In the midst of war and chaos, Eve struggles to find and keep her true love - but also herself.
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Eve and Regulus desperately wish to find their way out of their siblings' shadows - but they might just find that the darkness is the best place to be...
"Sirius looks at her and he sees her, sees the parts of her that she wants to keep hidden, and Merlin, Eve hates him for understanding. For understanding which side she is going to choose; because he had to make the same choice, once. Not all that long ago."
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EVE SWUNG HER LEGS SLOWLY, NOT looking up from the darkness. "I knew you would come."
"Of course you did," Sirius Black sighed, and she felt the softest weight brush against her shoulder for a moment.
"You were worried," Eve said. Her voice was curious, inquisitive- it was a statement and a question rolled in one.
"You were all over the castle in a matter of hours," Sirius explained, "With my - the Slytherins in the dungeons, and then the Ravenclaw commons, and now you're sitting on the edge of a high place."
Eve laughed; the sound echoed into the night, doubling back and around again. "That Merlin damned map. I still can't believe it works."
"Why not?" Sirius asked, barely even noticing the obvious subject change. "You helped design it. And you've never been wrong before."
"You think so?" Eve asked, and let her voice become quieter, reflect how uncertain she was; they both knew what she was really asking but was too scared to say outright.
His weight shifted, and pressed harder against her side.
"I know so," Sirius said, his voice gruffer, tougher. "But you don't need me to tell you that."
"You gave me your jacket," Eve said, and Sirius accepted the subject change with nothing more than a quiet sigh. "I- I'm afraid that I'm misinterpreting your message."
"In third year," Sirius started, "My parents went out over the summer holidays. To - vacation, I suppose. They didn't take us - me or Regulus, that is. Refused too. Said that we had to start thinking about our futures, both of us. About whether or not I was still going to be trusted enough to take control of Black politics once I graduate, or if that-that privilege would go to Regulus."
"Regulus and I hadn't spoken since first year," Sirius admitted, and he said so heavily, like it was still a heavy pressure on his shoulders. "It was partially my fault, I'll admit; I wanted nothing to do with his compliance with our parent's wishes, nor his... unsavoury friends who I had heard call Lily Evans a you-know-what within the second week of school. But then - I was eleven, and terrified."
"So was he," Eve said, quietly, so scared as she was to place the spell that Sirius seemed to be under, with all his openness and honesty.
"So was he," Sirius agreed, but then his voice turned almost desperate, practically begging her to understand his side. "But it was different, Evelyn, you must know. Being a Black in Gryffindor- Merlin, it was something else. It was more than just my parents. Us Blacks; everyone knows us. Even the muggleborns - our family is in textbooks, mentioned in wars and the making of dangerous potions and spells and we just looked too perfect on text. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that our family held control. Over everything - Hogwarts, politics, families and allies and businesses and how we were perceived."
