Toil and Trouble || Zane

Eileen looked up at Zane until he sat down. Her eyes were big and round and her lips were pulled back straight that she looked like a frog. The potion she was making was extremely delicate and as Zane made his way to the couch, she feared he'd knock the couldron over. But when he finally sat, Eileen let out a sigh of relief. With a big grin, Eileen picked up the open book and handed it over to Zane. She knew he wasn't much for potions, but she thoroughly enjoyed it. She'd been tutoring him for a the past few months and though he still had a trouble with it, she appreaciated that he was willing to get help. It was those people who completely turned up their nose to potions just because they weren't good at it that just grated her nerves. She had no time to waste on them. But seeing as Zane was different, offering to tutor him gave her joy as she enjoyed teaching people about potions.

"It's my own concoction!" she smiled widely, her voice still a little raspy (more than usual) from not speaking for about two days. She tended to avoid people and she'd done a good job thus far, the vibrations on her vocal chord seemed rusty if that was even possible. Clearing her throat, she pushed herself off the couch so that she could sit up to stir the couldron. As soon as she did, her hand slipped off the side and her feet went up in the air. Eileen tried to stop herself from falling, but as she did so, her foot kicked the couldron over.


A high pitched squeel followed by a lower sounding yell immited from her throat as the contents spilled on the table. The liquid began to fizz and bubble as it melted the table. Soon everything it touched melted. The liquid thickened as it continued to eat up the floor and all Eileen could do was run around the pool of liquid in panic pointing and screaming at it to stop.

When Zane made his way towards Eileen, she was afraid he was going to yell at her. She didn't do good with yelling. But when he asked how to stop it, she took a break from screaming and instead hyperventilated. She looked around and tried to calm herself as she thought of what would stop her crazy concoction. The only thing that made it not go through the cauldron was a protective bubble spell she cast before starting her little experiment. But how to create a bubble when the contents were already created, she had no idea. She'd have to...

Eileen bit her lip as she pointed her wand at the floor. She'd have to put the spell through the floor. Was that even possible? It was worth a shot. Touching the wand to the floor board, she traced as perfect of a circle as she could around the liquid. Then she continued to swirl her wand in a circle above floor, her wand emitting an almost transparent light that began to close together. Within just a few seconds, there was a protective dome on the floor above the liquid. Chanting another spell, she lifted the bubble off the floor, but instead of it just holding the liquid, part of the floor came up with it as well.

So now there was a perfectly shaped hole on the floor that thankfully didn't go all the way through. The bubble remained to float in the air, the acidic liquid continued to eat the rest of the floor inside it.

"What do I do with it?" she turned to Zane as she looked at the crater on the floor, holding the bubble up with her wand.

Eileen shook her head at his remark, "Zane, you're really smart! Potions is just not the same as other subjects, though." Although Eileen had never found it hard, all anyone had to do was follow the instructions. But she was good at it, so she couldn't fathom it at all. All she knew was that she was able to see how ingredients came together to make something else, and others like Zane couldn't. It wasn't a bad thing, though. It just meant that she was given something others weren't. Zane was good at other things. For one, socialization. Something that she was the worst at. If there was anyone in the entire school who was the worst at socialization, it was her. Sometimes she wished she could give up some of her brain in exchange for ... well whatever it was that made it so easy for people to talk to each other.

Zane was rare, she could speak to him about most things that didn't involve her personal life. When she told him something, he understood. Even some things about potions. She beamed, "You were listening after all!" Eileen had to think about it for a second, but nothing came to mind. She didn't know if she was losing her touch, but she was sure that she had known the answer to this. The answer didn't come though. Eileen stood there with her wand holding up the bubble of acid for a good few minutes as she thought. When she finally came back from zoning out, she looked at the bubble which was now just all liquid.

Shrugging, she straightened up the cauldron and gently set the bubble on top of it. With a flick of her wrist, the bubble popped and even gave out a popping sound until it burst and the contents fell on the cauldron.

"I guess I'm not as smart as I think," she smiled sheepishly before sighing. She looked up at Zane, he seemed so comfortable and sure of himself. Not a single strand of brown hair was out of place and his eyes seemed to pierce through everything. All of the sudden Eileen burst into tears. She didn't know what to do with herself anymore. It seemed like she was losing her identity and who she was. Did she even have an identity?

For a few minutes Eileen forgot that Zane was still there. Her emotions had become uncontrollable and for the first time, she allowed herself to really cry. She heard Zane in the distance and forcing herself to pull it together, she looked up at him, face tear stained and red.

"I'm so sorry," she said sniffing up her tears. Furiously wiping away at her face, she cleared her throat and forced on a smile. "I hear that if you smile, it will trick you into thinking you're happy."

Zane was someone she never got a chance to actually know. Years of being in the same house, in the same classes and they never really connected on a deeper level besides from superficial friendship. That's what she liked to call it. A friendship where the other persons do not have anything on you they can use to bribe you with. It seemed ridiculous to other people, but Eileen thought that if she was able to tell a certain person something so personal, then they would have some kind of deeper connection. Maybe she was insane.

She looked at Zane, keeping the smile on her face hoping that the smile trick would work. "Do you think it's true?"

Zane's smile never faltered and this more than surprised Eileen, it baffled her. She wondered if he ever had any problems because from the entire time she'd known him he'd never shown any indication of it. Was his life that perfect? But then again, they rarely talked about anything else except school. After all this time though, she thought they'd at least become more than just study buddies. It occurred to Eileen right then that the sole reason for that was her.

She looked at the brown haired boy, thinking back on when they were just 11 years old and how much he'd grown. When they had first started at Hogwarts together, Eileen was one of the tallest of their age, including Zane. She was tall, thin and lanky and could be seen towering above all the first years with her brownish red hair that she'd since changed to blonde. Her legs easily longer than half her peers. Now, she wasn't sure if she hadn't grown at all or if everyone just grew without her.

Allowing herself to breath out all the air she had in her lungs, her lips sounded like a motor boat. "You're absolutely right," she said mirroring his grin. "I don't know why I let him get to me... Noah..." She shook her head saying his name for the first time.

"He just gets so angry sometimes I... " Her eyes widened slightly as if fear had struck her. She shook her head trying to rid herself of thoughts. "It's nothing. POTIONS. That's what makes me happy."

She looked around the room and groaned, remembering the mess she'd made the potion she'd completely mucked. Usually Eileen would clean everything up by hand to punish herself when she got things wrong, but this time she just picked up her wand and with a flick everything was putting itself away and cleaning itself up.

"We've known each other for a long time," she said looking over at him, "and I don't even know anything about you. I suppose that's my fault for being so distant. But I don't know anything about your family or where you're from, guessing from your name somewhere in Scotland or Ireland, yeah?" Her eyes, along with her smile, widened. She wanted a new beginning, she wasn't sure if she deserved it, but it was better than living the lie she called life.