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Theodore greeted her on the platform, just when she was worried he’d not even gotten on the train in the first place. He acted cheerful and tapped her shoulder lightly in greeting. She peered at him for a while as they waited.
“Where were you?” she finally asked. He grinned at her and raised an eyebrow.
“The train? I assume that’s how you got here too,” he replied. Evangeline rolled her eyes and stood on her tiptoes in an attempt to flick his forehead, but he had seen her coming and dodged, “Okay, okay, I was just with some of the quidditch guys in one of the hard to find compartments. We were talking strategy.” He held his hands up in mock surrender. She noticed he was using the cane that their father had given him for the first time since he had received it.
That only seemed like the partial truth. But there was something else, something he wasn’t telling her. Maybe there had been something he wasn’t telling her for a while. Questioning him on it right here and now was certainly not the best idea though. Beyond that, she didn’t want to see the cold in his eyes so close to Christmas.
Uncomfortable, she hummed and looked away. In doing so, she saw Draco Malfoy approaching them, his eyes intent on the two Dox siblings. Unlike usual, Crabbe and Goyle were not in toe. He greeted them with a bow when he got close, the small owl seated on his forearm tipping its head as well. It was returned by each of the Dox siblings. Evangeline sent a confused glance Malfoy’s way, but he did not react to it.
“Hello Draco, something amiss?” Theodore asked, he was the older between them and thus more suited to talking. Malfoy cleared his throat, he seemed to have been instructed to be formal, but was for the most part unused to it and was overcompensating. Evangeline honestly expected she might do the very same, Theodore on the other hand was more easy going as always.
“No, my father just sent an owl to inform me that I will be arriving with you to your grounds,” he hesitated, “I believe our families are in the middle of a business meeting, but my mother will be here soon to escort both of us back.” It was an interesting day for a meeting indeed, both families were expecting children back after a long time away. The day that students arrived back from Hogwarts would constitute a break in meeting schedules for most pure-blooded families. Malfoy straightened and only then did Evangeline realize that he looked uneasy. Theodore nodded.
“I see, then we will expect Mrs. Black-Malfoy,” Theodore said, acknowledging Malfoy’s mother’s dual house well, then his smile brightened, becoming more friendly, “Draco you are welcome to wait here with us, as a friend, of course.” Malfoy visibly relaxed and Evangeline noted that Theodore had referred to him casually twice in the conversation. They waited briefly in silence, then Theodore struck up a conversation with Malfoy about quidditch. Malfoy obviously had some very strong opinions on first years not being allowed to join house teams and was especially angry that Harry Potter had been able to defy this rule whereas no one else had.
“Rather bothered me too,” Theodore responded, “Haven’t nearly seen the skill on the field yet to warrant it either.” Malfoy nodded vigorously.
“It’s downright terrible – he caught the snitch with his mouth! No finesse!” Malfoy cried, all previous notions of formality gone. Part of Evangeline wondered if that had been Theodore’s intention in broaching the topic of quidditch. Her brother chuckled.
“Some would argue I didn’t have any either, compared to that Oliver Wood,” his tone was lighthearted, but Malfoy suddenly grew quiet and somber.
“No, you were amazing,” he said softly.
Feeling the need to bolster the claim, Evangeline spoke up, “It’s true. Anyone could see it.” Theodore looked away, but Evangeline could tell it was with a small genuine smile.
~~
Narsissa Black-Malfoy arrived quickly enough. She smiled warmly at her son, giving him a squeeze at the shoulder then turning her smile on Theodore and Evangeline.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said, tilting her head down ever so slightly, they responded with the same, “Ready?” She stretched out her hand toward Theodore who took it without reservation, Malfoy had the other so Evangeline took Theodore’s. Then a sick swirling feeling came over her and everything went black.
This time the first things that came to her were the smell of the orchard and the chirping of delicate birds. She smiled as the familiar trees came into view. She may not have been fond of Dox manor in itself, but the grounds surrounding it were comforting and familiar. And home. Evangeline heard Theodore take a deep intake of break next to her, it seemed similarly content.
Their group walked forward, toward the main house. Malfoy and his mother walked arm in arm. They entered the house through the back door, Evangeline had to wonder why Mrs. Black-Malfoy would have taken them here instead of the main door. This one would have been closer to where any business was conducted in the house, increasing the chances of them interrupting. Or perhaps the intention was for them to interrupt?
Edmund squealed in delight when they crossed the threshold, it seemed too happy for what they found. The kitchen and large dining room were completely devoid of guests for business. Evangeline and Theodore shared a quizzical look, then turned it to the Malfoys. Mrs. Black-Malfoy smiled again, though something in her eyes didn’t quite match.
“They’re in your father’s study dears. There’s only the four of them,” she explained. Evangeline raised an eyebrow.
“Four?” she had assumed that would include her mother and father, as well as Mr. Malfoy. But who was the fourth?
Mrs. Black-Malfoy opened her mouth to answer, but it was Theodore that said something first, “Clark.” Mrs. Black-Malfoy nodded, her lips pressed into an unreadable line. She and Malfoy turned and started pushing his trunk into an unobtrusive corner. Evangeline just stood there as Theodore offered them the use of one of the guest rooms.
Her mind was reeling, Clark was home. Clark washome. Clark was having a meeting with her parents… and Mr. Malfoy. In father’s study, his most private place. Clark was home.
Clark was home and she couldn’t see him.
The last thought soured all the rest. Her brother would not seek her out, he may even leave immediately after his meeting, off somewhere else to do who knows what with who knows who. Her family was always hiding things from her, up until weeks ago Evangeline thought Theodore was the exception. That was dashed. If Theodore wasn’t truthful with her, Evangeline knew that no one else in this house ever would be. That included Clark, he had been the first to prove that right in their childhood anyway.
It seemed that their lot was to wait, so Evangeline took her trunk up to her room and started unpacking it, trying to do so before any houselves could come her way. They never really packed her things away right, always so exacting when Evangeline preferred all of her things kept in a particular fashion just not exactly kept. She changed out of her robes too. In difference to the guests in the home and in line with her new resolution to be a good child, it was a dress. Not the fanciest she had, but it was purple and paired with a comfortable sweater. She left her hair down though, degrading her look with the frizz.
Finally having the guts to leave her room, Evangeline came face to face with none other than Draco Malfoy. Theodore had given him the room across from her, despite the fact that it was him offering them to stay. The Malfoys, of course, would have received the room across from Clark. But no one ever really stayed across from her.
Wizard homes are often built weird – since their poor inhabitants had ancestors with an enormous amount of magical access and an astronomic lack of self restraint. The Malfoy and Dox homes were no exception to this rule, but Evangeline always thought she got the lower end of the stick. Malfoys got useful things, like locks that only answered to a room’s owner or silencing charms in their library. Instead, the Doxes had received very oddly shaped floors that changed because they wanted to. She might have shown the same fascination with these as she had for the moving staircases, but being present in this home all her life had slowly aged the novelty factor. Besides, she had never actually seen this particular oddity in motion, being the youngest child. This floor, the 1st from ground, held all of the bedrooms for the Dox siblings and the guest rooms. It was, however, prone to magicing itself smaller or larger to fit the amount of siblings currently living. So if there weren’t any, the floor would just cease to exist, if there was only one (as was the case with her father) then the floor would have only one room on the sibling’s side (the right) and only one room on the guest side (the left).
Like many things in wizard culture, it had resulted in some odd associations. The guest room opposite a sibling’s room was largely supposed to be for their guests. Even Evangeline’s parents commonly asked before placing someone in there. In essence, Theodore had made Malfoy her problem. Evangeline did not hate Malfoy. They had been decent friends growing up, as was the nature of their station, but she still felt awkward with him since their first day at Hogwarts and continued to fear some sort of backlash. Besides, he’d become someone you didn’t really want to associate with at school – a bully.
She said nothing to Malfoy, but must have been making enough of a funny face for him to smirk. Ignoring him, Evangeline slipped down the stairs and found Theodore on one of the sofas outside the study engrossed in a book. It was in French though, so she couldn’t catch a bit of it. She sat beside him and glared, waiting for him to look up. His eyes eventually meandered up to look at her, a hidden smugness.
“You had to have done that on purpose,” she muttered as he feigned innocence with his eyes. She took one of the throw pillows and made a move to bonk him on the head with it when the door to her father’s study swung open.