The next day, Eleanor went down to the Great Hall for dinner along with Kathy. They had done their work for Care of Magical Creatures together in their dorm, but they lost track of time. It was now a quarter past six, and Eleanor had to hurry to make sure she would be at the Library in time.
"Hello, hello," she greeted Amelia and Doris, then sat down next to the latter. Kathy sat down opposite her.
She piled her plate with mashed potatoes, peas and a sausage, then dug in immediately.
Doris raised an eyebrow at her. "Someone's hungry," she said with a chuckle.
Eleanor laughed. "Also, but I've got detention at seven and I'll be in even more trouble if I'm late," she explained.
"Oh right, I forgot about your little spat with Snape," Doris grinned.
They all continued to eat, until eventually the Marauders joined them. James and Remus seemed to be in a foul mood, Peter didn't look very comfortable either. Sirius, on the other hand, acted very strange.
The four sat down and helped themselves to some food. "My, did I hear some odd news today," Sirius said out of the blue, aggressively putting some broccoli on his plate.
Eleanor frowned as she drank a bit of water. James closed his eyes and sighed. "What is it?" she asked, oblivious to what was going on.
"Oh here we go," James groaned and rubbed his temple.
"What is it?" Sirius repeated, his brow turning into an angry frown. "What is it? You snogged my filthy brother that's what!" he bellowed.
Eleanor's mouth hung open in confusion. Several heads at the table turned. She heard Doris gasp beside her and Amelia and Kathy seemed to be taken aback as well.
"Merlin will you keep it down Padfoot!" Remus whisper-yelled at him.
Eleanor shook her head. "What on earth are you talking about?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows.
Sirius breathed heavily through his nose. "Snivellus came up to me today and told me he saw you two snogging in the Library and getting in detention for it!"
Her eyes shot over to the Slytherin table where she saw Snape eating with his friends. "Oh that slimey little git," she mumbled to herself. If looks could kill, Eleanor would've been in Azkaban now.
"So it's true then!" Sirius said with a laugh that screamed disbelief. "You actually did-"
"No of course not!" Eleanor interrupted him, her face livid with anger. "How could you actually believe a word that comes out of his filthy mouth?"
Sirius stared back at her. She couldn't quite make out his emotions, but she could tell he wasn't just angry - there was more.
"Then what happened? If you say it's not true then tell me, what did happen," he leaned forward, provoking her a bit.
Eleanor shook her head, not fathoming the fact that she actually had to make him believe her story over that of bloody Snivellus'.
Peter leaned forward a bit. "Maybe you shouldn't do this now," he said softly.
"No, it's fine Pete. The Slytherin part of Sirius would love to start a drama here in the middle of everything," Eleanor said sarcastically, looking straight at her accuser. Sirius chest rose and fell rapidly as his anger shot through his veins.
"Regulus and I were assigned to do a Potions project together-"
Sirius laughed, "Oh please, you must be joking."
James shot him a dangerous look. "You asked her. Let her finish." A muscle in Sirius' jaw twitched.
"-so we went to the Library to finish our essay after class," she finished her sentence. "We were almost done when Snape suddenly came over with his two bodyguards and started calling me a blood traitor. So, naturally, I wasn't having. I almost punched him on his gigantic nose hadn't it been for Madam Pince breaking us up," she explained, feeling angry again at the thought of it.
Sirius remained quiet for a moment. Everyone did. They were all staring at either Sirius or Eleanor - or both.
"Then what have you been doing with him when you two were alone the last week?" he asked bluntly, looking back up at her again.
Eleanor's mouth opened to say something, but she just closed it again and got up from her seat. "I can't deal with your nosy arse today," she mumbled and left to go to the Library.
The other three girls gave each other a nod and got up as well, not feeling like eating anymore.
Amelia threw a glance at Sirius, who was poking around the food on his plate. "That was so unnecessary," she said, shaking her head. Then they walked away.
Sirius huffed and ate a bit. The four of them just looked down at their plates while they ate, wondering if they should say something.
Peter frowned and looked up at his friend. "Why does it bother you so much anyway?" he asked with innocent eyes.
"Because he fancies her," James mumbled while chewing on a piece of fried chicken.
Remus almost choked on his mashed potatoes so Peter smacked him on his back. Sirius abruptly put down his fork and knife.
"I do not fancy her," Sirius spat. But the look in his eyes as he glared at James clearly said otherwise.
James shrugged. "Sure, so that's why you have been stalking her with the Map?" he said casually, then taking a sip of his drink while looking back at Sirius. "How else would you know she hangs out with your brother?"
"You're stalking my sister?!" Remus blurted out.
Sirius' jaw clenched. He had nothing to say to that because James spoke the truth; he had been watching Eleanor with the Map ever since they got back to Hogwarts after the Holidays.
He didn't know why, but after that night at her house when they danced and listened to Eleanor's records together, it was like a switch had been flipped inside his head. It just felt right.
And he thought she felt the same way. He did, until he found out she was with Regulus a lot. They were probably dating, as nobody would spend that much time on a stupid project together.
Then when Snivellus had come to him after class and told him about how they had been caught snogging in the back of the Library, his worst fears came true and he thought he'd never be happy again. He already hated Regulus, but now he just absolutely loathed the guy.
"You knew all along, didn't you?" he asked James, who then nodded. "Why didn't you fucking tell me?! She shouldn't be around that prick!"
"Because it's not my place to do so," Jamss said plainly. "Ella didn't want you to know for the exact reasons you're showing right now - drama."
Meanwhile, Remus still couldn't believe his best friend was falling for his little sister, while he also knew his sister was falling for that same best friend.
He was sure James knew as well, because he knew Eleanor as well as he did. Maybe even better. But James didn't say anything on the matter, so Remus decided he should do the same.
"Don't worry," Sirius said. "I'll talk to her about it."
Remus snorted. "Good luck with that. I don't think she will even as much as look at you for the next few days after accusing her of something like that," he said, looking into the black-haired boy's eyes.
Sirius lowered his gaze. "It'll be fine."
***
Eleanor's heartbeat was still drumming inside her head as she sat down at a desk with Regulus. Pince had ordered them to go through a list and find out which books were missing from the piles she had put on the tables next to them. And there were a lot of piles. They had to do this until nine o'clock.
"Right, we need a system, so I suggest-"
But Regulus stopped talking as Eleanor took a pile and slammed it down on the table. She checked every book and crossed it off the list, so eventually they would see which ones were missing.
"-that," he ended. His eyebrows were raised slightly as he watched Eleanor work in silence. She looked bothered, and he didn't understand why.
"Did I do something?" he asked, also grabbing a pile and placing it in front of him.
Eleanor looked up at him with a frown. "No, why would you think that?" she said, dropping down one book after the other and crossing the titles off the list.
"Because you're treating these innocent books like they're your worst enemy," he said with a light chuckle.
She shook her head and let a heavy sigh. "It's not you, not at all. It's just that something happened over dinner," she said, rubbing her forehead. Regulus just looked at her, patiently listening to every word she had to say.
Eleanor cleared her throat. "Snape told Sirius you and I were caught snogging and that we got in detention for it," she explained, starting to feel angry again.
Regulus looked utterly confused. "What?"
"My words exactly," she breathed. "Sirius confronted me with it, and I tried to explain it wasn't true but-" her voice cracked, "but he just wouldn't believe me."
Eleanor felt tears forming in her eyes, but she tried to fight them back. She was not going to cry over a stupid fight with a stupid boy.
She let out a shaky breath. "He'd rather believe his enemy than one of his closest friends," she whispered.
It really dawned on her now, and a tear escaped from the corner of her eye. It rolled down her cheek innocently and fell down onto the desk.
Regulus wasn't sure what to do. He had never seen a girl cry before. Not over something like this, at least. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
"He just seemed so angry," she said, her voice trembling. "And I didn't even do anything. I didn't want to talk to him about it. I just left."
She buried her face in her hands. Regulus stood up and sat down beside her. He put an arm around her shaking shoulders and pulled her closer.
"Hey, shh, it's alright," he whispered to her. "It's not your fault. He's just like that sometimes. He can't control his emotions." He rubbed her shoulder gently with his thumb.
Eleanor wiped away her tears and sat up straight again. "If he wasn't so thick sometimes he'd know I would never kiss you, or anyone for that matter," she mumbled. Regulus inhaled deeply as he realized what she was trying to say.
He looked into her green eyes which were still blurry with tears and took her hands in his. "Sirius will always be oblivious to love. That was drilled into him during our childhood," he whispered. "If you want him to know, you'll have to tell him yourself."
Eleanor gulped and lowered her gaze. "I know, but at this point I don't want to. Not when he treats me like a liar," she said softly.
Regulus nodded and got back to the other side of the table again. "Let's just forget about all this for now. He doesn't deserve your attention at the moment. Let's just do this, or else we'll have to come back again and we don't want that," he said, smiling down at her.
"Yeah, you're right," she mused.
So, the two got back to it. After another hour and a half, Madam Pince came to collect them. She was very pleased with what they had done. Awarding five points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin, they were allowed to go.
Regulus insisted on walking her back to her common room, like he always would. As they reached a long corridor leading up to the last staircases, they crossed Remus and Lily on patrol.
"Oh Ella!" Lily leaped forward and brought her into an unexpected hug. Eleanor desperately looked at her brother for help, but he just leaned against the wall and smiled.
"I heard what happened between you and Sirius, about Severus' lie. I promise I will talk to Severus about, I'm sure he will take it back," Lily said and pulled back.
Eleanor smiled. "Thanks Lily, but it's okay, I really don't want to talk t Snape anymore. Like ever," she mumbled.
Lily nodded feverishly. "Of course, yes, I understand. Boys are gits anyways," she said resolutely. Bith Regulus and Remus shrugged and nodded. Eleanor couldn't help but laugh a bit at that.
"Thank you, Regulus, for walking with my sister," she heard Remus say. "I'll take her up from here."
Regulus gave a curt nod. "Of course," he said and then wanted to walk away. But he turned on his heels one last time. "Snape really lied, you know, it didn't happen."
Remus smiled and nodded. "I know, you don't have to worry. Sirius is just being too-"
"Sirius," Regulus finished his sentence with a short smile. "I know."
Remus smiled to himself. Then Regulus turned around again and went back downstairs. Lily, Remus, and Eleanor then made their way up to the common room.
"I can't patrol with you tomorrow Lily, you know because of-"
"Full moon, yes I know," Lily nodded solemnly.
Eleanor's eyes grew wide and she stopped dead in her tracks. "Hang on, when did you tell her?!" she asked him. They just kept walking so Eleanor dashed forward to keep up with her brother.
"When she told me she found out what was wrong with me," he started. "So about a week ago."
Eleanor looked between her brother and her new friend. She couldn't believe he was so casual about it. It actually made her really happy.
Lily smiled down at her. "And no, I don't care if that's what you want to ask. He'll be the same ol' Remus to me," she said with a chuckle.
They reached the Fat Lady and climbed through the portrait hole. To her delight, the common room was completely empty. She did not want to face Sirius yet.
Especially not now she knew that it was going to be a full moon the next day and she had to spend an entire night with him.
Eleanor bade Lily and Remus goodnight and went upstairs to her dorm. She found the other girls still awake, wanting to hear how her detention went.
"...and he just comforted me," she said, finishing her story on that night. They were all sitting on their own beds in their pajamas.
Kathy sighed. "Why are boys so dumb," she mumbled.
"Because they think with their-"
Doris clapped in her hands. "Right, I think I'll go to sleep now," she said with raised eyebrows.
Eleanor laughed and got under her covers as well. They all said goodnight and then drew up the curtains around their beds.
She had to be fit for tomorrow. So, for now, she had put the thought of one particular very annoying, but very handsome boy out of her head, and focus on what was important. A good night's sleep.