Chapter 21

The castle and surrounding grounds were covered by a thick white blanket of snow in the morning, with more snow still falling at alarming rates. All Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and Astronomy classes had been cancelled through the end of term. Knowing that Binns never took attendance in History of Magic and that her Herbology class followed immediately after, Evanna decided to spend the morning simply exploring the castle instead, savoring one of her last days of freedom before the break.

"I'm beginning to think you're following me, Malfoy," Potter said as Evanna took a shortcut through one of the hidden passageways to the upper floors.

"Who's to say you're not following me?" she said, a challenge in her voice.

"What? Why would I be following you?"

"Well, why would I follow you?"

"You weren't there last night, were you?" Potter said almost bitterly.

"No, but I heard," she said. "Since when is Saint Potter a Parselmouth?"

Potter's face darkened. "Fine, Malfoy, if you wanna-"

"And beyond that Heir of Slytherin? Please," Evanna scoffed. "Not that you'd do that any better justice than you have the Potter family Sleakeasy empire."

She playfully yanked on a strand of his hair.

"I'm sorry, the what?" he said confused.

"Sleakeasy?" she said. "Well, I guess obviously you've never heard of it."

Potter shook his head before seeming to latch on something else. "You don't believe I'm the Heir of Slytherin?"

"Of course not," Evanna scoffed. Potter's eyes narrowed and Evanna didn't need any headaches to tell her what he was thinking. "And before you ask, neither is my brother or myself. If you ask me, it has to be an older student."

"But-"

"Rip… kill… tear…"

Icy fear gripped Evanna's heart and she looked at Potter.

"We need to get out-"

But the Gryffindor boy had already taken off down the hallway, going the same direction of the voice. Using some of the curse words she had picked up from some of the older years after Draco had lost the Quidditch game, Evanna ran after him, stopping at the edge of the corridor.

They looked like wax figures, she thought. Well, except for the ghost, whose head was lolling grotesquely to the side. But the two boys had Evanna's attention. One, a Hufflepuff, judging by his robes. The other was a Gryffindor-one who she recognized, even without hearing his Irish lilt. She shook her head and started backing up as she heard footsteps echoing down the hallway. Her eyes widened when she saw Professor McGonagall round the corner. She bumped into something warm behind her.

"Go straight to my office," Professor Snape said behind her. "Do not look back-do not let anyone see you. I will be along shortly."

Evanna glanced at Potter, who was being admonished by Professor McGonagall.

"Nothing will happen to Mr. Potter," Professor Snape sneered. "I cannot promise the same for you unless you leave. Now."

Evanna nodded, rushing around her professor to go towards the Slytherin dungeons, taking all the most deserted hallways along the way, heart pounding in her ears. She burst into her professor's office, slamming the door shut behind her. She paced back and forth, wringing her hands nervously. Was she going to be expelled? Sent to Azkaban? Sent back home?

She jumped when the door opened. Professor Snape stood in front of her, face unreadable.

"Sir, please, is Pott-"

"Sent to the Headmaster's office. However, I've never once known our great Headmaster to punish a Potter, so I am sure the boy will still be at Hogwarts to be a pain in my side, despite the looks of the situation."

Evanna was rather surprised by how relieved that made her.

"The bigger concern is what you were doing there," he said. "This is the second time you've been at the scene and the second time someone misfortunate enough to gain your ire has been caught in the crosshairs," the professor said with eyebrow raised. "I can guess at the things your father has taught you. Things do not look well for you, Ms. Malfoy."

Evanna shook her head. "Please, sir, it's just been coincidence. I haven't hurt anyone."

"Then tell me how it was that you came to be in that corridor with Mr. Potter if you were not exacting some sort of revenge when you were supposed to be in class?"

Evanna winced. She had hoped that in the mess of it all that little tidbit would be forgotten.

"I-I just wanted to explore the castle and my Herbology class was cancelled-"

"But you were supposed to be in History of Magic," Professor Snape intoned.

"Yes, well, erm," she muttered. "Potter was in a secret passageway that Draco had shown me as a shortcut to the Charms classroom. And then I heard that same voice again…"

"And you went towards it," he said. "Despite the admonishment I gave to your entire House to use common sense and a modicum of self-preservation-"

"I was going to run away from it, sir!" she exclaimed. "I truly was! Only of course Potter started running towards it-"

"And of course you followed him," the professor sneered. "Mr. Potter seemed ot have quite the talent for not only getting himself into trouble, but all the students surrounding him too. He's a worse menace than that bloody dog ever was…"

Evanna was silent as her professor seemed to give in to some of his overwhelming frustration, pacing the floor angrily. Finally he looked at her.

"Take a seat," he snapped, whirling around to the chair behind his desk. Evanna did so. The professor sat behind his desk, looking agitated as he tapped his fingers, played with a paperweight, fiddled with his wand. Evanna stayed completely silent throughout it all. Finally, he looked up at her.

Could I be wrong about her?

The thought wounded Evanna in a way she hadn't expected, even if she didn't know exactly what it was referring to. All she knew was that she held her Head of House in much higher regard than she ever had her father, and it seemed the feeling was mutual. Anything that would sway that feeling was something Evanna desperately wanted to avoid.

"Tell me truthfully," he said. "Did Lucius put you up to something this year? I know the legends and I know that the monster should only attack muggleborns-but such a monster puts everyone in this castle at risk. You must consider that carefully."

"I promise, I know nothing."

"Not even a hint?" The professor seemed to almost beg. "A student's familiar, three students, and a House ghost-all these attacks will have the governors calling for the school's closure if the culprit is not caught soon. You don't want the school to close, do you?"

Evanna felt bile press at her throat. To have to go back to the manor, to not escape until she was of age or even older… She didn't think she would survive.

"No, sir, I swear," she said. "If you are really sure that my father is behind all these attacks-if they will truly cause the school to close-I can try and find out what is going on over break. I could sneak in his office-"

"No!" Professor Snape snapped. "In fact, I believe you ought to remain at Hogwarts for the break-I believe you will be safer here-"

"But, sir, I couldn't possibly," she said. "I have to speak to my mother."

Snape shook his head. "Listen to me, girl-no conversation you could have with your mother could possibly be worth going near Lucius Malfoy! He put an Unforgivable on you in the middle of Hogwarts, for Salazar's sake!"

"But my mother-"

"Your mother is a grown witch, with far more options than you, if only she would take them," he spat bitterly. "You are barely old enough to be a Hogwarts student!"

"I am eleven!"

Professor Snape held his head in his hands. A strange noise was coming from him, sharp and staccato and almost painful sounding. Evanna looked at him in concern, almost reaching out a hand to make sure he was okay.

"Sir? Are you quite alright?" she asked.

A moment later and he seemed to compose himself, lifting his head from his hands to look at her. She had the strangest feeling that he had been laughing at her, but everything she knew about the professor said that simply was not possible.

"Yes, Ms. Malfoy, you are eleven," he said with a strained voice. "And as you are eleven, you should have been in class this morning, not gallivanting about the castle chasing after murderous voices."

"I di-"

He held up a hand. "As you refuse to listen to reason and stay at Hogwarts over holiday with your brother, your week's worth of detention for skipping class and running wantonly into danger like a Gryffindor shall have to wait until you return."

Evanna groaned aloud and the professor gave her a look.

"Shall I make it two?"

"No, sir."

"Very well. You are dismissed," he said. "See that you don't ever skive off my class, yes?"

Evanna nodded and rushed out the door, head swimming with the strange events of the day.

A/N: And we are halfway through Evanna's first year! Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers thus far-your encouragement keeps me going strong.

As very little of Evanna's story really matches up with Prisoner of Azkaban, I will probably be skipping it and picking back up around the Yule Ball. The rating may also go up as things get darker the older Evanna gets (darker than it got for Harry, truthfully) but we will see.

I will also be posting a poll on my page to see what you all would prefer as far as update schedule goes once I get to grad school. I could either post irregularly as I get time or I could just wait until Christmas break to post. If I do the latter, I will make sure to finish Chamber of Secrets before going on grad-school imposed hiatus. (I may also post some random one-shots as the mood/free time strikes me. Who knows?)