Chapter 7
The last week at Hogwarts passed in a haze.
On Monday, George and Fred managed to turn the clothes of the entire Slytherin house into the latest Muggle fashion with Gryffindor colours. Malfoy shrieked with horror when he discovered that he was dressed into a golden swim short and a red button-down shirt. The only one who ignored her sudden transformation was, of course, Eleanor Seymour.
She nipped her tea and was oblivious to the fact that she was now wearing a golden ballet tutu with a flaming red bikini halter.
George couldn't take his eyes off her, just like most of the male population of Hogwarts.
On Saturday the twin spent their last free days in Hogsmeade, loading up their pockets with their favourites from Zonko.
It was only when he plopped down on his favourite spot next to the Black Lake, he heard the familiar voice of Eleanor.
"Hello, George Weasley."
Immediately George turned around, just to find Eleanor laying in the grass, a novel pressed to her chest.
"What, no Weasel Gryffindork this time?" he asked teasingly.
Eleanor shrugged. She tapped her wand to the black box next to her and suddenly, loud music blasted through the box.
George gave a start and Eleanor laughed. "What, never listened to The Cure before?"
"What cure are you talking about?" asked George cautiously, before he sat down, one eye firmly on the black box next to her.
Eleanor laughed again. "Cute, Weaseldork."
George huffed, but didn't react. Eleanor rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her novel.
"What's it about?" asked George after a few moments in silence.
"What is what about?" asked Eleanor, before turning a page.
"Your novel," specified George. "Pride & Prejudice."
Eleanor smiled, as if his question amused her. "About a proud woman and a prejudiced man who fail to see they love one another," explained Eleanor.
"A love story," concluded George.
"It is a very famous love story," argued Eleanor. "And I can identify with Darcy. He doesn't like people much."
"I figured."
Eleanor's smile grew bigger. She leaned back into the grass and focused her attention to her novel.
George stretched out and looked out at the Black Lake. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and the Giant Squid came to the surface to bathe in the sunbeams.
It was nice sitting out here, out of the view of the school and hidden away from spying eyes, with the music playing in the background.
"That black noisy box of yours. I've never seen anything like it." The device piqued George's interest.
"It's called a boombox," explained Eleanor. "It is a portable music player with a radio and two cassette tape players."
"Oh, I know," said George eagerly. "We covered it in Muggle Studies."
Eleanor smiled. "May I?" asked George. Eleanor nodded.
"Has it got anything to do with the Muggle device you were playing during detention?" asked George, while he was studying the boombox. The music changed into a different song.
"It is the same principle, but that was a walkman connected to a headphone, so only I could hear the music."
"The earmuffs, that's the headphone?" asked George.
Eleanor nodded. "Yes. Muggles call it headphones. Earmuffs don't play music," she laughed.
"And the music, does it come from the radio or the cassettes?"
"These are tapes that are playing. I don't have any good reception up here for radio. The Muggle radio works with the same principle as our radio."
Eleanor fumbled in her bag and pulled out a couple of silver little boxes, not bigger than an envelope. "These are cassette tapes," she said, while she handed them over.
George studied the thin little boxes. "There's music on these?" he asked, before shaking it and holding it to his ear.
"Yes, but you're only able to hear it while it's in the boombox," said Eleanor, who tried her best to hold her laughter. "Otherwise, it won't work."
"And how does it actually work?" asked George.
"Well, you put the tape in the boombox and press Play, that's this button right here," she pointed at the button. "That's it."
George was impressed. "What do the other buttons do?" he asked.
"That's Forward to the next song, Back to previous song, Pause the current song and Eject, to eject the tape and replace it with another tape, so you can play a different set of songs."
George pressed on Forward and the next song came up. It was a lot faster and happier than the other song.
"I like this one," said George. "Those Muggles know how to get their groove on."
"Of course you would like Rick Astley, Weaseldork," grinned Eleanor. "Typical Gryffindor."
George grinned back at her and nodded his head in the rhythm of the song.
"So this is the kind of music Muggles like to listen to?" asked George at Eleanor.
"Well, not every Muggle," she hesitated. "My father hates this kind of music. He likes more classical music, with violins and such. You know the kind, it is very similar to what Pureblood families play at their high society parties."
"I never went to those parties. Family of blood traitors, remember?" smiled George. "But I think I know what kind of music you mean."
"Good."
The silence lingered for a long time between them. Out of his eye corners George studied how Eleanor read her book. He felt the urge to soften the frown between her eye brows with his thumb while she absorbed the story.
"Nell! Listen up, Nell! You'll never believe it!"
Behind them, the voice of a girl disturbed them both.
Berenice Yaxley showed up and immediately went silent. She looked from George to Eleanor and back. Her grey eyes narrowed slightly.
"Well, well, a Weasley. This is interesting."
"What is it, Berenice?" asked Eleanor, who sat upright. She put her novel down and looked at her friend.
George scrambled to his feet. "Well, ladies, I have to go. Some pranks to prepare, some Slytherins to torment as good Gryffindors do."
"You're a duffer, Weasley!" yelled Berenice him. One quick glance over his shoulder learned George that her white blond ponytail was almost standing upright, like the tail of an angry cat. He smiled an angel-like smile at her.
"What are you doing with a Weasley?" asked Berenice, who came down with a thud on the same place George had been sitting a few moments before.
"Nothing. What do you want to tell me?" Eleanor asked her friend.
"For starters, you're going to tell me exactly what Weasley was doing here. And don't tell me it was nothing, because that didn't look like nothing."
Eleanor rolled her eyes.
"Spill the beans, Nell. Come on."
"Fine. We studied together a few times during our OWLs. In complete silence," she added hastily, when she saw that Berenice wanted to interrupt her. "And he found me sitting here minding my own business and sat down and a civil conversation with me about the boombox."
This time it was Berenice who rolled her eyes. "So fascinated by Muggle stuff."
"Hey!"
"Joking. So you like him?"
Eleanor sighed. "No, I don't. It is just nice talking to him. That's it."
"Good. Because otherwise you're going to break Adrian's heart. Remember, after the Quidditch final?"
Eleanor gave Berenice a little shove. "Cut it out. It was an accident. We both had too much to drink and …"
"And then you woke up next to him, completely unaware of where all of your clothes could have wandered off to," finished Berenice teasingly.
"Stop it. We both don't remember anything from that evening."
"Well, there was a lapdance involved," began Berenice, but she was cut short by Eleanor.
"Please stop. I don't want to know."
"So it is okay for you to traumatise me with your behaviour, but it's not okay for me to remind you that you were actually the one who made it all happen in the first place?"
"Exactly. Nice to see we're on the same page here. Now, what did you want to tell me that made you come all the way here?"
"Oh, yes, that. Uhm," Berenice sat upright and looked at her friend with glittering eyes.
"I have the best news ever. The news just got out, but apparently Sirius Black was captured earlier this week. On the grounds of Hogwarts"
The eyes of Eleanor grew large. "What?" she gasped. Her heart thumped down her throat.
Sirius Black had been captured in Hogwarts? She wanted to scramble to her feet, but Berenice held her down.
"No, that's not all. Apparently, he escaped the very same night."
Eleanor let go of the breath she didn't know she was keeping in. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I overheard Snape complaining to Dumbledore, accusing Harry Potter of it. Which is of course the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, but maybe Snape sustained brain damage by getting hit with a sunstroke. That would actually explain a lot, to be honest. I'm not sure why everybody in this school is so obsessed with that skinny Gryffindor, but that's a question for another time. Well, so, long story short, Black escaped."
Eleanor smiled and heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you. That's good to hear."
Berenice smiled encouragingly. "It thought that news would cheer you up, with the summer holidays creeping so near."
"It did. Thanks, Bunny."
"Anytime, Nell."
