The Snake Pit || Mattheo Riddle

Chapter 11: Evan Lewis

Her glimpse of the thinly hooded person set goosebumps up her arms. She shook out her hands carefully swapping the book from each hand. She didn't know what it was, or worse, if it was even there in the first place. She peered around the corner trying to catch it again, but the stacks were quiet.

'You alright?' a voice drifted from behind her. Her heart jumped into her throat and she turned slowly.

A Ravenclaw boy she recognised from her classes looked down at her with concern. His hair was a sandy blond and his eyes a dark blue. He was lean and tall but not lanky. He held a tower of books under his upturned nose.

'Uh, yeah,' Octavia said quickly, 'Just thought I saw something,' she whispered, casting a worried gaze over her shoulder. Nothing. Was she going mad?

He was nodding, head tilting his hair flopped to the side.

'I'm Evan, by the way,' he shifted the books to one hand and let them lean on his chest while he stuck out his hand. 'Evan Lewis.' Octavia grasped his hand and shook, she felt uneasy at how polite he seemed.

'Uh, Octavia Lemaire,' she stammered, releasing his hand quickly.

'I know,' he smiled a softness that crinkled his eyes. Her eyebrows shot up.

'Oh?' she asked attentively. The tower of books collapsed at Evan's feet. They bent simultaneously to pick them up.

'Yeah,' he shrugged, 'Beauxbatons transfer, right?' he was still smiling and she relaxed slightly.

'Yeah, that's right,' she heaved herself to her feet holding half the books, 'where are you sitting?' she inquired, shrugging the books. He gestured to a seat a few paces away from where she had laid out her things. They settled them down on his desk. She nodded at him eager to finish up her own homework, but he began talking again.

'You doing the Transfiguration homework?' he asked leaning the back of his legs on his desk, arms crossed. She merely nodded. 'Do you need help? I've already finished mine' his smile had turned lopsided in a devil may care way.

'No, I'm alright thanks,' Octavia responded with a shake of her head. She was backing away towards her own desk, coaxing the interaction to a close. He persisted stepping towards her.

'Maybe some company then?' he urged. Octavia's heart was beating fast. She had spent her first few days dealing with the consequences of being sorted into Slytherin, now a Ravenclaw was being nice, it made her queasy.

'Uh, yeah, if you want to?' she stammered. He lifted his books in one swift moment and dumped them across from her at the table. It gave a great bang. She sat down, placing Transfiguration and Texture by Hector Sevenforth down beside her carefully.

'So, why're you retaking Seventh Year? I can't imagine Beauxbatons was overrun with Death Eaters,' he was leaning towards her, chin in his hand, casual. She tried to relax.

'Uh, my father was worried, we went into hiding, he was a bit paranoid by that point,' her voice was barely above a whisper. She didn't know why she was telling him this. It felt fair though, he seemed genuine, it was her uptight attitude that was ruining it. She sighed and flattened her parchment.

'Oh, I see, I'm sorry for your loss,' he matched her tone, and her head snapped up to look at him. His brow was creased and his mouth whitened under the pressure of pushing his lips together. It was hard for her brain to compute his natural kindness, especially after days of being treated consistently like crap by the rest of the school.

'Thanks,' she smiled sadly. Octavia thought, maybe if her father wasn't dead, she wouldn't be so ready to be betrayed. It was a heavy thought.

'Why'd you move to Hogwarts? Why not just go back to Beauxbatons?' she had his undivided attention and it made her stomach jump. She could feel the heat creeping up her neck as his big blue eyes boar into hers.