good things fall apart • sirius black

Stay away

There was no way for the handsome boy to vocalise how badly he wished that she didn't have to deal with this, because whilst she was spectacular and so resilient, being a Werewolf overcomplicated her life where it didn't need to difficult. He felt very much the same for Remus, but he wasn't his girlfriend. Ellie had more obstacles now and perhaps even more pressure put on her shoulders, for if it got out that the Youngest Descendent of Godric Gryffindor was a Werewolf, the Daily Prophet would have a field day. Cyrus' name had been slandered enough in the Ministry, this would ruin their reputation entirely.

But not only that, Sirius could see the fear in Ellie's eyes, no matter how carefully she concealed it. They'd watched Remus suffer for years with no cure, no potion to make it better, no other option but to endure all the symptoms and side-effects, and those things alone were intimidating. Already the beautiful girl had dealt with migraines, being cold all the time, sickness, lack of appetite, constant aches - on their own they were things easy to push through, but all together they'd made her so ill. And she'd not even had Remus to talk to about it.

The run up to the full moon hadn't been as bad for Ellie as it usually was for the lanky boy, but only because Sirius had been watching her like a hawk, sometimes quite annoyingly too. Yet he never complained and his newfound patience was otherworldly.

Before they'd get into bed, he'd almost swaddle her in the thickest jumper he could find so that she didn't get cold; in the morning, he'd eat as slow as her over breakfast so she didn't feel like she was holding him up with her lack of appetite; when she'd ache too much to move or got a headache so bad she couldn't get out of bed, he'd waste no time in rushing to Madam Pomfrey to collect a potion that was supposed to help; but perhaps the most important of all, he never looked at her any differently.

Sirius was sympathetic and cautious with her sometimes, too cautious, but he never looked at her with pity, even if he did feel sorry for her. Ellie knew that her being turned into a Werewolf hadn't fazed him at all, he'd just accepted the information, nodded his head and continued on. This would be a battle they fought together.

    "You won't be humiliated." He told her with so much surety.

When they'd started going on full moons as all the Marauders, Remus had set out ground rules that Sirius had been able to understand, for no matter how close they were, they were all still only friends at the core of things. But him and Ellie were in a relationship now, and he couldn't comprehend why they couldn't be mature about this. Granted, if it was the other way around, Sirius would've probably kicked up an even bigger fuss, but the fact that a Werewolf woke up naked after a full moon the next morning was irrelevant in this situation.

Someone had to be there if Ellie was hurt, someone had to be there to scoop her up off the ground and wrap her in something warm when she couldn't do it herself, and there were worse people than her boyfriend that could be tasked with that job.

    "The first time I'm naked in front of someone won't be because of a full moon, Padfoot." Ellie spat, a voice in her head desperate to confront him about how hypocritical he was being - he was the one that didn't want to take his top off in front of her that time she had to dress his wound after a scrap with Moony. That, however, was a demon to face another time and she moved on quickly instead, "We're gonna take some clean clothes, stash them somewhere that's easily accessible, and you'll have to make sure I don't roam too far in the night so that I can get myself to them in the morning."

    "And where do I go?" Sirius mumbled in concede. Winding her up any more before she transformed was a bad idea, he knew that.

    "Up to the Hospital Wing 'cause hopefully Poppy will be back from getting Moony and you can walk her out to meet me on the forest tree line."