The Wrong Evans

VI: The Perfectly Normal

When she was younger, Charlotte Evans dreamed of having siblings. Living in Cokeworth, England alongside her cousins hadn't worked out the way her parents had envisioned when they decided to move right across from them; Petunia and Lily, despite their age difference, had always been an unbreakable team, meanwhile, Charlotte was left to tag along, well aware of the fact that her presence wasn't really needed nor wanted. 

Things began to change the day she arrived at Hogwarts. The very same night of the sorting, even before her house had been decided by the sorting hat, she had already made a best friend for life—Montserrat Tonks, both girls instantly clicking over their dislike for the giant squid and its bad manners; and later that week Adam Reed came along, the boy who couldn't seem to keep his hands on his plate. They were everything she had ever wanted, and she wouldn't change them for the world, but on truly rare occasions -like at the moment- Charlie daydreamed about dropping them both from the Astronomy Tower.

"If you tug my hair again I swear to God-" 

"Monet, be nice or they'll kick us out," before the brunette could finish her threat Charlie cut her off, noticing the look of utter displeasure the shopkeeper kept sending the trio. The Ravenclaw couldn't blame her, since they had been in the shop Adam and Monet hadn't stop bickering annoying almost every person inside the small place.  

"Tell Adam to behave then" Monet muttered quietly as she refused to look up from the glass counter in front of her, clearly feeling self-conscious about her actions. On the other hand, Adam either decided to ignore or didn't notice just how much of a nuisance he was being- "But we're already 10 minutes behind schedule!" he exclaimed waving around his timetable. 

"This is a disaster and you're not any closer to picking a bloody quill!" Charlie winced as she heard Monet scoffing in disbelief, she hoped her remorseful look was enough to placate the elder lady who was close to growling at them.

"Excuse me if I like to think before buying something,"- just because she was being quieter than Adam didn't mean her words weren't convening just as much irritation as his, Monet had a way with words, the quieter she spoke the more dangerous they could be- "Some of us actually think about functionality and not about the pretty colors you know," finished while stealing a glance of Adam's already bought quills. 

The redhead decided that to save themselves from yet another life ban from a shop and while throwing the shopkeeper a 'Thank you, we'll wait outside'  she dragged a grumbling Adam outside. 

He had spent all morning in a foul mood, and at first, she thought it was Black's doing, but she knew that Adam wouldn't let something as insignificant as what had happened that morning ruin one of his favorite days- "Hey, this is the last stop before we head to Three Broomsticks, we can be a little late" Charlie tried to cheer him up but the only reaction she got from him was a shrug of his shoulder, the tall Ravenclaw not even bothering to look at her as he lent on the side of the old building a deep frown set on his features as they watched some giggling fifth years walking around. 

Now completely sure that something was up with the blond Charlie tug on his sleeve, thankfully this time he did turn his gaze towards her- "Tell me why you're so upset," she saw Adam opening his mouth and before he could even try to lie through his teeth- "I know this isn't about the schedule" she stated. 

He sighed finally giving in to the need to pour the content of his internal monologue onto someone else-"It's my dad, he's been pushing the whole Ministry thing again" Charlie bit her lip knowing exactly how delicate that topic was for Adam. Although the Reeds weren't part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, they were very well-known purebloods who had surprisingly managed to position themselves inside the Ministry in a short period of time, it was that very same element of surprise that made their place there very fragile.