Chasing The Stars | Marauders | Sirius Black

61 ~ You Missed a Spot, Pettifer

Ignore the Golden Trio in the gif...Imagine it's the Marauders and that Hermoine is ratty lil' Pete :)

As September faded into October, the air got colder and the days shorter. The comforting hum of the summer crickets faded and things seemed more sinister as it grew closer to Halloween. It was the day before the holiday was upon them and the students were spending the Saturday milling about Hogsmeade. Buying sweets in preparation for a full night of Halloween fun and the majority of them hurrying into Gladrags Wizardwear to pick out the finishing touches for their costumes. The Marauders, as they were every year, were prepared for the night, their costumes perfected and ready to be flaunted at the huge party in Ravenclaw Tower. They were sat in The Three Broomsticks, enjoying some warm butterbeer and laughing at something stupid James had said when someone drunkenly stumbled over,

"Eloise my dear child and James! The Potters!" Slughorn beamed James and Eloise, even more so when he noticed Remus and Sirius, "Oh! And Lupin and Black, my favourite troublemakers!" the boys nodded politely and Slughorn beamed, slopping a considerate amount of his mead over Peter as he stood by their table, watching as Peter tried to mop it up with his sleeve "You missed a spot, Pettifer." Eloise stifled a laugh and smiled at the Professor as James performed a spell to clean up Peter,

"Hello there, Sir." she greeted and Slughorn's face morphed into one of pity,

"I'm very sorry to hear of the passing of your father- I mean Abraxas." he patted her shoulder and she grimaced slightly,

"Yes, well...I can't say I feel the same way, Sir." she said and Slughorn looked rather confused, leaning down,

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked and Eloise just shrugged,

"Wasn't the nicest of fathers." she said simply and Slughorn frowned deeply, "But no matter, what brings you over here, Sir?" she asked and the Potions Master smiled once more,

"I'm having a dinner party." he said and Eloise inwardly groaned, "I'm still having my annual Christmas gathering which you four are undoubtedly invited to." he looked around the table, blatantly ignoring Peter, "But sometime in November I thought I'd have something a tad more sophisticated. You know, a proper meal with the elite few. You are most definitely encouraged to join, Black, Lupin and...Potters. It would be such fun, with you four, and you four only, as the entertainment no doubt: the pranksters of the school."

"That sounds lovely, Professor." Remus tried to sound interested but their was a hint of laughter in his tone as James, Sirius and Eloise tried to muffled their giggles in their hands as they looked at Peter who's mouth had dropped open.

"I'll see you there then." Slughorn bounced on his heels and waved at the table, "Look out for my owl." he then turned to Peter who looked rather angry, "Have a good afternoon, Pettingill."

~~~

Eloise was confused, to say the least, when a first year knocked on the door of her Transfiguration lesson and called her name,

"Professor Dumbledore would like Eloise Potter to report to his office immediately." Professor McGonagall nodded and carried on with her lesson. Eloise gathered her things and waved at Sirius before leaving. The first year looked very excited and kept sneaking glances at Eloise, almost skipping along the corridor,

"So what's your name?" Eloise asked and the small girl blushed,

"Maisie Bedding." she said quietly, "You introduced me in the Welcome Feast and said I was one of the cutest competitors." she smiled and Eloise laughed,

"Ahh yes, I remember, the girl with the cute, pink, heart hair clips." she clicked her fingers in memory and Maisie nodded, smiling wider,

"That's me!" they carried on walking, "You're really cool by the way!" Maisie blurted out and Eloise raised an eyebrow, "W-well, you and your friends and your boyfriend, you're pretty popular." she shrugged, "With your pranks, like last week when you turned all of the chicken on Slytherin Table to live peacocks." Eloise laughed at the memory,

"That was all my best friend Remus." she said, "He's the evil mastermind but he has such an angel face that the teachers would never suspect him."

"What about your brother?"

"James is the executor of the pranks." Eloise told her, "He'll always be there when the actual trick is pulled, he's the best at wandwork and Transfiguration." Maisie nodded eagerly, wanting to hear more, "Peter is the distraction, he's the one to make sure no teachers are nearby. He's very good at it, seeing as he can talk for hours about any subject on the face of the earth." she laughed to herself as she recalled her and the rest of the Marauders dying of laughter behind a pillar as Peter told Professor Flitwick about how many times he's seen the word 'pie' inscribed in the boy's lavatories.

"And Sirius, your boyfriend?"

"Sirius is another executor, although his job is different to James'. He makes sure that the victim is in the right place at the right time."

"How does he do that?"

"A mixture of natural charm and blackmail." Eloise laughed and Maisie giggled along with her,

"And you? You're really clever aren't you?" Maisie grinned at her and Eloise shook her head, chuckling,

"Flattery will get you everywhere, my love." she winked, "I help with the planning of the prank but overall, I am known as the bargainer."

"What's that?"

"Well, I watch as the prank is pulled off, making sure everything is done correctly. But then, when a teacher comes by- which is inevitable as Peter can only be in one place, I get us out of detention."

"Every time?" Maisie asked, awed,

"Merlin no! A fair few times though." Eloise shrugged, "I'm also the alibi, teachers trust me so if I say we were in the common room the entire time, they tend to take my word for it."

"Wow." Maisie stopped walking, "You put a lot of thought into pranking." Eloise giggled at the small girl's face of wonder,

"The Marauders aren't known as the Kings and Queen of pranking for nothing, my child." Eloise looked up and noticed that they had reached the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office, "This is where we part ways I'm afraid." she crouched down to Maisie's level and smiled, "I'll see you around yeah? We're friends now."

"Really?"

"Yep, bye, Maisie."

"Bye!"

Maisie scuttered off and Eloise stood back up,

"Butterscotch." she told the gargoyle and it turned, revealing the staircase up to the Headmaster's office. She climbed the stairs, knocking lightly on the door once she had reached the top,

"Enter." Eloise pushed open the door and walked in, Dumbledore smiling at her as she stood opposite his desk,

"You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"Indeed I did, Miss Potter." he smiled and gestured for her to sit. Once she had he waved his wand and conjured a piece of paper, "I gather you were told of Abraxas Malfoy's will?" he asked and Eloise nodded, "The final will and testimony of Abraxas Corvus Malfoy." Dumbledore read and Eloise felt her palms get sweaty, worried of what horrors the man had left for her, "To the second heir of my family, Eloise Gemina Malfoy, I leave the house elf Mitsie." Eloise sighed in relief and grinned, Mitsie was her favourite house elf and she was happy to know that she wasn't in the care of Lucius. She was about to stand up to leave but Dumbledore had continued reading, "I also leave one of the family heirlooms, my late wife's necklace, through the request of Medusa Malfoy herself."