FIVE FRIENDS

"Do you reckon I'm having a crisis?" was the first question to leave Eurydice's mouth. She was standing, pacing in the Astronomy tower as Heloise had just run up the steps. They had done this for about five years now, sneaking up after dinner and before Astronomy class started just so they could catch up and tell each other about their days while they looked at the stars. It was tradition and it was one of Eurydice's favorite things to do.

"Right, what's all this about then?" Heloise asked as she sat down against the wall, brushing off her robes as she fiddled with her blonde curls. Her skin was practically white in the moon's light, dotted with freckles that could have been stars. Heloise had always been beautiful, Eurydice knew that. Eurydice also knew that she was beautiful, she reminded herself that even as her inevitable eye bags formed every school year and her skin paled with stress. She never was the best at time management, but her mother always told her she would never have to actually succeed at anything because she was gorgeous enough to find a husband that would do all the work for her. Hm, an interesting life lesson for someone to learn as young as Eurydice had, but at least now she had a backup plan. A backup plan she was grateful for since she has absolutely no idea what she was going to do with her life after Hogwarts. Part of her wanted to attend muggle university, but she already knew she would be shunned for that so she kept those wishes to herself.

She seemed to be lost in her own head for a bit too long as Heloise cleared her throat, "Di. Crisis. Explain."

"Harry helped me in Potions today," the dark-haired girl explained. It seemed silly now that she said it out loud, but Eurydice knew Heloise would never say that to her face. "I don't know? I just... I succeeded at something. Slughorn said my potion rivaled Hermione's. Hermione's!"

"That's good, then! Where's the crisis?" the blonde asked as she pushed herself back into a standing position as she went to shake Eurydice's shoulders as she often did, "Is there actually a crisis? Or did the boy you like to speak to you today?"

Eurydice scoffed and pushed away from her friend, turning to face the stars as she hit her nails. It was a nervous habit of hers that she tried to break constantly, but could never quite kick it. "I don't know! It felt kind of nice to feel like I was good at something. I don't think that's ever happened! I've always simply been painfully average. I kind of like not being average, but I know it's something I'll never be able to achieve. A-ha! There's a crisis. I want something I cannot have!"

The blonde chuckled at this as she came up behind her friend and pulled her into a hug, resting her head on her shoulders as they looked out at the stars together. In her ear, Heloise asked, "So... is this about Potions? Or is this about Harry?"

"He just makes me feel better about things," Eurydice sighed, "Is that dumb? Am I just relying on a boy so I have something to blame when I realize I suck at everything else?"

"You do not suck at everything else, you're wicked at Charms," Heloise told her, "And you can cast a damn good Patronus."

"That's literally the only defense spell I'm good at. If I ever get into a duel, I'm done for!" the girl exclaimed, sounding exasperated, "I think this is more than a boy. I think I'm just sick of feeling like... like nothing. I mean, no offense, but we've gone here for six years and you're still my only friend."

Heloise scoffed at this, "Oh please! You were one of Hermione's biggest supporters with S.P.E.W. last year and she loved you for it! Not to mention you helped Neville a bunch with his Patronus in D.A. last year! People love you, you just never want to admit it. I'm sure if you went and sat next to Hermione at breakfast tomorrow she would start a conversation with you like you've always been her best friend."

"That's just because she's nice!"

"That's because she sees you as a friend," the blonde reasoned, and Eurydice knew there was probably a chance she was right but this was absolutely going to be a hill Eurydice died on. She was comfortable in her loneliness, even if she occasionally yearned for more. She knew she already had everything she could handle. "People love you, Di. I love you."

"Ugh, I love you, too, but I'd love you more if you weren't right all the time," Eurydice scoffed as she turned around and pulled the other girl into a deep hug. When they pulled apart, she realized how quickly the moon was rising in the night sky. "We're gonna be late for curfew, come on."

The two girls headed down the steps, Heloise almost slipping halfway down only for Eurydice to catch her by the hood of her robes and giggle incessantly as the girl regained her footing. Eurydice's fingers grazed the stone wall of the tower as they walked, her tan fingertips pressing every bump or crack in the brick. It was satisfying to her, to know even something as ancient and monumental as Hogwarts had flaws and faults. It was comforting. They reached the bottom after what felt like a thousand steps before they said goodnight to each other and went their separate ways. Checking a clock on the way back to Gryffindor Tower, Eurydice could see that it was 9:30. Thirty minutes to get back to the
common room, she figured she could take her time.

She liked to think about what roaming the Hogwarts grounds would feel like if she were one of the ghosts. When she was younger, she loved the ghosts so dearly she almost wished she would die at Hogwarts simply so she could join them. Silly thoughts for a child, she supposed, but it was fun until she realized wishing to die was not a normal thing for children to think about. Still, she wondered what it might be like to be frozen in time forever as new students come and go. To watch how the stone walls crumble and the stair causes twist and turn. She found it beautiful, in a morbid way, to stand still while everything kept going. Sometimes she wondered if she was already a ghost and people were simply too afraid to tell her. Silly thoughts. Heloise would tell her she was being silly, she always said that when Eurydice brought up death. She figured the topic frightened her, but it was never something that frightened Eurydice. Even as a child, she never assumed she would grow old. She simply wouldn't know what to do with herself.

Before she knew it, Eurydice found herself standing in front of the Fat Lady. Coming to, she mumbled the password and entered the common room. Students were scattered, not many of them feeling like going to bed just yet. Ron and Harry were playing a game of Wizard Chess while Hermione sat behind Harry with a book, coughing strategies into Harry's ear. Eurydice smiled as she walked past them, but she was surprised to find Hermione grabbing her wrist and pulling her onto the loveseat next to her.

"How good are you at chess?" Hermione asked, the casual question still somehow managing to take Eurydice by surprise.

"Absolute rubbish, why?"

Hermione groaned, "Ugh, I need someone to tell Harry he's being stupid! I mean, look at this! He's been so focused on taking out Ron's stupid bishop, he hasn't even realized that Ron's knight is two moves away from taking his queen!"

"'Mione!" Ron whined, "You aren't supposed to help him!"

"My queen is perfectly safe," Harry shot back, "She's so safe and relaxed she's probably having tea and crumpets right about now!"

Contrary to his statement, the queen piece turned and looked up at Harry, shaking her head. Eurydice laughed at this as she nodded to Harry, "Don't be a git, Potter, move your queen."

"That's not fair! You can't have two girls helping you!"

"You're the best chess player in the house, Ron, it's perfectly fair!" Hermione reasoned before her cheeks went pink.

Harry used Ron's distraction from Hermione's compliment to make his move, "Queen to E3."

"Blimey, Harry! That's just rude, I was about to get ya," the redhead mumbled disapprovingly to himself as he clearly had to re-evaluate his strategy. "Stupid girls. I mean, you girls aren't stupid, it's just unfair and yeah, you get it."

Eurydice laughed at this as she stood up. In a bold move, she ruffled Ron's red locks, teasing him, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll still win since apparently, you're the best chess player in the house."  She winked at Hermione who only smacked her teasingly, "Don't throw a fit, I'm going, I'm going. Goodnight, you heathens."

She was met with a chorus of goodnights as she stepped up the stairs with a lasting grin on her face, shaking her head at their antics. With a sigh, she realized Heloise might have been right. Maybe she did have friends. And maybe she would be okay with that.