A/N: This is my second real story that I'm relatively sure about.

Disclaimer: I don't Harry Potter, Hogwarts, the Marauders. Hell, I barely own the original characters, they own me!

Evelyn White, or Evy, as she much preferred to be called, glared out of the train compartment's window at the scenery flashing by. She had boarded the Hogwarts express for the third time in her life that morning. It might have felt a little cooler if she weren't seventeen years old and returning to the school after four years in a completely different country. In addition, the circumstances would have a lot better if Evy had had friends to greet her.

Of course, Evy had had friends at Hogwarts, plenty of them. The fact was that Evy had fallen out of contact with all of those old friends. That didn't mean she didn't remember them, though.

First, there had been Erin Lowell. Erin had been a mini busybody. She was a Ravenclaw and always at Evy to pay attention in class and do her homework. She had been a chubby, bubbly little girl for all her seriousness in the classroom. If Evy recalled correctly, Erin had possessed curly light brown hair and bright blue eyes. She had been one of those people that knew everyone and everyone's business without being annoying, or overly nosy, about it. Erin had also been one unfailingly kind person. Evy had felt it was her duty to take Erin under her wing before people began to take advantage of Erin's personality.

Next was Lily Evans. Lily was in Gryffindor with Evy, but she should have been in Ravenclaw. She was just as smart as Erin was, and even more academically driven. Lily had always been a strong, fiery individual. Her sweet, oval-shaped face had been capped by fiery red hair a shade all its own. Her eyes had been just as memorable as her personality. They had been a lovely shade of pickle green. Evy had teased her constantly about the color. She had called Lily anything from 'Pickle-face' to 'my lovely pickle darling.'

Last had been Loeisa Hartwin. Loeisa, whom Evy had dubbed Loey fifteen minutes after their first meeting, had been like Evy in the fact that neither particularly enjoyed classes. In fact, Loey had hated class and the only reason that the poor girl had passed first and second year exams was the tutoring that she had received from her best friends. She was tall and naturally athletic, even at the young ages of eleven and twelve. Evy didn't really recall Loey's hair color. The girl had always kept her hair tied back in a tight ponytail. Evy vaguely recalled it being sandy blond or light brown. Something like that. She remembered her eyes, though. A deep, rich, bright brown.

Evy herself, on the other hand, was academically gifted but was as far from driven as one could possibly get. She was good in all of her classes though. It was a matter of pride for Evy to get good grades. She just despised the actual classes. Evy was more of the assertive type, and the forcefully tame and exceptionally dull atmospheres of the classroom bored her to death. The only classes she had ever enjoyed were Care of Magical Creatures and Potions. Care of Magical Creatures was outside and a completely hands-on type of class. There was very little bookwork involved in such an environment. Potions might have a lot of text-reading, but it was also hands-on. Back in the U.S., the Potions mistress had given her students chances to experiment. Even six years ago, during Evy's first year, she had preferred those sorts of classes. At the time, Evy had been a tiny, dark brown– haired, stubborn little girl. Not much had changed.

There had been more, but Evy had been closest to those three. It wasn't as if Evy had the most engaging personality. Her friend, Laura, from the United States, had once described her as a very 'pinapple-ly' person: Sweet and loveable on the inside, and painful on the outside. She had later retracted the part about Evy being loveable. Evy had thrown the remains of a rather unsuccessful attempt at a banana shake down her shirt. She disliked being referred to as anything so girly as 'lovable'. She wondered what Laura was doing now.

The memories of her best friends also brought back memories of Evy's worst enemies.

Top of the list were the self-styled 'Marauders'.

Now there was a- well, Evy really didn't know what to call that group of raging testosterone (even when they were all so young, they seemed to have an issue with that particular hormone). 'Special' would probably work just fine.

The Marauders were group of four boys that had dedicated themselves to causing all sorts of mischief and turning Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry upside down and inside out.

First and foremost was James Potter. Evy personally had nothing against Potter beyond the fact that he was an ass. The only other reason that Evy disliked Potter was his insatiable desire to drive Lily nuts. Potter was constantly trying to get Evy's best friend, Lily, to go out with him, even at twelve years old. Lily, of course, had turned him down at every turn. Then Potter had asked her at every other turn.

Second to James was Sirius Black. Black was just like Potter in the fact that he was a jerk. What made Black even worse than his best friend was his need to make fun of Evy. Black was abnormally tall for a young boy, and had teased Evy constantly for her short stature. Evy had also been one of Black's favorite targets for his practical jokes. More than once, Evy had woken up to find that her long dark hair turned pink.

The other two were more simple people, as Evy remembered them. There was Remus Lupin, a strange, quiet boy who was just as smart as Lily. It had always confused Evy that Lupin would hang around two troublemakers like Potter and Black. Evy could actually get along with Lupin; he was nice enough. He had possessed some rather odd habits, though. Lupin had disappeared every few weeks, and come back seeming ill and week. It had concerned Erin greatly and she had always made it a point to ask Lupin if he was okay.

Peter Pettigrew was the final addition to the little gang. He was an abnormally small and incredibly bizarre little boy. He had always reminded Evy of a rodent. Pettigrew was nothing like Potter, Black, and Lupin. He was barely average in his classes and wasn't talented in any way, shape, or form, when it came to setting practical jokes. Evy just got a bad vibe from the little boy who trailed his friends like a puppy on a leash.

Evy had just turned her mind to what she recalled from her first and second year classes when there was a loud thump that broke Evy from her reflections. Just as suddenly, the compartment door was slid open. Two bodies fell through the doorway, so closely entwined that Evy wasn't sure where one body began and the other left off.

Evy, rather miffed at having her comfortable solitude interrupted, cleared her throat to get the couple's attention. They jerked apart and Evy got a good look at both of them. The girl was a tall, leggy number that Evy was willing to bet had the brain capacity of a Siberian dwarf hamster. She was attractive, though: curvaceous, heart-shaped face, blue eyes, not-so-tastefully done make-up, and an over-the-top slutty outfit comprised of a micro-mini skirt and belly shirt tight enough to let anyone and everyone know that she was wearing a bright pink push-up bra. She sported a head of shining beach blond hair that must have come from a bottle.

The chick's male half was just as attractive, though in a more tasteful way. He was monstrously tall, somewhere between six-foot and six-foot four. He had shaggy black hair that fell into grey eyes that seemed to sparkle with repressed mischief. He was dressed in common muggle cloths: A pair of beat-up, obviously comfortable jeans, and a black tee-shirt with some muggle rocker band that Evy didn't recognize splashed across the front in violent colors. All in all, Evy was not particularly impressed. She had seen plenty of people just like these two in the U.S., including some of her best friends. She wasn't intimidated by good looks anymore.

The boy did look rather familiar though. . .

Evy didn't get a chance to puzzle it out, unfortunately, as the girl took the startled silence as a chance to complain. "Sirius, there's a girl in this compartment! You promised it would be empty!" The blond, who Andy mentally checked off as a bimbo, had a distinctively whiny voice. The name clicked in her mind, though. It was more than familiar. After all, Evy had just been reminiscing about that name, and the body attached to it, a few moments earlier.

Evy, who's temper was always quick to flare, couldn't help herself and spat, "You know, I hadn't realized that I wasn't in this particular compartment, minding my own business. Thank you for pointing that out to me." Evy smirked at the girl, whose face became puckered up with indignation as soon as she realized that Evy was being sarcastic. There was a solid pause between the time that Evy's voice stopped and the girl's dawning anger.

"It's okay, Mandy, I'll meet up with you later. Then we can pick up where we started." The boy reassured the bimbo with a small smirk. The girl didn't want that particular answer, though, and pouted. "Go on, I'll find you later, hon." She slumped, prettily, of course, out of the compartment. Evy couldn't miss the slap that Sirius delivered to her rear end. The girl, Mandy, turned back and gave the young man the most coy look that Evy had ever seen, and that was saying something.

The black haired boy turned back to Evy and fixed her with a measuring look of surprising intelligence. "Who, exactly, are you? You seem rather familiar, but you're obviously not from Hogwarts because I probably would have dated you because you're not that ugly."

Once again, Evy could not control the words dribbling out of her mouth like so much drool. "Do you have any idea how conceited that sounds, Black? Why in hell would I have gone out with you, anyway?"

Sirius's eyebrows flew to the top of his forehead. "White?" He had recognized her. It had only taken three and a half minutes.

Damn it. I was hoping to play with his mind a little! Evy thought to herself. "Figured it out, did you?" She sneered, a facial expression that she had actually learned from Sirius all those years ago. "It didn't take you nearly as long as I thought it would."

Black seemed unfazed as he continued to study the young woman lounging on the bench. That didn't stop him from tossing a cutting remark back at Andy, though. "Evelyn White, the Gryffendor Bitch, is finally back. I though your family had locked you up in Mungo's for good." He said this almost absently, as his mind was clearly caught up in other matters. His eyes were roving over Evy's form. Somehow, though, the look managed not to be that lascivious.

Evy stood up at that point. It wasn't that the remark had truly affected her; God only knew how many things had been said about her that were far worse than that. It was the simple fact that no other person on the face of the Earth could get under her skin like Sirius Black. Plus, she was a little uncomfortable with being looked over like a high-priced Barbie Doll being appraised by a professional collector.

While Sirius had done nothing overly aggravating, Evy didn't particularly trust herself not to hex the young man seven ways from Wednesday. She didn't really want to start the new term nearly killing someone. Even if it was Sirius Black, who deserved it.

(Sirius Black's POV)

Sirius couldn't smother his snicker as Evelyn White slid to her feet to stand in front of him. White hadn't been anywhere near tall four years ago, before she left for the U.S., and it appeared that her time away hadn't changed that fact. "My god, White, did you grow at all these past few years?"

White merely sniffed at him. "Better than having my head grow like yours did." Given that this particular compartment was one of the smallest on the train, White was standing a mere five inches away from him. Her face was an actor's mask of sarcasm and it was clear that the years hadn't changed anything between them. One good look at the girl's face, with that particular expression, reminded Sirius of the reasons for the pair's hostility. Sirius mentally pushed those thoughts from the forefront of his brain and returned his mind to evaluating the female in front of him.

Although she wasn't very tall, it wasn't as if Evelyn White hadn't changed at all. She still wore her hair long. And what lovely hair it was. Evelyn's hair had always captivated Sirius, even when he had gotten over his pre-teen crush on her. It was a rich dark brown that was nearly black at times, highlighted with gold streaks the next. In Sirius's opinion, the hair was Evelyn's best feature, and the object of quite a bit of his reminiscing over the last few moments. (A/N: Hence the lengthy dissertation over a girl's hair. I try not to spend too much time on physical descriptions, even though there are a lot of them this chapter, but for some reason, Sirius is obsessed with Evy's hair. I don't know, I have the control of the keyboard, but the characters control me. I have no control whatsoever.) In the period of White's absence, Evelyn's hair had reached the middle of the her back. It was thick and wavy and Sirius was reminded of the days when he had longed to run his fingers through it.

Sirius ripped his mind away from White's hair to study the rest of her. Her eyes were still that middling color between green, blue, and gray. Her face was thin and fine boned, and Sirius was reminded strongly of a fox. Her nose was a tad bit too long for her face, but that fact wasn't all that noticeable unless one was studying her extremely closely, as Sirius was doing now. Sirius was only slightly surprised to notice that Evelyn was wearing very little make-up and it was done up very tastefully. Sirius had always gotten the impression that American girls wore as much make-up as a two-dollar streetwalker. Not so, apparently. White was dressed very conservatively, too, compared to the American stereotype. A thick-strapped dark green tank top and a pair of dark wash blue jeans. The outfit belied the fact that White was very small framed. She only stood about five foot two, though she seemed to be made of mostly limbs.

In short, Evelyn White had grown up to be rather attractive. Sirius wasn't exactly surprised.

Sirius stood there, staring at Evelyn for some time when he decided that he had seen enough of her staring back at him. "As fun as this is, White, I actually have some things to do today besides have a staring match with you."

She didn't miss a beat. "As I recall, you were the one doing the staring, Black. And it's not as if I asked you to stay." She paused to consider for a moment, raising a delicately arched eyebrow, "Besides, what exactly do you have to do today, beside go make out with that girl. Mandy or whatever her name is." Evy was having issues recalling a girl whose name was Mandy from the old days.

Sirius paused as he turned towards the door. "'Make out'?"

Evy rolled her eyes. "Sorry, 'snog'."

"Oh, right. Well, amazingly enough, I do have something to do better than satisfy poor little Mandy." He turned away again, then turned back. "Wait, you don't remember Mandy, do you. That's why you couldn't remember her name." Sirius started laughing. "I can't believe you don't remember Amanda Blakely!"

Sirius wasn't remotely surprised to see Evelyn's jaw droop. "That was Amanda Blakely? In second year she was short and chubby and actually wore cloths that covered her body!" Evelyn was clearly shocked. "That blasted bimbo couldn't have possibly been Amanda Blakely!"

"Just wait until you see what else has changed, Evelyn." Sirius actually made it out the door and was about to close it when the irate voice floated after him.

"Don't call me Evelyn, you idiot."

Ah, it was if she had never left.

(End of chapter #1)

(Evelyn's POV)

Evelyn had replaced her comfortable Muggle clothing for her black Hogwarts school robes. It was odd being back in those clothing. Evy's school in the U.S. had had a uniform, of course, but it had consisted of a pleated, just above knee length, plaid skirt, white blouse, and dark green vest for the girls. For the boys, it had been simple black slacks, white dress shirt, and a dark green vest extremely similar to the girls'.

The American Wizarding community didn't wear robes like the European wizards did. They found it easier to blend in with the Muggles if they looked and acted more like them.

Evy had a lot more things on her mind than her outfit, though.

The American wizards also used a different brand of magic than Europeans did. They used a lot of wandless magic and more personalized spells. They did use wands, like all wizards, but they were not nearly so dependent on them. Evy was somewhat worried that she wouldn't be able to keep up with her year mates. It wasn't that she didn't know as much as they did, it was that it was utterly impossible for her to know all the wand work that they knew. Evy had hope though. She would probably be able to skate by without having to show off the fact that she actually didn't know some of those spells that the others undoubtedly did.

So, she sat in her empty compartment and brushed up on her old incantations. Her wand saw more use in those few hours than it had in the last four years.

She was reading up on some fifth year level charms when there was a gentle knocking on her door. Evy glanced up, a faint line of frustration drawn between her eyebrows. Not to seem rude, that she would leave for later, she called, "Come in!"

A young woman stepped inside. Evy couldn't help but feel like she knew the girl. For god's sake, she certainly looked familiar. She had waist length dark auburn hair. She was of average height and was athletically skinny, without the easy grace and the almost painfully obvious confidence of a true athlete. The girl was about Evy's age and had a soft oval face complete with a somewhat freckly complexion; there were a set of concentration lines blooming in between her carefully groomed eyebrows. Everything clicked into place, though, when Evy looked into the girls wide, frog-green eyes.

"Lily!" Evy shrieked. "Oh my god, Lily! It's you!"

"I can't believe you came back, Evy!"

Evy leapt up from her place on the bench and the two girls embraced. "Oh my god, Evy, you're so short!" Lily pulled back to look down at Evy, who playfully glared back. Lily was at least five-foot-eight. She cut a willowy figure, though. Her shoulders were slightly bent from hundreds of evenings spent stooped over a book.

"Well, Dad decided to come back to work for the Daily Prophet and decided to transfer me back to Hogwarts. So here I am. Oh my god, Lily, you've changed so much!"

"Look who's talking about changing! I wouldn't have recognized you if Sirius hadn't told me it was you! How come you stopped writing!"

"Sirius?" Evy was momentarily hung up on the fact that Lily had used Black's first name. That never would have happened four years ago. Then she heard the rest of the question. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Lily! When I started my new school I got really caught up in it. Plus, I was a little concerned about my owl. I got a new one by the way! Silenus got eaten by some alligator in New Orleans."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "I guess that's okay then. I thought you had forgotten us over here." She looked away from Evy. Evy recognized the expression as the one that Lily used when she was trying to cover up old hurt. Evy felt an old guilt welling up inside her. She had always felt bad about abandoning her old friends.

"So don't spare any details, Lily! Tell me everything that's new around here! I need to catch up on four years of gossip!" Evy fought valiantly to bring the mood back to the bubbly atmosphere that came with reunions between old friends.

Lily smiled again. "Well, Erin is top of the year, as expected."

"Of course, that's not much of a surprise! She always was one of the most intelligent people in the entire school, even at twelve. I bet Loey is the Quidditch captain. She was always so good at that."

Lily frowned slightly. "Actually, Loey is the captain this year. Last year she wasn't, though. That was James, but since he's now Head Boy-"

"Wait," Evy cut her off, her eyes as big as dinner plates and her mouth hanging open in shock. "James Potter? That jerk? He was Quidditch captain and now Head Boy? That doesn't make sense. And why'd you call him James?"

Lily took a deep breath, like she was about to explode in Evy's face and her cheeks flared fire-engine red. Then she sighed and visibly took herself in hand. Evy got curious through her astonishment. What was with that reaction? "Look, Evy, some other things have changed since you left. James isn't as bad you think he is."

"Right."

"Evy- you wouldn't know."

"How much could that boy have possibly changed?"

"Evy, it's not like you would know!" Lily spat at Evy. "You left, remember?"

Lily slammed the door behind her as she marched out.

A/N: Please review! I would really, really apreciate it!