Once she moved into the Burrow, things eased up for Eva, something she thought would never be possible. Of all the terrible things that could've happened to her, she had to gain the wizarding equivalent of a swastika on her arm which could be used to inflict pain whenever Voldemort felt like it?
Actually telling the Weasley family and Hermione and Harry about her predicament wasn't as bad as she'd expected. Generally, they seemed to notice how uncomfortable even Eva was about it so they didn't comment on her mark much. She'd moved into Ginny's room with Hermione, sleeping on a soft mattress on the floor with a ton of blankets and pillows since there weren't enough duvets.
What was also quite nice was that, even though Eva wasn't allowed to move in with Fred and George, they'd gotten her a job at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley. One of them would apparate her to work and back to the Burrow usually, but it was nice to have a distraction either way, to try and act like a regular teenager working a summer job rather than a small girl fleeing a mass murderer.
The shop was teeming with customers every single day, so Eva was never out of a job. Like every day, she placed her apron over her long-sleeved top and skirt, wore posh high-heeled boots to, as phrased by Fred, "keep standards high", and attached a few promotional badges to her top. Talking to regular people was therapeutic, just to pretend everything was okay for a while.
Just as she finished with one customer at the till who had bought about 5 'Umbridge-On-A-Unicycle's, another few joined the never-ending queue at the back. Eva rolled her eyes while a girl stepped to the front and tipped all of the WonderWitch products she could carry onto the counter.
Eva punched the prices into the keypad and read out the total cost. "That'll be 35 Galleons, 14 Sickles, and 8 Knuts. If you'd also like one of our limited edition WonderWitch gift bags for an extra 2 Sickles, it'll also come with a free Crush Blush. Offer ends this Saturday," Eva recited as she did to every customer.
The girl, who looked only about 10 and had little pigtails in her hair, paused for a moment and then nodded eagerly. Her poor parents, Eva thought to herself as she piled the items into the bright pink paper bag, took the girl's payment, and watched as she skipped delightedly out of the door.
Another girl was next in line, but didn't seem to be carrying anything to purchase. "Hi, I was wondering if I could have one of those Pygmy Puffs." She pointed to the deep purple one on Eva's shoulder. "I liked the look of one of the ones in the big cage, but I didn't know how to get them out. How much are they?"
"I'll just find out for you." Eva responded with a smile before cupping her hands around her mouth to raise the volume of her voice. "Freddie! Georgie!"
Both twins appeared, leaning over one of the balconies upstairs. "Yes, Evie?!" they shouted over the noise in the shop.
"How much are Pygmy Puffs going for?" she asked, since the prices had a habit of increasing with demand.
They glanced between each other. "20 Galleons!" they replied in unison.
Rolling her eyes, since that was an extra 2 Galleons since the day before, Eva stepped around from behind the till and led the girl over to the main cage. "What's your one's name by the way?" the girl asked.
Eva tried to keep a straight face when she replied. "She's called Draco Jr."
As soon as people saw Eva squeezing through, the crowd of excitable girls dispersed slightly but watched her every move with disturbing amounts of enthusiasm. Presumably the Pygmy Puffs were out of their price range, as they often were for most people.
Eva took the set of keys out from her pocket and unlocked the cage, scooping out the small baby pink fluffy ball the girl had pointed to. Never a dull day at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
Once her shift was over and the few remaining customers were finally being ushered out, Eva took off her apron and hung it over one of the coat pegs near the front of the shop. "Can I go and catch up with Hermione, Harry, and Ron?" she requested, silently hoping they'd agree. "They left a few minutes ago, they're probably just down the road, I'll be quick, I promise."
The twins looked between each other warily and then nodded. "If mum finds out," Fred began.
"We're blaming you, Evie," George finished.
Eva rolled her eyes. "Good to know. Is my bruise showing by the way?" she asked as she looked at her covered left arm. "I'm wearing a white top today, and a few people kept staring right there."
Fred rolled his eyes and pointed to what was very clearly a tomato sauce stain on her sleeve left over from lunch, right where her mark was located. "What did we say about keeping standards high?"
She sighed of relief that her secret was still completely safe. "My standards are great, thanks. I've tripped several times in these boots thanks to you."
"You'll thank us later when sales increase and you get a raise," they called behind her shoulder in unison as she left.
Other than faint voices in the distance, the only sounds in the abandoned but previously bustling Diagon Alley were her heels clicking on the pavement and Draco Jr. squeaking excitedly on her shoulder. She'd been a gift from Fred and George for her birthday, and naming her after her father, as the twins liked to tease her about, only made sense.
In fact, Draco hadn't replied to any one of her letters. Of course, there wasn't much she could say, but she would've preferred some reply over nothing. She'd read about Lucius' trial in the Daily Prophet, the headline being "Fallen From Grace", but hadn't heard from him in person like she'd expected to have.
Just as she was pondering this thought, another few footsteps caught her attention. As she glanced up from the ground, she saw the familiar white haired boy, who'd actually grown considerably over the few weeks, with another woman who had a startling resemblance in face shape to him.
"Draco!" Eva squealed, running straight into his arms. Surprisingly, he wasn't awkward about her hugging him so publicly like he usually was, but instead ended up embracing her back and squeezing her just as tightly. "God, I've missed you." She pulled away slightly. "Why didn't you write to me? Like, at all? Did you get any of my letters?"
He shook his head amusedly. "Eva, you only sent three."
"Yeah, and a reply of 'I'm not dead, thanks for asking' would've been nice," she retorted.
"Draco, aren't you going to introduce me to Miss. Infernum?" the woman asked.
Draco pulled away from Eva sharply, still holding her hand, and cleared his throat. "Eva, this is my mother, Narcissa. Mother, this is Eva."
"Eva Infernum, hi, nice to meet you." Eva extended her hand out.
Narcissa took her hand and shook it sceptically. "I hear you were a part of the little rag-tag bunch who got my husband incarcerated into Azkaban. Did you also have involvement in the attack on my son on the Hogwarts Express several weeks ago?" she inquired coldly.
Eva shook her head. "If anything, I was the one who looked for your son, de-hexed him, and provided him with a bucket to puke into. Honestly, Draco, you should talk about me more," she joked, nudging him lightly, "I'm the baddest bitch in town—sorry, baddest girl," she corrected in front of his mother, "I get ahead of myself sometimes. I, um . . . about Lucius-"
"That's Mr. Malfoy to you," Narcissa corrected her sharply.
"Right," Eva said slowly, "Mr. Malfoy, er . . . we never planned for anything like that to happen, I . . ." She'd hoped Narcissa would take over the awkwardness of the conversation, but she didn't. "I suppose it was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but getting Mr. Malfoy put into Azkaban was not on my to-do list for that day, I promise. I'd never intentionally hurt Draco like that. It might shock you, but I do care about him a lot more than most girlfriends do their boyfriends at our age."
Narcissa nodded her head slightly. "So you say."
There was an awkward silence for a moment between them. To try and relieve some tension, Eva picked up the little purple furry ball off her shoulder and placed her in her palm, causing her to squeak in delight as she often did.
"What on earth is that thing?" Draco asked with an expression which verged on disgust.
"Her name is Draco Jr.," Eva told him. "Isn't she cute? Fred and George gave her to me for my birthday. Save it," she placed her hand up in front of him before he could speak, "I know you forgot my birthday, almost everyone did, but, if it makes you feel any better, I forgot yours too, so we're equal."
Draco's expression was still befuddled. "You were given a female fluffy rodent animal, and you named her after me? A man?"
"Hey, don't be sexist," Eva chided lightly, "it's 1996, she can have a man's name if she wants to. She's so sweet though, she just sits on my shoulder and squeaks."
"May I hold her?" Narcissa asked, holding her hand out with her palm facing upwards.
Slightly warily, Eva placed her Pygmy Puff in Narcissa's hand. The little furry creature made another excited high-pitched squeak.
"It even sounds like you, Draco," Narcissa teased him, handing Draco Jr. back to Eva.
Eva placed the creature down on her left shoulder. "Have you seen Harry, Ron, and Hermione by the way?" she asked. "I need to find them before it gets too dark out."
Narcissa sneered. "You're with them?"
Eva sighed, having some idea of what her issue was. "What did Harry do this time?"
"Potter insulted my entire family," Draco spat. "Those three are a disgrace to the wizarding world, the blood-traitor, the mudblood, and the 'chosen one'."
"Where do I fit in that dream team then?" Eva snarked. "Fine," she sighed continuing away down the street, "I'll talk to him. Again, sorry about Harry, he does that a lot."
"Maybe you should choose your company more wisely," Narcissa replied as she left.
Eva fell back against the cushions and sighed dreamily without even bothering to remove her shoes first. Hermione was sat on the mattress beside hers, reading through her copy of Advanced Potion Making, while Ginny snickered at Eva.
"Someone's a little bit lovestruck today," Ginny teased, throwing a tiny piece of fudge at her.
"Hey," Eva protested light-heartedly, "cut me some slack, it was the first time I'd seen Draco in months. Might I also add he's grown taller, stronger, sharper . . ."
In response, Ginny pointed into her mouth and pretended to be sick. "How could you find that little slimy git attractive at all? He has that face where it always looks like he's caught a whiff of something unpleasant."
Hermione glanced up from her book and laughed. "Like this?" She somehow managed to pull Draco's sneer off perfectly, causing Ginny to erupt with laughter to the point where she could hardly breathe.
There was a faint, almost timid knock on the open door to Ginny's room. Harry was standing in the doorway, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe. His hands were held together in front of him, his fingers awkwardly curling and uncurling.
"Harry? Did you need something?" Hermione asked him.
"May I speak to Eva?" he requested, barely glancing up from the floor. "In private?"
Eva rolled her eyes and stood up, motioning for him to continue out of the room. She followed him upstairs eventually to Percy's old room, which he'd abandoned after joining the Ministry's side.
"What did you need to talk about?" Eva asked, perching on the edge of the bed.
Harry stood around for a moment before settling on sitting beside her. "I wanted to ask you about something," he said.
"About . . .?" she prompted.
He sighed. "Don't take this the wrong way, but is Malfoy . . . a Death Eater?"
Eva snorted a laugh and clasped her hand over her mouth. "You think Malfoy's a Death Eater? As in my Malfoy, as in Draco Malfoy? Why would you think that? He gets scared of his own reflection."
"He does?" Harry laughed.
"Not exactly," she admitted, "but he did jump several feet into the air when he opened the door without realising I was in the room already. But what makes you think Draco's a Death Eater?"
"In Knockturn Alley, Malfoy and his mother went into Borgin and Burkes. There were other Death Eaters there, and he was looking at this . . . this cabinet," he told her. "What if he is? Do you know if he is? If anyone would, it would be you."
She shrugged. "Harry, Draco's nearly always wearing suits, I hardly ever see his arms. Anyway, wouldn't it be a little weird if I went up to him and said 'Hey handsome, did you become a Death Eater over summer?'?"
"I would not describe Malfoy as handsome." Harry turned his nose up at the thought. "But isn't there any way you can find out? Maybe if he has the Dark Mark like yours?"
"Again," she repeated herself, "ferret boy covers his arms all the time, unless it's the middle of summer, and even then he'll find a way to cover his arms one way or another."
"I don't know." His face turned a slight pink colour. "I'm sure you can figure out a way to see his arm . . ." he trailed off his sentence embarrassedly.
Eva shook her head and tried not to laugh at her friend's ridiculousness. "Glasses, I'm only going to say this once, so listen good. I'm not pressuring Draco into sex just so I can see his arm for you. Okay?"
"No, no," he cut in quickly, "that's . . . that's not . . . well . . . look, just tell me if you see anything suspicious, please?"
"Harry, come on, you know that, as much as this currently isn't my business, it especially isn't yours," she advised him. "Don't get involved in things you don't know or understand. Haven't you seen Jurassic Park?"
He glanced up at her and pushed his glasses up his nose. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"Don't mess with things out of your league, or else you'll get bitten in half on the toilet," she concluded, patting his shoulder and forcing a smile. "Good talk."
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: Heheh, Draco's back! And I also hope you like my portrayal of Narcissa. The woman did not get nearly enough screen time to be honest, but I wanted to get across the fact that she's the nicer Malfoy, but not by much.
Also, I hope you like the little detail I added of her working at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Fred and George are like her triplets sometimes haha.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!
