Evanna's roommates hardly spoke to her the first week back. She got the sense that they were afraid of her-who had told them to be afraid of her, she was not certain, but it would need to be handled and soon. Slytherin House's misanthrope reputation would only hold off gossip for so long. Though Evanna had never been the social butterfly her brother was, she found that being the Heir of the Dark Lord was incredibly lonely.
At least outside of Slytherin, the students and staff who knew her true heritage were few and far between. Evanna figured that Professor Snape must have been keeping whatever knowledge to himself as Dumbledore had yet to see her escorted off the grounds to a cozy cell in Azkaban by dementors.
Bright and early Wednesday morning, Evanna took her seat next to Ginny in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The redhead had a dark scowl fixed on her face as she watched the Professor in Pink putter around the front of the classroom.
"Billywig in your bonnet?" Evanna asked.
"What?"
"I think the layers of pink is the only thing that's kept the good professor from exploding under your glare," she said.
"My brothers already had her class this week," Ginny muttered. "Not only did she give Harry detention, but we don't even use our wands!"
"How on earth did Potter manage to get detention on the first day?" Evanna asked. Ginny gave her a strange look.
"He-well, he kept on about You-Know-Who," Ginny said, her voice barely more than a hiss. "And then Professor Umbridge called him a liar and-"
"Hem-hem."
The Professor was glaring at the girls. Evanna and Ginny straightened, looking ahead to the front of the classroom, perfectly innocent expressions on their faces.
"Good afternoon, class," the short professor said in a sing-songy voice. Evanna predicted that any lectures by this woman would result in a pounding headache. A few students mumbled back a "afternoon", but this was apparently unacceptable. "I said, good afternoon, class!"
Ginny and Evanna exchanged glances as they chorused "Good afternoon, Professor."
"Very good," Professor Umbridge said. "We will not be needing wands today! Now, does everyone have a copy of Mr. Slinkhard's Defensive Magical Theory?"
The class muttered a little and the professor tutted.
"That won't do at all. I expect when I ask a question that you answer back with "Yes, Professor" or "No, Professor". Now, let's try again, shall we? Does everyone have a copy of Mr. Slinkhard's book?"
Ginny rolled her eyes dramatically and Evanna suppressed a snort.
"Yes, Professor," the class chorused back in bored tones.
"Very good. Now, open to chapter one and read. There will be no need to talk."
"Well, this year will be fun," Evanna muttered.
"I think I'd prefer the Death Eater in disguise," Ginny replied. Evanna gave her a sharp look, mind whirring. Did Ginny somehow know? Had rumors reached that far? "What? Do I have something in my teeth?"
Evanna relaxed a bit. Of course Ginny didn't know. If she had known, then she would have already confronted Evanna loudly and angrily in the Great Hall, or something equally Gryffindor-ish. But, she could not relax fully. The Dark Lord had not stated it outright, but Evanna knew that he expected her to influence her friends to their side.
"No, but there is a bit of-"
"Ahem."
Professor Umbridge had stopped right in front of the pair of girls. Her eyes were narrowed on Evanna. Evanna saw flashes of the awful news articles about her and Harry from the previous year and an overall feeling of curiosity and suspicion from the professor.
"Did you have something to add, Ms. Malfoy?" the professor pressed. "Perhaps you wish to question my teaching methods the same way your friend did earlier this week?"
"No, Professor," Evanna murmured.
"Truly? No concerns about a supposedly reanimated Dark Lord? No pleas to learn dangerous magicks in case of the highly unlikely possibility someone decides to attack school children?"
"I wouldn't call it unlikely," Evanna said.
"Really, dear?" Professor Umbridge said dangerously.
"Well, the school has been less than safe the four years we all have been here," Evanna said reasonably. "A basilisk, a werewolf, a mass-murderer, Cedric Diggory's death-and not to mention outside the school the muggles are constantly coming up with new ways to kill each other and catch wizards in the crossfire."
"A young girl such as yourself should not be worrying about such things," the professor said with a saccharine smile. Fears of Dumbledore and a secret army were flashing through the professor's skull. Evanna nearly rolled her eyes at the utter incompetence of the Ministry of Magic.
"I don't," Evanna said. "My father sees to it that no harm comes to me and that I can protect myself. But that is not really the job of Dumbledore's school, is it?"
She could feel Ginny's eyes boring a hole through her skull and the frustration coming off the professor in waves. The class around them were muttering and Evanna knew she was seconds away from receiving detention from now until eternity, but she also knew she was planting the seeds for a better world. A world where wizards-where she would not need to hide ever again.
"But that is just the way of Lucius Malfoy," she said casually, knowing that the name would easily allow her to slide out of trouble. Sure enough, she felt a flash of nervousness from Professor Umbridge. The pink professor turned a glare on the class.
"No more talking!" she snapped. "I expect the entire first chapter to read and copied by the end of the period!"
There was a general grumble of dissent as students pulled out their quills and ink and began to read.
"You've become bloody scary, you know that?" Ginny muttered as she flipped open her book.
"You've no idea," Evanna muttered back.
The entire class seemed to be racing each other to be the first out of the classroom when the period finally, Evanna being no exception. But, almost immediately, Ginny had yanked her into an alcove, a stern look on her face.
"What the hell was all of that?" the redhead demanded.
"All of what?"
"All that with Umbridge! The school being less than safe and wizards getting caught in the crossfire of muggles and Lucius bloody Malfoy-I thought you hated your dad?"
"I do hate Lucius," Evanna said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bridget coming up to join them.
"What are you two up to?" the Hufflepuff said, quickly taking in Ginny's obvious frustration. Evanna hoped that she wasn't giving anything away.
"Evanna just put on a theatre-worthy performance in Defense Against the Dark Arts and has been acting so bloody weird all week," Ginny said, turning to Bridget. "She was in there spouting some weird things about muggles and her dad protecting her or something."
"Did you wind up with detention?" Bridget asked.
"No, I know how ministry lackeys work," Evanna said derisively.
"What's that mean?" Bridget snorted.
"That she bloody name dropped her dad," Ginny replied, rolling her eyes. "What happened this summer?"
"I just-I studied. Things are changing out there and I want to be prepared," Evanna said.
"Are you-are you talking about You-Know-Who?" Bridget muttered, looking around nervously.
Evanna was not sure how the conversation had gone so far out of her control so quickly. She was supposed to be the heir of Slytherin, wasn't she? She was no longer Lucius' victim, so why was she still so scared of even her closest friends finding out her secrets?
Because they won't understand, a voice in the back of her mind told her. They will reject you.
Then I'll make them understand.
"I've just learned a lot over the summer, you know," she said. "Did you know there was a wizard killed in America because of some muggle attack on one of their government buildings?"
"What does that have to do with anything when we both know that You-Know-Who has returned?"
"So you believe Potter then?" Bridget pressed.
"Evanna was there," Ginny said, gesturing wildly. "She saw it happen."
"Not so loudly," Evanna muttered.
"Everyone in Hogwarts saw you come back with Harry and Diggory," Bridget said. "Just no one knows how much your father had to pay off the papers to keep your picture out of the Prophet."
Evanna blinked. So that is why her father did not know about her involvement in the night that he had been resurrected-Lucius had paid to keep it out of the papers. It reaffirmed her theory that he would do anything to protect his own reputation in the Dark Lord's eyes, even if it also meant she was protected. She was unsure if that scared her more or relieved her.
"But-Evanna-is that really what happened that night?" Bridget said, interrupting Evanna's thoughts. Evanna turned to her friend and opened her mouth, unsure of what to say. Obviously, Harry had told the Weasleys about that night, and Ginny was giving her a look that said Evanna had best tell the truth. And, eventually, she knew her father had every intention of revealing himself. But the more people who knew about him made it more likely that people would know about her and everything would get out of control so easily and-
Bridget's brown eyes were studying Evanna intently, but Evanna could not seem to get a good read on the girl. Glancing at Ginny, she finally made up her mind, knowing there was no way she could keep her friends and all of her secrets at the same time.
"Yes, I saw-"
"Miss Weasley, Miss Travers, and Miss… Malfoy," a voice snapped. Evanna turned to see Professor Snape striding towards them. He regarded her carefully and Evanna's heart ached at the strange tension that had formed between her and her mentor.
"Yes, Professor?" Evanna said, trying not to allow it to sound like too much of an apology, no matter how much she wished to mend the rift between them. Something in his dark eyes flashed.
"Next class begins in two minutes and I doubt any of you can run quickly enough to make it on time," he said, a sneer to his lips. "So I'd suggest you end your gossiping session now."
Ginny and Bridget nodded and quickly scurried away, but he grabbed Evanna's shoulder.
"You need to be more mindful of your surroundings. However much you may believe things have changed, your father does not tolerate failures, Evanna," he said quietly and quickly. "Forgive any insubordination, milady, but I have been protecting you too long for you to be killed now."
Evanna opened her mouth. "I am his-"
"I know who you are," the professor said. "You are the one who needs help learning that. My offer will stand so long as I have the power to help."
It won't last long if she keeps making mistakes with the wrong people. Merlin, if only I can save her from herself. Evanna furrowed her eyebrows at that.
"Sir, I-"
"I advise you hurry on to class. Professor McGonagall has never been fond of latecomers, much less those of our House."
"I-I thank you for your advice, sir," Evanna said, sincerity filling her. She did not quite understand how or why, but somehow, she had Severus Snape's ultimate loyalty. She had the uneasy feeling he would follow her even if it meant disobeying Dumbledore. Or, even worse, her father's. This kind of loyalty warmed her, made her feel safe, even if she knew intellectually that it could be very dangerous as well.
Professor Snape nodded and Evanna rushed on to the Transfigurations classroom, sliding into her seat beside Luna just as Professor McGonagall called "Malfoy, Evanna!" on the roll.
"Present!"
Professor McGonagall rose an eyebrow and frowned. "I expect students to be in their seats before I begin calling roll, Ms. Malfoy," she said disapprovingly. "Five points from Slytherin."
Evanne bit her lip. Of course, all the newfound respect she had would never occur this close to the Lion's Den.
"Are you alright, Ev?" Luna murmured. "Only, your aura looks all fuzzy and I know the hink-"
"I'm fine, Luna, thanks for asking," Evanna murmured back, pulling out her quill and parchment, wishing it was summer again and that she could be training with her father rather than facing all the confusion of her old and new lives colliding.
A/N: I'm back a little early, y'all! Thank you for reading and reviewing. To my guest reviewer-glad you are enjoying the Harry/Evanna ship (though the ships aren't really as prominent in this chapter) and sorry you feel that way about Drinny. Tbh, my normal ship when I'm reading fanfic is Dramione, but Drinny just felt right for this story. Hope that doesn't put you off too much!