the girl who lost it all [d.m]

two: pertinax

pertinax: stubborn, persistent, obstinate

———

ELARA wasn't stupid.

She was a Ravenclaw for Merlin's sake. If Hermione wanted to trick her, she should've found a better way to do it.

But shrugging her off and avoiding her questions was only fueling Elara's Ravenclaw curiosity to new heights.

"I know you were with him." She leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest, as she watched Hermione pull off her coat and gloves, tossing them over the back of the chair.

"Have you seen Oliver?" Hermione asked, not looking at Elara as she unwrapped her scarf from her neck.

"Kitchen." Elara wasn't deterred. "What did he say?"

Her friend didn't reply—instead, moving to the nightstand to place her wand on it and sitting on the edge of the bed, bending down to unlace her boots.

"Hermione. You should know better. I'm not going to stop until you tell me."

Hermione let out a sigh, kicking off one boot. "And you should know I'm not going to."

"Why?" pestered Elara, standing up straighter. She winced as she did so, her head throbbing. Her headache hadn't gone away for nearly three weeks now. "What did he say?"

She watched as her friend got to her feet and padded over to the bathroom door. Elara followed, stubborn as ever.

"Are you not going to let me shower in peace?" Hermione snapped, obviously frustrated as she crossed the tiles and turned on the water of the shower.

"Not until you tell me what he said."

She groaned in response, pressed a hand to her forehead. "Elara—"

"You went because I asked. Don't I deserve to know what he said?"

Hermione turned on her suddenly, the hot water making the mirror steam. "How much do you remember?"

Elara blinked, strained her brain. But as usual, everytime she did, a stabbing pain would jolt up to her cranium and she had to give up.

"Tell me what he said first. And then I'll tell you."

Hermione buried her face in her hands and Elara should've felt bad but they were in the middle of a war that had stretched on for years now and she couldn't find it in her to help anybody else but herself.

"He said it wasn't a good idea." Her voice was muffled in her hands before she raised her head, looking at Elara with tired eyes. "He said he wouldn't come see you and then left. That's it."

Elara nodded, humming low in her throat, as she absorbed the information.

Hermione undid her braid and opened it up before yanking off her sweater, revealing another underneath.