A/N-Thank everyone who read ch 1 and thank Miss Heather for her review-it was very helpful and I added in a description of Eva down a little further. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Eva was zoning in and out of the lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts two weeks into term. She had been paired with Lily Evans, a fellow seventh year Gryffindor. She and Lily had been in the same dorms, and many of the same classes since first year. They had always been wholly cordial to one another, never rude, but Eva couldn't help but feel that Lily was distant towards her because of her pureblooded family. Lily, a muggle-born, struggled with discrimination from many of the Slytherin students. Eva looked around the classroom, many of those Slytherin students sat in the classroom with them. Some eyed her curiously, while others gave her downright vile looks, and still some didn't acknowledge her at all. Lucius Malfoy, a childhood friend, chilled her with his cold sneer two tables from her. Bellatrix Black, Sirius's cousin, looked at her with such contempt she felt empty. Focusing back on the blackboard, Eva mused that her and Lily could be better friends than either would probably guess.

She noticed James daydreaming in Lily's general direction and waved her hand behind Lily's head to get his attention. She rolled her eyes and smiled, James shrugged in response. Her gaze briefly caught with Sirius's and she smiled, or at least she sort-of turned up the corners of her mouth, before facing the front of the class again

"Next week," Professor Binns began, "we will pick up with your silent dueling skills. These will become quite important should you ever be in a dangerous situation and need to out duel your opponent. Please read and carefully study chapter 9 before we meet on Thursday."

Eva grabbed her things and started to move towards the door. Lily fell in stride next to her. "Nervous about dueling?"

Eva was surprised, though grateful for the outreach, "A little, I guess. I wish we didn't have Slytherins in our class. I just don't trust dueling against them, really. They have no courtesy or respect for the rules."

Lily looked surprised by Eva's words but didn't miss a beat before replying, "I know exactly what you mean."

Behind them, Sirius rolled his eyes looking at James and muttering, "Eva WOULD know all about Slytherins, she might as well be one."

James gave him a scathing look before they both realized that Eva was looking at them. She looked hurt, and had obviously heard Sirius's comments. She opened her mouth as though she was going to respond, instead she turned back to the chattering red head at her side.

James slapped Sirius across the chest. "You're a right prat, you know." Sirius knew that James was right, and was his friend quickened his stride and moved ahead of him down the hall, Sirius let him go. Though he didn't care for Eva, even the slightest bit, he knew that James did and made a note to try to respect that more in the future.

Later that evening, though she should have been studying for transfiguration, Eva slipped out of the castle. It wasn't REALLY against the rules, though it wasn't exactly in the rules, either. She was grateful for the gentle breeze against her skin. The heavy smell of rain hung in the air and a few drops fell on her forearms as she stepped into the sweeping open around the castle. She looked at the sky and once she determined that she was not going to get caught in a downpour, she continued around the perimeter of the great building. She exhaled fully for the first time since Sirius made that stupid comment in the hallway.

Eva had been startled by the severity of his words. She hadn't expected it at all, least of all from Sirius Black, pureblood exile extraordinaire. She was more than familiar with the Black family, as the pureblooded network was both tightly knit and exclusive. They had played together as children, hobnobbing at various events, until Sirius's parents had practically disowned him for his "muggle-loving" ways. There stories really weren't all that different, Eva reasoned, except for one major thing, love. Though Eva's parents were less than pleased that she had been sorted into Gryffindor, they had always had what she would define as a loving relationship. Sure, they were often distant, but Eva had come to believe that this was to be expected of the relationship between parents and children. Her relationship with her mom and dad certainly seemed closer by comparison to those of other pureblooded witches and wizards she knew. She raked a hand through her hair-she'd been thinking of cutting it lately. Sometimes she thought that she might need a change and that her appearance would be the easiest thing. She shook the thought from her head and she settled below her favorite tree, a lazy willow near the lake.

"Lily?" James approached his love quietly. She looked up at him, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Could you pretty please go up to your dorm and tell Eva that I would like to speak with her?" James asked sweetly, batting his eyelashes.

"She's not up there," Alice replied, not looking up from her textbook. James looked over to the petite blonde, irritated.

"Well, that can't be possible, could you please go check?"

"Really, Potter, we were just up there, no one is in the dorms right now," Lily look at James, confused. James looked lost, stunned and worried all at once.

James stepped away from the studying girls and headed straight towards Remus.

"Moony, do you have the map?" he whispered loudly, his eagerness clear.

"Shhhhhhh," Remus replied. "Don't want people to start asking questions about the map mate. It's up in my trunk, what do you need it for?"

Before Remus had finished, James had already bounded towards their dormitory. He appeared a minute later with a folded, rumpled looking piece of parchment, opening it quickly.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he managed to mumble. James quickly flipped page over page searching for the familiar footsteps. When he didn't find them he tapped the map briefly, "mischief managed." He looked up to meet Remus's questioning gaze.

"I'll go with you," Remus reasoned, closing the potions book that he had been engrossed in. "I think we should grab Peter, and even Sirius."

"I don't think we'll need them," James replied quickly, remembering his and Sirius's last interaction. They hadn't spoken since Sirius shot his mouth off that afternoon after Defense.

"C'mon mate, we might need them," Remus was right, James hated to admit that, but he was. "You them then. I'm going to get the cloak, just in case."

James was beyond panicked. He and the other Marauders had been searching the castle for over an hour and Eva still hadn't appeared on the enchanted parchment in his hand. What if she'd been taken out of the castle, or worse?

"James, do you think we should go to Dumbledore?" Remus asked gently, appealing to his friend.

James shook his head, "I don't know what to do. Let's go back to the common room and regroup. Maybe Lily and Alice really know where she went." He didn't believe his own words and it was clear to the three standing around him. But instead of commenting, or suggesting anything else, they followed James back.

Upon entering through the portrait hole, it was clear that they wouldn't be getting any answers out of Lily or Alice this evening. The room was completely devoid of any students, the only light in the room coming from the smoldering fireplace. James and Sirius quietly plopped down on the couch nearest the fireplace, with Remus and Peter opting for overstuffed armchairs on either side of the couch.

Eva woke with a start as wetness came over her. She quickly realized that she was being saturated by fat raindrops, gathered her cloak around her and hurried towards the castle. By the time she reached the heavy wooden doors, she was dripping wet. Removing her cloak, she shook out any access water that she could before trying to quietly slip back into the castle. She opened the door only inches and slid through, closing it firmly behind her. Much as she liked being alone outside of the castle, inside, she felt threatened and scared. Hogwarts, beautiful and calming by day, was not as forgiving during the night and the structure creaked and moaned at her every turn, keeping her heart racing. She finally reached the portrait hole, whispered the password before quickly looking over her shoulder and again slipped inside. She turned to close the door and turned to find four angry faces staring at her.

"Where have you been?" James demanded. "Why are you all wet?

"I'm fine," Eva replied dismissively. "What are you doing up?" She looked from face to face, expecting an answer.

"Wha-" Sirius began incredulously. "What are WE doing up?" James shot him a poignant look designed to silence him, but instead, he continued. "WE were looking all over the bloody castle for YOU, because this git," he motioned to James, "seems to have some infatuation with you and didn't know where you were."

Eva looked less than amused before attempting a feeble apology directed to James, "I really am sorry. I went for a walk and fell asleep under a willow by the lake." She knew it sounded lame the second that it came out of her mouth, and didn't have to wait long for Sirius's sarcastic laughter to echo through the empty room.

"That's the most rubbish I've ever heard!" he declared through bellowing laughs. "It's pouring rain out, and you 'fell asleep' under a tree. I've known enough dark families in my life to know that that is bloody ridiculous. So what were you really doing, Eva? Consorting with Slytherins, threatening first years? Pillaging and plundering?" His eyes had narrowed and he had aggressively moved closer to her.

Eva stood shivering and somehow she felt hot. Out of the corner of her eye she saw James about to protest on her behalf but held up a hand to silence him. "You know what? You're not even worth the time that it will take me to spell this out for you, and so I've avoided doing it for the past six years. But clearly, you're not intelligent enough to figure it out yourself, so I'm going to have to spell it out for you just once. You are an arrogant git, Black, you know nothing about me and yet you assume that you do. If your best friend seems endeared to me in some way, you would think that maybe you would let your preconceived notions and preconceptions of me go, because he must find something about me to be genuine." Eva knew she was screaming and she didn't care. She felt whit hot rage towards Sirius. Every snide comment he had ever made that she had ignored flashed through her mind at once and angry tears threatened to spill from her widened eyes. She instinctively stepped closer. He opened his mouth to address her attack.

"I'm not finished," she seethed. "You have judged me since the day we came here. How often do you see me talk to Slytherins? Have you ever seen me bother a first year? And I'm not a bloody pirate!" She moved close enough to poke him roughly in the chest.

Sirius looked positively hateful. "You bitch," he spat. He vaguely heard Remus and James protest to his language in the background. "You know what? No, I've never seen you talk to Slytherins, or first years for that matter," he paused and Eva looked borderline triumphant. "Because in six years here, you haven't made a single ally. Not one person in this entire school, possibly with the exception of James would call you a friend. You are haughty and stuck up and think you're better than every single person in this bloody school. I hope you-"

"SIRIUS BLACK!" A shrill voice called. The entire group turned to the top of the girl's dormitory stairs to see a wild-looking Lily Evans glowering down at them. She began to descend the staircase quickly, never taking her eyes off Sirius. "I don't know what's going on here, but I have a feeling that you have no right to be talking to anyone that way. As a prefect in this house, I simply won't allow it, and Remus, I'm ashamed that you've somehow been party to this conversation. You all should know better." Lily wrapped an arm gently around Eva's shoulders and began guiding her towards the staircase.

Eva flinched lightly at Lily's touch, surprised by the outpouring of support from someone she didn't know if she could call a friend. Sirius saw her flinch and Eva looked at him, daring him to say something to her. He said nothing and she allowed Lily to lead her away.

Moments later in their dormitory bathroom, Eva burst into tears. All of the stress and emotions she had been withholding for years came pouring out of her. Lily muttered a quick silencing spell on the door, so as not to alert the other girls and softly stroked Eva's damp hair as she cried.

It took a while, but eventually Eva calmed down, unsure if she'd run out of tears, or simply the energy to feel anything. She looked at Lily and felt ashamed.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" It was one of those questions that didn't need to be answered and so Eva didn't. Instead, she moved slowly in front of the mirror. Her normally pale skin was puffy and blotchy, the whites of her silvery-blue eyes appeared blood red and her hair hung in damp clumps around her face. She took the rare opportunity to study her reflection and noticed that Lily was doing it, too.

"You really are quite pretty, you know," she commented absentmindedly.

Eva bent forward and splashed cold water on her face. It seemed to calm the burning in her cheeks, even though her skin still felt raw. She studied her reflection again. Pretty? Maybe. She'd never really thought much about it before.

Standing a 5'5", Eva was three or four inches shorter than Lily. She was thin, but not skinny. Her mother always told her that she had good "child-baring" hips but she wasn't overly curvy either. Happy with her figure, Eva had really always been able to eat as she pleased and wasn't overly athletically ambitious. She had an oval shaped face, high cheekbones and thin eyebrows. It was possible if she talked to people once in a while that she would certainly have more than a few admirers. Her mouth was dry and she pursed her heart-shaped lips before bending forward once more and cupping a sip of water in her hands to drink.

She turned to Lily and muttered a quiet "thanks". She really was so grateful for her intervention and didn't know how far the situation would have escalated. Eva leaned against the wall and Lily sat down on the side of the tub.

"Care to tell me what that was all about?"

Eva locked eyes briefly with the curious redhead before reaching for her hairbrush to try and untangle her hair, which was almost impossible, as it had been whipped by wind and rain as she hurried back towards the castle. Lily reached for the brush as Eva struggled and without a word, Eva let her take it. Her hair was probably a little bit too long. It hung midway down her back and had a stubborn wave to it, though she styled it straight almost every day. Her side swept bangs fell in her eyes as Lily worked on the longer layers in the back. She felt relaxed and didn't know if it was the affection or the emotional release she had experienced only minutes before.

She recounted the story to Lily, her surprise to return and find the young men waiting for her, the biting remarks that Sirius spat at her, all the others she had overheard over time. Lily listened quietly to the entire story, never commenting and when Eva was finished, Lily and her both headed back into the dormitory, but not before sharing a brief, understanding hug.

Downstairs, Remus pivoted to look at Sirius. "Sirius you've gone too far." Sirius looked briefly at James to see a series of emotions on his face. Confusion, Anger, Worry.

Sirius didn't know what to say. In some ways he was stunned by his own anger. Then he rounded back to look at Remus. "I wasn't wrong though, did you see her flinch in disgust when Lily touched her. Probably couldn't stand that a mud-blood was touching her!"

"ENOUGH!" James bellowed, shooting a nervous look at the girl's dorms, not wanting to alarm Lily again. "You have no right to call her that, not even in example. And no, Eva doesn't think that way." His words were specific and choppy to make his point.

Sirius felt the warmth creeping back up his face as his anger boiled over. "Why are so you bloody protective of her James? I don't understand. I think her actions and her background speak volumes on her."

"You wouldn't understand," this times James was whispering menacingly, the emotion clear in his voice. He turned to walk away before stopping and facing Sirius threateningly. "You need to keep your bloody mouth shut. I am so bloody protective of her, because she was bloody protective of you second year, and she was punished for it, badly."

James turned and exited through the portrait hole, leaving the other three stunned and confused behind him.

If You liked it, please Review, it makes me more excited to write and I will update much quicker. Thanks! Ashley