Illicit | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 14

"Widdershins," Eleanor said out of breath when she reached the Fat Lady.

The woman in the painting raised her eyebrows at her, "In a hurry are we?"

Eleanor sighed in frustration. "Kind of, yeah, so if you could just let me in that would be very nice," she smiled sarcastically.

"All right all right, no need to get fussy," the Fat Lady retorted before opening up.

Eleanor climbed through the portrait hole. The common room was pretty crowded, but the boys were nowhere to be seen. She sighed, and when she thought nobody was looking, Eleanor reluctantly went up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. She knocked on the door of the fifth-year dorm. When she didn't hear anything, she looked inside. Empty.

"Unbelievable, when you don't want to be near them they're always there, and when you need them they're just gone!" she mumbled to herself.

She turned to run back down but saw a confused second-year looking at her.

"Well, move along," she said impatiently, waving her hand up the stairs.

The boy turned red and hurried past her. Eleanor ran back down and stopped to think for a second. Where could they possibly be on a free Saturday afternoon? Looking around for them would take ages at Hogwarts; the castle was huge. She could cross off some places though, like the Library, because they never went there anyway, not together. The grounds weren't possible either because of the storm. They could be in the kitchens but Eleanor didn't know how to get in, the boys refused to tell her. The last option for her was to check all the classrooms, but that was just impossible. Better luck next time.

Eleanor sighed to herself and sat down in one of the empty armchairs by the fireplace. This definitely wasn't one of her best days. She rested her head in her hand and stared into the fire.

"Ella?" she heard Kathy's voice say. Eleanor looked up at her. Doris and Amelia were there too.

Eleanor didn't say anything but pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them. The three other girls gave each other a look and sat down on the sofa next to her. They looked at her, their faces showing an expression of guilt.

Eleanor glanced over at them, "Are you just going to stare at me or is there something you wanted to say?" she mumbled. Doris plucked at the fabric of the cushions, her eyes down.

"Actually, yes," Amelia began, not looking at Eleanor. "We wanted to say we're sorry," she said, biting her lip and looking up at her friend. Kathy and Doris nodded, looking at her too now with guilty eyes.

Eleanor looked away, not really knowing what to think. She had been really hurt by their comments on her friendship with Regulus. But seeing them like that, she knew they meant it. They were really sorry for what they did.

Eleanor smiled and sat up straight, "I can't stay mad at you guys." They chuckled. "It's okay," she said and went over to bring them into a hug. They laughed as Kathy and Doris were crushed under the weight of the other two girls, screaming for help.

After the girls had settled themselves, the topic changed to the topic of schoolwork. Everyone in their year had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work they had to do for their classes.

"It's almost cruel!" Amelia uttered, "It's like they think we have nothing better to do!" she crossed her arms over her chest, an annoyed look on her face.

Eleanor nodded, "I know, Kettleburn set us an essay on Blast-Ended Skrewts that has to be two rolls of parchment," she groaned.

Kathy, who took that class as well, looked alarmed. "When did he say that?!" she asked anxiously.