"I made the quidditch team!" James shouted, pumping his fist in triumph as he clicked his heels in the air.
"Well, that's no surprise there," Evy smiled over at him as he bounced on the heels of his feet, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "You managed to score a goal almost every time."
"Almost," Sirius said. He grinned and jumped on James' back. "Give me a piggyback ride, James."
James shook him off with a deep laugh. "No way!"
"Aw, you're no fun," Sirius stuck his tongue out at James. "How about you, Peter? Want to give me a piggyback ride?"
Peter held his hands up like shields. "Nope. Not happening."
"Remus?" Sirius asked, offering up a charming smile that had made several of the older girls loitering in the corridor look twice.
"No," Remus said, his eyebrow rising in amusement as Sirius groaned.
His black hair swooshed around the collar of his shirt as his head lolled back, his eyes squeezing shut as if he was being tortured. "But I don't want to walk," Sirius whined.
"Sirius, the Great Hall is like ten feet away. See? The door's right here," Evy said, showing off the door like she was a girl on a game show.
"So. Far." He stretched out his hand, his footsteps slowing down. "Need. Food. Can't. Go. On. Won't."
"Watch it," Snape snapped at them, brushing past Sirius and knocking into his elbow. Snape sneered at Sirius as he disappeared through the Great Hall doors, his black robes billowing out behind him.
"Why that little," Sirius huffed, rolling up the sleeves of his robes, which fell back to his wrist. "Why I aughta"
Evy jumped in holding her arms up and stopping Sirius from barging past her. "No, stop. Down, boy. Let's forget about Snape and just celebrate James' new position as Keeper, okay?" She flung an arm around Sirius' shoulders and walked him into the Great Hall, the rest of the Marauders in tow.
"I'm a Chaser, Evy. Not a Keeper," James corrected her.
"Right. The one who plays with the snitch," Evy said.
"That's the Seeker," Peter said. "James is a Keeper."
"I sure am. Right Evans?" James shouted at Lily as he walked past, who was sitting with Maureen at the Gryffindor table. He gave her two thumbs up as she rolled her eyes at him.
"So rude," Lily murmured just loud enough for them to hear.
"Told you, she's in love with me," James said with a big grin. He strutted to a seat at the far end of the table, the rest of the Marauders sitting around him. "Oh, boy!" James said, rubbing his hands together. "I love ham."
"You love food," Remus said as he spread a slice of ham onto his own plate."
"Don't we all," Peter added, making the group laugh. His cheeks widened as he watched them laugh at his joke.
Evy glanced down at the food, then at her stomach. It seemed to have gotten a bit larger since she started her second year. In fact, all of her seemed to be getting larger. She stared down the table at Lily and Maureen. They were thinner, prettier. A small stab of jealousy ate at her as she stared at an untouched spinach and cranberry salad.
"Mom would be digusted by you."
"I can't believe how much weight you've gained."
"You'd look prettier if you lost some weight."
"Your thighs are starting to blow up."
Evy shook her head, trying to shake the memories of her sisters' voices. She scooped up a large helping of salad and filled her entire plate with the leafy green stuff.
"What are you doing?" Remus asked, staring at her as though she'd lost her mind.
"Eating," she responded, trying to sound innocent. She straightened her back and clenched her stomach muscles, trying to make her belly look a bit flatter as she speared an oil covered piece of spinach leaf onto her fork.
"That's not real food," Peter laughed, shaking his head at her.
"Of course it's real food," Evy frowned. She took a large bite as the four boys watched her in near amazement.
"All this good food, and you're eating salad?" James asked, his eyes wide with shock.
Evy shrugged. "I wanted salad."
"No one ever wants salad," Sirius said. "Not unless you're a rabbit."
"Or a turtle," Peter chimed in. "I had a pet turtle once. We fed it lettuce sometimes. By my owl got to him one day and…well… It wasn't pretty. Poor Speedy."
"You had a turtle and named it Speedy?" James asked.
Evy's shoulder sank a bit in relief, thankful the conversation had taken a turn away from her plate and onto Peter's odd pet names.
"Evy!" Lily's voice rang out behind her.
"Ah!" Evy jumped in her seat. "Make some more noise next time. You're really a quiet when you walk. You'd be a perfect ninja."
"Silent, but deadly," Peter snickered. The boys chuckled while Lily rolled her eyes.
"Are we still studying for potions tonight?" Lily stared down at her, a weirdly intense look in her eyes.
Evy nodded, pushing away her half eaten plate of salad. "Yeah, how about now?"
Lily shrugged. "Perfect. We'll see you later boys."
"Bye Evans!" James shouted as Lily and Evy walked away from the table.
"I don't know how you can be friends with that git," Lily mumbled to Evy.
"We all ask the same thing about you and Snape," Evy replied.
Lily shrugged, her crimson hair falling off her shoulder and sliding into a curtain behind her back. "Snape is a really nice person. He's been friends with me long before Hogwarts. You'd like him too, if you gave him a chance."
"You'd like James too if you gave him a chance," Evy murmured as they walked up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.
"Doubt it," Lily responded before the stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Ilvermorny," Lily said and the portrait swung open. "Let's go upstairs to our dorm. It will be quieter."
Evy followed Lily up the stairs to their room. She entered and Lily kicked the door closed behind her. "So what do you want to go over?"
"What's wrong?" Lily asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What do you mean?" Evy asked, sitting on the edge of her bed and pulling out her potions textbook.
"At dinner," Lily said. "I don't think I've seen you eat a green thing since you started Hogwarts."
"You're watching what I eat?" Evy asked, her eyebrow rising in surprise.
"No, but I've never seen you eat just a salad," Lily said.
Evy shrugged. "I gained a bit of weight over the summer. I'm watching my weight."
"You're not fat," Lily glowered.
Evy stared at her friend, watching Lily's green eyes blaze with annoyance, her frown etching a deep line in her mouth. "I never said I was fat."
"You didn't have to," Lily said. "The baggy clothes. Exercising twice a day, every day. The salad. Your five in the morning runs, which wake the rest of us up, by the way."
Evy blushed staring down at her feet. The laces on her left foot were loose, ready to untie at the slightest tug. "So?"
"Evy, I don't know why you started this, but you need to stop," Lily said, walking across the room and sitting next to her friend. "You need to eat normal and exercise normal. We all do. But I saw how you fidgeted at dinner, trying to hide yourself behind your robe. You're not fat."
"My sisters said I was getting fat," Evy sighed. "Over the summer. Beth said I should start playing quidditch with her so I'd lose some weight. And Tabby said I shouldn't eat so much. She says I eat like a boy."
Lily gasped, her arm wrapping around Evy's slumped shoulders. "That's a horrible thing to say."
Evy shrugged. "But they're right," she said.
"No, they're mean," Lily said. "Your whole family is lost without your mom, Evy. They were being mean to you, and no matter what, that's not a good enough excuse for them to pick on their baby sister. They we being mean, and you know it."
Evy shook her head, poking at her stomach. "No, they're right, Lily."
"Stop it," Lily snapped. "Evy, there is nothing wrong with you."
"Yes, there is," Evy's voice broke, tears blurring her vision.
"No, there is not,' Lily said, gripping her friend's shoulder tighter.
"Yes there is!" Evy snapped, a tear streaming down her cheek.
"Oh, Evy." Lily voice filled with sympathy as she put a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"I miss my mom," Evy sobbed, breaking down into a heaping, crying puddle on her bed. "I miss my mom." She threw herself down, her head buried in her pillow.
"Shhh," Lily said, her soft voice comforting Evy. She moved Evy's hair from her face, letting it rest in a blonde wave down her back. "Of course you miss her. It's ok to miss her. You all miss her."
"She was the only one I could talk to," Evy hiccupped between sniffles. "She loved me. My dad hasn't even looked at me since I died. He said I look like her."
"And wasn't you're mom very thin from her treatments?" Lily asked.
Evy nodded. "She looked like a skeleton. A living skeleton. It was horrible."
"Maybe that's one of the reasons your sisters picked on you. You looked like your mom, before she got sick."
Evy shrugged. "I don't know. But I miss her Lily. I feel so alone."
"Lily bent over and hugged Evy. "You're not alone. You always have me and the Marauders. We're here for you, Evy."
A knock at the door stopped Evy from responding. "Lily, Remus asked if he could join… What's wrong?"
"Evy's upset about her mom," Lily said.
"Oy, boys!" Maureen shouted down the steps. "Put those books away. We've got some bucking up to do."
"Evy, think you're up for it?" Lily asked.
Evy nodded. "Yes, I really need a distraction right now." She sat up, sniffling and wiping her tears on the sleeve of her robe. "I don't want to do homework. I need to go out and do something."
Lily smiled at her, her green eyes twinkling with sympathy and a layer of unshed tears. "Good. Cause of there's one things those boys are good for, it's a laugh. Let's go." She gripped Evy's forearm and tugged her out of bed and down the steps.
"Come on boys," Lily said with a cheery smile, still dragging Evy through the portrait hole. "Let's go have some fun."
**** Hi all! Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I promise I will get some more story out there soon. I've been working on another project, an erotic romance novella, "For I Have Sinned," which will be published on Amazon, iBooks and Barnes and Noble on January 10, 2017.
**Please please review!
*****Thank you all so much for reading. I'm sorry I haven't updated in sooo long, but that's because I have good news! I'm getting published! My debut novella, "For I Have Sinned" is set to be published on January 10, 2017. It's an erotic novella about a nun… Mature audiences only. More info to come!
Please please please review!