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CHAPTER ONE. A DREADFUL FEELING

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Warning: Mentions of abuse.

Dread.

That was the only emotion that Evangeline Caspian felt during the week leading up to her return to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Some might consider her feeling this way strange, seeing as going back to Hogwarts was exciting to most. Even she was a little confused about her feeling this way. She was usually thrilled about going back.

Well, maybe not thrilled but, she definitely preferred Hogwarts over her home. If she could even call it that. The only time that Evangeline felt dread like this was at the end of term, when she'd have to go back to the place she hated the most. And that was the Caspian manor.

A place that was once filled with joy and comfort and warmth, was now filled with misery and emptiness and cold. It was no longer the home that she once knew. Not after her parents' deaths. After that tragic event, Evangeline and her older sister Vivian were forced to live with their aunt, uncle, and cousins. They had no other family and their parents hadn't left any sort of guidance as to what would happen to their children if something were to happen to them.

So, the Luther family moved into the Caspian manor, which was much larger than their own home at the time, and began ruining the two remaining Caspian's lives.

It wasn't so bad at first. There was an obvious shift in the mood and aura of the house. But their aunt and uncle were nice enough. It was not too long after, that the two girls realized that it was an act. The true colors of Archibald and Matilda Luther were shown. Archibald was the worse one of the two. He practically tortured the two girls whilst Matilda, their father's sister, stood by and did nothing.

But she was no saint, despite what she wanted people to believe. For Matilda Luther could be just as cruel as her husband.

At first it was verbal, the abuse. The two would verbally attack their nieces. Even their cousins would begin to join in on the fun. And then it turned to emotional abuse. The Luther's found a way to manipulate the two in such a way, that even Vivian, who was the most strong willed between she and her sister, had trouble keeping herself together. Last was the physical abuse.

Luckily for the two, this didn't come often. But from the moment that Mr. Luther delivered a mean slap to Evangeline's face for talking back, she knew it wouldn't be the last. Because in that moment, Archibald Luther realized just how much power he had over his nieces. And he fed off of power.

As Evangeline sat on the edge of her bed, the dread began to settle into her stomach. Along with it came an unknown tingly feeling that was slowly spreading throughout her body. She didn't know what this feeling was. But a part of her felt as though this year, would be a turning point in her life.

That's when she begun to realize why she was feeling the dread. It was all her aunt and uncle were talking about these days. How could she possibly have forgotten? The return of the Dark Lord was the talk of the whole wizarding world. And while most people didn't believe that he had returned, there were those who knew.

Like her aunt and uncle and the rest of the Death Eaters. Like her cousins. Like she and her sister. Like Albus Dumbledore. Like Harry Potter.

Harry Potter.

Just thinking of his name caused Evangeline to roll her eyes. It was known to most that Evangeline Caspian was not too fond of Harry Potter. In fact, she wasn't fond of most, if not all, people. The girl with a frown permanently etched into her face was known by the students, and even some of the teachers, as the girl with a cold, dark heart.

It wasn't entirely her fault for being the way that she was. And while she had never been a peppy and always happy girl as a child, she at least used to smile and laugh. Now she rarely did either of those things. The only one who has seen her smile was her sister and even she often forgot what the sight looked like.

The coldness of her heart was her relative's doing. The constant attacks on her and the cold, emptiness of her once warm house had been contributing factors. However, after her parents' deaths, she never found a reason to be happy again. Which was also her aunt and uncle's doing.

Evangeline stood from her bed and walked over to her open trunk. She had already begun packing her things for her return to Hogwarts, which Vivian thought was odd. Vivian was the kind of person who packed their things the night beforehand. She did a lot of things last minute. Which is why Evangeline always referred to her as, Procrastinator, a word that Vivian would always roll her eyes at followed by sticking her tongue out at her younger sister.

The youngest Caspian began placing more items into her trunk. She moved about her bedroom and began plucking items up from all around before placing them into the trunk. She moved to her closet and picked up a scarlet and gold scarf, instantly rolling her eyes at the sight of it. To this day, she never understood why she had been placed in the Gryffindor house. Nobody did.

Her fellow schoolmates often times referred to her as the Slytherin in a Gryffindor's clothes. They all believe that the sorting hat made a mistake. That the youngest Caspian girl, whose glare could make even the toughest person run away screaming, was meant to be a Slytherin. And Evangeline didn't disagree. She, along with other students, felt as though Vivian, who was kind to everyone and had a smile that was very contagious to those who weren't Evangeline, would have been a better fit as a Gryffindor. Maybe even a Hufflepuff.

But her being a Slytherin was odd to everyone, especially Evangeline who had thought that her older sister would be anything but a Slytherin. But, the sorting hat placed the two in the houses that it thought they fit into. The houses it felt they would prosper in the most. Evangeline would never understand why the hat placed her where it had. And though she wasn't exactly upset about the decision, her aunt and uncle surely were.

They were so angry at her when she came home for Christmas break, thinking she had tricked the hat into purposely putting her into Gryffindor house. Her assurances that she did no such thing fell on deaf ears. It was Vivian who had made them understand that Evangeline did nothing but sit on a stool and have a hat placed onto her head. That she didn't do anything. And after receiving two hard slaps and a kick to the abdomen for speaking when she wasn't spoken to, the Luthers seemingly believed her words and left the two alone.

Evangeline was so angry that she went to follow them, went to give the two a piece of her mind. But Vivian of course wouldn't allow it. Assuring her sister that she was fine. Vivian always said that Archibald Luther hit like a little bitch.

Her relatives never got over the fact that she wasn't a Slytherin. Throwing snide remarks about her and her house her way. Even allowing people like Lucius Malfoy to make rude comments about it. But Evangeline always brushed it off. The Luthers even went as far to try to convince Albus Dumbledore to change her house, but he refused, telling them that the sorting hat knew what it was doing. And if it put her in the Gryffindor house, then the Gryffindor House was where she was meant to be. She didn't know why she was relieved that Albus Dumbledore existed but in that moment, she was happy that he did. That he was seemingly in her corner.

Evangeline folded the scarf and placed it on her bed before grabbing more clothes from her closet. She folded those too and placed everything in her trunk. A knock sounded on her door and she instantly called out to the person to come in. She knew that it was Vivian. Her aunt and uncle never came to her room and her cousins would always barge in without knocking.

A large smile was on Vivian's lips as she entered, closing the door behind her. "Why are you smiling like that?" Evangeline questioned, looking the older girl up and down. Vivian's smile didn't falter. "What? I can't smile now? Is that it?" She asked back. Evangeline shrugged her shoulders, "I mean you can, just not like that." Vivian rolled her eyes before taking a seat on Evangeline's desk chair.

Her gaze flickered to her younger sister's open trunk, brown eyes gleaming with amusement. "I'll never understand why you insist on packing an entire week before we have to go to school," she commented. "The answer is simple: I don't like to procrastinate," Evangeline responded. "Yeah but, a whole week? That's a little much, don't you think?" Vivian said.

The younger girl shrugged again. "To each his own, I guess," she replied. Vivian let out an obnoxiously loud and dramatic sigh and Evangeline looked at her again. "Did you need something?" She asked. "Well, now that you asked, I have a surprise for you!" Vivian exclaimed in an excited tone. Evangeline frowned. "Oh don't give me that look. It's a good surprise, I promise," Vivian assured.

"What is it?" Evangeline asked unsurely. "Close your eyes," Vivian commanded. Evangeline chose not to argue with her sister and did as she was told. Vivian took Evangeline's hand and placed something cold into it. "Open your eyes," Vivian whispered. Evangeline's eyes fluttered open and she looked down at her palm. A gasp escaped her lips at what she saw.

"You found it," she said. Vivian was nodding enthusiastically. Evangeline stared at the necklace in awe. It was gifted to her by her parents on her sixth birthday. It was a simple gold locket, long and octagonal in shape, a large multicolored Opal on the front of it. Inside the locket, was a picture of her parents, sister, and her. Vivian had a similar locket, though her gemstone was a Tanzanite, a beautiful blue-violet gem.

"Barry hid it in his room, the little rat," Vivian said, her voice laced with annoyance. "I knew I didn't lose it! I took it off for two seconds and it was gone. I'm gonna bash his head into a wall one of these days," Evangeline said, equally as annoyed. She then looked up at her older sister who had a smile on her face. "Thank you for finding it," she said. Vivian waved her off. "It was no big deal," she replied.

"It is a big deal. It's a big deal to me. So thank you," Evangeline said seriously. Vivian's smile widened, "You're welcome, sis." Vivian knew that Evangeline wouldn't express her happiness the way one usually would, but she had grown used to it. She knew that her sister was happy, even if she didn't show it. "Well, I should probably go pack," she said, making her way to the door.

"Really?" Evangeline asked in surprise. "No not really. I'm gonna write to Draco, give him a piece of my mind for never writing me back," Vivian answered. Evangeline rolled her eyes at the name. She did that far too often. Draco Malfoy was the son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, both of whom were followers of the Dark Lord. Now, Evangeline didn't really have a problem with the blonde, however she still held a small grudge against him after what he did the previous year. She never understood why her sister was friends with him or why her cousin Gemma was obsessed with him.

"He's not that bad," Vivian said, noticing the eye roll her sister gave when she mentioned her friend's name. "Maybe to you," Evangeline muttered. Vivian rolled her eyes again and opened the door, beginning to walk out before stopping. "Make sure you clean your room. You know Zimpy will snitch if he sees this," she said and Evangeline nodded. Zimpy was the Luther's house elf. Evangeline hated him.

He was so infuriatingly loyal to the Luthers though, she couldn't blame him for that. However, he was always getting her into trouble. Again, not really his fault, but Evangeline still resented him for it. She often wished that Zimpy was more like Tilky. Tilky was the Caspian family's house elf. She was also extremely loyal, as all house elves were. However, she was only loyal to Evangeline and Vivian. To Evangeline, she seemed to hate the Luthers as much as the Caspian sisters did.

Evangeline went back to packing her things before deciding to clean up her room. Once the room was fairly clean, she grabbed a book and went out on her balcony. Taking a seat on the only chair out there, she opened up the book and began reading.

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Information overload. I feel like I added a little bit too much info. in this chapter but I hope it was good. Let me know what you guys thought of it.

-N