A/N: Read. Review. Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Forgiveness and Promises

His ability to hold grudges was stronger than he had expected. It had been several weeks since the fight and Dudley still hadn't completely sorted out the situation. Part of him wanted to stay angry and refuse to ever associate with the likes of Eve, but that little nagging voice kept pulling him away from those actions. He was the one who had started the fight, after all.

Dudley figured that he would say something after dinner to her, or ever approach her while she was in the library or the lounge, but he hadn't even seen Eve at all since that night. She no longer showed up for dinner and never seemed to be in any of the upstairs rooms. The light in her bedroom was never on, making the door at the end of the hall radiate a feeling of emptiness. The only indication that Eve even still existed was the occasional smell of potions brewing down in the cellar, but Dudley wasn't ready to return back down there any time soon.

Spending the past few weeks without talking to someone his own age was beginning to take a toll on him. Dudley still was angry with her, but there was no doubt that he missed their conversations. Between his lack of contact with his mother and Eve, he found himself alone most of the time. Most of the time he locked himself up in his room. When he wasn't there, he was walking aimlessly around Marigold Cabin, looking for things to do.

Hestia had noticed his melancholic behavior rather quickly, and had taken it upon herself to sit down to breakfast with him each morning. They rarely talked, but the air of company seemed to satisfy them both.

Dudley had also been spending more time with Dedalus, their ongoing Wizard's Chess matches helped pass away the afternoons. Dudley was slowly getting better at the strategic game, and had even beat Dedalus yesterday. While the chess games were a decent distraction, Dudley couldn't help but feel a bit mopey. It was hard to function on a day to day biases when you kept doing the same things over and over again.

Dudley stared dully at the chessboard in front of him, he might have gotten lucky the day before, but today he was having his arse handed to him. His rook yelled at him to sacrifice his bishop, while the bishop tried to convince him to use the rook as a decoy.

"Shut up, the both of you!" he hissed angrily, flicking them both upside the heads. This earned a boisterous laugh from Dedalus as the obnoxious pieces grumbled unhappily.

"You seem rather distracted today," The older man observed, giving him a concerned look.

"Sorry, I guess it just is dull to do the same things day in and day out...Not that I don't enjoy playing chess with you!" Dudley quickly added, not wanting to give the man the wrong impression.

"It's quite alright, but maybe we should hold off today's game, and change things up a bit."

Dudley stared, confused for a moment. "Umm, sure," He shrugged.

"Then grab your coat, my boy, and let us take a walk," Dedalus picked up his winter robe from his chair as Dudley got up from the table. The table of chess pieces continued to argue angrily over the game.

"None of you move from your places, or I'll lock the lot of you into the desk drawer again," Dudley threatened the black and white characters before leaving the room.

Outside was cold and windy. The late November air was very crisp, almost to the point of sharpness. Dudley followed Dedalus through the back garden. All the leaves and plant life had withered and died off for the season, with the exception of the marigold plants. Their bright red, orange and yellow petals continued to dance in the bitter cold.

"I used to love coming here as a young boy," the old man sighed as he watched the floral choreography.

"This is your place?" Dudley had never thought about the ownership of the cabin before, but it seemed to make perfect sense.

"It was my great-grandmother's, Marigold Cabin was named after her. I never did have the pleasure of meeting her, but I have been told she was wonderfully kind. These flowers have been around for nearly two centuries, never changing, never dying."

"Woah," Dudley gaped as he kneeled down to examine them further. He had never paid them much attention, given the fact that they used to make him feel uneasy. He lightly touched one with his fingers. The orange flower twisted rapidly at his touch, making it look as though its petals were twirling.

"I used to come here every summer, these flowers were always my favorite thing about this place. I used to ride my broom through this garden all the time with my brother, Dorian, much to our grandmother's dismay," He said with a slight chuckle "Though, we never did manage to crash into that old oak."

Dudley felt his face go red with both embarrassment and realization. "I didn't think you knew about that..."

Dedalus laughed again, "Miss Peters told me that night. She brought me the broken remains of my brother's old broom. Dorian always hated that thing, it had a constant habit of steering too far to the left."

Dudley felt himself visibly freeze at the mention of Eve, this did not go unnoticed.

"Miss Peters has been in a bad state since your argument," Dedalus said, refusing to beat around the bush. He looked truly worried as he mentioned the witch.

"She lied to me." Dudley said defensively, "And then she attacked me!" The old wizard nodded slightly in agreement.

"Did she apologize?"

Dudley felt himself blank. "I think she would have, if I hadn't shouted at her...but she still made that glass explode!" He reiterated. Eve had tried to apologize for that, but he had refused to listen. She had scared him that night, which had only fueled his anger.

"Accidental magic is common in younger witches and wizards before and during their attendance at school. Miss Peters was both embarrassed and horrified with her actions. It is considered both childish and insulting for an adult to do such uncontrolled magic," Dedalus explained as they continued their walk. "She also was upset that her magic had unleashed near you, she was terrified at the thought she had hurt you."

Dudley remembered how horrified Eve had looked that night, and how she had followed him upstairs, pleading for him to listen. He couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew he should have started the confrontation differently, even though she had been in the wrong.

"Her lying to you was wrong, and so were her actions, but I know she never intended to try and hurt you. Miss Peters may have some...unfortunate connections, but I know she's a good person."

Dudley just stared down at the marigolds. The glass that Eve had exploded had been apart of what made magic so terrifying to him. Things like the pig's tail, the large purple tongue, the broomstick, and the Dementors gave him the worst impression about magic, and his upbringing hadn't helped any. Yet, there were things like the beautiful dancing flowers, enchanted books, potions that healed, and of course, wizard's chess, which proved that magic could be both good and bad. Just like people.

The sudden epiphany made him feel like a complete toerag. Everyone had their dark sides and moments of weakness. Dudley knew he was no saint; he was still trying to fight off his own inner demons. He couldn't imagine the kind of feelings Eve was going though when she was related to the most hated man in the Wizarding world. She probably felt just as helpless as he did. He knew that he had to try make amends with Eve. People like them need to stick together.

"I have to go. There is something I need to do," He said, excusing himself from their walk.

Dedalus gave him a knowing smile. The marigolds continued to dance as the two parted ways.

Dudley was hesitant to knock on the Eve's bedroom door. He was surprised to discover the cellar empty when he went to search for her, and even more so when he saw her bedroom light on. Swallowing his pride, he rapped his knuckles on the door's wooden surface.

"It's open."Dudley slowly opened the door a crack and stuck his head in. Eve sat on her bed, several piles of clothes and books surrounded her.

"Hello..." His words were followed by an awkward silence. They stared at each other uneasily.

"...'Lo."

"Can I come in?"

"I guess."

Dudley stepped inside the small room. It was extremely cluttered, to say the least. It was complete opposite from the condition of the well kept cellar. There were bits of parchment scattered around the room, ink was splattered in various places. Trinkets and several photos occupied the entire surface of the window sill. Dudley was especially amused by the poster on the wall which sported a popular, American, Muggle band.

"You could sit down, you know," Eve pointed to the desk chair next to him. "Just push off the books." she said a bit sheepishly. Dudley carefully removed the books and placed them on the crowded desk instead, atop of a stack of papers.

"Sorry, I'm not usually this much of a slob," Eve deadpanned, as her hollow cheeks flushed red.

"S'okay," Dudley mumbled. This was going to be harder than he thought. The silence that followed was almost deafening. He looked around for inspiration to start a conversation. He finally found one on the window sill.

"Who are all these people?" He asked, picking up the moving picture. A small group of kids around thirteen or fourteen crowded into the photo. They all wore the same navy blue sweaters and khaki pants. One blond-haired boy nearly fell off the bench several of them were sitting on. This resulted in the silent laughter of many of the kids, though many of them had a hold of his sleeves to keep him from falling.

"Oh, that was my Class. We were quite the group, you can see our instructor, Professor Walters, in the back of the classroom."

"That's a pretty small graduating class..." He said, looking at the lack students.

"Hell no! Our graduation class topped five hundred! Our Class,"she empahsized, "was our academic group; those who were focused in Potions. After our third year we chose a career path that best suited us and studied with like-minded individuals."

"Oh," Dudley examined the back row, he saw a younger Eve laughing along with a pretty brunette.

"Who's she?"

"That's Audrey, my best friend, everyone called her Drey...then there's Max, Xander,(the one falling out his seat) Gina, (boy, was she a slut) Leanne, Wendy, McKay, (he never did tell anyone his first name) Shantel and Enrique," Eve listed off without taking a breath. She stared at the photo sadly.

"Man, I miss them...Though I doubt they miss me."

Dudley had a nagging feeling that he knew why, and it deepened his realization of Eve's desire to keep things secretive.

"Eve, I'm sorry!" He found himself blurting out suddenly. Eve looked quite startled, as though his outburst was a result of demonic possession. Dudley took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, I really am. I may have hated the fact that you lied to me, but I think I understand why you did. I'm sorry I called you a coward."

Eve picked at the sleeve of her robe anxiously. "I deserved it; it was wrong and horrid of me to lie and my defensive actions were unjustified. I should have been able to control my damn magic, and I directed it towards you. You have all rights to hate me."

"...I don't hate you." Dudley said to reassure her and secretly himself.

Eve looked back up at him, her black eyes gleaming with hope. "Is there any way you can forgive me? I would rather snap my own wand than hurt you...or any other innocent person, ever again." She quickly added, her face becoming beat red again.

"Yes, I will forgive you. Friends?" Dudley added hopefully, offering her his hand.

"Friends," Eve said with one of her beautifully rare smiles as she shook it.

"There are still so many questions about you and...Err, Snape that I want to ask, but I don't want to force you to answer them, especially if they bother you."

"Thanks," Eve said with a sigh of relief, " I promise I will tell you. I'm just not sure I'm ready to yet. I've had to tell others before, and it just made my life more difficult." Dudley's couldn't help but think of those Order people, he guessed their reaction to Eve's relation to Snape had not boded well with them. He didn't blame the witch for fearing negative outcomes from revealing her past. Though his curiosity was still high.

"Okay, but I'm holding you to your word," Dudley playfully goaded, trying to lighten the mood.

"I cross my heart," Eve snorted, as she traced an invisible 'X' over her chest. "Or would you rather I pinkie promised?"

"What are you, five?"Dudley groaned.

"Sometimes I wish I were."

"Can't blame you there." Dudley glanced up at the poster over Eve's bed again. He gave her an impish smile.

"So, you've got a thing for the Backstreet Boys, huh?"

Eve smacked him upside the head with one of her pillows.

A/N:Amends are made, but the worst is yet to come...