DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER BUT I DO OWN MY CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORYLINES.
Evelyn yawned as she walked through the woods. She held her hand over her mouth and blinked a few times. It was quite early in the morning for her. The sun had just risen, but there was still a bit of darkness left in the west. While she would have preferred for more sleep, she found herself enjoying the walk, especially since she was going to be in the Quidditch stadium soon with her friends.
She looked around to her mother, Don and Carter. Unlike the three teenagers, her mum didn't look as sleepy and she seemed to be doing perfectly fine. Don was frowning and he seemed to be particularly grumpy while Carter was sleepwalking. As she watched her friend, she moved closer to Don. "Is he alright?"
Don glanced at Carter. "Yes, he always acts like this when he wakes up." He let her know. "Soon, he will be all energetic and talkative enough to make you want to be deaf."
Evelyn chuckled at Don's joke and continued walking. The four of them were heading to a portkey which was going to transport them to the stadium. They were supposed to meet their other friends and Christina's family at the portkey as well. She was excited to see them again. She had missed them during the summer a lot, especially when she had been in Morrigan. She was missing them so much that she wanted for the holiday to be over as soon as possible and for them to go Hogwarts again. Of course, the reminder that Don wasn't going to be there with them did ruin the wish a lot.
As they were walking, Evelyn noticed quite a few people at the distance and she widened her eyes when she spotted Diana. "It's them!" She exclaimed and without waiting, she rushed to them.
Gabriela was the first person to hear them and she smiled as soon as she saw Evelyn. "Merlin's beard, I missed you." She told her friend who chuckled.
"I missed you too." Gabriela giggled and the two of them pulled away.
"How is your mum?" Evelyn questioned her immediately.
To her relief, Gabriela smiled. "Better. She's actually better." Hearing that, Evelyn smiled at her. She had yet to tell Gabriela about the letter from Newt Scamander. She hadn't brought it with her in fear of losing it, but she was going to give it to her in Hogwarts.
After Gabriela, Henrik was the next one to hug her. As they hugged, he snorted. "It's too early in de mornin' fahr you to be dis energetic." He commented.
"Well, you know me, I rarely play by the rules." She joked and he let out a laugh.
Edrick was the third one to hug her and he seemed to be looking as energetic as she was. He had his big grin on and he seemed to be jumping from joy. She noticed that he had gotten some kind of tan during the summer. "Hey, Baby Evie!" He greeted her pulling her into a hug. She sighed in the hug. Out of all the people she knew, Edrick gave the best hugs.
Diana came next and she looked as if she wanted to sleep rather than be here. She couldn't blame her friend as Diana wasn't interested much in Quidditch while she was very interested in having a good sleep of eight hours. After greeting, Diana came Christina who looked a bit tense.
"Evelyn, this is my uncle Reo." She pointed to the tall man that resembled Christina's father, only he was younger and less broad. She shook hand with the man who greeted her. "This is his wife, Eun-Ji." Evelyn shook hands with the woman as well. She heard Christina speak another language, but she wasn't sure that it was Japanese or Korean. "While this is my brother, Norm." She pointed to the boy who only gave him a nod. He was only a year younger than Christina, but by the look on his face, you would have he was older than her. He bore a serious look that Evelyn had only seen in old politicians. She noticed that he was gaunter than Christina, taller, had lighter raven hair and his eyes weren't amber, but a deep brown.
"It's nice to meet you all." She told them.
"Likewise," Reo responded before he turned to his wife and spoke again, in a foreign language. The woman smiled and said something. "My wife says it's nice to meet you too."
After everyone is introduced to one another, they all turned to look at the portkey. The portkey was a battered book which made Evelyn gasp. Who would do that to a book? Her mother took the lead and started to talk to Reo about it. After the two of them discussed it, she turned to them. "We're going from the youngest." Norm stepped up and for a minute, her mother frowned. She probably thought he was older than Christina.
He touched the portkey and Evelyn came after it. As soon as they lined up, her mother began to count. "In three, two, one."
Evelyn had used portkeys many times in her life, but she was sure that she would get used to it. Every time she used one, she felt that her heart was going to fall out of her chest or she was going to faint. Nausea that followed it didn't make it better either.
Another thing that Evelyn had never been used with portkeys, was landing on her feet. So, it was no surprise that she ended up on the ground alongside Diana, Henrik and Gabriela. As she felt an ache surge in her back, she heard someone scoff.
"It's no surprise that four who don't work out, are the ones to fall," Christina commented.
Carter snorted. "In Diana's defence, it was probably her first time." He pointed out.
Diana who had gotten up nodded her head. "It was." She admitted.
"In Baby Evie's defence, she is too much of a klutz for us to expect anything else." Edrick joked and everyone started to laugh. She pressed her lips together while Diana helped her get up.
"It's not my fault that I'm vertically challenged," Evelyn muttered under her breath.
Diana scoffed. "I've heard that too many times, Eve." She remarked. "You're not vertically challenged, you just don't look around your surroundings."
"Please, leave the theories to Romeo." She muttered.
"It's not a theory," Diana interjected.
Evelyn raised her hand to motion her friend to stop talking about it. To her luck, Diana did so, but this time, she let out a groan.
"I hope we get to the tent soon because I'm on my period and I'm worried if I've gotten blood all over my pants."
During the summer, Diana had written Evelyn with the news that she had finally gotten her period. "You don't seem to be in pain." Evelyn pointed out.
"I don't have cramps," Diana responded.
Evelyn scoffed. "Then don't talk to someone who suffers through them." Her words made Diana laugh. "Seriously, you don't get how much it hurts."
"I do because you explained it as being stabbed repeatedly."
"I'm sorry, but have you been stabbed to know how it feels?"
Diana shook her head. "No. Have you?" She tilted her head as they began to walk towards the tents.
Evelyn pressed her lips together. "No." She confessed. "But it still hurts a lot and you're lucky not to have to deal with that pain."
"Well, I have to be lucky in some parts of my life." Diana murmured making Evelyn frown. She was about to ask what was that, but Diana started to laugh. "What is that?!"
She followed her friend's line of vision and burst in laughter as well. A few feet away from them were two wizards wearing a dress. One of them was wearing a dark blue dress while the other was wearing a bright yellow one to blind her eyes. She had seen this phenomenon a lot in her community. Wizards and witches tended to wear clothes of muggles to try fitting in. Some of them got it all wrong and she was sure these two men got it wrong too.
"Do dey dink dey are wearin dis on purpose or dey dink it's fashionable fahr men in muggle wahrld?" Henrik who was behind them asked.
"I doubt that they think they did on purpose," Evelyn answered him. "They probably thought it was fashionable."
"First of all, those dresses are too ugly to be good." Diana pointed out. "Second of all, this proves how unknowledgeable wizards are when it comes to muggles. They probably see them every day and they still don't know what most of them wear." She let out a scowl. "That's why I think Muggle Studies should become a core subject."
Evelyn turned to her friend. "You really think it's necessary?"
"Yes!" Diana exclaimed. "If we had Muggle Studies as a core subject, not so many people would join this Voldemort man."
Evelyn pressed her lips together. Voldemort and his followers had been attacking more people recently. Almost every week, there was news of attacks. Seeing as her mother ended up staying too late sometimes, she was sure that it was far more serious than it looked.
She decided not to tell Diana of this information that she had. After all, her friends always bit her fingernails every time she read the newspaper in the morning.
After a few minutes, they all entered the tent camp and Evelyn widened her eyes. The place was filled with wizards and witches from around the world. Although, mostly from Japan and Great Britain. Everyone seemed to be laughing, cheering and talking to each other. Her eyes widened when she spotted quite a few known people like singers, politicians, Quidditch players, journalists and many other known figures. She was sure that she had never been in a place with so many wizards.
"This is a lot!" Diana had to scream at her as the noise was too much.
Christina had heard them and she turned to them. "As you can see, Dee, Quidditch brings the whole world together!" She beamed. Evelyn could see that Christina's tension had disappeared and was replaced with utter joy.
As they walked around, Evelyn spotted many familiar faces from her school. She spotted professor Slughorn talking to a few important people a few feet from them, she spotted a few girls from the club and a few other students she had seen around the truth. Christina had been saying the truth when she said that it brought people together.
"Is that professor Gerard?" Edrick whispered to her and she immediately sought out for the man.
He was there, wearing his grey Auror robes and he talking to a few Aurors. She could see that he was pointing around and she was sure that he was telling them what to do. She guessed that he had come here for his job rather than to enjoy the game like them.
Evelyn wanted to talk to the man, but he walked away from her sight soon after. She knew that it was better that way since he seemed to be too busy to deal with her.
As she looked away from the man, she noticed that someone else had been looking at him. She raised an eyebrow at her mother who drifted her gaze away as soon as she noticed that Evelyn had noticed her. Again, Alphard's words came to her mind.
She had to mentally slap herself to remember that it wasn't really her business. It was her mother's love life and Evelyn shouldn't focus on it. Even if she wouldn't mind her mother dating the Auror.
Roars of cheers were heard all around the stadium as the group of twelve made their way to their box. They were at the top of the stadium in one of the boxes reserved for the player's families. Christina's father had gotten a whole box for his family and her daughter's friends to see the game. Knowing that her mother was a big fan of the game, he had gotten one seat for her too.
Besides them, there was another person in the box with dark red robes. He was stern and only spoke to Reo. As they were speaking, Evelyn turned to Christina. "What language are they speaking?"
"Japanese." She informed her. "He's the equivalent of a Japanese Auror and they are talking about security details. Apparently, there should be a British Auror here, but he's late."
Upon hearing the language, Evelyn tilted her head. "Why does it sound different from the language you spoke with Eun-Ji?"
"Because I was speaking Korean," Christina informed her. "Eung-Ji is South Korean. Both her and my unce live there with my grandma." She informed and Evelyn nodded her head.
She sat down next to Don who was looking around. "What do you think the English mascots are going to be?"
Evelyn shrugged. "I have no idea." She responded. "I just hope they're not banshees." Don chuckled at her words and turned around to speak with Henrik.
She glanced behind to see where her mother was. As she did, she noticed a familiar figure enter the box. Her eyes widened.
"Professor Gerard!" Everyone turned around to look at him and he blinked a few times at the sight of her.
"Evelyn, it's quite a surprise to see you here." He said as he walked towards her and he glanced at the others. "And you brought your whole group." The rest of her friends greeted them, even Don who wasn't taught by him. "I should have known that you'd be here." He glanced at Christina who pressed her nose against the glass.
"I saw you back in the camp," Evelyn informed him and he raised an eyebrow. "You seemed busy with work, so I didn't want to interrupt."
He nodded his head. "Yes, the Quidditch World Cup is quite busy for the Ministry." He let her know. "So, how is it going with the preparations for the debate?"
Evelyn shuddered at the thought. "No, I'm waiting for the term to start to choose a representative for us." She admitted. "Although, I have no idea which Wizengamot member to get to represent us. I don't want to send many letters only to be rejected."
"Yes, I can see the problem with that." He pressed his lips together. "While I don't know who voted, I'd suggest that you look at their backgrounds a bit. That's going to be one of the biggest helpers for you." He told her and she nodded with every word. "Hogwarts has all Daily Prophet newspapers and there is a lot of books on students of Hogwarts achieving the impossible."
She arched an eyebrow. "There are books like that?"
"She's only asking because she wants to be in there." Don quipped making Evelyn glare at him while Ezra Gerard snorted. While Don was telling the truth, she didn't want the man to know that.
"Yes, there are." He answered her. "I wish I could help you more with this, but my job has been keeping me very busy lately."
Evelyn didn't have to wonder why. Ezra Gerard was a Senior Auror and seeing as there were many attacks, she knew that he was investigating and trying to stop them. While the debate was important, she knew that trying to end these attacks was more.
"Of course, of course." She waved him off. "Again, thank you for all of your help. You didn't have to help us this much."
"It's no problem." He told her. "Well, I have to talk to my partner for the day." He pointed to the Japanese Auror and she nodded. He walked away, but before going to the other Auror, she saw him greet his mother. The two of them talked for a bit before he walked towards the Auror while her mother sat down.
"He already likes you, so I think he will make a good stepfather," Don whispered to her and she nudged him. He starts to laugh earning Carter and Henrik's attention. They both raised their eyebrows, but Evelyn ignored it and focused her attention on the stadium.
"Ladies and gentlemen. . . Welcome!" A voice boomed making Evelyn jump while Don straightened up. "Welcome to the final of the four hundred and eighteenth Quidditch World Cup!" The crowd erupted in cheers. Evelyn laughed as she looked around at the screaming spectators. The blackboard that had been showing another commercial changed to another sign that had 'ENGLAND: 0 - JAPAN: 0" written over it. "And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce... the English National Team Mascots!"
Evelyn rose from her seat a bit to see the mascots properly. She saw a couple of figures coming out on the field on dark brooms while wearing dark robes with a cloak. She squinted her eyes to see them better. When she couldn't, she got her Omniculars. As soon as she saw their pale white skin and their bloodshot eyes, Evelyn gasped.
The mascots were vampires. The English team had brought vampires as their mascots. As they flew around, they bared their teeth showing their fangs.
"Is it safe to bring vampires in a stadium filled with witches and wizards?" Don wondered.
Evelyn tilted her head. "They must have thought it through." She responded. "Although, I bet the vampires must feel very overwhelmed."
After vampires ended their show, the commentator started to speak again. "And now the Japanese National Team Mascots."
Evelyn got her Omniculars again and saw a few women step into the field. She squinted her eyes and noticed that they all had the same hairstyle and posture as Christina. She squinted her eyes even more and saw that they had amber eyes. Her lips parted when she realized all the women were kitsune.
"What are these women supposed to be?" Don questioned her, but Evelyn didn't answer. She did her best to shoot Christina a glance. She noticed that her friend's shoulders were tense and she was clutching her fists.
Evelyn looked away and turned her attention to the kitsunes. The tallest women out of all of them stepped forward and the whole crowd went silent. The woman's eyes turned orange and Evelyn saw fox's tales appear behind her.
"Are those tales?"
She ignored the question and wondered if the woman would take the form of a large fox. She didn't. Instead, she raised her arms and Evelyn saw flickers of winds rush to the woman. The woman moved her hands and that wind turned to a small tornado which made her float in the air.
"What is she?" She heard Edrick ask Christina, but she didn't respond. From what Evelyn could tell, this woman was a wind kitsune like Christina was.
The woman stepped back and another one stepped forward. She raised her hands like the previous one, but this time, she didn't use the wind. She used the ground to make pieces of rocks fly around her in circles. After that, the woman slammed her hands together making the rocks collide and create a statue.
"Isn't that Hideo Ito, the Keeper of the Japanese team?" Carter pointed to the statue.
Christina nodded at Carter's question and again, they all turned their attention to the statue.
When Evelyn turned, she saw that the statue had disappeared and that another woman had come forward. This woman showed the backs of her hands and burst of fire came from them. Evelyn gasped and she could hear the stadium cheer. With the fire still on her hands, the woman started to dance around. She was deliberate with her movement and she noticed that the movement copied the fire. After she finished her dance, the woman opened her mouth and let out a roar of fire from her mouth.
The boys started to clap in amazement and Edrick even cheered. Christina, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to vomit.
The next kitsune that stepped forward had water as her power. She started to dance as well, but her movements were flowier and she seemed to even do some gymnastic moves to match the flow of the water. As she danced, Evelyn noticed that she was smiling. A smile that only meant one thing and it was mischievous. She frowned at first, but when the woman hitter nearest people with the water, her eyes widened. The people didn't take offence of it, in fact, they started to laugh.
Another woman stepped up. This one used water as well, but it was quite different from the other. First of all, it was massive and it reminded Evelyn of water from the ocean. Her guess became true. The woman raised the levels of the water to create a wave, a wave big enough to fill the whole stadium. It moved so close that it almost touched their glass. For a minute, Evelyn thought she was going to let go of the wave and flood the stadium. Many other people thought so too as she heard screams. The wave wasn't let go. In fact, it took the form of a shark that moved around the stadium.
The other kitsune put her hands on the ground and branches came out of it. "What the hell is she doing? She's running the pitch." Christina retorted. No one paid attention to her complaint, not even Evelyn. The roots ended up turning to a gigantic tree that had pale yellow flowers on it. Evelyn recognized the tree as a cherry blossom one and she gasped at the beauty of it. She felt mesmerized as she looked at it. It was as if the tree was bringing light to her with its heavenly flowers.
The woman raised her palms and the tree went down, turning the pitch to normal as it was. Christina huffed at it as another one stepped to show her powers.
As soon as she heard vibrations under her feet, Evelyn grabbed Don's hand and she felt her breath catch in her throat. Her whole body began to shake, she started to feel her body sweat and all she could think about was leaving. She knew what was happening. An earthquake was happening. The kitsune was creating an earthquake. She felt her heart to beat fast and her stomach to turn. She was about to turn to tell Don that they should leave when it stopped.
For a moment, the crowd was silent before they started to cheer. Evelyn whose whole body was shaking and who felt lightweight frowned. She couldn't believe that they were cheering for someone who scared them this much. She shook her.
"Are you okay?" She heard her mother's voice behind her. When she turned around, she saw that she was sitting next to Ezra Gerard.
Evelyn gave her a faint nod before she turned her attention to the pitch again. Don gave her a concerning look, she only squeezed his hand in assurance before letting it go.
"These women are incredible," Edrick commented. "Although, they are kinda stealing the thunder of the teams." At that precise moment, a thunderbolt struck the pitch. Everyone jumped from their seat, except Christina who seemed to be over it. They all looked down to see that a woman was manipulating the thunder. After that, she clapped her hands and the thunder disappeared.
The other kitsune was the most impressive of them all in Evelyn's opinion. The woman summoned meteors and they flew around her. Evelyn was sure that she was about to faint at seeing this. She didn't know that kitsunes possessed this kind of powers. It was truly fascinating to see. Her manoeuvre was effortless in Evelyn's eyes. The woman seemed to know what she was doing. Soon, the meteors exploded but they didn't cause any damage. Instead, the meteors gave the whole stadium a white colour with hints of pale yellow. Evelyn could have sworn that she saw the tree again. The cherry blossom tree.
"Why is there such a bright light?" Don put his hand over his face.
Evelyn frowned. "Bright light?" She repeated. "There is the same cherry blossom tree there."
"What are you talking about-" Don cut himself off as the whole stadium turned dark. She blinked a few times, but she couldn't see anything. The only thing she could feel was Don's body next to hers. What the bloody hell was happening?
After a few screams and cries, the light appeared again. Evelyn saw the oldest women pull the darkness towards her palms and she realized it had been this woman's power. While Evelyn had enjoyed the first displays of powers, she was starting to get stressed by seeing this. It was too much for her to take all at once.
As another kitsune stepped, Evelyn let out a gasp when she made the moon disappear and the sun appears again. How did the woman change time? Was there a way the kitsune's powers reached that kind of level?
"Look at the board." Don pointed and she saw that the score had been changed. Japan was leading 250 to 90 according to that board. She tilted her head and saw the board turn 0-0 again. She looked up to see that the moon had appeared again while the sun was gone. "This is getting very confusing," Don muttered and Evelyn agreed with him.
When the other kitsune stepped in, a beautiful sound started to play. She raised her eyebrows wondering what it was and glanced at Christina to see that she was smiling. She made a mental note to ask her friend later.
As the other stepped in, Evelyn tried to think what her power could be
If Evelyn thought when the darkness surrounded them was terrifying, she eas about to change her mind soon. She gasped when she saw the vampires appear but they didn't have control of their bodies. The kitsune was controlling them with a smile on her face. Her heart started to beat fast at the sight. This was getting out of control. The vampire controlling wasn't the scariest thing Evelyn was about to witness the ghosts that appeared were scarier. They roamed around the stadium saying something that made Evelyn's throat go dry.
"Beware of the darkness that is going to come to you, Englishmen. Beware of the darkness that a single man is going to bring to all of you." Evelyn looked down at her hands and saw that they were shaking. She pulled them together, trying to stop them.
Soon, the ghosts disappeared and the vampires turned into their places. The whole crowd was silent and Evelyn started to feel as if someone was taking her breath away. She moved the collar of her shirt as in to get some air.
"This was too much," Carter muttered as the kitsunes began to leave. "Who were these women?"
Christina scoffed. "Those women were kitsunes," She informed the boys. "They're one of the most powerful creatures in the world."
"What were dey doing?" Henrik questioned her.
"Wasting our time," Christina responded as she crossed her arms. "and spoiling the game for all of us."
Evelyn started to feel that the box was too small. On top of that, the words that those ghosts said kept repeating in her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop them, but they kept going. She felt herself sweat and her temperature go high. Immediately, she got up to get some fresh air.
She could hear voices calling them, but she ignored. She tried her best to find an empty place and sighed in relief when she saw a bathroom. As she stepped in there, she felt her body cool down. No, she felt her body start to get cold. She frowned and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Evelyn!" The door opened to reveal her mother. "Are you okay?"
Evelyn gulped down. "Those women just scared me a lot." She responded as she started to feel her body tremble.
Her mother walked up to her and felt her temperature. "Merlin's beard, you're so warm." Her mother moved to get some toilet paper nearby them before wetting them. "Here." She pressed them on Evelyn's chest. "Are you sure that you okay? Maybe I should take you to a healer."
"No, no, no." She shook her head. "I'm fine." She mumbled. "I'm totally fine." She repeated. This time more to herself than to her mother. "I just need to calm down."
Rose hummed and pressed a kiss on her head. "Whatever you want, sunshine." She told her and Evelyn started to take deep breaths.
Suddenly, the door opened and Christina walked in. "What's going on? Are you all right?" She could see that her friend' eyes were flashing with fury.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Evelyn replied. "I was just a bit overwhelmed." Christina bit her lip. "I just need to calm down."
Her friend scrunched her nose before nodding her head. "Okay, then." She sighed. "Hurry up, the commentator is already calling the names of the players." With that, Christina left. As she did, she slammed the door shut.
"What's up with her?" Rose questioned her.
"She's just mad that they wasted her time." Evelyn half-lied. She knew that Christina's anger was because of the display of kitsune's powers, but she knew the duration of the show had touched her nerves as well. After all, Christina didn't like wasting time when it came to Quidditch.
"So, that kitsune predicted the future," Carter said as the seven of them were in the tent. Christina and her family had gone to see her father while Evelyn's mother had gone for a walk. "by telling us the result of the game."
While the game had been interesting, the show by kitsune had stolen the whole attention of the public. Of course, the boys were quite interested in it, especially Carter and Henrik.
"I dought dey were just folklore," Henrik muttered to himself more than to them. "I wonder if dere are books about dem in 'ogwarts."
Evelyn tense and she glanced at Diana who gulped down. "Sadly, there aren't." Gabriela quipped and Evelyn had to hold a sigh of relief. "I've heard about them and tried to read books about them, but there isn't much information about them."
"It makes sense." Don mused. "Christina called them one of the most powerful creatures in the world. If I had that power, I would keep my mouth shut about it."
Edrick hissed. "They didn't though." He pointed out. "It was quite bold of them to show their powers to such a big audience. Definitely risky too."
Evelyn bit her lip and she felt her palms sweat. She thought that it had been quite irresponsible for them to show their powers in front of so many people. They could endanger themselves. Her heart skipped at the thought of Christina being at danger because of this.
She looked behind her and was reminded that she was still with her family. She gulped down and got up. She decided to go out to see her come.
"Where are you going?" Don asked her.
"To look for mum." She answered before exiting the tent. She had no idea where her mother was as well. She had left in the pretext that she needed a walk.
Evelyn stayed in place for a few minutes. As she stayed there, she started to fidget and tap her foot. Why was it taking so long for Christina to come back? She said that she wouldn't be late.
With a scoff, Evelyn decided to look around for her best friend. To her surprise, she didn't find Christina far from her. Her friend was at the edge of the woods, sitting on a rock and looking down.
"Chris?" She called her name and saw her fried stiffen. "What are you doing here?"
Christina didn't answer, she only stared at her feet. Evelyn moved closer to her and saw that her friend's body was shaking.
"Are you alright?"
She heard her friend scoff. "What do you think, Eve?" She snapped. "Would you be okay if the risk of your exposure got higher than you ever anticipated?" Evelyn bit her lip and sat beside her friend. "Would you be okay if your bloody mother organized this?"
"Your mother was there?" Evelyn had never met Christina's mother, but she knew that she was a Kaze kitsune like Christina herself. Was the first woman Christina's mother?
Christina shook her head. "No. She can't perform in public as she is married to a public figure. She was just the one to organize it." She admitted as she kept staring at the ground. "She convinced dad for them to be mascots. He agreed, although, he's quite mad that they went this far. He told them to make a minimal show, not make the game their show." She let out a scowl. "My mother, of course, didn't care. She only wanted to teach me a lesson."
"What lesson?"
She heard a sniff come from Christina and found herself freezing. The last person she would have expected to cry from all of her friends was Christina. That was all because she always appeared to be the strongest and the fiercest of all of them.
"I-I told her-her that you-you know about me being-being a kitsune," She stuttered before letting out a sob. "She got mad, really mad. She told me that I was being careless and stupid." Evelyn moved closer to Christina and put her arm around her. Her friend stiffened at the touch making Evelyn regret doing it. "She wanted to teach me a lesson that my friends will leave me if they saw who I really am." Evelyn's jaw fell and she squeezed her friend's shoulder. She couldn't believe her ears what she was hearing. "For-for a moment, I thought it-it worked with you."
"No, it didn't," Evelyn told her. "I was just scared of what those ghosts said. I started to panic and lost my mind." She explained to her friends. "It wasn't the power that scared me, Chris, it was the words." She pulled herself closer towards her friend. "Nothing is going to make me stop being friends with you. Nothing." She assured her friend. "This goes for Diana and Gabriela as well."
Christina looked up. Evelyn saw that her eyes were filled with tears, her nose was runny and her eyes had turned red. "What about the boys, huh?" She questioned Evelyn. "Will they accept me?"
The truth was that Evelyn didn't know that. She knew Don would, maybe even Carter and Henrik, It was Edrick that was a bit of a mystery to her. "They will." She ended up telling her friend. "You are their friend."
She clicked her tongue. "You don't know that, Eve. You don't know if they'll accept me."
"Yes, I do." She insisted. "Especially for Don." She was sure of her last statement.
Silence fell over them and Evelyn waited a few minutes to speak. When she heard that Christina wasn't letting her shaky breath anymore, she spoke.
"Did you talk to your mum about it?"
"Yes." Christina breathed out. "I asked her what she was thinking, she told me she was giving me a lesson. I got mad and asked her that if people found out about it and ruined my career." Christina gulped down. "She said that she didn't care about it, that I was supposed to be a kitsune, not a Quidditch player. My dad heard us, he came in, the two of them started to fight like they've been doing all summer and I left." She wiped the tears off her face and Evelyn rested her head on Christina's shoulder. "I couldn't stay there, I couldn't be around them, especially her."
As her friend spoke, Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows. "Aren't you going to Japan tomorrow?"
"I'm not going there," Christina answered. "I'm thinking about going to South Korea with my uncle, so he can take me to my great grandmother."
"I thought that place was boring for you."
Christina snorted. "It is, but it's my only choice."
Evelyn gave Christina another squeeze in the shoulder. At first, she didn't know what she could do to make her friend's situation better until an idea came to mind. "Why don't you come to stay with me and mum?"
"What?"
"My mum wouldn't mind." Evelyn continued to say. "In fact, she will love to have you there."
Christina frowned. "Isn't Don staying?"
"Yes, but he's leaving in two days." Evelyn's voice lowered at the thought of that. "Plus, we have a lot of rooms and we can have one ready for you tonight."
"I don't want to bother you-"
Evelyn interrupted her. "You won't be." She smiled at Christina. "After all, you need to be away from your family and I'm a great distraction."
Christina pulled her into a hug and Evelyn found herself smiling even more. While she didn't like the position Christina was in, she was glad that she could offer help to her friend. She seemed to need it more than anything right now.
After the hug, Evelyn got up and extended her hand to Christina. "Come on, let's go to the tent." Christina hesitated at first but took her hand in the end.
She led her friend towards the tent where she spotted her mother talking to Ezra Gerard. She raised an eyebrow as she saw her mother smile at the man. By now, she was sure that Alphard had been right about her mother being interested in the Auror.
Her mother bid the man goodnight and turned around to find her and Christina looking at her. Her smile faltered for a split second before it returned.
"What are you two doing here?" She asked. "Shouldn't you be inside like I instructed?"
"We both needed fresh air," Evelyn responded to her. "What were you doing with professor Gerard - Mr Gerard?"
"Just talking about our old days in Hogwarts." She answered her question and Evelyn hummed. Rose glanced at Christina and furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you okay, Christina?"
Evelyn moved in front of Christina to shield her friend from her mother's eyes. "Chris was wondering if she could stay with us this week. She has to travel to Japan before coming back again here. It's a drag of portkeys, so she wanted to ask you if she could stay with us."
Rose blinked a few times. "Do you have everything here, Christina?"
Christina hummed. "Yes, I had to buy my school equipment in Diagon Alley and I got all my clothes with me." Evelyn knew that Christina had gotten all of her clothes in hopes of going to her great grandmother.
"Of course, you're welcome to join us." Her mother responded and Evelyn turned to her friend, a smile on her face.
Christina returned the smile, Yet it failed to reach her amber eyes.
Luna dans les Etoiles: I'm glad that you like my fic and seem to notice the improvement in my writing (I know it's not the best and I'm sorry for that). I totally understand where you're coming from. While I appreciate your critique, I have to say that I will be giving depth to these characters, especially her friends. I'm sorry to say this and I hope that it won't make you hate it. It's just the story of Evelyn's friends needs to be told because it all correlates with her story and the whole fic (especially the way they see her). Don't worry, Evelyn is the main character here and she will be for a long time. Her journey is what makes this fic what it is in my opinion and the secondary characters just give it a spark. I hope you don't hate this chapter because it does focus a lot on Christina. As soon as they go back to Hogwarts, the story will focus on Evelyn and the debate in Wizengamot. Thank you for sharing your opinion! It's very appreciated
Next up, Going Back To Hogwarts