The longest chapter yet! Next chapter is a long one too! I just finished editing chapter 13 and I have to say, it's my favourite so far! So excited to get it out there!
DISCLAIMER ANYTHING RECOGNISABLE IS NOT MINE
Sighing, Eleanor threw the duvet off her. The curtains around her bed were already drawn back so she could see the light coming through the window. The other girls were just waking up also, slowly dragging themselves out of bed. Across the room, Eleanor could hear Alice gushing about Frank and their date the previous night and she couldn't help it as her mind ran backwards to the events of her previous night.
His lips were warm. That was what she first noticed. And dry. The second thing Eleanor noticed was Francis was frozen in place. This wasn't how she really thought her first kiss would be going. Eleanor moved her lips a little against his and could feel his hesitancy as he finally reciprocated, just a little. Eleanor brought her hands up, placing one hand on his cheek and the other on his shoulder, she could feel how tense he was beneath her. His hands hung limply by his sides until she pulled back a few seconds later.
"I'm sorry," She blushed, suddenly incredibly embarrassed about her forwardness.
"I-No, just… I-I…" Francis stammered, unable to speak. Oh dear lord, I've sent him into shock! Eleanor felt like face palming again. This hadn't been a good idea. Lily was going to hear just how much of a bad idea this was when she got back into the common room.
"I, I just wanted to try it," Eleanor could feel the heat in her cheeks and kept her face looking down, playing with her hands.
"No, no… it's, uh… it's ok," Francis finally managed to stutter out.
The two of them stood there, neither speaking for, what was probably only a few seconds, but the lingering awkwardness made it feel like years. Eventually Eleanor, took a deep breath and released it sharply.
"Well I guess I should go, I'll see you tomorrow," As she ran down the stacks and back to collect her books, she half expected him to yell after her but he didn't. And she didn't turn back.
The memory made Eleanor want to smother herself with her pillow. It was so unbelievably awkward. When she got back to the Gryffindor common room, Eleanor hadn't paused and ran straight up to the dorm. Lily, who had been sitting the common room probably waiting for her, rushed straight after her. Eleanor's face didn't return to its original colour until a couple hours later seeing as though Lily demanded a step by step explanation – she had just finished with Lily when Alice and Mary came up and she had to go through the whole thing again. Mary, of course, found the whole thing hilarious and made no attempt to hide her guffaws. Eleanor set her jaw and continued to talk over her as if nothing was going on until she saw Lily's cheek twitch as she tried to hide her laughter as well. It was then that she decided to just go to bed and leave the world's worst friends to just laugh at each other.
"Hey," Lily's voice came from her side, "How're you feeling?"
"How would you feel about checking every room before I go in to make sure he isn't there?" Eleanor said in reply.
"That bad?" Lily let out a short laugh.
"In fact, I might just stay here for the rest of my life," Eleanor rolled over and hugged her pillow.
"Oh no, that's not happening," Suddenly hands were on her arms, dragging her towards the end of her precious bed.
"No! Let me stay here!" She protested but Lily didn't give in easy. Despite her tiny frame, it turned out that Lily was surprisingly strong considering that a few seconds later, Eleanor's bum hit the floor with a louder bang that she appreciated.
"Ow,"
"Serves you right, now go get showered." Eleanor stood up and tried to collect what little dignity she had left as she ran to the bathroom before anyone else could sneak in.
Breakfast that morning was not the most enjoyable experience. Eleanor was constantly looking over her shoulder for Francis, anxious that he would suddenly appear and force her to face last night. She felt absolutely mortified and just wanted to forget the entire thing. After Lily forced her to go through things again on their way down to the great hall, Eleanor had come to the conclusion that she may have inadvertently friendzoned her boyfriend. Her boyfriend of two days. Getting real serious there El. She knew that she realistically should've said no when he asked her out. It was too soon. She didn't know him well enough to make a properly informed decision – she still didn't but at least she knew now that kissing him did nothing for her; other than make her want to hide away in a hole out of awkwardness. It was probably best she didn't mention that to him.
Owls suddenly filled the room, swooping down at regular intervals as they delivered letters and a few small packages. Eleanor was brought out of her reverie completely when an owl landed in front of her. For a few seconds she just looked around, who would be writing to her? Certain that the owl was mistaken, she did her best to ignore it but when the animal started to nip at her fingers she snapped back quickly. Untying the letter from the owl's leg, Eleanor turned it around so she could see who it was actually for and give it to them. The owl stole some of her bread and flew away while a small gasp escaped her lips when she saw her own name written on the front of the envelope. There was only the professor… but he was an ocean away, he couldn't send her owl mail, could he? Unless… what if something was wrong? The feeling of dread quickly seeping through her, she tore open the letter and opened it as fast as she could. Unfolding the parchment, she immediately recognised that it was not the professor's hand writing and relief flooded through her. Reading through the short note, Eleanor felt herself start to grin without permission.
Douglas,
The fact that you never get mail is just plain sad so seeing as though we're now besties again, I have taken it upon myself to rectify the situation.
See? Now you don't have to look like a sad, weirdo loner, being the only one without mail and instead can bask in the knowledge that I have sent you something. Sometimes my thoughtfulness astounds me. You should feel incredibly privileged.
James says hi too.
The one and only,
Sirius Black.
By the time she finished reading, Eleanor was full on laughing out loud. She looked up to where the marauders were sat further down the table but none of them were looking her way. They were all sat in deep conversation, probably about some prank they were planning. Eleanor couldn't stop grinning as she watched Sirius' face light up suddenly as he and James traded words. She suddenly felt her chest tighten as she took in how bright his eyes were. This is how I should feel about Francis, she thought absentmindedly. Wait! No. Eleanor sat up abruptly, Where the hell did that come from? It's Sirius. She yelled internally at herself.
Eleanor sharply turned away, already feeling her cheeks heat up. She was suddenly so grateful he hadn't seen her watching him – Eleanor wasn't sure she could handle any more embarrassment. Since when did she see Sirius like that? She had a boyfriend for crying out loud! Sure, it was a boyfriend that she recently found she felt nothing more than friendship for, but still…! Shaking her head to clear any Sirius related thoughts – she couldn't think of him right now – Eleanor felt the guilt creeping back in. The situation with Francis had gotten slightly out of hand and she knew she was going to have to break up with him. But what kind of mean person broke up with someone after a couple of days? The angel on her shoulder, which not surprisingly had Lily's voice, told her that it was kinder in the long run to end it now rather than allow it to go any further and risk Francis getting hurt even worse.
Eleanor felt her emotions begin to bubble – it had been a few days since she had last visited the room and she found herself longing for it. The sheer magnitude of her emotions was, once again, causing her powers to charge around her mind. Her telekinesis pushed and pushed against the cage, desperate to make an appearance, she controlled it easily, but still decided she needed to go to her room. They had Care of Magical Creatures first period, and Eleanor was sure Professor Kettleburn wouldn't mind. Dumbledore had told her that if she ever needed to use the room during classes, all she had to do was tell the professor and they would give her a note explaining her absence from class. The room was the only place she would really be able to sort her thoughts and feelings out.
As breakfast ended and they walked to class, Eleanor told Lily about her plan and Lily agreed to cover for her with the girls.
"Ah! Here we are," Professor Kettleburn exclaimed when the two girls entered the classroom. He was a rather eccentric sort. His robes were always brightly coloured with loud patterns covering them. He also had no regard for danger – perhaps not the best quality in a teacher that handles dangerous, magical creatures on a regular basis – but whatever, at least it ensured the lessons were never boring.
Lily headed to her seat, while Eleanor continued down to the front of the classroom to talk with the teacher.
"Professor, I was wondering if I could have a word?" Eleanor spoke quietly.
"Of course! Of course!" He clapped his hands together, gaining the attention of the few students who had just entered the room.
"I was just thinking, could I perhaps be excused from this lesson today?"
Kettleburn crinkled his eyebrows, "And why would that be?"
"I just… There's a certain room I feel I need to go to…" Realisation dawned on the professors' face.
"Oh! Yes, yes, don't worry about a thing! You must go now!" He shooed her away and Eleanor knew why. Since her 'incident', she had noticed that most of the professors were starting to treat her as if she was a ticking time bomb. It was only McGonagall and Dumbledore who still treated her as if she were any other student. A quick smile in acknowledgment to Lily, and Eleanor was on her way.
The room was quiet. Technically, it was always quiet, seeing as though it was in an almost abandoned part of the castle, but today felt especially silent. Or maybe it was just the Eleanor's thoughts were louder. She found that when she had her powers to contend with, her thoughts only took up a small part of her mind, but in the room, where she didn't have her powers – her thoughts rattled around in her head at a screaming volume. Thinking about it, Eleanor supposed that this is how normal people heard their thoughts; as a voice rather than the whisper she was accustomed too. Still after all this time, she just couldn't get used to the feeling of her mind being empty. In some ways it felt uncomfortable – like that itch that you just can't scratch.
Ok, first things first – Francis. Eleanor listed in her mind. Deep down she knew she needed to break up with him but she just didn't want to hurt him; as much as she didn't feel anything romantically towards him, she still thought of him as a friend. He was a good person and didn't deserve what she had done to him. As much as she and Lily had joked about her 'accidentally' getting a boyfriend; whether she meant too or not, she had played with someone's feelings, and she felt awful about it. Eleanor bitterly regretted bringing up the whole 'what are we' conversation in the first place, but it just came out – a genuine question that was answered in a way she never imagined. The next time she would see Francis that day would either be at dinner or Potions. Really, Eleanor thought it would be better to break up with him at dinner so that he wouldn't be stuck in the same room as her and could go away, but considering that Potions was straight after dinner, that put a spanner in the works. I mean, we've barely even spent any time together since it was made official, it's just been a bit of fun. Eleanor worked to convince herself. The guilt was starting to eat away at her.
Guilt only made her think of Sirius and how he looked when he smiled. Since when did she notice his smile? Or rather, since when did she notice his smile, and not want to immediately knock it off his face? She couldn't like him… could she? No, that just wouldn't happen. Eleanor groaned out loud as her internal battle continued.
Eventually, she decided that before she thought any more about Sirius and how she may or may not like him, she had to fix the Francis situation. Making the most of her last few seconds of peace as she walked to the door, Eleanor made up her mind. At dinner she would break up with Francis.
A few lessons later, Eleanor and Lily were sat at the Gryffindor table waiting for the other girls to show up. Eleanor had explained her revelation to Lily – minus the part about Sirius; that could wait for later – and Lily agreed that it was for the best. Being for the best however, didn't stop Eleanor's nerves as she watched the great hall entrance like a hawk for any sign of her boyfriend.
"El, at least try to eat something," Lily encouraged beside her. Eleanor's knees were bouncing and her hands were close to shaking – eating was the last thing she wanted to do, she was fairly confident that if she did, it would end up making a reappearance as she threw it back up. Why am I so nervous? Oh that's right because you're a horrible person who is about to hurt someone who doesn't deserve it because of your mistake.
It wasn't long before Francis came in, but, ironically, Eleanor didn't notice until he tapped her on the shoulder. Her eyes widened as she turned to see him looking down at her.
"Hey, can we talk?" He asked.
Eleanor nodded, gulping as she stood. Francis smiled slightly and started towards the door. Eleanor followed him, casting a glance back at Lily who smiled sympathetically back at her. Just as they reached the door, Eleanor almost walked into the marauders who were just coming around the corner. She smiled instinctively at Sirius but he just gave her a blank look and continued walking past her. She stood confused for a few seconds before remembering what she was originally doing and rushing after Francis.
He stopped as he rounded a corner and stood in a darkened section of the corridor for privacy.
"Hey," He started nervously.
"Hi," Eleanor chuckled, just as, if not more, nervously.
"I just wanted to talk to you about something,"
"Me too actually,"
Francis eyebrows raised slightly, "Oh? Do you want to go first?" Ever the gentleman.
"No, no. You can go first," Eleanor chickened out.
"Ok, so please don't get mad," Never a good sign, "The reason I asked you out was, I, uh… it was a test basically." Eleanor scrunched her eyebrows together, a test? "I was talking about it with my friends and they suggested that I ask a girl out as a test, and you're the… well you're the nicest and prettiest girl I know so I just, well, I just went for it really, I didn't really expect you to say yes... And then last night, when we kissed, I realised something. Like, I'm 100% sure now, the test was, uh, a success, I guess you could say?"
"Wait, wait. What kind of test?" Eleanor interrupted him before he could chunter on any longer.
She watched as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before saying, "I'm gay."
Eleanor physically felt her mouth drop open and her eyebrows… well she wasn't sure they were ever going to come down from the clouds. He's gay?! Talk about a plot twist. Francis sat in front of her, anxiety written all over his face as his hands, clasped tight together, twisted around nervously.
"No one knows. Well, my friends do and now you I guess. I didn't know for sure until we kissed last night. And I… I just felt like I should be truthful about why… but I think we should break up…" Eleanor was sure he was still talking but couldn't make the words out. The speed in which the situation had changed gave her complete whiplash. Seeing as though she couldn't figure out what else to do, Eleanor started to laugh. Before long she was in full blown hysterics as Francis stood awkwardly beside her at a complete loss.
When she sobered a little, Eleanor finally managed to squeak out, "I'm not… I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at this situation. I just can't believe it," She laughed, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I was going to break up with you today. That's why I kissed you, I wanted to see if I felt the fireworks etcetera etcetera,"
"And you didn't," Francis finished for her.
"Not really, no…" Eleanor sighed in relief, "I can't believe this, I've been so nervous about hurting you,"
It was Francis' turn to laugh, "I've felt the same way!"
"Wow, I just…," Sighing, Eleanor turned to smile at the boy, "I'm glad you've realised who you really are, and that you trusted me enough to tell me,"
"So you're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad?"
"Well… I did kind of… use you," Francis winced but Eleanor held her hand up to stop him.
"True, but I'm glad I could help, I guess? I really hope we can be friends now?" Francis grinned and nodded.
"Would you mind just keeping… this, quiet for a little while? I don't know if I'm ready for the entire school to know…"
"Of course!" Eleanor pulled him into a hug. When he pulled away, he grinned at her one more time before stepping back and heading down the corridor. What the hell just happened?
Before Eleanor had a chance to turn around, the week was over and Gryffindor's first quidditch match was upon them. It had been a strange end to a strange week. The whole deal with Francis was, thankfully, sorted which meant that Eleanor had little left to think about other than work, her powers, her dreams, hopes, fears, anything and everything and Sirius. It was ironic that as soon as she realised she may have feelings towards him, Sirius, who usually had a skill for randomly appearing beside her, had used, what seemed like, any excuse to not speak to her. In fact all of the marauders, excluding Remus, seemed to be avoiding her. Eleanor had racked her brain for any possible reason behind their behaviour but when she came up with nothing, she turned to Remus. Turns out, Remus is as helpful as a smack in the face. According to him, they weren't avoiding her, "it was just unfortunate timing and- oh look a butterfly" – he wasn't the best at creating a distraction. Eventually she gave up; Eleanor knew she hadn't done anything to upset them therefore had nothing to apologise for and could comfortably leave them to their own weird behaviours. Comfortably might've been a bit of a lie, they were her friends and Eleanor did sort of miss them, especially Sirius, not that she would ever tell anyone that.
In losing the marauders, again, though, Eleanor seemed to have gained a new friend in Francis. It was crazy how much he had changed after their talk; he was so much more relaxed around her and had even made a habit of coming over and joking around with her throughout the day. It was nice to spend time with him once more, especially now that she didn't have to worry about leading him on. In private, Francis would even talk about boys with her – apparently there was no one who took his fancy but it didn't stop him appreciating from afar. Once she got to know him, Francis was quite funny, and very quick-witted.
As she and the other girls walked down to the quidditch pitch in their full, Gryffindor proud outfits that Dorcas had demanded they all wore, Eleanor caught sight of Francis, who was looking equally 'house proud' in his Hufflepuff hat, scarf and jumper.
"You are so going down," He grinned as he came over.
"Oh yeah, I'd like to see you try," Eleanor winked back.
"You will, we're going to destroy you Gryffindor's,"
Eleanor laughed, "The sad thing is, is that you actually believe that," Francis growled and ran forwards at her, wrapping his arms around her torso, picking her up and spinning her around as she squealed. Eleanor chortled and tried to narrow her eyes at him playfully when he placed her back on the ground. "Bye Hufflepuff."
"See you around, Gryffindor." Francis said with a smile as he headed to the Hufflepuff side of the stands.
Eleanor turned back to her friends to see that they had all gone in except Lily who was stood with a smile on her face.
"You two definitely do better as friends," She laughed as Eleanor nudged her side.
Despite knowing the game was played on brooms, meaning it would be in the air, Eleanor, for some reason, never thought about how high the seats would have to be – or in other words, never thought about how many stairs she would have to climb in order to get to those seats. By the time she reached the top her breathing was heavy and her legs like jelly. Sitting down in between Lily and Alice, Eleanor could taste the atmosphere. It was electric. The crowds were buzzing in anticipation of their houses first quidditch match. The commentator was working to create more excitement but it was unnecessary; the enthusiasm was there already.
The teams suddenly shot out from under the stands; the seven Gryffindors in red while the Hufflepuffs stood out in yellow. Eleanor unconsciously focused on Sirius. His dark hair flew around in the wind as he casually swung his bat around. Eleanor felt herself gasp a little as her eyes looked him over – now that she had acknowledged the slight chance she could fancy him, she suddenly found herself unable to look anywhere else. He was sat on his broom, hovering in mid-air as the captains shook hands and prepared for the game. His face was tense, she could see he was in 'game mode', but, as ever, he still had this aura of nonchalance about him – as if he could give a damn about anything. The whistle blew and shocked Eleanor out of her Sirius based attention. This is becoming ridiculous. Beside her she heard Dorcas already screaming for Elsie. Searching the pitch, she saw Elsie hovering at the far end of the field, sat on her broom in a defensive stance in front of three large hoops.
If Eleanor was honest, if someone had asked her what the hell was going on, she wouldn't be able to answer. She'd found a talent for blocking out all of Elsie's rants about quidditch and explanations on how the game was played – except now she kind of wished she hadn't. It was fun and exciting watching people zoom around on broomsticks, but it probably would've been a bit better if she understood… well, anything. As far as she could tell, fifteen minutes into the game, Gryffindor were in the lead with the score being 40-20.
Eleanor struggled as her eyes repeatedly found Sirius, he was flying around protecting his team mates from some kind of crazy ball that kept on trying to kill them by the looks of things. She couldn't help but flinch every time Sirius put himself in between the charmed ball and his team mate. He did it so naturally, it seemed like that was his instinct – and not just in quidditch - to put himself between danger and his friends. A few times the ball, which Alice had informed her was called a Bludger, had actually hit him and Eleanor couldn't stop her quiet cries, worry filling her until she saw that he was ok, shaking off the pain before flying off to guard someone else. She wasn't unaware of the looks she was getting from Lily but chose to ignore them.
An hour into the game, the score was 120-70 to Gryffindor, and Eleanor had decided that she did not like quidditch. Her heart couldn't take it. Every time any kind of injury occurred, Eleanor felt her heart clench. Quidditch was dangerous. Like real, proper danger. And they played this at a school? It had gotten to the point where a few times she had gone to open the cage in her mind slightly, grab the bludger and change its course; cheating be damned. She refused to acknowledge how all of those instances involved Sirius.
Suddenly a burst of even more excitement exploded through the crowd when the commentator announced that the 'snitch'? had been seen. Again, Eleanor didn't really have a clue, but watched as Tommy Cohen, one of the Gryffindors on the field charged around the pitch, a Hufflepuff hot on his tail. His hand was outstretched as he leant as far forward as possible without falling off his broom. The entire stands seemed to be focused on Tommy and Eleanor felt herself standing up without her permission, along with all of the other Gryffindor spectators. Tommy snatched at what looked like thin air and the commentator exclaimed,
"…HE'S DONE IT! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
The whole of the Gryffindor spectators screamed, even Lily who 'hated' the sport. Eleanor joined in, but part of her was screaming in relief that the bloody thing was over. She watched as the Gryffindor team shot to the floor and started jumping on each other in celebration. Eleanor couldn't stop herself from laughing giddily when she saw the pure happiness on their faces.
The celebratory mood spilled up into the common room. Everyone was smiling. Everyone was laughing. It was incredible to be a part of. For the first time, Eleanor was beginning to full understand how big quidditch was in the wizarding world. She looked around in wonder at the common room. It had been transformed into a party room, with tables placed around with drinks on, non-alcoholic she was sure, and food piled high. Eleanor had no idea how the heck, this had been done, but there was no doubt in her mind who the heck had done it. The marauders had a knack for entertaining people.
"PARTY IN THE COMMON ROOM!" James Potters' voice suddenly rang through, resulting in a fresh round of cheers. The team had showered and changed before returning to the castle and were all pumped, ready to celebrate.
Dorcas was jumping up and down as she ran over to Elsie, grabbing her in a hug. Eleanor could hear her squeals from the other side of the room.
Sirius was the last of the team to enter the room and after a few moments deliberation, Eleanor put her big girl pants on and set off over to him. She had let his immature avoidance go on for long enough, and Eleanor wanted an explanation, whether it was the intoxicating atmosphere that gave her the courage or whatever she didn't know, but she wasn't about to let him just walk away from her again. As she side stepped between a few younger students, she finally stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his path. She saw a flicker of annoyance flash across his face before he plastered on his usual bravado.
"Douglas!" He grinned at her, but something about the smile was wrong; it wasn't real, "How'd you find losing your quidditch virginity?"
Eleanor was careful to not show the shock of his choice of words on her face, "Oh so you are talking to me? Well that makes a change," Sirius let out a loud laugh, ignoring her question.
"I have to ask though, how does Francy feel about being beaten?" Eleanor blinked at him as he smirked at her. Like his smile, this wasn't his smirk, no this was… this was wicked. His eyes were hard as he looked down at her, using his extra height in what Eleanor thought to be an attempt to intimidate her – it didn't work. Before she could answer, James called him away and he tore off.
Eleanor stood totally confused, not to mention furious. Boys had made a bit of a habit of leaving her completely baffled recently. First Francis, now him… what the hell? Something was different with Sirius. The change had been so dramatic, it was almost like a doppelgänger had come in and taken his place. She clenched her fists tight and took a deep breath.
Seeing him playing quidditch - the way he moved in sync with his broom, the way his hair flew around his face, the way that his top would ride up just a little when he swung his bat around - it had brought feelings up that left no doubt in Eleanor's mind that she had to admit, she was officially attracted to Sirius Black. But his recent behaviour towards her had left her wondering if it was just his looks that she was attracted too and not specifically him as a person; if he was going to continue acting this way, Eleanor couldn't imagine even liking him as a friend, never mind anything else. If she had come to the realisation that she could potentially like him last week, she probably would've admitted straight away that it was him. He just had this way about him that captivated many people. Sirius was attractive; he knew it and so did a lot of other girls. But up until recently, he had also been fun, exciting and caring. Or, at least caring enough to send her a letter so she wouldn't have to spend another morning watching her peers eyes light up when they received their mail from home. Thinking about it, he had changed the day she received the letter. Had it really been so troublesome to send it to her? If so, she would have rather he didn't bother.
"You ok?" Lily said, snapping Eleanor out of her thoughts. Eleanor took a deep breath and nodded, "You sure? Nothing you want to talk about?"
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know…" Lily started, dragging Eleanor over to one of the tables to get a drink. The common room was completely packed with excited voices buzzing around them meaning Lily had to lean in to talk to her, "Sirius Black maybe?" Eleanor's eyes widened and flashed over to her friend. Lily just stood with a knowing look on her face, "I saw how you were watching him today."
"It's nothing,"
"Don't lie to me El," She said taking a sip of her drink.
Frustrated, Eleanor finally opened up to her best friend, "It's just… I don't even know when I started liking him! It's kind of crept up on me and then just before everything ended with Francis I was in the hall and I was just thinking of his smile and how my chest tightens when he smiles and it kind of shocked me, I mean, it's Sirius. And the other day he commented on how I never get any mail, then the next day an owl lands in front of me with a letter from him, saying how now I wasn't the only one without mail, like that's weird right? But since that letter he just won't talk to me, I think he's regretting sending it, I mean, what else could it be? He's just avoided me like the plague ever since," Eleanor only finished her rant because she ran out of breath, there was so much more she could go on about to Lily but it would essentially mean the same thing – she was confused.
Lily smiled sadly at her and offered her a drink. Eleanor eyed it warily, "Is there any chance that that drink is completely without alcohol?"
Lily cringed, "Probably not."
"Well I'm going have to say no. Drinking doesn't exactly help with controlling things," Eleanor pointed to herself, her frustrations were already rampaging around in her mind – her control was at its' limit and she didn't want anything else to happen and result in an over flow - and Lily nodded understandingly. Just before starting Hogwarts, Raven had decided that she wanted to be there the first time Eleanor got drunk and if she was away at boarding school, she knew she wouldn't get that chance. Let's just say that it was a long night for everyone else at the house when Eleanor was drunk. Everything was fair game, even taking walls apart, picking up beds with students in and flying them around, she even picked herself up and went for a fly. The professor wasn't best pleased with her, or Raven, and made her promise to not get drunk again.
"Well anyway, are you going to confront him about it?" Lily asked.
"I just did! And he just… I don't know, there's just something different about him. Like the Sirius that I like isn't here tonight, it's not the Sirius I know, he's… cold – like a completely different person."
Lily's eyes glanced past Eleanor and widened before she looked back at Eleanor, "Y'know, why don't we just go upstairs and talk?" Lily grabbed Eleanor's elbow and tried to guide her toward the girl's dormitories.
"What?" Eleanor asked, puzzled at Lily's sudden change in demeanour. She turned her head to look where Lily just had and immediately wished she hadn't.
Sirius was stood at the far side of the room with a sixth year Gryffindor that Eleanor recognised to be Honey Taylor. Stood wasn't exactly the correct word considering that they were connected at the mouth. His arms were tight around her waist, pulling her against him as he ran his hands up and down her sides. Eleanor suddenly felt the urge to throw up. If there was any uncertainty left in her mind that she liked Sirius, it was gone now. Watching him with another girl felt like someone had reached into her chest and squeezed. Eleanor knew Lily was trying to get her out of there to avoid this exact scenario but it was too late. She knew she needed to get out of there but she was frozen to the spot. Her mental barrier was pushing harder and harder in her mind - the shock of the situation opening the cage.
As if he felt the eyes on him, Sirius suddenly broke away from the kiss and looked over at her – a hard, malicious look on his face. His grey eyes bore into hers from the other side of the room and he smirked at her before turning back to Honey. Suddenly her feet could move. Eleanor needed out. She needed her room. She looked at Lily who was still gesturing towards the girl's dormitory and shook her head lightly, pointing to the common room door with her eyes. Lily, thankfully, understood instantly and changed direction, dragging Eleanor over and out of the common room in record time.
"It's ok El, just keep hold of it, we're almost there," Lily whispered as the two girls ran through the corridors. Click. Click. Clunk. Click. Click. Clunk. Click. Click. Clunk. Click. Click. Clunk. "You can do it El, just a little further," Lily's voice whispered in her ear.
The tension in her body was almost overwhelming. Eleanor grasped both hands at her head. It was becoming too much.
"Come on El," Lily tightly held her arm around Eleanor's shoulders, effectively dragging her along.
The corridors blurred into one. Eleanor wasn't sure if they were lucky enough to not bump into anyone or if she just hadn't noticed. Click. Click. Clunk. Click. Click. Clunk. Click. Click. Clunk.
"You can do it. Just stay here El, just stay with me," Lily continually spoke to her as they ran across the school.
Eleanor vaguely noticed the painting's begin to yell as they started banging off the walls. She gripped her head tighter and ran faster.
The room was close now. Just a few more stairs. But those stairs felt like a mountain, like an impossible task set in between her and where she wanted to be – where she needed to be. Nevertheless, Eleanor's feet kept going. I can do this. I can do this.
When the room was in sight, instead of feeling relief, Eleanor felt worse. Her powers pushed even harder; as if they knew they were soon to be beaten. She could hear Lily's voice coming from beside her but couldn't pay attention to the words, all she could focus on was the door in front of her.
Throwing herself across the threshold, Eleanor collapsed onto the floor, despite feeling extraordinarily lighter. Never had she been more grateful for this room. Lily offered to help her up, but she was content as she was so instead, Lily lowered herself to the ground and lay next to her. Eleanor took deep breaths as the tension released from her body. She could feel the adrenaline pouring out of her as each second went by. Thankfully, Lily seemed to know that she didn't want to talk as her brain went round and round in circles, trying to piece together how she could have lost control twice in as many months.
How about a review? I'd love some constructive ideas?
