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ten || an occlumency handbook

ACT ONE; CHAPTER TEN
AN OCCLUMENCY HANDBOOK

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FOR A WEEK, there'd been many failed attempts by Eleanor and Regulus alike to sneak away from the prying eyes in the castle. Each and every of their seven lies had to be fulfilled under the annoyed, impatient glare of the other that had waited. Even Eleanor had to go back to the library with Pandora for three hours after already spending eight hours of her Saturday there – needless to say, even a girl as studious as an ambitious Slytherin wanted to slam her head on the table repeatedly.

Somehow though, on the Sunday's afternoon, they'd both managed to arrive outside of Barnabas the Barmy's tapestry alone and with most of their patience towards their friends intact. Upon seeing Regulus, Eleanor didn't waste any time before grabbing his hand and thinking of the space they needed three times. According to James, that's how the Room worked when he found it for the Order of the Phoenix meetings.

Sure enough, a door appeared just as Eleanor's eyes opened. Taking one look at Eleanor's knowing smirk, Regulus' decided it was safe to inquire. "What in Merlin's name—?"

"It's the Room of Need... at least that's what the Hufflepuff who showed it to me called it." She lied, pulling him inside before he could question further. Inside was rather to be expected from all of her experience with the Room: a desk, books on the theory of Occlumency and Legilimency, a comfortable chair. The basics, really.

"Well, this is cosy." Regulus mused, resting on the chair after a dramatic jump onto it. "Shall we get on with it?"

"Yes. We shall." Eleanor smiled fake sweetly in response before throwing Wizards With Thoughts, a Tool For Legilimency at him roughly. With swift Seeker response, Regulus caught the book – and his smirk – mid-air, infuriatingly.

Biting the lip of his smirk, Regulus sat up. "That must be frustrating for you."

"Not at all." She said, with another fake charming smile, which turned into an amused one when her silent spell sent Wizards With Thoughts the objective to sting Regulus' hand.

Once the counter curse had been spat, Eleanor dropped dramatically onto her own chair at the desk with finality. She reached for her own book – Escaping the Grasp: An Occlumency Handbook – and only looked up when a sighing boy joined her at the other side of the desk. For once there was silence between the two as they, oddly in sync, opened their books and began to read.

In between each line of 'close your mind' and 'free your thoughts from view', Eleanor peered over the book to see what Regulus was doing. A studying Regulus was one she'd never seen – she liked to do homework sat cross legged on her bed and the duo silently declared their Common Room studying times during every exam season so they didn't argue when there was more important things to do. So, until then, Eleanor had never seen how peculiar he sat (one leg crossed on the chair, the other bent up so his arm could rest on it yet still turn the page easily) and she could never have noticed how he slid his wand behind his ear and kept the tip of his quill in his mouth instead, the opposite of his way during class.