The Greywitch Trials | Harry Potter AU

Kissed

Eloise felt like she was being summoned to the gallows when Percy announced at the dinner table in front of nearly every resident of Castle Pendragon that she was needed in the study as soon as they concluded their meal. Hermione had rubbed at her face tiredly and quickly assured Eloise that they were having a meeting about the possibility of Morganna's sickle being the Horcrux the Dark Lord was searching for, but it did little to assuage the pit in her stomach.

The telltale sound of raised male voices certainly didn't help, either. As Eloise came to a stop before the closed door to the study, she heard snatches of Kingley's booming voice along with Percy's shrill one. In the space of her knock and a single deep breath in, the door flew open to reveal an irritated-looking Hermione.

"Perfect, you're here." The frazzled witch grabbed Eloise by the arm and dragged her to stand facing the two wizards who stood opposite them before the large table. Kingsley waved his hand to dissolve sparkling lines that winked out before Eloise had time to properly discern what she'd been looking at. 

Their positioning felt very purposeful, Percy and Kingsley at odds with Hermione's iron-clad will. Eloise could practically taste the metallic tang of tension or perhaps a brewing storm in the air. Both were equally likely when what Hermione thought to be right was challenged. Gryffindor through and through. 

"What exactly - " Eloise started, but was interrupted by the door swinging open behind her. She spun around and was shocked to see Draco glowering in the doorway, Blaise and Theodore in toe. 

Both newly minted werewolves looked positively awful. Eloise knew little about Lycanthropy, but on the heel of the full moon, she was sure their bodies were fraught with magical energies warring for dominance. Nott's already pale complexion was positively gaunt, and Zabini had a slightly frantic look in his eye that tugged painfully at her heart. She saw her own darkest feelings mirrored in the boys before her, and it terrified her. Eloise dug her fingernails into her palms as she felt a rising wave of something within her that she couldn't quite place, but felt impossibly overwhelming. 

She tried to command herself to stop, but she managed nothing more than to avert her eyes from the Slytherin's and stare at her own whitening knuckles. 

"We need to address this." Hermione snapped, more towards Kingsley and Percy than anyone else. "I've brought us all together because we need to discuss the possibility that the thing V— You-Know-Who is looking for is Morganna's sickle, and he's trying to create another Horcrux."

Blaise threw himself into one of the chairs like his body was a bag of especially heavy rocks he'd been toting around for far too long. He raised a hand, captivating all of the attention in the room. 

"Yes?" Hermione asked impatiently. 

"What's a Horcrux? What's Morganna got to do with this? Why am I here and not sleeping?" 

Out of the corner of her eye, Eloise caught sight of Draco's lip twitching upwards. 

"Noted. Theodore, do you know what I'm talking about?" 

All eyes turned to the thinner of the three newcomers as he delicately took a seat beside his friend, also ignoring the rest of them that stood ready for a verbal battle. He narrowed his eyes the slightest bit before offering a noncommital, "Enough."

"Now is not the time to be coy, boy." Kingsley rumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and glowering down at the unflinching Slytherin. 

"I owe my life to you lot, miserable as it is, but I don't trust you not to use and discard me." Theo shifted in his seat and let his steely gaze settle over each of them, grey eyes piercing. "Expecting a frightened dragon not to roast the first individual to offer it a tasty morsel is rather dim."