good things fall apart • sirius black

Communication breakdown

Swapping seats in Charms had been easy. It was merely a case of getting there before the boys did and Ellie sliding to the edge of the bench. Lily then acted as a person barrier before any of the Marauders, and so none of them were ever close enough to talk to the beautiful girl.

Keeping her head down, Ellie had never worked so hard in a lesson, but that wasn't a bad thing. O.W.Ls were coming up, and now without any distractions, she could actually focus on preparing for them. During her previous weeks spent immersed in Sirius and everything he did, Ellie wasn't sure she'd learned one thing, and now there was catching up to do. Not to mention the lessons she'd missed from four days spent wallowing.

Getting space from the boys right now was what she needed. For if she was ever going to get over Sirius Black, she'd have to create some form of separation.

James had complained profusely about how childish it was that Lily had made Ellie move seats so they couldn't speak to her, but when the latter informed him it wasn't her decision to move, the messy haired boy was struck dumb. First it had been Ellie's refusal to sit with them in the Great Hall, and now she wouldn't even sit with them in classes. It was like a kick in the shins for all the boys, none of them having expected the beautiful girl to be so distraught for so long. They were all extremely aware of what they'd done of course, but they were all best friends after all. James had convinced them all that now Ellie was actually emerging back into the real world, she'd eventually want to spend time with them again - it was naive of him really.

Instead, she'd distanced herself even further, and whilst Ellie knew she'd make up with them eventually, she also knew they needed to understand the magnitude of what they'd done. Not only had they gotten involved in her privacy, they'd also broken her trust and upset her beyond words. There had been multiple occasions she'd been quick to forgive them, when really she'd had the right to be mad, and they wouldn't get a quick pass this time.

It was also good for the beautiful girl to distance herself from Sirius in particular for a while. She missed him greatly and every time she saw him it was like the universe called out for her to go rushing into his arms, but she knew that if she went back so soon, everything would go back to the way it was. They'd return to their almost relationship that never amounted to anything, and Ellie wasn't sure she could do that anymore. Her feelings for the handsome boy weren't just going to disappear overnight, but she'd certainly not be able to get over them if things went back to the way they were so soon.

By the time Transfiguration rolled around, James was thoroughly annoyed that his attempts to reconcile with his best friend were always being shut down. He'd about dragged Sirius out of Charms, ensuring they'd get to their next lesson faster than the girls so they couldn't mess up the seating plan.

Remus had sent Ellie a small smile, wanting to show he was sorry in his own way, but she'd ignored him as if he hadn't even been looking at her. He felt overwhelmingly guilty that he'd told them all about her Patronus, and when James had spilled the secret to Sirius in the aftermath of the argument, he'd shouted at the messy haired boy for revealing it again. There was a little bit of satisfaction in it from Sirius' reaction being exactly what he thought it'd be, but that didn't make him feel any better for betraying his friend's trust. Ellie had kept his secret all these years, and he'd not even managed to keep hers for a few months.

It was fair to say Sirius was glowing when he was told the news, all anger suddenly dissolving like it was never there in the first place. He had question after question about it and dived into stories about how cool it will be when they are Animagi and the same. But Sirius' joy and excitement fizzled out as quickly as it came, when the realisation set in that he'd just practically screamed he had no feelings for her whatsoever, which was probably going to throw a huge spanner in the works.