As the weeks passed, Evie found herself falling into the normal routine of things at Hogwarts- up early for classes, in the library at every possible free period with Hermione and trying to keep Harry from worrying too much about Sirius. Actually, she supposed that was a new bit to the routine. There was often something she was keeping Harry from worrying about, but a godfather was not usually one of them.

Personally, Evie was surprised Harry wasn't also worrying about Professor Lupin, though she probably didn't have to call him professor anymore. Lupin was the nicest DADA professor they had had thus far. He was also a werewolf and Evie knew very well how hard life was for werewolves. She wondered if he was alright, and if Dumbledore still kept up with him.

The only thing that was tainting Evie's fourth year, other than the worry for Sirius and Lupin, was the current struggle she faced every DADA lesson with Professor Moody. His methods were questionable and he often did things she felt bordered on unethical. What was worse was that every class it just seemed to get more dangerous.

One class, not long before the end of October, she and her friends were all sitting in shock as they processed what he'd just told them. He was going to place the Imperius Curse on them. A slight panic rose in Evie's stomach as she realized the full extent of the statement. Hermione, standing beside her, tried to understand the best way she knew how, by asking questions. Moody's response to her, however, was unsatisfying for Evie. She couldn't bring herself to leave the class though, and so she waited with the rest of her peers, feeling quite like a lamb being led to slaughter, to have the Imperius Curse placed upon her so she could see if she had the ability to fight it.

One by one, Evie watched, each of her classmates give into the curse. Dean hopped around the room singing the national anthem. Lavender imitated a squirrel, and Neville started doing gymnastics, the likes of which Evie had never seen. As this continued, Evie became more and more nervous that she, too, would make a fool of herself.

Then Harry went, and Evie watched as one of her best friends fought against the curse. He struggled against jumping on the desk, and though he partially gave in to the curse, he had handled it better than anybody else thus far. Moody was so excited that he made Harry fight the curse four more times, until Harry was no longer affected by it at all.

After Harry, Ron went, and though he did not beat the curse he did fight against it as well, towards the end. Moody tested him a few more times but each time it took Ron a moment to try to fight. After a particularly hard fall Moody let him stop trying.

Then it was her turn, and Evie felt her stomach drop to her feet. She walked quietly into the area that had been cleared of desks for the lesson and waited. "Imperio!" Moody said quickly, catching her off guard, though she should have never been off guard considering she'd just watched the same thing happen to almost all of her housemates.

The feeling was not one she'd been expecting. Evie had thought it might be uncomfortable or unpleasant in some way. In fact, it was the exact opposite, which once she really thought about it made perfect sense. Lulling people into a false sense of security, make them feel wonderful and happy so that they trust the voice someone is forcing into their head. Why would it not feel nice? It would be stupid for it to feel anything but as nice and worry free as it felt in her mind at that moment. She worried about nothing. She feared nothing for just that moment, before the foreign and yet familiar voice violated her mind. And while she wanted to trust it, for it had given her the lovely feelings she was experiencing, she didn't like it because she felt invaded.

You are a ballet dancer.

That's what the voice was saying, but Evie couldn't get passed the fact that a voice that didn't belong in her head was there.

Show the class a pirouette.

Her mind was her own private space and the voice inside it now did not belong to her.

Pirouette for the class.

Evie wanted to do it, for the voice and the nice feelings it brought her. She began to stand on her tiptoes and she froze there.

I said show them a pirouette.

A voice she knew, one that did belong in her mind, started to protest. She didn't know this second voice, no matter how nice, no matter what feelings it caused. It did not belong there.

Pirouette!

Evie was making the other voice angry and she didn't want that. She started to lift a leg to pirouette for it, so that it would be as happy as it had made her. But she stopped again with her foot not two inches off the ground. Suddenly the wonderful feeling left her and for just a moment she felt as though she had disappointed it because she would not do what it asked. But, as the fog cleared and she remembered the entire point of what she was actually supposed to be doing, her eyes came to focus on her professor's approving face.

Evie put her foot back on the ground and stood normally again. Her head was still confused and there was the beginning of a headache forming, but as she looked at Moody she could tell what was about to come out of his mouth before he said it and she instantly wished she had given in just like everybody else had.

"AGAIN!"

By the time the lesson was over, Evie's toes were sore. For some reason Professor Moody kept trying to make her do things on her tiptoes. Ron was still walking awkwardly and Harry had a bump on his forehead. The three of them were a right mess. The only one in the quartet who had not sustained any such injuries was Hermione.

Evie, along with every single person in the class, had been absolutely floored when, instead of easily fighting off the curse, Hermione gave in without a fight. She delicately began pretending to serve tea to Lavender and Parvati without as much as a twitch against it.

Hermione, herself, also seem horrified to learn she had given in so easily. After class she'd rushed off towards the library without a single word to anyone.

Harry, Ron and Evie shared a worried look before Evie decided it was best that she go after Hermione. She left the boys for the library with a brisk wave.

On the way to the library Evie bumped into none other than Malfoy.

"Oh Merlin, not you," she sighed.

"Nice to see you too Diggory." Malfoy rolled his eyes. There was a pause as both of them waited for the other to do something. "I believe you owe me an apology." Malfoy finally said.

"Excuse me?" Evie chuckled in shock.

"You heard me, Diggory."

"Oh, yes I did hear you. What I'm wondering is why I would ever apologize to you?"

"You bumped into me. I am owed –"

"Since when do I care what you think you're owed, ferret?"

Malfoy's cheeks became tinged in pink as she called him that. Anger flashed in his eyes and it delighted Evie in a way only seeing his anger ever did. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips and it caused Malfoy's face to turn from anger to confusion.

Evie instantly forced her face back to a scowl when she realized her mistake. But it was too late; a heavy blush was already forming on her own cheeks. She never wanted Malfoy to know how much joy she derived from frustrating him and though she wasn't quite sure why, she was quite sure that she wanted to be far away from him that very moment.

"If you're done staring, I have somewhere important to be." Evie glared.

"Don't flatter yourself, Diggory. The only reason I'd ever stare at you would be to…oh wait, I wouldn't be caught dead staring at you."

Evie just glared, and then made a point of pushing past him instead of using the abundance of hallway space provided. She continued on to the library where she was surprised to see Lavender and Parvati huddled over a book. Well, surprised until she realized that the book was The Beautician's Book of Spells, and suddenly it wasn't shocking anymore.

After waving, since if she'd called out to them Madam Pince would've had her out of the library so fast Evie would've began doubting she'd ever even entered the place, she continued on searching for Hermione. Evie found her best friend hidden in the back of the library, deep in a rather thick book. Its cover held no pictures or fancy text and Evie could tell, even from her steadily decreasing distance, that it was from the restricted section.

"Hermione?" She said as she came to a halt beside the occupied chair.

Hermione looked up, shocked to find Evie there. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here? You ran off after the lesson, that's not like you."

"I couldn't do it." Hermione sighed, looking down as though ashamed of herself.

"Couldn't do what?"

"You know what! I couldn't fight the curse. You could, Harry could, even Ron started to, but I couldn't."

"So? Loads of people can't fight that curse. Hermione, Harry is the only one in our whole class who completely beat it. Ron basically listened for the majority of the time he was under and I…I was half listening and half fighting."

"But you all fought!"

"SHH!" Madam Pince could be seen from her desk looking back in the direction of the two girls. Evie couldn't see her very well, but she could imagine the fury in the librarian's eyes as she shushed them. Both gave an apologetic wave before turning back to the conversation at hand.

"Hermione…" Evie sighed as she sat in the chair next to her friend. "You can't always be the best at everything. And, honestly, your desire to follow the rules is probably what caused you to give in to the curse," Hermione looked more upset than before, but Evie continued anyway. "This doesn't mean you aren't still absolutely brilliant. This doesn't even diminish your brilliance a little. You are strong and stubborn and I know that with some practice we can get you to beat that curse. I still need help not giving in too. If we work together, we can both be strong enough to ignore whatever that curse, and Professor Moody, throws at us."

"How are we supposed to do that? We can't curse each other; we'll be expelled and in Azkaban before either of us even gets the chance to apologize."

"We don't really need to practice like that. Plus I'm almost positive that Professor Moody will be trying that on us again at some point," Evie said blandly, not looking forward to any part of that. "Right now, what we need to focus on is getting you to figure out what your little voice is made of."

"My little voice?"

"Yeah, you know, that thing that asks why you should be doing something, or tells you what's about to happen will probably be bad, or says 'we really shouldn't be in here'?"

"Oh, my conscience?"

"Yes, that's the word!" Evie smiled. "My conscience made me fight against the curse because I felt violated. There was a voice in my mind that wasn't my own and I knew it didn't belong there, so I tried to make myself stop listening to it. It wasn't nearly as easy as Harry made it look. Part of me really wanted to do what it said."

"So I need to figure out why I wouldn't listen to someone?"

"Exactly. When do you break the rules?"

"When something is wrong and people could get hurt. Or I guess when it's the right thing to do."

"Alright, that's a great place to start." Evie clapped her hands together, and for the time being S.P.E.W. was forgotten. Evie and Hermione spent their time in the library, no longer trying to promote elvish welfare, but trying to master their minds. Evie even pulled Harry and Ron aside and asked them to explain to her why and how they fought against the curse so that she could make sure that what she was working on with Hermione was the right way to go.

The girls dedicated themselves for two full weeks to mastering their minds and being strong enough to fight easily against the Imperius Curse, but as the second week of their intense mind training ended, the sudden extra piles of homework forced them to put it on the back burner next to S.P.E.W.

The professors of Hogwarts began bombarding their fourth year students with essay, tests and projects as the days passed; the students had definitely noticed. One day, after a particularly long list of homework from Professor McGonagall, the students finally figured out why. In their fifth year they would be taking their O.W.L.s, a very important test that helped them learn what opportunities they might have in the future. It was because of that extra homework that Evie did not realize October was half way over.

So it was, that after Care of Magical Creature, Evie found herself blindsided by more Triwizard Tournament news. As the four friends entered the entrance hall, they found they could not move. A large group of students had formed around a giant sign that had been erected at the foot of the stairs some time during morning lessons. Since they could not get closer Ron, who was the tallest, stood on his tiptoes in order to read the sign to the other three.

The students from the two other schools participating in the tournament, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, would be arriving at 6 o'clock on the thirtieth, a Friday. They were going to be let out of their classes half an hour early, so that they could all take their bags back to their rooms and gather in front of the castle in order to greet the visitors.

"Only a week away!" Ernie Macmillan beamed as he emerged from the crowd. He had not noticed their group; he was talking to a fellow Hufflepuff in their same year called Zacharias Smith. Evie had met Zacharias once or twice; he was not what she expected from a Hufflepuff. "I wonder if Cedric knows? I think I'll go and tell him…"

This part caught Evie off guard. Before Ernie could rush off she stopped him. "Hey, Ernie, wait!" She pushed away from her friends, but was still close enough that they could hear.

"Oh, hey Evie! How are you? Exciting news about the tournament, eh?" Ernie smiled brightly. He had no idea he had just given Evie a very shocking bit of information.

"Yeah, really exciting stuff," Evie said dismissively. "Why would Cedric need to know about when the other schools are coming?"

"He's going to try to be the Hogwarts champion," Ernie said as though it was common knowledge. "Didn't he tell you? Practically all of Hufflepuff knows! We're all behind him, of course." Ernie smiled, as though what he was saying wasn't news at all.

"Right, of course he is," Evie pretended to laugh, but inside she was seething. "Hey, Ernie, you mind if I go tell him the news?"

"Go for it, you're his sister after all, it should be you," Ernie laughed.

"Thanks." Evie gave a tight smile as her anger began to boil over.

"Evie…?" Hermione called questioningly, but Evie did not turn to acknowledge her friend. Instead she shoved her way through the crowd with a stiff determination.

Once she finally reached the Great Hall where food was already filling the tables, she made a beeline for the Hufflepuff table. Cedric was sitting with some friends from the Quidditch team, and they were all laughing innocently.

"Cedric?" Evie glared, catching her brother's attention.

"Hey Evie!" One of the guys from the team, she could not tell which at the moment, called to her happily.

"What's up?" Cedric asked in confusion when she ignored the greeting.

"We need to talk."

"Alright…"

"Alone."

"…okay? I'll be right back guys." Cedric got up from the table and led Evie towards the kitchens since the Entrance Hall was still packed with students. Once they had gotten a decent ways away from the hall he stopped walking. "What's wrong?"

"When did you decide you were putting your name up?" Evie rounded on him instantly, her anger no longer hidden.

"I thought you understood that I was putting my name up."

"No! I understood that you were thinking about it. All of Hufflepuff apparently got the real story," she snapped.

"What are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is why does Ernie Macmillan know more about what you're planning than I do? I had to hear from him, as he was telling Zacharias Smith, by the way, that you had made a decision." Evie crossed her arms and glared for a second before continuing, "So what? Now all of Hufflepuff is more important than your own sister?"

"Stop being ridiculous and tell me what this is really about," Cedric sighed, not the least bit flustered by her anger.

Evie sighed, instantly deflated as he denied her the reaction she'd hoped for. Dropping her hands to her sides, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering, "Why do you have to do this?"

"I thought you said you would stand by me if I decided to try to be the Champion."

"Yeah, of course I said that, and I still will. But I had honestly hoped that me saying I would stand behind you would be enough for you not to feel the need to do this. I don't want you to do this."

"But I want to."

"Why?"

"Because…I want to bring something back to my house and to the school. When I helped bring that victory over Gryffindor last year, even though I didn't deserve it, my house mates looked at me like I was a hero. That felt great! But I didn't deserve it. I didn't earn that status the right way. But if I become the Hogwarts champion, and I win this tournament, I'll really deserve it."

"You don't need to be a hero, Cedric."

"Says the girl who spends every year being a hero," Cedric chuckled. Evie sighed, realizing that he was right. "It's not really about being hero anyway; it's about being a hero the right way. It's about deserving to be called a hero. I just want to deserve it."

"Okay," Evie took another deep breath. "I promised I would stand by you, and that's what I'm going to do."