Homonculous |Marauders Era

Chapter Eighty

For the remainder of her time at Hogwarts before the holidays, Elspeth found herself more than happy because everything was running smoothly. However, it also left her highly suspicious because things seemed too good. With the unspoken sense that something was bound to go wrong eventually, Elspeth went to turn to Hades and Persephone, but if she didn't know any better, she would say they were avoiding her. Whenever she would venture to the Underworld, one of them would be off somewhere and the other would claim to be busy before hurrying away. She kept telling herself that she was just being paranoid and to just enjoy the more time she had in the company of her friends.

And speaking of friends, she thought she had been seeing things, but it seemed James and Lily were starting to finally get along. Enough that the two of them could be in the same room as each other without arguing or insulting one another. It made Elspeth squeal in delight internally, knowing that she was growing tired of having to monitor James' behaviour because just in recent times, she had a dream where she was clearly kicking James' arse.

He looked absolutely terrified in the dream where she loomed over him, and his voice was shaky as he begged her to calm down. More than likely it was her subconscious just telling her that she was done with James' shit. Thankfully, it seemed like they were getting passed the hard part with a friendship at least blossoming between him and Lily.

Settling in the compartment in the Hogwarts Express, Elspeth smiled as she sat next to Sirius, noting that all of her friends were crammed into the compartment. With Remus and Peter scooting over to make room for Lily and Marlene that sat with them, Elspeth exchanged a look with Sirius that only could mean "finally." And as the trip got underway, there was only the sound of conversation taking place.

It only left her mind to wander for a few moments as she looked out the window, thinking over the latest letter she had gotten from her parents. It was unusual to receive a letter from them so close to her leaving Hogwarts because usually, they would just wait until she was at home. However, there seemed to be a serious tone to the letter that asked Elspeth to keep her conversations at the train station short with her friends because there were important matters that needed tending to when she arrived.

The last time her parents had expressed such urgency, it was when she was going to learn of the Hayes family secret.

Perhaps there was another secret she was about to uncover, maybe that's why Hades and Persephone were avoiding her. Suddenly, it made sense, they were probably all waiting for her to get home to make an announcement, although Elspeth was going to have to remind all of them that they were all easily able to go to the Underworld and talk with one another.

"Something on your mind?"

Sirius' voice dragged Elspeth out of her thoughts and when she looked over, she could see that everyone was looking in her direction.

"Oh, uh," she cleared her throat, " I was just thinking about my birthday. My parents told me to think of things that I wanted but I couldn't think of anything. Maybe I can ask them about you all coming over for a party? I mean, it's my seventeenth birthday, that would be a big enough deal to celebrate."

Suddenly, the conversation turned into the discussion of Elspeth's birthday but Sirius didn't look convinced, knowing there had to be something else on her mind, she probably just didn't want to say it in front of everyone. However, rather than calling her out in front of everyone in the compartment, he only grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

When they arrived at King's Cross Station, Elspeth told her friends that she couldn't linger around, giving Sirius a kiss on the cheek and then another on his lips before hurrying off to find her parents. She promised that she would send them all an owl and then vanished. And it wasn't long before she found her father at the barrier.