In The Shadow of Our Choices

Chapter 70 - Expecting Happiness

Elizabeth

Elizabeth reveled in her return to school. She convinced Nurse Blainey to let her go a day early, on Friday the fourteenth. It was part way through the first period of the day by the time she had made it up to Ravenclaw tower to retrieve her school bag and find some fresher clothes. When she reached the top of the stairs into the common room, she spotted Andrew working at his usual table. He looked up idly at her entrance, then pause when he realized it was her.

"You're out early?" Andrew said, eyebrows shooting up.

Elizabeth grinned, feeling rather giddy. She was beyond pleased that she didn't need to spend another day idling away time, stuck in a bed in the quiet ward.

"Yep," she said happily, "I'm thicker skinned than Nurse Blainey is used to."

Andrew returned her smile and shook his head. "You're going to take it easy today, though, right?"

"Of course," Elizabeth said, "I just wanted to grab my bag and some clothes, then I should be able to catch the end of Arithmancy."

Andrew snorted, then shook his head. "Well, if that's what you want to do - though I'm sure no one would begrudge you another day off."

Elizabeth shrugged. "I've been bored out of my mind... but, I better get moving if I want to catch any of first period."

She excused herself, heading up the girl's stairs and finding her dorm room empty. When she came back down, Andrew looked up again.

"By the way," he said, "Lucan moved the first Crossed Wands meeting to next Thursday."

"Oh, fantastic," Elizabeth said, feeling buoyed, realizing she hadn't missed it. "Well, I'll see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

She entered the Arithmancy room quietly, a little over halfway through the class. Professor Ketteridge noticed her entrance and beamed, waving her in without pausing in his lecture. A few curious students followed his gaze, Sebastian included. His eyes widened, and he made as if to shoot to his feet, then thought better of it. He looked terrible, worse than he had when he'd left the hospital wing - dark circles under his eyes and his hair in need of a comb. Elizabeth sighed, dropping into the nearest seat to the door, not wanting to disrupt class too much more.

The feeling of Sebastian's eyes on her crawled over her skin periodically until class was dismissed. Ominis and Sebastian both waited for her, as she spoke with Ketteridge to set up a time over the weekend to meet and discuss what she had missed. Ominis pulled her in for a hug as she joined them, then, as they walked to History of Magic, and Elizabeth answered numerous questions from Ominis about her leaving the hospital wing early. Sebastian tagged along quietly, trailing behind, his nervous energy grating on her back as if it were something physical.

In History of Magic, Elizabeth took her usual seat next to Ominis, and managed to stay awake for three quarters of the period before she fell asleep, head resting on her arms. She woke again while Binns was still lecturing, finding she had slid sideways, against Ominis. This wasn't uncommon, and yet, she realized a slight tugging on her scalp was what had woken her. She felt a small smile grow as she realized he was playing with a piece of her hair, so she stayed still, drifting back off after a while.

She joined the boys once more on their way down to lunch, feeling rather more tired than if she had not had a nap. Elizabeth noticed Sebastian's eyes drift to the small braid in her hair that was rapidly falling apart. As they walked, she mused to herself how different it was to not be fixated on Rookwood and revenge - she felt light, unburdened. It wasn't that she was no longer worried about it, because she was, finding the idea of a bounty on her head rather disturbing, but it was simply no longer consuming her mind. And her studies no longer seemed like purely a means to an end, so she could enjoy them properly.