Chapter Twenty One

This innocence is brilliant,

I hope that it will stay,

This moment is perfect,

Please don't go away,

I need you now,

And I'll hold onto it,

Don't you let it pass you by.

Evangeline lay in a peaceful slumber, she was conscious but her eyes remained closed. Although she was exceedingly comfortable and warm, she couldn't help but feel in a rather alienated situation. Yes, the bed was snug and sufficient, but it didn't feel like her own; it didn't smell like her's either. The rich aroma of cinnamon, the outdoors . . . and sweaty socks surrounded her nostrils, she definitely wasn't in the girl's dormitories. Suddenly, something moved above her head, she slowly and curiously opened her eyes, she looked around, the drapes where pulled around the bed. She glanced down, what she was lying on, what she thought to have been a pillow; definitely wasn't. Pillows didn't normally have a move up and down as they breathed . . . they certainly didn't have a heartbeat either. She moved slightly, comforted as she was, she couldn't help but wonder why she was lying in Sirius' bed with Sirius' arms wrapped protectively around her. Another thought that was playing on her mind; why didn't she remember anything after they had returned to the Common Room? Sirius breathed deeply, and adjusted his arms that were placed around Evangeline.

'Angel, are you awake?' Sirius murmured quietly and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

'Uhuh,' Evangeline said in the middle of a yawn, 'I thought you were still asleep,' she said, burying her head in Sirius' chest.

'No, I've been awake for ages,' Sirius admitted, 'I couldn't get to sleep.'

'Why not?' Evangeline asked, 'I don't even remember coming up here – wait – how did I get up here and why exactly?' she asked him quizzically.

'I just couldn't get what happened last night out of my head,' Sirius said, pausing before he continued to answer her other question, 'I brought you up here. You fell asleep in the Common Room in my arms, I didn't want to wake you and I couldn't take you up to your own dorms because . . . well, you know why,' Sirius said, 'And, I didn't want you sleeping on that uncomfortable couch downstairs, so I carried you up here,' he said.

'Oh,' Evangeline said, but then furrowed her brow, 'Why am I wearing your quidditch jumper then?'

'Because I thought you looked cold,' Sirius said honestly, Evangeline could feel him shrugging slightly beneath her.

'That was nice of you,' Evangeline smiled.

'Well, seeing as I am your boyfriend, I have to look after you,' Sirius said, 'And anyway, I'll never hurt you like what that bastard did, but if I do – without thinking that is, but because I love you a great deal that will probably never happen, but if it does I give you my permission to hex me.'

Evangeline snorted, and shifted herself so that she was wavering over Sirius, glaring down on him 'I won't need your permission to hex you, in fact, I probably won't even curse you . . . I'll bloody well-'

Sirius quickly and effectively, rolled over on the bed so that he was leaning on his hands and knees over Evangeline, he smiled mischievously down at her somewhat shocked expression, 'And what were you bloody well going to do to me?' he asked her, smirking at her incapability to speak.

Evangeline stared up into his dense grey eyes, the ones that had her hypnotised the moment she met him. His long wavy black hair was falling into his face as he bent over her, she slowly reached up her hand and gently brushed it out of his face, but frowned as it fell back down again, concealing his face again. Sirius chuckled, 'That's not going to work. And you still haven't answered my question yet.'

'Does it really matter?' Evangeline asked, and pulled her arms back so that she was leaning on her elbows, she edged forward, her lips searching, they traced along his throat and softly along his jaw. But Sirius deliberately made sure that they did not find their way to his lips, and subtly moved his head away, Evangeline scowled and muttered, 'You did that on purpose.'

'Yes, I did,' Sirius confessed and gently kissed her on the lips, 'I still haven't found out what you're going to do to me,' he said, whispering against her cheek.

'I guess I could decide in time, but I think I'm a bit too preoccupied at the moment to worry about it,' Evangeline said, and playfully licked along Sirius' jawline. He jerked away in surprise, 'Did you just lick me?' he asked her. Evangeline bit her lip innocently, avoided eye contact with him and muttered, 'Yes. I'm sorry if I-'

Sirius grinned, 'I should be pretty used to licking people by now anyway, so I guess I'll just have to lick you too,' he smirked and lunged towards Evangeline who squealed and dodged out of his way. She had expected the bed to be a lot wider than what it actually was, so she lost her balance when she leaned over as Sirius got closer to her. They fell clattering to the floor, tearing down the drape that hung around the bed as they fell.

'Haha, Sirius, you're lying on top of me!' Evangeline squealed from under the patterned curtain, she quickly pulled it off of her so that she could see around the the dormitory.

'You broke my curtain!' Sirius complained, and he pulled himself up to a sitting position on Evangeline's legs.

'I broke your curtain?! You were the one that jumped on me! And it was because of you that we fell off the bed!' Evangeline said, trying to pull her legs from underneath Sirius, but Sirius refused to move, 'Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere,' he said, and gradually began to crawl up over Evangeline's body, 'You're going to -'

'Padfoot, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't molest my sister in public,' James uttered loudly from the other side of the room, 'I'm glad the both of you are happy, but please try to restrain yourselves,' he said as he trudged slowly into the bathroom and closed the door. Evangeline and Sirius laughed at James' disgust to their actions, but they knew that he would act exactly the same way if he had a girlfriend.

Peter lay horizontally across his bed, peering over the edge, his eyes wide with amazement, 'What were you doing?' he asked captivatedly as he watched Sirius help Evangeline off the floor. Sirius watched Peter as he in turn watched his and Evangeline's every move, 'Don't be so sick, Peter,' Sirius spat, 'I know exactly what you were thinking, take your mind out of the gutter.' Evangeline glared at Peter, rolled her eyes exasperatedly and began to pick up the drape off the floor. She grabbed each corner, and was about to fold it up when Sirius lightly put his arms around her waist from behind her, 'You really shouldn't be doing that. Go and change your clothes,' he said leading her away from the side of the bed, kissing her on the cheek and gently pushing her towards the door.

Evangeline turned around to face him, she smiled, 'I'll meet you in the Common Room later so we can go down to breakfast,' she said as she opened the dormitory door. 'Okay, honey, see you in about half an hour then,' Sirius said walking towards the door.

'Alright, and don't let James murder you,' Evangeline laughed.

'Oh, he won't. Anyway, I have someone else to murder,' Sirius said, glowering towards Peter, who immediately began to occupy himself by fumbling around in his bedside table. Evangeline giggled and kissed Sirius lightly on the lips, 'Just don't decapitate him,' she said and began to back out of the doorway.

'I'll try,' Sirius winked and closed the door after her.

Evangeline began to walk barefooted down the hall, but just managed to hear Sirius yell, 'Stop staring at Angel like she is some piece of meat, you wormy bastard!' She chuckled to herself as she crossed the landing and walked towards the fifth year girls' dormitories. She quietly listened at the door, nothing, pure silence. She pushed down on the handle, opened the door and forced it ajar. She glanced around the room, Lily, Izzy and Willow were still in bed, the were covers pulled right up so that Evangeline could only see the tops of their heads. She nimbly tiptoed across the room, treading cautiously and carefully. She reached her bed, ducked down and pulled out her trunk from under it. She flipped it open and began to search around in it for some clean clothes.

Eventually, she found a pair of faded jeans and an old Iron Maiden t-shirt. She set them on her bed and shoved her trunk underneath again. She picked up the clothes and walked briskly but quietly into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Abandoned make-up bags, make-up, make-up removal wipes, toothbrushes and facial cleansers lined the edges of the bath, the sides of the sink and the majority of the shelf beside the mirror. They had obviously been left their from the night before. Evangeline hung her clothes over the rail, reached into the shower and turned it on. The sound of splashing water drowned out all other sounds. Evangeline pulled off Sirius' quidditch jumper, smiling when she noticed his surname on the back. She glanced down at her shredded dress, it barely was a dress. Tatters hung off the it; exposing her skin. Frowning to herself, she untied the halter neck at the top and slipped out of the ragged dress. Then she remembered her shoes, hidden in the dense Forbidden Forest; gone. She sighed, took off her underwear and stepped into the steaming shower.

It infuriated her how she had put so many people in danger the night before, all for overreacting. She herself could have been mauled to pieces by the werewolf if she hadn't luckily fell into the Black Lake. Sirius could have been severely injured, she couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to him. But something good did result from the virtual catastrophe; she and Sirius finally realised that they were in love with each other. And that, was definitely a good thing.

After briefly soaking her body, she turned off the shower, reached out and grabbed her red towel that hung on the railing beside her clothes. She snugly wrapped the towel around her and stepped out of the shower. She wiped her feet dry on the fluffy mat that lay underfoot, walked across the bathroom to the sink, turned on the water and splashed her face with cold water. She snatched her clothes off the rail and quickly pulled them on in a hurry. After discarding her towel on the floor, she picked up Sirius' sweatshirt and pulled it on over her t-shirt. Evangeline personally wanted to see the faces of some of Sirius' regular stalkers when they seen her wearing his 'famous' quidditch shirt. She chuckled at the thought of Cerys Neill's reaction and opened the bathroom door.

'Finally! I know it's a Sunday, Isabella but-' Willow began as she pushed past Evangeline impatiently, 'Oh, hello Evangeline. I thought it was Isabella, sorry. It's just, you didn't come back from the ball last night and …' she trailed off, unable to finish what she was going to say.

'It's fine, Willow,' Evangeline smiled, 'Have a good time last night then?' she asked the unusual Gryffindor who had rushed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Evangeline leant against the door awaiting a reply.

'Oh yes! It was very entertaining, the Weird Sisters were brilliant weren't they?' Willow said, as she busied herself around the bathroom, picking up her belongings they lay strewn on the floor.

'Yes, they were . . .' Evangeline said, suddenly remembering that she only heard about ten of their songs. She noticed Willow glance over at her suspiciously, but she returned to what she was doing as though she shrugged off some uncertainty. 'I-I better get going Willow, I'm meeting Sirius in the Common Room,' she said, turning around and beginning to walk towards the dormitory door.

'Wait! Evangeline? Are you okay?' Willow said as she hurried out of the bathroom after Evangeline, 'Everyone was worried when you didn't come back last night, and you seem a bit shyer than normal this morning . . . You – You didn't, you know . . . W-with Sirius . . .' Willow trailed off once more, but glanced at Evangeline uneasily.

'Thanks for your concern, Willow. But no, I didn't have sex with Sirius. Even if I had, it wouldn't really be any of your business,' Evangeline said, fighting back a hiss. She knew that Willow thought that Sirius was a player and would sleep with anything that had a pulse. But she was wrong; he had changed, he used to be like that, but he wasn't any more. She knew that he cared for her and would never hurt her.

'Sorry, I was just . . . wondering,' Willow said quietly, avoiding eye contact with the provoked, raven-haired girl.

'Yes, I knew that,' Evangeline spat unnecessarily, but she managed to calm her tone down, 'Do me a favour and tell Lily and Izzy I'll be down in the Great Hall when they wake up. I'll see you later, Willow,' she said and opened the dormitory door and stalked out.

She skipped down the spiral stairs, still angry at Willow's accusation. She walked promptly onto the landing and around the corner, almost collide with Sirius, who was walking the other way. 'Whoa, Angel! What's the – what's wrong?' Sirius asked as he examined Evangeline's expression and putting his arm around her waist as they walked across the Common Room.

'Oh, it's nothing – nothing at all . . .' Evangeline said, glancing at Sirius, who raised his eyebrows suspiciously. 'Yeah, and I'm a direct ancestor of Merlin,' he said sarcastically, 'Seriously, what's wrong? You were fine when you left our dorms, now . . .you're kind of distant,' Sirius said.

'It's nothing . . . really,' Evangeline said quietly, smiling feebly at him. Sirius stared at her solicitously, 'You know you can tell me anything, Angel. I can tell when you're hiding something from me, and if it's going to bother you, I think you would probably be better to get it off your chest,' Sirius said, 'But if you're sure you don't want to tell me, that's fine.'

Evangeline looked away from him, 'Well . . . It's just -' she sighed, 'Willow – Willow thought that . . . I slept with you last night, that that was the reason I didn't go back to the dorms last night,' she said in a rush and avoided eye contact with him.

Sirius' mouth formed and 'o' shape, but said nothing. He thought for a while, but couldn't think of what to say. 'Y-You haven't slept with anyone before have you?' Evangeline asked him quietly, 'I-I mean, I d-don't mind if you have . . . I-It's just, I'm curious.'

'I understand where you're coming from, Angel. I know you've been my best friend for a while, and you can't expect to find out everything when you're someone's best mate,' Sirius said, 'But now that you're my girlfriend, I guess you have a right to know and you don't need to be shy about it. I-I have slept with someone before, yes. Last year, in September,' he said, grimacing in remembrance. 'I was naïve and stupid and I regret doing it with someone that I . . . didn't care about,' Sirius said, tightening his grip around Evangeline's waist.

'Oh,' Evangeline said, 'I'm glad you told me, not that I-I . . . ,' she stalled, 'I'm only fifteen, I don't want to think about that yet, I might even just wait until I'm married,' she said as they walked down the stairs towards the Great Hall.

'You do whatever you want,' Sirius said, 'I'll not pressure you into anything, it's your decision,' he said pulling her closer to his body reassuringly. 'Thank you Sirius, at least I know I can trust you, and I trust you enough to be able to tell you something that happened to me . . . about someone that scared and manipulated me, something that only one other person knows about and that is Izzy.' Evangeline said, pulling to a stop and edging towards the nearest bench, taking Sirius with her. Evangeline sat down, Sirius followed her and did the same, 'I-In fourth year . . .-' she began.

Flashback to January 1974

'C'mon Evie, keep up,' Peter Buchanan said as he dragged me up the Astronomy stairs by the hand. He had been my boyfriend of one month, and we were still going pretty well. There were times when I felt isolated from him, that all that consisted of the relationship was snogging in the corners of corridors; the more physical part. The emotional part was half there, we talked, I felt comfortable around him; he was like a mate. But I wasn't sure whether or not he was just another boy that had succeeded in dating me; the somewhat untameable Evangeline April Potter, but I wasn't untameable, I was just gullible and fell for any sort of wooing, so to speak. Peter was a sixth year Hufflepuff, experienced. I was a fourth year, I had had five previous boyfriends, all in my year, none of them were serious relationship's . . . flings. It was the adrenaline rush of it all, but I wasn't harsh like Cerys Neill who treated every guy like crap, I actually took every relationship sedately. I didn't go out with a guy for a day and then dump him for someone else the next, the relationship lasted for a few weeks at the least.

'I'm coming, where are we going up here anyway?' I puffed, clearly I needed to do more exercise, quidditch wasn't doing much for me.

'I'm afraid that is confidential information,' Peter said as he continued to climb the stairs, not bothering to slow down his pace . . . sometimes I thought he just didn't care about me. Peter was an independent person, he never relied on anyone. But sometimes he could be quite frightening, I understand everyone has flaws, but his seemed to be his unruly temper which was worse than my own. I had once witnessed his fearsome glare of hatred, steam practically rushing from his ears when Sirius pronounced his name wrong; calling him Buck-cannon rather than Buchanan. Personally, I thought he was overreacting, anyone could make a mistake like that. Maybe he knew that Sirius was actually taking the piss out of his name but concealing it by pretending to pronounce it wrongly.

'Urgh, please tell me Peter,' I whined, fed up of the constant climbing.

'No, now stop complaining, you'll enjoy this. I promise,' Peter said, this time glancing around at me, smiling smugly. I wasn't actually looking forward to what he had in store and somehow I sensed that it was something I wouldn't approve of; but I kept going. 'Just through here,' Peter said, stopping for me to catch up, he opened the door and lead me through by the hand.

I glanced around the room, there were no windows. That was not what I had expected. I was definitely preferring the idea of star gazing in the moonlight at that moment in time, not sitting . . . or whatever he had planned in a dark and eerie room. 'Why are we here, Peter?' I asked him cautiously, examining his face for a revealing expression of what he had brought me here for. The silence was frightening, he said nothing; didn't answer my question, he just shuffled across the room.

'Sit down and close your eyes,' Peter said from across the room.

I didn't want to close my eyes or sit down for that matter; I was suspicious. Suspicious that he might to something to me, but I did it anyway. I obediently sat down on the large and fairly wide couch that sat in the middle of the room. I glanced at Peter bewilderedly. 'Now close your eyes,' he repeated.

For a while I didn't close my eyes, I sat staring into the empty space. Even if he did try to do something to me, I had a wand and I could protect myself; so I closed my eyes. Nothing happened, I had expected him to pounce on me. The paranoid person that I am kept my hand close to the pocket on my jeans that contained my wand. I flinched at the loud noise that echoed out around the room, 'What's happening?' I asked him.

'Okay, open your eyes,' Peter commanded me. He sounded rather close, I could feel his presence, maybe he was sitting beside me, unnoticed. I slowly opened my eyes, but I was blinded by the brightness of a silvery grey orb that floated in the sky. I scanned the view more thoroughly; every star was twinkling brightly back at me. I smiled at the beautiful scenery, the moon reflecting on the black lake, it looked so heavenly. 'What do you think?' Peter asked me, that's when I realised that he was sitting beside me, his arm around my shoulder, his body shunted closely to mine.

'It's . . . breathtaking,' I managed to utter. He had obviously done his research; I was a sucker for the beautiful outdoors.

'Just like you,' he whispered against my neck. I didn't feel uncomfortable when he began to plant kisses on the exposed skin on my neck, just unsure. I small thought in my mind had already figured out where this was leading, but it was drowned out by many others. So I let him continue, his hands beginning to roam my body, he placed his hand gently on my chin and turned my face around to that I was looking at him. Then he kissed me. From him it was a passionate depth-filled kiss, from me dull and lifeless. I didn't want this to be happening, but somehow he had this manipulative way of leading me on, making me go further. He was leaning into me, pushing me further. I tried to restrain, but he wouldn't let me, I felt his grip on my wrists like iron clamps. He wouldn't let go.

I broke away from the kiss, 'Peter, I don't want this to go any further,' I said sternly and clearly, staring him out.

'Sorry, Evie. I don't quite get where you're coming from. You seemed okay when I started kissing you . . . maybe it's time to seal the deal,' Peter said bluntly, 'We've been going out for a month, this relationship needs to go somewhere.'

'I'm fourteen, Peter!' I said angrily, 'If you wanted someone to shag you should have chosen someone who was willing to do so. It would have been nice of you to ask my opinion on the matter too, not just jump to the conclusion that I would say yes and break my virginity with you,' I spat. I could feel my temper rising, I was getting angrier by the second.

'You know, I actually don't care what you think,' Peter said, glaring at me, 'You agreed to come up here, you should have at least guessed the consequences.'

I stood up from the couch, and began to stalk across the room towards the door. I was about to open the door, when Peter grabbed my shoulder and forcefully spun me around. He slammed me against the hard oak door, his face millimetres from mine. 'Let go of me,' I hissed, trying to pull free from his grip.

'No,' he snarled, and shoved me towards the couch with a such force that I nearly fell over. He walked towards me, like a hunter cornering his prey.

'Stay away from me!' I yelled, edging away from him.

'There's nowhere to run, Evie,' Peter growled, 'You know the easier option would be to just give in,' he said, gaining ground on me as I thought of what on earth I could to do escape him.

'I'm not a coward! And I'm not going to do something I don't want to do!' I shouted, backing away from him. I watched him pull his wand out of his pocket, forgetting that I had one myself. He shot a spell towards me, but missed. 'So you're going to hex me now is that it? Just because you don't get what you want! You make me SICK!' I roared as I dodged another one of his curses.

Suddenly, one of his hexes hit my hand, a stinging hex. I gasped as the pain erupted on my hand. I cradled my arm in my other hand as the pain spread up my arm. I didn't notice Peter sneak up on me, he shoved me onto the couch and jumped on top of me. I screamed blue murder, punching him, trying to make him move. But he wouldn't budge. He was much stronger than I was; he grabbed my wrists and held them above my head. He moved so that he was sitting with his knees either side of my legs.

'No! NO! GET OFF ME!' I screamed as I heard him unzip his jeans. I wriggled and squirmed as I tried to get out form underneath him; but he was too heavy.

'SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!' Peter roared in my face, I could see him concentrating; it was frightening. It was astonishing how I managed to attract such ferocious, frightful guys.

'YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!' I screamed, kicking him as hard I could in the groin area. He groaned in pain, loosening his grip on me, I pulled myself free and I pushed him off me. I breathed heavily as I watched him keel over on the floor. Remembering what he tried to do to me, I panicked and rushed towards the door, swinging it open with such force that it slammed against the wall. I ran down the stairs, taking myself as far away as possible from that horrible person, who had abused my trust in him.

End of Flashback

'Izzy is the only person that knows because she found me crying in the abandoned girls bathroom,' Evangeline said quietly, she could feel Sirius' body as it tensed beside her. She glanced at him, searching his face for a reaction. He stared at her sympathetically, 'I had no idea . . . I don't even remember you being upset last year,' Sirius said, pulling her closer to him and kissing her forehead.

'I guess I just concealed my feelings. I didn't want to get any unwanted attention,' Evangeline said feebly, 'And I didn't want anyone to find out,' she said, 'But I actually think James knows, that's why he was so protective over me last year; especially when I was hanging around with guys.'

'That would explain the Prewitt incident then,' Sirius said, Evangeline nodded in response. 'Is he still in school?' he asked her. 'No, Izzy and I went to McGonagall, and she reported it to Professor Dumbledore. It turned out I wasn't the only person he had tried it on, so he was expelled,' Evangeline said, then she sighed, 'It seems that I attract complete jerks.'

Sirius coughed, 'Thanks, that's such a great compliment,' he said, feeling content that he had managed to make Evangeline smile.

'Not you! You're not a jerk, you're a very nice person,' Evangeline giggled, playfully slapping Sirius on the arm. 'Well I'm glad you think that,' Sirius said, but then his twinkling expression turned to concern, 'I can't believe that bastard did that to you. You've really had it rough haven't you,' he said.

'I know, I try to forget my past. But things are looking a lot brighter . . . I've got you,' Evangeline smiled.

Hope you liked the chapter!! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been pretty busy. REVIEWS!! You know I love them (; I appreciate constructive criticism too (: Thanks to all the people that have reviewed my story! Tori xox