Homonculous |Marauders Era

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Elspeth smiled triumphantly until Lily lost her balance and ended up rolling off and right on top of the boy. The two of them were only inches apart, both blushing while wearing smiles, leaving Elspeth to clench her fists together as her entire plan had backfired. If anything, she played the role of matchmaker quite well, just with the wrong pairing taking place.

"Smooth, El, smooth," she told herself before spotting the boys down the way. Of course, to her dismay, there was James, talking to Nola, a gorgeous girl from Hufflepuff. She could definitely understand why James was pursuing the girl, who was like a tall glass of water for someone who was especially thirsty.

"El!"

Someone called her name and grabbed her from behind, causing her to let out a yelp. Her second instinct was to swing, but fortunately, her boyfriend knew her well enough that he had instinctually ducked before she could strike him. As soon as Elspeth spotted that it was Sirius, she lowered her hands right away, her face turning redder than Lily and Tucker's combined at the time.

"Sorry," she whispered to him, " I didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay," Sirius said, slowly standing back up and keeping the appropriate distance, " probably wasn't in my best interest to sneak up on you in the first place. But-"

"Where have you been?!" Elspeth asked, placing her hands on her hips and looking at him as if she were a mother scolding her boys for taking out the car in the middle of the night.

Sirius was caught off guard by her tone and by the stern look on her face as she faced him. "I...what-"

"I was in Transfiguration class and no one bothered to tell me that class was over. Professor McGonagall waited a full five minutes before approaching me. What gives? I always wake you all up when one of you falls asleep in class. Whether it's Remus after a rough night or Peter-"

"Okay, okay!" Sirius held his hands up to avoid the wrath. "I understand! I do! But, I thought you were going to be with Lily. James spotted Nola in the corridor when the class was dismissing and had us go with him so he could talk to her. For someone so confident, he sometimes needs a backup crew to be waiting in the wings for him."

"Oh," Elspeth said, figuring that Lily had been preoccupied with Tucker to notice that she was lingering behind. So in reality, it was still on her that she had been caught by Professor McGonagall. "Right, sorry, I just...I've got a lot on my mind."

"I know you do," Sirius said with a sympathetic smile, " but it's because you worry too much. Sometimes you act like everything in your life is a life or death situation."

Oh, if only he knew.

"But listen, I need your help was something, feel free to say no," he began, " but I figured maybe you felt the same way..."

Elspeth peered up at him, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with a raised brow to signal her interest in the request. "Go on."

Sirius looked around to make sure that no one was standing too close to them near the tables and making sure that no one was coming to approach them. However, even as the coast remained clear, he leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"I think we should work together to get James together with Lily."

A shiver ran up Elspeth's spine, mostly due to the fact that she absolutely adored the feeling of Sirius whispering in her ear, but it was also partially due to his request as well. He was asking her to help him get James together with Lily, which confused her greatly since it was clear that his best friend was attempting to move on.