[ 1 ] EXPLODE ( r. black ! )

three || showtime

ACT ONE; CHAPTER THREE
SHOWTIME

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BY THE FIRST Friday in November, the fight was old news because not only had a million planets been born, lived and died during that time but a Fourth Year had been expelled for some reason, there had been at least twenty other arguments within school hours and Alice Prewett and Frank Longbottom had had a pregnancy scare... again.

So it was no wonder that people had stopped coming up to Eleanor and Pandora to get the real reason it had all kicked off on Halloween, with all the drama that Hogwarts fed them, Eleanor almost forgot a few times as well. She would have forgotten entirely if Professor McGonagall didn't make it her mission to remind Eleanor of the impending detention every chance she got.

Regardless, the issue had been forgotten even by Severus and the Marauders who were far too deep into Seventh Year to think about anything but what they needed to remember for NEWTs and what they didn't. The end-of-Hogwarts exams were also playing on Eleanor's mind as she waited for Professor Flitwick to mark her Charms quiz. Soon she'd have the comfort and routine of Hogwarts stripped away from her and she'd be forced into a world that could quite possibly still be at War – she didn't want to admit it but she was terrified.

Eleanor didn't understand how anybody couldn't be terrified, upset and completely and utterly dreading what was to come. She presumed the Seventh Years were so stressed about exams they weren't thinking about what was awaiting them on the other side. The War, the possibility of never seeing the people they'd spent seven rollercoasters years of their life with, and just the future in general. Nothing scared Eleanor more really.

Which was why she was extra thankful Professor Flitwick was quick with marking Eleanor's quiz, so she could return to her seat and stop spiralling. After doing exactly what she wanted to, the girl rested her head on the desk but kept it tilted to face Pandora – so her whispers of the correct answer wouldn't be muffled. Honestly, Eleanor wondered how Pandora had passed all her OWLs without Eleanor there to lead her along.

Eventually Pandora finished the quiz and had gotten it marked – Eleanor noted that if you were one of the first to finish Flitwick was quick with his marking, whereas Pandora took forever to regain her seat. Eleanor presumed she would have exploded from spiralling so much if she had to wait all of those minutes.

As Flitwick handed one last piece of parchment to a Hufflepuff named Andrena, he turned to his class. "You may discuss between yourselves until the lesson is over."

Instantly Eleanor's parchment was torn out from under her as Pandora skimmed over it to find the score. With a deflated sigh, Pandora put her head face down on the desk and began talking to Eleanor but, it was so muffled, Eleanor only caught certain words like 'Slytherin', 'grades' and 'failure'.