Resolution – By Slytherin's Dragon
A/N: Don't own.
Chapter 2: Ghosts from the Past
The former Aurors found themselves waiting patiently in a small and dimly lit room, after being led there by one Severus Snape straight after they had disembarked from the Thestral drawn carriage. They had managed to snag a carriage for themselves shortly after the train's arrival, feeling the need for more time before having their new reality truly thrust upon them.
The sudden sight of a living Snape had caused Evander to almost lose his balance, considering that the only times Evander had seen the man within the recent days were in his dreams, a gut-wrenching repeat of the adventure in the Shrieking Shack, the site that had served as the Potion Master's deathbed as he bled out, and begged to see to see Evander's eyes, one last time before he crossed the Void.
Evander shivered, despite his placement of a Self-Regulating Temperature charm on all of his articles of clothing shortly before leaving the Hogwarts Express.
"I take it that you see my former Head of House in your dreams too..." Felix mused, after mulling over Evander's reactions from earlier.
"I saw him die... down at the Shrieking Shack" Evander whispered slowly, "That memory never left me. Ron, Hermione and I have never brought it up, since."
There was nothing Felix could say after that.
Minutes passed in silence before the door leading to the Great Hall opened, and Evander saw his own former Head of House, Minerva McGonagall, beckon them both over. Noting that nothing had changed much regarding Professor McGonagall's physical appearance within the past decade made Evander and Felix feel a lot more comfortable as they strode towards the light of the Great Hall.
"Murphy, Evander." Professor McGonagall said curtly, the attention of the entire school focused on the two newcomers that had emerged after the First Year Sorting.
Evander walked slowly and automatically to the battered hat, taking in the surrealism of the scene in front of him. His hands grasped the brim of the old sentient hat and he sat down. After staring at the Sorting Hat for what was a seemingly long period of time, he gingerly placed the cap on top of his head.
He heard the hat chuckle.
My, my – we've shared an adventure or two in the past, Evander - Harry Potter. My apologies, should I say... the future as well?
Evander felt himself turn pale at the Hat's knowledge.
Do not worry. What is said here will remain between you and me.
Hmm... a very different mindset from the first time we've met, yes indeed. Courage you have shown, wisdom you hath earned, ambition you'd sought and loyalty have you displayed. You wish to seek happiness? Let the old Sorting Hat choose for you this time around... Harry.
Evander could barely nod before the Hat continued.
I declare you a...
"Ravenclaw!"
There was thunderous applause from the Ravenclaw table as Evander walked towards his new Housemates. He had been almost sure that the Hat would have thrown him in Slytherin, like the Hat had wanted to the first time around.
When Evander sat down beside an empty chair and a fellow fourth year that he recognized as Anthony Goldstein from his old days at Hogwarts, the applause immediately died down when Felix strode over to the Hat.
When Felix plunked the hat down, he felt his heart rate quicken.
Please Ravenclaw... Please Ravenclaw... Please...
The hat laughed. It sounded like a rumble.
What a surprise! Blaise Zabini! Didn't like my sorting the first time around, eh?
Felix had no comment for that. There was nothing you could say to a sentient Hat who knew all of your secrets.
The hat seemed to think for an interminable amount of time, while Felix pondered how alone he would be if Evander wasn't in the same House as him. Evander was the only connection he had back to his old world.
It was a scary thought.
Alright then, I hope you will find what you are looking for with...
"Ravenclaw!"
There was more applause from the Ravens as Felix took the unoccupied chair beside Evander with relief. Then the familiar figure of Albus Dumbledore rose from the Head Table and with the familiar wand movement that Evander and Felix recognized as the Sonorous Charm, he began to speak.
"Evander Murphy and Felix Wedgewood are transfer students who will be beginning their fourth year, here. I sincerely hope you will all take your time to make them feel welcome."
"That's nice." Evander whispered to Felix, who simply nodded.
"Hi, I am Anthony Goldstein," The fellow Ravenclaw sitting beside Evander whispered, as Dumbledore continued on with his usual spiel. Felix knew that the Anthony of his time was working as a lawyer in an old and internationally renowned Wizarding Firm, and they had run into each other in the courtroom the other day.
They had also shared small-talk on numerous occasions.
Oh this is going to be so awkward.
Anthony's friendly greeting immediately set off a flurry of introductions and hellos from the other Ravenclaws sitting close by.
"So, where did you guys transfer from?" A brunette Ravenclaw that Evander remembered as Mandy leaned across the table to ask.
"Um... we were homeschooled," Evander and Felix looked oddly at each other, both cursing that they hadn't gotten their stories straight on the train, seeing that they had been too preoccupied with the 'why the bloody hell are we young and on a train' and not the 'what the bloody hell do we do now' part.
"That sounds fun," A Chinese girl with her hair tied in a braid named Su stated.
Evander and Felix were saved from further commenting when a particularly loud thunderclap boomed nearby, and the double doors leading to the Great Hall swung open. Everyone was in awe, except Evander and Felix who felt like they were watching a Muggle movie for the second time. The former then snapped his fingers to perform a non-verbal and wandless Muffiato at the psychological moment when everyone was too occupied to care.
"You need to teach me that trick, sometime." Felix whispered, "Damn, it's Not-Moody, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I wonder what we are going to do about it." Evander mused, "Maybe we should stuff him down the trunk and revive the real Moody."
Felix laughed, "We are going to have to think hard about that one. You were always a snap at the Non-verbal, wandless stuff. I envy you for that."
Evander shrugged, "Takes practice. Years and years worth. You have your own specialties, as I seem to recall, anyways."
"I heard you were working on the counter curse to Avada Kedavra." Felix changed the topic, "Or that's what some of the other Aurors were talking about the other day."
"Is that what all you guys do? Gossip all day?" Evander had the practiced stern expression on his face, the one that he used for scolding the Aurors underneath him in rank.
"And catch a few crooks, here and there." Felix said dryly with high humor, "And since we aren't back at the office, you can't punish me by making me do paperwork!"
They both chuckled, as Evander reflected that the days of threatening underlings with paperwork were over.
Evander finally lifted the Muffiato, when the food finally arrived which signalled the end of Dumbledore's long speech.
"Were you guys paying attention at all to what the Headmaster was saying?" Mandy tsked, when Felix cut himself a slice of honey-glazed ham from the spread in front of him, "I mean, you lot were just whispering the whole time."
"Yeah we were. Triwizard Tournament, Mad-Eye's the new DADA professor, and so on and so forth." Evander recited expressionlessly.
Light conversation and eating commenced, with Felix making a big deal about how little Evander ate, and Mandy, Padma and Su, taking Felix's words at heart started piling things on Evander's plate – most notably a large piece of chocolate cake.
Felix gleefully watched the expressions on Evander's face as the girls kept added more and more to his once empty plate.
As Evander reluctantly picked up his dessert fork to tackle his slice of cake, he couldn't even remember when the last time he had cake was.
Maybe at Rose's birthday party?
He shrugged. He had almost forgotten how wonderfully delicious cake could be. Maybe having lots of cake was part of the recipe for happiness?
He smiled at the childishness of his musings.
Just as all the Ravenclaws got up to head towards their Common Room; Felix's eyes seemed to be lingering over at the Hufflepuff table. A second later, Evander was forced to grab him before he fell, his face paler than Evander's had been when he had first encountered Severus Snape on the steps leading to Hogwarts' front doors.
/(I)\
The Ravenclaw dormitories, much to Evander's pleasant surprise, were similar to his old ones back in the Gryffindor tower with the exception of the cooler colours of bronze and blue adorning the room. After supporting Felix all the way to the fifth floor, with the help of Terry, Felix had deemed himself fit for walking without assistance. He shrugged off all the curious inquiries regarding the incident, brushed off all offers for a visit to Madam Pomfrey, and suavely changed the topic of conversation to the safer topic of Professors, pretending that he didn't know who taught what.
Evander found his four poster bed standing beside a beautiful stained glass window, while Felix had the one across from his fellow time traveller, as assigned by the placement of their trunks. Felix barely swallowed back his comment regarding the single room he used to have way back in the Slytherin days. The other Ravenclaws, Terry, Stephen, Anthony and Michael chatted with the ease of old friends while putting their stuff away.
Evander pushed his trunk towards the centre of the room and opened it. He removed the folded Hogwarts robes, which now each had the Ravenclaw crest embroidered and placed them on the blue sheets of his bed. This was followed by the removal of a week's worth of white shirts, a few Ravenclaw blue ties, a scarf, a pair of dragonhide gloves that he remembered Hermione giving him a few years back, and other articles of clothing, some he'd never seen before, and some from his wardrobe back in the future.
It was a shame that he no longer had his Invisibility Cloak.
He also extracted a set of forest green dress robes, and he half-smiled. Ginny had bought those for him a few months before they had split. Despite the hard times that followed, Evander knew that he had learned a lot from the experience, and he knew it long overdue that he let go.
He had never worn them.
It was quaint how Fate chose him this particular set out of all the ones he had.
And then, another thought struck him like a bolt of lightning. He turned around to Blaise-no-Felix and snapped his fingers, triggering the familiar Muffiato. He had modified the original spell over the course of many years, so that instead of buzzing, it was the sound of whispers too low to pick up by anyone in the vicinity.
"You saw your wife." Evander stated simply to Felix, who had been emptying his trunk and stuffing his clothes in the drawers provided underneath their beds. Evander had no inkling regarding the identity of Felix's deceased wife, seeing that the murder had took place in France, nor had he been the person to perform the routine background check necessary for all recruits.
Felix made no answer, and gave the impression that he had never heard Evander's statement.
Evander sighed and continued his probing. "She was a Hufflepuff, wasn't she? In our year, maybe?"
"It was Hannah." Felix spoke rather automatically.
"Last time I heard about Hannah was that she was dating Neville," Evander forced himself to dig up the old gossip. "Oh wait... Neville married Susan. I even went to their wedding a few years back. They have two kids."
"It's funny. I'd never noticed her back at our years at Hogwarts." Felix continued, seemingly in a trance, "I met her when I was wild and twenty-five, living the life off my mom's money... in Sicily, out of all the bloody places possible."
"Wild?" Evander grinned.
"There's no other word for it." Felix continued wistfully, "I travelled the world, was a 'party animal' in almost every sense of the word, and was popular with the ladies. I married Hannah two years later. She liked me for who I was, not what she thought I should or ought to be."
"Ah." Evander understood all too well what Felix meant.
"We were happy." Felix stated rather dreamily, "It's so strange... to see her... to know what I know, and to know that she doesn't know. Pity we are in a bloody school, I could really use a Firewhiskey, right here."
"Right back at ya." Evander sighed wearily, "These dress robes." He pointed at the green pile on the bed, "Ginny bought."
"Sucks," Felix answered back sympathetically, "But you didn't look for her tonight, didn't you?"
Evander shook his head, "No, I had completely forgotten about her, until I saw those..."
"You are moving on." Felix said sadly, "I wish... I wish... I could do the same."
There was an awkward silence that followed, both thinking about the lives that they had so abruptly left.
"We better go to bed." Evander looked around. The lights had already been dimmed and the rest of the Ravenclaws were in bed. "Got class tomorrow, starting at nine – if I remember properly."
"Merlin, I've forgotten about those." Felix feebly laughed.
Evander crawled into bed, after hastily dropping his folded clothes into the drawers. He dove underneath the covers and with a subtle flick of his index finger, the drapes closed.
/(I)\
Evander and Blaise found themselves looking at their timetables the next morning. They had already known what classes they were taking judging by the texts they found in their trunks. Under the familiar safety net of their Muffiato they talked freely.
"I don't remember you taking Ancient Runes before." Felix whispered to Evander, "Are you sure you can handle it?"
Evander laughed, "I picked some up here and there from Spell making. It's kind of important, you see."
"I've never taken Care of Magical Creatures," Felix mused, "You reckon I can catch up?"
"Of course!" Evander reassured, "I think we better stop whispering amongst ourselves... It makes us look kind of anti-social."
"You're right." Felix sighed, "We feel so out of place here... our thirty-three year old selves in the bodies of fourteen year olds."
Evander removed the spell, and the two continued, this time, more audibly to their peers.
"Well, we have Potions with old Snape first thing today." Evander noted, "With the Hufflepuffs." He turned around to see Felix grip his glass full of pumpkin juice, and downing it as if it was a shot of Firewhiskey that could make him forget all of his problems.
Evander mused that it was a good thing they didn't have access to copious amounts of alcohol or they'd never be sober.
"I will be fine." Felix said hoarsely.
"So you say." Evander gave him a significant look that indicated worry.
"Do you guys know how to get to the Dungeons?" Stephen interrupted, "Terry, Michael, and Anthony are going now, if you want to follow."
Wordlessly, Evander and Felix followed the rest of the fourth year Ravenclaws down the corridors and spiral staircases that abounded in Hogwarts. The two ex-Aurors found themselves struggling to remember where all the trick stairs were and Evander had even tripped on one on the way down to the Dungeons.
Finally, the pair occupied a workbench at the very back in the Potions classroom, not wishing to draw any particular attention to themselves. Felix pointedly looked down at his Potions text, and Evander could tell that he was struggling with not looking at a certain blonde who was sitting beside Susan Bones a few benches in front of them.
Maybe we should have sat at the front.
Severus Snape soon billowed in, and began his usual lecture about dunderheads and caution in the Potions classroom.
Evander was forced to stifle a yawn, and that prompted the ever so sharp Snape to ask his first question of the day.
"Murphy! Name a potion that uses Boomslang!"
"Polyjuice Potion, sir." Evander found himself having memories involving a certain girls' washroom and a furry Hermione.
"How about an example of two herbs in Polyjuice that should never be utilized at the same time?"
"Valerian and wormwood, sir," Evander answered without missing a beat, "But the Potion would be fine if dried aconite leaves are added to the brew the step prior."
The Potions Master quirked a surprised eyebrow, "And what's the only Potion known so far that utilizes those steps?"
"Wolfsbane." Evander stated, even though he knew from the time period he had just left, there had been several other innovative Potions developed using the dangerous techniques utilized to make Wolfsbane.
Felix had invented and patented one of those, Evander mused to himself.
"Very well, five points to Ravenclaw." Snape gave him a curt nod, before moving on to teach the day's lesson, leaving Evander surprised. That had been the most civil exchange that he had ever had with the Potions Master in the classroom in his years at Hogwarts. He reflected that it probably helped that he wasn't 'Harry Potter' and a Gryffindor. It also helped that he knew the answers to the questions, even though he was perfectly aware that the answers to the questions Snape had asked were nowhere in the textbook they were required to read except for the first one considering that Polyjuice was illegal and Wolfsbane was beyond NEWTs.
It was a good thing; Evander later reflected that the first Potion they were required to brew in the year was done in pairs. Felix had lost his resolve to not look at his past halfway through the class, and had almost dropped in an entire branch of juniper berries when the recipe had only asked for three berries.
"Shit. Sorry about that." Felix looked sheepish when Evander caught the branch before it fell in. Evander then pulled off three berries and tossed them into the bubbling bronze cauldron, which turned the liquid a shimmering blue.
"Pay attention, Felix." Evander almost hissed in annoyance, "Merlin, that was a bloody close one."
"And I was supposed to be the genius in Potions." Felix sighed, "I used to brew all the –"
"Don't say it." Evander warned, knowing that the next two words that were going to pop out was 'Truth Serum'.
"Right, sorry." Felix looked sheepishly at Evander, "This is harder than I thought it was going to be."
"No shit," Evander remarked. He opened a box that he had gotten from the ingredients storage cabinet labelled fanged carrot and pulled out a wriggling orange carrot by the leaves. He summoned his wand and non-verbally Stupefied the carrot and proceeded to chop and dice it.
"Clever." Felix muttered, remembering the first time when he had come across a Fanged Carrot in third year. The bugger had almost bitten a finger off. He resumed his task of pulling more berries from the branch he had almost haphazardly dropped in the cauldron.
"Yeah, the fanged vegetable family is a nasty lot." Evander acknowledged as Felix dropped twenty berries into the pot and gave the stirring rod a counter clockwise half turn.
Evander then decanted the potion with a simple wave of his wand, and the now bubbly yellow liquid sat in a glass Erlenmeyer flask. Another wave rendered the glass indestructible.
"Not too shabby." Felix looked at the clock behind them, "Still thirty minutes left till end of double-Potions." He picked up the flask and pressed it into Evander's hands, "You bring it up, alright?"
Severus Snape was sitting at his desk, surveying the fourth years around him with a rather bored expression. His expressive left eyebrow lifted upward as the new Ravenclaw walked up to him and placed the flask unceremoniously in front of him.
"I am done, sir."
The Potions Master surveyed the boy standing in front of him. The boy was more confident than your usual Ravenclaw, and the quickly brewed Potion sitting in front of him was, dare he say it, perfect.
"Interesting," Snape finally replied, his dark eyes had been fixed on Evander for the entirety of his silence, "You and Wedgewood may leave."
"Thank you, sir."
Evander walked back towards his workbench, where Felix had already shrunken all of their Potions equipment and placed it in each respective bag, and the two of them walked out.
/(I)\
"Isn't it kind of odd..." Evander started to say, before snapping his fingers to invoke Muffiato after stepping out of the Potions classroom.
"What is?" Felix answered back.
"Mentally, you are old enough to be her father." Evander finished.
Felix sighed, "I know. I wasn't looking at her like... you know... I just wanted to see what she was like back in Hogwarts. I've never noticed her the first time around."
"You mean like, checking her out." Evander restated, "You aren't going to ask her out on a date or anything, aren't you?"
"Hell no, it's too fucking weird." Felix looked surprised that Evander would suggest such a thing.
It won't be the same.
It will never be the same...
Felix immediately then changed the topic, "We've got bigger problems, like Moody."
"Like Moody." Evander parroted, "You know what I never got – why did the Goblet of Fire spew out my name as the fourth champion? I don't think old Barty Junior was a capable enough wizard to reset the settings of the Goblet. Put my name in, yes, but that bit? Hmm..."
"Interesting point you've got there." Felix acknowledged, "Or, you are giving him too little credit."
"I don't know." Evander sighed, "I just know that we can't trust anyone this time around. Not even ourselves."
"You mean Blaise and Harry, our past selves? You trust me, right?" Felix pointed to himself.
Evander gave Felix an odd look and joked, "Yeah, like I have a choice."
"Thanks a lot for the vote of confidence, mate."
"Anytime, Felix, anytime." Evander said lightly, earning himself a slap from Felix, "Where exactly are we going?"
"The Kitchens! Where else? I am starving." Felix patted his stomach, which gurgled on command.
Evander realized that they had arrived at a painting of a familiar bowl of fruit, and Felix reached upward to tickle the pear.
He snapped his fingers to end the spell.
The pear giggled, and the painting swung open. The delicious smells wafting into the air within the pair's vicinity made Evander realize that he was indeed, starving.
"I am surprised you still remember how to get here," Evander looked amused at his companion, as they both walked in, and were greeted by a pair of house-elves, one of which Felix recognized.
"What can Tinky get sirs, today?"
Felix rattled off a long list of delicacies – some of which Evander recognized, others he did not – and the ex-Aurors found themselves sitting at a homey wooden table in midst of the bustle of activity of the House Elves prepping for lunch.
Evander found himself thinking about Kreacher, the house-elf he had left behind from the future. He knew that the old elf was probably devastated by his disappearance, seeing how close-knit they had became over the past decade despite their unpromising beginning. He could just imagine Kreacher greeting him on his return from work – no, it was best that he stray from that path of thought.
He had willed everything, from 12 Grimmauld Place, his invisibility cloak, his new top-of-the-line broomstick that he had bought a year ago and Kreacher to Teddy.
Andromeda was going to freaking kill him. But of course,
Harry briefly grinned mischievously.
She couldn't.
He sighed, nostalgically. Despite the general shit his life had become in the future, there were a few high points, here and there.
How funny was it that he needed a time shift to see the good in his former life?
Nostalgia about the future, what an odd paradox. But of course, for himself and Felix sitting in front of him, the future was yesterday.
And then, another ghost from his past appeared, in the flesh, bearing a pot of steaming soup.
"Your soupe de poisson, good sirs."
It took all of Evander's strength to remain passive, and refrain from calling out. The house-elf looked as he had always did in Evander's dreams, badge-covered tea cosy at an odd angle, a strange tie, some sort of children's shorts and mismatched socks.
The elf then snapped his fingers, and a small dish containing small wedges of spiced toast and a strange sauce that Evander did not recognize showed up. While Evander was busy in his memories, Felix eyed the spread with appreciation and filled his own bowl with the ladle left in the pot. He dipped a piece of toast in the sauce, and dunked it in his soup.
He munched appreciatively.
"My good elf, what is your name?" Felix asked, "This very flavour reminds me of France."
"Dobby, kind sirs," The house-elf bowed low.
Evander, not knowing what to say, followed the same sequence of steps as Felix had done. A quaint mixture of spice and garlic greeted his taste buds, and he was quite surprised by how good it was.
"Thanks, Dobby, this is excellent," Evander finally acknowledged. His own eyes were slightly misty.
Only slightly.
And with another pop, Dobby disapparated to tend to his other duties.
Felix gave Evander an odd look, which was followed by Evander's reply: "I will tell you later."
/(I)\
Evander and Felix ditched lunch, considering the bulk of dessert that Felix had ordered from the house-elves including delicate pastries, pies, and éclairs. Evander had ended up watching Felix eat alone after stuffing his own stomach with the goods.
Instead the two went for a stroll around the various floors of Hogwarts, and when Evander reached a certain bathroom door; he pushed the door open and yanked Felix in with him.
"The bloody hell was that for?" Felix groaned, "You do realize, we are in the bloody girl's bathroom. Oh no, scratch that, the one that no one uses."
"Hmm, and its occupant isn't here... Probably antagonizing the pipes," Evander walked over to the sink and tried to making a specific hissing noise from memory.
Nothing happened.
"Are you bloody mad, Evander?" Felix looked at his friend with a bewildered look.
Evander ignored Felix and tried again, and again. And finally, there was a noise, as the passageway to the old Chamber was opened.
"Merlin," Was all Felix could say before Evander pulled Felix towards him, and both went down the passageway.
It was still the same as Evander had remembered it, greenish, gloomy, dim and smelled damp.
"You were trying to speak Parseltongue?" Felix finally asked as they were halfway down the tunnel, filled with tall pillars entwined with snakes, snakes, and more snakes, "You can't, anymore?"
"Harry can speak it. I can't." Evander replied back, "Kind of lost the ability when the cursed scar was destroyed. Still remember a few words though."
"So, why are we here?" Felix looked distastefully at the dead basilisk that was lying on the ground that they had just reached.
"I figured, we might as well start destroying you-know-who, slowly, y'know. Piece by piece, as they say," Evander said cryptically. The boy bent down towards the maw of the once fearsome Basilisk, summoned his wand, and used magic to break off the fangs. He then magically shrunk them, and conjured a small glass jar, placed them in, and sealed it tightly, before dropping the tiny jar into his robe pockets.
"What do you mean by that?" Felix was bewildered, but practically summoned his own wand, and started to remove the skin, "Hmm... Basilisk skin is ridiculously hard to come by these days, and we could use it for Potion brewing. Pity the blood's all coagulated."
Evander snapped his fingers. Paranoia be damned, he wasn't going to reveal the next piece of information to anybody, even if they were alone in a secret chamber.
"Voldemort made horcruxes. That was the reason why he was so seemingly immortal."
Felix gasped, "You mean, in the plural? Damn. How many times did he split his soul?"
"Too many – these teeth will destroy them, from my previous experience. I could conjure Fiendfyre, but I'd rather not." Evander mused, "Plus one of them is in Hogwarts, so we can go destroy it at our leisure. Sooner the better though. And how did you know about horcruxes?"
"Heard about them sometime during my travels," Felix said, rather vaguely. He bagged the skin in an opaque Muggle garbage bag that he had conjured, causing Evander to quirk an eyebrow at his choice of baggage, and shrunk it. Like his friend, he dropped the item in his pocket.
"Well, if we leave now," Evander cast a Time spell, "We could be on time for Ancient Runes."
"Excellent. Shall we put aside our plans for Mouldy Voldy for another time?" Felix was highly amused by the contrast of their varying activities.
"We are kind of expected in class. Got to maintain the good student facade, y'see?" Evander smirked, "Off we go now."
Basilisk contraband in pockets, Evander and Felix headed back up towards class.
/(I)\
"Ugh, this is boring." Evander whispered to Felix at the back of the Ancient Runes classroom.
Felix looked amused, "Already? But this is your first class in the subject! Well, to be frank, I already know this stuff, so I am bored too."
"So do I, at least, you have your counterpart," Evander looked pointedly at the direction where a different Blaise Zabini sat at the front of the room, studiously taking the elaborate notes that Professor Babbling was painstakingly writing by hand, in front of them all while explaining her derivations.
"Merlin, was I boring," Felix mused and then turned to gaze at the rest of the Slytherins in the room; "Daphne, Tracey, Theo and I were good friends back in the good old days. We were neutral. Although Theo's parents were nutters."
"Yeah, you are pretty boring." Evander chuckled, as he observed the Blaise in front of the room raising his hand up to ask a question, "Kind of reminds me of Hermione."
"Thanks, man." Felix said sarcastically, "I wasn't a complete bookworm!"
"It was a compliment," Evander grinned, "Oh shit; I think Babbling might be on to us."
Evander quickly summoned his wand and quietly reduplicated her notes on the pieces of parchment in front of them, before Babbling left her place from the board to come marching up to the talkative students. Felix let out a sigh of relief when she walked up to Daphne and Tracey who were sitting in front of them and reprimanded them from gossiping.
When she walked back, Felix murmured, "That was a close one."
"No shit, Felix." Evander said drolly, before turning his attention to a blank piece of parchment. He picked up his quill and started sketching a triangle, before inscribing strange runes within from memory.
At this point, Felix wisely turned his attention back to the lesson, while Evander continued to scribble till the end of the class.
/(I)\
"So, how was the first day, you lot?" Michael Corner caught up to Felix and Evander, who were all heading back to the Ravenclaw Common Room after dinner.
"Parts dull, parts interesting," Felix replied nonchalantly, "How about you?"
"Transfiguration was fascinating! I can't wait to learn how to vanish objects!" Michael began to go on and on about how cool the art of vanishing things were and how useful it was.
Felix and Evander gave each other an amused look, which seemed to say.
Ah, youth.
Mercifully, Michael stopped when they entered the Common Room, and Evander headed for the dormitories along with Felix; while the other Ravens of their year sat down to do their homework.
"Oh Merlin, I forgot with school... came homework." Felix said to Evander in the empty fourth year dormitory.
Evander grinned while snapping his fingers, "You forgot, Auror training? That was a shitload of homework."
"Well, I want to finish the unpacking." Felix said, "Considering we only got through the clothing, yesterday and we started talking about feelings like how Tracey, Daphne, Millicent and even Pansy did back in the day. I remember Theo, me and even Draco groaning about it."
"Damn, can we go through a day without talking about emotions?" Evander laughed, "It's been two days in a row."
"Kind of difficult," Felix chuckled, "Being thrown in this time period really does make you rethink things."
"Alright then, to unpacking," Evander grinned, "Ooh, my Firebolt!"
"Nice," Felix looked appreciatively at the gleaming broom that Evander had lifted out from his trunk.
"I haven't flown it in years." Evander admitted, "Got two new brooms within the past ten years."
"Well, Fate can't have you too far ahead of the times." Felix grinned, "Ah, my old Nimbus 2001 is here."
"You play Quidditch?" Evander inquired, remembering that Felix had not been on the Slytherin team.
"Yeah, I can play all the positions, but I never really wanted to be part of the Slytherin team. For one thing, I wasn't the big and bulky type that they favoured." Felix shrugged, "We could play sometime, on a weekend."
"Cool. Better do it in private or we will be dragged kicking and screaming to the Ravenclaw House team," Evander joked.
Felix laughed, "It's kind of unfair, especially with the fact that we've been flying brooms for almost two decades now."
"Oh damn, nice broom, Felix! And is that a Firebolt I see there? Only Harry has a Firebolt around here!" Stephen walked into the room, his mouth agape in awe, "Are you guys, by any chance, any good at Quidditch? We need some better players!"
Evander discreetly snapped his fingers, and the two shared another look. Both of them could've sworn that they could've seen the sarcasm in the other's eyes.
That lasted so long.
/(I)\
"So, we've been roped into Quidditch tryouts," Felix chuckled when all the Ravens had finally gone to bed.
Evander sighed, while working on his Transfiguration essay by candlelight, "Looks like it. Maybe I will go for Chaser this time around."
"Cool." Felix frowned at his own essay, "Why did Professor McGonagall give us only one day to do this?"
"Beats me, I remember she really started upping the homework load in fourth year." Evander shrugged, "I can't believe the other four Ravens are already done."
"And it's boring. I can already change into a bloody animal!" Felix sighed, staring drearily at his half-written essay.
Evander groaned, "Oh shove it. I can't. It's actually nice having all this review; I've forgotten most of it."
"Just wait until DADA; we will be both dying of boredom." Felix dipped his quill into the inkwell near his pillow. He preferred the old fashioned ways, while Evander had a self-inking raven feather quill in his hand.
"Not-Moody was pretty fascinating, from what I remembered." Evander smiled, "Pity I forgot the exact date he transfigured Malfoy into a ferret."
Felix laughed, "We need to be there."
"I can still picture Ron's face of bliss. 'Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret." Evander remembered, "You don't seem to defend young Draco very much, despite being ex-Housemates."
"Let's be frank here," Felix said, "Draco was a spoiled git when we were at Hogwarts. None of us called him out on it, because it wasn't our way, and Theo and I stayed away whenever he started picking fights with Gryffs. Although, after the Malfoys' had most of their assets seized by the Ministry for their War Crimes after Voldie's Fall, you'd never see a humbler man."
"That's true." Evander mused, remembering the last time he had accidentally bumped into Draco, and found out that he was married to Astoria, and owned a quaint little bookshop and cafe in Diagon Alley. It had been a respectful encounter on both parties.
"Tomorrow should be a little more interesting on your end," Felix changed the subject, "We've got Charms, and Herbology with the Gryffindors."
"Yes, and we will finally get to see the young me, and what did they call us back then? Yes, the Golden Trio." Evander grinned at the memory, "Definitely more interesting than what we saw in Ancient Runes."
"Mind you, what the hell were you doodling on about in that class earlier? I didn't get it at all." Felix looked suspiciously at Evander, who merely smiled.
"I don't get it either myself, but when I do, you will be the first person I notify."
"Damn you, Evander. Always a sneaky and cryptic bastard, aren't you?"
The two proceeded to work on their essays in silence, while the rest of the room's occupants snored on.
A/N:
Review?
