Troublesome

I'm really not happy with this chapter but it could be worse I suppose. I just want to say that I'm almost finished with this story and that it turned out alot worse than I originally anticipated. It sort of took its own destructive path. Thank you to all who have reviewed my story. It gives me hope that some one likes this story even when I do not. I'll be extremely relieved when it's over and done with. To me it's incredibly depressing and it shows you were my mind is most of the time, haha. It's not that I hate it, I'm in love with the idea it's self, but god it's so out of control, you know? Anyway, let me know what you think. You might be able to cheer me up. It really has been a shitty past couple of months


There was something wrong with her.

He could see it.

She tried to pass it off as exhaustion, but he was exhausted as well.

After their little rendezvous in the Staff bathroom, she’d warmed up considerably towards him, though she still kept late nights and refused to take care of Leilene when she was supposed to. The way she looked at her daughter scared him…

Who did she think she was fooling? The other teachers had been by to see him about how she wasn’t doing her work, though she made a huge show of doing her homework, and her grades in potions was adequate enough. What was wrong with her? The more their daughter grew, the more Evelyn shrank, the bigger the bags became under her eyes and the stranger she acted. Leilene was starting to sleep regularly now, though on occasion, she had woken them both up for some reason or another.

Severus was going to get to the bottom of this. His daughter needed her mother. He did not want Leilene turning out like Evelyn, though when he thought on it, Evelyn wasn’t so bad, it was the choices she had made…they had made…and look where they were now. Leilene deserved so much better than that.

One night, Evelyn had come in way past curfew, though Severus knew better than to ask where she’d been. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to know. He was sitting at his desk, grading essays, waiting on her to come back. He wanted to speak with her, but the moment she stepped inside his office, he immediately forgot what he wanted to tell her. She looked about ready to collapse, and nearly did, but he caught her and drug her into his bedchambers.

“You haven’t been eating, have you?” He accused her, sweeping his hair out of his face to get a better look at her. He was annoyed with her at that point; he didn’t have it in him to feel sorry for her. In fact, he rather felt like slapping her. She managed a weak smile.

“My mum will be thrilled the next time she sees me,” she said with a cackle.

“Have you been drinking?”

She blinked her eyes slowly at him, and he wondered how much sleep she’d actually gotten over the past few weeks. Severus knew that the N.E.W.T’s could be extremely stressful, but this was something else entirely.

“Ah no,” she mumbled finally. “How I wish.”

“When was the last time you ate, Evelyn?” Severus demanded. Even her hair was lank and dull, and almost matched the consistency of his own. For the first time, he felt repulsed by her looks. She’d always been some what attractive to him, but he never thought anything would come of it, certainly not this. The first time he laid eyes on her and really noticed her was in her first year, during her first potion’s lesson. Evelyn had been so eager to learn and had always received top marks as far as he knew, and he wondered what had happened to that particular Evelyn because who ever this stranger was laying in his bed, she certainly was not his wife. Something, he knew, something had to have triggered this reaction in her, and he knew that he was not the direct cause; he was merely just a side effect. Now that Severus thought on it, there had to be something extremely wrong when she offered him fellatio. “Why haven’t you been eating?”

“Because I don’t fucking feel like it, alright?” She snapped. “I turned into this…this…whale when I got pregnant and I had to shed the weight some how.”

“That’s not an excuse for not taking proper care of your self! Do you want to die a slow horrible death? Is that it? Because that’s exactly where you’re headed if you don’t stop self destructing!”

Evelyn rolled her eyes at him and shut them, heavily.

“You try being married to you and see how you fair.”

“Oh that’s hardly an excuse, Evelyn,” Severus rather let her insults roll off of him, but the urge to slap her didn’t wane. He snapped his long fingers loudly and Nita appeared, Leilene in her arms. Severus took the now chubby baby from the elf and said, “Bring your mistress a sandwich or something left over from supper.”

The little elf bowed deeply and disappeared. Leilene screeched gleefully at being woken by her father. She reached out and slapped Severus slightly on the nose and giggled. She had been born with dark hair, but now after being alive for a few months, her hair was starting to grow in as a soft wispy blonde, and Severus imagined that was what Evelyn looked like when she was but an infant. The small child stopped wiggling for a moment and stared deeply into her father’s eyes, her own wide with fascination. Her small hand lightly touched his cheek before she slapped him and screeched with joy again. Severus, however, was too preoccupied with Evelyn at the moment to play Leilene’s game. Evelyn was sick. There was just no getting around it.

Never a dull moment, he thought bitterly. Never a dull fucking moment.

The house elf returned soon enough and he forced Evelyn to sit up. He thought for a moment she might refuse to eat, but was soon proved wrong as she picked up the fork and took a rather large bite of mashed potato, washing to down with a goblet of pumpkin juice. Severus could almost see the color come back to her skin. He watched her as Leilene began to settle in his arms and passed out. He cradled her head gently but did not take his eyes off of Evelyn, not until he was sure she’d eat every last morsel.

“I’ve put her on another diet, she doesn’t need to feed from you anymore,” he said, remembering what he had wanted to tell her. Evelyn didn’t look up at him and shrugged her shoulders as she took a bite out of a slice of corned beef. “Not that it matters, you hardly fed her your self anyway.”

“I’ve been busy,” she said after she swallowed. “I’m sorry I’m not the perfect mum.”

“You could try harder, at least!”

Evelyn rolled her eyes at him and muttered, “Here we go again.” He’d admit that he’d been a bit pushy about her spending more time with Leilene but he thought it wise that she spent a little bit more time with her daughter than she did. The girl hardly ever gave her child a second glance. Couldn’t she see that Leilene was a blessing rather than the burden Evelyn acted like? Why couldn’t she see Leilene through his eyes?

He didn’t want to look at her anymore.

She disgusted him.

So he took the infant and strode out of the bedchambers.

He’d come back when he didn’t hate Evelyn so much.

***

Severus was not the only one to notice a change in Evelyn. Liam McAllister was his name and he’d been watching Evelyn for a little over a year. He’d first noticed her at the beginning of their sixth year when they had originally been partnered in Herbology. She had confided in him on the first day that she wanted to be a Healer, just like her mother, and that she really needed a good grade so if he wasn’t willing to do a little work then she had no interest in him as a partner. Of course, he agreed. He wanted to be a Healer, just like her, and was a Ravenclaw before he was anything else. Grades, to him and like her, were the most important thing. They’d made such a great team in their sixth year that it was natural that they would maintain partnership in their seventh. As they worked together, he began to feel something for her; he began to like her the more he got to know her. It seemed like every time they ran into each other, he found himself noticing something about her that he liked.

But it was different. He had started to notice the change in her in November and it only seemed to get worse as the months passed by. Little by little she began to deteriorate before his eyes. Now it was March, nearly April and as he worked side by side with her he thought that she looked like a zombie. She had huge bags under her eyes, her face looked thin, her cheeks hollow and she wasn’t really doing much work. During the last month, she’d skipped Herbology four times. When he asked her about it she said she had stayed up all night studying and had slept in. It was believable enough, he had been losing an ample amount of sleep as well but sleeping in until four o clock in the afternoon? It really was odd.

Another thing he noticed was that she never showed up at supper. He watched for her, every single night, and she rarely appeared. He didn’t let it bother him as he was caught up in the excitement of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, along with the rest of the school, but after a while it began to worry him. So, one night, he decided to follow her. He wanted to get to the bottom of things. He liked her, he wanted to ask her out, but first he needed to figure out why she was acting so strange.

Liam trailed after her, one day, after Herbology. He was thankful she showed up or else he might have spent the rest of his life trying to figure out where in the extremely expansive castle she was. He brushed his friends off, told them that he was tired and that he wanted to get in a little nap before supper. They were disappointed because they usually spent that time studying, reviewing each other, but they understood. They were all tired as well.

Liam kept his distance from her as she hurried towards the building. He hid around a corner as she briskly trotted down a hallway, only looking long enough to see which direction she was heading. She headed down to the dungeons, not surprisingly, but what got him was that she didn’t enter the dorm room. No, she kept her back pressed against the wall, one of her feet propped up, balancing her. She waited, and so did Liam, for the last of the students to clear out of the hallway. Just when he thought they were all gone and that it was safe to approach her, a blond haired boy exited the dorm room. Liam recognized him as Draco Malfoy. Liam thought that Draco would probably pass Evelyn, but no, Liam was annoyed to see that he stopped in front of her smirking evilly. Liam pulled out his wand, ready to curse the blond if he dared to hurt Evelyn in any way, shape or fashion. Liam was sure Draco was up to no good. To his surprise, however, Evelyn smirked right back and took his hand, letting him lead her away. He thought it strange, but something told him to wait, and not to follow, not just yet. They turned the corner and Liam waited for what seemed to be hours. He was starting to grow annoyed, and was about to give up and head to his own dorm when two large fourth year boys exited the Slytherin dorm. They were talking in hushed voices, but Liam could understand them almost as if they were standing next to him thanks to a magnifying charm.

“Did he say what was going to happen?” one of them asked. The other shrugged his shoulders dumbly.

“Didn’t say exactly,” the other grunted. “He just said that Hewitt had made Parkinson angry some how and that she wanted Draco to get revenge.”

“Do you think we’ll get a shag out of this?”

“Probably, he said Hewitt was pretty easy.” The two cackled and marched off together. Liam’s heart pounded in his chest and he understood. He understood that this was what he was waiting for and that Evelyn was in danger. He followed the two troll like boys, hoping to god that he wasn’t too late.

***

Evelyn looked around the old abandoned dungeon in confusion. It was very dusty and cob webs were sprinkled all over the ceiling and floor. This was not usually Draco’s idea of a good place to meet. He was acting odd anyway, and it was making Evelyn nervous. He had approached her at lunch and insisted that she meet him after her last class. He said he had a surprise for her, and she was a bit touched but now she was frightened. Every time Draco looked at her, he smirked, and it wasn’t his usual smirk. There was something cold and malicious in it.

“Can’t we turn on a light? I can’t see,” Evelyn said as she drew her wand. Just as she was about to light the tip of it with a simple spell, she was disarmed. She couldn’t see very far in front of her and Draco wasn’t saying a word. She could hear footsteps and at first she thought they were Draco’s but she heard two sets of footsteps. Now she was beyond frightened. She made a mad dash for the door, but as soon as she went to open it, it opened its self and she found herself being pushed back by two large figures. She was shoved to the ground and the door shut once more before she could see what was really going on. “If this is your idea of a joke, Draco, it’s not funny! You’re scaring me!”

Some one laughed sadistically from the far end of the dungeon, her laugh echoed all around the dungeon, its high pitched tone sending shivers down Evelyn’s spine. This wasn’t good at all.

“What’s the matter, whore? Scared of the dark? I thought that’s how you preferred to do it, so you don’t have to look at who is pounding you,” a female voice spat at her.

“Pansy?” Evelyn managed to ask. Just then a few dozen lanterns were lit all around the room and Evelyn was able to see perfectly. The chubby blond clapped gleefully.

“Oh well spotted, whore! I’m proud of you! You’re not as dumb as I thought. And as a reward, I’m going to give you something!” Pansy nodded her head at the two large boys that Evelyn didn’t recognize and they pulled her up off the ground, both of them taking one of her arms, holding her roughly and tightly. Evelyn squirmed a bit, trying to throw off their clamp like grasps, but the more she struggled, the tighter they held.

And then Evelyn understood everything. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She felt a bit winded when she saw Draco sidle up next to Pansy and put an arm around her waist.

“You son of a bitch,” Evelyn spat at him. Pansy pointed her wand at Evelyn and suddenly Evelyn felt as though her feet were on fire. She yelped but could not move due to the fact that the two trolls here holding her so firmly.

“Don’t you dare speak to him like that, whore!” Pansy shrieked. “The only reason he spent so much time with you was because I told him to! He never really liked you, whore. Why do you think he never fucked you? He couldn’t stand to touch you like that and I wouldn’t let him. He’d probably catch some sort of disease.”

Tears sparkled behind Evelyn’s eyes. “Why?”

Pansy marched towards her, and grabbed a handful of her hair. Her face was a mere few centimeters away from Evelyn’s. Evelyn could see that her eyes were glittery as though she were on the verge of tears and Pansy spoke in a restricted voice. “Because I wanted to hurt you like you hurt me! But then I realized there’s no hurting some one like you emotionally. You don’t have a conscience; you made that much clear when you blew Draco off. All he was to you was a toy but now I’ve got it all figured out, whore. Crabbe and Goyle here have been aching to meet you. We’ve told them all about you, all about how you like to take advantage of men and they want to set you straight. “

Pansy let go of her hair and wiped a fallen tear from her face. She smiled maliciously.

“Pansy, this isn’t the answer!” Evelyn pleaded, hoping she could talk some sense into the girl. “I refused to talk to that woman, Pansy! I didn’t tell her anything! Please, let me go!” Evelyn began to weep openly now. She was very terrified and it didn’t help matters much that one of the trolls had stuck a hand up her skirt and had started to massage her bottom roughly. The only thought that ran through Evelyn’s mind at that point was, I’m going to get raped.

Pansy motioned Draco to follow her out of the door, and he obeyed. Just before they exited, Pansy turned around and said, “This is for what you did to my father. Have fun with her, boys!” And then she was gone. Suddenly, Evelyn found herself on the ground once more. They had shoved her down with such force that she’d only barely had time to throw her hands in front of her and she scraped her palms and knees against the floor. It was at that point that she realized she didn’t have time to be scared any more. She had to fight. She wished she had her wand, but she hadn’t seen where it went or hadn’t noticed if Pansy or Draco had taken it with them when they left. Evelyn flipped over on her back and watched as the two boys descended upon her. Just as one of them was about to bend down over her, she thrust her leg out and her foot connected with his jaw with a sickening crack. He staggered back, holding his jaw, swearing as the other glanced momentarily at his partner in crime and then back at her, an angry glint in his eyes.

“Bitch,” he spat. She tried to kick at him, but the other one had recovered and they successfully pinned her down to the ground, tearing at her clothing, trying to remove them. Evelyn grew angry. She was NOT about to be raped. There was no way in hell, and she wasn’t going down with out a fight. If there was one thing she learned in life, it was that she had to hold her own. But there was something else that told her just to lay back and take it all because she really did deserve it.

No, she told herself, no! But the voice grew louder and louder in her head. She hadn’t realized it, but she was struggling so much the two boys were having difficulty keeping her pinned down to the ground. She was only aware of it when one of them said, “Knock her out.” She shrieked at the top of her lungs, hoping some one would hear her, some one, any one. And it worked, because just as one of them drew up a large meaty fist and brought it down upon her face, the door flew open and some one entered the room. And then everything went black.

***

Evelyn awoke with a start, with only one thing on her mind. She wasn’t aware that she was now in the Hospital Wing or that there was a certain good looking Ravenclaw boy sitting at her side, looking tired and haggard.

“Leilene!” Evelyn cried, suddenly. The boy sitting beside her stood and called for Madam Pomfrey. The medi-witch bustled in looking some what annoyed with a goblet full of some sort of potion which she then forced down Evelyn’s throat. Evelyn looked up at Liam, who was staring down at her with an expression of concern on his face. “Where is Leilene? They didn’t get to her did they?” Tears began to fall down her face and she buried her head in her knees and began to sob. Liam looked up at Madam Pomfrey, confused by what the hysterical girl was saying.

“Her daughter,” Madam Pomfrey explained. “She wants to know if her daughter is alright. I think you ought to go find Professor Snape.” She said, sternly to him and then turned back to Evelyn, trying to calm her down. Liam’s head felt heavy. A daughter? She had a daughter? He left the hospital wing, his mind floating with questions and he wasn’t really aware of where his feet were taking him. He only came to his senses when he bumped into Professor Snape.

“Are your eyes defective, boy?” Snape hissed at him. “Watch where you’re going.” Snape made to brush pass him but Liam’s mind snapped to, and he stopped the Professor.

“Actually, I was told to come find you,” Liam said. Snape stopped and glared at the boy. Liam cowered a bit. The Potion’s Professor had always intimidated him and Liam thanked his lucky stars that he was not in Gryffindor or else he feared he might have been hexed to hell and back if he were.

“Well?” The Professor demanded, his hands on his hips. “Stop wasting my time, boy! I’ve got more pressing matters at hand.”

Liam cleared his throat. Time to be strong, there wasn’t time to fear the formidable figure in front of him. “Evelyn Hewitt was attacked earlier this evening and she’s asking to see her daughter. Madam Pomfrey told me to come find you.” The Professor’s scowl immediately melted and he grew frantic. He grabbed Liam by the front of his robes.

“Explain, boy!” He shouted. Liam struggled a bit, now more than a bit terrified. Snape shook him a bit.

“I don’t know exactly…what…I just followed her from Herbology this afternoon because I was worried about her…and…she went down to an abandoned dungeon…and I heard her screaming so I broke in and…”

“You saved her?” The boy nodded frantically and Snape let go of his robes. Liam wanted to run, far, far away. “Who?”

“I…I…don’t know…” Liam sputtered, still shaken by being handled in such a careless way by the Potion’s master. “She’s fine now, she just woke up, but she’s asking for her daughter…Professor…” His courage was starting to increase now because the whole situation was so confusing and Liam wanted answers. “Is her daughter here? At Hogwarts?”

The Professor stared at him for a second before slowly nodding his head. “Follow me, McAllister.”

So, Liam did as he was told, as if he could do anything else. He followed the tall Professor down to his office and Liam feared the Professor might chop him up and serve him to the school if he went into his office, alone with him. Liam shook those thoughts from his head as he stepped into the office. The Professor told him to take a seat and he disappeared, only to emerge a few moments later with a sleeping infant in his arms. Liam could see that the child was definitely Evelyn’s, though she looked familiar in another way…a way that Liam could not quite place.

“This is Leilene,” The Professor said softly. “And, as you can see, she’s perfectly safe and sound.”

Liam nodded, but he still had questions on his mind, questions he intended to have answered.

“You can go tell Evelyn her daughter is safe.”

“Professor, can I ask you something?” Liam was a little bit distressed over his bravery. He wanted answers, but he wasn’t sure he wanted the overgrown bat to answer them for him.

“No, because I know what you’re going to ask.” Snape had turned around and had his back towards him. Liam couldn’t help himself.

“Who’s the father?”

Silence. Liam couldn’t stand it. But then it all made perfect sense. Liam was a little bit horrified but was relieved because now he finally understood. Liam hated confusion. He hated being left in the dark. But some one had lit a match in his brain and he saw it all.

“I want to thank you for saving her,” Snape said quietly. Liam looked down at his lap, not really sure what to say. “She has enough on her plate as it is, Mr. McAllister. I don’t think it wise for you to try and pursuit her.” Liam flushed deep red. How could he have known? How did the Professor know? Besides, after realizing the shocking revelation that surrounded Evelyn, Liam wasn’t sure he wanted to anymore. He didn’t want to be caught in the middle of that one.

“Oh no, Professor, it was nothing like that,” Liam said, trying to defend himself.

“I worried about her too. And do you see where it’s gotten me?” Snape whipped around, glaring fiercely at Liam. “Evelyn doesn’t care about anyone but herself. She doesn’t care about her husband and she certainly doesn’t care about her daughter.”

“Her…husband?” Liam managed. How much more twisted could this situation get?

“You go back to the Hopsital Wing and you tell her that her husband says that Leilene is perfectly safe and that no, she can’t see her. If some one attacked her and she fears for the safety of her daughter, then her daughter needs to stay put,” Snape snarled. “Tell her that Leilene is perfectly safe and that her father won’t let anything happen to her.”

Chills ran up Liam’s spine. Evelyn Hewitt was actually Evelyn Snape? How much further did this go? God, no wonder Evelyn had been acting so strangely. Liam stood numbly and made to leave.

“Mr. McAllister, you won’t tell anyone about this,” Snape said.

“No, Professor, I won’t. I’m sorry about your wife,” Liam replied and shut the door behind him. There were so many people he could tell, but Severus knew that Liam cared about the girl and wouldn’t do anything to harm her further.

At least he didn’t have that to worry about.