Chapter 12
Ebony had barely got himself settled when he was given a message to come up to the headmaster's office.
'Damn! I was so sure he'd wait until tomorrow' Evangeline grumbled and handed over a galleon.
Hermione looked bemused as Ebony grinned and pocketed it.
'You two are mad!' she giggled.
'It wouldn't be fun otherwise' Evangeline replied with a grin.
Hermione rolled her eyes, then frowned when Ebony crumpled the parchment and tossed it into the bin.
'Aren't you going?' she asked.
He shook his head.
'I wasn't told where his office is, I'm a new first year yet no one came to escort me to his office, and he addressed the note to Mr Potter. If he wants to see me he's going to have to realise that I'm not Harry Potter any more' he said.
Hermione couldn't find fault with that, so she and Evangeline bid him goodnight and they headed to their rooms.
The next day there was even more fun. The trio joined Ron and Neville in the Gryffindor table.
'Get settled in ok?' Ebony asked.
'Yeah. I was so sure I'd be put into Hufflepuff' Neville replied.
'What's wrong with Hufflepuff? It's the house of loyalty, plus Helga Hufflepuff was one strong witch' Evangeline said.
'A friend of ours was in Hufflepuff and she's a brilliant auror' Ebony then said.
'Really?' Neville asked.
'Yep. Her name's Nymphadora Tonks. Though she doesn't like her first name and prefers to be called Tonks. Only my daddy's lucky enough, or would that be brave enough, to call her Nymph' Evangeline said.
Neville nodded thoughtfully. The conversation was interrupted when the headmaster approached the group.
'You three should be sitting at your own table. Mr Potter did you not get the note to come up to my office?'
'It doesn't say anywhere in the rules that we have to sit at our own table, unless there's an important function on' Evangeline said innocently.
Albus sighed but put on a smile.
'That may be true but your head of house will be handing out your class schedules and it would be easier on them if you were at you own table' he said.
'Oh, well that makes sense. We'll see you later guys' Evangeline said and the trio grabbed their plates and headed over to the eagle's table.
'Mr Potter, you haven't answered my question' Albus called.
Ebony ignored him as the trio sat and started talking. The headmaster looked at the group incredulously. The boy was ignoring him! Him! Albus Dumbledore! He was not going to stand for that! Albus went over.
'Mr Potter. I would like to see you in my office' he said firmly.
Once more he was ignored.
'Mr Potter this charade has gone on long enough. Kindly come with me so that we might discuss your behaviour and your running away from your relatives'.
'I wonder which houses will get paired up. Do you think our professors will be nice?' Hermione asked, swallowing her nerves as she played along with her friends.
'We've been told by Fred and George that normally Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff pair up in transfiguration, potions, flying class and a few others. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor pair up in history though so we can sit with our friends then' Ebony replied.
'They also said our potions professor's a bit mean, and unfair to everyone except Slytherin. He's their head of house' Evangeline said.
'Mr Potter!' Albus exclaimed.
He would not be disrespected by children!
'Hey want to check out the library after classes?' Hermione asked.
She received twin nods of agreement before Ebony let out a yell.
'You will escort me to my office immediately Mr Potter!' Albus growled lowly, pulling at Ebony's arm.
Ebony pulled himself away and scowled at the man.
'I have been here less than a day and already I find I need to write home and complain about a professor assaulting me!'
'Assaulting you! Mr Potter that is enough!' Albus said in disbelief.
'If you are going to address me you will do so using my real name. And yes headmaster, assaulting me. You grabbed my arm and tried to drag me from the hall'.
'What in the world is going on here?!' came a voice.
They all turned as professor Flitwick came over.
'Mr Potter here is deliberately and rudely ignoring me when I requested that he come to my office for a discussion' Albus explained.
'And what exactly is there to discuss?' the tiny professor replied, arms crossed.
Albus spluttered for a moment.
'He…he is being very disrespectful towards his headmaster'.
'That's not true professor' Evangeline piped up.
'The headmaster here insists on calling my brother Mr Potter. Ebony name was changed to Meadow when he was three, and his Hogwarts letter had his new name on it. He knew a lot of people would try to hound him when he came here, so decided that he would ignore them. If the headmaster would address Ebony with his real name then my brother would answer. And since he hasn't done anything wrong he shouldn't need to go to the headmaster's office' she continued.
'I see' professor Flitwick hummed.
He then rounded on Albus.
'Miss Meadow is correct. Mr Meadow had barely set foot in the door, he shouldn't have any reason to join you in your office. And I see no reason not to call him by his given name'.
He looked back to the group and smiled.
'As it happens the name Mr Potter is on your class schedule. I can't imagine why this is so if your letter was addressed to Mr Ebony Meadow. I thought you might appreciate it being changed. Here you go. My name is Professor Flitwick and I'm your head of house and the charms professor. If you require anything during your stay in the house of the eagles then either come to me or a prefect'.
'Thank you sir' the trio said as they were handed their schedules.
'Oh look we have charms first' Evangeline said.
'Well I'm finished with breakfast. Shall we grab our things head down now?' Hermione asked.
The two nodded and stood. Filius smiled as they headed out the hall. The smile dropped when he turned back to Albus.
'I don't know what's going on here, but that child seems happy with his new name and putting pressure on him to accept his old name back looks like a lost cause'.
'Filius I need to speak to him' Albus said firmly.
'Then I hope you remember that calling a student up to your office on a non-school related matter means that they have the right to invite their parents or guardians' Filius said and walked off to hand out the rest of the schedules.
Albus stood fuming. He knew that if Harry didn't know that rule, Filius would be sure to tell him. Grumbling he stormed off to scheme.
OOO
Ebony and the girls grabbed their stuff and headed to the class. Evangeline then herded them into a secluded alcove, bringing out a small mirror.
'Did you get all that?' she asked quietly.
'Hey is that a two way mirror?' Hermione asked in fascination.
'Yep. Uncle Sirius gave us them. Daddy you remember Hermione?'
'Of course. And yes Angel, I heard everything' Julian replied.
'What do you think?' Ebony asked.
'I think I should pay a visit to Hogwarts and have a chat with your headmaster. He sounds like he's trying to get you back to the Dursleys' Julian replied.
'But he can't do that! Why would he want to send Ebony back to people who hate him?!' Hermione exclaimed.
Julian gave her a smile.
'Don't worry Miss Granger. My parents I will not allow Ebony to leave us. And I daresay Sirius and Remus would throw a fit if someone tried to get him to'.
Evangeline and Ebony laughed at that. Ebony explained to Hermione.
'They're really protective. I skinned my knee one time and Sirius was practically ready to rush me to hospital. I was too busy laughing at him to bother about my knee'.
Hermione giggled a bit, remembering the wild haired man from the station and picturing him rushing around in panic.
'Alright. I can see you three got into Ravenclaw, congratulations. Did Ron get into Gryffindor?' Julian asked.
'Yep. So did our other friend Neville' Evangeline replied.
'That's good to know. I'll talk to my parents Ebony, they'll probably want to come up as well. Be careful and know you can always talk to me whenever you want' Julian said.
There was a noise in the background and Julian sighed with a grin.
'I need to get going. I'm at an art gallery at the moment and there appears to be a bidding war over one of my paintings'.
'That's brilliant! We'll let you get back' Evangeline said and turned the mirror off.
'I guess he's a really good artist?' Hermione asked.
Evangeline and Ebony both nodded.
'He's one of the best I know. He doesn't put his real name on his artwork, just encase someone made the link to him and Ebony. Instead he goes by Aeito' Evangeline explained.
'Oh my gosh I know that name! He's like the most famous artist in Britain! My mum loves his work! I can't believe your brother's really Aeito!' Hermione gushed.
She then stopped in her tracks.
'Wait. You called him daddy. But he looks so young'.
Evangeline gave a soft smile.
'He's twenty one. See, when my daddy was a child someone hurt him and he got pregnant'.
'Pregnant?! Wait, hurt him! You don't mean…!' Hermione breathed in horror.
Evangeline nodded.
'Daddy and I have some creature blood mixed with our own. One of the types is what caused daddy to be able to get pregnant'.
'Oh. I'm sorry… I mean I…' Hermione stumbled over her words.
'It's ok Hermione. He's the best daddy in the world, even if he is young. And granny and grampa have always been there for him' Evangeline said.
Hermione chewed her bottom lip nervously.
'Do…do you know who your…um, father is?'
There was a brief haunted look in her friend's eyes.
'No. I say I don't care. But… See, there was more than one person that hurt my daddy. And some of them are well known. I just…'
Ebony hugged his sister and continued.
'The ones who hurt Julian were deatheaters Hermione. And Voldemort hurt him too. Evangeline wasn't tested when she was young, and refused to be when she got older. To know that a deatheater, or maybe even Voldemort himself could be her father…'
Hermione's eyes get very wide with horror. No wonder Evangeline looked haunted. No one would want to find out Voldemort was their father. Tearing up she went over and hugged her friend.
'I'm sorry Evangeline. Your dad's a very brave person. And you are too. What matters is that you're both good people'.
She felt a few tears land on her shoulder as Evangeline hugged her back. Ebony gave her a look of gratitude and she smiled softly. She might have promised Ebony that she would be the best friend she could. But that didn't mean she was going to ignore Evangeline.