A Child Of Darkness : A Draco Malfoy fanfic

14 - Irritation and blackout

Christmas holidays passed swiftly and the silent hallways began to bustle with laughter and conversations after the New year.
Students began filing into their dorms and the common room grew crowded as the Gryffindors socialised about their Christmas gifts and dinners.
Lessons returned into action and Hogwarts students begrudgingly walked into their classes.

Eleonora walked into her DADA class, taking a seat behind her roommate. Hermione flashed her a smile, resuming to scroll through her book after. The two had a considerable development in their friendship over the holidays to a point that neither felt uncomfortable to be in each other's presence.
If it wasn't for the Weasley snatching her away everytime, their relationship could have improved further but Eleonora did not hold it against the boy.

Eleonora's face lit up as her eyes met that of Lupin's. But as soon as he had smiled and looked away, her face dropped, noting the exhaustion that was etched into his face.
He had continued to teach the class but had been slow in his movements and speech as if a weight had been dragging him down and Eleonora could only watch, feeling extremely helpless.

"You need to rest". Eleonora walked up to the man after his class and Remus shook his head. "Thank you Nora but as you could see, I'm quite alright".

"Sure you are". Fawley rolled her eyes as she grabbed her things to leave. "Rest or I'll have to hex you to do so", the girl threatened in a low whisper but it only elicited a laugh from the professor.

Fawley narrowed her eyes playfully at the man as she walked back but accidentally knocked into a boy.
"I'm sorry!"
She held her hands up in genuine apology but they dropped at the sight of the boy. "Harry".

Potter ignored her - a response not unusual from the boy who had constantly done so - and as he headed towards the Professor, Eleonora made her way out of the room.

•••○•••

A few lefts and rights and Eleonora found herself alone in one of the many hallways that led out of the DADA class. It was dark and was only lit under the light of the few torches. She wrapped her arms around her torso as the air had grown chilly while she had been there.

"Eleonora". It was barely a whisper and the girl wouldn't have heard it if it wasn't for the quiet corridor. Fawley turned around, looking for the source of the voice but couldn't see anyone. She wasn't even sure if it was her name she had heard. Elen almost believed it had been her imagination.
But then there it was again. Much louder than it had been before. And it echoed. She couldn't recognise the voice and she could barely make out if it was a man or woman.

She waited. But there was no one coming her way. The hairs on her arms raised but she wasn't sure if it was the anxiety or just the temperature of the air. She waited and waited. But there was no one there and the voice had stopped.
She had always snapped awake from her sleep thinking someone had called out to her but woke up to find no one. Things like that were a norm to people but it seemed odd to the girl.

Eleonora rubbed her forehead. She had a growing headache since the moment class had ended and it was beginning to tire her.

"Eleonora!"
This time, the girl ignored it, even though the voice was different. The pain in her head could likely be playing tricks on her and some sleep would definitely help cure it.

However, the loud slapping of feet against stone made her turn around and there was indeed someone behind her.

"Harry?"

The boy came to a halt. He looked at her and then away before turning his head back to her.
"You've performed the patronus charm?"

The question caught her by surprise. She took a step back in disbelief, narrowing her eyes at the boy.
"Did professor Lupin tell you that?"

"Yes", he stated. "How did you. You know", Harry paused, thinking twice before he spoke again. "How did you cast it?"

Eleonora bit her lip, staring at the boy who had sprung up with the random question.
"Well I wasn't able to cast it at first", she answered. "When I was younger no matter how much I mastered the way to do it, I was missing one thing".
Elen paused. "A happy memory", she added.

Harry did not respond and only stared blankly at the girl. Fawley continued to look at the boy, still confused about his intentions and sudden questions. And Harry didn't exactly look like he wanted to be there either.

Noting his confusion, Eleonora continued to explain further.
"You've got to think of a happy memory. It could be literally anything. Anything that gave you the feeling of joy".
She moved her hands around animatedly, trying to find the right words. "The light in a room of darkness".

"That's it? That's all there is to it?" Harry's brows knitted together as he stared at the girl as if she wasn't telling him everything.

Eleonora frowned. The headache only grew worse as he spoke to her.
"Were you expecting something else?"

"I don't know". The boy shrugged. "It wasn't what I was expecting".

Eleonora rubbed her fingers against her forehead, closing her eyes as her head felt like it was about to burst any minute.
"Professor Lupin will teach you how to do it", she sighed. "If he can't then I'd be surprised. The man himself taught me".

"He taught you? Why would he teach you?", he questioned aggressively, emphasising on the last word.

The ache in her head had grown into a painful throb. A chill ran down her body which contradicted the searing pain in her head. Her gaze hardened at the boy's words and the pain continued to multiply until her eyelids turned heavy and threatened to close.

Eleonora rubbed her forehead, looking away from the boy in annoyance.
"Did you just talk to me because you wanted to learn a spell?"

Harry did not respond and only stared at the girl. The pain in her head only multiplied and Eleonora felt almost dizzy as she fought the ache.

She sighed, taking his silence as an answer.
"That's totally fine", she lied through her teeth. "But do you still think I work for the dark arts?"

The silence that followed elevated her anger and she might as well as be shooting fireballs from her eyes as her face heated up.

"Right. Good to know Potter", her words dripped with malice. "Next time, don't talk to me if you only need to get something out of me".

The girl took a step back but fumbled slightly in her steps. Catching herself immediately before the boy could react, she straightened her posture. Eleonora turned her back to the boy and walked away. But she couldn't go far as her knees gave away. Her vision turned black and the last thing she heard was the shuffling of feet as she lost all consciousness.