Homonculous |Marauders Era

Chapter Forty-Nine

[Chapter Forty-Nine]

After making the offer to help Lily get over her fear of kissing, Elspeth found herself settled for the rest of the train ride. Perhaps many wouldn't see it as a bonding moment between the girls, but in Elspeth's mind, it was one way of getting to know her roommates that she had practically neglected over the years. Although at the same time, it felt weird because her mind continued to wander back to thinking about Sirius. It obviously wasn't considered cheating, simply because they had broken up before the start of the summer and she had made it quite clear that they were no longer together. But in a way, she felt like she was doing it behind his back, leaving her to rest her head back and close her eyes.

She was scolding herself for actually feeling guilty because she was making it into a bigger deal than what it actually was. She had no intentions of dating Lily or it going beyond anything than just a simple kiss in the dorm. All she was actually doing was helping out a new friend, that was all. Besides, Elspeth knew she was damn well free to kiss whoever she wanted, whenever she wanted. So why was it that her mind kept bringing her right back to Sirius?

Because her mind was an arsehole, plain and simple.

Arriving at the Hogsmeade Station was just what Elspeth needed at the end of the train ride, her body was craving fresh air and she just wanted to move around outside of the train. However, she knew it was also going to open up the opportunity of running into the boys and she wasn't going to deal with that right away. Instead, she grabbed Lily and Marlene, moving them along towards a carriage as quickly as she could. Lily attempted to stop her, claiming that as Prefect that she had to help out first years and make sure they knew where they were going, but Elspeth pointed out that Hagrid was extremely hard to miss and she was sure they would all find their way to the lake under his guidance.

She just didn't want to run the risk of running into Sirius or James or any of the boys at that point, simply because even if nothing was said between any of them, it was going to just lead to her feeling awkward all over and she was over feeling that way. It was the Welcoming Feast, the start to the term, and she just wanted to enjoy the moment. Elspeth wanted to eat until her trousers were fitting tight, she wanted to listen to the Sorting Hat sing, and pretend like everything was fine in life, even for just a few hours.

Marlene and Lily seemed to pick up on that and Lily no longer put up the protest to go back and save the first years. There were plenty of other prefects around to help anyways, she figured the absence of one out of over twenty wouldn't bring the world to an end. They could sense Elspeth's jitteriness as the girl's legs were practically bouncing after they jumped into one of the carriages. She was humming to herself, looking out the window in the attempts of looking casual, but it seemed forced and Elspeth almost appeared to be in pain.

"Elspeth," Lily called out to her, " are you alright?"

"Hmm? Me? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Elspeth nodded and answered just a little too quickly to be taken as a truthful answer. "In fact, I'm great. Just looking forward to the feast, that's all. I'm starving."