A/N: Hi everyone!! Ok, I totally did not expect that I would be continuing
this story, I didn't think I'd have the time (or nerve) to start it up
again after many months of not writing fanfic, and probably losing all me
former fans. But one of them emailed me saying they really hoped I had not
given up on this story, so I had a renewed faith to keep on writing.
Truthfully, I actually did not HAVE a computer for many months (from August
until end of October) because my old one would keep on crashing until it
finally DIED lol, and I had to save up money for a new computer; so, after
half my savings spent, I have a new Dell, (yay!) and have taken a small
break from school to finish up this chappie, 10 months in the making!! I
wrote most of it early on, in a notebook, and I finished it up last week.
Hopefully, I;ll be able to update now, cause I have anew comp and school
will be out in a few weeks (if I survive exams and term papers, that is).
I've been writing a lot of poetry lately, (my creative writing class is
SOOO helpful) and I think I've steadily improved, even tho I've come to the
conclusion that the bettr u get, the more aware u are of how crappy ur work
is compared to those really great, famous writers out there.
If you wanna read a couple, tell me so I'll post them on fictionpress!!
Ok, a few specific thanks and responses to those who reviewed my last chapter like 80 years ago, lol. If you're still reading, u deserve some sort of Nobel Prize. That's all I'll say.
Alex110: I did give up on it for a while (see above) but now I'm continuing it!! Yes, you have waited more than enough, and here is the next installment!
Draco Malfoy: I was soo happy to see you were inspired by Draco in this fic. It sux that to Rowling herself, he's just a snotty brat who's not very clever. She gets a bit disturbed when people really really wish they were Slytherins. I can tell because of the stuff written on her site, jkrowling.com; it's a great site by the way, u get all the info u want to know, directly from her!! Anywhoo, yes, I know it kinda sucked just leaving ti there at such a cliffhanger moment, but I tend to like using cliffhangers, hehe. Evil, I am.
Maddy: Thank you!! I'm happy you like Eve, and Draco's situation does really SUCK in this story, he's cursed after all. I'm glad you love the characters and the detail, those r usually the best parts of a good fanfic
Arizosa: Its incredible that u've read this for days straight. It's pretty lengthy, and while I can say its about 75% done, I still have a lot of possible ideas. I tend to overwrite, no matter what I do, (im like Hermione when it comes to homework) so my chappies are longer than most. I've had to break up a single chapter into a few of them cause they get long. This new one isn't exactly as long as some of them, tho. But don;t worry, the shorter the chaps, the faster u update, rite??
PotterLover: Ah. One of my most diligent readers, as well as A Very Interested Reader; I hope you guys take up reading this again; u'll get to see what Eve's wearing in a few moments. Answers to come in later chappies.
DitxyxBlonde: Thank u, hope u read this update!
Fox: You can't believe how happy I was reading this review. I am soo incredibly flattered that you got so into this story. (I know the feeling, tho, and its just soo awesome. I can't believe my fic might have this affect) Lupin, Ginny, and Sirius are some of the most intriguing characters, I believe. I had planned to put Sirius and Lupin in later, but I'm not sure if I should especially after Book 5 (sob!! I won't say anymore) The fact that I somehow inspired you to write fanfics is just the best compliment someone can ever give to a writer. I feel all warm and fuzzy!! And of course, I always get delighted when people say they love Eve. I hoped people wouldnt think of her as just another Mary Sue. Oh ya, if you love Ginny, DEFINITELY read my other fanfic, Shattered Night, Shivering Stars. I do a lot of interesting things to her character.
Finally, thanks to my beta readers, Amy and Lucy, for reading these chappies over again with me and urging me to write. Love u guys!!
OK, I think I should put in a brief plot summary here, for all those who don't want to go back like me, and read this story all over again to remember what the heck happened. I myself had forgotten a few things until I reread it story. But it got so long as I wrote it I think I'll put it in later. Very briefly, Eve is Lord Voldemort's daughter, and her and Harry love each other very much. Ron and Hermione love each other, but Hermione has a very complicated relationship with Draco. Ron is a Seer, and of course, he's having very bad visions of Harry and Hermione with lots of blood. Draco, cursed ever since drinking unicorn's blood as a child, has now ended up with all his powers lost due to a misplaced poison because of his father. He is barely alive due to a magical connection with one or more witches, wizards, or objects (more clues in this chapter!) Harry and Ron secretly plan on going to the cemetery where his parents are buried, because of a message from his mother, given thru Eve. Oh ya, there's also something about a hidden Orb which can be opened only when the Four Heirs touch it. Whew. That's it The Minister has been killed, and Dumbledore plans on closing the school, so at this point the seventh years are having their Graduation Ball and somebody is just about to walk in....
Chapter Thirty One: The Eye of the Storm
Every eye in the Great Hall had suddenly transfixed itself onto the entrance. Several people gasped, and many girls, mostly Slytherins, were giving nasty stares. Most of the boys, however, had expressions varying from infatuation to sheer astonishment.
"Is that who I think it is?" Ron gaped.
At once Harry completely understood how Ron had felt when he had just seen Hermione minutes before. He wanted to run and hide, but tearing his eyes away was even harder to do.
"Can you believe that? It's just like a Slytherin to try and make someone jealous," Hermione said bitterly.
"Yeah, I didn't think Eve would do something like that, coming with Harry's worst enemy," Ron said.
But Hermione looked perplexed for a moment, but immediately composed herself. "Eve? Oh, right, Eve."
"Well who else do you think I was talking about?" Ron eyed her warily.
"Nobody else, I'm not thick, you know," Hermione quickly replied.
Harry had never heard a word they said. He never would have thought Eve could ever look more beautiful, but somehow she managed it. But how to complement natural beauty? Dress it in simplicity and allow it to show for itself. That was what Eve had done. Her dress, covered by her cloak, was simple and plain—and both were a pure, glowing, white. Her cloak was lightly sparkling in what might have been tiny diamonds and fairy dust. Her hair was straighter and shinier than usual, tied in an elegant bun near the nape of her neck, several strands falling to her face and sticking out of the bun. Her lips were a glossy pink, and her light makeup made her green eyes sparkle more brightly than ever before. Holding her arm, Draco looked like he had just won the lottery—and most of the boys looking at him seemed as if they were plotting his murder.
He gently helped her remove her cloak and Harry gave another gasp—her clingy dress was made of a soft, silky material and was cut in the most provocative of places, from the very low neckline to the slit revealing her left leg all the way up to her thigh; her back was completely bare, all the way to the small of her back. On her left arm, where her Dark Mark would have been, she wore a white arm band made of what looked like phoenix feathers. Hermione swore she saw a few boys run to the bathrooms.
"I—I have to leave," Harry choked out. Hermione caught his arm.
"Leave? Why?"
"I can't stand it," he said. "I can't stand seeing her like that—seeing her with him," he said through gritted teeth.
"Harry, no. Don't let their little plan work," Hermione hissed.
"Too bad, it already has," he snapped.
This time Ron grabbed his arm. "No, mate. Show her that you completely don't care, and let her own plan backfire."
"Ron, I'm not that good of an actor," he said doubtfully.
"Just try," Hermione urged.
Ron had a curious smile. "The great Harry Potter isn't going to admit defeat now, is he?"
Harry bit his lip, and decided to stay—but not only because of Ron's words, but strangely, because of what Malfoy had said: that Eve had wanted him to come, that she might actually feel a tiny bit of the overwhelming feeling he was having at that moment.
Meanwhile, while Draco seemed to be relishing all the attention, Eve was completely indifferent to it. She looked like she was desperately fighting an inner desire to look at something. When Draco spoke, she turned to him quickly, as if relieved that she had something to keep her attention.
"I guarantee that dress is illegal in at least 12 countries," Draco grinned.
"Since when are you concerned about breaking rules?" she muttered.
"Never," he smirked. "Why don't we break a few more right now?" he said and he put his hand on her back and gave her a flamboyant kiss on the lips. Eve turned slightly pink.
"Did...did anybody see that?" she said, putting her hand over her mouth.
"Of course they did. I think I almost saw steam coming out of Potter's ears."
"Harry's around here?" she said in a low hiss. She had deliberately avoided looking around the Great Hall in case she might see him.
"Yeah. If you didn't look fantastic enough, I think that sure did it." But Draco had his head turned when he said that.
"I really don't think I look fantastic enough," she smirked.
"Why not?"
"Because I can't even keep your attention," she said.
He whipped his head back. "What?"
Eve sighed. "You're still looking at Hermione."
"I was not," he said in mock outrage. The truth was, he was checking her reaction to his kiss with Eve. She was talking nonchalantly with Ron, but he did catch her glimpsing Harry 's reaction and because of that, having a nasty look on her face.
Eve shook her head, and Draco saw it was useless to pretend.
"You know, we could have been great together, you and I," he said.
"Yeah, and if we listened to our fathers, we'd be Dumbledore's worst nightmare." She looked away. "It's a good thing for mankind that love had other plans."
Draco was gazing at Hermione again. "It doesn't matter—it can still be...destructive."
Eve saw that for a moment, his straight shoulders and back slackened a bit—it was the closest thing to a defeated gesture she saw him make, or perhaps, it was a sign that the weakness he had been feeling was beginning to overtake him again.
She turned him away towards her. "Dance with me."
"Er, no." He smiled—but it was not apologetic. "Malfoys don't dance."
"Then how do you charm beautiful women?" she teased.
"Easy," he said, smiling even wider and displaying a mouth of perfect, sparkling teeth. "I simply walk up to them and say, 'Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy.' "
She gave a small laugh. "I think I'd need a bit more than that." He didn't budge. "C'mon, don't you want to drive Harry mad?"
He looked as if he were considering this very seriously. "Alright, I think I can make an exception for that."
He put his arm around her waist and began an elegant waltz—he seemed to be the only one on the dance floor that knew what he was doing, and everybody else was dancing even worse at the moment because most of them were distracted with watching the two of them. He deftly twirled her around and ended the song by giving her a prolonged dip, making sure that when he rose her up, he brought her very close to his face.
"I thought Malfoys couldn't dance."
"I said we don't--I never said we couldn't."
With a bit of a smile, Eve turned around and went to the table where drinks were being served and she bumped into someone—she hadn't been looking around because she was still afraid of seeing Harry. She found herself staring into bright, angry brown eyes.
"Hermione, hi. Wow, you look really wonderful," she said happily.
But Hermione was staring at her with her eyes narrowed. "I can't believe you're doing this to Harry, all because you two had a fight."
"Doing what?" she said innocently.
"You know what I mean," she said threateningly.
She examined her for a moment and said shrewdly, "Are you defending Harry or are you merely acting on your own jealousy?"
She paused, and replied, with some effort. "If I ever wanted Draco, you know I could have him—so what would I be jealous of?"
"Alright," she said disbelievingly, "whatever you say." She walked off, but Hermione followed her.
"Look, I didn't come to talk to you about me, I came to talk to you about Harry."
Eve paused, despite herself. "What is it?"
"Go talk to him. You both know you want to be with one another."
"I can't. He won't listen to me, you know how stubborn he is."
She put her hands up, exasperated. "What did you fight about anyway?"
Eve opened her mouth, but couldn't say the words. Go on, tell her, her brain urged. Tell her about Harry and Ron's plan, and about them not including you. Tell her, and everything you wanted will happen. But another, more indescribable area in her head said no. Harry didn't want her to come, and she would respect his wishes. As if following an instinct she didn't fully understand, she kept her mouth shut.
"Alright, I guess it's private," said Hermione. "But whatever it is, I'm sure it's not worth missing out on each other during your Graduation Ball.
Eve silently agreed: Hermione was right—she was always right, damn her. But she would never admit it. She turned around and wove through the crowd until she finally saw Draco, who had been avoiding her because she was talking with Hermione.
"There you are," she said, a bit breathless.
"Miss me already?" he asked.
"Yeah, how about another go?" she said, indicating the dance floor. He shrugged and held her waist again, but this time his fingers brushed her shoulder, over her birthmark. Suddenly, Eve lost her footing and fell into his arms, grasping her forehead.
"What happened? Are you alright?" he asked. She was deliberately keeping her eyes away from him. He steered her through the crowd, some people looking curiously over their shoulders. She was murmuring something thickly which sounded like, "Nothing, I'm fine."
Draco held her hand, brought over a chair for her, and made her sit down.
"Are you feeling any better?" he asked when she took her hands away from her face, but he held her shoulders again and a fresh wave overtook her. She wretched in pain, as if fighting something within her.
"Draco...need to get away," she said through gritted teeth, and despite his efforts to keep her sitting, she got up and walked away from him, clutching her stomach. Draco stood where he was, utterly perplexed. He received another nasty shock when he turned and saw he was staring straight into Hermione's face.
"What happened?" she said. He didn't answer, he didn't know how to answer her. God, up close, she looks even more painfully beautiful, he thought.
Hermione gulped and didn't say anything for a while either. Frankly, despite his slightly pallid color, she had never seen him look so good before, standing in his handsome black suit and crisp white shirt, his silver tie looking like it was painstakingly searched to exactly match the color of his eyes.
"Erm, so...." She gurgled, "what happened?"
He took a sharp intake of breath. "You have some nerve, still talking to me after...what happened."
"Draco, listen--" she began, but he held up a hand.
"I'm tired of listening." She saw his Adam's apple quivering. "I don't think I can even talk to you anymore."
"Why not?"
"Why not?" he said, looking around, not believing his ears. "Just looking at you, right now, tortures me. You're slowly, gently, softly, deceitfully killing me."
A strange look had come over her face. "Draco, I try to have a normal, platonic conversation with you and you go saying things like that...."
"You know I could never have a normal, platonic conversation with you, not with how I feel."
Her lip was quivering slightly. "Fine, if that's what you want, you won't be seeing me anymore. And I'll guarantee you'll get over me as soon as a beautiful girl walks in your path. Oh wait, hasn't that already happened?" she said, indicating Eve. "Shouldn't you be off, taking care of your date?"
"She wanted to get away for a moment," he said evenly.
"Hmmm, a girl wanting to get away from you? How surprising," she said sarcastically.
He eyed her for a moment as his gaze slowly turned icy. "You think you have me all figured out, do you, clever little Miss Granger? You never for a moment thought that I might actually be helping Eve and Potter?"
She crossed her arms angrily. "And what twisted Slytherin logic are you going to use to explain this?"
"I only came because it was Eve's idea, not mine. But Potter didn't want to come. So I....convinced him."
She made and incredulous noise. "I thought you'd have known how to lie better than that, Malfoy. You've had so much practice at it."
"Where do you think he got such a posh suit at such short notice? I even gave him a white tie, to match Eve. Little details make all the difference..."
Hermione was silent for a moment—she had never seen Harry buy a suit for the Ball during their previous Hogsmeade trips. But he could have bought one during the summer. Then again, as she took another glance at him, his clothes did have the sharpness and elegance that was the signature style of Draco Malfoy...And his tie did match Eve's dress...
He replied her silence by saying, "Don't believe me? Ask him yourself. And when you do, don't bother coming to apologize." He walked off.
Right on cue, Ron walked in, slightly pink from navigating through the crowd. "Where were you? You disappeared all of a sudden." Then he whispered into her ear, "What did that git want?"
"Nothing," she said, brushing it off. "I only wanted to tell him that what he was doing with Eve was despicable."
"Well of course he already knows that, why else would he be doing it?"
But she didn't answer, because she was still deep in thought with the possibility that Draco Malfoy actually helped Harry. Honestly, that boy never stopped surprising her; the nerve, how dare he make everything so complicated for her?
"I think I need another drink," she said, as she took Ron by the arm and headed toward a table.
Eve was taking long, deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She wanted to get away from Draco as soon as she realized that his touch had somehow caused an inexplicable, frightening emotion in her, similar to when she had encountered Lupin. But what did Draco have to do with all that? And what exactly had he done? Where did he touch her? She moved her fingers over her shoulder, which was still burning, and then realization hit her like lightning—her birthmark! He had touched her birthmark. This opened an entire vista of possible scenarios. Maybe Hermione wasn't the only one he had a connection with. Suddenly she realized that she had a pounding headache and she wanted to get away from the crowd and the loud music. She staggered out of the dance floor until she bumped into someone.
"Sorry, I didn't see--" she began but then forgot the rest of her sentence.
The person she had bumped into turned around and she found herself looking at Harry, who looked surprised, awkward, and upset all at the same time.
"Sorry," she managed to say again. Harry had never seen her so inarticulate, and he wondered why. He was expecting her to be haughty and superior—wasn't she trying to make him jealous? But Eve could not do that, not with finally seeing him, looking the way he did at the moment.
Harry's looks could vary from being unkept and unremarkable, to boyishly charming, to strikingly handsome: and at that moment he looked striking. Draco's clothes had given him a polish and a dignity she had never seen before. For the first time she realized how tall he really was. The lights from the chandelier sent flickers across his glasses, making his emerald eyes sparkle even more, and his hair, thought untidy as usual, was gilded silver under the light that fell softly over his face, all making him very engaging. She had to take a breath to compose herself and get used to the dapper young man in front of her, who looked so different than the scruffy yet sweet boy she knew, especially when the lines of his face were sharpened at the moment and when he spoke in a smooth voice reminding her slightly of Draco—perhaps his clothes had more of an effect than she thought.
"Sorry for what?" he asked.
"Er...huh?"
He took a sip from his drink. "You said sorry. But for what? Were you apologizing because you bumped into me, or because of something.....else?"
She raised her chin. "I bumped into you: besides that, I have nothing else to apologize for."
He slanted his head. "Really?"
"Yes, really, because you said that you didn't care whether or not I came here tonight, or who I came with."
He put his drink on the table, paused, and looked down. "Well...I lied."
"Really?" It wasn't a skeptical reply, but a hopeful one.
"All because we had a fight, you come here with Malfoy, and you dance with him and....and you kiss him as if...as if he were the love of your life."
"Harry, Draco is dying," she said blankly and his eyes widened. "I came here with him on the pretense to make you jealous, but the truth is I want to keep an eye on him. It's a long story," she said, right when he opened his mouth to ask, "but I believe that me being near him is enough to make him feel a bit better. I think that we have some strange magical connection, and it has to do with my birthmark."
Harry had absolutely no idea what to say. She went on, with a bit of a smile on her face. "And I could never kiss him like he was the love of my life, because I can only do that to one person, and it's not him."
"Then who is it?" he croaked, going pink.
She hesitated and said with slightest sigh, "You."
He staggered slightly: that one tiny word meant so much, it meant more than he could have ever known at the moment.
"Harry, I can't stand being away from you. Not tonight. Not with what you're about to do tomorrow. Not with you looking as...amazing as you do now."
He gulped. Was he dreaming? He had to be: any second now, he would wake up, in his bed—quite alone. Any moment now....
But he never did wake up.
With an effort he said, "I thought that...that you said you didn't need me with you."
She gave a watery smile. "Well...I lied."
He choked out a laugh. "I thought you weren't going to tell me that."
This time she couldn't hold back the tears. "I lied again."
He stroked a strand of her hair tenderly. She took his hand in her fingers and put her lips onto them. He felt a strange, warm, tightening sensation in his chest.
"Harry, will you dance with me?" she whispered.
Unable to speak, he merely nodded. She took his hand just as soon as the band began playing a slow song. Harry had no idea what he was doing, so he just followed her lead. The last time he had danced with a girl, all he did was hold her from a few feet away and revolve on the spot, awkward and embarrassed. But Eve did not yank his hand onto her waist and force him to move, like Parvati had done three years ago. While everyone else waltzed, she slowly put her arms around his neck and leaned her head gently against his chest and his chin, as if she wanted to be as close to him as possible. He put his shaking fingers around her waist and felt the bare skin on her back, his lips touching her shoulders.
They started dancing, Harry not noticing—or caring—which direction they were going. He didn't notice the pause that held everyone else in the room, causing them to stare, some of them with looks of surprise, others with amused smirks. The Slytherins looked simply furious. But to Harry, he might as well have been alone with her. All he knew at the moment was her face, her silky hair, her light body, her gentle scent, her soft fingers.
But Eve seemed to have noticed the attention. She lifted her head away from him. "Let's go outside," she said, gently taking him to a balcony overlooking the lake, the forest, the stars. She held his hand and gazed straight up at the sparkling dots in the sky. Harry looked at her—she seemed like a motionless picture of a goddess.
After a silence, she turned to him.
"Harry?"
"Hmm?" "Why are you so quiet? Tell me what you're thinking."
He sighed. "I really don't know except that...that you're so beautiful."
She looked away, and when Harry turned her face back towards his he saw she had tears in her eyes.
"What is it? Did I say something wrong?"
"You...you think I'm beautiful?"
He was surprised by the fact that she found that surprising.
"Sometimes...you look so beautiful it's hard to look at you for a long time."
She took in a small breath. The stars were reflected in her eyes even more so, because they were shining with tears. The air was freezing, but all Harry could feel was a strange warmth coming out of nowhere except inside of him, which caused a strange shiver that ran all throughout his nerves, followed by a pleasant aching in his chest. He looked at her glossed lips, he wanted to kiss them–desperately, but didn't know if he had the nerve. He didn't know if he could handle another altering change, after what was happening; the school closing, Ron and Hermione, Malfoy, almost dying but connected with Eve, and finally, what he was about to do that very next morning...
Then he realized that amidst all this turmoil, causing his insides to writhe every time he would even have a half-thought about it all, he needed this new change. It would be more of an alleviation of all his pain, something to make him stronger, even if it would add to his worry. She had told him she needed him; and because of that, he needed her, he needed her so much more than she needed him. He felt that he was standing at the edge of a cliff, that he had to jump into a sort of oblivion, but he couldn't just jump without ever knowing how it felt to....
Lips. That's what he was feeling in an instant stroke of shock. Eve had inched closely to him while he was thinking and half-staring at her, and she had put her lips onto his. And it felt like the whole world disappeared.
Ok, a few specific thanks and responses to those who reviewed my last chapter like 80 years ago, lol. If you're still reading, u deserve some sort of Nobel Prize. That's all I'll say.
Alex110: I did give up on it for a while (see above) but now I'm continuing it!! Yes, you have waited more than enough, and here is the next installment!
Draco Malfoy: I was soo happy to see you were inspired by Draco in this fic. It sux that to Rowling herself, he's just a snotty brat who's not very clever. She gets a bit disturbed when people really really wish they were Slytherins. I can tell because of the stuff written on her site, jkrowling.com; it's a great site by the way, u get all the info u want to know, directly from her!! Anywhoo, yes, I know it kinda sucked just leaving ti there at such a cliffhanger moment, but I tend to like using cliffhangers, hehe. Evil, I am.
Maddy: Thank you!! I'm happy you like Eve, and Draco's situation does really SUCK in this story, he's cursed after all. I'm glad you love the characters and the detail, those r usually the best parts of a good fanfic
Arizosa: Its incredible that u've read this for days straight. It's pretty lengthy, and while I can say its about 75% done, I still have a lot of possible ideas. I tend to overwrite, no matter what I do, (im like Hermione when it comes to homework) so my chappies are longer than most. I've had to break up a single chapter into a few of them cause they get long. This new one isn't exactly as long as some of them, tho. But don;t worry, the shorter the chaps, the faster u update, rite??
PotterLover: Ah. One of my most diligent readers, as well as A Very Interested Reader; I hope you guys take up reading this again; u'll get to see what Eve's wearing in a few moments. Answers to come in later chappies.
DitxyxBlonde: Thank u, hope u read this update!
Fox: You can't believe how happy I was reading this review. I am soo incredibly flattered that you got so into this story. (I know the feeling, tho, and its just soo awesome. I can't believe my fic might have this affect) Lupin, Ginny, and Sirius are some of the most intriguing characters, I believe. I had planned to put Sirius and Lupin in later, but I'm not sure if I should especially after Book 5 (sob!! I won't say anymore) The fact that I somehow inspired you to write fanfics is just the best compliment someone can ever give to a writer. I feel all warm and fuzzy!! And of course, I always get delighted when people say they love Eve. I hoped people wouldnt think of her as just another Mary Sue. Oh ya, if you love Ginny, DEFINITELY read my other fanfic, Shattered Night, Shivering Stars. I do a lot of interesting things to her character.
Finally, thanks to my beta readers, Amy and Lucy, for reading these chappies over again with me and urging me to write. Love u guys!!
OK, I think I should put in a brief plot summary here, for all those who don't want to go back like me, and read this story all over again to remember what the heck happened. I myself had forgotten a few things until I reread it story. But it got so long as I wrote it I think I'll put it in later. Very briefly, Eve is Lord Voldemort's daughter, and her and Harry love each other very much. Ron and Hermione love each other, but Hermione has a very complicated relationship with Draco. Ron is a Seer, and of course, he's having very bad visions of Harry and Hermione with lots of blood. Draco, cursed ever since drinking unicorn's blood as a child, has now ended up with all his powers lost due to a misplaced poison because of his father. He is barely alive due to a magical connection with one or more witches, wizards, or objects (more clues in this chapter!) Harry and Ron secretly plan on going to the cemetery where his parents are buried, because of a message from his mother, given thru Eve. Oh ya, there's also something about a hidden Orb which can be opened only when the Four Heirs touch it. Whew. That's it The Minister has been killed, and Dumbledore plans on closing the school, so at this point the seventh years are having their Graduation Ball and somebody is just about to walk in....
Chapter Thirty One: The Eye of the Storm
Every eye in the Great Hall had suddenly transfixed itself onto the entrance. Several people gasped, and many girls, mostly Slytherins, were giving nasty stares. Most of the boys, however, had expressions varying from infatuation to sheer astonishment.
"Is that who I think it is?" Ron gaped.
At once Harry completely understood how Ron had felt when he had just seen Hermione minutes before. He wanted to run and hide, but tearing his eyes away was even harder to do.
"Can you believe that? It's just like a Slytherin to try and make someone jealous," Hermione said bitterly.
"Yeah, I didn't think Eve would do something like that, coming with Harry's worst enemy," Ron said.
But Hermione looked perplexed for a moment, but immediately composed herself. "Eve? Oh, right, Eve."
"Well who else do you think I was talking about?" Ron eyed her warily.
"Nobody else, I'm not thick, you know," Hermione quickly replied.
Harry had never heard a word they said. He never would have thought Eve could ever look more beautiful, but somehow she managed it. But how to complement natural beauty? Dress it in simplicity and allow it to show for itself. That was what Eve had done. Her dress, covered by her cloak, was simple and plain—and both were a pure, glowing, white. Her cloak was lightly sparkling in what might have been tiny diamonds and fairy dust. Her hair was straighter and shinier than usual, tied in an elegant bun near the nape of her neck, several strands falling to her face and sticking out of the bun. Her lips were a glossy pink, and her light makeup made her green eyes sparkle more brightly than ever before. Holding her arm, Draco looked like he had just won the lottery—and most of the boys looking at him seemed as if they were plotting his murder.
He gently helped her remove her cloak and Harry gave another gasp—her clingy dress was made of a soft, silky material and was cut in the most provocative of places, from the very low neckline to the slit revealing her left leg all the way up to her thigh; her back was completely bare, all the way to the small of her back. On her left arm, where her Dark Mark would have been, she wore a white arm band made of what looked like phoenix feathers. Hermione swore she saw a few boys run to the bathrooms.
"I—I have to leave," Harry choked out. Hermione caught his arm.
"Leave? Why?"
"I can't stand it," he said. "I can't stand seeing her like that—seeing her with him," he said through gritted teeth.
"Harry, no. Don't let their little plan work," Hermione hissed.
"Too bad, it already has," he snapped.
This time Ron grabbed his arm. "No, mate. Show her that you completely don't care, and let her own plan backfire."
"Ron, I'm not that good of an actor," he said doubtfully.
"Just try," Hermione urged.
Ron had a curious smile. "The great Harry Potter isn't going to admit defeat now, is he?"
Harry bit his lip, and decided to stay—but not only because of Ron's words, but strangely, because of what Malfoy had said: that Eve had wanted him to come, that she might actually feel a tiny bit of the overwhelming feeling he was having at that moment.
Meanwhile, while Draco seemed to be relishing all the attention, Eve was completely indifferent to it. She looked like she was desperately fighting an inner desire to look at something. When Draco spoke, she turned to him quickly, as if relieved that she had something to keep her attention.
"I guarantee that dress is illegal in at least 12 countries," Draco grinned.
"Since when are you concerned about breaking rules?" she muttered.
"Never," he smirked. "Why don't we break a few more right now?" he said and he put his hand on her back and gave her a flamboyant kiss on the lips. Eve turned slightly pink.
"Did...did anybody see that?" she said, putting her hand over her mouth.
"Of course they did. I think I almost saw steam coming out of Potter's ears."
"Harry's around here?" she said in a low hiss. She had deliberately avoided looking around the Great Hall in case she might see him.
"Yeah. If you didn't look fantastic enough, I think that sure did it." But Draco had his head turned when he said that.
"I really don't think I look fantastic enough," she smirked.
"Why not?"
"Because I can't even keep your attention," she said.
He whipped his head back. "What?"
Eve sighed. "You're still looking at Hermione."
"I was not," he said in mock outrage. The truth was, he was checking her reaction to his kiss with Eve. She was talking nonchalantly with Ron, but he did catch her glimpsing Harry 's reaction and because of that, having a nasty look on her face.
Eve shook her head, and Draco saw it was useless to pretend.
"You know, we could have been great together, you and I," he said.
"Yeah, and if we listened to our fathers, we'd be Dumbledore's worst nightmare." She looked away. "It's a good thing for mankind that love had other plans."
Draco was gazing at Hermione again. "It doesn't matter—it can still be...destructive."
Eve saw that for a moment, his straight shoulders and back slackened a bit—it was the closest thing to a defeated gesture she saw him make, or perhaps, it was a sign that the weakness he had been feeling was beginning to overtake him again.
She turned him away towards her. "Dance with me."
"Er, no." He smiled—but it was not apologetic. "Malfoys don't dance."
"Then how do you charm beautiful women?" she teased.
"Easy," he said, smiling even wider and displaying a mouth of perfect, sparkling teeth. "I simply walk up to them and say, 'Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy.' "
She gave a small laugh. "I think I'd need a bit more than that." He didn't budge. "C'mon, don't you want to drive Harry mad?"
He looked as if he were considering this very seriously. "Alright, I think I can make an exception for that."
He put his arm around her waist and began an elegant waltz—he seemed to be the only one on the dance floor that knew what he was doing, and everybody else was dancing even worse at the moment because most of them were distracted with watching the two of them. He deftly twirled her around and ended the song by giving her a prolonged dip, making sure that when he rose her up, he brought her very close to his face.
"I thought Malfoys couldn't dance."
"I said we don't--I never said we couldn't."
With a bit of a smile, Eve turned around and went to the table where drinks were being served and she bumped into someone—she hadn't been looking around because she was still afraid of seeing Harry. She found herself staring into bright, angry brown eyes.
"Hermione, hi. Wow, you look really wonderful," she said happily.
But Hermione was staring at her with her eyes narrowed. "I can't believe you're doing this to Harry, all because you two had a fight."
"Doing what?" she said innocently.
"You know what I mean," she said threateningly.
She examined her for a moment and said shrewdly, "Are you defending Harry or are you merely acting on your own jealousy?"
She paused, and replied, with some effort. "If I ever wanted Draco, you know I could have him—so what would I be jealous of?"
"Alright," she said disbelievingly, "whatever you say." She walked off, but Hermione followed her.
"Look, I didn't come to talk to you about me, I came to talk to you about Harry."
Eve paused, despite herself. "What is it?"
"Go talk to him. You both know you want to be with one another."
"I can't. He won't listen to me, you know how stubborn he is."
She put her hands up, exasperated. "What did you fight about anyway?"
Eve opened her mouth, but couldn't say the words. Go on, tell her, her brain urged. Tell her about Harry and Ron's plan, and about them not including you. Tell her, and everything you wanted will happen. But another, more indescribable area in her head said no. Harry didn't want her to come, and she would respect his wishes. As if following an instinct she didn't fully understand, she kept her mouth shut.
"Alright, I guess it's private," said Hermione. "But whatever it is, I'm sure it's not worth missing out on each other during your Graduation Ball.
Eve silently agreed: Hermione was right—she was always right, damn her. But she would never admit it. She turned around and wove through the crowd until she finally saw Draco, who had been avoiding her because she was talking with Hermione.
"There you are," she said, a bit breathless.
"Miss me already?" he asked.
"Yeah, how about another go?" she said, indicating the dance floor. He shrugged and held her waist again, but this time his fingers brushed her shoulder, over her birthmark. Suddenly, Eve lost her footing and fell into his arms, grasping her forehead.
"What happened? Are you alright?" he asked. She was deliberately keeping her eyes away from him. He steered her through the crowd, some people looking curiously over their shoulders. She was murmuring something thickly which sounded like, "Nothing, I'm fine."
Draco held her hand, brought over a chair for her, and made her sit down.
"Are you feeling any better?" he asked when she took her hands away from her face, but he held her shoulders again and a fresh wave overtook her. She wretched in pain, as if fighting something within her.
"Draco...need to get away," she said through gritted teeth, and despite his efforts to keep her sitting, she got up and walked away from him, clutching her stomach. Draco stood where he was, utterly perplexed. He received another nasty shock when he turned and saw he was staring straight into Hermione's face.
"What happened?" she said. He didn't answer, he didn't know how to answer her. God, up close, she looks even more painfully beautiful, he thought.
Hermione gulped and didn't say anything for a while either. Frankly, despite his slightly pallid color, she had never seen him look so good before, standing in his handsome black suit and crisp white shirt, his silver tie looking like it was painstakingly searched to exactly match the color of his eyes.
"Erm, so...." She gurgled, "what happened?"
He took a sharp intake of breath. "You have some nerve, still talking to me after...what happened."
"Draco, listen--" she began, but he held up a hand.
"I'm tired of listening." She saw his Adam's apple quivering. "I don't think I can even talk to you anymore."
"Why not?"
"Why not?" he said, looking around, not believing his ears. "Just looking at you, right now, tortures me. You're slowly, gently, softly, deceitfully killing me."
A strange look had come over her face. "Draco, I try to have a normal, platonic conversation with you and you go saying things like that...."
"You know I could never have a normal, platonic conversation with you, not with how I feel."
Her lip was quivering slightly. "Fine, if that's what you want, you won't be seeing me anymore. And I'll guarantee you'll get over me as soon as a beautiful girl walks in your path. Oh wait, hasn't that already happened?" she said, indicating Eve. "Shouldn't you be off, taking care of your date?"
"She wanted to get away for a moment," he said evenly.
"Hmmm, a girl wanting to get away from you? How surprising," she said sarcastically.
He eyed her for a moment as his gaze slowly turned icy. "You think you have me all figured out, do you, clever little Miss Granger? You never for a moment thought that I might actually be helping Eve and Potter?"
She crossed her arms angrily. "And what twisted Slytherin logic are you going to use to explain this?"
"I only came because it was Eve's idea, not mine. But Potter didn't want to come. So I....convinced him."
She made and incredulous noise. "I thought you'd have known how to lie better than that, Malfoy. You've had so much practice at it."
"Where do you think he got such a posh suit at such short notice? I even gave him a white tie, to match Eve. Little details make all the difference..."
Hermione was silent for a moment—she had never seen Harry buy a suit for the Ball during their previous Hogsmeade trips. But he could have bought one during the summer. Then again, as she took another glance at him, his clothes did have the sharpness and elegance that was the signature style of Draco Malfoy...And his tie did match Eve's dress...
He replied her silence by saying, "Don't believe me? Ask him yourself. And when you do, don't bother coming to apologize." He walked off.
Right on cue, Ron walked in, slightly pink from navigating through the crowd. "Where were you? You disappeared all of a sudden." Then he whispered into her ear, "What did that git want?"
"Nothing," she said, brushing it off. "I only wanted to tell him that what he was doing with Eve was despicable."
"Well of course he already knows that, why else would he be doing it?"
But she didn't answer, because she was still deep in thought with the possibility that Draco Malfoy actually helped Harry. Honestly, that boy never stopped surprising her; the nerve, how dare he make everything so complicated for her?
"I think I need another drink," she said, as she took Ron by the arm and headed toward a table.
Eve was taking long, deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She wanted to get away from Draco as soon as she realized that his touch had somehow caused an inexplicable, frightening emotion in her, similar to when she had encountered Lupin. But what did Draco have to do with all that? And what exactly had he done? Where did he touch her? She moved her fingers over her shoulder, which was still burning, and then realization hit her like lightning—her birthmark! He had touched her birthmark. This opened an entire vista of possible scenarios. Maybe Hermione wasn't the only one he had a connection with. Suddenly she realized that she had a pounding headache and she wanted to get away from the crowd and the loud music. She staggered out of the dance floor until she bumped into someone.
"Sorry, I didn't see--" she began but then forgot the rest of her sentence.
The person she had bumped into turned around and she found herself looking at Harry, who looked surprised, awkward, and upset all at the same time.
"Sorry," she managed to say again. Harry had never seen her so inarticulate, and he wondered why. He was expecting her to be haughty and superior—wasn't she trying to make him jealous? But Eve could not do that, not with finally seeing him, looking the way he did at the moment.
Harry's looks could vary from being unkept and unremarkable, to boyishly charming, to strikingly handsome: and at that moment he looked striking. Draco's clothes had given him a polish and a dignity she had never seen before. For the first time she realized how tall he really was. The lights from the chandelier sent flickers across his glasses, making his emerald eyes sparkle even more, and his hair, thought untidy as usual, was gilded silver under the light that fell softly over his face, all making him very engaging. She had to take a breath to compose herself and get used to the dapper young man in front of her, who looked so different than the scruffy yet sweet boy she knew, especially when the lines of his face were sharpened at the moment and when he spoke in a smooth voice reminding her slightly of Draco—perhaps his clothes had more of an effect than she thought.
"Sorry for what?" he asked.
"Er...huh?"
He took a sip from his drink. "You said sorry. But for what? Were you apologizing because you bumped into me, or because of something.....else?"
She raised her chin. "I bumped into you: besides that, I have nothing else to apologize for."
He slanted his head. "Really?"
"Yes, really, because you said that you didn't care whether or not I came here tonight, or who I came with."
He put his drink on the table, paused, and looked down. "Well...I lied."
"Really?" It wasn't a skeptical reply, but a hopeful one.
"All because we had a fight, you come here with Malfoy, and you dance with him and....and you kiss him as if...as if he were the love of your life."
"Harry, Draco is dying," she said blankly and his eyes widened. "I came here with him on the pretense to make you jealous, but the truth is I want to keep an eye on him. It's a long story," she said, right when he opened his mouth to ask, "but I believe that me being near him is enough to make him feel a bit better. I think that we have some strange magical connection, and it has to do with my birthmark."
Harry had absolutely no idea what to say. She went on, with a bit of a smile on her face. "And I could never kiss him like he was the love of my life, because I can only do that to one person, and it's not him."
"Then who is it?" he croaked, going pink.
She hesitated and said with slightest sigh, "You."
He staggered slightly: that one tiny word meant so much, it meant more than he could have ever known at the moment.
"Harry, I can't stand being away from you. Not tonight. Not with what you're about to do tomorrow. Not with you looking as...amazing as you do now."
He gulped. Was he dreaming? He had to be: any second now, he would wake up, in his bed—quite alone. Any moment now....
But he never did wake up.
With an effort he said, "I thought that...that you said you didn't need me with you."
She gave a watery smile. "Well...I lied."
He choked out a laugh. "I thought you weren't going to tell me that."
This time she couldn't hold back the tears. "I lied again."
He stroked a strand of her hair tenderly. She took his hand in her fingers and put her lips onto them. He felt a strange, warm, tightening sensation in his chest.
"Harry, will you dance with me?" she whispered.
Unable to speak, he merely nodded. She took his hand just as soon as the band began playing a slow song. Harry had no idea what he was doing, so he just followed her lead. The last time he had danced with a girl, all he did was hold her from a few feet away and revolve on the spot, awkward and embarrassed. But Eve did not yank his hand onto her waist and force him to move, like Parvati had done three years ago. While everyone else waltzed, she slowly put her arms around his neck and leaned her head gently against his chest and his chin, as if she wanted to be as close to him as possible. He put his shaking fingers around her waist and felt the bare skin on her back, his lips touching her shoulders.
They started dancing, Harry not noticing—or caring—which direction they were going. He didn't notice the pause that held everyone else in the room, causing them to stare, some of them with looks of surprise, others with amused smirks. The Slytherins looked simply furious. But to Harry, he might as well have been alone with her. All he knew at the moment was her face, her silky hair, her light body, her gentle scent, her soft fingers.
But Eve seemed to have noticed the attention. She lifted her head away from him. "Let's go outside," she said, gently taking him to a balcony overlooking the lake, the forest, the stars. She held his hand and gazed straight up at the sparkling dots in the sky. Harry looked at her—she seemed like a motionless picture of a goddess.
After a silence, she turned to him.
"Harry?"
"Hmm?" "Why are you so quiet? Tell me what you're thinking."
He sighed. "I really don't know except that...that you're so beautiful."
She looked away, and when Harry turned her face back towards his he saw she had tears in her eyes.
"What is it? Did I say something wrong?"
"You...you think I'm beautiful?"
He was surprised by the fact that she found that surprising.
"Sometimes...you look so beautiful it's hard to look at you for a long time."
She took in a small breath. The stars were reflected in her eyes even more so, because they were shining with tears. The air was freezing, but all Harry could feel was a strange warmth coming out of nowhere except inside of him, which caused a strange shiver that ran all throughout his nerves, followed by a pleasant aching in his chest. He looked at her glossed lips, he wanted to kiss them–desperately, but didn't know if he had the nerve. He didn't know if he could handle another altering change, after what was happening; the school closing, Ron and Hermione, Malfoy, almost dying but connected with Eve, and finally, what he was about to do that very next morning...
Then he realized that amidst all this turmoil, causing his insides to writhe every time he would even have a half-thought about it all, he needed this new change. It would be more of an alleviation of all his pain, something to make him stronger, even if it would add to his worry. She had told him she needed him; and because of that, he needed her, he needed her so much more than she needed him. He felt that he was standing at the edge of a cliff, that he had to jump into a sort of oblivion, but he couldn't just jump without ever knowing how it felt to....
Lips. That's what he was feeling in an instant stroke of shock. Eve had inched closely to him while he was thinking and half-staring at her, and she had put her lips onto his. And it felt like the whole world disappeared.