"Say Hermione."
"Yes Ron?" She looked at her friend and raised an eyebrow when he looked nervous. "What? Is something wrong?" Harry also looked at his friend with concern. The three of them were walking through the halls of the school with the last class of the day just ending. Other students moved past them, the usual hustle and bustle.
"Question, uh, what do you and Lavender and Parvati talk about in your dorm room?" Ron asked nervously.
"Oh goodness, all sorts of things," Hermione said. "What we are going to wear that day, our favorite books, we trade self-care tips." She smiled at Ron's questioning frown. "No, we don't talk about that really," she said and Harry laughed. "I mean, Lavender and Parvati do and I listen sometimes, but they are much more familiar with that than I am."
"Ha ha, real funny," Ron grumbled. "Here I am, trying to ask my friend a serious question and I get made fun of for it. Trying to be a good bloke here and this is what I get?"
"Were you about to ask me if Lavender talks about you or what you two do together?" Hermione asked and she sighed at Ron's sheepish nod. "I purposely don't listen to that. You are my friend and there are some things I don't want to know about you."
"Oh, that's good," Ron said, mollified some.
"I do know that she and Parvati talk about things though," she added, making him feel nervous again. "But I literally ignore it. The first time I was about to hear them talk, I asked her to warn me beforehand, and she's done so ever since which frankly, I'm very grateful for."
She flushed a little and gave Harry a sheepish look. "They do ask about you and me though, and not because they want to gossip but they are rather nosy. They mean well though!"
"And what have you told them?" Harry asked, suddenly very concerned.
"That your kissing is more than adequate," Hermione said, making Harry smile and Ron retch and guffaw.
"Ha, see? Adequate, more than even!" Harry beamed.
"Mate, that isn't as big of a compliment as you think it is," Ron chortled.
"Coming from Hermione? That's high praise!" His smile began to falter as he noticed a shift in the air. He looked around, suddenly noticing that there were older students around them, and they all looked very different. Unseen by the trio, one seventh year behind them raised his wand but a sudden shout cut through the air.
"POTTER! WATCH OUT!" A jet of magical light flew at Harry, then passed him and struck the boy who was aiming his wand at Harry's back. Harry ducked, pushing Ron to one side and pulling Hermione down and behind him, gasping when he saw the boy be knocked back.
Draco shouted again and another spell flew out, hitting another student who also raised his wand. He fell back, his skin blistering and covered in giant boils, making him scream.
Harry whipped his wand up and cast in one smooth motion, shooting a bludgeoning spell at someone who aimed at Draco. The student was bludgeoned into the wall and fell over with a groan. Ron flicked his wand and another student fell back, his robes suddenly too small and constricting his movements and breathing. Hermione waved her wand, summoning a shield to block incoming spells.
Harry fell back, pulling Ron and Hermione with him, and linking with Draco, forming a wall against the others that had tried to surround them. The groups of students cast spells at each other while trying to dodge and block others while screams and shouts filled the hallway, with other students running away from the fight.
A particularly lurid red spell flew at Harry, making an ominous curved shape that seemed to bleed as it flew. Harry tackled his friends, and Draco, out of the way, wincing when it cut through his robes. The spell hit the wall, gouging a deep notch into the stone.
The caster aimed with his wand again but then screamed in shock and pain as a large ball of fire flew right at him, hitting him solidly in the middle. He was thrown to the ground and he rolled, trying to douse the flames. Fleur cast another fireball and threw it down the hallway with a shout, making the assailants dive out of the way. She ran to Harry and the others with Sophie beside her. The cousins cast together, forming a thick shimmering wall of magic to block themselves off from the rest of the hall and the attackers.
Then Evan arrived.
A loud crack shattered the air and the force of his appearance knocked the majority of people off their feet with even the shield Fleur and Sophie conjured creaking under the pressure. She and Harry and their friends gasped when they saw him.
Evan took the scene in at a glance, seeing his friends and little brother protected for the moment. His eyes were wide and wild, and he nodded briefly at Harry and Fleur before he turned his attention on the other students that had attacked them. The ones in the back turned and ran while others aimed their wands at him with differing degrees of conviction. The one Fleur knocked down rose to his feet, robes smoldering, and he glared hatefully, aiming his wand.
He was thrown into the wall bodily by a gesture from Evan, groaning with pain. The others were thrown against the walls too and their wands blown down the hall with a summoned wind. His groan became a shout when Evan was there, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him against the wall, holding him up. His hands beat at Evan's arm and hand, his feet kicked, but he dangled there, unable to escape.
"Flamma ferrum," Evan hissed and a blade made of hissing fire emerged from his wand. The blade seethed and burned, forming a point of pure malevolent fire. The boy was shocked into silence at the blade's appearance, but the silence was not to last. "Wait!" he shouted as Evan brought his wand to the boy's face, bringing the point of fire close. "No, please!" he screamed and his voice turned into a screech as the blade of flames was brought closer and closer to his eyes.
"Evan!" Dumbledore appeared at the entryway and took in the scene at a glance. "Do not do this!"
Evan ignored him, raising his arm and shoulder to thrust.
"HARRY!" Dumbledore shouted.
Evan stopped and he and Harry turned to look at Dumbledore out of reflex. With a snarl, Evan dispelled the spell, banishing the blade. The boy's relief was immediate but also short lived as he was thrown violently onto the ground. His groan became a scream again as Evan stomped down on his left hand, breaking the bones. He tried to stop Evan from lifting his sleeve but could not, pinned in place and writhing in pain.
"Death Eater!" Evan shouted, seeing the Dark Mark tattooed onto the boy's forearm.
By then, Dumbledore pushed his way through to him and he looked down at the boy with plain disappointment. "Janus Rosier, what have you done?"
Rosier said nothing, sobbing from the pain of Evan crushing his hand.
"Better get the Aurors here before I make good on my promise," Evan growled, staring down at Rosier.
"I agree," Dumbledore said quietly.
-0-
A very serious and somber group met in Dumbledore's office later on. He had summoned the Aurors via Fawkes and the students that had joined Rosier in attacking Harry were all taken away to be interrogated and questioned. Luckily Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco had only minor scrapes and bruises and those were healed easily while the injuries the others suffered were healed fairly easily as well. Lucius and Narcissa came to the school with Sirius and Andromeda and Ted as well as Molly and Arthur. They were there in the office, with the Weasleys and the Malfoys standing on either side of Sirius and the Tonkses in between them. Fleur and Sophie and Maxime were there as well with the Heads of Houses.
The Floo roared and Dumbledore and Evan returned. Evan looked furious and particularly grim with Dumbledore looking sad and resigned as well.
"Well?" Sirius asked.
"Janus is being tried as an adult and has been expelled," Dumbledore said unflinchingly. "He has confessed to willingly taking the Mark and joining Voldemort," he smiled apologetically at the collective flinches, "as well as accepting the mission to harm Harry and Draco eventually. Two others had also taken the Mark and are also being held to be charged and punished accordingly. As for the other students, they have taken up the explanation that they were only helping a friend 'rough up' others or were being forced to aid them. They will be punished severely and be on probation and be monitored."
"That is his modus operandi," Lucius said slowly. "Recruiting them young and using them for his purpose." He hugged his wife and son to him.
"The Aurors are bringing in the rest of the Rosier family for questioning. It turns out one of their own escaped Azkaban during the breakout and the families of the others will have to endure the same," Dumbledore said gravely.
"He's trying to send a message, that he's not just biding his time," Evan growled, pacing slightly. "Trying to prove he has his ways and we shouldn't be complacent. Jokes on him, I'm not sitting around doing nothing."
He visibly swallowed his anger and looked at Harry and his friends, at Draco, at Fleur and Sophie. "Are you all okay?" he asked, worry replacing fury.
"We're fine," Harry said and the others nodded. "Really."
"Good." Evan gave Draco an appreciative look. "That was good of you."
Draco looked like he did for a moment, an expression of mild affront on his face. "You protected mine, how churlish am I to not do the same?" He let out a breath. "I had heard they might do something to Potter and was going to warn him, but saw them acting and I could not stand idly by. Now that I know I was a target as well, I am glad I did."
"Thank you," Molly said kindly to him. "I am glad you did."
He blinked at her and nodded awkwardly with Arthur and Lucius doing the same to one another.
"You did the same for mine," Fleur said with a bit of frost on her words, but her expression was warm when Evan looked at her. "How could I not repay the favor?"
"Fleur and Gabi are my cousins, and it was only right," Sophie nodded.
"My thanks to all of you," Dumbledore said, looking at them proudly. "As banal and inconsequential it is, points and commendations for all of you. I am unsure how it works at Beauxbatons, but I will try to do something for you to show appreciation." He smiled at the three French witches. "This is what the TriWizard should attain, a showing of cooperation and friendship." He spoke with the Heads and after discussing what was to come and what to announce to the school as a whole, he finished the meeting. He asked for the Tonkses, Sirius, and Snape to remain and they did with Evan and Harry staying too along with Remus.
"The only good news about this is that after this failure, he's probably going to slink back into his hole," Sirius said.
"I'm tired of it," Evan said, eyes still burning. "I'm not going to let him build his strength, let him retreat when he gets slapped down, and be stuck doing this for longer than it should. Too much damage, too much pain, too much danger. I'm not having it."
"I agree," Dumbledore said. "It leaves too much for chance."
"So let's break the Horcruxes," Evan said. "Then we can figure out how to root out Riddle and kill him dead."
Dumbledore reached into his pocket and removed the locket. In the relative peace and quiet of his office, he frowned as he looked at it, turning it around in his hands. Something felt off about the locket and his eyebrows raised in surprise when it seemed to open easily. He looked at the thing kept within and he sighed.
"What's wrong?" Evan asked, noticing Dumbledore's expression.
"You are going to be very annoyed," Dumbledore said heavily, "more than I am right now, and that will be saying something." He passed a piece of parchment over to Evan who took it and read it rapidly.
"Are you FUCKING kidding me?!" Evan shouted, reading the parchment and startling the others. "We did all that, I went through fucking that for fucking this?!"
"I agree," Dumbledore repeated, rubbing his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, staring at Evan.
"That's a fake!" Evan said, pointing at the locket. "Some dumb bastard took the real one away and who knows where it is now! I'm going to find this R.A.B. arsehole and tear him a new one!"
"R.A.B.?" Sirius snatched the parchment from Evan. "I know this handwriting," he gasped, showing it to Andromeda.
"It is his!" she confirmed, eyes wide.
"Whose?" Evan asked, his fury turning into confusion.
"My brother's," Sirius said thickly. "Regulus Arcturus Black. He was a Death Eater too." He blinked. "There was always a rumor that he was killed by Voldemort, but…he did this. He turned on him at the end."
"Oh." Evan visibly deflated and turned sheepish. "I'm sorry," he said. "And I'm sorry about saying what I'd do to him."
Sirius snorted through his tears, smiling despite them. "I've said and threatened worse to him. It's all a part of being a brother."
Remus hugged Sirius with one arm. "The problem now is that we have no idea where the actual Horcrux is. Unless it is in his room at Grimmauld?"
"I never saw anything like that when I went through it," Sirius said, looking at the locket sadly.
"Wait, we can ask Kreacher, he was devoted to Regulus," Andromeda suggested.
"Good idea. Kreacher!" Sirius looked down at the wizened house elf when he appeared in the office.
"Yes, Bad Master?" Kreacher croaked.
"Have you seen a locket like that?" Sirius asked, pointing at the locket on the desk.
Kreacher's eyes bulged and he gasped, glaring at it with fear and hate and want. "Yes Bad Master," he said through gritted teeth.
"Where is it?" Sirius asked, frowning. "Bring it here."
Kreacher snarled and disapparated with a loud crack, returning in moments. He held a locket in one hand, glaring hatefully at it. He gave it to Evan when he reached for it and Evan smiled grimly. "Yup, this is the real deal," he said, recognizing the feeling of the dark enchanted item.
"How did you get that?" Andromeda asked.
Kreacher broke down sobbing. He told them of how Regulus had volunteered Kreacher's services to Voldemort but also rescued the house elf at the end of them. Then he forced Kreacher to take him back to the cave and leave with the locket, after Regulus went through the trial and had died to the inferi. The others watched and listened with horror with Sirius biting his lip until blood trickled down his chin.
"Kreacher tried," he wailed. "Kreacher could not break it! Foul thing! The death of my Master!"
"You did your best," Evan said, looking at the elf with kindness, making Kreacher's sob fade. "And we're going to break it completely for you, and for Regulus. Here, Regulus made this, didn't he?" He took up the false locket and gave it to Kreacher. "You deserve it, for your years of service and loyalty."
Kreacher stared unblinkingly at Evan before he bowed sincerely. He clutched the locket in his hands and then disapparated once more.
"That was very good of you," Dumbledore said approvingly.
"He did his best, not his fault his best wasn't good enough," Evan said quietly. "But now we can finish the job." He rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Can you summon Amelia and Croatia please? And Madam Pomfrey and Al? I feel like they should be here for this and this is going to take some explaining."
Despite wanting to ask why, Dumbledore did as asked, sending Fawkes to the Ministry while sending a note flying through the air and out of his office. In a short time, the Ministry witches and Moody arrived by Floo while Pomfrey walked in herself and everyone watched as Evan cast an impressive array of privacy charms around the office. He even made it so the portraits could not eavesdrop and while they were miffed, Dumbledore respected that.
"Alright, what I'm about to say is incredibly important and can't go anywhere outside of us," Evan said, looking at them seriously. "Right, so essentially, the reason Riddle didn't die when he cast the Killing Curse at me, at Harry, when we were a baby, was not just because of Mum's…because of her sacrifice." He pointed at the objects on Dumbledore's desk, the Horcruxes he took out of the safe and put there for all to see. "He made Horcruxes."
Cries of disgust and shock could be heard from them.
"Horcruxes?!" Pomfrey gasped. "One wasn't enough? He had to make several?!"
"How interesting," Saltina said, looking at the items on the desk.
"He played his hand when he was a student and insinuated that he planned to make seven for the magical significance," Evan snorted.
"Drama queen," Sirius and Remus said together, making Evan and Dumbledore smile.
"There are five here, and one is broken," Andromeda said. "So there are two more?"
"One is going to be, or is, in a giant magic snake," Evan said. "I remember that and I know where the last one is."
"That is an incredibly bad idea on top of an already bad idea," Saltina snorted, looking professionally insulted. "Why would one attach a piece of their soul to a living breathing creature with their own thoughts and feelings?"
"I have a theory," Evan said. "I think the more the soul breaks, the madder you get."
"Actually, you are not wrong about that. There is documentation about that phenomenon with others who have done this in the past," Saltina said.
"A Black made one before," Sirius said. "He went pretty batty too before the family killed him and broke it."
"So where's the last one?" Moody asked gruffly.
Evan sighed and rubbed his scar and Harry did the same out of reflex. "I think when Riddle went to Godric's Hollow that night, he had plans to make another, but decided to kill me, or us, to either make it a part of the ritual or to do multiple errands at once. By then, his soul was already incredibly unstable so when he got hit with the rebounding Curse, a fragment broke off and it attached itself to the only magical…living thing there."
A beat of silence filled the room and Harry's eyes widened when Evan looked at him sadly. "Me? Us?!"
"Harry's a Horcrux?!" Sirius shouted and the others made similar sounds of shock. "You are too?! Or were?!"
"Was," Evan nodded.
"How did you remove it?" Andromeda cried, looking at him and Harry with worry.
"I had to die, by Voldemort's hand," Evan said quietly, not looking at Dumbledore. "And that's what happened. I went to him to die for my friends and he killed me with the Killing Curse. Except the spell killed the part of Riddle's soul that was latched onto mine like a parasite."
"Why was that ever an option?!" Remus cried, looking horrified and also professionally appalled, a look mirrored by Saltina, Andromeda, and Pomfrey.
Dumbledore sank his face into his hands. "Do not tell me," he said, voice thick with shame.
"Yeah, you might guess now," Evan said, smirking ever so slightly at the older man. "Actually it was kind of interesting. I went somewhere Between and met other you there. We had a conversation. It wasn't polite."
"I am so sorry," Dumbledore said weakly, wincing at the collective condemning stares from the others.
"At least here, we know. When I died the…second time? First time? Third time? Can't remember anymore," Evan hurried when Andromeda and Sirius and Remus and Ted stared at him with frank horror, "I wasn't the last Horcurx. So for a time I thought I got Riddle after but we found out he still had one. Actually the locket was the last one there and it took us forever to figure things out before the actual end."
"So…is someone going to cast that…at me?" Harry asked in a very small voice.
"Fuck that," Evan said immediately. "No fucking way. It's traumatic as hell and I'm not putting you through that." He put an arm around Harry who looked immensely relieved, a look shared by the others in attendance. "For a while I thought about ways of dealing with it in a much safer and less death-adjacent way and I think I figured it out."
He looked at Remus, Dumbledore, Saltina, Andromeda, Pomfrey, and Snape one by one. "Which is why I wanted you all especially here because before we attempt it, I want you all to double-check my research."
"Of course," Dumbledore said immediately. "What is your idea?"
"I got it from reading Egyptian texts and things. They really went deep into death and souls and that side of magic, right?"
"They did," Saltina nodded.
"So I learned a spell that is designed to cleanse objects of taint and attachments from souls and death," Evan said. "They did things that were really similar to Horcruxes and so had to come up with spells to combat them."
"You learned Soul Scouring Fire?!" Saltina gasped, eyes wide. "I thought that was lost!"
"Was for a while, buried deep. Bill in my plane found it and sent the knowledge to me after Hermione worked her brain over it and we figured it out. And yes, I'll teach you," he said.
"So burn the Horcruxes?" Ted asked.
"That would fix these, sort of," Evan said, pointing at the objects. "The fire can damage the vessel however, and while it's safer than Fiendfyre, it's still fire so no, I'm not casting it on Harry."
"Thank you," Harry said with genuine gratefulness and a little sarcasm, making them chuckle some.
"The other thing that I learned is that a soul's natural state is to be whole," Evan continued. "Being broken and shattered is unnatural and it will make attempts to reknit itself and for the pieces to come together. And like water, it will attract each other and stick together. That's part of the process in making a Horcrux. You trick the piece of your soul into thinking the vessel is a part of the body, hence why it does not resent the thing holding it."
"You want to draw out the pieces of the soul," Saltina said, looking at Evan with admiration. "And with them not in their vessels, they will congregate because that is the natural state."
"And they will be drawn to each other and draw others to them," Andromeda said, thinking. Her eyes opened wide. "And you hope they will draw the fragment from Harry."
"Yeah and I've read instances where it's happened before, just not so many and not from a living person holding a shard of the soul, but there's a decent chance it'll work," Evan said. "Four fragments becoming a bigger part and dragging out the small piece in Harry."
He looked at Harry apologetically. "It's probably going to hurt."
"As long as it's out of me and I don't die, I don't care," Harry said firmly. "I'm for it."
"Wait, how do you intend on drawing the pieces out? Souls don't typically like to exist in the open air after all," Remus said. "Hence the creation of the soul vessels."
"You want to make a magic rich environment for the souls to temporarily exist in," Dumbledore said, looking at Evan.
"Yeah. We make a space with wards, seal it from the outside. Saturate the air with magic by dissolving magic strengthening solution into the air and with flowers that represent death," Evan said. "Sort of recreating a space beyond death, even temporary."
"There are accounts of easing passing that way," Saltina said.
"I'll then use the Soul Scouring Fire to break the attachments between the fragments and the Horcruxes," Evan said. "Without a place to go, the soul will have to pass on, especially when the magic within the circle space dissipates."
"What if it doesn't pass on?" Ted asked. "Didn't Riddle exist as a wraith and possess people? Like that professor years ago?"
"We encourage it to, violently," Evan said.
"Except it will be just you and Harry within, trapped with it," Pomfrey pointed out.
"Or is it trapped with us?" Evan asked mildly. He sighed at the stern looks that were thrown his way. "Look, I'm not underestimating him. I've done that before and it ended terribly. I know what he can do, but I also know what I can do and I'm not the same scared kid I was before. And, if something goes tits up, all of you will be there and watching from the outside to clean things up."
"This plan is rather desperate," Andromeda fretted.
"Desperate times and desperate measures," Dumbledore sighed. "I confess I can think of no other viable alternative to this plan and the plan that shall-not-be-named-nor-considered."
"What is it with you guys and giving things weird titles?" Harry asked, making Evan laugh and the others snort and smile.
"That's why I want all of you to look it over. You're masters at your craft and I figured between us all, we'd make it as nearly full proof as it can be," Evan said, looking at them.
The others looked at each other soberly. "With our combined efforts, it would be much safer and the chances for success will be higher," Dumbledore said.
"It's really risky, and for me to say that, that's something," Sirius grumbled.
"I've been thinking about this for years. If you can come up with something easier and safer sooner, we'll do that," Evan said, his arms up and out. At Sirius's hand wave, he snorted and dug into the beaded bag, pulling out a stack of parchment. "Here." He put it on the desk.
"We will go over it all," Andromeda promised, making copies of it with her wand. "And try to make this a survivable experience."
"Are you okay with this?" Evan asked, looking at Harry while the others clustered around the parchments.
"I mean, yeah," Harry said, making Evan snort. "I trust you. I'm just still coming to terms with the fact that I have a piece of Riddle's soul in me." His eyes widened. "Is that why I get those weird dreams and things?"
Evan nodded. "And they get worse. Be thankful you haven't seen those."
"Fuck," Harry breathed.
Evan looked at him again. "Harry, I swear, nothing bad will happen to you in this. We're going to get the piece out of you, we're going to destroy the combined soul fragments. Then I'm going to find No-Nose and his last Horcrux and kill them dead."
"And we're going to be a family and live happy lives," Harry said, his voice soft but with a heart of steel.
"Yeah we are," Evan said just as softly and firmly.