with love, george |g. weasley|

chapter nine

chapter nine; numb on the Hogwarts Express

Gliding down the corridor of the Hogwarts express felt like a dream, a fever dream if that.

The buzzing of the first years surrounded her as they tried to find a place to sit on the train. With her carry-on slung across her shoulder, she ventured further into the train, hoping she could find a familiar face.

Her brain cut out all the noise, her breathing the only thing she could hear clearly. She felt like nothing was real.

The days following the quidditch cup were particularly hard for Eloise, she felt her emotions deeper than most. With her habit of bottling her emotions deep within her, everything became difficult, even breathing became hard.

Eloise coughed into her elbow, her lungs still clearing all of the smoke and debris from the cup. She didn't say a word to anyone, making them assume she just had a cold of some sort. No matter how hard she coughed or blew her aching nose, the soot never stopped. Feeling a coughing fit coming, Eloise took her handkerchief from her jean pocket then brought it to her mouth. Coughing hysterically into the cloth, she brought the hanky away from her mouth, finding dirt and blood staining it.

Ignoring the ache in her lungs, Eloise continued down the hallway where the Ravenclaws usually sat. Glancing into a compartment, she spotted Juniper and Cleo cuddled up on the bench.

They laughed with the other, wide smiles on their faces. On the opposite side of the bench sat Cho Chang and Cedric. It looked like she was in the middle of an important story, her hands moving around enthusiastically. Cedric looked unbothered by Cho, Trying to see who had his attention, she followed his eyes to Harry Potter as he was engulfed in a hug with Mrs Weasley.

"Eloise! There you are... Ron got a compartment, let's go get changed." Hermione popped out of nowhere, her voice sounded muffled in Eloise's ears. Eloise just nodded carefully, following Hermione down the hall.

"Wheezy!" Eloise stopped in her tracks outside of an open compartment, meeting the eyes of Kenneth and Lee Jordan.

"She's alive!" Kenneth yelled, a goofy smile on his face.

Eloise just smiled, unsure of what to do. Against her better judgment, she stepped inside of the compartment.

"We missed you, Eloise! How are you..." Lee looked at Eloise's arm then at the blank look that covered her face, instantly seeing how distraught she was.

"I'm fine," Eloise whispered, trying to smile. Drifting her eyes to the other side of the bench sat Fred Weasley, his eyes were narrowed at her, trying to read her expression.

Fred knew she was still dealing from the night at the cup, Hell, so was he. They saw people die that night, innocent people. He raised his eyebrow at her, no sign of sarcasm on his face. Eloise merely shook her head, not wanting him to ask if she was okay, he knew she wasn't.

"Hey Ella," Eloise moved her eyes to George, then to his arm draped rigidly over Alicia Spinnet's shoulder. His voice breaking her ears from the underwater sound.

"George." Eloise nodded, finally hearing everything clearly. Her voice sounded even, but this sight was Eloise's breaking point, her final straw. Eyeing the way Alicia cuddled up to him, he looked uncomfortable with Eloise's eyeing the two. It didn't feel right.

"Eloise." Alicia tried smiling, but looked away quickly to swoon up at George.

Eloise looked back to Fred, He was impressed with her composure. He watched as she broke under the sight, it was in her eyes.

She felt nauseous, almost to the point of actually getting sick. Nodding her head to Fred, Eloise continued down the hall to find Hermione.

"Wait up!" Eloise turned her head, her face looked greener than normal.