long way to heaven || marauder ff

28- turquoise

James seemed to contemplate Elaine's words for a few moments, before furiously shaking his head. "It will be at least a two-hundred-point difference in the end"; he assured himself, nevertheless smiling at Elaine. "Now you only have to bet on it"

The Gryffindor girl sighed, before holding out her hand. "I'll take you up on those ten galleons", she promised, in a slightly better mood for the game now that she could focus on a bet rather than the question who she should be supporting from a personal point of view.

Soon enough, the four Gryffindors made their way down to the Entrance, a spot where James had told the girls the other three marauders would be waiting, as they had apparently spent the past morning in the library, though Elaine was sure that in the case of Sirius, that had been an excuse.

Luana and Lily had both announced that they wouldn't be watching the game, seeing as the two of them had never been connected to the spark that jumped over to most wizards when it came to quidditch, the former going as far as claiming she would rather join the choir than have to watch any games.

The topic of Luana Dolohov had been a complicated one for the past week anyways, as it had become painfully obvious that the girl was getting ready for her dooming homecoming, a fear that had only amplified when her brother had made it more or less clear that he would be of no support for her when it came to pacifying their parents, leaving the girl on her own completely.

That action had in return dampened Elaine's relationship to the Slytherin, causing her to have spent little to no time with her boyfriend over the past few days.

Instead, she had enjoyed the company of especially Marlene and James, the two of them being inseparable while bonding over quidditch tactics and their shared love to the muggle band Queen, which they would be found humming quietly almost every hour of the day.

It had served as a welcome distraction of Elaine's other problems, the girl paying no mind to the upcoming holidays, nor her crumbling relationship with a certain Slytherin or the question of how to deal with the quite extended list of truths she had uncovered in the span of a few days.

She had felt almost like a normal teenager, a normal student.

"You quite alright there, El?"

Marlene's voice finally pulled Elaine out of her thoughts, the girl having walking in silence for the past few minutes, now being surprised at the fact that the four of them had reached the grand staircase, being able to spot the remaining three marauders from the top.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just busy thinking about the game"; Elaine excused herself, smiling at her friend who only rolled her eyes in return. "Sure, you were", Marlene laughed, linking their arms together.

"Prongs, you said you would be here 10 minutes ago", Peter whined as a greeting to his friend, crossing his arms in front of his chest like a disappointed mother. "In that time, I could have just finished my herbology essay", he added annoyed.

"Not my fault that Ellie's a slowpoke", James defended his lateness, earning himself a light punch in the ribs by Elaine, who glared at the boy in fake hurt. "You were the one who just needed to take bets", she exclaimed, taking Mary and Marlene's hands and pulling her two friends away from the marauders. "Don't blame me, Branleur", she mumbled grumpily.

"Absolutely crazy that girl, absolutely crazy", Peter remarked jokingly, receiving the honour of two beautiful fingers stretched out in his direction.

"There are children watching, Sauveur!", Elaine heard the boy shout after her, though she only continued walking on the path leading to the pitch, alongside dozens of other students who were chatting animatedly, most of them clad in either blue or green, some waving flags or already chanting songs.