/* They both were the black sheep of their families and they knew it and were proud of it. That was what brought them together in the first place and this connection brought them closer to each other as both knew what it felt to be the disappointmen...
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If any of the fifth years had hopes of enjoying their senior year then they were sorely mistaken. They couldn't even keep track when the time flew by as they were buried under assignments, classworks, homeworks, self studies for their O.W.L.S. but soon their moods were lifted as the day for the first quidditch match of the season finally arrived. The epic match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
The red and gold clad players were nervously seated in their places in the Great Hall. Even James and Sirius' usual confident demeanor faltered that morning under the pressure of playing against the serpents.
Soon Fabian Prewett, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, ordered the group to assemble in the locker room. Playing against the Slytherins was always a matter of dignity among the Gryffindors and therefore the pressure tripled.
"Listen up guys!", called Fabian as soon as his team entered the locker room. "We have an amazing team. We have three brilliant chasers. Potter, Crosswood and Longbottom never miss their opportunities to score. You, Bernards are an excellent seeker but you lack confidence. Just be confident, you can do it. Black here never fails to block the quaffle. And not to brag but my brother and I, we make an amazing team, we have the coordination the beaters need. Also, we have a lot more practice and teamwork than those Slytherins. The one thing we lack is confidence. Just believe in yourself."
The members smiled and James said, "And we have an amazingly motivating Captain!" Others cheered at this as Fabian joked, "Stop it. You are making me blush."
"So, who's ready to beat some serpent ass?" Cheers erupted from the Gryffindor Team.
"One, two, three"
"Go lions", said everyone in sync.
The match was extremely interesting to say the least. Though the spectators missed their previous commentator, Robert Jordan who had graduated the previous year, the new commentator was a feisty fifth year, Marlene Mckinnon.
She was, like Jordan, biased, as she was a Gryffindor herself, not that the Gryffindors minded. Mckinnon was even more forward while slandering the Slytherins much to the disgust of the Slytherins and a cause of distress for Professor Mcgonagall.
"What was that!? I'm telling you that is outrageous, the son of a bi-"
"Ms. Mckinnon!", shrieked Professor Mcgonagall.
"Oops.. sorry Prof. but.. Oh see. Yes yes yes Potter go and yesss the quaffle lands rightly where it belongs. Ten points to Gryffindor! Woooo I love you, Eleanor. More ten points to the lions."
After a tough match and addition of a few more grey hairs on Professor Mcgonagall's head, the Gryffindors won the match by Natalie Bernards catching the snitch. Cheers and congratulatory roars erupted from the Gryffindor stands as they made their way to the field for celebrations.
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Deafening cheers erupted as soon as the red and gold clad lions entered the common room. Congratulatory pats and high fives were received. Any outsider could have been mistaken by assuming that the Gryffindors had won the house cup if they saw the amount of enthusiasm these youngsters showed.
Soon the students began to vacate the common room and the only inhabitants left were the marauders, Lily, Alice, Marlene and Frank. Frank and Alice were engaged in their usual intellectual conversations while Marlene and Lily gossipped about the latest fashion trends, mainly Marlene.
"Prongsieee, please use your usual charm on Lily", whined Eleanor after sometime.
"She doesn't seem to get charmed though", Remus said without looking up from the book he was reading.
"Just wait. She has to give in to my charms one day.", smirked James messing his already messy hair.
"Oi Evans! Hogsmeade? Next weekend?", shouted James from his corner on the couch.
Lily just scoffed in response and then stood up, "Come on Mar. Coming, Aly?" Alice gave Frank an apologetic look and hurried behind Lily who had already stormed off towards the girls dormitory. Frank stood up as well, wished goodnight to the marauders and left the common room.
"So, remind me again, why ask me to ask out Lily?", questioned James with an amused look.
"Oh that! Because 1. I love to see hopeless cases try. 2. I wanted the common room to myself. We need to discuss our Animagi missions", answered Eleanor with a contented sigh.
"Oh well about that the potion will be ready by next week.", said Sirius who was casually leaning lazily against the leg of the couch with his eyes closed but looking as elegant and handsome as ever. As soon as the words left his mouth, Peter yawned a jaw splitting yawn and took his leave. Remus and James followed his suit and soon Sirius and Eleanor were left alone in the common room.
The two teens talked about anything to everything excluding a single topic, 'FAMILY'. Both knew each other's relation with his/her family and that wasn't pleasant to say the least.
But it was not long before their mental peace was shattered when in came an owl bearing a letter. It landed in front of Sirius who immediately recognised it as the Black family owl. Even the owl gave him dirty looks as if he knew what a disappointment he was to his parents and the whole of his extended family.
Sirius shooed the bird and tentatively held up the letter in his hands, debating whether to open it or not. After an internal argument he decided to do the latter and stuffed the wretched thing in his pockets.
He didn't want to spoil his night nor did he want the letter to waste the time he was spending with Eleanor. But the only problem was that it was different than other times, a good difference though. He was usually a confident and arrogant boy but now in front of her, he felt the need to be better and he couldn't understand why.
Eleanor quirked an eyebrow at his actions but pushed no further. She understood his need for privacy as the contents were not exactly pleasant as always.
Sirius always had a carefree, playful and exuberant attitude but Eleanor knew there was more to him than he let on. There was always a dark shadow surrounding him and it was just a facade that he put on for the sake of others as well as himself. It was not very hard for Eleanor to read him as she herself had similar backgrounds.
For Eleanor, her family had lost all hopes when she returned home for the term end after her first year. All the expectations they had held for her sublimed, not that they didn't try 'educating' her more on blood purity and its preservation. Even after all these, even losing all hope didn't stop the Crosswoods from reprimanding her actions.
But it was different for Sirius. Sirius had to face the ridicule for being not only the greatest failure of Walburga and Orion Black but also the eldest Black son which meant that he was their heir. It was an addition to the already overwhelming conditions in his life and being the heir of one of the darkest families in the wizarding world didn't help.
They both were the black sheep of their families and they knew it and were proud of it. That was what brought them together in the first place and this connection brought them closer to each other as both knew what it felt to be the disappointment to the people they once loved.
A/N: Woah! This was a big chapter. Oh hi there. I tried to portray the emotions and the inner conflicts of Sirius and Eleanor. Hope it turned out to be as fair as I expected it to be. And no hate to the Slytherins but you know, Gryffindors and Slytherins had these kinds of unhealthy competitions. Please vote and comment if you liked the chapter. Thank you.
