eden ➡ james f. potter

07: drowning.

the aftermath of one too many

FROM THE MOMENT THAT HE REALIZED THAT CECILIA WASN'T at the match, Elliot should have known that something was wrong.

The girl was no Quidditch enthusiast and it was obvious that the game practically bored her to death. However, if there was one thing that she would never miss out on, it was a match that her best friend was partaking in. Elliot knew that and the fact that he had not seen her since breakfast scared him.

After their victory against the lions, most of the yellow house bombarded down the hallways of the school chanting HUFFLEPUFF in voices so loud that there was no doubt that they would all be hoarse tomorrow morning. Elliot, on the other hand, couldn't be bothered with celebrating his house's win as the boy was too busy worrying about where his best friend was.

She hadn't been in the stands during or after the match nor was she at the locker room waiting for his arrival. Following his run-in with the sixth years (if Potter was anything like his best mate, Elliot had no clue how Cecilia dealt with that), the pale Muggleborn scoured the entire castle to look for Cecilia.

He checked the Room of Requirement (which was empty), the kitchens (which was packed with students getting food together for a party that would most likely be happening in the Hufflepuff common room) and the library (Madam Pince was getting frustrated by the amount of noise being made in the corridors). He had checked through every empty classroom of the school to come up with nothing. Elliot had even went into the Slytherin common room (something he rarely did alone) but alas, it seemed as if the Lestrange girl had vanished.

As he stood in the hallway in front of the Slytherin common room, Elliot scratched his head. This was the first time that he was unsuccessful in locating Cecilia and that caused an anxiety to spread over his chest. Where was she?

While the seventh year pondered over in his head where his friend could be, a group of friends were on the other side of the castle doing the exact same thing. The Marauders had pushed through crowds of students, looking for James but it appeared to them that he had fallen off the face of the Earth.

The three Gryffindors ended up back on the first floor.

Most of the student body had gone down to the Hufflepuff common room for the celebratory party, leaving the corridors bare.

Sirius groaned, "How is it possible for one person with such an abnormally large head to disappear?"

Remus shot him a look, "Do you really think insulting him will somehow make him appear?"

The Black boy leaned against the wall and rolled his eyes. Folding his arms across his chest, he said sarcastically, "I'm sorry. Excuse me, has anyone seen a tall boy with messy brown hair and the prettiest hazel eyes that humanity has ever seen?"

"Sirius, stop being a-"

"No," Peter cut Remus off, "The two of you need to stop acting like complete tosspots and focus on the task at hand. We have no idea where in Merlin James is and you too arguing isn't going to help us."

Sirius and Remus looked at Peter with shame in their eyes and the brunette boy huffed, "Honestly, you two are some of the-"

"Did someone say pretty hazel eyes?"

All heads snapped to the voice; Remus and Peter to their left while Sirius' gaze shifted downward as the head of a ghost was protruding from his chest.

The gray-eyed boy yelped as he threw himself off the wall, hands on his chest where the girl's head had just been.

"You know, it's rather rude to shove your head through people," he said.