Chasing The Stars | Marauders | Sirius Black

18 ~ Daft Stag

 James' eyes fluttered, a bright light from a white room, infiltrating the darkness he had gotten used to seeing. He felt a presence at his side and turned his head, Eloise was asleep, her small hand tightly clutching his large one and her head resting on his chest. There were tear tracks on her face, and she looked fairly dishevelled - she hadn't left his bedside since the incident, an incident that James had no recollection of. The boy's hazel eyes scanned the room, finally resting on the sleeping figure of his little sister. Her eyes had dark shadows underneath and her usually pristine and straight brown locks were knotty. James tried to reach for the glass of water by his bed without waking Eloise but failed miserably and she jolted awake.

She noticed that James was awake and gasped,

"Jamie!" she shouted and threw her arms around his neck. James chuckled lightly and rested his cheek on her hair, "You're awake, finally!" she pulled away, "I was so worried", her eyes had glossed over but she had a large smile on her face,

"What happened?" he asked confused and Eloise's smile faded. Her look of happiness was replaced with one of anger, James had to say she looked scarily like their mother.

"You. Are. A. Complete. And. Utter. Moron. James Potter" with each word she slapped his arm,

"Oww! Elle what - ahh stop!" James rubbed his arm and pouted, "What did I do?" he asked making the look of anger on Eloise's face deepen,

"What did you do? It's what you didn't do! You didn't eat or sleep for at least a week, meaning you collapsed which succeeded in scaring me half to death!" she crossed her arms and James rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly,

"I didn't deserve to" he stated simply and Eloise's face softened,

"Nor did I, but you didn't need to starve yourself you daft stag"

The Hospital Wing doors banged open and Sirius stormed in angrily, grey eyes glinting and his raven hair flowing out behind him as he strode closer to the siblings.

"Why didn't you tell me he was awake!" James noted that Eloise rolled her eyes at Sirius Black's appearance,

"I do apologise for not alerting you instantly Black, you see I was busy making sure my brother was okay rather than snogging a sixth year in a broom closet" Sirius' face clouded with anger and hurt before covering it with a smirk.

"If you must know, I was in Hogsmeade, getting this for James for when he woke up" He replied holding out a honeydukes hamper. "But next time I find a broom closet, you'll be the first to know, gorgeous" he winked, earning a scowl from Eloise

"Padfoot" James called weakly. "Please don't. Not now." Sirius' expression softened as he looked at his best friend. Knowing that James needed him, he pushed all pettiness out of his head - he could sort things out with Eloise later. Right now he needed to be here for James, so he walked around the bed, and took a seat opposite Eloise, who glared at him furiously.

James and Sirius began to talk as normal, unintentionally ignoring Eloise,

"So how long was I out for?" James asked, helping himself to some fudge flies from Sirius' hamper,

"Almost a week mate, I tried to visit as much as I could-"
"But of course being the school's resident player comes with difficult hours doesn't it Siri?" Eloise asked sweetly, "Not normally free at night" she added, "Or, now I think about it, any time of the day when there's an empty classroom nearby". Sirius pulled a childish face at her and she blew him a kiss sarcastically. James sighed,

"Can you two stop trying to strangle each other for 5 minutes?" he asked tiredly and they both crossed their arms,

"I would if she wasn't such a bitch" Sirius said coldly and Eloise scoffed,

"Oh no! Straight through the heart...I don't think I can go on!" she said sardonically, clutching at her chest,

"Guys stop!" James begged and Eloise rolled her eyes,

"Whatever, I was going to go and see Reg anyway. Have fun with Black Prongs, call me if the wet dog smell gets too much for you to handle" with that she walked out of the room much to James' dismay.

After the spat with Sirius, Eloise decided to venture to her favourite spot in the library where she was supposed to meet Regulus. She was walking down the corridors towards it when she heard an angry voice behind her with a scottish lilt,
"Malfoy!" Eloise groaned,

"It's Potter! Merlin, does anyone listen?" she turned her head and was met with William Wood. She cringed slightly when she saw his glare,

"Wood, it's good to see you" she said brightly, hoping to ease some of the anger,

"Wish I could say the same" he said, walking closer to her. Things between Eloise and William hadn't ended all too well when she broke up with him the day she agreed to be his girlfriend. He hadn't had time to respond before Sirius pulled her away, claiming she had to pack. From what Eloise could tell from his extremely annoyed features, he wasn't too happy about the whole ordeal.

"Look William, I know things didn't end...ideally between us" she said and William crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow,

"No, they didn't" he stated,

"But that doesn't mean we can't still be friends" Eloise tried but his scathing look said it all,

"Doesn't it? I don't know if I want to be friends with you, considering you led me on and then broke my heart" he was stepping closer and closer towards her and soon enough Eloise's back hit a wall. "Besides, I didn't know two-faced, slutty bitches like you had friends" he seethed, "Your brother has to put up with you, Evans probably hangs out with you out of pity and does Black count as a friend if you're sleeping together?" Eloise gasped slightly and watched as William moved to right in front of her face,

"We-we're not-"

"Don't lie Potter" he said, exaggerating his use of her real name, "Everyone knows you're secretly shacking up with your twin's best mate, although some people want to know what love potion you used - must've been a strong one!"

Eloise's mind was whirring, did everyone really think that? She shuffled to her left slightly to gain a bit of space, however, Wood wasn't having it. He slammed his arm on the wall, right where she was headed. She looked nervously at his arm and then to his face, pure fear on hers. His blue eyes were dark and stormy, devoid of their usual kindness. Eloise didn't see anyone around to help. She slowly tried to reach into her robes, for her wand, but a vice like grip stopped her. He held her wrist so tightly, it made her eyes water.

"Please" she gasped "let go William. Let me go." Tears were now threatening to flow freely as much as she didn't want to show vulnerability in front of her ex. He growled at her.

"Weak. I thought you would have nerves of steel, lying to so many people and being so fake." Eloise recoiled slightly. No one had ever said she was any of these things, and she thought she was a good person. Hearing these thoughts was like a slap in the face. She thought she heard footsteps down the corridor, so she took her chance. Seeing as Wood wasn't letting her go anytime soon, she sucked in a breath and screamed at the top of her lungs. Wood clapped a hand over her mouth so forcefully it almost knocked her out. Her vision dotted with stars, she saw a pair of feet sprinting around the corner. A very familiar shout brought her to her senses,

"LEVICORPUS" she felt Wood rise away from her, and she took his moment of surprise as an opportunity to wrench her hand out of his grip, she crumpled to a heap on the ground and put her head in her hands, slightly muffling her sobs. The smell of peppermint and leather filled her senses. Strong arms enveloped her and she sank into them, tilting her head back she saw a mane of black hair,

"It's okay Lou, I've got you"