The Great Hall had been dressed for Hallowe'en, ready for the holiday coming up in a few days. It was always a spectacle to see and something much anticipated by both students and staff each year. Orange streamers were hung everywhere, the floating candles near the ceilings replaced with glowing pumpkins and even bats spent their days flying around. It became somewhat of a nuisance, when the creatures were flying around your head during dinner, but otherwise it was fantastic. Of course, most students were more concerned with the feast on Hallowe'en night, but the decorations were breath-taking on their own.
Four friends, however, took no notice as they rushed into the Great Hall for breakfast. Grabbing plates full of pastries and toast as quickly as possible, before exiting again. The smallest even carried a huge mug of tea, carefully holding it out in front of him to not spill any, as he scuttled behind the rest of the group.
Remus was in the Hospital Wing and that was far more important than goggling at pumpkins.
Thankfully, the full moon hadn't been a particularly rough one. The lanky boy was still a patchwork of purple, green and blue bruises and he still had open wounds on his chest and up his arms. But he'd had worse.
Madam Pomfrey was able to set him on the road to recovery as easy as tying her shoelaces and ensured Remus he wouldn't need to stay in the hospital wing for longer than one more day. Though, he still needed to get his strength back and the only way he could do that was through rest and food.
His whole body ached, every time he moved it felt like his bones were grinding against each other, but after years of the same thing he was used to the pain. Remus no longer complained about how he was feeling, for his body was accustomed to the turmoil it was constantly going through. However, that didn't make it any easier, and recovering after the full moon was always the worst. Not even the relief of some form of relaxation for another month could dull the itching of his skin.
There was the sound of a girl imitating a howl and Remus knew instantly his friends had arrived. The Hospital Wing doors flew open, four children barrelling inside as if it were a race.
The beautiful girl was first, brandishing a bowl of croissants, that subsequently got dropped on the floor when she saw Remus lying in bed. The bowl of breakfast pastries went clattering to the floor, but she didn't even flinch as she rushed to her friend's side. Remus' hand was in her own in a matter of moments, squeezing it tightly as she perched on the end of his bed.
Tripping over the bowl now rolling on the floor, James was next by the bedside, keeping a firm grip on his plate. It had a mountain of toast piled high, all threatening to go toppling over any minute, but he made it to Remus without losing one piece. They'd need it all now that the croissants had been sacrificed. At the sight of his friend, somewhat in one piece, he sighed and gave a lopsided smile.
After him was Sirius, hands full of two different pots of jam, a plate of butter and multiple knives. It was probably dangerous, letting him carry the cutlery, but being sensible wasn't a priority.
And last, but by no means least, was the smallest Marauder. Not one drop of Remus' tea had been spilled, but he stumbled so clumsily, that it was rather surprising the whole mug hadn't gone flying. A croissant was crushed under his foot, as his eyes trained on the mug in his hands, instead of where he was going, and he had to be dragged over to the right bed.
"How are you?" Ellie was first to speak, her features mangled together with worry, but Remus gave her a reassuring smile.
"As good as I can be, now you're all here." The simple replied came out in a strained voice, his eyes still droopy with tiredness.
The lanky boy wasn't really up to much, but he managed to shuffle to a sitting position so he could at least chat with his friends. There would be no way he could ever repay them all for being so understanding, rushing to see him as soon as they got up. It meant the world to Remus, for he never thought he'd have friends like this, let alone a family like the one he had around him.
"We brought breakfast." James spoke enthusiastically, but there was a hint of seriousness in his tone as he placed the mountain of toast of Remus' lap. The messy haired boy knew his friend wouldn't have much of an appetite, but he needed his strength and James would force the food down Remus' throat if he had too.
"Tea too!" Peter added, handing over the mug.
Remus, however, had little movement in his arms yet and struggled to lift them high enough for the drink. The majority of is wounds were down his arms this time, both of them being bandaged up tightly and still stinging from whatever treatment Madam Pomfrey had done.
Watching her friend struggle, Ellie took the mug of tea for him instead. If he wanted some, she'd help.
"Give me the butter..." James turned to Sirius beside him, the two black haired boys fumbling for a moment as to not drop anything else as they passed things between each other. Once James had the butter though, a knife too, he snatched a slice of toast to prepare for Remus. The lanky boy turned up his nose initially, but when James kept shoving it in his face, he eventually gave in and took a bite, "See that wasn't so hard."
"I don't appreciate being treated like a baby." Remus mumbled through a mouth full of toast, but James just shrugged.
"If you're going to be stubborn like a baby, I'll treat you like one." He held the toast out once more, forcing Remus to take another bite, ignoring Ellie and Sirius' outrage looks about all the times James had commented on their stubbornness, "Now what do you say?'
"Thank you." The lanky boy grumbled this time, and it made the rest of them chuckle. James just nodded once in reply, satisfied with his work and continued to feed his friend until the whole slice was gone.
The chaos caused by the four all rushing in, had inevitably alerted Madam Pomfrey to the arrival of visitors and she wasn't surprised to find who she did - it was the same after every full moon. She was very thankful for Remus' friends, for without them, she was convinced the lanky boy wouldn't recover quite as fast as he did every time. But that didn't mean she liked having them around anymore than they were welcome. The group had a tendency to hang around all day, missing lessons and study time to sit with Remus. Whilst it was sweet, she didn't condone them slacking on their education to just sit chatting all day. They kept Remus awake when he needed rest, so she always had to intervene at some point.
"Why are there breakfast pastries all over my Hospital Wing?" The matron came striding over to the group, a stern expression on her face as she placed her hands on her hips. She very much reminded them of Professor McGonagall, and they were just as cheeky with her.
"Well, that one's seen better days..." Ellie didn't miss a beat, pointing at the croissant that got squished by Peter, "I'm no Healer, but it looks like it could use some Skele-Gro." The others hid their laughter, even Remus chuckled, but Madam Pomfrey didn't look impressed.
"No, you are no Healer and I don't expect to find you in here after the end of breakfast." She pointed her finger at them all, her request undebatable, before leaving them be.
She had little patience to deal with the Marauders, they were far too unruly for her liking.
When out of earshot, James told Remus that he needn't worry for too much longer about the full moon, for soon they'd be there with him. Lots of research and planning still needed to go into their Animagus project, but it was well on its way and the messy haired boy was striving to get the majority of it done by the New Year. Soon Remus' worst nights of his life, might actually become somewhat positive.
They also filled Remus in on the incident with Snape in Potions yesterday, Ellie recounting a chronological order of events that had left them in an even worse place with the Slytherin. The lanky boy wasn't surprised something happened, because they were nearly two months into the school year and no major argument with Snape had occurred yet. From what he was told, it did seem like the Slytherin had instigated it all, for he shouldn't have been snooping in the first place. But he wouldn't deny his friends acted brash also. Ellie perhaps shouldn't have been so taunting; Sirius shouldn't have snapped the way he did; and James shouldn't have let Snape wind him up so much. Peter seemed the only one with a sense of self preservation. If his friends kept going down the path they were, something ugly would go down with the Slytherins sooner or later and they might not all come away unscathed.
With the talk of Potions class yesterday, discussion quickly moved onto Sirius' issues and how he was going to sort them out. The whole situation involving the three girls he was now wrapped up in was so messy that none of them really knew what was going on. Sirius still hadn't come to any resolution and the more time that passed, the messier it got. If he left this to fester for too long, the girls would definitely find out - that would only cause more drama than what was happening now. However, despite James suggesting that they 'brainstorm ideas for damage control' last night, none of the friends could really come up with anything. Nothing easy at least. Peter didn't even know who was who and the rest of them were starting to get confused too.
The more they went round in circles, the more frustrated Sirius became. He just wanted this behind him, be able to swear of girls and never do relationships again. But he couldn't do that until he was out of the one that he was currently involved in.
"Is Jennifer the girlfriend?"
"No that's Jessica."
"Ohhh yeah, Jennifer's the Hufflepuff."
"No, that's Julie."
"Julie looks like Jessica."
"Then who's Jennifer?"
"The Prefect's bathroom one."
"No! She was the mistake girlfriend."
"No, the mistake girlfriend is Julie."
"Julie the Ravenclaw?"
"No, that's Jessica."
"I thought Jennifer was the Ravenclaw."
"She's the Slytherin."
"Why do they all sound so similar!?"
The friends were in more of a mess than when they began, and Sirius struggled to sit there listening to them trying to make sense of it all. He felt overwhelmingly foolish for letting himself get so entangled with relationships, when he hadn't even started the year thinking of girls. It was all fun and exciting to begin with, he liked the attention and being able to be the only one of the group who could say they'd snogged someone. But now it was a heavy burden sitting on his shoulders.
"I can't listen to this." The handsome boy eventually grumbled, stalking off towards the exit.
"Wait!" Not wanting Sirius to go wandering off, thinking he might only get himself into more complications, Ellie got up from Remus' bed to follow him. It was nearly time for them to go to lessons anyway and Madam Pomfrey would no doubt kick the out any moment. Remus however, tightened his grip on the girl, not allowing her to let go of his hand.
"Don't make yourself the fourth."
Remus was never one to miss little details. He always picked up on things quicker than the rest of his friends and watching Sirius' drama unfold opened his eyes to something. From the first moment Sirius announced that he was Jessica's boyfriend, he'd knew there would be a problem. He'd had an inkling for ages that something was brewing just under the surface of Ellie and Sirius' 'friendship', for when they'd laugh for ages with each other, there was always a split second when he could see just how very much the same their souls were.
Remus didn't think they were in love necessarily, for it made no sense for Sirius to get a girlfriend that wasn't Ellie, if they were. But there was definitely something else there.
Something else that would always come first.
He couldn't quite understand it, but it was something very different between them than it was between the rest of the friends. He'd told James and Peter his concerns for what would happen if the pair carried on as they were and then introduced other people into their lives, for Remus could understand where a potential conflict could arise. There'd already been issues with Jessica, and Sirius' relationship with her could hardly be serious, but he didn't want Ellie getting roped into this too. They tried to keep her out of the way before for a reason and Sirius' change in heart towards his girlfriend had only seemed to have given him the green light to go back to how he was with Ellie before. He loved them together and Remus would always be slightly suspicious about what they were both hiding about their 'friendship', but Ellie was just letting herself get caught up in his mess. And Remus didn't want that for her.
Especially not when she could be so oblivious to what people said about her behind her back.
"Don't be ridiculous." Was all the beautiful girl replied, pulling her hand from Remus' and going after Sirius as quickly as possible.
James just shrugged when she was gone, his conversation with Sirius about Ellie having made him realise just how stupid it was to think they could intervene between the pair. Everything else aside, clearly Sirius needed her, and the handsome boy seemed to realise that now.
Rushing out of the Hospital Wing, Ellie tried to catch up to Sirius, but he was marching down the hallway as if he had a mission. She really hoped he didn't, for that meant he was going to be acting impulsive, and not in the way she liked either. He wouldn't slow down for her, no matter how much she shouted at him and so instead, she thought up a way to distract him from any rash plan he was conjuring up.
Running down the hallway after him, eventually Ellie caught up, albeit she was out of breath afterwards. Sirius just glanced down at her as she looped her arm with his - a show of unity.
"You didn't think you could get away from me so easily, did you?" That playful edge was back in Ellie's voice, her eyes twinkling with a mischievous spark. That alone was enough to make Sirius forget about whatever poorly thought through plan he'd concocted, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
The handsome boy would swear off girls for the rest of his life if it meant he never got into a situation like the one he was in now, but there would be no way he'd ever be able to leave Ellie Gryffin behind.
"I guess not." She patted the mess of hair tied up near the top of his head twice, her teeth biting down on her bottom lip to suppress the giggles bubbling in her chest at his grumpy face. If he's not got that signature smirk, he always looks grumpy.
Stormy grey eyes fixed on the beautiful girl's face, Sirius untangled his arm gently from hers, to grab her hand instead. He half expected her to pull away, being observant enough to realise that she didn't like the way he'd played with the feelings of three girls all at once, even if she hadn't openly expressed it. But she didn't, and for some reason it made him be able to relax a whole lot more.
"I've come to do business." Ellie put on an obnoxiously posh voice for theatrics, matching her pace with Sirius'. This was her distraction technique, but the plan she'd cooked up could actually be a funny one.
"Ah... And here's me thinking you just want to spend time with my gorgeous face." Bumping his side, more aggressively than she usually did, Ellie scowled briefly.
"Don't start that again." The incident in the boys' bathroom (if it was really an incident at all) wasn't completely forgotten and her cheeks still flushed pink at the thought, "I've got a plan for Hallowe'en. James hasn't come up with any interesting group costume and it's in a matter of days, so something has to be done." Sirius couldn't help but grin as she turned deathly serious.
Hallowe'en wasn't even Ellie's favourite holiday, but she'd never pass up an opportunity to cause some mayhem.
Sirius swung their clasped hands dramatically, tugging Ellie along as he walked and drawing questioning looks from students passing by. He'd never held hands with Jessica, for as much as she liked to snog him, public displays of affection weren't really the Ravenclaw's thing.
The more Sirius thought about it, he wasn't sure Jessica liked anything about him other than his lips.
He however, enjoyed being close to people, much like Ellie did. The Blacks weren't ones for getting in each other's personal space and most of the time he just ruffled up Regulus' hair and move on. That was enough to show he cared. But being thrown amongst Ellie and her need to be close to people all the time, and also James, the messy haired boy so comfortable talking about his affections, it felt as if they were actually welcoming him with open arms. Physically. The way Ellie sort to hug him every second of the day or hold his hand or poke his cheek or sit close to his side, and the way James constantly expressed that he was his best friend, really made Sirius feel wanted for the first time in his life.
And after that, he couldn't get enough.
He was awkward before, freezing up whenever Ellie got too near (still like Regulus did with her), but now it was normal. Safe.
"What needs to be done, Miss Cubby? Some trouble causing, I hope. Maybe some hell raising, if we're persistent enough?" At the mention of a plan, Sirius' ear pricked up and his eyes started to twinkle in the same way as Ellie's were.
"Oh definitely hell raising!" She confirmed with a solemn nod, "There's going to be one very unhappy red head, that's for sure."
"Not Mrs Potter?!" Sirius feigned horror, making his eyes go impossibly wide - Ellie giggled.
"It's always Mrs Potter." The beautiful girl could be sure Lily would hit them both for calling her what they had, but it was far too funny not to keep up, "I was going to ask you if you're good at acting, but then I remembered that masking emotions is your specialty."
"So catty." Sirius teased with a smirk.
"With those brilliant acting skills, I'm going to need you to play the role of a certain messy haired best friend of ours." Ellie was being vague to keep his attention, distract him somewhat, but also keep suspense, "I'm going to go around and act like Lily all day and you're going to go around and act like James. We can take the piss and they'll both be mortified." The plan was simple, but potentially highly effective, "The last minute-ness of deciding on what we're going as for Hallowe'en has left us with limited options. It's perhaps ridiculous, but we'll have a laugh. I just want to see their faces all confused."
"Good job we do ridiculous very well then." Sirius had no reservations, winding Lily and James up for the day would be hysteric, even if it were only him and Ellie laughing.
"We've got to take it seriously, of course. You'll need glasses and I'll need red hair..." She started thinking out loud, but the handsome boy didn't need convincing. He was fully on board.
"I'm not named Sirius for nothing!"
And with that, not only had Ellie distracted and lifted Sirius' mood, but they'd also cooked up their next prank.
They made more plans as they headed to the greenhouses for their first lesson. Having Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, kept Julie Whitmore in the back of the handsome boy's mind, him not knowing what he'd do if she attempted to speak to him in lessons. Ellie, as ever though, was a good distraction and she kept a tight grip on his hand until they were sat in their seats around the large potting table. Luckily, Julie was up the other end with her friends, but the Hufflepuff still managed to turn pink at the sight of her new (fake) boyfriend.
The pair's friends weren't too long after them, the smallest Marauder eager to get to his favourite lesson, whilst James asked where they got to after leaving the Hospital Wing. Sirius just smirked and Ellie shrugged. Once again, they were keeping secrets between themselves that the rest of the Marauders knew not to try and uncover.
James spoke of how he'd heard from Mable Munro (a sixth year Chaser on the Quidditch team) that practices were going to start for the first match of the season against Slytherin. With a new Captain this year, a fifth year called Darren Wayne who played Keeper, a lot was riding on the team doing well in their first match. It would be the first weekend in November, the date was getting very close, so Darren had called for practices every night until the game. He had to scope out his team properly now he'd be in charge and there was a lot of pressure since Joseph Wood had been such a good Captain up until he graduated last year. The chatter of Quidditch kept the friends thoroughly interested, for three of them were on the team.
Peter, on the other hand, was mumbling happy things to his Flutteryby Bush in an attempt to make it grow quicker.
James had been a Chaser on the Quidditch team ever since second year, after turning down the role of Seeker in his first. Fleamont had been a Chaser in his time at Hogwarts and the messy haired boy had always dreamed of following in his footsteps. Living and breathing the sport, James took everything to do with Quidditch seriously, it truly was his passion. In a similar way, Cyrus had been a Beater on the Gryffindor team alongside Fleamont, and so Ellie had every desire to do as James did.
She tried out for the Beater position third year, alongside Sirius who got coerced by James to try out too, but the beautiful girl didn't initially make the team. Joseph Wood told her she were was too petite and not intimidating enough to play as a Beater, but Sirius got the spot. There was uproar from the two black haired boys when they found out Joseph wouldn't let Ellie on the team, just because of her not looking the part, and both of them threatened to drop out if she wasn't allowed on too. Needless to say, Joseph Wood was forced into submission and Ellie had a spot on the team within days.
Now the Marauders made up nearly half of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
"He's a good player, but Mable's older and James has been on the team longer. I don't understand why one of them didn't make Captain instead." Sirius commented on finding out who would be leading them to a hopeful House Cup victory.
"I like Darren, he's always been hardworking and never kicked up a fuss. I'd go as far to say he cares even more about Quidditch than Jamie does." Ellie replied with a shrug. Her words were true, putting her favouritism for her best friend aside, she really did believe Darren Wayne would make a good Captain. He wasn't as intense as Joseph Wood was, so hopefully they'd have a more relaxed season.
"HE DOES NOT!" James cried in outrage, nearly throwing a pair of pruning scissors in the air. His outburst drew unwanted attention and he waved a dismissive hand at everyone, now looking their way - Professor Sprout included.
"You're just saying he'll be good, because you're blinded by his good looks." There was a hint of bitterness behind Sirius' words, but he wouldn't let it show on his features.
Darren Wayne was the heartthrob of Gryffindor house, with a smile full of perfect pearly white teeth and always coiffed honey blonde hair. Most girls swooned over him and even Lily had suggested once that she fancied the fifth year - it didn't go down well with James. But Ellie had never shown interest in him. In fact, he wasn't her 'type'.
"That's not true. I fancy Darren Wayne as much as you do." The beautiful girl snapped at his insinuation, "Besides, there are enough boys in my life I have to keep track of."
"You'll be swooned one day, Cubs." James spoke with a far out look, "Just like I was with my precious Lily-flower. I didn't see it coming. It just hit me in the face."
"No, you ran face first into her in the corridor." Sirius corrected with a smirk.
"That is irrelevant." Trying to cover up his slightly bruised ego, James continued, "What I'm trying to say is, that you'll be struck by cupid's bow one day. Mark my words."
It was fair to say the beautiful girl didn't agree and swiftly moved the conversation back to Quidditch practices instead.
The Marauders got somewhat split up in some of their lessons, much to all of their dismay, for when they got to pick new subjects last year, they never discussed it properly. Remus took Arithmancy (the only one of the group that braved the complicated subject) and then Ancient Runes with Ellie and Sirius. The pair also took Care of Magical Creatures with James, which was by far Ellie's favourite subject and she definitely had an affinity with every beast they came across. The messy haired boy decided to do Muggle Studies as well, for even though Lily didn't take the subject, he wanted to learn as much about her background as possible. Peter too took Muggle Studies, despite his mother being one - it would be an easy good grade - and then Divination, which he thoroughly despised.
It was the only time in the school year that you would catch the group not as a whole and it frustrated them all. Their timetables didn't completely match up and James always found he had something interesting to tell Ellie and Sirius whenever they were spilt up. Remus didn't like being in Arithmancy without any of them near a full moon and Peter felt totally out of his depth, alone in Divination. If they could go back, they'd have sat down and decided on the two subjects they were all going to take, but they couldn't do that now and so they were left going their separate ways sometimes.
James and Peter had study periods as Ellie and Sirius had to go to Ancient Runes, so they told them they'd say hello to Remus from them. Usually, the lanky boy would be going with them, but today they had to endure it alone.
Whilst Ellie and Sirius were both clever enough for the subject, they really didn't enjoy it and spent most of their time chatting. Remus had suggested them not sitting together, as to not distract one and other, but of course that fell on deaf ears. Instead, Remus sat beside Lily Evans whilst his friends talked the whole way through the class. Ellie always sketched and Sirius always watched her intently, both of them making comments about Professor Babbling's excessive mumbling. The pair weren't sure they'd be able to make notes from her words if they wanted to. As ever, they sat right near the back, Remus' chair across from them significantly empty.
Lily though, seemed unfazed by having to sit alone and was already taking a few notes out of her textbook. Ellie and Sirius both waved at the red head as they entered the classroom, but Lily was as reluctant to acknowledge the handsome boy as she always was. Getting her book out of her bag, Ellie appeared to be interested in the subject even though she wasn't, whilst Sirius slumped in his seat casually.
The lesson went by smoothly, the pair taking no notice to the lecture going on, but instead muttering with each other and chuckling as other students asked silly questions. Lily kept shooting them warning glares, a desperate attempt to make them engage with the subject, but it was no use and eventually she gave up. After nearly the whole hour, Ellie had another detailed sketch of Sirius, this time chewing on the end of his quill, and the handsome boy had given himself fake tattoos with his ink. They were smudging everywhere, but that didn't matter. When he could real ones was more his priority.
However, the lesson didn't stay steady. Not when someone came barging into the classroom.
"YOU!" There was a blood curdling scream as a whirlwind of school robes stormed down the aisle between Ellie and Sirius's table and Lily's, "You're the bitch who snogged my boyfriend!" Not until the person stopped in front of Jennifer Beadles, was it clear who they were. Yet, the words alone could've gave Sirius a good guess. This can't be happening.
Jessica Arnell stood in the middle of their classroom with a face like thunder. Her dramatic entrance had captivated the eyes of everyone in the class and Sirius turned to a statue. Face going deathly pale and eyes wide, he gripped the desk for support.
"I don't really think he's your boyfriend if he enjoys snogging me so much." Jennifer's words were beyond mocking and a few of her friends around her started to snicker.
All Sirius wanted to do was let the ground swallow him whole, but when he glanced to Ellie beside him, he knew he had to intervene. The situation had gone too far now and it was all about to explode right in the middle of Ancient Runes.
"Jess, why don't we go talk out-" Sirius voice was cut off almost immediately as he stood out of his seat, the Ravenclaw whipping round to storm over to him now.
"Don't you Jess me!" She seethed, not in a way not unlike his mother did when she was furious at him, "You are a no-good piece of shit, Sirius Black! Time after time I tried to keep you interested in me, but clearly all you are is nothing but self-centred!" Having the words spat at him in front of everyone the way he was, Sirius couldn't come up with anything to respond, "You're foul and loathsome and I don't want anything to do with you ever again!"
The whole class were on the edge of their seats, watching the scene unfold, and Lily was shooting worried looks at Ellie. The beautiful girl didn't want to have to get involved too, but she couldn't sit and watch her best friend be attacked like that, not when he'd had so many similar things screeched at him in his life. Sirius' body language said it all, the way his shoulders hunched and his head bowed, as if he were just waiting for her to pull out her wand and hex him. Whether he'd done wrong or not, Ellie wouldn't allow him to be humiliated like that in the middle of class. If Jessica wanted to talk about this, break up with him like this, they could do it in private.
"I'm... I didn't-" Sirius stumbled over his words, in perhaps the most vulnerable state anyone had ever seen him in. Jessica, however, had no regard for how she was making him feel. He'd hurt her, humiliated her, so she'd do the same to him. As she raised her hand violently, everything seemed to move in slow motion.
Sirius turned his head away, expectant of the pain that was coming; the whole class did one huge intake of breath; Lily practically squealed in fear; Jennifer Beadles was cackling with her friends; and Ellie was out of her seat...
Out of her seat and stood in front of Sirius like a shield.
It wasn't until she felt the stinging of skin on her cheek, that her mind really caught up. Clutching her face, Ellie's chest heaved as the whole room became deathly silent - the echoing noise of the smack still hanging in the air.
She'd taken the hit for Sirius, got in the path of Jessica's slicing hand and shoved the handsome boy back into their desk in the process. Lily actually screamed this time, her hands covering her mouth as she stood from her seat. No one had expected the scenario to play out like it had done and even Jessica looked slightly stunned by her actions. The Ravenclaw backed away, realising what she'd done, as rationality washed over her in a tidal wave. She'd stormed into their classroom as soon as she'd been told about the rumour, not thinking straight and on a war path. Now though, she realised the foolishness of her actions.
Especially when she saw the raging fire behind Ellie Gryffin's eyes.
That same intimidation she'd felt sitting in the library with the girl was back, but ten times fiercer, and Jessica's mouth opened and closed as she tried to form some words. Now Ellie didn't hold importance, but anger instead. Something the Ravenclaw wished she hadn't lit the fuse of.
"Never try and touch him again." Still clutching her cheek, the beautiful girl's voice came out strained, as if she were forcing herself not to scream. The fiery rage bubbling in her chest, wasn't for Jessica hitting her, it was for the fact she tried to hit him. No matter how awful he'd made the situation, Ellie would never let anyone hit him. Not with what she knew.
Watching Sirius cower in front of Jessica as if he were two feet tall made every drop of her blood boil and the burning became overwhelming in just moments. Red clouded her vision as she shot daggers at the Ravenclaw, and it took everything in her not to send Jessica blasting across the classroom.
"That's enough!" Professor Babbling finally spoke up, bustling forward to stand between to two girls with her brow set in a firm line, "I won't have such disgraceful behaviour in my classroom! Now Miss, please leave. You've intruded and I'm sure you've got other places to be. Your personal issues can be sorted outside of class." Pointing to the door, the Professor's eyes were fixed firmly on Jessica, the Ravenclaw still in a state of shock. She wasn't sure if she'd be hexed by Ellie if she even breathed wrong, so her steps were tentative as Babbling showed her out.
"We'll be leaving too." Announcing it to the whole class, Ellie grabbed Sirius' hand with the one that wasn't cupping her cheek and pulled him after the Professor. Stopping by the door though, she had one more thing to say, "And Jennifer, be a skank with other boys, okay?" The whole class gasped as the Slytherin's face turned a deep purple colour with a mix of anger and embarrassment.
Ellie said nothing to the Professor as she dragged Sirius out, not stopping to pick up their things, and as soon as they were out of the classroom she sighed.
Luckily, Jessica was nowhere in sight and the corridor was completely empty. Letting go of Sirius' hand and closing her eyes, Ellie leant against the wall to catch her breath. When they'd walked into Ancient Runes, never had she thought anything like that would happen and quite frankly, it was exhausting.
Sirius still looked an odd shade of grey, his mind having not caught up properly with what had taken place. The sickening guilt and terror he'd felt when he realised it was Jessica that had charged into the classroom, hadn't subsided yet and his heart was thumping wildly in his chest. He really had thought Jessica was going to hit him. He'd braced himself for it. He'd expected it. But then it never came and instead the beautiful girl was standing before him like his own personal Patronus.
Finally focusing now that he were out of the thick atmosphere of the classroom, Sirius blinked and was able to breathe once more as he regained some form of composure.
The first thing he saw was Ellie leaning against the wall, still clutching her face, with anguish written all over her features. Without a second thought, he closed the space between them and pulled her in for the tightest hug he'd ever given. The beautiful girl relaxed instantly into his arms, being engulfed by that smell of bonfires she loved so much.
They stood there for an immeasurable amount of time, having wordless conversation about what had just happened. Despite the circumstance, Sirius had never felt so valued in his life and Ellie was just glad he'd not taken the blow. The unfamiliar silence between the pair was oddly comforting for them both and neither wanted to break it as they clung to each other, as if that's what was keeping them grounded.
"Thank you." Sirius whispered into her hair, reluctant to ruin the quiet, the smell of her coconut shampoo being the only thing that could form coherent thoughts in his mind, "You shouldn't have stepped in front of me like that." He pulled away from the hug slightly, to skim his fingertips over the reddened skin of Ellie's cheek. Jessica really had given her a good slap and knowing it was his fault, made Sirius' stomach churn.
"I wasn't going to let another person hit you."
Her words held so much weight, Sirius nearly collapsed under them, the ground disappearing from beneath his feet. Tightening his arms around the beautiful girl to keep himself upright, he buried his face further into her hair, Ellie squeezing him just as tightly in response.
In that moment the world stopped spinning. Everything ceased to exist, so they could have time to right themselves again - tucked away in the eye of the hurricane whilst they let their ever-swirling storm settle. Sometimes they needed peace, something that would just never settle around them. Their wild spirits wouldn't allow such serenity when Sirius' stormy grey eyes always whipped up the sea green in Ellie's. Calm wasn't necessarily a word in their combined dictionary and so instead, they had to find their peace within each other.
It wasn't until there was a mutual agreement made that they needed to go and find the others, that they untangled themselves from each other. Though, the pair weren't quite ready to let go of their peace yet and Sirius intertwined their fingers together as they made their way towards the Hospital Wing.
James was furious at the sight of Ellie's reddened cheek, which screamed loud and clear something awful had occurred. Sirius explained everything whilst Ellie curled up beside Remus in his Hospital bed, the lanky boy's wounds nearly all fully healed. Madam Pomfrey really was a miracle worker. The two black haired boys argued back and forth about a way Sirius could've prevented everything getting so out of hand, but in the end, James could see just how torn up his best friend was. Peter sifted through a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, sharing out the good flavours between Ellie and Remus, whilst James and Sirius continued to talk amongst themselves.
It wasn't until Lily Evans came racing down the Hospital Wing that all talk of the incident stopped.
The red head had kindly collected Ellie's (and more begrudgingly Sirius') things from Ancient Runes to give back to them. She was clever enough to figure out they'd probably be with Remus and so the Hospital Wing had been the first place she looked for them. Seeing all the Marauders huddled around the lanky boy's bed, her pace slowed slightly, but she still had the thought of not being late to her next lesson in the back of her mind.
James' composure completely changed in an instant, the messy haired boy running a hand through his hair and shuffling his feet awkwardly. But when Lily rushed straight passed him, as if he wasn't there at all, the cocky smile that was playing on his lips faltered a little
"I brought your things from lesson." Lily spoke to Ellie, and Ellie alone, chest heaving slightly and hair thoroughly windswept, "What that Jennifer Beadles said was awful and what Jessica did was just foul. I thought you said you'd made friends with her?" Ellie shuffled uncomfortably beside Remus, not particularly wanting to discuss the topic. She felt as foolish as Sirius did for even trying to make Jessica feel welcomed into their group, especially now her true colours had been shown. There would be no way the Ravenclaw would being going anywhere near Sirius again now she'd threatened to hit him, Ellie would make sure of it.
"I'm not convinced she ever truly wanted to be my friend. I think she was just jealous." Words coming out in a mumble, the beautiful girl grabbed Remus' hand for comfort as Peter handed over another sweet.
"She always seemed like a stuck-up pig to me." James snorted and Lily sent him a narrow-eyed glare, "I'll hex her for you if you want?"
"Don't worry Lils, I'll be fine. My ego just needs to recover, is all" Ellie tried to joke, but the situation seemed just a little to morbid for it to have any impact.
With that, Lily gave her friend a tight hug before wishing Remus well, and swiftly exiting to still be on time for her next lesson.
"I don't feel like going to lessons for the rest of the day, do you?" Collapsing onto the end of Remus' bed, curling up into a ball and resting his head on Ellie's shins, Sirius sighed. He spoke to no one in particular, but all of the friends agreed, and in no time, James had them all chuckling with a dramatically told story of his.
Madam Pomfrey wasn't too happy to see the group all congregated around her patient again, but by the sights of Ellie Gryffin and Sirius Black, they both needed rest too.
Dinner couldn't come around faster, even Remus ready to get out of bed and stretch. The day had dragged on longer than anyone had wanted it to, so the group were all glad to hear it was nearly coming to an end. Madam Pomfrey was happy with the way Remus had healed, so she discharged him, but still made him promise to be careful for the next few days.
Hungry stomachs led them all to the Great Hall, but there was still some reluctancy to actually go in. With all the drama of the day, Sirius didn't quite fancy showing his face, nor did Ellie, her cheek still slightly pink. Remus still felt a little exhausted, knowing he looked as if he'd been to hell and back (which effectively he had done) and he didn't like people's stares. However, the promise of food at the Gryffindor table was far too overpowering, and they entered the Great Hall with their heads held high.
James and Sirius led the way, steps in sync and ignoring the existence of the Ravenclaw table. The two black haired boys marched down the hall as if they held all the importance of the world. In that moment, nothing could've knocked their confidence, James' sporting a cocky grin and Sirius with his ever-intimidating scowl. Peter wasn't far behind them, scurrying along to keep up before James noticed and slung an arm around his shoulders, making him keep pace with them instead. Ellie and Remus were at the back, hands clasped together and muttering between themselves to ignore the questioning gazes from other students. The pair looked a sorry sight, but they wouldn't let it put them down. Not when they were so used to people being nosey about what the Marauders were up to.
Tossing his golden snitch in the air for theatrical flair, James took his usual place at the table, sending a wink up at Lily Evans as he did so. Peter and Remus had to climb over the table to sit in their spots, causing a little uproar from neighbouring Gryffindors, but the group took no notice. Once Ellie was properly squished between the two black haired boys, the group were settled, and they all filled their plates full of food.
Extra effort had to be put in to block out the funny looks and not so subtle whispering from other students - especially those from the Ravenclaw table. It seemed the whole house now had a vendetta against Sirius Black.
The handsome boy's choice of girls though, meant he'd started war with all of the other houses, their own being the only safe people to interact with. Slytherin weren't happy with Jennifer Beadles being called out and Hufflepuff weren't happy to see Julie Whitmore crying over being used. The latter only making itself known when the girl came scuttling into the Great Hall surround by a whole hoard of Hufflepuffs. Julie was crying profusely, making a huge scene and Sirius avoided it at all costs. His head stayed bowed and eyes fixed on his plate of food, strategically shuffling so Peter blocked his eye line to Julie.
Perhaps it was the coward's way out, but he'd had enough of dealing with relationship problems for one day. When he woke up in the morning, he would never endeavour to make himself a boyfriend ever again.
Hallowe'en came around quickly, the holiday acting as a fresh start for the group. James was happy to have his best friend back from the clutches of some girl and Sirius was back to ignoring any and all of his admirers. He deemed it the best way possible to avoid any future drama and they all agreed. Remus was free for another month and Ellie and Peter were just happy to see everyone else happy again.
The Marauders were as mysterious as ever, hardly being seen outside of lessons and mealtimes, for instead, they were focusing on spending time as friends. All the complications over the past weeks had left them somewhat divided for quite a while. They'd had little time to spend together and whenever they did get a few spare minutes, there had always been some drama playing out. Now though, every free moment was spent goofing around in the boys' dorm to the record player on full volume or sneaking off into the Forbidden Forest to explore. Pranks were still on hold, as the Animagus project continued to take priority, but this only had the whole school on edge. Everyone was waiting for the next big explosion or for some form of chaos to ensue. But of course, it wasn't coming - not from the whole group at least.
Ellie and Sirius' plan still went ahead, thoroughly confusing everyone when they emerged at breakfast on Hallowe'en morning. The handsome boy came charging into the Great Hall with a pair of glasses on and James' Quidditch jersey, Ellie hot on his heals. She had flaming red hair and was brandishing her Charms textbook like a weapon. No one had a clue as to what was happening. Not until Sirius stood on the Gryffindor table, Ellie whacking his legs with her book.
"Potter, you arrogant toerag! No way on earth will I ever go out with you!" She had cried and soon it was clear they were making fun of their friends.
Both Lily and James weren't impressed by being embarrassed all day, the red head physically avoiding the pair as best she could. Sirius spoke only of Quidditch and how madly in love he was with Lily Evans - James defending himself by saying he never spoke of her that often. Of course, that was a lie. And Ellie spouted every fact about Potions she could, telling everyone fake information on Slug Club and pretending to reprimand anyone who was even vaguely breaking the rules.
By the end of the day, the whole school was laughing at the over-dramatic representation of the two fourth years, even Professor McGonagall having to hide her grin every time the fake James Potter attempted to woo over the fake Lily Evans.
Ellie and Sirius got their roles spot on, both of them having more fun than they'd had all year.
Lily couldn't even look at Ellie with the same colour hair as her and James refused to speak to both his friends out of embarrassment. Yet, Ellie and Sirius didn't regret a thing. They were in fits of laughter all night, staying up extra late to recollect on the hilarious happenings of Hallowe'en. It resulted in them both being attacked by James with a pillow, but it didn't stop any of their laughter. Ellie was happy to see Sirius back to his normal self and the handsome boy glad to have his mess behind him.
Their mischievous antics of the day reminded him just how important it was to put his family first. Getting caught up in relationships had found him spending less and less time with his friends, and more time pretending to be someone completely different. It was tiring having to be something you weren't, just to please someone else. His friends never asked him to do that. They accepted who he was with no questions or complaints and that had only reminded Sirius that he should never have to compromise himself for anyone.