"no friendship is an accident"
*
Predictably, the first of the boys to rise the morning of the Quidditch World Cup was Remus. He yawned and stretched out, glancing around at the other three camped out in James' bedroom.
After losing a game of Exploding Snap, Sirius ended up on the floor with some cushions for the night, a deal he was less than pleased with. His dark hair fell messily into his face as he slept like a rock, a fact Remus was thankful for. Halfway through the night, Remus caught him twitching in his sleep at nightmares that never seemed to go away.
James didn't actually mean to fall asleep at all, but instead talked past midnight about the odds of the match until he passed out leaning against the wall. He snored quietly, his glasses sitting on the table beside him.
Peter, the group's resident Exploding Snap expert, won the game and therefore the twin-sized bed. He lay curled up under the blankets as still as a corpse.
For once, all was quiet in the world of the Marauders.
Satisfied with this, Remus shut his eyes and quickly fell back asleep on a cushioned chair he dragged up from the living room the night before.
A few minutes later, Lily poked her head in to wake them up and smirked at the four sleeping boys, but her amusement faded when she looked at the room.
It wasn't what she expected a room owned by James Potter to look like at all. Small, and messy, yet cozy. Dark curtains hid a window overlooking the family's extensive property where the boys spent so many days playing two-on-two Quidditch. He had completely covered one of the red walls with photographs of his friends and family. One newer photo in particular caught her attention, and she stepped over Sirius' sleeping form to examine it more closely.
All eight of them stood in a line, their arms around each others' shoulders. Signature of a wizarding camera, everyone moved, laughing as they smiled at the camera.
All except one.
James Potter didn't face the camera. Turned towards her, he was the only one without a smile. Instead, a look of admiration had crossed his face, captured perfectly in the moment.
Maybe he really did love her. Not just with puppy love, not just with a schoolboy crush. Maybe as something more.
"You supposed to be waking us up, Evans?" She whipped around to find a grinning James on the ground. He found the whole situation rather funny. This wasn't how his adolescent self imagined the first time she would see his room, with his friends snoring around him and he himself wearing pajamas. Secretly, he liked this way better. Some of his stupidity had disappeared over the years. "That's only one out of four. I hate to be the messenger, but you aren't too good at this."
"Shut up, Potter," Lily said, letting her red hair fall in front of her face to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. "Now that you're up, you could do me a favor and wake the others, though. We need to catch our Portkey soon. If you guys don't get up in five minutes, your mum's going to let us send Marlene in, and trust me, you don't want that."
James pretended to cower dramatically. "Well, I certainly don't want McKinnon to dent my rather lovely face today. Do me a favor, though."
"I'm not going to snog you, so don't even ask."
James laughed out loud. It sounded warm and comforting, like firewhiskey on a cold night. "No, nothing like that."
"Oh." She cleared her throat, embarrassed.
"Is that all you think I am? Someone who hangs around you for nothing more than a good kiss? Because I can assure you, if I was only looking for a snog, I wouldn't have stuck around this long."
While the tone of his voice was easygoing, she saw a brief glimpse of hurt flicker in his hazel eyes before he hid it and tilted his head at her. For a second, Lily forgot how to breathe. Then, she found her voice, but it lacked a cocky comeback she usually pulled from her arsenal. "What do you need?"
"Can you help me find my glasses? I can't see anything."
His question made her smile, although he could barely see it. Making sure not to step on Sirius once again, she carefully picked up James' glasses and set them on his nose. "Better?"
"Absolutely. You're not a little ginger blur anymore." She offered him a hand and pulled him up. "Mind you, you do make a cute little ginger blur, Evans."
"That's the first time you've flirted with me in months," she commented as she walked toward the door.
James leaned on the wall. "I'll stop if it bothers you." The expression on his face showed her that he really meant it.
"Chance it every once in a while. My life's getting boring." Lily smiled a bit, and so did he.
*
"We're actually here! At the Quidditch World Cup!" Eva had to stop herself from jumping up and down. Sirius grinned and swung her hand wildly back and forth, a gesture she returned with just as much enthusiasm.
"James, where're we setting up camp?" Peter asked, jogging up next to the bespectacled boy, who consulted the tickets.
"Right up here." He dropped two tents on the grassy plot labeled POTTER and with a quick wave of his wand, set both of them up. "Wala!"
"Nicely done," Remus congratulated, ducking into one of the tents to stash his bag.
Eva eyed the two tents curiously. "Aren't these too small?" She whispered to Kriss, who laughed and shook her head.
"Probably not. Go on in, you first."
Eva rolled her eyes and lifted the flap of the tent to find a comfortably sized room with space for the girls to lay out sleeping bags. She stared in shock. Next to her, Lily seemed to be experiencing similar emotions, while Marlene and Kriss only laughed, took their bags, and threw them on the carpeted floor.
"You two are gonna catch flies," Marlene joked, unimpressed by her surroundings. "It's just a tent."
"Not everyone grew up with wizards and magic," Lily pointed out as she turned in a circle, trying to take it all in. "Merlin, magic's cool."
Eva glanced over at Kriss. "What are you? Status-wise, I mean. Not that it matters, I'm just curious."
"I'm a half-blood. My dad's a wizard and my mum's a Muggle," the Ravenclaw girl explained. She pulled a baseball cap with an American flag out of her bag and looped her ponytail through before posing goofily. "How do I look?"
"Dashing," Lily said, pretending to fan herself.
"Ladies, you're slower than old Sluggy on a chase!" Sirius yelled from outside of the tent. They all giggled and emerged to find the boys tossing a football outside.
"Like the tent?" James asked, grinning. He caught the ball and tossed it to Marlene, who passed it to Peter. "We haven't gone camping in years, but they'll do for tonight."
Sirius winked at Eva. "Fancy a walk around?"
He took her hand and the pair wandered through the campground, laughing at stupid jokes and pointing out the decorations. Early in their relationship, Eva noticed that Sirius seemed wary of any type of physical affection, even something as simple as a hug or holding hands. He'd warmed up to it in the last few months, though, because she taught him that not every touch from a woman had to be aggressive. Sirius quite enjoyed holding his girlfriend's hand or kissing her in front of others just because he could, because he knew she was his and he was hers.
The atmosphere surrounding everyone was one of excitement and unity, something Eva believed the wizarding world sorely needed. They ran into Frank and Alice at one point, and also Mitchell McKinnon, who hugged Eva tightly as he told her he'd been signed to play Quidditch professionally for the Wimbourne Wasps.
"BRANDI!"
Eva barely had time to brighten at the familiar voices and turn around before two boys engulfed her in a tight hug. Sirius backed up, laughing loudly at the antics of the Prewett twins.
"Hi!" Eva exclaimed, the biggest smile spreading across her face as they finally released her. The two identical redheads grinned at her enthusiasm. One of them scooped her up in his arms and spun her around.
"Hiya Brandi," Gideon greeted, winking at the girl in his arms. The Prewetts never called her by her first name and she loved it. She glanced at Sirius to make sure he wasn't jealous, but he knew better. The two were a riot and always treated her like a little sister. "Miss us terribly?"
"More than anything," she said, playing along. "It's been two years!"
Fabian offered a hand to Sirius while Gideon let her down. "Well, forgive us, but we've been busy, lovely girl. Graduation doesn't equal free time, after all. Your old pals have to work for a living now."
"Yep, Moody's insane with his training schedule," Gideon added. "I'm surprised he let us off for this."
Two years ago, the Prewett twins graduated and left Hogwarts to complete Auror training at the Ministry. Working under Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody showed just how talented the boys were. Back at Hogwarts, though, their mischief and jokes ruled the school only second to the Marauders themselves. Both tall, ginger, and humor-inclined, everyone knew their names. They announced at Quidditch games and 'taught' Sirius to be their successor before they left.
"How's Molly?" Eva asked after the pair had invited them to sit by their tent, referencing their older sister. "Is she here?"
Gideon rolled his eyes. "Merlin, no. She and Arthur are otherwise occupied attempting to raise an army of redheads. Key word: attempting."
"How many so far, Gid?" Fabian asked.
"Four. No, scratch that, three. It's getting hard to keep track anymore. Three boys, God bless them. They run off and get married right after Hogwarts and start a tribe of Weasleys." Gideon shook his head affectionately at his older sister and her family. "So who made the first move?"
Eva giggled at his bluntness and raised her hand, which Fabian instantly high-fived.
"That a girl, Angel! It's about time. This poor bloke pined over you for years. Anyone with eyes could see it."
Sirius chuckled and crossed his legs. "Enough about my patheticness, Fabian, or we might have to discuss yours."
"He's not pathetic," injected Gideon with a wicked smile. "Remember Dorcas? I caught him snogging her after work in Moody's office!"
"What?" Eva exclaimed. To his credit, Fabian didn't blush or look ashamed at all. He just shrugged with a smirk. "Really?"
"Well, we were going to keep that under wraps, with a war going on and all that," Fabian said, throwing a pointed look at his twin, "but yeah, I guess it's fine to tell you two. Not like you're going to sell us out or anything. We've been together for a while now. Dorcas works in the Auror Department with us. Brilliant, she is."
"Yeah, I remember her," Eva said, nodding. Then, she nudged him playfully, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "So, snogging in Mad-Eye's office, huh?"
"You bet. Bloody hell, lucky he didn't catch us. I can't imagine that conversation. Actually, hold that thought." Hunching his back a bit and somehow managing to get one of his eyes to move while the other stayed stationary, Fabian growled in a gruff voice, "Prewett! Meadowes! You won't have time for your lovey-dovey antics when Voldemort himself is standing right behind you! CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
He had everyone laughing to the point of tears by the time he finished the impression.
"Nice one, Fabian," Gideon congratulated, clapping him on the back. "Hey, is it just you kids here? You're welcome to join us for the rest of the day if you want. We plan on doing absolutely nothing until the match. Should be fun."
"No, we've actually got the whole gang here. We'd better be getting back," Sirius said, brushing off his jeans as he stood. "Great to see you guys, though. Good luck with the Ministry. I'll be joining you there in a year."
"Ah, so you want to be an Auror, Black?" Gideon asked. "Owl us before you apply, we'll put in a good word with old Mad-Eye for you."
Sirius smiled. "Thanks."
"And you," Gideon said, turning to Eva, "stay gold, Brandi."
She embraced them both. "Stay the same."
"Of course, darling," Fabian said, winking. "Even You-Know-Who won't change the Prewett twins. Mark my words."
He better not. Those boys made her laugh countless times over the years. Clearly, a world at war hadn't dimmed their smiles yet.
"Oi, Brandi! Black! One more thing." Eva looked inquisitively at Gideon, who pulled them out of the main campsite, his brother following close behind. Once he was sure that no one could hear them, he turned around. "They have your names."
Sirius squinted at the Auror with confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You lot have got to be careful if you join the Ministry," Gideon explained quietly, constantly casting furtive looks over his shoulder. "They don't know about the Order yet, at least we don't think they do, but- oh, get a grip on yourself, we know you've joined up. So have we." He directed this comment to Eva, who opened her mouth to protest knowing anything. She shut it, feeling like a rebuked child.
"Moody thinks the Minister's been compromised," said Fabian.
Eva took a deep breath. "Is he?"
"I don't know. It's Moody we're talking about. Course, he's a paranoid coot, but he's usually right when it comes to things like this. It's like a sixth sense of his. Intelligence says that You-Know-Who has spies in the Ministry, at least. It's madness. We don't know who we can trust anymore."
"Dumbedore's going to need spies of his own in the Ministry soon. Any of you in the Order need to be careful with your careers." Gideon looked at Eva, pity in his eyes. "Especially you. And Evans. Blood prejudice is taking over the Ministry. If they find out that your parents are Muggles, you're going to have a tough time getting hired."
A coldness swept over Eva, one completely opposite to the warm, humid day. She felt Sirius' hand slip into hers, and she held onto it like a lifeline. "I'm not ashamed of who I am," she said quietly. "I've always been able to prove people wrong about me."
"Yes, but that's just it, Brandi," Gideon said, putting his hands on her shoulders and gripping them so tightly it hurt. "You're not going to even get that chance. They'll refuse to give it to you. It's not happening yet, but it's coming. People are dying. We can go to Quidditch matches and smile and pretend otherwise, but it happens either way. You need to watch out for yourself and play the part. Do whatever you can to stay alive."
"If you think I can just act like I'm not who I am-"
"This isn't about taking a stand. That's what the Order's for. This is about staying safe." Fabian's golden-brown eyes met hers. "You've got to be careful.
"I can't turn my back on my blood!" Eva insisted, cringing as she imagined it. "I can't. Muggle-Borns are being killed. Their families are being killed! I need to take a stand, don't you get it?"
"No, Eva, he's right. Right now, we need to blend in." Sirius felt sick just knowing that his hated family name would give him immunity to all of this. "What is it that you want us to do?"
"For now? Be careful who you put your faith in. Protect each other," Fabian implored. "We all have to."
Eva and Sirius exchanged glances. While they were on opposite sides of the situation, the same worry plagued both of them. At Hogwarts, it was easy to ignore the world. Outside, the illusion of safety melted away.
Do whatever you can to stay alive.
"We will."
hey! we got some new characters this chapter ;)
qotd: favorite character and why?
aotd: i don't know! james, because he's so protective of all of his friends, and eva, because i love her spirit, but i love them all!!!