"Hey Tess," I said through my mouthful of eggs. She wrinkled her nose in mock disgust and laughed as she sat down next to me.

"Hello, Ell," she said, smiling as she dumped food onto her plate. "Doesn't look to be a bright day," she remarked, staring at the gray, cloudy ceiling. We chatted absentmindedly while the Hall filled up with freshly-woken people.

I caught a glimpse of red hair and watched as Lily made her way to where we were sitting. We exchanged a glance of understanding, then she sat down in front of us.

"Hey, Tess. Hey… Ell."

"Hi Lily!" I waved like a lunatic and she snorted, shaking her head and sitting down.

The four boys dashed into the Great Hall and skidded to a stop in front of our table.

"Miss Evans, Miss McGrath," James greeted, tipping an imaginary hat to them. Tessie laughed and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Ell, why didn't you wait for us?" Sirius whined, collapsing onto a seat next to me and draping his heavy arms around my shoulders.

"Get off!" I flailed under his grasp. "I'm suffocating!" Sirius complied and I gave him a prudish glare, laughing quickly afterwards.

"So?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"You were taking too long to wake up," I responded lightly, pouring ketchup, then mustard over my toast.

Remus gagged and looked away. "I can't stand your eating habits."

I slapped another slice of bread onto the concoction and took a huge bite. "Mmmmm!" I moaned in delight, as the werewolf shuddered.

"Anyway, buck up, Silky. We have Quidditch practice today." Sirius nudged me, trying to get me to eat faster. I slowly licked the edges of my sandwich, trying to annoy him. James groaned.

"C'mon, Ell! Hurry up!" He thumped the table for emphasis.

"Fine, fine, c'mon, let's go." I wiped my mouth with a napkin and ran off after a quick goodbye to Peter, Lily, Remus, and Tessie. The owl post flew over the three of us as we walked to the door and a letter fell on Sirius' head.

"Thanks a whole bloody lot, you crazy owl!" he yelled at the family owl, who was now taking a load of sweets to the Slytherin table. I glanced over and saw Regulus Black staring at me. I looked away.

Sirius had opened his letter and was staring at it with a… a blank look, I suppose, on his face. He licked his lips, swallowed, then took out his wand, muttered "Incendio," and watched as the parchment burned.

"Something wrong, Padfoot?" I asked.

He shook his head quickly, looking down at me. "Nope," he said, popping the 'p'. "Let's go."


"Alright, people, a few laps around the stadium, okay?" Sirius said shortly, quickly getting on his room and zooming off. I stared after him worriedly, then followed Danielle, Jenny, and Lauren onto the pitch.

"So, girls, what do you think of our mega-hot captain?" I joked as soon as we were in the air. Little Danielle Robins immediately blushed and I laughed out loud. "Someone has a crush on Siri?"

As the Chaser shook her head quickly, Lauren cut in. "We all do, to some extent," She admitted reasonably. "Curse his good looks!"

Jenny shook her head. "I don't at all. I just admire him. He's an excellent Beater."

"Oh, really? You don't fancy him in the slightest?" I challenged her as we sped around the course.

"What about the shrine under your bed?" Lauren asked mischievously, nudging her dorm-mate.

"You have a Siri-shrine?" I squealed as Jenny blushed.

"Along with a Lance-shrine and a Morgen-shrine," she replied hotly, referring to two famous beaters at the time. "So it's not any attraction based on looks, per say."

"C'mon girls, we're going to start now!" James yelled from the other side of the field. We zoomed over and stopped short in front of the group.

"Yay! Starting!" I gave a little clap and the rest of the team snorted.

"Here, keep yourself busy," Sirius muttered brusquely, tossing a golf ball he had charmed to fly up in the air. I quickly flew after it, privately worrying about Padfoot. Something had been in that letter this morning… but what? It was sent to him by the family owl, so it had to do something with the Blacks. But why would he be affected? He had already severed all ties with them. And Sirius wasn't one to let insults and remarks get to him. I pondered.

Suddenly, the heavens opened up and rain started to pour onto the pitch. The six other members of the team who had been practicing descended and ran towards the practice room.

"Ell!" Sirius yelled for me from the ground. I swooped down a little, then turned and flew straight up.

I loved flying through the rain. The pelting droplets, the booming thunder, the occasional crack of lightning; all of it put together was stunning. Just closing my eyes and letting my broom take me to the heavens was my idea of perfection. My mind would go absolutely blank, and for a few hours, I wouldn't have to feel that cold spot in the center of my heart.

"Ell!" A cry ripped through my mind and I froze. My broom slowed down and I breathed heavily, the cold starting to seep through my robes.

"Silky!" I saw a speck flying towards me and finally recognized the voice.

"Hey Siri!" I gave him a wave. It was only then that I realized that my body was trembling. It must have been much colder than I thought. My friend came up to me, a mad look in his eyes. "Sirius, I-"

"You bloody idiot!" He roared at me, grabbing my arm and flying down to the ground. I shivered uncontrollably and tried to regain my inner peace. It didn't work.

"What the bloody hell do you think you were doing, you wanker?" He shouted at me once we were on earth.

"Flying," I shot back angrily, my teeth chattering. "What do you think?"

"Who would fly in this sort of weather in their right mind?" Sirius demanded irately, towering over me.

"I would!" I screamed back at him. "And why do you care?"

"What if you got hurt, you prat?" He yelled at me. "What if you fell off your broom, what if you got hypothermia, what if you got struck by lightning?"

"What happened to Mr. Daredevil Sirius Black?" I snapped. "Am I not allowed to risk my life once in a while?"

"Yeah, well, I care about your well-being, surprisingly, being your friend!"

"Oh, we're great friends!" I cackled. "So great that you can't tell me what was in a letter you got, but you can stop me from doing anything on a whim!"

There was a silence that enveloped the two of us, squeezing and constricting. I suddenly found it hard to breathe through the lump in my throat.

"He died," Sirius muttered, so softly that I could barely hear him over the thunder.

"Excuse me?"

"Uncle Alphard. He's… he's dead." Sirius gave his head a little toss and bit his lip.

"Oh." I clenched my fists, my fingernails jutting painfully into my palm. We stood quietly for a few seconds, then I hugged him. "I'm sorry." He didn't reply, but wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"You're practically jumping, Silky," he observed after a few minutes.

"It's called I'm cold," I replied, trying to stop myself from shaking. We hurried into the school and rushed into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You guys are soaking!" Lily cried, staring at the puddles we were making on the floor. Sirius grinned and pounced on her, giving her a big hug. "Black, get off me!" she screeched as he transferred the rain water to her. Finally, he got off and gave me a chance to get in a quick squeeze before running to the boy's dorm.

"So, you really like the rain, huh?" Sirius asked as her stripped off his shirt.

"Ooh. Abs," I joked, gesturing to his chest as I wiggled out of my wet jeans. "Yes, I've always loved the rain. I don't really know if it's the rain or the feeling I get when I sit in it. Or fly, of course."

Padfoot mulled this over as he dried himself off with a fluffy towel. I quickly pulled one of the boy's huge shirts over my slender body and put on some shorts. I smelled the sleeve of the shirt and smiled. The combination of cigarette smoke and mustiness told me that I had chosen one of Remus'. Orange and pine trees was James, peppermint and moth balls was Peter, and the fresh scent of rain and grass was Sirius.

"I'm the dog, Ell, leave the sniffing to me," Sirius teased.

"Hello? I'm a canine too!" I protested.

The tall boy leaned over and smelled my shoulder, wrinkling his nose. "I don't see why you like the smell. It reminds me of my dad and his goddamned pipe."

"Well, Remus' dad smokes when he's in the house's library. And you know Moony - he pretty much lives in the library. It smells sorta sweet." We both started inhaling the scent, trying to analyze it.

"Do I want to know why you're snorting my shirt?" Remus asked sardonically, walking into the room.

"My weed ran out," I responded immediately.

A/N: Some sadness, some happiness, and Ell's relationships with the boys deepened (mainly Sirius). I hope I didn't make anyone too OOC, I sorta felt iffy with this chapter.

*pounds head against wall* Must… Bring… Peter… Into… Story… Do you think he's in here enough?

Till next time, her Majesty, the Queen, Violet ^_^