"Potter!"
Harry stopped and turned to stare at Draco. Ever since Evan told him of the deal he made with the Malfoys, Draco had been almost tolerable. While he continued to snipe at them during classes and in passing, it was a lot less sharp. They were almost banal, simple insults about each other's work in class and the like. It had been oddly pleasant and Harry had enjoyed the interactions in a way.
"Been a while since I heard him yell at you like that," Ron grinned.
Hermione frowned. "It sounds a bit different though-"
Draco looked different too. He ran up to Harry and he looked panicked, terrified even. He grabbed the front of Harry's school robes and his hands were shaking, his eyes wide and scared. "Where is he?! Where's the other?!"
"I don't know!" Harry said, too shocked to react otherwise. "What's wrong?!"
"I need to see him!" Draco said loudly, uncaring that others had stopped and were staring at the scene. "Now!"
"He might be in his room," Harry said. He was unnerved but seeing Draco in that state legitimately worried him and after the briefest hesitation, he threw caution to the wind. "Come on." He took off in a run and Draco kept pace with him with Hermione and Ron following close behind.
"Is he in?!" Harry shouted as they ran up to the portrait door. The Lioness saw them and she nodded and the portrait door opened for them and they ran within.
Evan was sitting on the couch with a large book in hand and he looked up and smiled though the smile immediately faded when he saw Draco there too. "What's going on?" he asked.
Draco held up an amulet, a small but expensive looking piece of jewelry. It was made from gold and had several gems embedded into it. The amulet pulsed and the gems flickered with light. "Someone is attacking my home," he said, his words falling out in a rush. "This is something to inform me of my family's safety and they're in danger! Normally when they flash, I am to return home for safety but they can send messages and my mother told me to not return home under any circumstance. They're in danger!"
Evan got to his feet and opened the wardrobe, pulling out the beaded bag and strapping it to his waist. "Let me guess, you need this to go through the wards normally." He frowned when Draco nodded.
"Should we call the Aurors?" Ron asked, looking alarmed.
"There's no time!" Draco shouted. "You swore you would defend them!"
"And I will," Evan nodded. "Wait, idea. Dobby!"
Dobby appeared in the room with a crack. "Master Evan?" he asked, before staring at the others and his eyes narrowing at Draco.
"Malfoy Manor is under attack and I promised to help them," Evan said and Dobby turned back to look at Evan with giant eyes. "Can you take me back there? And help evacuate people if needed?"
"For you? Yes Master Evan," Dobby nodded, ears flapping.
"Good and Dobby, you are to remain unhurt, do you hear me? Do not endanger yourself, not for me, not for anyone. I can't go through that again, promise me," Evan said, eyes boring into the house elf.
Dobby tilted his head. "Yes Master Evan," he said reluctantly.
"Give me the amulet," Evan said, and took it from Draco. "You three, take him to Dumbledore and explain what's going on. Harry, call Old Dog and Auntie Andi. We'll meet you back at Dumbledore's office eventually." He looked at Dobby. "Take me somewhere close but not into the manor yet, I have an idea."
"Be careful!" Hermione and Harry shouted together.
Evan winked at them. "You got it." He looked at Draco soberly. "Don't worry. I'll get them out, one way or another." He and Dobby linked hands and disapparated with a loud crack.
"He'll do it," Harry said to Draco as they ran out of the room.
Draco nodded, still looking terrified.
-0-
Lucius was hiding in a secret alcove in the main foyer of the manor. He hissed softly in pain, trying to heal himself while in the alcove. The attack had come swiftly and he had almost been completely caught unawares by the speed of it.
Lucius was no fool. He knew that ignoring the Dark Lord was a dangerous thing. That said, he knew that he feared and respected Evan more and had more or less willingly sided with the impressive young man. He had passed along a lot of information and had ignored the suspicious messages he got and with how quiet things were, he had thought things would be okay.
Luckily he was already up and about despite the early hour when the wards shattered around him. Since they were tied to him via his blood, he knew they were attacking as soon as possible. With an order to the elves to protect his wife, he had run to shore up the defenses but they had fallen. It was only him versus them after all. Narcissa had tried to help but it was too much. She also refused to run, and after sending the elves away with their most secret and personal of things, stayed to fight.
Armed magicals burst into the manor and a fierce fight had taken place. Lucius was an accomplished duelist and Narcissa knew how to defend herself. They fought side by side before being separated after a push and Lucius despaired, unsure of what happened to her after they broke apart and fled to separate parts of the manor. He took heart when he overheard the intruders cursing and swearing, unable to find either of them, meaning she was still alive somewhere. He had tried to apparate away and was unable to, anti-apparition charms preventing them from doing that.
He gritted his teeth, thinking about how they were able to penetrate his defenses, and also being slightly mad at himself for siding against Voldemort, even though it was the right choice at the time. He was glad that they had waited for school to start again and that Draco was not there. Then he saw one of the intruders with his family amulet and his despair grew when he realized that they were using it to entice Draco to return and to use him as a hostage.
He growled when he saw the intruders surround the spot where a person returning home with the amulet would appear, their wands up. Lucius steeled himself, ready to sell his blood dearly to protect his son. The light around the stable point grew in size and intensity and Lucius paused. Normally the light was much less than that and much less intense. There was a soft pop and his son's amulet appeared there.
However, it did not accompany his son. Instead it sat on a small barrel, making the intruders stare at it dumbly. At the last moment, they realized that there was something burning on top of the barrel, and the little flame went into the barrel itself.
The entire manor shook as the barrel exploded, sending shards of wood and shrapnel through the air. The blow from the concussive force from the barrel knocked the lucky ones over while the unlucky ones were riddled with splinters and shrapnel, sending them down bloody and screaming or dead.
Lucius' head rang. The force of the explosion had sent him flying into the wall and he shook his head drunkenly. Blinking slowly, he felt someone grab him and yank him into another room. He tried to fight back before he was slapped across the face. The slap cleared his confusion and he looked at Evan with shock and embarrassment and relief all in one. "Was that necessary?" he asked, rubbing his cheek.
"Always wanted to do it, so yes," Evan grinned.
"You sent in that…what was that?" Lucius asked, realization dawning.
"Lots of explosive potion inside a small barrel, thought that'd surprise them," Evan said. "Draco was told to return but got a message within saying not to so he came to me instead."
"Thank Merlin," Lucius groaned. "How did you get in?" He looked down when Evan gestured. "Dobby?!"
"Bad Master," Dobby sniffed. He and Lucius looked up at a snickering Evan.
"Sorry, just didn't expect Dobby to sound like Kreacher for a second," Evan grinned before sobering. "Where's Narcissa?"
"Hiding in the manor, I hope," Lucius said, pained.
"Dobby, find her and get her and yourself out. Don't come back unless I call." He held his hand up at Dobby's reluctant look. "Please, Dobby."
"Yes Master Evan, but call if you need Dobby." Dobby popped away.
"So, former buddies?" Evan asked.
Lucius frowned. "I recognize a few," he said shortly. "Most I do not, must be new followers or mercenaries."
"Figures." Evan's grin became cold and savage, making Lucius blink. "Now's a good time to thin the herd a bit. Call back Dobby to get out of here."
"And leave you to fight for me alone? Never. This is my home. This is my blood. I will spill theirs as well," Lucius said coldly. "They dare attack my family? I will ensure they will not return to theirs!"
"Nice and brave of you," Evan said, nodding with approval. "Right, let's go kill a few, grab a prisoner, and then get out of here. What do we need to do to preserve the place?"
"Nothing. It has been tarnished and compromised. I will burn it down myself when we leave," Lucius growled. "In time, it will be cleansed and rebuilt, when everything is over."
"Stop that."
"Stop what?" Lucius asked, confused.
"Making me actually like you," Evan said. "Let's go."
Lucius' smile matched Evan's. "Yes, let's."
-0-
"MOTHER!"
Narcissa sank to her knees and wrapped Draco in her arms. "Thank the Powers," she sobbed, clutching him to her. "You are safe."
Dobby had found Narcissa in one of the dungeon cells, hiding behind a few things, and had taken her back to Hogwarts. She had been injured in a running fight but nothing unhealable, and after dropping her off in Dumbledore's office, Dobby went to bring Pomfrey there. By then, Sirius and Andromeda were there with Dumbledore, Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Is Father…" Draco's voice fell away.
"I have no idea," Narcissa said, stricken.
"Master Evan and Bad Master are fine," Dobby said. "Well, they were fine when Dobby left to bring Lady Narcissa back here." He looked mutinous. "Master Evan asked Dobby not to return unless called for."
"I have called for Alastor to arrive," Dumbledore said. "We will go as soon as he comes here to support them."
"Thank Merlin," Narcissa said, clutching Draco who returned the embrace a thousand times. "Thank you all."
"They should be fine," Harry said, looking and feeling worried but also confident. "Evan can handle things. He killed Greyback after all."
"He what?!" Narcissa and Draco exclaimed together.
"He did," Sirius nodded, proud. "But we're going too, if we need to."
Andromeda's eyes burned. "No one hurts our family."
"Except us," Sirius smiled.
-0-
The combination of the explosion and Evan's appearance, with confirmation of Narcissa's escape, turned the battle. Lucius fought savagely and angrily, eager to punish the intruders and attackers and Evan did not hold back. They burst out of the room and with a flurry of spells, took down the other fighters with focused violence.
Lucius commanded the suits of armor and the statues in the manor to fight and they did so without passion, crushing and stabbing the intruders to their surprise. Evan dueled with a few, putting them down with a variety of spells. As he and Lucius fought their way into the main part of the manor, he saw someone lurking in the back and he stopped.
"Traitor!" he shouted, his voice filling the foyer and people shuddered at the intensity of the sound. "Betrayer! Get back here!" He blasted two wizards out of his way and ran towards the furtive form that ran shrieking. Lucius took advantage of the confusion to kill more of the others and he chased after them. Skidding around the corner, he stopped when he saw Evan stun the runner and was wrapping them in chains.
"Our prisoner?" Lucius asked, chest heaving.
"Oh yeah," Evan said, eyes burning. "I've been wanting a chance to catch him."
Lucius looked down. "Peter Pettigrew," he said quietly.
Evan nodded. "He's going to be full of good information." He looked around. "Think we got the rest of them?" He and Lucius walked back into the foyer with Peter's body floating behind them. He then knelt down and roughly hauled up a groaning wizard. "How many of you came here?"
"T-twelve," the man whimpered, "plus the rat-man." He shuddered at Evan's cold smile.
"I count nine here," Lucius said, looking around. "No wait, ten. There's the body."
"Gather them up. And their wands. We'll take them all to the Ministry for processing and documentation and get started interrogating that one." Evan hiked a thumb over his shoulder at the floating unconscious Peter.
"I will start destroying the manor. I will not allow them to profit from my home," Lucius said. He looked at Evan. "Thank you. For your aid."
"Told you, I take care of people who work with me," Evan said, nodding genially.
"I am fully invested against him now," Lucius said, smiling coldly. "If I was not before, I most certainly am now."
"Glad to see you come to some sort of sense," Evan said and Lucius snorted but said nothing else.
-0-
Lucius stepped through the Floo and hugged Narcissa and Draco to him, not even waiting to remove the soot and ash that still clung to him. The other two ignored it too and for a moment, nothing else mattered, only them.
"That's almost sweet," Sirius said under his breath, grinning at Andromeda's look of slight disapproval.
"Thank you, for watching over my wife and son," Lucius said, his normally cultured tone shaking ever so slightly.
"Of course," Dumbledore said. He frowned. "Where is Evan?"
"He was just behind me," Lucius said, grimacing slightly.
"Oh boy, what happened?" Sirius asked, recognizing the look.
"He was having a spirited disagreement with the Minister," Lucius said awkwardly.
The fire flared and Evan stepped out of it, looking irritated. Before he could say or do anything, Fudge came through the fire behind him and Amelia followed soon after. "Now see here," Fudge said, his voice raised.
"You really want to give me a minute," Evan said back, making Fudge flinch. "Or else I'm going to say and do things we're all going to regret in one way or another." He angrily vanished the soot off himself and took a visible moment in calming down.
"Are you okay?" Andromeda asked, ignoring the Minister and the Director of the DMLE.
"I'm good," Evan said, smiling at her concern. "No really. We managed to put down a fair amount of Death Eaters and people working for them, and we caught the traitor."
"Peter?" Sirius asked, eyes wide and his mouth curling into a snarl.
"Yep," Evan said, pleased. "He went through a robust interrogation and we learned a lot. Also, you're super innocent now, Sirius. He confessed to betraying Mum and Dad." Evan blinked and he coughed awkwardly, shooting Harry an apologetic look. "I mean, your mum and dad."
Harry shook his head lightly. "Our Mum and Dad," he said instead.
Sirius smiled at his godsons for a moment. "What else did we learn?"
Evan's smile turned into an expression of disgust. "Riddle got a body again."
"What?!" the people in Dumbledore's office cried, save for Evan, Amelia, and Fudge.
"Despite knowing that there would be a breakout of Azkaban, because I fucking told them there would be," Evan said, his disgust deepening and Amelia closed her eyes while Fudge flushed deeply, "there was in fact a breakout. Only this time it was more subtle and people were basically smuggled out one by one. Peter then conducted a different ritual since we took away the bones of the father. It basically involved the willing sacrifice of a bunch of followers' flesh and the blood of an enemy. Just not the one he wanted. But he's got a body back and he's trying to regain strength. A good chunk of former Death Eaters returned to him and he's trying to recruit new ones."
"That is how they gained entrance to Malfoy grounds," Lucius said. He gave his wife a look. "Your sister aided them with her blood."
"Bella," Narcissa gasped and she and Andromeda clutched each other.
"And Riddle being a petty little bitch, got very annoyed that Lord Malfoy was ignoring him so sent a kill team to punish him," Evan said. "Hence me running out there after Draco informed me."
"We managed to save the important things," Lucius said to his son. "And the manor has been destroyed. They will not be able to use it. We can rebuild after."
"You lot can stay at Grimmauld until it's all over," Sirius offered, surprising the Malfoys. "Narcissa's a Black and Grimmauld has always been a haven to the Blacks. Luckily when we remodeled it, we rewrote all the wards and protections from the ground up. Bella…she won't be able to get in. And I'll write her out of the Blacks so she can't."
"Thank you, Siri," Narcissa said, eyes wet. She hugged him desperately and Sirius awkwardly hugged her back.
"You're welcome," he said. He grinned at Lucius. "I'm charging you though. Because I can and it amuses me."
"I will happily pay the fee," Lucius said with a snort. "Thank you, Lord Black, for sheltering my family during the storm."
"May I ask why you have followed Evan and Lord Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked politely.
"Because he's being unreasonable," Fudge said angrily.
"I'm being unreasonable?" Evan snorted roughly. "How much more proof do you need?! We brought in dead Death Eaters and live ones. One that has evaded arrest for years. You are soaking in the proof and you still won't do everything you can about it!"
"I have given you more leeway than you deserve," Fudge countered, pointing a finger at Evan. "I could have easily have had you detained from the beginning. But no, I have entertained you, have made a deal with you. I still have a country to maintain! I have peace and order to keep! There is some proof but it is not irrefutable that You-Know-Who is still acting! As of right now, it could easily be explained as the remnants of his organization orchestrating everything."
He ignored Evan's look of angry disgust. "I have to explain the consequences of your actions! Yes, Greyback was a monster and him being eliminated is a good thing. But important people have been caught up in the changing of the Ministry, what you did to McNair was on the borders of proper procedure. And did you honestly expect me to make changes involving Azkaban and say 'oh someone from the future told me to'?!"
"You could have said you got a damn prophecy or some other bullshit and everyone would've accepted that!" Evan shouted back. He snorted again at Fudge's look. "Didn't think of that, did you? Whatever. I knew our deal would be just barely held anyways."
"You're one to talk! As if you didn't think I'd learn of the back-alley deal you made with Skeeter! She's been having the run of the field with all that she has been printing. Do you know the amount of inquiries and further investigations I've had to conduct and supervise because of them?!"
"Good! And maybe I wouldn't have done that if I knew you'd hold our deal to the spirit instead of just the letter!"
"Minister, it does beg the question, why are you so reluctant," Dumbledore cut in, interrupting both men. "You have ample proof. Even if it comes from what some would consider dubious, it is still credible enough to act."
"Because he is afraid of losing his position," Lucius cut in, making Fudge gasp and glare. "He does not wish to lose all that he has gained."
"You have no room to condemn me for that, Lord Malfoy," Fudge said angrily, face bright red.
"Oh for fuck's sake," Evan sighed. "Fine, is this what you want to hear?" He held his right hand up. "I solemnly swear, on all that is listening, that I will never seek a Ministry position of any sort while Cornelius Fudge is in office." The air flickered slightly and Evan crossed his arms, staring at Fudge.
"It is good to have assurances," Fudge said coolly, trying to reclaim dignity.
"I said it before, I'll say it again, I don't want power or position," Evan said quietly. "I want Harry to be safe and happy, I want Riddle dead and gone, and I want to compete in the Tournament. That's it. When all of those are accounted for, I'll figure something out but I never wanted to be a part or in the Ministry ever. I want to just have a chance to live."
"I will hold you to that," Fudge said. He stood at his full height, an inconsequential thing. "By all means, Mister Potter, continue on your crusade. The Ministry will still do its job and you still have half a year remaining to hold up your end of the bargain." With a nod, he left, stepping through the Floo and disappearing.
"Everything going on, and he's still worried about being Minister?" Andromeda said with deep disgust.
"It is all he knows," Lucius said, also looking mildly disgusted.
"And he saw you as a threat?" Harry asked, looking at Evan.
"He knows he can't control me," Evan snorted.
"Can anyone?" Sirius asked mildly.
"Don't answer that," Evan said, pointing a finger at Harry who looked amused. "But he knows he can't control me, so he saw me as a threat. I think he did believe me completely that night when I appeared here, but he had to play the field. He knew that Riddle would be the more ruinous influence so he was fine with me taking the hits and responsibility. If I failed, he could blame me. If I was lying, he could castigate me over it. Seeing that not only was I right and telling the truth, and seeing that the problem was a lot bigger and deeper than it seemed to be, he started to panic."
"He's right," Amelia said quietly. "While he hasn't been denying us support and keeping us from doing our jobs, he's been trying to keep the problems at the Ministry from being made completely public and maintaining the appearance of nothing happening. Were it not for Skeeter's articles revealing things, it would be quieter."
She looked at Evan. "Evan's successes have also rattled him. I never knew how much until now. He is worried about a lot of things and some of them are solely about him and his future."
"Bastard," Sirius snorted.
"Politician," Evan shrugged. "Which I think a bunch of them are called a bastard." He and Sirius laughed, joined by Harry and Andromeda with Lucius smiling and Dumbledore shaking his head. When he stopped laughing, Evan continued. "Still, we're in a good spot right now. Even with Riddle having a body again. His followers are few and lack some of the heavy hitters like Lord Malfoy and the others that have been taken care of, like McNair and Greyback and others. And the Auror Corps and the Hit Wizards are aware of him and though not official, are working on things. He can't do a whole lot right now."
Dumbledore caught Evan's look and nodded ever so slightly. "We will continue on our end here to ensure our safety and the future," he said.
"Right, let's get you two to Grimmauld and make things safer," Sirius said to the Malfoys. He and them and Andromeda made their goodbyes and left while Evan, Harry, and Draco left Dumbledore's office.
When they reached the main set of staircases that took people down the different floors, Draco turned to Evan. "Thank you, Lord Potter," he said, his voice small but sincere, "for saving my parents."
"I'm not a lord," Evan said kindly. "And thanks for coming to us."
Draco nodded and then nodded to Harry before continuing on his way, lost in thought. Harry followed Evan back to the tower and to his room, the two of them settling on the couch and chairs in the sitting area. "Was it bad?" Harry asked.
"Fighting them? No. I got the jump on them and managed to catch the rat." Evan smiled grimly.
"What's going to happen to him?"
"He's locked up in a cell in the Auror offices. With what happened at Azkaban, we're not chancing it right now."
Harry nodded, clenching his fists and then relaxing. "I'm glad Mum and Dad will get their justice."
"Me too," Evan said softly. He coughed and looked at Harry proudly. "Good of you to not ignore Draco and come find me."
"He looked so scared and desperate," Harry said. "I couldn't do that to him."
"Means you're a good soul," Evan said. "Able to ignore the past somewhat in an emergency."
Harry nodded, feeling good about himself. "It's so weird thinking positively about the Malfoys."
"Yeah it is," Evan chuckled. "But it's better that they're on our side."
"Will they always be?"
Evan shrugged. "Hard to say. But maybe. And if they end up not on our side in the future, we'll handle it when it happens."
Harry nodded. "That makes sense." He looked at the book that Evan was reading earlier that day. "Any luck with researching things for the next task?"
"I think so." Evan picked the book back up. "I know we're going to be swimming in the Lake. We're going to have to capture something that can be considered 'precious materials'. But they said that they would be hard to hunt and catch. That implies that it might be alive."
"I'll go look at some stuff in the library too," Harry said. "Hermione will help. Maybe Ron too."
"You don't have to worry about that," Evan protested.
"You're doing so much as it is," Harry said. "Let me help you this way. It's the least I can do."
"Well, alright," Evan said. "I appreciate it little bro."
"Of course big bro," Harry beamed. They sat in brotherly silence for a moment. "What did you think I was going to say back there, about controlling you?"
"I thought you were going to make a joke about Fleur," Evan said, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Oh I would have if I thought of it," Harry nodded.
"Who were you thinking?"
"Hedwig and Wisteria."
"Oh well that goes without saying."