Hogwarts
It was really a pity that she couldn't use magic yet, not allowed to for another two months. Was there really a reason for her to not even be able to try to use magic yet? A single spell, that was all she asked!
Perhaps they believed that Evelyne would be reckless and try spells beyond her capacity. That not only made sense, but was actually something she might have tried to do. Though that didn't explain why she couldn't even try it with adult supervision. Then again, the adults in the castle were almost all too busy to deal with her whims, or on their own well-deserved vacations. The elves probably weren't trusted, and the ghosts and portraits couldn't actually do anything to stop her if she did take it upon herself to try a spell beyond her abilities.
Alright, so there was a reason, but… how was she supposed to practice other things? She could read, and it wasn't like she needed the music to keep her strength or flexibility or cardio where it should have been, but how was she supposed to dance?
She could go to the Room of Requirement, but she was… leery of going there, as early in the series as she was. She was growing more and more convinced that this world was probably at least somewhat real, or was a coma-dream that would react to her actions as realistically as could be expected, and if she happened to upset some balance by doing something like that too early, it would just be bad for everyone.
Too bad the House Elves didn't know that.
o.o.o.o.o
Evelyne groaned and pushed away the book in front of her. She brought her hands up to her temples, rubbing them in an effort to push away the migraine. She'd been studying this part of the library, the history section, for hours, and it was getting to be no less boring.
It didn't help that she was studying Daily Prophet articles from the last war, which were naturally inclined to be boring, misleading, and paranoia-inducing. It didn't help that, rather than just reading them, she was trawling them for inconsistencies with the law books she'd also taken out. And it most certainly did not help that she was mainly doing this to distract herself from the fact that she had just been given a way to the Room of Requirement that did not hinge on her own previous knowledge.
But what did that mean? Was it just a coincidence? Was it a sign from her subconscious that there wouldn't be any real consequences to going? Was it a sign from 'Fate' that she was cleared to go? Was it a temptation that was meant to be ignored? She was in the world of a book, after all. It didn't run on normal logic, but on literary technique, symbolism, tropes and clichés. Sometimes, things meant as little as they did in real life, but sometimes they were a sign of something bigger, something she was meant to see coming. Granted, she wasn't reading it, but living it, and as such, couldn't read only the relevant parts of the 'story,' but was seeing everything, everything, as it came instead.
Okay, so, a House Elf had told her about the Room of Requirement. That was how Harry had learned in canon, and she hadn't done anything to prompt the knowledge other than complain while eating one day. Actually, how had the Elves even heard her? Had they been gossiping with the ghosts? There was usually at least one of the silvery spirits supervising her in lieu of a staff member, even if a few of them were leery of speaking with her, knowing that she seemed to have information that they couldn't necessarily be sure wasn't on them specifically.
(The Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron, however, had already been warned away by Nearly-Headless Nick, in a preemptive proxy apology from Evelyne for knowing what likely counted as their deepest secrets.)
But should she visit the Room or not?
This would be so much easier if she could just use that stupid spell.
Only a month and a half left, now.
o.o.o.o.o
Konohagakure no Sato
Evangeline slowly breathed out, focusing on her balance. She was standing on her hands in the middle of the courtyard where she practiced with Neji and Hinata, stick straight. Over the course of several long seconds, she spread her legs into a wide V, and then shifted her weight to one hand and held the other out to the side, trembling, but not breaking form.
In a fraction of a second, her legs snapped together, and she folded in on herself, feet barely touching the ground before she straightened up again and once more stood on her feet.
"Impressive." Neji allowed.
"Innit, though?" Evangeline shot him a grin. "Probably something most kids your age can do, but I'm pretty sure it's at least a little good."
"Surprisingly, no." Neji shook his head. "Balance isn't quite the most important aspect of shinobi training, and when it is included, it is always in matters of footwork or quick flips. It is rarely necessary for a shinobi to hold such an impractical pose for so long."
"Your vocabulary is big enough to disturb me, you know." Eva glanced back at him with a grin. "But it definitely makes talking to you easier."
"I'm a prodigy."
"You're arrogant." Eva corrected. "Besides, your intelligence score in the databooks was average, at best."
"What?" Neji looked a little disturbed at that.
"Yeah, I always thought it was a bit odd." She snickered. "The rest of your team was more or less the same, though. I don't think Kishi put much effort into the databook scores for minor characters."
"Minor?" Neji's tone was rather affronted.
"Yes, minor. You were reasonably important but not overall necessary to the whole plot, and didn't show up as often as the main cast. Be glad you weren't a tertiary character, because those are the kind that get next to no development whatsoever." Eva bent backwards, halting at several points to make sure she wasn't about to fall over. She managed to grasp her ankles, swaying for several seconds, and then stood straight again. "Hey, do you wanna help me practice some tricks? Some of the stuff I do needs multiple people to work."
Neji frowned. "No."
"Fine, then can you at least help me bring out a table and hold down one end of it so that it doesn't topple over when I do a trick."
"No, we're not allowed to bring furniture out here."
"Geez, so uptight." Eva rolled her eyes. "Where's Hinata, by the way?"
"I neither know nor care." Neji closed his eyes, and then slid into a ready stance, expression blank. "Block."
Eva's eyes widened as she jumped back, scrambling to remember how to block correctly. "There are so many words to fit this situation, but I don't think I'm allowed to say most of them around you."
"You aren't blocking."
Shit.
o.o.o.o.o
Hinata was waiting by the door to their room after Evangeline came back from the training session, a small package in her hand and a young man with a wrapped forehead (Branch, then) standing next to her.
"Uh… hey. What's going on?" Evangeline glanced at the package again.
"Shopping." The man's voice was fairly soft, but clipped. "You will soon begin attending the Academy with Hinata-sama. Your current apparel is second-hand, and Hiashi-sama has deemed it unacceptable for a guest of the Hyuuga clan to be seen in public with such clothing."
"And the stuff that came with me is all too big." Fuck. Eva groaned. "Great, so… the package, is that money or something?"
Hinata nodded. "Yes. Tokuma-san will assist us as a bodyguard, but you are otherwise trusted to make your decisions wisely."
Bodyguard: Hinata as heiress, Evangeline as a dangerous source of information. Necessary.
"Make your decisions wisely": Don't pick anything ridiculous; don't try to look like you're a Hyuuga; don't pick anything too civilian.
"Gotcha."
And probably try not to buy too much.
o.o.o.o.o
"Do the boots have to be toeless?" Eva made a face. "Seriously, I hate open shoes; the feeling of dirt and grit getting on my feet like that is disgusting. I know most ninja use sandals, but seriously, do they have to be toeless?"
"I don't… think so?" Hinata glanced at Tokuma, who made no comment. The man was not there to give fashion advice, but he could be reasonably counted on for matters of practicality.
"Then I'm getting closed-toe boots." Low heel of course, and in black. They'd match the knee supports, anyway. And the odd little fishnet things didn't look useful at first glance, but they had slots on them to hang holsters, so that worked out well enough.
"This is what you want?" Hinata seemed a little off-put by the purchase.
"Yeah, why?"
"Isn't it a little too… little?"
Short black and blue ruffled skirt, black spandex bike shorts for underneath (like hell she was letting anyone catch a look at her underwear), black shirt with a deep U-shaped neckline, and a blue half-jacket… thing.
"Maybe, but… remember, I'm older than you. Besides, I'm covering all the important bits, could care less about people looking at my legs, and I don't exactly have enough cleavage yet for it to be all that important." Evangeline bit her lip. "Though just one outfit isn't really enough. One pair of boots and one jacket, yeah, but… hm… maybe a few more of the shorts, skirts, and shirts. And some more socks and undergarments, those are important. Still, like I said: not too revealing."
"If you say so." Hinata had been struggling with some of the words (cleavage, undergarments, sandals), but had gotten the gist of it. "Tokuma-san?"
"It is acceptable."
"See? Plus, I've actually paid attention to fabrics and the like here; this stuff is going to give me a good range of motion, even the jacket." Evangeline winked. "Plus, it's distracting to anyone our physical age."
Hinata blushed as Eva pranced away to find a few spare bits and pieces.
"I… you still need something to tie back your hair!"
"I'll grab some elastics and tie it down low." Eva waved her off with a grin. She had some more clothes to find.
o.o.o.o.o
Questions
Why is Evelyne deliberating so much?
From my perspective, it's because I need her to. From hers, it's because she's starting to question her decisions and reality itself, and isn't sure what she can or can't do without destroying something irreparably.
Is Tokuma canon?
Why yes, yes he is.
Can we see Evangeline's outfit anywhere?
I'll be putting up a link to a picture of the outfit if you actually care (not that most of you do) on my profile soon, credits to the Waivera Scene Maker on Doll Divine. I know that scenes like that with just outfit descriptions are boring, so I tried to keep it as quick and simple as possible.
o.o.o.o.o
A/N: Hm… not quite satisfied here, but it's good enough.
Ja ne,
Phoenix
