Closed Confessions

[Eamon Tulloch]

Eamon enjoyed being back at the castle, it felt much more like home to him than his actual home did. While the Gryffindor couldn't stop himself from feeling guilty over the fact that now he could not help provide for his family, he was happy that a small part of him did not have to worry about that anymore. Now the only thing he would have to worry about was the upcoming exams, whether or not he would pass them, and, well, just normal teenage stuff such as friends and drama. Eamon did not know if his friend was still even a tiny bit upset with him for leaving her here by herself, he did not want to keep lying to Lavinia about what he did while in Scotland. He knew that the longer he waited with telling her, the likely the chance of her getting angry with him over it would be, and where else to tell her than in the forest where no one would overhear them. He hadn't seen much of his friend, however. They didn't any classes together this semester and Eamon had not seen Lavinia during the Halloween feast which he admittedly was disappointed about. He knew that something bad had happened during her break, but she was yet to tell him what exactly. While she was completely in her right not to tell him, the Gryffindor couldn't help himself to worry about her well-being. She spent more time cooped up in her common room which he thought was very unlike her. So, like any good friend, Eamon figured that it was time for her to get out more and enjoy the fresh air before they would be spending all of their time in the library studying for their OWLs. That morning, the boy left his friend a note asking her to meet him at the entrance of the Forbidden Forest at sundown. Along with a couple of funny but rather odd drawing of trolls in tutu's clubbing each other to death, the note also said that he did not accept no for an answer. He leaned against one of the bigger trees while he waited for Lavinia to arrive, wondering if he would have to come and get her or if she would accept his invite.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

When Lavinia had received and read the note that Eamon had sent her, her first thought was that perhaps he just wanted to hang out again, and last time it had been fun them hanging out in the kitchens. But when Halloween rolled around, the fifth year just couldn’t bring herself to go, there were too many people, and if she’d seen Athena or Sara she knew for sure that she would burst into tears again. She was hardly sociable these days, and she was secretly really grateful that Eamon was back. She’d feel so alone otherwise, always cooped up in her common room without being able to concentrate on classes or her homework. At least she had a distraction and somehow he managed to cheer her up when they spent time together. So, it was with this thought that at sundown, she was on her way to the Forest. At this point, she hardly cared if they got caught by a professor or prefect. Though if it was a Prefect, she hoped it would be her cousin. When she spotted him, she half waved half smiled a little awkwardly. "Hey," she greeted. "I figured if I didn’t come you’d probably come and drag me all the way here," she said with a small smile.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

''You thought that right,'' he said while he pushed himself off from the tree. He would indeed come and drag her all the way back to here if she wasn't going to show up. She desperately needed to get out of that common room, whether she liked it or not. He would not abandon her like he did last time, not when she needed someone by her side. ''I figured we should go into the forest and explore a bit, see how deep we can get before we get caught and all,'' the Gryffindor told his friend, looking at the path that led into the deep and dark forest. He couldn't quite understand why they weren't allowed in since nothing bad ever happened when they did, at least nothing that he knew of, so felt more than comfortable breaking this particular rule. Of course Eamon wouldn't tell Lavinia the real reason yet, they needed to be in deeper for him to be sure that no one would overhear them speaking. ''Are you ready to go in?'' he asked, turning around to her.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia shook her head at her friend’s words, but she knew him, so also didn’t want to test the waters. Besides, she didn’t want to worry him more than she probably had already. She hated when others held looks of concern for her when they knew something was wrong. The fifth year hadn’t had an adventure in years, not that she was exaggerating and she looked beyond into the Forest eagerly, nodding her head. "Sure, that sounds good." It sounded great. For the first time in months, the hufflepuff felt like doing something that inched towards breaking the rules. The deeper they went, the less likely it was that they’d run into other students or prefects, right? "We should go in really deep," she suggested, and then nodded once more as Eamon asked her if she was ready. "Yup, let’s do it," she said, taking a few more steps into the slightly darker part of the forest.

OOC: we’ve already got a Prefect who’s going to catch them in the Forest, but before that happens, we’re just going to let a few interactions pass. Any Professor is welcome to join after Sara

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

It was rather funny to see how eager she seemed to be for this given the fact that he had not seen much of her at all since the start of the year. Perhaps he was right in thinking that she just needed to get out of that common room after all. He nodded his head in agreement when Lavinia told him that they should venture deeper into the forest to let her know that he had no problem with going in deeper than they otherwise would have gone. He needed to be sure that no one would be able to hear them after all. If people found out about his personal life Eamon would surely be the laughing stock of the school. For now, his friend was the only one he could trust. The Gryffindor followed Lavinia eagerly as she took a couple of steps into the forest and walked beside her while they followed the path that led into the forest. ''So how's school going?'' Eamon asked, genuinely curious how lessons were going for her and if she had just as much trouble with them as he had. ''It's sad that we don't have any classes this semester,'' he added.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia was relieved that Eamon agreed to go in pretty deep, she didn’t know why she wanted to, all she knew was that she just had to go further into a quieter spot. Despite her hardly socialising with anyone this semester she sometimes felt like the school life was suffocating. Everything seemed to be happening very fast. After a while of them walking, Eamon asked her about school and then the fact that they didn’t share any classes this semester. She felt a pang of guilt and she sent her friend an apologetic smile. "School is...alright," she said, unsure as to what to say really. "That might be because I haven’t been going to class," she admitted, wincing slightly at how bad that sounded. Her parents were doing everything they could to make sure Lavinia was okay and had sent her back to school in the hopes of being distracted, but it seemed like an impossible feat. "I just can’t get myself to go," she sighed. "What about you, how’s school going for you?" she asked, wanting to find out if he was doing alright. With everything that happened the fifth year hadn’t thought much about how Eamon could be doing after being away for so long. Well, it had felt like a long time, anyway.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

He listened attentively as they continued to follow the path further into the forest, and jerked his head around to her when she told him she hadn't been going to classes all this time. ''What?'' Eamon exclaimed, suddenly feeling himself getting a little angry with her. If she was blowing off her education then the Gryffindor definitely wanted to know what was going on with his friend. He wanted to say something about it but before he could Lavinia asked returned the question back to him. Was whatever happened that bad? ''It's going... fine,'' he said with hesitation. He was still very much behind on classes and then there was the fact that Professor Josephs caught him copying Sam's homework, which didn't help at all. And that wasn't even all. Apparently, his mother needed money again and she was now asking him to look for a job in the village so he could send some of his earnings their way - as if he wasn't busy enough already with schoolwork. ''Actually, it's not fine,'' he blurted out. ''Remember how I told you that I've been busy with school the past couple of years? I haven't been going to school at all. I... I remained at home to work for my step-dad so I could help provide for my family because, you know, I'm f%cking poor and all. And now I'm back and I've missed two years worth of education which sucks because I have a shitton of catching up to do still if I even want to think of passing my OWLs at the end of the year. And I pretty much need to pass these exams because if not, I won't get a proper job and I won't be able to help my family out which means that they could get evicted from the house and have to live on the streets of the dirtiest f%cking city in Scotland!'' Eamon took a deep breath and let it all out at once, feeling relieved to have finally said it to someone.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

When Lavinia confessed to Eamon about not going to class, she winced, she should have expected him to react like that. But could he blame her?! It was difficult to get out of bed sometimes, let alone class! "It’s really hard for me to concentrate on other things right now, okay?" she said flatly. The girl hadn’t been for school that long and there was no way that she thought she could ever get over her sister’s passing. It was too much, though it was excruciatingly slow trying to numb the pain she felt. Lavinia didn’t want to think about that now, either. When she was ready to tell her friend what happened, she would, and if he asked, all the better for them both, so she could just tell him and feel relieved that she had told someone. But for now she was going to have to stay quiet until it was brought up again. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him when he responded to her. It almost felt like he was keeping something from her and she wanted to know what it was. She was about to ask him straight out what was really going on with him and school, when he let out a lot of words at once. Lavinia opened her mouth but closed it again, when she noticed he wasn’t quite done speaking just yet. Her heart sank at his words and though she hated when people felt sorry for her, she couldn’t help but feel some sort of pity for Eamon. She was...shocked. Surprised. He hasn’t been going to school? No wonder he seemed so tense whenever it was brought up in conversation. "Hey, it’s okay. You’re smart, you’ll figure it out," she said quietly, moving closer to him so she could place a comforting hand on his shoulder. She didn’t know what she should tell him, or how to respond to that outburst. Lavinia knew very well she couldn’t help him, but she could at least try to make him feel better. "And, if you need help, remember that I’m here for you."

Since he told her a bunch of stuff she was convinced he’d never tell anyone else, she took a deep breath, and decided it was now or never. "The real reason why I haven’t been myself is because...well, you know why. But it’s not just that. It’s the reason for it and how it all happened. My sister - Eliza - she was so good, such a good person and she would never hurt a fly. Everyone loved her. It was impossible not to." She paused, struggling to figure out how to say the next part. "She was sick. She got diagnosed with an illness a few years ago and..." her eyes filled up with tears. "We went to a bunch of tests and doctor appointments. At one point, we thought she was going to be okay and that she could survive it, that it would be cured. But then, just at the end of last year, she got sick again. Really sick. And there was nothing we could do," Lavinia couldn’t even look her friend in the eye. "We couldn’t do anything, Eamon I - I felt so helpless. A small part of me believes that there was something that I could have done, t-to h-help her. And that somehow, i-it‘s my fault," she sobbed, finally pausing for breath. She sank to the floor, the memories flashing through her mind. It all felt too real. "I should have been there for her during everything, I shouldn’t have been here!" Suddenly feeling angry, she hit her fists against the ground. "When I went home for the winter break, that’s when they told me. That she...they took her to the hospital. And when I got there..." her voice wavered. She couldn’t speak anymore. "When I got there, I was just in time." Lavinia put her face in her hands and let it all out, sobbing like crazy. "I just...it’s not fair. She didn’t deserve it," she whispered. She couldn’t do this anymore. She wanted to just go home and be with her parents.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

It felt good to have finally said what had been bothering him for months now. Had he not there way no way of knowing how he would've dealt with it otherwise. He smiled softly at Lavinia when she put a hand on his shoulder, and felt a rush of affection towards his friend as she touched him.

This was the second time she broke down in tears in front of him but he finally knew the reason why. It broke his heart seeing his best friend like this, thinking that it was her fault her sister died. He listened with bated breath as he tried not to get teary-eyed himself. What happened was a horrible thing and now he felt bad for dragging her out into the Forbidden Forest so he could get it out of her. How in the world could Eamon convince her that there was nothing she could have done for her sister if the people at St Mungo's couldn't either? It left him speechless seeing Lavinia like this. He couldn't think of anything to say or do that would make her feel better, nor did he actually expect her to feel better after losing someone so important to her. Instead, the Gryffindor did the one thing he knew was safe to do because he had done it before. He knelt down next to his friend and put his arms around her, hugging her as tightly as possible to let her know that she wasn't alone at the moment. While both of them were doing pretty shitty, Lavinia's pain was far more important than his own problems right now, and so Eamon wanted her to know that he would always be here for her no matter what - every thought of dropping out of school pushed far away from his thoughts as her wellbeing was more important than anything else. Blinking hard to refrain himself from sobbing along with her, Eamon wanted to lighten up the mood, which was something he would normally do in situations like this, but anything he'd say or do felt inappropriate. Yet it also felt unnatural not to do so, so he thought hard and long for something to say that would hopefully be okay to say. ''I... I guess we've both been having a pretty shitty couple of months, haven't we? One could say that we deserve a break from life and have fun for a change.'' he said carefully, breaking away from his friend but still looking at her. ''You know... with the Yule ball coming up soon, maybe we should go and forget about all of it for a night, however selfish that might be, I think it'd do us some good,'' he added.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara wasn’t usually in the forest, but for some reason this semester she seemed to be stretching it a little and she was in here more often than other parts of the grounds. She had seen some eventful stuff going on, every time she entered. For some reason, she couldn’t get just a normal, relaxed patrol time in here. Though it was to be expected considering this was the Forest, it was forbidden and because it was, it attracted more younger students than Sara wanted it to. She almost believed that today would be her lucky day, since she was about to head back to the castle after a fairly long walk. She was pretty deep in now, and she should probably leave. But a heartbreaking sight made her stay put. She slowly approached the pair, she didn’t know who the boy was but he was hugging her cousin. She raised her eyebrows but didn’t comment on that, noticing that Lavinia was crying. Her heart sank. She knew exactly why she was having a mental breakdown. She dropped to her knees and took the hufflepuff’s hands in hers, wanting more than anything to take the hurt away. "Hey, Lav, it’s okay, I’m here," she said softly, and the fact that her cousin was in such a state made her own eyes blurry with tears. She missed her cousin - her other cousin- a lot, too. "Who are you?" she asked bluntly but with a gentle tone, glancing at the boy. He seemed to be a friend of Lavinia’s but perhaps he was more than that. One could never truly tell on first glance.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Eamon’s suggestion made the girl calm down a bit, and she did her best to control her breathing and stop crying. Eventually, she managed, and gave herself a few minutes to clear her head and gather her thoughts. "Yeah, okay," she said finally, attempting a smile that probably turned out as a grimace more than anything else. Lavinia was about to reply to Eamon’s suggestion about the yule ball, she would have agreed, though her thoughts were even more confused. It did come out of nowhere and maybe he’d wanted to ask her this entire time, she wasn’t sure. But before she could say any of it, her cousin appeared and Lavinia momentarily forgot that Sara was a prefect and could take points away from them. Not that the fifth year cared, one of her family was here and that was all that mattered right now. She tried to wiggle out of Eamon’s hug so she could hug Sara instead, seeing as she was here. She rested her head on her shoulder and her lip quivered but she didn’t cry. She couldn’t, not anymore. It was bad enough that her best friend saw her at her weakest, she didn’t want to risk being seen by anyone else too.​

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

Eamon wasn't quite sure why he had just asked Lavinia to go with him to the Yule ball since this honestly wasn't the right moment for it at all and for some unknown reason, his heart was pounding like crazy once he let the words escape his mouth. He could actually feel his cheeks turn a reddish colour when Lavinia agreed to go with him, which was something he definitely did not expect to happen. Very confused as to why he was feeling all happy and bubbly all the sudden, Eamon tried to think of something other than the fact that his best friend had just said yes to going to the Yule ball with him. He hadn't noticed the other girl until she dropped to her knees beside them and spoke up. A little startled by her sudden appearance, Eamon let go of his friend, she was trying to wiggle herself free from his hug anyway, and moved away from them to stand up. Suddenly both embarrassed and uncomfortable because someone found them sitting on the ground like that. ''I'm Eamon, a friend of Lavinia,'' he told the other girl while he leaned against one of the nearby trees, feeling like it would be inappropriate for him to be close to them seeing as they probably knew each other very well and he well... he wasn't family.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

It was truly heartbreaking for Sara to see her younger cousin like this, she wasn’t used to it at all but she didn’t judge Lavinia. How could she? She was going through something she had never experienced before and even though Eliza was her cousin too, she had been Lavinia’s sister. The person she was closest to of all her other siblings. Sara’s current problems seemed like nothing compared to the Hufflepuff’s. A relationship breakup was hardly important in comparison to losing someone you loved. She glanced at the boy who told her he was a friend and she momentarily wondered if he liked her cousin, or the other way around, or if they were actually together. But she didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable either, so she sent him a quick smile. "Nice to meet you Eamon, I’m Sara. Er, Lavinia’s cousin," she introduced herself. "We should probably get out of here before we all get caught by a professor. I wouldn’t want to have to take points away from you two." ​

 

[Robert Kain]

Professor Kain was already in the forest, patrolling the area for any children that thought it was a good idea to hang out in there, when he heard voices coming from up ahead. He didn’t know who they were since he only taught the younger years and hasn’t been here long enough to know them, but as one of the oldest seemed to mention they should leave before getting caught, she couldn’t have been more on the mark. She was one of the prefects too but he was going to at least give her one chance as he would the rest. “Alright, funs over. Whatever your talking about you can discuss in the student lounge. Go on, get out of the forest.” He said loudly, before closing his eyes. “If I can still see anyone in ten seconds time when I open my eyes, you’ll be in detention instead of attending the Yule Ball,” it was harsh but so were the creatures of the forest, and as long as they did as they were told then the trio would be able to escape unscathed. “1...2...3..”

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

Eamon was about to tell Sara that he agreed with her on leaving the forest when someone else emerged from the dark - one of the newer professors. He figured that they'd be in detention now for sure since professors usually didn't like seeing students in the forest, let alone this deep into the forest, but then the professor closed his eyes and started counting to ten. He turned to look at Lavinia and Sara and furrowed his brow as the professor continued to count to then. Was this some sort of reverse psychology he was pulling on them, stay put and nothing would happen or walk away and face detention? Well, the Gryffindor wasn't going to wait around for that to happen. With a nod toward Sara, he walked over to Lavinia and helped her get up quickly.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara was still making sure that Lavinia was doing okay, well of course she wasn’t but at least she seemed calmer than a few minutes ago. She tried to cheer her up but there was only so much she could say. She turned around quickly when she heard a deep voice and she winced when a professor caught them. Why was it that a professor had to show up right after she had suggested they leave? She exchanged glances with Eamon and helped Lavinia up, then she got an idea. She approached the professor and sent him a small smile, unsure if this was a trick or not. They had to take the chance but perhaps she could distract him from any possible thoughts of taking points away from them. She didn’t mind much if she got points taken away instead of Eamon and Lavinia, but of course, it was never preferable. "Um, hi Professor," she greeted politely. "I, uh, came to look for my cousin. I was worried about her. She is having a really tough time and, we really did not mean to go this deep into the forest," she explained, or tried to, really hoping that Professor Kain could see how distressed the hufflepuff was. "So...I guess we really should be going now," she said, knowing she was treading on thin ice at this point. She moved her head slightly to Eamon as a sign that he should get out of there with her cousin before the man finished counting to ten. ​

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia could hardly tell what was going on around her, or how much time she had just sat there in her cousin’s embrace. Eamon had somehow, at some point, let her go to hug Sara for which she was grateful because she really needed a family member right now. She needed her best friend too, always, but now that the slytherin was here with her she had to take all the comfort that she could get. She felt numb. She didn’t even care if the professor took away points, what was the point? She felt miserable about something so much more serious and important than losing house points. It seemed such a minimal problem compared to what she had gone through. The girl felt her friend and cousin pull her up from the ground, and all she could do was stare at the ground while Sara talked to the professor. She shrugged helplessly at Eamon, they should probably go since the professor was giving them a fair head start, but she couldn’t be bothered right now.​

 

[Robert Kain]

While Professor Kain heard a rustle at his feet which suggested at least one student was moving, he continued to count until he heard one of the girls voices try to sympathise with him. “4..5...6” he counted continuously over the prefects voice, although he did peer open one eye slightly to take a look at what was going on, and the younger girl did seem somewhat distressed as it was. Would it really have been fair to send her away? “Wait whaaatttt...” he said in fake surprise, opening his eyes fully and peering around. “You mean to tell me this is like a tea party? Why didn’t you mention it before!” If they were having a group discussion time it could only be encouraged. He straightened his back, voice becoming serious once more, “As your professor I must stress this is a very dangerous place to hang out.” Before breaking back into a more childlike persona, “however, should you wish to talk to someone there’s always cakes and treats and pillows that are more comfortable than logs in my office. Honestly if you’re going to have a chat at least do it where your bones aren’t going to freeze,” even if it was summer, it was cold out. “Your choice,” he said, closing his eyes once more, “7..8...”.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

Eamon was about as ready to leave as could be when he saw that Sara walked over to the professor and turned to look at Lavinia with a questioning look on his face. The shrug she gave him told him enough though and when the other girl signed that they should leave, the Gryffindor, together with his best friend, walked past the prefect and the professor. He didn't know if they should wait for her so decided to, instead of leaving as fast as they could, to walk the path back to the school grounds as slowly as he could. ''Huh, I guess we're lucky, aren't we?'' he said to Lavinia while turning to look over his shoulder.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

Sara didn’t know what she had expected from the professor, exactly, but it wasn’t that. A tea party? Was he messing with them? It was likely, but then again he did seem serious about it all and it made more sense when he mentioned his office. There was still a chance that he wouldn’t take away points...if they went to his office to talk. The girl stole a glance at her cousin, thinking it might do her some good if she talked to someone who wasn’t a friend or family member. Someone older, like a counsellor, or in this case, a teacher. "Oh, um, okay, sure Professor," she agreed, a little hesitantly but Lavinia would thank her later for this. She knew her cousin. It was a bit confusing that Professor Kain kept counting, but what did she have to lose? "This is kind of serious. Can we talk in your office, please?" she asked as politely as she could. ​

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia was getting more irritable and slightly annoyed the longer they stood there, her cousin always tried to do the right thing but was it really worth the trouble? The older girl didn’t deserve it, after all she had probably been searching for Lavinia to see if she was fairing alright with everything that had been going on lately. Cakes and pillows and all of that stuff did sound good though, even if they had a good chance of being able to leave. She didn’t know what she wanted, if she had to be honest, and she exchanged glances with Eamon a little helplessly. She shot a look at Sara that said ‘seriously?’ when she told the professor it was serious. It was no one’s business but her family’s. Why did Sara always have to try to help others even when it was clear - at least to the fifth year - that she didn’t want any help in dealing with this? She had her best friend, wasn’t that enough? "Yeah, we should leave," she agreed, and grabbed his hand before she began to lead the pair out of the forest quietly.​