Killing Your Friends (& Other Fun Homework) Fin

Werewolves and ravenclaws. Two of the worse things in the world. Eris was not having a good time in the class, alternating between casting a myriad of worried, than angry, than sad looks at a couple of the ravenclaws in the classroom. The heavy packet had been dropped on her desk minutes before, and Eris had only read the word werewolves before turning the packet over with a sense of dread building up inside of her.

Eris was normally deeply interested in whatever lesson the grumpy Professor Sawyer was teaching, but today her thoughts were elsewhere. Who cared about lame old werewolves? She knew enough about them from muggle movies and books. Right now, the tiny-red headed girl was much more interested in the other students than the lesson.

They were going to be split into groups today, which meant being paired with a rarvenclaw. In it's self that wasn't a bad thing. Eris enjoyed the company of Reed Wesley, a fellow prefect. But then, if she thought about the other ravenclaws, it became a bad thing to be grouped with one.

There was Kaegen Deathmote, the boy who stabbed first, asked questions later. Eri Windstone--Eris's first victim of violence. And of course, Adam Harringtom. Eris's stomach lurched just thinking of her old friend(?) She missed his company dreadfully, but he seemed not to miss hers. Just seeing him walk through the hallways was worse than being stabbed by a dagger from Kaegen.

Eris didn't understand why their friendship had ended, and honestly, she missed her tall blonde friend so much. Without Adam, there was practically nobody sane to talk to in the whole castle. Of course, Eris wasn't willing to ever start a conversation with him. He wanted a 'break' and Eris had to give him that. She was, after all, once his friend. And friends did what other friends asked. Even though her stomach lurched thinking of Adam, and guilt and sadness built up everything she saw him, Eris was mad. How could he of left her? They were supposed to be best friends! Best friends don't take breaks.

Mustering up her courage, Eris flipped over the packet again. The words seemed to blur together as the name of her research partner swirled around in Eris's mind

. Adam Harringtom.

Oh god why? Eris closed her eyes, reopening them in the hopes this was a crazy dream. Sawyer wouldn't be that mean, would he? The name was still there. Unhappily, feeling the dread in her stomach worsen by the minute, Eris turned around to see the familiar lanky ravenclaw boy standing by her desk. He offered her a smile, and for a second, things seemed back to normal. The feeling faded though, as the sick feeling in Eris's stomach worsened and she gestured to an empty seat. She didn't have the energy for words. She was probably going to throw up if she tried to speak.

The message was clear enough though. Pull up a chair. Feeling sicker by the moment, Eris took a deep breath. This was going to be an extremely long class.

Adam sat down and looked at his paper awkwardly for a moment, re-reading the assignment that he had already gone over. He wondered how he should address Eris -- should he speak normally, casually, like nothing was the matter? Should he even talk at all? Adam figured that the least uncomfortable way to get through this project would be just trying to act civil, so he flipped open a notebook and a quill and cleared his throat.

"So," he began, smiling hopefully. "Werewolves." That's it? he asked himself, stunned by his own idiocy. Werewolves? Really? "Ummm.....know anything about them?" Adam kind of wished he could start over, but he supposed it wasn't the most awful thing that he could've said. Eris might be mad at him, but they both knew that this wasn't the time or the place to bring that back up. He was most likely safe from any confrontation right now. Letting this relax him, just a bit, he began to rack his brain for information on their topic.

Adam didn't know much about werewolves at all. He had heard that they had been involved at the great Battle of Hogwarts nearly twenty years back, but then again, so had nearly every other type of creature he could think of. Centaurs, giants, dementors....it was all too much. He knew he couldn't let his mind wander too far off track, so he turned his attention back to Eris, hoping she'd come up with something better than he had. If she was willing to share it at all.

Eris moved around awkwardly in her seat, leg shaking against the floor. Her face was an expressionless mask, although her cheeks were tinted pink as Adam took his seat next to her. The two of them hadn't had a civil conversation, or a conversation in general, for an extremely long time. Mouth suddenly dry, and finding it hard to speak, Eris let out a little cough as Adam asked about werewolves.

"Yeah. Werewolves.." Eris said, trying to ignore the pounding of her heart in her chest and the nausea building up inside her. This was just about werewolves and getting a good grade. Nothing more, nothing less. Still feeling vaguely sick, Eris tried to focus on the subject at hand. Defense against the Dark Arts, and Werewolves.

There was supposed to be a cure for werewolves, but they were still working on it. They were humans that turned into big dogs and went crazy, and um, wasn't that guy in twilight a werewolf? Eris and her sister had watched that movie once, on a rainy day when their mother wasn't breathing over their shoulders. It wasn't a good movie, but the two girls had enjoyed it.

"Well, I know they're, um, humans. That can, er, turn into, um, wolves." Eris cursed herself internally. She normally wasn't this awkward around people, much less Adam! That stupid hallway fight had ruined their relationship, but was it ruined beyond repair?

Glancing around the classroom at other pairs of students working on their projects, Eris sighed. How on earth was their project going to be good, if she could barely even muster the courage to talk to Adam? Wishing desperately for the class to be over, Eris again returned her gaze to Adam and their heavy packet. The hour of class couldn't go by fast enough.

Adam laughed. "Well, you're not wrong, I guess." He was glad she was making an effort. This could go much more smoothly than he would've expected. "Although, we probably need more than just that for our project. I bet Mellowrose has some books about them somewhere in here...." Peering around the room, Adam noticed a bookshelf in the back that several other students had wandered over to. It was just as likely as any other place to hold information, he supposed. Sliding out of his seat again, he strode over to the shelf and knelt down next to some of the other researchers, perusing the titles.

Vampires in the 20^th Century. Looked interesting enough, but not what Adam and Eris needed. Imps and How to Avoid Them. Certainly useful, but not until it came time for final or mid-year exams. Adam would have to come by to ask for it another time. Dementors: The Wizard's Warden. That one sounded ominous. Adam knew what dementors were, obviously, but he didn't know that much about them. In all honesty, he didn't want to know that much about them. From what he had heard, they were beyond terrifying. He doubted that much else could compare to the fear that dementors brought about.

As fascinating as all of these works were, none of them contained the information Adam needed. He was about to give up and walk away when he noticed a book on the bottom row. Lycanthropy. It was a simple description, but it was enough. Adam recognized the fancy name for werewolf-ness and pulled it off the shelf, jogging back over to Eris' desk and sliding it in front of her. "Now we're getting somewhere," he joked. "Let's get to it, shall we?"

Eris wasn't really sure how Adam was able to laugh, admittedly awkwardly, in this dire situation. The world was basically ending, at least in Eris's eyes. They were forced to be partners, and hadn't even talked for days since Adam had admonished her for punching Eri Windstone--which Eris still didn't feel bad about-- and told her their friend break up was still official. It was confusing to Eris. Were they friends again? Adam seemed to be acting like they were, at least a little bit. Even though he was quieter than usual. Maybe they weren't friends. Ugh, it was just so confusing!

It was more than likely Mellowrose had a book or two about Werewolves in his classroom. Whether or not they would be able to find them was the real question. Chancing a glance up at the Professor's , Eris found he couldn't be seen. Probably off sleeping somewhere. He seemed to be a tired fellow. Eris didn't share these thoughts out loud with Adam, simply letting him go off to get whichever book he was hoping to find.

Alone at the dusty old table again, Eris tried to calm down. For days, she had been tense and jumpy just at the mention of Adam's name, and now they were stuck together. Asking for a partner change was rude, and would prove their friendship was over. Plus, it would also be impossible with a Professor as lazy as Professor Mellowrose had proven himself to be. A partner change would be too much work.

Throwing her head up onto the back of the chair, Eris stared up at the ceiling of the classroom until Adam came back. Then she threw her head down with a sour expression, which she quickly tried to mask. Eris had never been one for hiding her emotions, and her face now looked like she had swallowed something extremely sour, with her pursed lips and attempted smile.

"Yeah, let's look at the book. I guess?" Eris said, in a near mumble. Just a lesson. No questions about friendships, the hallway, or anything. Just a lesson. Just two partners doing an assignment. Nothing more nothing less.

Well, that wasn't great. Adam knew it had been foolish to hope for enthusiasm from the Gryffindor girl, but it still hurt him to hear her quiet, distant voice. In a far-away part of his mind, he knew he could restore their relationship with only a few words. But the trouble with that was that there was an equal, if not more likely, chance of ruining it further. If that was going to happen, he definitely didn't want it to be in the middle of a class. Better to just keep doing what he was doing. After all, it was working okay enough already, right? Right. Everything was fine.

Adam flipped open the book and slid it over just a little bit so that Eris could read it comfortably. "Alright, table of contents.....aaaaaannndd there is none. Great. Guess we'll just flip through until we find something important, then?" He smiled at her and pulled out some parchment and a quill, getting ready to take down notes. "Mind reading a bit? I'm going to just jot down some of the basic things we already know, but if you find anything, let me know." Dipping the tip of his quill into his ink jar, Adam cursed inwardly at the struggle that always came with writing in class. Why couldn't they just have gotten pencils already? He supposed the quill did keep the medieval spirit of the castle alive, though. Giving Eris one more reassuring smile, he started to think about werewolves; but a part of his attention remained on the tension between them, as always.

It wasn't fair. All Eris wanted to do was open her mouth and say something about their relationship, about their broken friendship, and how to fix it. But there wasn't anything she could say. She had never been good at words, or saying eloquent things. That had always been something Adam and Avalon were good at. Eris was just the person in the background, eager to defend her friends. With fists, or magic. A great bloody good that had done her.

Now Adam was mad at her for nailing Eri in the face, and they were sitting in a classroom on a friendship break, not talking much. It wasn't fair at all. Shrugging the book over to her, so that it was out of Adam's way, and right in front of her, Eris stared to read.

The words blurred together, and she was unable to focus on anything but the boy next to her. Why did things have to be so awkward? They had spent the holidays together, had been best friends, had laughed at Dean together. They had done everything together, and Eris had wanted to be Adam's friend for all her years at Hogwarts. But they couldn't even have a conversation anymore. All because of stupid Eri Winstone and Kaegen Deathmote.

Trying to make an effort to start a conversation that wasn't about the assignment. Maybe there was a chance to restart their friendship. "Uh.. are you ready for the Quidditch game?"

A few minutes of silence went by, Adam writing down what little information he could and Eris searching through the textbooks for more details on werewolves. They were working pretty well together, and Adam was starting to think they could even secure an 'O' on this assignment. He supposed that, in reality, that depended on how much they could find in the books, but as far as teamwork went they were right on track. His mind wandered at three directions at once -- schoolwork, friendship, and the overall struggle of maintaining this relationship-in-limbo. Given this confusion, it was no wonder that Adam almost missed the question that the other girl asked.

"Hmm? Oh, that. Right. Yeah, I guess I'm looking forward to it. I'm not really that interested in the game, but..." Adam trailed off as he realized that he had made a horrible mistake.

Eris played Quidditch.

He felt his face start to burn red and looked away in embarrassment. How could he have said something so stupid? She had sounded so hopeful, too, and he had just blundered blindly through. It was a wonder that he had made it so far into the year as it was. Quickly trying to go back on himself, Adam looked back at her and stuttered, "But I'm excited to see you play! I'm sure you'll do good. It sounds really, uh, really interesting. Yeah."

The assignment was almost done, most likely because the two children working on the assignment were rushing through it, in the hopes of finishing and getting out of a situation that was too awkward for the minds of 11 year old children to process. Why couldn't they just go back to a week prior, when they were friends again, and life was simple. Simple and spent on the quidditch pitch flying broomsticks, or spent in a merry household, with an abundance of people, all of them enjoying their time together.

Those memories, of simpler times, better times, made Eris feel a little less anguished inside. Of course Adam didn't like quidditch. That wasn't surprising. He had always seemed like a dueler to Eris, with his ambition and considerate undertone of violence. Things Eris had appreciated about her friend, that were now keeping them from reconnecting. Frustration welled up inside of Eris. They were both clearly making an effort, so why wouldn't this work?

A choked laugh broke out of the seated red-head at Adam's words. The whole situation was absurd. They were best friends? Why couldn't they do this? Leaning back in her seat, Eris attempted to make a joke. "Oh please, the game will only be interesting if I fall off my broom." She snorted, than flushed. It wasn't exactly an appropriate joke for the situation. Adam probably wanted her to fall off the broom.