good things fall apart • sirius black

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Padfoot was curled into Ellie's side when the Marauder's dorm stirred one morning at the beginning of October. Ever since the incident with the Sword of Gryffindor, the beautiful girl had struggled to sleep without fear something might happen to them in the night. It had shaken them all, but Ellie couldn't help but feel as though Sirius' life had been just as threatened because they shared a bed - she couldn't imagine what she'd do if something happened to him because of her.

Originally, the boys had taken it in turns staying awake with her until she fell asleep, but they all quickly became overtired. Though, when the scruffy black dog lay with his head resting on top of her side, ready to spring into action if anything went bump in the night, Ellie was actually able to rest. Her fingers would tangle in his fur to make sure he was still there, and Padfoot would always wake her up with endless amounts of kisses until she had to physically push him off as she giggled. Sirius would then collapse at her side with a huge grin, and they'd mumble together until James dragged them up to get ready for the day. After so much tension between the pair at the beginning of the school year, seeing them just content in each other's company made everyone smile.

Even Remus, who deep down, wished he was in the beautiful girl's position.

    "Alright, Padfoot." Ellie shoved the scruffy black dog off as she normally did, turning her head to the side so that she could try and dodge him licking her face, "I'm awake. Can I have Sirius back please?" She received a grumble in reply as Padfoot slumped into a sit, placing one paw on her stomach, "I don't care if you like giving kisses, it gets gross." He barked once this time, right in her face, and Ellie's eyes shot wide, "Don't use that tone with me. What are you, an untrained puppy?"

    "Padfoot is as well behaved as Cubby, I'll have you know." Sirius argued, poking the beautiful girl in the cheek as he crawled to lie down at her side.

    "I'm not convinced. You have an attitude problem, puppy."

    "Are you gonna start calling me that now?"

    "Maybe." Ellie smirked, "I think it's endearing."

    "Well, I'll let it slip if you mean it affectionately."

Sirius felt his heart swell, but with it came an irrational twinge of panic. They were slipping into that flirty back and forth again, and he cursed himself for not staying loyal to his promise. She doesn't want you to catch her, he chanted in his head, you don't stand a chance when she's that and you're a damaged runaway.

    "Up." James was suddenly at the side of Sirius' bed, fully dressed. Neither of the pair moved, happy with skipping lessons if it meant doing nothing all day, for Ellie was exhausted, her eyelids dropping shut again already. But the messy haired boy was having none of it. He threw the duvet off Ellie before clapping constantly until they both moved, "Come on, breakfast is waiting for you lazy mutts! Before you snog please."

How Ellie Gryffin managed to weasel her way into N.E.W.T level Potions, was beyond Professor Slughorn. She'd achieved Exceeds Expectations in her O.W.L, but that was mainly because no one had expected her to make something even close to the potion that was asked of them but ended up near to Sirius' perfect one. Something probably to do with the fact they'd secretly helped each other. Slughorn had been more than ready to begin his lessons this year without the girl who was only a liability in his class, but because of her grade, he wasn't allowed to turn her away. He could only hope that she'd give up part way through the first term.

The class size had significantly shrunk, which meant all the houses would now have Potions together, but that wasn't the problem for Lily Evans. Instead, it was the fact that Severus Snape was still there. She knew he would be, there was no doubt that he'd got an Outstanding in his O.W.L, but now she just felt uncomfortable stuck in the same room as him.