Chapter 14- Midnight Encounters

It had been a day ago when Evangeline had been acquainted with the portrait of Theodore Jervan Chavaller and, once again, she was woken by the nightmare. This time however it had seemed so much more real, the high cruel laugh emitting from her mouth as the endless victims curdled screams filled the silence of the cold night's air was enough to send a shiver down her spine. She sighed, biting her lip, in deep thought before slipping her feet in her slippers, pulling on her dressing gown, lighting her wand and carefully, silently, making her way out of the Common Room. She tip-toed along the corridors, ears strained for any slight noise. She came to the end of the corridor and turned right, speeding her pace up a little as her eyes landed on the familiar portrait. Luckily he was already awake, beaming down at her over his large bushy eyebrows.
"Why, my dear, I didn't expect you to come again tonight!" He whispered, cautious not to alert anyone else, as most of his neighbours were seemingly in deep slumber.
"I couldn't sleep again," she frowned, nose crinkling as she did so.
"You walked past my portrait earlier, don't you know," he said, bemused by something, a knowing look printed on his face.
"Oh, Theodore, I'm terribly sorry! How rude of me to not even say hello! I-" she stopped abruptly as he held up a hand to silence her, chuckling softly.
"Now, now, it's quite alright my dear. The very thought of you coming to me to seek comfort in the middle of the night is polite and pleasant enough, but what I meant, is that I saw you...with Mr. Tom Riddle." His eyes widened slightly and Evangeline automatically had the feeling of a child being caught out.
"Yes...uh, he's my...my friend." She mumbled awkwardly.
"He looked more like a friend to me," he said quietly, to himself, although Eva caught it and blushed. "Now, I may hardly know him, what with being a portrait and all...But he's something, Evangeline. And by something I mean trouble." He nodded wisely and she looked up at him, confused.
"How would you know?" She asked curiously.
"My other frame happens to play residence in the notorious Slytherin Common Room and whilst I do tend to stay here, I often float over there once in a while, and almost every time, he is there. Blackmailing his fellow students! Now I'm not saying you should cut off all contact from him," he added, noticing how Eva had opened her mouth to speak. "Just be wary of him, that's all. It may be too soon, but you are as much as daughter to me as I am a father to you, and I don't want to see you getting hurt." Evangeline smiled gently up at him, a new warmth slowly spreading inside of her, sending a feeling of happiness and a new sense of comfort everywhere it could get to.
"I don't really like him, you know... But I have a plan... I've been...dreaming things lately, like I said last night, but I just know they have something to do with Tom. I don't know how...I just sense it... And-" she stopped,, suddenly aware of the fact that she was not alone, as she saw Theodore's eyes fixed on something far to her right, luckily out of earshot. She turned to look and although, it was impossible to distinguish the features of their face, the flash of blonde hair was undeniable.
"Well, well, well if it isn't Miss May out for a midnight stroll." His drawl echoed across the corridor as did his footsteps as he came closer until he was a meter away. He was a good few inches taller than her. She raised her wand, knowing she'd have no chance to battle him and win without it only to have it fly from her grip. He smirked at her shocked look, tucking both his and her wand in his back pockets. He came closer until she was backed against the wall and not a hair could come between their chests. His arms lifted up to rest casually above her shoulders, barricading her in. It may seem like a comfortable gesture but the message was bold and clear, 'you're not going anywhere'. She raised her chin in defiance, glancing sideways to see that Theodore had gone from his portrait, before staring him in the eye.
"You haven't got your little Potter friend with you now," he lowered his lips to her ear and she involuntarily shivered, "there's no one to hear you scream." His words were like an icy breath of wind wrapping her up and slowly but surely squeezing the air out of her lungs. He brought his lips to hers and she refused to co-operate, thinking he would stop sooner with no response, but as he started undoing the buttons of her dressing gown, she understood fully the meaning of his last sentence. He was going to rape her.
"I stood by what I said, May. I'm a Slytherin...and a Malfoy on top of that, I get what I want." He started to undo his own shirt, pinning her to the wall with his body. As he reached to pull her nightgown over her head, she spat at him, enraging him. He brought his hand back, face red with anger, hissing in disgust. She clenched her eyes shut waiting for the pain to sear her cheek...but the contact never came. She opened her eyes to see Tom Riddle stood to her right, holding Malfoy's arm and stopping him from hurting her. Hi eyes flashed with such anger and hatred it made her shiver slightly but otherwise, his face was calm.
"You should know better than to touch something that isn't yours without your permission. What you your dear father say if he ever found out that you had the intentions of raping a fellow student. In fact, scratch that, what would Headmaster Dippet say, I wonder?" Malfoy looked as though he had been smacked across the face after the comment referring and insulting his blood. Tom let go of his wrist and lazily flicked his wand.
"Stupefy." Evangeline watched as Malfoy's body fell to the floor before she was pulled flush against someone's chest. His heartbeart was rather fast, but other than that, it would seem the the previous events hadn't effected him in the slightest. She gently turned her head to see Theodore back in his portrait, smiling sadly down at them. She mouthed a thank you to him before wrapping her arms around Tom, and letting out all her tears.