Don't own anything, but the plot and the new characters. J. K. Rowling owns Potter. (sigh)
Eva did not get to speak with Professor Snape until that Friday. She had been so busy on Thursday, she'd not found the time to do it, and so she had to wait another day. When she had climbed to her room Thursday night she'd had the same sensation of being followed. She now had three different instances to tell Professor Snape about. She thought it a good idea that she tell him today, since it was going to be her first meeting with Harry for Occlumency and wandless magic. It was best that the situation be handled before anyone else was in harm's way.
"Come in," called the Professor when Eva knocked on his door.
"Good afternoon, Professor," said Eva as she entered and closed the door of his office. It was lunch time, but she needed to speak to him; eating could come later.
"What was it that you needed, Miss Nocturino?" he asked.
"Well, it's not really something I need. I just remembered that you said that I could come to you if there was anything wrong or out of the ordinary," she began. She was suddenly nervous about him thinking her to be paranoid or overreacting.
"Yes, I did say that. Is there something or someone troubling you?"
"Yes, in fact, there is."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Professor Snape raised his eyebrow at her answer.
"You see there have now been three times when I have been on my way to the East Tower and I have had the uncanny feeling of being followed. I have never seen anyone, but I can feel someone behind me." She continued quickly when he looked down at his desk. "I know it sounds like I'm paranoid, but you said that I should tell you of anything out of the ordinary and I have never been wrong when I have had these kinds of feelings. I'm sorry if I've wasted your time," she finished lamely.
"Miss Nocturino, you did the right thing by coming to me with this." The professor stood and moved to sit in the chair next to the girl. "I know you must be having a difficult time here, without your mother. I want you to feel free to come to me with anything that troubles you."
Severus wanted to tell her right there and then that she could come to him as she would have a father, but he knew that she was not yet ready to hear the truth of their relationship. He needed to speak with her mother first. Unfortunately, the Headmaster had not told him where she was; he had only offered to send a letter to her on his behalf. That was not good enough for him, though. He looked at his daughter and felt resentment towards Sage for all the things that he had missed in Eva's life. He wanted to throw it all in her face.
"Professor?"
"Yes, Eva."
"I heard some students talking about a permission slip that their parents signed for Hogsmeade. Do you know if my mother signed it? I already told Harry Potter that I would go with him and I don't want to find out that I can't go at the last minute."
Severus felt like kicking himself. She had agreed to go with Potter to Hogsmeade and he had already paved the way for him. He felt like telling her that her mother had not signed the form, but that would only make Hogwarts a worse place for her.
"I don't believe you will have a problem there. I'm sure the Headmaster did something about that for you." He wasn't really lying to her; the Headmaster had done something, he just didn't let her know that it was he who signed the form for her.
"Good. I'm really looking forward to the weekend." She was about to get up when she thought of another thing where she hoped the professor might be able to help her with. "Uhm, Professor? There is one thing that I was hoping you might help me with."
"What's that?"
"Well, my birthday's coming up in December and I wanted to send my mother a letter and maybe also a present for Christmas. I don't know where she is, though, and she said that I couldn't contact her. Do you think you or the Headmaster could find a way for me to send them?"
Severus smiled inwardly. She was really a fine young woman. She was more worried about her mother being alone for Christmas than the possible stalker in the East Tower. "I'm sure the Headmaster can think of something. When, exactly, is your birthday?" He had not seen her date of birth anywhere in her folder, and he had looked at it many times.
"December 24th, Christmas Eve. Mum's always said that I was an early Christmas present."
"No doubt a much anticipated one," said Professor Snape.
"Not sure about that. I always thought that Mum would have preferred to have my father around." She had no idea why she had told him that, but she had found, in the course of their conversation, that he was not as unapproachable as she had originally thought.
"What do you know about your father? If you don't mind my asking."
"I don't mind. I don't really know much. Mum just said that he was a really good man and an excellent wizard. She doesn't talk about him and I've pretty much given up hope of finding anything else out. I'm guessing he must have died shortly after we got to America, not too long before I was born."
Severus couldn't believe his ears. He had known that Eva did not know much about him, but for her to think him dead was too much. He decided to change the subject before he said anything he would regret. "How is Sage doing?"
"Sage? Oh, you mean Mum. She's fine from what I can tell. She sent me a lovely gown just Wednesday. That's why I want to send her a gift. She sounds really lonely and I'm sure a present will cheer her up a little."
"I'm sure it will." Severus looked at his hourglass and noticed that lunch was almost over. "You'd better go and grab something to eat and then head to class."
"I've got afternoons off on Fridays, but I am a bit hungry." She stood from her chair. "Thank you for all the help, Professor."
"It was my pleasure, Miss Nocturino."
Severus sat looking at the door his daughter had just walked through. He had seen a small glimpse of her real person. She was a bit naïve, but he knew she would soon grow out of that. She was smart and also bold. Not many of his students had come into his office during their seven years here. Only the most brave had dared to ask him for an office appointment. She had no fear of him, in fact she had told him as much when she said he was being unfair for taking points from Longbottom for their presentation.
Eva walked towards the Great Hall after her meeting with Professor Snape. She had not expected it to be so easy to talk to him. He had been so cold and distant when she had begun at Hogwarts last month. Maybe he just had to get used to her being around.
She was glad to have the afternoon off. She needed to finish some homework for Charms and she needed to decide where to start with Harry tonight.
It felt a bit strange to be making lesson plans. She had never been in the teaching position before, but she reasoned Dumbledore knew what he was doing even if she doubted herself. She wondered how far along in Occlumency Harry had gone last year. If he was in good shape there, they might be able to start on the wandless magic.
She thought about different ways to approach the subject as she ate her lunch. She removed to her room and was glad that she did not feel the presence behind her anymore. She finished her Charms paper and checked her watch. She still had two hours before dinner; she could go out for a ride on her Firebolt.
She changed into some comfortable jeans and grabbed her broom from the corner where it had languished for the past month. She loved the feel of flying; the exhilarating rush of air on her face and to fly just as long and far as she wanted. She had been lucky enough not to have to worry too much about being seen on a broomstick at the Manor. They had miles of surrounding forest and valley as a buffer from Muggle eyes.
She reached the Quidditch pitch and was glad to see that none of the House teams were practicing. She had thought of trying out for the Slytherin team, but thought better of it after hearing a recount of one of the games last year. Slytherin was not known for their sportsmanship.
She walked to the middle of the pitch and kicked off the ground. The feel of the air on her face was wonderful, just the way she remembered it. A month was a long time not to fly. She did a few laps around the pitch and then started to play.
She wove in and out of the posts and made dives, pulling out only at the last minute. Getting tired of flying in circles, she decided to take an aerial tour of the Hogwarts grounds.
She started with the lake. It did not look as big from above, and Eva wondered how it would look further into winter. She would love to go skating around it when it froze. She did a few turns around the hills about the lake and then headed towards the castle. Her first fly-over was the greenhouses. She was surprised that these looked bigger than they did from the inside, but maybe that was just how buildings were. She made a quick trip around the towers of the castle and headed towards the forest.
She would have flown above it had she not heard Professor Snape calling her from the front steps of the castle. She quickly turned, swooped down to land, and smoothly dismounted from her broom.
"Yes, Professor?"
"What did you think you were doing?" Professor Snape's question would have been an innocent one, were it not for the dangerous tone of his voice. Eva could tell that he was not happy with her flying.
"I was just taking an aerial tour of the grounds. Am I not allowed to do that?" She knew the answer was yes because she had seen other students flying around the school, just not near the forest. His answer shocked her.
"No, you are not."
"But I have seen other students flying around the school," she protested.
"You are not other students, Miss Nocturino. There is a reason you are not allowed to fly without supervision, especially so close to the boundaries of the school."
"Why? It's not fair that my flying is restricted."
"Life isn't fair, Miss Nocturino. Now please return to the inside of the castle and do not argue further."
Eva had never felt so angry in her life. She had never had rules like this imposed on her. She had always been allowed to do what she wanted at the Manor without a second thought. She stomped past Professor Snape into the castle. If it had not been for her mother asking her to obey the professors, she would have gotten right back onto her broom and flown right over the forest, just to see the look on his face.
"Do not pout, Miss Nocturino, it does not become a lady."
Eva whirled around and faced Professor Snape. She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything that she would regret, but she knew that her eyes were conveying just how much she disliked him at that moment. She quickly turned toward the East Tower and climbed the stairs two at a time.
She slammed the door behind her and fell onto her bed. She did not like the way the professors seemed to know where she was and what she was doing all the time, and all the things that they had begun to tell her she could not do. She was not allowed in the Greenhouses alone, which Professor McGonagall had pointed out to her one afternoon when Eva had gone to see if she could find some leaves for a potion she was researching. Professor Sinistra had told her she was not allowed to leave the Astronomy Tower without an escort to the stairs of the East Tower; that was a new one that started only this week. She did not know the purpose of all these rules. Her mother had obviously thought Hogwarts to be the safest place for Eva, so she could not understand the need for so many special rules. Were those two men who had killed her grandparents just going to waltz into the school and start throwing curses at the students in hopes of hitting her?
Eva used the time she had before dinner to read a book she had picked up at the library. It was on healing and she thought it might be helpful to her training. She did not look up from her reading until her stomach growled. She glanced at her clock and saw that she was fifteen minutes late for dinner.
She rushed down to the Great Hall and took a seat at the very end of the table. She kept stealing glances at the Gryffindor table where Harry was sitting. She wondered if he remembered about their lessons and hoped he did.
She finished her dinner and looked up to find that Harry was walking over to the Slytherin table. He was almost to where she was sitting when Draco swept by her and stopped him from going any further.
"Can I help you with something, Potter?" he sneered.
"I just came to ask Eva if our study date was still on for tonight," he answered.
"Date?! You must be delusional, Potter. Why would a Slytherin want a date with someone like you?"
"Well, you'd have to ask her. She's the one who sent me a note with the date and time. Seems like she's the one interested."
Draco laughed. "Don't get any ideas, Potter. You may have everyone else fooled but I know you're nothing more than a show-off. Eva will soon find out the truth."
"I think that Eva can decide for herself, Malfoy," Harry responded, barely keeping his temper.
Draco glared at Harry. "I'm warning you, Potter. Stay away from her. She's mine."
"I didn't know that I was anyone's property to be claimed," said Eva from behind Draco. "Harry's right, Draco. I can decide the truth for myself and I would really appreciate it if you stopped talking about me as if I were not in the room. It's quite annoying." She turned from facing Draco to facing Harry and smiled. "I'm ready if you are."
"Definitely," he said with a smile.
Eva decided to give Draco's ego one more blow; she took Harry's hand into her own and they walked out of the Great Hall. Draco's face was red with fury, but his was not the only angered face in the Hall. Professor Snape had seen the whole scene from his seat at the head table, including where his daughter had taken Harry Potter by the hand, most proudly, and walked out of the Great Hall.
How dare that scum touch his daughter! Snape quickly stood and stormed through the door behind the head table. He was going to head them off at the main staircase, or wherever they were headed.
He'd caught Potter kissing Eva once and he'd be damned if he'd give the boy another opportunity. He was almost to the staircase when he saw them headed towards the classrooms down the corridor. Potter was leading Eva by the hand; just where did he think he was going to take her? Snape began to walk towards them, but he soon felt a hand on his shoulder, detaining him. He turned to see the Headmaster.
"It's alright, Severus. I gave them permission. Eva is going to be teaching Harry Occlumency and, hopefully, wandless magic."
"You approve of this?" he asked in shock.
"Yes, I quite do. In fact, I was the one who thought of Eva as an instructor for Harry. They seem to get on quite well." Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eye as he said that.
"Yes, I've noticed," sneered Professor Snape.
Dumbledore patted Severus' shoulder. "She is not as naïve as you think, Severus. She very much knows what is going on around her, and she knows exactly what she's doing." He turned and headed towards his own rooms in the East Tower.
Severus turned to look down the now empty corridor. The Headmaster's words were of no comfort to him. The fact that his daughter had known what she was doing when she took Potter's hand was disturbing to him. Not because it probably meant she had feelings for him, but because Harry Potter seemed to attract trouble. There was not a year that had gone by where he had not found problems. Severus did not really care if the boy got hurt, he went looking for trouble after all, but now Eva was in the picture and he did not want her to be hurt, in any way.
Harry groped around the wall looking for a light switch. The light coming from the windows on the opposite wall did nothing to help him. Finally, he muttered "Lumos" and the tip of his wand illuminated the room. The light showed him that this room had no electrical lights, only torches.
"I suppose we could build a fire," said Harry.
Eva just smiled over her shoulder at him and walked to the torches closest to her. She waved her hand over one and it blazed to life. On her third torch, she turned to Harry and said, "Make yourself useful, get a fire going."
Eva and Harry soon had a fire going, the room awash with light, and the desks pushed back against the walls.
"So, where do we start, Professor?" asked Harry.
"Well, I thought we could start by seeing how far you got in your last lessons."
"Not very far. Snape was teaching me, and, in case you hadn't noticed, he doesn't like me very much."
Eva frowned at the statement, not because what Harry said was mean, but because she knew it was true. Professor Snape did not seem to like Harry or his friends too much. "Well, how about I try and break into your mind and see how well you can block me; we'll work our way from there."
Harry did not like the idea of Eva breaking into his memories, but there was nothing he could do about it. "Alright."
"On the count of three." Eva stood right in front of Harry, who was now holding onto his wand like a lifeline, and counted down. "One . . . Two . . . Three, Legilimens!"
Harry knew what was coming, but he still felt like he was being tugged down a hall full of pictures of his life. He saw Dudley and his gang below him as he sat on the roof of their primary school. He saw the same memory of Ripper the bulldog chasing him into a tree and the Dursley's on the lawn laughing. The next memory was quite surprising, however. He was sitting on the swings in the park near the Dursley's and a pretty little blonde girl sat on the swing next to him and started talking. He was watching her come up the walk to the Dursley's front door. He was holding her hand and they were walking around the neighborhood. He was leaning closer to her under the willow tree in the park. That was not something he wanted Eva to see. Having her watch him kiss another girl was not going to be good for their relationship.
He forced himself to concentrate and repelled her out. He was thrust back to the classroom and felt a pain in his knee. Just like with Snape he had fallen to his knees after she broke into his mind.
Eva touched her wrist to heal the weal that had formed from Harry's Stinging Hex. She thought about what she had seen. Harry was not treated very well by whoever those people were and he had obviously had a girlfriend in his hometown. She did not let her disappointment show, though.
"That wasn't too bad, but you let me get in a bit far before repelling me. You're going to have to work on clearing your mind." She put down her wand and walked toward him. "Have you ever meditated?"
"No." Harry followed her lead and put his wand in his robes. He watched as she sat crossed-legged on the floor.
"Well, sit down," she instructed.
Harry sat down and looked rather confused. Snape had never done this, he had just ordered him to remove all emotion and concentrate on nothing.
"Take a deep breath and relax," instructed Eva. "Close your eyes and just enjoy the silence."
Harry did what she told him, but thought he must look rather odd, sitting cross-legged on the floor and breathing deeply. "Is this leading to something?" he asked.
Eva chuckled a bit. "Yes, it is leading to you being able to close off your mind to my attacks." She opened her eyes quickly. "Did Professor Snape never tell you to close your mind to all outer distractions?"
"Oh yeah, but his instructions were more like orders and it's not really easy to relax when you have a full-grown wizard facing you with a wand in his hand. Doesn't inspire much confidence."
Eva forgot about leading Harry through a time of meditation. "What were your lessons like last year? With Professor Snape?"
"Not very entertaining," said Harry, he uncrossed his legs and sat with them just stretched out. "He tried to explain what Occlumency and Legilimens were, but he wasn't the best at explanations. He just told me that I needed to learn because Dumbledore thought it was important."
"Why would you need to learn Occlumency? I would think that the students here were well protected from outside forces. Who would want to, or be able to, break into your mind if you're at Hogwarts?"
Harry wasn't sure if Eva was supposed to know the whole truth of why he was being taught this particular branch of magic, but he figured it was only fair for her to know. He remembered what he felt like when he was the one being shut in the dark. "Do you promise not to tell anyone what I am about to say?" he asked. He moved forward and looked right into her eyes.
"I promise," she crossed her heart with a finger and held up her right hand.
The move caused Harry to smile. Little things like that made her more appealing to him. "I haven't told anyone about this since I did an interview with Rita Skeeter last year." Harry took a deep breath and began the story of Voldemort's return. He did not tell Eva the specifics, just enough to make her understand Dumbledore's reasoning. "So after I saw the snake attack Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea for me to learn Occlumency."
Eva sat mesmerized by the young man sitting in front of her. He had faced not only Voldemort, but nearly a dozen Death Eaters, TWICE! "So you could feel the same emotions that Voldemort was feeling?"
"Yeah."
"And after you started Occlumency the visions stopped?" she asked.
"Not exactly," said Harry.
"What do you mean 'not exactly'? Occlumency should have helped you stop the visions."
"The visions didn't stop because the Occlumency lessons did not go beyond a few months. Voldemort lured me to the Ministry of Magic by using our connection. He made me believe that my godfather was in the Department of Mysteries being tortured."
"That's how the Death Eaters found you lot there," said Eva in understanding. She was suddenly curious. "Did you see any of the Death Eaters' faces? Did you recognize any of them?"
Harry wasn't sure whether or not to tell her the names of the Death Eaters he had seen, in both his encounters. It was more than likely that she knew many of them because they were purebloods and probably knew her grandparents. "How much did your mother and grandparents tell you about what's been happening?"
Eva sighed and shifted position. "Not much. All I was told was that the dark wizard who had done many terrible things had come back to power. They told me that I had to be extra careful when I was alone, and that I shouldn't speak to any witch or wizard I didn't know; the usual stuff. Come to think about it, the Malfoys and some other families began to come to our house a lot to talk with my Mum and grandparents, just after he came back."
"Well, be glad that you didn't meet them personally. I wouldn't recommend having tea with one," he said.
Eva wondered if anyone in the school knew why she was here. She was now sure that whoever had killed her grandparents were Death Eaters, the snake on their gloves looked like the one in the Dark Mark. "Well, they wouldn't like you much, would they? You're the one who sent Voldemort fleeing the first time."
Harry looked down at his jeans. He had been the one who stopped the terror of Voldemort's reign the first time, but he'd been an infant. Now, it was up to him again and he wasn't sure he could do what he knew he would have to.
"What's wrong?" asked Eva.
"Nothing," replied Harry a little too quickly to sound genuine, even to him.
Eva studied him for a few moments. "You're afraid of something? No, no, that's not it. You're doubtful of something." She tried to look into his eyes, but they were fixed on his jeans. "Look at me Harry, please," she requested.
Harry slowly turned his eyes up towards Eva. He tried to clear away any trace of emotion from his face. He either failed miserably or Eva had an uncanny way of reading him.
"You doubt yourself." It was a statement. Eva saw the self-doubt in Harry's eyes. He was unsure of something about himself; she was not sure what, but there was serious doubt.
Eva crawled from her spot to sit right next to Harry. She touched one of his hands and he shifted so he was no longer leaning back. Eva took his hand and caressed it. She looked him in the eye and moved his hand to her lips and kissed the very center of his palm.
"Do not doubt your abilities, Harry. Sometimes your belief in yourself and what you are fighting for are the difference between victory and defeat."
"How can I know that I will be able to do what must be done when the time comes?"
"You can't know, Harry. Nobody does; not even Dumbledore. But I sense something in you, Harry, something powerful. You are going to face what's ahead of you and you will defeat it. I don't know how or when, but I know you will do what is right."
Harry looked her in the eyes and saw that she believed in every word she had spoken; she believed in him. He pulled his legs to his body and hung his head between his knees.
Eva let him sit there for a moment. She knew that his position must be difficult. Not many people could say they were responsible for the future of the world as they knew it! Finally, she broke the silence. "Sorry to interrupt your thinking time, but we really need to get going on the meditation." She resumed her position in front of him and waited for him to do the same.
"How long do you think it will take me to learn this?" he asked.
"That all depends on how often you practice and how often we meet. We should really have some longer sessions during the weekends, but we can talk about that later."
Eva instructed him in meditation for the remainder of their time together. She wished they had more than an hour, but she doubted Dumbledore would extend the school curfew just for them.
"We'd better go, or else Mrs. Norris will be meowing to Mr. Filch about us," said Eva. She stood with Harry's help, fetched her wand and began to walk to the door.
"Aren't we going to put out the fires?" he asked.
"Oh yeah, I forgot." She waved her hand at the room in general and all light left the room. It was now pitch black and they couldn't see a thing. "I think I've found a problem."
Harry laughed and promptly removed his wand from his robes and lit the tip. They left the room and locked it behind them. The halls were deserted as they made their way towards the stairs.
"When do you want to meet next?" asked Eva.
"Whenever is most convenient for you," said Harry.
"I was thinking that it would be good to have regular meetings; kind of like another class. We would just have to check our schedules to see when the best time is. And we have to have some longer meetings on the weekends."
"That sounds good to me," said Harry. They had reached the spot where they had to part ways to their respective rooms. He stood awkwardly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"I guess I'll see you later," said Eva.
"Yeah." Harry and Eva stood facing each other for a minute. "I'll wait until you're up the stairs," said Harry.
Eva nodded and turned to the East Tower stairs. She had only taken a few steps when she turned and walked back to stand inches from Harry. "Good night," she said. She placed a quick kiss on his lips, turned and went up the stairs.
Harry stood in the Great Hall for a few moments, a bit surprised at Eva's actions. He smiled after thinking about it. She had made the move, which meant that she probably liked him. His smile grew wider as he thought more about it. She liked him and they were going to be spending a lot of time together, alone. It was with this pleasant thought in mind that he fell right to sleep.