"if two people can't stay away from each other, maybe they aren't meant to be apart"

*

From his spot perched on the windowsill, knees tucked into his chest, unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, Sirius had a clear view of everything and everyone in the common room. The fire flickered merrily, casting light and warmth on the young Gryffindor students. Some played Exploding Snap while others joked around, and still others worked on assignments. As usual, though, he only had eyes for one.

Eva sat a bit away from the buzz of the room on one of the more isolated armchairs. Her hand flew across the pages of the notebook, writing with one of those Muggle featherless quills again. He always forgot what they were called, but she claimed they were superior to quills. Personally, Sirius thought Eva used them to show off her blood status, to prove that she was proud of where she came from. She had a streak of pride a mile long.

A blonde curl fell into her face and she tucked it behind her ear hurriedly, still occupied by whatever it was she was writing. She had no idea how much those little motions affected Sirius, made him want her more. Those tics and normalcies always caused him to fall deeper.

Twisting his wand between his fingers, Sirius' thoughts drifted to his meeting the other day with Professor McGonagall.

"So, did Dumbledore recruit me for my impeccable charisma or my dashing good looks?"

She sent him a disapproving look. "Are you interested or not, Mr. Black?"

"So stern," he mused, flashing her a cheeky smile. "Anything for you, Minnie darling. Count me in."

And just like that, Sirius joined an illegal organization to help save the world.

He didn't know who else Dumbledore had recruited. Professor McGonagall gave him strict instructions not to tell anyone, and for once, he listened to her. It didn't stop him from wondering, though. Some of his peers were bound to be a part of the Order. He just didn't know who.

He wanted to believe that all of his friends would join the war against Voldemort, but the world was so uncertain. He had no way to be sure unless he asked, and McGonagall had made it clear that discretion was key.

"You look lost in thought." Eva leaned casually against the wall, a smile spreading across her lips. "Can I join you?" Sirius nodded and moved his legs to make room on the windowsill. He also returned the cigarette to the pack, knowing that she didn't like them due to her father's cancer. "So what's on your mind, Black?"

"Nothing," he replied automatically, running a hand through his hair. "Just thinking about stuff after school."

"Oh yeah. Sorry about McGonagall. I think you'd be great at being professionally good-looking." She winked, but then her eyes took on a more somber expression. "Isn't it weird to think we only have a year left?"

"I try not to think at all, Blondie." His manner was easygoing, but in reality, the future concerned him. "But if I were to think, I'd say that yeah, it's weird."

Eva leaned her head on his shoulder and after a second of hesitation, Sirius draped his arm around her. With him, she just felt safe and comfortable. Like if they stood together, Voldemort himself wouldn't stand a chance.

"What do you think's going to happen?" She whispered, closing her eyes as he gently stroked her hair. "With all of us?"

Sirius also closed his eyes, letting the scent of her perfume and the feel of her hair in his hands keep him calm. While they were all at Hogwarts in the same place, it was much easier to keep them all safe. Once they graduated, he had no guarantee way of always being there when his friends needed him.

"We'll all stick together, of course. James will eventually nag Lily into marriage. Then they'll have kids, and Moony will be that weird uncle who's awkward but he has chocolate, so everyone likes him. Peter will probably be the relative that gets tackled by the kids when he shows up, and I'll be cool Uncle Padfoot, with Lily screaming at me when I try to take her children on a motorcycle. And Marlene will probably get married to some great guy she meets at wherever she works, and you..." He swallowed. "You'll be absolutely amazing at anything you decide to do."

If Sirius could have any life he wanted, all of that would be true. He left out the part he craved most of all: a future with Eva. Graduating, buying a house, coming home from work to find it full of children with her blonde hair and his gray eyes. He was seventeen, an adult by wizarding law. He had just signed up to fight in a war. And he was hopelessly, recklessly, unquestionably in love with the girl he currently held in his arms.

"It's absolute rubbish that Lily and James haven't been on a date yet," Eva said, thinking back to all of the years she spent supporting a relationship that didn't exist. "They're so perfect for each other. Why can't they just see it?"

"You mean, why can't she just see it?" Sirius pointed out, chuckling.

Eva smiled and moved closer to him, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. "All right. Why can't she just see it?"

"Sometimes we don't see the perfect thing for us even when it's right in front of our noses."

The blonde stilled at his words. If anything, the last few weeks had proved to her just how easy it was to accidentally find what you've always been searching for.

"Maybe you should be a philosopher." She nudged him with her elbow, grinning. "Or a poet."

"James is the one who writes poems, not me. He's bloody terrible at it, though. Says there's no word that rhymes with 'Lily,' and apparently that's the limit to his inspiration, because he never writes about anything else."

Laughter tumbled from Eva's lips, clear as a bell. "If it wasn't for the fact that I see him like a brother and I want him to end up with my best friend, after hearing that, I'd date him."

"Trust me, there's nothing romantic about him humming love songs at three A.M. and then sneaking over to my bed to ask if his haiku sounds stupid or not," Sirius joked. With her hand resting on his lap, he took it in his and their fingers entwined. Her green eyes flew open, surprised, but she didn't let go. "The bloke's too romantic for his own good."

"All girls love romance whether they admit to it or not," Eva said. As she felt his hand in hers, she tried not to imagine that same hand holding her face and pulling her in closer. "He'll break her soon enough."

Sirius stretched out his long legs, ignoring the interested expressions of a group of first-year girls who watched the two of them curled up on the windowsill. "What else is new, Blondie? Talk to me."

"I got a letter from my mum a few days ago. She's been planning a trip to America this summer." She glanced up at him with an enthusiastic smile. "We'll also have to figure out the details for the concert."

"That's going to be amazing. I still can't believe you got us tickets," he said wistfully. "Speaking of music, I don't think I ever thanked you." When she didn't say anything, only stared at him in confusion, he elaborated. "For the mixtape. For Christmas. That really helped me through those few days."

"I was hoping you'd like it," she replied. The mixtape was an idea she'd devised the summer before, and it was all too easy to get the rest on board to help her. She liked the idea of Sirius being able to hear them when he was stuck at home. Now that she thought of it, though, he'd never need to go to Grimmauld Place ever again. "Where are you staying this summer?"

"With the Potters. James already offered. I'm going to look for a flat, too. I'm seventeen and my Uncle Alphard left me some money, so I want to get my own place as soon as I can. I don't want to be a burden on anyone."

"Sirius, you're not a burden to anyone," she reminded him. "We all care about you."

"I know. It'll be nice to get out on my own, though."

James walked over with a look of immense concentration in his eyes. Eva thought he looked like he was trying to figure out how to say something. Finally, the bespectacled boy cleared his throat and blurted out, "Don't you two just love phoenixes? Especially when they're in order?"

Eva covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to hide her laughter. It didn't work. Her shoulders shook as she giggled, because while it was a stupid way of finding out, she was glad at least one of her friends had joined the Order. She wasn't alone. "You're an idiot, Potter."

"Oh yes, I've heard Dumbledore loves phoenixes in order, too," Sirius added, winking. He's part of the Order, too. Thank God. "And I'd say we're all idiots for agreeing with him."

James leaned against the wall and grinned, messing up his black curls as Lily walked in with Marlene. He blew Lily a kiss, and the redhead promptly pretended to catch it and toss it in the fire. "From what I've heard, Moony and Wormtail like phoenixes too. Popular animal recently. Remus slapped me when I asked."

"Of course he did," Eva said. Then, in a quieter voice, she asked, "Just curious, how long did it take you to come up with that question?"

"All afternoon. I might be the world's worst secret keeper," he whispered jokingly. "Good to know we'll be having some regular meet-ups after school ends, though. I think I'll try asking Evans out again, if you feel like a laugh. Valentine's Day is next weekend, and there's a Hogsmeade trip, so wish me luck and watch me fail."

A bright smile lit up Eva's face. "Yeah, that sounds like fun." James headed over to where Lily and Marlene sat studying, and Eva started to follow him before realizing her hand was still in Sirius'. He smirked up at her when she tugged him forward, and she swore her heart beat double time. "You coming? We're going to miss the show."

"I've seen the same show every day for six years now," Sirius said, protesting any movement whatsoever, but Eva managed to pull him over to the couches just in time to see Lily stand up in front of James.

Lily Evans wasn't tall. She was the shortest of her friends, even shorter than Peter. Her green eyes generally had a good natured twinkle and her lips usually curved into a resting smile. But as she stood in front of James, the glare and the reddening face of the small witch intimidated even Eva, who suddenly knew that whatever James Potter just did or said was a massive mistake.

"You think you're so cool, don't you? Messing up your hair and asking me out every day like you actually think it might happen! Do you know how embarrassing it is to be asked out while you're trying to give a presentation in Charms? Or when you're trying to eat breakfast? Merlin, you make me sick!" Still quivering with tiny fury, Lily stormed off to the dormitory, leaving everyone in awkward silence.

James looked lost. He ran a hand through his hair, not because he wanted to show off, but because he genuinely had no idea what to do. Most of the Gryffindors stared at him in shock of what they'd just witnesses.

"What are you all staring at?" Eva stood up from the couch and glared at them all before walking over to stand by James. "It's none of your business!" Her stern gaze was enough to send most people back to whatever they were previously doing, and she turned to James. In a softer voice, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, nodding along like he actually believed it. "I just... I pushed it too far. I've been stupid. She's not interested."

"You're not stupid. You just care about her." Eva put her arms around him and gave him a long hug, only pulling back when he did. "Do you want me to talk to her?" She asked. He only shook his head.

Sirius also walked over. "Bad luck, mate, I'm sorry," he said, for once not joking around about Lily. He knew that wasn't what James needed.

"Valentine's Day is the worst holiday ever, anyway," Eva said. When the boys raised their eyebrows at her, she raised her own. "We shouldn't need a holiday to remind us to treat the ones we love we'll. We should treat them like that every day. It's too cliche."

"Blondie, you might be the only girl I've ever met who would say that," James commented, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm not like the other girls you've met," she replied cheekily.

No, you're not, Sirius thought to himself. Unfortunately for him, Eva's views on Valentine's Day made his plan of asking her to Hogsmeade a lot more difficult, although he did agree with and admire her idea.

The portrait hole opened and Remus walked in, brushing snow off of his jacket and hair. His scarred face was red from the cold, but he once again wore that goofy smile that Eva noticed he seemed to wear quite often recently.

"Hi Remus," she greeted as he tossed his coat carelessly on the couch. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow." She waved before bounding off towards the dormitory. Sirius watched her go, a faint smile on his face.

"Where were you?" Sirius asked once she'd left.

"Hagrid's," he answered at the same time as Sirius and James. Squinting, he asked, "How did you know that?"

James shrugged. "You always say that when you disappear."

"That's your go-to place to tell us anymore," Sirius added.

"Well, it's not a lie," Remus said, trying to keep the smile off of his face as he thought of the afternoon he'd had. "I was down there today."

"Sure. It's okay to say that you were studying in the library, Moony. We already know you're a nerd and we love you anyway," James said, punching him playfully. Remus only rolled his eyes at the blind ignorance of his friends. "Anyway, I suppose we'll all have to hang out in Hogsmeade together and be depressed about our pathetic loneliness."

Remus cleared his throat and shoved his hand in his pocket, searching his brain for an excuse. "I don't know if I'll be going. Homework, you know."

Sirius shook his head in disgust. "You're such a killjoy, Remus. All right, let us know if you change your mind."

Remus nodded and found a secluded spot to read, overly thankful that he'd pocketed the Marauder's Map before leaving the common room after lunch. Because if they'd cared enough to look for his name on it, they would know that he didn't spend the wintry afternoon alone. And if he was being honest with himself, he didn't want anyone to know that just yet, but his cheeks flushed pink, and it wasn't entirely from the cold.

I love Remmy Lupin, that's it, that's all.

We've got a lot of ship action in this one.

Buckle up, I'm so excited to write these next few chapters.

Anyway, vote and comment! Stay safe ;)