sink or swim - r.a.b

[020]

 𐙚 chap. 20

      The routine was familiar to you. Wake up, wash your face, eat whatever breakfast your mother and the house elf had prepared, be bombarded by the boys, and go back to the bathroom to brush your teeth. After that it included packing the odds and ends into your trunk, doing your make-up, and getting ready to depart to the train station.

⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅

      At King's Cross, the four of you ran through the wall into platform nine and three-quarters, and were surprised to see the dreadful looks on your peer's faces. Usually the place was filled with smiling faces and laughter, but instead it seemed that the whole place was blanketed with a feeling of darkness.

      You knew that you had been quite sheltered over the summer, but you had not realized the true extent until you were reintroduced to the magical community on that September first. You turned back to look at the boys accompanying you, and they had the same look of half-shock, half-confusion. Other then Remus, which to you, kind of made sense considering he was exposed to the outside world for the first half of the summer.

      Euphemia looked at the other three of you who spent your summer in the house with worry. "You lot be careful this year, you hear me?" She gave James her usual reproachful look, but it seemed.. different this time. Her gaze passed over the four of you, giving you each a weary smile.
      "Love you, mum." You said, wrapping your arms around her before disappearing onto the train. Leaving the three boys behind you.

      Upon entry, there were less of the usual couples crowding the train car isle, and more speaking in hushed voices. You walked to the back of the cabin, and almost ran into Emi's clearly sleep-deprived frame. "You look like hell." You observed with a small laugh.
      "I feel like it, too." She responded. She usually only had that look to her when it was nearly the end of the school year and she had started to sleep through her first block.

      You didn't respond to her and instead just walked with her to the compartment in the back where the two of you, along with the boys, occupied every train ride. "Fifth year, yeah?" You attempted to kickstart the conversation. "Hopefully it'll be more exciting than fourth."
      "I guess," she murmured, shoving her trunk under the seat.

      A little blonde girl popped her head into the compartment door just then, looking at Emi, then to you, and back to her. "Uhm, Emi.. there's no more empty compartments." She said quietly.
      "You seriously couldn't find any?" Emi asked, sounding exasperated.
      "No.." The blonde murmured. Emi rolled her eyes.
      "[Y/N], this is my little sister, Auri," She sighed. "Do you think that she could sit with us? She's a first year and doesn't really know her way around."
      "As long as the boys are fine with squishing, it should be fine, we can always make James sit on the floor." You responded. 
      "Great," Emi replied. "Come sit down."

⋅˚₊‧ 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅

      The ride back to Hogwarts was a little bit different this time around, and a lot more cramped, it had seemed everyone had doubled in size, and even with James and Sirius taking turns sitting on the floor during the ride, it still felt cramped with the additional member. Auri was quiet in the beginning, but once she realized that just about everyone in the group was loud, she started talking a bit, albeit, mostly just to Emi. 

     Once the seven of you arrived at Hogwarts, Auri had departed from your group to go ride the boats to the castle. The remainder of you boarded your usual carriage, and arrived to the feast just in time. Auri was sorted into Slytherin, and Emi walked her to her common room, leaving her to return to the dorm late. 

     Once she got back, the tension in the room grew thick between her and Pandora, like they had something happen over the break. You didn't bring it up, just stared at the ceiling as you tried to fall asleep. Eventually, late into the night, after the other girls had long since fallen asleep, you got up and decided to go to the astronomy tower.

      Upon arrival to the tower that had become your place of solace throughout the five years you had been in Hogwarts, you step into the open space bathed in moonlight. Looking up toward the opening you often gravitated to, you see the outline of someone. You pause for a moment, contemplating leaving.

      But, just as you were about to start your retreat back to your dorm, the figure turned, and you recognized those tired, slightly manic eyes. "Barty?" you ask tentatively, "what are you doing up here?" He doesn't reply,  just smiles and exhales a plume of smoke.

      He does reply eventually. "Sometimes it gets hard to breathe in the closed off spaces of the castle." He holds the cigarette between two fingers, tapping it against the railing. He looks over at you, observing. "I'm betting you noticed Emi and Pandora are acting weird?"
      "Yeah, did something happen over the summer?" You ask, brows furrowing. He laughs, taking another drag.
      "You could say that. They're having a little bit of -- ah, how should I put this? Trouble in paradise?" He filled in. That made sense, it explained the tension that enveloped the dormitory like a stifling gas. The two of you sat there, talking for a while after that. You hadn't really talked to Barty before unless it was in passing or lighthearted conversation when Regulus had left the two of you alone for too long.