Chapter 19: Evan's Worry
The fire burned quietly as Evan wrote, and when the others came back, he had finished the article, leaving only a few details to be edited.
"Evan!" called Hermione as she and Colin entered the common room, she ran in with a happy face, "That was awesome, we took a myriad of photos, and got a manuscript from Professor Lockhart."
"Well done." said Evan as he wrote the last letter
"Let me have a look." said Hermione while she took the parchment, and immediately became astonished when she noticed the contents., "Oh my God, this is…."
Before she could finish what she was going to say, Harry and Ron walked into the common room, they seemed to be in a horrible mood compared to Hermione and Colin.
"Guys, tonight sucks!" said Ron in a monotone voice, "When we left, we ran in Peeves the Poltergeist on the second floor who through a Dungbomb and then we were almost caught by Filch who thought we did it."
"Wait, what were you doing there, if I remember correctly there shouldn't be anyone there." Evan focused on the reason they were on that floor since it had Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom on it.
Evan had tried to talk to Moaning Myrtle before but before he could he was caught by Filches cat, Mrs Norris, and had to waste a lot of time trying to explain why he was trying to sneak into the girl's bathroom.
"We thought we saw Ginny pass, but that's beside the point." said Ron as he waved to dismiss it, "The point is we managed to escape from Filch and find Nick on the fifth floor, he agreed to convince other ghosts to help us gather news on one condition, and that is…."
"To attend his 500th Deathday party on Halloween." said Harry with a feeble voice, "And we have promised to!""Think about it, on Halloween in the basement at Nearly Headless Nicks Deathday party," said Ron as he took a deep breath. Evan, Colin, and Hermione who were sitting by the fire seemed to feel indifferent to the matter.
Evan was thinking about Ginny, while Hermione was utterly engrossed in Evan's story and didn't hear a single word that Ron was saying.
"What the hell is going on with the two of you, are you not surprised, It's a ghost's party….." said Ron but before he finished his words Harry pulled him aside since he noticed Hermione had an unusual expression, her hands were clasped tightly and her eyes were bloodshot.
Ron stopped because he was unsure if he had angered Hermione.
"Hermione, are you all right?" whispered Harry.
"I'm ok, Harry!" said Hermione as looked up while wiping her eyes with her hands.
In the next second, she suddenly stood up and gave Harry a hug.
"Hermione, what…." said Harry he was at a loss for words.
"Harry, this is the article that Evan wrote, I think you should read it," said Hermione while shoving the parchment into Harry's hands.
Harry shifted his gaze to the parchment, and a moment later he turned pale after he realized what had been written.
"Evan, this..."
"I know what happened from Bathilda Bagshot, she was your parent's neighbour in Godric's Hollow, she saw what transpired that day," explained Evan.
The tension in the air grew causing everyone to stay silent.
"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" murmured Ron, so Hermione hastily whispered the details to him.
After Hermione finished explaining stuff to Ron, Harry who looked even paler now stood there with a look of fear on his face. "Harry, Evan wrote these things about your mother, didn't you know about this stuff already?" asked Hermione
"I never knew, no one has ever taken the time to tell me exactly what happens before," answered Harry with a trembling voice, trying his best to keep his tears at bay.
But try as he must small droplets began to fall to the parchment.
"I'm sorry, Harry!", whispered Evan, he noticed how much the things he wrote hurt Harry.
For over ten years Harry had never known his parents, and now to write about their death in detail is a very cruel thing for him to do.
"It's not your fault?" sobbed Harry while rubbing his eyes.
Harry didn't want others to see him cry so he ran to his bedroom while clutching the parchment tightly.
"Don't worry I'll calm him down," said Ron as he ran after Harry.
Beside the fireplace, there was only a frustrated Evan, a red-eyed Hermione, and Colin who was left clueless through the entire ordeal.
"It's my fault for not consulting Harry before I wrote about his mother."
"I think you write well." said Hermione as she came over and hugged Evan, "Harry just needs some time to digest this matter."
When Evan heard Hermione consoling him, his mood became somewhat better. He gave Bathilda Bagshot's reply to Hermione and soon the topic switched to the newspaper content and typesetting.
Time went by, Colin sat for a while before leaving, and Hermione stayed until midnight before going back to bed with a large stack of papers.
When the fire was about to burn out, only Evan was left in the common room, but then he saw Ginny sneak in.
She looked very embarrassed, she looked like she had been wrestling a troll. her robe was full of dust, her face was slightly pale, and she was covered with traces of blood.
Evan's heart sank as he wondered has the chamber of Secrets been opened!
"Ginny, you…."
"Don't worry, Evan!"
Fred soon walked in and said, "Ginny helped us to confirm a secret passage but we had a little trouble."
"Peeves through a box full of Dungbombs, but luckily we ran fast," said George as he walked in.
"I hope Filch can handle it!" said Ginny
Hearing their explanation Evan breathed a sigh of relief since he thought Ginny had opened the Chamber of Secrets but now it seems his worry had been for nothing.
After they had eaten some chocolate, they headed to bed as Ginny was walking up the staircase Evan asked, "Ginny do you know who Tom Riddle is?"
"What did you say?" asked Ginny since she seemed not to hear what he said.
"No, it's nothing, good night.", said, Evan, as he went to his bedroom.
"Good night, Evan!" said the girl who had unusually bright brown eyes under the candlelight.