Her Dark Artifice [t.r]

Chapter 8: Ballads of Autumn

VIII

Sunday arrived. Evadne completed her homework, diligent to not rack up in any academic debt before October came. After breakfast ended, she joined her friends on a trip down to Hogsmeade Village before they had to return to the castle for supper.

Clad in a long purple dress and a black cloak lined with crushed velvet, Evadne walked in tandem with Katherine, Nicholas, and Lilian, the group of four lingering behind the other variegated group of students heading to the village by foot instead of carriage in the crisp afternoon whilst birds sang in the treetops.

The sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky rife with birds slicing through the cobalt canopy. Still, despite the savoured sunshine, the air was brisk, as if there was some divine hurry to reach the winter. Dry and dead leaves crushed beneath Evadne's feet, and when she breathed great clouds formed in the air before her.

"It's freezing," said Lilian.

Evadne nodded. "I can't wait to get inside and have some butterbeer!"

"Same," said Nicholas. "I'm craving some pie. You should have come with us yesterday - it was great fun. You should've seen everyone's faces when they saw Katherine's pink hair."

"You're always craving something," Katherine muttered, glowering at him. She was unable to fix her hair still, but a visit to Professor Slughorn reassured her that the spell would wear off before the end of the day.

Nicholas rolled his eyes. "I am transforming into a man — I need my meals."

"You're the scrawniest fifteen-year-old I've ever seen," Lilian teased. "I ought to believe your transformation is a little delayed, Nicky."

"Says you," Nicholas bit back playfully. "Who still has the same figure as when she was eleven."

Evadne's eyes widened and Katherine gasped.

Lilian pursed her lips and immediately marched off, her arms folded across her chest.

Nicholas raised his brows. "Too far?"

Evadne pinched the tip of her nose. "Yes, Nicholas. Too far."

"Should I go after her?" he asked, clueless. But Lilian was already lost in the raucous crowd.

"Just leave her be," Evadne said. "What you said was really mean, Nicholas."

"She insulted me first!"

"But you know that Lilian was issues regarding her body-image. You don't."

Nicholas huffed, indignant. "How do you know that I don't?"

Evadne put her hands in her pockets and sighed. "If you can't see the wrong in your words then nothing I say can convince you otherwise."

"Alright, Merlin," Nicholas murmured. He spotted his cousin, Darius Nott, who was also the male sixth-year prefect for Slytherin, and hastily ran off to greet him although he seemed to be engaged in a heated conversation with Irma Crabbe.