Chapter 14:

Eve threw herself back against the wall behind her and crouched slightly in a defensive stance as they were bombarded with the angry cries of a plump, orange haired woman who stood central to the three men before them.

'GEORGE WEASLEY, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT THOSE – THOSE – THOSE SILLY TOYS!' the woman screeched, and Eve flinched at the tone, waiting for the woman to draw her wand.

What am I going to do? How do I get us out of this…?

She quickly realised that 'I' had become an 'us.' The image of his bright brown eyes flashed in her memory and affirmed what she had already decided; George could be trusted.

Her gut instinct, as Draco had always termed it, never seemed to fail her.

It's gotten me this far she told herself now how do I get past all four of –

'But Mum –'

The instant George's reply left his lips, all plans of escape and defence left Eve's mind and she stared dumbfounded between the boy beside her and the woman. Both orange haired, both brown eyed…his mother.

'- DON'T YOU DARE 'BUT MUM' ME! THEY. ARE. DANGEROUS!' she bellowed, her face a startling shade of fuchsia.

'Sorry dear, dinner will be ready shortly and I'll show you to the living room in just a tick.' Eve blinked in utter shock as the woman turned to her, and spoke in a warm, welcoming tone, none of the rage evident in her expression as she quickly beamed at her before turning her attention back to her son.

Eve felt her body relax, her thumping heart slowed, her breathing, which had become short and rash, became steady and her hands slackened from the fists they had curled in to. But her face was still twisted in a frown of confusion, and as the woman's scolding once again continued, the woman's screeching voice from further on down the corridor seemed to only grow in pitch.

'MURDERERS, BLOOD TRAITORS, THE VERY SCUM OF THIS EARTH –'

'And look what you've done!' George's mother hissed, as if somehow, George was responsible for the other woman's shouting 'get into that kitchen and help your brother with the dinner – you two will be doing the washing up as well…the Muggle way!'

George caught Eve's eye quickly as he made his way in the direction his mother had indicated, and once behind the woman's back, he flashed her a quick grin before disappearing down the corridor.

As George disappeared from sight, Eve's attention turned once more back to the four adults standing before her, and she felt her stomach tighten with a mixture of nerves and dread. Her knees began to tremble beneath her and her heartbeat quickened in pace.

The slight movement of the woman, as she took a step towards her caused Eve to jerk back in immediate reaction, thumping her against the wall.

Ouch.

George's mum instantly froze, and Eve felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment at her blatant display of fear, and registered the sympathy and sadness that flickered across the woman's face in reaction.

'Now, you must be starving?' she questioned gently, thankfully ignoring Eve's reaction to her approach, and Eve nodded quietly, still warily flickering her gaze between each person.

'This is Remus' George's mother told her, seeming to understand her discomfort at being around strangers, as she indicated to the tall, rather shabbily dressed, man to her left. The man smiled warmly at her, lighting up his pale face.

'This is my husband, Arthur' the woman continued, indicating the orange haired, beaming man beside her.

George's father she told herself.

'And this is Nympha -'

'Tonks…the name's Tonks' a purpled haired Witch quickly interrupted, grinning widely at her 'My God you look like Alina!' she added, and Eve felt her cheeks flush at what she felt could only be taken as a compliment.

'I'm Molly Weasley' George's mum finished, smiling at her 'now you're nothing but skin and bones, let me see to that! I'll fill you out in no time! Follow me, I'll take you to the dining room, your fathers already in there.'

Eve smiled shyly, and followed Mrs Weasley along the corridor, until they reached a doorway to their left. Mrs Weasley opened the door and led her through, revealing a large, well lit, yet still rather dingy, room. A long table was centre to the room, and Eve felt a sweep of relief rush through her as her eyes registered the presence of her father.

'Eve!' his eyes widened in surprise 'I thought you were still sleeping –'

'She somehow managed to run into George' Mrs Weasley explained 'no doubt as a result of his attempt at hiding from me' she added wryly, and Eve felt herself blush, immediately confirming her suspicions.

'George said it would be all right to come down stairs –' Eve began apologetically, and Sirius quickly cut her off.

'- of course it's all right! Dinner will be ready shortly…your mum will be down soon and the others.'

The others? Eve thought, just how many other people are there in this house?

Sirius seemed to pick up on her alarm.

'This house is used as a headquaters' he explained quietly.

'A headquarters for what?' she replied softly, recognising that Sirius was divulging important information to her.

'The Order of the Phoenix' he allowed the words the sink in, and upon her blank expression he formed an explanation 'we are a group that aims to stop Voldemort.'

Eve gasped out loud, and stared at her father in disbelief.

Stop Voldemort?

Eve shook her head, no; it just simply was not possible! She'd seen Him, she'd met the man in person; there just was no stopping him.

'Impossible' she muttered and raised her eyes to meet her father's.

'Nothing is impossible Eve' he replied.

'That man…he…how can anybody stop him. Have you any idea of what he is capable of?' She gushed, her heart pounding.

'More than you can possibly imagine' he told her, and looking into his eyes, the shadows that haunted them, Eve did not doubt him for a moment.

'So everyone here…they are against those people?'

Sirius nodded 'like I said, you're safe here' he smiled and Eve found herself smiling back 'there will be a lot of people coming and going from here because of it. But there are a group of us who live here. Everyone will be down soon and you can meet them…will you be up to it?'

The question was asked casually, but Eve could hear Sirius' concern. She considered the question, could she handle it? She thought of the warm smiles of those she had already met, and the kindness in their voices.

'I can handle it' she replied.

Soon the room was aloud with conversation, and each place at the table was filled.

George had entered the room just seconds before the table was covered with an array of different food.

He slid into the place next to her, and Eve had to do a double take as she greeted him.

Beside her was George…and sitting beside him, was…George?

'T-There's two of you?' she spluttered, and abruptly closed her mouth as she realised she had spoken out loud.

George glanced at her, one eyebrow raised with amusement, before turning to the 'other George' and letting out a dramatic cry of alarm.

'So there is! There's two of me!' he gasped 'IMPOSTER!'

'No, there's two of me!' Interrupted the 'other George' 'I'm George!' he grinned.

'No I'm George!'

'No I am!'

'No I am!'

'He's right, the name's Fred, pleasure to meet you!' George's double finally relented, grinning widely at her, his eyes twinkling brightly.

'But…but how?' Eve asked, flabbergasted by the display.

'Twins!' George and Fred both announced at the same time, as if it were painstakingly obvious.

'Twins?' she repeated, confused.

'Come on, Eve? You know…' George began.

'- two eggs –' Fred continued.

'- one womb –'

'- a few more technical processes that we shall not delve into at this precise moment –'

' – and BOOM!' George thumped his hands loudly on the table, causing everyone to stop their conversations for a moment to stare.

'Twins!' both boys declared.

'Fred, George! Stop making such a racket!' Mrs Weasley scolded from the end of the table, and both flashed identical apologetic grins.

'I can't believe you've never seen twins before!' Fred told her, frowning.

'- And no, they do not all have orange hair' George added slyly, grinning at her as she bit her lip, bowing her head in embarrassment.

'Well I suppose you could say my social life had been slightly limited' she replied wryly.

Their conversation was interrupted by Sirius, serving heaps of food onto Eve's plate; of which she stared at in alarm.

What is it all?

She had never seen so many colours on a plate in her life, it was nothing like the stale left over scraps of food or gruel she was accustomed too.

Hesitantly, she scooped up a piece of white meat covered in a brown sauce and brought it to her lips. And her mouth exploded with flavour.

Never, never ever, had she tasted something so nice since Draco snuck a bar of chocolate to her for her birthday.

She glanced at her mother, whose eyes were sparkling with understanding from across the table.

'You wait till desert' Alina grinned 'now, dig in!'

Eve did not need telling twice, she ate and ate and ate, until her stomach could not process any more food.

She had barely made a dent in the ridiculously large portion that Sirius had given her, but it was the biggest meal she could remember ever having.

In that moment, Eve felt a rush of emotion soar through her, her cheeks were warm and her eyes were heavy. Her stomach was full, and bright, cheery conversation surrounded her. She glanced to her left and saw the face of her father, and in front of her the beautiful face of her mother. Her mouth was beginning to ache having been stretched into a smile for too long.

Is this happiness?

After dinner, with the exception of a few visitors who bade their farewells and left, everyone moved to the living room which adjoined to the dining room.

Eve found herself sinking onto a large armchair, facing a crackling fire. Alina and Sirius had taken their place in the sofa beside her. And the others were scattered around the room in various positions.

George and Remus had begun a game of Chess on the floor before her and everyone was watching lazily as it grew more and more heated.

Eve, however, found her attention wavering and looked to the small group that sat overlooking the game. They all seemed to be Eve's age or older. Two girls, one with brown, thick hair and the other with the now familiar orange hair, sat closest to Eve.

Studying their faces, Eve could see that one girl was clearly extremely pretty, with her light brown eyes and thick lashes that framed them and orange hair that was far darker than George's and the others. The brunette was not particularly stunning, but she had a natural prettiness and her eyes exuded intelligence.

Another orange haired boy sat beside them, utterly absorbed in the chess match taking place, whilst sitting slightly further back, with a calm expression, messy black hair and startlingly green eyes was another boy.

Eve's eyes rested on him, and her mind immediately began to tick. He seemed familiar, although she knew she had never seen him before. She stared deeply, frowning as her mind tried to place why she felt that she knew him….

'Hi'

The quiet greeting caused her to jump in surprise, as she realised that the two girls had approached her.

'Hi' she replied hesitantly, her eyes flickering across each of their faces, analysing their intent.

She glanced over at her parents, and saw Alina flash an encouraging grin, before turning her attention back to the girls.

'I'm Hermione, and this is Ginny' the brown haired girl informed her in a very well-spoken voice.

'I'm Eve' she replied softly, feeling slightly more at ease under the warm smiles from both girls.

'We've heard loads about you, we were wondering when you were going to come out of that room!' Ginny told her confidently.

'How are you feeling?' Hermione asked her.

'Erm…' Eve began, looking from girl to girl, before sighing and shaking her head 'I don't really know to be honest' she smiled apologetically.

'A bit overwhelmed?' Hermione guessed, smiling with understanding 'I can empathise; when I found out I was a witch I didn't know what way was up! Harry was the same –'

Harry.

Harry! It suddenly clicked and her eyes shot to the black haired boy sitting by the fire.

Harry Potter.

Draco had told her enough about Harry Potter for her to feel as if she knew him. He had described the messy hair, the round (stupid) glasses, and lightning bolt scar.

Eve could see all of the description before her very eyes and she let out a deep breath as her mind tried to keep up with everything that was happening.

She found herself narrowing her eyes at the boy as she remembered all of the times Draco had told her about him. About how arrogant and self-possessed he was…how he acted so superiorly to those around him and was favoured so much by everyone at school.

'Eve?'

Eve jerked her head, and realised that Hermione had been speaking to her.

'Oh…I – I'm sorry…I'm just not used to so much going on at once' she told the girl apologetically 'what were you saying?'

Hermione continued talking, and the constant sound was reassuring and pleasant to Eve's ears. She didn't have to speak much, Hermione and Ginny both seemed to detect her discomfort, and instead she listened to their chit chat.

Through it all, Eve could not help the discomfort that flooded through her at being in such close proximity to Harry Potter. Every few minutes she found herself glaring across the room at him, angry at his part in causing discomfort to Draco, and slightly resenting him for being there instead of her friend.

At the thought of him, a lump came to her throat and she had to suck in a deep breath to calm herself as her eyes threatened to prick with tears.

As Hermione pulled out a book to read, and Ginny began discussing Quidditch with Sirius, Eve amused herself by contentedly gazing into the fire.

She found herself compelled by the twisting and weaving of the flames, the way they flickered dangerously in some kind of random, unpredictable dance. She allowed the sound of the crackling and occasionally spitting of the wood to soothe her and enjoyed the heat it brought against her cheeks.

Soon she barely registered anything or anyone else in the room. In fact, she barely even registered the room itself. All that consumed her conscious were the flames. They seemed to reach out to her, enticing her to come to them…to allow them to swallow her…to dance with them…

'Eve…where are you?' his words were a whisper, so soft that they could barely be heard out loud.

Speaking too loudly would not do, if anyone heard him…if anyone became aware of his association with her…

As he stood up, he wiped his eyes quickly, and before leaving the room he glanced quickly in the mirror to check that his face gave no indication of his emotions.

His grey eyes stared blankly back at him, his blonde hair not an inch out of place.

'Eve!'

Eve jolted violently in the chair, opening her eyes wide as the room suddenly came back into view, but she was dazed, she couldn't quite grasp her surroundings. Everything was too loud, too bright…too hot. She was hot. Boiling hot. She felt as if she were on fire.

'Eve, what's wrong?' her mother was In front of her, coming into focus, and suddenly Eve was aware that everyone's eyes were on her.

'I – I don't –'she croaked, confused at what was happening 'Wha- what happened?'

'You were staring, your eyes were so wide! And you weren't reacting to our voices; then you started shaking…' Ginny informed her, her voice full of concern.

She felt a cool hand press against her cheek.

'She's burning up Alli' he father's voice sounded from beside her.

'She's probably over done it, come on Eve, let's get you to bed' she felt his sturdy arms supporting her as he helped her out of the seat.

With his assistance, she left the room and made her way upstairs and into her bedroom.

'How are you feeling?' Alina asked her gently once she was in bed.

'My head aches' she grumbled, but managed to catch the slight widening of her mother's blue eyes, and the thoughtful expression that followed.

'Just rest now, you'll be feeling better in the morning' Sirius told her as they made to leave the room.

Just as she was leaving, Alina paused in the doorway and turned back to her daughter.

'Eve…did you –'she began, before shaking her head and stopping herself mid-sentence.

'Did I what?' Eve urged.

'Nothing' Alina smiled, though it did not quite seem to meet her eyes 'good night.'

She left the door ajar, something that Eve was thankful for, having been locked behind one for too long to feel at ease.

She sighed to herself, letting out the deep breath she was unaware that she had been holding. The night seemed peaceful, with the faint sounds of movement downstairs and creaking of the floorboard as people made their ways to bed.

Left alone, Eve could finally consider what had happened.

Am I going mad?

It wasn't a dream, they had told her she had not been asleep…but she had seen him. She had seen him so vividly it was as if he were standing before her now…

A dull pang shot through her heart and she bit her lip to prevent it trembling.

Will I ever see him again?

Today, she had experienced happiness. An emotion unlike any she had ever experienced. She had felt love and kindness from not just her parents but from everyone else too.

And yet, she could not help but feel the yearning she seemed to feel for Draco.

He had been her only source of comfort and relief from the hell that had been her life for as long as she could remember. And whilst he was often rude, or moody and more than often haughty, she would never question his friendship.

'I miss my best friend'

Saying it allowed seemed to break all of the dams she had built up, and with a muffled sob she allowed herself to cry into her pillow.

And as she cried her mind flickered to the boy she had seen tonight, the one with messy dark hair and a lightning shaped scar; Harry Potter.

She had lost her best friend, and had found herself living with the one boy who made Draco angry, unhappy and feel inferior.

She silently seethed at the thought of having to be so proximate to someone who clearly was not a nice person.

Well I won't bother with him she thought to herself for Draco, I won't bother with him.

On that thought she let her mind relax, her tears stop and she delved into a peaceful sleep.

Dreaming of flames, Draco, her parents and orange hair.

'Lucius!'

His voice was no more than a hiss, it seemed to entwine itself in the very fibre of the air that consumed the room, and fill every space within the four walls.

A shiver ran down the spine of each person who stood in line, their heads bowed in a mixture of respect and terror, before the man.

'Yes, my Lord?' a masked figure stepped forward, bowing low before the man, his voice carefully masking the utter fear that consumed him at having been summoned.

'Severus has informed me that Eversor has escaped?' His voice was velvet, and deceitfully casual.

'M-My Lord! The Order, they launched an attack -' Lucius asked, the fear no longer cloaked.

'Two Vadima Lucius! It is now two, you have managed to lose' His voice was dangerously soft, his mouth twisted into a cruel smile 'Lord Voldemort was kind enough to forgive you for the first, wasn't he?'

'Yes! Yes My Lord!' Lucius cried, sinking to his knees.

'Did I not tell you of the importance of our control over a Vadima? To lose two, this cannot be forgiven lightly Lucius' His voice grew more excitable, his eyes lighting up in malicious glee.

'My Lord – I am sorry! Please forgive me –'

'Crucio!'

Voldemort lazily watched the man howl and writhe with pain on the floor before him with an expression of boredom on his face, his eyes showing a slight flash of interest as the screaming increased with pitch. He allowed the curse to continue for a few minutes, knowing exactly when to stop before the man would delve into the realms of insanity.

At the removal of the curse, the screams stopped immediately, and were replaced by his haggard breathing and muffled sobs. Lord Voldemort did not acknowledge either.

'Lucius' mistakes have cost us greatly; perhaps more than the Order are aware. The Vadima are a powerful tool, one that would be beneficial to our cause' everyone in the room seemed to hang on his every word, his every breath seemed to rip into their souls 'as a breed, their magic grew practically extinct after their civilisation was destroyed many years ago. But there are still decendants remaining, of that that I am sure.'

His eyes scanned the room, his gaze burning through each and every mask, and his voice lowered to barely more than a whisper.

'You are going to find them…all of them.'

A/N: All i can say is I am so sorry. Life has been extremely busy at the moment, living in a house with 5 other girls leaves little spare time to write, but I am now home for the summer so will do my very best to change that! I have also had severe writers block, I am actually still suffering but am forcing myself to work through it. Thank you so much for your reviews, and please keep reviewing, It was your reviews that finally got me to give myself a slap and write this chapter! I will begin the next chapter in the morning, so hopefully it will be done soon!

Thank you so much.