Illicit | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 20

"Pssst!" Her head shot up. Was that meant for her?

"On your left!" she heard a whisper.

She looked over to her left and saw Regulus' head peeking out in between two bookshelves. Eleanor had to hold back the urge to laugh as he grinned at her. She collected her stuff, got up, and walked around the row of bookshelves that separated them. 

"Why are you sitting here?" she asked with a chuckle. He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

Regulus lowered his gaze and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "This part of the Library is just a bit more private, thought we could maybe get to know each other a little more," he answered. "We haven't really done that yet," he added a bit shyly.

Eleanor smiled, put down her bag, and sat down in a chair. "I'd love that," she said. Her green eyes met his again as he looked at her. His mouth turned up into a smile and he sat down opposite her.

"So er, what do you want to know?" Eleanor asked as she put her hair up into a bun. Regulus ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat.

"Well, for example," he thought for a moment. "Do you like Quidditch?"

She chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I do. I like to watch though, mind you, not to play," she said with a laugh. Regulus laughed as well. 

"You?" she asked. Regulus nodded immediately. 

"A lot, I really regret not trying out this year," he explained. "I was too late when I saw it on the noticeboard."

Eleanor raised her eyebrows. "Oh, what did you want to try out for?"

"Seeker," he said with a grin.

"That's so cool!" she said excitedly. Eleanor imagined he'd do really well as Seeker. He had about the same build as James, not too tall not too short. He seemed like a perfect fit. "Maybe you can try out next year?" she said with an encouraging smile on her face.

"Yeah probably, Slytherin's Seeker is a seventh-year so he'll graduate this year and they'll need a new one. So that's perfect," he sniggered. Eleanor laughed.

Silence fell upon them. Eleanor didn't really know what to do, she hated moments like these. She noticed Regulus' eyes were still fixed on her and he had a hint of a smile on his face.

"Something wrong?" she said softly with a chuckle.

He lowered his gaze for a moment and then looked back into her eyes. "No, I was just thinking what an amazing person you are," Regulus responded with a smile. He leaned forward slightly, causing their hands to almost touch on the desk.

Eleanor didn't know what to say. She felt her cheeks blush lightly and wished it would stop. Why did she feel so uncomfortable? Regulus was a great guy, but she had this feeling he wanted more than what she had intended to be between them. She just smiled and avoided his eyes.

"Thank you. You're a really good friend as well," she said, looking at their hands. 

Regulus' expression turned rigid as he let those words sink in. He gulped and turned his hand into an open fist to create more space between them. Eleanor looked up slightly to see he was nodding slightly to himself. 

Then, just as she was about to say she was sorry, Eleanor felt something hot against her leg. Her eyes grew wide when she realized it was the pebble she had been carrying around in her pocket for the past weeks. Her head shot up to look out the window. She had been so caught up in their awkward encounter that Eleanor hadn't even seen it was storming like crazy outside. But now what? Could she just leave Regulus like that? He was probably going to think she was trying to escape the situation. But she had to leave...

"Look, I'm really sorry," she eventually said. Regulus looked up at her, his face showing no particular emotion. "This really has nothing to do with- with what just happened, but I really have to go," she hung her bag over her shoulder and stood up from her chair. "We'll talk some other time okay," she added with a guilty look on her face. 

Regulus rested his arms on his knees and lowered his head. "Sure," he mumbled. Eleanor opened her mouth to say something but closed it again after realizing nothing she would say was going to help at this point. So, with one last look at him, she turned on her heels and quickly left the Library.

A rush of adrenaline was going through her body as she sped through the halls. This was it. It really was going to happen. She was going to become an Animagus together with three of her best friends. What animal would she be? What would the others be? She couldn't wait to find out.

The four of them had been working towards this moment for the past three years. Eleanor still remembered how they had to carry a Mandrake leaf around in their mouth for an entire month. Whenever one of them had to speak for example in classes, Remus or Amelia gave the excuse that they were in a bet to see who could keep their mouth shut for the longest amount of time. Amelia thought this was really true though because she obviously couldn't know about their actual plan.

"Widdershins!" Eleanor said a little bit too loud and excited once she reached the Fat Lady. The woman chuckled and then the portrait swung open. 

She climbed through the portrait hole. A smile crept to her face as she approached the Marauders standing beside the fireplace. They were discussing amongst themselves, but they fell silent as she shamelessly squeezed in between James and Remus. 

"What are we talking about?" she said with a grin. James looked over at her with a frown.

"You're fast," he said. Sirius put his hands in his pockets and eyed the two of them, looking a bit confused.

"Well can you blame me?" she chuckled. "I can't believe it's finally going to happen!" she said with a massive grin on her face. Remus smiled at his sister's enthusiasm. James smiled as well and nodded.

"So, are we ready? We should go before it's too late," Sirius said in a hushed voice. They all nodded in agreement.

Sirius' mouth turned up into a wide grin. "Let's go."