Closed Rekindling a Friendship

[Eamon Tulloch]

Eamon was pacing up and down the corridor while he waited for his friend to come out of her common room. It was ages ago since he last saw her. His unexpected leave from the school prevented them from saying goodbye to one another, and without an owl back home it had become impossible to write to Lavinia. He tried to find her on the train ride to the castle but had no luck as it was too busy in the hallways. He then tried to get the girl's attention during the feast but with the sorting ceremony happening and his stomach growling viciously, Eamon failed once again. He decided to try the Hufflepuff common room after dinner that day in the hope that she would be there. If not, he would have to write her a note to tell her that he had returned to the school at last. He returned to school in his OWL year which meant that he would most likely spend most of his time studying for classes, even though he wasn't quite sure yet if he wanted a job in the wizarding world. He needed to provide for his family after graduation and to do that he had to move back to Scotland. If his parents hadn't forced him to complete his education, however, he would've continued to work at the local supermarket. Eamon figured that he should make the most out of it whilst here and rekindling his friendship with the Hufflepuff girl was first on his to-do list.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia hadn’t been hungry for days. Ever since she had come back to Hogwarts, she realised that she would have to deal with a lot more people than she wanted, and she just needed to be alone. She had even given up Quidditch, something she didn’t think possible. At least, she was still walking or running every day, because nowadays it was the only way she could deal with the grief she was feeling. It was so unfair. The loss was, at best, too much to bear. She had been closest to her sister than her other siblings and now she could no longer tell her stories about the wizarding world. The fifth year had been in the common room for the majority of the day, trying to keep herself busy with reading or writing letters to send home to prevent herself from breaking down once again.

The loss...it was still fresh. It had only happened just over a month ago, after all. But because she was feeling heartbroken, she no longer had much of an appetite. Lavinia decided that since everyone was now on their way back from dinner, she would go outside and just sit there for a while. When she stepped foot outside the common room however the girl did not expect to run into a familiar face. Her stomach dropped. It was Eamon. Her friend. The person she trusted most at the school and yet he hadn’t contacted her once after his sudden disappearance. Well. He had some explaining to do. "Where the hell have you been?" she demanded. Her first reaction was to shove him, hard, out of anger. So she did so, pushing him on his shoulder but not enough to make him fall over. Then, not even a moment later, she threw her arms around him and buried her head in his neck, willing herself not to burst into tears.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

Eamon was still pacing the corridor when he heard someone walk out of the common room and turned around to look who it was. He came to an abrupt halt when he saw who it was and stared at his friend. It dawned on him at that moment how long he hadn't seen her for. Smiling sheepishly, the Gryffindor was taking a few steps towards her only to stop once again when she stormed towards him. Eamon had an inkling that she might not just welcome him back with open arms after disappearing on her without saying a word, so expected her to react as she did. He nodded his head when she shoved him and said, ''I deserve th-'' but before he could even finish his sentence, Lavinia wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. He took a deep breath of air as she held onto him, both relieved and happy to see her again, and wrapped his arms around her too. Eamon didn't know that he could miss a person this much until now.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia could not feel any more thankful than she was right now, she had a friend again, at Hogwarts. She felt more comfortable around Eamon than anyone else. The girl hadn’t reached out to anyone else she’d ever spoken to yet, since coming back for another year. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see you," she mumbled, her voice wavering. She couldn’t help it. At least, she knew the Gryffindor was going to be there for her if and when she told him what had happened. Just the thought of it made her lip quiver, so she didn’t say anything, just let go of her friend. "How have you been?" she asked, at an attempt to steer the subject away from herself and onto him instead.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

Eamon smiled at her words. It was nice to hear that from her after years of thinking that she would hate his guts for leaving her at the castle without ever telling her why he left. He could feel that something was going on with Lavinia though, as it sounded like she could burst into tears at any given moment. Was that because of him? No, that would be weird. Eamon let go of her and smiled once more. ''I've been well,'' the Gryffindor answered, ''Busy with... school and such.'' He had never told her about the way his family was living and Eamon did not want to tell her now. Heck, if he could avoid the topic of what he had been up to back home all together, that'd be lovely. Truth be told, he did not go to school at all during the past two years, instead, he had been helping his step-father in his butcher shop occasionally and working at a supermarket to help provide for the family. But she didn't have to know that, even though one look at him would probably tell her more than enough - everything he wore was bought from the secondhand shop in Obsidian Harbour. ''I'm happy to be back at school though... the other school was really, really boring,'' Eamon added.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

It took a while for her friend to reply but he did, and if Lavinia wasn’t in such an emotional state she would have noticed the second-hand clothes or the way in which he, too, tried to avoid saying too much. She did want to know what he’d been up to, she really did, but due to what happened the puff had had one thing on her mind ever since it happened. Everything else hardly seemed to matter. But now, Eamon was back and she knew that eventually she would have to tell him what was going on. Surely, it would become obvious that she wasn’t okay. She listened to him speak a bit absent-mindedly, the smile slowly turning into a poker face. The expression Lavinia had practiced to perfection before returning to school. She had to. How else could she deal with her sister’s death? "I’m happy you’re back," she said softly, almost unaware that she had already said that. By there wasn’t much she could say right now, and she did the one thing she promised she wouldn’t do - she sank to the floor, tears streaming down her face. She put her head in her hands, feeling humiliated.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

For a moment Eamon just stood there, watching his friend with a confused look, but then he realised what was happening. ''Lav?'' the Gryffindor hurriedly kneeled next to her. Now, this definitely wasn't because he was back at the castle. He continued to look at her, not really knowing what to do next as he had never had someone breakdown in front of him before. He hesitated for a second before he put his hand on her shoulder and tried to make eye contact with the girl by shaking her shoulder a bit. He didn't know what was going on and to be honest it scared it him a little. He hadn't seen her like this before, she was usually... well, she used to always be energetic and excited. ''Lavinia? Are you okay?'' Eamon asked, worried that maybe she was in pain or something like that. Obviously, something bad had happened, and knowing his friend, she hadn't talked about it with anyone. ''Do... you want to talk about it?''

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia had never cried in front of anyone before. Never. She always had to be the strong one in the family. But right now, she just couldn’t keep up the act. She knew she would break down and eventually she would have to explain everything to Eamon. It was unfair, and she didn’t want to worry her friend like this...especially as he had just returned to Hogwarts. But the girl couldn’t help it. She was in so much pain. When she heard Eamon’s voice, she just shook her head, her shoulders shaking from the breakdown she was having. Of course she wasn’t okay, couldn’t he see that? She shook her head again at his second question, not in the mood. But she was too busy crying about it to talk. When she had calmed down a little, she sniffled, finally taking her hands away from her face. Her gaze was fixated on the floor. "I...Something bad has happened. It...she’s..." she took a deep breath, trying to steady her voice. "She’s gone," she said quietly, unable to make eye contact with Eamon.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

He didn't know who Lavinia was talking about but knew that it had to be someone close and important if it could get this kind of reaction out of her. Refraining from petting her on her back awkwardly, the boy looked around to see if there was anything he could distract her with. He never experienced death himself, which honestly surprised him come to think of it, as no one in his family was in peak health, so knew not how to react to what she just told him. He scowled at students when they walked passed them with odd looks as they walked out and to the Hufflepuff common room. Didn't they know that it was impolite of them to stare at her? *ssholes. He turned back to his friend who was still unable to make eye contact with him. He felt awkward and a little guilty over the fact that he did not know how to comfort her properly, with words, so did the only thing he could think of doing in a situation like this. He scooted closer to her and put an arm around her, holding her close to him. ''I'm sorry...'' he whispered, ignoring any further looks of people passing them.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Lavinia couldn’t control her feelings, she couldn’t stop the shameless crying, even if she desperately wanted to. They were in public, but at some point during her breakdown she stopped caring altogether. She didn’t care what others thought, she was going through something and besides, what the hell would they know? Absolutely nothing. Eamon’s words only made her sob slightly more, and she took deep breaths as an attempt to calm down. Although she didn’t say anything, the girl appreciated that her friend was back at a time like this. She wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence or not. She rested her head on his shoulder, finally calming down after what felt like hours. "I...I’m sorry," she managed to let out, finally glancing at the Gryffindor. "It just happened, just like that," she said softly. There was something about Eamon that made her want to tell him, well, everything. She felt comfortable around him, though right now she felt too fragile to say much.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

''No worries. It's not the welcome I pictured in my head,'' Eamon said, smiling at his friend. ''But I'm still happy to see your stupid face.'' He rested his head on hers and sat with her like that for several minutes. It was nice being back at the castle again but it was especially nice to have Lavinia around again. She always knew what to say or what to do when he wasn't feeling like himself and he had missed that whilst at home or at work. ''Whatever happened, you don't have to tell me until you're comfortable with telling me,'' he said quietly after a while, glancing at his friend. Although he was both curious and worried for her, the Gryffindor wanted Lavinia to tell him what happened on her own terms and not because he couldn't keep his curiosity in check. ''You know I love sitting on the ground with you but, eh, maybe we should go and sit somewhere else? Are you up for raiding the kitchens like old times, I'm hungry still,'' he said, thinking that maybe he could distract her from her mind for a little while.

 

[Lavinia Benivieni]

Somehow, Lavinia laughed at Eamon’s words, even with tears still brimming in her eyes. She wiped them away, frustrated that she had no control over her emotions at a time like this. Sure, if Lavinia could see some sense and logic, she would see that it was perfectly normal to be emotional unexpectedly when people dealt with grief. But different people they dealt with it differently. The hufflepuff sometimes felt like bawling her eyes out, and other times, she just wanted to throw things. She felt a lump in her throat as she realised how much she had missed Eamon. He always knew how to cheer her up. Always. She looked at her hands, unsure of what to say. "Thank you," she whispered. Feeling a bit courageous, she took her friend’s hand, not thinking much of it. She smiled weakly at his suggestion. Lavinia hadn’t eaten much these past few days and she probably should. "Uh, sure. I’m not that hungry though," she lied, avoiding making eye contact in the hopes that he couldn’t tell she was lying. What the fifth year wanted more than anything was sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw the horrid image of her sister in hospital.

 

[Eamon Tulloch]

Eamon smiled again when she took his hand, and squeezed it a little. He wanted her to know that he was here for her no matter what. It was the least he could do after leaving for two years without saying goodbye to her. Even though she told him that she wasn't very hungry, her appearance told him otherwise. Whatever happened must have really done a number on his friend if she wasn't even eating properly. Once his stomach started growling, the Gryffindor stood up and gently pulled Lavinia up with him as he was still holding onto her hand. ''I'm sure you'll change your mind once we're there,'' Eamon said with a slight smile and walked together with her down the corridor in the direction of the basements.