Disclaimer- I don't own any characters except Eleanor, I just like to have fun with them. This is a story I posted about two years ago that I found and loved, revamped and continued. There are twenty-some chapters so give me some time to get them all up. Reviews are encouraged.
Lily sighed in frustration, turning to the side to better examine her figure in the mirror. Eleanor rolled her eyes with a laugh.
"Lily, you look fine."
And she did. But Eleanor mostly said it because they'd been held up in their Gryffindor dorm for almost an hour now trying to get ready for a trip to Hogsmeade. She was positive the boys were downstairs waiting in the common room.
"You don't think my jeans are too tight?"
"Well, James would love that, wouldn't he? He probably shrunk them while you weren't looking."
Lily laughed, shaking her head. "I wouldn't put it past him."
"Come on. If they are too tight, your sweater will cover your bum anyway. They're going to leave without us!"
Eleanor got up and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the door. When they reached the common room, the boys all cheered from where they stood by the portrait hole. They were the last left in the common room. They were already in their scarves and coats and ready to leave.
"Finally!" James shouted, walking toward them with Lily's coat in hand.
James was Lily's boyfriend and had been since fifth year, when he was finally able (with the help of Eleanor) to convince Lily to go on a date with him. Almost two years later, and they were still going strong. He helped Lily into her coat and then wrapped her scarf around her neck.
"Shut up, James. Just because we make it a point to look presentable when we go out… when was the last time you ran a comb through that rat nest?"
"And you look fantastic. Both of you." Remus smiled, handing Eleanor her coat.
"Thank you, Remus." Eleanor smiled, pecking him on the lips before donning her coat.
"You know I've given up on my hair, Nell. It's worthless to even try." James smirked.
The tallest of the bunch spoke up, running a hand through his smooth, black hair. Sirius Black.
"And that, Prongs, is why you have no luck with women. Bad hair." Sirius said coolly, using James's nickname.
The four friends all had their own nicknames for each other. James Potter, certainly the sharpest and wittiest of the group, was dubbed Prongs. Sirius Black, the handsome and clever one, was Padfoot. Remus Lupin, the levelheaded and mature one, was Moony. And Peter Pettigrew, the small, pudgy boy who'd been following them around since first year, was Wormtail. The girls could never figure out the reasoning behind the names and the boys always declined to explain, so they simply went along with it.
"I don't need luck with women, Padfoot. I've got the only one I want."
"Aw, James. That was almost cute." Lily gushed, pinching his cheek.
James gave her a mocking smile before leading the way out of the portrait hole. Sirius and Peter followed behind. Eleanor took Remus' hand to hold him back a moment.
"Are you feeling alright?" She frowned, looking him over and putting her hand to his forehead.
"Nell, I'm fine." He laughed.
"You look tired. And you're really pale."
"I was up late studying. And , Nell…when am I not pale?"
She laughed. "Okay, you've got a point."
"Come on… before we lose them."
Remus took her hand and pulled her down the hall. After checking their names with Filch at the front door, the six of them set off across the snow-covered grounds. James and Lily walked behind the rest, talking and giggling amongst themselves, Peter behind them with a stupid grin on his face, muttering as if he was taking notes from James on how to smooth talk a girl. Sirius looked back at them before turning to Eleanor and Remus with a roll of his eyes.
"I seriously need to find myself a girlfriend." And he looked around as if, on cue, one would just walk up.
"Well…" Eleanor smirked. "I hear Severus is looking."
Sirius stopped in his tracks, staring at her with utmost revulsion. "Excuse me, Miss Black?"
She tried to contain herself. "You heard me, Mr. Black."
Remus had to cover his mouth to stifle his laugh. Sirius just smiled calmly, bending over and reaching down to gather some snow in his hands. Eleanor shrieked, letting go of Remus and running ahead. Sirius followed behind her, pelting her with snowball after snowball.
"Remus! Help me!" She hollered, slipping and falling backward into the snow.
That second, Sirius was on top of her, tickling her until she couldn't breathe.
"Take it back!" He laughed.
"I tak-I…" She was laughing so hard she was turning red. "Back! I take it back!"
Sirius let her go, getting to his feet with a smug smile. "Thank you." And just then, he was hit in he side of the face with a snowball from Remus.
Eleanor took his hand and got to her feet with a laugh. "Nice job, Remus! A little late, though."
"Moony's a poor aim… had to wait until he got really close." Sirius joked.
Remus picked up another and whacked him in the chest with it. Then Eleanor shoved him back onto his butt in the snow.
"That'll teach you, Mr. Black!"
They found it amusing to call each other Mr. and Miss Black though there was no relation. They always joked about getting married and not having to change their name. Sirius looked up at her with a smirk.
"I'll get you someday, Miss Black. Just wait."
Eleanor shivered, folding her arms now that her jacket and pants were soaking wet. "Jeez, it's freezing out here!"
"Here." Remus laughed, unbuttoning his coat.
"Oh, no! Keep that, Remus. You'll get sick."
"Better me than you." He smiled and wrapped it around her shoulders, holding her close and leading her on down the road.
When they finally made it into Hogsmeade, they all split up and agreed to meet in two hours inside the Three Broomsticks. Eleanor pulled Remus down the main road, passing all of the others as they entered various shops. Remus tagged along behind her, her hand in his. When the scenery changed and he realized they were passing all of the shops, he yanked her back. He knew exactly where she was headed and there was no way he was going back there. He'd seen that place much too often.
"Where are you going?" He asked, shaking his head.
"The Shrieking Shack…I've never seen it before. It's supposed to be the most haunted house in all of Britain." Her smile faltered slightly at his reaction.
His mouth opened slightly and he searched desperately for an excuse. "I…well, it's nothing special. Trust me, you're not missing anything."
She looked at him with a look of disbelief and disappointment. "But…"
"But, nothing, Nell. I've been in there a million times… and not a damn thing has happened! It's not worth it. Let's just get inside somewhere warm. Are you hungry?"
A little shocked by his behavior, she followed him as he pulled her toward the coffee shop. When they sat at their table, she looked away from him. She couldn't understand what was wrong with him. He'd never done that to her before. Stealing a glance at him, he was looking down and examining the menu in front of him with fake interest.
"Do you want anything?" He asked, not looking up.
"No, thank you. I'm fine."
He looked up and met her eyes. She studied his face for a moment, trying to figure it out. Something was wrong.
"Why are you so afraid of that house, Remus?"
He shook his head, giving a nervous laugh. "I am not afraid."
"Well… then you wouldn't have done that. Never in our three years together have you denied me anything. If it was so dumb… you would have let me figure it out by myself. I know you, Remus."
He just looked at her for a moment, wishing she really did.
"I'm sorry." He said finally, looking down.
"What happened up there?" She folded he arms against the table, leaning closer to him.
He tapped his fingers on the table, trying to piece something together. He needed something authentic sounding that would keep her away from the house.
"You can tell me, you know."
He wet his lips with his tongue and nodded, raising his eyes to meet hers. "I know." He proceeded to roll up his sweater sleeve to reveal bright pink scars from claw marks on his forearm. Then, he pulled aside the collar of his shirt to show more on his shoulder. She bit her lip and put her hand over his arm.
"James, Sirius, and I went up there third year. Saying that house is haunted is an understatement, Nell. There are evil things in there. Things that are not afraid to hurt you and the last thing I want is for you to get hurt."
He put his hand over hers on his arm. "I love you."
Her eyes widened slightly with surprise and it took a moment for a smile to come to her face. That was probably the only thing he'd said in the last five minutes that wasn't completely fabricated. He hadn't planned on telling her like that, but he liked how it sounded. Terrifically genuine. She looked down and brought her free hand up to wipe her eyes.
"I'm sorry." He was confused now. He reached over to touch her face.
"Don't be." She laughed. "I'm just an idiot… I don't know why, after three years… that took me by surprise."
He laughed. "Well, it's true. And you need to know that."
"I do know it." She grinned. "And I love you , too."
