Severus's p.o.v.
Listening to conversations is not something that I ever do, but walking out of the toilets would ruin this one, for sure, and I didn't want to do that. When I did Legilimency, I went trough her mind quickly. She realized something was wrong the moment a specific memory caught my attention. Form the way her body reacted, I concluded that she doesn't think about it a lot, which is odd to me, now that I know what the memory is about.
"My parents died in a car accident.", Evelyn tells Maria.
"Do you miss them?", Maria asks.
"Every day."
I can feel the nostalgia in her voice. Subtile but it's there.
"Sometimes I feel alone."
"I know but you have me. If you need a talk or anything else, just tell me."
After Maria's mother died, the shy, introverted girl became even more unreachable. Minerva did her best to talk to the child but nothing seemed to help. Nothing unusual there, I honestly don't understand what Minerva and Albus where expecting.
"I need to go now. Will you be attending the dinner party?"
"I will."
"Great. See you there, bye."
I back against the black tiles as Marina runs pass my hiding place. I put my foot in front of the other, ready to reveal myself but change my mind when I hear Dumbledore's voice.
"She needs someone to talk to, someone to trust. I'm glad she found that in you.", he tells Evelyn.
"It's hard to be alone, especially for a child. I'm glad you let her stay here."
"I see my students as my children. Before teaching them, our job is to protect them and offer shelter if they need it. With Maria we didn't doubt a second."
"That's good."
"I'm sorry about what happened to your parents ...and I appreciate you not telling her the truth. I did check your background with Nick, I hope you don't mind that."
I frown at these words.
"I don't, don't worry."
"Do you ...know ...who killed your parents?"
"Umm, no, not really. With my fathers job and the projects he participated in, he gained a lot of enemies. It could be anyone actually. Sometimes I think we will never find out the truth behind their death."
"How do you feel about it?"
"I do not seek revenge. If I did, things would be a lot easier for me. I could be angry and frustrated, focusing on the goal of finding the person that took my mom away from me but ...she's dead and nothing I do will ever get her back. Between endless misery and occasional sadness, I choose the other one. It gives me room for happiness and growth. That's all I need."
"I like your answer."
"It's a pleasure talking to you but I have to go get ready for the dinner. We searched the area where robots where seen but unfortunately, didn't find anything. I called Fury to check on the serial number but nothing came up in the data base ...but we'll figure something out, don't worry."
"Oh, I'm not worried. I think our faith is in good hands. I hope I'll be seeing you at the party this evening."
"Of course you will."
"Put on something nice, it is going to be quite fancy."
I hear one pair of footsteps walk away and turn around the corner.
"Wise girl, don't you think? You could learn quite a few things from her.", I hear Dumbledore say, walking away.
"And I thought your manners where better that this, Severus. Spying on people like a teenager.", he comments, turning the corner as I roll my eyes, finally walking out and towards my room.
I do think about what Evelyn told Dumbledore but our situations are completely different. Happiness is not an option for me, it never was, even as a child. I felt it only when I was with Lily and the day I held her cold, lifeless body, every hope of feeling it again shattered in peaces, leaving misery, despair, guilt and anger and I think that, even if I wanted to change that, I couldn't.
Evelyn's p.o.v.
A big smile appears on my face as I pull out a little makeup bag from my backpack. Women's purses and backpacks are indeed an endless whole, full of surprises and unexpected stuff. I'm not the carry my makeup every where I go type of female but Pepper convinced me to put a makeup bag in my backpack, just in case I meet the love of my life and need to powder my nose. I need to thank her later.
I place the bag on my bed and walk towards the closet. Opening it, I go trough the dresses one more time but theres nothing I like or feel comfortable wearing.
"You have to blend in. It's not your style but you have to blend in.", I say to myself as I pull out a dark blue dress with small silver crystals all over it.
I tilt my head a little, "Hm."
It has a big collar that stands up and goes all the way around. The chest and waist area is corset like and has a triangle pointy ending in front while the rest of the fabric falls down nicely. It's a little heavy so I know I'm going to sweat like a pig in it, but this is the best thing I have right now.
I lay it down next to the makeup bag and enter the bathroom to take a quick shower.
After I'm done, I go out and put the dress on. It takes me almost five minutes of struggle before everything sits in it's place. I open the closet again and pull out a pair of black high heels. The dress is long so my heels are not visible when I stand still. Usually, I do my makeup before getting dressed but I knew this time it's not going to work.
I walk in front of the mirror and take all the things I plan to use out of the makeup bag. I'm really pale and that makes my green eyes really stand out, giving some color to my ghostly face. I put on foundation, concealer and powder, mascara, a bit of pink blush and tab a light red lipstick over my lips. It all looks very natural and easy going, just the way I wanted it.
I put my hair into a bun, pulling a few wavy locks of hair out, framing my heart shaped face nicely. I place the bun mid-high so my neck can breathe, hoping it will prevent the sweating just a little.
I take a final look into the mirror and smile, satisfied with what I see. I hear a few knocks on the door and walk to open it.
"My lady, are you ready for the evening?", Thor asks, bowing a little.
I smile, doing the same thing, "I will be when I put my heels on."
"You look beautiful.", he comments, walking behind me towards my bed.
"It's not too much?", I ask, putting my heels on.
"Considering there are people wearing weird pointy hats, you look quite normal."
"If you say so. Come on, let's go."
We enter the Great Hall that's packed with people chatting and laughing. A few heads turn towards us, making me feel a little uncomfortable so I tighten my grip around Thor's strong arm.
"They're looking at you because you're the most beautiful in the room.", Thor whispers in my ear and I smile.
"Evelyn, Thor. Wellcome.", Albus greets, approaching us.
"You look stunning my dear.", he tells me with a smile.
I feel my cheeks heat up, "Thank you."
"I like the change ...from a warrior to a princess. You have many layers."
"She does.", Thor agrees with a smile.
"Come on, let me introduce you to our staff members.", he tells us, guiding the way.
We talk to a bunch of people and everyone seems so nice and approachable. My social anxiety slowly fades and we discuss classes and I answer questions about myself ...lying answering some of them but my identity needs to be a secret. Fury made that perfectly clear.
The music is slow and not to loud but loud enough for some people to dance. I'm not much of a dancer so I stay away from the dance floor. After about two hours, I finally get some rest from all the people wanting to talk to me. I approach the big table and grab a glass of some kind of alcohol. It tastes like gin but I'm most certain it's not gin. Looking around, my eyes land on Severus. Dressed all black, with a drink in his hand, he's standing beside, not engaging in any conversations. What the hell is wrong with this guy?
I slowly walk towards him, for whatever reason thinking it's a good idea to chat with the man who obviously didn't want any company.
"It's a nice party.", I comment, standing beside him.
He looks at me briefly before looking away, "I suppose."
How can he talk like that? I would bore myself to death if I sounded like he does.
"I'm surprised you're here."
"And why is that?"
"You don't seem like the type of person to be attending events like this."
"It was obligatory."
I smile, "Oh, that explains it."
We stand in silence, looking at people talking, dancing, eating and drinking. I sigh, ready to give up on this social interaction when I hear a few shoots coming from outside. I frown and look at Severus that seems to not hear it. A few seconds pass and I hear a few more, this time louder. I turn around and walk towards the window, looking outside. As the third row of shoots can be heard, I see blue light and six red dots, right in front of the castle.
By now, the music stopped and everyone is questioning on whats going on.
"Shit.", I mutter and search around for Thor, who's walking towards me.
"What is gong on?", Severus asks, joining me, looking out of he window.
"There are here again. Hold this.", I say, handing him my drink and grabbing Thor by his arm.
I use the stirring and we walk out of the Great hall. Before coming to the party, Thor had an idea to hide our weapons in the nearest bathroom, just in case. We go there and grab everything we need.
As I'm running, I realize my shoes are slowing me down so I take them off.
We rush outside and see three robots standing in the castle grounds. The moment they notice us, they start to run away and we go after them.
"This could be a trap.", Thor informs me.
"I know but we have no other option.", I say, pulling my sword out and cutting trough my dress, making it shorter and easier to handle.
I pull out my gun and start shooting but most of the bullets that hit the metal machines just bounce off.
Thor throws his hammer and hits one of the robots but, beside him loosing his balance for a bit, nothing happens. I take my dagger and trow it at the robot that Thor has hit, slowing it down. The dagger goes trough the machine and it falls on the ground. The rest of them fly off.
We rush towards the fallen robot and see him twitching, sparks flying from his metal construction. I take a good look at him and gasp.
"Iron man?", Thor asks, looking at the robot.
It looks the same as one of Tony's early suits.
"You ...will ...die.", he tells us before his eyes loose the red light.
"Back away!", I yell, trowing myself as far from the robot as I can, seconds before it explodes.
"You okay?", Thor asks, running towards me.
"I am.", I say, standing up.
"What the hell is happening?", he asks, looking at the crater the explosion has felt.
Severus's p.o.v.
I'm sitting in front of the fireplace once again, after another dream of Lily. This time it was not about her death, it was about the time we spend together, laughing and talking, enjoying each other as children. But this time, my mind is clouded with something else.
I see her talking to Filius. She has a smile on her face trough the whole conversation. Her eyes sparkle like stars on the pitch black sky, making her face light up even more. Locks of strawberry blond hair frame her face perfectly. She's one of the most beautiful human beings I have ever seen. My heart beats like crazy, spreading guilt all trough my body. For so long I though only Lily could do this to me ...until now. I feel like I could punch myself in the face. I look at her moving red lips and the only thing I can think of is how would it feel to kiss them.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?", I hear Dumbledore's voice right beside me.
"I suppose.", I say, lying to him and lying to myself.
"Suppose? Not what your eyes are telling me."
I don't say anything.
"You need to let go ...and move on. You can cherish her memory and still be happy, Severus. Give yourself the opportunity to be happy.", he tells me before walking away.
She is beautiful. Why is she so beautiful?
I rub my face with my hands, trying to get her face out of my head ...but I can't. It's like she threw a spell on me, it happened that quick. Hell, it happened the moment I saw her for the first time. There's something about her that captivated me, enchanted me. I can feel Lily's memory slowly face away and getting replaced by someone else. That's not what I want, and that's not what it's going to happen.
My heart belongs to Lily. It always has and it always will. It's a lie I consciously keep repeating to myself. Maybe ...maybe it's really time to let it go. To let it all go.
