Serendipity (S. Black)

FOUR

"that was her magic: she could see the sun even on the darkest days"

*

About a week later, Eva lay awake in her bed, unable to shut her mind off. After her conversation with James before tryouts, she couldn't stay mad. While she wanted to hurt Sirius, she was hurting too much to stay away from him.

She checked the clock. 1:42. He'll definitely be awake. However he managed it, Sirius operated on about five hours of sleep regularly. She learned that last year when she'd fallen asleep in the common room studying, woke up two hours later, and found him as alert as before.

Eva quietly rolled out of her bed and slipped on a robe. She was halfway to the door before she heard Lily's voice behind her, muffled through pillows.

"It's about time."

"What? Go back to bed."

"What's going on?" Marlene whispered through a yawn. "Are you finally gonna talk to him?"

"Is everyone rooting for this?" Eva asked, exasperated.

"If by 'everyone' you mean all of our friends, then yes." Lily sat straight up in bed. "You two are making it really awkward to hang out with the whole group."

"You know what else is awkward?" Eva asked, ready to turn the attention off of her in one perfectly-timed comment. "The tension between you and James this year."

Marlene burst out laughing while Lily's cheeks burned as red as her hair. "What?"

"Oh, that was perfect!" Marlene said through gasps. "Perfect! I'm not going to get out of bed, but I'd high five you if I was."

"Thank you." She curtsied.

"That arrogant toerag? Over my dead body!" Lily buried herself back under the covers. "You two are insane!"

"Deny it all you want, but just so you know, there's money at stake, so don't let me down."

Her head shot up, her bottle-green irises bright in the dark. "Money? You two are betting on this?"

"Not just us," Marlene said, grinning. "Eva and I have five Galleons on the two of you. The boys are in on it, too, and if Sirius was telling the truth, McGonagall and Dumbledore have a bet, too."

"No!!! Stop it!"

"I'll see you two in a bit. Happy arguing."

Eva left her two best friends to bicker about James Potter being a "stupid idiot whose stupid glasses barely fit on his stupid head" and crept down the stairs, being extra careful not to trip. Of course, she was being so careful that she missed the last step and went tumbling to the ground.

"Ow," she muttered.

"Are you okay?" Sirius pulled her to her feet and glanced over her as if she'd been brutally injured. She noticed he still wore his school robes from the day and felt self-conscious in her robe even though he wouldn't care.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just tripped."

He let out a low, bark-like chuckle. "I don't understand how you're so smooth on a broom but can't make it two feet on land without crashing."

"It takes a talented individual."

"I'll bet it does."

The two stood awkwardly for a moment, looking anywhere but each other.

"Um... you want to go sit? I really need to talk to you," He nodded, and they sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace, facing each other. Eva tapped her fingers nervously on the floor before speaking. "I'm sorry."