I don't own it, J.K. Rowling does.

Chapter Three: Gifts

"Evey. Evey? Evey!" I woke with a start.

"Wha-?" I answered intelligently.

"Come on, it's almost time for breakfast!" I groaned.

"I don't want to." I whined at the risk of sounding like a two-year-old. I burrowed under the covers. Rose sighed as she crossed to my bed, wrenching the blankets out of my fingers. She threw them on the floor. I groaned, recognizing defeat, and stood up. Rosie gasped.

"What?"

"What are you wearing?" I glanced down at Scorpius Malfoy's cloak, still wrapped around my shoulders.

"I...um....well...."

"That's not your coat...where did you get it? It looks like-" she gasped. "You were with someone last night, weren't you? A boy? Do you have a boyfriend? So soon after...who is he, what are you-"

"Rosie! There's no boy, okay? I was just on a...walk with a friend. That's it. It got cold, he lent me his jacket, I forgot to take it off."

"But didn't you have to take it off to put on your pajamas?" I fumbled for an explanation.

"Um....well...okay, so it was comfortable and I put it back on." Rose looked at me.

"Who is he?" I flinched.

"I...I can't tell you."

"But, Evey..."

"No!"

"Please?"

"NO, ROSE!" Rose's eyes flashed.

"Fine!" She tore out of the room and left me alone with my thoughts. I sighed. How was I supposed to handle this if my best friend couldn't even know? Why was I even putting myself through this? Malfoy wasn't worth anything to me. What did I owe him? My life, a little voice in the back of my mind answered, but I pushed it aside. I changed my clothes hastily, yanking on my robes without bothering to look in the mirror. I stuffed the cloak in my bag and stormed out of the dormitories, narrowly avoiding stepping on Roxie.

The Great Hall bustled with cheerful students comparing schedules and scarfing down food, often simultaneously. I sank into my seat next to Rose, who pointedly ignored me.

"Here." Fred handed me my schedule and taking the seat on my other side.

"Thanks," I murmured.

"What's with her?" he asked, indicating Rose. I shrugged and glanced at my schedule. Transfiguration, Herbology, and double potions with Ravenclaw. I reached for a bagel as I pondered this. How was I going to get Malfoy's cloak back to him without being seen? Not that I was ashamed or anything-well, alright, I was, but not for any personal prejudices. I just wanted to avoid conflict, and my brother and cousins seeing me with a Malfoy would definitely result in conflict.

A rustling sounded from above and the mail swooped in. Our family's barn owl, Hodges, landed a few inches away from my plate. Fred opened the package and skimmed through the letter attached.

"The usual from Mum and Dad. Wishing us luck. Sent us a care package. Puking Pastilles, Extendable Ears, Oh, new product! Exploding Éclairs." Everyone turned to look, even a sulking Rose. No one could resist a demonstration of a new Weasley product. Fred and I Rock-Paper-Scissored to see who would be the guinea pig. I lost. With an exaggerated sigh, I took an éclair and bit into it. Nothing happened. There was a general groan of disappointment as I shrugged and took another bite.

"I don't know about the exploding part, but these éclairs are d-" the pastry exploded in my face. The table hooted with laughter. I smiled and waved my wand about my face and robes, clearing off the cream.

"Impressive." Fred said. I nodded my approval.

"My favorite is still the Chameleon Creams, though." I said, recalling the demonstration last year that caused Fred to turn colors to blend into his surroundings for a week.

"I'll never live that one down, will I?"

"Evey, we'll be late for Transfiguration!" Albus said. I shouldered my bag and followed him out of the Great Hall.

Professor Ludwig, the Transfiguration teacher, was a bean pole of a man with an untamed mane of gray hair. He strode along the aisles, watching us turn goldfish into hamsters. I waved my wand again. Nothing.

"Very good, Miss Weasley!" I heard Ludwig exclaim to Rose, who had just plucked a rather startled hamster from her fishbowl. I frowned and concentrated. Still nothing. By the end of the class, the only thing I had done was give my fish a fur coat.

Herbology was at least a little better. Professor Longbottom had been a good friend of my relatives when they were in school, so he was always kind to me. I was the only one out of all my cousins that had taken Herbology this year. Quite a few years back it had been decided that students need only take Herbology to fourth year, and it was optional after that.

The fall air nipped at me all the way across the grounds. I was glad for the heavy humidity of the greenhouses. The class was tiny—there were no more than fifteen of us. There were mostly Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, with the exception of me and two other Griffindors, Lydia Stone and Alyssa Charters. I smiled at them, but I really wasn't in the mood for chatting right now.

"Evey, how nice to see you!" Professor Neville Longbottom smiled at me as he bustled into the greenhouse.

"Good morning, Professor," I greeted him politely.

"How are your parents, dear? I haven't seen them in quite some time."

"They're great. Business is going quite well."

"Good, good. I must remember to drop them an owl sometime." He clapped his hands.

"Alright, class. Good morning to all of you! As you know, I am Professor Longbottom, the Herbology teacher. Well, let's not beat about the bush. Everyone put on your gloves and grab a partner."

I glanced around, but everyone already had a partner.

"Evey, you could be in our group!" Lydia called, crossing over to me. Just then, the greenhouse door burst open to reveal a very late Scorpius Malfoy.

"Mr. Malfoy! It would do you well to be on time in the future!" Malfoy mumbled an apology. "No matter, partner up if you would."

"Tough luck, Evey," Lydia hissed to me sympathetically, trotting off to join Alyssa. I took a deep breath and approached Malfoy.

"Looks like we're partners." I said, forcing my face into a smile. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he only nodded. I turned away and snapped on my red dragonhide gloves.

"Everyone ready? Good, now follow me!" Professor Longbottom led them to Greenhouse Two, where there were scores of pots of pretty little red flowers. "These are Snapdragons. There is a common Muggle variety of them that is completely harmless, but why would we be dealing with those in Herbology class?" The class chuckled. "Right, so, as you probably guessed from the title, these flowers will happily bite you if you get too near. It's more of a sting, really. What you need to do is transfer them from those small pots to the larger ones over here. One person needs to prevent the plant from biting, like so," he demonstrated squeezing the back of the flower with two fingers, "while the other scoops the roots out and replants them. Any questions? Good. Begin, if you would."

We gathered plants and pots and took them to an empty table on the far end of the greenhouse. I reached toward the first flower. It snapped at me, and I flinched. Quickly I grabbed the back of it and pinched. It gave a mewling sound, and I bit my lip as I watched it curl up and die.

"Careful, Miss Weasely!"

"Oops..." I murmured. Malfoy gave a strangled snort of laughter. I winced. I hated it when people laughed at me.

"Here, like this." Malfoy lightly pinched the back of the plant. It froze. I quickly scooped it out and placed it in a larger pot.

"You got a nice one." I muttered. Malfoy laughed again.

"No, it's simple. Here, you try." I reached for a second flower. It snapped at me again.

"It likes you better." I pushed the flower pot towards him.

"Here, you have to be quick." I tried again, managing to get my fingers around the pod. It wriggled out of my grasp and bit me hard on the finger.

"Ouch!"

"Quick, and a little firmer than that." I sighed and tried for a fourth time. I felt the flower freeze.

"It worked!"

"Good!" Malfoy chuckled again. We worked quietly for a while, digging up and replanting. Finally, I broke the silence.

"I almost forgot," I said, pulling Scorpius's cloak from my bag. "Here." He took it, accidentally brushing his hand against mine before drawing back quickly. I bit my lip. "Uh, about last night..." He glanced up at me, his face stony. I gulped. "Do you know anything about what happened?" He was silent for a few long moments.

"Alright, class, time to clean up!" Malfoy gathered his things and exited the classroom without a word, leaving me alone. I frowned and cursed myself for expecting something from a Malfoy.

"Poor thing! I can't believe you had to work with the Scorpion!" Lily exclaimed. I shrugged, my mouth full of sandwich. "Was it terrible?" I shrugged again.

"He's a pratt."

"No, he's a Malfoy..." Lily said. Everyone laughed. .

"So, how many orders do we have for Exploding Éclairs so far?" I asked Fred.

"Loads! They're already doing better than Leaking Licorice ever did, and it's only been a day!"

"Yes, but Leaking Licorice was a flop." Fred shrugged. I reached for another finger sandwich. Rose was still ignoring me.

"Hey, Evey!" Kristina Chang walked up to our table. "You guys wanna walk to potions with us?" She indicated two other Ravenclaws behind her.

"Sure," I said, finishing my sandwich. Rose followed suit. Albus jumped up to join us. I hid a smile as he matched his pace with Kristina's. She was a lovely girl, with long dark hair and sparkling almond-shaped eyes.

"Have you begun to plan for the Masked Ball yet?" Kristina asked. Ever since the Defeat, there had been a great masked ball on its anniversary.

"Krissy, it's not for months yet!" I laughed.

"I know, but still..." she sighed. I couldn't blame her, I was excited, too. In my mind, I had already begun to toy with designs for this year.

Professor Falwey, a pretty but stern woman in her late thirties, began class by giving us a lecture about our potions OWLs. She gave us an outline over the contents of the Ordinary Wizarding Levels, and explained what we would be covering over the next year. I doodled in the margins of my outline, letting my mind wander. Later, I would realize that I had drawn a rough sketch of the girl in Lavender.

The rest of the week passed without much excitement. Everyone was still adjusting from the carefree, frivolous days of summer to the rigorous schedule of school. Saturday came with a general feeling of relief.

I woke late. Rose was already gone, she'd left a note saying that she'd be down at the Quidditch field, helping the boys and Lily practice for tryouts. I pulled on some jeans and a sweater, taking a moment to survey my mahogany-colored hair that fell in an angle down my jawline in the mirror on the wall. With a shrug, I threw my sketchbook and pencils into my bag, and headed outside. Fall was definitely upon us. The trees were turning, and the air had a chill to it that had not been there in the previous months. I wandered the grounds aimlessly for a while, finally finding myself at Hagrid's cabin.

"'Allo, Evey!" Came a familiar booming voice from behind me. I turned to see Hagrid emerging from the Forbidden Forest. Fang bounded over to me, drool trailing behind him.

"Hello, Professor!" I greeted him as I patted Fang. He rolled his eyes.

"No need to be all formal wi' me, y' know that! Come on, I 'ave somethin' to show y'." He led me a ways into the forest, stopping short when Witherwings (or Buckbeak, as some knew him), the lead Hippogriff, materialized from the trees. Fang hung back, whimpering softly. Hagrid and I both nodded to the enormous beast, and he returned the gesture. Gently, he picked at the shoulder of my sweater.

"Hello, Beaky," I murmured, stroking his broad face. I had known him since my first year at Hogwarts. He turned around and headed through the trees, pausing a few yards away to look back, beckoning. We followed him to a small clearing, where Featherfoot, a silvery mare, lay. She raised her regal head as we approached. Buckbeak went to stand by her, looking at a snow-white lump by her side. As I watched, the lump unfolded and stood up on shaky legs. I gasped as the new-born Hippogriff foal teetered towards us. I dropped to my knees to get a closer look. The Hippogriff turned to look at Featherfoot, who blinked for a moment, then lay her head down again, exhausted. Taking this as permission, the foal approached my outstretched hand. It was completely white, except for the hooves, feet, and big eyes, which were obsidian-black.

"Oh!" I exclaimed as it pushed up against me.

"Cute, ain't she? Dunno what to call 'er, though. She don't like anythin' I suggest." Hagrid bent to stroke the foal. "What abou' Frostyclaw?" The foal blinked up at him and hissed. I laughed. "Icytail?" Another hiss. This happened about eight more times.

"What about...Artemis?" I asked, finally breaking the cycle. Hagrid looked at me dubiously.

"Whas' that mean?"

"It's Greek. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. What do you think?" I stroked the picky little foal. She spun around, whistling. "Artemis?" I asked again, and she flapped her downy wings.

"Looks like you named 'er." Hagrid said, chuckling. "Still partial to Snowbeak, myself, but I suppose it's her choice." Artemis reared up, placing her taloned front feet on my shoulders. She whistled at me. I glanced up at Hagrid, whose jaw had dropped. Artemis whistled again.

"Whistle back," he whispered. Bewildered, I mimicked her whistle. The foal lifted one foot and looked at my hand. Getting the message, I lifted my hand. Quick as a flash, she used her razor-sharp beak to slash at her foot. I gasped at the ruby blood. She moved her beak towards my hand, slowly this time, as if asking permission. I held my hand still, sensing the importance. Artemis pricked my palm, and pressed her leathery foot against it. My head reeled. It was as if I had become Artemis: I saw things through her eyes, understood her.

Suddenly, I was back in my own body. Artemis took her feet off my shoulders. I glanced around the clearing. The rest of the Hippogriff flock had emerged from the trees. All were watching me. I glanced at Hagrid, who had moved back a ways. Buckbeak approached me, looking me straight in the eyes. He knelt before me, his knees folding. All of the others followed suit, even Featherfoot dropped her head in respect.

"What's happening, Hagrid?" I asked uneasily.

"They jus' accepted you into the herd," Hagrid said, amazed. I stood, and all the Hippogriffs stood as well. Artemis danced over to me, pecked me on the arm, then bounded away. I laughed, chasing Artemis and tagging her back. It became a game. We chased each other through the clearing, laughing and whistling alike. The other Hippogriffs dissolved once again into the forest, leaving Buckbeak and Featherfoot to watch us. After a while, Buckbeak chirped loudly, and Artemis, hanging her head, trudged over to her mother. Out of breath, I turned to Hagrid.

"Tha's our signal t' leave." he said. I nodded and followed him through the trees, waving to my hippogriff friend. "Evey...wha' jus' happened back there..." Hagrid started, "Tha' sort of thing don't happen much."

"Well, haven't they done it to you?" Hagrid shook his head. I raised my eyebrows. "But they've known you for ages...what-"

"You didn't jus' make a new friend. That there's magic. You've become a part of their herd, even in your 'ead." He tapped his forehead.

"Oh..." was all I could manage to say. I was stunned. All I'd done was suggest her name.

"I should pro'ly start headin' back." Hagrid said, "I hafta plan my next lesson. See y' around!" I nodded, and began to walk off. "An', Evey?" I turned. "Be careful." I nodded. With a wave, I turned back to the school, still puzzling out what he meant.

I picked my way along the rocky shore of the Black Lake, trying to forget that only the night before I had been thrashing around in the lake's deep waters. I shuddered. Collapsing on a flat rock, I kicked off my shoes and pulled off my socks, ignoring the cool air, and buried my toes in the grainy sand. I pulled out my sketchbook and began to roughly outline the edge of the lake, trying to capture with graphite the way the water lapped at the rocks. I don't know how long I sat there before I heard the deep voice behind me.

"You're very good, you know." I jumped, dropping my pencil. Wheeling around, I came face to face with Scorpius Malfoy, who was crouching on the rock outcropping above me.

"How-" I began, but my throat closed and I had to begin again. "How long have you been up there?" He slid down the rocky slope easily, grabbing the dropped pencil and handing it to me.

"A while." He said. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared off across the lake. Pressing my lips together, I made a decision.

"Do-" I cleared my throat. "Do you want to sit down?" I nodded towards the sand beside me. He regarded me cautiously for a moment, then, with a shrug, sat down beside me and continued to stare out at the lake. I returned to sketching the shore, only to realize that the part I was about to draw was now blocked by Scorpius. "Um...do you mind?" I asked, nodding toward my sketchbook.

"Sorry-" he started to move, but I stopped him.

"No, I meant...do you mind if I draw you?" He blinked, surprised, then shook his head. I turned to face him, folding my legs around me Indian-style.

Scorpius Malfoy proved to be a very good subject. He hardly seemed to breathe as I filled in the shadows around him, his set jaw and his toned arms. When I reached his brooding eyes, I slowed, trying to get the shape just so, to capture the way the pale eyelashes shaded them slightly. It must have been an over an hour that we sat there, artist and subject, before I held up the finished project, criticizing my work.

"May I see?" I blushed as I handed over the sketchbook, waiting with bated breath for his reaction. After a long moment, a strange thing happened. A shy smile slowly unfurled, transforming his face. He looked at me, and I couldn't help but return the smile. We held the gaze for a moment, and then the silence was broken by an unsubtle growl from my stomach. I felt my face flush scarlet, and Scorpius chuckled.

"It's past lunchtime," he said.

"Sorry," I said quickly, "I get caught up in my work sometimes and I lose track of time-"

"It's alright," he said, "really. I know a few of the house elves in the kitchen, I'm sure they can scrounge up something. Follow me." Replacing my sketching things, I obliged, and he led me up to the school, down a few spiraling staircases, and to a narrow corridor far below ground. He tickled a pear in a still-life of a bowl of fruit, and the painting swung open to reveal the Hogwarts kitchens. We removed our jackets in the warmth.

House elves scurried everywhere, making dinner preparations. One stopped at the sound of the painting opening, and exclaimed at them.

"Oh! Master Scorpius, how do you do?"

"Well, thank-you, Landzy. How are you?"

"Oh, wonderful, Master Scorpius, Landzy is pleased to have students here once again! But who is your friend?" I smiled at Landzy.

"Evelyn Weasley." He smiled a gap-toothed smile.

"Was there something you were needing, Master Scorpius, Mistress Evelyn?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could spare a couple sandwiches for us? We missed lunch and were hoping for a little snack before dinner." Landzy smiled, glad for the task, and scurried off. In a few moments, he returned, beckoning for them to follow. Scorpius turned to me and shrugged. We followed Landzy through the bustling kitchen and to a back room. Wooden shelves held hundreds of bottles of pumpkin juice. Landzy showed us to an overturned wooden crate, where a large plate of sandwiches and two cups of pumpkin juice sat. Two cushions were placed on either side of the crate—a makeshift table. I smiled at the house elf.

"Thank you, Landzy, this is perfect!" Scorpius smiled, and Landzy bowed.

"A pleasure to serve you both. Now, if you would excuse Landzy, there is much to be done!" He was gone with a pop. Scorpius motioned towards the crate in an 'after you' gesture. I sat on one of the cushions, and he took the other. We ate in silence for a while. I glanced up at him, shyly, and spoke.

"Mal-uh...Scorpius?" He met my gaze, "Thanks for...this." The corners of his mouth turned upward.

"Evelyn?" he said.

"Call me Evey," I said, "everyone does." The last part came out as a murmur.

"Evey." He said, as if testing it out, and I pressed my lips together to keep from grinning stupidly at the sound of his voice speaking my name. "If you're Evey, then call me...Will."

"Will?"

"My middle name, after my great grandfather. It's...what my grandmother calls me." I nodded. "Anyway, Evey? There was...something I was going to give you, earlier, at the lake." He removed something from his jacket pocket, which had been at his feet, and handed it to me. It was a necklace, a plain silver band, with a clasp shaped like a snake's head, biting its tail. The snake's eyes were tiny emeralds. Recalling my dream, I shuddered.

"Is something...wrong?" He asked.

"No, it's just...the night of the...the...you know. I...had a dream about a silver snake. That's all." He nodded somberly.

"This necklace is charmed. It will make it so that you don't dream, so that...nothing like the other night can happen when I'm not around to...to stop it." I smiled at him.

"Thank you." I put on the necklace, fumbling with the clasp. He reached across the table to help. His hands were warm, and they left my skin tingling long after he had pulled away. He looked at me, startled.

"I...have to go." He stood up suddenly, nearly overturning the crate, and heading towards the door to the kitchen.

"Will!" He turned. "Can...can I...see you...again?" The corners of his mouth turned upward in that shadow of a smile that was fast becoming familiar.

"I'll talk to you in Herbology on Monday. And I'll...see you around." He turned and was gone. I smiled to myself, my fingers absentmindedly stroking the necklace. What had I gotten myself into? And more importantly, why didn't I care?