Hello! Hooray for not studying at all... Seriously should have waited until finals were over before getting into this. Turns out living inside my imagination is a lot more fun than learning about various research strategies.
On a much more exciting note... Welcome Madditeal and Dul'mephistos *does embarrassing dance move*! Thank you for Following guys :) Also, special thanks to Dul'Mephistos for the review, I REALLY REALLY REALLY appreciate it!
Fracture
It was one of those hot summer mornings that caused sweat to break out across the back of one's neck after doing the tiniest bit of exercise, and Eva O'Connor and James Potter stood at the back of large field, both drenched in sweat, their wands aloft. At almost twenty, James no longer had the look of a teenage boy. His dark reddish hair was tied back in a topknot and a short, fiery red beard clung to his sharp jaw. Only his eyes and freckle-covered skin were the same as the boy she had met on the train six years ago. Of all the people left in her life, James was the only one who hadn't looked at her different since her father's death, and Eva clung to his seeming indifference like a drowning woman.
James flung spells at her like she was forty instead of sixteen, and she fought him like her life depended on it. A sizzling curse shrieked by her left ear, and Eva dodged to the side and threw one in return - which he managed to deflect. He hurled one back at her almost instantly, causing her to stagger backwards
Protego!
A shimmering blue shield deflected James' curse with such force that it threw him backwards into a tree, where he crumpled to the ground, his sides heaving.
"James!" Eva hurled herself onto the grass beside him and peered anxiously at his face, her hands fumbling at his sides.
"Calm down, Ev. I'm fine." James propped himself up on his elbows and gave her a reassuring look. Sweat trickled down his temples into his beard.
"Thank god," Eva breathed, lowering her head in relief.
"Y'know, I've been training with Aurors every day for two months and I'm pretty sure they go easier on me than you do. You're shield charms pack enough of a punch that they're basically an offensive spell."
Eva smiled slightly, "Yeah well, makes up for the fact that I'm not as good at making things explode as Rose and you are."
James sighed, his brown eyes suddenly full of concern, "You don't have to be a warrior, Ev."
Eva rocked back on her heels before taking a seat in the grass in front of him, "Yes I do, James. We all do."
"I thought you were going to be a Healer," James asked softly.
Eva felt like he had reached into her chest and grabbed her heart, "The two people I wanted to protect more than anything are dead, James. I'm clearly not very good at saving." She dug her fingers into the ground, "I'm so tired of trying to fix everything and failing, James. I want to hurt the people who are trying to tear us apart. I want to light their world on fire like they did mine."
"Eva," James began gently, reaching out and taking her hand.
Eva pulled her hand out of his reach, "I appreciate your concern, James. But if you don't want to teach me how to fight, I'll do it on my own."
"It's not that. I just don't want you to try and be something you aren't. You're not the kind of person who feels good hurting others, and you're certainly not a killer."
Eva met his eyes stonily, "If the world can change, then so can I."
Eva," he began, "you're like a sis-"
"A sister to you. I know James. Thank you," Eva pushed herself up and turned back to the house.
O
Rose watched her best friend leave James under the tree and make her way back towards the house. They had all been practicing with Harry and Ginny once a day, but Eva practiced every chance she got. James couldn't be home for more than five seconds before Eva had dragged him outside to show her a new counter-curse or spell. Rose had never seen her friend display such cold, determined anger. It was like every second that ticked by, Eva crawled further into herself.
We're losing her.
Rose watched Eva push her way through the back door. She had cut her hair sometime in the night.
She looks like a different person.
Eva's honey blonde hair fell a few inches above her shoulders. Without the all the hair to hide it, the scar on her collar bone looked even more severe. Red and puckered where the bone had ripped the skin open, with small little marks above it from Friend's teeth. Rose could see the galleon sized burns along her arms and shoulders, mixed in with smaller burns that looked almost like pearly freckles. The Healers had offered to remove them, but Eva had elected to keep her scars. In candlelight the burns looked like unicorn blood.
"Your hair looks good."
Eva looked up. If she had been surprised to see Rose sitting at the Potter's kitchen table she didn't look it, "Lily did it for me last night."
"She did a good job."
"Yeah, she did. When did you get here?"
Rose looked at her friend for some sort of hint that she was happy to see her, but Eva's face was impassive. Rose shifted in her chair, "Do you want some tea?"
Grandma Weasley says there's nothing a good cup of tea can't fix, but she's definitely wrong.
Eva gave her a faint smile, "Sure."
Rose flicked her wand and set the kettle boiling, "It's weird to be able to use magic without being seventeen. Mum always made sure we followed the Ministry's rules surrounding underage magic but now…"
"They encourage it," Eva finished, using her wand to summon tea bags and poor the hot water.
Rose looked down as a little orange mug made its way over to her. Two sugar cubes plunked in. "Thanks Ev," Rose whispered, shocked to realize that her throat was constricting with tears. The small gesture, remembering how she liked her tea, was the most intimate interaction they had had in the two weeks since Frank's death.
"Oh, Rose."
Rose felt Eva's arms encircle her, "Don't cry."
She's lost both her parents, and she's comforting you.
Rose tried to hold back her tears, but silent sobs were shaking her, "I'm afraid for you." She turned to look into her friend's eyes, "I feel like I'm losing you."
Eva sighed and sat down, "Don't worry, Rose. I just need some time."
Rose nodded, trying to pull herself back together, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be the one crying."
Eva kissed her friend's forehead, "Don't be sorry. It's hard to watch someone suffer and not be able to help."
O
Eva looked at her reflection in the mirror and carefully traced the scar beneath her collar bone with a finger. She hadn't wanted the scars removed. They wouldn't have been able to take them away without magic, and Eva wanted to wear the scars as a small testament to her muggle blood.
Plus, it doesn't feel right to be this broken without something on my skin.
"Eva!" Al called from outside the bathroom, "We've got to leave for the station in fifteen, okay?"
"I'll be ready," Eva answered, turning her attention back to putting on her new school robes.
Everything she owned had gone up in the fire other than her wand. Her father hadn't had any sort of insurance, so she had inherited only what he had in his account when he died, about £300. Ginny had refused to let her use the money to replace any of her clothes or school supplies. The Potters had bought everything.
"Eva, we have put Friend in the car already so no need to look for him," Ginny said through the door.
"Thank you Mrs. Potter," Eva replied, opening the door.
Ginny stood in the hallway, her arms full of textbooks and various items that her children had forgotten. She smiled at Eva softly, "Don't forget to write to us every now and then."
Eva nodded, "I'll write."
Ginny suddenly dropped the bundle and wrapped Eva in a tight hug, "We'll see you for Christmas."
Eva nestled her nose into the crook of Ginny's neck and let the older woman cling to her. She knew Ginny cared about her, and it felt good to have her around.
Like a mother.
Eva broke away, wrestling to lock her emotions back inside her chest. She had cried for almost three days after they had told her about her father, and she wasn't going to cry anymore. Crying did nothing. She had cried thousands of times over the years as the cancer stripped away at her mother's bones, and an ocean's worth of tears hadn't done anything to save her.
Ginny bent down and picked up what she had dropped, "Do you have everything you need?"
"Yes, Mrs. Potter."
Ginny looked like she wanted to say more, but instead gestured towards the front door, "Of you go then. We don't want to miss the train."
Eva nodded and grabbed her trunk, pulling it down the stairs and out onto the lawn. James took her things and loaded them into the extended trunk.
Albus caught up with them and loaded his things on top of Eva's. Albus was now almost three inches taller than James, surpassing his father and standing nose-to-nose with his uncle Ron. Al still had the peaky look of someone who had grown a lot in a short period of time, but he was now shaving regularly, and his face had a maturity to it that it hadn't before. Except for his height and certain scar, he looked almost exactly like his father had at sixteen. "You looking forward to being back at Hogwarts, James?"
James nodded, leaning casually against the trunk and surveying his younger brother, "Actually, yes. I am."
The Auror office was placing a few people at Hogwarts for extra security, and James' mentor had been one of the ones accepted. Five weeks ago Eva would have been burning with excitement at the idea of having James around again, but now she simply looked at it as an opportunity to watch him sneak kisses with his girlfriend Crystal, who was starting her seventh year. It wasn't that she had stopped loving him, but she knew he was never going to feel the same about her.
It doesn't matter anymore. There are bigger things happening.
Eva crawled into the back seat (which was more like a giant bench) with Lily. The youngest Potter was starting her third year and was ridiculously excited to finally be able to go to Hogsmeade. She had the same big brown eyes and freckles as her mother and brother, and the same impish grin as her uncle George.
I guess you'll be going for the first time too.
Eva pressed herself back into the seat. She had always used the Hogsmeade trips to visit her parents and then, after her mother died, her father. The Headmistress had connected the Floo Network to a fireplace in an abandoned pub near her dad's apartment. While the rest of her schoolmates had gone to Hogsmeade, McGonagall had escorted her to her father's flat. Eva wondered if she would ever be able to enjoy the things her friends did, or if she'd feel like an empty shell for the rest of her life.
O
Rose sat across from Albus on the Hogwarts Express, munching on a Chocolate Frog. She had just finished patrolling the corridors with her boyfriend, and gazed out the window absent-mindedly. Luka had been made Head Boy over the summer and was incredibly proud of himself. He had written Rose immediately over the summer to tell her, and it had taken what felt like the entirety of her soul to seem excited about it. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was just that she didn't care much anymore about being a Prefect or getting good grades. All she wanted was to rewind time and save Mr. O'Connor from that apartment building.
Rose glanced over at Eva. Her friend was curled up on her seat, taking up less than half of the bench. She had fallen asleep before Rose had left to meet the other prefects and was still sound asleep almost an hour later. Her honey blonde hair hung in short waves around her sleeping face, making her look like years younger.
The screech of the compartment door opening made Rose and Al look up.
Marie walked into the compartment, wearing her familiar black-eyeliner and an expression of contempt on her beautiful face.
"Sod off," Albus and Rose snapped at precisely the same time.
Marie arched a perfect eyebrow, "Why, no need to be so aggressive. I merely came to offer my condolences to our dear Eva. Such a loss… How will the world ever cope?"
Rose stood up in front of her sleeping friend, "Get out of here, now."
Scorpius appeared behind his girlfriend, eyeing the situation calmly.
Rose narrowed her eyes at her second least favorite person at Hogwarts. It wasn't fair that he could look so put together when the rest of them were barely holding it together. He had gotten taller too.
"You seriously came here to make Eva feel worse about losing her father?" Albus snarled at Marie.
Marie feigned hurt, "I would never be so cruel. I was curious though, did he actually burn alive, or did he suffocate?"
Albus drew his wand.
"Stop it!" Rose shouted.
Albus and Marie both stared at her in what could only be described as open-mouthed shock.
Rose looked from Eva, who was miraculously still asleep, to Albus. "She wouldn't want us fighting. I don't want her to wake up to fighting."
Albus slowly put his wand away but still glared at Marie with unveiled disgust, "Just leave. Just fucking leave."
Marie opened her mouth, but Scorpius rested his hand on her shoulder firmly.
Rose felt her breath catch, completely unsure of where things were going.
"See you at school," Scorpius said quietly, guiding his girlfriend out of the compartment.
Rose blinked. If hadn't been Scorpius Malfoy standing in front of her, she would have sworn that he had looked at her with something very close to respect.
Rose sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating the look on Scorpius' face. Though he never went out of his way to abuse them, if his friends went in for a kick he was usually not far behind.
I guess there is a first for everything.
The sound of the compartment opening again made her muscles clench and she grabbed for her wand, "Seriously, bitch?" Rose snarled, whirling to face the black haired girl.
And you are not Marie.
Where Marie had skin the colour of caramel, this girl was almost porcelain. She eyed Rose with cautious hazel eyes, "I'm sorry? What did you call me?" Her voice wasn't aggressive, but she sounded a bit put-off.
Albus looked up, "Cassie, right?"
The girl nodded, "Yeah. I'm surprised you recognized me, I'm a year under you." She looked at Rose, "I'm in Slytherin too, in case you're wondering."
Rose bit her lip, and then put out her hand, "Rose Weasley."
Taking prejudice down one handshake at a time. I think Eva's my spirit animal.
Cassie smiled and took her hand, "Cassie Greengrass."
"Oh! You're Cassiopeia." Albus exclaimed, "Scorpius' cousin."
Rose practically felt her eyebrows hit her hairline, "Seriously?"
Cassie looked a bit awkward, "Erm, just Cassie. But yeah, Scorpius is my cousin on my mother's side." She looked around a little uncomfortably, "Do you mind if I sit?"
Albus said told her to sit down a little too enthusiastically, and Rose eyed the colour in his cheeks with a growing sense of surprise.
Merlin's pants. He likes her. I don't think I've ever seen Al blush over a girl.
Cassie smiled and took a seat beside Albus, "Thanks. My best friend sort of… Well, she has a new boyfriend now, and I don't get on with him very well."
"Who's she seeing?" Al asked.
"Troy Lestrange. You probably know him, he's in your year."
Rose narrowed her eyes, "So your friend's a Death Eater?"
Cassie looked at Rose stoically, "No, she isn't. She's just not very strong-willed."
"What's the difference?" Rose snapped, unable to help herself.
I am so bloody sick of all these Slytherin shits falling into the Dark Arts because of their weak spines and family trauma.
"Merlin, Rose. No need to jump down her throat," Albus growled.
"No, it's fine." Cassie said slowly, "I guess the difference is that she isn't cruel. She doesn't hate muggles, whatever she says in front of Troy."
"Nice friend," Rose drawled.
"Yes, well, I guess that's why I am sitting here with you instead of them, isn't it?" Cassie replied calmly.
Rose nodded, "Good point."
A rustle from the corner signified that Eva had finally pushed herself up into a seated position.
"Hey sleep head," Albus said with a smile.
Eva nodded at Cassie, "Hey there."
Cassie smiled and held out her hand, "Cassie Greengrass."
"Eva O'Connor."
Sympathy flickered across Cassie's face "I'm really sorry about your father. I know you lost him recently."
Eva looked a bit surprised, but if the comment brought back any sorrow then she didn't show it.
"How did you hear about my father?"
Cassie shifted a bit uncomfortably, "Scorpius told me. I spent a week with his family in Majorca at the end of August. I assumed Albus told him."
Rose snorted, "Malfoy hasn't talked to Al in almost a year. Whoever he heard it from, it wasn't us."
Cassie shrugged, "Well then I don't know, I'm sorry."
Eva smiled, "It doesn't matter. Thank you Cassie, it was kind of you to say that."
Cassie nodded and then looked at her watch, "We will be there in 10 minutes. I had better get back to my compartment." She looked at Al, "Don't be a stranger."
Albus swallowed, "I won't."
As soon as Cassie was gone Eva gave Al a sly look, "She's cute, hey?"
Rose burst into laughter at the look on Al's face.
O
The great hall was abuzz with the usual start-of-year chatter, but Eva couldn't help but feel it was damped slightly by the darkness of the news most of the students were sharing. She wasn't the only one to have lost someone over the holidays. Eva sat between Rose and Charlotte, watching the first year students make their way up to the front on trembling knees. It was hard to remember why she had ever been worried about something as simple as a sorting ceremony.
The headmistress strode out in front of the school and placed the sorting hat on the stool.
"We're heading towards trouble
a tangle with a foe.
So I ask you all, here and now,
where you want to go.
For we must all be true and loyal
and wise beyond our years
or history will repeat itself,
drowning Hogwarts in its tears.
We must all be braver than our blood
and driven to succeed.
For our legacy is heavy now,
and crippled with old greed.
So put aside your differences,
and stand up fierce and tall
for darkness climbs in every crack
eager for our fall."
The great hall seemed to creak under the weight of the silence left by the Sorting Hat's speech, and the babble of voices only resumed when McGonagall called the name of the first child to be sorted.
Eva turned to Rose, "Your mum said that it might try and warn us, but I didn't expect that."
"Neither did I." Rose grimaced, leaning heavily on her forearms, her brown eyes lost in thought.
Eva turned her attention back to the front, but couldn't stop thinking about the Sorting Hat's finale.
Eager for our fall.
Once the sorting was complete McGonagall stepped up to the podium to address the students, "Everyone knows that there are dark tides on the horizon. I did not expect us to be tested again so soon, but I have every confidence that we will rise to the occasion and defend our fellows." She paused, surveying what seemed like the face of every student before her, "A reminder to you all that we are only strong for as long as we are together, divided we will fall. One of the most incredible wizards I have ever known always put forward that it was our love of others that made us strong. And so I urge you not to close your hearts to one another." She cleared her throat, "However, precautions must be made."
A tall man in dark red robes stood up from where he had been seated at the side of the hall and made his way to the podium.
"My names if Fredric Logos, and I am an Auror with the Ministry of Magic. These are my colleagues, Javier Crane and Louisa Stern."
Rose nudged Eva, "Crane is James' mentor."
Logos continued, "We will be here throughout the term to ensure your safety, and to discourage any acts of violence within these walls. Because of the elusive nature of the enemy we are dealing with, I encourage anyone with any information to come forward and speak to myself, a teacher, or my colleagues. Even if it is only a suspicion. We will investigate any lead."
They want us to inform on each other. How are we supposed to trust anyone?
O
It was the third week of classes, and Eva sat cross-legged on a fluffy cushion, staring into a crystal ball. Albus, who hadn't slept in a Divination class since her vison last year, watched with bated breath.
"Al, I can't concentrate with you staring at me like that."
"Sorry," AL said sheepishly, settling himself back on the pillows and flipping through Unfogging the Future. "It's just, we could really use a heads up if something is going to happen."
Eva sighed, that was the truth. Three more muggle apartment buildings had been targeted since her and her father's was destroyed. The Ministry of Magic was monitoring all the high-residency muggle buildings in the UK, but they still weren't able to keep the fires from happening. Thankfully, Eva's apartment had been the only one where over three-quarters of the residents died, but muggles were still being killed at an alarming rate. Some of the more fanatic-esque religious groups were calling it Armageddon. A few waterways had been poisoned (which the Ministry was able to rectify in short notice), and more subways had gone off the rails in the last month than in the last five years.
Eva peered into the globe for a while longer before throwing herself back into the cushions in frustration. She was beginning to think that her vision in the crystal ball had been a fluke and the dream (of what she assumed was the Elder Wand being stolen from Gringotts), was nothing but creative interpretation.
Albus looked into the orb briefly before sighing, "Well there's no way I'm going to see anything. We might as well try and work on Goodwin's essay."
Eva nodded and pulled her parchment out from her bag.
"Hey, you never told me how you did on your O. ," Al said, looking at her.
That's because I completely forgot I even got the results back..
"Oh. Right. Um, I got an A in Divination, Es in Herbology and Transfiguration, Os in Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Herbology."
Al whistled, "When pho-ey then."
Eva shrugged, "It doesn't matter anyways."
"You meant what you told James then, about not wanting to be a Healer anymore?"
Eva sighed, of course James would have told Al. "Yeah. I meant it."
Al nodded. Unlike Rose, he had never been one to question her, "Know what you want to do now? Be an Auror like Rose?"
Eva shook her head, leaning back into the cushions. "No, I don't want to do that. Fighting back isn't a job for me. It's more…"
"Personal?" Al suggested, looking sad.
Eva nodded as the familiar feeling of heaviness settled on her chest.
Might as well tell him.
"I was thinking about dropping out."
"What?" Al looked shocked.
"Yeah. I mean, I will be seventeen in January, so no one can stop me."
"But what will you do?" Al asked, unable to keep the concern from leaking into his voice.
"I want to join the Order." Eva shrugged, looking out the window, "They can use all the help they can get."
"My parents will hate that. They'll want you to stay in school."
Eva shrugged, "I know, but I think they'll take me once they realize I'm not going to give up."
Al nodded, "Yeah, they will. I wish you'd stay though."
Eva smiled and bumped Al's foot with hers, "I'm not one hundred percent sure yet, Al. But it is something I am considering."
"Thanks for telling me, Ev. You know I'll support you whatever you choose, I just don't want to have to say good-bye."
Eva looked at her green-eyed friend and smiled, "You won't have to."
"Mr. Potter, Miss. O'Connor." Trelawney floated over, looking as stern as she possibly could be while covered in shawls and glittering beads.
"Yes?" Albus asked innocently.
"I do not appreciate you doing other school work in my classroom. You will not see anything of the future with your face smushed into a book."
Eva rolled her eyes and shoved her paper back into her book bag, turning back to the crystal ball.
A creature she had only seen in books drifted across the earth, freezing blades of grass and making ice crackle in the underbrush. It turned its eyeless face to her and inhaled. Everything went cold.
"Eva! Eva!" Al was shouting and shaking her.
Eva blinked her eyes open, her head pounding. Al's green eyes stared down in to hers with an expression of pure panic.
"My dear! You've had a vision! Please, quickly, tell us what you've seen," Trelawney practically shrieked, vibrating with excitement.
Eva sat up and began to frantically gather her books while simultaneously pushing Trelawney's boney hands off her, "I have to go."
Trelawney wouldn't let go, "No! You cannot! You must tell u-"
"STOP TOUCHING ME AND LET ME LEAVE!" Eva screamed, causing almost everyone within fifteen feet of her to flinch away from her.
Yes, you idiots, I am just as capable of yelling like a crazed freak as the rest of you.
Al hurriedly began to gather his stuff, "Yep, that's right. We're going."
Eva shot him a grateful look and the two of them began making their way towards the trap door.
"You're telling me that you saw a dementor in a crystal ball, in Divination?" Crane questioned, looking at Eva with absolute incredulity.
Eva sighed, frustrated, "Yes, sir. The dementors are coming back. You need to tell someone."
"We haven't seen dementors in almost thirty years, they died out after the Last Wizarding War." The red-robed wizard looked like he was torn between laughing and telling her to sod-ff.
"Well they're back, and we should probably stop saying the 'last' Wizarding War, don't you agree?" Eva snapped.
Crane raised his eyebrows, "Forgive me if I'm a little sceptical about your source of information, young lady."
"Sir," James interjected, "if Eva saw a dementor, then there are dementors coming. This isn't the first vision she's had."
Eva gave James a faint smile.
James was leaning against the desk wearing handsome dark green robes that clashed wonderfully with the short, fiery red beard that now shadowed his jaw. He turned confidently to his mentor, "She saw the dark mark in a crystal ball a little less than twenty-four hours before it was conjured."
Eva made note of how he didn't mention the Elder Wand.
Harry, Hermione and Ron must still be keeping that a secret.
Crane considered her for a moment, before turning back to James, "Send and owl to the office and tell them to be on the lookout." He looked at her, "I will speak to your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor about teaching Patronus'."
Albus looked outraged, "That's all you're going to do? The public needs to know!"
Crane sighed, "This is all I can do. Forgive me, Miss. O'Connor, but I will not whip the public into a panic over a vision had by a sixteen year old girl in a Divination class."
Eva rubbed her face irritably and leaned into the wall. She had told Al that she was going back to the Gryffindor common room, but she had turned the other way as soon as he was out of sight. She needed to be alone. She knew that when things went wrong for Rose, her friend needed to be in the middle of something and screaming before she knew how she felt. When Albus was upset he needed to distract himself, or blow up into a huge rage and then be given time to burn out. Eva preferred a quieter route. She wanted to go back to the common room and tell Rose what she had seen, but she needed to figure out what she wanted first. Her friend would have forty-five plans of action, and they would all have to happen right away. Eva loved Rose and Al more than she loved anyone else in the world, but sometimes she had to be away from them to figure out what she was supposed to do.
"O'Connor?"
So much for alone.
Eva turned to see Scorpius leaning against the opposite wall. He looked older. His shoulders and chest had filled out, and his jawline glittered faintly with white-blonde stubble. He had cut his hair over the summer, and Ava wondered if he knew how popular his haircut had been with muggles in the 1920s. His grey eyes were, as always, unreadable.
Eva considered telling him to fuck off, but then she remembered what had happened in the train. He could have started in on her with Marie, but he didn't.
"Thanks for calling Marie off earlier."
His grey eyes narrowed slightly, "I thought you were asleep."
"I'm good at pretending to sleep."
He nodded, "I see. And you don't need to thank me for that."
She looked at him, tilting her head slightly to the side, "You're right. I shouldn't feel like I have to thank you for acting like a decent human being."
Scorpius ran his hands through his blonde hair, looking away from her and down the hall. Eva could tell he was trying to act casual, but she suspected she had hurt him.
Don't you dare feel sorry for him.
"How did you hear about my father?"
He looked at her, "My father. He knows people in the Ministry."
She shook her head, confused. "Yes but the Ministry wouldn't have cared about my father."
"They don't."
"Then what-" she began.
"I cared about your father."
Eva stared at him, stunned.
His grey eyes reflected her like a lake in the head of winter, and the shadows hit the angles of his cheekbones, making his features harsher. He didn't look like a man who would care about her muggle father.
"You had some sort of vision in Divination?" he asked, pushing through her silence.
"Yes," she answered without thinking.
I probably should have lied to him.
"Of what?"
Now lie.
"A dementor."
Why aren't you lying?
Because he didn't lie to me.
He nodded slowly, as if her admission made perfect sense to him.
A sound down the hallway made them both look away from each other. A group of students had appeared and were moving towards them. They were far enough away that Eva couldn't see what colours they wore.
"See you around, Ev." Scorpius turned and disappeared down the nearest corridor.
Eva watched him go with an unfamiliar feeling in her chest. Something between loss and apathy. A kind of desperate resignation.