𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒

「 rooftop talks 」

But the last thing in the box had her utterly confused. It was something rolled up and kept together by elastic bands, she pulled them down and unravelled the parchment. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she marvelled at the moving drawing that had seemingly been done in charcoal. It was all of the girl's together, a drawing of the photo they got at the Christmas ball. Her eyes trailed down to the signature, S.B. She had no idea that he drew. Honestly, she was speechless. The two hadn't spoken since Valentine's day and he had done this for her unless he had drawn it a month ago or something. She should thank him. It was a Sunday so he could be anywhere but she hoped that he would be in their dorms.

Well, he certainly was. She pulled open the hatch to reveal a sight that she did not expect but was somehow not surprised about. Her face began to flush profusely as she shut the hatch again whilst Darnell seemed to be scrambling out the room as quickly as possible. It is strange how things go full circle, how she originally used the Slytherin to make someone jealous and that said Slytherin was now sucking him off. It was laughable really. She really just wished that she had knocked. It wasn't what they were doing that left her embarrassed, it was the fact she had walked in on such a private moment. Pretending like it didn't happen was her safest bet. The girl returned to her room to grab her cigarettes, deciding the roof was the best place to smoke as her friends were potentially at the tree.

"Ella." He said as she appeared out of her hatch, she didn't say anything as she took a seat on the tiles. Her back was pressed against the wall as she faced the pointed roof. Hesitantly, he sat next to her as she offered him a cigarette. The panic on his face fell for a second as he accepted and she passed him the lighter. Both of them sat in silence until Eleanor had a drag of her cigarette, sinking down the wall as her eyes fluttered shut. It wasn't as peaceful as the tree but it was a decent substitute. "Look, I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone." He said, causing her eyes to open once more. She could see the fear brewing by the second, even though he tried to hide it.

"Why would I do that? It's none of my business." Eleanor replied, watching as he sighed in relief before pulling his cigarette back to his lips.

"People aren't the most accepting. I mean, James knows but that's the only straight person that does. Well, apart from you." Sirius said, feeling slightly odd by speaking about this, especially with her. But the blonde practically gagged on her smoke as a laugh escaped her lips.

"I forget that most people don't know." She replied, causing the boy to frown. "Sirius, I'm Bi." The girl told him, she had admitted that more in the past six months than in the past seventeen years. See with her friends in France, she told them in a collective and that wasn't quite the case here. Merlin, Lily didn't even know. At this point, she probably did.

"Oh." Was all he mustered, not registering what she had said. "Ohhh..." The boy said after a moment, leading both of them to laugh. "Wait, who knows?" He asked, meeting her eye after she stubbed out her cigarette.

"Well. Marlene, Remus and Peter are the people I have explicitly told. I think. Honestly, I'm not even sure." Eleanor tried to remember, she had no idea. That would probably come back to bite her, not like that was important to her.

"You told Peter before me? or even Lily for that matter." He said quizzically. Though they were close friends, he would quite literally be the last person he told about his sexuality. Something was off about him and he couldn't figure out what.

"It was circumstance. The only one that I told without it already being brought up was Marls." Eleanor explained, looking back at the roof. "This is about you, though." She added after a pause. "Trying to worm your way out of talking?"

"I would never." He said with a smile gracing his features. "But there isn't much to talk about. I don't care, basically. People are people. That label shit isn't for me, if I like someone then I like someone."

"Fair. It's whatever you're comfortable with." The blonde said, making his smile widened slightly as he looked at her. "What you staring at, darling?" She asked, catching him off guard like he had the other month. A smirk crossed her face as she watched him scramble for an answer in her peripheral vision.

"Don't start something you can't win, Westbrook." Sirius said, feigning a threatening tone as she let out an amused huff.

"Is that a challenge? Wise words for someone that didn't finish." She taunted as she grabbed her lighter. The smirk didn't leave either of their lips as she returned to her hatch. "Thank you, by the way. I love the drawing." Ellie told him, hopping into the girl's room as he was left with his thoughts.

That was the last she talked to him for a while. Not on purpose, the girl's kept her busy. One thing was for sure, Darnell could no longer look in her direction. He was not taking the whole scenario well. Eleanor was pretty sure that he was going to jump Sirius at one point. Though, she couldn't blame him. The boy was scared. Like Eleanor, he knew what it was like to have every pair of eyes on him and constantly monitored. It was enough to drive anyone insane. She would wait for him to speak to her when he's ready he'll talk.

♱

A/N: Hello everyone, I just wanted to talk about this chapter. I have always seen Sirius as a Queer character, even in this book. This scene is implemented because of the collateral that I have planned for later in the book. Now, Eleanor and Sirius are technically a 'straight' couple, that does NOT mean that their sexualities are not valid. I know a lot of bi/pan/etc. struggle with prejudice when it comes to dating the opposite sex from both the community and straight. I have dealt with this and I put a majority of myself into this book and the characters. As you often see, most people Sirius is with are female and that is because the Marauders are set in the seventies - that is why there is a lot of struggle with identity and such because most people could only express themselves behind closed doors. You as a reader only know what Eleanor knows or what Eleanor is bound to find out about, I did this on purpose so you grow with the story. Without this scene, we would probably not know of either men's sexuality and if it wasn't stated then future actions wouldn't make sense. If you have any queries, drop a comment or dm me as I am happy to explain/talk about/etc.

It is LGBTQ+ history month here in England, take time to educate yourself!

I know it is quite short but I wanted to get something out. I was kind of stuck on what to do and adding anything else didn't feel right!

- Isla <3