A/N: Should I apologize? NO? I knew it.. :( but for those who said yes in their mind, I am really very sorry.
being a 15 year old girl who is a science student, fanfiction writer and a student who has her exams in 2 weeks is not a good combination. therefore one of them has to go. if it was in my hands i would hang exams but as its not, our poor fanfiction has to bear the brunt. as you would've guessed by now I wont be updating before my exams end which will be on the 28th (dodges rotten tomatoes.)
now I realised that i did not thank my awesome beta last time. sorry for that, A big round of applause for my brilliant Beta, SailingAwaySoftly ! :D
thank you all who alerted fav-ed etc the story. and thank you all for the great reviews :)
SAS, I hope you'll get your answer in written words in this chapter. :) and thank you so much ! and thank you for telling others abt this fic. :D
amrawo, koolieopenguinez, lcd619, EponineandMarius, 4good, thank you ! and here is the update for you ! :)
Sparkly, :D im glad you liked the chapter. but here our duo make a bit progress. ;)
Lone Panda, I am so glad you liked it. I hope you find this chapter just as good. :)
twelvepastnever, I know things haven't been the best for Eva as of now but as you will see they get better ! :)
Disclaimer: anything under copyright here is not mine, except Eva and the Frosts.
Eva strode out of the library at top speed. Her heart never seemed to stop racing these days. Once again her heart was racing along with her thoughts. He had seen it, or rather done it. But what had he done? He had hardly touched her, okay a bit more, but not hard enough to make a print. He was sure to ask questions. The questions she asked herself, not receiving any answers. Some life she had.
Her worries carried her out of the mansion and into the grounds. Around her was a thick quilt of white snow. It was biting cold, but thankfully, not with a biting wind. She walked up to a nearby bench, cleared the snow and warmed it with a single flick of her wand. Sitting down on the warmed bench, she started mulling over the excuses she could cook up for him while tugging at a stray curl of hair.
Sirius was stunned yet again. What had just happened? He couldn't believe he had done that. He wasn't that hard was he? But then how could he explain the print? He ran a frustrated hand through his long hair as he tried to comprehend what had taken place. As he hung his head, he caught a glimpse of the book he had just picked up from the floor. It had fallen out of her bag as she had raced out. It was of a dark blue colour, the velvet seemed coarse and faded over the passage of time. The book looked ancient judging by the state of its bind and covering. Sirius turned the book over to see the title which was engraved in elegant silver letters, 'Unforgivables and their Unforgivable Side effects'. His eyes grew wide, and he thought, what the hell.
Unforgivables? Why was she reading this? Could she be interested in this stuff? He had never known her to be remotely attracted to this stuff. But, then again, he had never reallyknown her that well. Her family was not much different in this aspect from his. He couldn't say for sure. But, but for some reason he couldn't believe that she would be into dark arts. As cheesy as it sounds, his heart didn't believe it. Then why, why was she reading this book? There was also a page marked by a folded corner. Why did she try to hide it from him? Well, if she tried to hide it, she definitely didn't want him to know.
Sirius walked out into the corridor from the library. His mind was buzzing with a million questions, which only she could answer. As he was walking in a daze, his feet, brain and heart came to a halting stop. Could it be about last night? Could she know the victim? Did she know where he was?
His head turned to look out of the window he was beside. Outside, it seemed as if the whole world had been painted a pure shade of white. Everything was covered in snow, from pathways to trees, to flowerbeds to benches. Benches? His eyes caught sight of a bench which was not laden with snow. On the bench sat a figure, her face hunched down out of sight. He didn't need to think twice to know who it was.
Eva was still pulling at the curl, something she did when she was tensed which was now quite often, when someone came up behind her.
"Aren't you cold?"
"You underestimate me, Black." She sighed. "Take a seat and see for yourself."
Sirius looked sceptically at the back of her head, but then again she wasn't stupid. So trusting his instinct he took a seat beside her. And as she said, he had underestimated her. He did not feel the cold sting he had expected to feel; on the contrary he was greeted by warm wood. Once seated, there was an awkward pause for a while before Sirius decided to end it. He took the book and offered it to her.
"You forgot this back in the library."
Eva turned to find the book in his hands which was supposed to be in her bag, but obviously wasn't. Her eyes grew wide as she thought to herself, he knows.But if he already knew, there was nothing she could do about it. She took the book from him with shaking hands.
"Did you read it?"
"No."
"No?" she looked up in surprise. He had a hard look on his face.
"Do you want me to?"
"Uh-I-I don't know." She said finally. "It would make things easier if you had read it but no, I can't say I want you to read it."
"What do you mean?" he said uneasily. She seemed to be fighting a battle with herself as she looked straight ahead. Then after a moment she opened the book to the page marked and handed it to him.
The Cruciatus Curse
The Cruciatus curse, or "CRUCIO," is the second in the unforgivable curses. It is the torture curse. It was used extensively in the Middle Ages when muggle hunting and victimising was at its peak. It was considered to be quite a success among the purebloods. The curse needs behind it the hatred and venom which is not uncommon among purebloods for the people of lesser blood, thus causing limitless pain.
In experiencing the Cruciatus curse, the victim feels immeasurable pain, which at times may drive the victim to the edge of insanity. The few who after experiencing the curse have relived it have described it from the feeling of your skin being pierced in thousands of places to your blood put on fire.
Though not cared for much, the Cruciatus does have not few but many side effects:
The Cruciatus curse performed on infants and young souls though rare an instance has taken place. It has been known to cause long term effects when used on children under the age of 7-8. Effects that have been observed do not exclude breaking breaths, brittle bones and reddening of skin...
Sirius trailed away in horror. His breath hitched as he realized it was not that she knew who the victim was or where he was. She herself was the victim. But if her skin was reddening in context to the book then she must have been cursed when she was...
"It was you last night?" he whispered hoarsely. In reply all she did was nod softly.
"Who? And, why?"
She turned to him with disbelieving eyes. "You need to ask? Who do you think?"
"Your mother." He spat out with venom. His eyes turned hard.
With a small laugh she said, "Obviously."
"Since when?" he said pointing at the book in relevance to it.
She followed his gaze before answering, "When I was five. That was the first time. She doesn't do it often. Just a few times a year."
Sirius looked disgusted. He not only looked so, but he felt revolted too. Sure, his mother had performed the curse on him too, but not when he was that young. When he had been exposed to it, he was well within the age limit.
"Have you told anyone?" he asked in such a bitter voice which even surprised Eva.
"No."
"What?" he yelped. "Not even Blake?" She shook her head.
"He deserves to know," growled Sirius.
"No. He doesn't. It would make him feel helpless. He can't do anything to stop Mother. Even he is powerless against her, and she knows it." This time it was Eva who spoke in a bitter voice.
Sirius cursed under his breath as he ran a hand through his long, messed up hair. He turned to look at the girl sitting beside him. If there was anybody who didn't deserve to be caught up in all this, it was her. She did not rebel. She put up a brave front to the world and didn't let on an inkling of what she was going through. She did not do anything intentionally to 'disgrace' her family. It was not her fault she was unlike them. And somewhere, Sirius was happy that she was.
"We have some pretty messed up families." He said in a low voice.
Eva laughed openly at this and, giving him a warm smile, she said, "Glad you have that figured out."
Sirius gave a weak smile in return. He couldn't believe the girl wasn't in Gryffindor.
"Eva," he said addressing her by her first name. "I know how it feels to be the outcast and stuff, and I am not just saying this, if you ever need a friend in all this crap, remember, I'm here."
At this, Eva couldn't help but give him a hug. And as she put her arms around his neck, she knew that Sirius knew how grateful she was.
When she threw her arms around his neck, his own immediately went around her waist to bring her closer to him. As he bent his neck into the crook of her neck, he realised, he would never let her get hurt in the same way again.
A/N: thank you for reading. :) and as you know there isn't going to be an update for a long long time. So as a sorry gift, here are some songs which are my favourites as of now,
Beautiful-Eminem
Not Afraid-Eminem
Permanent-David Cook
The Reason- Hoobastank
Rolling On A Burning Tire-Dead Weather
Never Too Late- Three Days Grace.
I hope you enjoy them . :)