17. A House Divided
When Evangeline got down to the night hearth, she found that her potion was indeed ready. She took it off the fire and decided to bottle it up right away. After she did that, she cleaned the cauldron and her utensils, and was trying to decide whether to leave the bottles here or to take them up to her room, when Snape walked in.
"Evangeline?" he said in a surprised tone of voice. "I thought you'd be up at dinner."
"Oh, hello, Severus. Well, I started for the dining hall; then I remembered to check on my potion. It was ready so I decided to bottle it up. Then, of course, I had to clean up…" She sighed. "Okay, the truth is, I was stalling. Last night's dinner wasn't exactly enjoyable. I'm not looking forward to a repeat performance."
He grimaced. "I thought that was my line."
"Honestly, Severus, I don't think it was a pleasant experience for anyone," she said gloomily.
"Nevertheless, I believe we're expected to make an appearance," he stated blandly.
"Okay," she said reluctantly as she set down the bottle of potion that she was holding. "I'm game if you are."
Hoping to lighten the mood a bit as they headed upstairs, she remarked, "I finished your paintings today. They came out great, if I do say so myself. That alchemist of yours is quite the chatterbox. He really loves to show off his knowledge to anyone who'll listen."
"Really?" He regarded her with some surprise. "He rarely speaks to me."
She tried to suppress a smile at the aggrieved tone of his voice. "He probably knows that he can't impress you with what he knows and was taking advantage of having a more receptive audience."
They fell silent as they entered the Great Hall to find all of the players from the night before seated at the table, already eating. Quickly they moved to the end of the table and took seats opposite one another. Evangeline sat next to Remus Lupin and Snape sat next to Minerva McGonagall. Black was farther down the way sitting next to Professor Dumbledore.
With a smile Lupin asked Evangeline if her potion was ready.
"It certainly was. I'm so late because I stopped to bottle it," she answered with a smile.
"You're obviously very industrious," stated Black from down the table. "You must be a Hufflepuff."
Evangeline had had more than enough of Black, so she ignored him, filled her plate, and began to eat.
Undaunted by her silence, Black, who obviously enjoyed the sound of his own voice, continued with a list of qualities all the students from the different houses were supposed to embody, speculating on which house had been lucky enough to contain her.
As Black droned on, Evangeline soon found both Remus and Severus looking at her questioningly. She smiled at them. "Does it really matter what house I was in while I was at Hogwarts? It's hardly a brand you wear around your neck for the rest of your life."
Minerva looked up from her meal and smiled at her former student. "That depends on who you're talking to, dear. Some do indeed identify strongly with their house identity for the rest of their lives."
"But aren't we all Hogwarts graduates? Are some of us to be considered greater or lesser graduates because of what house we came out of?" Evangeline frowned.
"Not to me, Evangeline, my dear," stated Albus Dumbledore. "You're exactly right to consider yourself a part of Hogwarts instead of just one of its four individual houses."
"Now, Albus," chided Black. "You know you still consider yourself to be a Gryffindor. I can't imagine myself as anything else. Imagine being labeled a lousy Slytherin for the rest of your life, for instance."
Lupin sighed. Snape glowered at his plate and clenched his fork tightly in his hand, his promise to Dumbledore weighed heavily on his tongue.
Evangeline turned and frowned at Black. "Don't worry, Sirius. No one here would ever assume you to be subtle enough to be a Slytherin."
As she turned away from the annoying wizard, she noticed Lupin and Snape exchanging glances of amusement. Well, well, she thought, maybe there's hope, after all.
"You know, I don't know why you're all so interested in what house I was in while I was here at school. We were all here at the same time, it appears. You were all seventh year gods, while I was a lowly first year. None of you noticed me then. Why should it matter now, all these years later?"
"Surely that can't be true, can it, Minerva?" Lupin appealed to McGonagall, who smiled back at him.
"Oh, I believe Evangeline is correct. And to be fair, most of the seventh years of all the houses pay scant attention to any of the first years, no matter how appealing or accomplished."
"True," said Evangeline. "It's not like I remember any of you, either." She was smugly pleased to see three faces fall slightly. As dinner was coming to a close, she pushed back her chair and stood up to leave.
"Wait," exclaimed Black. "You can't leave us hanging. What house were you in…Ravenclaw…Hufflepuff…Gryffindor…?"
She smiled sweetly at him. "Actually, Sirius, I was a Slytherin." She found it hard not to laugh at the flabbergasted expression on his face, as he tried to process this surprising development. Snape and Lupin both gaped at her, too. Pleased at their reactions, she just smiled serenely and left the room to go back to the dungeon and collect her bottles of potion.