long way to heaven || marauder ff

14- halloween blues

"How do I undo this thing?", a fuming Lily Evans exclaimed aggressively, shoving herself between Elaine and the four mischievous boys. "Why would you want to undo this, Evans? May I say you look dashing?", James tried to flirt, only to narrowly escape a slap.

"No, you may not!", Lily screamed back, annoyance seeping off of her. Without further do, she disappeared back into the Hall, with a dreamful James staring at her back. "She is so into me", he whispered, an exclaim that was met with groans from all sides as well as a whip over his head by Sirius.

"Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew, IN MY OFFICE, RIGHT NOW!"

The Gryffindor group turned around in shock at the earsplitting shout by their respective head of house. Minerva McGonagall was striding towards them with big steps, hair completely tussled over and her robes ripped apart. As soon as she stepped over the entrance, a small bubble found its way to her face. Every student in reachable distance fell silent as nobody wanted to miss the deciding moment. The pinkish ball slowly dropped right in front of the teacher's eyes, making the Scottish woman look at it in interest.

The nearly silent 'plop' radiated off the walls as the tall woman suddenly sported a magnificently long white beard rivalling that of Professor Dumbledore. As the seething woman caught sight of it, her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "IN MY OFFICE!"

The laughs of the four troublemakers mixed with that of their fellow students as they followed their Transfiguration professor to her office. Elaine couldn't help herself but join in, especially as she caught sight of Professor Flitwick, whose beard caused him to trip over his feet as it was longer than the wizard himself.

"I have to admit, that was some serious good magic", she exclaimed happily, enjoying the excited faces of all her friends. By now, the group consisted of two skeletons, Lily and Luana, one dashing vampire (Fabian Prewett), a hag admiring said vampire (Marlene), a second hag making fun of the first one (Gideon Prewett), mummy Frank, as well as two bats, Alice and Emmeline, the latter admiring her sleek costume in a window, winking at a boy passing it.

"Did Mary seriously just sleep through this?", Luana inquired incredulously, playing around with the toilet paper falling off Frank. "I heard my name", the sweet but annoyed voice of Mary exclaimed from behind Elaine. Turning around, the French couldn't help herself but let out a screech at the sight of her blonde friend in a terrifying zombie attire.

"You don't know how deeply I wish I slept through that", the Gryffindor exclaimed, holding up her left arm that was seemingly only hanging by a few strings. "This is disgusting!", she added.

"I seriously have no idea how Lupin still has his Prefect badge. He is always caught up in those shenanigans", Frank wondered aloud.

"The teachers just hope that he manages to tone down Potter and Black slightly", Luana shrugged, poking herself in the stomach. "This is kinda cool though, I've always wanted to see if my injury from when I fell from a tree ever really healed", she added, more wistful this time.

"Girls, you wanna come go upstairs? We do have to get ready for ol' Sluggis party", Marlene exclaimed suddenly, catching Elaine's hand. "Marls, it is 11 in the morning and the party doesn't start before 7. What in the good elves' name do you want to do for eight hours?", the French asked her roommate skeptically. "Oh honey, you'll see", the Scottish replied, ushering her fellow dormmates to follow her up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower.

It wasn't until all girls were sat on their beds that Luana cried "I just realized I didn't actually get my food! I'm positively starving! El, you have to come to the kitchens with me", she decided bossy, pulling up the just seated girl. "But I'm too lazy", she protested, pouting aggressively. As the French let her gaze wander over the dorm, in hopes of finding a good excuse, she was met with the sight of her family's ginormous owl peeking in the window.

"Lu, I would love to come with you, but I just spotted Zacharias there. If it is a letter by my family, I have to respond immediately", Elaine excused, only partly happy.

Now she didn't have to go down to the kitchens, but instead face her family. Was that really better?

"Whore. Marlene, I know I can count on you", Luana snipped back, exciting the room together with the surprised Blonde.

Elaine sighed before moving over to the window, opening it and letting the owl jump onto the counter. With trembling hands, she clipped the folded letter from its claws. Unwrapping it, she was once again met with the neat scrawl of her Grandfather.

Ma chère petite-fille,

I am writing you not out of leisure, but out of need. There are certain issues calling to be discussed.

First of all, I want to congratulate you on your strategic relationship with the Dolohov boy. While his family may not ever rank up to ours, it is good that you reset your priorities. Though overall, I must express my deepest disappointment in the behavior I have been told you express at your new school.

We may talk about it further on your birthday, which brings me to my next point.

Your parents and I have agreed on you spending the Christmas holidays at Sauveur Manor. Due to the workload expected of your father, especially in light of the upcoming elections, you would only be a bother in Paris. While you stay with us, I will continue your training. It has become more than obvious that you do not have control over yourself nor your powers. It pains me to see the path you have taken, and I only want what is best for you.

I expect you to remember who you are and what is expected of you.

Louis Sauveur

Elaine couldn't help but choke up on the prospect of spending her upcoming holidays not with her parents, but the patriarch of the Sauveur Family.

'Continue your training'. Those words sprung out to the girl especially. If she thought her birthday was going to be hell, here was the last confirming straw.

"Hey El, are you alright?"; Lily asked worriedly from her bed, making a move to sit up.

"Splendid", Elaine choked, stuffing the letter into her pocket. "I'll just take a shower", she whispered, hurrying into the bathroom.

It was under the running water that she let her tears fall.

She was absolutely, thoroughly, positively, fucked.

✵✵✵

guess who's back, back again

I feel like a moron when I read the mistakes I made in the first chapters lol