THE ESSENCE OF TIME
~AN EYE FOR AN EYE~

•••

AS THE DAY GOES BY, NEWS OF Evangeline getting on the Quidditch team spreads through Hogwarts like wildfire. Students from different houses had their share of mixed opinions, some disagreeing and others supportive and open to the idea.

A few girls had come up to Evangeline and had congratulated her and told her that she had given them a newfound confidence and would consider trying out.

Earlier that day, Evangeline had a talk with Dumbledore in the Transfiguration classroom about her week. She had just finished lunch when Dumbledore approached their table asking to meet with him after she ate.

Evangeline looked at her two friends as if she were asking for permission when the two nodded absentmindedly and went back to their food. Evangeline walked with Dumbledore towards his office, silence engulfed them both on their way.

Once they had arrived, Evangeline took her wand out and wordlessly cast the Muffliato charm in case anyone had decided to eavesdrop.

Dumbledore tilted his head and looked at her confused, she answered with honesty. "The Muffliato charm, in case anyone decides to eavesdrop.

"I must say, Evangeline. You are a talented witch, wordless spells are hard to master." Dumbledore complimented.

"Thank you, professor." Evangeline smiled. "During our first meeting, a certain Slytherin had eavesdropped, but thanks to my PTSD during the war–I cast the charm when I had my wand on your throat." Evangeline smiled innocently.

Dumbledore let out a chuckle and motioned for the girl to take a seat, Evangeline doing so. He sat down soon after and looked to his left where a bowl of lemon drops was located.

He took one and held it up, "Lemon drop?"

Evangeline shook her head no, "I'm quite full, thank you."

"Thought so." Dumbledore smiled and let out a satisfied hum once he let the lemon drop into his mouth. "I heard that you got into the Quidditch team. Congratulations."

Evangeline huffed, "Thank you. But since when had it become a rule that women weren't allowed to participate in Quidditch, sir?"

Dumbledore furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged. "It was never a rule, my dear. It was just that no woman had ever tried out, so everyone just assumed that it wasn't allowed."

"Oh."

"I've seen that you have become quite close with Mr. Blakemore and Ms. Blythe."

Evangeline nodded. "They remind me of my friends back home. Lysander reminds me of Hermione, she's a muggle-born too and is really smart, the most logical out of the four of us–just like Lysander. And there's Emily who reminds me of Ron, really friendly and bubbly, spats out the most random stuff you can think of." Evangeline looked down, reminiscing her time with her friends.

Dumbledore hummed. "I can't help but notice you said—the four of you?"

Evangeline looked up and nodded. "Yes, and there's Harry. I suppose Harry reminds me of," Evangeline took a few seconds before continuing, "me."

"How so?"

"Well—Harry was the chosen one. He was the one destined to fight Voldemort, so in a way, he was kind of the savior. And now here I am, tasked with saving Voldemort, so I guess I'm Harry in this timeline. The only difference is that I'm still alive and breathing." Evangeline chuckled, her humor was her main way of coping.

Dumbledore's face wore a sorrowful expression, deeply sympathetic to the girl. "I am so sorry for your loss, Evangeline."

"It's alright," she shrugs, "that's why I'm here isn't it? I'm here to save them. I'm here so that Harry can have his parents back, I'm here so that George gets his other half back, so that Ron can live another day to get another taste of fried chicken, so that Hermione won't live in fear just because of her blood, and I'm here so that I could save my parents."

Another thing that Harry and her had in common was that they were both orphans. Their bond had grown closer the night her parents had died.

It was during her fifth year, Harry had just gained a vision that Sirius was getting tortured by Voldemort within the Department of Mysteries. In an effort to save Sirius, the seven of them (Harry, Evangeline, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Ginny) left Hogwarts and arrived at the place in Harry's vision.

They soon found out that it was all a trap and that Death Eaters were waiting for him. A fight broke out and in the middle of it, the Order of the Phoenix had came to save them with her parents and Sirius Black who was looking very healthy and not tortured by a certain dark lord.

That sadly ended when Bellatrix Lestrange had struck him with a stunning spell, his body went limp and fell into the Veil next to him, swallowing his body and was never to be seen again.

Harry was distraught—following a shocked Bellatrix in pure rage—who shortly left after she had killed her cousin. Evangeline saw the events and decided to follow Harry in case he does anything irrational, her own parents had yelled her to stop but she did not listen and continued to follow Harry, determined to protect him.

She catches up with the boy who was torturing Bellatrix. She hadn't notice the other death eaters in the area and her parents that followed her until it was too late.

The yell of her mother calling out her name would be forever engraved in her memories, the killing curse had struck her moments after–in an effort to protect their only daughter. She looked at the death eater that killed her mother and only saw red. A sinister smile upon his face.

He had told her that he was aiming for her, but sadly–her mother came in the way. She raised her wand and was ready to fight but her father had pushed her back.

With a shaking hand, her father sent spell after spell, not saying a word until his opponent was backed up against the wall panting from defending herself.

When her father was ready to utter the killing curse, someone had beat him to it—falling to his death, besides her mother, his hand had managed to grip onto hers and his eyes stared back into his wife's lifeless once, a single tear fell out from his before he officially joined her.

Evangeline let out the most excruciating scream that shook the room, the glass windows broke and her eyes spilled tears from anger. She looks at the person who had killed her father and saw a wisp of long blond hair.

Lucius Malfoy.

In anger, she gripped her wand and was ready to fight but he had apparated before she could come any closer. She lets out another cry and turned to her mother's killer and lets out a humorless laugh.

The man was still backed up against a wall, his head had blood rolling down from it, courtesy of her father. He had been wearing his death eater mask—with the bottom broken that showed her his mouth.

She flicks her wand and the mask broke, revealing her mother's killer.

She recognized him to be Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix's husband.

She gives him the cruelest smile she could muster and stared into his eyes before whispering.

"Crucio."

Rodolphus lets out a scream, he felt a thousand of needles prick into his skin all at once—except those needles were dipped into the most powerful acid.

It was poetic really.

Harry was torturing his wife in the very same room.

His body convulsed and shook every second for two minutes until Evangeline had enough. She stopped and watched the man breathe in and out, something her parents could never do again.

She conjures a knife out of thin air and wordlessly–his shirt had disappeared from his torso revealing a set of tattoos.

Kneeling down to Rodolphus' level, she whispered to him.

"An eye for an eye." before slowly putting the knife onto his chest and carved out a huge eye that covered his entire torso. His screams filled her ears but she wasn't fazed.

Once she was done, she smiles and lifts up the bloodied knife and slits his throat. Blood gushed out from his neck and mouth.

Evangeline stands up with a satisfied look on her face, her knife had disappeared from her hand and left him to bleed to his death.

She hadn't even noticed that Voldemort had arrived and saw everything that she had done to his death eater.

Evangeline had soon regretted following Harry into that room, if she hadn't–then maybe her parents would still be alive. She still blamed herself for her parents passing. But she had not regret killing Rodolphus Lestrange—for he had deserved it.

No one ever mentioned that day to her. Except for Neville and Harry. Neville had came up to her the following day and offered his condolences but also thanked her for killing Rodolphus for he was one of the reasons why his parents are way beyond their wits.

Harry and Evangeline bonded with their shared trauma. Harry was deeply understanding and had felt that the girl lost way more than he has.

He claimed that he never really knew his parents so there wasn't much to grieve, and that he had only known Sirius for two years whilst Evangeline had known her parents for her entire life. But still–they were each other's shoulder to cry on for the rest of that school year.

No one knew who killed her father expect for her and his killer. Lucius Malfoy had fled the scene before anyone had noticed what he had done. She didn't tell Draco what his father had become–she still had immense pity for the boy. Now that his family had been getting tons of hate for being death eaters, Draco had been quiet throughout the last days of school.

The clearing of someone's throat broke Evangeline out of her train of thoughts and saw Dumbledore who wore a concerned expression. "Evangeline? Are you alright?"

Letting out a cough, Evangeline nodded. "Sorry, spaced out."

Dumbledore lets out a smile took out a chess board from under his desk. "Well then—you wouldn't mind playing a bit of Wizard's Chess with me, do you?"

Evangeline beamed out, having missed playing Wizard's Chess with Ron. She excitedly leaped up from her seat and took the one in front of Dumbledore.

Cracking her neck and stretching her fingers, she looked at Dumbledore with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Ready to lose, old man?"

"Strange, do people in the future often talk to themselves?"

"Uh– I am NOT an old man!"

•••

author's note:
a small chapter since it's
tommy's special day

a little backstory doesn't hurt
anyone

HAVE A HAPPY NEW
YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

mwah!! love you all!!