Resolution – By Slytherin's Dragon

Chapter 10: Shattering

"Oomph... I am terribly sorry!" Colin Creevey apologized profusely upon walking into Evander in his haste. The short brown-haired boy looked extremely distracted. He looked rather nervously between the door of the Potions classroom and Evander.

"No problems there, Colin." Evander reassured the boy. There was a certain pang in his chest that hit whenever he saw one of the victims of the Final battle. He had gotten it under control for the most part, but every now and then, he would be caught unawares.

"You know my name?" Colin looked pleasantly surprised. "Merlin... I-I-we've never met! I know you... you are Evander Murphy – common room gossip and all that – smart and helpful – an excellent Seeker – but I don't think you are as good as our Harry!"

Evander put his hand up in an attempt to stop Colin's rambling. He did smile at Colin's loyalty. "I know; people like to talk. It's just how things work."

"Yeah, they do." Colin agreed readily. The boy then resumed a more agitated look. "Oh bollocks, I've got to get Harry for the Wand-Weighing from Professor Snape. I am already running late..."

"I can fetch him for you from Professor Snape." Evander offered, "It won't be too much of a hassle for me... I know how –"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." Evander affirmed. Colin looked incredibly relieved before Evander started talking again, "Just one favour..." He pulled out Harry's wand from the pocket of his Ravenclaw robes. "Give this to Harry, will you? It's his -"

"Oh, of course," Colin reverently grasped his idol's wand, just as Evander opened the door to Severus' classroom. He strode in briskly. Daphne and Tracey who were sitting somewhere near the back waved and winked at him, Theo had a small smile for him and young-Blaise looked up in acknowledgement over his comprehensive looking Potions notes. Severus ignored him, of course, he and Felix often walked through the room while he was teaching class to get to the laboratory.

He caught the look of fury of his younger self at Draco after the blond Slytherin had flashed a well-timed 'POTTER STINKS'. Evander stood at the front, whilst Severus was threatening to test out shoddy antidotes on his students.

Severus finally realized that Evander wasn't leaving. "What do you want, Murphy? Can't you see –"

"The Triwizard people want Potter." Evander explained patiently, "He's to be upstairs – his escort is outside..."

"Ah, yes..." Severus turned to look at Harry, who was looking somewhat gladder at the prospect of not sitting through Potions. He sniped sarcastically, "Our representative Champion needs an escort..."

There were a few snickers from the Slytherin side of the room. Evander merely rolled his eyes. Was this really necessary? He made himself a mental note to have a little chat with Severus sometime later.

"You do realize that Potter still has another hour of Potions to complete..." Severus said severely, "He can come upstairs after –"

"Oh no, they need him now – he's to take his things..." Evander insisted.

Severus sighed. "Very well, go – Potter."

After watching Harry pack up his things and head out the door, Evander headed for Severus' laboratory. Felix was already there, attempting to finish the weekly Runes problem-set that was due tomorrow, while being surrounded by several steaming cauldrons.

"Still working on it, mate?" Evander peered over Felix's shoulder.

"Oh shut it." Felix sniped distractedly. "I am getting really sick of doing things that I've already done before..."

"Yeah, I know." Evander sighed. "At least we aren't back in First Year or something – that would be awful..."

"Tell me about it." Felix brushed the edge of his tattered quill against his chin. "I want to work on my neuro-regeneration project. I want my new desktop that I bought last year; the internet would make my life so much easier for the research I am doing. I feel like I am living in the fucking Stone Age... I want –"

Evander laughed, "Yeah, I want things too."

"Tell you what –" Felix turned around to face Evander, quill still tucked in his fingers. "Let's make a pharmaceutical company of sorts. I know a few interesting Potions that will help get our business started. We will invest a chunk of our earnings into the Muggle stock-market, since we know what's going to go up within the next few years anyways."

"That's actually bloody brilliant." Evander mulled the thought over. "Severus would be an excellent asset too. I think he would agree to help; it would get him a foot out the door for his plans to leave Hogwarts... So what Potion were you thinking...?"

Felix grinned inanely. "I was thinking along the lines of Viagra actually. We can cater to both Muggle and magical... After all there are more Muggles than magical folk around. I mean, hell, we came from 2013 – might as well put the successful money-making ideas to use."

Evander then burst into a loud fit of laughter, "Felix, you are a fucking genius! You really did put thought into this... We should probably work on the Muggle side of things, though. It puts the heat off us in the Wizarding world."

"Oh, I concur. We need some champagne."

"So do you know how to make Viagra?" Evander asked the important question. "Organic chemistry is not exactly part of the Hogwarts –"

"I know what the structure looks like – with all its moieties." Felix said slowly. "I snuck out to London the other day and got us a text or two on organic chemistry for review purposes. It's not hard to derive the process... If you wanted to be a Potions Master in the twenty-first century, you had to know your chemistry inside and out. Of course the difficult thing is to get our stuff into clinical trials – none of us are formal principal investigators and none of have a M.D. or Ph.D behind our names... we are only bloody fourteen!"

"We can ask Severus..." Evander suggested. He then added reassuringly. "We can find somebody."

"Yeah," Felix nodded.

"Say, I am going to Forbidden Forest today. I feel the need for some fresh air and a walk." Evander said casually, "Need anything?"

Felix consulted a calendar hanging on the side of the bench. He looked delighted. "Ooh, full moon! Get everything you can find then especially those lunar lilies... expensive as fuck at the apothecaries. Don't get rotted moonwart like you did last time!"

"Then don't wait up for me, tonight." Evander got up from his chair and headed out.

"Of course not, dear." Felix mused sarcastically. "Some people need their fucking beauty sleep."

/(I)\

Evander leisurely strolled around the periphery of the Great Lake. The chilly November winds buffeted at his dragon-clasped cloak, causing it to billow à la Severus. The debris of fallen leaves which hinted at the approach of winter crunched underfoot. The skies were dimming as Evander walked towards the bank of the lake and sat down on a crag overlooking the clear waters – which rather reminded of Evander of tea – with leaves, sticks and other detritus floating on the surface.

He had gone to the dorm and ditched his Hogwarts attire for a crisp forest green shirt, striped black tie knotted full-Windsor and a pair of his well-tailored trousers. He could pretend now that he was Harry again, dressed in the immaculate apparel that he had worn in the future past. The colder weather had driven most people inside, and Evander had the grounds pretty much to himself.

There was a touch of sadness as he realized that some of the aspects of his previous life would not be carried over to his new one. He would never be Head Auror again, never be Sirius' godson, nor would he be Teddy's godfather.

He had decided that he was going to do something different with his new life.

He didn't know exactly what, but it surely didn't involve working for the Ministry. He was tired of cleaning up after everyone's crap. Well, Felix's drug-making business sounded like a good starting point. Going from Harry Potter – the boy who lived – to Evander Murphy – the boy who sold little blue pills sounded highly amusing. Merlin knows how many Viagra knockoffs he and his Aurors had confiscated over the past years.

The Wizarding equivalent hadn't shown up until the late end of the 2000s.

Maybe then he would take a leaf from the old book of Felix. He could go deep in the tropics of Africa and study the earliest of magical Runes, disappear for awhile into the Muggle world or even go Dragon-Chasing in mountainous China. It was a popular variant of extreme flying-sport in East Asia, and Evander had always wanted to try it out. It had sounded like something crazy that he would excel at. He could even go have a beer or two with Grindelwald at his prison in Nuremburg one day, and have tea in Kyoto the next.

He had been Harry-fucking-Potter in his previous life; he was damn well entitled to do whatever he liked.

So many choices...

He stood up from the rocks that he had been perched upon, his bum numbed from the cold surface. He continued meandering along the circumference of the Lake, stopping now and then to watch the Giant Squid flop its tentacles lazily in the shallows or to gather some herbs for Potions.

"Murphy!"

Evander ignored the call. He didn't want anyone interrupting his nostalgic mood. Maybe the childish ploy of feigning ignorance could achieve what he wanted. Not that it mattered; his illusion had been shattered by the shout of his present identity. But it was futile, for his sharp ears could hear the sounds of snapping twigs of someone running to catch up to him. He suddenly turned around, to see one Draco Malfoy –surprisingly disheveled from his run – breathing hard.

"Damn it, Murphy – when someone calls you... you bloody stop! I ran half the bloody lake for you..."

"It's just you..." Evander said nonchalantly and continued his stroll, "How touching..."

Draco flushed at Evander's sarcasm. "And here, I thought you wanted to talk to me... why else would you take my wand?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Evander mused rather casually, "To make you miserable? To make you appreciate the vulnerability of a wizard without his wand? The possibilities are endless... or maybe I have no motives altogether. The world, contrary to what you believe, does not revolve around you."

Draco merely blinked. He then asked. "Who the fuck do you think you are? I am –"

"Evander... nothing more, nothing less." Evander suddenly stopped, almost causing Draco to crash into him. He looked towards the lake. "Who are you, Draco?"

Draco sounded taken aback by Evander's question. "The heir of the Malfoys, rich –"

"No," Evander cut him off. "I meant, who are you as a person?" He sharply turned around and scrutinized Draco.

The suddenness of it all caused the blond to flinch.

Here was a boy who defined his entire existence on his heritage; a boy that was taught to believe that he was superior to everyone 'beneath' him. But Evander knew that the walls of arrogance had taken a pounding since Draco had come to Hogwarts. Here, friendship could not be bought with prestige and skill was not guaranteed with the purity of the blood. And respect was fickle; one could easily be popular one day, and dethroned the next.

Evander knew that from bitter experience.

There was something that moved on Draco's cloak near his collarbone and like a tongue of a frog, Evander casually brushed against the soft fabric of Draco's cloak with his fingers.

"What the hell are you –"

Evander revealed the insect trapped betwixt his thumb and index finger. He knew he was smiling sadistically. He wasn't anticipating catching her so early in the game. "You've been bugged. I was collecting Potion ingredients before you interrupted me. And, we happen to be out of black beetles..." He could feel the bug redouble her efforts to escape captivity between his digits.

"You are barmy!" Draco suddenly shouted as Evander retrieved a glass flask from his robes. He unstoppered the flask with his pinky and fourth finger. With a little bit of wandless magic to temporarily immobilize the bug, he unceremoniously tossed her in. He replaced the stopper and summoned his wand. He tapped the flask thrice before returning both objects to their original place.

"And you are immature..." Evander drawled lazily, "If we are listing faults."

"I am not –" Draco began to say before leaping onto another topic, "You aren't on Potter's side... are you? This isn't some ploy to –"

Evander laughed. They were walking again, towards the Forbidden Forest. "Now, why would you think that, Draco?"

"Because some of the Ravens came by at Lunch to retract their signatures?" Draco was suspicious. "People listen to you, Murphy. I don't know why –"

"I don't know why you would accuse me of such a thing." Evander said amusedly. He wasn't lying, that incident in the morning had been all Felix and the rest of the rational Ravenclaws. And really, he wasn't interested if Draco and Harry got along; there were more important things to worry about. "I don't give a shit whether you like Potter or not."

It wasn't until they were under the more densely wooded transition between the grassy grounds and the Forest when Draco exclaimed, "This is the Forbidden Forest, Murphy! It's forbidden –"

"Are you afraid?" Evander turned to look at Draco carefully again. The boy seemed rather agitated. That experience back in First year hadn't seemed to endear the Slytherin to the Forest. "It's where the wild things are..."

Draco observed, "You aren't fucking afraid at all!"

"No." Evander smiled faintly. He said sincerely, "I don't fear the wild things. There's always something about the wilderness that appeals to me."

Draco was temporarily silent. He then started to say, "I-I... kind of –"

"Envy me?" Evander finished for him. He then proceeded to laugh. It was bitter; it was hard. It was irony for wasn't it him that had saved Draco's sorry ass so many long years ago, after Draco had done everything to try and kill him?

The truth is never easy to swallow – but yet it makes free...

He knew what younger Draco wanted. And he knew that the Draco of fourteen wasn't capable of admitting such. It was a weakness, and Draco would never show it, willingly.

Evander continued, seeing that Draco looked like he had slapped him. "I know. It's obvious – you look irritated whenever I walk by with Daphne, Tracey, Blaise or Theo. You were angry when I disarmed you without a single warning – furious that you couldn't do anything about it. But it doesn't just extend to me, doesn't it? You envy the girl you call mudblood, don't you? Such low status, yet she consistently outscores you every time. Oh and Merlin forbid, you might even envy Potter – I bet you wished your name was picked out of the Gob-"

"Shut up!" Draco yelled. "Shut up! Shut up!"

A rustle in the bushes suddenly caused Draco to stop. It made him realize exactly which treacherous part of Hogwarts he was currently standing on. He skittishly looked around for the source of the noise.

He also looked longingly towards the way back.

"You want to run, don't you?" Evander observed quietly. "I won't stop you."

There was a mixture of conflicted emotions on Draco's face as he looked towards Hogwarts and then at Evander. He asked, "Why did you bring me here?"

"You followed me." Evander rolled his eyes. "You can leave at anytime."

Draco said defiantly – pseudo-bravado, really, "Anywhere you go, I can go."

Evander rolled his eyes at the sudden change in attitude, but he strode deeper into the tangle of trees, shrubs, fallen logs and perilous roots that threatened to trip the fools who dared to brave the depths of the forbidden woods. Draco stumbled and tripped his way through the forest, breaking twigs and branches in his wake while Evander's steps were silent and sure. The distant sound of hooves forced Evander to forcefully yank Draco into a massive hollowed out trunk. He kept Draco silent with a palm as the sounds of Centaurs galloping passed them.

Here he was, saving Draco's ass again...

When the coast was clear, they continued their hike. Draco was starting to look rather miserable, his expensive cloak had a few tears in the material and he had twigs, leaves and other forest debris adorning his hair. Evander, meanwhile, was feeling a little more alive than he had all day. His cloak and leather boots were made for hardship and this wasn't the first time he had taken a little foray into forbidden grounds.

A few large acromantulas could be seen scurrying around. Evander retrieved his wand. Without a word, enormous large bluish-white flames flared from both ends of Evander's wand. Draco was wide-eyed as he watched Evander ward off the approaching arachnids with his double ended flame-sword of sorts.

"Arcomantulas," Evander explained simply. "Flesh eating spiders – you wouldn't want to get close to one. You can repel them with fire."

Draco nodded dumbly as they continued onwards.

"Fire is a very useful thing..." Evander mused. "It can warm, it can protect, it can cook..." He then turned to look at Draco. "It can also destroy. Incendio and Fiendfyre... are more dangerous than they seem. In magic, control is everything. If you lose it... it could easily prove fatal."

"Can you do the Unforgivables?" Draco asked rather impulsively. His voice was a whisper. He looked towards Evander's face, and saw the frigidness that had suddenly fallen upon the other boy's features. "Forget that I asked." Draco immediately took back the question.

"Can you?" Evander turned the ugly question back around.

Draco didn't dignify the question with a response when the pair finally reached a clearing. Evander immediately flopped down on the grass as Draco gazed around.

"I found this place a few weeks back..." Evander said, all traces of Unforgivable talk forgotten, "It's very peaceful here. The thestrals come here to graze. If you are lucky, you might even see a unicorn; if you are luckier, you can pet them."

"What are thestrals?" Draco asked. He reluctantly sat down on the grass.

"Winged horses," Evander explained. "They are actually here now, grazing." He watched as Draco looked around, bemusedly. "Only those who have seen death can see them. It's a bittersweet thing..."

"You can see them." Draco stated.

"Yes." Evander agreed.

"Why are we here?" Draco asked again.

"Why shouldn't we be here?" Evander mused, "I come here because I can. I don't know why you decided to come."

"You have my wand still." Draco said.

"Fair enough," Evander agreed. "Here." He passed the hawthorn stick to Draco, who snatched it back. "The werewolves are out tonight..." Evander said, looking at the full moon.

"This is why anyone smart would be back at Hogwarts..." Draco mused darkly.

"You are right." Evander replied. "There's a line between stupidity and courageousness. It's a line that many people fail to grasp..."

"Gryffindors..." Draco said.

"It's not just Gryffindors... it's applicable to anyone." Evander said severely. "The sooner you realize that people are heterogeneous, the better off you'd be."

He then proceeded to get up. He pulled a cloth bag out of his pocket and began to look for the flora that he was going to collect. There were magical plants that only flowered during certain phases of the lunar period, deep in the Forbidden Forest. He spent the next half hour or so, harvesting some of these plants especially the lunar lilies with his various sharp Potions knives while Draco paced close by.

The Slytherin looked deep in thought.

"I want to be powerful like you." Draco suddenly said with an air of finality. "It's power... I want that respect – the kind that you get. Not the kind that Potter gets for being the boy-who-couldn't-die, not the respect that I get for being Father's son."

"Respect is not equivalent to power..." Evander sighed.

"It's got to be." Draco insisted. "It must be... Look at the Dark Lord – even Dumbledore... Two of the most powerful wizards to have ever existed on this world. And how people respect them..."

"And yet, I respect none of them." Evander retorted.

"Father does..." Draco countered, "The Dark Lord –"

Evander stood up suddenly, abandoning his task and various harvesting tools. The wickedly sharp silver dagger with the ivory handle that he had been using to sever lunar lilies was still in hand. The bioluminescent purple liquid from the magical plants were still dripping viscously like blood on the blade.

The expression on his face must be horrible to behold, for Draco was stepping fearfully back now.

"Do you really have what it takes to be the next Dark Lord... hmmm?" Evander was advancing upon Draco. He caressed the metal blade of his knife, getting some of the glowing plant sap on his hand. "Do you even have what it takes to be a Death Eater?" Those were all rhetorical questions for Evander, but he knew that the Draco of fourteen didn't know the answers. "Can you even kill?" Evander saw Draco flinch at his tone.

Draco stopped when his back touched a thick wooden trunk. He cowered when Evander closed the last metres of space between them. He looked relieved when Evander turned back to look at the clearing, letting his hand with the knife drop to his side.

Evander's voice was now a whisper as he said rather confidingly, "Behind me, there's a unicorn. An innocent. If I asked you right this moment to kill it for its potent blood, would you do so? Would you do so if I threatened bodily harm upon your person?"

"You wouldn't –" Draco was shaking.

"Can I?" Evander's voice sounded amused. "Or, I could up the stakes. I could do what Voldemort did to Potter thirteen years ago, or like what he does to Death Eaters who can't tow the line. There are so many ways to kill..."

"No! You can't!" Draco was getting the implication of Evander's words. He then mustered what little courage he had and spat, "Father would beat you in a duel."

"I highly doubt it." Evander smirked. "What's he going to do? Cast the Avada Kedavra? Death Eaters are so unoriginal in their spellwork. Do you remember the day in DADA many weeks back...?"

"It was you." Draco said in awe. "You deflected the curse. You did what everyone said couldn't be done!"

"Nothing's impossible." Evander said with dark pleasantry, neither admitting nor refuting that he had done the deed. He then proceeded to grab Draco roughly by the shoulders and steered him towards the unicorn that he had mentioned earlier. It looked up at them with its bright eyes, its silvery mane gleaming under the moonlight.

It returned to grazing.

"Kill it." Evander hissed.

Draco reluctantly drew his wand. There was awkward uncertainty written all over his frightened body. His hand trembled when he raised the hawthorn stick towards the unicorn.

"We don't have all night." Evander said rather impatiently.

"Ava –" Draco said hesitantly. It was two long minutes before Draco lowered his wand. He crumpled to the ground on his knees in front of Evander. "I can't... can't... I am pathetic. I can't even... I can't -"

"Get up!"

Draco wearily got up. He was looking everywhere but at Evander's gaze. He uttered rather brokenly, "You won't –"

"I am no fucking Voldy or Dumbledore." Evander said with great disgust. "Look at me, Draco."

Draco's eyes met his and Evander's voice became soft, even soothing. "You aren't pathetic, Draco. The people who are truly pathetic are the ones who would kill that unicorn in cold blood. The likes of Voldemort or Dumbledore wouldn't even think twice if killing would serve their 'grand' cause. You could be great, you know, Draco. Better than your Father ever was... far better than Voldemort ever was."

"How?" Draco looked wearily at Evander. There was some semblance of hope in his voice. "Teach me, Murphy, please. I want to be great."

"You can first start by finding and respecting yourself as a person, not some mini-model of your Father." Evander suggested. "Bury the jealousies, the petty hatreds – they aren't worth your while. You don't have to like people, but you don't need to hate them."

Draco merely nodded.

"We should be getting back, anyhow." Evander looked tiredly up at the skies. He walked back to retrieve the stuff that he had left behind. "It's long past your curfew..."

/(I)\

"So, vhere's Evander tonight?" Viktor asked gruffly as Felix sat across the library table.

"Taking a walk," Felix replied back, pulling out a stack of journals from his bag. "He feels confined by the stifling walls of Hogwarts."

Hermione almost squealed, "Hey, those are Muggle periodicals! My parents have some lying around the house! I didn't know you had Muggle roots!" She picked one of the Natures up and started flipping through the pages.

"I don't, actually." Felix mused. "I am interested in how one could regenerate neurons, just as one would reknit bone tissue via Skele-gro. I've got some ideas for derivations and I hope some of my attempts will work."

Hannah grabbed one of the journals from the pile. She flipped through it. "You understand all of this?" She made a face as she stumbled through the words, "Mitochondrial Hsp-70, flagellum, genomes – well, there's some news stuff too – stuff on space exploration, North Korean weapons... My mother's a Muggle so I know a bit about –"

"Well, be careful with that one," Felix smiled at Hannah, "Severus hasn't read it yet."

"Wait, what –" Hermione looked up from one of the neuroscience journals, "These belong to –"

"Shush!" Felix whispered forcefully, "He doesn't need to know who took his Nature a week ago in the mail. He still thinks it hasn't arrived yet. I will just go repackage it and put it in his mailbox or something tomorrow." Well, really, Felix had Apparated to Spinner's End last week during his textbook buying outing and had taken several journals that were residing in the shabby mailbox. He had left two behind, just in case Severus decided to take a trip to his house.

Both Viktor and Hannah laughed.

"You can't just go around taking other peoples' post –" Hermione said disapprovingly, "That's meddling –"

"Oh don't look at me like that." Felix gave her a puppy-eyed look. "I will return it, I swear!"

"Have you lot seen Evander, by any chance?" Felix felt a tap on his shoulder to see Daphne and Tracey.

Felix sighed melodramatically, "Why does everyone want Evander? That's the first question I get asked whenever I am spotted alone. We aren't exactly Siamese twins! Hi, my name is Felix; I am good-looking, charming, and intelligent too. I can use a wand just as well as Evander..."

Daphne patted the disgruntled Felix on the head. "We still love you, Felix. It's just that we want him to look over our Potions..."

"If Potions is slang for Runes problem set, Hermione and I can help too." Felix snapped harshly, none too happy with Daphne's head-patting treatment. She had used to that annoying thing back in the future-past too.

"Ooh, did you hear that, Tracey?" Daphne said with a grin.

Tracey smiled angelically, "I didn't know that our Felix could sound so sexy..."

The pair of giggling girls disappeared, presumably to get their Runes stuff, while Felix groaned. "What the hell did I just do?"

Viktor then offered, "Vhy don't you and Hannah go take a volk or something? I know Runes too; Herm-own-ninny and I can help Daphne and Tracy with their vork..."

"That's sounds like a good idea..." Hannah agreed. She started to put away her Potions text and stationary. "Come on, Felix. Let's go for a walk. Hurry, before Daphne actually does come back and take you up on your –"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Felix hastily but carefully put his things away. Viktor gave him a discreet wink from across the table. Oh damn it, was it really that obvious? He then smiled a bit. The Hannah of over a month ago would have been too shy to order him around like that. It was amazing what confidence could do for someone...

"Can I borrow this issue?" Hermione asked, gesturing with the glossy journal that she was holding. "I miss reading about Muggle science and stuff."

"Yeah, go ahead."

The two were soon walking in the relatively empty passageways of Hogwarts. Felix had to fight the urge to hold Hannah's hand, or even to rest his arm around her shoulders.

"I know why Viktor wanted us out of there..." Felix mused.

Hannah mused, "Wasn't he just being nice?"

"That's the convenient reason," Felix agreed, "He just wants to spend time with her – although I think I got the better end of the deal."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Felix smiled, "We don't have to tutor anybody."

Hannah laughed briefly, but then she sighed.

"Why so forlorn, Hannah..." Dear... Felix barely trapped the term of endearment from leaving his lips.

"I don't know." She admitted. "Sometimes, I wonder what's like to grow up... I would love to be a professional Chaser or something like that. But sometimes I feel so pathetic – I couldn't even join my House team because I was so bloody shy –"

"We all have our little idiosyncrasies..." Felix mused philosophically, "It makes us human." He then said, "It would be boring to be perfect, really – not to mention that you will drive everyone around you bonkers."

"Or that feeling that you are a failure –" Hannah continued, "I remember before, in Potions – I was such a dunce at that subject until you started tutoring me. And there's that horrible day in Herbology where I ended up killing our Puffpod plant by accident. Professor Sprout was all kindly about it, but I saw her eyes – that one second. And then there was that time that I believed that Sirius Black could change into a flowering shrub – it's so embarrassing!"

She then let out a hiccupy kind of laugh.

"I know what that feels too." Felix looked at her sadly. Nothing could compare to that day when he had found her dead. When he realized that he had failed at protecting the woman he had loved. He remembered thinking: Here walked Blaise Zabini – epic failure of a husband.

"You seem so perfect..." Hannah stopped at a window overlooking the night-covered Hogwarts grounds.

"I am not." Felix said hoarsely. "I am so flawed and broken in places... you have no idea..."

Felix could feel Hannah's eyes scrutinizing him. He was slumped against the stone wall beside the window. He could feel his heart thump in his chest, his breathing was getting a little faster too – Merlin-damned sympathetic nervous system.

She finally asked, "Do you want to talk about it?" Felix recognized the look of worry in her brown eyes. It was so similar to the Hannah in his future that he wanted – wanted nothing more to put his arms around her. Kiss her maybe too.

"I don't think I can..." He said carefully. "You would never believe me, for one. Maybe when we are a lot older... I can tell you..." He mused, maybe someday, when Voldemort was gone; maybe someday when he and Evander were well-established outside of Hogwarts, away from the shadows of their real past.

"Felix!" She exclaimed, "This is the girl who believed that people can transform into sodding plants! I am so gullible – so naive –"

"No." Felix interjected. He said determinedly, "You aren't the same girl who believed in human-shrubs-morphs. I see it, Hannah. You are growing up. You fly that broom like – like..." He couldn't find the words. Well, he could, but they weren't appropriate for this place and time. They probably weren't appropriate... ever. Like your older self...

"Like what?" Hannah tentatively asked many moments of silence later.

"Like a pro." Felix finished quickly before his brain could think of anything dumber.

"You will tell me one day before we are old and grey?" Hannah asked. She held up a pinky. "Promise?"

"Yeah," Felix couldn't bring himself to say no. He slowly reached for Hannah's pinky with his own, and they shook on it. He did; however, keep the skin contact a few seconds longer than necessary.

Somewhere up there, there was someone who enjoyed his prolonged misery.

/(I)\

Evander was exhausted the next day. By the time he had escorted Draco, unseen, back the Slytherin common room, it was almost four in the morning. He had then spent the next two hours drying and preserving all the ingredients he had obtained through his little expedition in the laboratory while a black beetle in a magically-impervious glass flask sitting nearby looked on. He wondered if Skeeter had gone insane yet in solitary and silent confinement. He had applied a sound-proofing charm on the flask so that the insect could not hear what was going on outside after all some little things had awfully big ears. He had put the beetle flask in his drawer; he was too tired to deal with her now. He had then headed off to the Ravenclaw common room for a shower and a quick snooze.

Class was the usual; he and Felix sat at the back of the room, pretending to take notes. Felix had was working on some Owl Order forms for their new business venture, after doing research on which profitable Potions the pair could sell legally under Severus' Potions' Mastery licence. Evander reflected that Felix was a hell lot more law-conscientious than Fred and George had been when they had started their Owl Order business for prank items. In retrospect, Evander mused, he was actually really surprised by how much the twins had been able to get away with in the legal department during the days of Voldemort.

Draco wasn't faring much better than him. They were all sitting in Transfiguration. Evander had spent his period watching Draco's forehead moving closer and closer to the hard wooden surface of his table. Evander knew that he was just as exhausted, but long shifts as an Auror had conditioned him to ignore his fatigue. The Slytherin boy had been unusually quiet all day. He had even witnessed Draco walking past younger-him without a single insult emerge from his mouth. The boy still had his 'Potter sucks!' badge pinned on his robes, but pretending that Harry didn't exist seemed to be a step in the right direction.

"Mr. Malfoy, if you cannot seem to stay awake in my class, perhaps you would find the bed in your dormitory of better interest – five points from Slytherin!"

Evander watched as Draco suddenly snapped up in shock. Pansy looked sympathetically at her friend while there were a few guffaws from the Ravenclaw portion of the class.

The practical portion of the class was soon upon them. Evander lazily examined one of the pin cushions that they were required to transfigure. "How about a pink hedgehog?"

"I don't think hedgehogs come in that variety..." Felix said dryly.

"Well, it's a reverse transfiguration... Frankly, I think McGonagall might give extra credit for something interesting." Evander said, "We did the opposite last week. I still remember Terry's pincushion squirming around whenever someone touched it with a pin."

"I think she's aiming for realistic hedgehogs." Felix picked up a purple pincushion, "Do you want to try first?"

"You are no fun." Evander complained. He then mused. "I've wondered though... If you transfigure a hedgehog into a pincushion, leave it for a few decades and transform it back, is it: a) dead or b) is it a different hedgehog altogether?"

"I don't get it either." Felix agreed, "I am guessing different, since we could always transfigure things like teacups that have never been animals into gerbils, but what I don't understand is why we can't we transfigure inorganics into food."

"I suppose if I was really starving and lost in the wilderness... I would probably transfigure a rock into a chicken and feed myself like that." Evander offered a thought experiment, "I mean, the bloody hell, we can generate water from nothing –"

"Okay, Evander, when we are rich, I think we better do some DNA sequencing on some hedgehog, transfigure it into a pincushion, and then re-transfigure it back and repeat the sequencing. You have whetted my curiosity!"

"But that doesn't solve anything –" Evander began to say but was interrupted by an irate Professor McGonagall, "Murphy, Wedgewood, have you even attempted –"

Felix hastily grabbed a pincushion and tapped it with his wand. He uttered an incantation and a brown hedgehog was soon ambling around the surface of the table.

Professor McGonagall looked then at Evander, who repeated what Felix did. A very pale, pinkish hedgehog emerged in place of the red pincushion.

"It's an albino!" Evander said proudly.

"Very well, ten points to Ravenclaw for your successful transfigurations." Professor McGonagall said rather reluctantly. She walked off to check on Anthony and Terry, who had already managed the Transfiguration.

"See, pink is legitimate!" Evander exclaimed.

Felix huffed comically, "Touché." He then added more quietly, "I think McGonagall is just peeved that –"

"She couldn't catch us on a bad day?" Evander completed. "Yeah, I think she knows how much we really pay attention in class. She's a little annoyed that we never really seem to have trouble with anything... Shush now, I want to eavesdrop."

Felix shook his head as Evander turned his attention to the Slytherin portion of the classroom near the front.

"Draco, seriously where were you last night?" Pansy asked, "I looked everywhere for you, and Goyle and Crabbe did too –"

"I told you already at breakfast and at the beginning of class," Draco huffed in annoyance, "I went out for a walk."

"But it was after cur-" Pansy whined. She then said accusingly, "You never go for walks –"

"Well, maybe I wanted to take one!" Draco almost hissed this time. Evander had always thought that Pansy was the overbearing type of person. He almost felt sorry for Draco. Almost.

"You are seeing someone!" Pansy suddenly pointed an accusing finger at Draco, "I knew it! And it's not from our House, is it? Why else would you be sneaking around after curfew – It's a Gryff-"

"And I can't believe you slept in the Common Room yesterday!" Draco drawled back.

Good move... Evander thought to himself. Counter controversial with controversial even though the contents of the conversation would probably be fodder for the rumor mill today.

"Well, excuse me for being worried about you yesterday..." Pansy shot back.

Evander's fun was taken away when Millicent nudged Pansy, "Can't you guys talk it out somewhere private? I think everyone's eavesdropping at this point..."

Pansy flushed when she looked around the room.

"Please don't tell me you had anything to do with this, yesterday?" Felix whispered suspiciously in Evander's ear.

Evander shrugged and said with utmost innocence, "Like I told you earlier, I simply took a walk. I picked you flowers too!"

Felix rolled his eyes.

Hmmm... I don't know if I can keep up with a chapter a week. My sincere apologies for delays.

It sucks because I am entering a very busy phase of my life. I am in that sticky spot where undergrad is done next year and I have to start considering and applying for professional schools/grad school. I am also taking a full courseload of science courses (summer school sucks i know), getting paid to do research (got to allocate the time to do that too) and I am going to have to write some standardized tests within these months too.

But I will see what I can do.

But writing fanfics, in my opinion, has helped with my writing (even the scientific variety) a lot. I highly recommend it to people who love fandoms and feel that their writing skills could need some improvement.

Review?