good things fall apart • sirius black

Trés bon!

It was off-the-shoulder and mainly white. Pastel blues, pinks and greys all swirled together to create dazzling designs of landscapes and flowers, the sky and birds. Flowing out brilliantly, there was a train long enough to make an impact without causing an issue, and the fabric was the smoothest satin there was. There was no denying it was eye-catching and completely unique. Something that belonged displayed in a museum as if it were a true work of art.

Ellie hated it.

Well, hate is a strong word. But the beautiful girl had a strong dislike for any flouncy dress and this one was no exception.

Hung up on her bathroom door, it did look quiet exquisite, but Ellie knew it was just a facade. It'd be heavy and itchy, and impractical for doing anything in other than a small twirl on the dance floor. How am I supposed to run a rampage with the boys if I'm trapped in a fashion prison?

The answer was: she wasn't.

Adelaide sent off and had the dress made in Paris, and the beautiful girl knew it would've cost a fortune. So, there would be no way she'd get away with even getting a spec of dirt on it. Why her mother spent lots of money of unimportant things such as clothes, would always baffle Ellie, but she'd learnt to live with it. There'd never be any swaying Adelaide Gryffin when it came to creating perfection.

Slightly disheartened now she knew what she was going to be forced into later, Ellie trudged down the staircase and into the mayhem bellow.

Witches and Wizards were swarmed everywhere, all trying to set up for the evening. Cyrus had long shut himself away in his study, but everywhere else was being tended to by someone with a vase of flowers or a silver tray or piece of furniture in their hand. Adelaide was behind it all of course, every last-minute preparation being put in place, so that the house looked immaculate. Something Ellie thought rather silly, when guests would only be wandering in a few rooms. Nonetheless, her mother wanted everything perfect and still food needed to be tasted and music sorted out.

Not to mention the arrival of all of Adelaide's side of the family, any time soon.

There wasn't any family left on Cyrus' side, Ellie's Gryffin grandparents passing not long after she was born, and so the majority of the guests were going to be from Adelaide's family. They were all coming over from France and didn't make many appearances in England, so this was a special occasion.

However, Ellie didn't like her mother's side of the family much, deciding that Adelaide and her sister Camille were the only easily tolerable ones. Even her Grandparents weren't the warmest of people, so the fact they didn't visit often, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, Ellie would much prefer it, if only her Aunt Camille came. It wasn't just the immediate French family that were coming either, it was all manner of people related to them and they were all to stay at the Gryffin's whilst they were here - Ellie would definitely be camping out at the Potter's.

And that's where she headed. To find the boys, who'd been roped into making some form of food for later by Euphemia, no doubt.

Once she'd managed to weave her way through all the people dashing back and forth in the entrance hall, the beautiful girl then had to dart between the trees next door. She ran, of course, making her way through the woods in two minutes flat.

Without knocking, she crashed through the Potter's front door and headed straight for the kitchen. Fleamont gave her a wave as he looked up from his newspaper upon hearing her entrance, but she rushed by him in pursuit of her friends. Whether they were in the kitchen or not, Euphemia probably would be, and she'd definitely know where they were.

However, as expected, three boys were crowded around the worktop, dishing spoons of cake batter into muffin trays. Over-watching carefully was James' mother, making sure they weren't being too generous with the portion sizes, for the mixture needed to go a long way. Remus was mainly in-charge, being the neatest, and James wiped away anything that was spilt in the process. Sirius however, had taken to inspecting and subsequently tasting each of the different toppings for when the muffins were baked, dipping his fingers in icing and cream and poking at different sprinkles. He was trying to be discrete about it, but he couldn't hide anything from Euphemia, and she kept scolding him for stealing what she'd prepared.