"i climb in the dark for you - are you waiting in the stars for me?"

*

"Remus?"

Eva's voice echoed in the chilly passageway. She had to stoop a bit to avoid scraping her head against the low ceilings. Her hands shook uncontrollably, though she couldn't pinpoint the reason.

In all her years of friendship with Remus, she'd never actually ventured into the Shrieking Shack. It was far too dangerous. Only Animagi could keep him company, and she had no reason to visit any other time.

"Remus?" She whispered. "Are you in here?"

She stilled at the sound of muffled voices. Carefully, she mounted the stairs of the old house, frustrated that every single one seemed to creak. She pressed her ear to a battered door and held her breath.

"-looking rather ragged, aren't we, Sirius? Finally, the skin reflects the madness within."

He can't be here.

"Well, you would know all about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?"

Eva nearly dropped her wand at the new voice, so foreign her familiar, so horrible yet comforting. She covered her mouth with a spare hand and her eyes squeezed shut.

They were working together.

"I found him!"

"I know, I know you did-"

"Let's kill him!"

"No!"

It was Hermione's scream that scared Eva more than anything. A private scheme of sorts was one thing, but they had involved children? Her heart beat rapidly, not comprehending anything else said in the room beyond the door. All she knew was that she had to put an end to it before something happened.

Eva pushed open the door, her wand raised as she took in the scene. In one corner, Harry and Hermione stood over Ron, who seemed to be injured. She crossed the room and stood in front of them protectively. Remus blinked at her appearance, shock written all over his pale face. And Sirius...

Sirius.

She couldn't help staring. His clothes hung loosely around his thin form and his hair was shaggier than she'd ever seen it. Hunger had pronounced the sharpness of his facial features. Dark bags underlined his eyes and scratches littered his skin. He looked, for lack of a better description, corpse-like.

He couldn't seem to tear his hollow eyes away from her, either. After years of nothing but darkness, she was endless light. He tried to memorize every inch of her: the oversized burgundy sweater slouching off one of her shoulders, the loose curls framing her face, the pair of rings he noticed dangling on a chain around her neck.

"Eva," Sirius whispered hoarsely. The convict took a step closer but stopped short as she backed away. Pain flickered in his dark eyes. "I-"

"Don't move!" Her voice cracked. "Please. Please don't make me do anything to you."

Remus raised his hands in surrender, perhaps realizing the severity of the moment. This was the tipping point, and he needed her on their side. "Eva, you have to calm down and listen-"

"Listen? To you? So you're talking to me now? What happened to the silent game? Did you get lonely? I did!"

Sirius glanced at Remus, his brow furrowed. "You were ignoring her?"

"Shut your mouth, you were gone for twelve years. A lot happened," Remus retorted before focusing on Eva again. "Now isn't really the time to have that discussion, Eve-"

"What are we going to discuss instead? The fact that you're working with him?" Her voice progressively jumped octaves, and she could barely breathe. "Was our fight a smoke-and-mirrors trick? 'Do me a favor and hate him, Eva, so I can buddy up with him next month without you knowing?' How stupid do you think I am?"

"You're not thinking straight," Remus stated. He ran a hand down his face. "That's not your fault, but you're not."

"Remus, leave her alone," Sirius snapped. "She looks exhausted."

"Can you three just stop bickering?" Ron burst out. "I want to know what's going on, and I can't be the only one!"

Remus looked around the room and sighed. He slowly walked over to Eva. Putting his hands on her shoulders, he met her gaze said, "I'm not going to take your wand. I just want you to promise not to do anything rash until you know all of the facts."

Eva bit her lip. Against her better judgment, she nodded, although she kept her wand raised in the air.

"Remus, let's just kill him already!" Sirius said impatiently.

"Wait one moment-"

"I did my waiting!" Sirius yelled. For a moment, he looked quite demented. "Twelve years of it! In Azkaban!"

Eva automatically spread her arms out, her breath catching in her throat as she reached to protect her students. Sirius blanched and took a step back.

"Not... yet..." Remus said heavily. "Harry deserves to know the truth. So does Eva. We owe them an explanation, and there are parts of this that I want to know, too."

Sirius looked back and forth between Remus and Eva, his expression conflicted. Finally, he lowered his wand.

"Fine. But make it quick. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for."

"P-Professor Taylor?" Hermione squeaked. Eva didn't miss the mix of hurt and confusion that flashed across Sirius' face at the sound of her name. "Do you... do you know that Professor Lupin is a werewolf?"

Eva looked at Remus, eyebrows raised in confusion, before answering. "Yes."

"And it doesn't bother you?" Ron asked incredulously.

She shook her head. "It never did."

"That's where this all begins, actually," Remus admitted. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and stared at the floorboards. "I was bitten when I was four. My parents kept my affliction hidden, and as a result, I was a very lonely child. I didn't think I'd ever attend Hogwarts, but Dumbledore was quite understanding.

"Still, after the first eleven years of my life being so guarded, I was naturally private. I didn't think I'd ever meet any friends. That is, until someone tripped up the steps of the Hogwarts Express on my first day. We sat together. She talked my ear off the whole time, she was so nervous. The wizarding world was still so new to her." He glanced sideways at Eva, and they shared a small smile. Twenty-two years had passed, and they'd never managed to be rid of each other. "Within a few weeks at Hogwarts, I was happier than I'd ever been. In addition to Eva, I had three new friends: Sirius, Peter, and James. Your father, Harry.

"Despite James being the densest person I have ever had the pleasure to meet, he and my other dorm mates definitely noticed that I would disappear each month. I quickly ran out of lies, and they put two and two together. Instead of shunning me like I thought they would, they wanted to help. They became Animagi."

"They did?" Harry asked, awe in his voice. "My dad?"

Eva remembered that awkward time, somewhere between fourth and fifth year when the boys were attempting that complex magic. The month of silence was particularly amusing to think about.

"Yes. By our fifth year, they'd managed it. They could keep me company on full moons. And we were so arrogant, so carried away by our own cleverness, that the Shrieking Shack was left in the past. We began to explore the Forbidden Forest and the outskirts of Hogsmeade."

Hermione's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "But that was so dangerous! What if you hurt someone?"

A shadow crossed Remus' face as he recalled a scar he'd inflicted so many years ago. Eva's eyes flitted up briefly to meet Sirius', and when she caught him staring at her, she dropped her gaze, a faint blush creeping up her neck.

"There were close calls. I regret it, looking back now. I made mistakes. Either way, those escapades were what led to the creation of the Marauders' Map."

"The Marauders' Map?" Harry asked incredulously. "You wrote the Marauders' Map?"

"Actually, I did the literal writing of that map," Sirius interrupted. "I've been told that I have lovely penmanship."

Eva almost laughed.

"Yes, I wrote the map. I was Moony. That's what they called me back in school. I came down here tonight because I saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron all outside last curfew, but they weren't alone. I couldn't believe my eyes. He couldn't be with you!"

"Who?" Hermione asked. She looked ready to lose her mind from misunderstanding.

"An Animagus," Sirius said slowly, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

"Peter's dead," Eva whispered, her voice shaking. She felt a strong urge to brush her rings. "You killed him. I was there that night."

"No, he did not," Remus interjected. "I thought so, too, until Harry mentioned seeing him on the map. Then I saw it for myself."

Harry crossed his arms. "The map was lying, then!"

"The map never lies! Pettigrew's alive, and he's right there!"

Eva followed his pointed finger to its target and her eyes widened. The students didn't catch on so quickly.

"Me?" Ron tried to scramble backwards, but whimpered as he landed on his injured leg. "You're mental!"

"No, not you!" Sirius threw his hands up in the air. "Your rat!"

The rat wouldn't stop squeaking and squirming. Ron could barely keep ahold of him.

"Scabbers has been in my family for-"

"Twelve years!" Sirius yelled. "A curiously long life for a garden rat! And he's missing a toe, isn't he?"

"Genius move on his part," Remus mumbled with a sigh. "Cutting it off."

Harry easily followed his godfather's line of thought. "All they found of Pettigrew was a-"

"-Finger," Eva whispered.

"When I went after him that night, he made a big scene. Screaming at me, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And he killed off everyone within eyesight and created this big blast of the place. I never knew he had it in him. During that time, he must've cut his finger off and transformed, escaping and leaving me to take the fall. By the time the Aurors arrived, I felt like I'd been trapped in a nightmare, and I felt like it was my fault. I barely fought back, and no one would listen to me when I told the truth. They thought me mad."

Harry still wasn't convinced. "You killed my parents."

"I was James and Lily's Secret Keeper." Sirius began to pace erratically, the boards creaking beneath his step. "I didn't trust those around me, though. Everyone knew there was a spy. Voldemort's power was growing by the day. We all had our own suspicions." He glanced up at Remus. "Forgive me, my friend."

"Only if you forgive me for believing the spy to be you."

Sirius smiled the slightest bit. "Forgiven."

Eva knew that twelve years ago, she trusted all of her friends with her life. She never doubted them in the slightest. Looking back, her good heart had blinded her. Did that make her weak?

"I knew that someone was passing information about the Potters, and I unfortunately suspected it to be Remus. To deflect suspicion, I convinced James to switch. I thought for sure that the Death Eaters would continue to go after me, a sacrifice I was happy to make." He closed his eyes. "I never suspected Peter. When I was in Azkaban, I spent years thinking that I practically killed my best friends myself because I entrusted their safety to the likes of him."

Eva's lips turned downward at the edges. "Why didn't you switch to me?"

Sirius looked at her for a minute before shaking his head. "I didn't want you to be in any more danger than you already were," he mumbled. "James agreed with me."

"You didn't tell me."

"I thought I was keeping you safe," he murmured. "I was young and stupid and desperate. I shouldn't have kept anything from you. I'm sorry."

"How did you escape?" Eva's voice was barely above a whisper. "Azkaban, I mean. No one's ever done that."

"I'd actually like to hear this one for myself," Remus asked, crossing his arms. "And how you found Peter-"

"Scabbers," insisted Ron.

A haunted look crossed Sirius' face. He looked years older, just like the man in the wanted posters.

"I don't know how I did it, really. All I knew was I was innocent. The dementors couldn't take that thought from me: it wasn't exactly happy, but it kept me sane. And one day, Fudge came in with a group of Aurors for inspection, and he gave me his newspaper."

He tossed a ragged edition of The Daily Prophet onto the dusty piano. It was dated back to July, the month he'd escaped. A photo of the Weasleys waving from Egypt occupied the front page. Sitting on Ron's shoulder was a rat with a missing toe.

"I knew I had to get out. What if Voldemort returned? Peter was in the perfect position to harm Harry. I was skinny enough as a dog to slip through the bars, and I somehow managed to swim to the mainland. After stopping one night in Surrey, I started for Hogwarts."

"Surrey?" Eva exclaimed. "It was you I heard on Privet Drive! You scared me half to death!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, but I couldn't help myself. I hadn't seen you in twelve years, and you just looked so beautiful standing there. I couldn't help myself."

"I still don't understand," Eva murmured, her green eyes sparkling with tears. "What... why... how did you...?"

Sirius met her gaze and spoke tenderly. "There were people I needed to get home to."

Remus watched Eva's face carefully. He saw a storm of emotions in her eyes, swirling until she came to a realization. It was the same expression she wore on Valentine's Day of 1977, and suddenly, he was certain of what was about to happen.

Eva's wand clattered to the floor. She ran across the room, tripping over her own feet, and flung herself into Sirius' arms. He stumbled backwards, barely having enough time to recover before her lips met his.

After twelve years of being starved of affection, Eva wanted to melt. She could feel the love in Sirius' touch, the gentle way in which he held her close. Never mind the horrors of the situation at hand. This was familiar, warm, right. For the first time since the deaths of Lily and James, she felt whole.

He was home.

"Well, well, well," came a drawling voice.

They broke apart, regretfully so, but remained where they were. Sirius drew Eva closer to him, his arms still wrapped around her waist protectively, and found himself glaring into the black eyes of Severus Snape.

THOUGHTS?

I didn't want to do this whole situation in one chapter, so we're breaking it down into more than one :) enjoy!