Chapter One

A summer breeze was blowing. It was a rather pleasant and calm breeze as they go, polite, thoughtful, unlikely to make curtains billow in that particularly annoying manner hated by all those trying to read near windows. Indeed, as breezes went, it was something of a tame little thing. It blew across the Kentish coast from the Atlantic Ocean, breezing over the golden moonlit dunes and west across the wild hills, moors, woods and farms until it reached the small village of Aldington. It meandered through the streets of the town and on past a low range of wooded hills, passing an imposing gate before rambling up a marble drive leading to a rather lavish, even palatial, Manor House. As it rustled the leaves of a rather magnificent oak tree, a tall, dark headed boy appeared at the nearby window – just in time to wince at the sound of a resounding crash loud enough to stun a storm-driven gale, let alone a polite summer breeze.

With a sigh, the dark haired teenager shut the window and drew the blue velvet curtains. It was 9 o'clock on a balmy summer's night, like many others – dark, nightish, starlit etcetera – and Evander Dyer was shut up in his room, in a vain attempt to gain some peace and quiet. Indeed, Evander (Evan, to those who didn't want their faced hexed off) wasn't a particularly quiet boy. Indeed, it could be said by those with a politer disposition that he was on occasions an amusingly exuberant and boisterous individual, and by those with more biting tongues, that he was an obnoxiously loud and smart-mouthed git. He was quite willing to admit this, cheerfully even; however the general war being waged between his younger siblings Elijah and Eleanor was tiresome enough, as it strode quickly towards a battle royale of rather grandiose proportions, that even he had been forced to retreat to the veritable sanctuary of his bedroom.

As another almighty crash shook the house, he winced again, and dryly wondered if they would in fact leave any furniture intact for the paid-house elves to reparate following the fallout from his sibling's heated argument that had been started, as far as Evan could tell, over a missing sock. As he heard his mother finally begin chastising her screaming offspring, it occurred to him now, as it had often before, that they were rather lucky to not have neighbours within screaming distance, as they would inevitably call the muggle please-men or whatever they were called, out of concern for the well being of the Dyer household.

As the noise level downstairs began to increase with the entrance of his father and older brother into the general mêlée, Evan became acutely aware of just how glad he would be to get away from the mad-house he called home.

"Just one more night" Evan muttered to himself "one more bloody night".

Indeed, the following day would see Evan fleeing from his at-times psychotic pureblood family, into the welcoming arms of his best friend James' household. He thanked Merlin for the small miracle granted to him in the shape of the less vocally-demonstrative insanity of the Potter family, and the peace and quiet it would bring him for the rest of the summer holidays before the start of his Sixth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He was honest enough with himself to admit, that even at sixteen, Evan was giddily excited to be seeing his best friends the following day. James Potter, Fiana Hayden and Cassie McAllister and himself had all been friends since meeting (as so many best friends do) on the Hogwarts Express on the first day of their first year. The friendship had been galvanised by the sorting of all four of them into Gryffindor House, to the point that even after a few short weeks, he missed them like a buttock lost in a duel.

Thinking of his friends, he absently wandered over to his bedside table to pick up the large wizarding photograph of the quartet, goofing off and waving at the camera in the common room. He smiled to himself as he watched James and Fiana pull faces at a rather harassed looking Cassie, much to photograph-Evan's amusement.

As he smiled down at the scene of general mirth and camaraderie, he once again thanked Saint Vivian of the Lake, that the Fates had contrived for him to meet his three best friends on that first day of Hogwarts. As he lay back on his bed, still looking at the photo, he thought back to that first day with his friends…


The day had started the same as any other Evan had experienced in his short life – that is to say, with a loud crack and a burst of blinding light as Twinky (his mother's paid House Elf) apparated into his bedroom and perfunctorily opened the curtains to let in the day. In a state of almost feverish excitement, he'd dressed and then run down stairs to eat his breakfast with his parents and siblings.

"Morning Nico. Excited are you?" his father, Erasmus, had asked him over his paper, sparing an amused look at his son's excited quivering.

"Morning Dad!" he'd said cheerfully, buttering his toast "I nearly couldn't get to sleep!"

"My," his father had said, eyes twinkling "that certainly is quite a feat for someone as committed to his sleep as you are".

"Now, now Erasmus," his mother Sigrid said, smiling, as she walked into the dining room "Leave the mocking of the children 'til after breakfast"

"Yes Dad," his older brother Eugene had put in wryly "You don't want ickle van van's getting so excited he'll wet himself"

"Why?" his mother replied, eyebrow raised "Do you want to remain the only Dyer in the last 600 years to maintain that particular privilege? Because really dear, there are so many other ridiculous traditions you could adhere to in its stead"

"MUM!" his brother had yelled in a strangled tone, whilst turning a delicious shade of red "I THOUGHT WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT THAT!"

"Oh… my mistake dear" she'd said placidly.

Smiling into his toast, Evan had just known this was going to be a good day.


By the time the six Dyer's had arrived at Kings Cross Station in London, having first travelled by Floo to the family's Town House in Kensington, Evan had been almost beside himself. As they walked through the crowdedstation, towards the divider between platforms nine and ten, he suddenly became apprehensive as to whether or not the divider would let him through, and said so to his brother. Laughing, Eugene had grabbed his hand and together they'd past through the barrier and come out on platform nine and three quarters, in full view of the sparkling red steam engine.

He turned to see his parents and younger siblings emerge at a more sedate pace, and suppressed a groan as he saw that his parents were deeply involved with several fellow Ministry high-ups. His dissatisfaction was replaced almost instantly when his brother nudged him and informed him that the black-haired man speaking animatedly with his father was none other than the legendary Harry Potter, whilst his mother was talking to equally famous former Harpies Quidditch Captain Ginevra Potter. As the group moved towards him, he noticed for the first time that accompanying them was a vaguely familiar boy pushing a trolley.

As the group reached him (his brother having fled at sight of the Man Who Defeated Voldemort) his mother smiled at him and said, "Evander! Do you remember James? I seem to remember the two of you hanging about together at a couple of Ministry galas."

"Uhhh… yes," he said, giving James an awkward smile "I think I do."

"Wonderful Jamie," Mrs Potter exclaimed "You will have someone to talk to; Teddy won't have to curse your eyebrows off!"

"Mum," James had pleaded "Please don't embarrass me in front of everyone!"

"C'mon James," Mr. Potter said grinning at Evan "This lad seems an alright sort, I work with his mother."

"Ah, thankyou sir" Evan said, feeling rather like a stupefied plimpy waiting to be gutted by an industrious House Elf.

"Indeed," his father smiled at them "well, why don't you boys go and find your compartment and stow your trunks?"

"Uh, sure dad, yeah," he said, suddenly shy "we'll go do that now shall we?"

Thankfully James appeared to feel the same way, as he nodded and replied with a crooked smile "Yeah, sure, let's go find a compartment."

As they boarded the train the two boys turned to each other and said at exactly the same time

"I'm really sorry about that."

They laughed nervously at each other and walked down the train together.

"So, your name is… Evander?" James queried "I'm pretty sure I do remember seeing you at a couple of those boring parties"

"Ha, just Evan, please I don't need to be reminded of my parents ridiculous love for old fashioned names starting with the letter 'E'" Evan replied smiling

James laughed "message received and understood" before pointing to an empty carriage where they could stow their luggage "does that look okay to you?"

"Yeah, fine," said Evan gratefully "looks good."

They stowed their trunks and stood their looking awkwardly at each other

"So ah, you don't mind do you," James asked nervously "being stuck with me that is?"

"No! I'm just glad that I'll know someone," said Evan "maybe we can be, friends? If you'd like, that is"

"I think I would, yeah" James grinned at him "let's go see the rent's off".


As the train moved out of London, James or "Jamie" and Evan became more and more animated and friendly in their conversation. Evan hoped it was a good sign, because he really rather liked the other boy, and found himself opening up very easily to him. They talked about their families, their homes, their likes and dislikes, and of course, Quidditch. They were just getting into a rather animated discussion of the last World Cup match between Australia and Canada, when the unmistakable sound of panicked hyperventilation reached them, a second before the door to their compartment flew open to reveal two girls – a tall honey-blond haired one hyperventilating over something and a shorter, pretty, white-blond who was comforting the panic stricken one.

"E-Ex-c-cuse me," said the tall panic-stricken one "D-do you mind if we s-sit in here? Everywhere else if f-full!"

Taking into account the pure distress radiating from the panicked girl, as well as the shy, apologetic look the shorter blond girl was shooting at them, James and Evan looked at each other and replied in unison "Uh, Sure"

The two girls moved in with their trunks and stowed them in the luggage racks.

"Oh, I'm Fiana Hayden, by the way. And this is my friend Cassie McAllister" the blond girl, Fiana said.

James and Evan reacted in the only acceptable way for eleven year old boys to act when faced by two carriers of the dreaded girl-germs: they moved to one side of the carriage, fortifying themselves into a defensive position in case the girls decided to turn them to stone, or eat their livers or something.

As Fiana and Cassie sat down opposite them, Evan felt James nudge him and fighting down his apprehension, he smiled and said: "Umm, Hi. My name's Evander. Evander Nicodemus Dyer. Pleased to meet you"

Cassie stopped mid-calming breath and blinked at him in shock – rather like a Fwooper upon suddenly finding itself without a silencing charm.

"What, did you say your name was?" she asked, with a slight tone of incredulity.

Ahhh, Muggle-born, thought Evan.

"My name's Evander Nicodemus Dyer, Evan for short," he said to her, and seeing her continued look of mystification "it's a pureblood name… Evander after my dad's grandfather, Nicodemus after my mum's dad"

"Oh… sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," she said "I've just never heard anyone with a name as weird as mine before"

"Oh?" James asked "What's your full name then? I'm James Sirius Potter, by the way"

Fiana did a little double-take, and Evan smiled at her, she looked like she would be fun to hang out with.

"My name's Cassandra Evangeline Mafilicent Andrea McAllister" Cassie said "Cassie for short."

"You can call me Fi for short if you like" Fiana piped in

They sat there, nodding stupidly at each other for a moment or two before Evan piped up with a question: "So, Cassie, Fi? Are you from Wizarding families? Muggle families?"

"Errrr, I'm a half-blood," said Fiana "my dad's from an old Wizarding family, but my mum's a muggle-born"

Before either Jamie or Evan could respond, Cassie made a slightly frantic noise somewhere between a sob and a giggle and began to babble "I'm uh, a muggle born, I had no idea about magic until I got my letter! I'm so glad I went to school with Fi here though, we went to school over in Westminster you know, quite a nice place, have you been there? I was so proud of myself when I got in! But I guess I'm going to Hogwarts now, so I guess that's better. Or at least I think that's better, I can't be sure. Fi says its one of the best Magic Schools in the world, but I don't really know anything about the other schools or even if there are any so I can't be sure but yes, I'm a Muggle born. How about you two? Are you from wizard families? And how do you know each other? Did you go to school together?" she came to a stop rather unexpectedly, and Evan turned to blink at an equally mystified Jamie, before turning back to look at Cassie, taking note of the apologetic look Fiana was giving them.

Merlin's Beard! Evan thought as he hazily tried to restructure the mass of nervous babbling that Cassie had just sprouted at him. Before he could however, Jamie waded in

"Um, I'm from a Wizarding Family," he said "Both my parents went to Hogwarts, and so did my Grandparents. Not that it matters really" he finished, giving them both a grin.

"I'm from an old Wizarding family too," Evan added "I have no idea what my parents will do if I'm not placed in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw!"

"Heh, I don't think my parents really mind, to be honest" said James.

"Yeah, mine aren't too fussed either" Fi added placidly, as she reached into her trunk and got out a Muggle fantasy-novel.

"Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, what are those?" said Cassie with a rising note of hysteria in her voice (Evan was privately beginning to think that she was, like her namesake, rather prone to hysterics)

"They're Houses," Evan replied "two of the four school Houses at Hogwarts. The other two are Slytherin and Hufflepuff. All my family's been in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for generations"

"Oh, okay," said Cassie, calming down "which house would you like to be in?"

James and Evan looked at each other and grinned "Gryffindor!" they both said.


The rest of the journey had passed pleasantly. The three of them had taught Cassie to play exploding-snap, with a promise to teach her gobstones later, and by the time they'd changed into their school robes, crossed the lake with the eccentric Professor Finnegan, and been marched into a waiting room, the four of them had become fast friends.

Professor Creevey, walked back into the room, and led them out into the Great Hall, where the first years stared awe struck at the bewitched ceiling, and the hundreds of students looking up at them. They formed a line, and after an eccentric song by the sorting hat, describing the nature and virtues of the four houses, the sorting began in earnest.

The first from their little quartet to be called was Fiana. She walked up to three legged stool and placed the hat on her head, and after a considerable amount of time, the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" to the waiting students, a decision applauded by the Gryffindors on the far right.

Next to be called was Cassie, who like Fiana, walked to the front and placed the hat on her head. Almost instantly the hat came to a decision, and much to Evan's relief shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" once again. He watched Cassie walk shakily down to join Fiana with the rest of the Gryffindors, as he waited for his name, until, finally;

"Dyer, Evander"

Evan walked to the front and sat down on the three legged stool, taking the sorting hat from the Professor. Once it was on his head, a small voice in his ear spoke to him:
"My, another Dyer eh?" the hat said "I know exactly where you should be! I'll put you in: GRYFFINDOR!" the last part being yelled to the entire hall.

Sighing with relief, Evan walked down to the Gryffindor table to much applause and joined his two already-sorted friends, looking up and giving James a thumbs up. James smiled back rather sickly and seemed impatient as he waited for several more people until finally his name was called and he sat down and put the sorting hat on his head.

Surprisingly, at least from Evan's point of view, the hat took quite a while to decide where to place Jamie. Considering the reputation held by both the Potters and the Weasleys as all-Gryffindor families, it was some moments before the sorting hat finally yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" much to Evans excitement and relief. As James sat down next to him at the Gryffindor table he turned to Evan and said "That was kin-


"OI! OI!"…

The sensation of a pair of rolled up socks hitting the side of Evan's head jerked him, with a start from his reverie.

"Merlins saggy balls Nico! You were fucking gone then!" his brother, Elijah said to him

"Yeah, sorry about that," Evan replied "I was just reminiscing"

"Huh, well it took me three goes to get you to wake up Troll Brains," his brother replied moodily "mum says you should probably go to bed, since you'll be leaving early in the morning"

"Yeah," Evan said, suddenly realising just how sleepy he was "I might to do that. 'Night"

"Okay weirdo," his brother said "Night then"

Evan smiled brightly at his brother (confusing him) and shut the door. As he got undressed and climbed into his bed, he couldn't help but think that tomorrow was going to be a rather excellent day.