A/N: I keep promising the update quicker and I keep falling back on those promises, greatest apologies. However, I would greatly GREATLY appreciate some reviews as the last few chapters have been lacking somewhat in them and I'm left wondering a bit. I will continue to write of course (this story means too much to me to stop anytime soon- it's actually frightening how much I love writing this story, especially Eileen who is just amazing to explore for me), but just a few words to tell me how you find it would be appreciated like I'd appreciate a big block of my weight in ice on this 40 degree (Celsius) day *melts*... so, you know, either or is welcome ;)
A BIG thank you to my reviewers. Big big love to you all. Also to the adds and favourites. Thanks.
Now... enjoy!
The Pureblood Prince Chapter XVI – Care of Dangerous Creatures
"Oh Accalia! Did you see her big, specky face?"
"I know! As if she honestly believed she could make friends like us!"
"Miserable, ugly, mopey, moaning Myrtle!"
"You should make that into a song, Olive."
"Oh yes! Let's do it now and sing it down the dormitory halls when she comes back from snivelling all over the bathroom floor!"
The two sixth-year Ravenclaw girls laughed vigorously and whipped out a piece of parchment from one of the desks in the common room, before catching sight of three much younger Ravenclaws sitting upon the couches, two gaping at them with a shocked expression, one calmly reading.
"That's not very nice, you know, Olive." One of the girls said with a disdainful expression, the other nodded.
"Whatever you say, Fawcett. As if you haven't been laughing at Moaning-tle behind her back with your little third years too."
"I didn't say we liked her! Just that writing a song about her seems a bit much, is all-"
"Don't see your friends complaining, Lucy, I'd suggest you stop using the word 'we' to make yourself feel superior and supported." Olive Hornby bit back with a bemused expression and a customary Ravenclaw tongue.
Lucy Fawcett shot her head around to the two other girls. The brunette nodded briskly from the sudden prompt, which made Olive and Accalia snort in disapproval, the other still wasn't paying much attention.
"Eileen! Don't you agree?" Lucy incited once more. The raven-haired Ravenclaw third year finally looked lazily up from her back to see the four girls staring at her. She didn't like it at all.
"Hmm?"
"About Myrtle!"
"Oh…" Eileen replied nonchalantly, "certainly." She wasn't exactly sure what she was agreeing to, but from Lucy's expression she had answered in the correct way. Olive and Accalia appeared bored with this exchange and made their up to the dormitories.
"Poor Myrtle…" Lucy continued – ever the rational, kind girl despite a slightly delicate hypocritical attitude. "We should go find her, she's probably locked herself away again."
"Yeah, we should." Catriona piped in. To their unmistakable surprise, Eileen was the first one to get up. Her explanation was swift, however.
"It's Friday. Gobstones meeting at six, remember?" she explained. The girl's faces fell.
Eileen couldn't help but smile as she travelled down the windy staircase of Ravenclaw Tower in her black robes trimmed with blue and copper; she always loved their twice weekly Gobstones meeting (while Potions was her greatest passion, Gobstones was by far the next thing in line), the game gave her a chance to interact with people who weren't Ravenclaws for a change, since the school was usually so segregated into the four Houses. Eileen certainly didn't agree that sorting people was the best tactic for school unity, but who was she to go to Headmaster Dippet and question the running of a thousand year old establishment?
As she bounded along the stone floors that shimmered with orange from the warm and cosy fire lamps, Eileen hardly noticed the weeping older girl coming up from the opposite end of the hallway; when she did, however, she issued a quiet groan.
Myrtle…
"Olive got bored of taunting me behind my back did she, Prince?" Myrtle shot viciously, "sent you and the rest of her minions to come find me I'll bet!"
As she stormed closer and closer, Eileen could tell that she had been crying so fervently that actual mucus was dribbling out of her nose. The younger Ravenclaw mentally shuddered, still being quite used to a very aristocratic household and a mother who would positively murderher if Eileen ever dared to blubber so hard that she spewed out the contents of her sinuses everywhere.
As she came closer Eileen unashamedly narrowed her eyes at the irksome older girl.
"Oh, shut-up, will you?" She retorted simply, almost happy that Myrtle knew she didn't like her – despite how much her far more gracious friends would have berated her for it.
It appeared Myrtle had nothing much else to say on the matter. She continued on her gloomy way towards the common room – now crying even more. Eileen exhaled a weighty sigh and continued down the hallway.
"Watch it, Ravenclaw!"
Eileen, momentarily distracted by the sight of her Gobstones team sitting around one of the tables in the common study room, had collided with a much taller boy in the doors entrance.
"Sorry," she mumbled, before looking up to see the four Slytherin males march past her and pull out chairs. Oh, Merlin… one of them was him…
"Tom, come sit here," one of the boys asked in an almost pleading tone, as if he could give anything to merely be seen sitting next to the Slytherin prefect.
"All in good time, Macnair. All in good time." Tom Riddle replied, with such a smirk playing around his lips, Eileen was almost sure that he was rather enjoying keeping his friend waiting for his approval. The corner of his mouth curled ever so slightly and a small fold appeared right next to his cerise lips – though it made his face seem all the more smooth… how was that possible…?
And then Eileen realised that she had been standing in the doorway for a far longer time than could be deemed appropriate.
Worse even than that, one of the boys had noticed her staring and had whispered something to his friend. They both looked over at her and started sniggering as she blushed furiously and headed quickly, with her head slightly down over to the Gobstones club. Tom Riddle did not even care to look at the object of his gang's amusement.
Eileen, who was embarrassed far enough by this stage, had all hopes of sitting down and disappearing from Riddle's view for the rest of the week – but when a booming voice echoed down the hall calling her very name, she knew that hope had been too good to be true.
"Leenie! There yer are! I need to speak to yer. S'quite urgent."
This time Tom Riddle did look up, but not in her direction – the direction of the booming voice. His eyes immediately narrowed, and it was as if a cold chill had washed over the entire study hall.
"I can't now Hagrid, I have a Gobstones meeting." Eileen replied quietly to her half-giant friend, who was the same age as herself. She motioned to the ten or so people huddled around the furthest desk. "Later."
"Leenie, please…"
Eileen and Hagrid's almost identical black eyes met each other; she could almost see the urgency swirling within them. She looked back to where the Gobstones captain, a seventh-year Ravenclaw by the name of Alec Thomas, was sitting and waved her apologies at him.
"Hagrid, this had better be important!" Eileen insisted as they walked side-by-side down the emptying corridors. "Where are we going? What do you want? Why did you wait until I was at a Gobstones meeting?"
Hagrid chuckled warmly. "Can see why yer a Ravenclaw, Leenie, bombard me with questions!"
Eileen crossed her arms irritably and stopped in her tracks. She knew that Hagrid was heading for the library and she had inkling why.
"Hagrid, if you pulled me out of a very important meeting discussing tactics for our game against Beauxbatons just to help you write your Potions essay for Slughorn, which is due tomorrow morning, I am going to be very annoyed. You know I'm the team's best player apart from Alec."
"No, no, no," Hagrid assured, waving his hands. "I mean- yes, yer are! Yer brilliant! But I've done me Potions – well, most of it. It's… come 'ere… come on!"
The half-giant and the diminutively thin Eileen Prince who looked positively withered and gaunt next to him found a dark, shady area at the back of the library to sit. It was to Hagrid's advantage that rain was pattering hard on the windowpanes making it virtually impossible for anyone not in their immediate vicinity to hear them.
"Got this yesterday…" Hagrid begun to explain quietly, "and, well, thought yer'd appreciate it – being the only girl I know who shares me love for the unusual and – well – dangerous."
He set down a tanned box upon the table and slid it toward her carefully. Eileen was truly worried now – almost less about the contents of the box and more about the way Hagrid blushed when he said that last sentence.
"Oh no, Hagrid…" she said in trepidation. "What is it?"
"Open it. S'alright – it ain't hatched yet."
"Hatched?!"
"Shhh!"
Eileen cracked her fingers and peeled back the lid, she snapped it shut almost one second later.
"It's an Acromantula egg."
"I know, pretty ain't it?"
"Well, if 'pretty' is the word to use for an egg containing a killer spider with a taste for live human organs, then... yep."
Hagrid gave a great beaming smile, unaware of Eileen's sarcastic tone. And by Merlin, Eileen could not help but smile back. "What on earth is wrong with you, you big fool?" she asked warmly of her Gryffindor friend.
"Was gonna be destroyed, yer know. I just couldn't let it happen. Acromantula's need mummy's just as anyone does."
"What does that make me then, its daddy?"
Hagrid threw his head back and chuckled, it made Eileen grin.
"If yer want. We could be a nice 'lil family!"
"Seriously, Hagrid, you're going to have to set it free."
Hagrid's grin immediately fell. She knew that he had expected her to be as enthusiastic about the Acromantula as he was; he wasn't entirely coming out of left field with that hope either, Eileen and Hagrid had long been closely connected with one another since first year after establishing common ground in a love for the 'unusual and dangerous' as he had just put it; Hagrid for his love of untameable creatures and Eileen for her love of the mere untameable.
"But if we kept it here somewhere, Leenie. Somewhere no-one could find it!"
"I'm sure they could find something the size of an elephant in Hogwarts no matter how hard you try to hide it!"
"Yeah but…" Hagrid leant back in his chair which probably wasn't that good of an idea – the legs were already creaking. "… we don't have ter worry about that now do we? It's only the size on a Pekinese when it hatches n' all and it certainly won' be able to defend itself… it's only a baby after all."
Eileen expelled a frustrated sigh and leant forward with her hands on her chin, deep in thought. She didn't want the poor thing to be destroyed either; wanting to do away with something that you couldn't understand because it was just different… it would be against everything she stood for.
"Well from the looks of it it'll stay an egg for quite some time yet – I'd say about another week and a half, two weeks max – we'll have time to think of something."
Hagrid nodded contently. "Ah, I knew yer'd love him… her… as much as me Leenie! It'll be thankful ter us, just yer watch. I…"
The half-giant lowered his voice far more than he ever did when discussing the Acromantula.
"… I really like yer, Eileen. Yer so smart and a gifted witch, but yer never judgin'… well, I just really like yer is all." He looked away, blushing more than ever before.
Eileen gaped at him, not quite sure what to make of this sudden declaration. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her – certainly the only male attention she had ever received apart from that… abominable incident with Arcturus Black. She felt truly, absolutely awful, however, for wishing that a particular Slytherin boy had been the one to say it and not Rubeus Hagrid.
"I… thank you very much Hagrid, I like you too… but, not… I…"
How on earth can I tell him that he's too nice for me – how ridiculous does that even sound?! Did he even mean it in that way? Merlin knows he's the sweetest thing on the planet; it could have been a simple compliment from a good friend. Yes, that was probably what it was after all.
"… I have an awful taste in boys." Eileen finally stated both simply and enigmatically.
If she were ever to have an official slogan – she thought she would certainly have been given that one, especially when she would look back on everything as an adult. Eileen Prince: Awful Taste in Boys.
Hagrid smiled and shook his head. "Nah yer don't, yer just a lover of dangerous creatures. S'why I like yer so much!"
She had to admit Lover of Dangerous Creatures did sound for more romantic, even if the reality of going after said dangerous creatures was the most unromantic thing in the world. Before she could respond, or rather say her goodbyes and rush off to try and catch the tail-end of her Gobstones meeting, a few books that were resting on the edge of one of the bookshelves came tumbling down to the ground, Eileen and Hagrid jumped in surprise.
"Don' tell me Irma was there the whole time! Rotten lil' snitch she is!" Hagrid exclaimed in terror, as a dark figure rushed past them – it was impossible to decipher exactly who it was, as it was now thundering down so hard outside that virtually all light was blocked. Eileen quickly tucked her naval length black hair behind her ears and jumped up.
"I'll see you, Hagrid, I've really got to go. Why don't you try looking for some books on the matter?" It was pretty much her standard answer to everything. Eileen waved quickly and skirted around the shelves to the entrance; at the door she spotted a glimpse of black robes just before they swiped over the frame and disappeared from sight. Eileen marched quickly after them – narrowly avoiding the young vulture-like apprentice librarian, Irma Pince's, gaze.
When she stepped out into the corridor, it was growing ever more crowded with students making their way back to their various common rooms. Eileen spotted Alec Thomas headed towards her and waved him down.
"What happened to you, Eileen? I could have used a fellow Ravenclaw to keep all the other members attention spans in check!" he demanded as he strutted his way up to her and shoved a piece of parchment covered in diagrams and lists into her hand. "Here, that's the order for the match this weekend. I'm putting you second last after me, Merlin knows we need a strong player to finish Beauxbatons off."
"Oh, thank you, Alec. And I'm really sorry about earlier…" Eileen suddenly trailed off when she spotted a distant figure leaning against the stone barrier at the end of the corridor.
Alec was babbling about something or other and Eileen could only pick up a few words here and there (words like "important", "match", "never", "again", "team", "Eileen", "back", "common room") – but the distant figure had looked around and actually caught her eye.
He's actually caught my eye!
But Tom Riddle didn't look at all too happy to have done so. Eileen pretended to nod along to Alec's lectures while flicking her dark eyes back and forth from Tom. It was as if he were physically studying her, but it wasn't her body… as if any boy would find her gaunt stick of a body arousing in the slightest! It was her face. It made her feel so fantastically uncomfortable and excited… Eileen hated the way he was making her feel. Why was uneasiness so alluring? And why did he keep staring at her? Not that she was complaining… no: she was complaining.
It was around midnight when Eileen, curled up in a tight ball within her royal blue bed, finally managed to purge her thoughts of Tom; and that was only really thanks to her mother's gift in Occlumency – she recalled how Serafina used to sit on her daughters bed and settle Eileen into a peaceful and soothing sleep after she had woken with nightmares when she was younger.
"Focus on your breathing, child…" Serafina used to tell her in a deep murmur. "Empty the mind so that there is nothing. If there is nothing in the mind to dwell on then there is nothing that can scare you."
And while Eileen herself had never been all that wonderful at Occlumency (her mind was far too inquisitive to ever settle itself down), her mothers voice remained with her. Had she shown the horrors that would await her in her near future, Eileen would have felt utterly ridiculous for using Occlumency techniques to forget about a mere boy… or at least she would if Tom were any other mere boy. Eileen closed her eyes and dreamed pleasantly in the shelter of her mind, beyond all reckoning that the charming boy she currently harboured a juvenile desire for would, in due course, be the one that would cast an interminable plague over her own flesh and blood.
~*~