Chapter 13
Quidditch and Crushes
When Evelyn arrived at the Slytherin table, her group of friends were already eating. However, upon her arrival Rosier slid away from Severus to make her space.
"Thought you two love birds would like to sit together," he said when Evelyn told him that he could have stayed, since now he had to move his plate and goblet too.
Hearing that Evelyn and Severus shared a look and said in synchrony, "I think we would have somehow survived that,"
As they said it together a smile formed on Evelyn's face as she looked at Severus before she sat down.
"I was about to comment on how you two don't seem to be that close, but I take it back. You two even talk in synchrony," commented Avery and Evelyn just shrugged as she filled the plate Severus handed her, with food.
"Anyway, how was the meeting with Lupin? You seemed angry," said Bonnie and Evelyn groaned.
"It was nothing interesting, just them being annoying," she said trying to sound uninterested.
"What happened? I hope that my stupid brother didn't cause you more trouble than usually," said Regulus.
"No – uh… it's nothing to worry about. I took care of it,"
"We offered to go with you," said Emma.
Oh yes, Evelyn remembered clearly when during the breakfast she said that she couldn't meet her friends during the break because she was meeting Remus Lupin.
"What? Why?" asked Lucinda confused.
"He has some questions about Magical Creatures," said Evelyn simply.
"Oh, then why haven't you sent him to me? I excel at Care of Magical Creatures!" sulked Bonnie.
"Next time I will, but this time is different. It's a topic I am interested in and I'm curious what he knows about it. Fear not, I am not interested in him. After all I have Severus here," said Evelyn smiling softly, placing her arm on Severus' shoulder.
Hearing that his eyes went wide, and he choked a bit on the tea he was drinking.
"Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't help myself," laughed Evelyn as she patted his back.
"You – you need to stop saying things like that when I least expect them," said Snape.
"Or better yet get used to it, because it's fun to tease you and I'm not going to stop," smiled Evelyn softly.
"That's nice and all, but I think I'm not hungry anymore," said Lucinda disgusted and Evelyn just stuck out her tongue at her.
"Maybe I could go with you? I swear I won't do anything. Just sit in the corner and watch him," said Bonnie.
"That would be weird," deadpanned Evelyn and Emma sighed.
"If you have a crush on him go and talk to him," she said.
"No, you don't understand! I don't want to date him… I just like looking at him! I mean look at him! He is cute… and tall, and he always has chocolate on him, and you know how much I love sweets!" said Bonnie.
"Is this what girls are looking for? Tall boys with sweets?" asked Avery confused and Mulciber just shrugged.
"Travers is not wrong. You should take someone with you. Knowing Lupin, the rest will be there as well," said Severus.
"I am not afraid of them," said Evelyn, "and we are going to talk. There is no need for anyone coming with me,"
"If you say so," said Severus, but it was evident that he disagreed with her choice.
Now Evelyn was glad that she didn't take anyone with her. Who knows what would have happened.
"Anyway, how are the arrangements going for the Quidditch practise?" asked Evelyn, successfully changing the topic.
"Ah, yes! I'm meeting the professors after lunch, but it seems that we will play tomorrow after classes. I will let you all know later. It's going to be amazing!" grinned Emma.
"Yaay!" said Evelyn sarcastically and Emma shoot her a look.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I got you something to motivate you," she said with a cunning smile.
"What?" asked Evelyn curiously.
"Should we tell her?" asked Emma Lucinda.
"You knew?"
"Of course," rolled her eyes Lucinda, "and trust me you will love it," she added grinning.
"What is it?" asked Evelyn excited and Emma sighed.
"Remember that book, that came out during the summer holidays-"
"The one you talked about for ages-" added Lucinda.
"From that Italian theorist," said Bonnie happily.
"No way! Is it Valentino De Luca's Modern Magical Theory: A Practical Guide to Create and Cast Spells?" asked Evelyn amazed, and the girls nodded.
Seeing the confused look on the boys' face Evelyn started to enthusiastically explain, "Rumour has it that De Luca came up with a simple theory on spell creation. He explains everything in his book, which means that if he is right, we could create our own spells! How amazing is that?!"
"No way!" said Rosier.
"And does it work?" asked Severus intrigued, but Evelyn just shrugged.
"I don't know. It hasn't been translated yet," said Evelyn sadly, before she looked at Emma, "and I hope you know that I don't understand Italian…"
"Well, lucky for you, my dad knows the right people, and after a couple of owls, they confirmed that they are working on translations. They also offered to send us a copy, which I will give to you if you win the match against the team," grinned Emma.
"So, you are using something I like to motivate me to do something you want me to do, but I have no interest in doing?! How very Slytherin of you…" mumbled Evelyn.
"Why thank you, I learned from the best," said Emma proudly making Evelyn laugh before she turned to Regulus.
"Sorry, Reg, but you are going down," said Evelyn with an evil smile.
"Hah, bring it on," said Regulus to everyone's surprise.
Seeing the bewildered look on his friends' faces he said, "If she beats me then I have no business being on the team,"
Bonnie was about to say something when she was interrupted by Emma, "Yes, that's right. This is your motivation Regulus; if she beats you, you are off the team."
As she said that Evelyn and Regulus locked eyes, "Nothing personal, but I really want that book as soon as possible," said Evelyn.
"Well, you will have to wait around for a while, because I have no intention leaving the team," said Regulus.
"Very well. May the best person win," said Evelyn shaking Regulus's hand while they starred diggers at each other.
"That's all nice, but do you have to do it right over me?!" said Severus annoyed as he had to lean back so that his two housemates could shake their hands.
"Oh, right, sorry," said Evelyn as she turned back to her plate.
Meanwhile, another group of friends was having lunch across the hall, watching the chatting Slytherins.
"You have to try something Sirius!" said James Potter, "It could change Remus's life!"
"I know!" whisper-shouted Sirius, "But you've heard her! She is not going to help us!"
"Then we have to resort to dirty methods," said James narrowing his eyes at the Slytherins.
"What do you have in mind?" looked at him Sirius warily.
"Look, mate, I need to know. You are with us in this, right?"
It took a moment before Sirius answered, "Yeah. Yeah, this is for Remus. I am with you."
Hearing that James smirked, before he put his arm on Sirius's shoulder, "That's the spirit! And Remus, how far are you willing to go?"
"I'm not going to use jinxes or curses on her…" said Remus quietly.
"No, no, of course not! I was thinking about something else. Now, thanks to Sirius we know that she is not carrying her research with her, and we cannot get in her dorm, but there is someone else who could help us." said James, pointing at the Slytherin table.
"You cannot mean-" started Remus.
"You overheard them talking, which means that she knows something. She shares a room with her, so she could get us the papers," explained James.
"She is not going to betray her friends…" said Remus.
"You never know! Come on, they are Slytherins! And that one has had a crush on you for a long time…" he said.
"What? No, she doesn't…" argued Remus.
"Oh, come on, Moony, you can't be that ignorant! You are the smart one in our group, surely you must have realized by now," sighed Sirius.
"So, what? You want me to manipulate her into helping us? How does that make us better than them?" asked Remus angrily.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Think about it, mate! You could have a normal life!" said Sirius making Remus think.
It was the last class of the day and Remus Lupin was glad that it was time for Muggle Studies, which meant that he could finally relax. While Muggle Studies were a fairly interesting subject, not many people took it seriously as, thankfully, it was nothing compared to Transfiguration or Potions. Of course, having a muggle parent meant that he was acquainted with the culture and muggle customs, unlike the majority of his classmates. He had the faint idea that one of the reasons muggleborns and half-bloods attended these classes was to watch the confusion and awe in their classmates' faces when the teacher introduced something new.
Today, they were covering films and cinemas, and it was quite interesting how the professor explained the origins and the evolution. Afterwards, she introduced a few genres and gave an extra-credit assignment.
"For those of you going home for the Christmas holidays there is an extra-credit assignment. Attend a screening of a movie in a cinema and write a paper about the experience. I will collect them after at the beginning of the new term," she said and the whole classroom erupted in murmurs, so the teacher added, "for the rest of you it will be a summer assignment, so don't worry everyone will have to do it eventually."
"What do you say? It should be interesting," said Sirius grinning.
"You think your mother will let you see a muggle film?" asked Peter surprised.
"Oh, Peter, cute little Peter… She doesn't need to know," smirked Sirius.
"I'm in!" said James excited.
"Uh, I will have to talk it through with my mother…" mumbled Peter.
As the class ended, the students were still talking about the assignment. Leaving the classroom Remus overheard a group of girls talking.
"It would be awesome! We should go together during the summer holidays!" came the excited voice of Bonnie Travers.
"For sure. Tt will be fun! But what would we watch?" asked Lucinda Talkalot.
"We should bring Evelyn with us!" laughed Emma Vanity.
"Oh boy, she would enjoy it. Her first cinema experience!" said Bonnie.
"We should take her to a horror film. She will enjoy the film and we will enjoy watching her reactions!" grinned Lucinda.
"You hear that?" whispered to him Sirius, "You said that she lives near you. You should ask her to go with you,"
"What? Why?" asked Remus.
"Think! Asking her out will help you get closer to her," whisper-shouted Sirius.
"He is right!" chimed in James.
Remus just sighed. He knew that they would not let it go, and even if he asked her, the chances of her actually agreeing were pretty slim. Of course, they were in the same year, and might have lived somewhere close, however, they never talked to each other. Not really. She made comments and smiled or winked at him a couple of times, but he didn't know anything about her. For all he knew she might just enjoy making fun of him…
Deciding that it was worth a try, so that the boys will let it be, he walked toward the girls.
"Excuse me, may I speak with Travers?" he asked politely.
They might have a bad reputation, but they were never rude to him, so there was no reason to be rude to them.
The girls just looked at him confused, before sharing a look.
"Okay. I – I have to meet the teachers anyway. We will meet you later in the common room," said Emma Vanity before she grabbed Lucinda Talkalot's arm and all but dragged the girl after her.
After the girls left, Travers turned to him with a smile, "How can I help you?" she asked nicely and unlike most Slytherins she seemed genuine enough.
"Uh, I – I have seen you around the town, when you are at home, so, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the cinema with me…" he said uncertainly.
The girl's eyes went wide, and her mouth opened in wonder. Remus had to say that it was quite cute.
"I – uh – me? Why?" she asked, and Remus shrugged, "I mean, why would you want to go with me instead of your friends? You never even talked to me!"
Remus was about to say something to save the situation, when she said, "Not that I am complaining… but, if you wanted to ask me out, rather than going to the cinema during the holidays, we could go for a butterbeer on Saturday," she said with a sly smile.
"Uh, sure," said Remus, not fully believing what was happening.
"Great! I can't wait! Should we meet around 10 in the Entrance Hall?" she asked and Remus just nodded.
"Alright, see you later," said Bonnie before she left, leaving the bewildered Remus behind.
"That was easier than I thought…" deadpanned Remus not sure how to feel about it.
Evelyn was sitting in her room, looking over her notes for tomorrow's Herbology class, when the door opened and Bonnie run in, jumping on her bed.
"Woah, easy there!" said Evelyn.
"You are not going to believe what happened!" shouted Bonnie as she sat down next to Evelyn, however, before the other girl could react, she blurted out, "Remus Lupin asked me out!"
Hearing that Evelyn's eyes went wide before she narrowed her eyes, "Did he? What happened?"
While Bonnie excitedly told her friend, what happened Evelyn tried her best to smile and nod, however, she made a mental note to kill Remus Lupin the next time she saw him. She was just about to tell her friend not to think too much about it when she spoke up surprising Evelyn greatly.
"How should I tell him that I don't want to date him?"
"What? But… I thought you had a crush on him since forever…" said Evelyn confused and Bonnie just sighed.
"He is nice, cute, funny, and sweet, but what if it's just an act?"
"Uh, I don't think that I am the best person to talk about this…" said Evelyn slowly, looking at the door hoping for one of their friends to come and save her.
"Then who else should I tell? Lucy? You know how she is 'Trust no men, fear no bitch', I don't even think that she trusts us fully, she would just trash talk him…"
"Fair enough," mumbled Evelyn.
"And Emma is busy with the team," said Bonnie and Evelyn sighed.
"Look, this is just my opinion and I don't want to give you bad advice, I just think that it's weird that he asked you out now of all time, after I refused to tell him about my research. Of course, I am not saying that he is trying to use you, but… just be careful," said Evelyn softly.
"So, you think I shouldn't go out with him?"
"One butterbeer can't hurt," shrugged Evelyn.
"But – but what if I fall in love with him?" asked Bonnie desperately.
"No. That's not how things work," deadpanned Evelyn.
"Just because it doesn't work like that for you it doesn't mean that it can't happen to me,"
"Oh, yes, how can I forget. What was the last one's name? Alex? Alfred?"
"Alden… and he had really nice hair," murmured Bonnie.
"Ah, yes. And how long did it last?"
"Two weeks."
"And how much have you cried?"
"Since then."
"Which is?"
"Almost three months now."
"See? You work yourself up for nothing and then you get hurt. So, rather than looking for love, you should focus on your work. You want to be a healer, don't you? Focus on your grades and love will find you later," said Evelyn.
"You think? But how should I act on Saturday when I meet up with him?"
"Just be yourself. Don't stress anything. Just imagine that he is one of your friends. Relax, he is not going to ask you to marry him or anything like that. I think… but you should talk to someone who has more experience in that field," finished Evelyn.
"Friends, okay, I can do that," said Bonnie more to herself than to Evelyn.
"And if he hurts you, we will make sure to take revenge," winked Evelyn with a smile making Bonnie giggle.
The girls were reunited only at supper time, when Emma Vanity, with a large smile on her face run into the Great Hall and jumped on the bench, waving over the rest of the team.
"Everything is settled! We are having the match tomorrow after classes. I expect ALL of you to be there on time!" she said seriously, "Now, I have already worked out the line up; Lucinda is going to take my place as one of the chasers. The rest of the chasers will be Barty Crouch Jr. and Allecto Carrow vs Snape, Rosier, and Amycus Carrow. Got it? Cool! Moving to the beaters; Jugson and Macnair vs Mulciber and Avery! Keepers! Gibbon vs Bonnie Travers, and the two seekers will be Regulus Black and Evelyn Williams! Any questions?"
It was only Severus Snape who had the courage to raise his hand.
"Why am I a chaser?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't you be?" asked Emma confused.
"I can change places with him!" offered Bonnie.
"Yes! I mean, no offence Severus, but he is too weak! We need someone strong enough to pass and catch the ball!" shouted Evelyn earning herself a couple of surprised looks, "What? If I have to play, I want to win," she said rolling her eyes.
"He is a chaser because he is one of the best fliers. Madam Hooch agreed readily which means that she believes that he is good for the position, also, he looks weak so maybe some of the others will underestimate him way too much," explained Emma, "So, that's it. Tomorrow after classes! May the best team win!" she said excitedly.
"Severus, I think I made the biggest mistake of my life," said Evelyn.
"What do you mean?" asked Snape looking up from his book.
"Look how high they are," said Evelyn motioning to the students on their brooms playing Quidditch.
"Hm,"
"What if I fall? I don't want to die this way…" mumbled Evelyn causing Severus to look at her weirdly.
"Why? In what way would you prefer to die?" sneered Snape.
"I don't know… old age? But certainly not falling to my death because of a stupid sport,"
"You will be alright. Madam Hooch will be there," he said trying to calm the girl who was on the brick of panicking.
"Yes, but she will have to observe thirteen other people at the same time," said Evelyn before she took a deep breath, "Oh, Merlin, I think I am going to have a panic attack…"
It was enough for Severus to put down his book and turn to her fully, before grabbing her shoulders making her look at him.
"Listen, you said it yourself; you play to win! You are going to win and get that goddamn book, and you know it! So, Pull. Yourself. Together!"
"You think I could win?" asked Evelyn, causing Severus to sigh.
"Just like Vanity said: you might not be a great flier but once you set a goal you are not going to stop before you achieve it, so yes, it might be possible that you will win," he said before releasing the girl and putting his book away. "Even though the chance is pretty low…"
"Yes, yes, you are right. You know what? If I don't die, I will lend you that book and we could work on spells together,"
"I would like that," said Snape making Evelyn smile.
"Then it's settled! After I get my hand on that book, we are starting our pet project," she said smiling widely.
"Only if you don't die…" said Regulus, who just arrived and sat down on the bench next to them.
"Don't start," said Snape annoyed, looking back at Evelyn whose face was quickly losing colour.
"I don't know… just look how high it is. If you were to fall, you would be dead even before you hit the ground," continued Regulus smirking, causing Evelyn to gulp.
"You are doing it on purpose, aren't you?" mumbled Snape before he grabbed Evelyn again, "Hey, hey, look at me! In the unlikely scenario that you fall off your broom and Madam Hooch won't notice, I will catch you. So, don't worry and get yourself together, woman!" he said annoyed.
The sudden declaration made both Evelyn and Regulus' eyes to widen.
"Do you mean it?"
"Of course, I do," said Severus rolling his eyes.
"But – you know, just because I don't look like it, I do weigh, you know…" mumbled Evelyn embarrassed, and Regulus burst out laughing.
"That would be a sight to behold; Severus playing the knight in shining armour catching the princess only to get pulled off of his own broom," he said laughing causing both Evelyn and Severus to blush.
It was at that moment when the games ended, and the fliers landed. As Madam Hooch ended the class the Slytherins walked up to the couple and Regulus, wondering what happened to cause them to blush this way.
The unusually large group of Slytherin gathered at the training pitch gained the attention of the leaving Gryffindors, who decided to stick around just to see what the Slytherins were up to. As Madam Hooch appeared after a short time and it was clear that they were having a team practice some decided to stay.
In the Slytherin changing rooms Emma was busy controlling Evelyn's protective gear, when Sirius Black walked up to them.
"I thought that you looked familiar, though I have no idea how they convinced you to play," he said grinning.
"This is the Slytherin changing room, you have no business here," said Emma turning around.
Sirius was about to retort, when Evelyn spoke up.
"It's okay. Why don't you make sure that the others are ready? I will be with you in a minute,"
Emma looked at her uncertain but left.
"So, what is with this?" asked Sirius smirking motioning to Evelyn's Quidditch robes.
"Oh please, stop. I am worrying enough already, and your brother is just making everything worse. I don't need you to add to it…" said Evelyn.
"Regulus?" asked Sirius surprised.
"Yes, we are playing against each other," explained Evelyn.
"Oh boy, no offence, but you don't stand a chance," laughed Sirius.
"I told you to shut up!"
"Okay, okay!" said Sirius putting up his hands in defence, "Anyway, what's all this protective gear?"
"Necessary precaution," said Evelyn shortly.
"You do know that you are a seeker," said Sirius and Evelyn nodded.
"And you have to be quick and stuff," continued Sirius.
"It's not that heavy – Emma modified it for me," smiled Evelyn, but Sirius could tell that she was still worried.
"No worries, there will be other people too, if you fall, we will get you. If it makes you safer, I will be watching you to make sure you are okay," he said with a smile.
"Big words for someone who was pointing his wand at me yesterday," said Evelyn coldly causing Sirius' smile to fall.
"Evie-"
"No, I – I am not happy about it, but I understand. You were protecting your friend, I would have done the same…" she said before it struck her, "Does that make us bad friends?" she asked looking at him sadly.
However, Sirius only smirked as he took a step closer saying, "The worst. Maybe that's why we should take our friendship to the next level," he finished with a wink.
Evelyn just giggled shaking her head, "You are the worst."
"Anyway, no worries. I got you," smiled Sirius, "do you need a calming hug?" he asked teasingly opening his arms.
However, what he didn't expect was Evelyn to actually hug him, making him freeze.
"You must be really scared if you need this much support," he said laughing.
"Aand the feeling is gone! Okay, I am ready!" said Evelyn releasing Sirius and stepping away.
It was exactly at the same time when they heard someone clearing their throat. Turning around Evelyn came face to face with an unimpressed Severus Snape.
"If you are done with this lovely display of affection, we would like to start," he said coldly glaring daggers at Sirius.
To say that Evelyn was worried was an understatement. As they walked up to their team she tried talking to Severus, but with a look he made it clear that he didn't want to hear another word from her.
'Great, the one person who could save my life is now sulking,' she thought mentally saying goodbye to this world.
Everything was going smoothly, the balls were released, the game started, and it seemed that Severus was furious. It might have been the emotions or the adrenaline, but he was not half bad. He was better than expected, but that didn't mean that he was a star player.
"Don't underestimate him!" shouted Lucinda at her teammates.
For some reason, it seemed that the game would never end. Evelyn kept counting the minutes, as she only wanted it to end so she could have solid ground under her feet again.
However, it was the moment when she spotted the golden snitch. She took a quick look at the points. The official team was of course in lead, but not by much, and if she caught it now, they could win. Thinking about the research she could do with that book and Snape's help – if he finished sulking – gave her a sudden spurt of energy as she sped off to get the snitch.
It seemed that Regulus saw it too, and even though there were people watching him, he wanted to remain on the team more than anything.
The two of them were head to head, both of them trying to outfly the other, however, suddenly Evelyn's broom made a quick dive to the right, causing her to lose track of the snitch. She panicked, but then the broom seemed to work fine, so she started to look for Regulus, who was now flying even higher trying to reach the snitch.
'It's okay, calm down. Steady your hands, it will be over before you know it.' she said to herself.
Evelyn sped up and she was just about to reach Regulus when her broom did another quick dive.
"What are you doing?" shouted Regulus, deciding to leave the snitch and rather focus on Evelyn.
"I'm not doing anything!" she shouted back.
When it seemed that the broom was back to normal, they continued to look for the little golden snitch. In just a couple of minutes they spotted it, grinned at each other and dived for it, both of them wanting to win more than anything. They were flying in a row, when Evelyn's broom made another quick and rough dive to the right, scaring the witch and causing her to let go of the broom for a minute and before she knew it the broom threw her off. She quickly caught on with one hand, however, the feeling of floating in the air in an enormous high didn't help her concentration and before she knew it, she was falling.
Evelyn let out a scream as tears formed in her eyes, and fear gripped her heart.
'That's it, I'm going to die!' she thought closing her eyes.
