Disclaimer:  If Harry Potter was mine would I have killed [insert character's name here] in OftP.  Not only that, you would've seen a little more RW/HG.  Not that I'm complaining, JK.  Just pointing out minor changes I would have made.  They wouldn't have been as good but that's what I would've done.  Not to mention, you would've seen Evelyn.  Hell, the fifth book would have been this.  And since you don't see Evelyn Malone and the San Grasal on the shelves of your local bookstore Harry Potter and friends can't be mine.  Alas and alack.

Author's Note:  Yeah so here's the next chappie.  Maybe a little short.  Don't you worry.  Next one's out now too.  Read!

Chapter Ten- A Short Route to Chaos

            Between Quidditch practices, classes and homework, Evelyn settled in to life at Hogwarts.  Fights between Ron and Hermione had ceases to faze her, and she was resigned to Snape's horrible attitude.  Unfortunately, there were still things she missed a lot from her life in Canada.

            One day Fred found her sitting in the common room on the seat of a bay window staring out over the Forbidden Forest.

            "Hey Ev," he said.  "Wanna come raid the kitchens with Lee, George and me?"

            She had been doing things with twins a lot lately.  There was a particularly funny incident involving a toilet, a dungbomb, and Moaning Myrtle, but that's not the point.  The point is Evelyn didn't feel like going.

            "Raiding the kitchens?" she said sceptically.  "You mean going and asking the house-elves for food?"

            Fred's face fell a little.  "Oh.  So, Ron, Harry, and Hermione already took you, did they?  In that case, yeah, asking the house-elves for food.  Do you want to come?"

            Evelyn shook her head.

            "Not today, Fred.  I'd rather just stay here."

            "Everything alright?" he asked gently.

            "Just homesick, I guess.  I kind of miss St. Mary's."

            Fred sat down next to her, as it was a large window.

            "Do you want to talk about it?" he wondered.

            "Sure.  If you want to hear about it."

            "Of course," he said.  "It's not like I've got anything better to do so I-"

            "Oi, Fred!" George yelled from across the room, cutting off his twin.  "You coming or what?"  He stood with Lee near the Portrait Hole.

            "No!  You go on without me," Fred called back.  "Just bring us back something," he said, gesturing to Evelyn and himself.

            As George and Lee disappeared through the hole, Fred turned back to Evelyn.

            "By the way, where are Harry, Ron and Hermione?  You guys are usually together."

            "Ron and Harry needed to finish their Potions essay.  It's due tomorrow so Hermione offered to help them.  I, on the other hand, opted to stay up here.  If they think I'm going to spend an afternoon in the library helping them with a paper I finished two days ago, they've got another thing coming.  So I told them I had a letter to write."

            "You thought you'd stay up here by yourself instead of helping them," he said.

            "I was just catching up on some reading."  She held up her book.  "It's a play by a Muggle, William Shakespeare.  It's called ­Hamlet.  It's perfect for a day like this."  She pointed through the window at the darkening clouds and ominous sky.

            "What's it about?"

            "A Danish prince who has to kill his mother's new husband, who is also his uncle, because the new king killed Hamlet's father, the old king.  It's quite tragic.  Practically everyone dies."

            Fred grinned wickedly, "So you'd rather sit up here and read about death all by yourself, than go down there and listen to Ron and Hermione bicker."

            Evelyn smiled too.  "Yes, but technically I'm not alone.  I've got you to talk to."

            "That you do, fair damsel," Fred joked.  "Why don't you tell me what is making you homesick?"

            Evelyn sighed.  "It's not really homesickness, exactly.  I mean, I went to a boarding school before so I'm used to not being at home but I miss St. Mary's."

            "Anything in particular?" Fred prompted.

            "Actually, I was in a band.  I play the guitar and it's mostly that.  Being in a band, that is.  There's a kind of bond between band members.  It's hard to explain but I haven't been able to find it in anything else.  It's different than the Quidditch team bond.  That's almost born out of competitiveness.  With a band there's a bond because you're all trying to express yourselves artistically.  You don't want to win, you just want to get your point across."  She looked out the window a little longingly.  Her old band mates had written that they had replaced her, not to be mean but just so she would know the band lived on.  She was happy for them but she wished she could still be in a band.

            "I didn't know you play, Evelyn."

            "Hmm?  Oh.  Yes, I do.  I learnt a long time ago," she said.

            "Would you play something for me?" Fred asked.

            "Oh sure.  Just let me go and get my stuff."

            She hurried up and came back down with an amp and a purple electric guitar.  She was glad there was no one else in the common room.  She was nervous enough to play in front of Fred as it was.  She liked him a lot and didn't want to screw up.  She cast the spell that would let her Muggle equipment work by itself even with the magical interference.  A quick tuning job later, she was ready to play.  The only problem was she had no idea what song to do.

            "What should I play?" she asked him.

            "Whatever you want," he said.

            Evelyn thought hard and after about a minute she cast a spell and started strumming.  The spell made her electric sound like an acoustic.  She started singing along with the music.

"Lying in my bed

I hear the clock tick and think of you

Turning in circles

Confusion is nothing new

Flashback to the warm nights

Almost left behind

Suitcase of memories

Time after

Sometimes you picture me

I'm walking too far ahead

You're calling to me

I can't hear what you said

And you say go slow

I've fallen behind

The second hand unwinds

If you're lost, you can look

And you will find me

Time after time

If you fall, I will catch you

I'll be waiting

Time after time

If you fall, I will catch you

I'll be waiting

Time after time

Time after time

After your picture fades

And darkness has turned to grey

Watching through windows

I'm wondering if you're okay

You said go slow

I've fallen behind

The drum beats out of time

If you're lost, you can look

And you will find me

Time after time

If you fall, I will catch you

I'll be waiting

Time after time

If you fall, I will catch you

I'll be waiting

Time after time

Time after time

Mmm, Time after time

Oooh, Time after time

Time after time."

            As the last chord faded, Fred sat in awe.

            "That was beautiful, Ev," he whispered, almost afraid to break the silence.

             "Thanks.  I love playing.  I just wish I had a band."

            "You know what the solution is to that, don't you?" he asked.

            She looked up at him, half in shock, and half in curiosity.  She shook her head.

            "Why, start your own band here.  At Hogwarts," he said.  "Just talk to Dumbledore, have a few tryouts and there you go."

            Evelyn brightened immediately.

            "Fred!  That's brilliant.  How on earth did you think of that?" she cried happily.

            "Not just a pretty face, am I?"

            Evelyn laughed.  "Now, I never said you were a pretty face, did I?  I'll go talk to Dumbledore right now.  Thanks so much, Fred."  She gave him a big hug and ran to put her stuff away.

            She talked with Dumbledore that afternoon and not only did he say she could start a band, but he gave her an empty classroom to hold auditions and to practice in.  He also told her that she could have a little concert for the students on New Year's Eve and he assured her that many students would stay behind this year for Christmas.  All in all, Evelyn was very happy with the outcome of the meeting.

            She held auditions two days later and chose her band mates.  Lily Frost, a pretty blond Ravenclaw, was the bass guitar player.  A dirty-blond Hufflepuff, named Patrick O'Conner, was the drummer, and a black haired Ravenclaw, named Ryan Haddox, was the second guitar.  Evelyn, Lily and Ryan could sing so they were set.  A Short Route To Chaos, Hogwarts' first band, was born.

PS: I love Hamlet (can you tell?).  And I think it's so cool when girls play the guitar.  I play it actually.  Not that I play very well mind you, but I do play.  Bands are cool I wish I was in one.  And wasn't Fred sweet in this chapter.  Yeah, he was.  Review!