5.2
Playdates-
"You're worrying too much." I ruffle Eldon's hair. "If anything, they may even teach you some tricks." I push him to continue walking down the halls. We make it to the stairs, and Eldon slows down the further along we get. It's Saturday afternoon, so the stairs are nearly empty, besides the paintings that line the walls. As we get closer to the Gryffindor entrance, I see the boy fidgeting with his hands and wringing them together hastily. I don't say anything.
I easily get us into the Gryffindor common room with the password that Remus had given me the night before. The cozy room is mostly empty, except for a few students here and there. Then I see a group of loud boys by the fireplace on a couch facing another one.
I walk Eldon further in, and we sit on the couch in front of the group of boys, who quiet down once we come into view. Eldon sits close to me in the center of the plush red couch. The warmth from the fire makes me relax further into the sofa.
"Finally! We've been waiting for the two of you." Are the first words spoken between us. Sirius said them with a large smile to soften the tone of his voice. Eldon sinks further into the couch, and Remus sends a look toward Sirius, who simply shrugs.
"And who is this?" This time, it's Potter who speaks. His tone is much softer than Sirius'. Eldon doesn't make eye contact when he introduces himself. The first year looks as if he'd rather be anywhere but here, even though this was his idea in the first place. Potter and Sirius start a conversation about Quidditch to try to get the boy to open up, but they fail. Eldon stays quiet.
"How do you find your classes, Eldon?" Remus asks, as the other two boys have given up on trying to get the boy to talk. This gets Eldon's attention. He starts to tell us about what he has learned in Charms and Transfiguration with a smile.
The boys listen with smiles of their own as the first-year rants about things we already know. You could tell that this isn't the first time that the four boys have done this with a first-year. By the way they agreed to do it to the smiles they had once we came into view.
As Eldon talks, Sirius switches couches to sit beside me. He throws his arm onto the back of the sofa to sit behind me. He's so close that I can smell the cologne that he is wearing. It's musky with hints of leather, likely coming from his signature leather jacket, which I haven't seen him out of since fourth year. I catch Remus' gaze as he stares hard at the two of us. He looks away, back to the first year, who is still going on about the things he wants to learn while in the castle. I feel a brush against my shoulder blade. Sirius runs his thumb back and forth on top of the wool jumper I am wearing. I don't stop him like I would if it were anyone else, which is something to look back on later as I don't have the time to do so now. I don't say a word of it as I keep my eyes on the excited boy next to me.
Just as I thought, Potter ends up getting Eldon to stand and teaches him a few jinxes that I am sure he will never abuse. We end our little playdate as I have places to be and people to see. As we walk towards the exit, Eldon sends the four boys a blinding smile that only a child would be able to make.
—
Entering Royale's office, I see him at his desk grading papers. He looks up at me with a smile when I close the door. I sit in front of his desk as he goes back to grading the paper. He then puts his quill down and puts his attention solely on me.
"We left off on you producing a full Patronus, correct?" I nod. "So now we need the ingredients for the potion. Which could take weeks. The earliest we could complete the spell could be during winter break. Are you prepared to stay for the break?"
"I am prepared to do whatever it takes to do this. We have gotten too far to give up now." I maintain eye contact as I speak to further cement my words. I have worked too hard for this. What would that say about me if we failed to do this? Those four boys did it secretly without teachers' help years ago. I will not fail.
We spent the next few hours planning everything out. He tells me that I will have to gather most of it myself, which is fine with me. I knew from the start that I would most likely have to do most of the work. After all, this is for me.
It takes us hours to decide on how to do everything. Royale had the idea for me to start to keep a mandrake leaf process as it takes the longest to do. I could bet money that it will not be fun to do. Those things are bitter as hell. We will gather everything needed as quietly as possible with the things that can't wait until the break.
Either way, this whole thing is just an excuse to not go to the manor for the break. It's not a hard decision to make for me. Anything to escape those dreaded winter balls that my parents force me to go to each year just for them to show me off like a trophy.
-970 Words-