OOPPPSS! Forgot about this in the first chapters. I Do Not Own Harry Potter! J. K. Rowling owns the lot of them. (Although I do wish I owned Tom Felton :o))

As usual Eva was walking down the corridors with her nose stuck in a book. After her first week, she found that this was the best way to avoid attention. It was apparent after her first day that she had become the most novel thing at Hogwarts. Her classmates seemed fascinated with her, except for Hermione. She seemed not to care; in fact, she even seemed to resent Eva. Someone told her it was because Eva was now considered the top student in their year, what with her O.W.L.s and all.

Hogwarts was harder than Eva thought it would be. Oh, not the schoolwork, if anything, those challenges she was used to. It was the adjustments and making friends that was difficult. It didn't help that every one except the Muggle-borns, knew her family background.

The Nocturino family was right up there with Snape and Black. It was one of the oldest, and the richest family of purebloods; and Eva was the heir of it all. It made her a prime target for advances and insinuations from the Slytherins. Especially Draco Malfoy.

Eva sighed at the thought of Draco. She had known him since they were both in diapers and was really impressed on how good-looking he had become since they had seen each other last. She was also surprised at how he acted. He wasn't the same Draco that she had known. His father's influence had grown horribly in the last few years and she knew Auntie Nary, his mother, would never stand up to her husband either.

Draco had been such a nice young man when they were younger. Eva could remember when they would play at each other's houses during summers and he would pretend he was a knight and she was a princess he had to save from a monstrous dragon. He had always been her knight in shining armor. He had been coming to Hogwarts and she had her schooling at home. He had slowly become almost obsessed with purity in the wizarding race; no doubt with the encouragement of his father. It had come to a head when he and his family had last come to visit. They had been left to their own devices and Eva noticed that he seemed smug about something. He wouldn't say anything outright which absolutely annoyed her to no end.

She stopped in her tracks. What was it that she didn't know about? To this day, that Draco knew something that she didn't still irritated her enormously. Deciding that she would find a way to talk to him in private to find out exactly what was going on, she resumed her walk towards the library. She made it into the building and found a chair as far away as possible from every one. She discovered that if she sat next to anyone, they would distract her from her work with questions about her family and how old it was, and how rich. It bothered her that people were so obsessed with money. She knew that it was difficult and unfair of her to say, but she really didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

Her family did have money, but if it was all gone, Eva knew that she would still be rich. Her mother was alive and well, as far as she knew, and Saveage loved her daughter very much. The only thing that was missing was Eva's father. She unconsciously twirled a lock of hair around her finger; she did that whenever she thought of her father. Saveage had always told her that it was because her father had raven hair and it was the only physical connection Eva had with him; the rest was purely emotional or intellectual. Eva sighed at her lack of knowledge about her father, but there was little she could do about it. Saveage would not speak of him and Eva assumed him to be dead.

She quickly brought her thoughts back to her work and began looking for a book on antidotes. Professor Snape had assigned a two-foot parchment on the antidote for various potions and Eva needed some information on one of the ingredients she thought would be possible for hers. She sighed again, realizing she had been doing that a lot lately, and looked up the properties of the Edelweiss flower.

She had gone through most of the information when Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the library. She watched as they went to the same spot where she had retrieved her book and heard Hermione say, "It's not here. Somebody must be using it." Eva knew that it was the book she was currently using that they were searching for. She quickly returned to her task and waited for what she knew was coming.

Hermione walked out of the shelf area and looked around at the tables. Her eyes fell on the raven-haired girl sitting alone at a corner table. "I should have known."

Harry and Ron looked in the direction Hermione was glaring, and smiled. If there was one person that got on Hermione's nerves, it was Eva Nocturino. Hermione had been fit to burst when Eva had been presented to her classmates and they were told about her O.W.L.s; Hermione had almost fallen off her chair when she heard the scores. Harry and Ron thought she was nice enough. She had never said or done anything to make them think she thought she was superior in any way. In fact, Harry actually thought she was kind of nice-looking.

"We can wait to use the book, Hermione," said Ron.

"But we shouldn't have to. She shouldn't be able to hog a book all to herself," huffed Hermione, not liking the stupid smile plastered on Ron's face as he looked at Eva. She began to walk towards the girl.

"Hermione, just let her use the book. It's not like it's going to disappear, or anything," said Harry.

"Yeah. Just wait until she's done with it and then we can ask her for it," said Ron. He actually was rather glad that the book was in use, he was not looking forward to doing Snape's essay.

They had gotten to the table where Eva was sitting and stood there. Harry and Ron trying to look like they were just accompanying Hermione; and she looking like Eva was being extremely rude, even though neither of them had spoken to each other yet.

Eva looked up from the book and smiled at the trio. "May I help you?"

"Are you going to be finished with that book any time this year?" asked Hermione.

"Hermione!" hissed Ron and Harry at the same time. It was really not like her to be so rude.

Eva simply smirked and looked back down to the book. "That depends. Will your head blow up if I say no?" Eva knew she was baiting Hermione, but there was only so much she could take before going mad, and Hermione had been asking for it for a while now.

Harry and Ron had to cover their mouths not to burst out laughing at the look on Hermione's face. She was beyond words; she just glared at Eva and turned on her heel. Harry and Ron were about to follow when they heard Eva's voice.

"You know, it might be easier to ask nicely if you could share the book with me. I don't bite." Eva really liked Ron and Harry. They had never asked her any questions about her family and had never participated in the catcalls she had sometimes heard in the corridors.

Ron and Harry walked back to the table. Harry was the one to ask. "May we share the book with you?"

Eva smiled, "Yes." She moved her bag from one of the seats next to her for Ron to sit and Harry sat on the other side.

"I don't know why you need to look anything up. You know just about every potion ingredient that Professor Snape has asked you about," said Ron in a somewhat awed voice.

"Potions is my strongest subject. I find it to be relaxing. What ingredients are you looking for anyway?"

"Murtlap Essence," they said in unison.

Eva smiled and shut the book. "You're in luck boys. You don't need the book; I can tell you all you need to know." She grabbed her bag from the floor and picked up the book. "I think that it would be best if we took this to Hermione before her head does explode. We can do the essays outside."

Harry and Ron grabbed their bags and followed Eva outside. She was fumbling a bit with her books and Harry grabbed them out of her hands. "Thanks," said Eva.

Harry and Ron walked her to the Gryffindor common room and said the password and allowed Eva to enter the room before them.

Eva looked around the comfortable living area. She liked the large fireplace that took up almost a whole wall and all the comfortable chairs around the various tables. The sofa in front of the fire looked nice, too.

"Can we do the essay in here, instead of outside?" she asked Harry and Ron.

"Sure," said Harry. He grabbed the book that Hermione wanted and went to Ginny who was sitting by the window. After asking her to give the book to Hermione, since boys couldn't go into the girls' dormitories, he went to sit by Ron, who had taken the closest seat to Eva.

"Okay, how far are you on the essay?" asked Eva.

Harry and Ron looked at her sheepishly. "You haven't even started, huh?" She smiled when they looked down at the table. "Don't worry Neville and I kind of put it off, too."

She went through the properties of the key ingredients of their assigned poison and then asked if they had any idea what might counter them. They spent the better part of the afternoon sitting in front of the fire working on their essays; with Ron and Harry asking Eva an occasional question about an ingredient. They didn't even notice that it was dinnertime until Neville walked up to them.

"Aren't you going to dinner?" he asked.

"Hi, Neville!" said Eva. She liked Neville; he was so sweet; quite shy and nervous, but still sweet. "Yeah, time just got away from us." She stood from her seat and grabbed her book bag. "Could we start putting our heads together for the essay, tomorrow? It's Sunday, so we have all day."

"That'd be great."

"Great! I'll come to the common room and knock at around nine tomorrow. Is that alright?"

"Sure!" Neville smiled at Eva and waved to Harry and Ron before joining Dean and Seamus at the table.

"That was real nice of you Eva," said Harry. They were standing by the door. He didn't want to separate just yet. Ron was standing awkwardly next to them, looking rather longingly at the food.

"I'm going to sit down. Thanks for the help, Eva, I'll see you around," he said before going to join Hermione at the table.

"It wasn't like I gave him a kidney or anything. I just set up a time for us to do our homework. Isn't that what Potions Partners are supposed to do?"

"I'm talking about helping Ron and me, most Slytherins don't go around helping Gryffindors like you have." Harry had only meant it as an observation, but Eva had not taken it that way.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. I'll try and keep my distance. Don't want to offend anyone." She was about to move away when he grabbed her arm.

Harry leaned closer to her. "I didn't mean it like that," he whispered.

Eva trembled at the feeling of his breath on her cheek. This was the closest that they had ever been and she wasn't in any rush to move away anymore. She simply nodded at what he had said.

"Do you want to sit with us for dinner?" he asked, moving his hand to her waist.

Eva just nodded; it seemed to her that her brain could not process words at the moment. She walked with Harry's hand at the small of her back, to where Hermione, Ron and Neville were sitting, along with various open-mouthed Gryffindors who were staring at Harry and Eva. She tried to ignore the glares she could feel coming from the other side of the room where the Slytherins sat. She knew that this move was not going to win any points with them, but she figured they didn't like her anyway, so why not enjoy it.

Most of the conversation that Eva had that night was with Harry, Ron and Neville. Hermione was probably still upset with Eva about the book and the rest of them were probably still so shocked at having a Slytherin at the table they couldn't speak.

It was a nice conversation and Eva was glad that she had decided to come and sit with them, until she heard that voice over her shoulder.

"Did you forget where your table is, Eva?" said Draco Malfoy.

Eva turned around in her seat next to Harry and looked up at Draco. As usual, he had his two lackeys with him. Eva wondered what would happen if one day Crabbe and Goyle were not around to protect his backside. "No, I did not forget where the Slytherin table was. I just simply prefer to have a conversation that does not center around my family's money or how old my last name is."

Draco glared at her and then turned his attention to Harry. "I would suggest you watch who you try and woo, Potter. You shouldn't go above your place."

"Then you shouldn't be dating anything other than slime, Malfoy," said Harry.

Draco moved forward, but Eva stood before he got too close. "I would appreciate it if you leave us alone, Draco."

Draco glared at her, but it slowly turned into an arrogant smirk. "Fine, but just so you know it won't be long until I get what I want." He walked out of the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle on his heels.

Eva sat down and wondered exactly what he meant by getting what he wanted. She watched Draco exit the hall with a very pensive look on her face.

"What's wrong, Eva? Don't let what he says get to you. He's an arrogant little bastard," said Harry.

"I know exactly what he is. A lot better than you, might I add? We've known each other since we were infants. There's just something . . . " her voice trailed off as she stared at the doorway he had just gone through.

"What?" asked Harry.

Eva shook her head to dislodge her thoughts. She smiled at Harry. "Nothing that you have to worry about. I can handle Draco; I've been doing it for fifteen years." She smiled at everyone that was sitting near her. "I'm really glad that you all allowed me to have dinner with you. I don't think that I've had a better dinner conversation since I've been here." She stood and Harry did as well. "You don't have to walk me . . ."

"I want to," said Harry. He nodded to Ron and then put his hand on the small of Eva's back to steer her out of the Great Hall.

"I really appreciate the invitation, Harry. I really miss talking about something important over dinner," said Eva.

"I'm glad you accepted," Harry found that he was telling the truth. He had never thought the day would come when he would enjoy the company of a Slytherin. But he knew that this was not an ordinary Slytherin girl. She was nothing like her housemates. She was actually nice. Not only was she nice, but she was beautiful.

Eva couldn't think of anything intelligent to say. It seemed that whenever Harry was this close to her, she didn't have an intelligent thought in her head. It was all too soon that they found themselves at the stairs that led to Eva's room.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" asked Harry.

"Yes, definitely." Eva desperately wanted Harry to kiss her. She leaned forward subconsciously.

Harry did not miss the slight movement forward and he leaned forward as well. He closed his eyes when he saw her do the same. He could feel her breath on his face and lightly brushed her lips with his own. He had few other experiences with kissing and one had been last year with Cho Chang, but this time the girl wasn't bawling her eyes out. His hands seemed to have a mind of their own when they went out to encircle her waist. She moved closer to him until they were touching all the way down. When he pulled away from her a little, he felt her move towards him. He didn't need her to spell it out to him and he kissed her with more force.

They were so lost in the kiss that they did not hear the footsteps that were coming from the Entrance Hall until it was too late.

"Potter!" growled Snape. He seemed taken aback for an instant when he saw Eva. "I would have thought better of one of my students than this, Miss Nocturino."

Eva and Harry had broken apart at the sound of the Professor's voice. Eva was looking at her shoes, but Harry was looking at Professor Snape with something akin to annoyance.

"Fifty points from each house, for that appalling display," he sneered. Snape hated taking points from his own house, but it would not have done for him to only deduct from Gryffindor for what he had just seen. He quickly turned on his heel and went the same way he had just come.

"I'd better go," said Eva quickly. She turned into the corridor and walked quickly out of sight.

Harry did not have the chance to stop her. 'Damn that Snape,' he thought. Running a hand through his hair he went up the stairs that led to Gryffindor tower. He could still feel Eva's soft body against his and her lips on his. He had not felt like this when he and Cho had kissed last year.

Saying the password he entered the common room quickly, intending to go to his room and sit on his bed to think about what had just happened. His plans were not to happen, however. Ron had caught sight of him and was motioning him over to the fire where he and Hermione were sitting.

"What's up, mate? We left after you and Eva and you're just now back." Ron looked a bit puzzled, but Harry knew that Ron was hinting at something.

"We said goodnight at the East Tower stairway."

"And . . . ?" asked Ron.

"And Snape caught us kissing," said Harry.

"YOU KISSED HER!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Calm down, Hermione," said Harry. He felt all the eyes in the common room fixed on their little corner and he knew that the ears in the common room would be fine-tuned to their conversation as well. "Yes, I kissed her."

"But . . . But . . . She's a Slytherin!" she hissed.

"I know what house she's in, and believe me this surprises me just as much as it does you." Harry really did not want to talk about this with them, not until he had his own thoughts gathered about it. "Listen, I'm really tired. I'm going to bed."

Harry beat a hasty retreat into his dormitory and quickly changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed. He was not in the least bit tired and he had a stack of homework to do, but he wanted to be alone to think about what had happened.

He really liked Eva, but would it work? She was a Slytherin and he was a Gryffindor. There couldn't be two houses that were more different. Then there was the whole Draco thing. Harry knew that Draco had been saying he and Eva were seeing each other and that they had been betrothed for a year now, but Harry didn't think that could be true. Mostly because Eva didn't seem like the kind of girl who would even date someone like Draco; then there was the fact that she had not said anything concerning the matter, it was almost as if she did not know Draco was saying it. She was too nice and quiet and beautiful and . . .

Harry smiled into the darkness. He had been thinking about Eva like this a lot. He would sometimes find himself staring at the back of her head in Potions or any other class they had together, just thinking about what it would be like to run his fingers through her raven hair. Most of the time Ron or Hermione would nudge him back to attention before Snape saw him staring at one of his classmates.

That was another problem. Snape. He seemed to be at a loss when it came to Eva. He was not as biased with her as with his other students. He actually seemed to be more fair when it came to the things that she did. Maybe it was because she rarely did anything that would be considered breaking a rule. She did as she was told in class and rarely played around in Potions. Nonetheless, Harry doubted it would sit well with Snape if he started dating Eva. The thought of Snape having a coronary when he heard about the match brought a smile to Harry's face. He wondered if she was thinking along the same lines as he was.