DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER BUT I DO OWN MY CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORYLINES.


When Evelyn opened her eyes, she had to blink a few times to process where she was. She had to look around the creme coloured room about three times before it dawned on her. She was in Ezra's house. It was more of an English Manor than your usual house. Still, it was her new home. Her home of three days now.

She let out a yawn as she got up from her bed. Her eyes drifted around her room as she did. Her new room was way bigger than her old one had been. She had a queen bed now rather the single bed that she owned. Her study desk was bigger. She had bookshelves of her own where she kept her school books, favourite books and some notebooks filled with notes. She had a new bulletin board, similar to the one in the Ravenclaw common room. Her wardrobe was bigger and grander. However, the biggest difference was the bathroom on the other side of the room. Her own bathroom.

Of course, the only reason her mum agreed to her having a room with a bathroom if she cleaned it on her own. As Evelyn found the cleaning to be calming at times, she had liked her mum's proposal.

After changing her clothes, brushing her teeth and combing her hair, Evelyn left her room. The second floor was separated into two wings. The west wing and the east wing. The west wing was where she, her mum and Ezra resided. According to Ezra, it was where the family resided for years. While the east wing was used by guests when they came to visit.

While Evelyn had expected Ezra to have a big house, she hadn't expected this. She hadn't expected to have acres of estate, wings of houses, a ballroom, a library that could rival the one in Hogwarts, a pool, greenhouses where Ezra spend his time in and even a shared lake with the other neighbours. It was mind-blowing to Evelyn the lavish life that the Gerards lived.

It was so much like the life her mother had led before she had left her family. Of course, with a few exceptions. One, Ezra's family didn't have a house-elf. They never did. Apparently, his grandfather had been against the treatment of house-elves. This had led to him being sacked from Wizengamot and the Ministry. Two, Ezra wasn't raised in this house. He had lived on his grandparents' farm for years. Even when he had finished Hogwarts, he had lived in a flat. He had moved to this house about five years ago. Three, the Gerards didn't promote the blood supremacy ideology. They were against it. The family line had started with a muggleborn man marrying a pureblood witch. Other than that, Ezra's mother had been a muggleborn.

Evelyn entered the kitchen of the house. To her, the kitchen was definitely the most normal room in the house. It was simple, neat and had all the necessary equipment. It was the place Evelyn had grown the most comfortable with.

In the kitchen, she found her mum, preparing breakfast at the stove. Unlike many other wizarding houses, Ezra did use electricity in the house. The house had a stove, fridge, laundry machine, lights and a television.

"Good morning." She greeted her mum as she took a seat on the table. She noticed that Ezra wasn't anywhere to be found. "Where is Ezra?"

"He was called to the office for an hour or two." Her mum responded. Evelyn had become aware that this was the norm for him. After all, he was a Senior Auror now. He was one step below from becoming Vice-Head of Aurors. "Did you have a good sleep?" Her mum turned off the stove as she had finished frying the eggs.

Evelyn hummed. "Yes, the bed is really comfy. I was planning my birthday party, but just sleeping in that bed seemed like a better idea."

Her mum laughed. "I'm glad that you are enjoying it." She told Evelyn as she started to cut some tomatoes. "How is the birthday planning going?"

"I'm going to order a chocolate cake from the bakery Ezra suggested." She began to explain to her mum. Her birthday was only two days ahead and Evelyn was making it sure it was perfect. "The decorations have all been made. Don will help me put them in the backyard. Some extra people are coming this year, but some of the usual ones aren't."

"Except for Christina, who else isn't coming?"

"Well, Hestia is on holidays. Caradoc has apparently hurt his leg while Loraine's sister is getting married." Evelyn responded to her mum. She was about to continue to explain her birthday planning, but her mum's question interrupted her.

"Is Rabastan coming?"

At her mum's question, Evelyn found herself tense. She didn't know why she did. At this point, she was sure that her body had a mind of its own. "No, he isn't." She responded. "Actually, I'm not going to see him all summer." She tried her best not to show her disappointment in her face.

"All summer?" Her mum repeated. "Are you okay with that?"

Evelyn was about to tell her mum that she wasn't. She wanted to tell her mum that she had been craving a summer with Rabastan. She didn't tell her mum that. After all, she had promised Rabastan that their relationship was their private business. She wasn't going to share it with other people, including her mum. "Why wouldn't I be?" She answered her mum as she lifted her chin. "It's the price that I have to pay if I want to be in a relationship with him."

"Evelyn, you are turning fifteen. You don't have to pay a price if you didn't want to." Her mum responded. "Actually, you are not obligated to pay a price to be in a relationship with someone no matter the age."

She shuddered. She knew if this conversation continued to go on, her mum would start asking questions. Questions that Evelyn didn't want to answer in respect of hers and Rabastan's privacy. "You don't have to worry, mum." She assured her mum as she got up from her seat. "I don't mind seeing my boyfriend all summer." Evelyn lied through her teeth. "Especially when I know it's all worth it in the end." Her mum only hummed before she continued her task.

As Evelyn watched her mum continue cutting the tomatoes, a question rang in her head.

What if it's not worth it in the end?


Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were one of the most delightful people Evelyn had ever met. From the first time she laid eyes on him, she could tell that they were good company. After all, they had the same grins that their son had most of the time during school.

Fleamont Potter was a man of seventy. He wore horn-rimmed glasses that hid his expressive brown eyes. His hair was all grey and they seemed quite luscious for a man of his age. His skin was tanned while his eyebrows were thick. His smile was big and welcoming. His clothes seemed expensive. It was obvious from his tailored brown trousers to his shiny loafers and detailed dress shirt.

His wife, Euphemia Potter was a woman of seventy as well. Apparently, the two of them had been in the same year during school. She had brown hair that was in a bun. There was a big strand of grey in her hair that made her hair look even more brilliant. Her skin was a light brown that was shining and seemed to have no wrinkles. Her eyes were hazel just like James and her smile reminded him of as well. She was more modest in her clothing than her husband. She had opted for a simple grey dress matched with a silver necklace and black flats.

"James has told us all about you." Mr Potter told her. They had been invited for dinner at the Potters. A tradition between the families since the Potters had moved in the neighbourhood. "I didn't know the girl who faced the Wizengamot was the same year as James."

"You didn't because you always think I'm one year younger than I am." James quipped as he ate his food. From the corner of her eyes, Evelyn noticed that James hadn't touched the roasted vegetables his mother made.

Mr Potter laughed. "That's only because I don't want to see you grow up." James rolled his eyes while the others in the table chuckled. "It's good to meet you though, Evelyn."

"Likewise, Mr Potter," Evelyn responded. "Especially since you are known to be one of the best Potion Makers in Britain." Mr Potter was known as the inventor of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. The potion was effective at taming bushy, unruly hair. Gabriela used it every time she took a shower and she knew that a lot of her other friends did too. After all, it was suited for all hair types.

"From your hair type, I didn't think you need it." He pointed out and Evelyn nodded her head. She had never needed to use the potion. To her luck, her hair didn't need taming. They needed volume though. "On the other hand, my son is in desperate need for it."

James looked up to his messy jet black hair. "I like it this way." He muttered.

"Me too." His mum spoke up. "I always used to love styling James' hair when he was a baby."

"Which led to some embarrassing family photos that had to be burned," James added.

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"To save my reputation," James responded making Evelyn and her mum laugh.

"It was more about to save yourself from Sirius seeing them." Mrs Potter let them know and Evelyn snorted.

James huffed. "He teases everyone about their hair since he has perfect hair. It's not fair and I wasn't going to fall down that hole."

"Do you know if he's coming to my birthday?" Evelyn inquired James.

He hummed. "Yes, he is. He's coming tomorrow. He's spending most of July here." His words made her eyebrows raise. She found it odd to hear that he was doing this. More so when she compared it to her friends. The only friend of hers that had spent a long time in her house were Christina and Carter. At the time, both of them were having trouble at home.

Was there a chance that Sirius was having too? With that mother of his, Evelyn wouldn't be surprised.

When she noticed that James had seen her change of expression, Evelyn faked a smile. "That's good news." She beamed. "Once, you had no one your age and now, you're spending most of the summer with two. Plus, you'll be having most of your year in two days."

Mr Potter frowned. "Why is that?"

"It's Evelyn's birthday." Her mum informed them. "So, she has invited her friends for a gathering."

"More like the whole school," James commented.

"Why do both you and Sirius think I'm friends with the whole school?"

"Because you are," James responded to her. "I've seen you talk to almost everybody, even some ghosts." Evelyn shuddered at the memory of some of her conversations with Myrtle. From what she gathered, the ghost would never join the Girls' Fight Club.

"That's a bit of hyperbole." Evelyn pointed out and James frowned at her use of words.

"Well, Evelyn, you always seemed to be surrounded by people in the third year." Ezra pointed out as he tilted his head.

James pointed to Ezra. "Thank you." He shot Evelyn a smile of triumph.

"There's nothing wrong with having a lot of friends." Mrs Potter spoke up and Evelyn glanced at her. "I used to have a lot of friends too." She informed Evelyn who smiled. "And let me tell you, there wasn't a moment where I felt lonely."

While Evelyn nodded in agreement, her stomach flipped. The truth was that Evelyn did feel lonely a lot of times, even surrounded by her friends. She couldn't imagine how it would feel if she didn't have them.


"I can't wait for you to meet her someday." Her best friend, Don Bailey told her as the two of them were in the back of the house. They were preparing the place for the party that was only a few hours away. At the moment, the two of them were blowing some white balloons. "You would like her a lot, Eve. She's beautiful, smart, nice, funny..." Her best friend trailed off making her smile. Since he had arrived, all he had been talking about was Anya. He had told her everything that happened between them these past few months. "She's just incredible."

"Careful, Don. You might melt." She teased him as she tied the balloon.

Don shrugged. "I can't help it. I have to play it cool with the boys in Beauxbatons, but I don't have to do it with you." He pointed out before he started to blow up a balloon. When he was done, he turned to her. "Either way, that's when it happens when you start a relationship with someone. You constantly talk about them."

"I don't constantly talk about Rabastan," Evelyn stated as she was done with blowing her balloons.

"You've been dating him since December. You have passed this phase." She bit her lip. A part of her was sure that they had skipped it rather than pass it. "How are things going with him?"

"Good," Evelyn responded. "I won't get to see him the whole summer, but I think we're going to make up for it when we go back to school." Unlike her mum, Don didn't seem to find this odd. Maybe it was because he knew more about them than she did. Although, if he was going to ask Evelyn more questions, she would shut him down.

"How about you?" Don said as he gathered the balloons.

The two of them walked towards the two pine trees that they were going to tie the balloons.

"What about me?"

"How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine." Evelyn gulped down as she started to tie the balloons around the tree.

"Are you sure?" At Don's question, Evelyn shuddered.

She had thought about telling Don and her mum about what happened with Hart. However, she had concluded that there was no point. While the mystery of who made Hart do this remained, Hart was gone. She was never going to see him again. She was never going to have to deal with him.

Most importantly, Evelyn didn't believe that she was going to explode. She believed that she could keep this up. She had been doing it for four years now. Another three years of doing this wouldn't do any damage to her or anyone else.

Other than that, her mum and Don were the people who were least impacted by this. Not only did they already know that she wasn't perfect, but she also didn't spend much time around with them. She was away from them for ten months out of the year. Nine months in Hogwarts while another month in Morrigan.

"Don, I told you that I was fine." She tried to assure him as she was done with the balloons.

"Why did you take so long to answer?" Don who was finished with tying the balloons, moved closer to her. "Are you sure that everything is alright?"

The way that Don's brown eyes were studying her made Evelyn tense. It was as if he was looking to see if she was lying. It was as if he was the human form of the Veritaserum potion.

Yet Evelyn wasn't going to yield.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself, Don?"

"Until you say the truth."

"Why do you think I'm lying?" Evelyn snapped at him. When Don puckered his lips and looked away, her heart skipped a beat. Did Don have a reason to be suspicious? Did he notice something odd that she did? Or had someone talked to him about her? Someone else who had noticed her odd behaviour? "Why do you think I'm lying?"

Don returned his gaze to her. His brown eyes met her and she felt her breath catch in her throat. He opened his mouth to speak, but he never got to.

He never got to because, at that moment, James and Sirius decided to make their appearance.

"Look, it's the birthday girl!" James exclaimed as he entered the backyard. The Gerard and Potter estate wasn't separated. The two estates shared a lake and a dock with each other. So, no walls or gates was separating them. "And Bailey is here too!" He tilted his head. "You said that he was coming later."

"He came earlier," Evelyn muttered. "And so have you two."

Sirius huffed. "We thought we could help you with the decorations."

She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "How considerate of you." She quipped. "And out of character too." She knew James and Sirius. She knew that they weren't the helpful type of people. They were a lot like Carter and Edrick. They joked around while people did the job. Actually, they were worse.

"Fine, my mum made us come here and see if you needed help," James admitted. She heard Don behind snort. "But we also came here to wish you a happy birthday. After all, you're only twenty years from reaching the age you're meant to be."

"The age that I'm meant to be?"

"Yes, James and I discussed that you make the perfect thirty-five-year-old witch." Evelyn gaped at Sirius' comment. "What? You don't think you act like an overworked woman?"

"Just because I'm a bit more responsible and care bout my future career doesn't mean I make the perfect thirty-five-year-old woman." Evelyn insisted.

Don scoffed. "I thought you'd take this as a compliment. You said one time that your biggest wish was to become an adult." As soon as he said that, both Sirius and James burst into laughter. She flushed at the memory before glaring at Don. He only shrugged at her.

She shook her head and turned to the laughing boys. "Stop laughing." She huffed at them. "After all, you have some things to to do." As soon as she said those words, the boys' laughter died and their expression turned quite sombre.


From the distance, Evelyn could see her guests having fun. She could see many of her friends dancing to the music, some of them eating the cake while some just stood around and talked. Evelyn, on the other hand, was too far away from the party. She had found herself growing overwhelmed by it and decided to take a minute to breathe.

A minute had turned to fifteen, but she was sure that no one was noticing her absence. While she would have minded people not noticing her absence, she didn't care this time.

At the party, everything had been loud. From the music to her friends. People would talk to her, but she wasn't present at the moment. She found herself losing focus and thinking about other matters. For example, Rabastan, Christina, the war, Hart, the OWLs etc. She couldn't even focus on one single matter.

Evelyn ran a hand through her hair and let out a deep breath. What was going on with her? Or more accurately, what was wrong with her?

She breathed in and turned her eyes towards the lake. The stars were shining as bright as they could. She turned her attention on them before her eyes focused on the brightest star in the sky.

As she was staring up at the night sky, she heard the dock creak. She turned around to find Sirius walking up to her while holding a cup of butterbeer.

"Shouldn't you be mingling with the crowd?" He questioned as he stopped to stand beside her.

"The crowd is mingling on its own." She replied to him and he nodded.

"So, what are you doing here? All lonesome?"

"Thinking."

"Your favourite activity, I presume." He teased her.

Evelyn smiled before she let out a sigh. "Not these days, to be honest." With the doubts she was having, the constant questions and the overthinking, she would rather never think in her life.

"You're thinking of the situation with Hart?" Sirius asked her. He raised his cup to his lips, but he still kept his piercing grey eyes on her.

"Yes, it's surely haunting most of my thoughts." She responded to him. "Especially since I have no real lead to find out who this person is."

"That's what's bothering you about Hart?" His confused tone made her frown. "Aren't you worried a little bit about what he said?"

Evelyn pressed her lips. She didn't want to discuss this with Sirius. She didn't want to discuss it with anyone. She just wanted to forget about it.

"I am, but not as much as I'm worried about who this person is," Evelyn muttered under her breath. "I think unravelling this mystery is more important than focusing on what he said."

When she glanced at Sirius, she noticed that his eyes were squinted. She raised her chin which led to him cracking a smile. "You want to sweep it under the rug, do you?"

Her eyes widened and her heart started to beat fast. "No, I don't!" She said a little bit too loud.

Sirius started to laugh before he shook his head. "You can't lie to me at this point." He informed. "I know you haven't told your friends or your boyfriend about it. You even lied to them about what we are doing. Now, you're saying that you want to focus on who it is rather than figuring out whatever he told you."

"How do you even know that he was right about me, huh? Maybe he was right about you, but that doesn't mean he was right about me." She snapped at him.

"He wasn't totally right about me either, but there was some truth in his words," Sirius admitted. As she looked at him, Evelyn wondered what was Sirius' secret. She had thought about it before but had come empty-handed. For all of his loud, energetic, and charming personality, Sirius Black was a mysterious person. "Now, I don't know what's going on with you. Nor do I want to know what's going on with you. After all, it's none of my business." As Sirius spoke, Evelyn noticed some familiarity in his words. "Although, I can offer you some piece of advice." Sirius breathed out. "People need people."

Goosebumps erupted on her skin when she realized what he was doing. He was using the advice she gave him against her. It was the oldest trick on the book. A trick that she would never have expected him to do. She had expected him to tease her or even make fun of her. This side of Sirius was something that Evelyn would have never expected.

A sudden breeze passed through them making the lake move while it made Evelyn shiver. When it passed, she finally spoke up.

"That's clever. Using my own words against me."

Sirius shrugged. "It's an old tactic that has a lot of results." He sipped his drink. "Of course, it all depends on you. If you're going to listen to it or not."

"It's more complicated than it seems," Evelyn mumbled. If she told her friends, Don or her mum about it, it would cause even more problems than it would solve. Her friends would be confused and maybe even leave her for lying to them for years. Don would be mad to hear that she had been lying to their friends and him. After all, she told him she was fine a few hours ago. She also lied to him about telling the club the truth about what she had done. Her mum would freak out about Hart using his authority as a teacher to do something like that.

Sirius huffed. "Isn't everything in life more complicated than it seems?" Again, she shivered. Not because of her breeze, but because of those words. Precisely, the weight behind those words.


"Good night." She and Don told her mum and Ezra. Her mum and Ezra's room was on the right side of the corridor while hers and Don's rooms were on the left side of it. So, they separated ways to head in their bedrooms.

As her mum and Ezra walked away, Evelyn turned around to watch them. She saw the man wrap an arm around her mum and kiss the top of her head. She just knew that her mum smiling after that gesture.

"Rose seems so happy today," Don mumbled after they were out of earshot.

"She is." She whispered back. "She has been smiling ear to ear since we came here." Her mum's utter happiness about their new living situation made Evelyn happy too. Now, she knew that her mum didn't have to deal with the loneliness she had dealt before. She knew that she had Ezra there by her side almost every night.

"While you seemed a bit odd today," Don added. "You were gone for a long time during the party."

"I was by the docks with Sirius." She informed him.

"What were you doing?"

"Talking."

She could hear Sirius' voice repeat the same advice she had given him.

It would be so easy for her to rip the bandaid off. It wouldn't be easy for her to deal with the wound she would expose. A wound that she couldn't comprehend the depth and severity of it. Even though, she had inflicted this wound herself.

"About what?"

Evelyn spared a glance at Don. When she did, she realized it wouldn't be easy to rip the bandaid off. It wouldn't be as hard as to deal with the aftermath, but it wouldn't be easy either. Especially since she had this conviction that she didn't need anyone's help. She could do this on her own.

"Everything and nothing." She responded to Don as they came near their bedrooms.

"I didn't know Sirius Black was into deep conversation."

She smiled at him. "Trust me, neither did I." She had been taking back by Sirius's words. She was sure that she had never seen him as serious as he had been at that moment. It was a bit funny, isn't it?

Don walked up to his bedroom door. "Well, at least, you had a good party. I had a lot of fun."

"I'm glad that you did."

He opened the door and saluted her. "Goodnight."

She saluted him back. "Goodnight." Don entered the room and closed the door behind him.

When the door was fully closed, Evelyn released a long breath she had been holding. She had been holding it since she and Sirius returned to the party. Best described as the moment, she had to pretend everything was alright.

She entered her bedroom and was met with all of the gifts that she had received. While they had been cleaning, Ezra had used his wand to transport her presents from outside to her bedroom.

Her eyes landed on the first gift she had ever received. Last night, a strange owl had brought it to her. When she had gotten it from, she saw that it was from Rabastan. He had asked her in the letter to open it today.

So, without wasting any time, the blonde girl unwrapped it, feeling a bit excited about it. As she did, her excitement died down. It died down because it revealed to be a jewellery box from the same expensive store.

When she opened the jewellery box, she saw that it was a silver bracelet with orange gemstones on it. Evelyn didn't like wearing orange. It was a colour that she was sure that didn't look good on her.

She hid the box with the other jewellery. Her mum wouldn't like seeing these extravagant and expensive jewellery pieces that were going to waste.

As she was putting the box away, she noticed another gift laying on the floor. It seemed to be a book wrapped in pale yellow gift wrapper. She picked it up and saw that it had a note.

All it said was 'From Sirius'

Intrigue washed over Evelyn as she inspected the book. Sirius was the last person who she would expect to give her a book. Dungbombs or any other product in Zonko's seemed fitter.

The book had a dark green leather cover that illuminated against the light of her room. When she turned it around, her eyes widened at what the golden letters were spelling.

'The Love Poems of Rumi'

Evelyn let out the longest squeal she could muster. After that, a soft giggle escaped her lips before she smiled as wide as she could.

She couldn't believe her eyes. She couldn't believe that she had them. After looking for so long, she was holding a collection of Rumi's poems about love. All because of Sirius.

Opening about the books, she saw that the first few pages were a biography about the poet. While Evelyn, at times, didn't bother reading this, she wanted to know all about the love poet Rumi. She wanted to know the man behind all of that passion, yearning and intimacy that was found in his poet.

So, without even bothering to take off her makeup or change her clothes, Evelyn walked up to her bed. She only took off her shoes before she got into the sheets. After she got comfortable under her sheets, Evelyn opened up the book and let herself be consumed by the love poems of Rumi.


Sorry for taking so long to update. Life has been hectic since both of my parents and my brother had COVID-19 these past few days. I had to help them and take care of them, so I wasn't able to sit down and write. I'm hoping that from now on, I will be able to update more often.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Thank you for favouriting, following, reviewing and reading my story. It's very much appreciated!

averyeve5: Here is the beginning of the summer holidays! We have a bit of James and Evelyn here, but we will have more of them in the future chapters! I'm glad that you love my James! My fic is not going to be AU. That's all I can say without giving some spoilers. Evelyn is going to play an important role in the war, but it's going to be quite different compared to the canon characters. Evelyn doesn't remember her dream and sadly, she can't decipher it at all.

Guest your fan: I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter. Summer has some pretty interesting things while fifth is my favourite year of Evelyn's years in Hogwarts. I'm happy to see that you think that my writing has improved. I'm trying to get better with every chapter I post. Evelyn trusts her friends and her friends trust Evelyn. About Rabastan, Evelyn is more hesitant for obvious reasons, but she also trusts him too in her own way.

PrincessMagic: I'm happy to see that you're reading the fic again! I hope you are enjoying the chapters I'm posting. Right now, the situation with reviews has been better these past few chapters. I have posted a few chapters in AO3 as well, but the story never gained much traffic. So, I think I'm going to stick with . Thank you for the suggestions though.

PrincessMagic: Good to see that you enjoyed the chapter :)

Next up, Jaws