good things fall apart • sirius black

Who do you love?

The grass was cold under her feet, but her heals were starting to make her feet ache, and so she ditched them by the front door.

Holding her dress up, to prevent it getting under her feet, Ellie led the way across the gardens, the three boys following closely behind. They'd had enough of the party now and circling the same three rooms was mind-numbing. With the light starting to fade, the temperature was dropping quickly, but the icy breeze was welcome after the stuffy warmth of inside - luckily it hadn't snowed in Godric's Hollow this year yet.

Wincing as gravel stuck in the bottoms of her feet from the paths, Ellie tried to ignore the uncomfortable stabbing, heading further and further away from the house. James knew where they were going and Sirius had an idea, but Remus was completely clueless, trailing at the back as they neared the tree line of the woods. They'd weaved around flower beds and ancient looking trees, twisting and turning down the complicated winding paths of the garden. Adelaide wasn't one for huge open spaces of grass, leaving one large lawn and filling the rest of the grounds with all different kinds of plants. You could spend hours, lost in all the gorgeous scenery.

An ivy-covered brick wall seemingly appeared out of nowhere before them, the path they were walking down leading up to a wrought iron gate which looked like it had seen better days. They were thick into trees by now and Remus wasn't sure he'd find his way back to the house if he got stranded, but Ellie continued forward with a spring in her step. She opened the gate with a loud screech, and all but her, cringed at the noise. Positively giddy at the prospects of introducing yet another one of her friends to her favourite place in the world, Ellie was beaming wide, allowing the boys to all enter before she did.

James didn't hesitate and Sirius followed closely behind him, only having been through the gate once before. Remus, however, wasn't so sure, for the high brick wall seemed daunting somehow.

Yet his curiosity got the best of him, Ellie ushering him in eagerly.

The other side of the foreboding brick wall was like being transported into a different world - even the dimming sunlight seemed a little brighter. The four friends were now stood in a tiny walled garden, the place Ellie spent most of her time in when not at Hogwarts. In the centre there was a small lawn of the most luscious green grass, encircled by a gravel path. A row of small box hedges lined the edge in front of the gate and flower beds were against every wall. The plants must've had some form of spell cast over them, because it was easy to mistake the season for spring by the way all the flowers were still in full bloom. Up the far end was what looked like a greenhouse, or some form of conservatory, though it didn't look used - the glass dirty and plants were trailing up the sides. It was still wonderful though, creating a fantasy land fit for any novel.

Remus nearly laughed at the fact this was supposedly Ellie's favourite space. It wasn't chaotic, nor loud and in your face, but simple instead. Elegant and well looked after, he was sure Adelaide must be the reason for it.

Crashing in a circle in the middle of the lawn, the four Marauders sat lazily, all equally glad of the step back they'd taken from the party. The tiny walled garden was unnaturally peaceful, and no words needed to be shared for them all to appreciate that. When James lay down onto his back, resting his hands behind his head and gazing at the darkening sky, so did Sirius. But the peace didn't last long, for the handsome boy started kicking James in the head annoyingly, resulting in a playful tussle of black hair flying everywhere.

Remus sat crisscross, picking at the grass, though when he realised he was doing it, he stopped immediately. It felt wrong somewhat destroying the perfection of the garden and he awkwardly poked the blades back amongst the others to hide what he been doing. Of course, Ellie noticed though, grabbing a handful of grass herself and throwing it in his direction. He took that as a sign that picking the grass wasn't an issue.