SEVENTEEN

On Tuesday, Neville found Eve in the greenhouse, where he had informed her that they had found a spot to have their first DA meeting. When Eve asked him the location, the boy just shook his head and said to meet him at 8 that evening on the seventh floor, right in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Eve thought the request was strange enough to warrant questions, but she was far used to strange requests from her Gryffindor peers by now.

What Eve really had to deal with that far surpassed her fears of meeting Filch or Umbridge while sneaking around the corridors was what she would tell her friends as to why she was leaving in the first place.

"We'll just tell them we're studying in the library or something," Fernando replied when Eve came to him that evening with both the news and the concerns. They were alone in a corner of their common room together, but they both knew they wouldn't be so for long.

"And when do we ever go study in the library together?" Eve responded back.

And, for Eve, the question was valid enough to ask. The two never studied together unless finding themselves grouped with their Hufflepuff peers during exam times. But it wasn't exam times, and the two didn't have any classes together, so Eve knew the proposed plans would cause a few raised brows from their friends.

"Just say I'm helping you with a Umbridge essay, look sad or something when you say it, they'll leave you alone," Fernando shrugged, and his lack of concern caused slight ease within Eve as she mulled the idea over. Maybe she was overthinking, and her friends wouldn't care that much at all? But she still felt guilty all the same.

"Using our friends' empathy as a tool to manipulate them. That is not a very good look on our part, I must say," Eve sighed, but her tone discerned that she had agreed to Fernando's plan, although reluctantly.

"These are trying times, my friend," Fernando replied, this time with a lowered tone as the two watched Douglas and Fiona shuffle into the common room, snacks in hand from their after-hours visit to the kitchens.

Fiona grinned when she saw the two standing there alone while Douglas raised a mild brow. Things had been slightly awkward with Douglas when Fernando was around ever since the night of the Hufflepuff quidditch game. No one seemed to notice but Eve, though.

"What are you two doing off in the shadows, then?" Fiona asked, but Eve could tell her question was only her usual teasing. She was thankful her bookbag was still beside her, and she grabbed it casually.

"Fernando offered to help me with my Umbridge essay. I've been falling behind a bit since, well, you know…" Eve began, and she could feel the guilt rise within her at every word of the lie. And this only intensified when she watched both her doubtless friends' faces contort into shared looks of sympathy. Fiona nodded while Douglas cleared his throat in a slightly uncomfortable manner.

"Well, don't stay out too late, with Filch's corridor checks and all," Douglas replied, his eyes not leaving Eve's direction, and the two walked off without a second thought.

Eve gave Fernando an exasperated groan and headed towards the direction that would lead them out of the common room. She didn't speak again until they found themselves alone in the outside corridor.

"Have you tried speaking to him yet?" Eve asked, shooting Fernando a tentative glance from her side.

Eve hadn't outright asked either of the boys about the incident from the other night. Douglas and Fernando had seemingly remained their usual selves in the days that followed that night, but neither one had come into an arm's length from one another if they could help it. It was as if Sunday night had never happened as if they hadn't ever been in each other's arms before and might as well have never thought about it. And no one else knew of it either way. Except, of course, Eve and George.

"What's there to speak about?" Fernando asked in a far too casual tone to be genuine. Eve rolled her eyes. She should have known Fernando would be the difficult one of the two. Douglas at least would probably have the heart to acknowledge the situation, even if it would be in his dramatic contentious manner.

"You and Douglas the other night," Eve pressed.

The two had just made it to the stairwell chamber, and both pairs of eyes glanced sharply around the moving stairwells, nervous of catching a glimpse of someone they were not meant to be spotted by.

"We were talking, that's it," Fernando replied, his tone lowered from the echoey walls as they ascended from stairwell to stairwell.

"Why are you two avoiding each other then?" Eve asked, this time shooting him the most austere look she could muster. She decided she wouldn't drop it until she had been given at least one honest answer.

"Because he's a brainless git. Is this the seventh floor?"

This was not at all the honest answer Eve was looking for, but her questioning was abruptly ended by her need to count stairwells.

"Yeah, should be. Come on then," Eve sighed, choosing defeat against Fernando and leading the way into the corridor.

The pair took long silent strides across the dim hall, passing a classroom and then some sort of closet, before they could make out the dark hanging tapestry on the side of the wall ahead. Although appearing alone, the light patter of their approaching footsteps was enough for a dark head to peak from a corner at the end of the corridor. Neville's bright eyes caught the two Hufflepuffs with alarm.

"Oi!"

Neville's call beckoned the two over to him, and Eve couldn't help but let out a slight giggle at the dramatic operatives. The rest of Neville appeared from behind the corner, and the three met each other's sides in front of the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry. Eve looked at the image, and then Neville beside her, expectantly.

"Is there something behind here?" Eve murmured, glancing at the tapestry another time and taking a corner of the ancient material in her fingers for a feel. Neville shook his head, and the two could see that his nerves were now replaced with his usual childlike excitement.

"No, it's not. Don't move, just watch me carefully," Neville ordered, leaving Eve and Fernando's sides and making his way across to the opposite wall of the tapestry.

The Hufflepuffs watched Neville close his eyes in fevered concentration, carefully walking across the corridor away from them. Just as Eve opened her mouth to question his antics, Neville turned around and repeated his steps back across the wall.

"Is something going to fall over our heads or…?" Fernando whispered beside Eve, his eyes traveling to the stone ceiling above them. But Eve's eyes remained on Neville, who turned on his heels once again to cross across the corridor. This time though, his third time precisely, there was a crack in the air around them. Eve knew instantly that magic was about to unfold.

And so, it did unfold. The empty stone wall that Neville had crossed began to shift in front of their eyes. A wooden door appeared in the middle of the wall, at first, only a few inches in length, but slowly the door began to grow. Larger and more prominent, it transformed, stopping only when it had grown well above each of their heads. Eve and Fernando stood baffled from their spots beside the opposite wall, while Neville gave a casual glance between their faces and the wooden door.

"I was actually the one who found it, the Room of Requirement, I mean," Neville said, appearing to sound as nonchalant as possible, but Eve could notice the hint of satisfaction in his tone.

"Blimey, I didn't know it was real," Fernando replied with a bewildered sigh. Eve shot him a questioning look.

"It's meant to be a room that appeared to students in the castle only when they needed it the most," Fernando explained, causing Eve only to reply with a nod.

"And in any form, the student needs it in," Neville added, and with a slight grin, he started towards the door handle. He pulled it open easily and motioned for the other two to follow.

Eve and Fernando started quickly towards it, the shock of the room wearing off and now being replaced by the realization that they were still standing in the castle corridors after hours. Neville held the door open for the two, and Eve went in first, her eyes immediately darting amongst the scene in front of her as she entered.

The room was much larger than Eve had anticipated, with every wall covered with a mirror surface, the reflections of every single occupant in the room greeting Eve in every possible direction. Long cathedral glassed windows adorned the room in rows, while a massive antique brass chandelier hung from the high-rise ceiling. When Eve took a few more steps into the room, she noted a large burning fireplace centered across the other side of the room, with a small long mirror placed next to it.

"This is brilliant," Eve muttered breathlessly to no one in particular, but Neville appeared by her side again.

"It's perfect, hidden in plain sight. There's no way Umbridge or Filch could possibly find us," Neville grinned.

"Like Hogwarts is joining in the resistance, isn't it?" Fernando asked from Eve's other side.

"Yeah, it is," Eve grinned, walking further into the room where the group of students huddled amongst each other. Eve's eyes first caught sight of her fellow Hufflepuffs, Hannah Abbott giving her and Fernando an enthusiastic wave.

"You lot should be in bed," Fernando teased to the younger years.

"Oh, you should have seen us sneak out of the common room. Lucie and Matthew were on prefect duty just out the corridor. Good thing they were too busy snogging," Hannah said with a casual roll of the eye before turning back to Susan Bones. Her words, though, caused Eve and Fernando to exchange a pointed glance.

"Well, that's not very professional, now is it?" Fernando asked with a mild tone, but his eyes ended on Eve beside him, the latter rolling her own eyes.

"Suppose I should talk to her about that later," Eve muttered with a shrug.

"Suppose we all have some secrets," Fernando replied with a slight grin.

"Yeah, some more than others," Eve shot back with a challenging tone, but only Fernando was able to hear her. His expression didn't falter with her words, though. He really was being relentless.

"Suppose you're right," Fernando muttered back, his eyes traveling to the front of the room now, where Harry and his two best friends stood whispering to one another.

"In need of a dueling partner?"

Eve knew the voice that was now in her ear instantly, and although the close contact caused butterflies to erupt within the depths of her stomach, she did her best to ignore them and turn in casual aloofness. Amidst the gathered crowd of students, George had somehow appeared behind Eve and was peering down at her with a playful grin.

"That's a bit of a strange proposition coming from someone who was literally born with his very own class partner," Eve muttered back with a raised eyebrow.

"Fred and I always take time apart for our dearest of friends," George replied, his grin still solidified on his face. Eve bit her lip in an effort to not return the smile. She was playing cool after all, or at least that was the game she was used to playing. She wasn't sure now if George was playing something else now, though.

"Dearest of friends, huh? Kind of you," Eve whispered with a nod before turning her head back to the front of the room. And although her eyes were apart from his now, she could still feel his burning into her.

"Some more dear than others."

Again, George's voice was in the back of her neck, and this time Eve couldn't help but slightly fidget in her stance. She could see Fernando glance at her from her side, but she made no sign of moving her eyes away from the kids in front of her. She could hear George let out a light shallow laugh.

Oh, what is this boy doing to me?

Eve's teenage turmoil was ceased by Harry clearing his throat in attention. By the look of his face, Eve could see her was looking a lot more confident then he had at their initial meeting.

"Well, since it is only our first meeting, I suppose we should start with brushing up on simple defense spells. We will begin on the model first, and then once you feel more confident in your ability, we can move to partners."

The "model" Harry referred to was a large wooden figure formed in the shape of a cloaked wizard, the face of it resembling a skull-like mask. Eve would learn later that this was meant to take the form of a death eater.

Many of the younger students started with the model, their defense skills still building compared to the older students. Eve and Fernando split to a side of the room with their older peers, the pair taking turns disarming one another with relative ease.

"I'm quicker than you," Eve called to Fernando after about half an hour of the group practicing 'Expelliarmus.'

"I just hesitate a bit more because I'm a kinder person," Fernando replied back, his wand shooting out of his hands again at the finish of his words. He rolled his eyes at Eve and turned to retrieve it.

Eve took a glance around the room of practicing students, her eyes landing on Cho a few pairs away, who Eve had noticed earlier was having trouble with the spell. Harry stood by the Ravenclaw now and gave her instruction, their eyes locked in one another's with a sort of dreamy gaze. Eve couldn't help but grin at the pair, wondering how strange it was that despite the dire circumstances of the world, teenage love still seemed to blossom on. She felt her wand slip out of her hand in a quick brush of air.

"That doesn't count!" Eve shouted the moment her eyes landed back on the boy in front of her.

"I don't think Professor Potter would like to know you're letting your guard down," Fernando chimed back, a smile planted now on his face after his, somewhat unethical, success.

Eve rushed to grab her wand and draw it once again, but her aim was cut short by their very own professor making his way to the middle of the room.

"Everyone, today was excellent, really good work. Consider this lesson introductions, and we'll pick up next time on more difficult defense spells. How is Thursday, this same time?"

Harry's question received murmurs and nods from the students around him, and the first Dumbledore's Army meeting was adjourned.

"We'll have to cut quidditch practice short on Thursday," Fernando sighed as he and Eve found each other's sides again in the huddled groups of departing students.

"What's that? Captain Wells is prioritizing another activity over his beloved sports team?" Eve gasped with all the false dramatized astonishment she could muster. The captain rolled his eyes.

The pair took a few moments to say their goodbyes to their fellow DA members. It had already been established that the members would leave in small groups, as to not cause too much attention to themselves if they were to be spotted in the corridors at unwarranted hours. And so, small groups of friends took turns leaving, some in pairs, some alone, others with a few of their fellow house members. Eve waved to Cho and the girl's Ravenclaw friend as they disappeared behind the magical door.

"How's she doing?" Fernando murmured the moment the door closed behind the Ravenclaws.

"Cho? She's alright, I suppose," Eve shrugged with a halfhearted smile.

The truth was, Eve really didn't know entirely how Cho was doing. Sometimes Eve would find the girl seeming okay, smiling and chatting with all the ease of a normal school girl. And sometimes, Eve would find Cho staring off into a distance that couldn't be reached, with hazy eyes and trembling lips. Possibly, for Cho, she thought no one noticed her like this, but Eve noticed. But perhaps, they had all had moments like this since coming back to Hogwarts. Moments where it felt all too scary and unimaginable. At least for Eve, she knew this to be true.

"Did you see the way she was looking at Harry earlier?" Fernando asked, his mind seemingly trailing elsewhere than teenage heartache and despair. Eve sent him an unimpressed glance.

"Maybe she's just looking for a bit of a distraction," Eve stated with a shrug, her eyes now scanning amongst the remaining students in the room. Her eyes landed on a group of Gryffindors off to the corner, Fred and George leading the group in what looked like an advertising spiel for whatever products were in their hands.

"Yeah, I would say we all are," Fernando replied, his eyes following the direction of Eve's before catching sight of its target.

"You going to go speak to him?" Fernando asked, a slight grin forming on his face as he watched his friend's pensive stare. But the stare was broken the moment he finished his words, and Eve turned her direction back the departing students.

"No, I have nothing to say. Let's go before it gets any later, yeah?" Eve sighed, and without another glance, she started towards the door, with Fernando in hesitant tow.

Eve twisted the knob tentatively, and with a quick glance outside the empty corridor, she and Fernando sneaked out the Room of Requirement. They watched as the door silently vanished in front of them until only the stone remained.

"Well, with that swift and slightly awkward departure, I suppose I should tell you now that he put something in your pocket earlier," Fernando said as the pair began retracing the steps they had taken only an hour ago. But at this comment, Eve stopped on her heels and turned to Fernando with a confused stare.

"What are you talking about?" Eve asked with quick words, her eyes darting in both corridor directions. She knew stopping to chat was not wise in their current state of affairs, but she wasn't going any further until she could finish the conversation they were about to have.

"I'm talking about George when he was standing behind you earlier. He slipped something in the pocket of your robes. Look," Fernando said, his hand gesturing lightly to Eve's left side pocket. Eve immediately touched the outside of her pocket, and when she could, in fact, feel that there was something inside of it she hadn't known about. She quickly slipped her hand inside and grabbed what could only be a piece of parchment.

Eve looked at the small folded paper with confusion and a slight flutter of butterflies and immediately felt embarrassed with Fernando's watchful eyes on her.

"Oh, don't be bashful. Open it," Fernando mutter with an eye roll. Eve sighed and complied, unfolding the parchment and reading the brief message.

"Tomorrow. 3 o'clock. Our usual spot."

The message, written in surprisingly neat handwritten, was adorned at the bottom with the doodle of a small petaled flower. Surely, George was just talking about meeting to check their Aconite this month, but that didn't mean Eve couldn't still feel a tinge of excitement at the prospect of seeing him properly again. They hadn't had a conversation since the Hufflepuff game. And Eve was sure he was going to tell her something before Fernando and Douglas decided to cause their own scene.

A grin spread across Eve's already blushed face, and in her momentarily admiration of the note, in which she read over George's words and tiny illustration embarrassingly multiple times, she hadn't noticed Fernando's eyes also scanning the parchment.

"And, what is this all about?" Fernando asked, his lingering eyes finally meeting Eve's face. Eve's face only met his to offer an eye roll.

"Interesting thing to ask. Here I was thinking we were keeping our secrets to ourselves," Eve murmured, her heels turning to start their journey back again.

"Who said I have a secret? There's no proof of it. But that right there," Fernando started, his hand gesturing to the note still held in Eve's clutch, "That right there is proof."

Eve sighed and considered her options. She hadn't told anyone about her work with the twins for multiple reasons, but that had started before Dumbledore's Army, and therefore before Fernando had undoubtedly become her confidant in her new rule-breaking persona. She reasoned there would be no harm in telling him now her most long-held secret of mischief, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try to muster up a deal with the increasingly frustrating boy.

"How about you finally talk to Douglas about whatever you don't need to talk about with him, and I'll tell you what I'm up to with the Weasley twins," Eve said, deciding to choose her words wisely in an attempt to not push her boundaries too much with her friends.

Of course, she would love to know the details of Fernando and Douglas's debacle, but she also knew it was best left to the two of them to deal with it and for her to listen when they were ready. It was in true Hufflepuff fashion, after all.

Fernando took a moment to mull over Eve's words before nodding in what looked to be casual decisiveness.

"Alright, fine."

Eve grinned at his words and stopped in her tracks again right before reaching the staircase entryway. And so, in the darkness of the empty corridor, and in the hushed voices of two actively misbehaving students, Eve told Fernando all about her secret life of Hogwarts crime.