February 4, 1976 (later on that evening):
Sirius Black was in the best place in the world, conceivably the most amazing place for a sixth year Gryffindor boy to find himself—the girl's dormitory. Hours before, a pack of highly useful but ethically unjustifiable playing cards given to him by his silvered uncle had landed him here… a place where estrogen raged and secrets oozed from the walls, tantalizing female secrets a Marauder would willingly tuck away in the crevices of his mind.
Cloaked in invisibility, Sirius had placed himself in a distant corner of the dormitory, running a little red playing card between his fingers, handling the edges and soaking up the scene.
It was a scene that brought a grin to his handsome face. The girls were hoping from bed to bed, singing to some muggle records brought by Elise.
"His name's Jim Morrison," Elise was commenting about the record with playful laughter, "and don't you mock him, because he's got unnatural talent."
They were bouncing around in socks, half-dressed in nightshirts and cotton pajamas. Sirius was greatly shocked that he was not looking at a threesome in silk teddies—he had always assumed teenage girls just wore those things, not even taking comfort into consideration. If truth be told, it was a little disappointing; however the goofy spectacle they were making surely was not. Sirius was enjoying the best entertainment he'd had for months, excluding that time he'd spent with Jennings in the quidditch dressing room after practice.
They were talking about boys now; Alex was doing most of the talking, Elise doing most of the combat and disagreement.
"That beautiful blonde beau—the muggle, sizzling hot muggle my brother knows from…" and the rest was so fast and undistinguishable, Sirius subconsciously tuned her out, taking this time to observe Elise closely. This had been the first time since the night before the winter holiday that he had had a chance to just stare at her, enjoy her features, the way she smiled, the way her elfish little nose wrinkled when Alex would mention something unsavory.
"Alex, you swoon when Remus walks in a room, its not like he's an Adonis!" Elise added, rolling her eyes dramatically.
"Well maybe he isn't but Sirius is," giggled Alex, swinging her scarf about, dreamy and aimless. When Mackenzie concurred Elise could not help but protest.
"You're crazy, you're both crazy!"
"Did you skip puberty, Elle? I mean, you must fancy someone—don't your hormones rage at all?" Alex asked curiously, smiling broadly, calculating Elise's taciturn answer.
Elise giggled, throwing a pillow at Alex. "They rage… quietly, unlike yours." She began mimicking Alexandra in a high-pitched, punch-drunk tone. "Oh-my-gosh, Remus looked at me today, we met eyes and-and I think I'm in love! Lucius called me a twit today, do you think he likes me? Can you believe it—I bumped into Sirius after practice and he was sweaty—oh god, it was sohot! Oh and did I tell you he made four passes to me today… it's so brilliant when he does that!" Elise ceased her mockery to smirk at Alex, "You really go on about Sirius Black." She taunted shamelessly, not bothering to suppress a bright grin.
Alex could do nothing but laugh back, "Oh you know his perspiration is perfectly swoonable."
"Maybe to you, I'd say go take a shower—I'm not a fan of the unkempt look," Elise smirked.
"Grunge," Alex corrected her.
These were good pointers for Sirius; he would know not to lunge at Elise after a rigorous quidditch practice. On the other hand he was a little disappointed that she did not care for him in all forms of the weather. He hoped it was her delicate modesty causing her to paint so ill a picture of him.
Elise rolled her eyes again, giggling to herself as she leaned her head back against her bed headboard.
"So who do you fancy?" Alex asked slyly, a few moments later.
Elise shrugged, look away a little. "The man in the moon—I don't know… Who is there to like that's not taken… and besides I'm not really in the market, you know what I mean. You've known my luck with boys, it's been terrible."
The girls exchanged knowing glances, smiling in agreement.
"That's not to say it won't change," Mackenzie put in encouragingly.
Elise snorted. "I wish I could believe you… don't you remember 'Warty Willaim Wetherby'—and that older Malfoy boy?"
"Yes, the Slytherins always like you," Alex said pensively, "I've always wondered why… you know, I mean, you're perfectly attractive and that's not the matter, it's just a matter of…"
"My blood," Elise answered for her, one corner of her mouth turned up sneeringly. "Yes, I know… and believe me, I only called William 'warty' because he deserved it. I only suppose that the half of them want a muggle-born toy."
"William was attractive though, I would have given him a chance," Mackenzie acknowledged.
"Attractive save for that lovely protruding mole above his brow, besides that, he would not have been half bad, I suppose," Alex mused thoughtfully.
"Oh c'mon lets' stop with this, I don't want to remember any of that…" Elise sighed, eager to change the subject.
"You're so funny Elle; you'll do anything to avoid the subject of boys. Name one attractive boy, one boy that you fancy physically at all… just one, Elle, there has to be one!" Alex prodded, crossing her arms and looking relentless.
"Remus is… pleasant," Elise muttered some moments later.
"We said attractive, not pleasant," Mackenzie chided.
Elise chewed on her lip a bit longer, looking defeated, obviously seeking some form of escape. "Fine," she conceded at last, "Sirius Black is…" Elise made a sour face as she uttered the word, "attractive."
Mackenzie laughed triumphantly. "Ha! I told you, he's infectiously attractive!"
"Infectiously attractive?" Elise laughed, "I'm not breaking out in chicken pocks or anything. I don't see what's so infectious about him anyway."
"That was stupid, Elle," Mackenzie brushed off the comment. "Now we know what you really think."
Sirius was pleasantly surprised to hear Elise voice his infectious attraction, and concluded in his mind to use this opportunity to make mental notes about what all the Marauders should do in the case of these four Gryffindor girls. Perhaps it would boost Moony to know that he was "pleasant," but he doubted it.
There was suddenly a joyful squeal and Sirius jumped in his corner, nearly dropping the card in his hands.
Alex was looking eagerly out a little oval window near her four poster bed. "The Slytherin team is out practicing!"
Elise snorted, "Fabulous. The snakes have wings and you want to watch them."
"Let's go down and see it, shall we?" Alex insisted, bouncing eagerly on her mattress.
Mackenzie, who didn't appear to mind the idea of braving the frosty air in her bed clothes to watch a band of males toss around a quaffle, jumped to attention and started to pull on her shoes.
Elise sat there with a soured expression. "Lily would think you girls are stupid."
"Well, Lily at least knew how to have a good time—sometimes," Mackenzie sniffed, throwing a crimson and gold scarf around her neck.
Elise's mouth dropped. "Forgive me for not having your same taste Macky."
"You know I hate that nick name Elle."
Alex and Mackenzie had skipped to the door and gazed back at Elise with that look of "you can still come you know!" Elise shrugged it off and bid them an enjoyable male sporting, forcing a smile for them.
The door closed behind them and a gigantic sigh escaped Elise's lips. She looked wearily around the room for a moment, a lonely, delicate figure sitting on the edge of her bed in a pair of blue striped boy shorts and a loose grey sweatshirt, waves of brown hair falling gracefully down her shoulders and back. Sirius smiled in his corner, watching her. Infectious… the word played in his mind over and over… she was the infectious one. He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. He had to make a move, but it was so incriminating…
Elise wandered over to the record player, placing the pin back on the track. A few crackling noises later, the sounds of The Doors filled the dorm, "C'mon baby light my fire…" echoed its way into the room and Elise began to shuffle her feet along the cherry wood floor. Her little feet, encased in gold knee socks skidded to the beat and she twirled and let it all loose in what she thought was the privacy of her own dormitory.
Suddenly in her lonely dancing, her hand hit something invisible in mid-air. This object encased her hand in its invisible own, and she was brought close into it… embraced and then, against all voluntary action, the invisible thing took her lips in its own. She was too shocked and horrified to battle the air… air that for some reason smelled like the refreshingly musky cologne Sirius Black always wore… The air was speaking too… with Sirius Black's voice.
"So I'm attractive eh?"
That's when it hit. Elise yelped and screamed, jumped back, trying to dislodge herself from a very invisible Sirius.
"Sirius!"
"Yes…?"
"Show yourself!"
"Make me."
She growled and clawed at the air again where he'd been all of five seconds prior.
"C'mon, stop it, show yourself!"
She could hear him chuckling. "What if I'm naked?"
Her face flushed at the thought and it caused Sirius to laugh even harder. There was a creak over by her bed and she realized he'd plopped himself there to laugh and wheeze in amusement. Hardly thinking of the consequences, she lunged herself at the indentation made by the invisible figure on her mattress. She hit him straight on, accidentally jabbing him with her elbow and now the laughing had turned to whining and the invisibility cloak had fallen off. Sirius cast it aside to examine the place in his ribs where Elise had so effectively bruised him.
"Well you're not naked I guess," she frowned at him, slapping his shoulder briskly.
"I could change that…" Sirius grinned.
Elise narrowed her eyebrows but laughed. "How the hell did you get in here?"
"Artfully," Sirius continued to grin, cocking his head to the side and resting it, like a puppy, on her shoulder, those big gray eyes scorching her heart. She had gone rigid at the contact, nervous and anxious and very very attracted.
"Okay," she said, biting her lip in thoughtful calculation. "Why?"
"I was just curious…"
"About…"
"Why you give me mixed signals."
Her face had gone blank and a nervous lump was growing in her throat. "I do?"
"Yeah, you do, Collier."
"Why would you care if I did… there are plenty of other… prettier girls."
This time Sirius narrowed his brows, leaning back, affronted by the comment. "So that's what you think of me then? You think I'm some superficial ass of a bloke who wants a shag out of anything, like I could walk around with a manikin and be satisfied? You think I don't really want you, I want the outside, the covering, the body… you think I'll be done with you once I've conquered the territory don't you? Tell me exactly what you think, Elise, just tell me…"
Elise was looking down at her hands; she refused to meet his eyes as she answered. "Yes, I think all those things. But I also think… you want to change but I don't think it should be fore me… it should be for yourself, if anyone." She dared to look at him now, and his face was pensive and serious, a guise of stern contemplation.
"I don't get you Collier, not one bit… sometimes its like… like you actually want me and then—like now—you treat me, tell me, I'm like something on the bottom of my shoe. You tell me I'm a jerk and I should change but I shouldn't change to be with you… even though you know I want to be with you, and I've been obvious about it. I ignored you and it didn't work for me. Collier, stop fucking with me."
"I've never done that yet," she said with a little grin.
He couldn't quite grin back; frustration had built up in his chest in a matter of minutes.
"So…you want to be with me, tell your preppy little friends you want to be with me, come out and say four-eyes Collier is my girl friend—potentially?" Collier quizzed him brusquely. "I couldn't see it, honestly, Sirius."
"Your glasses are sexy first off and you've become remarkably attractive in the last few months, you're one of the top in our class and you can jinx the pants off any bloody Slytherin you'd like… I don't think I would have any hesitation telling any of my mates or the Hogwarts student body that you're mine—potentially."
She gazed at him for what seemed like a long moment. "Sirius… I want to… I'd like to, I really would but times are dangerous… your family, if they were to even have the slightest inkling of you being attached to a muggle born, it would be too savory a target. I would be putting you in unnecessary jeopardy."
Sirius' mouth formed a straight line, "I've been disowned, Collier, I've put myself in jeopardy if anything… don't think that way."
Elise sighed and it was not one of hope or promise.
"Collier…" Sirius continued. "I can't keep this mum for too long, I don't want to and if you want me to be noble at all, I should come out and say it."
"Say what?" Elise queried with an edge.
For some reason it would be easy to say, the words came to his mind with ease and his heart didn't pound from nervousness but with pleasure at the idea. So he said it. "This is the girl I want and I want to love her if she'll let me…you are the girl I want and I want to love you… if you'll let me, Elle."