The Mute Malfoy

FORTY-FOUR

Evelyn was on her way back to the Gryffindor common room with Diane after Breakfast when she saw Aspen with her head in her potions book. The poor girl was bumping into everyone around her. Evelyn excused herself from Diane and headed over to Aspen. Evelyn happened to be another one of Aspens victims, as their shoulders collided.

"Oh, sorry! Oh! Hi Evelyn." Aspen said when she finally looked up.

Evelyn smiled. "You are quite the hazard in the halls." She said laughing. Aspen blushed at her comment. "What's captured your attention?"

"Potions. I'm kind of failing." Aspen confessed.

"Well, you're in luck. All my friends tend to be failing potions so I'm pretty good at tutoring, and I'm free until the afternoon. If you want we can spend some time brewing some easy potions from this year's course work." Evelyn offered.

Aspen smiled big. "Really? I'll take all the help I can get. I'm warning you, though, I've been told I'm an awful student."

"I think I can handle you." She joked, making Aspen blush again. As the girls headed to the common room to grab their cauldron and ingredients, The two girls were very chatty. Evelyn had never felt so comfortable around someone so quickly. She was usually very cautious around new people, but here she was laughing alongside someone she had only know for a few days. There was just something about Aspen. For one, she had an infectious smile. In the few conversations they had had, any time Aspen smiled, Evelyn couldn't help but smile as well. She could tell Aspen was nervous around her. Evelyn didn't really know why. She thought she was pretty docile for the most part. Sure there was her little outburst in Umbridge's class, but that was warranted. Maybe Evelyn gave off an intimidating vibe and she just didn't realize it. She was a Malfoy after all, and Malfoys tended to use intimidation as a tactic to get what they wanted.

    She pushed those thoughts aside as she climbed the stairs to her and Hermione's room. Aspen followed behind her. She opened the door and saw the room empty. Hermione must've been off knitting or patrolling the halls, she thought. Aspen was visibly shocked entering the room. Evelyn forgot that most girls had to share a room with four other students. She was privileged that she only had to live with Hermione. The two managed the room together well. Both had instincts to keep their room clean, so it was always presentable. Not like when they roomed with Lavender Brown who never picked up after herself.

"Wow, you only room with one other girl! I wish I had that luxury. Almost every girl in my dorm snores but me." Aspen said as she began to look around.

"Yeah, it's just Hermione and I." She said as she dug through her trunk for her potions supplies.

"Hey, what's this random door for?" Aspen pointed at the door that led to the boys dorm. Evelyn was contemplating sharing the fact that she was a seer with her, but didn't know if it was the right time. Plus she had already spilled her secret once this week.

"Oh it's nothing, it was just in the room when we moved in this year." Evelyn brushed it off.

"Have you tried opening it?" Aspen had her hand out stretched and was heading to the door.

"Don't open it!" Evelyn raised her voice. Aspen jumped and she instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten loud. Just please, don't open the door." Aspen nodded.

    Evelyn could feel the tension as they sat in the middle of the room as they were in the middle of brewing the easiest fifth year potion she could find. She now knew why Aspen was nervous around her. She didn't realize she had that power. It didn't make her feel good. In fact it made her feel worse about herself. She hated everything her family stood for and didn't want to be anything like them and here she was, having an out burst about the door. As their tutoring session went on, Evelyn would give Aspen instructions and she would just nod. Evelyn realized if she wanted to keep the pink haired girl as a friend, she would have to start getting honest with her.