Evelyn was annoyed. Seven in the morning was far too early for a person to be awake, especially in the summer. But she just had to go out and get a muggle job so she wouldn't have to spend time in her house. She was working at a small café in the village she had grown up near, but had never spent more than a few minutes in. She was now fascinated by the entire muggle world and how they explain the awesome events that are so clearly magically related.
She had to admit that part of the reason she got this job was to get away from Sirius, who she simply cannot stop thinking about. Since James had told her what Sirius really felt about her, Evelyn had been avoiding the boys and keeping to her room. James helped out the situation by inviting over his two other friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.
Though she enjoyed talking to Remus, she hated how he always looked at her like he knew exactly how she feels about Sirius. Though she would take those knowing looks over his now pitying glances any day. She really enjoyed being around Peter, however, because of how real he seemed to her. He was so caring and was never cruel to her in the way that James, Sirius, and even sometimes Remus was. For example, when they were younger the three boys would shun her and say she had cooties, but Peter would always take pity on her and come play a game with her. He even played dolls with her when they were younger. She had been speaking to Peter the most this past week.
Once she was fully dressed in a black skirt, shirt, and shoes, with a yellow apron over it (an obnoxious uniform, though she should have suspected it from a café named Bumblebee) she stalked out of her room to the living room. She felt nervous about working, it was only her second day and she hardly spoke to anyone. Most of the people she worked with the first day were older because school for the muggles was still in session. Today, however, there would be younger people there and she was nervous that they would think she was stupid. While she was going through the names of different coffees in her head, she heard a rustling in the kitchen. She sighed, having four teenage boys in the house was not as fun as it sounds.
When she entered the kitchen she saw empty crisp bags laying on the floor and table along with a trail of crumbs leading to the suspect. A large mousy-looking rat. It took a second for Evelyn to realize what she was witnessing before she screamed at the top of her lungs. To her great embarrassment, she leapt onto the table and continued to scream as the rat spurted into one of the cabinets. She swear she saw fangs on that rat…or maybe it was trained in the art of combat? What if it had rabies or was really hungry…for human blood? Her heart began to race as she thought of all the mouse traps she had help set up in her lifetime and all the mice she had transfigured. She said a silent apology, not wanting to draw any attention to where she was in the room, hoping that the rat was blind and had little sense of smell, so it wouldn't be able to find her
"What's wrong?" "Why are you on top of a table?" "It's seven in the morning- I told you not even Death Eaters would be up at this hour." Remus, James, and Sirius spoke in unison as they entered the kitchen, looking annoyed at Evelyn.
"There was a rat!" She proclaimed in an attempt to make them realize how important it was for her to stay on top of the table.
"A rat?" The three said together, looking around on the floor, looks of amusement on their faces.
Sirius winked mischievously at James before saying, "I've got this one guys, don't worry, I'm great with animals."
"That's because you are one." Muttered Remus as he rolled his eyes.
Sirius bent near the ground and began to make squeaking noises and saying, "Come here ratty rat rat, here!" After a few moments the rat came out of its hiding place and Sirius grabbed it. "See nothing at all to worry about!" He smiled up at Evelyn who stepped from the table and ignored him. "You want to give him a kiss, Evie?" Sirius asked, putting the rat to her face.
She squealed and swatted away Sirius' hands, making him laugh, "Will you keep your little pet away from me. I'm not stupid, I've seen you with that stupid rat before. And you certainly don't have a way with animals, you got attacked by a dog last summer and cried for hours."
"Two minutes. Tops. And that thing was tough." Sirius stated as he began to awkwardly rub the belly of the rat, who was clearly not enjoying it. "And don't call my buddy here stupid, he's just a slow learner," The rat nipped at Sirius' finger, "Ouch."
"It was a mini poodle, mate," Remus pointed out, grabbing the poor creature from Sirius' grasp.
Evelyn ignored the conversation as she walked out of the kitchen and headed out the front door.
"Hey, Evie, wait up!" Sirius ran up behind her as she was opening the front door and the others stayed in the kitchen, "Look about the other day…"
She looked at the ground, "Don't stress over it. Really. It's no big deal I'm not mad about it or anything. I totally understand. Honestly it hardly matters to me," She lied through her teeth, gesturing wildly with her hands.
"Oh, well in the off chance that it did upset you, I am sorry I said that and I-"
She glanced down obviously at her watch, "I have to go to work now, don't want to be late! See you later." She smiled up at him, not looking him in the eye and walked away feeling far worse than she had when the killer rat was on the loose.
Work was brutal. All she could think about was the annoyed look on Sirius' face when she walked away. Actually, every time she saw his face she imagined it looked annoyed at her presence. Of course she had lied because admitting that what he said hurt would practically be admitting that she had been in love with him for years. Well, in Evelyn's mind that is what it meant.
All through work she replayed over and over the key moments in her relationship with Sirius. She remembered the day that they first met at Hogwarts. She had been so nervous those first few months, she spent nearly every moment with her brother. Evelyn was so grateful to have James as her brother for it was like taking a little bit of home with her to school. Of course, she soon learned that if she was with James that meant she was with Sirius. At first she was jealous of Sirius, she felt as if he were taking her place as James' best friend, and he was. It was a part of her life that was very difficult. Evelyn felt as if she did not fit in with the other Hogwarts students the way James did and James began to feel embarrassed of her and ashamed to be around her. It had never been that way between them and she knew it was somehow Sirius' fault. She hated him and blamed him wholeheartedly for everything wrong that happened in her life.
The turning point in Evelyn's relationship with Sirius and ultimately her brother was during her third year. She had gained a small group of friends and life was looking much brighter for her than it had in the past few years. Evelyn was truly happy, though her heart still ached with sadness at the loss of James as her closest friend. One crucial day Evelyn and James were pulled out of their transfiguration class and escorted to Dumbledore's office.
They were told that their father, an auror who was a year away from retirement, had been seriously injured in an ambush. Both Evelyn and James held back their tears, but when they reached the Gryffindor common room and saw all the people living about their lives as if nothing happened, she broke down. Evelyn sobbed uncontrollably and reached for her brother to console and comfort her, but he pushed her away. She couldn't believe that he could treat her this way, as if nothing had happened. He walked over to his friends and joined them in a game of exploding snap. She stared at him in shock. As if in a trance, she walked towards the boys.
"Evie, what's wrong?" Asked Peter, standing up from the game and wiping soot off his cheek.
She ignored Peter and only focused on James, "What's wrong with you?" She whispered, her voice barely audible over the raucous in the room. When James ignored her she said, "Dumbledore said to pack your stuff. We are going to see dad. Our dad. YOUR dad," James pointedly ignored her as Remus, Sirius, and Peter stared at her in a confused manner. Her cheeks turned pink as her blood began to boil, "You can't just sit here and pretend like nothing happened, James. He's hurt and he needs us." She grabbed him by the robes and attempted to pull him up when he made no effort to move.
Finally, he pushed her away from him, drawing the attention of everyone in the room, he yelled, "When was he ever there for me? Was he there when I broke my arm? Huh? How about when you fell off your broom? He was never around when I needed him, so why should I be there for him." James stormed up to his room, leaving a his friends with Evelyn.
Remus was the first to make a move, comforting others being his forte, "Here take this," He handed Evie a piece of chocolate, and walked out of the common room with her, gesturing for Sirius and Peter to follow. The four arrived at an empty classroom and Evie stared at the chocolate in her hand.
"You know," Sirius pointed at the chocolate in her hand, "It works better if you put it in your mouth."
She pointedly ignored her rival and instead looked into the comforting and kind eyes of Remus Lupin.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Remus asked kindly.
She nodded, her voice quaking she explained how her father was injured and that she and James were meant to go to St. Mungo's, which looked doubtful after his outburst.
"How about I talk to him?" Asked Sirius, in an attempt to be helpful.
This only spurred Evelyn's jealousy. "What makes you think he's listen to you? I am his sister! I have known him my whole life and if I can't get through to him- why would you be able to," She hadn't even realized that she had moved from sitting to standing position and was pointing her wand at Sirius' chest, "You think you know everything about James, but you don't. I do. You can't replace me…you can't" She pleaded as she broke down and began sobbing Sirius wrapped his arms around her. Evelyn didn't care that she was hugging the person she hated most in the world, she was desperate for affection and willing to accept any form of it she could find. She didn't know how long they stood there as she cried, but when she finally pulled out of his embrace, she realized that Remus and Peter had long ago left.
Sirius held onto her shoulders as she felt her face turn hot, she stared at the floor, "Sorry for freaking out on you," She muttered, wiping at her tear streaked face.
He laughed and she gave him a dirty look, misinterpreting him, "Sorry," He smiled down at her, still grasping onto the top of her shoulders, "I'm not laughing at you or anything. It's just that if that's your freaking out, then you have a lot to learn."
"What do you provide lessons?" She snorted, not the best idea when have her face was already covered in sobbing-induced mucus.
As if reading her mind, Sirius dropped his hands from her shoulders and conjured up some tissues for her to use. "Can't guarantee these will be soft. I only learned that one last week. The ladies love it."
"That's because Marlene needs them to stuff her bra with,"
Sirius laughed, then it became silent in the room. She looked up at him and realized he was staring at her. She felt as if she were seeing him for the first time. The mischievous twinkle in his grey eyes, the slight dimple on his left cheek, the rosy tint of his lips. He lifted his hand and tenderly wiped away some of the tears from her face, "He really loves you, you know that right?" He spoke to her gently, his eyes never leaving hers. She did not respond, feeling intimidated by his intense gaze, she stared at the wall, the ground, the window, anything but him. "He talks about you and your family all the time. You guys are really lucky to have each other and one day James will realize that. He's kind of an idiot right now." Evie smiled at Sirius and when she looked back up at him he smiled too. "So what to you say we go grab that idiot and you guys can go see your dad. I'm sure the prospect of missing out on some classes will help ease James into leaving…"
And that it did. Ever since that day her relationship with Sirius and James had grown stronger. Her father had retired early as an auror, but often volunteered at St. Mungo's with Evelyn's mother.
As Evelyn sat on her bed reminiscing on these days she couldn't help but think of how her heart leapt whenever she saw Sirius. She knew it was silly and that probably every girl felt that way when looking at Sirius, but Evelyn couldn't help it. Sirius had grown into one of her closest friends and she didn't want to admit it, but she had somewhere along the line fallen in love with him. Though if she truly thought about it, she had known she was a gonner that day when she first hugged Sirius and he had consoled her.
She heard a knock on her door, "Eve, dinner." Said James as he stomped his way downstairs.
When she opened the door she saw the object of her affections standing before her. Her heart stopped and her face felt peculiarly warm. He was blocking her way out.
"You are not eating dinner until we talk about what your blabbermouth James said," Sirius said firmly, as stepped into her room and shut the door behind him to emphasize his point.
"I thought we already did talk about this." She mumbled.
"No. I tried to talk and you avoided the situation. As usual," He crossed his arms in annoyance and glared down at her from his six-foot-four natural soap box.
"What do you mean 'as usual' I don't avoid things!" She was outraged at his accusation and she too crossed her arms, refusing to budge and inch.
Sirius took a step closer towards her, "Fine then, tell me why exactly you have been spending the past few weeks not talking to me. Is it just coincidence? Or are you…what's the word I'm looking for…"
"You said I was annoying you so I gave you some space! Geeze why do you have to push everything to breaking point! You want me to stop avoiding? Fine, I will!" She yelled as she began to pace and gesture wildly with her hands, "I thought we were friends. Best friends, and then you go tell my stupid brother all that shite and yes it hurt me, how could it not? What did you expect? Why did you say that? What did I do?" She had stopped pacing and was now directly in front of him. He wouldn't look at her directly in the eye.
"Well," He mused, "You certainly aren't avoiding anymore," Evelyn side-stepped past him and made for the door, but he grabbed her arm and turned her towards him, "Look, I was just saying that to James to get him off my back. He's been bugging me lately about stuff and you now I don't really think you're annoying, otherwise I would have hexed the crap out of you by now, just look at Snape. You don't think he was born that ugly do you? That was all me." She rolled her eyes as Sirius pulled her into a hug, "We good now, Vee?"
"Yeah," She muttered as she was intoxicated by his musky aroma, "We good," She was way past gonner.