Charlie did not answer, pretending to be absorbed in the book, 'Quintessence: A Quest', which they were supposed to have read before Charms. Determined as he was to share his life as a Death Eater with Harry and Elaina, he was spending a lot of time with his mouth shut tight.
"What's going to happen if you don't go to him?" inquired Elaina, looking slightly worried. "Did your father ever tell you about what the consequences might be for disobeying You-Know-Who?"
Charlie had turned a page of Quintessence, aware that both Elaina and Harry were watching him.
"No," he answered at last, much to his reluctance to speak on the topic, "but I doubt any consequence issued by the Dark Lord would be considered merciless."
"So," Harry whispered, being mindful of eavesdropping spectators, "what are you going to do?"
"What else can I do?" Charlie asked rhetorically, slumping in his chair. "There's no other option for me. Besides, a few minutes of agony is worth not having to succumb to a lifetime of doing the Dark Lord's bidding."
"Have you tried magical painkillers?" Elaina suggested, sipping on her pumpkin juice. "Or anything that might subdue the pain?"
"I'm going to go to the library this afternoon," sighed Charlie, peering over his book. "Hopefully I can find something that might be able to help."
Elaina and Harry shared a worried, but discrete, look, hoping not to raise the suspicions of their devastated friend. Catching on immediately, however, Charlie raised a curious brow, urging his friends subconsciously to share their thoughts.
"The library?" said Elaina, coming to a tentative conclusion. "Are you sure about that?"
Charlie blinked, his eyebrows knitted, "Yes, why?"
"Well, uh," stammered Harry nervously, his eyes awkwardly transfixed on the book in Charlie's hands, "in case you haven't noticed, Hermione's been spending a lot of her time in the library as of late."
Charlie gulped uneasily at the mention of Hermione's name; Harry and Elaina had caught on to his sudden reluctance. Not wanting to give them the satisfaction of affirming their suspicions, however, Charlie shrugged his shoulders convincingly.
"And your point is?" he asked, seemingly unbothered, but that was far from the truth. "It's not like I can avoid her for the rest of my life."
"Imagine how much easier life would be if that were the case," hummed Elaina, smirking mischievously. With a warning look from Harry, she perked up and added, "Actually, I've been meaning to go to the library, so count me in! Just don't act surprised if you hear the crunching of bones followed by a shriek of fear."
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(A/N: I have an obsession with this gif...)
Charlie's eyes widened to the point where they were almost bulging out of their sockets. He whipped his head around to the French transfer student, and Elaina had shrugged at him, grinning from ear to ear like a child unaware of their wrongdoing.
