Chapter Twenty Eight

And all this arguing goes back and forth,

And back and forth,

And I wish you could just see things my way, wouldn't it be nice,

I'd be king for day but that'll never happen.

It had been a while since Evangeline had finally become an Animagus. But with the amount of work she found that she never used got to use it to it's full advantage. Which of course she felt was a waste. There was one day when she had subtly stated to Remus that she would now be able to join them on a full moon. This only resulted in him reeling off a list of reasons why she shouldn't have even thought about it. Clearly it was a lost cause. Even James had said it would be a bad idea. And when she looked to Sirius for a bit of support he shook his head and said that it was no place for a girl. In the end, James and Remus forbade her for even attempting to follow them. It was obvious that the Marauders undermined her ability; she was just as capable as what they were.

It was a full moon. Evangeline, determined to prove the Marauders wrong, waited in the Common Room out of sight for the guys to run past her and out of Gryffindor Tower. It was a while before she heard James, Sirius and Peter scrambled past her under the invisibility cloak.

'Jeez, Wormtail. Stop standing on my bloody feet!' Sirius snapped as they walked towards the portrait hole.

'Sorry,' came Peter's voice.

James tutted, 'Shut up, you two. Someone might hear us!'

'I doubt it, Prongs,' Sirius replied.

The portrait slammed shut. Evangeline ran from the Common Room, opened the portrait quietly and climbed out. She cast a Disillusionment charm on herself and followed them. They ran down through the castle and onto the grounds towards the Whomping Willow. Evangeline followed and watched them from a distance as they took off the invisibility cloak. Peter transformed and scurried towards the battering tree, once Peter had reached the tree it suddenly stopped moving. Sirius and James followed him down a hole in the ground and disappeared out of sight. Evangeline curiously followed them, she edged closer to the Whomping Willow and gazed down the hole.

Before entering she decided it would be best if she transformed. Once she had transformed, she scarpered down the hole and into a dark and dreary tunnel. She could see far better in the dark now that she had transformed into Animagus form, this of course was an advantage as she didn't have her wand. She padded down the dirty tunnel eventually reaching an old wooden stairs. The Shrieking Shack, she thought to herself. The guys are gonna kill me, she said to herself as she climbed up the creaking stairs.

'What was that?' she heard a voice say. It sounded like Peter.

'How're you feeling, Moony?' James asked.

There was a short pause before Remus answered, 'Not too good.' He groaned loudly. 'It's happening. It-It's happening.' Evangeline glanced through a crack in the wall. Remus was crouched on the floor, his head in his hands. There was a snarling noise, Remus was beginning to transform. She could barely watch as Remus' head began to lengthen. So did his body. She snapped her eyes shut, Remus was clearly in pain. Oh God, poor Remy.

When the vicious snarling stopped, Evangeline opened her eyes. She peered through the crack in the wall again. The werewolf was standing, hunched in the middle of the room whimpering. She scanned her eye around the room, Prongs was standing majestically in the corner surveying the werewolf carefully. She glanced around again, unfortunately catching eye contact with Padfoot who let out a frightened whine. Shit. Sirius has seen me. He's gonna kill me later. Evangeline's tail hid between her legs.

That startled the werewolf, he howled loudly. Evangeline's breath caught in surprise, she shuddered. He began to run around wildly, clawing at anything he could reach. Evangeline could see him ripping pieces of the furniture apart and tossing them madly across the room. Confined, he began to ram himself against the walls, clawing at them in the process. He ran ferociously at the wall Evangeline was standing behind. She jerked away as he pounded against the wall. The crack got wider, the werewolf must have noticed it as he clasped his claws around the edge of the hole and began to pull away the wood.

Evangeline let out a small growl from the bottom of her throat. Her eyes widened as the werewolf rammed himself into the wall again. Time to go! She shouted to herself. She quickly turned around and bounded down the stairs. CRASH! Evangeline skidded to a halt and glanced around. The werewolf had knocked it's way through the wall and was lying in a heap of rubble on the landing. Slowly, the werewolf picked itself up. Padfoot had ran through the hole in the wall and was now standing in front of the werewolf, snarling menacingly.

Evangeline knew that was her call to run, she spun around and began to run quickly down the stairs. The werewolf howled behind her, there was a collision of bone with wood. Evangeline flinched fearfully. There was the sound of claws scratching on the wooden stairs above her, she kept running. Her legs were powerful, filled with muscle, not entirely build for long distance sprinting and she only had so much energy that would take her so far. C'mon legs! Keep moving! Please dear God, keep moving! Evangeline said to herself. The werewolf was gaining on her. She reached the dirt track that lead to the exit through the Whomping Willow. She could feel the werewolf snapping at her tail as she sped down the track. Touch my tail, Remus Lupin and you're dead meat! She said, letting out a small growl.

Knowing that she was going to get caught sooner or later, she skidded to a halt, digging her front claws into the ground. The rest of her body was spun around because of the speed at which she was running at. And so she stood facing the snarling werewolf. Surprisingly, she was not as anxious or scared as what she thought she would be when faced with a perilous animal. She thought maybe the fact the she herself was a perilous animal calmed her. The werewolf let out a low treacherous growl, he began to advance on her. Evangeline stood her ground, lowering the front of her body ready to pounce. Holy shit, what do I do now? Evangeline said to herself. The werewolf took a swipe at her face, he scratched a claw the whole way across her cheek. She recoiled in pain, then let out a threatening growl. She launched herself at the werewolf, claws set rigidly. The werewolf moved smartly out of the way, but tried to grab her as she jumped past him. Urgh, even as a bloody werewolf he's clever, Evangeline said as she landed behind the werewolf who had reared to his full height. She pounced once more, grabbing his leg. The werewolf let out a howl of pain. Sorry, mate. But I have to get away somehow. She pulled his leg from under him, he fell in a heap on the dirt track.

Evangeline saw this as her chance, she leaped over him and bounded up the dirt track to the entrance below the Whomping Willow. Behind her she could hear thundering footsteps. Possibly not just four feet, maybe twelve. Well, two sets of paws and one set of hooves. Stampede! Evangeline jumped out of the hole and ran out onto the grass, the Whomping Willow was still rigid. The werewolf came sprinting out of the hole, followed by a big black dog and a stag. The rat was nowhere to be seen. Evangeline turned to face them, the werewolf howled once more and began to charge at her. She stood her ground as she had done before, expecting the werewolf to pounce on her, but he never did. Padfoot came running at the werewolf, slamming into the werewolf's side, knocking him over. They began to tussle on the ground, the sound of jaws snapping and claws ripping echoed through the grounds.

Evangeline stood fixed to the spot. Oh no, no, no. Please, Sirius. Don't get hurt. She had forgotten all about James, he nudged her with his foot causing her to hiss in surprise. She looked up into his eyes. He didn't seem at all pleased. Yikes. Those are his angry eyes … He's gonna murder me. But .. But what about Sirius?! Evangeline glanced back at the werewolf and the big black dog that were still scrapping on the grass in front of them. James kicked her harder this time. She spun around and growled angrily. EXCUSE ME! DO NOT KICK THE CAT! My boyfriend is fighting a werewolf. I'm not going to just stand and watch! James was getting restless, he began stomping his feet impatiently. Evangeline ignored him. What do I do? What do I do?! Hang on … I'm a lion right. So .. does that mean I can roar? James snorted and kicked Evangeline hard in the side, she let out a loud, angry roar that ended in a fierce snarl.

The werewolf and the dog both stopped and looked in James' and Evangeline's direction, surprised by the lour roar that Evangeline had just emitted. Evangeline was still standing, her teeth bared. The werewolf stared into Evangeline's eyes and let out a low growl. Padfoot had took his attention from Evangeline and was now facing the unsuspecting werewolf. He barked loudly and ran at the werewolf, grabbing him by the neck. The werewolf whimpered in pain, before snarling and flailing his limbs about. Padfoot began to drag him towards the Forbidden Forest. Evangeline was transfixed, she watched as they struggled at the edge of the forest. Padfoot eventually let go of the werewolf and it scarpered off into the dark, silent forest.

'EVANGELINE!' James bellowed from beside her. He had resumed into his usual form and was now glaring furiously down at her. 'WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?' he shouted.

Evangeline hissed a response. She decided it might be better to transform back to her usual self either that or James might think she was a coward. She concentrated on her normal appearance, closed her eyes and a rush of heat flowed through her body. She opened one eye and peered up at James who was still glaring at her. Evangeline slowly pulled herself to her feet. 'J-James, please list-'

'LISTEN! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT NEEDS TO LISTEN!' James roared, pointing his finger threateningly at Evangeline. His nostrils flared dangerously, 'You could have been killed! What – What the – What were you thinking?!' he finally managed to say, throwing his arms up in disbelief.

Evangeline stared fearfully up at her brother, 'I-I … You know I hate being left out, James. I wanted to be there f-for Remus, l-like you,' she stuttered quietly. 'He's my friend too. And I've known him for as long as you have.'

'I know, sis. But I specifically forbade you from following us!' James said angrily. 'You disobeyed me … and Remus for that matter. I was only trying to look out for you, protect you. And what do you go and do? Throw it back in my face!

'James, I-I –'

'No, I don't want to hear it Evangeline,' James said coldly, turning away from her. 'I try and protect you from as much as possible and – '

'You don't need to protect me from everything, James!' Evangeline shouted after him. 'I can look after myself to an extent. I'm not an invalid.'

James turned around to face her once more, 'Well that's funny, because when you do get in trouble and I'm not there, you blame me. And yet when I try and protect you, you still jump down my throat!' he shouted hoarsely.

'Maybe you should think things through more carefully then! I can't always be there to tell you when you should protect me and when you shouldn't!' Evangeline retorted, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

'You know, I don't know why I bother,' James said, looking at his sister with disgust.

'I don't know why you do either. And every time you do bring it up we always end up having an argument!' Evangeline said.

'The only reason I bring it up is because I'm your brother!' James yelled.

'Maybe your a bad brother then!' Evangeline shouted brashly before she had thought about what she was going to say. She sighed at her bad choice of words.

'Oh, so I'm the enemy now am I?'

'Don't be ridiculous, James.'

'Well, that's what it sounded like.'

'This is all going to turn out exactly the same way it did when I hexed Black. I don't want it to, James! You basically said I was the bad person by betraying your trust! You didn't even explain to me why you didn't want me going out on a full moon, you just said 'no, you're not going'. That made me even more determined to be a part of what was going on!' Evangeline explained.

'Well, I thought – you know – you being one of the smartest pupils in our year that you might be able to figure it out yourself!' James spat back. 'That you might get killed!'

'I would like to get this sorted out, James! If only you would just deflate your head and listen!' Evangeline hissed.

James snorted, 'You're just as bad as what I am.'

Evangeline gaped at her brother and let out a sarcastic laugh. 'Sorry, James. But I don't go around hexing people just because I wish they didn't exist! I know I give the Slytherins a hard time, but you curse anyone who gets in your way.'

'That's bullshit!'

'Oh really? What about that Knox kid in Ravenclaw?' James gaped at her. 'Didn't know I knew about that now did you? You pushed him down the stairs! He nearly broke his back!'

'How did you – '

'Because I asked Sirius why he always shot you a death glare every time you walked past him!'

'That betraying –'

'Shut up! Don't dare drag Sirius into this! This is between me and you.'

'You know. I don't even want to speak to you,' James said, walking away from her.

Evangeline glared at him, 'YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS MUM! YOU NEVER LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!' she screamed, loosing her temper.

'Fuck off, Evangeline.'

_-_-_

It had been a few days since Evangeline had argued with James, and still they continued to ignore each other. As the days rolled by she found that because of the monstrous amount of homework they had been given she barely had time to sit and relax. Normally the Marauders would drag her away from her work and involve her in a prank on the Slytherins or visit Hogsmeade on a week night to go to the pub for butterbeer. But ever since her argument with James, they rarely saw each other altogether. Evangeline spent most evenings in the Common Room finishing essays or just snuggling up to Sirius by the warmth of the fire. But the person she was spending the most time with, was her red-headed room mate. In fact she had found that spending so much time with Lily that she had somehow managed to brainwash her into completing all her homeworks and studying when she actually had free time.

'How … to … identify … a … Knarl,' Evangeline muttered as she wrote down the heading to yet another essay. She glared irritatedly down at the parchment. Professor Grubby-plank had given them yet another homework, he seemed quite fond of keeping his pupils noses stuck to the grindstone. 'This is getting ridiculous,' Evangeline said shortly, glancing over at Lily who was scribbling away across the table. 'It's the beginning of March. Our OWL's are four months away!'

Lily sighed and stopped writing, she scratched her chin with the end of her quill. 'They're doing this for our benefit, you know. They just want us to do well in our exams,' she reasoned with Evangeline, but her raven-haired friend clearly wasn't listening. She bit the end of her quill thoughtfully, glanced down at her homework and began to write again. She stopped briefly, glanced up at Evangeline who was staring into open space, twiddling her quill between her fingers. 'It's your birthday in a few weeks, isn't it?' Lily said.

Evangeline glanced at her, 'Yep,' she smiled. 'Party in the Common Room. Loud music. Food. Firewhiskey,' she grinned mischievously and laughed at Lily's stony expression. 'Only joking, Lils. That's probably what James wants to do though, 'she furrowed her eyebrows. James wasn't exactly talking to her so she didn't know what he wanted to do for their birthday. 'But I would be happy with a sleepover in the Common Room. Just me, you, Izzy and the Marauders,' she said with a small nod at the thought. Hopefully the James and Remus will forgive me and come anyway.

Lily sighed in relief, 'That's good. The last time there was a party I had to clean up the mess,' she said in an annoyed tone as she finished off her essay. She smiled happily as she wrote the last word, 'There. Done,' she said, holding up the three rolls of parchment that consisted of her essay for Ancient Runes.

Evangeline snorted and glanced down at her own blank page. 'Alright for some,' she said, rolling her eyes at the fact that she had to write two rolls of parchment explaining the physical features of a Knarl, it's feeding patterns and how to spot the difference between a Knarl and a hedgehog. She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully, 'Do you think Grubby-plank would mind if I didn't do it?' Lily glanced at her incredulously. 'I already know what they look like, I know what they eat and I know the difference between a Knarl and a hedgehog,' Evangeline stated.

Lily raised her eyebrow, So how do you spot the difference then?' she asked.

'You offer a hedgehog milk and it would gladly take it. A Knarl on the other hand would go berserk, it would think that you were trying to poison it. Knarls are very superstitious creatures you see,' Evangeline said informatively. She stuck her nose in the air proudly.

Lily laughed, 'Okay, maybe you do know it. I'm sure Professor Grubby-plank would understand.' She gathered all her belongings, her quill, ink pot, essays and books and put them into her bag. 'Do you want to go now? Personally, I'm getting sick of the library,' she said, getting up from her seat.

Evangeline gaped up at her, 'You. Lily Evans. Sick of the library? Well I never thought I'd see the day.' She glanced down once more at the black parchment in front of her and clicked her tongue. 'I think I've done enough work today anyway,' she muttered to herself. She picked up the parchment and shoving it in her bag. She got to her feet, swung her bag over the shoulder and followed Lily out of the library. 'The Marauders are never going to believe that I just spent my free period in the library,' she said as she caught up with her red-headed friend, 'Finishing essays.' She suddenly frowned realising that she was not on the best of terms with James at that moment in time. Sirius wasn't treating her any differently, he knew that she just wanted to be there for Remus during the full moon.

'I've noticed that you haven't been hanging around with them as much,' Lily said as they walked down the corridor. 'Is something wrong?'

Evangeline glanced sadly at her and shrugged. 'James and I had an argument, that's all,' she said quietly, looking away from Lily. 'It should blow over in no time, if he would deflate his over-large head,' she said hopefully as they walked up the stairs.

'Maybe you should go and talk to him about it,' Lily suggested. 'He's standing over there, anyway,' she said, pointing at the Fat Lady's portrait where, just as she had said, the Marauders were standing. Evangeline glanced awkwardly back at Lily. Lily threw her a sympathetic look, 'Listen, I know your brother's a prick. But you're going to have to speak to him sooner or later.'

Evangeline snorted, 'Pfft. Prick? He's a bloody –'

'Evie, go and talk to him,' Lily said, shoving Evangeline in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower. 'Go and talk to him or I will forbid you from seeing Sirius tonight.'

Evangeline glanced incredulously at her. 'You can't do that!'

'Watch me,' Lily replied bluntly, grabbing Evangeline's elbow and leading her towards the portrait of the Fat Lady. Evangeline jerked her elbow out of her grasp and rolled her eyes. 'Go and talk to Potter,' Lily ordered.

Evangeline walked anxiously over to the Marauders who had gathered outside the portrait hole. 'Hi guys,' she smiled nervously. She glanced hopefully at her brother. When she tried to make eye contact, he turned his head away.

Sirius smiled and walked over. He rested his hands on her hips before gently kissing her lips. She smiled fondly. 'Evening, my Angel,' he said, and slipped his arm around her waist.

'Actually,' Evangeline said, removing Sirius' arm from her waist. He looked at her confusedly, but she reassured him by kissing him on the corner of his mouth. 'I-I need to speak to …' she gulped, 'James. If he'll speak to me,' she glanced over at him.

'Fine,' he said with a shrug. He walked a little off to the side, pausing slightly for Evangeline to catch up on him. Evangeline smiled hopefully back at the rest of the Marauders and walked off to join her brother.

'Thanks for speaking to me … I-I I'm sure you didn't really want to,' Evangeline said, quietly. She wrung her hands nervously.

'I actually needed to speak to you as well. Just I didn't …' James sighed, 'I guess I didn't have the courage.' He shook his head as though he were disappointed with himself.

'Look, James. I-I just wanted to say .. I'm sorry,' Evangeline said, glancing sideways hoping that he would make eye contact with her. She gulped anxiously when he didn't look up. 'I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I-I shouldn't have … Listen, I'm sorry. That's all I can say.' She awaited James' reply, it never came. She sighed, 'Can you forgive me?'

James looked up. He looked uneasy, sad almost. 'Evie,' he began, 'Mum's got permission to come and visit us here on our birthday.'

DUN DUN DUUNNNN!! XD I thought it was getting a bit boring recently so I decided to spice it up a little bit. I do realise that it isn't as long as some of the other chapters. I guess it's coz at the start there isn't really much speaking (: I hope you can forgive me. REVIEWS!!! Say whatever you want to say, I really don't mind .. as long as it makes sense of course. Hahaha. Tori XO

P.S ohohoh, I've started a Pirates of the Caribbean story if any of you are interested (: