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CHAPTER TWENTY. STUBBORN

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Evangeline hadn't gone to this past week's D.A. meeting and she didn't intend on ever going back. She spent the past two weeks ignoring everyone who she had befriended. She was even ignoring Vivian, the older girl wanting to slap some sense into her sister. She didn't know what was going on, but she had intended to find out.

Ignoring Cleo and Hermione was a lot harder than the others, seeing as they were her roommates, but she still managed to do so. Evangeline entered her Potions class, taking a seat at one of the empty tables. She interlocked her fingers together and placed them on the table, waiting for the class to begin.

She hadn't been looking forward to coming here, knowing the familiar face that she would see. She watched as the students filtered into the classroom, taking their seats. She pulled her fingers apart, placing her head in her left hand and staring down at the table. Parvati Patil pulled out the chair next to Evangeline and sat down. Her sister Padma sat down next to her.

Evangeline pursed her lips and impatiently tapped the fingers of her free hand against the table. The seat across from her was pulled out and Ronald Weasley sat down in it. Evangeline suppressed a sigh and avoided looking at him. When Professor Snape entered the room, looking as stoic as ever, she felt relieved. "Take out your notebooks," he said in a monotonous voice.

The students did as they were told. Once the noise of it died down, he continued. "On the board, are a list of potions. In your notebooks, you will write down the ingredients of these potions as well as how they are made," he said. A chorus of groans filled the air of the classroom. Professor Snape stared ahead in boredom, waiting for it to get quiet again.

"If you do not finish before the end of class, you will have failed this assignment," he concluded, walking to his desk as the classroom erupted into complaints. Evangeline looked at the board, writing the name of the first potion into it and beginning the assignment. She ignored the stare of Ron and continued writing, occasionally looking in her book for help.

It wasn't until she was on her sixth potion that a folded piece of paper was slid over to her. She looked up to see Ron looking at her before he glanced down at the paper. She sighed and picked it up, hiding it on her lap as she opened it.

Are you ever going to talk to me?

She looked up at him, giving him a look before continuing on with her assignment, discarding the note underneath her book. Another piece of paper was discreetly slid to her. She looked up at Ron in annoyance but he was looking down at his notebook, working on his assignment. Evangeline picked up the paper and unfolded it.

I know you're going through something and you don't want to talk to me about it. But I want to be there for you.

She briefly closed her eyes before looking over at him. He was already looking at her and she quickly looked to the board. She wrote down the next potion into her notebook and began writing down the ingredients. Another slip of paper.

You can trust me with whatever it is. We're friends.

She rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile and slid the paper under her book. She had almost finished her assignment, only having a few more potions to write the ingredients and instructions for. Another piece of paper.

Is it your aunt and uncle? Did they do something? Say something?

She got another note before she could ignore this one.

Please stop ignoring me! I'm running out of paper.

An involuntary laugh made its way out of her mouth. She looked up, making sure that Professor Snape wasn't looking. The man was too busy glaring at another table of students. Evangeline looked at Ron whose eyes were pleading. She looked down at his note, scribbling a reply and sliding it back to him.

I don't want to talk to you. -E

He looked up at her, his eyes narrowing. He quickly wrote a reply and slid the note over to her.

Bloody hell you're stubborn.

Evangeline shrugged her shoulders and smiled slightly before going back to completing her assignment. From beside her, Parvati and Padma were watching the scene in amusement. Ron wrote another note sliding it across the table when Professor Snape intercepted it. He snatched up the note, sending the Weasley boy a sharp glare and a smack to the back of the head. He unfolded the paper and read what the boy had written.

He turned back to Ron, his glare still there. "Mr. Weasley, I suggest that instead of wasting your time writing notes to your girlfriend in my class, you complete the given assignment. Do not make me fail you," he said, turning away and walking to another part of the classroom. Ron's cheeks heated up in a harsh blush, Padma and Parvati were snickering from where they sat.

Evangeline bit her lip and wrote down the last bit of instruction for the last potion on the board. When she was done, she stood up and walked over to where Snape was stood. She held out the notebook to him and he stared at her in the way that he stared at everyone. After snatching the notebook from her hand, he gave her one last look before she walked back to her seat.

When class was over, she picked up her bag and left the classroom.

••••

She had been tricked.

One minute, she was being told that she would be getting a very special dessert and the next, she was being cornered by her sister. It was her own fault, believing the words of Neville Longbottom. She should've been able to tell that he was lying, by the way that he avoided her eye and shifted uncomfortably on his feet. She had just assumed that he had gone back to being afraid of her seeing as she hadn't been a pleasant person to be around these past two weeks.

Evangeline was sat on one of the couches in the Gryffindor common room. Around the room were Vivian, Cleo, Harry, Hermione, Neville, Ron, Ginny, George, and Fred. Evangeline was glaring at Neville and he squirmed in his seat. "I know what Matilda said to you," Vivian spoke and Evangeline turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Barry told me," she elaborated.

The youngest Caspian gave her another questioning look. "He hears everything," Vivian clarified. Evangeline crossed her arms over her chest. "I also know what you said to her after what she said to you. Did I mention how proud of you I am? I mean, that took some guts," Vivian said. Harry elbowed her in the side and she gave him a warning look.

"Look, Ang. I don't know why you let that bitch get into your head but what she said, wasn't true," she continued. "Voldemort is after me. And that means that he'll come after my friends too. If something were to happen to us, it wouldn't be because of you," Harry said from beside Vivian. "Why would you even think that Voldemort hurting us would be your fault?" Hermione asked.

"So, you told them about my little chat with our dear aunt but you didn't tell them the whole story," Evangeline stated, looking her sister dead in the eye. Vivian looked away and bit her lip, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "What do you mean?" Cleo asked. Evangeline sighed, "Our aunt and uncle are followers of the Dark Lord." The room was completely silent.

"You mean, they're Death Eaters?" George questioned and Evangeline nodded. "Bloody hell," Ron muttered. "Are you surprised? I thought it was kinda obvious..." Vivian trailed off. "It's not just that. Not only do they expect Barry and Gemma to become Death Eaters too..." Evangeline didn't finish so Vivian did. "They want us to become Death Eaters as well," she said, pointing between herself and Evangeline.

Ron immediately stood, "Well that's not bloody happening!" Evangeline rolled her eyes at his naïvety. "He's right, it's not," Harry stated matter of factly. "You really believe that you can stop it from happening?" Evangeline questioned with an incredulous chuckle. "You're damn right we do. Neither of you are going to become one of them. I won't let it happen," although Ron was speaking to both sisters, his eyes remained on Evangeline. The youngest Caspian stared back at him, her eyes holding something he couldn't decipher. His own eyes were the same.

"I don't think there's much you can do," Vivian said. Evangeline broke her stare with Ron and turned to look at her sister. "Well then we'll do everything that we can," Ginny said. Evangeline shook her head. "None of you are getting involved. This doesn't concern you," she said. Hermione stood up, "What do you mean it doesn't concern us? It definitely does concern us."

"You're our friends," Fred said. "Our family," George corrected. "Everything that affects you, affects us," Ginny continued. "We won't let you go down a dark path," Neville said. "We won't let them make you one of them. We'll help you," Harry said. "But why?" Evangeline asked. "Did you not just hear me call you family? Were you not listening?" George questioned.

"We've got your back," Neville said. By now, Vivian was crying, Harry rubbing her shoulder to calm her down. Evangeline rolled her eyes at how emotional the girl was but couldn't stop the smile that had come to her lips. "You guys suck," she said. Hermione plopped down on the couch next to her and pulled her into a hug. "No we don't," she said.

"No you don't," Evangeline agreed.

••••

Phew, the squad is back together. I didn't want to have Evangeline avoid them for too long. You got to see her be stubborn and stupid. I really didn't want to write a few chapters of her ignoring them, which is why I wrote that she had been doing so for two weeks. Hope this didn't feel as rushed to you as it does to me. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Don't forget to vote!