Along with Elizabeth and Lily, there were three other girls on Gryffindor House starting their first year; Seraphina Leigh, Isabella Jareau and Paige Miller, all of whom were half-bloods, like Elizabeth. Seraphina was outgoing and extremely pretty, often receiving attention from the boys in their year, along with several in upper years. She excelled in Transfiguration but often failed in Defence Against the Dark Arts, as she didn't like competing in wand combat. Isabella was quiet, often keeping to herself. Elizabeth would often walk in on her in the library, pouring over her many books, her light brown tied up in a loose bun. She was very intelligent, coming top in most classes, except Potions, which was both Elizabeth and Lily's speciality. Paige, however, was an incredibly ordinary girl, who achieved ordinary marks and had an ordinary amount of friends. She got on well with everybody and was liked by most of her teachers.
Along with Sirius and James, there were three other boys in Gryffindor House starting their first year; Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Lucas Robinson. Remus was quiet, clever and one of Sirius and James' best friends, often attempting to keep them in line when they performed pranks on the other students. He had slightly grey skin and sometimes looked dishevelled, but was liked by most, including Elizabeth, who saw him as one of her close friends as they grew up. Peter was also another one of Sirius and James' best friends, although he wasn't nearly as clever or as popular as them. Elizabeth often saw him running around after the boys, joining in with their jokes and pranks, but Sirius and James were clearly the ringleaders. Lucas didn't socialise with the other four boys much and was usually seen in the company of Isabella Jareau, studying furiously in the library. Like Isabella, he was quiet and hardly ever participated verbally in class. However, he was clearly gifted at History of Magic, even managing to receive top marks despite Professor Binns' awful teaching.
Over the next five years, Elizabeth flourished in the majority of her subjects, especially Potions. She was liked by all of her teachers, in particular Professor Slughorn, who thought that she and Lily were wonderful and often invited them to his 'Slug Club'. She also had many friends and was envied by a lot of the girls in her year; her long black hair, pale white skin and piercing blue eyes were enough to make anyone stop and stare for a while. However, she was also incredibly friendly, funny and willing to give anyone a chance. Everyone except Sirius Black and James Potter.
In her eyes, they had had their chance on the train back in their first year, and had ruined it by making fun of Severus. They also proceeded to prank a lot of the other students in their year and the years below them, which only made Elizabeth dislike them more. They were in most of her lessons, so she was forced to see them every day, and it seemed to her that they were trying to make friends with both her and Lily, apparently aware that they had upset the girls and hadn't gained their approval since. However, both of the boys went about it the wrong way, trying to impress Elizabeth and Lily with their spells, hexing other students as they passed.
"Can you believe that Black and Potter hexed Lucas Halliwell?" Elizabeth whispered to Lily during one of their Charms lessons. "He didn't even do anything to them!"
"I told you, they're idiots – Silencio!" Lily hissed back, waving her wand idly at her raven, which she was supposed to be silencing. It choked back a screech and fluttered on the desk miserably. "They're idiots and bullies."
"Don't be so high and mighty, Evans," Seraphina whispered next to Elizabeth, her eyes on the desk in front of her. "Sirius isn't a bully, he's just playful."
"Playful?" Lily hissed, her green eyes flashing dangerously. "Did you see what they did to Severus last week?"
"Yeah, so?" Seraphina shot back, keeping her voice low. "Snape is a Slytherin."
"He's also my brother," Elizabeth growled, catching the attention of Sirius and James, who were sat in front of them. They both turned around, grinning at the girls.
"Talking about us?" James asked, glancing at Lily, who scowled and looked away.
"Go away, Potter," Elizabeth ordered, grabbing her wand threateningly. James' eyebrows raised but he didn't turn away. Instead he glanced at Sirius, whose eyes were on Seraphina. Elizabeth also glanced at her, and suddenly noticed that she was wearing a soppy grin, and was running her hand through her silky brown hair, her gaze fixed on Sirius.
"I was simply saying that you like practising your hexes on students," she said slowly, smiling. Sirius grinned back, flicking his dark hair out of his eyes. He seemed to be enjoying the attention Seraphina was paying him and Elizabeth knew that Sirius received his fair share of devotion from the girls in their year. However, as he smirked at Seraphina's comment, Elizabeth also noticed that his eyes flickered over to her, and she could have sworn he saw him wink, but when she blinked, his eyes were firmly back on Seraphina, chuckling at a feeble joke she was telling.
Elizabeth woke up with a start. Rubbing her forehead, she swallowed hard, the contents of her dream quickly dripping away. Her mouth was dry as she blinked hard in the darkness, the moon seeping in through the frosted windows. She knew her dream had been frightening, bad enough to wake her up, but she couldn't place anything. She looked around the dormitory, glancing at each of the girls in turn. Lily's hair was spread all over her pillow as she slept, Paige was snoring softly, her mouth slightly open, and Isabella was curled up in a ball, her covers tucked in tight around her. However, Seraphina's bed was empty, and it looked as though it hadn't been slept in. Elizabeth looked towards the bathroom, but the light was off, so it was unlikely she was in there.
Shaking the covers off herself, Elizabeth crept over to her chair and picked up her dressing gown, wrapping it around her as it suddenly hit her how cold it was. Looking back to check that she hadn't woken up any of the other girls, she slowly walked down the staircase, watching for the common room fire's light to dance on the walls as she got nearer to her destination. She could hear quiet whispers from the room and when she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, she peaked around the corner of the wall.
There were two people sat on the sofa, talking in hushed voices, completely unaware they were being watched. Elizabeth leaned in closer and saw that the girl was indeed Seraphina, and she was giggling softly, playing with her hair. From this, and the boy's familiar curly black hair, Elizabeth determined that it was Sirius sitting on the sofa next to her, and that Seraphina had finally got her wish.
Determining that Seraphina was safe and wasn't going to lose any house points for sneaking out after dark, Elizabeth tried to turn on her heel and go back to bed. Unfortunately, she slipped on the step she was standing and made a loud squeak with her foot, alerting Sirius and Seraphina to her presence.
"Elizabeth!"
Cursing under her breath, Elizabeth turned back to see that Seraphina had jumped off the sofa and was readjusting her pyjamas, her cheeks slightly red. She seemed embarrassed at being caught in a compromising position and had a forced smile plastered on her face, but Sirius was grinning wickedly. He didn't seem embarrassed. In fact, the opposite. He seemed proud, as though he had wanted Elizabeth to walk in on them.
"I saw your bed was empty," Elizabeth said simply, avoiding Sirius' gaze. "I just wanted to check that you were all right."
Seraphina nodded in understanding and glanced at Sirius, who had gotten to his feet.
"Why don't you go back to bed, Sera?" he said softly, looking at Elizabeth, who raised an eyebrow. Seraphina looked as though she wanted to stay, reluctant to leave Sirius alone with Elizabeth, but Sirius kissed her gently and she surrendered. Elizabeth couldn't help but roll her eyes as Seraphina lingered on Sirius' mouth and squeezed his hand tight before slowly walking away, glaring slightly at Elizabeth as she passed. As her footsteps faded away on the stairs, Elizabeth felt awkward as she couldn't think of how to leave without appearing embarrassed and she was incredibly aware of Sirius's position in the room. He was staring at her, still grinning and it was beginning to annoy her.
"Well, good night," she said quickly and moved back towards the stairs.
"W-wait," Sirius said and Elizabeth was amazed to see that he looked a little confused. "Aren't you going to stay?"
Elizabeth furrowed her brow.
"Stay? Why would I stay? It's late and I'm tired."
"Yeah, but you're here now, so why don't we talk?"
"We have nothing to talk about, Black. You're a bully and I don't like you. Goodnight."
"I'm not a bully, Elizabeth. It's only fun. We don't hurt anyone."
Elizabeth paused. This was probably the first time Sirius had ever called her by her first name and it surprised her. However, it wasn't enough to ignore his attempt at defending himself.
"I don't think Severus sees it that way," she said harshly but this time didn't try to walk away. It was rare to get Sirius on his own; he was usually accompanied by James, Remus and Peter. He didn't seem to be hiding behind his pranks or jokes and it appeared as though he wanted a normal conversation.
"You honestly think that your brother doesn't sometimes start the duels?" Sirius asked.
"Sometimes they're not even duels, Black!" Elizabeth said hotly. "You just attack him for no reason. Why do you hate him so much?"
"It's more James than me when it comes to your brother," Sirius said, rubbing his hands slightly. "James doesn't like Snape…"
"Because both of them fancy Lily?"
Sirius' eyes widened marginally and Elizabeth smirked.
"It's obvious to anyone who bothers to look," she said shortly, folding her arms. "Only, Lily hates James because he bullies Severus. Until he gets his act together, she is never going to forgive him."
"And, what about you, Elizabeth?" Sirius asked, slowly moving forward, his voice suddenly deeper, more mature. "Will you forgive me if I get my act together?"
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, dropping her arms as Sirius kept on approaching, his grey eyes dancing in the fire light.
"If I promise to never hurt Severus again, will you forgive me?"
Sirius was now directly in front of her. He was so close Elizabeth could feel his breath on her cheek. A rush of blood soared to her head as Sirius kept smiling at her, his hand brushing against her palm.
"Hmm, do you honestly think you can just flirt with me and I'll forget about every student you've terrorised?" Elizabeth whispered, raising an eyebrow and taking a few steps back. She smirked at the look of annoyance on Sirius' face, taking pleasure in rejecting him. Did he really think that she could be manipulated like the other girls?
There was movement by the entrance to the boys dormitory and Elizabeth turned to see three boys walking into the common room; James, Remus and Peter. Both James and Remus smirked at the sight of Elizabeth and Sirius, although Peter simply looked confused. Feeling slightly ambushed, Elizabeth swallowed hard and turned to talk up the girls' staircase without another word.