel’s drawer. Funny how that happened over and over again.
Fully prepped and ready, Ethel set out on her way into Hogsmeade. She walked at a brisk pace and it wasn’t long before she could see Eliot and Selene appear in front of her. Ethel slowed her steps. There was nothing wrong with walking behind them, there was only one way from Hogwarts to the village, after all. She did take care to stay out of sight, however; she didn’t want to disturb the happy couple after all.
Ethel made it into Hogsmeade without either Selene or Eliot noticing her. They really should’ve paid more attention to their surroundings, Ethel thought to herself while hiding behind a stall selling roses. Someone could ambush them at any given moment. Their behaviour was utterly irresponsible. What kind of friend would she be if she didn’t alert them to the possibility of imminent danger?
Not taking her eyes off Eliot, Ethel drew her wand. She just wanted to see if he had what it took to protect Selene. Ethel snorted at the thought; as if Selene needed protection.
When the couple walked past a muddy puddle in the middle of the street, Ethel flicked her wand. Eliot tripped and stumbled, and Ethel was gleefully waiting for him to fall when he suddenly caught his stride with an unnaturally wide step. Selene said something to him, Eliot shrugged, and they continued along their way.
Ethel frowned and weighed her options for a moment. She focused and pointed her wand at Eliot. As she gave it another flick, the tails of his coat started smoking and burst into flame. But before Eliot could notice and show that he would certainly panic at the slightest hint of danger, the fire went out.
How odd; setting people on fire had never failed Ethel before.
They continued like this for a while: Ethel made snow fall off a roof and it fell differently than it should have; she made a bin topple to the ground right before Eliot’s feet and it swerved and tilted to the other side.
With every failed attempt to prove to Selene that Eliot was not a suitable match for her, Ethel grew increasingly vexed. She put her wand away and cracked her knuckles. Something was going on, that much was clear, but it took more than something to stop Ethel Hexley on a mission.
She scooped a handful of snow from the ground which she then formed into a ball, and aimed for the back of Eliot’s head. Before it could hit its goal, however, Ethel’s snowball was shot out of the air by another one, right before a second snowball hit her square in the face.
Outraged at being so rudely attacked, Ethel looked around to see where the snowball had been coming from. On the other side of the street, right across from where Ethel was hiding, she could spot a head peeking out from behind a bush. It was Oliver Gerard, Eliot’s older brother and the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Oliver looked at her with a serious expression and made a shooing motion with both of his hands. Ethel answered him with a not entirely appropriate gesture that made Oliver blush, but what did he expect? No one enjoyed being sabotaged, after all.
To drive her point home, she formed another snowball, this time aimed at the older Gerard brother. Oliver made a muffled sound as he ducked behind his bush, only to emerge with a snowball of his own he sent right back at Ethel.
Before they knew it a heated snowball fight had ensued. Ethel clearly had the upper hand; she was certain it would be only moments before Oliver would acknowledge her triumph and declare his eat. Ethel was in the process of aiming her final shot when the sound of a throat being cleared made her stop dead in her tracks.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” Selene asked, her eyebrows raised and her hands stemmed into her hips.
“Showing Oliver how to properly throw a snowball,” Ethel explained, aimed and threw but her snowball never made it past Selene’s hand, which shot forward and intercepted Ethel’s shot.
“I don’t think that’s what you’re doing at all,” she said and gave Ethel a stern look. “On the contrary, I think you are behind all these little accidents we had the whole day.” A look of disappointment crossed Selene’s face. “You promised me not to interfere, Effy!”
“I wasn’t,” Ethel replied stuffily and clapped the snow off her hands. “I could never do anything to hurt you.”
“Isn’t it ever so fortunate that all the bad luck seemed to fall on Eliot then?”
“Here I am, minding my own affairs and showing Alan our most beautiful village, and yet you are accusing me of such vile intentions. We don’t deserve that, do we Alan?” Ethel cried out and looked down at her pocket where she expected to see Alan’s head poke out, but Alan had already freed himself of Ethel’s coat and climbed up Selene’s skirts up to her shoulder. Ethel glared at him. “Traitorous critter.”
“Why would you try to ruin this for me Effy?” Selene sighed and sounded hurt. “Or you, for that matter?” she addressed Oliver, who was now being dragged over to them by Eliot.
“I would never want to ruin your rendez-vous!” Oliver protested. “I’m not here to stand in true love’s way. Only in hers,” he added and nodded into Ethel’s direction.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ethel bristled up.
“I’m sabotaging the saboteur.”
“How utterly rude. I wasn’t sabotaging a soul. My whole purpose was to ensure your brother could protect my dear sister in the face of danger.”
“By flinging him into the mud and setting him on fire?”
“Being on fire is not a suitable excuse.”
“Are you even listening to yourself?” Oliver asked and threw his hands in the air.
“Yes, I am,” Ethel said indignantly, “and obviously I am the only person with so much as a little common sense left if you think -”
“Stop it, both of you!” Selene cut into their bickering. She had raised her voice and glared between Ethel and Oliver. “I appreciate the effort of wanting to keep us safe or wanting to keep us safe from anyone trying to keep us safe. But this is enough. Eliot and I are on a date, whether you like it or not, and we are perfectly capable of protecting ourselves. And we don’t need a matchmaking chaperone either,” she added, which wiped Oliver’s triumphant grin off his face.
This was the first time Ethel had even seen Selene being angry at her. She felt miserable for making her best friend upset.
“Do forgive me for ruining your afternoon,” she said contritely and and meant it. “I really only wanted to -”
“I know,” Selene said, sounding decidedly softer than before. “But I am perfectly fine. Trust me, Effy, will you?”
“Who else would I trust more than you, dear sister?” Ethel smiled.
She turned to Oliver, linked arms with him and pulled him away from Selene and his brother. “I feel generous today, so I will treat the loser of our snowball fight to an invigorating drink.”
“Wait,” Oliver said and gave her a sideways-glance, “what would make you think I was losing?”
Ethel looked at him pityingly. “Of course you were. Pray, do you think Cledwyn might be at The Three Broomsticks?”
Their chatter faded as Selene and Eliot stood watching Ethel and Oliver walk away. When she was sure they were out of earshot, Selene exhaled slowly and turned to Eliot with an apologetic smile.
“Family, huh?”
“Worse,” Eliot replied wryly, “in-laws.”
