The early morning light filtered through gaps in the thick curtains of the bedroom, bathing the room in a greyish hue. Elodie Black stared at the ceiling, her stomach swirling with excitement and nerves at the thought of returning to Hogwarts for her Fifth Year. Over the past four school years, Hogwarts had become one of her favorite places in the world, but returning this time meant leaving her father behind. For the first time ever, she had spent the entire summer with her father, Sirius Black. Due to his twelve-year imprisonment for a murder he had not committed, she had never spent time with him before and had jumped at the chance when the opportunity had presented itself at the end of last term.
The summer had been one of the best she had ever experienced. Although they had been confined to the house due to Sirius’ continued status as a wanted criminal, she had finally gotten to know him. He was funny, intelligent, and caring, although understandably restless and occasionally irritable from a lack of fresh air and freedom. After an initial bit of awkwardness, they had quickly bonded and the father-sized hole in her life had finally been filled. He taught her the gruesome Black family history and told her stories about his days at Hogwarts, as well as the story about how he and her mother had met. They went through photo albums, and he asked her countless questions about her life growing up and her life so far at Hogwarts.
His house also served as headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, a secret group led by Albus Dumbledore to fight against Lord Voldemort, so people were always coming and going. Only a few weeks into the summer, the Weasley family arrived to stay there with them and not long after, Elodie’s friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, arrived. Along with getting to know her father better, she and the other student-aged inhabitants of the house had spent the summer cleaning and attempting to spy on the Order meetings where only adults were allowed.
Even though it had been a good summer, she was eager to get back to the Hogwarts castle, her classes, and her other friends. She loved the potential each new school year held and this year was no different, even with the shadow of Lord Voldemort’s return looming over the Wizarding World. The classes challenged her in a way she loved and craved, so it was really no wonder she was eager to get back.
With an excited little wiggle, she rolled over and thought about how in just a few hours, they would all be on their way to King’s Cross Station to get on the Hogwarts Express. Her thoughts turned to the items she had packed away in her trunk and anxiety gripped her as she wondered if she had packed everything she needed, no matter that she had made a list and gone over it several times already. She was itching to check her trunk again, but Ginny Weasley and Hermione were still sleeping peacefully, so Elodie knew she had to find another, quieter way to calm her usual start-of-term butterflies than rummaging through her trunk.
After a few more minutes, she quietly got out of bed, pulled a robe on over her pajamas, and wandered down to the kitchen for an early breakfast. Molly Weasley, the mother figure of the Weasley family, was already laboring over the stove, preparing breakfast for everyone. Elodie quickly stepped in and offered her assistance as she always did because she didn’t like that all of the cooking usually fell to Molly. Although Molly had assured her countless times that she enjoyed cooking for everyone, Elodie didn’t like how the others seemed to take it for granted that she would always be the one to cook, so she helped out when she could.
It wasn’t long before others started coming down for breakfast, the soft hum of chatter comforting to Elodie as she sat down and began to eat her toast. After she was done, she hurried back upstairs to get dressed and triple-check the contents of her trunk. With a reverent touch, she ran her fingers over the photo album that she and Sirius had put together. It contained pictured from his youth and even a few of them together that they had taken over the summer. It made her smile and she was happy to have something of his to take with her.
Satisfied with her packing, she wandered around the house until it was time to leave. Most of the time was spent at her father’s side, since his mood seemed lower than normal due to their impending departure. As seemed to be the case with the Weasleys, the time leading up to everyone leaving could only be described as organized chaos. Trunks and rooms were checked and triple-checked and countless arguments broke out among the siblings.
Also, against the advisement of several other adults, Sirius shifted into his dog form and accompanied them to King’s Cross Station to see them off. Prior to boarding the train, Elodie wrapped her arms around his fluffy form and buried her face in his fur.
“I’ll miss you, dad,” she whispered. “Stay in touch as much as you’re able.”
He let out a happy bark, as though saying he would, and then trotted over to say goodbye to Harry, his godson.
At the conductor’s warning, Molly quickly ushered them all onto the train and they rushed to find seats. She placed her trunk in the compartment the Ravenclaw girls she shared a dorm had snagged, quickly changed into her school robes, and made sure her new Prefect pin was firmly attached before making her way up towards the front of the train for the mandatory Prefect meeting.
Upon entering the Prefect compartment, took a seat next to Hermione, who had arrived only a moment before her. They chatted quietly as they waited for the compartment to fill up with the rest of the Prefects.
“Is anyone sitting here?” asked a familiar baritone.
She turned to find Theodore Nott smiling down at her and her stomach twisted as it normally did when she saw him. He had grown several inches over the summer, and she had to tilt her head back even more to meet his eyes.
“I suppose you are,” she answered with a grin.
“Did you have a good summer?” he asked as he settled into the seat.
“I did, thank you,” she replied. “Did you?”
A shadow seemed to pass through his eyes but was quickly gone. “Let’s just say I’m happy to be getting back to Hogwarts.”
Elodie nodded in sympathy, aware that he and his father tended to butt heads a lot, mostly due to his father’s controlling nature. “Are you still taking the same classes as last year?”
“I am. Will I be seeing you in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy again?”
“You will,” she replied, her smile widening.
At that moment, the Head Boy and Head Girl called for everyone’s attention. A smile still on her lips, she turned her focus on them although a jolt of anticipation ran through her. Perhaps the year would hold even more excitement than she had even anticipated.