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╔════════════╗ V. "PAIN IN ABSENCE " ╚════════════╝
5 September, 1976 Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry The Astronomy Tower/Marauders Dormitory
─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
ALL WAS QUIET on the grounds of Hogwarts as Eloise Potter made her way up to the Astronomy Tower, hoping not to be caught by any prefects. Stargazing was Eloise's way of clearing her head, and right now she needed a good head-clearing more than anything. Regulus hadn't responded to any of her letters, and he had been acting more distant since the school year started, which she could only assume had something to do with the fact that Sirius had left home for good at the beginning of the summer and was now living with her and James at Potter Manor.
As she neared the top of the stairs, she could hear a faint sniffling.
"Reg?" she called softly, recognizing the boys neat curls.
He turned around, the moonlight allowing her to see him more clearly: his eyes were bloodshot, his nose red, and there was a trail of tears streaming down his cheeks. Despite all that, she thought hewasabsolutely beautiful, in an almost tragic sort of sense.
She ignored that thought, though.
"Sorry," he muttered, clearly embarrassed because no one, especially not her, was meant to find him. "I was just about to leave—"
"No, don't," Eloise pleaded. "What's wrong, Reg? You've been avoiding me, and I can tell there's something bothering you and I want to help, but you haven't even given me a chance to have a conversation with you and I can't help if you refuse to speak to me."
She sat herself down next to him, and he turned his body to face her.
"You can't help," His voice was hardly audible, and Eloise probably wouldn't have heard it if it weren't for the quietness of the night.
"Is it Sirius?" she asked tentatively.
At the mention of his older brother, Regulus's walls came crumbling down, and Eloise immediately took him into her arms. Unlike when he was eleven and hugs were foreign, Regulus allowed himself to melt into her embrace and cry into her shoulder. Hugs were a frequent in their friendship; Something they would do after Regulus caught the snitch in a Quidditch match, or, like now, when one of them needed comforting.
"He's gone," Regulus whimpered. Eloise had never seen her best friend look so vulnerable. "L-left in the middle of the night, didn't even say goodbye. I-I thought he cared about me, at least a little bit, but clearly he doesn't. He was there when we were younger, but now," Regulus's stopped, glaring at nothing and suddenly sounding more bitter than anything. "He doesn't care about anything but himself."
Eloise was stunned. She had no idea that Sirius had just left his younger brother without a word. She would certainly make sure to say something (or do something) to Sirius about it, because it was unfair to Regulus. She tried to imagine how she would feel if James decided to up and leave her without telling her. It would feel awful.
"Oh, goodness . . . shhh," the young witch soothed, "I had no idea he hadn't spoken to you, otherwise I would've said something by now . . . Oh, Reg, I'm so sorry. But I'm sure Sirius does care about you, you're his little brother," Eloise paused, in thought. "You know what, I'm going to go knock some sense into him right now."
Eloise cringed. Regulus likely didn't believe her. After all, Sirius was doing a pretty shit job at showing he cared about his little brother. But she knew he did. He just needs to stop being so stubborn and talk to Regulus himself.
"It's fine, it's not your fault. I'm sorry for avoiding you, Lou."
"Hey, it's alright," she patted his arm comfortingly. "Just promise me you won't leave me like that again, alright? I don't think my little, fragile heart can take you leaving me."
Despite her teasing tone, Eloise was completely serious.
Regulus nodded, now smiling slightly,
"I promise."
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THE MARAUDERS LOOKED from James' younger sister, to the reddening mark on Sirius Black's cheek in disbelief.
"Uh— Ellie, when I let you up here, I didn't think you were going to start assaulting my mates."
"Oh no, not all of them. Just this one," she glared at Sirius heatedly.
Sirius stared back at her with wide eyes.
"What did I do?!"
"I'm sorry, did you really just ask me that?"
". . . Yes? I don't recall doing anything wrong."
Eloise was going to strangle this boy. Well, no, she wouldn't. Only because James and Regulus cared about him, though.
"Yes, that's just it, isn't it? What you didn't do," Eloise crossed her arms. "Why haven't you said anything to Regulus? I'm waiting, and you better have a real good excuse for this."
"Er— I don't know. Forgot, I guess," Sirius shrugged guiltily. They both knew that was a lie. Sirius was too stubborn to admit to anything else though.
"Forgot?" she scoffed. Eloise slapped his arm. "Oops! Have I done that already? Silly me, I forgot."
"Was that really necessary, Ellie?" whined the boy, rubbing his arm.
"Yes," she snapped. "You hurt Regulus, so I hurt you. Simple, really. And if you don't apologize and talk to your brother sometime soon, I won't hesitate to do it again. Got it?"
"Got it," Sirius muttered.
And with that, Eloise Potter stormed out of Gryffindor tower.
