sink or swim - r.a.b

𐙚 chap. 5

When you awoke from your sleep for the first time, it was around midnight. You groaned to yourself, but went to the bathroom before letting the world of dreams envelope you.

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The second time you arose from your welcoming bed, it was four. You repeated the routine that was becoming all to familiar to you, and lay in your bed for, what you silently prayed to be, the last time.

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As the final time you got out of bed arrived, so did the sunrise. It was six-thirty, and you'd decided to give up on staying asleep when you were going to wake up to your alarm in thirty minutes anyways. It was oh, so long ago when you got a full night's worth of rest, but you'd lost hope on having one any time soon. Why? Because it was nearly Halloween, and that would mean the Marauders' infamous party.

Since you woke up before the other girls that you shared your dormitory with, you had the bathroom to yourself. After your cold shower, it seemed as if the warm water wasn't awake yet either, you brushed through your wet hair, and waited for it to dry while you did your makeup. When your makeup was done, and your hair dried, you changed into your uniform. By then, everyone was awake, and getting ready.

You made your way to breakfast alone since Emi and Pandora were still getting ready. That's when you saw him. Regulus Black, in all of his glory, looking just fine and well rested. He was still the cause of most, if not all, of your sleepless nights, and you internally cursed him for it. How was it that a prick that was causing your restless behavior, had caught you asleep not once, but twice, and was somehow friends with someone as sweet as Pandora-- was so popular? You honestly didn't get the appeal.

You stormed over to the Ravenclaw table, kind of pissed off for no reason in particular, his existence maybe? You didn't know, or care. You just sat down, and angrily made your Moony toast as you did most mornings. You saw James coming into the great hall, and waved at him. He came over, and slid onto the bench beside you.

"Good morning, you're up earlier than usual. Or maybe you just didn't take forever to get ready this morning." He took a bite of your toast, more specifically, the piece with lemon curd on it.
"Good morning to you, too. Hey- James!" You shouted at him for eating your food. You glared at him.
"I'll give you a bite of mine." He promised.
"Okay, go over there, and make some for me, then." You pointed to the Gryffindor table. He mumbled something about how it 'wasn't fair'.

That's when Emi and Pandora showed. They walked over to the table, and sat on either side of you, trapping you in. James came back with his toast shortly after, and offered you a bite. Emi asked what that was about, and you gestured to the one bite taken out of your toast. She rolled her eyes before tucking into her own breakfast.

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In a weeks time, it was the week of Halloween, and everyone was excited, everyone but you, that is. You were to exhausted with attempting to keep up with your schoolwork and chasing sleep. Emi was especially happy, and you felt bad you couldn't return her excitement. She'd already made you and Pandora a muggle gift called a 'Boo Basket' each. You looked for something in Hogsmeade when the weekend came, and bought her a blanket you knew she would love, and for Pandora you bought a book she'd been talking about as of late.

Luckily, you were making it to most of your classes other than your first period class. Cause of this? Let's circle it back. Regulus. Every time you heard his name, you wanted to throw something. Why was he so infuriating? You were so mad at yourself for getting to this point over something that wasn't even his fault, and then you woke up in the middle of the night multiple times.

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It was the day before Halloween, and the night before the Marauders' party. You loved your brother to death, but gods, he could be exhausting sometimes. You definitely didn't need that to add to your pile of things that were causing you to lose sleep, and waste your energy. James wasn't a waste, though. No, never James.

So, as you sat on your bed in your pajamas as Emi and Pandora got ready for bed, you found yourself zoning out. Thinking about nothing in particular. You figured it might be a night you would want to go to the astronomy tower, but you didn't want to relive what happened the only other time thing year. Regulus Black caught you curled up in a blanket, asleep in the astronomy tower.

You quickly gave up on that idea, and fell back onto your pillow. You stared at the ceiling for a moment before wrapping yourself in blankets. You were still cold, but quickly fell asleep. This was the first night since the beginning of the year that you did not dream of the boy with obsidian curls, and instead you dreamt of, well, nothing.