Everleigh Grayson has gone back in time.
A year.
And now she is the new girl at Hogwarts School and University all over again, on her eighth year.
Her past mistakes costed her the life of Sebastian Sallow, and Everleigh refuses to lose him again.
So...
She looked at the sky, and how the sun barely shone through the angry clouds. They were promising rain soon. But she still stayed outside, sitting on the window, by the courtyard.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
There weren't that many people out, and Everleigh appreciated that quietness that the chilly weather was bringing. Initially, she sought for a peaceful scenery to read her book. But the volume in her hands had soon been forgotten as her gaze moved around the evening sky.
- Something told me I would find you here.
She recognized his voice before turning her head to meet the blue eyes. Nikolai smiled softly at her, and Everleigh felt her heart skipping a beat at the sight of him. He was alive. And he was right in front of her. After being gone for three weeks.
She dropped the book next to her and immediately jumped out of the window, dashing towards the auror just to wrap her arms around his neck. Everleigh closed her eyes and let out a long breath of pure relief. After a few seconds, she realized that the gesture had completely paralyzed Nikolai, who was just standing still, arms frozen in place. The apology was already forming in the girl's mouth at the same time she made a motion to take a step back. He didn't know her like she knew him, after all.
But she felt Nikolai's strong arms enveloping her before she could back away from him.
- Are you alright?
He whispered, and she felt his hot breath tickling agains the side of her head. Everleigh had to fight the tears at that mere question. Or perhaps it was how concerned he had sounded when it left his mouth. She nodded, faintly.
- Are you?
- I am now. - Nikolai searched for her eyes before nodding towards the stairs that led outside of the castle courtyard. - Let's take a walk, away from the school. We need to talk.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
- You have been busy. - Everleigh said, as they walked along the shore of the lake. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to protect herself from the cold breeze that was blowing on them. - I've read The Daily Prophet. I didn't know it was that bad.
Nikolai let out a sigh, rubbing his face in a tired gesture.
- It had been worse than the media outlets have shared. We are still purging the Ministry of Rookwood's loyalists. - He gave a faint kick to a small pebble on the ground, with a pensive look on his face. - When you gave out Dawlish name, we were able to get other names out of him. But something tells me there could be more.
- So we are still not sure who to trust.
Nikolai shook his head.
- I'd say we have done a decent job keeping dark wizards out of important matters. Like you. - He glanced at her. - But until the repository is destroyed and Rookwood is in Azkaban, I would not trust my shadow with that information.
