Blackeyed Girl

(Chapter starts further down!)



Thanks Pensieve! For betaing and reviewing!



About your review:

You being a writer as well, perhaps you can understand that it is not so easy to create fundamentally different protagonists for your stories. From my experience anyway they are always you and it is hard to create a very different you. I thought I would not write another FF because I thought no matter what I try to do it will only be the same story told over and over, not sure what happened here but Eleanor is definitely different to Kirsty. They are similar in some ways of course, which bind them to me. But it’s like they are concentrated bits of different parts of me.



I am not sure that Hagrid or spiders will be generally important to the story to be honest. But I think Eleanor feels a connection with some things that are close to death and that are seen as something awful by the general public. She can identify with that. I think her time at her Romanian school really imprinted her with the feeling that she is some kind of monster that needs to be kept apart from everyone else… that is similar to the giant spider in a way.



And yes, Snape is definitely in for a hard time…



I am wondering what it is you are guessing about Lucius, but even though I said we will see a different side of him here, he will still be the same Lucius from PoB. As much as I might be able to invent different female protagonists one thing I feel I cannot alter, that is the way I understand the existing characters. Snape and Dumbledore and Lucius they will all be fundamentally the same as in my previous story cause that is the way I understand them from the books and films. But if you put them in different situations you will see different sides of them. Still Lucius is downright EVIL, nothing can change that… still I am sure he as got lovely attributes … or not…we will see ;)



--------------------------------------------------------------------



Chapter 6

Just Don\'t



The next day Snape asked Eleanor to stay behind after Potions. It was the first time they spoke since the other day, when he had asked her to stay behind to tell her not to be a weirdo. She wondered if this was about Trelawney, if so, she was going to stand her ground, explaining that she had done nothing to upset the teacher, and if he wanted her to do something about that he better tell her how to change her aura.



She stood straight and with her hands behind her back in front of him, her black, big eyes observing his handwriting as he put a big F on some poor student’s essay.



Snape looked up at her.



“How are you doing?” He asked. But Eleanor\'s instinct told her he was not really interested in an honest answer so she only said, “Fine.“



He looked back down at the next essay and started circling and underlining the mistakes. Without looking at her he continued, “I was told you made friends with our celebrity.”



Eleanor rose a brow, uncomprehending.



“Mr Potter.”



“Oh yes!” Said Eleanor, her eyes suddenly beaming. “He is friends with Ginny Weasley\'s brother...and Ginny is friends with me now, so..he\'s really nice. So normal, and down to earth and I saw his scar! It was like....“



Snape\'s face turned sour and he cut her off, “You will not have any further contact with that boy.”



A moment of shocked silence followed. Then Eleanor collected herself and asked quietly, “Why not?“



“He is not a good influence for you.”



“Why not? What do you have against him?” She asked again, without any trace of annoyance.



Snape looked up glowering, “I do not have to explain myself to you. I told you, he is not a good influence and I do not want to see you near him. Do you understand?”



Eleanor hesitated and swallowed the shock she felt inside: “Sir,” she started, sounding extremely collected. “I don\'t find it easy to make friends. And you yourself told me to make sure I am not seen as a weirdo. Having friends seems to be a vital part for me to please you that way. Besides I want friends. How can you ask me to stay away from the only friends I have managed to get so far?”



Snape hesitated, “You may be friends with Miss Lovegood and Miss Weasley. And if you haven\'t noticed, the school is full of students you can make friends with. Just stay away from Potter.”



“Sir, with all respect, what you are asking will be very difficult. As I explained Harry is good friends with Ginny and Luna. Do you expect me to leave the room whenever Harry and his friends say hello to Ginny and Luna? How is that supposed to work?”



Snape put down his quill and rose very slowly from his seat. Then he bent over the desk to her and his black eyes stared down into hers.



“Miss Prince, I gave you a simple instruction, stay away from Harry Potter. I am not interested in the finer logistics of this instruction. You are physically able to walk and you know who I am talking about. You cannot tell me, that it is hard to walk away from someone. And that is all I am asking you to do. And you will do it.”



Most other students would have quivered under his stare and looked away, but she held his stare. There was no fury or fear in her eyes, they were two black pools, silent and deep, unreadable.



Then she spoke, her voice quieter than ever, and giving away the grief she felt inside. “You are making things very hard for me.”



Snape remained silent. And Eleanor turned around slowly and left the room. Snape slowly sat back down again and stared into space. ‘What would Dumbledore say to him if he had witnessed this’? But it didn\'t matter. There was no way Snape could allow Eleanor to fraternise with Potter. He had a terrible image in his head of her joining the trio, possibly even developing a crush on Potter. Oh no that would be too much to handle. And it was so likely, that was what terrified him most. The way she had spoken about their encounter, she was one of those people who adored his popularity and thought him to be this larger than life idol. A nasty shiver ran down his back. The thought of her adoring Potter was disgusting enough, he really had expected better of her, she was so smart, and she was not like Potter and his friends, so how could she be infatuated by him and his stardom? Another picture entered his mind of her holding Potter in her arms and kissing him. Oh no, he would make sure that would never happen. He would take her out of school before she and Potter would be an item.



Luna, Eleanor and Ginny had arranged to meet again after school in the grounds to hang out.



When Luna and Eleanor arrived, Ginny was already there, and so was Neville.



Eleanor looked around nervously before she sat down.



“What\'s with you?” Asked Ginny, catching her eye.



Eleanor shook her head. “Nothing.“



“Did Trelawney freak you out again?“



Eleanor shook her head.



“What\'s this about Trelawney?“ asked Neville.



“She is afraid of Eleanor\'s aura,” said Luna.



“What does that mean?“



“No idea,” said Ginny.



Eleanor looked down to Hagrid\'s hut. She wondered if that spider was still alive. ‘She was going to visit soon’, she thought.



“Hey Harry!“ she heard Ginny call out and Eleanor snapped her head around.



Harry Potter and his friends, Hermione and Ron came down the hill towards them. Eleanor looked in alarm at Ginny, restraining herself to ask her to send the three away.



“What?” Ginny asked again, catching her eye. Eleanor turned to look at Luna. But Luna did not notice as she was smiling towards the trio.



“I need to go!” Eleanor mumbled.



“What now?“ said Ginny. “Where do you need to go? Do you have a problem with Harry and the others? Is it because of last time and what they said about Snape?”



“No, I just... I have to...”



“Have to what? Come on, Ellie. There is no need to run away. They like you.”



Eleanor swallowed deeply and scanned the field around them. Was there anyone who could tell Snape?



“Hey, how are you guys?“ The three had come nearer.



“Hey Ellie,” said Harry and sat down next to her and Ginny. “Luna told me about your strange impact on Trelawney. Don\'t worry about it. She freaked me out as well back in third year. It\'s fine, there is nothing behind it.”



Eleanor only stared at him, hardly able to concentrate on what he was saying. Harry patted her shoulder in an attempt to put her at ease.



Eleanor looked past him and her eyes widened. Snape stood there at the path up to the castle. He just stood there, his black eyes glaring at her.



“What\'s....” Harry turned around to see what Eleanor was staring at. Upon seeing Snape he looked back at Eleanor.



“Is there a problem?” He asked. Eleanor looked back at him, panicking and shot up.



“I really need to go,” she said.



“Because of him?” Asked Ron, “I bet he doesn\'t like seeing you with us, huh?”



Eleanor shot him a look of severity and turned to Luna and Ginny,

“Sorry, I need to go.”



She grabbed her bag and ran towards the path. Snape had turned away and had continued walking up the path. She ran after him, trying to catch up with him.



The others looked after her. Harry\'s face was dark, almost as dark as Ginny\'s.



“Do you think he told her to stay away from me?” Asked Harry.



Ginny snorted hatefully, “Definitely. She acted all alarmed from the moment you showed up. That\'s so not fair.”



“Look, she is running after him like a puppy.”



“So would I,” said Luna and everyone turned to look at her, unsettled.



Eleanor finally caught up with Snape before the entrance to the castle.



“Professor! I hardly....He had just shown up! I was about to leave!“



Snape stopped and turned around to her, his face white with fury.



“My office. Tonight after dinner. I’m warning you, you do not want to get near me right now,” he hissed and turned his back on her again and walked on.



She stopped and looked after him. When he was out of sight, she turned around and looked down the hill. Her friends were still sitting there. It was so nice to imagine herself sitting there together with them, to be part of a group, to be around friends. But she could not go back there. She felt a bad pain in her chest and breathed in deeply. Then she turned to Hagrid\'s hut and decided to walk down to see the spider.



She reached the hut and walked around it. The spider was still there, it had shrunk into itself a lot more. Its heavy body was lying on the ground and was no longer supported by its many tired legs. She walked towards it slowly. It didn\'t move but she could see that the dull eyes were fixed on her. She slowly sat down against the back wall of the cabin and looked at the spider.



“How are you?” She said softly. The spider said nothing and Eleanor smiled vaguely.



Suddenly she heard footsteps hurrying towards her. They were too light and quick to be those of Hagrid, so she looked up. It was Ginny.



“Here are you hiding!” She gave a terrified look towards the spider and with some difficulty turned away from it, trying to ignore it.



“What\'s going on? Why are you hiding here staring at a huge spider, when we are all sitting over there. We miss you.”



“I can\'t.” Said Eleanor.



“What\'s with Snape? Does he have anything to do with this?”



“No,” said Eleanor.



“Then what was that about earlier?”



Eleanor remained silent and continued to stare at the Spider.



“He told you to stay away from us?”



“Not you, just Harry,” said Eleanor factually.



“That\'s outrageous! And you listen to him?! He can\'t do that! You have the right to pick your own friends!”



“He\'s my guardian,” she paused, “and he is the only person I have.”



“Bullshit! You’ve got us! All of us okay? We’re your friends, and Harry too.”



Eleanor shook her head. “I can\'t disobey him.“



“Why not? What he is asking is unacceptable.”



Eleanor remained quiet.



“I am going to Snape right now and I’ll tell him.”



Eleanor looked up at her in alarm, “No!”



“I\'m not afraid of him!”



Eleanor got up. “No don\'t!”



“Someone has to tell him. He can\'t do this to you,” she paused. “Unless you don\'t want to be friends with us.”



“Of course I do!” Eleanor cried.



“Well then, someone has to tell Snape off!” Ginny turned around and stormed off. Eleanor stared at her in panic and hurried after her.



“Ginny don\'t!”



“You can\'t stop me!”



Ginny paced up the hill with Eleanor On her heels.



The girls entered the castle and Ginny made her way down to the dungeon.



“Stop Ginny! Please! He won\'t like this! You\'re just going to make it worse! Stop!”



“You don\'t have to come, Ellie. Just let me handle it.“ They arrived outside Snape\'s office and Ginny hammered her fist against the door. Eleanor looked at Ginny and the door in turn, her eyes widening more and more in panic.



“You shouldn\'t do this!” she cried and stepped back from her friend.



Ginny banged her fist at the door again and Eleanor shook, fighting the reflex of wanting to turn and run away. The door burst open.



“What do you think you are doing?” Thundered Snape at Ginny.



Ginny stared up at him sternly, no fear visible in her face.



“I need to speak to you, Sir,” she said, standing her ground. Snape\'s eyes shifted to Eleanor.



“I told you to be here after dinner, not a second earlier.”



This time Eleanor fixed her eyes quickly on the floor and shifted her weight from one leg to the other.



“Yes, I wasn\'t...”



“I said I have to speak to you. She has nothing to do with it.”



Snape shifted his eyes slowly back on her.





“You cannot forbid Eleanor to see Harry. You have no reason! It\'s simply not fair!“



“It\'s not fair at all, Miss Weasley. And it is also NONE of your business. Twenty points from Gryffindor for your inappropriateness and that offensive tone.”



“Oh go ahead, take house points! It won\'t stop me standing up for my friend. You are making it impossible for her to be with her friends! And Harry has done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment from you either!”



Snape only stared at her. Then he stepped aside from the door AS he continued to stare at the redhead. He said with a voice lacking of any emotion, “Miss Prince, inside now.”



Eleanor shook and walked past him into his office, avoiding Ginny\'s eyes.



“Miss Weasley, I advise you to learn how to keep those rage problems under control, otherwise you will never ever have a free Saturday again. Detention with Filch every Saturday ‘till Christmas. And since you asked for it so nicely, another thirty points from Gryffindor to make it even. And don\'t you dare to ever get involved in my personal business ever again!”



He shut the door in her face with unnecessary force. Eleanor believed she could hear Ginny kicking the heavy wooden door from the outside. But it did not seem to bother Snape as he focused slowly on her.



“So, can I take it that you’re generally acting in disregard of my authority over you?”



Eleanor slowly crossed her hands behind her back and straightened.



“No, Sir... I am trying.”



“Forgive me if I refuse to believe that after seeing you with your best buddy Potter only a day after I told you to stay away from him.”



“I was trying!” She said a bit more firmly without looking at him, “I told you, you are making it hard, but you wouldn\'t listen. They came up to us and I was about to walk away when you saw us. ...And I was trying to stop Ginny...”



Snape stepped one small step closer to her, which seemed to make all the difference as he quietly growled at her, “I asked you to stay away from one single person in this school, just this one boy. If there is anything I cannot stand at all it is being disrespected.”



“I do not disrespect you, Sir. ...But you aren\'t listening.”



There was only a short silence.



“I advise you to stop making excuses and do as you are told. If I see you one more time anywhere near Potter or hear about you so much as looking in his direction, you will be very sorry. I\'ll have you expelled. Make no mistake about it, I am serious.”



Eleanor made a step back and looked up at him. She saw nothing but restrained rage. She looked down again and nodded.



“I see.”



“And keep your aggressive friends away from me,” he added.



She sighed quietly and turned away not looking at him. Like a defeated soldier, she shuffled to the door and slipped out.



Ginny had been waiting outside, leaning against the wall and she jumped into Eleanor\'s way as she came out of Snape\'s office.



“What did he say? Did he give you detention as well? What did he say? Anything about Harry?”



Eleanor didn\'t answer and she did not look up at Ginny either. She ignored her, staring at the floor before her and walking slowly past.



“Hey what is it, Ellie? Come on, it can\'t be that bad. I know he can seem scary, but what can he do in the end... take house points,” she spat.



Eleanor stopped and looked up at Ginny with big, sad black eyes. “To you he is only a teacher. To me he is all I have. He is my guardian. I depend on him. I tried to tell you before. But you weren\'t listening. Nobody is listening.”



“And you are not getting what I am trying to tell you. All you need is friends! Harry\'s parents are dead. He lives with his awful aunt and uncle when he is not at Hogwarts. But he’s got us. And that is all he needs. We are your friends, Ellie! We look out for you! You don’t depend on that old bat!”



“Don\'t call him that,” Eleanor said quietly and she continued walking. She realised Ginny wasn\'t following her anymore. Then she stopped and turned around to look at her again.



“I\'m really sorry for your points and detentions. I really wish you hadn\'t stood up for me. I mean, it didn\'t help, did it. It only made things worse. And I hate that you have to suffer for my mistake. I\'m sorry.”



“Your mistake? Is something wrong in your head? You made no mistake, he did!”



Eleanor turned her back on Ginny again. “I am sorry. I\'m just going to be alone for a while if that\'s okay.” She walked on and noticed that Ginny was not following her.



Eleanor made it to the next bathroom without looking up and disappeared inside.



She bent her head, looking at the ground in the cubicles to make sure no one was inside.



Then she quickly walked all the way through the circularly arranged sinks and sat down in a corner on the cold tiled floor. She breathed deeply a few times. Then she slowly gripped her lower right arm with her jaw and bit into it. She squeezed her eyes shut to relish in the pain it caused her. She kept breathing deeply through her nose keeping the bite firm.



“What...what are you doing?!” screeched a girly voice. Eleanor let go of her arm and pulled out her wand. In a fast but relaxed and almost intuitive motion she cast a hex at the person that had disturbed her.



The voice screeched loudly as though in pain. Eleanor didn\'t look up.



“That wasn\'t very nice! What does everyone always beat on me when I am already dead. Have I not gone through enough?!“ the girl complained whiningly.



Eleanor looked up wearily and saw the ghost of a girl hovering near the sinks.



“Just because you died, that doesn\'t mean, you have gone through anything!“ Eleanor said bitterly, “Why don\'t you be a decent dead person and be gone! ...like everyone else who\'s dead,” she added more quietly.



The girl gasped furiously but backed away into a nearby cubicle anyway.



Eleanor began to stare again, closing her hand around her right wrist fiercely so that the skin underneath turned white. The grip on her wand tightened with it.



Her eyes slowly began to focus again on a small spider that was dangling down from a sink basin in front of her. She watched it for a while, seeing it\'s little legs so determined to balance and not to waver on its string as it carefully let itself down nearer to the floor. It paused in between and began again. It seemed so conscious in it\'s actions, so determined for something. It had almost reached the floor now. Eleanor slowly pointed her wand at it.



“Avada Kadavra,” she said, calmly. A tiny green flame shot out and hit the spider, which fell dead to the floor.



Eleanor broke into tears.

-----------------------------------------------

anybody reading this? More reviews would be nice! ;)