Chapter 10: My turn

Evelyn's POV:

The anger soared through my veins as I felt my fist crash into Snape's nose. The two of us toppled down onto the grass behind it, and I could feel him body writhing, trying to escape from my hold, just like the snake that he was. My fist connected once more, this time in the softer tissue of his eye before I was tossed away. I connected with the ground, and I could feel my head spinning in all directions, before I quickly jumped up and looked at the group of Slytherins that had formed around Snape's prone body. All of them held their darkest glares possible, some of them were trying not to laugh, but nobody was helping Snape off of the grass or trying to stop the bleeding from his nose.

Behind my back I could hear Lily's muffled sobs; her head was probably buried deep in the crevice of Alice's shirt. I could feel James and co's presence behind me, and their tension slowly radiating off of them. Every step they made was quick and well planned, as the four of them stepped up until I could feel Sirius' breathe by my neck.

"You okay?" I heard him whisper, and glancing down I could see his wand point directed at the snake posy. Remembering my DADA training, I turned my attention back to the sneering group so that they didn't try and attack me.

"Fine."

"Nice punch, sis." James whispered by my other ear, "Though I think you should have left it to me."

Whatever sense of pride that had rushed through me as James began to speak, immediately evaporated when he finished his sentence. Why should he be the only one that got to fight? Fighting is fit for every person; a person with guts is who fights, with something to gain, with the force to get what they want. Those are the people that fight. Why should I constantly hide behind that strong body of my brother? I to have something to fight for; it been slowly growing inside; I could feel it.

Ever since those long nights in the alley way, when I had escaped from that shrieking, atrophying house, I had grown to know courage. When I had met James, I felt protected, because I didn't have to run anymore and I didn't need to fight anymore. I could be that small, weak, girl that didn't have any worries to care about. But the nightmares never left me; they sunk deep into my brain for maybe a year before they reappeared. They've made me. I'm a fighter; I've always been a fighter.

"Thanks, James." I pushed, and quickly shut up as Malfoy stepped out of his circle and into the arena.

"That wasn't very lady like crybaby." He sneered, as he took another cautious step forward.

I snorted and pulled up whatever strength I had left to fight. I was going to be the one defending my friends now. "Wasn't like I was trying to be."

"I'll be nice and let you go, if only you bow down and apologize for hitting our dear friend." He continued. His eyes showed no mendacious statement, but they flickered with mirth and sadism. I found myself growing almost increasingly unaware of them as we continued the conversation.

"You can go suck it pureblood, because the only one who is going to be bowing down, is you."

"What was that you…"

"That was me predicting the future…" I cut him off rapidly, knowing that hearing anymore poisonous words would only further increase this wild-fire anger of mine. "Now if you don't want to be an embarrassment, I suggest you walk away and bring you friend up to the Nursing Wing. I may have broken his nose."

"Listen, tainter, I don't know who you think you are but Lucius doesn't back down to anyone. Most certainly not a blood traitor nor to any girl who pretends to be something she is not. Now why don't you scurry back to your brother." Narcissa cut in, stepping in to make her presence known.

Surprisingly my brother and his friends had been quiet, and it had taken me minutes to realize that they were still there, with the wands pointed at the other snakes. I took a quick glance, over my shoulder at James, who was glaring at Narcissa, and found that somewhere between us I knew exactly what he wanted me to do. He trusted me enough to make the right decisions, but he would still be there if I ever did slip and fall; he would help me get right back up. And somehow I knew that if I backed away now, James would lose some of that respect he had for me, and I wasn't about to let that happen. If my brother was willingly letting me fight my battle on my own, particularly against one of his long time enemies, then I wasn't going to disappoint.

Snapping my attention back to Lucius who drew his wand quickly, I shot a quick spell to protect me and then the duel began. Lucius had one upper hand, which was the fact that he knew more spells than me, simply because he was one year above us. But Lucius didn't have a lot of power behind his attack; they were all half-hearted and lacked a spirit. The way I had been taught, was the bring out spells from the most honest emotion that I could form; that they power behind each spell, didn't relay on the force we put on the wand, but on the amount of clarity and the amount of passion we had.

Quickly I emptied me mind and focused on what I was trying to protect. Was it my brother's pride? Was it the fact that he had always stuck up for me, and now I wanted to make him look good? It wasn't like I wanted to disappoint my brother in any sort of way. Was it that nervousness? Was it the fear I placed in not winning? Or was it for Lily, and all of the crap that Snape had put her through the past five years? Maybe it was for all of the Gryffindors, who had spent years being ridiculed by these bastards. Or those poor first years that had spent years shaking like leaves under the tips of the wands.

No. No, this fight was for me. All of the constant talk about how I was James Potter's sister had only made my real image fade into the background. I wasn't just James Potter's sister; in fact I was only his sister by legal documentation, not by blood. But James had been my brother, and I loved him just as dearly as I would have loved a brother that had been born from the same mother. No, I was just sick of being placed in the same boat as him. I'm not my brother, and I'm not something that you can easily attach to him. I am my own person; I have my own strengths, and my own weaknesses; I like different things than he does. So screw everybody who calls me just 'James Potter's little sister!'

My wand exploded with one last spell, as Lucius was swept off of his feet. He landed by the bedrock of the lake and I could see his wand feet away from him, lying between Narcissa's feet. For the first time in years, I could feel whatever anger I had, had draining quickly, soaring out of the final sparks that were leaving my wand tip. The cool wind, felt refreshing after all that time of ignoring it; and my hands were actually shaking from the strain of the duel.

"Evelyn Potter! My office!" McGonagall demanded, coming into the circle, and crossing paths with me, before heading over to Lucius who was now sitting up.

I turned around swiftly and proceeded through the whispering group of peers and back over to the tree where we had been sitting only moments before. My wand fell precariously into my bag as I snatched up all of my things and then made my way into the stone building of Hogwarts.