A/N- Its all fun fun fun from here on out. I cannot wait to get started on the really juicy stuff, because I am sure it will be fun to write. Marauders ALWAYS win in this game. Well, nearly always win. James clearly isn't striking with Lily, and Elle and Sirius are the same as ever. Some things will never ever change. Read, review and enjoy.

Day Is Done

Day is done, gone the sun, from the lake, from the hill, from the sky
All is well, safely rest,God is nigh.

That night, marked the start of a new year for the Marauders, and they already began planning new pranks that would in turn take place sometime in the next few weeks. Sirius and James as always were the first to start plotting, whereas Remus usually kept out of it. Peter usually just tagged along. He wasn't much good apart from following orders. He did as he was told - he was good like that.

After the welcome back feast and Dumbledore's yearly speech, which consisted of four words, (Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweek), James had to join Lily for Prefect duty, leaving Elle alone with the boys. Elle decided to call it quits and decided she just wanted to go to bed early, much to Sirius' annoyance. She entered the girl's dormitory which she shared with 3 other girls, one of them being busy body do-gooder, Lily Evans, her best friend Hestia Jones, and finally Anne-Marie Whittaker, who was a chaser on the Quidditch team, like Elle was. Thankfully, she had chance to avoid Lily, who was on Prefect duty, and Hestia was nowhere in sight. Marie was the only one in there.

"Hi Elle! Good summer?" she asked. Elle liked Marie. She was only one was genuine and down to earth, if not a little scatty at times. Best of all they shared a common ground.

Quidditch.

"Yeah great thanks," Elle lied. "Yours?"

"Fantastic! My dad took me to see the qualifying match for the Quidditch final. Ireland vs Germany! It was bloody brutal!" Marie exclaimed.

Elle chuckled. "Yeah, I read about it in the Prophet. Wish I could have been there."

Elle wished she could have been anywhere but her at Severus' that summer. It had been the worst so far, and Elle thought that there was no way it could have been any worse than it had been in the past. But she had been so wrong.

"Anyway, I am going to go down to the Common Room. Fancy coming for a game of Wizard Chess?" Marie asked politely. "Erm…no thanks. I think I am going to get an early night tonight. Another night maybe?" Elle replied suggestively.

"Suit yourself." Marie waved to Elle as she exited the Dormitory door. Finally, Elle was alone.

Elle made her way over to her bed. All of her stuff was already there, and her pyjamas were laid out on the bed neatly. She changed into her pyjamas, and opened her trunk. She rummaged through the contents, amazed at how much stuff she had actually packed this year. At the bottom of the trunk, she found a small container. She opened the lid and removed a small white pill. She popped it in her mouth and swallowed it. She hated them, but she knew it would help her. As she placed the container back into her trunk, she scratched her finger on the corner of the trunk, causing it to bleed. "Shit." she muttered.

Blood. Elle hated blood.

She brought her finger to her mouth and sucked on it, trying to stop the bleeding before turning her attention to her surroundings. Elle's wall was covered in posters and pictures. She liked to keep things personal, and using her wall was a good way to express her creative side. She had a poster of her favourite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, along with an array of muggle posters, including some muggle rock bands. She had a picture of her and Severus when they were younger. Simpler times. Happier times. She reminisced all those times they had snuck out of the house to go down by the lake or the park. Those were the time when they had always been in most trouble.

Finally she saw a picture that mad her smile most of all. A picture which she loved. Her and all the Marauders. A picture they had taken in third year by the Lake. James and Sirius at the back, waving their arms around like idiots, and striking stupid poses.

Peter hunched to the right side, timid but smiling. Elle felt sorry for him at times. He was always the only one out of the group who really did stick out like a sore thumb (even more than Elle herself, and she was the only girl). She couldn't but feel that sometimes Peter wasn't always open with the rest of the Marauders as he should be. He was certainly the least dynamic out of the group.

In the middle stood Elle, laughing at the boys, as James attempted to get on her back. And then there was Remus on the left side.

Tall and handsome, he stood upright. He too was laughing at James and Sirius. Elle loved how he smiled. Elle didn't like to pick her favourite; she loved all the Marauders equally, but she always thought of Remus as her best friend. He understood her, even if she couldn't tell him everything. He knew enough as it was. She hated placing her problems on others, so she dealt with it herself. If Remus and the others knew what had been secretly going on in her life for the past 10 years, she feared they would feel sorry for her and treat her differently, and she never wanted that. Acceptance was her aim, not that she cared what people thought about her.

It was times like the ones in these photos that made Elle remember why some things were worth hanging onto.

…The crying continued all through the night. It did not stop. She thought it would but it didn't. She sat at the bottom of her bed, knees pulled up to her chest. Even though there was no noise coming from the corridor, the crying continued. The house, however, was completely silent. Nothing. It was much too quiet for her liking. Something was wrong. Suddenly she heard the floorboards on the landing creak, and she saw a shadow underneath her door. She froze as she saw the doorknob turn…

…Elle fell out of bed as she jolted from her dream. She was sweating. She hit the floor with a huge bang, banging her head as she did.

"Woods! If you insist on waking up early, that doesn't mean that you have to wake the entire bloody dormitory!" Lily Evans shouted from her bed, which was opposite to her own.

Elle stuck out her tongue, knowing Evans wouldn't be able to see her due to the dark. She mumbled as she picked up her quilt covers and placed them back onto her bed. She knew there wasn't any hope of going to go back to sleep, and decided upon getting ready early and going down to breakfast.

She grabbed her robes and made her way to the bathroom and gazed at the reflection staring back her. Her eyes were still tight from sleep, blurring her vision slightly. She turned on the cold tap and splashed her face with water. She put her glasses on and removed her pyjamas and slipped into her robes. She brushed her hair, before tying it into a messy bun. She then returned to the dormitory. Lily Evans had gone back to sleep, Hestia Jones was upside down in her bed, and Marie was curled up in a ball, half hanging off her bed. Elle smiled, opening the dormitory door, and she began walking down the staircase towards the Common Room.

Not surprising, she saw Sirius sprawled on one of the couches in the Common Room, obviously having attempting to pull an "all-nighter" on the first night of returning to Hogwarts. James was there also; he must have stayed up after Prefect duty, probably having another long chat with Sirius about Quidditch, sex, girls, Lily Evans, girls, alcohol, pranks, Lily Evans, and finally (the shocker) girls. Remus nor Peter were in sight which meant they had done the smart thing and gone to their dormitory, escaping such a terrifying conversation with the obnoxious James Potter and notorious womaniser, Sirius Black.

Elle walked past them, exiting the Common Room, deciding not to disturb the two sleeping beauties. She made her way down the spiral staircase, and towards the Great Hall, where she saw Remus Lupin sat by himself at Gyffindor table, reading the Daily Prophet.

"Morning Moony!" Elle shouted. Remus turned to her attention. "Morning Elle." He replied. He always addressed her by her real name, not her animagus name. "How did you sleep?" Elle took her seat next to him at the Gyffindor table, and began pouring herself a glass of fresh pumpkin juice."Well thanks," She lied. "yourself?"

"Well if you can get over James and Sirius playing exploding snap until half three this morning before me and Peter kicked them out, then yes. I would say it was a delightful sleep."Elle laughed. She grabbed herself a slice of toast and buttered it as Remus continued to read the Prophet. "Anything interesting in the news Moony?" a voice came from behind Elle.

James sat down next to Elle, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Remus hummed. "How was your sweet dreams Sleeping Beauty?" Elle mocked.

"Huh?" James yawned.

"I saw you and Sirius asleep this morning in the Common Room."

"And you didn't think to wake us up? We woke up to a bunch of third years, oogling their eyes at us and giggling. It was embarrassing to say the least."

"I am sure you and Black loved the attention-"Elle stopped in her tracks, as a pair of hands covered her eyes.

"Nice to see we are going back to last names again Elle." A voice whispered in her ear.

"I am sorry- I am sure Sirius loved the attention." Elle gleamed, as her vision came back. Sirius walked round the table and sat opposite her.

"I am not that desperate to get attention from third years Woods." He said, helping himself to Elle's cup of pumpkin juice.

"Any attention to you is better than none Black. I know how that mind of yours works," Elle paused while she grabbed another slice of toast. "and yes, you can have a sip of my pumpkin juice!" Elle grabbed the cup of Sirius, giving him a narked look. "Hey, what's yours is mine!" He snatched it back. "we share."

"I don't remember that being a Marauder rule!" Elle snapped.

"James, add it to the rules!" Sirius remarked, smiling before continuing to drink Elle's pumpkin juice.

"Come on guys, it's the first day and already you're arguing. Can't you please just get on for once?" Remus pleaded.

Sirius and Elle exchanged glances and burst into laughter. "What are you talking about Moony? Elle and me get on. We just like tormenting each other much more."

"For once Sirius, I agree with you on something." Elle replied, raising her eyebrows. "But don't get used to it."

James sniggered.

After Peter joined them later that morning for breakfast, class schedules were handed out. Elle was extremely clever, and was taking extra classes this year, due to the fact she couldn't fit all of the subjects into her normal timetable.

"What extra classes are you taking this year?" Remus enquired.

"Muggles studies, Ancient Runes and Arithmacy"

"I am taking Muggle studies, Ancient Runes and Astronomy." Remus replied. "So I guess we be in most classes this year Elle." Elle beamed at Remus.

"I am not in any extra classes." Peter sighed. Peter wasn't thick he just didn't apply himself. He would much rather eat a kit kat or watch James and Sirius flirt with girls than he would pay any remote attention in class.

"Gosh Elle, why do you do this to yourself? You are practically taking the entire school curriculum." James answered. "Why do you need to do Muggles studies Patch? You live in a muggle environment." James asked sarcastically.

"Well if we classing living with Snivellus as being part of a muggle environment now…" Sirius joked. James and Peter sniggered at his remark. Elle sighed in annoyance. Sirius was so insensitive at times.

"You know what, I'll catch up with you guys later. See you in Potions Remus." She stood up abruptly, turning her heel and walked harshly out of the Great Hall. Remus looked at the Marauders; half wanting to shout at them, half wanting to go after Elle.

"What's her problem?" Sirius asked.

"You! You don't think about anything you say do you Padfoot?" Remus raised his voice, and got up, trailing after Elle.

Sirius knew he had upset her. And Remus was right. He didn't think.

Elle approached the Potions classroom, and saw Severus already sat inside. "Morning Sev." She said, as she walked over to where he was sat.

"Morning." He replied. "Why aren't you with your lackeys, Black and Potter?"

Elle didn't want to tell him the truth about why she had stormed off. "Decided to come to class early." She smiled.

Severus looked at her, raising his eyebrows. "But you never come early to class, especially not to Potions."

"Well, there is always time for change dear cousin." She sat patting him on the back.

"I will believe that when I see it Elle." Severus replied, nudging her, causing here to nearly fall off her chair.

"Oh Severus, there you are. I have been looking for you all morning." A voice came from the door. The voice of Lily Evans. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Elle.

"Oh, hope I am not interrupting anything.' She said sweetly. Severus immediately straightened himself up. "No not at all. Right Elle?"

He looked at Elle, his eyes widened as if he was trying to pass some kind of code to her. A code that Elle recognised instantly.

"No, no of course not Evans," Elle got up off her seat, collecting her bag. "I was just about to go anyway. Wait outside like the other students should. Erm…enjoy."

She walked briskly passed Evans, and knowing that Evans couldn't see what Elle was doing, she signalled the thumbs up to Severus. Severus shot her a dangerous look, to which Elle merely giggled.

Oh the joys of tormenting her cousin had only just begun.