A/N: Hi again!! Wow, I'm so surprised at the length of this story. Thank you to all of you who have spent time reading and reviewing. Thank you, merci, gracias. Lol. I am so happy!! My exams are over, and now that I'm on spring break, at home, tho : (  I can relax a bit.  Here's the next chappie. In this one: An unexpected revelation about Ron, something happens with the potion Lucius snuck in the hospital wing. We see a bit more of Lupin, and aren't we all glad that Eve's back?? Yay! She'll make things a lot more interesting (as always).

Individual thanks:

Ashes: Where are you? Haven't heard from u in a while! Email me or something!! Lol

Chica100123: A new reader! * jumps for joy *  I tried to make the story fit into the books as much as possible, and I'm glad you also like Eve. Thanks for reading all this so far. Hope u like this next chapter.

Potterlover: Thank you for the TWO reviews to this chappie. Of course, I love giving responses to all my readers, cause they're so important to me. Yes, the grave part has a lot to do with Harry's dream. U'll see what happens with that in future chappies.(glad u think they're getting better!)

ErinWrites: U want a third fic? I can barely keep up with these two. But yes, I have ideas for at least two more. We'll see… so happy that u like my writing so much.

Very Interested Reader: Another long review to respond to…ah bliss…Hermione will get sweeter to Draco in this chapter and the next one (will she get too sweet? Hmmmm) Glad you liked the dream. Is it a trap? Not exactly, but Lucius does have a trap planned that doesn't involve the dream that much, but that would have been an interesting connection, though. You bring up sooo many good points and ideas. Lupin is also back and I kinda try to explain how he got the job. Hey, Dumbledore was pretty desperate about safety, and especially since he thinks the school will close down soon.

Haha, interesting thoughts on Sirius. I kinda imagine him as more handsome now that he's living with Lupin and now Dumbledore. Hey, he was never a bad guy, so I can't imagine him as ugly. Then again, twelve years in prison mustn't have helped his complexion all that much, lol. OH, Eve will get a lot more freaked out later on. You'll see what I mean by the end of this chapter. She has power, but doesn't necessarily like it. In the chap after this, expect the beginnings of some Eve/ Harry action (finally, after 25 frikkin chapters!!!!!)

Thank you, SO much for telling others about this fic. * sighs * When's ur birthday? Gotta email u a present, lmao

                        Chapter Twenty-Five: Something Internal

Harry's eyes flashed. He ran to Eve and caught her arm, the one holding the knife.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

Eve wrenched away from his grasp. "Just trust me on this, alright. You guys need to see this. Don't worry. I'll be perfectly fine."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked puzzlingly at Ron. Harry eyed Eve warily. She gave a small sigh, rolled up her sleeve, and brought the knife to her arm. Harry moved forward, but she stopped him in his tracks with a glare. With the knife, she made a thin cut all across her wrist—she was wincing slightly. Hermione gave a small shudder as the blood flowed. Harry never took his eyes off her arm. All she did was wait; suddenly, she put the knife down on her desk, and with her other fingers, wiped her bloody wrist—the cut was completely gone.

"Whoa!" cried Ron.

Hermione crossed her arms. "That doesn't prove anything. Could be some sort of trick; she may have taken a healing potion just before."

Eve sighed. "What do you want me to do? Throw myself out the window?"

"Of course not," she said indignantly.

"Listen, I dunno how else I could prove this, so I'm just gonna tell you: I. Can't .Die. I'm immortal."

"What?" Ron asked.

But Harry was looking at Eve, comprehension dawning on his face. "Don't you guys see? That day with the basilisk venom—it touched her skin, but she still survived. That night when Voldemort stabbed her—she still survived. Curing Ron with a spell that could have killed her—she still survived."
            Eve was nodding furiously. Hermione was opening and closing her mouth, trying in vain for something to say.

"But….How?" Ron seemed to be able to communicate only through questions.

Eve explained. "It's a matter of balance. One immortal cannot exist—it would cause instability, an imbalance. To be immortal, my father needed to bring another immortal into this world. All of nature s about dichotomy. Light and Dark. Water and Fire. Love and Hate. Life and Death…"

"Good and Evil," Harry breathed. Eve nodded, giving Harry a small smile.

Eve explained further. "That means that I pretty much knew that nothing serious would happen to me. Which means that I never really made some enormous sacrifice. Which means that I do not love Ron. I can't understand how you guys believed that. How could I be in love with someone that I know is head over heels for someone else?"

Hermione sat down, blushing. Suddenly, Ron had a strange mix of horror and excitement on his face. "So you say you're immortal. Do you think…that maybe when you transferred some of your powers to me…" he began to ask.

Eve shook her head. "No, I doubt that Ron. And I certainly wouldn't test it if I were you," she said, smiling. "I reckon you'll probably be back to your normal self pretty soon."

Ron looked down. "How wonderful—back to my tantalizing life as Harry Potter's Sidekick, or Whoever's little brother, or my favorite of all, the Head Girl's Boyfriend."

Eve stared at him with tender amusement. She walked over to him and smiled. "You know, Ron, I think you have one power that nobody else living right now has. Not even Harry. Not even my father. Not even me."

Rob crossed his arms. "What's that?"

Eve started pacing back and forth. "Refresh my memory, please. How many brothers have you had, Ron?"

"Ron has five brothers and one sister. Including him, they're seven Weasley siblings," Hermione replied exasperatedly.

Eve shook her head. "I thought I asked Ron. And I didn't ask him how many brothers he currently has. I asked him how many he has had."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Eve looked straight at Ron. "Ron, tell me: did your mum ever have any other Weasley boys that, you know…"

Ron scratched his head and looked evasive. "Well, actually, Mum did have another boy, between Percy and the twins. But the baby…didn't make it." He bit his head and turned slightly pink. "We don't mention it very much; it always makes Mum pretty sad."

Hermione put her hand on his shoulder. Ron shrugged slightly. "But what does that have to do with anything?" he asked.

Eve was still looking straight into his eyes. "Ron, you're a Diviner—a Seer, a seventh son."

"I'm a…what?" Ron's eyes were so wide and blue that it looked like someone put apiece of the sky into them.

"That's ridiculous. He's horrible at Divination. He'd make up predictions for his homework in Professor Trelawny's class," Hermione replied.

"Well maybe he's never really tried," Eve said.

"Okay, how did you come to this conclusion?" Harry asked.

Eve smiled, slightly embarrassed. "Well, I can read minds, you know. But when I kiss someone, I can actually look deeper inside of them. I saw that Ron had a dream the night before predicting that he'd drink that poison in Snape's class."

Ron sat down next to Hermione, looking incredulously at Eve. She continued, "Why do you think you're so good at chess, Ron? You don't realize it, but you can actually see what move your opponent is about to make before he does it."

Ron was shaking his head. "Listen, it can't be true. How come I don't walk around having visions all over the place?"

"Because," Eve said, "you're not concentrating hard enough. You haven't been able to concentrate your powers yet, to control them, make them come when you want to."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Ron asked.

Eve thought for a while. "Not sure. Maybe you should try remembering any other dreams you've had."

Ron became silent. He remembered a dream alright—the one with Hermione lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood. He hoped it wasn't a glimpse into the future, and he sure wasn't going to tell anyone about it.

"No, I don't remember anything," he said. Eve was looking at him with her eyes narrowed, but she didn't say anything.

"I think perhaps we should ask Dumbledore about this first, to make sure," Hermione said.

Eve shrugged in an if-you-want-to way. "Alright. But first answer the very first question I asked you when you guys came in here." She looked at Hermione. "Can we be roomies or what?" Hermione pursed her lips. Eve egged her on, "C'mon. We'll have loads of fun."

"I was never into all that giggly, sleepover, giving each other manicures, gossiping about boys thing, really," Hermione said disdainfully.

Eve smiled slyly. "Oh, I meant other types of fun."
            Ron seemed to have caught her smile. "Don't forget to send me a tape of it when you're done."

Hermione clenched her fists in annoyance. "Will you guys stop it? You're beginning to scare me." The rest of them laughed.

"What do think, Ron? Do you see these two being roomies in the future?" Harry asked.

Ron closed his eyes, put his fingers to his temples, and began humming like a goofy Indian shaman. "I'm seeing…I'm seeing…absolutely nothing." He opened his eyes and looked tenderly at Hermione. "But one thing I have seen is that Hermione is one of the nicest, most caring people I know." He held her hand, "One of the things that made me fall for her."

Hermione sighed. "Looks like you give me no choice."

Eve smiled and began jumping up and down. She hugged Hermione, who returned it, slightly stiffly. How on Earth they convinced her to share a room with one of the most powerful Slytherins ever, she didn't know.

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Eve was standing in the hospital wing, with Draco next to her, his arms crossed in his usual condescending manner.

"I don't understand why I have to come all the way over here?"

Madame Pomfrey was bustling around Eve, and she answered him distractedly. "Trust me, if you had seen the dreadful state you were in last night, you wouldn't be questioning me. It was horrible, it was. I just need to check on you two to make sure." She was checking Eve's pulse and temperature.

"Honestly, that prat Weasely couldn't have done that much damage to me. I feel perfectly fine."

Eve smiled and poked him in the ribs. "Ow!" he cried, doubling up. She giggled as Madame Pomfrey, mumbling things about the stubbornness of boys, went swiftly to him.

"Let me check if there's still any bruising there. Take off your shirt, dear."

Draco curled his lips and kept his arms tightly crossed. "I said I was fine."

The old nurse shook her head. "To think four years ago you were wailing your head off for weeks for a cut arm that was healed in a couple of minutes. And now, you were nearly killed last night and you don't want--"

"Oh he's alright, Madame Pomfrey. Whatever the trouble he has, its internal," Eve said, eyeing Draco.

He snapped back, "At least I don't go kissing up to Gryffindors, saving that git's life--"

"What was I to do, let him die, when I knew I could save him? I would've tortured myself for the rest  of my life."

"Yes, and I wonder how great you'll feel when your father comes stomping around and kills him anyway because of what you've done?"

Eve looked at him angrily. "I promise you, I will never let him hurt anyone else. Not Ron or Harry, or even you."

He rolled his eyes. "Please. God forbid you ever do anything for me. I don't want your pity or your help. I can take care of myself fine, thank you."

"Oh yeah, just like you did with Ron last night."

He didn't say anything—he just turned his head away and looked at Madame Pomfrey, who was very uncomfortable indeed.

"I'm leaving. Excuse me," he said gruffly as he began walking out the door. Madame Pomfrey rushed to stop him.

"Alright, but at least take some pain-relieving potion."

Draco stood where he was reluctantly as Madame Pomfrey went and brought the bottle from the desk near Eve's bed. Draco took it and gulped down its contents.

Suddenly he fell to the floor, gasping for breath. He dropped the goblet, and it clanged loudly against the floor. Eve felt  an odd sensation, as if a wave of something undecipherable had passed out of him. Draco went so pale his skin was nearly white. Eve rushed to him—his skin felt like a wave of ice. She carried him with little effort to the bed.

Finally, his breathing became slower, more normal. He gasped, "What in the hell was that?"

Madame Pomfrey was looking at him in wide-eyed horror. "It was just some pain-relieving potion, I swear. It wasn't supposed to do anything like that."

Draco coughed weakly. "I kind of figured that." He tried sitting up, but Madame Pomfrey stopped him. Eve was staring at him, holding his hands that were still cold—cold not because he had encountered something cold, but because of the absence of something she still couldn't figure out. She put her hands against his cheeks, trying to warm him up.

He pushed her gently away. "I said I don't need your help. I'm alright."

Eve made a frustrated noise. "Damn your pride, Draco." She was looking at him, her eyes moving rapidly up and down, scanning him. Then, as if in desperation or not knowing what else to do, she knelt down and kissed him. Draco's eyes widened, but he didn't protest. Madame Pomfrrey stared at them, her mouth gaping. Eve quickly broke away. She shook her head. "I don't know. There's something very wrong. I'm going to take this goblet to Snape, investigate to see if there's any poison in it."

"Poison? If there was any, I'd be dead by now." Then he said, when he saw the scared look on her face, "Listen, I'm okay. I just feel a little….weak. I just need to lie down for a bit." He managed to smile faintly. "But I think if you kiss me again I'll feel better much faster."

Eve rolled her eyes and left, taking the goblet with her, Madame Pomfrey staring at her in amazement.

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"We're so glad you're back, Professor," Harry said, as he warmly hugged Lupin—his favorite teacher, but more importantly, one of his father's best friends.

"Glad to be back, guys," he said warmly.

Ron pointed at Lupin's new briefcase and robes. "Looking good, Professor," he winked.

"Yeah, a little too good," Harry muttered under his breath as he remembered Eve's remarks.

"Excuse me?" Lupin asked politely.

"Nevermind," Harry said. His face brightened. "Ron's got a point. Looks like you're doing better than before."

Lupin smiled. "Well, with the situation with You-Know-Who getting worse, Dumbledore finally managed to get me a job as an Auror for the past few years. The Ministry was getting desperate."

"An Auror! Really?" Hermione said, delighted.

He nodded. "Unfortunately, mistrust also kept on rising, and I was sacked for no good reason. However, I did manage to get enough respect to get this job again."

Ron smiled crookedly. "Yeah, and also because no one else in their right mind would have taken the job."

Lupin chuckled. Then Harry became serious as he said quietly, "Have you had a chance to talk with Sirius?"

"Oh, yeah, I have. He's still with Dumbledore. He's fine, if you don't count him worrying over you. Honestly, he reminds me of my mum—something which I never thought possible," he said looking up with a grin. "He still owes me, he does. My house was a complete mess with Buckbeak living there." He turned to Ron. "I heard you had a lot of er, action yesterday. You all right?"

"Oh," said Ron, turning slightly pink, "yeah, I'm fine. So is Eve."

"And unfortunately, Malfoy," Harry finished.

"You know, Ron, fighting and injuring students is highly frowned upon in this school," Lupin said, but he had a slight glimmer in his eye. For a split second Harry was able to imagine the good-natured, loyal friend his father once had.

"But seriously, Ron, you really hurt Draco last night—you nearly killed him. I think maybe you should…apologize to him," Hermione offered timidly.

Ron looked at her as if she had just proposed sleeping with him, and not just apologizing. "Hermione, will you listen to yourself? Why in the hell should I apologize after what he had just done?" He narrowed his eyes at her. " Why are you defending him? Any since when do you refer to him by his first name?"

Hermione lowered her eyes and bit her lip. "No, Ron. I actually haven't been defending him as much as I should. Last night he was actually kind to me, if you can believe it. And I honestly think he saved me."

Ron shook his head and closed his ears as if he was scandalized by merely hearing those words. "What could he have possibly gotten out of it by being nice to you? Unless it was to trick you or something?"

Tears were filling the corners of her eyes, though she didn't know why. "Then why didn't he just leave me there for his father to finish the job? Why did he bring me to his room, and kept me there, knowing that his father was looking for me?" She bit her lip again, and tasted blood from the very same spot she had a cut on the night before—the same blood that Draco had also tasted—the look on his face still haunted her. Lupin was staring at all this silently, his expression exactly like Harry's.

"Listen. Before all this happened, I had gone to Draco's room--"

"You what?" Ron gaped.

Hermione waved him off. "I couldn't stand it. I needed to know why he put that poison in Snape's goblet--"

Lupin's eyes widened," You think Draco Malfoy was responsible?"

"I'm pretty sure. He knows things—at least he says so—he said something about Ron being killed."

"Empty threats," Harry hissed, if they want anyone killed, it's me."

"Anyways, while I was there, his father knocked on the door. And do you know what he did? He disguised me, said I was Pansy Parkinson. He saved me from his father twice. I don't know about you, but I think that says that perhaps he's not completely the person we thought he was."

Lupin looked confused. "So he tried to poison Snape, but then he saved you? Hermione, it's very unlike you to be that illogical."

She sighed. "Maybe he's just forced to do things he really doesn't want to do."

Ron was shaking his head in denial. "No one can be that big of a prat by simply acting that way. Nastiness like the kind he has is something innate—like that blasted pure blood he always brags about."

Lupin was still deep in thought. "I wonder what Lucius Malfoy would be doing in the school late at night."

Then the door opened roughly. Snape barged in, with complete revulsion on his face—four people he disliked utterly all seemed to be in the same room.

"Your potion, Professor Lupin," he said curtly.

"Thank you, Severus," Lupin replied politely.

"I hope I didn't interrupt your little reunion," Snape answered.

"Oh not at all. Oh, and thank you again. The new advances in the Woflspane potion have made it so much more difficult to make, I've heard," he said pleasantly.

"Yes. Quite difficult," Snape said, barely showing his teeth. He turned to leave, as if he'd suffocate from all the loathing he was feeling if he stayed in the room any longer.

But Eve opened the door—quite loudly—for him.

"Professor!" she cried breathlessly, "They told me you'd be here." She looked at Lupin. "Oh, excuse me, sir. It's just very important that I see Professor Snape right now."

Lupin nodded in assent, but Harry saw that he had gone suddenly quite stiff when he saw her. Eve showed Snape the goblet and explained quickly what happened.

Hermione looked very worried; she was listening to Eve with her hand over her mouth. Snape remained calm. "Miss Riddle, I'm sure everything is alright. It was a pain-relieving potion, as you said?" Eve nodded. "As you know, they work by numbing the nerves. I told Dumbledore to stop ordering those cheap medi-potions; sometimes if they're improperly prepared, they might weaken the nerves of the entire body for an instant. That is why Mr. Malfoy complained of weakness. I'm sure he'll be alright."

"But sir, I think there's something wrong with him. Actually I'm positive. But I don't know what it is exactly."

Snape raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't know what it is. Right. Very concrete, Miss Riddle."

Lupin piped up. "Severus, I think perhaps she has more reason to be suspicious than you think. Dumbledore told me that according to Madame Pomfrey, Lucius Malfoy was in the hospital wing last night."

Snape immediately became angry. "How come I was not informed of this?"

"That's crazy," Harry said. "Why would Lucius Malfoy poison his own son?"

Snape gave Harry that special look of hate he reserved only for him. "Not all parents are to be idolized as your own, Mr. Potter," he said derisively. Harry tried not to flinch when he said this—but it was harder trying not to strike him in the face. Snape went on. "I know Lucius. He would kill his son if it meant any more power would come to him. He is quite capable of that."

Eve looked very sober. "Perhaps, but that goblet was near my table, and Madame Pomfrey was planning on giving it to me."

"And Lucius came before Draco was there—he couldn't possibly have known his son would have been hurt," Lupin said.

Snape gave a short exhale of breath. "I'll examine the goblet." He said, taking it from Eve. She nodded a thank you as he left. Then she turned and looked at Lupin again.

"Oh, sorry about that again. Let me introduce myself. I'm Eve Riddle," she said as she went over to him and outstretched her hand.

But Lupin had frozen to his spot. She was looking at him again, and now he knew who she was—realized what was happening at that second despite himself—and now he was afraid to move because he feared that if he did he would rip open her throat.

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