Chapter 14 - Goodbye Part 1: Another Round of Bullets Hits My Skin ...

Author's Note: Time jump. We are now at the end of the 4th year. Not much has changed - Evan still refuses to allow Fred beyond her walls, and Fred is still confused and trying to get her attention in all the wrong ways.

Everything changes now. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and this is where the M rating will begin to show.

…..

Evangeline and Pansy stood in their seats, the horror erupting all around them, clinging to each other as the reality of what was going on down below on the Quidditch pitch floor.

Mass confusion was muttered when Harry and Cedric reached for the Triwizard cup together in the final task . Both boys vanished. Normally, the competition had been filled with pretty dramatic twists and turns. Evan realized something may be slightly off, based on the reactions of the teachers when they vanished. But Evan, much like everyone else, had chalked it up to both Hogwarts champions choosing this - their moment of glory - to take the prize and be named the winner.

It felt like hours, but in reality was less than 10 minutes when the boys tumbled back onto the field. They looked much worse between the point in which they left, disheveled and dirty from the maze, to now. Harry was bleeding from his arm and head, and it looked as if he may have injured his leg. He was laying on top of Cedric, who looked paler than usual, with a slight tinge of blue to his lips.

Evan's gaze locked on Cedric's face. Harry was holding onto him. But Cedric … he wasn't moving. "Pansy?" Evan whispered. Her confused friend looked over, and Pansy's face twisted in concern.

"Evan, what's the matter?" Pansy reached out, taking Evan's right hand in her own. Evan could tell it was sweaty, as Pansy's hands felt like ice.

But Evangeline did not have time to get herself under control. The last time she saw a face like that, it was when Lucius had been helping her out of her front door, back home in the United States. Aunt Helen's face was equally blank and unmoving. Still, peaceful. But very much dead.

"He's back! Voldemort's back!" Harry shouted, his voice contorted in deep sorrow as he clung to Cedric.

Pansy's eyes widened. It was dawning on the rest of them now, but the crowd was silent. Until Mister Diggory could be heard, pushing through the people standing between him and his son to collapse next to Harry, crying out for his son. Fred and George were on the field of the pitch, the closest students to Harry and the rest of them. Harry looked so small compared to Cedric and the rest of the adults, and Evangeline knew what had happened in an instant. It had been the same curse, the Unforgivable Avada Kedavra.

A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she squeezed Pansy's hand tightly. Harry was moved off the field, and eventually, students in the stands were released to go back to their dormitories one at a time under the supervision of the teachers and Ministry of Magic staff.

Pansy and Evan stayed together, eventually joined by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Where's Draco?" Evan asked, her face now red from silent crying.

"With Blaise," Gregory replied, moving in closer to the group as students squeezed into the castle doorway.

Evan huffed, both annoyed and sad. Blaise had done all he could to avoid her since the ball. She had it on good authority the evening wasn't wasted, however. Tracey Davis, another Slytherin in their year, had taken the opportunity to sway him into her bed that night. Evan hadn't said a word, but they seemed to be going steady enough. Draco did what he could to keep them apart from each other to keep the peace in his friend group, usually going off with Blaise and sending Pansy to keep Evan company. But tonight, of all nights, to send his goon twin friends to keep her out of trouble? Draco had another thing coming if he thought that it would be acceptable.

Evan needed her brother, not his friends.

They were herded into the Slytherin common room like cats, and adults were actually standing guard outside of the common room door to keep the students where they belonged. Evan stood right next to the fireplace, refusing to follow Pansy up to their dorm room, arms crossed over her chest waiting for Draco.

Unfortunately, most students were not going to bed. A good majority of Slytherins were quite content to mull about the common room and discuss excitedly what had happened. Each time she heard excitement about the death of a fellow classmate, her stomach lurched and she regretted not pushing herself into another House at the start of the term. Her heart actually broke for Cedric's father, and for all the Hufflepuff students who were mourning the loss of their close friend. Of Cho, the nice girl who helped her pick out robes at the start of the year — Evan had heard through the grapevine they were an item after the Yule Ball. And for Harry. As much as he was an insufferable Gryffindor prat, she too had seen someone die from an Unforgivable Curse, and there was no way to soften the blow. Quick, unexpected and harsh. It would always stay with him.

Draco, Blaise and Tracey finally came in with the last wave of students. Oh, so THAT'S what was so important, was it? Evan thought acidly, slitted eyes glaring at Draco. He made eye contact with her, and he spoke a few hurried words to the others. They gave Evangeline a glare, both Blaise and Tracey, but left for the boy's rooms without much fuss.

"Evan," Draco muttered a quiet greeting as he got close enough to her, voice lowered. Most of the other students were in the sitting areas, but Evan pulled out her wand and pointed at the nearest groups of students one at a time, speaking the phrase "Muffliato!"

The charm was new to Draco. "What is that?"

"Snape taught it to me in remedial potions. It stops our conversations from being overheard."

"So they can't hear us?"

"Not a single word," Evan explained. "Watch this. Hey Crabbe, you great baboon. I know you lick Mad Eye's eyeball to get off when he sleeps." Evan yelled the last part but kept her face smooth as if she were still whispering.

Draco almost burst into laughter, turning to watch the fight that comment was sure to cause. But Crabbe didn't even seem to have heard. Not even an eye twitch. Draco nodded, impressed, turning back to Evangeline.

"Maybe I should take up 'remedial potions' too." Draco mused. "I was watching you when Potter showed back up with Cedric. You okay?"

"Cedric was killed by the killing curse," Evan said, this time her voice cracking a little. Her eyes welled up, but she squeezed her wand to keep them at bay. "Just like Helen."

Draco seemed to understand the other half of that sentence, the words she could not say out loud even privately. ...by Lucius. Evan started trembling, the shock coming on all over again. Draco immediately reached out with both hands, and lowered her to a sitting position on the floor, her back resting on the warm stone wall a few feet away from the fireplace. He was taller and blocking her, so anyone else watching would just assume it was Draco and Evangeline finding a space to sit when the couches and sofas were all occupied.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was going to bother you this much," he admitted, blocking her from most vantage points from the other Slytherin students. "I guess I should have, though. That was a pretty serious thing. I've never seen dad use that kind of magic before. It couldn't have been … pleasant."

"It was like watching everything you know vanish in a puff of hopes and dreams, never going to be the same again," Evan added. "But did you hear Potter? He said Voldemort's back."

Draco's lips pressed together, teeth gritted in what could only be described as Draco trying to find the right thing to say. Evan could feel his internal battle. Potter was his number one enemy at Hogwarts. But neither of them could even imagine a world where the war was actually starting. Before tonight, it had just been something of an enigma, where adults had to worry about it, but children were generally safe. But if Potter was right …

"This is going to change everything …" Draco added, eyes falling to the floor.

"How involved was Lucius … before?" Evan asked, bending her legs and wrapping her arms around them so her chin could rest in the space between her knees.

"Very," Draco admitted. "He was part of the inner circle. I think that if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back again, he may actually become part of our world."

Evan sighed, defeated. "Why can't you say his name?"

"Nobody does, and it's honestly quite uncomfortable when you say it," Draco answered. He wasn't being cruel, just honest.

"Oh, sorry," Evan shrugged. "So what happens now?"

"Unless mum and dad pull us out of here early, we act normal. But my money is on that not happening. If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is actually back and Potter isn't lying to cover up killing Cedric himself, that would draw too much suspicion. Until we get home, we speak of this to no one but each other."

"Not even to Snape?" Evan asked.

Draco shook his head solemnly. "He's my godfather, and he is a friend of the family. But if you tell him too much, he will not hesitate to betray your secrets to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to save his own skin. If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, we are at war, Evan. And children die in war."