A/N: I'm soooo sorry!! The story's a bit slow to start, and these chapters are hard to get on. It might be partially because of that, but this story has been hard to get started for me. Plus, my friend who used to do the really thorough editing kind of stopped for some reason, so I'm having a hard time (Not that you're not a great help, Ainsley--believe me, you are). I think I'll have to get a beta... anyway, please read and review!!!
I sighed and sat down on my bed at home. Sirius sat down next to me. “Pretty strange day, huh?” I asked.
Sirius nodded. “What happened with Eve exactly?”
I didn’t really wanting to think any more today, but explained it to him anyway.
*Flashback*
After our “morning ritual,” Lily fled and, like always, Robyn and Scarlett followed her without finishing their breakfast. To my surprise, Eve stayed there, finishing her food and smiling shyly at me while I dished up some waffles for myself. I knew she had liked me for a long time, and I tried to avoid leading her on. Lily was the girl for me; I just knew it, even if she didn’t.
“Why don’t you just give up on her?” she asked hesitantly, refusing to look me in the eyes. I could tell that it wasn’t because she was acting jealous; she was genuinely curious.
“Because I love her,” I replied simply, not in the least bit embarrassed. It was not a big deal to me anymore; everyone knew. And I felt that being honest with her was the best way to go.
“She thinks it’s all a joke!” Eve informed me. “She thinks you just do it because it bugs her.” Eve looked me straight in the eyes. She was very pretty. Her huge hazel eyes were fixed on me, and her skin was flawless.
“I’m not!” I exclaimed. Her eyes dropped when I said this.
“What are you doing this summer?” she asked after a bit of an awkward silence, trying to keep the conversation going.
I was slightly annoyed that she was pushing it so hard, but I decided to be as polite as possible. No matter how pretty she was, if she was going to try so hard I couldn’t possibly imagine even being friends with her. “I’m just… well, I’m not doing anything. I’m staying at my house with Sirius.”
“I’m going to hang out at home. With my brother and sister,” she said, looking up again. With a note of pride in her voice, she said, “Eddie’s training to be an Auror. How about you?” She flipped her brown hair behind her ear and smiled seductively at me. I sighed inwardly and wished I could leave.
We continued to talk for about ten more minutes (well, she did most of the talking. I had no idea what was she said because my mind was elsewhere) before I finally looked down at my plate and realized that it was empty; I was glad to have an excuse to go. Eve had been blabbering on for practically the whole time.
“Well, I’d better go. I have a lot of packing to do.”
“Oh, yeah, same,” she said. She talked a little more while walking up to the Common Room.
“Bye,” Eve said, heading into her dormitory.
“See you later,” I replied. I went up the stairs to my dorm.
*End of Flashback*
I explained this to Sirius, and he looked at me suspiciously. “Are you falling for Eve?”
I shook my head. “No! She’s talks too much. And she tries way too hard.”
“Eve is Lily’s best friend,” Sirius said.
“I know,” I said irritably.
He sighed and shook his head. “Don’t you get it? You could use her as a way to get to Lily.”
“Sirius! That’s horrible,” I chided.
“Oh, come on, you’ve done it before! Admit it,” he said.
“I feel so sorry for Eve, though. She just lost her dad and brother,” I said, changing the subject with the first thing that came to mind. I had never done anything like that; he had, but I would never do something like that.
“But that’s not why you like her, is it?”
“I do not like her!” I replied crossly.
*Flashback*
We went back to the dorm to get our trunks, levitating them down the stairs and through the Great Hall. We got on the train very early; we were practically the first people there. We made the best of it, playing on Sirius’s chess board. Sirius and I were evenly matched, but Peter was almost laughably bad. He had no sense of strategy; that was probably part of the reason he didn’t play Quidditch like the rest of the Marauders.
Remus entered the compartment just as the train started to move. He sat down across from me. I was playing Sirius and my queen was beating up his knight, so I stared intently down at the chessboard, only breaking my concentration by saying, “Hey, Moony.”
“Hey.” He was much quieter than usual. Not that he was normally loud.
Sirius and I looked at each other, then at Remus. He looked back at us. “What’s wrong?” Sirius asked. “You’re too quiet.”
He shrugged. “Nothing, really. I’ve just been thinking.”
“About what?” I persisted.
“Well, Lily told me Eve’s dad and brother were killed by Voldemort,” he said. “I mean, it could happen to anyone, really. Especially me. I mean, I am a half-blood. In more ways than one.” He smiled grimly.
I sat there, stunned. What Voldemort was doing was completely disgusting; I could barely stand it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with people who weren’t purebloods!
“I’m scared,” Remus admitted. “I mean, from the sound of it, he just shows up on people’s doorsteps and then kills them all. Or he sends his Death Eaters to do it for him.”
Sirius grimaced. “How much do you wanna bet Bellatrix is a Death Eater?” he asked. No one answered, and we didn’t talk for a long time. We stayed silent, playing chess and just thinking.
My mind was full; I thought about how Eve’s summer had been ruined by Voldemort. I thought about all of the things I had done with the Marauders and what might happen when we graduated next year. And, as usual, I thought of Lily.
It was right about then that I started losing to Peter.
*End of Flashback*
“It is too bad,” Sirius said sympathetically after we had pondered it for a little while. I guess he decided to just go along with my rapid change of subject. “And also kind of scary. I mean, think about it”Voldemort is out to get muggleborns and half-bloods. And people like your parents, who don’t support his movement to get the people who aren’t purebloods out.”
“Yeah,” I said. I really wanted to stop talking about it. “I’m starving. Want to go get some food?”
Sirius nodded, and we headed downstairs to eat.
A few weeks later, Remus came to join us. He waited until about a week after the full moon to come, but he still looked horrible. It was obvious that it had been a hard transformation for him.
Remus was a werewolf, but almost no one knew. No one, that is, besides the two of us, Peter Pettigrew, our other friend, the teachers, and someone else”Severus Snape.
*Flashback*
“So now that I know your dear friend’s secret, what will you do for me?” Snape asked, smiling maliciously.
“You bastard,” Sirius almost yelled. “Why should we do anything for you? We can just kill you when you mention it.”
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Snape inquired haughtily, eyebrows raised. Poor Remus. He was covered in cuts and scratches and looked like he was about to cry. He had just undergone an especially difficult transformation and, to make matters worse, Sirius had played a trick on Snape, almost making him run straight into werewolf-Remus. Remus was done yelling at Sirius, but I could tell he was still pissed. But who wouldn’t be?
“I’ll pay you fifty Galleons if you shut up, Snivellus,” I offered.
“One hundred,” he said.
“Sixty.”
“Ninety.”
“Sixty-Five.”
“Eighty-Five.”
“Final offer, Snivellus. Seventy Galleons. Take it or leave it,” I hissed to him. Even though we were in an empty classroom, someone could walk in at any moment and hear us. Then I would have to pay even more. Not that it was actually a big deal; my family’s quite rich, but I still didn’t like to part with my money…
“Fine,” he agreed disdainfully. “I expect it by tomorrow.” He stood and walked briskly out of the room.
Remus gazed at me wearily. “How am I going to pay?” he asked.
“You’re not. I am,” I said.
He stared at me in disbelief “I can’t let you do that! It’s not your fault.” He glanced at Sirius in a slightly angry manner. “You’re the one who kept him from actually coming into the Shack!”
“I’m your friend Remus. Friends help each other, and you obviously need help,” I told him.
“I promise to pay you back someday,” he said.
I shook my head exasperatedly. “You don’t have to pay me back! I’m doing this as a favor to you because you need it!”
“I just hope he actually stays quiet,” Remus whispered.
*End of Flashback*
That had been a year ago, but the fear was still present. Remus thought about it every day”it was obvious to anyone who was around him a lot. He would occasionally go into periods where he would kind of space out and look worried. I hoped that if Snivellus hadn’t told yet, he probably wouldn’t ever. But I still wasn’t so sure.
“Are you okay, Remus?” I asked.
“Sorry we couldn’t be there, mate,” Sirius apologized.
He shrugged with his good shoulder and said, “I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”
We continued to talk, and he asked about Eve. So I had to explain it all over again.
Once I finished explaining, Remus asked, “Do you like her?”
I sighed angrily. “No! And please don’t start that, too. Sirius has been doing it all summer so far and I’m already going crazy. Eve is annoying and too talkative. And she tries too hard.”
“Just give up on Lily. I hate to tell you mate, but you’ll probably never get her if you haven’t already. And really”there are tons of girls who would kill to go out with you. And Eve is one of them,” Sirius said.
“I don’t like Eve!” I told them heatedly. “This is the year Lily will finally realize that I’m not a terrible person. I can feel it.”
“Maybe, but I still think that you should try going out with Eve,” said Sirius.
Remus sighed. “Do whatever you want, James. We’re”well, I’m not going to stop you.”
“I don’t like Eve!” I repeated.
“Just think about it, mate,” Sirius suggested. “You have all summer.”