DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER BUT I DO OWN MY CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORYLINES.
Just as every year before, the four Ravenclaw girls sneaked out of the castle and towards the lake. It had become a tradition between them and they didn't want to let that go.
"If we get caught, I'm killing you and Chris," Diana whispered to Evelyn and she scoffed. "I might get detention." The four of the girls had split into pairs to have it easier to sneak out.
Evelyn snorted. "You won't get detention in the last week of the year." She informed Diana and her friend frowned. "The teachers are too busy grading tests and preparing for the seventh years' graduation."
"That's why Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew have been pulling pranks left and right?" Diana questioned and Evelyn hummed. "Still, I don't want to give a bad impression." She said as they stepped out of the castle.
"Fine." Evelyn huffed. "Next year, we can do it in our dorm, but we need to talk to Chris first." Diana hummed and the two of them crouched down as they headed towards the lake. When they saw that Hagrid's Hut's lights were off, they straightened up and rushed towards the lake.
Gabriela was already there, sitting on a rock and looking at the lake. When she heard their footsteps, she turned to them. "Where have you two been? We've been waiting for ages."
"We thought we heard someone, but it was just a cat," Diana responded as she sat down while Evelyn looked around for their other friend.
"Where is Chris?" She asked.
Gabriela turned towards the forest. "She couldn't wait, so she turned to a fox and went there." Evelyn spared a glance towards it and felt her whole body shiver. "She was tense all day, didn't you notice?"
"It was hard not to when she hexed Mortice," Diana muttered and Evelyn frowned. She hadn't seen that. "It was hard not to hex her. She was making fun of Henrik's accent."
Evelyn pressed her lips together and shook her head. For many people in their year, Henrik's thick Irish accent was the funniest thing in the world and some of them teased him about it. Although, it never ended well when they heard the teasing for them.
The three of them fell in comfortable silence after that and soon, they waited for Chris to come out of the forest. It took a few minutes, but she was out soon, a smile on her face. "That felt good." She admitted as she sat down. "I can't wait for the summer to do it more often."
"Does it help a lot?" Diana wondered.
"It's not the transforming that helps, it's the fact that I can be one with the wind." She responded and Evelyn smiled. "I don't have it to control, I just have to go with it."
"That's why you play Quidditch the best in windy days?" Evelyn questioned her and Christina nodded. While her friend was honest with her identity as a kitsune, she didn't share much about her powers to them. Evelyn didn't know why and she wanted to know more, but she didn't want to make Christina uncomfortable.
Christina picked up a Cauldron Cake that they had gotten and sighed. "So, who is going to start first?"
Evelyn bit her lips as she looked at her best friends. She took a deep breath as she felt her body heat up. "Me." She announced and they all turned to her. "I only learned about this in the summer and I promised my dad that I won't tell anyone except mum." She sighed. "I already broke that promise by telling Don because I trust you. I realized that I should tell you too." Their frowns deepened.
She stopped as she felt her hands shake again. Why were they always shaking? She decided to brush it off and focus on her friends.
"I'm a Parselmouth." She announced.
Christina dropped her sweet from her hands, Gabriela's jaw opened wide while Diana kept frowning at her.
"What the bloody hell is that?" She demanded after seeing all of their faces.
Evelyn breathed out. "It means that I can speak to snakes." She saw Diana's face drop and her eyebrows raise. "I'm a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself." She moved her eyes away, not being able to look at their faces. "Remember Isolt Sayre, the founder of Ilvermorny?" She heard Diana hum. "From her mother's side, she was a Gaunt which makes her a direct descendant of him and since she is my ancestor, it gives me a link to him too." She let out a sigh. "My dad told me that there is more to the story, of course, but that's all I know for now."
"If you're related to, why aren't you sorted in Slytherin?" Diana questioned.
"We aren't sorted in houses because of our families, Dee." Christina reminded her and Evelyn turned to look at her. "Our whish, who we are or who we want to be all play factors in this, but bloodlines don't."
Evelyn sighed. "The hat did consider it." She admitted and they all widened their eyes. "It said that I was the daughter of Slytherin and I thought he was talking about mum, but I guess he was speaking about Slytherin himself." She ran a hand through her hair. "I guess my wishes were playing in this too because I remember wanting to be in the same house with Don."
"But you have traits of Ravenclaw too," Gabriela spoke up. "You're intelligent, creative, open-minded and clever. You belong here with us."
"I can be ambitious too," Evelyn stated. "Driven as well."
Christina snorted. "You can have the traits of the two houses." She told Evelyn. "The hat is never wrong, Eve and it wasn't with you."
"Have you talked to a snake?" Diana wondered and Evelyn nodded. "When?"
She pressed her knees closer to her chest and rested her head on them. "A few months ago. I summoned one with my wand and talked to it for a few minutes before vanishing it." She shuddered. "It felt very uncomfortable and I felt like I needed to do more digging."
"It will be very unlike you if you didn't." Gabriela teased her making the two other girls laugh.
Evelyn let out a snort. "I tried to find anything about the Chamber of Secrets, but I came empty-handed. I even talked to the ghost, Moaning Myrtle who was killed during the last opening of it, but she didn't give me anything valuable." She breathed out. "I can't believe I had to listen to her fawn over boys and degrade girls for hours."
"It must have been fun for you." Christina deadpanned and Evelyn glared at her.
Diana gulped down. "I heard about the Chamber of Secrets in my first year." Evelyn turned to her to see that she was shivering. "Quite an awful legend, but I didn't think it was true."
"Unfortunately, all legends have a true source," Christina stated to them and Diana shifted. "We don't know if it's all true, but there is a Chamber of Secrets."
"I don't know why, but I felt the need to know where it is," Evelyn explained to her. "I can't explain, I just had the feeling of wanting to." She looked away from Diana who shifted. "I wasn't planning to open it, of course. I guess my curiosity is getting the best of me." She felt her body go cold and her forehead started to sweat. "I don't like how my ability makes me feel, it makes me feel like I don't know myself and what I'm capable to do."
Gabriela moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her. "Just because you have the ability of Salazar Slytherin, doesn't make you a bad person, Eve." She glanced towards Christina. "You being a kitsune doesn't make you a bad person either, Chris."
"My mum tells me that when I don't embrace my cultures and the tradition I was raised to, I'm a bad person," Christina admitted. "I don't want to embrace what she tells me to. I don't hate my cultures, I love being a Japanese girl with Korean ancestry." She explained to them. "I love having that as my identity, but my mum says that me refusing to go to Mahoutkoro, it's me refusing everything that was taught to me. When in fact, I don't want to be just a kitsune, I want to be more."
Diana moved to Christina and pulled her closer. "You're not a bad person, Chris. Not for being a kitsune or for wanting to be more than that." She wrapped an arm around her too. "You make your journey in the world and if you feel this is the right one, then go ahead."
"I do." Christina lifted her chin. "I think studying at Hogwarts is my journey. Even if I don't get to be in my culture, I still have you and you make this journey so much."
Gabriela smiled. "You don't have to let your culture behind when you're here." She whispered and Christina frowned. "Our your tradition." She continued and Evelyn looked at her. "Hogwarts may be filled with atheist or pagans, but that doesn't stop my faith for God. And next year, when I will have my QuinceaƱera, I'm going to invite all seven of you to see my culture and my traditions. You can do that too. You can celebrate a Korean or Japanese holiday with us."
Evelyn clapped her hands. "Yes! You could do that!" She beamed. "I know I would love to see that."
Christina shrugged. "I guess we can try that." She muttered. "I would love to show you Japanese New Year's Eve which is my favourite holiday."
"See? My point is still proven." Diana said making all of them smile.
Evelyn turned to Gabriela who was silent. "Do you have any heart to heart confession for us, Gabby?"
"No, not really." She shook her head. "I just know that most of the summer I'm going to spend with my mum, helping her and just hanging out with her." Evelyn squeezed her shoulder. Although Gabriela's mother was doing better, she was still sick and needed help. "How about you, Dee?"
"I'm thinking about showing my family more about the wizarding world." She explained to them and they all raised an eyebrow. "Not CeCe of course, but the others. I've always been just open with mum and dad, but I think it's better to tell my siblings more about it too. David, Sam and Jo always talk about wanting to know more about it."
Evelyn tilted her head. "That's why you bought so many sweets."
"Yes. Which reminds me to ask you, if you can send me some American ones?" Evelyn arched an eyebrow. "You always talk about them and they seem very good, I think they would like them as well."
"Of course," Evelyn responded. She felt her shoulders relax knowing that her friends had her back and she had every reason to trust them. She only hoped that they knew she had their backs as well and she was someone to be trusted.
Evelyn started to pace around the room and ran a hand through her hair. "We're one week left from this year ending and we only have fifty signs." She reminded Lily and Diana who shared a look. "There are about 100 witches and wizards of age in Hogwarts, but they are refusing to sign."
She had been invested in the petition since they had finished their exams and she had failed at reaching the number professor Gerard requested for her. Her whole body was shaking at the thought of not getting the signs. This was supposed to be the easy part, but it was proven to be so hard. She wondered if this was the easy part, what would the other parts be. She was sure that one of them was going to kill her.
"We need to convince them a bit more," Diana suggested. "Some of them aren't even trying to listen."
Evelyn huffed. "Who is going to listen, Dee?! Most Slytherins ignore us and so do boys. Out of this petition, we got like twelve boys to sign." She groaned and plopped on a chair. "This is going horribly."
"We have some good news though," Lily announced and Evelyn looked up. "We have more than sixty girls in our club." Evelyn's eyebrows raised and she snorted. "So, I think we need a bigger class."
"Sixty girls?" Evelyn repeated. "That's way more than I expected."
Diana hummed. "For us too." She whispered. "And some girls wanted to join but couldn't because of other activities." She smiled. After all, things had turned up great for the club. "Also, you still haven't asked the faculty to sign their names. You'll get more than 70 with them."
"Still, that's not enough." She insisted. "I can't let professor Gerard take all of this on his own, I have to do something more."
"Being sleep-deprived and not eating meals isn't going to help anyone," Diana stated and Evelyn crossed her arms. "You need to do all those things and clear your head a bit. You haven't let yourself rest once."
Evelyn scoffed. "I don't need rest, food or sleep." Lily blinked a few times while Diana furrowed her eyebrows. "Don't look at me like that. I need to focus on these things."
Suddenly, the door opened and Carter entered the room holding a rose. Evelyn frowned as he walked towards her and offered her the rose. "Juliet, my love." He sighed and her frown deepened. "A little birdie told me that you have been killing your brain cells."
Evelyn rolled her eyes. "First of all, Romeo wouldn't have known what cells are since they weren't discovered until the seventeenth century while the play is set on between the fourteenth or the fifteenth." She informed him, but he kept smiling at her. "Plus, I prefer daffodils to roses. Yellow daffodils to that."
Carter huffed. "What are you? Welsh?" He snapped at her and she gaped at him.
"Her having tastes doesn't mean she's Welsh." She heard a Welsh accent by the door and saw both Henrik and Edrick standing next to it.
"I do not care about your facts, Juliet," Carter told her. "Or your tasteless preferences." She stuck her tongue out at him. "All I care is you and your fragile sanity." She gulped down at his words. "So, how about you join me and my fellow companions to the Great Hall for a delightful lunch?"
She was about to say no, but Lily didn't let her. "We'll deal with the club business." She said with a smile. "Go, get some food in you."
Evelyn bit her lip, got up and walked towards the table. "I'll be taking this with me." She picked up the petition and turned to them. From the looks of their faces, they weren't impressed with her. "What? Maybe I can convince some people while I'm at it."
Carter linked their arms together. "I'll take that than nothing at all." He dragged her out of the room before she could even say goodbye to Lily and Diana.
When they stepped outside, Carter handed her the rose and she chuckled. "Thank you, Romeo." She put it under her nose and smelled it. "Where did you get this?"
"In greenhouse number eight." He responded to her and she raised an eyebrow. She had never been in that greenhouse. "A fifth-year told us that it's filled with flowers and plants. Ed here wanted to get a tulip for Jenna," Evelyn turned to Edrick whose face started to blush. "whose birthday was today and I decided to get this for you."
"Sprout let you two pick flowers?" Evelyn questioned them as it didn't seem something Sprout would do.
"I kept watch as dey ded dat." Henrik informed her.
She smiled. "It makes sense." She looked down at the red rose. While she preferred daffodils, she couldn't ignore the beauty of roses. While she thought they were overused, she also knew that there was a reason for them. As she looked at the flower, she was reminded of something.
"What did Jenna say about the tulip?" She asked Edrick.
He shrugged his shoulders at her. "She thanked me and accepted it. Nothing else." He stuffed his hands in pockets. "Which I guess is better than throwing it on my face."
"She was maybe distracted about how you knew that her favourite flowers are tulips?" Evelyn suggested.
Edrick shook his head. "She already knew that as she talks about them whenever she can." A small smile appeared on his face. "I think she wants to become a florist."
"Aren't you romantic?" Henrik teased him earning a push by Edrick.
Evelyn smiled as she turned her attention to the petition again. She could hear Henrik and Edrick talk about Jenna behind her, but she was too preoccupied with the petition. She needed more names, way more.
"Do you know anyone who's of age in this school?" Evelyn asked Carter who looked down at the petition with her.
"Yes, the professors." He responded and she glared at him. "Kidding, but honestly, I don't know anyone but Edgar. Third years don't hang out with sixth years and especially seventh years."
She hummed. "How am I going to get the signs?" She bit her lip. "People aren't even trying to listen, all they do is ignore me."
"You need to be more aggressive," Carter suggested.
"I don't think I have any aggressive bone in my body." She admitted. "And when I do, I'm usually very mad at someone."
"You can be very convincing though."
"Hard to be convincing when some people have a head as thick as a wall," Evelyn grumbled as they started to descend the staircases. "I have no idea what I'm going to do right now."
"How about you ask someone aggressive to help you?"
She shook her head. "I think Chris is too aggressive to deal with these people."
"I wasn't talking about Chris." He informed her and she raised an eyebrow. "I was talking about them." He motioned with his head and she turned around only to see he was pointing at the Marauders.
"Them?" Evelyn repeated. "Why them?"
"Do not underestimate their power, Juliet." He told her. "I worked with them to see if Flitwick and Sprout were dating-"
"You mean they helped you to invade someone's privacy?"
He sighed. "You don't get it, do you?" She opened her mouth to answer, but he didn't let her. "If there is someone who is convincing other than you, it's them."
Evelyn bit her lip and glanced down at the petition. She was supposed to do this all alone, but it wouldn't hurt to get some help. After all, she was going to help Elena and girls like her. "Fine." She muttered and began to walk towards them. "Hey, Remus." She called the one who she guessed would act more kindly to her.
He turned alongside the three of them and she wondered if they all came in a package. "Hello, Lynn." He greeted her. "Hello, Carter."
The three others surveyed her and Carter. "Can I ask you for a favour? Well, all of you." They all frowned at her. "You might have hard about a petition about a potion-"
"We don't live under a rock, Lynn." James interrupted her.
"Of course." She sighed. "I'm having trouble getting all the signs here because people are..." She trailed off not finding the right word.
"Wankers," Sirius stated and she laughed.
"I guess that is the best way to put them as." She admitted as she pushed a strand of her hair out of her face. "Romeo here, says that the four of you are quite convincing."
"Thanks, Ulver." James beamed and Carter nodded his head.
"So, will you do me a favour and help me get a few signs?"
Silence met the few boys and they all shared a look. She bit her lip as she waited, hoping that they say yes and help her. She opened her mouth to add a few more things, but at the same time, Sirius got the petition out of her hands.
"We'll do it." He announced and her lips cracked into a smile. "From the goodness of our hearts." He shot her a pointed look and she snorted. "So, you don't owe us anything."
"What?" James and Peter exclaimed while Remus only glanced at Sirius and shook his head. "Sirius-"
"We'll give it to you in three days." Remus cut them off and she frowned. It seemed like James and Peter wanted the favour she suggested. "See you both around." Remus had to push his two other friends to walk while Sirius had already walked away.
"They are so weird," Evelyn whispered to Carter.
He chuckled. "It takes one to know one." He joked making Evelyn narrow her eyes at him. "Kidding." He motioned with his head. "So, are you coming with me, Juliet?" He offered his arm again.
She linked them back together and smiled. "Of course, Romeo." The two of them began to walk towards the Great Hall. As they did, Evelyn couldn't help but turn and look at the Marauders once again. She wished that they were so convincing as Carter said.
Evelyn tapped her foot as she was still standing next to the armour outside the Great Hall. Three days had passed since she had given the petition to the Marauders. She had been so worried about it that she hadn't slept the whole night, wondering if they had gotten any signs.
She shook her head and sighed. "Where are they?" She muttered under her breath and glanced at the armour. "Do you think that they have gotten any signs?" When she realized that she was talking to decoration, she cursed under her breath and rubbed her temples. Was there a chance that she could go crazy?
When she saw that the four of them weren't bothering to show up for breakfast, she decided to go and find them in their common room. As she was about to walk towards the marble staircase, she saw Peter holding the petition. The short boy made his way towards her.
"Hi, Lynn." He greeted her and she shot him a small smile. "Here is the petition."
Evelyn could hear her heart drum in her ears. She took a deep breath and got the petition. She flipped the page to see how many signs they had gotten and her eyes widened when she saw the number.
"Eighty-seven," Evelyn said out loud and looked up to Peter. "You got thirty-seven signs in three days?" She repeated and he nodded. "Merlin's beard!" Evelyn beamed as she heard her heart calm down. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed before she wrapped her arms around Peter who froze in the hug. "Again, thank you so much, Peter!" She pulled away from the hug. Peter gave her a nod as she saw his cheeks go pink. "Thank the boys for me, will you?"
"I will." He mumbled.
Evelyn smiled. "Bye. See you at lunch." Without another word, Evelyn brought the petition to her chest and rushed towards professor Gerard's office.
Her whole body was shaking with joy and she was sure that soon she was going to cry happy tears. With the faculty's signs, the petition would have more than one hundred signs. With professor Gerard getting the rest of her signs, she knew this would come to the Wizengamot's attention. If it did, they were one step closer to having the potion stop being sold which led to Elena and the girls not having to drink it.
She knocked on the door of the man's office and she heard his voice that said to her to come in. She opened the door only to see that he was packing. "Good morning." She greeted him and he looked up at her. "Are you leaving?" She found herself asking.
"Yes, my time in Hogwarts has come to an end. I'll be having my last class tomorrow." He told her and her smile faltered. There was no doubt that he had been the best DADA professor. "Did you get all the signs?"
"I got eighty-seven students to signs." She responded. "No, I got fifty to signs, the other thirty-seven were gotten by Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and James Potter."
Professor Gerard raised his eyebrow. "James and his friends helped?" He asked and she nodded. As she saw his smile widen, she remembered that James was his neighbour. Maybe he knew her classmate well. "That's good of them."
"It is," Evelyn responded. "You said that you'd get the faculty's signs, right?" He hummed and she put the petition on the table. "Thank you for helping again."
"You don't have to thank me." He told her and Evelyn scrunched up her nose. She knew that she had been doing this too many times, the man was probably annoyed. "I'm happy to help." She had heard that many times before too.
Evelyn crossed her arms. "Before I leave, I just want to tell you that you have been one of the best professors we ever had." She blurted out and he arched an eyebrow at her. "And I'm not talking about just DADA because you're easily the best there, I'm talking about every class. It's sad to see you leave, but at least, I know that we need Aurors like you, professor Gerard."
She saw his brown eyes twinkle and he gave her the smallest smiles. "Thank you for saying that." He cleared his throat. "Especially when it comes from one of the best students in Hogwarts."
She nodded her head as she felt some sort of rush overwhelm. She already knew she was one of the best, but hearing it from a professor made her feel so much better about herself. "I'll be seeing you again, right? To talk about the next steps?"
"I think it's better to correspondent with letters," Professor Gerard told her. "I'm afraid I'll be very busy during the summer and as an Auror, my schedule can be unpredictable." He explained to her. "Don't worry, I will inform you about every step of this, alright?"
"Good to know." She breathed out. "Goodbye, sir."
"Goodbye, Miss Sinclair King." She smiled at him one last time before she turned her head and left the office. As she did, she wondered if she was ever going to see the man again. She guessed when she was going to work in the Ministry, she would get to see him. Hopefully, she would even work with him.
When she got out of the class, she saw a familiar person that she hadn't thought about in weeks walk towards her. "Hey, Rabastan." She greeted him.
"You've been busy." He commented. "I haven't talked to you in weeks."
She shrugged. "It has been hectic, to say the least." She admitted and he scoffed. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you." Her words made him blush which made Evelyn smile.
"Here." He handed her the books she had given to him. "They were quite odd books, especially when you remember they were written by a muggle."
"It's called imagination. Everyone's imagination can get out of control." She pointed out to him. "Did you like them though?"
"I've read better books." Evelyn's stomach dropped. "But they were alright. A bit for children."
"Like Huckleberry Finn isn't for children?" He rolled his eyes at her. "I can't believe you didn't appreciate these two pieces of high literature."
"I took a long time to get over the fantasy though, maybe that's why I wasn't taken by them so much." He responded and she hummed. When she had read them, she had found herself being invested in the fantasy of it. Her and Rabastan had different tastes in books.
"I get it." She muttered and looked at him, with wide eyes. "Am I going to see you this summer, specifically my birthday party?"
He shook his head and she felt her stomach twist. She wanted to have him there to get to know her friends better and maybe even her mum. She was a fool to hope for so much. "I can't, it's too much of a risk for me."
"I understand." She sighed. She did understand, but that didn't mean that she didn't want him there. They didn't even have to hide from other people in her party, they could be themselves. "Will you write to me?"
Rabastan smirked. "Of course." At his response, Evelyn felt a blush creep in her cheeks. "I'll write to you every week, except for the weeks you are in America."
"Okay." Evelyn pressed her lips together. "Bye, Rabastan."
"Goodbye, Evelyn." With that, he walked past her. She looked down at the books and sighed. She was glad to have them back, she could spend a few summer days rereading them.
With this chapter, we officially end Evelyn's third year in Hogwarts. This year was the first one without Don for her, but she still had a lot to do. She found she was a Parselmouth, she started to get closer with Edrick, Henrik and Carter, especially the latter one, her and Rabastan's friendship developed to something more, she got closer with the girls, formed a friendship with Lily, met her godfather, started a club to support girls, found out her cousin was suffering from an eating disorder, decided to find ways to help her cousin and she now has started an initiative to stop selling a potion.
We can say that Evelyn has had quite the busy year and her fourth one is going to be somehow more. Her initiative with the potion is going to continue and her whole focus is going to be in that for a long time, she and Rabastan will take a step further with each other, she will get closer to Alphard, she will have a new DADA teacher and there are many things to come. I can assure you that the fourth year is going to be more exciting than the third. From this year, you can expect chapters dedicated to whole other characters. (A little spoiler: The next one is going to have for a focus another character's past).
Onesinglebird: I'm glad that you are enjoying the idea of the club. Women need to support other women and it's sad that in real life, it doesn't happen that much often as we will like to, but I'm certain we are all starting to support one another more with each passing year. Evelyn is growing a lot and she is starting to inspire a lot of people around her. I hope you enjoy this chapter like you have done with the previous ones. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
Mlvh: I'm happy that you enjoy the story, hope you like the rest of it. Thank you for the review.
mschurch1192: It's so good to hear that you are loving this story this much. Evelyn's journey to her career is going to have a lot of ups and lows, so you have to wait for her to achieve her dreams. Thank you for reviewing this chapter, it means a lot.
Thank you for favouriting, following and reading the story. Don't be shy, leave a review and tell me what you think.
Next up, You Are My Sunshine
