I've Finally Found You

~This story was inspired by a fic I found that featured Lily cheating on James with Sirius and it made me so mad that I went off and wrote an entire story where I made Sirius and Lily the villains.
So don't hate me because truly I do love James and Lily, and of course Sirius is the babe, but I was a bit mad and I thought the story came out well! So please give this story a chance and tell me what you think!~

Chapter 1

Violet most definitely wasn't the most popular, or the prettiest, or smartest girl at Hogwarts, but she did have one thing that no other girl at Hogwarts had. She had Sirius Black.

Violet had always been one of those shyer girls, always in the background, never drawing unneeded attention to herself (Merlin knows why she was sorted into Gryffindor...).

She didn't feel the need to be like the rest of Sirius's fan girls, squealing and shrieking whenever he was within a 10 foot radius. True, she did categorize herself with the rest of them. She had always been head over heels in love with him even if she hadn't realized it herself. But who wasn't just a tiny bit in love with Sirius anyway?

Violet supposed that's why her confidence levels had been slightly higher than usual lately. The fact that Sirius Black, the most desirable guy in Hogwarts, liked her did wonders for her morale. At first, she hadn't been all too sure Sirius wasn't just elaborately pranking her. He had brought James with him after all.

James Potter was the one person in Hogwarts that Violet truly valued. He had always treated her like something precious, starting from the day they had met four years before. As she had said before, Violet wasn't one of those fearless girls who could put themselves out there and make innumerable friends at the drop of a hat. In fact, Violet predicted that even if she tried to make new friends, she would be met with blank looks and nervous laughter.

So, of course, James's friendship was something Violet found extremely valuable. James had also been the only one to know of Violet's early infatuation with Sirius. James had found it deeply amusing that Sirius had actually taken the time in their third year to coach Violet through her Potions final, and had sat with them in the library many a day, just so he could smirk at Violet whenever Sirius wasn't looking.

Violet didn't really understand why Sirius had offered to help her, but of course she wasn't about to turn him down. There were many days that Violet, James, Sirius, and Remus Lupin would sit in the library with Madam Pince breathing down their necks, just doing homework (Violet), and goofing off (the boys), as if they had been best friends forever.

But then for a while, things had changed for the worse.

James and Violet had eventually become inseparable. They did virtually everything together, and Sirius frequently joked about it if he ever caught one of them without the other. Through their third year and well into their fourth, Violet was happy. She had four amazing best friends who genuinely cared about her. For the first time, Violet didn't feel like the new girl. She felt wanted and loved.

Cue start of second term in their fourth year, and everything started changing.

James, Sirius, and Remus came back from Christmas holiday, miraculously taller, more filled out, and positively bursting with testosterone. At first, it didn't seem like much of a problem. Remus was blushing more whenever she spoke to him, and James and Sirius seemed fonder of flirting with anything in a skirt instead of spending time with her. It didn't really bother Violet; they were only boys after all.

Then James really started pulling away. When before he would clear his schedule just to take a walk with her by the lake or to sneak down to the kitchens for a snack, now he would make silly excuses or postpone whatever they had planned. And it hurt.

Sadly, Violet was one to take everyone at face value. If they were nice to her, they were good people. If they treated her badly, she would forever look upon them with extreme caution. James was one of the people Violet had found herself instantly trusting. She believed he was truly a good person, who really cared about her, not that anyone else seemed to give a damn about what she ever thought.

So the fact that the one person in all of Hogwarts that she would trust with her life, was abandoning her like everyone else had done in the past, put her over the edge.

At first, Violet couldn't figure out why she was left alone more and more frequently throughout the day. Remus would usually mumble something about studying in the library. Sirius would usually wink at her and walk away, leaving Violet too breathless to voice her confusion. And James... James would just rub the back of his neck, grin sheepishly, and make some excuse about meeting someone or having a tutoring session.

For a while, it didn't occur to Violet that it was highly unlikely James would turn down a trip down to the lake or to the kitchens for a tutoring session, but later on she blamed it on her blind faith in him. James wouldn't lie to her... would he?

Turns out, he would.

About a month into the term, when James had told Violet that he would be in the library, she had decided to go down there and surprise him as he left. She was in for a rude surprise.

Lily Evans was not a person Violet would describe kindly. In fact, no relatively good words came to mind when Violet thought of Lily. You see, Lily Evans had taken it upon herself since their first day to make Violet's life a living hell in any way possible. Part of the reason Violet had wished everyday for the first 2 and half years of her time at Hogwarts that she hadn't gotten her letter was Lily Evans.

Lily seemed to take joy in constantly reminding Violet that she had no friends and that no one particularly liked her. Biting comments were made about her every physical aspect, followed up by the sneering laughter of anyone in the vicinity. Violet wasn't quite sure why Lily couldn't stand her, let alone all the people who laughed at her snide remarks.

It was everything every small child dreaded when they had to go to a new school where they knew no one. Walking to classes alone, eating lunch alone, trying to make yourself as unnoticeable as possible, crying yourself to sleep, or worse, not being able to sleep at all, all in the middle of hundreds of other happy people who didn't care one whit about your feelings. It was quite possibly the worst feelings in the world.

And it was all because of Lily Evans.

It had been a couple months into her third year, just after her thirteenth birthday, when Violet had run from another bout of Lily Evan's torture to cry behind one of the back shelves in the library, that she had met James. She had recognized him of course, famous James Potter, the boy all the girls in her dormitory squealed about at night. Where Sirius had a sort of dangerous hotness, James was the adorable and sweet one. With his messy hair, sharp nose, and circular glasses that couldn't seem to stay up, Violet couldn't help but agree.

But the one thing she hadn't heard from Lily Evans and her friends was the kindness James Potter contained. She definitely hadn't expected him to talk to her, let alone offer to help her with her homework, or to insist she eat dinner with him and his friends in the Great Hall, in front of everybody.

She convinced herself it was alright to doubt him for the first couple days. After all, what could James Potter and his friends possibly want from her? Then Violet discovered Sirius Black was included in this friendship with James thing, and Violet immediately hopped aboard. She supposed she should have felt bad, but she couldn't quite manage to. At least for the first few weeks.

The first time James defended Violet against Marlene McKinnon, Violet was sold. She took people at face value after all. That had been the kindest thing anyone had ever done for her. Violet could never imagine forgetting that. It was the start of something much bigger after all. Miraculously, day after day, the daily Lily Evans attacks slowed and dwindled to a complete stop.

Violet discovered the one thing that made her life a million times better. The Marauders were like a security blanket. Sure, she couldn't depend on them for everything, but with them around, maybe she could finally learn how to properly defend herself. She could become a new person. She had the Marauders for best friends after all.

Then this had to happen. James evening tutoring sessions turned out to be James, Sirius, Lily, and the rest of Lily's "friends", all sitting together at a table in the library and acting as if they had been best friends for years. True, Violet had some inkling of James's love for the red-headed devil, but she had no idea it was of this caliber.

Thinking back on it, she supposed James's reasoning for not telling her was pretty genius. There was no way she would have ever suspected what he was doing. It was just too improbable. Well, at least that's what she had thought until she had stumbled onto that painfully cozy scene.

Violet hadn't been sure whether James hadn't been telling her about his endeavors because he didn't want her feelings hurt that he was hanging around with Violet's worst nightmare, or if he simply didn't care and just didn't want to explain himself to her.

Just to add to the sting, she couldn't believe Sirius was there too. Sure, she had grown accustomed to Sirius staying out late at night, out of the Common Room past curfew. She had heard all the rumors too, those whispers of all the girls Sirius was secretly meeting in dark corners and broom-closets. She just couldn't believe that Sirius, now one of her best friends, would abandon her for people like Emmeline Vance and Marlene McKinnon.

James must have known it would hurt her feelings. To the point of tears, even. He wouldn't do such a thing without a really good reason, right?

Wrong.

Turned out, James's love for Lily won out in the end. More and more, Violet found herself being left alone in the Common Room, in the Great Hall, even the library, where Remus was frequently found. It felt like her first year all over again.

She was alone again.

The next year and a half passed slowly and painfully. Violet had tried her hardest at first, not quite believing that the friends that she loved so much would drop her so quickly, but it was all for nothing. She found herself being stood up, brushed off, or even worse, ignored, more frequently as the year went on.

Attacks from Lily and her friends popped back into existence, intensifying as Lily seemed to get more confident that there would be no retaliation from the Marauders. At first, Violet gained a little hope from the feeble attempts from Sirius and Remus at defending her, but her hopes were crushed when she noticed how James would avoid any eye contact during one of Lily's attacks. He made no sign he even noticed what was going on.

That was what made Violet give up trying. If her best friend in the whole world, the one who showered her with generosity and caring, suddenly decided she wasn't worth it anymore, it must have been true, right? There really must have been something wrong with her to begin with, and James was now realizing it.

Violet spent many of her nights on an armchair in the corner of the Common Room, waiting until she was sure Lily and the others would be asleep, before going up and trying her best to fall asleep without crying.

Truthfully, it was pathetic, but Violet, now having experienced what she had thought was true friendship, didn't know what else to do with her life anymore.

It was now wake up extra early to avoid Lily's taunting and the Marauders, eat breakfast at record speeds, get to class early and sit right up in the front of the class where she knew none of them would sit, leave as soon as the bell rang, and do the same thing in all of her other classes, skip lunch to do homework in the library and stay there till dinner, where Violet would eat as fast as she could then escape to the Common Room. It was there she would wait to go to bed.

It was with that schedule that she managed to avoid most difficulties, and keep mostly to herself. But it was due to the lack of friends and people to talk to, that Violet was slowly falling apart.

Then, halfway through Violet's sixth year, things took a highly unexpected turn.

Professor Flitwick, who was under the impression that Violet was extremely gifted in Charms, assigned her a tutoree. As luck, or not luck depending on how you looked at it, would have it, Violet's new student was none other than the notorious Sirius Black.

At first, Violet was too shy to talk to him about things not strictly related to the Charms topic in hand. It was much too hard to look at him, and not think about the times they had had together.

But Sirius seemed to have no such inhibitions, and treated her as he had back when they had once been the best of friends. He seemed to find it easy to initiate physical contact with her and even easier to flirt with her until her cheeks were inflamed to the point of burning.

Her massive love for Sirius hadn't disappeared in the slightest, and this only made things harder. Over the years, Sirius had developed quite the reputation, and Violet was definitely aware of it. She could never be sure whether he was treating her the way he was because he wanted to, or if this was how he treated anything with a skirt.

Things were cleared up a few weeks after, when Sirius caught her trying to escape from the Great Hall during dinner, and towed her back to a relatively clear spot at the long Gryffindor table. He had slid into a seat before motioning for Violet to take the seat right beside him.

Blushing, she accepted, not sure whether this was some elaborate prank or whether he actually wanted to sit with her. Sirius looked at her for a moment, before loudly declaring he wanted to take her to Hogsmeade this weekend, and did she accept?

Mouth gaping most unattractively, Violet could only stare back at Sirius in surprise. She didn't know whether or not to be excited, since it wasn't exactly groundbreaking news that Sirius had been out with almost every girl in the school already.

Oh, who was she kidding? She was ecstatic! This was the one thing she had been waiting for since she had turned thirteen, and there she was, acting like a complete and total spaz. Sirius was probably already starting to change his mind already.

Just as Violet was about to chance a look in Sirius's direction to attempt (and probably fail) to accept his offer in a dignified manner; her gaze was stolen by a very familiar pair of wide hazel eyes. A pair of eyes that were, in that moment, filled with a sort of combination of laughter and something else that looked like he was daring her to say yes.

Of all people to witness the moment Violet had been waiting for, of course it had to be James Potter. In that moment, Violet flushed an angry red and prepared to look down at her hands and turn down Sirius. Somewhere in her mind, she convinced herself that James would never approve of the outing, seeing as he cared nothing for her anymore.

Then something in his eyes changed. Or rather, Violet saw the look in his eyes differently. For a brief moment, Violet saw the old James. The James that would put off anything to spend time with her. The James that would stay up with her all night when she insisted on staying up late to finish her homework. The James that had saved her so many years ago when she had somehow become everyone's personal punching bag.

It was then Violet realized there was no point in turning down Sirius's once in a lifetime offer just because she thought James would disapprove. If anything, the fact that Sirius was once more paying attention to her like he used to, would cause James to revert back to his usual warmth around her, and once more treat her like a friend.

It was the least she could hope for.

Without realizing, Violet had been staring back at James, almost defiantly, forgetting that Sirius was still sitting beside her, waiting for her answer. It took more than a few nudges from Sirius's elbow to bring Violet back from her internal thoughts, and she returned to reality with the blush on her face only darkening.

She ripped her gaze from James's, attempting to ignore the arrogant smirk that had made its way onto his face, and focused her gaze the best she could on Sirius. Sirius gave her an expectant look, but the only face in Violet's mind, even though her eyes were on Sirius, was James's. The small smirk she'd had to tear her eyes from was flashing through her mind, angering her more by the second.

Sure she wanted James to take her back as a friend, but who did he think he was to stand there like that, giving her that smirk she knew so well, as if nothing had changed since he had found her crying in the library? He had no right to act as if he was a major part of the situation at hand! He had no part in it whatsoever!

So it was with the characteristic fiery rage of a Gryffindor, which strangely rarely showed up in Violet despite the fact that Gryffindor was the only house the Sorting Hat had ever considered for her, she lifted her chin, squared her shoulders, looked Sirius in the eye, and declared that she would love to accompany him to Hogsmeade.

Sirius, looking pleased, reached an arm around her and pulled her closer towards him, while simultaneously reaching for a dinner plate and the nearest plate of food. Violet, however, surprised herself by not making a complete bumbling fool of herself, and returned her eyes to James.

To Violet's immense disappointment, James did not look as upset as she thought he would. In fact, he looked quite happy, smug even. The smirk on his face only grew when he saw her looking at him, and to her horror, he began making his way towards them.

Violet's mind began buzzing out of control. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say? She hadn't spoken to him in so long, so how was she supposed to act around him? How were you supposed to act around the person who had been your best friend? A best friend that had betrayed and used you in the worst way possible?

It was thoughts like these that filled and polluted Violet's mind as James drew closer and closer to her and Sirius. At least until Sirius happened to notice James out of the corner of his eye and raised an arm to gesture him over.

There was no point, Violet thought moodily at Sirius. The moment he saw me with you, I was dead meat. If it was even humanly possible, James's grin only grew larger as he drew closer to see the obvious panic in Violet's eyes.

The arm Sirius had raised had not only caught the attention of James, but the attention of several girls that were sitting not too far away. Almost instantly, they caught wind of the sudden closeness of her and Sirius. With an internal groan, Violet forced her head away, trying not to think about the way the girls' heads had suddenly drawn close together and how they had began intently whispering to one another, sneaking glances down the table at Sirius and Violet.

Violet guessed she would have about 2 hours of peace before everyone in the entire school knew about Sirius's latest fling.

In the time it had taken Violet to look over at the gossiping girls, and then glance back at Sirius, James had appeared right beside her. He merely stood there, looking down at her, with an odd half-smile on his otherwise impassive face. Violet looked back up at him, wondering what he was waiting for, until Sirius's arm around her loosened, then slipped away completely.

James's eyes tracked the movement, and then rose back up to Violet's. Behind her, Sirius began chuckling. "Stop being such a snob, Prongs, and just sit the hell down!" When James hesitated, Violet mustered all her reserves of courage, reached over, grasped the black cloth of James's sleeve, and pulled him down onto the seat beside hers.

Almost instantly, the familiar hopeful grin was back on his face, his eyes shining towards her. One look into them was enough for her to see the heartbreaking apology and forgive him. Violet patted his hand, which was resting on the table beside her, and slid a goblet of pumpkin juice towards him. James's grin stretched even further, and he threw his arms around Violet, pushing her into Sirius, who in turn also wrapped his arms, as best as he could, around the two of them.

From in between two of her best friends, Violet was finally content again. She had her old friends, her old life back. Nothing could possibly go wrong now.

-Vee