Connected

Chapter 24 'Calling For Help'

“I don’t know,” Evanna piped in, biting her lip, “Maybe Lucius?”

Evanna was in complete denial even though she had been having the similar kind of doubts on Draco but still now that the time had come for the truth to open; she wasn’t ready to face it.

“It is pretty suspicious,” breathed Hermione, “Unless…"

“Oh, come on,” said Harry in exasperation, “you can’t get round this one!”

“Well… there is the possibility it was an empty threat,” Evanna continued, despite the decision that she had made of not talking to Harry anymore.

“You’re unbelievable, you are,” said Harry, shaking his head, “We’ll see who’s right… You’ll be eating your words, all of you.”

“Are you going to tell Dumbledore what you heard Snape and Malfoy saying to each other?” Ron asked.

“Yep,” said Harry. “I’m going to tell anyone who can put a stop to it, and Dumbledore’s top of the list. I might have another word with your dad too.”

There was silence for a moment or two, and then Ron said, “Course, you know what they all will say? Dad and Dumbledore and all of them? They’ll say Snape isn’t really trying to help Malfoy, he was just trying to find out what Malfoy’s up to.”

“They didn’t hear him,” said Harry flatly and repeated, “No one’s that good of an actor, not even Snape.”

“Yeah… I’m just saying, though,” said Ron.

Harry turned to face him, frowning. “You think I’m right, though?”

“Yeah, I do!” said Ron hastily.

“We all do, Harry,” Hermione stated while Evanna said nothing except eyeing Harry.

“But they’re all convinced Snape’s in the Order, aren’t they?” Evanna spoke, at last.

Harry said nothing; much to Evanna’s annoyance who now thought that he’s also ignoring her questions.

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks with each other soon realizing that they had fought recently and looked away.

Evanna got up, picked up her rucksack and climbed out of the portrait hole to Herbology; deep in thought.

*

The following night could not have been more sleepless. Evanna’s mind was buzzing with thoughts, doubts and denials.

She tried hard to sleep but soon she was downstairs in the empty common room; pacing and thinking.

“So Draco is up to something!” she thought.

“Obviously,” her conscious replied, “stop wasting your time denying that he’s up to something very good and pure because he’s not,”

“Fine! So he is up to something big and wrong which he was about to tell me at Slughorn’s Party but refused to tell Snape, why?” Evanna’s thought process went on, “When Snape is a family ‘friend’ while I’m a family ‘enemy’.

This shows that he still does trust me! But what to do is the question?”

“Spy on him is one of the choices which I highly disagree with and then I’m left with not much of any other choice, now that I think of it...” Evanna was deep in her thoughts of ‘what-to-do’ when suddenly an idea occurred to her.

The idea constituted of writing to someone for help and advice. It wasn’t just anyone. The person had been Evanna’s mentor for sixteen years but it had been a long time since she had written to him. She did write letters over the vacations and the holidays but something always kept her from sending it to her mentor.