"we're happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time"

*

A spring breeze tousled Eva's stray curls as she wandered around the grounds of Hogwarts. She bent down to pick a few wildflowers and stuck them into her braid, laughing at herself as she did so. Over the years, she never grew out of her fascination with nature, her awe of the majesty of the earth. More than once she considered just spending the first year after graduation just roaming the world and experiencing life to the fullest.

Her friends were expecting her, but they could wait. Sometimes, she just loved walking by herself. Thank God exams are over. She felt like she could breathe again. Their sixth year kept inching closer to an end with summer only a few weeks off. Looking around, she realized that Hogwarts indeed was her favorite place in the entire world. Each corner of the place held a memory for her. Even though she, like all of her classmates, eagerly anticipated the coming holiday, part of her didn't want to leave. It always hurt to be separated from her friends or the school she loved.

At least she knew she'd see a few of them. At one point, the girls might be taking a trip to America. Her mother wanted to meet Sirius, and he'd probably come to stay for the ABBA concert in July, anyway. The thought made her want to jump up and down with excitement. The summer held so much possibility.

Another matter pressed at Eva's mind as she walked on. Mrs. Taylor knew nothing about the Order of the Phoenix, let alone her daughter's pledged involvement in the illegal society, and Eva planned to keep it that way. Even though she knew it was necessary, she couldn't help feeling guilty about it. They didn't have secrets, but this one would keep her mother safe, and Eva was willing to do anything for that.

She spotted a few of her friends lounging under their usual tree and raised her hand to wave. Marlene, Peter, Kriss, James, and Remus all appeared to be involved in a very intense game of poker. Lily kept her eyes on a book, tuning out their playful trash-talk, and Sirius had his head buried in the Daily Prophet.

"You're late," Remus informed Eva, never taking his gaze off of his cards.

Eva flicked his head. "I'm late for hanging out under a tree?"

"You're messing with my concentration, Eve," he quipped. Remus' posture slackened: for once, he seemed relaxed and at ease. She knew the full moon was only a few days away, but he didn't look as tired as usual. Or if he was, he was doing an extremely good job hiding it.

The blonde sat down on the grass next to Sirius and leaned to whisper in Remus' ear. "Happiness looks good on you."

He smiled a bit. "Thanks," he muttered back.

Eva turned then to Sirius. "Whatcha looking at?" He looked up from the newspaper and pointed an ad out to her.

"Look at this. It's a loft apartment in Diagon Alley."

Eva took the paper from his hands and read the short listing. "It looks nice. Can you afford it?"

"My uncle left me some money. There's enough gold to cover this, plus a little extra to get started. I might mail them about it."

"You know James would just let you stay with him," she said. "Or come and stay with me and my mum. You don't have to get out on your own just yet."

He sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. "I know. Might do me some good, though."

"If you say so." Bored, she began to change her shoelaces different colors with a new charm she'd learned. This went on for a few minutes until she settled on an obnoxious purple simply because it made her smile.

"McKinnon, for the love of Merlin, let someone else win once in a while!" James whined as he bet his last chips. "I'm out!"

Peter patted him condescendingly on the shoulder. "Don't take it too hard, Prongs. You've got a bad poker face and a bad loser face."

"Shut up, Pete." James pretended to sulk for a moment, but then his hazel eyes brightened considerably and he jumped up. "I almost forgot! I'm about to make your lives a thousand times better!"

Lily looked up from her novel. "By sitting back down?"

"All right, Evans, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that. Trust me, you're going to like this." He stood in front of them like he was prepared to make a speech and plunged his hand into the pockets of his robes, pulling out eight pieces of paper. "There may or may not be a very important event happening this June, only two mere weeks after they let us out of school."

He paused for dramatic effect. Eva's eyes widened, wondering if the slips of papers were what she thought they were.

"James, are those-?"

"Shh! Yes, they are, but you'll spoil it!"

"Are you going to tell us, then, or can I beat the rest of them at poker, too?" Marlene asked impatiently.

James grinned and punched his fist with the papers in the air. "What would you say if I told you that I have in my possession eight tickets to the Quidditch World Cup?"

His question instantly got a rouse out of them all. "What?" Remus gasped.

"Are you serious?" Eva screeched, jumping up. Sirius tugged on the hem of her shirt.

"No, I am."

Remus gave him a look. "I know we all said that never gets old, but it actually does."

Sirius scoffed. "In your dreams. But James, are you for real?"

"Yes yes yes, have a ticket, here's a ticket, everybody gets a ticket!" James said enthusiastically, 'making it rain' with the slips of parchment. "They're not great seats, but they're all together."

"France versus the United States," Eva added, excitement flushing her face in pink. She too had been keeping up with professional Quidditch through articles in the paper and could hardly wait to see the outcome. "It's the first time a team from the US has ever made it to the finals! The Sweetwater Allstars are incredible! And they've all got cute southern accents!"

"Hey, what's so good about a cowboy voice?" Sirius interrupted.

Lily picked hers up and frowned. "Potter, these must have been expensive."

"Actually, they weren't too bad. My dad got the tickets from work. We have to get there a few days early, but we can't miss this, it's the world cup! It only happens every couple of years, and this is America's first cup! It's historical!"

"All the same, James, I don't know," Kriss said, chewing the inside of her cheek. Secretly, she was touched that the boy already considered her one of the group. "This is too much."

"I figured you'd all say that, so I've already figured out a solution: you guys pay for half of your tickets and I don't buy you another present until I'm at least twenty-seven. That's ten years away. No, not even then. Like thirty. When I'm thirty, I'll start buying presents again. That sounds good." James winked and laid down on the grass, laughing at the sky and the absurdity of his promise. Thirty seemed so far away. "You guys in?"

Excitement won and everyone quickly agreed. James and Eva spent the rest of the afternoon debating the outcome of the match. Sirius began writing a letter to place an offer on that apartment. Everyone playing poker lost their bets not to Marlene, but to Kriss, who hadn't learned the game until that day but had a knack for it.

"Klarkson, how are you so good at this?" James asked after losing all of his chips to her two games after being dealt back in.

She shrugged, a shy smile on her face. "Beginner's luck, I guess."

"You've been holding out on us all! I thought you were a snore for years!"

Eva paused from sketching in her journal to whack James with it. Once he yelped, she returned to drawing as if nothing happened.

"Oi! These women will be the death of me, I'm telling you," he grumbled to Sirius. "I'd escape if I were you."

Sirius only grinned and gave Eva a high five. "Nah, she's a Keeper."

"Very punny," Eva retorted. She brushed her pants off and stood. "I've got to get going soon. McGonagall wanted me to stop by her office sometime this weekend."

"I'll walk with you," Sirius offered. He couldn't help being paranoid with her walking around by herself as the night drew closer, but she only rolled her eyes.

"No."

"Padfoot, you struck out," Peter informed him.

Remus smirked at Eva. "Graffiti anyone's face recently? I'll tell you later." The last he said to Kriss, who made a confused face at his question.

"No, I only do that on special occasions."

"You'll have to say hi to Minnie for me," Sirius said idly. "I haven't had detention with her in a few weeks. She probably misses me, poor dear."

"Right," Eva said, a sparkle in her eyes. "Who wouldn't miss you?"

"I ask myself the same thing every morning." He stretched his long legs out. "Go see her in the morning. We've only got a few weeks left, Blondie. Let's enjoy them."

She considered his proposition and winked, bending down to kiss him on the head before walking over to Marlene. He put his quill back to parchment but found himself distracted by how happy he was. Not a bad problem to have.

Kriss leaned into Remus, and he wrapped an arm around her as he started to tell the true tale of Bellatrix's inked facial features. She laughed softly at the right times, and though Remus felt tired, it was a good tired.

James picked up a few stones. He, Peter, Eva, and Marlene started a contest to see who could skip them farthest on the Black Lake. Lily watched the group, specifically James, though she tried to ignore the impulse. Laughing wildly in the fading light, he looked... well, not as idiotic as usual.

"Evans, can I be the best man at your wedding?" She snapped back to the present at Sirius' question, then scowled.

"As if."

Sirius only shook his head with a grin. "Come on, Ginger. Just give it a year or two."

"It's never going to happen, Black," she scoffed, pulling her red hair back into a ponytail. "Never."

"But if it does?"

She sighed like an annoyed child. "If it makes you happy, when I get married to someone who is not Potter, then sure. You can be the best man."

"I thank you for that. In all seriousness, though, I'd appreciate it if you made up your mind."

"Sirius?" She asked, completely baffled. "What are you talking about?"

He shifted on the ground and leaned forward, his easygoing expression replaced with something more sincere. "He's been hung up over you since first year. We all know that. I'll admit that he's been a little obnoxious about you, but you shouldn't take that as a reason to hate him. It's not an obsession. It's not a prank. He cares about you more than he cares about anyone. He's just an idiot who doesn't know how to tell you that, so he ends up looking stupid instead of taking his chances and getting hurt."

"Sirius... I- I don't hate him," she said quietly. "It's just complicated. You're asking me to magically fall in love with him-"

"No, I'm not. I'm just asking you to try and make up your mind. Since Valentine's Day, he's been nothing but respectful to you. You know why? Because he wants you to like him, at least as a friend. He cares about you too much to lose you."

Lily tried to process everything he'd just said. "This is a lot of new information to take in," she mumbled.

"No, it's not new. You're smart, Evans. You know why he's been quieter around you. You know how he feels about you. You might know how you feel about him, but if you don't, I'm not going to pretend like I can tell you because I can't. Either way, please make up your mind, because he deserves better than you dragging him around on a string any longer." He shrugged. "Promise me you'll think about it."

The redhead saw the serious look in his gray eyes and knew he wasn't joking. She thought about the pair of them. James and Sirius, Potter and Black, Prongs and Padfoot. Best friends. Closer than brothers. And Sirius was wrong. There was someone James cared about more than her. It was him.

"I promise I'll think about it," she said, smiling as she gripped his hand for a moment. And she meant it.

While Sirius and Lily talked about whatever they were talking about, Remus tapped Kriss' shoulder. "You want to get out of here?"

"Sure. Where to?"

"I know a few really nice broom closets."

"Remus!"

"I'm kidding. Merlin, I'm not Sirius. I don't know where we're going, but let's go anyway." The two snuck away, hand in hand.

"Aaaaah!" Both Lily's and Sirius' heads snapped up at Eva's scream just in time to see her falling backward into the lake, but not before she grabbed James' arm. The two of them plunged into the icy water amidst the laughing of their friends. Eva resurfaced first, soaking wet, followed by James, whose glasses somehow still perched on his nose. "It's freezing! I'm going to kill you for tripping me," she vowed, shaking out her braid. A few flowers floated around her. 

James grinned cheekily. "Only if you can catch me." With perfect form, he started to freestyle swim away from her. Without a second of hesitation, Eva swam after him. 

Marlene glanced at Peter, an impish look on her face, before setting her wand on the ground and hopped in without another thought. He was the next to jump in, yelling excitedly for the others to join them. 

When Sirius turned around, he saw that Remus and Kriss were nowhere to be seen. Letting his guard down was definitely his downfall, though, because the next thing he knew, he was in the lake, a smirking Lily above him on land.

"Evans!" He yelled, trying to splash her. "My hair's going to be all messed up!"

"Smile!" Lily held up her camera and snapped a few pictures of her friends. 

Eva swam over to them, pure glee all over her face. "This is so stupid!" She exclaimed with the biggest smile. "But it's so fun!"

Sirius grinned as she threw her arms around him. He pushed her wet curls out of her face and kissed her in the Black Lake mid-laugh. 

Lily caught that on camera, too.

"Are we allowed to be in here?" Marlene asked while backstroking over. Lily looked at her friends and laughed hard.

"Who cares?" And after placing her camera safely under the tree, she jumped in too.

hi 

what did you guys think of this one? it's so much fun!!!! 

we've got quidditch, we've got swimming, and we've got multi-ship action

sixth year is winding down, we'll be onto the final year at hogwarts soon enough :) :(

qotd because quarantine is boring: favorite scene so far?

aotd: too many to count, but i like anything with remus and eva, reg helping sirius run away, and the part in the hospital wing after the quidditch match

stay safe! be productive (unlike me lol)