ELIXIR: A Harry Potter Fan Fiction

Twenty Six. Other Good Friends.

It was two in the morning, and Evelyn was by far the last one left in the common room. The fire had gone out already and out the window she could see nothing but a flat blackness, interrupted only by the shadows of the tallest trees. She sat hunched over a small round table in the most uncomfortable wicker chair- she had been sure that she would fall asleep if she allowed herself anything more comfortable. When Sean had gone to bed around eleven, she had promised she was almost through and would head up soon, but it had been a lie. Her arithmancy assignment was not going well and she hated asking for help so, more and more slowly as the night went on, she prodded her way through it on her own.

    She yawned deeply, tipping her head into her hand. Her hair had gone frizzy and staticky from the number of times she had raked her fingers through it to get it out of her face. Twice she had nearly gone upstairs for a hair tie, but she knew the bed would be too tempting and decided against it.

Evelyn stared at the last sentence she had written with blank, unblinking eyes. She had recently hit her fourth wind of the night and had felt nothing short of jiterry, but it was fading as fast as it had come on.

"Oh," said a voice. Evelyn jumped about a foot out of her seat and looked around wildly for the source. Marlowe stood at the foot of the stairs, sporting bedhead, blue striped pajama bottoms, and an old gray t-shirt.

"Oh my god," she said, melting over, forehead in her hands. Her heart was pounding. "You scared me," she said.

Marlowe walked over to her and sat down. "What are you doing still up?" he asked.

"Just working," she said. Her breathing rate was slowly beginning to return to normal. "Or trying to anyway. Why are you up?" Her heart rate began to slow again. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and twisted it all into a bun. It stayed for several seconds and then it began to unravel again. She pulled it back out.

"Couldn't sleep," said Marlowe. He folded his arms on the table and leaned forward to look at her work, but she covered it with her hands.

"Don't read it," she said. "It probably sucks. I've been up all night."

Marlowe laughed and looked up at her face instead. "Alright."

Evelyn yawned again. "I should just give up."

"It's due tomorrow?" he asked. She nodded, put her hands in her face again, and shut her eyes. Her fingers pulled at the skin around her eyes and cheeks. "Well, I don't think I'll be much help, but... do you mind if I sit with you awhile?"

"Go for it," she said, peeking at him from behind her fingers. "Maybe you can keep me awake." She dropped her hands, tucked one leg up onto the chair, and hugged her knee. They looked at each other awhile then Evelyn frowned and said "How've you been?" She spoke quietly.

"Fine," he said.

"Be honest," she said. "I won't tell anyone."

Marlowe didn't answer. He asked a question instead. "Have you talked to Caiti about... what happened?"

She nodded. "A bit."

"What did she say?" he asked. His face looked lined and tired. She had seen this look more and more often since he'd been back. It had only been about a week and a half, but it seemed like every day there had been some new incident. No one had forgotten what Amelia had said that first morning and it seemed to have inspired a lot of the Slytherins. They were treating Amelia like something of a hero and Marlowe like he had a 'Kick Me' sign taped to his back.

Evelyn shrugged. "She didn't say a lot to be honest. She wasn't really talking to Sean and I until a few days before you came back. She was just really sad."