Summery: Sirius and Adara could not be more alike yet so far apart. They were both loud, confident and appealing to the opposite sex but most of all they both possesed a beautiful, deep, loyal heart. However, for some unknown reason, they never spoke, rarely looked at each other and seldom thought of the other. Until one day, when they are thrown together in extreme circumstances, do their thoughts finally settle on each other.
I know there wasn't much missing but I thought I should post it!
Update: This is now beta-ed and throughly (Only God knows how throughly!) edited.
Thanks to my beta, CakeorDeath. Brilliant job, even after the third time I sent this chapter to you
Chapter 1
"Oi! Padfoot!" James Potter bellowed down the bustling corridor towards his friend, who was currently leaning nonchalantly against the stone wall, looking a pretty Ravenclaw up and down.
"So, how about I help you with your - hm hm - homework… sometime?" Sirius grinned, brushing a strand of blonde hair off the girl's face.
"I'd really like that," she purred. James - who had finally hexed his way through the throng of students - burst, rather tactlessly, between the two with an indignant look.
Sirius, on the other hand, had a small grin playing around his lips, he knew why his best friend had interrupted them so rudely. He also knew James was rather - shall we say - inept at talking to pretty girls without either scaring them senseless or offending them.
Yes, he was confident, most of time obnoxiously so, but his problem was that he was too self-assured and girls often found that repulsive. All of this just added to the problem that had made James so infuriated and Sirius so amused.
"Yes, James…?" he said politely, still smiling benignly.
"You…you!" he roared, his face flushed and his wand out. Sirius said nothing but turned to his female acquaintance with the same look of arrogant confidence.
"I'm sorry, Tara, I have to…deal with him. Shall we resume this delightful conversation another time…say, in the broom cupboard opposite the statue of Wilfred the Wistful?" Tara laughed and snorted, in a very unladylike way; she playfully slapped him on the chest, apparently unaware of Sirius' amused and somewhat smug expression, she could be described as ecstatic but that might be an understatement.
"Really? You and…in the broom…okay, see you later!" she stuttered through girlish giggles.
Later, as she would recount her tale to her friends, she will hide her head in shame, remembering how pathetic she had been.
Sirius watched Tara wiggle away, appreciatively. It was only when her curvaceous body had fully disappeared around the corner towards the Great Hall did Sirius turn his attention back to the fuming teenager in front of him.
"You!" James repeated through gritted teeth, it was taking all of his strength not to curse Sirius until all that was left was a blob on the floor.
"Yes, we've established it is me, now try to finish the rest of the sentence." he said calmly, cleaning the mud off his shoe using his wand.
Sirius looked back over the day, specifically the moment in which he had casually mentioned to Lily about the time James got locked out the Quidditch Changing Rooms in nothing but a small towel and had to walk up to school to ask Madame Hooch for the key. Unfortunately, the flying teacher was residing in the crowded Staff Room at the time.
Sirius had neglected to tell her that it was he who had locked the door.
"YOU BASTARD!" James finally shouted. Sirius could not hold on to his cool persona any longer and burst out laughing, actually having the nerve to cling on to James to steady himself.
"Why, Sirius? You bloody well know how much I like her. This is unforgivable! I'm going to…going to…" he trailed off, not quite sure what he was going to do.
Sirius, who had momentarily stopped laughing to watch, instantly doubled up again, unable to breathe.
"I'm sorry, but she mentioned something which reminded me and I blurted it out!" he stated merrily, clutching his side.
"No you didn't…," James mumbled. Sirius took a deep breath and began giggling again.
"You're right, I just thought it would be funny. Merlin, you know me too well."
"Well, thanks a lot. I had just asked her out in the Common Room and she told everyone!"
Sirius straightened up and composed himself, "Okay, I was stupid…but you should see your face, you look like one of Hagrid's pumpkins!"
"Okay, okay. Enough about that, we need to talk, I have been chatting to dear Wormtail. It seems Snivellus is getting a bit to close for comfort to spilling the beans about Moony's furry little problem'," James muttered darkly, leading Sirius down the Marble Staircase towards the front doors.
"That greasy moron. He didn't…you know…?" he could barely form the words never mind imagine the actual ordeal of Severus Snape sharing his discovery that Remus Lupin was a werewolf.
"No, thankfully. Wormtail told me what happened: Snivellus walked into Remus when they were passing in the corridor and, you know Moony, he would not have said anything but Snape goaded him, apparently. Moony went to walk away but Snape cursed him from behind. He was just about to announce it to the entire school when Peter - by some bloody miracle - stunned him." James explained to a frowning Sirius, they walked in silence for a moment, both thinking hard.
The large wooden doors swung open to reveal a sweltering, sticky summer's day. The intense warmth had barely hit their handsome faces when Sirius made up his mind.
"We'll have to teach him to watch his tongue…come on!" he said savagely, indicating to James to follow him. They knew where to go; Snape had the tradition of huddling up with a thousand books near the lake. Maybe he was trying to avoid certain Gryffindor's or maybe he just preferred his own company. No one could tell with Severus, he was an extremely complex character.
His long greasy hair, which curtained his face, hid his expressions; his cruel attitude and spiteful tongue masked his true feelings. He was a loner by nature.
As they were crossing the sweeping lawn, they passed a tall, pretty girl with wavy brown hair that glints deep red in the light and deep, almost black eyes. She had golden skin, long legs and a beautiful body. To her dismay, she had nearly non-existent breasts, which, up until her fifth year, forced her to stuff her bra. She did not bother now though, she learnt to love her body.
She was not perfect; the difficult early years of puberty had ravaged her skin so that her lower stomach, hips and thighs were littered with many stretch marks. Her forehead had faint scars from the spots she suffered from.
They didn't seem to notice each other both submerged in their current task.
Adara was the Sirius Black of the female world. She was good-looking, confident to the point of arrogant on occasions, popular and flirtatious. They were two peas' in a pod.
Yet, for some unknown reason, they had never spoken a word to each other, rarely glanced in the other's direction and on the infrequent moment's their eyes met nothing registered. Not even a thought, however passing or brief, entered their mind.
Of course, they could put a name to the face, each being in Gryffindor meant it impossible not too, but that was it. Nothing else.
She, in contrast to the two seething boys, was heading into the castle. She did not really have a direction or purpose and did not really care where she ended up but figured she would bump into someone to talk to on her way to nowhere.
Also, in an egotistical and vain way, she enjoyed the reaction her presence had on the males she passed. They would start stuttering and trip over one another.
Occasionally, a brave boy would try to ask her out. She would decline, of course. In her opinion, a prospective boyfriend would have to work harder than that. She liked to be seduced and adored whereas she loved to entice and manipulate.
Adara was not all bad. She was a very loyal and trustworthy friend, who would rather stay and comfort her crying companion rather than go on a date. Her magic was excellent, which was probably so as she came from one of the oldest and most powerful light wizard families still alive today. Therefore, she learnt a lot from her ancestors books and the spirit of a few of them who had stayed on earth as ghosts.
She knew she was lucky, if you thought being attractive was a lucky thing. When she was younger, even though she was pretty and sweet, she hated herself, every part of her body from her nose to her fingernails. Now she had learnt to appreciate her body.
It helped that when the third year of Hogwarts dawned, the first boy had asked her out. Then the second. Then the third. It boosted her confidence and self-esteem, in a shallow way. When you are an awkward, unhappy teenager, you seek solace in the smallest of things.
So now she swaggered down the busy corridors, a path clearing as the boys drooled and the girls grew green with envy. She was in her seventh year at Hogwarts and knew her position in the hierarchy, she was firmly on top and that is where she intended to stay.
In some ways, this was only a persona, a mask she hid behind, rather like Snape with his curtains of hair. Once she was alone with her close number of friend then she was the real Addie, not the sexy, sumptuous beauty that all men craved. She was a funny, happy, bubbly young adult.
"Addie!" a female voice yelled behind her. At first, she ignored it, being used to girls trying to befriend her or give her abuse. She now did not answer at all to avoid the grief.
"Adara! It's Cassie!" the girl was now much closer, as soon as she had heard the name she whipped around and spotted one of her best friends running towards her.
"Cass, what's up? I thought you had detention with Sprout?" she asked, hooking her arm through her friend's.
Cassie laughed; she had a very childlike laugh. In fact, she looked sounded and sometimes even thought like a small child. She was a short, plump, happy girl who always wore her long blonde hair in a French plait, travelling from close to her hairline to the nape of her neck. She had red-cheeks and sparkly grey eyes.
"I did but she let me off, I said I was sorry and she accepted it," she said, skipping beside her long-legged beauty of a friend.
"She always does with you. Last time she caught me and Jacob Greenfeld in a compromising position, I had detention every night for a week!" Adara moaned, wrinkling her nose.
"Well, I have that affect on ladies of a certain age. They always want to mother me…I have idea why," she said thoughtfully. Adara laughed.
"Please! You play up to the sweet, little schoolgirl thing you have going on. Do not deny it; I have seen you putting a Sugar Quill on her desk. I don't blame you; I wish I could do something to make her like me."
Cassie glanced at her side-ways, "You could flash a considerable amount of thigh. It worked with old Slughorn. Isn't this your fourth 100 in a row in Potions?" Adara smiled guiltily.
"It worked with Professor Binns' as well. That was the night he died actually," she reminisced, Cassie sniggered.
"He died a happy man, if what I heard was true…!" she voiced, trying to sound innocent.
"What you heard wasn't true, I just…customized my uniform slightly." she mumbled, going slightly red.
"If customizing means, undoing three button's, removing your robes, hitching your skirt up five inches and wearing what can only be described as 'lingerie', then I have been getting it so wrong." she giggled. Adara scowled.
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear about me. There are many nasty whispers. Mainly from boy's who couldn't get me, but they told their mates they did anyway." Cassie's face went serious; they kept walking aimlessly, thinking about the rumours that had popped up everywhere.
"I know, I'm sorry." she paused, unhooking their arms so she could squeeze her friend's hand. They walked in comfortable silence for a moment, "So you didn't show Binns' your underwear to get a pass?"
Adara considered the question for a moment. "Yeah…yeah I did," she sighed. Cassie chortled, she was very immature when it came to matter's of the opposite sex. She did have a boyfriend but they had only kissed a little bit and held hands.
Adara admired her. Many a night, she sat up and thought over her past exploits, she regretted and was even ashamed about most of them.
Together, they decided to find their other friend, Eva, to see if she would like to join them by the lake. After scouring, the Gryffindor common-room and dormitory they preceded to the library, where, sure enough, Eva was sat immersed in books.
"Hey, Eve. You wanna come to the lake? I promise I will help you study for the Transfiguration test tomorrow," Adara bargained, pulling the book out of her friend's hand and putting it near her face so when Eva followed the words she was hypnotised in she spotted Adara.
"Oh, Addie…Cass. Did you say something?" she muttered, clearly growing accustomed to the light, Eva always sat in the very corner, with her back to the window and her shoulder's hunched over so it was like reading in twilight, which she loved to do.
"Um…yeah. I asked whether you would like to go down to the lake, it's such a nice day and I promised Cassie I would swim with the Giant Squid with her." Addie saw her hesitate so jumped in before she could speak, "You can take a book, and we'll even test you." Eva relaxed and hugged the book she had taken back to her chest.
"Okay, let me just put the one's from the Library back." Adara and Cassie grabbed an armful of heavy, leather-bound book and slotted them into random spaces, careful to avoid Madame Prince or Eva spotting them.
Finally, she appeared ready so they walked down the stairs and less than ten-minutes later, they were sat with their feet dangling in the cool water.
"So how are things with Trevor, Cass?" Adara asked, fondly watching a group of first-years splashing each other on the opposite bank.
"Good…okay, I suppose. I am kinda getting bored with him. All he does is try to touch my boobs. It get's rather tiresome batting his creepy hand away," she said calmly.
Adara laughed hard, "Hey! Cassie's getting some action! If you are bored, dump him. Do you have your eye on anyone else?" she asked.
"No." Cassie answered too quickly.
Even Eva looked up at this blatant lie. "Who is it, Cass? Oh, is it that Lupin guy? He's cute…," Eva said, flushing harder as she finished the sentence.
"No, it's not Remus. He is a nice person though. I have lovely chats with him in Charms."
"Don't try and change the subject, who's the lucky guy?" Adara persisted, poking Cassie in the side.
"Ouch! Fine, you know, Remus and the group he hangs out with?" she said very quietly so that the other two girls had to lean in to hear.
"Yeah, the little one, that Potter boy and the annoying Black," Adara answered, with no emotion on her face.
"Them…well, the little one isn't too little for me…!" she mumbled, but with the air of being thankful to get it off her chest.
"Ohhhh, he's kind of…interesting. I don't even know his name!"
"Peter Pettigrew," Cassie answered, shyly. Eva, who must have been very interested in the conversation as she actually tore her eyes out of the pages of her book, shuffled even closer and put her hand on Cassie's shoulder.
"If you like him, ask him out," she said, nodding towards a large group of people gathered on the opposite side. It appeared the first-years had been scared away by the commotion. "I presume he's over there, that's where his mates went. Go," she pushed her up gently.
Cassie went bright red and stumbled slightly. "I can't. Technically, I'm still seeing Trevor." Adara stood up, she towered above them.
"So, do it right after and no one needs to know. Come on, your doing it now," she stated forcibly, putting her hand under her elbow to guide her.
She struggled every now and then but realised she would never get out Adara's grip.
Once they approached, Adara walked straight into the crowd, which instantly parted so she and her two friends could go directly to the centre of the circle.
What they saw made Eva gasp, Cassie squeal quietly and Adara chuckle much against her will.
Sirius and James were circling Snape who was trying to keep his eye on both whilst also looking for a way out.
"You're going nowhere, Snivellus. We are going to sort this out now." James snarled, shooting harmless sparks at him and laughing when he jumped back.
"Two against one? Even you two wouldn't allow that - if you were Slytherin you would - but what about all the chivalry, the sorting hat keeps spouting on about?" Snape said in a deadly whisper, he wand arm rigid, his knuckles white around his wand.
"You're right. WHO'S UP FOR A DUEL?" Sirius bellowed to the crowd who began to snigger, knowing he was trying to wind Snape up. When no one answered, Sirius turned back to his enemy with a triumphant expression on his dangerous face.
Adara tilted her head to whisper in Eva's ear who then passed the message on to Cassie.
"You ready, Padfoot?" James said loudly, messing up his hair.
"Of course, Prongs." All three boys lifted their wands high but before any sound escaped from their mouths each fell simultaneously to the ground. Some one had stunned them.
The three girls turned and ran away, not wishing to be caught in the middle of a fight. "Nice one. That was good stunner, Cass. Shame about Pettigrew, though. Wonder why he wasn't there?" Adara said brightly, bouncing into the Entrance Hall.
Cassie was suddenly removed from her side and when she turned around to see where she was, she saw she was standing shock still and her face was extremely flushed.
Adara and Eva followed her gaze and noticed a short, large boy stumping down the Marble Staircase with an Acid Pop in his mouth.
A wicked smile plastered on the tall girls face. Before Cassie could stop her, she was already calling his name, "Pettigrew! Peter! Come here a second, I want to ask you something." Peter stopped in his tracks and looked on the verge of fainting. He had never even swapped a quill never mind a conversation with Adara before. Naturally, he was shaking and sweating when he finally worked up the courage to join them.
"Hey…w-what can I-I-I do for y-you?" he stuttered, wiping his brow and looking up at Adara.
"Are you seeing anyone at the moment, Pete?"
The boy gulped, she was talking to him like a friend. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted two other girls watching them, he was just about to resume staring at Adara when he took a double take.
His eyes were glued to Cassie, he thought she was really pretty, he had noticed her before but never did anything about it, James and Sirius would have teased him for weeks.
"I see you've noticed my good friend, Cassie Tempton. Why don't you two hang out for a bit, Eva and I have to go…somewhere," Adara said lamely, grabbing Eva and dragging her away.
Adara was laughing loudly and although her friend was amused, she kept looking behind her uncertainly, wondering whether they had done the right thing.
"I feel mean…," she muttered, tugging on her friend's sleeve. Adara looked around with a grin.
"Don't be! We just gave her a little push in the right direction. Believe me, she'll thank us later when she's head over heels for him," she reassured, making her smile slightly.
Eva was attractive but not stunning. She had black hair and her eyes were dark too. She was happy but quiet, choosing only to speak to people she could trust.
However, Eva was not always so happy. Up until her forth year, she was mercilessly bullied. Nearly everyone hated her, for no reason apart from the fact she was different. It got to the point where she was so depressed, she let out her frustration by cutting herself.
Every night she would draw the curtains around her four-poster bed and slash her arm, leg, or stomach until blood poured, combining with the tears that fell. The two liquids would mix staining her white bed sheets. The salty droplets landed on her wounds, making it sting.
It was on one particularly nasty occasion, where three Slytherin Girls had fired several 'Stinging Hexes'at her face and stole her Peacock feather quill that she had saved up a months worth of pocket money for, when McGonagall's ever beady eye spotted that situation had turned from petty teasing to violent bullying.
She interrogated her in her office at once. As usual, she was trying to be kind and motherly but came across fiery and temperamental.
"How long has this been going on, Eva?" she hoped the use of her forename would soften the questioning.
"I don't know," she whispered.
"Try to remember, girl. It is most important."
"I can't. I'm sorry." she kept her sentences short and her meaning shorter.
The professor's hand jerked forward and grabbed the younger's. Eva gasped, not used to kindly physical contact. There was sympathy mingled with pity, neither was something that frequented Minerva's eye's habitually.
As she pulled the spindly fingers closer to her chest, Eva's robe sleeve was drawn upwards revealing the copious amount of cuts, ranging from mild grazes to deep wounds.
Horror and empathy flashed across her maturing features. Eva drew herself in, hiding her face.
With a flick of the Professor's wand a strange silver something swept from the room, causing both the House and Quidditch Cup to glisten temporarily.
Silence ensued, neither feeling the need to talk.
The door banged open and Madame Pomfrey flew in.
"Minerva, dear! Whatever is so urgent?" she panted, leaning on the door she had just closed.
McGonagall swept up began rooting in her desk draw, extracting a thin book, on the front was a long list of names with the title 'Gryffindor House, Forth Year.'It was the years official files. Eva groaned inwardly, this was going on her file?
"Good evening, Poppy," she said primly, "If you could stay with Miss Felicitas while I consult with Albus on an urgent matter, I would be very grateful. Also, she has a number of open wounds that need to be dealt with, she will direct you to where they are. I must dash, I shan't be long."
Poppy opened the door for her and ogled at her retreating back, she then shook her head and pulled herself back into the office.
"Alright then, Miss. Let's have a look at these injuries. What did you do? Fall over? Paper cut?" she asked fussily, taking out her wand and looking at Eva expectantly.
Eva wasn't sure what to say. She could not deny it, McGonagall had already told her and she wasn't one to make a mistake, she couldn't hide it, Pomfrey would most certainly inspect her thoroughly. All in all she did not know what to do.
"Hurry up, dear. We haven't got all day to dawdle," she said, tutting at her hesitance. Poppy Pomfrey wasn't inapproachable, a high majority of the student population were comfortable coming to her and asking for help. She liked that, she thought that's what made her a good nurse, so when Eva refused to talk of or show her where the problem was, it annoyed her. "If you want to do this that way," she muttered under her breath.
Pomfrey advanced on her so she towered above the shrinking student. She wasn't trying to intimidate her, just show her authority.
It was as if she had cast an Imperius Curse, Eva instantly pulled up her sleeves and exposed the white skin underneath. Pomfrey didn't flinch or gasp, her hand didn't pull away nor her face change. Although her eyes did darken, she had obviously recognised what had happened and it hurt her to see.
Eva stayed completely silent as the nurse cleaned and dressed the wounds, some of them had been opened time after time and looked to be slightly infected.
She finally spoke after Pomfrey had finished bandaging her. "it's the other arm too and my stomach and legs. I…c-c-cut them too." She felt weird, saying the words out loud, sharing her secret with someone else. Was it relief? Fear? Remorse?
Eva changed that day, for once she was able to see into the future and although it was still cloudy and scary it was still there.
McGonagall returned and explained how she had consulted with Dumbledore and they both thought it best that she is referred to counselling at St. Mungo's. They had sent a owl to her parents who replied briefly saying that they would agree with anything Dumbledore said.
So, three days later, she was flooed to the magical hospital where she began her sessions with Healer Hobbert, a kindly young psychologist who seemed genuinely interested in what Eva had to say.
She began to talk, slowly at first, just small things like how long she had been doing it but eventually, over a year after she had been seeing Healer Hobbert, she could confide in her freely: what she used to cut herself with, what went through her mind as she did it, what was the trigger.
It was the beginning of a new Eva Felicitas.
She had met Cassie and Adara two weeks after she had met her psychologist for the first time. Despite the fact that they were all sorted into Gryffindor, even though they shared a dorm, Eva hadn't let them in. Every time they would try to talk to her she would shy away, afraid they would taunt or jinx her. In the end she noticed the kind, caring expressions rather than hate and fury.
It was the hardest part of her life, but they did every thing they could to help.
She relapsed many times. She would bottle her emotions up until they exploded like a acutely violent volcano. Six months into therapy, she attempted suicide. She just wanted to sleep forever.
She stayed in hospital for three weeks where she had intensive daily appointments with Healer Hobbert.
Together Adara, Cassie and the Healer pulled her out of the claustrophobic world of depression. It was not easy but they stuck by her, tending to her wounds, listening to her desperate cries and comforting her.
Slowly over the years, she transformed into a happier, loving person. The deep, white scars remained, a reminder of the hard times and encouraging her not to go back there.
Adara watched Eva smile, remembering how many evenings she sat and listened to her cry. Smiling made Eva whole again.
"So what about you? Who do you like?" Adara asked, blinking rapidly to try to dispel the emotion that had just crept up on her.
"Nobody, really. I think Remus Lupin is cute but I'm not going to pursue it," she said, picking at the loose skin by her fingernail.
"Why?"
"I'm pretty positive that he wouldn't like me. He's so nice and kind, I'm sure loads of girls want him," she sighed.
"Nope, the last time he was seeing someone was the beginning of sixth year: a Hufflepuff girl."
"Okay, but have you seen the type of girls his mates go for. He's bound to want some like that…like you…"
Adara glanced at her and grabbed her hand. "He wouldn't want me, I don't know him that well but from what I can tell he likes nice, smart, sweet girls. Blokes only want me because they think I'll sleep with them."
"Sometimes…sometimes I wish a boy would want to sleep with me. I am nearly eighteen and I have not even kissed anyone yet. Not properly, I mean. The time you dared that Jacob Greenfeld person to snog me doesn't count. I want a kiss that means something, with a boy I like."
"You'll get that…maybe with Lupin, he's deep and meaningful. You know, the more I think about it, the more I can see you together!"
Silently, Adara made a pledge to introduce the two, she was sure they would click.
Without realising it, they had arrived at the Gryffindor tower and the Fat Lady was staring at them.
"Are you ever going to say the password?" she quipped, smirking at her own hilarity.
"Ha…ha…ha. 'Salamander'." Adara said dryly. She and they Fat Lady did not have the best relationship, the portrait had lost count of the amount of times she had been woken in the early hours by a frantic Adara who was still out way after curfew.
They walked in and sat down in front of the fire. Adara thinking about Eva's troubled past and Eva studying a book that she had already read a hundred times.
The portrait swung open and Sirius and James walked in looking worse for wearing.
Sirius had a cut lip and ripped robes whilst James was sporting a magnificent black eye.
"I'm going to kill him; I swear I'll be in Azkaban for murder before the years out!" Sirius snarled, walking to a table where several first years were doing homework and viciously ripping several pages out of one of their textbooks in anger.
"Don't worry, Padfoot, we'll get him. That was classic Snivellus, wasn't it? Cursing us from behind. Looking on the bright side, he won't be cursing anyone again for a couple of weeks; doesn't Madame Pomfrey take away your wand if you're in the Hospital Wing?" James sniggered at the thought of Snape being stuck in a hospital bed for the foreseeable future.
"Yeah, I suppose. It was satisfying to see him foam at the mouth, I must admit. However, the three weeks of detention has put a damper on it."
Eva had a disgusted look on her face, she absolutely hated violence of any form and bullying was, in her opinion, the ultimate low having been of the receiving end of it for years. She was so quiet normally, but these issues turned her into a wild animal.
"I hate him…no…I loathe him. Next time I see him he's done for," James grumbled.
Eva was boiling, she was seconds away from jumping up and hitting them.
At that moment Lupin limped into the room, looking forlorn. "Hello," he muttered, moving to join them, "Snape bashed my leg in," he said in answer to the quizzical looks on his friend's faces.
"That's it, we're going to make his life miserable, I -" Sirius began but was cut off when Eva ran at him, her face screwed up in fury.
"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!" she screamed with her fist clenched.
"Woah, calm down. What the hell do you think you're doing, you're like a bloody banshee!" James shouted, keeping her at arms length.
"Just because you're so popular and everyone likes you does not mean you can go around cursing people. It's not fair, it's not right!"
"Snivellus cursed Moony, what do you expect us to do?" Sirius said, looking at Remus. Eva looked too but it was more of a dreamy gaze before she snapped back to reality.
"I DON'T CARE! It's nice to stick up for your friends and Severus should not have cursed Remus but that doesn't condone bullying, humiliating and hurting him." She was panting, glaring up into their bewildered faces.
She all of a sudden got shy again so scurried back to sit down by the fire hoping the boys would not shout back at her.
"Godric save me! She's a nutter!" James mumbled, looking apprehensively at the back of Eva's head.
"She had a point though…" Remus said quietly.
The other two looks around in shock. "Why? We were defending you. What would have happened if the prick had told everyone that you're a…you know!"
"I'm grateful that you stand up for me but have you ever notice you only do it if there's a crowd watching? Is her name Eva Felicitas?" he asked, changing the subject rapidly.
"Yeah, I think. Why do you wanna know, she's insane," Sirius answered glaring at Eva.
"She's nice, why haven't we spoken to her before?"
"She's always reading," came James' pathetic excuse. Remus stared at her hair for a moment before striding over to towards her, still with a pronounced limp.
"Hi," he said quietly. Eva went red and snapped her book closed on her fingers.
"Ouch! Oh, hello…how can I help you?" she replied.
Adara leaned forward, not picking up on the fact that she was not involved in this particular conversation, "Hey, you're Remus Lupin, right? Funny coincidence: we were only talking about you earlier. Remember Eve? About how I think you two -"
"OKAY! Ha ha, Adara's being stupid, I don't even know what she's talking about," Eva said loudly, trying to drown out her friends words as well as hitting her without Remus seeing. "So what did you want?"
"Oh…yeah, that. I just wanted to say how brave you were to stand up to James and Sirius. Not many people would and I honestly think some of it sank in. Not all of course, but that is to be expected! They were sticking up for me though, they are abnormally protective over me…and Peter," he added quickly to avoid any questions.
"Well, thanks…! I don't like Snape, either but I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of the jinx's and cruel words," she explained.
"Yeah." Eva thought she noticed him looking at the bare flesh of her arms and hastily shook her sleeve to conceal it, "Well, I'll see you around, I suppose," Remus said, standing up. Eva felt a sudden recklessness rush through her, she jumped up next to him.
"I'd like that. Maybe we can purposely see each other…like plan to spend time together, if you catch my drift," she said quickly, her face red and her lip quivering.
Remus, who was caught off guard slightly, hesitated which made Eva feel very self-conscious. "Okay…okay, how about we meet up later. How about after dinner?" he asked, shyly. Both of them were not as confident asking people out like Adara and Sirius.
"I'll catch you in the Great Hall then. See you." she whispered. She spun around to collect her friend when the very tips of her fingers made contact with his, Adara - who had noticed this - distinctly heard two separate gasps. "Come on."
Adara allowed herself to be dragged away, winking cheekily at Remus on the way out.
Sirius and James were looking gob smacked.
"Did that girl just ask you out?" James asked his jaw dropping.
"Well, yes."
"And you said yes?" Sirius inquired.
"Yes I did."
Sirius and James exchanged flabbergasted looks then simultaneously jumped on the werewolf, each congratulating and whistling far too loudly.
"Remus likes the banshee! REMUS LIKES THE BANSHEE!" Sirius and James bellowed, pushing around the sheepishly grinning Remus.
Next Time: Eva and Remus' date, which the rest seem to be to interested in!