Evanna had known that Ginny was not all that concerned about the stupid earrings. She had known that her redhaired friend was up to something devious. And when the door closed and she was left with only Harry in the Room of Requirement, she had known that going along with her best friend had not been a good idea.
But she hadn't left.
"Ron and Hermione haven't exactly been happy with me lately."
Evanna's heart caught. "Oh? Why not?"
"They-" he coughed awkwardly. "They think I've been spending too much time with you."
She shouldn't. She should not press the issue. Her lips moved without her permission. "And do you?"
"Do I what?"
It wasn't too late. Evanna knew how dangerous this was, how dangerous they were but-
"Do you…. Do you think you've been spending too much time with me?"
"No," he said. "I don't think I've spent enough time with you."
Her breath caught and she dared not look up. They were friends, good friends, and had been for a long while. Before she knew who she was. So long as they were friends, she could ignore the growing divide in her loyalties; she could ignore the fact that her father had killed his parents, could ignore that Harry had destroyed her father. But they hadn't ever been just friends, not since the Chamber of Secrets.
A warm pinkie wrapped around her own hand and Evanna looked up. She could read the thoughts so clearly in his green eyes. "Harry," she said, voicing hitching as her eyes landed unwilling on his lips. They were edging ever closer to her own.
Harry didn't know. Harry didn't know that he was about to kiss the daughter of the man who had killed his parents. He didn't know that the girl he wanted to kiss loved her father despite all he had done. Evanna could not let him kiss her, especially not when he was ignorant that he would be kissing an enemy.
She pulled away, nearly tripping on her robes as she went."I-I can't."
"Evanna-"
There was so much confused hurt in his eyes that Evanna was tempted to stay and tell him everything. But that would likely be the stupidest thing she had ever done. Not only would she lose Harry as a friend forever, if she hadn't already, but she would likely be tossed to Azkaban shortly after.
So instead, she just said in a choked voice, "Happy Christmas, Harry," and then darted into the corridor.
She leaned against the hard stone that the Room of Requirement was hidden behind and breathed heavily, her eyes unbearably itchy and hot. She pressed the heel of her hand to her eyes and tried to regain control of herself. The cool stone behind her seemed to help her sort through her swirling thoughts.
She had wanted to kiss him. She had wanted to fall into those green eyes and never stop falling. And it scared her like nothing-not Lucius, not the basilisk, not Dumbledore, not the rise of the Dark Lord-had scared her ever before. It was like she was out of control in a way she had never been before.
Her feet knew where to go before she did. She soon found herself standing outside of Professor Snape's door, not quite sure how she had got there, nor whether she should just leave and go to bed. She had not even knocked when the door opened, Narcissa standing on the other side of it, looking nervous.
"Evanna, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I can't go back to Malfoy Manor over winter holidays. I-I think I've done something irrevocably stupid and-"
But her mother was already shaking her head. "That won't be possible, Evanna."
"Why not? I thought as heir I could do whatever I pleased-"
"The Dark Lord…. The Dark Lord has brought home your mother."
Evanna was silent as Narcissa ushered her into the Professor's quarters, feeling numb. She swung her head around the room, looking for her professor.
"He is not here tonight," Narcissa said.
"With Father or with Dumbledore?" Evanna asked. Narcissa gave her a look.
"I don't believe it's your business where Severus goes," she said warningly.
Evanna nearly opened her mouth to tell her it most certainly was if Professor Snape was truly her father's man, and even moreso if he was not, but then remembered Harry up in the Room of Requirement and her mother-her birth mother-apparently now in Malfoy Manor. So, instead, she merely nodded. If anything, that seemed to make her mother-Narcissa-more suspicious of the entire situation.
"You-you said that my mother is at the Manor?" Evanna said, her voice somewhat choked. "How? Who?"
"There was a break at Azkaban. Your father led the attack, wanting her to be home by the time you were," she said. "I expect there will be an article in tomorrow morning's paper."
Evanna's mind quickly whirled through the names of Dark Lord supporters in the infamous prison. Her mind landed on only one who was female.
"Aunt Bella," she murmured.
Narcissa nodded. "Yes."
Evanna turned over this new piece of information in her mind. After learning the identity of her father, that she was not a Malfoy, learning exactly who her mother had been felt anti-climatic. Narcissa took her hand.
"You must understand, your mother-my sister-was never the maternal sort," she said. "I believe that it was the greatest honor of her life to be chosen by the Dark Lord, but the grief of his death… It almost destroyed her that night. I was amazed that either of you made it. I am not altogether certain that Bella had intended to."
Evanna didn't quite meet her mother's-aunt's, she supposed-gaze.
"And then she went to Azkaban."
"Yes, and then she went to Azkaban, trying to exact vengeance on whoever she could for the Dark Lord's fall," Narcissa said.
Evanna remembered the stories. Insane Bellatrix Lestrange, the most loyal Death Eater, had found and tortured the Aurors Longbottom into insanity while their infant son slept in the bed upstairs. Just as her father had killed the Potters in front of their infant son's crib, before turning his wand on the baby.
Her stomach roiled.
How was she supposed to look Harry in the eye? How was she supposed to reconcile the monster who killed with the man who poured too much sugar in his morning tea? She couldn't-she couldn't-
Evanna bolted from the sofa her moth-her aunt-had lead her to into the small bathroom in Professor Snape's quarters, the contents of her stomach splashing in the toilet. She was only vaguely aware of Narcissa holding her hair back and rubbing circles on her back.
When she had emptied her stomach and dry-heaved several times, Evanna leaned back into Narcissa's arms, tears stinging her eyes.
"Darling, surely it cannot be that bad?" Narcissa mumured in her ear. "Though your mother is a hard woman, I am sure she will find you-"
"I don't care what Aunt Bella thinks about me," Evanna said, her throat hoarse. "I don't want to go to the Manor. I don't want to meet her. But I suppose I don't have a choice, do I?"
Narcissa sighed, pressing a kiss to Evanna's hair. "We all have choices, darling. There are just precious few we can live with."
Severus POV
The next morning there was indeed a new story in the Daily Prophet, pronouncing to all that no less than ten convicted Death Eaters had escaped from Azkaban Prison. He felt a chill go through him as he took in Bellatrix Lestrange's laughing face on the front page. The witch had always teetered on the edge… the thought of what fourteen years in Azkaban had done to her already tenuous grasp on sanity….
In school, Narcissa had seemed closer to Andromeda, her eldest sister, yet it was Bella who had fought with such fierceness for Narcissa to be able to choose her own husband. For her part, Narcissa could not hardly stand to hear a word against her middle sister, especially after Andromeda's very public split from the family. There had been rumors that Andromeda had not been the only Black sister to court an unsuitable boy; that there had been a muggle neighbor to break a Black sister's heart, or perhaps something even more insidious. But Bella and Narcissa both had crushed those rumors with such maliciousness that they had hardly been whispered of since.
As a Death Eater, Bellatrix had been ruthless and cruel, with just the right amount of devotion to the Dark Lord that he could trust her to bear his heir. Severus studied the girl in question, currently swirling a spoon absent-mindedly in her porridge, determinedly not looking at any of the other tables in the Great Hall. He was reminded of Bella, right after those rumors had started. How quiet she had been, not looking others in the eye. Yet, he found it hard to picture Evanna acting with the same ruthless cruelty as her mother. He wondered how far down it lurked within her; with the Dark Lord as her sire, Bellatrix her mother, how long before Evanna turned the considerable power he knew she had outward? How long before she showed the world the pain she had been dealt with brutal, deadly force?
He prayed it would never come to that.
"Meet me in my office, Severus," the Headmaster told him in a low voice with a face like thunder.
Severus could have cursed the old man as he saw Dolores Umbridge's beady little eyes follow the Headmaster out of the Hall. Waiting perhaps longer than he normally would have, Severus stood to stalk between the House tables. The Potter boy was again staring across the Hall and it did not bear thinking on who. Severus grit his teeth, wondering if he would ever be able to escape the fatal effects of teenage hormones.
"Potter, ten points from Gryffindor!" he snapped, causing the boy to turn those green eyes, so like Lily's it still hurt at times, on him in anger.
"Wh-"
"For your slovenly appearance this morning," Severus snapped. "Students should be properly attired in their neat school robes. That does not mean sleeping in them, Potter!"
Before the boy could further worsen Severus' mood, he was striding out of the Great Hall again, robes whipping around him.
When he arrived at the Headmaster's office, the normally serene Albus Dumbledore was pacing.
"Good. Close the door, Severus," he said.
Severus did, casting the necessary spells before taking his usual seat in front of the Headmaster's desk.
"Did you know of Voldemort's plans?" the Headmaster said without preamble.
"Not until I arrived to his call last night," Severus replied, voice tight. "The Dark Lord… the Dark Lord led the raid himself."
Dumbledore's eyes flashed. "I knew that he would want to regain his most loyal followers… but to take such a risk… it's completely out of Tom's character," he said.
"I believe him to have been… changed by the methods used to revive him this summer," Severus said in a carefully neutral tone.
"Tell me, does Voldemort still trust you, Severus?"
Severus mulled the thought over. He knew that the Dark Lord had been suspicious of him when he did not immediately return that night at the end of the Tournament. But, he had listened to Severus' advice regarding his heir, seemingly recognizing that Severus, not Lucius, had played a larger role in keeping the girl safe and well. Though, Severus knew the Dark Lord's methods well enough to know that being his heir's confidante would not necessarily engender the trust that Dumbledore had hoped for.
"I believe there is further I have to go to regain the Dark Lord's full confidence," Severus said. "Though he trusted me enough to go on this mission, I do not believe he told any of when he would be attempting the break out."
"Why now?" Dumbledore mused. "Surely not enough time has passed from his return to allay suspicion. Tom would normally take advantage of such an opportunity to act unseen for awhile…"
Though Severus did not voice it, he knew exactly why Voldemort had chosen to act now. The Dark Lord wished to firmly establish a hold over his heir, especially with more and more rumors floating about her involvement with Potter. As Evanna had been raised in a Pureblood society home, the Dark Lord knew that familial ties would be one way to manipulate her, from a betrothal contract to the return of the girl's birth mother. The only thing Severus was unsure of was how the girl would react to her father's scheming.
"Do you have any ideas, Severus?" he said. "It is vital that I know."
"No, Headmaster," Severus lied without hesitation. "The only reasoning for the Dark Lord's behavior I have is his mental state not being what it was before."
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "A powerful, hateful Dark wizard is one thing to face, Severus. I fear for our world at the hands of a powerful madman."
A/N: The semester is officially done! Yay! Thank you to all of my recent followers and favorites-I would love to hear from you all! Reviews definitely boost my motivation to write.