The War of the Stories

Another One Lost...

*Paris's POV*

A lone torch burned in the darkness of the hallway. I stood underneath it with Elijah.

A little while ago, I'd woken up, drenched in a cold sweat. I just couldn't shake it out of my head. The image of Elijah and Angelyn kissing in that train compartment. It just bothered me to no end. I should've made a move, I know. Put a ring on it, like Beyoncé says. Eventually, I'd crept out of my bed to wander Hogwarts and found Elijah, standing underneath that torch, obviously thinking about something.

"Hey there, Elijah." I smiled fakely.

"Hey Paris." Elijah muttered.

"Why did you kiss Angelyn?" I asked politely, but even I could tell that my voice shook with rage beneath the false kindness.

"Because I wanted to," he replied simply.

Can't he tell that I'm angry about this? This is so frustrating.

"Um. Excuse me?"

"What?" Elijah asked innocently.

"How dare you," I said in a deathly calm voice.

"I can make my own decisions, Paris. Why are you so angry anyway? Let's just all get along, I mean, we're basically in fiction."

"Couldn't you tell that I've liked her all these years?" I snarled.

"No, of course not! I wouldn't have done anything if I had known this would happen!" Elijah, said, shocked.

"Yes, you would. What is this? Some kind of twisted way to get back at me? What did I ever do to you?"

"Your anger is blinding you, Paris!"

"No, it's not! I thought one of my best friends would have noticed!"

"I can't notice everything that goes on with you! I have a life too!"

"I thought it was pretty obvious, right from the start. This is Year 2, huh? I hope that basilisk kills you."

"Paris, I can't believe you! What about Matthias-" Elijah began to shout, but his voice suddenly stopped.

I almost started yelling again, but then I noticed a hissing noise. It couldn't be! I looked at Elijah. Oh my god... stone. That could only mean one thing- the basilisk. My rage immediately dipped into sharp grief. I- I hadn't really meant what I said. I really hadn't!

I shut my eyes tightly. As long as it doesn't bite me, I'm fine, I thought. I heard a slithering noise, as something that seemed huge slipped past. I kept me eyes shut for a while after the snake left, just to be safe. After waiting for what seemed to be quite a long time, I finally opened my eyes.

Elijah was still standing there, his mouth open in what appeared to be mid-shout. I felt nothing but guilt. I'd wished it on him. If I hadn't come down here, fought with him... Maybe he'd have noticed...

"Elijah, I'm so, so sorry." I said to nobody in particular.

"You are?" I heard a voice reply.

I froze in shock. I'd thought I'd never hear that voice again. I turned around slowly. And then I saw him. Elijah. But he was different. Pearly white and translucent... He'd come back as a ghost.

"Elijah? Is that really you?" I asked, my voice quavering.

"Of course it is! I just can't leave this mission unfinished." he said, awfully cheerful for someone who had just died about fifteen minutes ago.

"Aren't you upset about... um, dying?" I asked.

He actually sounded somber now. "Of course I am. There's no use seeing Angelyn anymore now that I'm... that- that... I'm DEAD!" he said, hysterical at the end.

Elijah flew up into the air. He stopped at the ceiling and pushed his glasses up, glaring down at me.

"And I thought that you actually cared." he said before soaring off, right through the roof and into the floor above.

Dread settled into the pit of my stomach. How exactly, am I going to explain this? I remembered the prophecy.

...FIVE BECOMES FOUR AND FOUR BECOMES THREE...

Three remain from five... it must refer to us. The first to go was Matthias, and now Elijah. There was no prediction about anyone else in our group perishing. But maybe the prophecy doesn't refer to us. And if it does, maybe it only refers to the first two deaths, not the others.

I didn't have to explain myself to the others after all. A first year girl was walking around the corner, saw the scene, and screamed. Soon enough, it appeared as if everyone at Hogwarts was rushing towards the scene. Everyone stopped when they saw Elijah's corpse.

I saw Nionnien buried in the crowd. Then, I noticed Angelyn trying to get past her. She eventually succeeded. As soon as she saw that it was Elijah who had perished, she crumpled to the floor. I couldn't believe it. This was Angelyn, the girl who never cries.

Professor McGonagall hurried forward and magicked Angelyn onto a stretcher while another Professor did the same to Elijah. They went towards the hospital wing, while Nionnien and I followed closely.

The Professors went in and there were a few quiet murmurs before McGonagall exited. She stopped momentarily.

"We're giving Angelyn a Calming Draught. It will put her to sleep and when she wakes, she'll be much less hysterical then she is now." she said to us before proceeding down the hallway.

Nionnien and I entered the hospital wing and took the seats around her bed. We sat there, all night long, until the sun rose.