Eva turned the corner of a hallway, glancing behind her at the empty corridors. It was late afternoon, and the blinding sunlight blazed through the windows next to her. Her hands were balled into fists, gripping the sweater sleeves under her robes as she nervously made her way to the potions classroom.
I hope Professor Lestrange is okay with this—
"Eva?" She heard, looking up from the ground with a start to see William looking surprised. She stopped in front of him, giving him a smile. "I didn't know you would be here, Eva."
"I wanted to see Professor Lestrange about something—" she answered sheepishly, then looked up at William. She lowered her voice, her gaze was unwavering and intense as she looked into William's eyes. He immediately felt a bit flustered, looking to her shoulder to avert her eyes with a lopsided smile. She continued staring at him, relaxing a little as she said, "you look tired. It can wait."
"Huh?" Eva reached forward, taking his arm and pulling him behind her as she marched them around the corner. He towered over her, slowing down his pace to keep up with her much shorter legs, trying to figure out where she was leading him. She was going to a farther end of the castle, passing the great hall toward the astronomy tower.
"Where are we going, Eva?" She turned to him, a determined smile on her face as she continued to pull him by the arm. "The astronomy reading room." She turned back around, not paying attention to the perplexed expression on his face. "You know nobody's usually there, and we're allowed in but—"
"That's precisely why we're going. Because nobody's there during class hours," she answered, continuing forward to the door. She pushed it open, with William reaching to hold it for her as she walked in first. He followed behind her, looking around at the room in awe. The ceilings were high, and each column of the walls had cherubs holding celestial bodies. Celestial models of planets and stars floated above them, illuminated by the sunlight pouring through the tall windows. They were spread throughout the room above the bookshelves of old astronomical texts.
"This way, Will," he heard, looking back down, seeing Eva nod for him to follow her to a corner of the room. He turned the corner of the shelves, seeing a couch against the wall with an end table in the corner. Two armchairs sat on the next wall on the other side of the end table. There seemed to be a large plush futon-like mat on the ground that Eva was unrolling from a basket under the table.
"Here," she said, reaching into a cabinet in the wall, placing a pillow on the mat.
"You want me to lay here?" He asked, and she nodded vigorously.
"Take a nap. You'll be able to sleep in quiet here. I'm going to reply to a letter from home and will make sure you don't sleep for too long in here." She reached back into the cabinet, pulling out a blanket before walking over to William. She put her hands on his arms, pushing him downward gently as she said, "lay down!"
"I uh— if you insist—" he stuttered, removing his shoes and neatly lining them next to the mat before laying down. Instantly he felt himself sink in a few inches, shocked by how comfortable it was. He fluffed the pillow before laying on it, staring up at the ceiling as he felt the blanket fall over his legs and waist. He lifted his head, seeing Eva smiling with a satisfied smile as she pulled the blanket up to his hands.
"Get some sleep."
He smiled at her tenderly, his eyelids already feeling heavy as he watched her sit on the couch. She placed a book on her lap, using the spare parchment and quill on the table next to her as she began writing the letter.
William looked to the model of the solar system above him, following the orbit of Mars as it slowly passed that of Jupiter's. The room was definitely peaceful— much more relaxing than any other room of the castle— and having Eva nearby was something that made William happy. She may like Isidore, but was showing she cared about William regardless as a close friend.
I'm okay with this, he thought, shutting his eyes and turning on his side, drifting off to sleep.
The only sound in the room was Eva's quill scribbling onto the parchment, and the ticking of the clock nearby. For the next ten minutes, she was completely focused with her writing, then paused as she tried to think of a concluding sentence. She stretched her arms, looking outside at the large green lawn that lead to the Quidditch pitch. She saw Eleonora and Isidore practicing relay drills in the air, then shifted to face the window for a better view. Her gaze fixated on Isidore, watching his graceful flight pattern as he zoomed between hoops then flying low over the stands. She caught a glimpse of his face, seeing the calm expression he usually wears when working on homework.
He always looks like that, even when he's way up in the air— she thought, smiling a little. She turned her head, seeing William looking at her, then gave him a wry grin. "I told you to get some rest Will—" she said, turning to face him again. He didn't say anything, and she narrowed her eyebrows with a confused shake of her head. He blinked, looking up at the ceiling, then she gasped and rushed over to his side, kneeling next to his head and bent over him.
"You're paralyzed—" she panted, meeting his eyes as she frantically looked over his frozen body. Had he not told her about it, she would've thought his behavior was odd but never would've realized what was wrong. He seemed comfortable still, but she had a bad feeling something was wrong.
"What do I do—" she whispered, reaching to his jaw as she contemplated moving his head a little. She sucked in a panicked breath, feeling his rapid carotid pulse thundering against her fingers. He's scared, she thought, looking him over again. All she could now think of was how sad he seemed when he finally told her about his sleep paralysis, and how horrifying it sounded. Here she was, not able to do anything for him no matter how hard she tried.
She frowned, fighting back tears as she helplessly took one of his hands into hers. She looked into his eyes for a moment, then rested her forehead against her hands clasped around his, praying he would move soon. She held him like that for a few seconds, feeling his quick radial pulse bounding against her skin. The few seconds that passed felt like an eternity for her, and she looked back at him to see there was no change.
She used one of her hands to move aside the blanket, climbing under it as she gripped his hand. She laid on her left side, facing him, saying, "it's alright, Will. I'm here."
She heard his steady respirations going in and out through his nose nearby, staring into his eyes calmly as she reached a hand to stroke his cheek. All she could do was wait. She smiled a little, the fright that she was feeling moments ago not showing anywhere on her face. She hoped the warmth in her expression would alleviate his worry a little, and she made sure to not break eye contact. His expression was placid, but the movement of his eyes as they tracked her face showed that the episode was still ongoing.
"You're safe, Will. It's okay," she said, matching her inhalations and exhalations to his as she waited. She could tell he was beginning to calm down, seeing his eyes now just staring into hers without moving between them, and less frequent blinking. She nodded, giving him an encouraging nod, saying, "Good. Keep relaxing. You're safe with me."
He blinked a few times, then she felt his grip tighten around her hands. Next he inhaled deeply, his head moving a little, then she yelped as she felt him yank her against his chest. He wrapped an arm around her, clutching her to his body with his face tilted against the top of her head.
"Eva, thank you," he breathed, his voice husky, catching her by surprise. She nodded against his shoulders, saying, "I'm sorry that happened to you. I feel so bad, I could tell how scared you were—"
"It's okay Eva."
"It's not! It happens all the time!" She cried, hugging him tighter as she swallowed tears threatening to form once again. All he did was nod, knowing that there was no way around explaining anything to her. He held her in the silence, feeling her tense and push her forehead against his chest as she thought.
"It must be scary to go to sleep," she mumbled, feeling him nod again against her head. They let go of each other, and she looked at his eyes, seeing his dark circles were more pronounced than she realized. Now that he wasn't acting energized and cheerful, she could tell he was exhausted the same way Evander did. It broke her heart too, thinking about how someone so kind suffered like this.
And she doesn't even know half of it— William thought, reading her pitied frown. Wanting to take her focus off the thoughts she was having, he let go of her and backed up, giving his arms and back a stretch for a moment before looking back to her with a lopsided grin. He pushed some of his tousled brown hair off his eye, getting a view of her delicate face. He immediately looked up at the ceiling, realizing she was literally laying next to him and suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"I'll try sleeping again. You should probably… um—" he said, then began stumbling with his words as he tried finding a polite way of asking her to get out.
"We'll get in trouble if we're caught— and people might get the wrong i-idea—" he stammered, reddening a little more as Eva shot out of the covers. She turned red as a tomato, realizing how bold she just was even though it came from completely innocent intentions, and was thankful nobody had walked by.
"Well, I'll be right next to you," she said, kneeling next to his head again. He nodded, sheepishly murmuring, "alright, thanks."
She looked around, then reached and took his hand, covering their hands with the blanket.
Eva, covering our hands draws attention to that exact area— William thought, then smiled endearingly when he looked at her embarrassed expression as she surveyed the room.
"I'm going to at least hold your hand while you sleep. If anyone comes by, I'll let go." His grin widened as he whispered, "deal."
He shut his eyes, drifting off to sleep quickly as Eva kept a lookout. Eva sat there, once again reviewing their night in the library and what had just transpired. It still shocked her, and she wished there was something that she could do about it all. She looked to William's face, her heart melting at how relaxed he finally looked. He was sleeping soundly, his breathing was soft, and his grip had loosened a while ago in her hand.
I wonder what happened this time. He must've been stressed about something.
"Will," Eva whispered, knowing he wouldn't hear. She gripped his hand slightly tighter, looking over his peaceful expression as he slept soundly.
"Just what is it you're hiding?"
(Earlier that day)
William and Evander stood before each other, the door to the classroom locked as they prepared for William's training. Evander's usual warmth had dwindled, and his calculating eyes studied William as he assessed his opponent. William felt himself growing more nervous by the second, as if Evander was an animal hunting him. He stood frozen, terrified of what was about to happen.
"Alright, William. I'm not sure what you're hiding or from whom you're hiding things from, but I'm not going to go easy on you. The best way to train you is to challenge you as much as I can. I don't need a wand to cast the spell, but will at least give you that as a handicap to begin with. My goal is to get you to block the spell even when you don't hear it being announced," Evander told him, looking at William with a hesitant expression. William simply nodded in return, and said, "that's alright."
"Are you ready, William?" Evander asked, his voice quiet with concern as he saw William's eyebrows furrow from nerves. William nodded slowly, and Evander nodded.
"The way to resist legilimency is to clear your mind. If your mind is clear, I have nothing to see. This is easier said than done. It takes discipline and control, which may take a lot of practice. The best advice I can give you is to be patient with yourself. I know, from experience. It's easy to get frustrated, but you'll get the hang of it in time."
"Experience, Professor?" William asked softly, and Evander gave him a half smile, saying, "maybe you'll find out for yourself soon enough." Evander tapped his temple twice, with a light chuckle, then turned serious for a moment. There was silence between them, then Evander took a step forward and bellowed, "legilimens!"
William found himself unable to draw a blank, seeing a handful of random memories. First he was opening a wrapped present, pulling out a toy dinosaur with a Christmas tree towering over him as a four-year-old. He saw friends he had forgotten about in his old neighborhood playing tag with him on the large grass lawn of his house, with his little legs covered in healing bruises and smears of dirt from playing outside so often.
Focus, Will, he thought, trying not to get distracted from the nostalgia. He felt himself relax a little, then Eva's radiant smile flashed into his mind as he thought of her. She was seated next to him on the floor of the castle, hugging her knees to her with some strands of her hair poking out the front of her robe hood.
Oh shit. I can't—
William tried his hardest to resist, only feeling Evander paging through more of his mind.
There was Eva, bowing with a hand over her heart accompanied with a wide smile to the portrait of Sir Cadogan as he bowed in return. Next was Eva on the school's courtyard grass, being instructed by Eleonora how to do a round-off, since Eva aspired to have Eleonora's hobby of gymnastics.
"But can you do an aerial?" Isidore snickered nearby, to which Eleonora shot him a glare and said, "hmph."
She stepped aside, running about three steps before leaping into the air, landing to stare into his dumbfounded eyes with a smirk. She walked over to Isidore, looking at Eva's shocked expression with a smile.
"Now, Eva, you'll get there soon. Your cartwheel is perfect, but we should go with a round-off next and then get into one handed cartwheels. Just ignore this peanut gallery—" Eleonora said, then pushed Isidore's head sideways as one of their usual scuffles.
William found himself smiling, always loving how enthusiastic Eva was to learn anything and everything.
Eleonora was now next to William, smiling tenderly as she watched Isidore and Eva conversing nearby. She leaned a little closer to him, saying, "isn't she something else?"
"Huh?!"
"It's an oddity to see Isidore Lestrange looking that… happy," Eleonora said, and William swallowed a lump that formed in his throat. He felt an annoyed twinge in his gut, seeing Isidore nudge Eva by brushing up against her arm with his own. She giggled, placing a hand on his arm for a moment as she said something back to him, though William couldn't hear what it was. Eva then nudged Isidore with her own body, using her shoulder and arm as she gave him a shy smile. A grin spread over his features, and he pulled her against him with a quick raising of his eyebrows.
William finally admitted, Dammit. I like her—
William cried out, and Evander stopped the spell to give him a break. William staggered back a few steps, leaning against a desk and finding himself a lot more exhausted than he was expecting to be. He finally met Evander's eyes, feeling a pang in his chest when he saw the man's pained frown. William huffed out an annoyed sigh, rubbing his temples and looking at the ground to avoid eye contact.
"Are you alright, William?" Evander asked, clearly with a double meaning. William looked back up at him, nodding hesitantly, standing back up with a collective inhale to calm his nerves. He looked back at Evander, seeing nothing but pity for him, which only made the situation with Eva worse.
"Are you sure?" He asked, and William replied in a low voice, "I don't exactly have a choice, Professor Lestrange!"
Evander frowned, and William said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound short."
"William, it's alright. This is a very difficult thing for everyone to practice because it's so personal. I have some advice for you now that we've practiced once before," Evander told him, pocketing his wand for a moment. He stepped forward, asking, "do you have any idea how I cleared my mind and learned how to resist this spell?"
William shook his head no, and Evander nodded, saying, "it'll surprise you. First, the way I clear my mind of thoughts, which consist of words, was music. As a son of an aristocratic family, I and my siblings had to learn an instrument. I'm a cellist and pianist, and always just played through a piece in my head, only hearing the sound. I filled my mind with music, and all I'd focus on was the sound. If you can get something stuck in your head, then it'll help you focus on just the sound.
"Next, the best piece of advice I can give you that worked for me—" Evander said, walking over to William. He clapped a hand on his shoulder, saying, "acceptance."
William looked at him quizzically, and Evander only nodded in response, letting go of his shoulder and walking back to his dueling spot. He smirked a little, moving his eyes up and to the right with a thoughtful expression as he reminisced his own training.
He looked back over to William, saying, "you'll learn someday. I had a lot of things I didn't want anyone to know. But once I accepted those things were a part of me, it made Occlumency easier. When you have an emotional resistance to the caster, it's much harder to block them out. Your goal is to be calm, but it only makes you angrier when you fight it."
"Occlumency is fighting the caster though—" William said, making Evander laugh. He shrugged, telling him, "ironic, isn't it?"
William looked to the ground, jumping a little when he saw Evander's arm rising out of the corner of his eye. Evander was aiming his wand to William, triumphantly smiling to him.
"Let's try again. Unfortunately, an enemy won't give you a break like I did."
William nodded, hearing, "legilimens!" before being sucked into the depths of his memories once again.
He was sitting by himself in the dark library, holding out a small pice of bread he had saved from dinner as Pokey devoured it in his hands. William's smile had faded, and he looked at his reflection in a nearby glass cabinet seeing pronounced dark circles under his eyes.
"I look like shit." He inched a little closer, blinking a few times with a tired squint. He was too tired to even try smiling, looking down to the hedgehog with an exhausted stare.
"You know, Pokey, I've slept about nine hours—" Pokey ripped a mouthful of bread off, looking up at William as his snout quickly twitched around from the chewing. William stared right back at him, letting out an annoyed sigh.
"—In four days."
William was now laying in bed, his eyes wide open with fright as the only part of his body he could control. He laid like that, unmoving, hearing nothing but the soft respirations of his roommates and the occasional blanket moving around.
He lay awake, his mind spiraling to all the suspicious memories he had of Tom.
Why did he care about horcruxes?— The Death Eaters—
William's eyes glistened sadly as he thought— what about Eva? He can't do anything to her— she's too kind—
William found himself gripping a table, staring at Evander's now gravely concerned expression. Evander lowered his wand, looking genuinely frightened and even a shade paler. William felt his stomach lurch, not liking where this was going.
"What was that?" Evander asked, his worlds quiet like he was trying to keep himself calm through his tone. William swallowed the lump in his throat, saying, "I'm an insomniac."
"And you have sleep paralysis. Most likely induced from stress, and that's brought on because you know something extremely dangerous," Evander said, finishing William's thoughts exactly. William looked down at the floor with a shameful frown, falling silent as he heard Evander approaching him.
"That's the real reason they got rid of Slughorn, isn't it? To keep him away from Tom…" Evander thought aloud, now standing a few feet from William. He offered Evander a slight shrug, unable to make eye contact with him.
"I'm sorry about all this, William." William looked up at Evander with surprise, his pitiful frown making him stand up a little more. Evander now noticed the dark circles under William's eyes seemed darker than usual, and that William's expression was much more lonely than anything he'd ever seen.
"I have to admit. You had me fooled. You're a good actor," Evander said, staring into William's exhausted eyes with a frown.
"I know this isn't easy for you. I know how you feel about Eva, and you're jealous of Isidore. He's my son, but I hope you know that doesn't affect how I feel awful about your situation with them." He looked away for a moment, shaking his head before looking back at William. "And I've had sleep paralysis before. It's utterly horrifying."
William's gaze was now fixated on the ground, his expression dropped as he revealed his true emotions. He had childlike innocence, looking somber and hurt as his frown deepened. His voice was a murmur, as he croaked, "I hate it."
He closed his eyes for a moment, exhaling through his nose slowly with a shake of his head. Evander was quiet, his eyes glazed over with pity as he looked at William. He waited patiently, knowing William never opened up to anyone about the things he's seen, and was going through more than he could ever realize.
"I thought if I kept it all to myself, nobody would worry. You don't look tired if you're the center of attention, outgoing, and smiling all the time," William mumbled. Evander placed a hand on his shoulder, making William look up at him quizzically.
"You're right. Which is why I am shocked to have learned all this today. I don't remember the last time someone has completely surprised me before, William. I never— ever— saw this coming."
William smirked, saying, "I suppose that I should at least take the compliment."
Evander's frown turned into a tender smile, and he squeezed William's shoulder giving it a slight shake. "I hope you know that side of you definitely is a part of you. I know you're feeling guilt about not being honest with others, but at least remember that you're showing your true self. It just isn't all of you."
"I'm afraid of others knowing—" William said, and Evander leaned a little forward to interject, "you're afraid of Eva knowing."
William nodded, saying, "I won't even deny that."
"Eva's the type of person who will pour her heart into helping others, no matter who it is. She is considerate to a fault, and we both know that she would be really hung up on the things you've hidden from her."
William looked back down, pulling at the Windsor knot of his tie. Evander nudged him, barking, "Hey!"
William jumped a little, looking up at Evander's sharp gaze. He smiled to him, relaxing his grip on his shoulder with a gentle shake. "You can be yourself around me. When I ask how you are, tell me the truth. If you're awful, exhausted, and pissed off, then say it. Just be honest."
William finally smiled, looking relaxed and like he could use a good rest. He was clearly relieved, and stood a little taller, looking happier that Evander was looking at the real William.
"That's what I like to see." Evander narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing William's face for a moment. He added, "you look pale, tired, and the dark circles under your eyes are fairly pronounced. I didn't notice them before, but now that you're not acting like you're on a sugar high all the time, it's as if all of a sudden I realize how you really look."
"-Like I have the flu, all the time. Like shit."
Evander hesitated, surprised to see a little gleam in William's eyes, slowly shaking his head in return.
"I wouldn't go that far—" Evander began hesitantly, surprised to see William begin laughing. Evander smiled, relieved to see William genuinely smiling, but felt his stomach lurch uncomfortably with the unavoidable topic they needed to discuss.
"William, there's something we need to discuss," he said quietly, and William gave him a knowing nod as he sat at a desk. Evander sat across from him, turning the chair to face him with a glum expression. Now for the elephant in the room…
"You're a seer."
William nodded, mumbling, "and a damn good one. Unfortunately."
Evander leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees looking right into William's eyes. "What do you know about Tom's future? And why does it look like he's in charge of a group of powerful wizards known as 'Death Eaters?'"
A/N: So I actually proof-read this better because I didn't do it in the middle of the night. For once! But then I got to doing other things and the actual uploading of this chapter is later than I was hoping. Oops. :)
And I gotta say- not to toot my own horn but- Eva and William really warmed my heart in this chapter. *wipes tear*
Thanks for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting. As you can probably tell, I'm trying to rotate each of the characters so you catch up with their situation then move on to another. I'm a little stuck figuring out what to feature next. I'm always open to requests because they'll probably help inspire me.
See you next time!
