{I'm S:T:R:O:N:G:E:R than this}--LOUIS!

[Louis Weasley]

As Lilah pressed herself against him Louis entire body tensed up. It was simple reaction, designed to stop him from doing something he might regret. He listened as she ranted about not letting the subject drop, the anger and frustration at him not telling her was evident in her voice and her actions.

He smiled a little as she gave up on the Veela charm, at least she'd realised that wasn't working and so he allowed his body to relax again as she leaned back against the chair. He was, however, a little winded as she pounded on his chest. And he swallowed back the laugh at her swearing, knowing it wouldn't get him very far.

He arched an eyebrow incredulously as she declared that he would tell her, but listened as she proposed a compromise. He bit his lip for a moment as he thought about it. He knew he couldn't tell her who it really was, that was not a good idea. But he could tell her it was someone else, after all she had promised not to tell anyone, so it wouldn't leave this room. As much as he hated the idea of lying to her it was, at the moment, the lesser of two evils. "Fine." He gave in with a sigh. As if he was resigned to telling her, "But you are telling me that secret Miss Krum." He made sure to point out.

He took a deep breath before he uttered the lie. "It's Ellie. Ellie Rayne."

[Lilah Krum]

Lilah nodded her head, smiling at Louis, "I knew you would tell me, love. I just never thought that it would be Ellie. You know she got in a fight with Nikita Snape?" She said, her eyes growing with fright. Then it donned on her that she never had told Louis about what had happened to Lilah when she had went to Hogsmeade. "Uhm... Louis? Did I tell you that I got kidnapped by Nikita and Kianthra? That they... hurt me? Physically and mentally? Because they did... they hurt me bad..." She sighed, continuing on, "That wasn't the secret though... but I want to show you a scar that I have left from the attack."

Lilah sighed, pulling her shirt up slowly. It revealed a nasty scar left on her rib cage. She turned to look at Louis again, her eyes hurt and solemn. "Now... here's that secret that I promised to tell you..." she slowly paused, afraid of what his reaction would be to her secret, "Well... uhm... before I met James I kinda... well, had a major crush on you. I was helplessly in love with you, but you seemed to show no sign of interest in me. That's when I met James, and began to think of you as a friend once more. So that's my deep, dark secret, my friend. Big freaking whoop!"

Lilah chuckled softly, happy to get the secret out. She was also happy that Louis had told her whom he had a crush on. It was nice to know those kind of things. Now she would be able to help him out a little bit. "So... Ellie Rayne. How long have you liked her?"

[Louis Weasley]

Louis nodded as Lilah asked if he knew Ellie had gotten in a fight with Nikita. But he froze when she told him about what Nikita and Kianthra had done. His hands turned to fists as she spoke. But as she showed him the scar one of his hands unclenched and traced lightly over the scarred skin, he was furious. Absolutely furious. Mostly at the two Slytherin girls, but partly at Lilah for not telling him as soon as it had happened.

The anger was burning in his eyes but it turned to muted pain as she told him the secret. He had been a complete and utter idiot. A fucking idiot! She had liked him, but him being the shy little shit he was hadn't shown her how he felt about her, and now he was caught up in a lie about Ellie bloody Rayne. Yes Ellie was his friend, but right now he didn't care. He managed to keep a playful smile on his face, and shook his head playfully, as if to say he couldn't believe it, which he couldn't but in an entirely different context. It really was unbelievable.

"Liked her? Oh...Ellie, right." He stumbled for a moment but quickly recovered, "I'm not sure exactly, she just sort of grew on me I guess." He shrugged, as if it was the simplest thing in the world to say, but it tasted bitter on his tongue.