Evelyn Ross and the Prisoner of Azkaban [COMPLETED]

34. A Useful Day After All

On Saturday, most third-year students left excitedly for their visit to Hogsmeade. Everyone, but me that is. I was disappointed of course, but I was also grateful not to be spending too much time with my fellow Slytherins. They had not taken the loss of fifty house points well and I had become even less popular than before. This was particularly visible during our meals in the Great Hall where no one wanted to sit next to Tracey and me.

I aimlessly wandered around the castle, observing the Halloween decorations for tonight's feast. I wasn't in the mood to study, nor was I hungry. Besides, the House Elves in the kitchens were probably fed up with me after my visits for a second breakfast and afternoon snack.

After some time of sauntering around in an unfamiliar part of the castle, I finally decided I was lost. I tracked back my steps until I reached a point where two corridors crossed. Shit, which direction did I come from? I decided to go to the right as a particular painting looked familiar...I thought.

As I kept walking, my surroundings started to look a bit more recognisable again and I realised I was on the second floor, not too far from the Great Hall. To my great surprise I saw a familiar face walking in my direction.

"Harry Potter!" I yelled. The boy looked up from his thoughts.

"Oh hello, Evelyn," he said in surprise.

"Why aren't you in Hogsmeade with your friends?"

"That's a long story, and I could ask you the same," he smiled, though it didn't touch his eyes.

"Same," I sighed. "Want to hang out?"

"Sure."

We went to the Great Hall where we played a few rounds of Exploding Snap. I beat Harry nearly every time, which made me feel rather bad - it's no fun if stuff keeps exploding in your face. So when one card blasted apart a bit too close to his face and his glasses nearly broke, we decided to stop playing.

"So what other ways to pass the time do you have here at Hogwarts?" I asked.

"Well, there's wizard's chess and then there's Quidditch, of course!" Harry's face immediately lighted up when he mentioned Quidditch.

"Quidditch! I heard a bit about that! I never watched a game, though. I'm really looking forward to the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin!"

"Yeah, me too! We've been practising three times a week for almost two month now. We're going to win the cup this year!" he playfully taunted.

"Of course, and you'll beat us easily now that 'poor' Draco can't use his arm," I said sarcastically while rolling my eyes. Harry had not expected me to be so blunt. He stared at me for a second and we both burst out laughing.

"Evelyn, why on earth did you join Slytherin?" Harry said, after we'd recovered. "You're not like them at all." Harry's words uncovered the feelings of doubt I had tried to conceal these past weeks.

"I know. To be honest, I'm not sure it was the right decision. But I wanted to be closer to my Mum and Dad, I guess." The words tumbled uncontrollably out of my mouth. Why did I confide in him? I hadn't even told Tracey or Aunt Jeanie! Perhaps it was because Harry was an orphan, just like me? I know, my Mum's still alive, even though it doesn't really feel like it...

Harry stared at me through his black-rimmed glasses with bright, green eyes. "I get that," he said softly. It suddenly occurred to me that Aunt Jeanie had told me about my Mum hitting Bludgers. I hadn't made the connection to Quidditch at the time as I had no idea what she was talking about.

"My Mum used to play Quidditch, I think she was a Beater. Perhaps even for Slytherin," I said.

"Really? That's awesome! We can check it out, if you want to be sure?" Harry proposed.

"Of course I do! How can we find that out, though?" I asked excitedly.

"Follow me!"

I followed Harry through some corridors until we arrived at a trophy case. I peered inside and saw it contained several golden plaques.

"Look!" he said as he pointed towards one of them. It said "James Potter, Seeker".

"James Potter was my father, he was a Seeker, just like me," Harry said proudly. "What's your mother's name? Let's see if we can find her too!"

I smiled at his willingness to help me. He's such a nice guy, Draco's an idiot for not liking him.

We searched the many golden plaques for my Mum's name and after a short search I'd found her.

"There she is..." I whispered to the glass. "Maera Ross, Beater" the golden plaque read. Pride swelled in my breast and my eyes became moist. Harry stood next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"It feels great, doesn't it?" he softly said. I looked up into his blue eyes.

"It does. Thanks, Harry," I smiled gratefully. This day had turned out to be not so horrible after all.

Now, what did a Beater do again?