Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just the original characters and the plot. No copyright infringement is intended.
Revised
Evie did not return to the Gryffindor dormitory until later that night. The others had wondered at her absence but Sirius had brushed the comments off by letting them know he had seen her in the library. Of course this comment had sparked much laughter until they realized that their friend was not joking.
When Evie did finally pull away from her books, homework finished, the sun had set and the waxing moon shone through the windows. She entered the common room to find her friends all gathered around one of the fireplaces, talking about some girl Sirius had dumped last month who was now apparently stalking him.
"I swear, I never thought she'd be one of the crazy ones!" Sirius was laughing, obviously not at all concerned with this infatuation.
Evie plopped down on the couch next to him, startling him for a change. "One of the crazy ones?"
Sirius looked at her, searching for any leftover resentment from their discussion in the library. He found none.
The rest of the group laughed. "I forget you don't know all of our sordid pasts," remarked Remus. "Sirius' is easy: it involves girls. Lots of them."
"Not that many!" Sirius groaned.
James leaned in close to Evie. "Too many," he staged whispered.
Everyone laughed at the angry glare Sirius gave James.
"And this one is stalking you?" Evie asked.
"Yes," Sirius grumbled. "I thought she was fine when we broke up."
"This is the fifth one who has gone crazy on you, Sirius." Lily, although amused, clearly disapproved of his playboy status.
Evie eyed her friend. "I can't imagine why." She grinned. "Who would want to shag a scruffy hooligan like you?"
Sirius stared at her for a minute before hitting her over the head with a pillow. She promptly grabbed it and yanked it away, saying "We wouldn't want it falling in love with you, after all."
Even Sirius had to laugh at this. When they had all recovered, Sirius turned the tables on Evie. "What about you? I'm sure plenty of blokes back home fell in love with you." He blushed, realizing just how the question would sound a moment too late.
But he need not have worried. Evie laughed. "Not quite. Most guys are too frightened when a girl is stronger than they are. I suppose it threatens their masculinity."
"And those that did?" James asked.
Evie blushed. "I only ever knew three."
"And?" Sirius pressed.
Evie sighed. "I don't see why you all even care. It's not like you'll ever meet any of them."
Lily shrugged. "It's fun to hear about stuff like this. And you're the first new thing to come along in a while. We all know too much about each other. You're new." She smiled at her new friend. "Besides, if you stop these boys will go off and plan another prank."
Evie laughed. "Well we wouldn't want that, would we? I'm afraid it's not very interesting." She paused and collected her thoughts. "The first was one of my best friends. He knew me for three years before finally getting the courage to ask me out." She laughed. "I almost felt bad when I broke it off four weeks later."
"And the next?" Sirius was genuinely curious and, though he would never admit it, slightly jealous of these unknown boys.
Evie lost her smile and looked down. "He was a friend of my older sisters, the twins, and terribly dreamy. Of course he was also a complete git."
"What happened?" James asked, earning a kick from Lily.
Evie shook her head. "It was great for a month. Only we had to keep it quiet: he said he had a jealous ex." She smiled ruefully. "Sneaking around is fun until you realize that the guy you're with is also sneaking around with your Quidditch captain. Needless to say he got a good beating."
Sirius laughed and received a glare from Lily.
"What? You don't practice with her every day. If she says he got a beating…" He laughed again and shook his head.
Lily turned to Evie. "That's horrible."
To her surprise Evie just shrugged. "Not really. Considering that at the time I was completely infatuated with someone else it really wasn't a great relationship." She blushed. That someone else had been Teddy Lupin. She had gotten over it two years ago but it was still strange to be talking about it with his father.
Which is why she laughed when Remus asked if that person was the third. "Oh God no!"
"Then who was it?" Peter asked.
She frowned. "The last guy I was with…well he was a sweetheart actually. We dated for three months and then I broke it off." She shrugged. "That's really it."
"You break things off a lot, don't you?" asked James.
"I guess I do." Evie was feeling a bit uneasy with all the scrutiny.
"Why'd you break this one off?" Sirius couldn't help asking.
"The same reason I broke it off with the first guy. I got bored and then I got annoyed."
"Annoyed?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.
Evie sighed. "They always wanted more attention. And they wanted me to stop being close with other guys. Which is tough when there's only two other girls on your Quidditch team and the only friend you really have off of it is a guy. They wanted me to agree with them and think they were brilliant. They wanted me to be more like other girls they'd dated before: soft and sweet and completely theirs." Evie shrugged. "I don't do that. I'm not sweet all the time and I am certainly not soft. And the only person I want to belong to is me."
"So you broke it off." James was looking curiously at their new friend.
"Yes! I stopped dating and that is that so can we please move on to something more interesting?"
Remus was about to say something when Sirius cut him off. "You stopped dating? Completely?"
Evie rolled her eyes. "Yes. Not like it was much of a conscious choice; there was never anyone I was that interested in."
"Maybe you should try it mate," James laughed.
Sirius shook his head. "No way."
Everyone laughed at this. Then James went upstairs to find something and Remus suggested a game of wizard chess. Sirius immediately rose to the challenge and they went over to a table, Peter following close behind. Lily came to sit next to Evie.
"Sorry about that. They'll make you tell your whole life story soon enough."
"I don't mind," said Evie honestly. "What I don't understand is why you are all so friendly to me. You don't even know me." She frowned, thinking of her conversation with Sirius earlier.
Lily smiled. "We know you're friendly and funny and smart and that's enough. Not to mention I am really glad to have a roommate who is not boy crazed. I love Kylie but even she focuses on it too much,"
Evie laughed. "I can see how that would be true. But you may not be boy crazy because you have a boy who loves you already."
Lily blushed. "No, I never have been. Besides, he doesn't love me."
Evie raised an eyebrow. "Remember how I said there were only two girls on my Quidditch team?"
Lily nodded.
"I was really good friends with one of them. Her name was Brooke and in our fifth year this guy Mark asked her out. She said no. She didn't want anything to do with guys at the moment. He kept asking though and wouldn't walk away: he told her if she didn't think she could like him that way they could just be friends. She laughed and so they became friends. Two months later she asked him out. He said yes, of course, and they've been dating ever since."
"I don't get what this has to do with James and I."
"You said that James has been after you since the beginning: that he's always liked you and you don't know why. You've always thought he was a git until now. Now you're getting to know him and you like him." Evie sighed. "I've been here for little over a week and I can tell: he's like Mark. James loved you before he knew you and he probably will always love you. You needed to get to know him – the real him. But there is something there. Plus, he looks at you the way Mark looks at Brooke."
Lily really blushed now. "You saw all that in a week?"
"Yes." Evie said it confidently but she did feel a twinge of guilt. She had seen all this but her confidence was more due to the fact that she knew they would end up together. They had to.
James came thundering down the stairs then, ruining the moment, but Evie knew her friend would think it over.
Evie had actually given Lily a lot to think over. The issue with James was, to tell the truth, never far from her mind. But there was more on her mind than just her new friend's reassurance.
Lily had known that Evie had lost her entire family except an aunt who it seemed Evie really didn't know well. She knew that Evie had lost her home and been moved away from everything that she had known. What she had not realized, though now it was glaringly obvious, was that Evie had lost her friends too. And the worst part of that was that they were still alive. Death, even that of everyone you loved, had to be accepted and dealt with wherever you were. But being torn away from everything and knowing it was still there, just out of reach... To Lily that was unimaginable.
She thought of all the people she would have to leave if her parents died and she was forced to leave Hogwarts. Kylie and Remus were two of her dearest friends and Sirius and Peter, though she didn't always show it, were also very dear to her. Severus Snape, who she rarely mentioned anymore and whose name still made her cringe with regret, anger and sorrow, was already so far removed she did not know what difference it would make but she thought that it might be even worse than watching from a distance.
And James- Lily knew that losing him would probably be unbearable. He might make her want to tear her hair out and scream but he also made her want to smile and to laugh. Losing his constant presence, which in recent months had gone from irritating to comforting, would likely unmoor her. She did not know what her life would be like if he was not there. Nor did she ever want to know.
It was this thought more than anything that anyone else had said that made her realize how deeply she really felt for him. She might not act upon it yet, but someday soon she would. For Lily knew that losing James was not an option she would live with.
She looked at her new friend, who was now curled up in the corner of the couch, staring into the fire, and silently thanked her. Evie's words had been comforting and they had made her think. Yet it was her plight that had made Lily come to terms with what exactly was at stake.
Lily turned to look at the boys who were still absorbed in the game of wizard chess, unaware of the thoughts going through either girl's head. Remus was studying the board carefully, Peter sitting next to him and trying to help. Sirius was lounging back in his chair, talking about something with James. They looked happy, content. Lily knew that all of them worried. She knew that they did have fears, though certainly they would try their best not to show them.
Looking back at Evie, she saw that she had fallen asleep. Quietly, Lily conjured a blanket and draped it over the girl. She saw now how pale and worn Evie looked. Even in sleep she seemed to be trying to solve some problem. Lily silently promised her friend that she wouldn't be sad forever. With the Marauders and Lily to help, how could she be?
