good things fall apart • sirius black

She's back

    "Where's your skirt?" Lily demanded as they were ushered down the corridors towards the Great Hall for the first night back feast.

The red head hadn't noticed the spell Ellie had cast on hem of her skirt to make it a good four inches shorter. She'd never have it scandalous, as she didn't like the idea of drawing unwanted eyes, but she was also fed up with the knee length fabric she'd tolerated after laying her denim flares as uniform to rest. Frankly, the brunette thought the proper length was unflattering, for she also wasn't striving to be drowned in her clothes either. It was the first step back to her old self, and definitely time to modernise the skirt she'd been sick of since the first time she'd put it on.

"What do you mean where's my skirt? I've got it on you fool." Acting oblivious to what she knew her friend meant, Ellie made Marlene chuckle at her subtle rebellion against the school rules.

"I mean, where's the rest of it?!" Eyes going slightly wide, Lily was outraged she would partake in such ridiculous behaviours, forgetting for a moment she was talking to the ever-ridiculous Ellie Gryffin, "And your tie is all loose, your sleeves are rolled up, and for heaven's sake put your robe on! It's called a uniform for a reason."

Ellie loved how much a stickler for the rules Lily was, it meant she actually had a mature friend in her life, beside sometimes Remus. However, the brunette also thought her friend's reaction was a tad dramatic. She wasn't the first to push the boundaries of the dress code, and she wouldn't be the last. The worst a teacher could do was tell her to sort it out, and that was hardly something to be panicking about.

"We're supposed to be role models for lower school and you're just acting like Sirius Black."

Having gotten over their spat on the train, Ellie laughed at the red head's comment. It was no secret a handsome friend of hers almost never had his shirt tucked in or his tie on right, and more often than not he would stomp around in his combat boots without a care in the world, robe slung over his shoulder as if it was just a nuisance. Professor McGonagall had stopped pulling him up on the issue, understanding she was never going to get anywhere with him. Sirius would always be a rule breaker and asking him to do anything other than what he'd set out to do, would usually end up with him doing exactly what he wanted just out of spite.

"She adores Black Lils, that's never not going to be a compliment." Marlene replied rolling her eyes, "And anyway, when have Ellie or her friends ever been role models for the lower school." The blonde held a very strong point, causing the girl in question to smile, and give a quick nod in satisfaction before striding off in front of them.

Ellie already felt ten times more confident than she had done just before the Christmas holidays. It was just a mindset, and now she was thoroughly pleased with herself for being able to overcome some of her demons. There was no time this year for any more mopping around for there were masses of amounts of work she had to do.

All the confidence she could get would be needed to get through the Animagus process, and Remus was still the lone knower of the information regarding the change in what she would transform into, meaning that she either needed to spit out the truth to the others, or be prepared for uproar when they finally saw - neither of the two options really appealed to Ellie. Now there was also the task of drawing up the map Sirius had concocted, which meant time spent in the library Ellie didn't want to, but it was an unnecessary evil to endure for the sake of future mischief making.

However, nothing seemed to feel as large of a burden as it did before the holidays anymore, not even the looming exams at the end of the year. Ellie had gotten her confidence back, and she waltzed into the Great Hall with her head held high.