The Amazing Thing About: Friendship. Chapter twenty-four.
Everyone was in a great mood the rest of the week. It was amazing how the quidditch match had lifted everyone's spirits. It had been a welcome break from the onslaught of worry and anxiety. The Gryffindor team were treated like celebrities everywhere they went. Once or twice Eliza teased the twins when younger students would come up to them and ask them to sign various objects. They were happy to indulge and she could see it going to their heads as the days went on.
Around Victor she felt a tad awkward. Since she'd overheard his conversation with Amelia she couldn't figure out if she should tell him or not. She'd gone back and forth on the decision but ultimately it was for the best to keep it to herself. If he ever told her they would cross that bridge. It made Eliza wonder who Amelia had talked to. If she'd heard about Connor that meant she had to have spoken to someone at her old school. Who did she know? What did they know? And why did he being mentioned give her a bad feeling?
"I'm not saying she looks like a toad. I called her a toad because I'm obviously jealous." Hannah was moping due to the fact she'd seen Cedric and Cho flirting in the halls earlier in the day. She was taking it pretty well aside from the name-calling. There were no tears at least. What amused Eliza about the situation was that Cedric had stopped her during the week and asked why Hannah was always glaring at him. Somehow he'd mistaken her longing gazes as the opposite. "Should have spoken up." Kelly was telling her.
"Easy for you to say. You have your boy." Hannah huffed.
Eliza patted her hand. "He doesn't deserve you anyway." She said. George tugged on her sleeve and she turned her attention to him. "Any plans later?" He asked. She didn't remember agreeing to anything so she shook her head. "Unless Hannah needs to eat her weight in chocolate and cry over Diggory I'm free." Though from the looks of it Hannah wasn't going to wallow for long. She hadn't even spoken to Cedric so it couldn't be that hard to get over her crush, could it?
The sound of flapping wings alerted the arrival of the owls and Eliza was going to ask George if he had any updates on their sales when an envelope dropped onto the table in front of her. Rikki was sniffing around her plate for scraps and was startled by it, backing up until George picked him up before he could fall off the table.
Eliza lifted the envelope and studied the large beautiful cursive writing of her name. She opened it and the second she did she shoved the contents into her pocket.
I'll see you soon, Little Darling.
-C
The note felt like a threat. What did he mean by 'see you soon?' There was no way he could make it onto the school grounds. The voice in the back of her mind reminded her that Sirius black had done it. He'd gotten into the castle twice. But Connor wouldn't risk that, would he? He might be insane but he wasn't stupid. If he was caught he'd be in deep. Her parents were itching to get their hands on him. No, he had to be messing with her. Just like with the necklace he was only playing with her head. He was reminding her that he was out there. That he wasn't going away.
"What was that?" George asked and she jumped, too caught up in her thoughts to remember where she was. "Nothing."
Concentrating during class was challenging. She couldn't stop thinking about the note. Should she tell her parents? No, that would only freak them out. They were so overprotective when it came to Connor. Eliza understood why but she didn't want to risk worrying them. She liked it here and she wanted things to stay as they were. Plus exams were so soon! She couldn't let him distract her. Eliza refused to believe Connor was any threat to her. Not here. Not now. Not ever. He was just messing with her and she wasn't going to let him. By the time she made her way to the classroom to meet up with the guys, she'd fully convinced herself that everything was okay.
When she arrived the room was empty so she started pulling the cauldrons out of the cabinet setting them on a table. She had them full of the love potion settling overnight and was dispensing it into vials when the door opened. She spared George a glance as she corked one of the vials and set it to the side. "No Fred tonight?" She asked.
"He's got a study date with Angelina." George approached the table and picked up the vial inspecting the ingredients. "Oh? That's great. I was wondering if they had a thing." Eliza smiled to herself as she filled another. Hearing that the two were spending time together made her happy. Fred was a good guy, even if he was an ass sometimes, and Angelina was sharp. "If anyone can handle him it's her." She said.
George set the vial back down and offered to help. There were two other cauldrons full of the stuff so she told him to have at it and they worked side by side in companionable silence. It wasn't until there was one cauldron left and she batted his hands out of the way that he spoke again. "You've been quiet today. Barely said a word in transfiguration." He was sitting on the corner of the table, hands folded in his lap, as his eyes followed Rikki who was darting in and out of the spaces between stacked chairs.
"Yeah well the closer we get to exams the more McGonagall looks like she's willing to commit murder so.." Eliza shrugged and glanced his way but he didn't look amused. "Jeeze. Tough crowd." She muttered. What had him so uptight tonight? And had he showered? His hair looked damp. Maybe that was why she'd beaten him there. Why was she thinking about that? Eliza shook her head and continued with what she was doing.
"So there's nothing you want to tell me?" He asked as Eliza corked another vial. George wasn't being subtle with the way he was acting but she had already made up her mind that she wasn't going to drag her friends into her problems. They deserved better than that. "You mean other than you're acting really weird?" She asked once again trying to make light of the situation.
George crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not Fred. That isn't going to work on me." He was right. Fred was usually the easier one to get to drop a subject by trying to be comical. "There's nothing. Just worried about exams is all." She said and he went quiet though she could feel his eyes burning a hole into the side of her face. Was he waiting for her to crack?
Eliza was finishing up when she saw him move out of the corner of her eye and in a blink he had his hand in her pocket. "Hey!" She barked, turning and reaching for his arm but he was already out of reach. Eliza grabbed for him again but he stepped away and unfurled the note. She should have thrown the damn thing away but she'd been so busy trying to forget about it that she hadn't done it. Stupid.
George's eyes scanned the words quickly before looking back to her, holding the note up. "What is this?"
"It's nothing." She snapped and reached for the note. He held it out of her reach. "Nothing?" He scoffed and the way he was staring at her it was like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Do you think I'm stupid?" He asked. His tone made her break eye contact. He sounded hurt. Could she blame him? She'd just been lying to his face. Why hadn't she thrown it away?
"Is this the first one?"
Eliza didn't want to answer. She wanted to leave but if she did what would it do to their friendship? She'd already messed it up so much this year. If she wanted to keep the twins around she couldn't do it by avoiding them or running away from things. What if she said yes? If she lied it would be just as bad, if not worse if they found out. Could she guarantee that if she told him yes that she'd never slip up again? There was no way. The future was uncertain and she wasn't a seer.
"No." The word felt so loud in the room that it made her flinch.
"Why didn't you say something?" He asked. She couldn't look at him. From his voice she could tell he was concerned. She didn't want to see it with her own eyes. George was a fun-loving goofball with a silly smile. Eliza didn't want to see him upset. "It isn't important. You and Fred have your own stuff to think about. Why would I bring it up?" Eliza regretted the words the moment they came out of her mouth.
"Because I'm your friend!" George snapped. Guilt started to gnaw at her. As much as she wanted to blame Connor for all of this it was her fault. "I'm sorry." She said quietly. Merlin, how had she allowed this to happen? If this continued how long would it be before her friends got tired of it? It seemed like no matter how much she wanted to deny what was going on it kept popping up.
George stepped forward and took her by the shoulders. "You have a psycho out there sending you creepy letters. How is that not important?" He'd lowered his voice a bit but there was urgency in his tone. "You can't keep hiding this stuff, Iz." It took every ounce of strength for her to make eye contact with him again. He looked disappointed in her. "Have you told Dumbledore?" He asked.
"No! I don't want to risk moving again. I like it here." She admitted and after a moment his expression softened. "I can understand that. But talk to me. Talk to Fred."
The doubtful voice in the back of her mind was niggling at her with words of dismissal. "There's nothing you can do." She expected George to get angry at her but he sighed, pulling her in by the shoulders and wrapping his arms around her in a hug. "We can listen." He muttered. She was glad for the hug. Mostly for the comfort but also for the fact that she didn't have to see his face anymore. The worst feeling in the world to her was pity and she never wanted to see that in his eyes. Not because of her.
"You're right." Eliza muttered. After a long moment she broke the hug and attempted a smile but she knew it came off as half-hearted. "I'm sorry I hid the note. I just don't want anyone to worry." Having him or anyone else know about the things Connor was doing felt like it made it solid and concrete. Like she couldn't ignore it. It would no longer be just her thinking about it. It felt like Connor was winning.
George rolled his eyes. "That's what friends are for. We're supposed to worry about each other and try to help." He sat on the ground and tugged her down next to him by the arm. "And if he's threatening you with stuff like this?" He waved the note in his hand before crumpling it into a ball. "He's got another thing coming if he thinks he can get anywhere near you." George sounded so confident.
That made her genuinely smile and she took the balled-up note from him. "Yeah this school is soooo tight on security." She said sarcastically. George chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't talking about the school. You have so many friends here that he would have to get through if he tried to get to you." He said. The tension in the room eased and with his smile Eliza felt herself relax against the wall. "Kelly and Hannah would have him hanging by his toes." He said.
Eliza laughed at the mental image of the girls doing just that. He was right. She wasn't alone here. Connor may not know it but she had friends. Good friends that she could trust. "Thanks George." She shoved the note back in her pocket as Rikki squeezed between them.
"How many of those has he sent?"
Eliza picked Rikki up and kissed the top of his head before setting him on the ground in front of her. The ferret scurried around and wiggled his way behind George. He watched him before leaning forward. Rikki had decided to climb up his back to perch on his shoulder but misstepped and tumbled down into the boy's lap. This caused Rikki to freak out and charge off away from them. "He's good at breaking the tension isn't he?" George chuckled softly.
"That he is." Eliza agreed and leaned against his side.
"So how many?" Rikki hadn't been enough to divert his attention from the conversation.
"He sent me one on Christmas with a necklace." She admitted and fiddled with the hem of her skirt.
"A necklace, huh? Did you keep it?" He asked.
Eliza shook her head. "Threw it off a bridge."
George barked a laugh and patted her knee. "That's my girl." It seemed so silly to her at that moment that she'd hidden it at all. While she'd been worried about causing concern in her friends George was here laughing. Maybe he was trying to make light of the situation so she would feel better. If those were his intentions it was working. "It looked expensive." Eliza smirked and set her head on his shoulder.
"We could have sold it." George said.
"Didn't occur to me at the time." She muttered a little disappointed in herself. That necklace could have fetched a hefty price.
"Any others?" He asked.
"No. I don't think he knew I was here until then."
"Will you say something if he sends another?" George asked. Eliza stared down into his lap where his hands were balled into loose fists. Would she? After tonight she felt like there was only one correct answer to that. Her friendship with the twins was more important than her stupid pride. If she couldn't turn to them for help then who else did that leave? Luke and Alicia were so far away. She reached over and took one of his hands, intertwining their fingers. "Yeah." She sighed. "I'll say something." She felt his fingers twitch minutely before he gently squeezed her hand. "Good."
They sat in silence for a while, Eliza staring at the wall across the room while enjoying the quiet. For someone notorious for being a troublemaker George did have a soft side to him. They both did but Fred was pretty adamant about not showing his as often. He would be the first one to crack a joke if it was him there with her instead of his brother. It was kind of wild to her how two people most couldn't tell apart were entirely different.
Eventually, George cleared his throat and said his back was getting sore so she sat up and released his hand. "Same." She raised her arms and stretched. At some point Rikki had returned and was napping in her lap. At her movement the ferret yawned and sleepily slid over her hip and rolled onto the floor where he shook himself awake. They put the cauldrons away and stashed the vials before exiting the classroom. George was first, poking his head out the door to make sure the coast was clear.
"You're gonna tell Fred, aren't you?" Eliza asked as they walked. George shrugged, hands in his pockets. "Do you want to?" He asked. Eliza thought about it but his reaction had been more than enough for her. She shook her head. "Nah."
"I'll fill him in." George offered a small smile. It would probably sound better coming from her but she didn't want to have a repeat of tonight. "Think he'll be mad?" She asked. George looked thoughtful. "Only that I found out before him. He hates being second." His smile turned into a smirk. Before parting ways Eliza couldn't help but stop for a moment. "Thanks again, George. You're a really good friend." She felt awkward thanking him for forcing her to open up to him though she knew she'd needed to do it. But he dispelled all of the awkwardness by ruffling her hair and a cocky tone. "I know."
She blew her hair out of her face and began trying to straighten it. "Goodnight." She huffed and turned on her heel marching back to Ravenclaw Tower. As she went she felt eyes on her back but when she turned back George was already gone. She brushed it off as maybe one of the paintings. However, if she'd paid a little more attention she would have noticed a figure tucked into the shadows.