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chapter five..."FREAKING OUT"
. . . . .
Don't freak out he repeated in his head as he approached Ron, Hermione and Eden standing amidst the crowd of students in the courtyard, still buzzing from the Weasley brothers' show. His heart thumped loudly in his ears. They hadn't seen him yet.
Don't freak out.
He got closer, watching Eden as she looked around the crowd, searching for someone. She always looked so worried. She always insisted it was just her resting face. That she was probably born with a furrowed brow. Her parents even used to nickname her their little 'worry wart'. Parents who wouldn't have a daughter if he didn't figure out how to save her.
No, don't freak out.
He pictured her falling through the Veil. Her faraway eyes. The way she disappeared just like that. Killed before he could understand what was happening. No body to cling to as he cried. No soft brown hair to stroke. No limp hand to hold.
Stop, you'll freak out.
She turned around, and her warm honey eyes met his as he approached. She smiled, but it faltered, and then she had a dead smile with dead eyes and—
Fuck. He was freaking out.
She must've seen it in his eyes, the way he froze like a stone statue at the sight of her. Chest starting to rise and fall too quickly. Colour faded from his cheeks. She always knew when something was wrong, even when no one else did. She always knew.
There were so many people around. But only she'd seen him. Suddenly every sound was too loud, blaring in his ears like nails down a blackboard. The sky was too bright and the air was tight in his throat and, wait, who turned the lights out? No, no, his eyes were just closed. Everything's fine, it's okay. He'll figure it out. He has time.
But she doesn't.
"Harry?" Her voice snapped his eyes open. Her hand on his arm as she studied him, brows furrowing even more if that was possible. He looked the same way now as he had after his dream of Mr Weasley and the snake. A thousand yard stare.
"C'mere," she said softly, leading him away from the loud crowd and too-bright sky to a small hallway off to the side.
Once they'd rounded a quick corner or too, he felt the air coming back to him, and it wasn't long before he sunk down onto the bottom step of a quaint, stone, half-outside staircase that was almost never used, discoloured from the weather and sun, dotted with moss and cracks. He buried his head in his hands, and he felt her sit next to him, hand lingering on his arm.
"Where'd you go before? During the exam?" She asked carefully. "Fred and George came in on their brooms and set off fireworks—you should've seen Umbridge's face," she laughed softly.
"I know," he said curtly, and she pressed her lips together, confused. He sighed, sitting up and dropping his hands. "Sorry." He stared absently at the green courtyard they'd ended up in.
"Did something happen?" she said quietly. He felt his face flush at their proximity, getting a whiff of her perfume. Merlin, now is really not the time for that.
"Don't freak out." He cleared his throat, and finally turned to look at her. Her face dropped.
"Shit. What did you do?"
"Nothing!" he scoffed. "No, I saw something."
She raised her brow, impatiently urging him on. "Another vision?"
"No, I...I don't know. A feeling, kind of." A half-truth.
He continued, "But stay in the common room tonight. Just stay there with me, at least until midnight. Then it'll be okay. You'll be okay."
"Why—?" Eden tried searching his eyes for answers, but he glanced away before she could get any.
"I can't tell you," he said quietly. The image of her fading body sent a scary jolt to his heart. If it hurt him that much to think about it, it'd hurt her even more. "Just stay with me tonight. Please, Eden. Promise you'll stay with me in the common room. Just a few hours."
"Okay, okay." She nodded, not appreciating his ambiguity, but not testing it all the same. If the chosen one claims to have a bad Feeling with a capital F, you listen to him. "I'll stay with you. I promise."
"Okay," he breathed out, muttering. "Okay. You'll be okay. It'll be fine."
He said those words to convince himself more than her, and though they should've given her some sort of comfort, they did anything but that.
What the hell had they got themselves into this time?
And why did Harry look like he'd just seen a ghost?
. . . . .
—a/n:
thoughts on the story so far?? ur feedback is always appreciated, and more useful to me than u may think <3
