Hold My Hand Through The Pain

/5/ Conjuring Your Familiar

You tried your best to listen closely as Professor Dacre explained the spell you all would be learning for this lesson as it was a simple way to conjure your familiar. And although the Professor expressed he had high hopes for everyone in the class, it was kind of clear that he didn't exactly trust many of you to do it correctly.

"Of course, to ensure that your first lesson goes as smoothly as possible, I'll be taking you all out to the school courtyard. There you'll be assigned a third year to help you, unless you'll be judged by me specifically," He announced to the class before walking to open the door. "Now then, come along."

Everyone seemed in a rush to get up and out of the classroom as they lined up at the door. You on the other hand were going as slowly as possible, the nerves seeming to eat away at you.

Orpheus had tooken notice of this while waiting for you to join him in line. Softly tapping on your arm as he flashed you a reassuring smile, one that was only able to slightly calm you. "Hey, it's okay, I'm sure you'll do just fine. And besides, it's omly the first lesson so no one's going to fully know how to do it unless they've already looked into the spell."

You nodded, giving him as much of a smile as you could muster up. "Yeah. Thanks, Orpheus."

Professor Dacre had then guided you all out into the hall, asking for you all to keep your talking to a low minimum until you made it to the courtyard. Which was were some of the students began oddly cheering upon seeing the third years already waiting patiently.

That was the first odd thing you had noticed about the older Chiroptera residents. They all seemed to act as though they were too perfect and it also seemed like that was how everyone else treated them. The second thing you came to also notice was that there dorm uniforms reminded you of the one Lumin had worn. Was there a possibility that Lumin was apart of Chiroptera Dorm? You surely hoped that he'd be here if he was, but it seemed that wasn't the case since there was no sign of him. Although, even if he wasn't here he could still be apart of the dorm. You were brought out of your thoughts surrounding the redhead as the Professor called you towards one of the other students.

"Alright, Mr. (L/n). I'm going to pair you up with Mr. Aleksi." He said gesturing towards the male he was referring to. He then deadpanned while giving you a warning. "Please do try not to wreck the courtyard when performing the spell..."

And with that he was gone as your gaze fell onto the male, his bright yellow eyes meeting your (e/c) ones. He flashed you a confident smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. You can just call me Eloi." He introduced while you took a moment to take him in fully.

His last name certainly sounded familiar in a way, yet you couldn't place were you had heard it. And his unfamiliar appearance didn't help your forgetfulness either. Though, he did seem rather pretty with champagne colored hair that was swept artfully over his right eye. While he wore the uniform similar to the others with a few additional details to it, most likely indicating that he was no doubt the Dorm Leader. The aura that he gave off was of a authoritive person who clearly expected to be adored and worshipped. And he seemed to reek of some type of expensive cologne. But what was especially strange was his bright pink ribbon that held two flowers as a clasp; a rose and an iris. You wondered deeply about what it meant to have two pins instead of just the normal one before slowly coming to realization that he was staring at you awkwardly now since you had remained quiet for a little too long.

"Oh- yeah, it's nice to meet you too! I'm (Y/n)." You quickly choked out, your anxious feelings coming back to haunt you.

"Right.. let's begin then, shall we?" He quickly smiled and motioned for you to start. "Just keep yourself steady and make sure to focus on your wand. I'll be right here in case you need help with it."

You nodded, taking out your wand from within your robe pocket before holding it out infront of you. You weren't exactly positive if you could do this. Did you even remember the spell Professor Dacre told you to use? What if you did it incorrectly and made a fool of yourself?

You shook your head as more thoughts plagued you. There was simply no time to think about everything that could possibly go wrong.

Taking a deep breath you raised the wand slightly, praying it would work. "Familiaris," you muttered out while flicking the wand to cast the spell. Yet nothing had happened...

You glanced over at Eloi with a worried expression which he replied to by giving you a half-hearted smile.

"It's okay! Not everyone can get it on their first try. Here.." He paused and came up behind you, carefully taking hold of your arm that you held the wand in. You could feel your cheeks flush in embarrassment at the close proximity, yet he either didn't notice or didn't care as he focused on moving your arm upwards. "Try to raise your wand a little higher before you cast. And speak a little louder when saying the spell. You know, like you really mean it."

"Oh- okay." His smile brightened as he let go of you. Taking a step back, he gave a nod, telling you to try again.

You sighed, calming your racing heart beat as you looked back down at your wand. You could do this, you thought with determination. You just had to get it right this time. It was so simple..

"Familiaris!" You shout suddenly, trying to cast the spell again like the older boy had instructed you to.

This time, you watched in awe as the swirling colors within the wand brightened, a (f/c) light being casted towards the ground in front of you as a large cloud of smoke emerged from it. You let out a few coughs after inhaling the odd substance as it almost seemed to burn your lungs a little. Trying to bat it away with your hand as much as you could before finally being able to make out the silhouette of a small animal when it cleared.

Upon further notice, you found that it was a simple white cat with cream colored markings that you could distinctly remember, which helped you identify what the creature was. Your thoughts being proven right as the cat shifted into a bird and flew to sit on top of your head.

You let out an exited laugh as you turned to see the bewildered expression Eloi gave you that soon morphed into one of joy.

He clapped his hands with a fairly loud cheer. "Oh how wonderful! I don't think I've ever seen someone have one of the Lunar Shapshifters as a familiar. It must be your little protector."

Your giddy smile faltered slightly as he said that, taking notice of the occasional glances from the other students that sent you odd looks, some even whispering to each other. You didn't fully understand why Eloi calling your new familiar 'your protector' had hurt you a bit. You were sure he hadn't meant anything rude by it, but his tone almost felt like he was trying to describe you as weak and the other student's reactions didn't make you feel much better.

"Yeah, thank you Eloi," you forced out before he waved goodbye as you walked away to go watch Orpheus preform the spell. And the moment he was out of sight, you dropped your smile, glancing up at the creature still in its bird form as it rested comfortably on your head.

You sighed, reaching your hand up to softly stroke its vibrant feathers. Coming to the conclusion that you wouldn't allow your nervousness and doubts to consume you. After all, you had still ended up successful in casting the spell. Showing you that with time, you would be able to strengthen your magic and that was all you could ask for.