Over the two days leading up to his seventeenth birthday, Sirius Black was a mere face in passing to the other Marauders. He was barely seen, spending the majority of his time attached to Flora Buchanan's side, and attached to her lips too. It was rather nauseating for everyone else, and so the fact that he wasn't around much, didn't really bother his friends. Well, not Peter at least.
James complained as much as he did whenever anyone of the group went missing, but Ellie and Remus spent their time grumbling in hushed voices between themselves about the ridiculousness of how quickly Sirius and Flora's relationship had come about. They were both bitter, they were both jealous, and they both hated the fifth year that imposed herself onto the group. If Sirius did appear, Flora was at his side, and neither of them seemed to realise that she wasn't welcomed. The Marauders all knew that they should be supportive about whoever Sirius decided he wanted in his life, as his family, but that wasn't so easy when the girl he picked used to be Mary MacDonald's bully.
They were all quite fond of the afro haired girl now, as well as Alice Fortescue and her boyfriend Frank.
Nights were awkward because if Flora wasn't staying over, Sirius still seemed to be under the impression that Ellie would be happy to sleep by his side. In fact, the handsome boy wanted her there when Flora wasn't, and he was unable to comprehend why that was so wrong.
"I don't think Flora would be very happy with that." Ellie would say.
"It's all casual, she wouldn't care." He'd insist, and every time, the beautiful girl would have to resist the urge to tell him how very uncasual what he and Flora had looked. That was something he had to figure out on his own.
"He can't have you both. You need to tell him." James would whisper when Sirius went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, but Ellie would just slip out of the dorm room without a reply.
However, November 3rd brought a very different dynamic, with Flora Buchanan nowhere to be seen when everyone woke up. It was just the boys, but James had decided they needed to put all the awkwardness aside, for it wasn't every day that one of them became of age. They had plans to spread the word about a party they were going to throw, and pile of presents ready to gift, all of them smiling wide as if nothing had changed recently. But as usual, Sirius was still fast asleep. At least, that's what they thought.
When James threw back the drapes around his bed, the three boys ready to burst out into a rendition of 'Happy Birthday to you', they were greeted by a very awake Sirius. He was sat up with his back pressed against his headboard, knees up to his chest, and hands in his hair. Everyone's faces fell when he didn't even flinch at the sound of the drapes opening, doing nothing but dragging his fingers across his scalp as if that would provide some form of comfort. Glancing at Remus and Peter briefly to be met with the same confused expression he himself wore, James carefully sat on the end of Sirius' bed, reaching over and placing a gentle hand on his knee.
"I didn't sleep last night." Sirius grumbled without being asked, "Stupid fucking nightmares.... And I've- I think I've lost Snuffles. Cubby will kill me."
"You should've woken me up." James frowned.
"You were out like a light."
"That doesn't matter. It's never mattered."
"I know, but Cubs normally-" Sirius cut himself off when he looked up for the first time, noticing the beautiful girl's absence, "Where is she?"
"Her dorm, I s'pose."
"But it's my Birthday..."
"Well, it's your fault that she-" Remus was cut off, but the lanky boy also received a shove in the side from Peter.
"She'll show up. Happy Birthday, mate." James grinned, patting Sirius' cheek twice, "How does it feel to practically be an adult? Taller maybe? Wiser?"
"Serious." The handsome boy grinned mischievously.
"I'm glad to hear it! Now up, up. There's presents for you to open!"
"I want to wait for Cubby." When none of his friends replied, Sirius' whole face dropped, "She's gonna be here for my Birthday, isn't she?"
There was a silence where Remus refused to lecture him about how it was very possible that Ellie wouldn't show her face with the way he'd been treating her, and Peter avoided eye contact at all costs, not knowing how to explain the situation. The beautiful girl had never said anything openly about her opinions on Sirius and Flora being together, but it was quite obvious, even to the smallest Marauder who usually missed these kinds of things. James cursed his friends for looking so obvious.
"Of course she'll show." He smiled his most convincing grin, "Couldn't miss her favourite boy's special day."
"Favourite boy?" None of them missed the way Sirius' cheeks tinged pink.
Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Remus wandered off to collect the huge pile of presents rather than watching the handsome boy not only blush over someone who wasn't him, but also because it was all so frustrating. What on earth was Sirius doing with Flora if the thought of being special to Ellie was making him flush like a giddy schoolgirl?
The fact that they were a member down that morning was quickly overlooked as Sirius began tearing through his presents. No expense had been spared since he was finally of age, receiving fancy aftershave from Peter and an expensive golden paw print keychain for the keys of his motorbike from Remus. Andromeda had sent him a card saying that she wasn't entirely sure what to get him that was special enough, and so she'd opened a new vault for him in Gringotts now that he'd need one separate from the Blacks. That would've been gift enough, Sirius was absolutely beaming at the prospect, but that was before he read that she'd also put one-hundred galleons in it to start him off.
'I don't expect you to write to me complaining that I've given you too much money, this Birthday is a very special one. I've been saving this up for you for a while now, since you wrote about leaving them, and you need it. I want you to have it. For schoolbooks or robes, or just whatever you'd like. Merlin knows you deserve to treat yourself' - Andromeda had wrote at the bottom of the card. Sirius had almost cried. Only almost, because it was Euphemia and Fleamont's gift that actually had made him cry.
It was only a watch. Yes, it was shiny and golden, and had a face cut from pearl. But it was the significance of it that was the real gift.
There was a somewhat tradition amongst wizards, mainly pureblood families, where parents brought their children wristwatches when they became of age. Sirius had expected to miss out on this, something he was completely fine with if it meant he had no ties with his birth parents, but now he'd been given one, he realised how desperately he'd wished for a family that he'd never had to run from. And this watch was a sign that he'd been given that now. Euphemia and Fleamont may not be the parents that raised him, but they were the parents he had now, and Sirius had truly never felt so loved. This golden wristwatch said 'you're our son too, Sirius' loud and clear.
And the waterworks didn't stop as he opened James' present either, something that was a very strange spectacle. Remus and Peter in particular couldn't place a time they'd ever seen Sirius cry, it simply wasn't the handsome boy's way, he just got angry instead. But now, it was like he couldn't stop balling.
"You can just say so if you don't like it, mate." James teased when he sat sobbing over his present.
Sirius shook his head furiously, holding up the new Quidditch jersey to see properly. On the back where his name usually read 'Black', the letters now spelt his first name - nothing over expensive or flashy as a present, but something that held a lot of meaning.
"I was gonna have it say 'Padfoot', but then I figured that no one else would really understand that, and we need the crowds knowing when you've absolutely obliterated the bludgers." James explained enthusiastically, "Wanted you to have it before our first game with me as Captain. I write the rules now, and I say surnames are outdated. Especially when they're not even correct, eh, Padfoot Potter."
"It's perfect. Thank you." Sirius flung himself at his brother, hugging him so tight that James struggled to breathe. However, with the last present opened, reality set in very quickly, "Cubby's not here yet... She's not coming, is she?"
"She might have overslept." Peter suggested hopefully, though Sirius didn't know whether that was any better than her specifically not coming. It clearly showed how special he was to her if she didn't bother getting up on his Birthday.
"I bet she's down decorating the Great Hall in your honour." James cut in when it was clear Peter hadn't been successful in raising Sirius' mood, "There's always logic behind her madness."
But Remus wanted to disagree, not with the logic part, the decorating of the Great Hall instead.
He was sure that Ellie Gryffin would be doing nothing of the sort, and even if he was able to set aside his annoyance with Sirius for one day, Remus wasn't sure the beautiful girl could. It was totally plausible that she'd just shrug her shoulders and say that today was no different than any others out of spite, or because she believed Flora would probably be attached to Sirius' side more permanently than the last couple of days too.
Whilst Remus had lots of practice coming to terms with the fact that people wouldn't love him in his life, Ellie hadn't had the same, for everyone she came across was lit up by her warmth. It was easy for him to act no different than normal for one day, but for her, coming to terms with the fact that Sirius' attention was soaked up by the fifth year was very difficult.
However, everyone had been wrong. As soon as they decided that they needed to get ready for the day, disappointingly one with lessons, the dorm room's door went flying open with a crash. In raced a beautiful girl with a plate of breakfast in her hands, a neat gift bag levitating at her side, and her wand stuck in between her teeth. Her uniform had been thrown out the window for the special day, having replace it with a dress instead, though her tie was wrapped around her forehead to keep her hair out of her face. Ellie had never looked so excited, her smile so wide that she was flashing pearly canines as her eyes sparkled. Her steps never faltered as she strode towards where Sirius sat on his bed.
The handsome boy looked positively radiant at the sight of her, his expression mirroring Ellie's perfectly. He'd convinced himself that she'd avoid him all day, never make eye contact and dodge his attempts at grabbing her attention. But here she was, as if nothing was wrong at all.
"You look like you've been busy." Sirius nodded at her appearance, as well as the plate she was holding out in front of her. And you look beautiful, Cubs, so bloody beautiful with that grin.
"The Gryffins don't do things in halves." Ellie practically spat her wand out on the bed, thrusting the plate at him, "Birthday breakfast in bed for the Birthday boy."
She'd taken so long to get to them this morning, because she'd had to find a house elf in the Kitchens that wasn't busy making breakfast for the rest of the school. It had proven a more difficult task than she'd expected when the elves were usually so willing to serve, but eventually she'd gotten one to make a small stack of pancakes. They were just as Sirius liked, fluffy and soaked in syrup, and she didn't regret the faff when he looked so overjoyed.
"Happy Birthday, puppy." Ellie leant forward warily, unsure at first, but then she placed a quick kiss on his cheek and shuffled further away swiftly, "You deserve the best day."
"You won't think that when I tell you what I need to tell you." He mumbled in reply, already dreading her reaction, "I've lost Snuffles."
"YOU'VE WHAT?!"
"I don't know where he's gone. I woke up in the night and couldn't find him and then I looked first thing this morning and he's gone." Sirius winced.
"You've... I- I don't know what to say." Face drained of all colour and genuinely heartbroken, Ellie stared for a moment. Then she snatched the plate of pancakes right back off him, "You don't deserve these."
"I don't."
"How could you have lost him?"
"I don't know."
"Little puppy Snuffles..."
"Little puppy Snuffles." Sirius echoed, her anguish engulfing him too. They were as disappointed as each other, the stuffed dog had really meant something to them both, "I feel like shit. On my Birthday."
As you should, Ellie nearly replied, but then she registered the real hurt on Sirius' features too. It seemed like a silly thing they should be so torn up about, but in their world it wasn't. Snuffles had come with them from Grimmauld Place when everything had seemed so bleak, he'd been their good luck charm for the Animagus project. It didn't matter he was old, and his fur was clumped together, and he'd lost lots of stuffing. He had been near the real thing for Ellie in particular.
"Maybe we both deserve this actually." She mumbled, placing the plate of pancakes down in between them, "Comfort food."
"Comfort food." Sirius echoed again.
And so, the handsome boy's seventeenth Birthday began with the mourning of an old friend.
Snuffles wouldn't be forgotten, but they couldn't dwell on the matter when the day called for celebrations. After the pair had shared the stack of pancakes in silence, having to use the same cutlery (not that either of them minded), Ellie set the gift bag she'd brought with her in her lap. James, Remus, and Peter had given them both space, for it was very clear they needed to patch a few things up on their own. Sirius waited patiently whilst Ellie stared at the gift bag silently, peaking inside before clamping the top shut between her fingers. He was too impatient to know what she'd gotten him, but didn't want to seem spoilt, so he forced himself to be quiet. But the beautiful girl never handed over the gift bag.
"I don't think you'll want it." Ellie explained eventually, looking up ashamed.
What she'd gotten was a spur of the moment order, a letter she now regretted sending to Camille to help. Her Aunt had replied more than enthusiastic, but now she was actually about to hand over the gift, Ellie really wasn't sure.
"Of course I will. You got it me." Sirius shuffled closer to her, so much so, their knees were touching, but he still couldn't get the beautiful girl to look at him.
"Yeah, but this is different."
"How so?"
"It just is... I think you might think it's stupid, or just weird." Ellie's shoulders slumped, and then she shook her head, "You know what? Don't have this. I'll send off for something else and it'll just have to be a little late. I'm sorry."
"Give me the damn present, Persephone Eloise." With a scowl, Sirius held out his hand. She was acting ridiculous, for there was absolutely no way he wouldn't like anything she'd brought him. No doubt there was thought behind her gift, and that alone was enough. Whatever was in that bag could be the most bizarre thing in the world and he'd still adore it because it came from her, "I want whatever stupid and weird thing you've got me."
Ellie couldn't argue when he'd used her proper name, and she swallowed thickly as she handed the gift bag over. She didn't watch as he eagerly looked inside, pulling out each individual item and inspecting it closely. Sirius' brow scrunched up in concentration every time, too busy looking at it all to smile once, and this made Ellie's skin crawl. They must've sat in silence for a good three minutes, three very painful minutes for the beautiful girl, as Sirius examined everything thoroughly, and even the other boys were craning their necks to see what Ellie had given him.
"See, you don't even know what they are. Just give it here-" Eventually she sighed, thrusting her hand at him to snatch the present back, but Sirius recoiled away from her with another scowl, bringing what he was holding to his chest protectively.
"You can't take a present back." He said, somewhat upset with himself for making her feel as if he wouldn't want what she'd brought him.
"I can if you don't like it."
"Who says I don't?" Ellie's eyes shot wide in shock, and Sirius' features broke out into his signature smirk, "Do it for me."
"What?" She spluttered.
"My eyeliner." Sirius handed her one of the various coloured eyeliner pencils he had been inspecting, "Do it for me in this colour. I've never seen this colour before."
"Oh, um, alright..."
Ellie had, in fact, brought him enough eyeliner pencils to last him a lifetime. They ranged from classic black to wilder shades of electric blue with tiny specks of glitter which were sure to make his stormy grey eyes sparkle silver. Along with them, there was a tube of mascara and an eyeshadow pallet in complementing colours, with a small set of nail varnishes. All the labels were in French, because they'd come from the most expensive shops in Paris, courtesy of Camille, but that wasn't a problem for Sirius. It had just taken him a moment to translate all the words.
Before he shut his eyes for Ellie to begin with a vibrant violet shade of eyeliner, Sirius delved into his bedside table for a cigarette and his lighter, letting billows of smoke swirl around them. Ellie couldn't complain, not when she was sure now that was the bonfire smell of her Amortentia, and she waited patiently for him to shut his eyes. She kept a gentle grip on his chin to hold his head still, cursing her shaky hands as he tried to lean closer and closer to her face by the second. Once one eye was done, violet kissing his eyelashes neatly, Sirius held his cigarette out for her to take as drag as he spoke - a part of him was desperate to see cherry red ring the paper once he opened his eyes.
"Why would you think I wouldn't like this present?" He didn't need to see her face to know that she flushed pink.
"Well, I guess it's not very special for a big Birthday." Ellie muttered, patting his cheek twice to let him know she was done.
"It's special to me."
Stormy grey had never looked so like the colour of the stars when Sirius' eyes fluttered open. Ellie got the urge to shove him away from her the way he was smirking so mischievously, but she only wanted him even closer.
"Yeah?" She breathed, not being able to pull her gaze from his mouth as he brought the cigarette to his lips once more.
"Very." He nodded, smoke clouding in between them, "If I'm gonna call myself a rebel, I have to do rebellious things. What guy do you know has his own makeup bag?"
"Well, I'm sure there's plenty of boys that like to-"
"Muggles perhaps, but any pureblood boys?"
"I don't quite believe that Malfoy is that pale normally, he must use some kind of powder." Ellie mumbled, making Sirius snort as he finally leant away from her, taking his intoxicating bubble of all things handsome with him.
"This present is neither stupid, nor weird. I really like this kind of stuff and I'm not ashamed to say it." In one smooth motion, he reached forward to swipe his thumb across her bottom lip, before pulling back to smudge her cherry red lipstick onto his own lips as if it was the most casual thing in the world. Sirius' grin only grew when he heard her breath hitch in her throat, "Now, paint my nails so I can pretend I'm Ziggy Stardust for a day!"
So that's what they did, no sense of urgency about when first period began. They debated which colours would look good together on each nail, disagreeing, deciding again, and then disagreeing some more. In the end, Sirius demanded each of his nails had to be a different colour, for that way, they could use each of the nail varnishes for the first time. They smoked the first cigarette until it was just a stub, and then began another, nothing but them on the bed existing in their private world. It was peaceful after a couple of days of both emotional upheaval and the disruption of their friendship, for all of the Marauders - James, Remus and Peter all glad that things were seemed to be settling again.
Ellie was just happy to have Sirius back to normal, them trying new things together and the comfort of him being so close. He watched her intently as she held his hands, painting each of his nails as best she could, but the constant gaze on her didn't make her squirm like it normally would. Instead, Ellie found herself basking in his attention and wanting to do all she could to keep it.
Though, as ever, the universe was up against them, and their little bubble was burst well before they were ready for it to.
When there was a knock at the dorm room door, no one took any notice of it, for they were often getting complaints about being too rowdy, so Remus reluctantly got up off his bed to answer. He turned down the Led Zeppelin record that James had put on a while ago first, peering through the smallest crack in the door he could - there was always a possibility that McGonagall would come knocking, at which the Invisibility Cloak was always chucked over Ellie quickly. But Remus only rolled his eyes when he saw who the visitor was.
"It's you." He drawled, opening the door a little more so that Flora Buchanan could come in.
Remus didn't make it easy for her, only making the crack in the door just big enough for her to squeeze through and refusing to smile in greeting, but the fifth year took no notice. With a purposefully violent shove, she managed to barge the door over Remus' little toe making him hiss in pain and stumble out of the way. He nearly reached to tear a chunk of her hair out when she shot a sickly-sweet smile his way and marched into the room. Instead, with his good foot, he kicked one of his books across the floor and into her path, which she tripped over very inelegantly. Remus sat back on his bed with a satisfied hum.
All of this happened without Ellie and Sirius taking any notice, both of them still gazing at each other as they bickered about why he couldn't do her eyeliner in return because they were his. Sirius insisted that he wanted them to match, but Ellie kept saying that he shouldn't waste his present on her. Only when Flora forced her way onto the bed too, did either of them realise that their own little world had been intruded upon.
"Watch it." Ellie spat more fiercely than she meant to, quickly trying to collect all the open bottles of nail varnish up that her and Sirius had been so careful not to let spill.
"What are you doing?" Flora exclaimed loudly, bursting out into giggles when she took in the sight of Sirius covered in all sorts of different colours, momentarily forgetting that she needed to keep the present she'd gotten him behind her back, but then hiding it before he saw.
"Do you like it?" Sirius asked eagerly, wiggling his eyebrows and flashing his freshly painted nails, completely unaware of the mocking tone in Flora's laugh.
Ellie about shoved her off the bed, glancing over her shoulder at Remus who just shook his head at her subtly. If she started an argument, it would only ruin Sirius' day.
"You look like a fool." Flora didn't mean that in the loving way in which Ellie always said it, and Sirius' face dropped, "There's a reason that makeup is for girls, Siri. Boys aren't supposed to wear eyeliner and nail polish, it's weird."
There was a moment where Sirius looked like he might shove Flora off the bed this time, James and Remus slowly moving from their beds to get ready to defend the handsome boy as violently as they might need to. Ellie just stared at the fifth year, unable to form enough words to express her outrage, and when it was clear that Flora didn't think she'd said anything wrong, her gaze shifted to Sirius. He felt her eyes on him in an instant, asking him to speak up, so he simply kept his gaze steady on his somewhat-girlfriend.
"I don't care." He shrugged eventually, "Me and Cubs do this stuff all the time. See this..." He moved his hair out of the way to flash the silver hoop earring he'd never wanted to change, "The work of her wonderful hands."
"Her wonderful hands?" Flora gaped.
"Do you want to see them?" Ellie grinned cheekily, "Absolute miracle workers they are."
"I bet all the boys tell you that."
"Believe whatever you want to believe, Flora." Ellie shrugged unbothered, "I'm not some slut if that's what you're insinuating."
"I wasn't suggesting anything. I've just heard what my brother and his friends have said about you."
"Well, I have no idea what you've heard then, 'cause I went to Hogsmeade with them all one time. I didn't even stick around."
"They said that-"
"And you shouldn't believe everything you hear." Ellie silenced Flora immediately, the fifth year no longer as confident now that she was on the receiving end of the beautiful girl's wrath, "There's lots I could say about your brother and his friends, but do I open my mouth? No. So learn to shut yours."
"Cubby come on-" Sirius began, but Ellie silenced him too - all it took was a warning glare. Deciding that some intervention was needed before his Birthday was potentially swarmed with animosity, he quickly changed the subject, "Have you got me a present, Flo?"
And just like that, Flora was back to her sickly-sweet self as if she hadn't just been trying to brand Ellie as some flirt who would go with anyone. She shuffled to sit better on the bed so that it was clear it was her turn to get all of Sirius' attention, whilst fumbling with his gift behind her back. James, Remus, and Peter could all see what she was hiding, for she'd not bothered to wrap it up, and they shared despairing glances with each other. It appeared the day was beginning all wrong, and they had no idea how Flora's gift reveal was going to go. Awkwardly was probably the most accurate answer. The fifth year was very obviously trying to edge Ellie off the bed as she shuffled further and further over, setting herself directly in front of Sirius with a flirty bat of her eyelashes.
"I didn't know what to get you, because I only found out about your Birthday yesterday..." She explained, before slowly bringing her gift out from behind her back.
Sirius froze, Ellie felt her blood run cold, and the other Marauders tensed for an outburst.
"I did a few charms to make it look better. That way, it can sit on your bedside table and look pretty and you don't have to hide it in your bed like you do. Surely it gets in the way. I mean, it's bad enough you've got a teddy bear at seventeen now, so it's at least worth making it look nice. Now it can just be a cute decoration."
Snuffles hadn't gone missing at all, but he'd been stolen instead. Taken right out of Sirius' bed and made to look as if he was brand new. But he wasn't brand new, so he shouldn't look it in Ellie's eyes.
She was mortified that all his character had been washed away like it meant nothing, almost as if some of the only good childhood memories Sirius had at Grimmauld Place were washed away too. Snuffles' lack of stuffing made him squishier, but now he was awkwardly stiff; his missing eye had always made Ellie smile, but now he was looking at her with a matching pair. It was all so wrong and a part of her wanted to cry, for it didn't matter he was just a teddy bear and she probably shouldn't be so attached at sixteen, she was upset for the same reason that she had been when they'd thought he'd been lost.
The stuffed dog had been a source of comfort when her and Sirius were in that wretched house the Blacks called home, and even now, he was a form of safety blanket. A safety blanket which was now completely unfamiliar.
Having not acknowledged what Flora said at all, Sirius only watched Ellie, more lost in her reaction than his own. Snuffles may have always been his, but he was hers now too and she looked absolutely devastated. It didn't take long for the fifth year to catch on.
"Merlin! Is it not yours?" Flora clasped one hand over her mouth as she glanced back and forth between the pair, "I'm such a loon! Here you go Ellie, your welcome, I guess."
Still completely vacant, the beautiful girl took Snuffles off Flora without even looking in her direction. She wanted to snatch him out of her grip, scream at her for taking something that she should never have touched, yell at Sirius for letting the fifth year into their dorm uninvited by the others. But she was silent, passing Snuffles straight onto Sirius so that she didn't have to deal with the fact he'd been near ruined.
"He's ours. Collectively." Sirius explained when Flora watched with a crumpled brow, setting the stuffed dog on top of his pillow safely out of the way.
"Then what's the problem here?" Flora demanded.
"No problem." He lied, mask on and tone even, "Thanks, Flo."
As smoothly as possible, he leant forward and kissed her cheek once, hoping the blush he rose to her cheeks would distract her enough to let the topic go. There had to be a way to reverse whatever charms she'd used to clean Snuffles up, Remus' complicated spell book would help them and then all would be well. Ellie will stop glaring at me like I've threatened Cyrus with murder.
"Good." Flora nodded once, bring a hand to her flamed cheeks, a dreamy expression washing over her features. She turned unexpectedly on the other Marauders as soon as she'd recovered, mood and personality flipping like a switch once more, "Now, I want to ask you about whether you've planned a party or not, because I expect you probably haven't-"
"We have, actually." James cut her off with a challenging scowl. He'd not liked the way she'd butted in on Ellie and Sirius business one bit.
"Oh..."
"Yes, oh."
The tension between everyone was almost unbearable - James, Remus, and Ellie all on one side, Flora on another, Sirius caught somewhere in between, and Peter struggling to keep up but doing better than normal. The messy haired boy came forward, gesturing Ellie off the bed and to his side so that they could be a united front, and Remus was quick to flank his other side with an expression dangerous enough to kill. The trio looked almost ready to physically throw Flora out, in fact, they were ready, they just wouldn't. Not on Sirius' Birthday.
"I don't want a party this year." The handsome boy suddenly blurted out, catching everyone off guard. He never passed up an opportunity to drink and be rowdy, dance and not make it to bed until the early hours of the morning. Nothing was set in stone, his friends hadn't even spread the word about the party they were going to throw in his name, so it didn't entirely matter, it was just more of a shock. Yet, Sirius looked set in his decision, even if he wouldn't meet any of their gazes, "Thanks for planning something special, but after everything this year-"
"What's happened this year?" Flora butted in, obviously lost and hating that fact.
"Nothing major. Me and Pa- Sirius just got drunk loads over summer and it's sort of took the shine off parties." James didn't need any signal to improvise, flapping a dismissive hand the fifth year's way, "No worries, mate." He grinned back at Sirius, "We'll do whatever you want."
"Ooo maybe we have a sleepover in the common room!" Flora announced, but no one replied.
Even Sirius didn't really want her involved in whatever plans they made, for Birthdays were usually an inner circle event, and even if the fifth year was someone he was messing around with, that didn't make her a part of their group. None of the Marauders knew how to tell her that she wouldn't be invited, until Remus decided enough was enough. He was going to try and get rid of her for good.
"That's hardly a sleepover." He scoffed, "Besides, I will not be sleeping on the bare floor, and lugging my mattress down those spiral staircases does not sound fun."
"This is your best friend's seventeenth Birthday, Lupin!"
"Yeah, and the last time I checked, you weren't included in any plans, Buchanan." Flora looked completely put out, and Remus' lip curled, "Go cry to your Head Boy brother if you have a problem with that."
"You want me included, don't you?" Personality flipping once more, the fifth year was suddenly a lot fiercer than she'd been moments ago, staring Sirius down expectantly.
"Oh, um, of course." He floundered, shooting apologetic looks at the rest of his friends.
Flora turned back to Remus with a nauseating grin, and for a moment he thought she might even stick her tongue out at him as if to say, 'I told you so'.
"Consider me included."
"Consider you a fucking bitch." Remus mumbled under his breath.
"So what's the plan?" Peter cut in, half being able to recognise that someone needed to silence Flora, and half being genuinely confused. It felt like they'd end up going round and round in circles at this rate, for as the Marauders all tried to keep things between themselves, the fifth year kept butting in. No one could understand why Sirius didn't just say something.
"Sleepover in the common room, don't you listen?" Flora spat, making Peter cower backwards on his own bed.
"No, actually..." Sirius finally took the hint from all the pointed looks James kept sending him, setting a calming hand on Flora's shoulder. However, he still didn't quite say what his friends wanted him to, "Can we bonfire in the forest like we did fourth year? Just steady."
"The Forbidden Forest?" Flora gaped.
James groaned dramatically as he strode away, collapsing on his bed in a heap of despair, and Ellie had to grab Remus' hand to stop him lunging for the fifth year. It appeared Flora was absolutely desperate to be in on whatever plans they made, regardless of how obviously they didn't want her to be. Whether Sirius was oblivious to his friends' annoyance or whether he just didn't have the guts to tell her that they didn't want her involved, no one knew. He just remained sat by her side, more interested in his freshly painted nails than the glares being shot back and forth between Ellie and Remus and his somewhat girlfriend.
"That's the forest!" Ellie exclaimed loudly, jumping into action. She was finished debating this now, and unlike Remus' attempt, she was going to be insistent. Lurching forward to grab a hold of Sirius and drag him off the bed, she then raced to grab his nearest t-shirt and whatever jeans she could find. Throwing them at him randomly, she ushered him towards the bathroom as she continued, "Sounds like the best thing you've said all year. Now let's head off to classes once your dressed, and we'll plan as we repot for Pomona."
Before Sirius could shut himself away to get changed, Ellie suddenly stuck her foot in the door, coming at him with another item of clothing. The handsome boy's head was spinning, but somehow he managed to grin so wide his cheeks were hurting as he watched the concentration on Ellie's face as she looped his tie around his forehead. She mirrored his expression when her hands went to her own tie in the same makeshift headband, eyes not being able to be pulled away from how his violet eyeliner was clashing perfectly with red and gold.
"But I'm not in your Herbology. I'm the year below remember. I've got Divination now." Flora complained and Ellie's grin dropped immediately as she pushed Sirius backwards into the bathroom.
"We'll let you know later, yeah?" She whirled on the fifth year, arms flapping wildly to gesture for her to get up and leave. Ellie didn't wait for an agreement on Flora's part, "Great! Thanks, Flo. Have fun summoning the spirits or whatever you do in that ridiculous class."
It took all of five seconds for Ellie to practically shove Flora out of the dorm now that Sirius was out of the equation, ignoring all of her screeching protests and slamming the door right in her face. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, and James began a round of applause, to which the beautiful girl bowed theatrically.
"You should've done that sooner." Peter squeaked, "She'll be doing tea leaves since it's still near the beginning of term. I bet she sees a falcon and a club - deadly enemy and an expected attack."
"You don't need to be a Seer to tell her that. Wait until the full moon and Moony will have her for dinner." James teased, though Remus really did look like he might pop a vein in his neck.
"Gladly." He grumbled.
No one could've been happier when Sirius emerged without a single question as to where Flora had gone, pouting about how he'd smeared one of his nails instead. He safely secured his new watch to his wrist before James threw his leather jacket at him and Ellie scooped the correct nail varnish colour up to right his manicure once they got to class. They wanted to keep him moving and occupied so there wasn't any potential for talk of the fifth year to slip in, though it was almost as if she'd never interrupted them this morning at all when Sirius grabbed Ellie's hand to pull her out of the dorm, announcing that he was going to have a go doing her nails.
Professor Sprout couldn't have done anything to reprimand the Marauders that morning if she'd wanted to. She took house points, dished out detentions, but never once did any of them flinch.
It began when Ellie and Sirius turned up without their uniforms on, to which the beautiful girl just shrugged her shoulders and told her that 'it wouldn't impact their ability to learn'. Though when the pair then refused to go anywhere near compost in the name of nail varnish preservation, Sprout had enough. She gave them detention; they just bumped their foreheads together and chuckled amongst themselves.
Remus was also refusing to interact with the practical lesson, just a lot more discretely. He had his head stuck in his complicated spell book, looking for any form of charm which might help to reverse the ones that Flora had put on Snuffles - he'd collected a couple that might work, but he didn't want Ellie or Sirius knowing just yet. His lack of focus though lost him twenty house points over the whole lesson, particularly when he argued back about it.
James and Peter, however, where actually doing as Professor Sprout asked, just yawping loudly as they did so. The messy haired boy became quickly enthusiastic about their plans for a bonfire in the Forbidden Forest later, and Peter kept interjecting with ways they could try and leave Flora behind. When they were caught discussing how they could potentially land her in the Hospital Wing, they got themselves detention too.
By the end of the class though, not only did they have solid plans for how they were going to sneak out to the Forbidden Forest, with Flora but without her learning about the Invisibility Cloak or Marauder's Map, both Ellie and Sirius had perfectly painted nails and Remus had all the ammunition he needed for returning Snuffles to exactly how the pair wanted. Anything for them, he found himself thinking.
Whilst his friends were all layering on the jumpers and cloaks, trying to scavenge as many blankets as possible so that they didn't freeze in the low temperatures of early November, Remus managed to secretly get a hold of the stuffed dog. He'd practiced on a pair of old socks he first charmed to repair themselves, and after being quickly successful with that, he was confident to just get Snuffles back to normal. The longer he looked as Flora had made him, the longer the presence of the fifth year lingered amongst them, and that was enough to make Remus angry all the time.
He hated her, really hated, and he didn't actually know why.
Yes, she was foul natured, but he'd come across people in his life like that before and been able to brush them off. Perhaps it was jealousy, perhaps it was the fact that Sirius was shoving Ellie out with her, or perhaps Remus just wasn't so even tempered anymore. Either way, he wanted Flora Buchanan eradicated from his, and his friends' lives, where possible.
"Padfoot?" Remus called from his bed, tucking Snuffles behind his back when he looked just as old and scruffy as he had done before today, "I've got you another present."
Breaking off from trying to force a third jumper on, Sirius grinned wickedly as he bounced over, his hair a mess and violet eyeliner now smeared around his eyes. He looked as beautiful as ever though, and Remus cleared his throat awkwardly as he squirmed under his gaze.
"I feel spoilt." Sirius exclaimed, making grabbing motions with his hands eagerly.
"It's not entirely for just you. For Cubby too."
"Well, that's just rude, it's not her Birthday for months."
"For me?!" Ellie bounced over almost exactly like Sirius had done, jumping onto the handsome boy's back like a monkey.
"Get off me!" Sirius cried with a wild flail of his arms which made her slide back to the floor, "You shall not make my Birthday all about you."
"Hush, puppy." Ellie reached forward and placed one finger over his lips with a dismissive shake of her head and Sirius was silenced in seconds. She turned to Remus with a wiggle of her eyebrows, "Whatcha got for us, Moony?"
Remus sat there for a minute staring at them with a goofy grin plastered across his face.
There wasn't really any way to describe their beauty in his eyes. Equally as gorgeous, equally as perfect - scars or no scars. Ellie's acceptance of anything and her endless amounts of affection to dish out made him feel more wanted than he ever had done, and Sirius was just utterly exciting with his recklessness. It may have been something the Marauders had always been able to see, but Remus really believed that under all of their armour and futile lies, their souls were the same. Not two halves of a whole, but identical. Loyal, intelligent, confident in themselves; everything Remus aspired to be.
Of course, they had off days, but everyone did, and it was their resilience from them which he admired the most. Sirius could've crumbled at the hands of the Blacks, but instead he decided enough was enough. Ellie could've broken entirely after Adelaide's death or being hit with that dark magic, but she found a way to smile again.
The more he thought about it, the more Remus realised that he maybe didn't just fancy Sirius, but he loved the pair equally. He couldn't quite explain it, but it was different than the brotherly love he felt for James and Peter. Not that he necessarily always preferred them, but it was just different. An explanation to the wet dog smell in his Amortentia? That his blurred feelings weren't blurred at all, Ellie and Sirius were just so similar it was sometimes difficult to recognise where one's personality ended and the others began.
The boy named after the stars and the girl descended from them.
"Don't leave the Birthday boy waiting." Sirius urged, bumping Ellie's side with a wink, and Remus was tugged out of his daze of realisation.
"Here." He said, bringing Snuffles out from behind his back, "I think I've sorted him out for you."
Before he could even blink, Sirius was snatching the stuffed dog out of his hands and Ellie was flinging herself at him. She about knocked him backwards on his bed as her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, and when her hands slipped into his hair, Remus was fighting a flustered blush. Just like when she kissed me... And then she did. Two quick pecks on both of his cheeks as she mumbled a string of 'thank you's. Sirius hadn't moved, his mouth hung open wide whilst he inspected Snuffles closely, and then he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat as he launched forward too. Smashing his lips against Remus' forehead, he sank down onto the bed too, passing the stuffed dog over to Ellie.
They were both too elated to take in the fact that Remus was now as red as a tomato, wanting the mattress to open up and swallow him whole whilst he either screamed or fell into giddy fits of laughter. Pesky butterflies swarmed in his stomach and a stuffy heat crawled up the back of his neck, which wasn't helped by Ellie and Sirius rejoicing over him. The beautiful girl kept one of her arms slung over his shoulders as she held Snuffles tight, and Sirius waffled on and on about how amazing Remus was, both of them beaming so brightly the lanky boy thought he could actually feel their warmth.
"We'll forever be in your debt, Moons." Ellie announced, giving him one last squeeze in thanks.
"You ever need us for something, we won't ask questions." Sirius nodded in agreement, "Little puppy Snuffles has been rescued by that big brain of yours."
"Little puppy Snuffles." Ellie cooed like a mother about her child.
"It was nothing." Remus tried to act as cool as possible. He failed miserably.
"QUICK!" Ellie suddenly yelled, her eyes shooting wide, "We need to hide him before the bitch arrives."
"Please don't call her that." Sirius frowned, but the beautiful girl was already rushing over to his bed.
Only once Snuffles was tucked safely in Sirius' trunk, was she happy, and Remus couldn't help but chuckle at her. There was no doubt about it, his Amortentia had known first - Remus Lupin was completely besotted with both Ellie Gryffin and Sirius Black, and his feelings were a tangled mess that never failed to make him flustered.
Flora arrived as night fell and the Marauders were just about ready to leave. There had been no way to prevent her from tagging along, not without causing unwanted drama at least, and so they were just going to have to grin and bear it as she clung to Sirius' side all night.
Whilst they were all wrapped up warm in thousands of layers and blankets pulled over their shoulders like capes, she'd arrived in just jeans and a flimsy blouse, a cardigan in hand. She looked nice, there was no doubt about it, but the brunette had clearly not thought through temperatures at all. Sirius told her that she should go back to her dorm and get changed, but she protested before grabbing the emerald green jumper of his that he'd leant her before.
With the Invisibility Cloak and now Marauder's Map too, sneaking around the castle had become more than easy for the group of friends by their sixth year, but with the interloper, they couldn't risk using any of their usual strategies. The last thing they needed was anyone finding out about their secret weapons. Instead, they resorted to their old methods of splitting up and meeting along the tree line of the Forbidden Forest so that there wasn't a huge crowd of them sneaking through the halls. Unlike when they were twelve though, they were now armed with Remus' knowledge of the Prefect rounds, so they knew which corridors were their safest bet.
It was decided Sirius and Flora were going to lead the way, splitting off first, for with the inexperienced fifth year, they were most likely to be caught.
"I'm plenty experienced, thank you very much!" Flora argued, but Remus was quick to roll his eyes.
"At avoiding Filch, sneaking passed the Prefects, Buchanan." He grumbled, "No one cares about whether you're a virgin or not."
Sirius was under strict orders to avoid all the hidden passageways so that they stayed their secret, and he gave a salute before dragging Flora away in their designated direction. James and Peter were next, both carrying extra blankets and a huge selection of snacks, racing down the Godric Gryffindor passageway at top speed. Which left Ellie and Remus to take the longest route to outside, for they had a failsafe of his Prefect's badge pinned to his chest - hopefully, they'd be able to trick anyone they came across with a story about him escorting Ellie back to their common room. But thankfully, they didn't need to, moving swiftly down the corridors hand in hand.
"Don't think I didn't see that blush when he kissed you." Ellie teased as they passed over the wooden bridge towards the stone circle, far enough away from the castle now that they didn't need to use hushed voiced, but Remus wasn't sure whether it was actually his blushing because of her or Sirius.
"Don't think I've not noticed you drooling over him all day." He fired back quickly, but she just shrugged.
"Can't help it."
"Me neither."
"Thanks for Snuffles." Ellie squeezed Remus' hand tighter with a content smile, "I mean, I love him just because, but even if he won't admit it, he's special to Sirius. I'm sure he's more grateful than he can express."
"I've got to win him over someway. I'm competing as the only boy against two girls here. As well as my anxiety over actually ever saying anything about it to him." Shrugging as casually as possible, Remus tried to joke, but it wasn't easy when he was talking to the beautiful girl he felt just as strongly for now.
"Well, I'm rooting for you."
Remus didn't know whether he started laughing from genuine humour or nerves.
"You're ridiculous." He chuckled heartily and Ellie began giggling along.
When they eventually made it down to the tree line across the grounds, James and Peter were easily spotted with the way they were bouncing up and down eagerly, but they were alone. With Sirius and Flora breaking off from the group first, they should've been waiting for everyone else to arrive, and Ellie and Remus shared a look as they reached the other of their friends.
"I swear, if she has dragged him off somewhere else and bloody ditched us." James cursed immediately.
"You don't think they could've been got by Filch?" Peter suggested, but Remus shook his head.
"Padfoot isn't stupid, he would've heard Mrs Norris a mile off and diverted."
"The tosser better not be chasing that cat without me." Ellie scowled, making them all chuckle at her, "I'm serious."
"No, that's him!" James joked, throwing his arms up in the air dramatically.
"Flobberworm." Ellie grumbled.
"Mutt."
"Pillock."
"Fleabag."
"I'm very clean I'll have you know!"
"Guys, guys!" Peter interrupted as he raced back across the lawn a little way, "I think they're coming!"
Sure enough, two figures were barrelling down the grassy bank towards them at top speed. Barely visible in the dark, they could've been anyone, but it was unlikely that there would be two more students looking to venture into the Forbidden Forest - the Marauders had never seen anyone else around when they had. When the pair got closer, Peter continued forward to meet them halfway, waving an enthusiastic arm at the others to let them know it was, in fact, Sirius and Flora. The handsome boy looked absolutely exhilarated, beaming wide and hair bordering on James' level of windswept, whilst Flora looked like she might hurl.
"Had to dodge the Head Boy on the second floor." Was Sirius' explanation.
"Dodge?" Flora cried in outrage, "You made his skin burst out in boils! My brother!"
"It's nothing Poppy Pomfrey won't fix." Sirius shrugged, letting go of her hand as James high-fived his somewhat prank, "Besides, he was too busy screaming his head off to notice us rushing by. Rather him suffer a few spots than us get caught."
"I thought you said that floor should be empty?" Peter turned to Remus, not wanting to give Flora the opportunity to screech any more.
"Well, not exactly. Evans should've been doing that round tonight, but I figured that it'd be easy for us to get passed her, you know? She might be a stickler for the rules and take her role as Prefect seriously, but it's still Lily. She must've swapped with Fraser for some reason. I didn't know."
"Perhaps Evans wanted the same rounds as Amos bloody Diggory." James scowled, "She's going to Hogsmeade with him on a date, did I tell you?"
"Only about a million times." Ellie rolled her eyes, "Now, let's focus on the task in hand, shall we? How far into the forest do you want to go, Padfoot?"
Sirius started to smirk.
"Right to the Centaur's boundary."
So that's how far they went, tripping over tree stumps and avoiding low branches. Flora whined the whole way, like some anxious cat which hissed whenever a strange noise sounded from the dark, but the Marauders were nothing but enthusiastic. It didn't help the fifth year that Ellie and Sirius were constantly racing back and forth through the trees, jumping out at eachother and veering off from the rest of the group a little to investigate small trails of tracks the beautiful girl noticed. James and Remus led the way with their wands illuminating a footpath and sometimes being caught up in Ellie and Sirius' games, and even the usually timid Peter was bouncing along with all his snacks in hand, humming tunes to keep them high-spirited.
It was impossible to find a clearing this deep into the forest, and so they settled for as open of a space as possible, but really, they didn't need it, not when they'd all be huddled close around the campfire anyway.
James began a fire as the others all settled, sharing out the extra blankets to wrap up even more in, and by this point, it was very obvious that Flora was regretting her clothing choices. She was nearly in Sirius' lap, her feet right next to the fire and hogging one of the biggest blankets to herself. The handsome boy tried his best to put a little distance in between them, just so they weren't so squished together, but she didn't make it easy, and soon, he was longing to be the other side of the circle where Remus and Peter were two little bundles that looked perfectly comfortable.
Ellie and James, however, didn't sit down with everyone else. Instead, they very obviously stood muttering with each other as they positioned themselves side by side, both using wild hand gestures to show their disagreements. Only when Sirius asked what they were doing, did they stop acting so suspicious.
"You may have thought Moony had given the last gift of the night." James announced, "But we've got one last one."
"A performance by yours truly." Ellie gestured to them both, "Choreographed and rehearsed over the last couple of days."
"Not that that has improved either of your singing voices." Remus cut in.
"Don't criticise us before we've even began, thank you very much." James gasped.
"Okay, okay. Enough chit chat. Do you need to be announced or can you count yourselves in?" Sirius urged with a grin, "A special performance... You're not gonna strip, are you? I mean, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed-"
Flora hit him on the arm violently which only had everyone else snorting.
"It's not the type of show." Ellie smirked.
"Merlin's balls, what's a man gotta do for a good Birthday present around here?"
Flora hit him again, genuinely looking looking disgusted, but everyone else just burst into hysterics. It took Ellie and James a good while to recover before they were able to ready themselves for their performance again, but as soon as they did, they definitely didn't disappoint. After Ellie and Lily got caught singing to 'Honey, Honey' by ABBA in the boys' dorm near the beginning of the school year, the beautiful girl had been plotting the ultimate seventeenth present for Sirius, and of course, James had to be in on it too.
And now, all their hard work was being put on display as the pair performed their choreographed dance routine to a very out of tune 'Dancing Queen'.
James was shimmying like there was no tomorrow, Ellie was pointing at Sirius every other beat, but they were perfectly in time, even if their singing was awful. Their intricate footwork was well-rehearsed, their formation changes perfectly smooth, and they were taking it deadly seriously.
Whilst Sirius had been away with Flora over the last couple of days, they'd had time without him around to really get everything clean, but Remus and Peter had been left in the dark about their random dance routines every now and then. Now though, they were almost wetting themselves they were laughing so much, and Sirius looked absolutely overjoyed. He waved his hands in the air in time, blowing kisses at James whilst he cheered every one of Ellie's wiggles on with loud whoops. It was all ridiculous, but Sirius had never had a better Birthday gift.
"Young and sweet only seventeen!" Was screamed every time, and it was a miracle that Professor McGonagall wasn't able to hear them all the way back in the castle.
By the end of their performance, Ellie and James were about ready to collapse, but the adrenaline was keeping them on their feet. The final flourish was golden sparks flying out the end of the pair's wands, makeshift fireworks which crackled above their heads, and then they both fell to their knees in a heap of giddy laughter.
"I have no idea what that song was, but that was fucking brilliant!" Remus clapped loudly as his head rolled backwards.
"It was ABBA, Moony. ABBA!" Ellie threw up her hands dramatically, but she could hardly get her words out.
Sirius was grinning like an idiot, unable to express how amazing his friends were, whilst Peter was rolling around on his back. The smallest Marauder could hardly breath he was laughing so hard, tears in his eyes and arms clutched around his stomach. Remus had to shove him a couple of times to make sure his legs didn't go flailing into the campfire.
"Are we ignoring the fact that the song is Dancing Queen? Siri is not a Queen." Flora butted in, raising her voice louder than she needed to to ensure that everyone was listening. She'd not even cracked a smile, let alone joined in with the Marauders' hilarity, and she just found it all ridiculous. These people were a whole school year older than her, and Flora was sure that her friends were far more mature.
"Oh, Flo, I most certainly am a Queen." Sirius held up a dismissive hand before turning to Ellie and James properly, "You two are such beauties."
He held his arms open wide, and the pair barrelled him over in a huge bear hug. They were a tangle of arms and legs, Sirius squished between the two as Ellie squeezed him as tight as possible and James attempted to mess up his hair. Managing to untangle himself a little, he grabbed the sides of James' head as he kissed both of his cheeks, before doing the same with Ellie - his lips lingering longer than they should've done with her.
"Our best Queen." She grinned, her heart swelling at just his bright eyes. Sirius hadn't looked so happy for a long time.
"All hail Sirius Padfoot Potter, the first, Queen of the Marauders and Ruler of the Sixth Year Boys Dormitory." James bellowed, keeping one arm slung around the handsome boy's shoulders as he jostled him around a little, Ellie practically in his lap.
"All hail Queen Sirius!" The Marauders all echoed with cheers.
"Some honourable mentions are our Prime Minister Remus Moony Lupin, as well as the Queen Mother James Prongs Potter and Royal Correspondent Peter Wormtail Pettigrew." Each boy struck a pose with their name, "But we also mustn't forget Archduchess Cubby of the Gryffin/Potter territory in Somerset, former betrothed to the Queen as Persephone Eloise."
"And me?" Flora spat.
"You don't get a title I'm afraid. Not a citizen of the Sixth Year Boys Dormitory, not a Marauder, not ruled over by our Queen."
"Not even a commoner." Peter shrugged, and Flora's whole face mangled into annoyance, "You don't wear our crest." He continued, flashing his crescent moon signet ring that Ellie had brought them all.
"But I've stayed in your dorm." The fifth year argued, but the others couldn't find it in themselves to get angry with her, they were still too caught up with Ellie and James' performance.
"Would they call you French because you've been to France on holiday?" Remus raised an eyebrow across the campfire.
"J'ai bien peur que non." Sirius practically sang, "Sorry, Flo."
"And you- You two were betrothed? Is that still a thing that happens?" Flora was gradually getting more and more out of her depth, glancing back and forth between her supposed boyfriend and Ellie Gryffin. She'd believed that she was quite good at inserting herself into their little group, but now she was starting to think differently. The way they were all so in sync left her lost.
"For a moment." Sirius rolled his eyes at Ellie, making her snort unattractively.
"Before everything went tits up." She added, "We did good avoiding that one though, puppy."
"Could you imagine? Black family wedding. They would've had you dressed in emeralds."
"And you in old fashioned dress robes."
They both gagged dramatically, unaware of the way Flora was gaping at them wide eyed as she gradually got redder and redder. James, on the other hand, couldn't have looked more thrilled that the pair were actually getting along, joking around and gazing at each other like the rest of the world didn't exist.
"It probably would've been alongside Cissy and Malfoy's, save the family having to make trips twice." Sirius shuddered at the thought as Ellie shuffled to lie on her back with her head in his lap.
"I would've loved to see Walburga's face when Mia turned up to take over though, the wicked bitch would've shat herself and gone running to Pollux... That, alongside Dad and Orion's little rivalry, all whilst Monty freaks the rest of the Blacks out with his eccentricity. It would've been a disaster and Bellatrix would've found some way to make it all about her." She grinned, taking a hold of Sirius' right arm to trace his phases of the moon tattoo. He watched her with the most lovesick gaze that Flora almost yanked him away from the beautiful girl. Ellie gasped suddenly, "We could've honeymooned to Camille's and seen Paris! Damn it."
"Not to New Zealand so we could see the Antipodean Opaleye Dragons?" Sirius smirked, unable to stop thinking about the real-life possibilities of it all.
"Shit, maybe there actually."
"But you're not married." Flora shuffled as close to Sirius as she could, her voice so taught it sounded like her jaw had been wired shut. But still, the handsome boy gazed at Ellie Gryffin, his free hand moving to brush stray hairs out of her face carefully. Neither of them were listening, "And you're not engaged either." Flora tried again to no avail.
"Not yet, Buchanan." Remus leaned around the side of the campfire to shoot her a passive aggressive smile as he kept his voice low, "You can't compete with her." I would know.
But Flora only scowled. She was going to try her damn hardest to keep Sirius Black, unaware that Jessica Arnell had attempted to before and only failed miserably. For there wasn't anything quite as powerful as the boy named after the stars and the girl descended from them. Even if they were destined to fall out of their orbits this year.