Chapter 1: The New Girl in Gryffindor
It happened many years ago, when they were still in Hogwarts.
Evelyn Hollow, a nice looking girl, with long and curly dark brown hair and blue eyes, was one of the many first years students who entered Hogwarts that year. She was sorted into Gryffindor, and joined her house table with a huge smile.
Severus Snape, a fifth year Slytherin, was a tall boy, with black hair and black eyes which reminded of dark, hidden secrets, and his face was really pale but quite nice. He didn't pay any attention to the sorting ceremony; he was looking to the Gryffindor table, though, a look in his eyes that only reflected one thing: loathing. He was looking at James Potter, a fifth year Gryffindor, and his friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, "the pitiest one" he thought. The Marauders, as those fifth year Gryffindors called themselves, were known in Hogwarts as the most terrible rule breakers ever, giving Fich many headaches, and Dumbledore some good laughs. But Severus hated them; he was the target of many of the Marauder's jokes.
"So... your name is Evelyn, right?"
"Ehmm..." – Eve Hollow was felling a bit dizzy with all the things that had happened that day; her trip in the Hogwarts Express, Prof. McGonagall's welcome speech, the Sorting Ceremony... so, she just wasn't very talkative right then. "Yes... but everybody call me Eve..."
"Aha... well then, welcome to Hogwarts! I'm Sirius Black, fifth year Gryffindor!" – the boy speaking was very tall, with black short hair, dark eyes and a nice face, but with a mischievous look in his eyes. "And these are my friends, Remus Lupin, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew" – he pointed to the boy sitting next to him; he had light brown hair, a little bit untidy, a beautiful face, and he was already eating the dinner that had just appeared in the plates. He wasn't as tall as his friend, and there was a slight look of sadness in his eyes, although his smile was true. The boy's name was Remus Lupin. In front of them, sitting at the other side of the table, next to Eve, there was a boy with black hair, very untidy and stuck up at the back. He was wearing round glasses, and he also had a mischievous look in his blue eyes. He was almost as tall as Sirius, but was very thin, and he had a cute face as well. He was James Potter. And next to James, there was a small boy, who didn't have a gracious face like his friends; in fact, his face reminded a little bit of a rat's. He had dark hair and dark eyes, which were really small. And instead of mischievousness or sadness, his eyes had a look of "I really don't understand anything at all", matching perfectly with his foolish smile. This boy was Peter Pettigrew.
"The cute one next to Peter is Lily Evans" continued Sirius, with a broad smile on his face. Lily was a pretty girl, with long dark red hair and beautiful green eyes. She smiled nicely to Eve. Then, Sirius' smile changed into an evil grin. "I wonder... hey, James, why did you put Peter between you and Lily?".
James Potter blushed furiously. "I didn't put Peter anywhere. He just sat there, Sirius!". Lily giggled a bit.
"Ah!" Peter looked at James, then at Lily, then at Sirius, then again at James. "But... Why didn't you tell me, James?" Peter stood up quickly, almost falling from his chair, and pointed to his seat, inviting James to sit there. Sirius and Remus exploded in laughter, as James blushed even more furiously.
"It's ok, Peter. Sit down. I'm fine here". James said, with a bit of anger in his voice. Now Lily was also blushing.
"Alright, alright", Sirius said, still laughing. "Alright... you've just met The Marauders, Miss Hollow. I hope you'll have as much fun with us as we will having it with you".
Eve looked very scared.
"Hey, don't worry. Sirius, stop saying that stuff to the first years; you know our only target are the Slytherins, over there" - James said. "And speaking of the devil", James looked at Eve, "it's time for you to know that you better don't get close to the Slytherins. They're a horrible bunch of dark wizards, you know? Look over there" – he pointed to the Slytherin table. "There's Lucius Malfoy, the blonde one, and his girlfriend, Narcissa... Evan Rosier, Melanie Wilkes, the cute blonde over there... Lestrange and his girlfriend over there, Avery (what a moron! We put him a Sneezing Curse last year... it was so easy!)... oh, and of course, the one you really don't want to be close to, that slimy, oily, greasy-haired fool, Severus Snape."
Eve looked at them, trying to assimilate as much information about the Slytherins as she could, being like she was, nervous, being teased by the terrible Marauders, and very hungry.
Dinner was over, and everybody left to their common rooms to sleep. And days passed by for all Hogwarts students; and after September, came November and December, and on December 13th, there was unusual excitement in all common rooms. There was a big poster on every common room announcing the creation of the Dueling Club, where students from all courses would be able to learn some dueling techniques and practice what they have learnt.
"This is our chance to put a bunch of curses on Snape!!" – was the first thing James said.
"Mhhh... the Dueling Club starts on December 18th... that's good! I will be able to join!" – said Remus, looking really happy.
"At last! Our chance to prove that we're more than just a bunch of rule- breakers.... we're genious! And we will show them! Look! McGonagall will be one of the teachers and judges... we must make her very proud of having us in her house!" Sirius said, with excitement sparkling in his eyes.
"Awww... oh, no!" moaned Peter. Everytime the Marauders were dueling themselves, Peter was the one receiving all the curses. He simply sucked at dueling.
"Hey, Lily! Eve!" shouted Sirius, when Lily was entering the common room followed by Eve. "Come here!"
Eve and Lily looked at the poster. Lily looked very excited.
"Are you joining, James? There will be a Dueling Tournament, and the winner gets 200 points for his house..." asked Lily.
"Yes, of course I'm joining!" replied James.
"Of course he's joining, Lily. He wants to impress you, right?" said Sirius.
"Oh... I'm joining as well. Let's see who impresses who". Lily looked at James. She tried to sound very confident and sour, but the look in her eyes was way too sweet to believe that she was actually challenging James.
"We've heard that you're very good in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Eve"- said Remus "as well as in Charms, Transfiguration, Potions... every single subject. But you're very famous because of your DADA knowledge... Prof. Crane told us that you know more curses and countercurses than most of the 7th grade students, and that your level at some defense spells equals some graduated wizards and witches. I think you should join the Dueling Club".
"Yes... it is amazing how muggles can have children with such magical skills..."- said Sirius. "When I look at you and Lily, I wonder how come that you know so much about magic, even more than the ones who come from magical families..." Sirius tried to look directly into Eve's eyes, but she looked away. "There's so much power in you, little girl..."
"That's true"- added James. "You've got a special gift, Eve. You're a very special witch for what we've heard..."
"Special?"- asked Eve. "But... what have you heard? I'm just a common student...."
"COMMON STUDENT?? A common student gets 140 out of 100 in the first DADA test of her life??"- asked Sirius, lowering his voice a little when he noticed that everybody in the common room was looking at him.
"Oh, leave her alone"- Lily joined the conversation. "You told me the same when I was in first grade, you are so annoying some times! All because you don't like to visit the Library... I'm sure Eve spends a lot of time studying, right?"
"Yes, I study a lot, you know?!"- added Eve, and then she turned to Remus, avoiding Sirius' look. "I think I will join the Dueling Club, Remus. It will be fun."
The Dueling Club started on December 18th, as announced, and it was indeed a good experience for all students who joined. James wasn't able to put any terrible curses in Severus, though, because teachers were constantly watching the students during the dueling classes; still, everytime James and Severus had to duel each other, the look in their eyes clearly showed how much they hated each other, and one could guess that as soon as one teacher looked away in the wrong moment, they would put the worst curse they had in mind to make the other suffer. Maybe the teachers noticed this, because they were extremely cautious when watching over them. Peter Pettigrew, as always, ended up in the Hospital Wing at least twenty times; Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were dueling each other all the time, and their laughter filled the dueling classroom, as Remus used a Monkey-face spell on Sirius, and Sirius a Lady's Body spell on Remus. Prof. McGonagall had to intervene to stop them, saying that they wouldn't go too far in a real duel if they were to put those ridiculous and useless spells on their foes.
Lily Evans did an excellent performance during the dueling classes, as she was quick and used some very efficient spells on her opponents.
But the star of the Dueling Club was undoubtely Eve Hollow. Nobody could believe that a first year student could be so terrible when dueling. She was quick, fearless, confident, and she used some really difficult spells most of the students had forgotten or thought they weren't cool to use. The best part of her performance was during her duel with Narcissa, Lucius Malfoy's girlfriend. Narcissa was well known among the Slytherins and in Hogwarts as a cheater while dueling. She used some really low spells for blocking, or was constantly talking, to distract her opponents. She also knew some mean curses, which he tried to use on Eve. But Eve knew the countercurses, and that completely annoyed Narcissa. And, to everybody's surprise, Eve defeated Narcissa in less than five minutes. Narcissa ran to Lucius' arms, crying and shouting, completely embarassed, and then, the Slytherins surrounded Eve. There she was, alone in the middle of a group of Slytherins, all of them with their wands ready. All of a sudden, she wasn't the fearless Eve Hollow dueling with a fifth year Slythering and winning; now, she was again eleven years old Eve Hollow, first year Gryffindor, surrounded by many fifth year Slytherins who absolutely hated her, and ready to attack her. She looked around, and saw Prof. McGonagall approaching alongside with Prof. Dumbledore; she also saw the Marauders, Sirius, James and Remus (Peter was just sent to the Hospital Wing, again), trying to get close to her, and.... Severus Snape. But he wasn't in the group surrounding her. He was apart, looking directly to her. She didn't like that look; it was shrewd and calculating.
When the Slytherins saw Prof. Dumbledore, they moved apart, leaving a scared and nervous Eve being calmed down by Remus and Lily, while Sirius and James were cursing the Slytherings with some words they were lucky Prof McGonagall didn't hear.
And the Dueling Tournament day arrived, on December 23th. The Great Hall tables were moved closer to the walls, and there were many seats where the teachers and most of the students were sitting. At the professors' table were sitting Prof. Crane, a very tall, thin and fragile man who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, Prof. McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, Prof. Flitwick, Charms teacher, and Prof. Dumbledore, the Headmaster, who were the judges of the Tournament. The tournament was one of the best events ever hosted at Hogwarts; all competitors used their best spells (even Sirius and Remus, who this time used some serious and effective spells, but they were complaining because the lack of laughing during the dueling tournament), and soon, one by one, some of them were left behind. The rest of the school was watching and cheering their houses and friends, and the teachers were very proud of their students, for they had learnt some very usefull techniques for defense and attack.
Severus Snape and Eve Hollow never really looked at each other; they never met in a corridor while walking to classes, or in breakfast; they never met in the library, or in the outdoors. And then they found themselves facing each other in one of the semifinals matchs of the Dueling Tournament. A fifth year boy facing a first year girl, a Slytherin against a Gryffindor. Nobody was surprised of Severus being one semifinalist, everybody knew that he was a genious using spells and curses, even when he was a first year student. But they were all surprised because Eve got this far in the tournament, because she came from a muggle family. Also, many people noticed the coincidence between them; Severus was already a curses and spells genious when entering Hogwarts, and now he was facing another spells genious who was a first year. Severus, of course, was very confident of himself, for he saw a slight shadow of doubt in Eve's eyes. "She's nervous... good" – he thought -"this should be easy..."
"Are you ready to duel, muggle? Or you don't know what is a Wizards Duel at all?"
"Of course I know what is a Wizards Duel... didn't you see what happened to your friend, Narcissa?"
And the duel begun. It was one of the most amazing duels of the Tournament. Everybody was very excited; Severus was very calmed and quiet, attacking just when necessary and blocking when needed. Eve was a lot more temperamental and impulsive, but she didn't let Severus' image of extreme self confidence frighten her; in fact, she looked very confident of herself as well. They were dueling for about ten minutes, being both of them in real trouble many times; there were times when everybody thought Eve would win, and there were times when Severus was just about to defeat her.
And then, it happened.
Of all humilliations he had to suffer from the Marauders, of all the most terrible nightmares he ever had... this was the worst.
Eve used the Blank-Mind Spell on Severus one second he was off guard. Severus didn't even notice when exactly he lost concentration, but one thing was for sure: she was paying attention to all his moves, and now he noticed that until she put that spell on him, she wasn't really dueling at all... she was just... playing with him. The Blank-Mind Spell was a really difficult one to put on him, because she needed Severus to be absolutely off guard, a high level of self-concentration to cast it, and a wand weaving which would have warned Severus if he just didn't lose concentration for one second. Severus stood there absolutely blank-minded, and for a couple of seconds he just couldn't think of anything at all; those two seconds were enough for Eve.
"Expelliarmus!"- Severus' wand fled away from his hand just when he recovered his mind.
1.1 "Accio wand! "– and now his wand was on Eve's hand.
The whole school, including teachers, exploded in applauses and ovations. This was the most thrilling, amazing and wizard-like duel of the Tournament with no doubt. Prof. McGonagall ran to Eve and congratulated her, and so did James, Lily, the rest of the Marauders and almost the whole Gryffindor house. But nobody noticed that Severus was shocked and furious, and none of the Slytherins said a word to him when he walked past them leaving the Great Hall. Only Narcissa spoke to him while he was leaving.
"You were supposed to take revenge on me! But a muggle defeated you!!"
After a few more matches, James Potter was the winner of the Dueling Tournament. 200 points were added to Gryffindor, plus a cup and the great honor of having all three places, with Lily and Sirius in 2nd and 3rd place. Professor McGonagall was indeed proud of her students, and she smiled when James, followed by the rest of the Marauders, gave her the Cup, with a mischiveous grin which was clearly saying "See? We're more than common pranksters!".
Human reactions are so impresive, though. While Severus Snape never wanted to see Eve Hollow again in his entire life, Eve Hollow found the greasy- haired boy quite amusing. She though he would be extremely rude and vulgar, as she heard so many times the Marauders' oppinion on the Slytherin boy. But she found a sour, quiet boy, with a look of mystery and many secrets deep inside his black eyes, and a flawless sense of perfection when it came of spells and curses, and all those qualities amazed Eve, since she was expecting a real monster. So, she decided to find out more about this mysterious boy, and she found herself following him, talking to him (even if he didn't talk back), wanting to know everything about him, and developing a crush on the Slytherin boy. And soon, Severus' patience was lost, and he just had to give short answers to her questions, and stop pretending that he didn't see her in the corridors, or she would follow him until he did see her; he tried his best to avoid her, to get rid of her, puting some surses on her and calling her names, but it didn't work. He hated her so much for what happened at the Dueling Tournamest, and he just couldn't believe that still she was trying to become friends with him; he was amazed that this girl was so foolish to not to notice that she was a Gryffindor and he was a Slytherin, so a friendship between them was something that would never, ever, happen. But the muggle girl didn't give up at all.
It happened many years ago, when they were still in Hogwarts.
Evelyn Hollow, a nice looking girl, with long and curly dark brown hair and blue eyes, was one of the many first years students who entered Hogwarts that year. She was sorted into Gryffindor, and joined her house table with a huge smile.
Severus Snape, a fifth year Slytherin, was a tall boy, with black hair and black eyes which reminded of dark, hidden secrets, and his face was really pale but quite nice. He didn't pay any attention to the sorting ceremony; he was looking to the Gryffindor table, though, a look in his eyes that only reflected one thing: loathing. He was looking at James Potter, a fifth year Gryffindor, and his friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, "the pitiest one" he thought. The Marauders, as those fifth year Gryffindors called themselves, were known in Hogwarts as the most terrible rule breakers ever, giving Fich many headaches, and Dumbledore some good laughs. But Severus hated them; he was the target of many of the Marauder's jokes.
"So... your name is Evelyn, right?"
"Ehmm..." – Eve Hollow was felling a bit dizzy with all the things that had happened that day; her trip in the Hogwarts Express, Prof. McGonagall's welcome speech, the Sorting Ceremony... so, she just wasn't very talkative right then. "Yes... but everybody call me Eve..."
"Aha... well then, welcome to Hogwarts! I'm Sirius Black, fifth year Gryffindor!" – the boy speaking was very tall, with black short hair, dark eyes and a nice face, but with a mischievous look in his eyes. "And these are my friends, Remus Lupin, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew" – he pointed to the boy sitting next to him; he had light brown hair, a little bit untidy, a beautiful face, and he was already eating the dinner that had just appeared in the plates. He wasn't as tall as his friend, and there was a slight look of sadness in his eyes, although his smile was true. The boy's name was Remus Lupin. In front of them, sitting at the other side of the table, next to Eve, there was a boy with black hair, very untidy and stuck up at the back. He was wearing round glasses, and he also had a mischievous look in his blue eyes. He was almost as tall as Sirius, but was very thin, and he had a cute face as well. He was James Potter. And next to James, there was a small boy, who didn't have a gracious face like his friends; in fact, his face reminded a little bit of a rat's. He had dark hair and dark eyes, which were really small. And instead of mischievousness or sadness, his eyes had a look of "I really don't understand anything at all", matching perfectly with his foolish smile. This boy was Peter Pettigrew.
"The cute one next to Peter is Lily Evans" continued Sirius, with a broad smile on his face. Lily was a pretty girl, with long dark red hair and beautiful green eyes. She smiled nicely to Eve. Then, Sirius' smile changed into an evil grin. "I wonder... hey, James, why did you put Peter between you and Lily?".
James Potter blushed furiously. "I didn't put Peter anywhere. He just sat there, Sirius!". Lily giggled a bit.
"Ah!" Peter looked at James, then at Lily, then at Sirius, then again at James. "But... Why didn't you tell me, James?" Peter stood up quickly, almost falling from his chair, and pointed to his seat, inviting James to sit there. Sirius and Remus exploded in laughter, as James blushed even more furiously.
"It's ok, Peter. Sit down. I'm fine here". James said, with a bit of anger in his voice. Now Lily was also blushing.
"Alright, alright", Sirius said, still laughing. "Alright... you've just met The Marauders, Miss Hollow. I hope you'll have as much fun with us as we will having it with you".
Eve looked very scared.
"Hey, don't worry. Sirius, stop saying that stuff to the first years; you know our only target are the Slytherins, over there" - James said. "And speaking of the devil", James looked at Eve, "it's time for you to know that you better don't get close to the Slytherins. They're a horrible bunch of dark wizards, you know? Look over there" – he pointed to the Slytherin table. "There's Lucius Malfoy, the blonde one, and his girlfriend, Narcissa... Evan Rosier, Melanie Wilkes, the cute blonde over there... Lestrange and his girlfriend over there, Avery (what a moron! We put him a Sneezing Curse last year... it was so easy!)... oh, and of course, the one you really don't want to be close to, that slimy, oily, greasy-haired fool, Severus Snape."
Eve looked at them, trying to assimilate as much information about the Slytherins as she could, being like she was, nervous, being teased by the terrible Marauders, and very hungry.
Dinner was over, and everybody left to their common rooms to sleep. And days passed by for all Hogwarts students; and after September, came November and December, and on December 13th, there was unusual excitement in all common rooms. There was a big poster on every common room announcing the creation of the Dueling Club, where students from all courses would be able to learn some dueling techniques and practice what they have learnt.
"This is our chance to put a bunch of curses on Snape!!" – was the first thing James said.
"Mhhh... the Dueling Club starts on December 18th... that's good! I will be able to join!" – said Remus, looking really happy.
"At last! Our chance to prove that we're more than just a bunch of rule- breakers.... we're genious! And we will show them! Look! McGonagall will be one of the teachers and judges... we must make her very proud of having us in her house!" Sirius said, with excitement sparkling in his eyes.
"Awww... oh, no!" moaned Peter. Everytime the Marauders were dueling themselves, Peter was the one receiving all the curses. He simply sucked at dueling.
"Hey, Lily! Eve!" shouted Sirius, when Lily was entering the common room followed by Eve. "Come here!"
Eve and Lily looked at the poster. Lily looked very excited.
"Are you joining, James? There will be a Dueling Tournament, and the winner gets 200 points for his house..." asked Lily.
"Yes, of course I'm joining!" replied James.
"Of course he's joining, Lily. He wants to impress you, right?" said Sirius.
"Oh... I'm joining as well. Let's see who impresses who". Lily looked at James. She tried to sound very confident and sour, but the look in her eyes was way too sweet to believe that she was actually challenging James.
"We've heard that you're very good in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Eve"- said Remus "as well as in Charms, Transfiguration, Potions... every single subject. But you're very famous because of your DADA knowledge... Prof. Crane told us that you know more curses and countercurses than most of the 7th grade students, and that your level at some defense spells equals some graduated wizards and witches. I think you should join the Dueling Club".
"Yes... it is amazing how muggles can have children with such magical skills..."- said Sirius. "When I look at you and Lily, I wonder how come that you know so much about magic, even more than the ones who come from magical families..." Sirius tried to look directly into Eve's eyes, but she looked away. "There's so much power in you, little girl..."
"That's true"- added James. "You've got a special gift, Eve. You're a very special witch for what we've heard..."
"Special?"- asked Eve. "But... what have you heard? I'm just a common student...."
"COMMON STUDENT?? A common student gets 140 out of 100 in the first DADA test of her life??"- asked Sirius, lowering his voice a little when he noticed that everybody in the common room was looking at him.
"Oh, leave her alone"- Lily joined the conversation. "You told me the same when I was in first grade, you are so annoying some times! All because you don't like to visit the Library... I'm sure Eve spends a lot of time studying, right?"
"Yes, I study a lot, you know?!"- added Eve, and then she turned to Remus, avoiding Sirius' look. "I think I will join the Dueling Club, Remus. It will be fun."
The Dueling Club started on December 18th, as announced, and it was indeed a good experience for all students who joined. James wasn't able to put any terrible curses in Severus, though, because teachers were constantly watching the students during the dueling classes; still, everytime James and Severus had to duel each other, the look in their eyes clearly showed how much they hated each other, and one could guess that as soon as one teacher looked away in the wrong moment, they would put the worst curse they had in mind to make the other suffer. Maybe the teachers noticed this, because they were extremely cautious when watching over them. Peter Pettigrew, as always, ended up in the Hospital Wing at least twenty times; Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were dueling each other all the time, and their laughter filled the dueling classroom, as Remus used a Monkey-face spell on Sirius, and Sirius a Lady's Body spell on Remus. Prof. McGonagall had to intervene to stop them, saying that they wouldn't go too far in a real duel if they were to put those ridiculous and useless spells on their foes.
Lily Evans did an excellent performance during the dueling classes, as she was quick and used some very efficient spells on her opponents.
But the star of the Dueling Club was undoubtely Eve Hollow. Nobody could believe that a first year student could be so terrible when dueling. She was quick, fearless, confident, and she used some really difficult spells most of the students had forgotten or thought they weren't cool to use. The best part of her performance was during her duel with Narcissa, Lucius Malfoy's girlfriend. Narcissa was well known among the Slytherins and in Hogwarts as a cheater while dueling. She used some really low spells for blocking, or was constantly talking, to distract her opponents. She also knew some mean curses, which he tried to use on Eve. But Eve knew the countercurses, and that completely annoyed Narcissa. And, to everybody's surprise, Eve defeated Narcissa in less than five minutes. Narcissa ran to Lucius' arms, crying and shouting, completely embarassed, and then, the Slytherins surrounded Eve. There she was, alone in the middle of a group of Slytherins, all of them with their wands ready. All of a sudden, she wasn't the fearless Eve Hollow dueling with a fifth year Slythering and winning; now, she was again eleven years old Eve Hollow, first year Gryffindor, surrounded by many fifth year Slytherins who absolutely hated her, and ready to attack her. She looked around, and saw Prof. McGonagall approaching alongside with Prof. Dumbledore; she also saw the Marauders, Sirius, James and Remus (Peter was just sent to the Hospital Wing, again), trying to get close to her, and.... Severus Snape. But he wasn't in the group surrounding her. He was apart, looking directly to her. She didn't like that look; it was shrewd and calculating.
When the Slytherins saw Prof. Dumbledore, they moved apart, leaving a scared and nervous Eve being calmed down by Remus and Lily, while Sirius and James were cursing the Slytherings with some words they were lucky Prof McGonagall didn't hear.
And the Dueling Tournament day arrived, on December 23th. The Great Hall tables were moved closer to the walls, and there were many seats where the teachers and most of the students were sitting. At the professors' table were sitting Prof. Crane, a very tall, thin and fragile man who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, Prof. McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, Prof. Flitwick, Charms teacher, and Prof. Dumbledore, the Headmaster, who were the judges of the Tournament. The tournament was one of the best events ever hosted at Hogwarts; all competitors used their best spells (even Sirius and Remus, who this time used some serious and effective spells, but they were complaining because the lack of laughing during the dueling tournament), and soon, one by one, some of them were left behind. The rest of the school was watching and cheering their houses and friends, and the teachers were very proud of their students, for they had learnt some very usefull techniques for defense and attack.
Severus Snape and Eve Hollow never really looked at each other; they never met in a corridor while walking to classes, or in breakfast; they never met in the library, or in the outdoors. And then they found themselves facing each other in one of the semifinals matchs of the Dueling Tournament. A fifth year boy facing a first year girl, a Slytherin against a Gryffindor. Nobody was surprised of Severus being one semifinalist, everybody knew that he was a genious using spells and curses, even when he was a first year student. But they were all surprised because Eve got this far in the tournament, because she came from a muggle family. Also, many people noticed the coincidence between them; Severus was already a curses and spells genious when entering Hogwarts, and now he was facing another spells genious who was a first year. Severus, of course, was very confident of himself, for he saw a slight shadow of doubt in Eve's eyes. "She's nervous... good" – he thought -"this should be easy..."
"Are you ready to duel, muggle? Or you don't know what is a Wizards Duel at all?"
"Of course I know what is a Wizards Duel... didn't you see what happened to your friend, Narcissa?"
And the duel begun. It was one of the most amazing duels of the Tournament. Everybody was very excited; Severus was very calmed and quiet, attacking just when necessary and blocking when needed. Eve was a lot more temperamental and impulsive, but she didn't let Severus' image of extreme self confidence frighten her; in fact, she looked very confident of herself as well. They were dueling for about ten minutes, being both of them in real trouble many times; there were times when everybody thought Eve would win, and there were times when Severus was just about to defeat her.
And then, it happened.
Of all humilliations he had to suffer from the Marauders, of all the most terrible nightmares he ever had... this was the worst.
Eve used the Blank-Mind Spell on Severus one second he was off guard. Severus didn't even notice when exactly he lost concentration, but one thing was for sure: she was paying attention to all his moves, and now he noticed that until she put that spell on him, she wasn't really dueling at all... she was just... playing with him. The Blank-Mind Spell was a really difficult one to put on him, because she needed Severus to be absolutely off guard, a high level of self-concentration to cast it, and a wand weaving which would have warned Severus if he just didn't lose concentration for one second. Severus stood there absolutely blank-minded, and for a couple of seconds he just couldn't think of anything at all; those two seconds were enough for Eve.
"Expelliarmus!"- Severus' wand fled away from his hand just when he recovered his mind.
1.1 "Accio wand! "– and now his wand was on Eve's hand.
The whole school, including teachers, exploded in applauses and ovations. This was the most thrilling, amazing and wizard-like duel of the Tournament with no doubt. Prof. McGonagall ran to Eve and congratulated her, and so did James, Lily, the rest of the Marauders and almost the whole Gryffindor house. But nobody noticed that Severus was shocked and furious, and none of the Slytherins said a word to him when he walked past them leaving the Great Hall. Only Narcissa spoke to him while he was leaving.
"You were supposed to take revenge on me! But a muggle defeated you!!"
After a few more matches, James Potter was the winner of the Dueling Tournament. 200 points were added to Gryffindor, plus a cup and the great honor of having all three places, with Lily and Sirius in 2nd and 3rd place. Professor McGonagall was indeed proud of her students, and she smiled when James, followed by the rest of the Marauders, gave her the Cup, with a mischiveous grin which was clearly saying "See? We're more than common pranksters!".
Human reactions are so impresive, though. While Severus Snape never wanted to see Eve Hollow again in his entire life, Eve Hollow found the greasy- haired boy quite amusing. She though he would be extremely rude and vulgar, as she heard so many times the Marauders' oppinion on the Slytherin boy. But she found a sour, quiet boy, with a look of mystery and many secrets deep inside his black eyes, and a flawless sense of perfection when it came of spells and curses, and all those qualities amazed Eve, since she was expecting a real monster. So, she decided to find out more about this mysterious boy, and she found herself following him, talking to him (even if he didn't talk back), wanting to know everything about him, and developing a crush on the Slytherin boy. And soon, Severus' patience was lost, and he just had to give short answers to her questions, and stop pretending that he didn't see her in the corridors, or she would follow him until he did see her; he tried his best to avoid her, to get rid of her, puting some surses on her and calling her names, but it didn't work. He hated her so much for what happened at the Dueling Tournamest, and he just couldn't believe that still she was trying to become friends with him; he was amazed that this girl was so foolish to not to notice that she was a Gryffindor and he was a Slytherin, so a friendship between them was something that would never, ever, happen. But the muggle girl didn't give up at all.