DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER, BUT I OWN MY CHARACTERS.
As soon as she stepped into the Great Hall, Evelyn looked for the school's headmaster. Her heart sank when she saw the empty seat. It wasn't unusual for Dumbledore not to attend meals. A man with his schedule missed a couple of them. Yet Evelyn hated that it had to be at that moment. The moment when she desperately needed to talk to him.
She scoffed as she walked towards her house table. She had one of the worst lucks in the world, she believed. The moment she wanted to talk to Dumbledore, the man was gone. She had to hold a groan as she seated herself.
As the meal progressed, Evelyn wondered where he was. He could easily be in the Ministry or Wizengamot. This time of the year was always busy for the two institutes. The long holiday always gave them loads of work to deal with when they came back. He could also be dealing with that secret organization of his. She guessed that the organization could take just as much time as Wizengamot.
The thought of him avoiding her and Sirius purposefully crossed Evelyn's mind. She brushed the thought away as soon as she realized how impractical that was. Dumbledore wasn't scared of two teenagers. He wouldn't miss meals just because of them.
She kept on pondering about Dumbledore throughout her whole meal. She hoped that he would show up any minute. He didn't, of course. This only frustrated Evelyn more.
When everyone was done with her meal, Evelyn immediately got up from her seat. She needed to find Sirius, so she could talk to him about this.
"Where are you going?" She stopped in her tracks when she heard Barty's voice. She turned to face him only to be met with his narrowed eyes.
"Why do you care?"
His glare turned sharper. "Did you forget that we have prefect duties as soon as we finish our meal?"
Evelyn looked towards the Gryffindor table. She couldn't spot Sirius or the others in it. She found them by the exit, talking to one another.
"Yeah, you can do them on your tonight." She told Barty as she glanced at him. "Both of us know that you prefer that." Without another word, Evelyn walked away from him.
She rushed towards Sirius as fast as she could. She needed to talk to him before he disappeared with his friends.
"Sirius!" She called.
The dark-haired boy immediately turned his head when he saw her. He stayed near the exit while the other Marauders walked away from them.
"He's not here." She stated as soon as she was face-to-face with him.
"You don't say..." Sirius muttered under his breath.
Evelyn ignored him. "What should we do? Should we wait until tomorrow? We can go to his office after our classes."
"No," Sirius told her. She blinked at his response. "We need to finish this as soon as possible. We need to get our answers now."
Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows. "But he's not here. He might not even be here for days. He might be busy-"
Sirius looked over his shoulder. From the split wide look in his eyes, Evelyn knew that he had an idea. "There is McGonagall. Let's ask her where he is."
Before Evelyn could respond, Sirius had already walked away. She gaped at him before following him. As she followed him, she realized that they needed to talk about their plans in detail. His rush to get this over with made her worry about what he would do in other cases. The last thing she wanted was to make a man like Dumbledore angry.
"Professor McGonagall, good evening." Sirius greeted the head of his house. The woman turned to look at him with pursed lips. "How did your holiday treat you? You seem relaxed."
"Yes, because you and your friends weren't here," McGonagall responded without missing a beat.
Evelyn covered her mouth to hide her laugh. Sirius, on the other hand, smiled at the professor. "Aw, come on, professor, we bring joy to everyone in this castle."
"And headaches too," McGonagall added.
Sirius sighed. "Since I can already see this won't go anywhere, how about we agree to disagree?" McGonagall stared at Sirius in response. He breathed out before he spoke up "Can you please tell me where professor Dumbledore is?"
"Why do you need to talk to the headmaster?"
"I just have a few things to discuss with him..." McGonagall squinted her eyes in suspicion. "Regarding my family," Sirius added. Evelyn's lips parted at his words. "You must have heard what happened since everyone during supper was talking about it."
Evelyn hadn't noticed. She had been paying attention to Dumbledore's empty seat. She doubted that she would notice even if she was preoccupied. People from her house barely spoke two words with her.
"Yes, I've heard," McGonagall admitted. "World travels fast around here." She pressed her lips in a thin line. "I will handle everything regarding your family situation, Mr Black. I will be doing the duties of the head of your house and the headmaster's."
"The headmaster's too?"
"Yes, professor Dumbledore is occupied throughout the month and I will be doing his job as the school's deputy headmistress." Evelyn's stomach fell at the words. She had expected to finish this Dumbledore business during this week. She didn't want to wait until next month. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to attend to my duties." McGonagall picked her dress up and walked away from Sirius.
When she was out of sight, Evelyn walked towards Sirius. "We have the worst luck in the world, don't we?"
"That will be an understatement," Sirius muttered under his breath. "Where do you reckon he could be?"
"Probably fighting the war." She responded. "Or dealing with the Wizengamot. Or both."
"Great. The person who tried to manipulate has to be the best wizard in the world who can stop the war. Couldn't a loser try to manipulate us?"
Evelyn tilted her head in thought. "I don't think a loser could do something like this."
"Snivellus manages fine."
Evelyn scoffed at him. "Really?" She couldn't believe that he couldn't even hold himself back from insulting Snape.
"Sorry, I had to." Sirius began to walk around. "See you around, Lynn." He turned his back on her and gave her a wave.
Evelyn didn't return it. She turned her attention to the Great Hall again. Her eyes landed on Dumbledore's empty seat. They lingered there as she wondered when he would come back.
"So, your betrothal has ended?" Elena turned to look at her. The two of them had patrols to do together. While Evelyn had missed the other night, she knew that this night, she shouldn't. The last thing she wanted was to have complaints about neglecting her prefect duties. "You're not betrothed to Sirius anymore?"
"I'm not." Her cousin smiled in relief. "Sirius leaving his family has brought his family shame and my family doesn't want to involve themselves with that." Elena's smile was quite similar to Sirius' smile when he had shown up at James' house. It seemed like both her cousin and Sirius felt freer since the end of their betrothal. "Mr Black, Sirius' father, mentioned a betrothal to Sirius' younger brother."
"Regulus?"
"Yes." Evelyn shuddered. Regulus was a year younger than them. She believed that he was around fourteen. Betrothing a fourteen-year-old seemed even worse than betrothing a fifteen-year-old. "But grandfather refused. He doesn't want anything to do with the Black family." Evelyn hummed. "Regulus would be a better option than Sirius."
"I didn't know you liked them young."
Evelyn's attempt at humour got ignored by her cousin. "Regulus is way more controlled, quiet and less irritable. Sirius, at times, can be a menace to society."
"Come on, that's a bit mean."
"I'm right though. I've known him since we were babies. He rarely stops to think about the consequences of his actions." Evelyn's mind immediately drifted to what he had done to Snape and Remus. "He never thought what his actions would do to his family. The Lestranges didn't invite them to their New Year's Eve party because of what they did."
Evelyn scoffed at her cousin. "So, Sirius has to be mindful of their appearances? That's stupid, Elena, especially since it is common knowledge that they treated him horribly after he got into Gryffindor."
"Appearances matter, Evelyn." Elena reminded her. "You of all people should know that."
Her cousin's words stung. It made her wince at the reminder of all she lost. Her friends, her reputation and the club. "And look where it brought me." Her voice cracked as she spoke.
"Your case is not the example everyone goes through." Elena insisted. Evelyn didn't understand why her cousin was so defensive about this. Had she forgotten what her mother made Elena go through just for appearances? Or the fact that they were forcing her to marry Sirius just two weeks ago? Why was she acting as if keeping up appearances was good t begin with? "Either way, Regulus isn't an option either anymore. I'm most likely going to marry Evan."
"Rosier?" Evelyn repeated.
Elena nodded. "He is the best option. Of all the other candidates, he actually is interested in me and he will keep me safe."
"And like the rest of the other candidates, his future is in Azkaban." Evelyn pointed out.
"We don't know that." Elena pointed out. Evelyn begged to differ. She knew that it was certain that Evan Rosier was going to be a Death Eater. The only question was if he was going to die before he got thrown into Azkaban. "Besides, if he ends up in Azkaban, I will still be safe. His assets will be controlled by me and later on, by our children."
"But he will be in Azkaban because he committed crimes-"
"How does that impact me?" Elena cut her off.
Evelyn had always known she and her cousin were different. In her second year, she believed that they would never see eye-to-eye. During her third and fourth years, she started to change her mind. A few weeks ago, Evelyn had thought they could understand each other, especially after they communicated. She seemed to have been wrong. To this day, their values were too different for them to be on the same page.
"He will be your husband. You know that means you will be-" Evelyn meant to remind Elena that Evan would most likely kill people. Elena didn't let her.
"And I won't miss him if he is locked in Azkaban," Elena informed. This information took Evelyn back. She even took a step back in surprise. "I'm not looking for love in my marriage with Evan. I'm looking for safety and being provided for."
"That's not-"
"I know this stands against everything you believe, Evelyn. I don't care." Elena didn't let her speak. "I know that my future life will be your worst nightmare, but it will be my best option. Unlike you, I'm not naïve enough to believe that true love exists."
"I don't believe that." She had never been romantic enough to believe in true love. She was even less so after what happened with Rabastan.
"Maybe not, but you do believe in love and you think it should be a marriage's foundation." Elena continued to speak. At this point, Evelyn doubted that her cousin would let her utter an actual sentence. "In my opinion, a partnership is the foundation. Evan and I have it despite what you think."
Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't think anything."
Her cousin rolled her eyes. "You do. No offence, but you are one of those people that have opinions about everything."
Evelyn didn't know that was a bad thing. Her family and friends had always liked that she was opinionated and outspoken. She knew that there were times when she talked too much, but she never thought being opinionated was wrong.
"So, despite what you think, I think I will be happy."
"I'm sure you will be," Evelyn told her. Elena's eyes widened. "However, I never got to share my true opinion. Yes, I don't think arranged marriages are always good because most of them are forced. I'm not judging you for that, Elena. During your whole speech about this, you never mentioned the most important detail about your future with Evan."
"And what is that?"
"If he becomes a Death Eater," Evelyn used 'if' due to politeness. They both knew that it was more of a 'when'. "he will most likely kill innocent people." Elena's face fell at her words. "You didn't seem to be bothered by it."
"Of course, I am. I just have no choice."
"But you do." Evelyn insisted. "You do have the choice just like my mum and Sirius did."
Elena shook her head. "You see, cousin, you still don't understand. I don't have a choice not only because of my position but because of my character too. I'm not your mum or Sirius, I'm Elena and I know my limits." Her cousin lifted her chin as she spoke. "I've made my peace about it. It's time you do too."
For the rest of their rounds, they didn't talk. A tense silence fell between them. Evelyn knew that whatever she said to her cousin would fall on deaf ears. She also knew that whatever her cousin would say to her would probably fall on deaf ears. Their opinions were too different for them to reach a compromise, she realized. As much as they could try, it would never work.
Maybe it was for the best that Evelyn made her peace with it. She had helped Elena enough, she believed. There was nothing else she could do at his point.
Evelyn stared at the essay in her hand. She kept reading McGonagall's note on the top of the parchment.
'Not your best work. Read the material more thoroughly next time.'
She felt as if a curse had hit her. A curse that took her breath away every few minutes and made her world spin.
She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that she had done a bad job in her Transfiguration essay. She had lost sleep to finish this essay. The end result of it was a look of disappointment from McGonagall. She had never thought that she would be on the receiving end of that look. It was almost as bad as her dad's disapproval looks. It made Evelyn sick and embarrassed. It made her want to curl inside a blanket and cry all day.
The failed essay served as a reminder that she wasn't going to get all Os in her OWLs as she had planned. She was going to fail.
Out of a sudden, she felt someone tug the sleeve of her robes. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned around. She ended up meeting the grey eyes of none other than Sirius Black.
"Hi, Sirius." She greeted him.
He scowled at her. "At least, pretend to be happy to see me." Evelyn didn't even bother to do that. She had given up on false politeness these days. "Are you okay?"
His question made her straighten up. "Yes. Why would you ask me that?"
"First, you look like a ghost." He spoke truthfully. Evelyn didn't know if she should be annoyed or grateful. "Second, you are heading towards the basement when you have no reason to go there, especially when many people there hate you." Sirius was referring to the boys that she supposedly had sex with and their girlfriends who hated them. Most of them were from Hufflepuff. "And third, you are holding that parchment as if it's the only reason you live."
Evelyn looked down at her essay. She had been gripping it so tightly that it was partly wrinkled. She released the pressure a bit and sighed.
"My Transfiguration essay?"
"Let me guess, you revolutionized the whole subject with your essay?"
"No, I did a bad job at it."
Sirius laughed. She pursed her lips in response. He stopped laughing as he read her expression. "Oh, you're not taking the piss." She shook her head. "Let me see that."
He took the essay from her. She didn't bother to stop him. She deserved the humiliation with what she wrote.
"It says here that this wasn't your best work." Sirius pointed out. "It doesn't say you did bad."
"I did worse than usual," Evelyn told him as she got her essay. "That's a bad job. An essay like this will not guarantee me an O."
Sirius shrugged. "Who cares? You need an E to take the class next year."
"But I want an O."
Sirius chuckled. "Too bad for you then."
Evelyn glared at him. It seemed like she didn't like the humiliation. She still had pride even though she had lost most of her dignity in these last few months. "See you around, Sirius."
As she was about to walk away, he stopped her by stepping in front of her. "What if I have an idea that could benefit both of us?" She raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what he could offer her. "How about I tutor you in Transfiguration?"
"You?" She said in disbelief.
"Yes, me," Sirius responded. "Believe it or not, I'm one of the best students in Transfiguration." Evelyn inspected Sirius as he said. She knew that Sirius was a skilled wizard. She had seen a lot of his pranks to see that he had quite the skill, but she never thought he was one of the top students in Transfiguration. "Under my tutelage, you can get an O in Transfiguration."
Evelyn crossed her arms. "And what do you want from me?"
"Teach me the Patronus charm." He immediately replied. "I've wanted to learn it and I know you can do it."
"And are you sure that you're good at Transfiguration?"
Sirius chuckled. "You have that little trust in me? You've hurt my feelings, Lynn" He pouted his lips and put a hand on his chest.
"Fine," Evelyn mumbled. "Meet me in the library after classes tomorrow."
"I can't meet you in the library after classes." She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "I have a lifelong ban from it. I can always risk it, I wouldn't mind doing that-"
"Why do you have a lifelong ban?" She questioned him. She had heard of people being banned for days or weeks. She had never known that a lifelong ban could exist. "I didn't know it existed."
"I was the inventor of it, actually." Sirius grinned as he told her. She guessed that the ban was similar to an award for him. "I just needed to make some shelves fall and accidentally burn some rare books to get it. It wasn't that hard"
Elena had been right, Evelyn thought to herself. Sirius was a menace to society.
"So, we need another place to study, right?" Sirius nodded his head in response. "It needs to be somewhere private that not many people know." He again nodded. An idea came to her mind. She thought of ignoring it at first but decided it was the best option. "I might have an idea." She told him and he raised an eyebrow at her.
Evelyn waited a few minutes for Sirius to arrive at their meeting place. As she waited for him, she got her Ancient Runes book out and started to read. She needed to read the chapter that they had learned today. As she was about to finish the chapter, she heard someone run towards her.
She looked up to see Sirius approach. She put the book in her bag and moved to face him.
"What are we doing in here?" He asked as he looked around. "What kind of a secret place are you taking me in? How come I've never heard of it?"
"It's called the Room of Requirements," Evelyn whispered to him. "I have no idea how you of all people haven't heard of this place. I was quite surprised to find out that you didn't know it" She added. "Now, follow me."
He did so without a word.
Evelyn shuddered as they made their way. She thought back to the last time she had been here. The room had been her downfall. Everything had started to go downhill from the moment she entered the room. She had started to see Rabastan in a different light, she had a pregnancy scare and that night in that room allowed Rabastan to spread those vicious rumours about her. She doubted that she would ever find out how he had persuaded those boys. Her best guess was money, but even that theory had no real evidence.
She stopped before the wall. Sirius did as well. "Why are we stopping in front of a wall?"
"Be patient." She told him. "Look around to see if we're alone."
Evelyn closed her eyes. As soon as she thought of the room they needed, a door appeared.
"What the bloody hell?" Sirius muttered behind her.
Evelyn beckoned him. "Come on." She opened the door and entered. Sirius followed her.
The room was quite different than it had been before. It was smaller. There was no canopy bed. No table with two chairs and candles. There wasn't anything romantic about this room. The sight of it made Evelyn sigh in relief. The difference made her way more comfortable than she thought she could be. Instead of the bed, table and candles, the room held desks, two chairs and a blackboard. The windows were the same, Evelyn realized. It didn't bother though.
"This is the Room of Requirements." She announced. "It fills each need a person has apart from food or people."
She turned to Sirius who was looking at the room in awe. "So, if I wanted a pool, it would appear."
Sirius' words reminded her of Carter saying that there was a hidden pool in Hogwarts. The thought of her friend made her heart tug. She had seen them around, but she refused to speak to them. They seemed to be on the same page as her.
"Yes." She responded to him. "I would prefer if you didn't ask for a pool. That's the last thing we need right now." She motioned to the desk, two chairs and blackboard. "All we need is that."
"Boring." Sirius retorted.
Evelyn ignored him. She moved to the desk where she put her bag. "Now, let's focus on the tutoring." She began to say. "I think we should start with Transfiguration first. There is something I didn't get in today's lesson."
"Is this where you come when you don't attend the meals?"
Evelyn froze at his question. Since she had come back to Hogwarts, she had been quite irregular with going to meals. Honestly, she had been irregular since her fight with her friends. Mostly, it had to do with her strict schedule studying. Little, it had to do with the feeling of loneliness in each meal she attended.
"How did you notice that"
"It's hard to miss the only platinum-blonde girl on the Ravenclaw table. You're like those road signs that muggles have." Sirius responded as he walked up towards her. "So, why are you missing on meals? Is it because of the rumours?"
"No." Evelyn lied. "I'm used to dealing with that." Another lie. "It's just that I'm busy with my studying schedule."
"You neglect your meals to study?" He repeated. She flushed at the question. "Have you gone mad?"
"No. I might be a bit distracted by my studies sometimes, but it's under control-"
"If it is under control, I guess I should warn you that James is thinking about writing to your mum."
"What?!" She exclaimed. "He can't do that! Who does he think he is?!"
"A friend who is worried about you." Sirius reminded her. "And a friend who actually goes through with his words."
"It's nothing to be concerned about." Evelyn insisted. If her mum found out, she would freak out. She would probably ask Flitwick to monitor her. Evelyn didn't want that. She didn't want to worry her mum or Flitwick. She just wanted to be left alone and do her thing. "I admit that I might get carried away by my studies sometimes-"
"That's concerning."
Evelyn groaned. "Fine. It is concerning." She told him. "But right now, studying is all I have, Sirius. Most of the school hates me, the club kicked me out and I have no friends to share the meals with." Evelyn missed the way Sirius' eyebrows rose at her last words. "So, yeah, I need to study right now. I need to focus on my grades and the OWLs." She wanted this term to be over already. It would be the last term before she could leave and head to Ilvermorny. She was sure that her life would improve when she left school. "Now, can we please start to study before I lose my mind?"
"Sure." Sirius drawled. Her shoulders dropped at his answer. She felt grateful that he had decided to not press on the matter anymore. "So, what didn't you understand about today's lesson?"
When Saturday rolled around, Evelyn knew that she couldn't avoid the Great Hall anymore. She needed to eat. Not only because of the looming threat of James telling on her, but also, because she was starving. It seemed like a single meal couldn't hold back her starvation. She needed to eat if she wanted to function.
So, with a heavy heart, Evelyn made her way to the Great Hall.
As she walked inside it, she immediately felt eyes on her. She had been used to people looking at her. A part of her liked the attention she received from people. She didn't like this attention though. She would rather be invisible to the whole world than live under these eyes and listen to all these rumours about her.
Evelyn tried her best to focus her attention on the noise. If she focused on the noise, she could drown the looks and the words directed at her.
When she sat down though, a whole other feeling overwhelmed her. The empty seats around her reminded her of her situation. She was alone. She had no friends. The whole school hated her. Those facts were worse than all the looks and rumours. She knew that if she had her friends, she would be in a much better state.
But she didn't. She didn't have anyone. She most likely would be alone until she left for Ilvermorny. She just needed to get used to that.
Evelyn kept her head down as she ate her meat. Keeping her head down helped her to avoid eye contact with people. It also prevented her from looking in her friends' direction. She didn't want to seem desperate and pathetic to them. The one thing that she hadn't lost this year was her pride. She was going to hold on to that one until the bitter end.
"Can we sit here?"
She turned her head around just to see Remus standing on her left side. Standing next to Remus was Peter who gave her a small wave when she met his eyes.
Evelyn blinked in surprise a few times. She didn't know what surprised her more. The fact that they wanted to sit with her or the fact that they wanted to sit at the Ravenclaw table. The Marauders always ate their meals together and even had a designated place on their house's table.
"Sure." Evelyn found herself saying.
Remus sat down next to her and Peter took the other seat on her right. When she turned her face in the right direction, she saw that James and Sirius were sitting on the other side of the table as well. How come she didn't notice them at all?
When they all sat down, Evelyn cleared her throat. "Are you taking pity on me?"
"In a way, yes," Sirius responded. She lowered her chin at his admission. As she did, she noticed all the other boys glare at Sirius. "But it's more in the way of helping you out rather than full-blown pity."
She nodded. "Thank you for your honesty…" She trailed off. "and thank you for sitting down to eat with me."
"You don't need to thank us," James told her. She looked up at him. "I've always wanted to sit at the Ravenclaw table. I always wondered if it would make me feel smarter."
"You need a brain to feel smarter." Peter joked. The other two boys laughed at his joke. All Evelyn could manage was a small smile.
James narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Hey, I'm plenty smart." He defended himself. "I have good grades."
"You also couldn't tell a dark blue sock from a black one today." Remus pointed out.
"Because I didn't have my glasses." James defended himself. "How many times should I tell you that I'm visually challenged?" He turned to look at her. "They never get it, Lynn. They consistently forget that I cannot see without my glasses."
"Maybe you should prank them by making them live a day as you," Evelyn suggested to James.
Sirius gaped at her. "That's an evil idea."
"That's an excellent idea," James said at the same time as Sirius. "For you all to understand my struggles, you need to live in my shoes."
"I'm not going to let you touch my beautiful eyes." Sirius snapped at his friend as he covered his eyelids.
James scowled. "Beautiful? There is nothing beautiful about your basic grey eyes."
"Basic?" Sirius repeated. "How many people do you know with grey eyes?"
"Most of the Sacred Twenty-Eight has grey eyes because of all the inbreeding." Peter and Remus started to laugh at his words. "My eyes are way more special."
"What's special about brown eyes?"
James let out such a loud gasp that people looked at them. "Brown?!" He exclaimed. "I don't have brown eyes! They are hazel!"
"Hazel?" Sirius let out a laugh. "Because they have a bit of a green in it?"
"Exactly." James insisted. "And there is way more than just a bit green to it."
The two other boys continued to argue about who had the most special eye colour. Evelyn and the two others listened to them as they ate.
"You need to get used to this," Remus whispered to her.
"Their bickering? I'm quite used to seeing people bicker-"
"No, the eye colour debate." Peter interrupted her. Evelyn turned to look at him in surprise. "It has been going on since the first year."
"Every year, we think that it's over, but they find a way to debate about it the next year," Remus explained to her. "It was funny at first…"
"Until it became annoying." Peter finished for Remus.
Evelyn pressed her lips together suppressing her smile. Maybe Evelyn of a year ago would be annoyed by this pointless debate. However, with what she went through, Evelyn found herself enjoying the debate. She would rather listen to a silly debate rather than the silence that she had been dealing with for months.
Sorry for the very late update. I have been busy and suffering through a long writer's block (I think I am still suffering from it). Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think.
Next up, Rectangle + One