The day passed incredibly slowly for Evanna. She dressed in robes her mother had brought up for her and made her way into the Slytherin dorm, which was mercifully empty when she arrived. Part of her wanted to sleep in her four poster for just a little while, but she had been asleep for so long already. Besides, her head would not stop spinning.

As far as Professor Snape and Narcissa knew, none of the Death Eaters knew she had been there that night. But, members of the Order did. How long before her father knew she had acted deliberately against him? She would never gain refuge with Dumbledore's people, she knew that. But would she be able to curb her father's worst impulses? Now more than ever she knew she could not stand the thought of Harry or Ginny or Luna in danger, but she knew they would be in the thick of it.

Her eyes were dry and her head throbbed. There was no making these kinds of plans until she saw Harry again that night. So instead, she took her seat in front of the fire, finding the romance novel she always kept in her bookbag and reading it.

The lovers were just about to kiss when she heard her brother's voice from across the room.

"Evanna!"

She looked up to see him all but racing across the room, embracing her more tightly than ever.

"They wouldn't tell me what was wrong," he all but babbled. "But everyone heard about what happened at the Ministry and I was worried you had been part of it-"

"Of course I wasn't part of it," Evanna said quickly, trying to come up with a cover story for her absence on the spot. "I had heard about it from Ginny and tried to stop them from going and got hit by a few stray spells from Potter."

Draco frowned. "Potter!-what does he think-"

"My Dark Lady!"

The term had never sounded so disrespectful. Evanna turned to see Theo marching toward her, several children of Death Eaters just behind. She stood, expecting that Draco would move away from her. He did not, instead taking a position standing slightly in front of her. Theo sneered, an odd expression for the normally bookish boy.

"My father is in Azkaban," he said, then gestured at some sixth years behind him. "As are theirs. And their fathers are dead. All while in the Dark Lord's service. When can we expect a rescue?"

The Dark Lord has left my father to rot for losing at the Ministry but his daughter can do anything she wants-

The thoughts from Theo disturbed Evanna. Evanna was still tired, still weak, but she had to play this very carefully. Her mind was whirring as she considered the crowd before her. The time was coming, she knew, that her father would no longer indulge her willfulness and she would no longer be able to stomach his cruelty. But, she could not risk angering the Dark Lord too early, especially so soon after helping Harry. There was still a chance she could coax him back to his original goal, to create lasting change for the magic-born. But not if he began to question her loyalty too harshly.

"Were they killed by Order members at the Battle?" she asked cautiously, still unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

"Mine was," one boy said.

"Mine, too," another girl said.

The rest were silent. Evanna held back the urge to chew her lip, focusing on the portrait of Salazar Slytherin behind them all to keep from hearing any of the crowd's thoughts.

"Your families will not go forgotten," she finally said. "And I will speak with my father about finding a way to release the new prisoners-though I caution that the Ministry might have better security than they did in December."

Theo did not look happy.

"It's been said the Dark Lord is leaving them there as punishment for not retrieving the Prophecy," he said bluntly. There was a dangerous undercurrent to the crowd and Evanna noticed Draco slip his wand out.

Evanna did her best to remain neutral, resisting the urge to reach for her own wand, as she stared down the boy who was supposed to be her betrothed.

"The future father-in-law of the Dark Lady would not be allowed to rot in Azkaban," she said directly to him, praying that he knew how serious she was about that, despite both of them knowing that they would not be following through on the betrothal. She turned to the crowd at large: "My father despises failure, but I know those given a second chance become the best among us."

There. Let them see the difference between her father and herself. Draco squeezed her arm in warning. Had she gone too far?

"Our goal is still to set both parts of this world to right," Evanna continued, hoping no one would see any sort of treason in her words. "My father needs every one of his followers to help him in his campaign to fix the Wizarding and muggle worlds. Until such time as the prisoners can be released, it will be up to you, their children, to fight the good fight."

"What about my father?" a small first year in the front said, tears spilling down her face. "He's dead, but he didn't die at the Ministry."

Evanna searched her memory for the little girl's name from the Sorting. She bent down in front of the girl.

"Imogen, right?" she said. The girl nodded, her large green eyes shiny with tears. Evanna did her best to not think of another pair of green eyes who had lost his parents because of her father. "I'm so sorry, Imogen. I promise, I will do my very best to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again and that you are kept safe."

She had no business making such a promise. There was a murmur that swam through the room as she stood up and noticed more people had gathered, from the tiny first years, to her roommates, to all the prefects. It could be a mistake, she knew. But….. if she could present herself as a reasonable mistress, with a vision for the future, and mercy to her followers… Maybe she would have more allies when the time came. Maybe she could even persuade her father to stop worrying about the prophecy and focus on his original mission. He had told her no magical child should ever have to fear muggle bombs killing him, that that was why he sought power for wizards and immortality for himself.

She wondered when he had lost sight of that. Was it the night he went to kill a one year old? Or long before that?

In that moment, Evanna tried with all her might to believe she could have all she wanted, that she could convince the Dark Lord to go down a different path.

It almost worked too.

Evanna paced the floor of the Room of Requirement, counting down the minutes to nine o'clock. Before she had left the Common Room, Draco had tried to demand where she was going, but Evanna refused to acknowledge it. She wondered what was different, why he was acting more like he had been, when he was still her older brother. But there hadn't been time.

She was meeting Harry.

She jerked when she heard the door open and seeing who it was didn't make her any less nervous. His hair was just as messy as usual, his eyes just as bright. His uniform was more orderly than she had ever seen it. She self consciously straightened hers and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, wishing she hadn't cut it last year. Her palms felt sweaty.

"You came to the Ministry to help us," he stated without preamble. "You saved Sirius' life."

"Yes," she said simply. What else could she say?

There was no hesitation like there had been before Yule. Harry knew everything, knew who her father was, knew that she loved the man despite his many, many flaws. It did not matter. She had defied her father, however secretly, and Harry knew that too.

His lips were on hers.

He had tilted her chin up, and she had instinctually lifted slightly onto her toes. Power seemed to thrum through her and sing for joy as she finally closed her eyes and leaned fully into him, hand grasping the sleeve of his robe. The kiss lasted only a few moments, and yet set her entire self tingling in a way Theo's kisses never had.

She felt slightly dizzy as she fell back onto her heels, trying to ignore the burning in her cheeks. Harry, too, looked red-faced, but he was smiling widely.

"Harry," she forced herself to say. "You know who I am-I'm sure you know whatever it is the prophecy says by now-"

"Dumbledore told me it, right before Remus let me know Sirius was still alive," he said. "Dumbledore told me everything he's done to make sure that I survive, but I can't help but think he's only done it all because of the prophecy. Did you know he was the one who placed me with the Dursleys?"

Evanna didn't say anything.

"When I went to see Sirius, they pulled out the paperwork my parents had signed before I was even born saying that I went to my godfather should they die. Then to Remus. Then to the Longbotttoms. Then-if you can believe it-Snape. Never once did it say anything about the Dursleys. Sirius says that was the last place they wanted me to end up.

"I don't want this stupid prophecy, Evanna," he said and Evanna was surprised to hear his voice crack. "All it's done is rip me away from everyone who might have cared for me-I don't want any part of it. I want more in life than choosing to kill or be killed. I want to do what I think is right, not whatever it is Dumbledore expects of me."

Evanna bit her lip. "Merlin, Harry, I'm sorry-"

"I know that you say that your father saved you," he said. "But does that mean you have to do everything he says forever? I know that you're not the same as him-you wouldn't have come to the Ministry otherwise."

Evanna didn't say anything to that. She didn't have to; both of them knew it was true. Instead she said, "This is dangerous, Harry. Insane, really."

There was a flash of a smile on his face and Evanna could feel his sense of victory. He took her hand, rubbing a thumb across her knuckles.

"And we all know how much either of us cares about safety," he teased. Evanna cursed herself for the blush that rose on her cheeks. "Evanna… do you like me?"

I know you do. You wouldn't be here now if you didn't. You saved my life so many times. And you did it again just a few nights ago.

"Harry, I'm Voldemort's daughter. The Heir of Slytherin-I control the bloody basilisk for Merlin's sake!"

"And since you took control of her, she has done nothing more than hunt deer in the forest and protect you," Harry pressed. "Do you like me?"

"You're the Boy-Who-Lived! You're prophesied to kill my father!" she continued.

"And I just told you, I don't want my entire life dictated to me by something Professor Trelawney once said," he said. "I won't lie to you, Evanna. I will fight back when your father attacks me or my friends. I'll kill him if I have to," he said. "Do you like me?"

"I know you better than that, Harry. You won't set by if you see others running into battle or if he hurts innocent people," she said.

"Neither will you. You just proved that a few nights ago. You wouldn't have trained me and helped the rest of your friends in the DA if there wasn't some part of you that thought what he was doing was wrong."

"I don't like Dumbledore, Harry," she said. "He's content to allow helpless magical children be hurt by their muggle families, all in the name of the Statute of Secrecy-"

"I didn't ask if you like Dumbledore," he said, a note of irritation in his voice. "I asked if you like me."

"Of course I like you!" Evanna suddenly exploded, unable to keep it in any longer. "But that doesn't erase the facts that you and I have vastly different expectations placed on us in this war!"

Harry grinned. "Aren't Slytherins supposed to have a certain disregard for the rules?"

Evanna spluttered for a moment, before finally saying a bit angrily, "I knew Gryffindors have no sense, but aren't you taking it a bit far?"

"Only if I didn't know that you do like me and that you can't seem to stay away," he said. "To be fair, neither can I."

Evanna crossed her arms. "You can't tell anyone. Not even Granger or Weasley."

Harry smiled. "So we're onto bargaining-that didn't take as long as I expected."

Evanna scowled at him and he laughed. The sound sent her heart pattering, but she couldn't give into it just yet, especially after Harry's comment.

"And I don't want to meet in the Room of Requirement. Too many people know about it and can get in here," she said.

"The Chamber of Secrets isn't the most romantic or comfortable spot, but I'm sure we could make it work," he said in a tone that would make any teacher label him as a trouble maker.

"And finally," Evanna said, "I'm not ready to give up on my father."

Harry regarded her carefully. "He's killed and tortured a lot of innocent people. My parents. Me. You."

Evanna winced. "I know that. And maybe I'm an idiot for thinking this, but he's not all bad. He can't be. If he's just a monster-what does that make me?"

Harry stared at the floor for a moment. Evanna thought he was going to walk away from her then, but instead he looked up at her, those beautiful emerald green eyes unreadable, even to her.

"Someone once told me the world wasn't divided into good people and Death Eaters. We all have good and bad inside of us," he said. "Maybe you're the good in Voldemort."

He was giving her that intense look again, the one that made her heart thunder in her chest.

"I don't want to be the Dark Lord's heir," she said finally. "Especially if that means I can't be with you."

Harry smiled wider than she had ever seen before kissing her again.

A/N: Just updated it because someone said that the italics weren't coming through. But-it's finally here! The first kiss! Yippee!

I also write this note because of something a little more serious. Today, I had to delete a comment for the first time due to the use of the "r" word. I honestly could care less if people hate this story; they have a right to their opinion and can stop reading if they feel strongly about it. However, even before making the decision to go into special education, I never liked that word. Now, knowing that people use that word to demean these students who I love so dearly, who teach me more than I could ever teach them-I will not stand for it. Find. A. Better. Word.