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EASTER break was soon over, meaning that final exams were coming up.
evelyn and malfoy did not speak to each other about their experience in the forest, and neither did harry or hermione.
ron had ended up schooling hermione in chess over easter break, making her shocked, as the girl almost excelled at everything.
"hermione, must you study so early?", ron questioned, fiddling with his quill.
"of course! there's merely a month left until exams, and I'm aiming to score perfectly on all of them", hermione replied as she stuck her nose back into her book.
ron just rolled his eyes as harry chuckled.
professor snape walked into his classroom, slamming his textbook down on his desk.
"as we all know, final exams are coming up", snape started. "and to ensure that we all pass with flying colors, I've assigned an extra partner assignment to you all. instructions are already on the board. if you have any questions, don't ask me".
partners were also assigned on the board. and to no surprise, evelyn was with malfoy again. for some reason, snape loved pairing them up together. for what reason, evelyn would never know.
"which potion do you want to research?", evelyn asked malfoy, who currently took the spot of pansy parkinson.
"I don't really care. just do whatever", he replied, acting as if they weren't close.
"mm, perhaps the forgetfulness potion? I heard professor snape tested his first-years with it in 1992 for the final exam", evelyn explained.
"and you think he'd be stupid enough to repeat that exam?", malfoy scoffed.
"obviously not. I just think the forgetfulness potion would be a good topic for our assignment", evelyn smiled, flipping her textbook to page 52.
malfoy leaned his chin on his right palm, which was propping his entire head up. he wondered how someone could be so thrilled to learn about the meaningless potions, charms, spells, and etc.
even though the girl wasn't trying out for the quidditch team, she did a fairly well job of impressing madam hooch with her flying skills.
evelyn suddenly started writing and taking notes, making malfoy bored. he watched as the quill made perfect lines of writing, although it wasn't really the quill itself, more so the writer.
"now that I have all the notes down, we can meet in professor snape's room after school and start on the making of it", evelyn smiled as she watched malfoy's silver eyes looking at her bored.
"will there be cookies?", malfoy suddenly asked, almost making evelyn chuckle.
she tilted her head to the side, making malfoy furrow his brows.
"what?! I was just asking!", malfoy harshly said as he got ready to leave.
"I'll bring almond ones", evelyn lightly laughed as she watched the boy hurry out the classroom.
—✼—
"make sure you clean up the mess once you're done", snape instructed as he left to go attend a teacher meeting with the rest of the professors and dumbledore himself.
evelyn brought out all the ingredients while malfoy just sat and watched. he didn't like getting his hands dirty, and he certainly would choose not to if there was someone who was willing to do all the work.
"here are the almond cookies", evelyn smiled as she handed a clear bag, filled with sweets, to malfoy.
"must they have almond in it? what are you? a grandma?", malfoy sneered. although he still proceeded to tear open the bag and munch on them.
evelyn lightly laughed. "perhaps. but almonds are healthy, don't you think?"
malfoy didn't reply and just continued chewing. he watched as evelyn added 2 drops of lethe river water to the cauldron, letting it heat for 20 seconds.
evelyn felt the annoyance of malfoy's staring. she tried to focus, but it was hard as the boy didn't even say anything or help.
"may I help you malfoy?", evelyn finally asked, ruining the serene silence.
"where are your parents?", malfoy randomly questioned.
evelyn continued working as if it wasn't a big deal. "dead", she simply answered.
malfoy scoffed. "so like potter".
indeed, evelyn didn't have parents like harry, but it was quite different for her, as her parents did not die because of voldemort. and neither did she live through a traumatic experience such as that.
"I suppose you could say that".
"then where do you live?"
"trying to stalk me malfoy?", evelyn teased, a small smile forming on her lips.
"you wish!", malfoy scowled.
after adding 2 valerian springs to the cauldron and stirring clockwise 3 times, evelyn finally answered.
"the orphanage, with the muggles", she said.
"living with muggles and having them raise you? quite pathetic don't you think?", malfoy grinned.
"I don't think so. I like living with them. because unlike some, they have greater compassion than certain wizards", evelyn said, glancing over at malfoy.
he just let out an irritated scoff, as if he hasn't been insulting her for the past 5 minutes.
"and you?", evelyn asked.
"what?"
"and your family?", evelyn specified.
malfoy started grinning. "I come from the great malfoy family. there isn't much to it other than the fact that I get everything I want and we never need to worry about what to eat the next day".
"I see", evelyn mumbled.
"is that why you have a worn out robe, old textbooks, and no pet?", malfoy asked, looking through evelyn's notes.
"you noticed?"
"it's hard not to see how poor someone is, especially if they can't even afford to get a pet", malfoy laughed.
"well your observations surely aren't wrong. professor dumbledore was kind enough to sponsor most of my items, even though I had greatly refused".
"so you owe him?" malfoy raised a brow.
"very much so. without him, I probably wouldn't even be here right now".
malfoy couldn't understand. he couldn't comprehend how the girl was so happy all the time even though her parents probably left her and are dead now.
he grew up eating with a golden spoon. everything was given to him by his request—well—most things. his parents loved him unconditionally, especially since he was their only child; the only heir to the malfoys.
"are you going to try for quidditch next year?", evelyn suddenly asked, changing the topic. "and can you hand me 4 mistletoe berries please?"
surprisingly, malfoy did as told. "obviously! in fact, I'm almost certain I'll make it on the team", he boasted.
evelyn lightly chuckled. "I see. well if you do make the team, I'll make you some cinnamon apple cookies as congratulations".
"and for every game I win?"
evelyn raised a brow. she knew malfoy was confident, but not so much as to claim that he'd win every quidditch game.
"sure. only if you win though", evelyn said.
malfoy grinned. "obviously. be ready to bake me tons of those cinnamon apple treats!"
evelyn just smiled as she stirred the pot counterclockwise. within minutes, the potion was finally finished. she carefully poured some into a glass beaker and stuck a cork on top to stop it from spilling.
"done! goodbye now", evelyn said as she packed up all her things and got ready to leave.
"wait! where are you going?", malfoy asked, suddenly sitting up.
"my dorm. I need to study for finals", evelyn said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever.
"study? it's like a month away!"
"which is exactly why I need to study. I'm hoping to receive as high of scores as hermione. which means that I have to work just as hard".
malfoy scoffed. "I bet I can score higher than you without having to study".
"bold claim. wanna bet on it?"
"there's not much for you to lose. so what do I get if I win?"
"mm, cookies?"
malfoy rolled his eyes. "isn't there anything else other than cookies that you can give me?"
"well what do you want then?"
"mm...how about you tell me every secret potter possesses", malfoy bargained.
"do you like harry? I swear, you have a secret crush on him or something", evelyn mumbled.
malfoy choked.
"I DO NOT!! how can you even say such a foul thing?! if I could, I'd try to get him expelled!"
evelyn pouted at that. she liked harry, and she didn't want one of her friends to be expelled because of some ferret boy.
"fine. but if I win, you must buy me an owl. preferably one like harry's!! snow white and dainty!", evelyn smiled.
malfoy fake gagged. "fine, deal".
both first-years held their hands out and shook on it.
"deal", evelyn said.
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