ACT ONE; CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
TRULY SILENT
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SOME NIGHTS FELT like an eternity. Often it was the bad kind of eternity where you just wanted to be able to crawl into the abyss that was your duvet covers and catch some sleep. By midnight on the Yule Ball, Eleanor usually had those cravings as she wasn't much of a night owl as some was – plus she couldn't really handle her drink, not that she'd admit it. Her Sixth Year Yule Ball was a different story.
When time came that the teachers had begun their patrol to usher wandering students into their beds, Eleanor and Regulus accepted defeat and headed back inside. However, when the turn to separate Dorms approached them, their final kiss of the night lingered. With nobody around, they were free to do that and more but each of them reluctantly tugged away for their own reasons.
"Goodnight Archord." The boy mused after a moment of leaning against her, who was resting on the wall and hoping the eternity could continue for a little while longer.
Softly sighing, she released him to the boys' hallway. "Goodnight Black."
Smile planted on her lips, she continued the short way back to her Dorm alone. When she looked back to see him leave, as she used her wand absentmindedly to undo the locks on the door, her grin furthered at seeing his celebrations. Clearly, he had expected her to simply enter her room and sleep rather than take one last second of eternity to watch his expression that mimicked what happened in her head perfectly.
The moment ended quite abruptly after that. Midway through already beginning to reminisce with her body leant against the door and eyes closed in serenity, her ears detected a nearby crash followed by a sigh and a yell. Relaxing her reflex to use a defensive spell upon hearing the two all familiar voices, Eleanor slid her wand back into place and opened her eyes to raise an eyebrow at the scene before her.
"Where on Mars have you been?!" Pandora's slurred shout was being echoed from where she was wrestling against a noticeably tired, sober and annoyed Kelsie. It seemed with Eleanor's absence that Kelsie had taken over the role of helping Pandora's drunken actions sober up in her peaceful sleep but with different results that usual – thus the horror-struck expression on Eleanor's face as she surveyed the damage around Pandora's bed.
Due to her grimacing surveillance of the room she'd be forced to tidy before they travelled on the Hogwarts Express in only a few hours' time from that moment, Eleanor's tiredly slowed reaction time didn't have time to respond when Pandora's crawling over the bed resulted in falling from the foot of that bed. Luckily, from her spot sitting at the side of the bed where she'd been trying to get Pandora to sleep, Kelsie's lazy spell caught her before an impact could happen. Both sober girls breathed out in relief and ignored the struggling of the third.
"Our favourite hyperactive drunk here had barely managed to get back to the Dorm without my help," Kelsie recalled, drowsy eyes wide and pleading with the girl at the door to help. "She was asleep for a while but since the boys decided to have an after party in the Common Room, she hasn't been able to get back to sleep. Even now they have decided that sleep is better than being dead on the train!"
Shrugging off the jacket Regulus had given her and laying it on her bed, Eleanor swiftly made her way over to her floating best friend. In one action, she'd tugged Pandora out of the spell and settled her in bed, as she reclaimed the spot Kelsie had evacuated for her. With the soothing words that she'd uttered many times before (not to mention the times they'd been uttered to her) whispering from her mouth, gentle strokes of Pandora's hair from her calming hands and soft smiles of reassurance from her face, Eleanor soon managed to relax her best friend enough to close her eyes and prepare for sleep.
"Eleanor, will you take me to get a lip piercing?" Pandora questioned still on her journey to sleep.
"For the third time, Pan, no. Remember, you decided that it would hurt too much after you got upset when you had your ear one. Plus your Aunt Atalanta wouldn't be very happy."
"Oh yeah." She yawned softly. "Where has Poppy and Penelope gone?"
Sharing a knowing look with Kelsie and getting a confirming nod, Eleanor responded. "To sleep in the elder girls Dorm. I'm surprised you survived without me here to stop them from ripping you to shreds for being so loud, sweetheart."
"They hate me."
"They hate everyone."
"Do you hate me?" Pandora asked, her voice very sad and Eleanor concealed a reaction to give her the biggest hug because it would only prevent all the progress she'd made.
"I could never hate you, P." She settled on instead of the hug. "Come on, get some sleep and you'll realise tomorrow how much I adore you."
"Where was you though? I thought you'd left me."
That time Eleanor couldn't resist a gentle kiss on the head. Even she at times, with Pandora's bubbliness and romanticised ways of thinking forming a lovely wall of distractions, forgot that her best friend had suffered a similar family fate to her and Sirius. At an even younger age than the duo had, Pandora had been cast off by her Nott family members and given to her Aunt Atalanta to raise as they both didn't fit the ideals. As she was so young, it didn't affect her too much especially as she still kept the name's protection, but Eleanor knew the feeling of being abandoned by your parents would always leave issues, even in the happiest of people.
"Never. I'd never leave you." Eleanor promised with all of her heart. People like them and Sirius, who's families hadn't given them the love they deserved, had to stick together and never leave one and other. "I'll explain where I was tomorrow, alright? Don't worry, just get some sleep."
"I love you." Pandora mumbled, sleep finally dawning on her.
"I love you more, sweetheart. Atta girl get some sleep."
Once she was certain that the drunken deep sleep was what Pandora was in, Eleanor allowed herself to move from the bed's side with a comforted side. Retrieving her wand from the jacket, she began to put the room back to rights with a tired, muttered and sung spell. She watched as Kelsie dodged the items flying about the room to go back to their rightful place to go and trace her hand over the jacket she'd seen before, but never on Eleanor's back.
Pursing her lips, Eleanor debated responding to Kelsie's raised eyebrows as she realised who the jacket had belonged to while she waited for the last bits of the room to fix itself. As much as she wanted to tell her best friend first, she was dying to tell somebody about her and Regulus. Plus, with the Parkinson's finally out of the picture, Eleanor and Kelsie were able to label each other best friend's freely – something Pandora did for both girls, like they did her, so she really wouldn't mind.
"What's that look about?" Eleanor asked after convincing herself Pandora would be fine knowing second – which she would, it wasn't a lie – but still not wanting to have to admit it outright.
"I have been the best friend of Regulus Arcturus Black since we were both three-years-old and you don't hold that position without knowing jackets." Kelsie mused then smiled when Eleanor's sparkling face turned to look at her. "And I haven't seen someone look as giddy as you right now since James when Lily agreed to that date and Sirius whenever he even looks at Remus – oh, yeah, I know about them too, they're not discreet."
A brief silence occurred when Eleanor tried to see how long she could go without bursting. The answer was: Not very long. A blush appeared on her face within seconds and, Accioing a pillow, she buried her giggling head into it. Eleanor Archord somewhat prided herself on not being a typical teenage girl – despite how much she craved it – but, at that moment, she couldn't help but melt as her one man audience burst into applause.
"You," Kelsie emphasised as she dragged the buried Eleanor closer, "are going to tell me everything while we get ready for bed. A nap sounds really good but hearing about you and Regulus sounds even better."
Smiling, Eleanor produced their pyjamas and makeup wipes. "You have yourself a deal."
--
The nap of Kelsie and Eleanor lasted all of two hours. Unlike the majority of days, the latter had woken up in a good mood and was the one to drag Kelsie out of bed. Neither of them were particularly morning people but they had agreed to let the girl who usually claimed that title to sleep off the approaching hangover for a little while longer by sorting out packing and cleaning themselves.
Regardless of the kind gesture, they weren't that good at it. Which was why, at the time the door was knocked at, Kelsie had gone out on a walk about as she did in History of Magic lessons that she didn't want to be in. In fairness, before she'd left Eleanor's ten minute break had turned into a ten chapter break and she was still reading her floating book with Pandora laid over her when the door, again, was knocked at.
Having realised after the second request to be let in that it couldn't be Kelsie, Poppy or Penelope as all three had memorised the incantations to unlock the door years prior, Eleanor was forced to gently move Pandora and let her book fall. When it narrowly missed the sleeping girls head, she grimaced and escaped to the refuge of the door. She hadn't known who she'd expected it to be but, upon the shock evident on her face, it wasn't Regulus Black.
"Kelsie let me down the hallway," He explained then rose an eyebrow, "Is this a bad time?"
"Pandora's sleeping."
"Sorry for knocking. Good charms you've got yourself, I didn't recognise them."
With his casual voice speaking normal words, Eleanor's sleep deprived mind caught itself up to speed and her shock faded. Gently grabbing his extended hand, she allowed herself to be pulled into the empty hallway. Christmas music and the arguments of all the Slytherin's who'd left the stressful task of packing until last moment bounced around the hall, lighting up their smiles.
The warmth of the special occasion – even Eleanor's stone stance against Christmas melted somewhat during certain moments – was suddenly replaced when a cool metal pressed against her hand. As her eyebrows furrowed at what she was receiving, Regulus pressed her hands around it tighter before taking his own back. Finally she was allowed to look at her present but the sight of a rusty, old key didn't soften her confusion.
"Sometimes I leave the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black for what my family believes is 'school research'," Regulus explained, using quotation marks to announce the lie he feeds his parents without outwardly admitting it. "It's actually for the times when things just get a little much. That's the spare key for the room I have at the Leaky Cauldron."
"And why are you giving it to me?"
Hesitantly, Regulus sent her a smile to show his reluctance in showing her any pity, something Eleanor had announced on many occasions to many different people that she really didn't want. "I know that your home life is on par with how Sirius' was... I regret not helping my brother but I hope that key stops me from making the same mistake again. Even if I'm not there, that room will be there for you to use and I will be an owl away."
In all her life, Eleanor had been outspoken in everyone's eyes. From her disagreements with Professors, Regulus and her parents alike to voicing her opinion in a room where they were opposed, she had never truly struggled for words. Sometimes she stumbled on them out of anger or it took her a moment to gain them due to shock, but she was never truly silent.
Three people in the whole world knew different. Pandora, Sirius and Remus had seen her at a loss for words when, as Regulus had put it, things got a little too much. Then, as she wondered how she could thank the boy in front of her for kindness not even Sirius had thought to offer so pointedly, she realised that a new person could be added to the list but finally for a better reason.
Since words has escaped her, Eleanor planted a gentle kiss on his cheek as a thank you. However, having heard the groans of her best friend echo out of her room, forced a sigh and a pursed smile to appear from them both. "I should go."
"Having heard about how drunk your friend was last night, I can't even find it in myself to disagree."
One hand of the door, she allowed the other to cup the side of his face as they gave each other another gentle kiss. Smiling into it, she whispered, "Happy birthday, Regulus."
The shock of the sentence brought him to pull back and stare. On her past birthdays, each time he'd seen her in whatever extravagant robe or cape the Marauders had gifted her, she'd been sent a sarcastic birthday shout and he'd received an eyeroll in return. Whereas the birthday of Regulus had been a different story because, as it was Christmas, the event got lost in the sea of a day dedicated to everybody. Not even Eleanor had thought it worth taking a moment to make a remark due to the business of Christmas.
So, again, as a gift to himself, Regulus planted another kiss on Eleanor.
As with most of his birthday gifts, it turned out to be wrapped in a terrible surprise. Other contenders included his Aunt Bellatrix announcing he was finally of age to get his Dark Mark and lesser ones had finding out his friends had wrapped his presents in Christmas wrapping paper, a notable pet peeve of his. None of them compared to the door behind Eleanor opening, however, and a hungover, panicked and severely confused Pandora stood staring at them.
"Ok, mind my language, but what the fuck?!"
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WORDS: 2434
hey so if i use the same gifs then just tell me because i'm trying but i can never remember what i've used already. also yeah so i didn't know if this chapter would be soft but hey ho it is. starting next one is where shit hits the fan in eleanor's life. whoops.
don't forget to like and comment, love you !!