The morning of the first Hogsmeade visit of the term was rather chilly, forcing Evanna to abandon her original outfit. She frowned at herself in the mirror, having been looking forward to finally wearing the new dress she had owl-ordered, but knowing she would be freezing later in the day if she didn't change.
"Would you like to borrow my jumper?" Eva said behind her, holding out a light green cardigan that complimented the floral dress Evanna was so reluctant to take off.
Since the night she had argued with Draco, Evanna's roommates had seemed to warm to her once more, acting far less fearful towards her than they had since returning to school. Though they weren't quite back to their usual easy camaraderie, they were well on their way.
"If you don't mind?" Evanna said.
"Of course," Eva replied, handing over the cardigan. Evanna shrugged it on before pulling on her shoes and tucking her wand up her sleeve. "You and Nott are rather cute together, y'know. Our very own Slytherin power couple."
Evanna pursed her lips, unsure of what to say to that. If she was being honest with herself, she was only with Theo because it was expected. A young pureblood girl could do worse than Theodore Nott; he was well-bred, considerate, intelligent, and did not seem to be in any way like Lucius. But, they had drifted apart since their detention with Harry. Oh, they still sat with each other in the Great Hall, still studied in the Common Room together, still kissed on occasion, but Evanna felt as though she was merely going through the motions with him most of the time.
"No need to kiss my arse, Blishwick," she snorted.
She felt a flare of annoyance from the girl, but to her credit, none of that showed on Eva's face.
"Aren't you two going to Hogsmeade together?" Elin said from across the room. "I heard a rumor he had made a reservation for Madame Puddifoot's."
Evanna stopped herself from asking how many rumors exactly her roommates had heard about her this year, and from whom, but stopped herself. She much preferred her roommates not scurrying away from her like scared field mice every time she walked in the room.
"That is what couples tend to do when going to Hogsmeade," Evanna said noncommittally.
Elin rolled her eyes dramatically. "Back to the proper Pureblood princess-"
Elin cut herself off at that abruptly, realizing just how accurate that statement now was. Eva had gone pale as she glanced between the other two girls nervously. Evanna withheld her sigh, instead rolling her eyes dramatically.
"Pardon me for not acting like I was raised by wolves like some of our schoolmates," she said dryly.
Eva gave an awkward giggle and the moment passed. Evanna did her best not to sigh in relief. Though she appreciated the new power she held over those who would hurt her, Evanna did not necessarily like the way her House now treated her, as though she was set to explode at any minute.
"Well, c'mon then, Eva!" Elin said. "We only have so long in Hogsmeade before we have to come back to this dreary castle!"
Evanna's two roommates giggled when they reached the Common Room and Theo placed a kiss on her cheek in greeting. She turned to make a face at them-Ginny had really been a terrible influence on her-and they scampered out of the Common Room entrance.
"What was that all about?" Theo asked.
"Oh-just girl stuff," Evanna said airily.
"And you were so excited last week that they were talking to you again," he teased. "I feel like I've barely seen you in the evenings you've been with them so much."
"Sorry-I didn't mean to-"
"No, no, it's fine," he said. "I think it's good you're spending more time with the other Slytherins. It's good for them to see you."
Evanna was silent at that. In truth, she had not been spending much of that time with her roommates. Instead, she had been spending that time in the Chamber of Secrets, training Harry. He was powerful, which she had always known, but he was entirely untrained. It had frustrated Evanna at first, how the supposed Savior of the Wizarding World could be so ignorant about even basic dueling technique, but Harry had proved a quick learner. In fact, he took to the Confringo Curse so well that Evanna had to double check he had never learned it before.
"No, I think we're supposed to cover it this year in Defense, but with Umbridge…" he trailed off and shrugged. "You're a fourth year, how do you know it?"
Evanna shook her head. "If Dumbledore would have given you the barest amount of training," she muttered, ignoring his question.
"Yeah, well, Dumbledore seemed content to leave me with the Dursleys all summer," Harry had grumbled. Evanna saw a flash of a burly man, purple in the face, all but literally kicking her friend out the door. She felt rage at the memories that flashed in Harry's mind.
"It's not right, sending you to those filthy muggles," she spat. "You deserve to live with a Wizarding family, not to be treated like rubbish by those ingrates."
She felt a wave of discomfort from him as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Stay out of my head, Ev," he grumbled half-heartedly. Evanna felt a swoop in her stomach at the nickname. "Besides, you offering your family?"
Evanna went silent as Harry took up his duelling position across from her and they began again. She vowed that as soon as she could, she would punish those muggles for their treatment of Harry, ignoring the niggling voice in her head that they were no worse than Lucius Malfoy.
"...ready to go?" Theo was asking. Evanna blinked.
"Yes, shall we?" she said with a blithe smile. Theo smiled back at her, a little more genuinely as he placed her hand on his arm. The air outside the castle was crisp, a welcome change from the suffocating heat the summer had brought. Evanna sighed happily in the morning sun as they wound their way down to the castle gates. Sure enough, Theo led her straight to the pink doors of Madame Puddifoot's.
"Hope you don't think me too cliche," he murmured as he opened the door for her.
"Only moderately so," she replied teasingly.
Theo chuckled as the hostess took them to their table and he held out the chair for her, ordering them two glasses of pumpkin juice and an appetizer.
"I presume the girls are treating you as they should?" Theo said as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice. Evanna knew what he meant, even without reading his mind-Eva and Elin needed to be kissing her arse like the rest of the House, and many students outside of Slytherin, too.
"Of course," Evanna said.
"Good," he said. "I was concerned with Blishwick's-erm-questionable status, but then, I supposed if he is alright with you hanging around Weasley-"
"I've told you before, Theodore, you are not my keeper," Evanna said darkly.
"I was just making conversation, Evanna," Theo said, a touch irritatedly.
"Well, make a different conversation," Evanna snapped back.
The waitress arrived with their appetizer at that moment, forcing Theo to clamp his mouth shut and frown. He seemed to gather himself carefully when the waitress left.
"Would you care for some prawns?" he asked tightly.
"Yes. Thank you."
They ate in silence for a moment before Theo opened his mouth.
"I would like things to be like this summer, again," he said. "I don't like fighting with you."
Evanna was silent as she studied her boyfriend. He seemed genuine, his thoughts centered around her and them having a good time together, of them being the influential Slytherin couple the world saw them as. She quashed down any lingering feelings of annoyance, knowing she ought to try and meet him halfway.
"I don't like it either," she said. "I just-my brother spent a lot of time reporting on who I was friends with to my fath-to Lucius-and I don't need that from my boyfriend, too."
She could feel curiosity swirl in his head as he considered her. She wasn't sure she much cared for where his mind was headed.
"I-well, not just me-well, there has always been talk-"
"Evanna!"
Evanna blinked and looked up to see Ginny pushing her way through the tables full of couples, red in the face. There was no need for her powers to sense how annoyed Theo was at the intrusion, not that Evanna could blame him this time. Even so, she felt rather relieved to see her friend.
"Hey, Nott," Ginny said dismissively before turning to Evanna, "I need you to come with me."
"Ginny, if you can't tell-"
"Yes, yes, I know you're on a date, I can tell by all the sickeningly pink decorations," Ginny replied, rolling her eyes. "That does not negate the fact that I need you to come with me right now."
Evanna looked at Theo, who had taken a great interest in the prawn cocktail.
Ginny sighed impatiently. "Evanna, Luna needs us-"
Evanna frowned. Their spacey friend was often the target of cruel pranks and bullies from all the houses.
"Where is she?"
"The Hog's Head."
Evanna looked at Theo again, who seemed resigned to the end of this date. There was a wave of guilt that look brought, and she vowed that she would treat him better.
"I'll be back, I promise," she said. "It's just-Luna-"
He waved her off. "Go on. I-I'll just see you later, yeah?"
Evanna smiled. "Of course," she replied, leaning over the table to kiss him sweetly.
"Don't count on her being back for a while," Ginny said over her shoulder as she rushed Evanna out of the restaurant.
"What is going on? Is Luna okay?"
"Had to get you out of there-this is too important and besides you looked miserable," Ginny said, not really answering Evanna's question as she halfway drug her through the streets of Hogsmeade. They nearly bowled over a couple students, Evanna having to apologize to Eva Blishwick for knocking her Honeyduke's lollipop out of her hand.
"What the hell are you on about, Ginny?"
"We're resisting, and you need to learn proper defence just as much if not more than anyone else," Ginny babbled.
"I thought Luna was in trouble?"
"No, but all of us are about to be!" Ginny said with a wicked grin as she pushed Evanna through the door of the Hog's Head.
"Ginevra Weasley, I swear if you dragged me away from my date for a bloody prank-"
"Oh, you weren't having that great a time anyway. I mean, Puddifoot's? Really?" Ginny shook her head. "And besides, this is not a prank. This is a revolution."
Evanna looked around her. For a seedy pub on the wrong side of Hogsmeade, there were quite a few Hogwarts students milling about. In fact, there were only a handful of patrons besides the students-an old hag in a cape on one side and a being that was definitely not drinking pumpkin juice. Evanna shuddered.
"What is this?" she murmured as Bridget and Luna saw them and beckoned them over.
"Good, you got Evanna here," Bridget said happily.
"Haven't missed anything, have I?"
"Nah, the Meddlesome Trio has yet to arrive. Your other brothers have made several sales, however," Bridgt replied.
Sure enough, Evanna saw the Weasley twins hawking their pranking products to anyone who would listen. There were Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors alike, though as far as she could tell, she was the only Slytherin. The thought was not a comforting one.
"Are you quite alright, Evanna?" Luna said. "Your aura is fluctuating like mad."
"I'm just still waiting on that one to tell me what is going on," Evanna grumbled, eyeing her surroundings suspiciously.
Bridget rolled her eyes at Ginny. "Always gotta go for the dramatics, don't you, Gryffindor? Granger's gathered us all-said Potter is willing to-"
Just then, the trio in question entered the pub. Evanna watched as Harry very nearly turned around to walk back out, but Granger pushed him in further. The crowd of students parted for the three Gryffindors.
"You all know why we are here," Granger announced to the room at large. "Umbridge is not teaching us anything at all. At this rate none of us are going to pass our OWLs or NEWTs, but… more importantly-"
"Granger is willing to admit there is something more important than school?" Bridget muttered.
"Shush," Ginny growled.
"-we must learn to protect ourselves in the real world," she asserted.
"Protect ourselves from what?" an annoying voice called.
"Who the hell invited Macmillian?" Ginny muttered.
Bridget winced. "He overheard some of us in the Common Room-"
"She's talking again," Luna warned.
"We need to learn to defend ourselves because," Granger gulped. "Because Voldemort is back."
It was like an elephant was sitting on her chest. She felt like she could not breathe. She should not have followed Ginny there-she should be in an obnoxiously decorated cafe eating some way over-priced salad with her boyfriend, not here in this dirty pub surrounded by the children of her father's enemies as they argued over who was telling the truth and what kind of stories the Daily Prophet was telling and asking awkward questions of Harry and-
"Harry wasn't the only one there that night, though," Ron Weasley was saying. Evanna closed her eyes, trying to push down her nausea. "Evanna Malfoy came back from the maze with him."
Evanna did not open her eyes, but she could feel every eye in the pub turn toward her.
A/N: I originally intended to have the entire Hog's Head scene in one chapter, but sometimes stories just get away from ya, you know? :)
Any way, a lot more plot in this chapter compared to previous, and I hope to have the next one up soon. However, motivation for things I *have* to do for work and school (& living peaceably with my family) is quite low, and I have to do those things before I can write... But, you know, reviews do wonders for productivity!
Hope you are all safe and well in these strange times. If you can, send mefanfic recs-I like Harry Potter, Sarah J Maas, and Game of Thrones season 8 fix-its. I especially love any HP fics that center on Slytherins, or where Harry himself is a Slyth. Just leave 'em in the reviews so everyone can see what each other is reading. Try and foster some community when we can't go out anywhere, y'know?
Anywho, hope you enjoyed. Tell me your fave moment in the story so far/what you want to see in the future.