The Greywitch Trials | Harry Potter AU

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Hermione was practically spitting with anger when she entered the kitchen. Her hair was unrulier than usual, which meant she'd probably been running her fingers through it enough to nearly rip it out. After the amount of extra time she'd spent with Malfoy that afternoon, Eloise didn't doubt it. 

She'd made her cowards exit an hour before when she'd realized the three of them weren't going to do much else than argue for the rest of Malfoy's time in the library. Perhaps it was a little inconsiderate of her to abandon Hermione, but she'd never been able to extricate the two from their verbal battle once they really started to get into it. Instead, she tried to take her leave whenever she'd felt that she'd contributed as much as she could for the day. 

Clearly, that hadn't been a good idea. 

Eloise had never seen Hermione so bothered in all the time she'd known the bushy-haired witch. 

Hermione stomped over to the storeroom and threw the door open with a little more force than necessary, before slamming it shut behind her. A moment after the door had shut, she let out an enraged little scream. 

"Did she just ... "

Eloise whipped her head over her shoulder to see Charlie standing at the entrance to the kitchen, looking like a deer in the forest, frozen in the sightline of a predator. He had a fuzzy little animal in his hand that looked like a rabbit. 

Charlie was saved from finishing his sentence, and Eloise was saved from answering when Hermione came out of the storeroom with just as much gusto as she'd had when she'd entered the kitchen. She pointed at Eloise, "You - " then to Charlie, " - and you. Drop what you're doing and go to the terrarium in the courtyard we're running low on dill, rosemary, and thyme."

Neither Charlie nor Eloise was stupid enough to argue. Eloise just removed the apron she'd put on earlier, and Charlie deposited his kill on the cutting block. Then, the two scurried out of the kitchen, Hermione's glare hot between their shoulder blades. 

They were silent as they travelled to Hermione's little magic bubble that bobbed in the wind. Eloise had forgotten a coat and rubbed her hands together, willing them to warm as she pressed them against her sides. No matter how many times she successfully summoned warmth, she still felt a little thrill down her spine. Because it proved that she was special. She was a witch. Voldemort could rot for all she cared. 

She hadn't realized that gnawing uncertainty that had been toiling in her gut until it was gone, and Merlin, what a relief it was.

Charlie broke the silence as they entered Hermione's garden, "Do I even want to know what happened back there?"

Eloise just shook her head, making her way down the narrow path at the centre of the raised beds, forgoing the magical herbs and fungi and going straight for the small section in the back that had the common herbs and vegetables. "Malfoy gets under her skin. I don't blame her, he's a needling arse. It's a shame she has to spend so much time with him each day."

A thumping sound had her glancing over her shoulder to see Charlie cursing softly under his breath as he hopped on one leg. Clearly, he'd made contact with the wooden siding of the raised beds. She had to suppress her laughter, but she couldn't hide her amused smile. 

"I thought you were supposed to be stealthy."

"There aren't random wooden boxes in nature," he grumbled. "I'm much more used to sneaking around forests where the worst thing you have to worry about being underfoot is a stray root."

Eloise snorted out a little laugh at that, but raised her hands innocently when he shot her a look. "I didn't say anything!"

"You didn't have to say anything." He ducked forward and reached out to tug playfully at her ponytail.