Evan Rosier's Awakening

There was no sign of Dumbledore over the course of the next few days. Whatever Dumbledore had to deal with at the ministry, Severus knew it had to be big.

Severus had made sure Lily got to read the letter Erwin had sent him. It had brought her some piece of mind knowing that her father was keeping himself under the radar, and was spending time in the presence of the Weasley family. A more concerning thing however, was when Leo had returned baring her sister's response.

Petunia had talked vividly about the pretty northern lights she had seen, and painted, not too long ago above their hometown, which could only mean one thing, and that was that Death Eaters had been roaming the streets of Cokeworth. Lily and Severus had worked together on sending another letter addressed to The Burrow, in the hope that at least some Aurors or other ministry officials were willing to look after any families with magical relatives.

The great gray owl Severus had sent off to retrieve a gift for Lily had returned, carrying a package as it flopped down on the table, exhausted from the journey. 'Just in time!' Severus said happily as he untied the gift from his paw. 'You must've had a very long journey.' Severus made sure the owl had access to food and drink to regain his strength before it went back to the owlery, and quickly hid the flat square package in his backpack before Lily could see it.

The re-match of Slytherin and Hufflepuff, and Lily's birthday, were tomorrow. The news that Severus had temporarily joined the Slytherin team had not gone unnoticed. Especially not by Frank, and Potter.

'I still can't believe you're actually playing against me tomorrow,' Frank said as he joined Severus at the table.

'Me neither,' said Severus, not bothering to hide his lack of confidence. 'Still can't believe they couldn't find anyone else to do it.'

'Maybe most Slytherin's had hoped that Evan would wake up in time before the match,'said Frank.

Severus shrugged it off. 'Either way, I warned the rest of the team not to get their hopes up.'

'You're going to make winning way too easy for us Puffs, Severus,' said Frank as he poured himself some coffee.

'Just because Slytherin got one bad addition to the team,' Severus said, helping himself to some coffee as well, 'doesn't mean the rest of them aren't talented players. Vanity especially. She's one fierce lady.'

'Vanity's got to be the toughest player I've ever had the pleasure to have a match against,'said Frank.

Potter, who had overheard Frank's words as he walked into the great hall, sat down beside him.

'You're absolutely right, Longbottom,' Potter said as he grabbed some toast. 'Vanity's as tough as opponents can get.'

Severus, who so far had managed to avoid speaking with Potter altogether since he joined the Young Order a few weeks prior, looked up at Potter with as much interest as a sloth awoken from its sleep.

'What brings you here, Potter?' Severus asked in the hope it would scare Potter away.

'Talk of quidditch, of course,' Potter said, now decorating his toast with a thick layer of marmalade. 'Still can't believe you joined the Slytherin team Snape. You didn't strike me as the type.'

'Thank you for repeating the exact same thing Frank just told me,' Severus responded sardonically. 'It must feel good knowing Gryffindor still has a chance at winning after all.'

'Not that hard when people that are too afraid to sit on a broomstick get accepted into teams,' Potter said with an air of authority.

Severus subconsciously balled his hands into fists. 'I am not afraid—'

'—So what are you going to after class today, Potter?' Frank said nonchalantly to turn the conversation.

Potter shot one last glare at Severus, but decided not to continue bickering. 'As a matter of fact, Peter and I are going to sneak into Hogsmeade while Sirius and Remus got their music class.'

'How do you plan on doing that?' Frank asked in surprise. 'They've really sharpened the security ever since the attack.'

Potter peaked over his glasses in a McGonagall like fashion. 'I have my ways Longbottom, I can assure you that.'

'Not that hard when you got an invisibility cloak,' Severus said to throw more oil onto the fire.

'Could you say that any louder,' Potter said with a sneer, his eyes shifting across the great hall to make sure no one had overheard.

'POTTER'S GOT AN INV—'

Potter jumped up and shoved his hand over Severus's mouth. 'How can I get you to shut up about that?' Potter said angrily.

Severus grabbed Potter's arm and pushed him away as if he were holding a dirty rag. 'Actually Potter, there is something that you could do for me.'

'ALICE, dearest,' Frank yelled happily as he saw Alice walk in from across the hall. He looked at the two sneering men in disapproval. 'I don't want to be involved in this I'm out.'

Severus and Potter waiting until Frank was gone before they continued their quarrel. 'And what would that be?' Potter asked darkly as he sat back down.

'Since you probably know it's Lily's birthday tomorrow, and you're planning on sneaking off to Hogsmeade today, I've got a plan.'

Severus could tell Potter was now curious as he subconsciously leaned in closer. 'I'm not buying her a gift on your behalf if that's what you're asking,'said Potter.

'Absolutely not,' said Severus, feeling amused. 'I've got a much, much better plan.'

Severus whispered his idea to Potter, who nodded along in agreement. 'I can do that,'said Potter. 'And what about the others?'

'Let's inform them now before Lily gets here,'said Severus. 'She's going to love this.'

Together they had managed to inform all the others of the Young Order without Lily's knowledge, who was now sitting at the table in complete ignorance of what was going on around her.

The bell was about to ring when Vanity came running up to the group. 'Evan just woke up!' she cried. 'He's not doing well at all but at least he woke up.'

The whole group looked at each other as if to contemplate whether they wanted to risk skipping class or not.

'Let's go visit him,' Severus said to Lily. 'I'm sure professor Slughorn will forgive us.' Lily nodded in agreement, as did the rest of the group, and followed Vanity to the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey was putting up a stack of pillows for Evan to lean on when everyone entered the hospital wing.

'Aren't you all supposed to be in class?' she said sharply. 'Please come back after today's lessons. Mister Rosier needs his rest.'

Evan was looking sheepishly from his eyes. Madam Pomfrey had somehow managed to heal up the cut that was slashed on the side of his head, leaving a scar Severus knew could no longer be healed.

Evan attempted to raise his hand in order to wave hello, but was too exhausted to do it, and let his hand slump back down on the bed.

'I think it will be for the best if we come back later,'said Frank. 'Let's go to class for now shall we?'

Everyone waved at Evan before they turned around to go to their classes. Vanity, who took the longest time to turn away from Evan, looked defeated as she followed most of the group to their potions lesson.

The group had taken turns later that day to visit Evan, as madam Pomfrey would not allow more than two visitors at once.

Rather unexpectedly, Vanity decided to join Lily and Severus at the table during dinner. 'Would you mind if I call you Emma?' Lily asked.

'No I don't mind,'said Emma. 'You're Lily, right?'

'Yes I am,' said Lily. 'I'll be straight forward with you Emma, but you didn't seem too happy about Evan waking up.'

'It's not that I'm not happy about it,' Emma said with a shrug. 'It's just—it's just that Evan and I have been growing apart ever since Christmas. Even before the attack in Hogsmeade.'

Lily looked at Emma with concern as tears had started to form in her eyes. 'All he does is absentmindedly roam around the school,' Emma continued. 'It's as if he's not just losing interest in me, but everything around him as well.'

'How much do you know about his home life?' Severus asked.

'Nearly everything,'said Emma. 'At least I think I do.'

Severus and Lily looked at each other, and nodded in understanding.

'Emma,' Lily said carefully, 'when we encountered Lucius Malfoy in Hogsmeade, he was looking for something that Evan might possibly have. Do you have any idea what that could be?'

Emma shook her head. 'I have no idea.'

'Would you like to go and ask him?' Severus asked Emma. 'Maybe he'll tell you more than he's willing to tell me.'

'Will you come with me?' Emma asked with questionable eyes. 'I mean, you were actually there when it happened. He may want to hear the story from your side.'

'Sure,'said Severus as he put his fork and knife to the side. 'Let's go do this now, shall we?'

'Will I see you at the lab later, Sev?' Lily asked.

'I'll be there,' Severus assured her.

As Lily shuffled closer to Alice, Severus and Emma got up and made their way to the hospital wing.

It was good to see that Evan was still sitting up straight and eating dinner.

'Ullo,' Evan said happily with a mouth full of potatoes, and it was evident that his happiness was more directed to Emma than Severus. 'It's good to see you both.'

Emma carefully wrapped her arms around him and let out a dry sob. 'I came to visit you earlier today,' she said, 'but you were asleep.'

'Tends to happen,' Evan said as he donned his plate on the bedside table.

'How are you feeling, Evan?' Severus asked as he sat down in the chair beside the bed.

'So so,'said Evan. 'Still got a headache and I can't walk properly yet, which pissed me off to no extend because the quidditch match is tomorrow.'

'Severus is taking your position as Chaser for tomorrow,' Emma said without any confidence.

That seemed to make Evan laugh, and then wince from a pain in his chest. 'You…playing quidditch,' Evan said with difficulty. 'That's hilarious.'

'Very funny Evan,' Severus said dryly. 'But for the record, I'm also using your broom.'

'That's kind of an insult to my broom really,'said Evan. The pain in his chest seemed to be worth the fits of laughter. 'But on a more serious note Severus, I do appreciate you doing this for me.'

'Evan,' Emma said rather impatiently, 'there's something that I would like to ask.'

Evan could tell that whatever it was, it was a serious matter. 'What is it Emma?' he asked carefully.

'When you met Malfoy out in Hogsmeade, what exactly was it that he was looking for?'

Evan stared into Emma's eyes for a few seconds before he answered. 'I don't know,' he said. 'I really don't know.'

Emma seemed to accept Evan's answer for the truth, but Severus knew better. Evan was hiding something, and whatever it was, it was dangerous. If only he had one single lead as to what it could be that Evan was hiding, he would've been able to perform Legilimency without Evan's knowledge. It was time to once again, become a spy.

'You know what Evan, and Emma too,' said Severus, 'tomorrow's Lily's birthday, and I think we all could use a little distraction, and so here's the plan I've made.'

Severus met up with Lily later in the lab. 'How did it go?' Lily asked as she looked up from behind a pile of homework.

'Said he had no clue either as to what Malfoy wanted,' Severus answered as he sat down behind his cauldron. 'But on a more positive note, the wolfsbane potion is officially ready.'