[Chapter Fifty-Four]
Walking into Charms, Elspeth greeted Professor Flitwick with a bright smile on her face as she walked in first, still holding Sirius' hand. The two of them were practically giddy, just how it had been when they had first started dating the previous year. Every time the two of them met each other's gaze, they could barely contain themselves in small, bashful laughter. And while James rolled his eyes like hell walking behind them, he couldn't deny that he was actually really happy. Despite his nipple feeling like it was bleeding through the shirt of his uniform, seeing Sirius happy again and knowing they were on good terms with Elspeth again, James was feeling internally giddy himself.
Of course, since he was James Potter, he had to maintain his poise, and simply covered up his own relieved emotions with just looking annoyed by the couple in front of him. But as he took his seat behind them, there was a hint of a smile on his face.
"You're not fooling anyone, you know?" Remus said, taking his seat beside him, while Peter sat on the opposite side.
James glanced over at him, attempting to appear confused. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Remus."
"Come on, you know you're happy that they're back together," Remus smiled, " you don't have to hide it. We're all happy that Elspeth is back on better terms with all of us."
As stubborn as he was, James folded his arms over his chest and looked down. "Yeah, I'm happy, so what? I mean, I don't have to prance around, do I?"
Peter and Remus exchanged looks with one another while James remained sitting in between them, trying his best to ignore them. However, after a minute or so of tapping his foot against the floor and trying to look in every other direction, James jumped up with a frustrated groan and leaned forward across the table.
Elspeth, who had been sitting in front of him at the time, was looking through her bag to pull out her inkwell when she suddenly felt arms wrap around her from behind. She immediately became still, a bewildered look on her face as she looked over at Sirius for an explanation. However, Sirius was of little help as he merely smiled before she turned her head and caught sight of James.
"Um, James, what are you doing?" she asked. "I swear, if this is a prank, you better cover up your other nip-"
"Just let this happen, Hayes!" he said in a scolding tone. "You're ruining the moment! I'm just trying to show the others that I'm glad you're back with us, that's all. So, this is going to proceed for another thirty seconds and then I'm going to let go of you. Then we'll never speak of it again. We'll go back to bickering and scolding one another, with the occasional insult thrown in randomly. Sound good?"
She sat there, a smile reforming as she lifted her hand up and patted him on the head gently. "Oh, Potter, you are a strange lad, " she chuckled, " but it sounds like a deal. As much as I enjoy your odd affectionate ways, I do enjoy insulting you a tad bit more."
While the two were mending their brotherly and sisterly bond, Professor Flitwick didn't know what to make of the scene, considering it looked as though James basically had Elspeth in a headlock while he was trying to get his lesson underway. Clearing his throat as loud as he could, Flitwick gained the attention of the group, bringing them all to look over and flash him smiles. Keeping a steady gaze with them, they all returned to their seats and faced forward, while the others in the classroom chuckled behind their books.
As the lesson got underway, Elspeth found herself excited and not just by the fact that Sirius' hand had come to rest on her leg while Professor Flitwick spoke, but she was especially intrigued by what they were going to be learning that year. Being able to practise nonverbal spells was exactly what she had been looking forward to since she had started Hogwarts in her first year. It sounded bizarre, but when she was much younger, she always enjoyed the fact that her parents hardly said anything when using magic around the house. They were able to just point their wands and carry on their way.
While Elspeth was able to practise underage magic with the ability granted by the protection of Hades, she hadn't managed anything close to nonverbal magic, but entering her sixth year after coming off of a high with excellent O.W.L. scores, she was more than ready to take up the challenge. It was getting closer and closer to her departure from Hogwarts, she only had to finish up her sixth and seventh and then she would be able to apply for Auror training.
It was what she had been looking forward to most throughout her Hogwarts career, besides running her hands through Sirius Black's hair.
Pretty soon, she was hoping to join the ranks where her parents worked, along with Alice and Frank. But she was also looking to go one step above them all, it was her dream to be a Hit Witch for so long and that wish had yet to fade.
Professor Flitwick went on to say that they would be getting plenty of practice in with the use of nonverbal as it would be a requirement for their N.E.W.T. testing. It would be covered in nearly all of their classes, such as Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Sirius could feel her leg shaking under the table and wondering what was wrong, he stole a glance in her direction only to capture the moment of pure excitement written across her face. He remembered how hard she had worked last term to do well on her O.W.L.s and he was sure she was going to be more than determined to do the same for the N.E.W.T.s as well. And of course, he planned on being there, encouraging and rooting her on the entire way.
The first day of classes never proved to be anything exciting when it came to every year, normally it involved most of the professors going over what their expectations were from the students, along with an overview of what topics they would be covering. So Elspeth really only had to look forward to the idea of nonverbal magic, rather than getting started with it right away. But nonetheless, the smile had yet to fade from her face the entire day. Everything was going the way she wanted it to, even better than she hoped and she figured that night when she laid down to go to bed, that she would take a trip to the Underworld to speak with Hades.
It was long overdue, but it was certainly needed, she missed the second father-figure in her life, and she hoped in some ways that he missed her too. Although she was fairly certain that with his godly status that it hardly mattered to him that she had been absent for so long. He probably saw it as a good riddance because she probably did nothing but annoy him most of the time.
But for the meantime, Elspeth and Sirius were attempting to make up for lost time as Elspeth sat across the way from him on his bed in his dorm, the two of them discussing what had taken place over the summer. However, it had led to the topic of Sirius' howler ballads, which left her to blush furiously while the grin on his face only grew.
"I heard from Peter that you actually thought that the songs were in Spanish," he said in a teasing tone, " is that correct?"
"Shut up," she huffed slightly pushing him back, " so I made a mistake. I'm not good with languages, thank you very much. I've been on this Earth for over a decade and let's just be thankful that I got some English under my belt."
"I clearly remember you singing in Welsh!"
"That was just a Christmas carol and it's one my parents sung all the time when I was little. I don't speak it, at least, not like them, or Mum at least. You should hear her when she's angry, I don't have a clue as to what she's saying, but I know she's mad, you can tell by her face."
"Does it scrunch up?" he asked.
"Yes."
"And does her left brow twitch a little bit?"
Elspeth peered up at him, confused because she was sure that Sirius had not witnessed her mother when she was angry. "Yeah, how did-"
"And does she clench her fists so tightly that her knuckles pop?"
"I'm beginning to think you've been stalking my household, Sirius, how did you know that?"
"Because I can see where you get it from now," he laughed. "You must be just like her then. Only, we're going to have to get you going with other languages, El. If you're going to be a successful Hit Witch, I think you'll be an unstoppable force if you're capable of speaking multiple languages. So, I'll be in charge of French, you learn Welsh from your mother-"
"I suppose Lily can teach me the Spanish that she knows," Elspeth said, taking the idea into consideration.
"See, it's settled and a perfect idea, " Sirius said, " you're welcome. So for your first lesson, we will learn all about the art of French kissing."
"Sirius!"
Suddenly, he was shoved off the bed, hitting the floor with a thud while Elspeth peered over the side.
"You really just set up that entire conversation so that I would have a snogging session with you, didn't you?"
As Sirius remained lying on the floor, he placed his arms under his head, propping himself up slightly with a raised brow.
"That depends, did it work?"
Elspeth made a face at him. "You slag," she chuckled before climbing off the bed and coming to sit on him. "Have you no shame?"
"Not when I'm with you."
Sirius was definitely an expert at flirting and flattering lines, but while he said it in a joking manner, there was always the genuine tone when he said things to her that made Elspeth blush. It certainly sounded like he was making up for all the lost time as he had spent a majority of the day complimenting her in all kinds of ways. He told her how smart she was after she answered a question in class and with every opportunity he mentioned how beautiful she was looking.
It had practically left her melting throughout the day and as she sat on his lap, peering down at him, all she wanted to do was kiss him. Of course, that's what he wanted as well as he had made it quite clear with his little French spiel earlier and while it simply looked like she was just giving in, Elspeth didn't give a shit.
Leaning over him, Elspeth initiated the first kiss of their reunion, holding the sides of Sirius' face gently. It had started off slow initially, a soft series of short kisses shared, but as the pace continued to quicken, each kiss was drawn out longer as Sirius wrapped his arms around Elspeth to hold her close to him.
Before she could even think to run her hands through his hair, Sirius had taken the opportunity first, his fingers causing the top of her head to tingle that sent a pleasant shiver throughout her body.
Eventually, she had to pull away, feeling slightly dizzy, perhaps more from the lack of oxygen paired with the feeling of swooning all over again.
"Wow..." she muttered. There was a reason why Sirius Black was number one and even if she couldn't explain it entirely, no one could kiss her the way he did and leave her feeling the way he did.
But he didn't let go of her right away after she moved back, instead, he leaned forward and placed another kiss on her chin playfully.
"I missed you so much, El. You have no idea."
"Oh I don't think that's true," she said, feeling her face turning red, wondering if it was possible for her chin to blush," because I missed you more."