Ink and Parchment ~ blood and bone

63

So Eliza warmed up the chamber and gave him more rabbits and shined his scales and dedicated her hours to him. Because he was unwell, and he was tired, and the least she could do was spend some of her practically unlimited time with him.

The weeks passed.

He didn’t get better.

Her court knew what was going but they didn’t have any way to help either. They also struggled to understand, to them Jormy was still terrifying. To Eliza he was a beloved friend. She’d gone to Hagrid for advice, turned to Severus for help but had come empty each time. And with each passing day Jormy was sleeping more and more, half the time only vaguely aware of Eliza’s presence at all.

“Hi Jormy” she whispered one long night down in the chamber “How are we doing today?”

“I’m tired little speaker” he hissed back sluggishly and Eliza wrapped herself around him a bit tighter.

“I know” she murmured back, stroking the spot between his eyes “I know”

The next day she finally spoke to Tom.

You need to come back to Hogwarts

He replied instantly, writing rushed and hurried What’s wrong? What’s happened.

It’s Jormy. He’s not well Tom.

I’ll be there by tonight.

She put the journal away and informed her court of Tom’s imminent arrival. Before the news would have been met with stifling tension and worried glances but now her court just seemed relieved. She couldn’t even appreciate the change. She’d been despondent for days, she knew she had been but she couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop it.

She’d never had to deal with anything quite like this before.

Eliza went through her day in a bit of a daze, periodically checking the marauder’s map to see if Tom had entered the castle yet. She didn’t know which entrance he was sneaking in through but she assumed he would be here soon enough.

Arguments had never stopped them before.

It was later that evening she spotted Tom on the map and she began to make her way towards the chamber. She let her court know not to wait up for her and left their worried stares behind as she sneaked out of the common room. Tom had used the Honeydukes tunnel and with a few short-cuts Eliza ended up beating him to Myrtle’s bathroom. She waited in an anxious silence, if it was over the prospect of seeing Tom again or Jormy she couldn’t tell. It was probably just a horrible amalgamation of both.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Tom suddenly appeared in front of her – dropping a disillusionment charm she wasn’t even aware he had up.

“Hello Little Star” he greeted easily even as he held himself tense, unable to hide the worry in his eyes.

I’m sorry.

Eliza internally shook her head, this was more important than her and Tom’s – whatever.

“Come on” she said instead, slipping into the bathroom behind them “Thank you for coming”

“What’s going on?” Tom questioned worriedly, disdainfully looking at the pipe turned slide even though Eliza knew for a fact it was the cleanest it had ever been.

“It’s Jormy. He’s- he’s not well Tom” Eliza said hating the way her voice caught on the words. They stayed in uncomfortable stifling silence for a few moments, the ugly daunting truth settling heavy between them. Gesturing to the pipe Eliza hopped onto the edge, throwing herself down feeling the air whip past her.