NINETEEN
The following week seemed to pass without much occurrences, which was both alleviating and disheartening depending on whom you were speaking to and whom it was about. Eve continued with her classes and quidditch practices, at which Douglas would hardly speak to her at, as well as running off to DA practices with Fernando, which caused further justification for Douglas to continue not speaking to her. It was both exasperating and saddening for Eve, and it all felt entirely out of her control to mend. Christmas break couldn't come soon enough for her, despite the lingering feeling that she perhaps would miss someone in particular in the weeks to come. But, of course, she wouldn't admit that to herself at this present time.
"Does this look nice? Or do I just look like an oversized toddler?"
Eve's daydream was broken by Lucie's question, but when Eve finally peeled her eyes from the top of her bedframe, Lucie's eyes were still on her own reflection in the mirror. Eve studied Lucie's top closely, analyzing the bright red thin fabric and the tight fit it had over Lucie's slender frame. The long sleeves hung past her shoulders a bit, leaving just the right amount of skin shown to have anyone worthy of admiring the blonde's delicate looks. Eve knew she looked lovely, but she knew Lucie would need help knowing it as well.
"You look beautiful, Lucie. I'll be fuming if you don't wear it," Eve said, nodding her head in solemn confidence at her words. Lucie twisted to her side profile and continued her examination.
"I suppose it's not too important," Lucie noted casually, although her comment went presently disproven by both girls in the room.
Lucie was made in charge of decorating the Hufflepuff common room, along with the rest of her fellow prefects, for the Christmas holiday. But, with that being said, it was one fellow prefect, in particular, who was seemingly the cause of her wardrobe delay.
"Might as well wear it before we leave, anyways," Eve shrugged, her eyes leaving Lucie and again traveling up the tapestry of her bedframe. There was a silence between the girls for a moment, Eve settling back to her melancholy, Lucie still transfixed on her image in the mirror, before one of them spoke again.
"Eve, if I tell you something, you promise to keep your mouth shut? At least until after the holiday break?"
Lucie's question didn't immediately cause a stir in Eve. Perhaps because of her genuinely dejected mood, or perhaps because she already anticipated what Lucie's secret would be.
"Yeah, of course," Eve said, her eyes yet to leave her tapestry ceiling. But when she felt the hesitation in Lucie's silence, she finally turned to her friend, meeting Lucie's shy gaze from her reflection in the mirror.
"Matthew and I are together. He asked me last week to be his girlfriend," Lucie said.
Eve didn't know if it was the overdone apprehension of Lucie's tone or the fact that she couldn't believe someone had actually been honest with her at this current state of time. Either way, Eve couldn't help but let out the most dramatic, exasperated laugh, falling back on her bed in the process and into a fit of lingering giggles. Lucie sent her a confused but mostly bemused look.
"Oh, and what's with the laughing? What I told you was serious, Eve," Lucie scolded, but there was a slight smile creeping on her lips, "I'm even meeting his parents over break."
"I appreciate the honesty, Luce. I really do. But surely you didn't think you two snogging in the shadows every chance you got wouldn't give it away?" Eve asked. Her question caused Lucie's eyes to grow in size, and deep blush to form on her pale cheeks.
"We don't do that," Lucie shot back, with a defensive hair flip as she turned away from Eve and back at her reflection, "Well, anymore. We are working on it."
Lucie's words caused another light laugh from Eve, who turned to Lucie now with a bright smile.
"I'm happy for you, Lucie. Out of everyone, you deserve it," Eve said. And she meant it too, watching now her friend smile brightly and give a shy nod at her words.
Lucie had looked completely blissful and in love the last couple of weeks, and it made Eve grateful that at least someone had enjoyed themselves the last couple of months. And although Lucie had tried to keep it from her friends, Eve could decipher why. Perhaps Lucie had seen the hardships and grievances her friends had been dealing with all year and decided her happiness might leave room for jealousy or bitterness between them. Although, in Eve's eyes, everything might just be easier if everyone was just adamantly in love.
"Are you seeing anyone, Eve?" Lucie asked, and although she didn't meet her eyes, Eve knew Lucie was sheepish with her words.
"No, not really," Eve replied, wondering immediately why she had added the "not really." Perhaps giving a simple 'no' made her feel more disappointed than she would like to admit, or maybe she had to admit that she didn't know how to answer the question, to begin with.
Was I seeing someone? What is 'seeing someone', anyways?
"I've noticed you and Fernando recently…." Lucie started, but Eve's quick look towards her made Lucie trail in her words. Eve couldn't believe she had to have this conversation again.
"We're just friends, that's all," Eve said simply, her casualness coming off more urgent than she would have liked.
"I mean, it would be okay if you were seeing him," Lucie said with her own forced casualness, "He's grown really handsome the last couple of years. Plus, you two both play quidditch and talk about muggle things…."
Lucie's words trailed off again when Eve let herself outtake an audible sigh.
"I swear to you, Lucie. We are just friends," Eve repeated, before adding what was now her lie to tell, "I don't like anyone."
"Well, that's awfully boring," Lucie said with a shrug, turning completely from her mirror now and slipping on her shoes.
"Oh, what a changed woman you are," Eve said, shooting a playful grin to Lucie, who returned it with an eye roll.
"Must be the holiday spirit," Lucie replied, taking a few steps toward their dormitory door, but the doorknob began to turn before she could reach it. Fiona's head peeked in from outside the door, but when she caught sight of the two girls inside, she let herself in.
"Fernando wants a word," Fiona said, with a nonchalant nod towards Eve. Thankfully, she didn't notice Eve and Lucie's exchanged looks as her eyes were already on Lucie's outfit.
"Well, you look fit. Matt's going to love that," Fiona said with a wicked grin. Lucie let out an exasperated groan and walked past her.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot we were still pretending that wasn't happening," Fiona called after her, but both Lucie and Fiona knew she wasn't sorry at all for the comment. Like Eve said before, everyone knew what was 'happening' between Lucie and Matthew, even if the two treated it like some whirlwind prefect scandal.
"What's Wells want with you?" Fiona asked, her attention now closed on the final girl in the room.
"How should I know?" Eve answered with a shrug, her legs swinging over the side of her bed as she made a lazy attempt to get up.
"Is anything going on between you two?" Fiona asked plainly, without any of the apprehensive politeness Lucie had offered only a few moments ago.
"Absolutely nothing," Eve answered, but before she could continue the defense, she watched Fiona's eyes quickly soften and her face turn into her usual unconcerned demeanor.
"Yeah, I figured. Douglas was so adamant for some reason, though," Fiona said with a shrug before falling on her own bed now, just as Eve got up from hers.
The thought of Douglas gossiping about her made Eve's blood boil over, even if he was coming from a genuine place. To think he was taking the time to talk about her rather than attempt any kind of conversation actually with her was enough to make her want to scream from the Astronomy tower. Eve slipped on her shoes quickly and left without another word to Fiona, who seemed to have no inclination that anything was the matter with anyone. Eve descended the girl's dormitory stairwell, where she promptly came face to face with an anxious-looking Fernando at the foot of it. Eve shot him a puzzled look as she met his side.
"What's going on? The DA meeting doesn't start for another hour," Eve asked, quiet enough for no one else to hear her words, although everyone else in the dormitory seemed far too occupied to even notice her entrance.
"Let's go early. I need to talk," Fernando muttered before turning on his heel.
His proposition seemed promising enough to Eve, so she followed without another word. Passing students on their way towards the door, Eve glanced between the studying and the decorating, meeting eyes with Lucie, who was in the middle of hanging tinsel from their massive common room fireplace. She shot Eve a pointed look, the latter girl just responding with a shrug. Not another word was said until Eve and Fernando were behind their common room entrance alone again.
"Douglas thinks we fancy each other," Fernando said finally, turning to Eve with the same anxious look in his eye from only moments ago.
"Yeah, I've become aware of that," Eve said with a sigh, "He spoke to me last week and basically accused me of sneaking off with you."
"You didn't tell me that," Fernando said, his tone sounding almost offended to Eve, who found this more annoying than she would have liked.
"I didn't think it mattered since the conversation was ridiculous beyond belief. I figured he would realize that soon enough, but it seems like everyone would rather participate in this made-up love affair," Eve replied.
She watched the barrel behind Fernando spring open and two younger years appear from behind the common room door. They glanced between Eve and Fernando with curious interest. Eve rolled her eyes, and the two kids quickly walked past them and down the corridor. Fernando sighed and turned back to her.
"I… I tried speaking to him as well, but I don't think it helped at all," Fernando started, but Eve could hear the growing apprehension in his words, which only grew more irritation in herself.
"Do you fancy him or not, Fernando?"
Eve knew better than to ask so blatantly. She had stopped herself multiple times before from taking it so far, but she couldn't help it this time. But that didn't mean she didn't feel an instant tinge of regret when she watched the pained look grow on Fernando's face.
"Can we walk?" Fernando asked, but he had already turned on his heels before Eve could answer.
But Eve obliged, and the two walked silently from corridor to corridor until the corridors became stairwells. And with each minute that passed, and with each stairwell climbed, the uncomfortable wordlessness between them grew as well. Finally, with the last stairwell they crossed, they entered into a dark corridor, the same corridor where Eve had revealed her own secrets to Fernando only a month or so ago. Eve didn't know if Fernando realized this as well, or maybe it was just a strange coincidence, but he stopped himself in the dim hallway and turned to Eve, this time though, his face held a hint of confidence that Eve hadn't expected to see.
"The truth is, I don't know," Fernando stated simply, but already Eve was surprised at the honestly, "It's hard for me to understand it all, but Douglas can't find himself to understand that as well."
Eve nodded, unable to decipher whether she should dive into the questions further, but she watched Fernando open his mouth again to speak.
"And I'm sorry you've gotten wrapped up in all this. You've done nothing wrong, and you don't even know the half of it," Fernando said, shaking his head gloomily and turning his glance down the corridor.
Eve studied how unhappy he looked and how genuine his words felt, and she couldn't help but wonder if Douglas must be feeling the same way. Fernando's confusion could easily be from his newfound feelings for another boy, but surely that must be harder to understand than one would like to believe. Of course, Douglas had to understand that, but perhaps he took Fernando's indecisiveness for rejection. A rejection, Eve might add, that was followed with a seeming closeness for his best friend. What a mess it had become, although Eve kept that thought to herself.
"Maybe you two just need some time, maybe after the holidays or something," Eve said, the hopefulness in her tone coming out less convincing than she had hoped. The truth was, there was no hope if each boy remained stubborn in their understanding for one another.
And Eve considered the possibility of not speaking to Douglas for another month, and her eyes began to blur.
"How about we just skip the meeting, yeah?" Eve asked now, her words causing Fernando to turn to her with quick surprise.
"But Eve, we only have a few meetings left before the break," Fernando said, his face turning in puzzlement, although he must have read the sullenness on Eve's face because his expression softened again.
"I just don't feel like it. With everything going on, I just can't deal with it all," Eve said with a shake of her head; and in doing so, she could feel the tears form in her eyes, which made her detest herself even more.
And although her words were vague, Fernando must have known what she was referring to because he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. In the last two DA meetings, Harry had started instructing them in forming a Patronus spell, a piece of magic Eve found particularly and senselessly difficult to do. She barely was able to create a few sparks, which Harry immediately congratulated her for, but it still left her with a deep sense of pressure and hurt. With her already innate sense of inadequacy for being muggle born, this year had also brought the anxieties of Umbridge's reign on Hogwarts to grapple with. And now, with the stress of her fragmenting friendships, she felt she couldn't possibly conjure anything that required unwavering power and focus, let alone a happy thought. It all felt too overwhelming and complex, and if Eve had it her way, she would lock herself inside her dormitory until the Hogwarts Express arrived to take her back home.
"Two weeks," Eve sighed, turning to give a quick glance down the empty corridor ahead of them.
"Two weeks until we are back home and away from this shit show of a school," Fernando said with a nod, his words assuming some semblance of humor from the girl, but Eve only nodded back. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that very moment, and her face contorted into a strange combination of tearful smiling.
"Blimey, you look demented, Eve," Fernando muttered with a weak laugh, but his free hand reached out to wipe her tears all the same.
What would have been perhaps a semi sentimental moment between the two was interrupted by the murmur of incoming voices from the direction of the stairwell. Eve and Fernando turned quickly from their positions, but the group of Gryffindors came into view before they could react any further.
The Weasley twins were accompanied by their friend Lee, as well as Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson. The five of them looked a bit startled when their eyes landed on the two Hufflepuffs, perhaps because they could have been Filch in the shadows, or maybe because they probably looked incredibly strange huddled in a random corridor.
"Quite a dodgy scene to walk into, I've got to say," Fred said, and although casual in tone, Eve was unable to tell if his teasing had a hint of suspicion in it. She rolled her eyes and turned her glance away, hoping no one had seen her presumably red and puffy complexion.
"Just having a bit of heart to heart, mate, that's all," Fernando said with his attempt at a nonchalant shrug.
"Hufflepuffs, man," Lee said, his reply earning some light laughs amongst the group.
This exchange seemed enough for the Gryffindors to turn again and walk past Eve and Fernando without another word, their group immediately going back to whatever conversation was previously occurring before they saw them.
Fernando didn't turn back to Eve again until the sound of their footsteps was lost down the corridor.
"George looked a bit concerned," Fernando said, turning to Eve with a halfhearted shrug, "Or who I would assume to be George."
"There's no way I can go tonight," Eve said with a groan, her arms reaching for her face as she ran her fingers anxiously through her hair.
Eve couldn't begin to deal with another uncomfortable encounter, and with this time including George, it made it all the more unbearable.
"He probably thinks I'm proper insane," Eve muttered.
"Knowing the Weasley twins, I would assume that would probably not be a deal-breaker," Fernando said, a grin forming on his face despite the despair in Eve's. Somehow though, Eve was still able to find the strength to roll her eyes.
"Lord, just one normal day, please. That's all I ask for," Eve said, with a pathetic glance up to whatever deity could possibly be looking down at her and laughing.
But despite the theatrical pleading, she found herself turning and walking towards the direction of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Fernando followed her moves with a chuckle, his arm swinging over her shoulder at some attempt of teenage comradery, although his following words were anything but encouraging.
"Yeah, you should probably transfer schools, then."
