7 months ago

Fred and George gave a last look around the corridor to make sure no one was near. Satisfied that they were alone, they turned to the statue of the one-eyed witch. Before they could tap the hump, however, the passage opened and a girl came out.

Stunned, the twins looked at each other. They had never encountered anyone near any of the secret passageways that lead in and out of Hogwarts. The girl looked a little taken aback as well. She was quite pretty, with medium-length dark brown hair. She seemed to be a little older than them, though she was much shorter, barely reaching to George's shoulder. Her green eyes gave them both an appraising look. Suddenly, she made a small motion with her hand. "You did not see me come out of a secret passageway." She said it with a serious, commanding air.

George was the first to recover. "Don't worry, we were just about to get into the passage ourselves. We won't tell anyone."

Fred nodded. "We're just surprised to find someone else who knows about it." He looked thoughtful. "How did you discover it?"

The girl gave him a mischievous smile. "I saw Potter get in there last year. Had to find out what that was about. I've been using it quite a lot since."

Fred grinned. "Who are you, then? Never seen you around before. I'm Fred, by the way, and this is George, my twin brother."

The girl grinned right back at him. "Really? I'd never have guessed." She chuckled lightly. "Name's Evey. Nice to meet you."

George gave her a flourished bow. "The pleasure is all ours." He straightened with a smile. "What year are you in?"

"Seventh. You're a year below me, right?"

The twins nodded. "I can't believe we've never seen you before. I mean, I'm pretty sure we would remember if we had." Fred gave her his most winning smile.

"I tend to keep to myself. I spend most of my free time reading in the common room. In the dungeons." The twins' grins faded at that. The girl noticed and continued. "Yeah. Apparently, being seen with a Slytherin is as good as signing your own death warrant, these days." There was an awkward silence. "I guess I'll be off, then. Be sure to visit Honeydukes, they just got a shipment of Exploding Bonbons." She started down the corridor.

George called out after her. "Wait! Are you going to the Yule Ball?" Fred gave his brother an odd look.

The girl turned around to look at him with narrowed eyes. "I wasn't going to, no. Why?" she asked suspiciously.

George took a deep breath. "Would you like to come with me?"

She studied him for a moment. Then she shrugged. "Sure, why not. I'll meet you in the Great Hall." She turned around once more and walked away without another word.

George let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding and smiled after the girl. Fred was still looking at him with that odd look on his face. George turned to face his brother. "What?"

"You're going to the ball with a Slytherin?" He paused briefly. "Are you alright?" Fred looked genuinely concerned.

"She's pretty."

Fred shook his head. "The most beautiful flowers are usually the deadliest."

George snorted. "How poetic." He grinned at his brother. "You're just jealous."

It was Fred's turn to snort. "Well, it should be interesting, just to see the others' reactions." He returned his brother's grin. "I can just picture Ron's face when he finds out."

The twins both laughed at that. Yes, it should be interesting, George thought, still smiling.

George felt uncharacteristically nervous. What had possessed him to ask a girl he barely knew to come to a ball with him? He didn't even know how to dance. This was going to be a disaster.

Fred suddenly tapped his shoulder and pointed toward the stairs. George gave a small start and turned around. She was there. She'd actually come! For a moment, George could only stare. Had he thought she was pretty? She was beautiful. She'd made up her hair just a little, so that her soft curls fell lightly to her shoulders. She wore a bright green dress that brought out the colour of her eyes. She'd put on some light make-up, too, although she hardly needed it. His mouth felt dry.

She walked up to him, smiling coyly. "Well, you don't look too bad." She grinned. "Love the lace at the cuffs."

He felt his cheeks heat up. "Yeah, it's not exactly what I had in mind when they said we'd need dress gowns," he mumbled, looking down.

"I was just kidding. Everyone looks ridiculous, dressed like that." She sighed. "Ugh. I hate dressing up. It's been years since I've worn any sort of dress."

"You don't look ridiculous." He looked her in the eyes, smiling slightly, his confidence slowly returning. "You're beautiful."

Her smile broadened and a faint blush bloomed on her cheeks. "Thanks. Shall we?" She offered him her arm, which made him laugh.

"Gladly." He turned around. "You've met Fred." He indicated the tall witch standing next to his brother. "This is Angelina. She plays for the Gryffindor Team. Angelina, this is Evey."

Angelina gave the newcomer a warm smile. "Nice to meet you."

Evey smiled back. "Likewise."

At that moment, they were joined by Ron and Harry.

Ron looked grumpy. "Let's get this over with, then. Have you seen Hermione?"

Evey answered him. "Hermione Granger? I just saw her upstairs, she was talking with some hot bloke from Durmstrang."

Ron frowned at that. "Really?" He looked toward the stairs, then back at her. "Who are you, anyway?"

George shook his head at his brother's rudeness. "She's my date." George couldn't help but smile at that. "Evey, this is my ever-charming brother, Ronald Bilius. And that's Harry Potter, but you probably knew that already. Harry, Ron, this is Evey."

She gave them both a bright smile. "Such famous people you hang out with. I'm truly honoured." She bowed slightly to Harry, who turned a bright crimson and muttered something inaudible.

Fred laughed. "He's very shy, Harry is." He glanced to his left. "Ah! Gentlemen, I believe your own dates have arrived." He gave them both a wicked grin. Ron looked ready to sick up and Harry's blush deepened. Reluctantly, they walked away to greet Padma and Parvati Patil.

"Poor girls." George chuckled quietly. "They have no idea what they signed up for."

Evey laughed. "You didn't look so bold yourself just a minute ago."

"Not my fault. I had a brain freeze when I saw you. Took some time to thaw, is all." He grinned and then nodded toward the Great Hall. "Fancy a drink?"

She grinned back. "I do indeed."

Evey felt good, which was unexpected. She usually avoided crowds and social gatherings of any sort. But being around George and his friends, she felt…comfortable. Yes, that was the word. All these years at Hogwarts, she'd never felt like she belonged, and being a Muggle-born in the house of Salazar Slytherin hadn't helped in the least. Even now, in her last year, most of her housemates considered her as an outsider. She had taken it hard, especially at the beginning of her first year. With all the name-calling and bullying, she'd even considered begging her parents to take her back home.

Then one day, everyone had simply stopped bothering her. Someone had pranked her harshly just the day before, during their last period, Transfiguration, and after that, they had started to ignore her entirely. She didn't mind being ignored; she'd always been more of a loner anyway. She wasn't sure why they'd stopped so suddenly, but she'd been too relieved to care.

Still, she'd never quite fitted in, never really had a friend at school. The other Houses were heavily biased toward Slytherin students, so making friends with anyone outside her own House had proven impossible – not that she'd tried very hard. She gave up altogether in her second year, embracing solitude.

She laughed at the joke Fred had just made. She hadn't laughed like that in a while, probably not since returning to school last September. She realised George was looking at her and turned to meet his eyes, smiling. "Are we going to dance, or what?" he asked her.

She gave him a wicked grin. "If you think you can handle it." Fred and Angelina both laughed.

George got up and gave her a low bow, extending his hand. "My lady."

Evey chuckled and took his hand. They made their way to the centre of the room. She thought he was a pretty good dancer, although she wouldn't know, having never danced before herself. They danced for a long time, until eventually her feet started to protest. Bloody high heels. She told George she'd like to take a break and he suggested a walk outside, out of the crowd. She took the offer gratefully.

They found a corner with an empty bench and sat for a while in silence, gazing at the stars. She'd expected it, but she was still pleasantly surprised when he leaned in to kiss her. He was pretty good at that, too. They stayed there for some time, until they were interrupted by some fourth-year girls giggling madly. They looked at each other and shrugged, then went back inside.

Fred and Angelina were dancing now, and their table had been taken up by Ron, Harry and a ginger-haired girl that could only be a Weasley sibling.

George introduced them. "Ginny, this is Evey. Evey, my sister Ginny."

The younger girl gave her a shy smile. "Hi."

"Nice to meet you."

Ron looked disgruntled. "I can't believe she went with Krum!" Harry and Ginny both rolled their eyes.

George looked curious. "Who went with Krum?"

Ron made a face. "Hermione."

"Really?" George turned around to scan the crowd. "Is that her? With the blue dress?" Ron grunted in response. "Well. That was unexpected." He smiled. "Good for her." Ron gave him a dirty look.

Evey looked toward the witch dancing with the Bulgarian Seeker. "She's very pretty." She grinned. "He's not bad, either." George snorted.

Ron let out a low growl, turning away from the dancing pair to glare at Evey. "So which House are you in, anyway? Never seen you before."

"Slytherin." All heads turned to her at once. Harry looked surprised, Ginny slightly stunned.

Ron grimaced. "You're kidding, right?" When she didn't answer, he turned to his brother. "She's kidding, right?"

George met his brother's gaze. "No, she's not kidding, Ronald. She's in Slytherin."

Ron looked disgusted. "Why in Merlin's name would you ask out a bloody Slytherin to the ball?"

George frowned. "Watch your tongue, Ron."

His brother snorted, disbelief clouding his voice. "Have you gone mad? Or has she put a spell on you?" He turned to Evey. "Have you?"

George sounded angry, now. "Would you stop that? What has she done to deserve you being rude to her?"

Before Ron could reply, Ginny spoke up. "George's right. You have to stop thinking that all Slytherins are monsters." Ron stared at her and opened his mouth, but his sister talked right over him. "Just because Malfoy is a twat means they're all like that. There are some Slytherins in my year that are actually quite nice."

Ron snorted again, shaking his head. "It's not just Malfoy! I mean, have you met Crabbe and Goyle? Marcus Flint? Pansy bloody Parkinson? They're brainless twits, all of them!" He looked at his best friend for support. "Harry?"

The skinny, dark-haired boy looked slightly embarrassed. "I don't know, Ron. They can't all be like Malfoy, can they?"

Evey decided to intervene. "If it helps, I hate Malfoy as much you do. Most of us do, actually. Spoiled, whiny brat." George and Harry laughed at that, while Ginny nodded in approval. Ron didn't look convinced.

"You know," she went on, "from what I've heard, there's always been a rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. But before you arrived at Hogwarts, before Malfoy arrived, really, it never went beyond the good-natured practical joke or Quidditch-related jeers." She looked at Ron. "Now you can't run into a group from the other House without being called names or made fun of, and it can get pretty brutal, too. And don't think your housemates don't do it. I've had my share from them." Ron was starting to look faintly embarrassed; he'd turned a pale shade of pink.

Fred and Angelina were back from the dance floor; they both looked breathless. They sat down, smiling, then seemed to sense the tension around the table. "What's going on?" Fred looked at his twin.

George sighed. "Evey's true colours have finally been revealed. Although she wasn't exactly trying to hide them," he added, indicating Evey's dress. He gave Ron a smirk. "Your brother seems to think she's put me under some terrible spell."

Fred snorted, eyes twinkling. "Well, I haven't ruled out that possibility yet." He grinned. "You know, deny it all you want, there's a good chance he's also your brother." They all laughed at that; Ron had turned an alarming shade of crimson.

Angelina spoke up, still smiling. "I've never understood why Slytherins and Gryffindors were so hostile toward each other to begin with."

George nodded. "Just what Evey was saying before you arrived. She thinks it got worse when Malfoy arrived at Hogwarts."

Angelina looked thoughtful. "You know, that's quite possible. I can't remember being harassed during my first or second year. These days, it seems every time I run into a Slytherin, I get insulted, one way or another. I know being on the Quidditch Team makes me a more likely target, but still. Just two days ago, this tiny first-year kid called me a 'Half-Mudblood'." She gave a small, incredulous laugh. "I was just asking her if she was lost." She shook her head. "It's sad, really." She looked at Evey. "And it goes both ways, of course. I've caught several Gryffindors from my year harassing Slytherins, and they weren't any nicer than them."

Evey nodded in agreement. "Being a Slytherin can be frustrating. I mean, the Gryffindors are the brave, daring kids, the Ravenclaws are the smart ones, and the Hufflepuffs the kind ones who get along with everyone. Nothing so nice about us, though. We're the evil ones. The cold-hearted opportunists. The fact that most Death Eaters came from Slytherin is probably not helping our reputation." She smiled wryly. "They seem to forget about people like Damocles Belby." The others nodded, except for Harry, who looked confused. Evey smiled at him. "Belby is the potioneer who invented the Wolfsbane Potion a few years back. He was awarded the Order of Merlin for his discovery." She paused briefly. "Come to think of it, Merlin himself was a Slytherin." Harry looked surprised. "Yeah. But maybe all the good guys who came out of our House are not enough to compensate for all the bad ones," she added with a sigh.

Harry spoke up quietly. "Dumbledore once said that Salazar Slytherin valued cleverness, resourcefulness and determination in his students. That doesn't seem to indicate he only chose evil people."

Evey smiled. "Shrewdness, ambition, cunning… there are plenty of qualities to be found in our House. They just seem to be badly balanced, in some people."

Ron's face had almost gone back to its original colour. "The thing is, you don't sound like a Slytherin. Maybe the Hat made a mistake…"

Evey grinned at him. "On the contrary, Ronald. I'm exactly where I belong. Cold-hearted opportunist, that's just me." The others laughed. "More seriously, though, I am a true Slytherin. I'm not ambitious, certainly, or leadership-oriented, but I do have a very powerful sense of self-preservation. And I'm definitely an opportunist." She shrugged. "All Houses have their share of qualities and weaknesses. All people have their share of both. We just have a bad reputation." Her new friends nodded in agreement, then they all grew silent for a while.