good things fall apart • sirius black

Future weddings and firewhisky

There was always one explanation for when the boys' clothes went missing. You'd think it wouldn't be a common occurrence, but three of the Marauders found themselves a top or a jumper or even the odd pair of pyjama bottoms missing on many occasions. The only one that never seemed to be missing any of his clothes was Peter, for he was a little too small for the culprit. However, James, Sirius and Remus didn't go a week without at least one item seemingly disappearing.

At first it was the occasional lend of something to sleep in, and then last year it turned into an act of kindness when comforting, but by their fifth year, the issue had evolved into something much more troublesome for the boys. There was often an early morning upturn of their dorm whilst one of them sort out the top they desperately wanted to wear that weekend, and to their great dismay, it usually wouldn't show up for a couple more days.

Remus even resorted to hiding his jumpers under his mattress for a week in October, because it got to a point where he only had one left.

The messy haired boy didn't mind so much, for James knew he had a surplus number of satin shirts that would never be taken, and he would often wear the same thing on multiple days, and so a lot of his clothes never quite found their way back to his trunk, the things that were in there not being his favourites either.

However, Sirius Black found it rather frustrating. Most of the time, it was his clothes that were missing, and Remus would tell him it's because he didn't take the necessary precautions to prevent the thief, but Sirius had struggled understanding why he should have to hide his clothes in the first place. They were his for starters, and you shouldn't touch what wasn't yours, but the sticky-fingered criminal didn't see it that way.

Ellie Gryffin was a clothing poacher, and there was nothing that could be done to stop her.

Adorn in one of Remus' old knitted jumpers, the beautiful girl flicked through her sketchbook for a blank page. The sleeves of the khaki green fabric were far too long, but Ellie rolled them up, and was satisfied enough at that. Thick, chunky wool was needed at this time of year, and she was sure Remus wouldn't miss it too much - it was quite worn in places anyway.

Ellie had initially put it on when she woke up because it was comfy, but then she realised the full moon was tonight and wearing the lanky boy's jumper made her feel closer to him somehow. This would hopefully be one of the last full moons her friend would have to endure alone, for when the new year rolled around the group's quest to become Animagi went into full swing, the next full moon being the beginning of it all.

Her thoughts were wrapped in night skies and silver animals as she began to sketch, not even noticing the cool breeze let into the Orangery when the door flung open.

    "Cubby! Cyrus said you were in here." James Potter's booming voice made her jump, and she spun hastily on her stool in shock, "I love it in here! It's so cool, the way you could totally live out here. It's even got a little bathroom, right?" Ellie just nodded when she recovered from her fright.

    "Did you really miss me that much that you couldn't let me have two days on my own?" Always happy to see her best friend, she watched him flop backwards onto her bed with a grin on her face.

    "You're not allowed personal space away from me, it's the law. But anyway, I'm here on business." James scoffed in reply, a smile matching Ellie's on his face. The messy haired boy sat crisscross on top of the mattress waving a couple of books at her, "It's a full moon tonight, so I thought it a better night than any to finalise these plans for our little transfiguration side quest."

Having left the planning to James like last year, him being the most knowledgeable on the subject, the rest of the Marauders would wait patiently until they were all back together to hear how they were going to pull everything off.