The cash given to her by her mother and father went beyond a new cloak, it fed her for the coming weeks and would likely do to the end of the summer.
The early part of said summer passed with Evelyn being a recluse. The proposed visit to the Burrow and the Tatesworth's farm didn't materialise. George and Miranda both wrote to her of course but she ignored their letters. Even Jeffrey stayed far away from his former best friend. Evelyn was actually starting to loathe seeing him for he was a constant reminder of her mistakes.
It was not that she was being malicious or rude in ignoring George and Miranda but much had changed since she had last saw them both and she had no idea how much, if any she should reveal to them.
Once more, a revelation about Miranda's background had been revealed to Evelyn and not Tatesworth herself. Did she finally tell Miranda all of what she knew? Or did she tell her some of it or none of it? Why should any of this fall to her? It was Samuel's mess; he should fix it. Evelyn hoped she would work out what to do by September.
George had sent two letters since she returned to High Peak. Evelyn still couldn't bear having to face him even if she knew she had to. She cared deeply for him and wanted to desperately know if he was a step further to achieving his dream of starting a joke shop. Anytime she tried to open his letters, she just couldn't. She kept putting it off as she wanted to know if he hated her but she also didn't. Once again, her heart had made her irrational.
It was an afternoon in late July and Evelyn was holed up in High Peaks Library. She had spent a lot of time here recently, partly as summer was the only time the mansion beyond the third floor became slightly habitable and partly because immersing herself in books and work distracted her from the real world. The old chez lounge may not be the most comfortable piece of furniture in the world but it was the only thing that wood worm or rot hadn't consumed. If it hadn't been for her efforts, rot and damp would have taken the whole room, books included.
She would never have known she had received a visitor had it not been for the groundskeepers shouting: "You lad, why are you snooping about our land?"
"Lad" obviously wasn't a reference to the still exiled Iris.
Evelyn inquisitively peered out the window to see a very flustered looking squib and George Weasley. Evelyn wasn't quite sure how she felt but one thing was at the front of her mind: How on earth did she explain any of what happened?
In the end questions were side-lined as she threw down her book and made her way to the front door.
She opened it to see George and the Squib still in a heated discussion,
"Calm down Lesley," Evelyn asserted as she emerged from the front door and onto the overgrown terrace.
The groundskeeper looked angry, "I told you never to call me that."
"Well then inform me of visitors before heckling them next time," Evelyn barked back.
Evelyn looked at George and George looked at Evelyn. It had been a long time since they had last saw each other. She was desperately trying to read his mood as well as her own. She was overwhelmed with emotions, most of them good but she tried to maintain her composure.
The groundskeeper backed down and Evelyn motioned for George to come join her in the entrance hall.
He didn't say much, he seemed rather overwhelmed by his initial experience and impression of High Peak.
"Miranda wasn't exaggerating about this place. It is-"
"Why are you here George?" Evelyn demanded.
"Are you not glad to see me?" George replied with a devilish smile.
"We can talk upstairs," Evelyn replied dismissively.
In many ways her choice was already made, she was from a long line of dark wizards and she had abandoned the DA when she needed her most. There was no going back. She was born to be like this. Then again, she would never admit it but she was overjoyed to see George and he seemed, at least for now, undeterred by her actions. She had deep feelings for him, ones she couldn't ignore if she tried to. Things were never simple even if she wished they were.
Evelyn had taken George up to her makeshift living room/kitchen. They were sat on the same cushions her and Miranda had sat on. There had been a sustained awkward silence, there was a lot to say and neither party quite knew where to begin.
"Did you get a new cloak yet?" George began after the long silence. For Evelyn, this felt a bit like an anti-climax. Why on earth was he acting like everything was just okay?
"Really, your starting with that? No, "Why didn't you reply to my letters Evelyn?", "Why didn't you come to visit me Evelyn?"
"Oh yeah, why didn't you?" George inquired innocently.
"Forget it," Evelyn hissed.
George looked confused. But then he spoke: "I came here because I was worried about you, talk to me."
"Worried because I didn't respond to your letters, or worried because you heard what happened with Dumbledore's Army and Rose?" Evelyn demanded somewhat confrontationally.
"A bit of both," George admitted.
"Yes, I let your friends and family galivant off on their fool's errand. None of them died so I don't really see what the problem is," Evelyn confidently asserted. This of course was a lie, the choice at the time had been somewhat easy but she had definitely second guessed it since.
"I thought they were our friends Evelyn? You were as much part of Dumbledore's Army as anyone," George rebuked. He must have sensed she was lying. He knew there were times such as when she was with Neville in the Great Hall that she felt as if she was where she belonged.
"Yes, we had a common goal but things have changed, yes they tolerated me but I was never close to anyone beyond you."
"What do you mean things have changed?"
Evelyn paused for a bit. Should she tell him any of the revelations about Miranda or Adelaide? Maybe she should tell him some of it? No. She would have to tell him all of it, he had earned that at least.
"At Christmas, when I was at the Tatesworth's farm, I ran into someone I never expected to see who told me something I never knew about Miranda….."
Evelyn went on to recap how Apollo Mason was actually Miranda's uncle, the conversation they had in the goat shed and how he had lied to Evelyn, and how she was a pureblood from a family of dark wizards.
George looked shocked; he was taken aback as Evelyn had been. How the Ministry had abandoned Apollo and his friends seemed to especially weigh on him. He then asked what anyone would have: "How do you know this; how do you know he lied to you?"
"They were here George, my mother and father. They came here the night I returned from Hogwarts."
George seemed concerned at how calm Evelyn was about this. She had been petrified of the prospect of her parents meeting with her historically.
"They want me to join them George."
"Join them where, in the Death Eaters? As a follower of him? Did they not kill your grandmother?" George confronted her.
"Do you think I care for Voldemort? I joined the DA for you and for you alone and you weren't even kin. I can do the same again. They also didn't kill my grandmother…..she was….she was a spy, I saw the intelligence she was gathering myself and my parents confirmed it."
"She lied to you then Evelyn, all your life, does that not bother you?"
"Of course, it bothers me," Evelyn snapped back, "but she was family, your family is important to you is it not?"
George seemed to know he was losing: "Yes, Miranda or me may not be in your firing line as purebloods but what if they ask you to kill someone Evelyn, could you do that?"
Of course, he didn't know the full story about Rose. How could he? Edward had managed to market the whole thing as Evelyn acting in self-defence.
"When I left the DA, I went after Rose. I beat her and would have killed her if Edward hadn't intervened. Guess what, I would do exactly the same thing again given half the chance," Evelyn stated. Her tone wasn't aggressive or angry, it was cold, ice cold. She was the same Evelyn she had been that day she duelled Newcross, the one she wasn't sure whether to accept or push away. George had finally realised there was a considerable darkness in Evelyn, it was well within her ability to kill.
That was it, George knew her true colours now and was as repulsed as the other had been.
Surprisingly, he was oddly calm. He took a minute before speaking: "You're so angry Evelyn, you always were but now it has boiled to the surface. This world has not been kind to you, not at all but if joining the Death Eaters had been as easy as you are leading me to believe, you would have done it by now."
He had seen straight through her, just as Luciana had. He now knew Evelyn wanted to and would easily kill Rose without a second thought but an innocent who she had no quarrel with was a different matter entirely. She could be mean but not quite cruel.
Evelyn was silent and George picked up on this
"We both know me preaching at you will achieve nothing. You make your own decisions and carve your own path; you always have and always will. Then again, you think your destiny is set, that there is no going back but there is always a choice. I like you a lot Evelyn and I won't stop you from doing what you are intending, even if Merlin knows I want to but you need to be sure. They will ask a lot more of you than we ever did," George continued.
Before this year (and even for a sizeable amount of it), Evelyn believed George Weasley to be a fool. Maybe he is a fool but then again, he says something like this to show he isn't. Perhaps she had been the fool this time.
"Are Ron and Ginny okay?" Evelyn mumbled after another long silence. She was defeated.
"Ron ranted at me about how you had left them but Ginny put him back in his place. She reminded him of how he hadn't made you very welcome in the first place. They were shaken up by it though, it all very nearly could have went wrong."
Evelyn felt some regret and it must have shown.
"No one blames you Evelyn, least of all me," George said warmly as he reached out his hand and put it on her knee.
Evelyn fully expected to recoil. She had perceived that their relationship had declined since they had last seen each other. That he had lost his physical contact privileges she very rarely bestowed on anyone. Unusually however, she accepted it almost subconsciously.
George would never be okay with her decision and he had shown he still cared for her. She still cared for him. She would have to tell her parents no at the minute, even if it meant finding Rose by herself. She would stay clear of the Death Eaters for now. She just couldn't do that to him.
"I stick by what I said, I don't regret what I did to Rose but I regret that I didn't do anything to help your family," Evelyn stated somewhat reluctantly but George accepted her apology.
"You owe them some wins at chess when you next visit. No one can quite over how easily you beat us all," George joked withdrawing his arm.
"No chance, it's the only game you people play that requires a basic level of skill and intellect. Even if I do despise chess," Evelyn replied. It was initially quite serious but a half smile appeared across her face.
George and Evelyn's eyes met and they both laughed.
"You should tell Miranda the truth, she should know," George began.
"Why should I have to? It was Samuel's lies started this all, he should tell her," Evelyn shot back.
"But she is your best friend, and her remaining family could be dangerous people. They know who she is and where she lives, they could be a threat to her family?" George replied,
"So, what do you think of my grand palace then?" Evelyn sarcastically inquired. She was trying to change the subject. Skylar would consider telling Miranda the truth but still resented it having to fall to her. The thought of little James on Miranda in danger though was a strong motivator.
"Well it's something alright," George replied as his eyes surveyed the room in further detail. Mould had started to form on the wall behind the sofa as a result of the leak in the roof getting worse. This caught his attention.
"I told you before it wasn't pretty."
"I expected a gloomy old estate from what you described but I didn't know it was missing so many windows and have so many holes in the roof."
"I used to want nothing more than to see this place burn down, but there's a history here," Luciana's words about the importance of their line and their blood echoed through Evelyn's head. Evelyn couldn't quite work out if there was wisdom in them but they were in some way appealing. "Perhaps I have a new found appreciation for heritage."
George thought little of it, he might have had he known the true significance.
"Who knows, if Weasleys Wizard Wheezes doesn't work out, maybe I could be your stable boy or something. Didn't fancy ladies often have stable boys as their lovers?" he joked.
Evelyn was unsure whether to laugh or be offended but in the end she laughed. They locked eyes again. She got lost in his and he in hers.
They then kissed, it was equally as passionate as before and Evelyn gradually forgot all else that was going on.
Though their time together had been somewhat short, she had come to the realisation that she was falling in love. Love was another one of the weaknesses Adelaide warned her about. Skylar's didn't love, they married on grounds of blood status alone and raised children to carry on the legacy. Evelyn personally believed it was stupid nor did she see herself capable of it but yet here it was. Here it had been growing for a while. Love seemed to have a mind of its own.
George had changed her for the better and was continuing to do so. He also understood her which few truly did. There was a new year coming however, some day she would have to choose between George and her parents as the two would never be on the same side. Despite her growing feelings for him, she was tempted to the dark like never before and still yearned for family. The Ministry couldn't deny Voldemort's return and the later was gaining ground, open war was on the horizon and as terrifying as that was, she couldn't stay in no man's land, she would have to make her choice to avoid falling foul of both camps. The conflict in her still raged, in a way she was envious of people like George and her parents, they knew where they stood and had unquestionable faith in their cause. Of people like Miranda, or was she Xenia now, who doing the right thing came naturally to. People like her mother who the ends always justified means for.
Rose continued to consume most of her thoughts, the effects of Neville's potion had worn off and she believed it unlikely that she would receive more. Evelyn often removed her opera glove when she was sitting in her room on her own. She just sat and stared at her scorched hand. The twisted and burnt flesh, the bone she could see, the bleeding and the returning, now quite painful twinges all reminded her of that day and the rage, humiliation, and agony she had felt. Someday Rose would die by Evelyn's hand; it was one of the few things Skylar was sure about.
Things had changed for the girl with no feelings beyond recognition this year, they will maybe do so again. Will it be for the better or worse, only time could tell…..
And so ends part one of Evelyn's story. If you have stuck with from chapter one, thank you so much! If you have any thoughts I would love to hear them. I intend to start work on part two soon.
