Serendipity (S. Black)

THREE

"and til the end, you're my very best friend"

*

"You've got to talk to him."

Eva held a book up in front of her face and ducked behind a shelf, but James followed her. September was already half over, and he was fed up with both Sirius' and Eva's drama. Waiting weeks to do this had been torturous. Remus told him to let them work it out for themselves, but James promptly ignored what he called 'The Wisdom of the Werewolf' and used the map to track her down. Within five minutes (also courtesy to that handy scrap of parchment), he'd arrived in the library, a place he generally didn't grace with his presence.

"I'm serious!" He said.

"No, he is."

"It's seven thirty in the morning and we have tryouts in half an hour. Why do you need a book now?"

Her eyes appeared above the cover. "Some people read more than two a year, Potter." Then she disappeared behind the book again. He groaned.

"You're killing him."

"Actually, I believe that the cigarettes are doing that without my help."

"Oi, Blondie! This isn't his fault!"

"Oh? I wrote fifty-six letters this summer. Would've been nice to hear back once or twice. I suppose he didn't want to write to a Mudblood with his pretty Pureblood hands."

"Eva!" He exclaimed, aghast at her words.

"What? Everyone else says that."

Her green eyes shone with tears as she ripped a book off of the shelf. James actually took a step back, knowing how quickly her temper could rise.

"Who says that? That's not true at all, I promise."

"Really? Regulus seems to think otherwise." She slammed the book down on a table, earning the pair of them a scolding from the librarian.

"Regulus?" James growled. Despite Sirius' unwavering affection for his younger brother, James never liked him. What originally began as a Quidditch rivalry grew into a hatred based on his prejudiced treatment of others. "I'll kill him for messing with you!"

"I just ran into him in the corridors this morning on my way here. I'm fine, really." She brushed a few tears off of her cheeks and sighed, letting herself finally come to terms with her emotions. "I actually don't think he meant to be mean, but he asked how my summer was, and I said it was okay, but I was really worried about Sirius, and he said Sirius read all of my letters but chose not to send anything back!"

"That's not him! You know that! That stuck-up Pureblood ideology full of patriarchy and all that other jazz you hate? That's his parents, not him! You know how it is for him at home!"

"I know that, but he could have sent me one. Just one! Is that too much to ask for? One letter saying that he was all right?"

"No, I suppose not," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair as he realized how poorly thought out his plan was.

"I didn't know what had happened! He promised me he'd write! Do you know how worried I was each time he never wrote back? I know damn well how bad his parents are!" Her voice wavered and the pages shook. "I'm sorry. I just... I was so worried. And then he was there in the train like nothing had even happened... I couldn't stand it."

"He's okay." His voice softened as he put a hand on her shoulder. "He always is. At least he will be."

"You saying that doesn't change how mad I am at him."