TAKING DOWN THE WALLS- Evan RosierxOC

*Dumbledore*

November 20th, 1975

Christmas was approaching and the castle seemed to lighten its spirit. Regulus now had a girlfriend. Rory was the only person who knew of their relationship, they didn't want anyone to know, especially Remus. Teachers were pushing students harder, however. They were having more tests every day and if you weren't paying attention during class, then you'd fail. The first quidditch match of the season was coming up. Everyone was going down to the pitch that afternoon to watch it. There was so much excitement around the castle. 

At breakfast, Rory sat beside Lily at the Hufflepuff table. They were chatting about who would win and taking bets. Lily said Gryffindor would win, and Rory was the contrary. As much as she hated flying, she like the sport. She thought it was an interesting mixture between most of the muggle sports. Suddenly there were hooting noises that came from the ceiling. Lots of owls came down and dropped parcels or letters to people. Rory spotted her own owl drop the daily prophet in front of her. She looked at the first page and grunted in anger. Another muggle attack. Death eaters were becoming more and more active now and the thought was scaring her. Her family was already killed by them but she still had Lily's family to worry about. Lily seemed to be deep in thought so she kept quiet. On her left, she found another brown barn owl beside her. She didn't know who it was from. Her grandma didn't write her letter. Cautiously she opened the letter and she was surprised by its sender

Dear Ms. Dunlap,

I hope you can come to my office before the quidditch match. I have something to discuss.

-Dumbledore

P.S. I like acid pops.

She had 30 minutes before the game. So she grabbed her bag and dashed out the great hall seeking the headmaster's office. She had been in there a couple of times due to her parent's death. She found the gargoyle guarding his office and said "acid pops". It sprung open leading to a staircase. She knocked on the door, and after she heard a "come in", she stepped inside. Dumbledore's office was very interesting and Rory found it a soothing place to be. She petted Fawks. The bird seemed happy with the attention it was getting. 

"Ah, Rory, I see you've got my message then," said a voice. Rory looked up at the old man. He had half-moon spectacles and blue twinkling eyes. "Yes I came as soon as I read the letter." Dumbledore sat down at his desk and looked at the girl in front of him. "I wanted to discuss your parent's death." Rory tensed a bit and thoughts were running through her head. "The auors managed to find the murderer. Do you wish to know?" Rory had the urge to punch something but she kept her cool "yes please". Dumbledore observed her for a bit. "It was Bellatrix Black" Rory raised an eyebrow. Wasn't she like, 18 or something. As if he read her mind, which he probably did, "yes she is very young. I believe that she was tasked to do it by Voldemort as loyalty to the death eaters." Rory laughed a little.

 "So after three years they finally figured it out?! Even the muggles could have found out within months! And am I even safe at home? Bellatrix could just pop by anytime and say 'hello I forgot to kill you, let's have some tea shall we'" Rory was full of anger but Dumbledore seemed oddly calm. "Do not worry dear. for the past three years, you have been secretly watched over. Not in a stalker kind of way, but there are people looking after you and your grandmother." Rory didn't trust herself to speak so she simply asked if she could leave, and ran off to the quidditch pitch.

****

When Rory arrived at the stadium, she was amazed by the number of people there were. It looked as if the whole school had come to watch the first game. There was an uneven sea of red and green people, green being much smaller than red. Before going to the stands to meet with her friends, she dashed to the changing room, hoping to find Reg or Evan. She found Regulus wearing his quidditch gear but he looked terribly nervous. She surprised him with a big hug before letting go. "Good luck reg! I'll be cheering for you." Regulus only smiled before Rory set off to find Evan. Gladly enough, she found Evan by himself observing his broom for any damage. "Good luck Evan!" she gave him a bright smile which he returned. "I see you're cheering for us?" "Yea I am, can I borrow your scarf? you know to show that I support you guys. I didn't have time after breakfast. " Evan recalled seeing Rory panic looking while dashing out the hall. He lent her his scarf 

"Is everything alright? I saw you ran out of the hall at breakfast." Rory had a flashback of her conversation with Dumbledore. "Yea I'm fine" Evan could tell she was lying but couldn't say more because there was a horn that went off indicating that he had to leave. "See you later!" Rory said.

****

For once, Slytherin played fairly and won. Rory was ecstatic as she gained 5 galleons from Lily. From high up the stands, she could see the anger radiating off of James and Sirius.  Rory ran down to the pitch to congratulate some people. However, she had to wait a while before she could get Regulus alone. She gave him a quick hug before he ran off to find Athena. Evan was the only one left on the pitch and surprisingly, there was no one in the stands either. "Congratulations on your big win! I got 5 galleons out of it." She smiled cheekily. "Well, I'm happy that you benefited from it." "Wow, Evan using big words now, what did I miss?" Evan scowled slightly at her teasing. "Rory is something bothering you, you seemed very distant before the game," Evan asked softly. 

"Dumbledore called me to his office this morning, said that the Aurors figured out that Bellatrix black killed my family." She shrugged like it was nothing. "Hmm, my psycho cousin huh? I swear the next time I see her-" "Don't say stuff you don't mean" Evan stayed quiet. "But I do mean it. If she is dead, the whole world would be much safer." Rory grinned at his imagination. "Well I give you good luck on that." the two stayed quiet and Evan knew that deep down Rory was hurting. He rushed to the broom storage and brought out two brooms. Wordlessly he gave her one. "You know how to fly right?" " yea I do but what are we doing?" 

"I'm going to cheer you up" Evan hoped on his broom and Rory followed suit. Slowly the two lifted upwards. "Follow me." Unsure of where he was taking her, Rory cautiously followed the blond. Evan led them up and around the pitch, gliding across the field approaching some trees. Rory couldn't map out where they were going so she kept close to Evan. When they reached the black lake, Rory almost forgot to breathe. The scene in front of her was beautiful. It was sunset and the sun was perfectly halved across the lake. While she was looking at the lake, Evan was watching Rory's face with admiration. "Oh, it so beautiful Evan," she turned her head and was met by blue eyes. "Thank you" she whispered.