January 1977

"Well, Potter, he's not in the hospital wing. It looks like you owe me five sickles," Lily said with a smirk as she joined him, Remus, Peter, and Ellie in the Common Room.

The students had returned to Hogwarts earlier that afternoon. Ellie was thrilled to see Lily again. After Black had given her the necklace, he'd avoided her like the plague and spent all of his time with Susan, leaving Ellie to herself with very little to occupy her time. She'd spent the final week of the Christmas holiday walking the castle grounds and reading in the library, neither activity holding her attention for very long. Without fail her mind would wander to that night with Black on the couch and the way his hands had felt on her waist and the way he'd stared at her. Ellie would shake herself from these thoughts only to realize she'd either gotten lost in the castle or stared at the same sentence for ten minutes. Needless to say, she was very happy to now have someone to talk to.

"He might not be there now, Lily-flower, but it looks like he should be." James gestured towards Black, who was sitting at a desk in the corner of the room.

"Merlin," Peter exclaimed, "He looks bloody awful."

And he did in fact look awful, Ellie noted as she and the others turned to look at their friend. Deep bags framed the bottoms of his eyes; eyes which were nearly entirely covered by the dark hair that desperately needed a brush. He was out of uniform and in a ratty Black Sabbath t-shirt and a grey pair of jogging bottoms with slippers on his feet. It looked like he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in several days, despite having never left the bed. Ellie caught James's eye out of the corner of her own. He was clearly concerned at the state Black was in, and the eyebrow he raised at her indicated he knew more than she wanted him to.

"What exactly happened while we were gone, Ellie?" Lily asked.

"W-well, um, nothing really," she stammered. "We pretty much avoided each other." Not entirely a lie.

James, who was sitting next to Ellie, threw an arm around her shoulder.

"Ellie," he began, "It looks like he was run over by a train. And honestly, you don't look much better—ow!—what Lily?" The redhead had smacked James on the head, "Oh, whatever, you look fine Ellie. My point is the both of you would at least talk to each other before and now you don't seem to even want to be in the same room. What happened?"

"I…well…," Ellie looked to Black again. He was scribbling something down on a piece of parchment, and several books were strewn about around him. Looking up as if he felt her gaze on him, Black's eyes met hers from across the room.

They looked at each other for a moment or two before Ellie broke eye contact.

"Nothing. Nothing happened," she said while standing. "I'm going to bed now. See you all at breakfast in the morning." Ellie hurriedly made her way up to the girls' dormitories.

"Something's not right," Lily said, eyes fixated on the doorway Ellie just left through.

James shared a look with Peter and Remus. After getting a nod from each of them, he moved to occupy Ellie's empty spot next to Lily on the couch. She looked at him warily and backed away slightly.

"Cut it out, Lily-flower. I'm actually trying to be serious. We—Remus, Peter, and I—feel the need to let you in on a little secret."

"And what might this secret be?" She asked, a bit aggravated at the dramatics.

"Sirius was supposed to be at my house this Christmas. My parents have taken him in, you see, and he didn't need to stay at Hogwarts over the holiday. He stayed behind because Ellie was staying."

"But why? Oh. Oh!" she exclaimed. " But I thought he hated her? They bicker all the time and can hardly stand one another. And isn't he seeing Susan Tugwood?"

"Shhh! Merlin, Lily, he's right over there!" James shushed her, earning himself a particularly nasty glare, "No he isn't seeing Susan. She fancies girls. And this is Sirius we're talking about; one of the most immature people there is. You really expect him to just walk up to Ellie and tell her he's fancied her since fourth year?" Remus hit James on the shoulder.

"Fourth year?" Lily looked at Remus, "Is that true?"

Remus shook his head at James, "We really weren't supposed to say anything. He only told us himself just before Christmas, but yes, since fourth year. He said something about realizing he'd fallen for her after a beetle incident."

"A beetle incident I do believe you assisted in" James nudged Lily.

"I didn't assist. I was look-out."

"That's what assisting is, Lily-flower."

"Oh whatever. So, Sirius has liked Ellie since fourth year. Do you know why things have turned sour all the sudden?"

Remus answered, "He mentioned something about telling her how he felt over the holiday. I'm assuming things didn't quite go as planned, but we don't have specifics. Honestly, he doesn't even seem to want to discuss it."

They all turned again to look at Sirius. Apparently, he had finished whatever assignment he was working on, as he now had his head propped up on one hand and was twirling his quill with the other.

"I'll try and get some information out of Ellie tonight before bed," Lily said.

"We'll do the same with Sirius. One of them is bound to let something slip."

Ellie was having trouble sleeping when the door to the dormitory slowly creaked open. She knew it wasn't either Mary or Lucy, both having been asleep when she arrived from the Common Room, so that meant Lily had finally come up. She sat up in bed a turned on the lamp on the bedside table. Lily, having now entered the room, closed the door behind her and made her way over to Ellie's bed. She got on the bed and sat crossed legged next to her friend.

"Couldn't sleep?" Lily asked.

"No. I was waiting up for you. I feel like we haven't spoken in ages." Ellie answered.

"It's only been two weeks, Els." Lily chuckled, "Besides, you had Black here to keep you company."

Ellie let out a rather unladylike snort, "Yeah, Black, my favorite person."

"Oh come on, Ellie. I know you've never liked him much, but the two of you won't even look at each other anymore! You need to tell me what happened while we were gone." Lily took her friend's hand in hers, "Please?"

Falling victim to the red-head's pleading eyes, Ellie decided to tell her what happened.

"So, let me get this straight. You cuddle on the couch, he gives you a gorgeous necklace, all but lays his heart at your feet, and you scare him off by acting like a crazy person? I'll admit I'm not a huge Sirius Black fan, but what is wrong with you Ellie!?"

Lucy, whose bed was right next to Ellie's, flung a shoe at Lily and shushed her. Grimacing, Lily tossed the shoe to the ground and gave the girl an apologetic smile.

Ellie began picking at the snags in her bedspread, "Kind of…I suppose. Really though Lils, Black? He's the biggest player in the school! Merlin only knows how many girls he's…been with."

"Yes, but how many of them has he opened up to like he did with you? He really likes you, Ellie."

"I—what?"

Lily sighed, "Potter says Black's liked you since fourth year. You remember the beetle thing?"

"The beetle thing? He liked that?" Ellie was confounded.

"I don't think he actually liked it per say, but something must have happened. You'll have to ask him I suppose." Lily said smugly.

"No!" Ellie exclaimed, earning herself a balled up sweater to the face. She lowered her voice, "Sorry Lucy. Anyway, there's no way I'm talking to him about any of this."

"Why not? It won't do to just keep avoiding him. Just let him down easy; it's not his fault you don't like him the same way," Lily noticed a peculiar look cross her friend's face, "Oh, Merlin. That's the problem isn't it? You do like him!"

"I do not! I mean, he's attractive, sure. But honestly, Lils, Black is the most immature, arrogant, self-centered—"

"He held you while you cried about your sister and gave you a very expensive Christmas present," Lily interjected.

Feeling more than a little ashamed of herself, Ellie put her face in her hands. Lily laid a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, "What's the real problem here, Els?"

Face still in her palms, Ellie responded, "It's Black. I want to let myself be with him. I really want to. But I'm so worried he's going to hurt me. And now I'm the one who's hurt him…I'm just confused. And scared. I want to think on it for a bit."

"Alight, love. No one wants you to decide anything right now; take all the time you need." Lily got up from the bed and moved to her own. Both girls settled under their respective covers and Ellie turned out the light. After several moments laying in the dark, she decided she had one last question for Lily.

"So, Lils, what about you and Potter?"

"Shut up and go to sleep."

Chucking, Ellie closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her.