The next morning was torturous. The entire Great Hall was abuzz with the news of the second Azkaban break in as many years. There was equal amounts of fear and confusion spread throughout the students, and Evanna heard the thoughts of more than one:

Potter may just be right.

She could not help but question why her father had chosen this moment to release his followers from Azkaban; surely he realized he was risking exposure? It gave her a headache to sit amongst all the students at breakfast and turn over the possibilities as all around Hogwarts hummed with conspiracy and nerves. She barely noticed as Professor Snape followed the Headmaster out of the Great Hall.

Suppose that answers which master he was with last night, she thought wryly to herself.

By focusing on all that could potentially go wrong with the Azkaban escapees, Evanna distracted herself from thoughts on her mother-by all accounts even more vicious than her father in the war-and from other people. All of Bellatrix Lestrange's crimes had been listed in excruciating detail in the pages of the Daily Prophet. Evanna had found herself quite unable to dare a look across the hall to Neville Longbottom after reading the article on the Longbottoms' torture. A small voice in the back of her head reminded her that her father was just as terrible; a memory of him had tortured Evanna in first year, he had tortured Harry, had killed so many people-

She shook herself. Thinking of her father led to thinking of Harry and she had to put all thoughts of Harry out of her head if she was to go home to Malfoy Manor over winter break. Her father had warned her at the breakfast table over the summer that he was willing to overlook some questionable friendships, but not all. And she wasn't quite sure that wrapping a finger around her own, that leaning forward, so close to her own face, her eyelids fighting the urge to flutter shut… Well, there were very few scenarios where those actions could be labelled "friendship".

Evanna kept her head down in all of her classes, Bridget sending her worried glances through Charms and Luna simply giving her a small talisman against worry in Transfiguration. Evanna figured that Bridget had informed Luna of her mood between classes and asked her to keep an eye out. Evidently, neither the Hufflepuff nor the Ravenclaw had spoken to the Gryffindor, as Evanna discovered to her dismay after lunch.

"So did you enjoy your time with Harry last night?" Ginny said in not too quiet a whisper when Evanna took her seat next to the redhead in Potions.

Evanna blinked as she was forcibly reminded of the thoughts she had been pointedly avoiding all day. Last night had been nothing but trouble for her, from the DA meeting to her visit with Narcissa. Evanna could almost understand her father's obsession; the boy with lightning across his forehead had the most annoying habit of worming his way where he did not belong and staying there, no matter how much one tried to dislodge him. Just thinking of the previous night had Evanna's face growing warm.

Apparently, Ginny noticed Evanna's discomfort and smirked. "That well?"

Evanna cursed under her breath. "You are a meddlesome, aggravating Gryffin-"

Ginny offered a mock bow. "Why thank you-"

Evanna ignored her, charging on with her tirade against the wanna-be matchmaker. "And whatever fantasy you've dreamed up in your demented mind of some sort of Pyramus and Thisbe romance is stupid-"

"Merlin, Ev, exactly how many ancient myths do you know-"

"And likely to get someone killed," she finished hissing to her friend. "Besides, I am a betrothed woman."

Ginny snorted. "As if that is not the biggest load of dragon shite-"

"There is a contract and everything-"

"And I know well-enough that you will worm your way out of it, especially when there is a boy with messy hair and the greenest eyes who would love to-"

"I am certain, Ms. Weasley, that your mother did not teach her children such language," Professor Snape drawled from behind. Evanna was sure that her face was hot enough to cook on by that point.

"You've obviously never seen her after one of the twins' more explosive experiments," Ginny drawled in a good imitation of the Potions Master herself. Evanna thought she saw a hint of a smirk on Professor Snape's face at the Gryffindor's typical irreverence. The stress of the war must have had the man going soft.

"See that you mind your tongue lest I take points, Ms. Weasley," he said in a long suffering voice that set the Slytherins snickering as he strode to the front of the room to begin class.

Before long, the classroom was filled with the sounds and smells of chopping ingredients and bubbling cauldrons. Ginny took advantage of the cacophony of sensation to begin pestering Evanna once more.

"So c'mon, you two have only been making moony eyes-"

"Ginny, leave it," Evanna hissed in a tone that had earned many fearful looks in Slytherin House. What had happened last night-from that moment in the Room of Requirement to meeting with Narcissa in Professor Snape's quarters-had left Evanna feeling queasy and unable to eat. It was best she put the whole thing out of her mind completely before she was required to return to Malfoy Manor.

But Ginny was a Merlin-and-Morgana-damned lion.

"Evanna, as your best friend, it is only right that I look out for all your interests, especially your love-"

"Ginny, enough!" Evanna hissed, eyes flashing. Her stomach lurched as she noted Elias Gamp giving them an odd look.

She is supposed to be the Dark Lord's heir with the company she keeps?

"Ev-"

"I am sure you are not interrupting my class with idle gossip again, Ms. Weasley," Professor Snape drawled.

Before Ginny managed to earn herself detention, Evanna looked up at the professor.

"I am not feeling well, Professor, may I be excused for the day?"

She did not actually wait for a response as she quickly packed up her bag and ran out of the potions classroom, seeking the calming refuge she only found in the Chamber of Secrets.

"Iss misstresss okay?" her basilisk asked.

"I just needed sssspacccee," Evanna hissed back as she made her way to her ancestor's library and lost herself in the intrigues of Slytherins past.

Ginny POV

After Evanna ran out of Potions class, Professor Snape had promptly taken points from Ginny for disrupting class and went on teaching, though not without a worried look after his student. Ginny herself could not help but look over her shoulder in worry. Just what had happened the previous night to make Evanna so scared?

Thinking about it, she had thought Harry seemed rather put out at lunch that day, but that could have just been due to the news about the escaped Death Eaters. Come to think of it, that could have been what had Evanna so anxious. But, still. Ginny could not help but think Harry was involved in her friend's behavior.

So, that evening in the Common Room, Ginny marched straight to where Harry was brooding in an armchair, glaring into the fire.

"What did you do, Potter?" she demanded, hands on her hips in a very good imitation of her mother. She had learned from a young age that imitating Molly Weasle was certain to put angsty teenage boys in their place.

"I'm sorry?" Harry said, blinking up at her.

"I set it up perfectly last night," Ginny all but ranted. "Even I could see that you were never going to see me as more than Ron's sister, not when you were so bloody infatuated with Evanna. And she's my best friend and is just as infatuated with you"

"Ginny-"

"So I pretended to lose those bloody earrings-as if I'd be stupid enough to lose something of Bridget's, like a bloody dragon she is-and set it all up so you two would be alone. There was even mistletoe in the Room of Requirement! I thought-there is no way these two idiots can mess this up, not with as long and as much as they obviously like each other-but lo and behold! And given you are generally the bigger idiot-what did you do?"

Harry's face was thunderous when Ginny finally stopped her rant.

"You know there's a war on, right, Ginny?" he said icily. "Voldemort is-"

"Oh, don't give me that, Harry Potter," she hissed. "Or did you forget that I'm probably the only one besides you who best understands what You-Know-Who being back means for our world?"

Harry's eyes flashed then he seemed to back down as he processed what she said.

"I didn't mean to-I just-You ever feel like the world has just decided that you are going to be miserable your entire life?"

Ginny snorted. "I believe the word you're looking for is 'adolescence', Harry."

Harry frowned at her. "You're kind of terrible at comforting people," he said.

"I'm not trying to comfort you. I'm trying to figure out why my best friend ran out of Professor Snape's classroom looking like she was going to barf," Ginny said bluntly. "Given that I had just been teasing her about you two in the Room of Requirement, my best guess is that you did something stupid. So, again, what did you do?"

"I don't know! One minute we were looking for your earrings-"

"Never lost 'em," Ginny quipped and Harry rolled his eyes.

"-looking for the nonexistent earrings, an we were talking and-well, I-"

Harry was blushing furiously and Ginny squealed. "You did it! You kissed her?"

Harry shushed her as a couple of people in the common room turned to look at them, Fred and George snickering audibly.

"Merlin, tell the entire castle," he hissed. "And no, I didn't."

Ginny studied his scowling face and bit back a smirk. "But you tried."

If possible, Harry's face became even redder.

"I-I thought she-we finally seemed to have gotten past others deciding we shouldn't be friends, you know? But-"

Ginny softened. "Ev-Ev's been through a lot. She tends to take things slowly."

"Or maybe she just doesn't like me that way," Harry said. "She is a Malfoy, after all. Why would she have any interest in me?"

Ginny shook her head. "C'mon, Harry, Surely you're not that dense. Everyone can see that she likes you-even Luna has commented on it-at least, she has in Lovegood-ese."

Harry blinked slowly. "Then… there's still hope?"

"Not saying it'll be easy-she's stubborn as hell and cautious about everything-but," Ginny shrugged. "Just know if you hurt her, you'll have me to deal with."

Satisfied that her work was done at the small smile that spread across Harry's face, Ginny bounced to her dormroom, only to be woken before dawn by an ashen-faced McGonagall.

"Hurry, your father has been attacked," she said, her Scottish brogue deeper than usual.

And just like that, war was crashing around her ears.