Evelyn walked out of the store feeling quite embarrassed for her overreaction and even more embarrassed that the she had been kicked out. Despite her behavior the last few days,Evelyn was normally the type to avoid getting into trouble. And where was she supposed to get guitar now? All her progress felt wasted now.

Sirius stood confused for a moment, unsure of where to direct his anger but then followed Evelyn out of the store. He wasn't sure at all if this was the right choice but it was the only one he had. Evelyn was walking down the street and it only took Sirius a few strides to catch up.

"You're mad at me for telling off that jerk?" Sirius asked.

"No, I'm not mad at you," Evelyn said calmly. "You just didn't have to fight him."

"I didn't fight him," Sirius said with cocky grin.

"You were about to."

"And? He was a jerk..."

"I'm not denying that but I had it handled."

Sirius looked like he was about to make a retort but Evelyn interrupted him:

"Look, can we just drop it? It doesn't matter."

"Fine."

The two walked on in silence. It was a warm summer evening and there was plenty of other people walking along the street. Sirius tried to think of something to say but was sure that no matter what he said, it would offend her. Evelyn tried to think of something to say but didn't trust herself. She was mortified that she had gotten so mad over something so small. Sometimes her emotions got the best of her, she couldn't help it. And Sirius made her very emotional. This wasn't something Evelyn wanted to think about, so she reached into her bag for a cigarette.

Sirius stopped when Evelyn stopped and watched her light the disposable pipe. It was still fascinating to him so he asked for one.

"A cigarette?" Evelyn asked surprised.

"Yes," Sirius said uncertainly. Was that what they were called?

He took the one that Evelyn offered and the lighter. With the cigarette still in his hand, he tried to light it. "Ouch" he muttered after he singed the tips of his fingers.

Evelyn laughed. "You've never smoked before have you?"

"Sure I have," Sirius said defensively. And he had but those was a pipe, not a flimsy piece of paper. He burned his fingers again.

"Here," Evelyn said softly taking the lighter from his hand and guiding the hand with the cigarette in it towards his mouth. She held the lighter up and said:

"Inhale."

Sirius obeyed and felt a steady stream of smoke blow into his mouth. Evelyn was standing on the tips of her toes, with her hands still by his face. They looked into each others eyes again but suddenly the moment was ruined by Sirius's fit of coughing. Evelyn's feet fell flat and her hands were now by her own mouth.

"You have to exhale," She said with another laugh. It was hard to believe that a teenage boy with long hair and a motorcycle never smoked a cigarette before and yet here he was. Maybe it was the hit of nicotine or maybe it was because she was seeing Sirius embarrassed for the first time, but suddenly Evelyn felt much more at ease. Now, Evelyn couldn't help but to admit that she did have fun around him.

Sirius hated the cigarette. He thought he would look as cool as Evelyn did when she smoked but he just looked like an idiot. He always looked cool, it took effort for him to look this foolish. Stupid muggle inventions, he thought pitifully.

"Inhale then exhale," Evelyn reminded him.

"I got it," He said irritably, taking a drag and suppressing a cough.

"I can't believe you've never smoked before," Evelyn said with a sound of wonder. What planet had he come from?

"I must be a bad influence on you." Evelyn said with a sly smile.

"Depends on who you're asking. My mother? Absolutely. My friends? Not even close."

"In with the troublemaker crowd?"

"You have no idea the kind of trouble me and mates get into. None. It would shock you."

"Yeah? Try me."

Sirius couldn't think of an answer. He had caused plenty of mischief but none that she could know about. The best he could admit to would be sneaking around the school, and that was even impressive for a place like Hogwarts. He took a drag of the cigarette to buy himself some time. A successful drag because he blew the smoke back out without a single cough.

"Hey, I did it!" He said.

Evelyn had to laugh at him, there was something so endearing about his shame and then pride in smoking for the first time.

"Congratulations." She said while stomping out her own. She was so close to admitting to him that she found him absolutely adorable in that moment. But then a man's laughter interrupted her thoughts. They had been standing next to a pub and she hadn't realized and apparently, they had an audience.

"Why don't you find a real man who knows how to smoke instead of this git?" The drunk leered at Evelyn.

The urge to fight snapped quickly into action in Sirius. Did the universe understand how frustrated he was and was purposely trying to test his limits? Or was he just looking for a fight anywhere he could find it? He didn't realize it, but he was emitting a low growl from the back of his throat and he took a step forward. Again, Evelyn grabbed his arm and stepped in front of him.

"I found a real man, thanks." Evelyn said as she let go of Sirius's arm and wrapped her arm around his waist, mostly to hold him back but it had dramatic effect as well.

"That's what you think now," The man said.

Sirius took in the man's appearance and thought of what a wasted effort it would be to fight him. He looked shabby and was probably old enough to be his father.

"And I bet you think you're a real man?" Sirius said.

"Suppose I do."

"And how do you measure real? In years? or in worth? Because you have an abundance of one but you're severely lacking in the other."

"You're just a weak little boy."

"And your just a powerless muggle." Sirius spat the word out in a way that would of made his mother proud.

The drunk old man and Evelyn both looked confused. Sirius felt horrified that he had succumbed to such an insult. He had a million other things that would of been better then muggle but at the time that felt the most powerful.

"What did you say to me?" The man asked confused on what exactly muggle meant but not confused on the way in which Sirius meant it.

Evelyn had no idea what muggle meant either. Maybe it was some slang word. She did know that it was getting dangerously close to the time she told her mother her shift ended, meaning she had to get home. She was in a bad position. She needed to go but she couldn't just leave Sirius. She had a terrible suspicion that he could of killed the man without even trying.

"Just like I thought. Can't even prove yourself."

"He doesn't have to prove himself to you," Evelyn piped up hoping she could get them out of there. "He already proves himself to me. Ev-ry night." With each of the last syllables she walked her fingers up towards his neck hoping that he understood her intention. They had play-acted before to get themselves out of a tight spot, why shouldn't it work again?

Sirius's furious expression wavered and it was replaced by amusement. Evelyn was relieved to see the same playful expression she had seen when they were in the auto-shop.

"Why don't you prove it right now?" Evelyn's hand was still by Sirius's neck so she grabbed his t-shirt and pulled slightly well dragging him away.

When they reached the end of the block and Evelyn was sure Sirius's anger had mostly passed, she let go of him. Sirius reached up to adjust the collar of his shirt which had been stretched out by Evelyn.

"You know, you use my body to get out of trouble a lot," Sirius said grumpily.

"I wouldn't have to, if you didn't try to fight everybody," Evelyn replied as she crossed the street.

"You should have let me fight him."

"Why? Because he's a-what did you call him? Muggle? What is that anyway?"

"It's just a word. It's nothing."

"He wasn't worth the fight."

Sirius agreed although he didn't want to. He was thinking like a wizard, mainly that fighting a muggle would be below him, an effort wasted, dishonorable...honor. Sirius grinned.

"How could I ever express my gratitude for you?" He asked gravely.

"What?" Evelyn asked confused.

"My thanks for the way you defended my honor. Putting your full faith in my manliness like that. Having one defend your honor deserves only the fullest praise and gratitude."

"Ha Ha" Evelyn said beginning to feel the mortification of her earlier rant all over again.

"How could I ever make it up to you?" Sirius continued

"Hmm, how about no more fights next time?"

"Next time?" Sirius asked with one eyebrow raised.

Evelyn avoided the question: "How is it even possible that you almost fought two men in one night? There must be a full moon..."

"What makes you say that?" Sirius asked sharply.

"Just that it's unusual to fight this much."

'I've done worse." Sirius said matter-of-factly. The full moon comment reminded him of his friends and the damage they would have done had they been with Sirius. But his friends weren't here, just Eve. "But next time, you should fight two girls, just to even things out."

'I don't think so. I don't believe much in fighting." Evelyn said with a shrug.

"But there are some things worth fighting for." Sirius said stopping.

"Like proving your manliness to drunks?" Evelyn said who continued to walk. They were only a block away from her house.

"No," Sirius said slowly following her. "Like for your friends or to do the right thing or to stop those who do bad."

The answer surprised Evelyn who had been expecting another joke. They were stopped in front of her house now.

"All honorable," Evelyn said softly lost in her thoughts of what she considering worthy of fighting for.

"There you go again, defending my honor," Sirius said even more softly then Evelyn. For the fourth time, that evening they were standing extremely close to one another.

"Don't get too used to it," Evelyn said glancing up and noticing a smile beginning to form on Sirius's face. Evelyn leaned upward and placed her hands on his shoulders. She kissed his cheek softly and whispered: "Goodnight, Sirius" as she pulled away.

The only thing Sirius felt was her hand on his shoulder and her soft breath against his cheek. All fights, all wizarding wars, all friends, all family, all everything else disappeared. He couldn't understand why, they had touched before, but he suspected it had something to do with the way she said his name. He reached out blindly and managed to find her wrist with his hand as she walked away.

"Do you work tomorrow?" He asked in a whisper.

Evelyn nodded. Sirius moved closer.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow."

Sirius leaned down and kissed her on the cheek and moved his head to her ear before whispering: "Goodnight, Eve."

Now it was Evelyn's turn to feel nothing but his breath against her ear or the way his slight scruff scraped against her cheek as he moved towards her ear. And by the time she came to her senses, he was already halfway down the street.