good things fall apart • sirius black

Those four letters

"After the Quidditch match, it's the only option. Sooner rather than later." James shovelled a full English breakfast into his mouth as he spoke.

All morning they'd been discussing how Sirius was going to tell Ellie about his feelings now he knew that she was in love with him. That word, 'love', still hadn't been entirely introduced into the handsome boy's vocabulary, but he was determined to tell Ellie how he felt either way.

He'd agonised over it the whole evening after him and James returned from spying on the beautiful girl in the library. In the relatively short space of time, they'd gone from a small, grab her in the hallway, apologise and tell her everything he's ever wanted to. All the way up to fireworks and huge declarations, all with music in the Great Hall one dinner. However, despite all the ideas thrown left and right, Sirius still had no idea how to do it. Or even if he was truly ready to. Suddenly, it all seemed quite daunting, for he'd actually not spoken to the girl for so long. Too long.

    "As happy as I am for you Padfoot, are you really sure? Last time we tried to get Cubs to speak about her feelings it ended up with her not speaking to us. Something that is still indefinite. Maybe it's best to let her come to you?" The voice of reason as always, Remus cut in, worried the ever-growing plan was somehow going to backfire.

James shook his head in disagreement immediately, thoroughly standing by his philosophy of 'the bigger the better'.

    "It may be your birthday, but I won't hesitate to chuck a waffle at you head." Sirius replied, scowling slightly, brandishing a waffle off of Peter's plate as if it were a rock.

Remus held his hands up in defence, but ultimately, ended up having to doge the breakfast food anyway. He did, and it went hurtling behind him into a third year Hufflepuff. The girl shot round, confusion written all over her features, and Sirius instantly pointed a finger at Remus as her eyes landed on them all looking back at her.

    "It's his birthday. He was hoping you'd got something to give him!" Wiggling his eyebrows, the handsome boy smirked, whilst Remus apologised profusely, and James and Peter held in their laughter.

In return, Sirius ended up splashed in tea that had gone cold, and the Hufflepuff girl was left none the wiser as why the boys continued to throw different food items at each other.

Walking into the Great Hall, large brown parcel in hand, Ellie's eyes found the boys in their usual spot without any effort. She had never felt so uncomfortable in her life, but she tried to bury the feeling deep within herself. It's Remus' birthday, I can't just ignore him. There was also the matter that she was carrying his present in front of her, and its size made it difficult to hide too.

Whether they were on speaking terms or not, he was her friend. Family. And squabbles could be put aside for that.

However, that didn't make the beautiful girl feel any less nervous as she wandered slowly up to where they were sat. Ellie had no idea what she was going to say, or if she should then stay to watch him open it, but her feet were moving by themselves, and before she knew it, she was stood looking down at the lanky boy.

Appearing unannounced, the boys all fell silent when they realised Ellie stood before them. It seemed like the closest she'd gotten to them since they'd fell out, and no one knew what to say. As his mind caught up, James turned his head quickly to Sirius as if to say 'now!'. But Ellie spoke before the handsome boy got to even process her standing in front of him.

    "Happy Birthday Moons."

Luckily, the only thing on the table by Remus was his copy of the Daily Prophet, so she set her gift own as she spoke. They'd all expected her not show her face on their friend's special day, and Remus felt like he didn't deserve the large present she'd arrived with. He'd been the one to break her trust. James was an idiot, Sirius too, but he'd completely betrayed her wishes. She'd asked him specifically to keep a secret, and he hadn't, something in Remus' books that deserved a lifetime of the silent treatment from the beautiful girl.