A/N: Hello my loverly fans! :D Not much to talk about today... so... READ ON! :D
A/N: Oh, and minor Sirius bashing. He's just very unlucky so far... but you see, it builds up his mental resistance. Part of the reason why the dementors didn't really affect him in Azkaban... Well, that's my reasoning.
Eli slowly walked to the Hospital Wing. Sirius was in there. He was James' best friend, after all. She might as well talk to him, because as far as she could tell, he was going to be the best man at her wedding... that might never take place.
She shook her head. No! My family have been marrying wizards for centuries! I will follow that tradition! She stamped her foot.
Cautiously, she opened the door to the Hospital Wing.
"Sirius? Are you awake?" Eli whispered.
"Mmrph," someone groaned softly. Eli took that as a yes, and headed over to the corner where Sirius lived for now.
"I'm here on serious business," she said to him as she sat down primly on the chair next to his bed. He ignored the urge to turn her sentence into a pun, and stared at her expectantly.
"I came here to ask about James."
Eli let that sunk in.
"Er, why? You are his girlfriend, after all."
"But you're his best friend and you live with him."
"Oh, please, god no. Don't say it like that!"
Eli was puzzled.
"Why ever not?"
"Well, let's just say that some of my lovely neighbours might think that that's some sort of gay illusion... besides," he lowered his voice to a whisper and point to the curtains to his left, "I've already got Smith making googly-eyes at me when I'm changing behind the curtains."
"You mean Helena Smith?"
"No, I mean Jack Smith. Her brother."
"That's beside the point!" snapped Eli. They were getting sidetracked, and she was pressed for time.
"What does James like?"
"For as long as Hogwarts years go, the only thing he likes is eggplant figurines, dancing tables, his owl, Transfiguration, Quidditch, his parents, chocolate... and of course, Lily Evans. Always, always, always had a soft spot for that smart, fiery redhead," Sirius smiled to himself as he thought of simpler times. While he didn't show it, the stress of NEWTs was getting to him. They were always a shadow behind his shoulder, getting closer and closer. He had taken to having Remus smuggle studying books in at dusk.
"What is the point of 'smuggling' them in, as though they're illegal?" asked Remus one afternoon when patients were scarce.
"Excuse me! This is Sirius Black you're talking to! In my reputation's books, they are very, very, very illegal," Sirius said with a scoff and a hair flick.
"So what if you like to study in NEWTs year?"
"Since this is my NEWTs year, my reputation matters the most. You know. Girls and stuff."
"Paddy, never put 'girls and stuff' in the same sentence so carelessly. You should know that basically earns you a slap in the face and a bruised ego," Remus winced, remembering his date in Hogsmeade that ended in total disaster.
"Well, aside from my love-life, my reputation matters because I want to make a great legacy. The legacy of Sirius Black and his Layabout Friends!" Sirius kneeled on the edge of his bed, brandishing a fake sword.
"Don't you mean The Marauders? And don't do that! You'll fall off and make your wounds worse!"
"That's the word I was looking for! And don't worry I'll be - " whatever Sirius was, Remus never got to find out, because Sirius promptly fell off and reannacted dying. While Sirius found this mind-blowingly hilarious, Remus didn't find it funny at all.
"I hope you enjoy your books!" Remus yelled behind his shoulder as he briskly marched out, a small, amused and mischievous smile on his face. Just as he had expected, he heard sniggers and a loud whine, reminiscent of a kicked puppy.
When Sirius saw the look on Eli's face, he knew he was in deep water.
"Er, what I mean to say, he had a soft spot for Lily before he met you! Look at you, you're gorgeous! If you weren't James' girlfriend, I would have snapped you up for myself ages ago!" He added a nervous chuckle at the end of his rushed sentences.
"Good boy," Eli ruffled his hair as though he was a dog.
She had the information she needed.
Destroy the redhead, and she had a one-way ticket to James' heart. She would have the upper hand.
But first, to get him to give her a gift that proved his alliance to her.
Eli kicked up her heels and threw her head back in a slightly evil laugh. Finally, things were going her way.
After Eli's brief meeting with Sirius, Sirius immediately drifted off to Dreamland.
Often, his mind would wander back to the afternoon of his latest injury.
But before he could delve further, the doors of the Hospital Wing banged open with a fury that he had never known before.
"SIRIUS BLACK, YOU BETTER GET YOUR ARSE OVER HERE FOR ME TO FREAKING WHOOP!"
"Uh... why?"
"I'LL FREAKING TELL YOU WHY! OH, WILL I FREAKING TELL YOU! I SAW JAMES AND THAT-THAT MUDBLOOD ON THE QUIDDITCH PITCH! FLYING! ON THE SAME BROOM!"
Eli stormed in, bellowing and ranting like a rhino with a thorn in it's foot.
She acted like it too.
Eli trashed the Hospital Wing. She had completely lost the plot. And the strange thing was, she didn't even touch the items. Never pointed at them with her specially-for-half-elves-wand.
After breaking everything except the patients and their beds, Eli started to calm down.
"Would you care to explain? Or will I have to guess that you knew that James and that filthy - wrench were going at it behind my back?"
"Eli, you're making a big deal out of this - "
"What am I supposed to think, huh, Black?"
"Lily wants to be on the Quidditch team, but she's deathly afraid of flying! The Marauders take it in turns to tutor her! Y'know, a favor to a friend. Is all," Sirius shrugged, but he was definitely hiding something. And Eli knew it.
And she blew her top and attacked Sirius into unconsciousness.
"Did you just hear that?" asked Lily.
"Hear what?"
"That breaking sound."
"Oh, that. I think that's Hagrid trying to stuff Beany the Hippogriff into a greenhouse again. Now, focus, Lily! Keep your hand on the broomstick, and don't be tempted to change your train of thought," said James in an I'm-a-coach-it's-what-I-do voice.
Truth be told, after Lily poured out her heart to James at St. Mungoes, their friendly, I'm-your-friend-'cause-my-friends-are-your-friend relationship had changed to a deeper kind.
Then came the scream.
Without thinking, Lily grabbed the handle and deftly flew off into the direction of the scream, James barely hanging on. Her hair whipped behind her and attacked James without her notice.
There was a large hole in the window of the Hospital Wing, one large enough for two people on a broom to squeeze through. Lily tumbled off, wand out, eyes darting wildly.
Ever since she and her fellow Gryffindors had been preparing for the outside world that was beginning to disintergrate and darken around them, Lily had lightning fast reactions and a hole roll of hexes and spells up her sleeve.
"Stupefy!"
The commotion stopped. James was still trying to get over the fact that Lily had just done a kilometer and a bit around the school (on a broom) and tumbled off and single-handedly Stunned the offender effortlessly. A fierce look of determination and no mercy was plastered on Lily's face. Finally, she realised the situation she was in.
Eli was Stunned, her clothes torn and bloody and Sirius laying awkwardly and unconscious beside her, also with bloody clothes.
"What happened here?" asked Lily, silent but deadly. Eli started to sob as she ran towards James, playing the victim. Lily ran over to Sirius' side, levitating him to his bed and fixing his smaller cuts and bruises.
After she was assured that the smaller cuts were taken care off, she half-covered her eyes and managed to undress, clean, then redress Sirius with the added bonus of privacy for him.
Then, she twirled, her dangerous face on.
"Headmasters. Now," she pointed at Eli. Eli didn't move.
"NOW!" Lily barked venomously. Eli immediately jumped out of James' arms and darted off into the corridor, Lily hot on her tails. Slightly discouraged, James followed them. He didn't know what to think.
My girlfriend probably just attacked my bestfriend.
That thought echoed through his mind as they marched to Dumbledore's office.
"Immediate suspension."
"But, sir - "
"Enough said. You are the Head Boy, James. You know the rules. If one student is in danger because of another, serious and immediate action must be taken. That is my final judgement. You may go." He waved away Lily and James. Eli, however, was to remain in her seat so that Dumbledore could explain her punishment further.
Lily nodded stiffly, making her way to the door of the Headmaster's office. James, however, decided to choose stupidity over sensibility.
"Sir! How is this fair? Immediate suspension? In NEWTs year?"
The wise, grave, piercing, and severely intense look that Dumbledore gave him made James withdraw.
"If you have your best interests at heart, Mr Potter, then you better stay out of this."
With that final, crisp warning hanging in the air, the door closed.
Slowly, Sirius woke. He felt pain everywhere, piercing him.
"Hey, mate," said James softly. "It's just not your month, is it?" he asked, with a small laugh.
Sirius managed a weak, "Not at all," and a smile. The humor drained from James' face as he saw how hurt and weak his best friend was.
Suddenly, Sirius grabbed his arm.
"James! I know how dangerous Eli is. She can manipulate our minds and emotions. I saw her true form." He had a deranged look on his face.
"Sirius, maybe you need to calm down just a little..."
"NO! I'M TELLING YOU WHAT I SAW!" Sirius shouted, the intensity making James step backward.
Madam Pomfrey came bustling out. She pushed a sedative into Sirius' mouth and that was the end of Sirius' conversation. With slow realization, James turned to Madam Pomfrey.
"Where were you?"
"Pardon? Oh, in my office," she said happily, moving onto another student.
"I mean, when Eli attacked Sirius."
"Oh!" Madam Pomfrey blushed bright red and turned away from James.
"Er, it's alright. Suddenly, I don't want to know anymore," James said, running out of there, his cheeks as red as the Healer's. He really didn't need to know about the love-life of the staff.
A/N: Sorry if it doesn't make sense. I'm kinda shuffling ideas, but it'll come clearer next chapter (which focuses on KayCee, Bridget and Lionel. They've been a bit quiet). Oh, and if you want to know, it's really late... oops! :/