Upon entering the Great Hall as they were told, Eleanor along with the other students, saw that the Gryffindor House was already there. It seemed everyone was looking for answers as the whispering began and as Eleanor looked across the way, she could see the Weasley twins among the crowds. They looked wide awake, as most of the other Gryffindor students, and before she could even start to question what was taking place, Professor Dumbledore decided to make an announcement.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," he began. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately,"
Of course, his vague explanation only left everyone with more questions than answers.
"Oh, yes," Professor Dumbledore said before facing them once more, "you'll be needing..."
With a wave of his wand, the tables of the Great Hall parted and were placed against the walls. And with another wave, the floor suddenly became littered with large, purple sleeping bags for all the students.
"Sleep well."
As the Headmaster left on a casual note, Eleanor couldn't help the turning sensation in her stomach. It seemed exciting for the four houses to have what appeared to be a large slumber party of sorts, but the only thing Eleanor was focused on was the fact that the professors and Dumbledore were conducting a search of the castle for the safety of the students.
What exactly were they looking for?
"Ugh, where is Cedric with the gossip when you need him?" Marnie asked, dragging Eleanor out of her thoughts. "He's usually the first to know what's going on."
With a quick look around the room, Cedric appeared to be busy comforting a few first years that looked terrified. Not wanting to get in the way of his prefect duties, Eleanor looked across the way again to see Fred and George talking to Lee Jordan.
"Wait here, Marnie," she said," I'll be right back."
Making her way across the Hall, Eleanor approached the Weasley twins and Lee a few moments later. All three seemed surprised by her quiet greeting as she came to stand in front of them.
"Pinch me, George, I must be dreaming," Fred said, "or maybe my eyes are deceiving me- "
"Save it," Eleanor said with a tired sigh, "I'm not here on behalf of either one of you or your pranking. I was just wondering if you know what's going on. When we came in here, you all were here first and I would think since Slytherin and Hufflepuff are closest to the Great Hall, if we were all alerted, we would have been the first. Makes me think something happened in Gryffindor."
"Curious, are we?" Fred asked her. "Well, we have the answers that you're seeking, but I think we should get something out of this trade. So, what's in it for us?"
Eleanor stared blankly at him before looking at Lee and George, of course, they were grinning along.
"You do realise that if you don't tell me, I could literally walk over to someone else and ask them, right?"
"Well then, why don't you?"
Fred's counter did not exactly go as he planned because Eleanor simply gave a shrug of her shoulders before walking away to ask someone else in the Gryffindor house. But he quickly changed his mind as he motioned George to stop her. And right before she could ask anyone else, George jumped in front of her.
"Alright, we'll tell you."
She folded her arms across her chest, as George started to tell her that the Gryffindor students were headed back to the Tower when there was a hold up at the entrance. They could not get into the Common Room because they couldn't deliver the password, and they couldn't deliver the password because the Fat Lady had fled from her portrait. He claimed that her canvas had been slashed, large tears that draped over as someone was desperately trying to get in.
"Someone was trying to get into the Gryffindor Common Room?" she repeated. "But who?"
Suddenly, Fred appeared behind her with a coy grin as he whispered in her ear. "You've heard of the one they call Sirius Black, haven't you?"
Immediately, Eleanor turned around to face him while putting some space in between them. "You're lying," she said quietly, "there are dementors all over the school, how would he get into the castle? And how would he manage to go unseen until he reached the Gryffindor Tower?"
Fred placed his hands up, claiming he knew nothing else. She watched him for a minute or so, waiting for him to break out in laughter and tell her it was all a joke. However, the expression on his face softened and came across as sincere. She went to ask if he was really telling the truth but was interrupted by Percy Weasleys' loud voice echoing in the Great Hall.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" he yelled. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
Fred looked positively annoyed at his older brother sending everyone to bed, but it gave Eleanor the quick opportunity to say 'goodnight' before finding her way back to Marnie.
Cedric had finally managed to return to his friends, as they grabbed three sleeping bags to remain together. Picking one of the bags at the end, Eleanor slid inside, finding the squashy bag to be rather uncomfortable as she tried to adjust to her comfort level. Meanwhile, Cedric filled them in about what he had heard and surprisingly, his story lined up with what Fred and George had told Eleanor earlier.
"Sirius Black in the castle?" Marnie repeated. "How are all the professors so calm about it? He's a murderer and they're just having us all have a slumber party in here?"
"Well, what else can they do?" Cedric whispered to her. "They're not going to panic in front of all of us and have the whole school go mad with worry. And it's best if they keep everyone in one place to keep an eye out. Isn't that right, Ellie?"
Only, Eleanor did not answer as she laid on her side, her back facing her friends as she pretended to be asleep. She wasn't upset with them by any means, but more upset with Sirius Black himself. She was always fearful that her mother was going to learn about the chaos that took place inside the castle walls over the last couple of years, and demand that she remain at home. Eleanor only had to make it two more years before she would be of age and then, she felt as though she wouldn't have to worry about Margaret having a say about anything she did.
Until then, she was furious at Sirius Black for breaking into the school and disrupting things. If she ever got the chance to see him for herself, she would probably knock him in the face and drag his arse back to Azkaban herself.
"The lights are going out now!" Percy's last call rang. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"
As she closed her eyes, the Great Hall slowly fell silent as the talking died down to whispers. She prayed that the dementors would catch Sirius Black and return him to Azkaban, just so she could get through her education without any more interruptions.
The next morning, Eleanor awoke to a stiff pain in her neck from the awkward position she had sleeping on the floor. She pushed herself up to see that she was among the first few students that were awake. However, all the professors appeared to be present, directing the students that were up to head back to their dorms. Shaking both Marnie and Cedric awake, Eleanor pushed herself up to her feet and decided to approach Professor McGonagall, who stood by the entrance to the hall.
"Professor McGonagall," she began, mindful of keeping her distance, aware of her morning breath, "did they catch him last night? Did they find him?"
McGonagall looked slightly puzzled at Eleanor's interest in the matter when in reality, it wasn't so far-fetched for any student to be curious with all the rumours flying around the castle. Unfortunately, her answer to Eleanor's question was a solemn shake of her head. That was the only answer Eleanor needed before she sighed and offered a quiet "thank you" before leaving the Great Hall to head back to the Hufflepuff dormitory.
Passing through the barrels after knocking the appropriate hymn, Eleanor decided it was best to take a shower and get ready for the day before the bathrooms were bombarded with other students. She left Marnie and Cedric, who were both struggling to get up when she left them in the Great Hall. She was sure they could both manage to find their way back to the dorms.
In the shower, she ran the hot water over the back of her neck, hoping to soothe the sore area, all the while, getting caught up in her own thoughts. The night of sleeping in the Great Hall had been rough, from sleeping on the floor to having terrible nightmares. The one she remembered the most was the one of her mother showing up at the school, even though Eleanor knew that her mother, as a muggle would never be able to stumble upon Hogwarts even if she wanted to.
But it hadn't stopped Margaret in her nightmare, who stormed in and grabbed Eleanor by her arm. Suddenly, Eleanor was a little girl again, being pulled all the way home to where she was dragged into her room and then locked inside of it. As Margaret walked away, Eleanor's fists pounded against the door as she cried to her mother to let her out, and like so many times before, her cries went ignored.
With a slight sniffle as she turned off the shower, Eleanor wiped away a few stray tears and shook her head. She was overreacting and for what? As long as she didn't say anything to Margaret, how else was the woman going to find out? She just needed to pretend like nothing was wrong and everything would work out fine. Cedric and his family were inviting them over for the holidays, and if Eleanor could convince her mother to go, she could see just how wonderful the magical families were and Eleanor would make sure that Sirius Black did not come up in conversation.
Once her teeth were brushed and she was dressed, Eleanor looked around for Cedric and Marnie, but they were nowhere to be found, more than likely getting ready themselves. She decided to head back to the Great Hall for some breakfast and grabbed her knitting supplies. While many teased Eleanor that the only thing she knew how to do was knit and breathe, she honestly didn't care because knitting was in many ways very therapeutic to her. It kept her mind distracted and it gave her sometimes shaky hands something to focus on.
Settling on one of the benches at the Hufflepuff table, Eleanor made herself a plate and got busy with her work. The Great Hall was relatively quiet compared to the norm since most students were just returning to their dorms after a long night. She had been occupied with a fussy stitch when she felt someone sit next to her. Assuming it was Marnie or Cedric, she didn't bother looking up as she grumbled at the yarn that fought her.
"Quit being difficult!"
"Do you often talk to yourself?"
Immediately looking up from her stitch work, Eleanor recognised Fred sitting next to her and nearly fell back off the bench. However, she managed to balance herself and scoot away slightly in surprise that he was right there. He, of course, appeared rather amused at her reaction, leaving Eleanor to grumble as she looked back at the yarn.
"Talking to one's self is a sign of high intelligence," she told him, "but if you must know, in this case, I wasn't talking to myself, but this yarn."
"Yes, talking to yarn," Fred chuckled, "that sounds so much better than talking to yourself."
Eleanor dropped her hands and her work into her lap in frustration before facing Fred. "I'm sorry, but can I help you with something?"
"Well, you looked awfully lonely over here, I thought you could use some company, and who better to keep you company than myself?"
"Uh-huh, I'm flattered," she replied, "And where is your other half? Am I supposed to believe that you're here without him?"
"He's running a bit behind," Fred answered, "he didn't sleep very well last night."
"Him and me both," Eleanor muttered. "And what's your secret of getting a good night's sleep after everything that happened last night?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
"And why not?"
Fred propped his elbow on the table, looking at her with a widening grin. "Why should I tell you my secret if you don't tell me yours?"
Eleanor rolled her eyes, biting back her own smile. "The difference is, I don't really care about how you managed to get a good night's sleep. I was only trying to make polite conversation. You, on the other hand, you're getting more desperate to figure out my secret, aren't you? I bet you can't stand it. But I guess that leaves me a bit curious as to why you are so set on pranking me?"
"Let's not get carried away, Ross," Fred said, "we're not just set on pranking you. We don't discriminate around here; we're looking to prank everyone. If you had just been a good little victim with our initial prank, we wouldn't be here right now."
She leaned closer to him as she placed one hand to her chest. "This must be so awful for you, you poor thing."
He gave a shrug of his shoulders. "Now that you've mentioned it, it hasn't been all that bad. Every prank that you manage to dodge results in someone else getting it. Even if it is Professor McGonagall. Thanks for that by the way."
"Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't allow one of your pranks to hit me and you ended up getting in trouble for your own actions."
"Thank you," he huffed, stealing a piece of bacon off her plate, "I accept your apology."
As other students entered the Great Hall, there seemed to be a building hum of whispers and chattering as many observed Fred Weasley sitting at the Hufflepuff table with Eleanor Ross. Among the confused, was George, as Fred had mentioned that he was heading to breakfast before but made no mention that he had plans to meet up with Eleanor. He wasn't sure what to do as he had never been in the position before. He looked across the way to see that Fred kept attempting to steal food off of Eleanor's plate, who kept trying to shoo him away with a smile.
Unsure of what else to do, George settled sitting with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, looking for some answer.
"Fred still trying to figure out her secret, I see."
Hermione gave him a look while Harry and Ron looked confused. "He's been talking to her all morning. They seem to be getting along from what I've seen."
"Really?"
Ron let out a laugh, spitting some food onto the table. "Maybe Fred is looking to replace you!"
"Pipe down and finish your breakfast, Ickle Ronniekins!"
A/N: A special thank you to bugsies who created this wonderful banner graphic! Thank you so much!