Chapter Text
Blood is thicker than water. Her mother had said that a hundred times, so much that Evelyn could now hear her mother's voice as she thought of the quote. Eve never really believed her. For an eleven-year-old, she had quite some strong opinions and her family agreed with none of them. She was just a small kid, her mother always said, she had no idea of the real world. She had told her that the world was cruel, but Eve couldn't imagine something crueler than her. Her home, no matter how big it was, felt like a cage to her. Somewhere that she was sure, she wouldn't ever escape. So now, when she sat all alone in a compartment of the Hogwarts express with her letter in one hand, she almost couldn't believe it to be true.
Two years ago, when her parents talked about the Dark Lord at the dining table, Eve had let it slip that he was nothing but a mass murderer who aspired to rule the world. She was very careful about the words she used because just a day before her mother had scolded her for saying 'crap'. But even after being so careful she was met a hard impact on her left cheek, a gift from her mother for saying bad about the Dark Lord. That was the first time she had been hit by anyone. Over time, as Eve began to express her views more openly, the abuse escalated. Her brother had tried to save her from their parent's wrath a lot of times, but it had only landed him in trouble too.
For about four months, she got hit by her parents everyday but ultimately, she chose to remain silent and keep her thoughts private. The beatings lessened and everything went back to normal. But they all knew it was anything but normal. She and her brother, Sam, spent all the time alone and away from rest of their family. The house had gone much quieter and both the siblings had stopped any conversations with anyone but among themselves. Not that it bothered anyone. It wasn't the home that it was just a year ago, it was more of a prison now.
So one day, Eve decided to run away. She had approached the door with slight hesitation. She stood before the main door for minutes but couldn't muster enough courage to turn the knob. Immobilized, she gazed at the door, yearning to flee. She remained there, hoping someone would pull her from the confines of her home, but that moment never came.
Indulged in her thoughts, she didn't realise that the train had started to move untill someone had opened her cabin's door. She looked up and saw a small boy with curly brown hair standing in front of her, awkwardly. She gave her a small smile which he returned with his bigger one. "I'm Peter Parker," he said while sitting on the seat against her. The boy was wearing his Hogwarts uniform already and looked very nervous.
"Evelyn Hawthorne." Her tone had a shiver in it, she didn't want to be hated just because of her surname. Though she didn't recognise the surname 'Parker' to be any of the wizarding family, she was still scared to be judged. Her worries, however, were waved away when the boy didn't react negatively. Instead, he gave her another big smile and nodded at her.
They'd talked to each-other for some time, Peter had asked her about what house she was expecting at Hogwarts, and she'd replied with a shrug followed by a small murmur of "Gryffindor maybe." She'd told him that she liked the colour red and that would be such a cool theme, which wasn't exactly a lie, but the real reason was the way it would piss her parents.
Peter had told her about how he was a muggle-born who was raised by her aunt who was a witch as his parents had died in a plane crash when he was five. Eve had, in turn, told him a little about her pure-blood status and how her parents thought they were superior to everyone else. He told her how her aunt ran an orphanage for little witches and wizards, called 'Hope for Future' and how those little kids always got him in trouble. Eve laughed at that which led him to ask, "do you have any siblings?"
Now that was a topic she neither wanted nor needed to dodge. "Yes," she said proudly. "I have a twin brother, he's seven minutes older to me." She had a huge smile on her face, "he's in the train itself, I dared him to make new friends before we reach Hogwarts."
They talked on topics as serious as the what the sorting ceremony would be, Peter believed that they'd have to immerse themselves in a pool of water and the water would turn to the colour of the house they should be put in. He informed Eve that Pietro, an older kid from his aunt's orphanage had explained it to him and it was horrible. Eve just crooked her eyebrows at the boy. She didn't think it was true.
Once the train came to halt, and they got off, Eve lost Peter in the crowd. There weren't exactly many kids in their year but Peter was a small kid. Eve looked around, for either Peter or her brother but she found none and instead heard someone call her from behind. "Trying to find someone?" She turned around to see a boy slightly taller than her with messy brown hairs and hazel eyes. She shook her head negatively and the boy shrugged.
In no time, he had extended his right hand towards her. "I'm James Potter by the way!" She gave him a small smile, taking his hand in hers.
"Evelyn Hawthorne!" She replied, a fear of being judged because of her last name arising in her again. Hawthorns were famous for supporting the views of the Dark Lord even after his demise. Her parents had openly stated their dislike for those not belonging to the pure bloodline a numerous time. Potters, however, on the other hand, supported the ones being discriminated and treated ill by the so-called purebloods.
There was a big chance of him judging her and hence she was taken by surprise when he shook their hands while maintaining the wide grin on his face. "Nice to meet you, Evelyn!" From there they sat in boats, and in no time were in the castle. James had talked about how his father had explained the school to him their entire ride and Eve didn't mind at all. Although the other two in the boat seemed irritated, they didn't say anything either.
During the last two years, Eve had learnt a lot including the fact that she didn't exactly belong at her own home. She was different by either her view or by her choices, no matter how hard she tried. But when James said that Hogwarts was the first home his father ever had, she felt a spark of hope. Maybe she'll find somewhere she'd belong. In last two years, she had lost everyone whom she considered a loved one. Every single person except for her brother. And no matter how cruel they had turned towards her, she missed them all. So maybe for once, she hoped, she'd belong somewhere and won't have to lose someone again.
It seemed as if time was running thrice as fast as usual because in no time Eve found herself sitting on the stool with the sorting hat placed above her head.
'Evelyn Hawthorne?' She heard the hat say to her in a weird manner. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest. 'You really do not like them, now do you?' One part of her shouted it was going to be Slytherin like the rest of their family while the other grew tense. 'You have so many similarities with them, yet you want nothing to do with them.' She wanted to plead the hat, ask it to not put her in the house. But she didn't. When she'd entered the castle, she'd promised herself to accept whatever destiny had stored for her. Just then she looked up only to notice that pretty much everyone in the hall was staring at her with a sort of curiosity visible on their faces. It seemed like an eternity of sitting there and getting anxious when the hat finally shouted out loud, "SLYTHERIN!"
Her heart literally skipped a beat as she heard the word. She sat there frozen for some seconds before the hat was pulled from her head. All her expectations were shattered by a single word from a stupid hat. There were a lot of whispers in the entire hall, but she'd managed to pay no attention to them while she took a seat at the Slytherin table. From one corner of her eye, she'd caught Peter give her a sad look. Once she was settled down on one corner of the table, she turned her gaze back towards the sorting ceremony to see Samuel, her brother sitting there with a tense look on his face. The hat had again taken it's time before it had shouted, this time instead of Slytherin, it said, "GRYFFINDOR."
Eve saw Sam's eyes widen in fear at that and the murmurs and whispers rose up once again. This time slightly louder than before. Sam, however, tried his best to ignore everyone and walked to the farthest edge of the Gryffindor table making no eye contact with anyone while doing so. Eve hadn't shifted her eyes from her twin brother until Peter's name had been called. He was sorted into Gryffindor too and Eve had never felt more alone in her entire life.
Once the sorting was completed, and all the three kids Eve knew were sorted in Gryffindor, the headmistress had given her speech, and the feast began. After the feast, the prefects were asked to lead all the students to their common rooms.
Eve somehow managed to escape from all the Slytherins and spotted her brother on one end of the hall. "Hey," she said to him softly and he looked up at her. His almond brown eyes, which were a mirror image of her own, were red due to crying or rubbing. "You okay?" She asked and he shook his head sideways. She knew he was afraid of what his family would do. Of what their family would say, so she didn't say or ask anything else and wrapped her arms around him. They stood in the same position while Sam cried his eyes out and she rubbed his back in a soothing manner.
It broke her heart to see him crying like that and reminded her of the nights she herself had cried that way. She was ten when she'd tried to run away for the second time. The first time no one had seen her trying but this time, she was caught by her mother as she twisted the knob. Her mother had slapped her hard across the face and dragged her to her room, locking her inside.
That day, she lied on the bed, sobbing quietly when she'd found a coin below herself. On getting a closer look at it she'd realised it was the coin that she and Sam had found in their dead Great-Grandmother's things when they were both six. The coin had a wolf's face on one side and a crescent moon on the other. Eve and Sam used to joke about her being a werewolf all the time when they were alone. She'd stared at the coin for several seconds before curling up on her bed and crying all night.
Sam backed away, breaking the hug and wiping his tears, and broke her chain of thoughts. "Mum and Dad would... they'd.. they'll blame me."
She cupped her face in her hands. "It'll be okay." Her voice was softer than she ever thought it could be. "They won't be able to do anything, trust me, you'll be okay." She tried to assure both him and herself. "I'll not let anything happen to you."
Sam nodded at her, hugging her once more. When he parted away, he retrieved a green and silver ring from his pocket and handed it to Eve, "you should keep it," he said, "it doesn't belong with me anymore." Eve looked at the rings once, it was passed down from generations to generations in their family, she stared at it for a few seconds before shaking her head negatively.
"No," she handed the ring back to him, "it doesn't." She gave him a small smile, "it's yours," and closed his fist around the ring. Before he could say something to oppose her, the Gryffindors had started to move so he just gave her a nod.
They both turned their ways to go to their common rooms. Eve stopped and turned to see him one last time and felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take care of him in your absence," said the familiar voice and Eve turned around giving him a grateful smile.
"Good night, James." She said softly and headed towards the other Slytherins. She followed the students towards their common room in the dungeons, not talking much to others. Soon she was in her dorm, lying on her bed with her thoughts going wild. With one last sigh and hope that everything would be good, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep.