elanor// s.b.

IV

~Sirius Black~

After wandering the train for around thirty minutes, Lily Evans finally found the girl she had been searching for pressed against Edward Kensington in a broom closet. "A little privacy Lil!", Marlene gasped, un-suctioning herself from the flustered boy beside her. Lily's hand had flown to cover her eyes as she let out a sound of disgust. "Gross, Marley!", Lily said, slightly shifting her fingers so she could peak through them. With a gasp of realization, Marlene jumped onto Lily and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "I haven't seen you all summer!", she squealed. Edward stood with his hands shoved into his pockets, still in the broom closet.

"I know", Lily laughed, "That's why I came looking for you. Mary would like to see you too". Marlene grabbed Edward's arm, bringing his watch near to her face. She let out a gasp. "Time flies when you're having fun I guess!", she giggled. Edward rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, looking at Lily Evans. He didn't know Marlene's friends very well, they were all friendly, but if Edward was honest, they scared him slightly. He would never show this of course, his reputation was far too important, but he found Potter and his gang extremely intimidating.

"I'll see you later, Eddy?", Marlene said, blinking up at him. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek, "Sure, love. Lily", he nodded toward the girl who had most unfortunately seen him all over her best friend. With that, he was gone. Lily wrapped her arm around Marlene and the pair giggled their way back to the compartment. When they reached the rest of the group, Peter Pettigrew was snoozing and Sirius Black hovered over him, meticulously placing Berty Bott's Every Flavor Beans in his open mouth.

Remus Lupin was deeply enthralled in a game of exploding snap with Mary McDonald and James Potter. It was a lively scene, the picture perfect example of care carefree adolescence. They lived in their own world, unaware and uninterested in the trivial workings of the other students around them. "Lilykinz!", called James, his eyebrows singed from the now smoking cards in front of him.

Lily shot him an eye roll and slight smile and sat down. Sirius stopped his antics and settled down looking at Marlene. Despite the many rumors that always circulated the hallowed halls of Hogwarts, Marlene McKinnon and Sirius Black had never once dated or hooked up or even shared a peck on the lips. Sirius Black was the most notorious heartbreaker since Godrick Gryffindor himself. Girls threw themselves at him, hoping to be the one to finally pin him down. They never were, and while he enjoyed their company for the time being, they never were around for more than a few weeks.

The simple fact was that Sirius Black never mixed business and pleasure. Any girl that he actually liked and could see himself with, he never got with, it was just easier that way. And he liked Marlene a lot as a person, so he never addressed her obvious attempts to get with him. She didn't have trouble finding many others willing to take his place in her heart.

"How's the boytoy", winked Sirius, pulling out a cigarette. Before he could light it, Remus flicked his wand and it flew out the window. Sirius slumped back, shooting his friend an annoyed look. "Eddy is great", Marlene said dreamily, twirling her hair in a way that was so girly it almost seemed fake, but knowing Marlene it wasn't. "Oh!", Lily let out, "I ran into his sister earlier! Literally".

"Vicky?", Marlene smiled, "She's so nice. And her eyes are the exact same shade of light green that Eddy's are...". Lily shared a look with Mary and the two had to hide their smiles. "I don't think so", Potter chimed in, "I've seen Victoria Kensington and that was most definitely not her". Lily narrowed her eyes and continued, "No, she had blue eyes". Marlene's lips parted, "Oh, then that was Elanor". Sirius had stopped paying attention to the conversation, not interested in hearing the inner workings of another stuffy pureblood family, he got enough of that at home.

"She's so intimidating", Marlene said with a slight giggle, "I feel like she could beat me up". Lily shrugged, "She seemed nice to me". Peter let out a snore and woke with a start. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Wormtail", Remus said, tossing him a napkin to spit the Every Flavor Beans into. "She's in Slytherin and she's a Kensington", Sirius let out a snort, "I promise you, she's not nice".

There was a moment of tense silence. Marlene opened her mouth then closed it, shaking her head in annoyance. The group let out a collective breath of relief and the sound of the whistle signified the arrival of the train and the conversation was soon forgotten. As they descended the stairs leading to the platform, a group of Slytherin's passed by. Sirius' eyes scanned them and he found his target.

Elanor had changed into her robes now, the green of her robes matching her headband perfectly. She stood next to a tall boy and another girl. Sirius rolled his eyes, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He was about to look away, but her actions caused him to keep his eyes glued to her small form. The gang of Slytherins moved forward and into a carriage, but she stayed behind. She inhaled, producing a cigarette. She took a long drag and closed her eyes. Her shoulders slumped and she rubbed her temples, as if in deep thought.

A small boy in Hufflepuff robes approached her, beaming. She opened her eyes and dropped the cigarette, stomping it out. She flung her arm around the boy and the pair moved through the crowd, a smile lighting up her face. "You ready, Padfoot?", Potter's voice sounded. Sirius nodded and followed the group, thoughts of Elanor already disintegrated with the smoke from their cigarettes.