"Peter you're back!" Eleanor exclaimed, looking very surprised.
The boy laughed as they then all came hollering towards him to bring him into a giant group hug. Although Remus and Sirius remained on their beds; Remus was still feeling ill and Sirius didn't want to hurt his arm anymore.
"Oh my goodness you need to tell us everything!" Lily said enthusiastically as they broke apart again.
Eleanor couldn't be happier. He had made it back. She sat back down next to Sirius, who was still looking very surprised. The others sat back down somewhere in the room as well.
Peter sat down on his own bed. "Alright of course I'll tell you everything, but why is everyone here?" he asked with a laugh.
"Well obviously want to hear the thrilling story!" Mary said, leaning forward a bit
He eyed James quickly, who then shook his head almost unnoticeable. They didn't know anything, so he had to tell them his lies.
"Right, right," Peter began. "So Saturday night, the four of us sneaked out to go to Hogsmeade, get a drink you know."
Sirius and James shared a look. Remus had fallen asleep in the meantime; he wasn't feeling well at all. Eleanor held her breath as she watched his story unfold.
"But when we were almost there, there were these three men coming our way. They were drunk like pissed you know," he said, getting caught up in his own made-up story. "And they starting attacking us."
Lily clapped a hand to her mouth and Amelia gasped.
"That's how you broke your arm!" Marlene said to Sirius, who then nodded immediately, even though he had no clue what the boy was talking about. Eleanor had to fight the urge to laugh.
"Yeah, one guy threw him to the ground and he broke it. But you see I was like, how on earth are we going to get away? And the only thing that came to mind was to use my wand," Peter said as he shrugged.
"You did the right thing Pete, fuck them," Mary said, patting him on the shoulder.
The others nodded in agreement. "I can't believe they expelled you for that," Lily said, shaking her head.
Peter shrugged again. "Dumbledore was there as well, he saw most of it happen, that's why he defended me," he added.
"Well you know, you're here again and that's all that matters," Eleanor said, leaning against the headboard next to Sirius.
The small boy smiled. Eleanor was proud of the way he had handled things, but she still had so many questions. Questions she couldn't ask with the others here.
Remus groaned in his sleep and started to sweat heavily. Eleanor got up and sat by his bed.
She gently took his hand. "Remy?" she whispered, looking a bit concerned.
His eyes shot open and tears started to roll down his cheeks. He squeezed her hand tightly.
"I er think you guys should leave," James mumbled.
The others understood immediately and said their goodbyes, telling them they would see them again at dinner. When Alice closed the door behind her, James immediately locked it.
"Shh Remus it's me, you're fine," Eleanor whispered to her brother, stroking his wet hair.
Remus' breathing was a bit shaky. "Yeah, yeah thanks," he breathed. He wiped the sweat off his forward and sat up a bit.
Sirius had told her Remus had been having nightmares since the last full moon. Eleanor figured it was probably the feeling of guilt still lurking over him. A feeling, she had tried to explain to him, he shouldn't be having. Because it was not his fault. But Remus of course had a hard time buying that.
"I'll get some water," Peter said as he headed for the bathroom.
He returned with a glass of water and handed it to Remus. After taking a sip, he already felt a little better. Peter smiled slightly and sat back down on his own bed.
"Look guys," Peter began, resting his elbows on his knees. "I don't know how, but Dumbledore knows about us."
James furrowed his eyebrows. "About our furry alter ego's?" he asked with a chuckle.
But his smile faded as Peter nodded. "He told me to not let the stag run around the grounds in broad daylight," he said in a tone of disbelief.
"Old man knows bloody everything," Sirius mumbled, trying to scratch his arm without hurting himself.
Because Remus had calmed down a bit, Eleanor went back over to Sirius. "But then why did he help you?" she asked him.
"I've literally got no clue," Peter answered.
They remained silent for a bit. Everyone knew Dumbledore was always aware of anything going on in his school, but Eleanor thought they had kept the secret pretty well. Although the fact he knew didn't really harm them, it did feel a bit like a loss.
"Well, it doesn't matter," James said. "Let's just hope things settle down a bit from now on."
Sirius wrapped his good arm around her shoulders. "I quite fancy that idea actually," he said with a grin. Eleanor chuckled and nodded.
"So what are you guys now? Boyfriend and girlfriend?" Peter asked.
Suddenly Remus was fully aware of everything again. "You know, I would like to know that as well," he said in a hoarse voice.
Eleanor blushed lightly. She didn't even really know what they were. He hadn't exactly asked her to be his girlfriend. They just kissed, but it had been pretty obvious to her that there was something between them.
The two looked at each other. "Well maybe not that yet," Sirius said, his eyes roaming her face.
"Dating would be a good way to put it I think," Eleanor said. Sirius smiled and nodded.
Remus sank back into his pillow. "Fucking hell, my best friend and my little sister," he groaned. Eleanor laughed and rolled her eyes.
"I think it's cute," Peter grinned.
After a bit, the four of them went down for dinner without Remus, seeing as he wasn't hungry at all. They joined the others at the Gryffindor table and they had a great time.
Eleanor hoped they had reached a break from all of the drama and troubles. From now on she just wanted to enjoy her time at school with her friends, especially now she was dating Sirius, something she'd never done before.
She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. She looked to her side and saw Sirius smiling down at her.
Eleanor looked up at him. "What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing, I just like looking at you," he said with a grin
She smiled as a blush crept to her face. Sirius chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.
"You guys are too cute," Mary said dreamily.
Eleanor and Sirius both laughed. He pulled away his arm and continued to eat some more of his pudding.
She was still smiling to herself as her eyes wandered off to the other tables in the Great Hall. But her expression changed as her gaze fell on a black-haired boy sitting at the Slytherin table.
Regulus was talking to some of his friends. But not only them. He was talking to Snape as well. She'd always thought he hated Snivellus as much as her friends did.
She shook her head, deciding to let the matter go. She would talk to him some other time. For now, she just wanted to enjoy her time with her friends.
***
The harshness of winter had settled down a bit. Hogwarts was now surrounded by muddy grounds as the snow had started to finally melt.
Eleanor was walking back to the common room with Kathy after Care of Magical Creatures class.
"I still don't understand why Kettleburn is teaching when he clearly should be resting," Kathy said as they were cleaning their shoes from the mud at the entrance to the castle.
Eleanor huffed. "It's Kettleburn, if he lost both his legs he'd probably still crawl over to teach us about Fire Crabs," she said with a chuckle.
Kathy laughed. They put their shoes back on and walked inside. She smiled to herself as she saw four boys walking up to them from the other side of the corridor.
"Hullo ladies," Sirius said smugly
The girls laughed. Sirius put an arm around Eleanor's shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
"Hi Pads," she chuckled.
"It's Lily's birthday today!" James said out of the blue. He seemed very excited about it.
"Oh, fun!" Kathy said with a smile. "Are you going to ask her out again?"
James scratched the back of his head. "Well that's actually why I'm here," he said. "I wanted your advice."
Eleanor frowned. "Our advice? Why?" she said with a chuckle.
"Well, you know, you're girls," he said awkwardly.
Kathy raised her eyebrows at him. "Took you long enough to figure that one out," she said. Sirius and Eleanor snorted.
James rolled his eyes. "Oh you know what I mean," he mumbled. "Can you like help me come up with something?"
He looked quite desperate as he sat down on a bench on the opposite wall. Eleanor and Kathy shared a look and then sat down on either side of him.
Eleanor put her bag on her lap. "Did you get her a gift of some sorts?" she asked him.
James nodded. "It's quite brilliant actually," he said with a grin
"What is it?" Kathy asked curiously.
"It's a red lily, but I put a charm on it so it never decays," he said proudly. "And there's a ribbon on it with her name."
Eleanor gasped. "That's adorable James!" she said excitingly. Kathy nodded as well.
"Yeah, I know! But see, I don't know how to ask her to go out with me in a way that she'll finally say yes after three bloody years," he said as he ran a hand through his hair.
Sirius leaned against the opposite wall and crossed his arms over her chest. "I don't know if it has crossed your mind, but maybe she just doesn't like you that way mate," he said casually. Eleanor glared at him.
Remus nudged Sirius in the ribs hard, making him cough and bend over. "Will you just shut you dungbrain," Remus muttered in an irritating way.
But James ignored the two of them and shook his head. "No, I just know it'll happen one day, it has to," he said softly.
Eleanor put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "It will," she said reassuringly.
James looked up at her. "Thanks, Ella," he said, smiling.
"You know what, let's go to her right now," Kathy said as she got up.
James' face drained of all color. "W-What right now?" he stammered.
Kathy grabbed his wrist and pulled him up. "Yeah, right now. We're going to get your gift and then find Lily," she said resolutely, dragging James along behind her. The others laughed and followed them.
They eventually reached the common room, and to everyone's surprise, Lily was there with her friends. Kathy pushed James on to grab his present, so he immediately ran upstairs.
"Hey Lily," Eleanor said as she walked over to the girls. "Happy birthday!"
Lily smiled. "Thanks, Ella," she said.
The others proceeded to wish her a happy birthday as well, Sirius taking extra long to keep her occupied while James got back downstairs again.
Eleanor watched him as he made his way over to the red-headed girl. She was still talking to Sirius, so James carefully tapped on her shoulder. He was holding the lily behind his back.
"Hey," he smiled at her when she turned around.
Lily had an expression on her face which Eleanor couldn't quite figure out. "Hi," she said.
"Er happy sixteenth birthday," he quickly said and handed her the flower.
Her eyes widened and she gently held the lily in her hands. "Oh wow, that's beautiful James, thank you," she smiled up at him.
James blushed lightly and waved his hand at her. "Nah it's nothing," he said, putting his hands in his pockets.
But Eleanor noticed him biting his lip. Now he just had to ask him. But by the looks of it, it didn't look like he was going to do that anytime soon. So she very obviously cleared her throat.
He was snapped back from his thoughts. "Right, er I wanted to ask you something else," James said, balancing between his left and right leg.
Lily's eyes met his and he seemed to be lost for words once more. "D-Do you wanna go out sometime?" he finally asked her.
But Lily had definitely misunderstood the question. "Oh well we can all go now right?" she said, sounding excited. "We'll go grab a Butterbeer at Madam Rosmerta's right now!"
Eleanor's heart sank as she saw James putting on a forced smile. He nodded at her and then Lily turned to the others again.
"Who's coming?" she asked them.
Remus, Peter, Sirius, Eleanor, James, Mary, and Marlene all agreed to come along. So, without hesitating any longer, they all grabbed their coats.
Eleanor walked next to James as they headed downstairs again. "I'm sorry Jamie," she said softly, looking up at him from the side.
James gulped and shrugged. "S'alright, as long as she's happy," he said as his gaze was focused on the back of Lily's head, who was walking up front.
She smiled to herself. Sometimes, she honestly didn't get why Lily wouldn't give him a chance. He could be such a lovely guy. Then on other occasions, she completely understood Lily's rejections because he acted like a five-year-old.
When they entered the Three Broomsticks, Eleanor felt all cozy because of the many people inside, all having a good time.
The eight of them sat down at the same table they sat at with Peter's birthday and ordered eight hot Butterbeers with Madam Rosmerta. James got up so he could take back four of the drinks as well.
Sirius, who sat down next to her, put his arm on the backrest of her chair and let her blonde curls glide through his fingers.
Eleanor looked over to her right. "Enjoying yourself Black?" she chuckled.
He grinned back at her. "Very much so," he said, still playing with her hair.
She laughed and shook her head. James and Madam Rosmerta returned with the drinks and made sure they all had one.
Remus raised his glass. "To Lily, may she live a happy life with many more birthdays to come!" he yelled over all the noise.
"To Lily!" they all said in unison and then took a sip from their drinks.
Eleanor put down her glass and slid her chair back. Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "Just gonna go use the bathroom real quick," she explained.
He nodded and pulled away his arm. She got up from her chair and went over to the other side of the room where the hallway to the bathroom was.
She emerged from the ladies' room not long after and wanted to walk back when a familiar voice called her from behind her. A voice that now made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, even though she didn't want them to.