Harry did not show up to the Chamber of Secrets for the next two nights. On the third night, neither did Evanna, opting to stop embarrassing herself and join her friends in the Castle Centre.
"Finally!" Ginny exclaimed as Evanna walked through the door, jumping up from where she, Luna, and Bridget had been playing Gobstones on the floor. Foul-smelling liquid squirted all over her shoe, but Ginny had always been rather impervious to such things. A side-effect of growing up with the Weasley twins, Evanna supposed. "I thought you had thrown us all over to hang out with the reptiles!"
Evanna rolled her eyes. "Eva and Elin are my Housemates you know. I'm obligated to spend some time with them."
"And Nott?" Bridget said slyly from the floor. Evanna scowled as she flopped into her favorite hammock, all ladylike propriety she had been taught growing up flying out the window.
"I knew you Malfoys were traditional, but Merlin, that's medieval," Ginny said, gesturing to the line tattooed on Evanna's hand.
"It's not going to happen," Evanna said doggedly. She and Theo had resolutely avoided each other in the Common Room since receiving the contract.
"Really?" Ginny said, sounding a little nervous. "Will… will your father be okay with that?"
Evanna felt Bridget's eyes lock onto her. Though she knew that Ginny was thinking about Lucius, Bridget had to know that the contract had not been signed by the head of the Malfoy family. And Luna…. Somehow, the girl always knew more than she should. Evanna's mind floated back to that Quibbler article that had been released the same day she had been betrothed to Theodore Nott. Professor Snape had gone immediately to speak to her father, but had told her nothing of the meeting when he returned. She had the feeling things had not gone well.
"I-I don't know," Evanna finally admitted. "But, I've got three year to figure it out, haven't I?"
Ginny was still giving her a pitying look, while Evanna still refused to look at Bridget. Instead, Evanna looked at Luna, who had a small smidge of stinking sap stuck to her hair from the game of Gobstones. The Ravenclaw cocked her head and seemed to study Evanna
Poor girl, always seems so lost.
"Are you coming to the next DA meeting, Evanna?" Luna finally asked. "Only, we didn't see you at the first one."
Ginny winced, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Bridget interceded before Evanna was able to respond.
"Granger did not see fit to inform everyone who signed the paper, apparently," Bridget said. "And we've barely seen you out of classes the past few days, so we weren't able to let you know in time. But I think Ginny nicked a galleon for you."
Evanna blinked. "Erm-Ginny-I appreciate the thought, but, erm-I do have plenty of money-there's no reason-"
"Oh come off it, you posh twat," Ginny growled as she handed Evanna a galleon. "It's charmed to tell you when the next meeting is. It'll heat up in your pocket and show you the date and time there. If you ever bothered to come here anymore, you'd already have one."
"Maybe she's just trying to follow Umbridge's new guidelines," Bridget said mildly.
"Stuff a sock in it, Travers."
Evanna ran her finger across the side of the coin Ginny had pointed out. "Oh. Like a serial number. Clever."
"So, will you be coming?" Luna pressed.
"Of course she will," Ginny said. "Who listens to Umbridge?"
"Maybe I would if I had any idea where this meeting was taking place," Evanna said lightly. "And if I knew I would be welcome."
Ginny frowned at that. "You're not unwelcome-"
"You and Potter have always been friends, why wouldn't you be welcome?" Bridget said.
"Who said that?" Evanna snapped. "Potter and I are acquaintances-"
"I thought you were going to start actually talking to us, not lying to us," Ginny said. "We all saw you at the Hog's Head."
Evanna swallowed. "You know it's complicated. Even more so with this," she waved her hand in the air.
Ginny shook her head. "I understand you being careful when we're in class, Ev, but we're safe here. No one ever comes this way."
"It doesn't matter anyway," Evanna said dismissively. "I don't-I don't think Harry is very happy with me right now for whatever reason."
"I think we know the reason," Bridget snorted.
Evanna shot her friend a sharp look, not at all liking the tone of her voice. Unlike everyone else who knew Evanna's true parentage, Bridget was not the least bit cowed. In fact, she grinned wider.
"And what does that mean, Bridget Aurelia Travers?"
"Only that Harry Potter has been making googly eyes at you since we got to Hogwarts," Bridget replied. "To him-muggle-raised, remember?-he probably thinks you were swept off your feet and said 'yes' to some grandiose proposal from Nott!"
"I think he realizes we're not in one of my mum's romance novels," Evanna said scornfully. "And besides, I hardly think Harry Potter-"
"For a Slytherin, you are quite unobservant," Ginny mused. "And terrible at lying."
"I am not," Evanna said immediately, feeling a little insulted as Bridget snickered. She deliberately turned to Luna. "I'm officially only talking to you. You're the only sane one left."
"Thank you Evanna," Luna said, a strange glint in her eye. "Are you coming to the next meeting then?"
Evanna bit her lip, considering the question. Every bit of logic told her no, that she should stay the hell away from Dumbledore's Army and even further away from Harry Potter. Her father-both the one she had grown up with and her actual sire-would murder her for her association with such an organization. She had already been punished and warned off her friendship with Harry Potter many times.
These three girls-Ginny with her wild heart, Bridget with her no-nonsense empathy, Luna with her hopeful joy-they were what was wonderful about Hogwarts and the magical world. They needed to make it through the war unscathed, because with them, Evanna could create the world her father talked about. A better one, even. Then, there was Harry himself with his heroism and compassion and green eyes and boyish charm and good instincts….
Evanna felt her face flush as her mind conjured the image of Harry's face leaning ever closer to her own in the Chamber of Secrets just a few nights before. She couldn't stop the thought that she had been fighting since that night:
What if my alarm hadn't gone off?
"Evanna?" Ginny asked, somewhat suspiciously. "You in there?"
Knowing in her head that she should not go to that meeting, but knowing in her heart that she had every reason to go, Evanna said, "Yes, I will be there, Luna."
The Ravenclaw smiled. "Good. I expect Harry'll be so happy that the nargles might leave him alone for awhile."
Evanna groaned as her friends all cackled madly.
Severus POV
Severus frowned as he watched his second most troublesome student walk into the Great Hall with her usual band of misfits. Really, at this point Evanna Malfoy was solidly tied with Potter for the number of years she had taken off his life. Not all of it was entirely her fault, he knew, even if he would not admit the same for her counterpart. Yet, it was because of her that one master was holding him over the coals and the other was shooting him considering looks as Severus did his best to eat his dinner.
The Dark Lord had not been nearly as concerned about the Quibbler article as Severus had thought he ought to be. He was far more concerned about whether his heir had continued her ill-advised association with Potter, if Nott had shown the proper gratitude.
"Milord, surely it would not be good for Dumbledore to suspect he has such leverage over you in his care," Severus had pressed.
The Dark Lord had snorted-snorted. "The old man is too noble for that, even if he would take the word of a useless tabloid. Now, leave me unless you have something of importance to share."
Severus had bowed his way out of the room and had almost immediately been summoned to the Headmaster when he arrived back to Hogwarts. That master had placed too much importance on the article published by the Quibbler.
"Ah, Severus, come in," Dumbledore said as Severus approached his office door. The spy's eye had immediately landed on the clashing colors of that damned magazine.
"You wanted to see me, Headmaster?" he said, clamping down on his panic with the firmest Occlumency walls he possessed.
"Yes, please, take a seat," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the chair across from him. In this, Severus found he almost preferred the Dark Lord. With Lord Voldemort, one intimately knew their place as subordinate-bowing and scraping at his feet. It was humiliating, yes, but it was clear. With Albus Dumbledore, he seated you at that slightly smaller, less ornate chair across his desk, and looked at you through half-moon spectacles over steepled fingers with some mix of either bemusement and condescension or disappointment and concern. In Dumbledore's service, Severus Snape had never stopped being wayward student, having to prove himself over and over and over again as the teacher's pets skated by.
Today, it was with concern that the Headmaster took Severus in.
"I must ask you, Severus-does the Voldemort still trust you?"
Severus frowned. "I have done nothing to warrant the Dark Lord's mistrust-I believe he shares his plans with me just as much as he does Lucius Malfoy. Certainly more than he does with Wormtail."
Severus could not help the snarl in his voice as he said the two men's names. Though only one had lived as a rat, both were worse than vermin in his opinion.
"Have you heard then of an heir?"
"An heir, Headmaster?" Severus said, forcing himself into that same mindframe he used to protect Potter and his secrets. Only, this child… Evanna he cared for. Potter he had forced himself to hate, to forget that the boy was Lily Potter's child. It was easier to carry out his duty if he had no attachment to the child. But, Evanna…. With Evanna he had had no idea of her status in this war, no idea that she would need the same level of protection when the petite girl had wormed her way into his blackened heart. By the time he did, it was too late.
And, sure enough, his job had been made all the more difficult by his attachment to the girl.
"According to the Quibbler, Voldemort had an heir, born before his downfall, and now of an age to be at Hogwarts. I confess, the idea seemed absurd, but sometimes truth comes from the most unlikely of places," the Headmaster said.
"I have heard no such tale, Headmaster," Severus lied. He wondered if Dumbledore could hear it as clearly as Severus himself did. "I cannot imagine such a child wandering the halls of Hogwarts."
"Voldemort was once a child," Dumbledore said, a far away look in his eyes. "Tom Riddle. An orphan with extraordinary talent…. Sometimes I wonder…."
Severus wondered too. He remembered his own time at Hogwarts. The Headmaster always tended to indulge well-liked Gryffindors, no matter how much of bullies they could be, and was intolerant of lonely Slytherins. There was a reason that Severus was so protective over his Snakes; someone had to right the scales. Had the Dark Lord been molded into the monster that Severus was bound to today in the same way that Severus himself had been molded?
"Headmaster, with all due respect, I cannot imagine the Dark Lord suffering any such threat to his rule as an heir," Severus said.
That was the truth. He still did not fully understand how the Dark Lord had come to allow Evanna to be, nor how he had taken the girl under his wing. In all of his years studying, serving, and then spying on the Dark Lord, Severus had never suspected he would do such a thing.
"Tom always had a thing for the dramatic," Dumbledore said wryly. "The idea of an heir, a legacy…. I imagine such a thing would feed his sense of ego."
Severus fought down a shudder and for a brief moment was almost glad that Lucius Malfoy had raised the girl and not the Dark Lord himself. Merlin only knew what she would have become.
"Still, I have heard nothing," Severus said. "I can ask some questions, if you wish, but I still find the whole idea-"
"No need to push, Severus," Dumbledore said. "I would not wish to tip our hand. Still," Dumbledore paused, "keep an eye on your Slytherins."
Severus pushed down the urge to bristle. Though not often acknowledged, it was known that far more witches and wizards had joined the Dark Lord than just those in Slytherin.
"I always do," he said tetchily.
"You need not worry so much about the first and second years, of course. But, certainly the rest," Dumbledore continued on. "You are certain you've heard nothing?"
Severus felt the telltale brush at the fore of his mind that told him that the Headmaster was using Legilimency on him. He forced himself to remain calm, to only think of his Slytherin boys in the upper years. Graham Montague. Vincent Crabbe. Miles Bletchley.
"Certain, Headmaster."
"Very well, Severus," Dumbledore said. "You may go."
Severus forced himself not to leap from the chair as he made his way to the door.
"Oh, and Severus?" Dumbledore called lightly. Severus paused, hand on the door, but did not move. "Remember your promise."
"Severus? I said could you pass me the butter?"
Severus refocused on the dinner in front of him. Evanna had separated from her friends and was sitting next to Blaise Zabini again-her little rebellion to the betrothal, he was sure-and Minerva was giving him a rather bemused look as she waited on the desired condiment.
"No need to be so impatient, Minerva," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Really, Severus, it's like you are a dazed schoolboy again," she teased. "I wonder that you don't sneak down to have dinner in your rooms every night."
"You know the Headmaster's feelings on dining alone," he droned.
"But you don't dine alone, do you?"
"It is no wonder your lions are so impudent," he shot back. "Their supposed role model is just an old gossip!"
Minerva snickered lightly. "Really, Severus, the world is not nearly so old-fashioned as you seem to think. You could bring her up here, if you wished. Only your Slytherins would even notice."
Severus looked out over the Slytherin table, where Evanna and Theodore Nott were shooting glares at each other. He could not help but think of when Narcissa had been betrothed, how they had fought every moment until she walked down the aisle. He had lost his heart the day Lily had married. He had lost his soul when Narcissa was ripped from him. He glanced toward the Gryffindor table and noticed Potter shifting his food around on his plate, every so often glancing up at the Slytherin table. He knew that look too well.
"No, I am not sure it has," Severus murmured, finally handing Minerva the butter. All the while, he kept his Occlumency defenses up as Dumbledore continued to watch him.