1: Evelyn?

"Evey, you coming?"

Demelza Robbins was staring at her expectantly. It was the kind of look Sam probably gave Frodo whenever the hobbit started doubting their mission. Right now, she would have preferred Mordor to Hogwarts.

Demelza looked scared, but she was trying not to show it. No one in that room wanted to admit they were terrified. Evey had no problem with that. She didn't feel bad letting the whole world know she was scared witless. This wasn't a Quidditch game, after all.

Evey cast a look around. Most of the people there were kids, like her. But they would fight you if you tried to get in their way. No one was going to sit this one out. All united for Hogwarts.

Times like these, she wished Hogwarts' Apparition policy was more lax.

"I guess I have to, don't I?"

Demelza threw her a look. "You're joking."

Evey made a face. "Of course I'm joking. Who wouldn't want to get hexed into oblivion by a Death Eater?"

"Come on, we have to help Harry. You know that. And we won't be alone. We have backup," Demelza said, pointing at the other sixth-year Gryffindors gathered around the Room of Requirement.

Evey snorted. "I feel so much better now."

Ginny Weasley, their leader de facto, cleared her throat and called out to the rest of the students whose whispers quickly died down.

"Listen up! We're all leaving in pairs. No matter what happens, you stick to your partner! Okay? Like we practiced! You have fewer chances of getting cursed if you have each other's backs. One of you attacks, the other defends. Got it?"

Demelza and Evey nudged each other in the shoulder, as if sealing their pact to stay together.

"So, how about I attack?" Evey asked, twirling her wand impatiently. "I'm shit at defence anyway."

Demelza chuckled. "That's the spirit."

"Well, if it were up to me, we'd both get out of here and neither would have to attack or defend."

Demelza stuck out her tongue. "You're just saying that. But I know you. You'd never leave Hogwarts like that."

Evey wasn't so sure. In fact, if she had had any Floo powder or some kind of Portkey on her, she would have been miles away.

The only thing stopping her from going home was the fear that, as a Muggleborn, her family would be targeted. It took a long time for her to understand and accept this, but from time to time – like right about now – she thought about leaving. She wouldn't go to her parents' house. She'd just crash in London for a while, email her mum that she was okay and hope for the best. Death Eaters probably didn't know about email anyway.

"Maybe you'll get to hex the Carrow siblings," Demelza offered with forced cheerfulness.

"It would be like early Christmas."

Oh, how she hated those miserable twats. Hogwarts had become a sad, fascist institution ever since they arrived. She wanted to kick them in the face repeatedly. A thing she shared in common with most of her class.

"Robbins, O'Connell! You're up next!" Ginny called out from the other corner of the room.

The two girls exchanged a look.

"Ready?"

"No, but I'll never be, so might as well," Evey shrugged, trying to steady her jittery legs.

The two girls walked out of the Room of Requirement hand in hand.

"Shit. Dem, are you okay?"

Evey was holding her friend by the waist, trying to guide her to safety. Demelza sported a large injury on her left leg, courtesy of a nasty curse which had hit her by accident.

Evey had discovered that you could die just by having the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Great Hall was the worst of it, with hexes and curses being thrown left and right at random. If you were smart, you'd steer clear of all that. But Demelza was a Gryffindor, through and through, so of course she wanted to be right in the middle of danger.

I knew this was a bad idea, Evey mused as they found a safe spot behind one of the marble statues in the corridor.

Probably not the best time to be thinking about it, but Evey had to remark what a colossal mistake the Sorting Hat had made placing her in Gryffindor. Tonight made it all the more obvious. She didn't want to fight. She didn't want to be in danger. The Aurors, Dumbledore's Army, The Order of the Phoenix, they could all put their lives on the line happily; she didn't want to be a part of it. She mostly wanted to save her skin (and Demelza's, if she could help it).

Goddamn, even the third-year Hufflepuffs are fighting, she thought, feeling ashamed. Not that she was clever enough for Ravenclaw, or devious enough for Slytherin. She was sure there were others who felt they belonged nowhere, and it was particularly bad when you were at Hogwarts. No one liked a coward, but there was no point denying it. She kind of was one.

Right now she was counting down the minutes until they had to go back out there. They'd only suffered minor injuries, so far. But Merlin knew how much longer that would last.

Evey crouched down and inspected her friend's wound.

"Okay, I know one lousy Healing Charm. I'm going to try it, but you might end up with warts all over you."

Demelza smiled weakly, leaning against the wall.

Evey set to work, all the while keeping an eye on what was happening in the corridor.

The injured skin closed a little, but blood was still gushing out. And yes, a couple of warts here and there. She was afraid to continue, lest she made it worse.

Well, old Muggle practices will have to do.

Evey tore off a piece of her shirt and wrapped it tightly around Demelza's leg.

"Thanks, Eve, you're a life saver."

The girl wiped the sweat from her forehead and smirked. "Yeah, who needs Harry Potter when you've got me?"

But her smirk vanished when a sudden coldness seeped into her bones. She looked at Demelza and she could tell her friend felt the same.

Then, quite unexpectedly, a voice slithered into their heads.

You have fought valiantly, but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonour. Join me in the Forbidden Forest, and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me.

"Fuck," Evey expelled, leaning against the wall next to Demelza. Her breathing came out irregular. She felt sick to her stomach.

"Dem?"

"I heard it."

"Voldemort sure has a lovely voice," Evey murmured darkly.

"Do you think Harry's actually going to –"

"He doesn't have much of a choice, does he? I mean, he's not going to run, since he's well...noble and stuff," Evey replied with a sinking feeling. She didn't want to think what she would do, given this choice.

"Oh, God. Poor Ginny. Just imagine."

Evey groaned. "Yeah, let's not."

"So, what do we do? Do we just stand around while Harry sacrifices himself?"

"I don't know. Voldemort said he'd call back his cronies, so the coast is clear, unless he's a stinking liar, which would be expected," Evey surmised, looking over her shoulder at the now empty corridor.

"Come on, we should get out there," Demelza said, nudging her. "Ginny needs us."

Evey sat next to Colin Creevey' corpse in stunned silence. She blinked back the tears at the corner of her eyes. She bent down and closed Colin's eyelids shut.

"Why'd you come back, Creevey, you idiot..." she trailed off, holding his stiff shoulder. "You should've stayed away. Dumbass."

Demelza stood some feet away, holding a comforting arm around Ginny's shoulders. The girl was sobbing over the still body of her big brother.

Evey tried not to look in their direction. It was a little too heartbreaking.

What was the point of all this, she wondered. Why were they fighting?

Oh, right. A snake-faced asshole.

She had never hated anyone in that moment as much as she hated Voldemort.

Not that she could do much about it and feeling helpless made her even more angry. Her fingers twitched around her wand. She almost wished there was someone there to curse.

The battle wasn't over. Harry Potter had left for the Forbidden Forest, but she knew the climax was still some way to go.

Technically, even if she could have left the castle, she would have had to drag Dem by the ankles. And the outside world seemed a bit worse now.

They were all stuck together, waiting with the corpses.

Rodolphus Lestrange was trying to kill her.

Evey more avoided than countered the curses flying at her head, but it was getting harder and harder to deflect them as the man seemed intent upon finishing her off. She had tried running away or dodging him, but he was fast on her tracks and found her each time.

She had been stupid enough to attract his attention when she and Demelza had thrown a hex at his wife. Bellatrix had had Ginny cornered and they had tried to help. Demelza had been saved by Mrs. Weasley, but Evey hadn't been so lucky.

Rodolphus seemed more amused than annoyed that she had attempted to harm his spouse.

He grinned at her as she made to duck under a table.

He reached out for her leg. She tried to kick him in the face, but all she managed to do was get herself dragged out into the open once again.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, but he bent down and it missed.

Damn him!

He lifted his wand and jabbed it at her throat.

"Say goodbye, little girl."

Evey gritted her teeth.

"Serpensortia!" she yelled. Not a very practical curse, but she could think of nothing better at the moment. A small snake was conjured out of her wand and wound itself Lestrange's arm.

He yelped and took a step back.

Evey quickly cast a Stinging Hex. Lestrange was blasted into the nearest wall. He dropped his wand. Before he could bend down to retrieve it, Evey had cast a Knee-Reversal Hex which made Lestrange collapse on the ground.

"Accio wand!"

But she was too late. Lestrange was gripping his wand firmly in his hands and before she knew it, he had thrown the Cruciatus Curse at her.

Evey knelt down on the floor and held her arms around her stomach, crying out as the sharp pain made each atom in her body scream. Sharp needles were trying to knit a sweater out of her skin.

Lestrange was up on his feet now. He was holding his wand above her head, twisting it to make the Curse more potent.

Evey couldn't see through the tears and the infuriating pain, but she imagined Lestrange's ugly face leering at her victoriously.

The Death Eater lifted his wand briefly and she thought she might have some respite, but he was just getting ready for another attack.

"Please don't!" she yelled desperately, cowering at his feet. "Please, stop! Stop hurting me!"

Her voice travelled across the Great Hall and was lost in the sea of shouts and screams that engulfed them all.

But someone had heard her cry.

"You want me to stop, girl?" Lestrange laughed. "All right, I'm going to stop for good."

Evey could see it in slow motion; the movement of the wand, the glowing tip turning green.

I am going to die, she realized dumbly. Shit. I am going to die.

She would have liked to feel peace in her last moment. Maybe see a montage of her short life with all the best moments highlighted. But everything was ugly and wrong. The relief she had felt minutes ago, when it had been revealed that Harry Potter was still alive, was slowly turning into bitter resignation.

"Avada –"

Evey flinched, squeezing her eyes shut. She hoped it wouldn't hurt. She hoped it would be fast. She hoped he would miss.

"– Kedavra," another voice finished for him.

Evey had expected for it to be over soon, but she had had no idea it could be that fast and easy. It hadn't hurt at all. In fact, she almost felt as if she was still alive. She could still hear the commotion around her. She could still breathe, too.

Hang on.

She slowly pried her eyes open. She was staring at the enchanted ceiling. It was a dark grey at the moment.

She turned around, standing on her elbows.

She almost gave a shriek.

Rodolphus Lestrange's body was frozen in place next to hers. His mouth was wide open in surprise.

Evey looked up at her saviour and she felt frozen too.

He was not a man. He was not even a Death Eater. He was worse. A serpent with red eyes, a beast with no face.

Voldemort had just saved her life.

And he was staring at her as if he couldn't quite believe she was there.

"...Evelyn?"

Okay, Voldemort just called me by my full name. What the flying fuck?

Evey crawled away from him, desperately feeling the ground for her wand. Not that she stood a chance in hell against him, but it was something to hold onto.

"Evelyn."

He had said her name again, this time more confident.

Evey gulped. She was tempted to lie and say that wasn't her name. But he seemed to know her already.

How?

"Y-yes?"

"How is this possible?" His voice was unnaturally soft, but devoid of all life. "How are you possible?"

Voldemort seemed to be questioning her very existence. To say she was terrified would be an understatement.

"Are you a ghost?" he inquired, inching closer to her.

She crawled away from him. Was he toying with her? Deliberately messing with her head? What for?

"Why – why would I be a ghost?"

She was actually talking to Voldemort. Surreal.

"I thought you were dead," he retorted, and his voice was once again cruel and angry. But underneath it, there was a strange pang of sadness that made his words all the more frightening. "I thought you were gone. How dare you? How dare you lie to me all this time? Where have you been?"

Evey had recovered her wand, but she had an inkling aiming it at him would make matters worse.

"I've – I've been here."

She had no idea how to get away from him. Her survival instincts were telling her to keep talking. He might not kill her right there and then.

"How?" he pressed.

Evey was dumbstruck. The people around them had stopped fighting and were watching the exchange with growing consternation. Some tried to hex him, but he had cast a strong protective charm around himself and her and no one could penetrate their shield.

Evey felt trapped. She had to say something.

What does he want from me?!

"How what?" she asked, hoping to delay the answer.

"Don't toy with me, Evelyn. I may have saved your life, but I can crush it in the same instant. You don't know how much I would like to punish you for what you've done."

Evey cringed. Asking what she had done might earn her a curse.

"I – I understand."

"All these years..." he trailed off, his red eyes narrowing, "...you have played me for a fool. You concealed yourself, made me believe you were no more. I should tear you to pieces."

"Okay, please don't."

Evey was freaking out. Curses and hexes kept flying off the shield, leaving it intact. The Aurors had them surrounded, but could do nothing. She watched them with despair.

Meanwhile, Death Eaters were killing people right and left.

Voldemort wasn't even looking at them. He wasn't looking at anyone but her.

"Why shouldn't I?"

Evey winced. She had to invent something to save her skin. She had to give him what he wanted. Clearly, he was undergoing a mental breakdown. And was confusing her with an old schoolmate or something.

"Because I – I thought you were dead too."

Oh, God, did I really say that?

Voldemort's expression darkened, but his eyes were less red. In fact, he looked intrigued.

"Um, that's why I just – I just didn't stay in touch," she rambled on. "I thought you were gone."

Technically, this was true. Up until two years ago, Voldemort was believed to be dead.

"You know, that night you disappeared when Harry Potter was a baby," she continued, encouraged by his silence.

Voldemort did not look convinced, but he was considering her words carefully.

"That was fourteen years ago. What about the rest of those fifty years?"

Jesus, fifty years?! Is he having a stroke?

Evey blanched. "I – I don't remember. I just remember what I told you."

"You don't remember?"

"No! I swear I don't. I'm –" She was almost going to say she was sorry, but she gritted her teeth and kept quiet. No way was she saying sorry to him.

"Let me refresh your memory. Do you remember leaving? Do you remember breaking your word? Because I do. I remember how you turned your back on my gift."

Evey felt tears smarting at the corner of her eyes.

"I don't know what you want from me," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady.

"Tell me why you are here! Tell me what Dark Magic has preserved your youth! Tell me why you left!"

His wand was pointed at her. It glowed menacingly.

Evey felt the taste of salt in her mouth. Desperate times called for desperate lying.

"I didn't leave you!" she expelled. "They took me away!"

His grip seemed to waver.

Evey breathed in and out, holding her arms over her stomach.

"Who took you away?"

She didn't have to think hard about the answer. Seized by a sudden brilliant idea, she pointed her finger at the Death Eaters around them.

"They did!"

Voldemort looked at his followers for the first time since their confrontation had started.

"The Death Eaters," Evey spat out, frightened. "They did this."

She could see him tighten his grip on his wand, but its trajectory had veered towards the masked figures. Evey realized he might actually curse them, if given enough incentive.

Whoever he thought she was, it must have been someone he remotely cared about.

Evey hoped her next words wouldn't doom her.

"They didn't like me around you."

Voldemort turned towards her again.

"They would not disobey me."

"Maybe they didn't. Maybe…" Evey trailed off. She was running out of ideas.

"…maybe they thought it was the right thing to do," she finished shakily.

A tear ran down her cheek. "You have to believe me."

Something in his demeanour changed visibly. With a flick of his wand the shield was gone. Before the Aurors had time to attack him, he had already seized upon two Death Eaters. They fell dead at his feet like flies. The curses and hexes the wizards threw at him didn't seem to affect him, even when they touched him. He parted his way through the crowd and killed one Death Eater after another.

Evey stood rooted to the spot, watching the massacre in complete shock.

She tried to find Demelza among the people around her, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.

She saw someone else, however.

Harry Potter.

He was following Voldemort.

Evey's feet started moving after him. People made way for her. She knew they were staring. Some of her classmates were glaring, too. It can't have looked anything but suspicious that Voldemort somehow knew her.

They don't honestly think I'm in cahoots with that…that psycho, do they?

How could Evey O'Connell have anything to do with it? She was just a lazy witch who complained a lot. There was nothing evil or dark about her.

Harry was gaining ground on Voldemort.

She watched in horror as Death Eater after Death Eater fell prey to him. Some tried to flee, others tried to put up a fight. That only seemed to anger him more. He killed with precision, a dark and chilling fury guiding his movements. And because his followers did not expect the attack, it was all the more efficient.

He wouldn't have stopped, either. But Harry Potter stood in his way now.

Evey rushed towards them, heart in her throat. She had no idea if she was doing the right thing, but she couldn't turn her back on what she had seen. For once, personal safety was thrown out the window.

"…you could still recover your soul, you could still save the last piece left in you," Harry was telling him.

"Recover my soul?" Voldemort spat, cackling bitterly. "I have no soul left."

In the blink of an eye, he had cast a Killing Spell. But Harry had been fast too.

"Expelliarmus!"

The Great Hall was illuminated by two colliding rays, one green and one red.

"You can't defeat me, Tom! The Elder Wand, it won't listen to you. I disarmed Draco. It belongs to me. It won't hurt me."

"You think you can say my name now, Harry Potter, but you haven't defeated me yet!"

Everyone in the Hall stood back, silent and still, watching the duel unfold, but Evey couldn't ignore the pressure building up in her chest. Shock or madness made her step away from the crowd and edge closer to the rays of light. She saw Demelza in the first rows. The girl was waving her arm, mouthing something at her desperately.

Evey was just relieved her friend was okay.

Then, she caught Voldemort's eye.

She was standing closer to him, her face awash in the red light of his Killing Curse.

"Evelyn. Kill him. Kill Potter," he rasped, his face twisted with rage.

Evey looked at Harry.

The boy she had known for the past six years was drenched in sweat, his face contorted with effort, but also illuminated by a powerful conviction.

"Evelyn..." Voldemort called to her again. "I think, for once, I cannot do it alone."

She gawked at him. The most feared wizard in the world had just admitted to her he needed help.

"I never thought I would ever see you again. But your presence is restoring faith in my powers."

Evey shuddered at the notion that she was in some way helping him.

"What are you waiting for? Do it, Evelyn!"

She opened her mouth, but it was as if something was stuck in her throat and she couldn't get it out.

"Do it, if you truly never left me!"

It startled her, the familiarity which he used with her. As if somewhere out there, her doppelganger had been Voldemort's only true friend.

Evey felt a strange pang in her chest. She did not pity him, but his belief in her made her feel responsible for something she had not done.

She looked down.

"No. I can't."

"Evelyn, we will leave this place together and we will have peace, but do as I say!"

Evey clenched her fists.

"I won't."

Voldemort howled. His own wand was not obeying him. It was obeying Harry, turning the Killing Curse against him. The Elder Wand could not be controlled. And yet, he was resisting. Still living.

"You are angry I did not search for you more, you are angry I did not fight for you," Voldemort spoke, his voice now hoarse, like a snake's hiss.

"I would have, if I had known. No one would have stood in my way. I would have done anything to get you back."

Evey saw from the corner of her eye that people around her were trying to get close, trying to pull her away. She took one step further towards him.

"Anything?" she asked, feeling sick to her stomach. "Even give up this war?"

His eyes darkened. "You know this was inevitable."

Evey looked around at the destruction, the bodies, the chaos.

"Then, you can have the war. Whoever Evelyn was to you, she's not me."

"Of course it is you. You think I would not recognize you?"

"I'm not her."

For the first time, she saw pain, beyond the physical kind, cross his red eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know you. All you are to me is a killer. I don't know you."

"Evelyn."

"You saved my life, but I've never seen you before until today. And I hope I never see you again."

Her voice turned harsh and angry. She remembered Colin Creevey's corpse. Her eyes flashed with grief.

"Whoever you are, I don't want to know you."

And then, despite her rage, despite her disgust, she said the two words she promised she would not say.

"I'm sorry."

It was these words that undid him. The simple I'm sorry from a girl who was completely indifferent to him. The indolent pity from a stranger who had once been much more.

"Evey..." he half-whispered to himself and then, suddenly, all the force in his body was gone.

The Elder Wand flew into the hand of its rightful owner, Harry. And the Killing Curse, deflected against the Disarming Charm, hit him straight in the chest.

Evey watched in horror and relief as the red light in his eyes vanished and he fell to the ground with a sickening thump. He was still looking at her, even though he could no longer see anything.

Fresh tears sprung into her eyes for no reason. Evey...

Arms caught her from behind. People were pulling her away from the carnage.

By the time she recovered, she was being held by Demelza.

"Evey, snap out of it, it's all right, it's over..."

But she couldn't get the image out of her head. She heaved and threw up. She saw black spots in front of her eyes and then the whole world went dark.

Her back was killing her. She came round slowly to the chatter of voices around her. The first thing she saw was the grey ceiling. She was still in the Great Hall. She was lying on a mattress.

Madam Pomfrey was making her drink something that looked like bile.

Evey saw Demelza and other classmates standing by her bedside. All around the Hall, makeshift beds had been set up to tend to the injured.

"Evey? Can you talk? Are you okay?"

"I'm – what's going on?"

Of all the people she had expected to see among the wounded, she had not imagined herself. How had she ended up here? She remembered Demelza getting injured, she remembered hiding with her, staying away from the battle. Why had they ever left that place?

Oh, right.

"You passed out back there," her friend supplied, as if guessing the confusion in her head. "But it's all right now. It's finally over. We did it."

It took a few moments to understand what this meant.

He's dead.

Demelza was smiling at her, but her voice faltered at the end, and her expression was troubled. She noticed the other students gathered around her looked equally disturbed. No one else was smiling.

Ginny Weasley was among them.

"Evey, I hope you're feeling better. We sort of need to talk to you. All of us. You can imagine...we have a few questions."

Evey gradually realized she had not dreamt the past hours. Voldemort was dead. And he had died calling out her name and looking straight at her. The memory made her fall back on the mattress.

"I don't know if I can help you, but I have been through what you are experiencing," Ginny continued in a careful voice.

Evey frowned. "What do you mean?"

Demelza put a hand on Ginny's shoulder.

"Now's not the time, Gin. Evey needs rest. And...I'm sure it's not what you think it is."

Evey was getting frightened by now. She had many questions too. She wanted to know why Ginny Weasley was looking at her as if she were damaged goods.

But Madam Pomfrey was pouring down another bilious liquid down her throat and she soon fell asleep once more.

She dreamt of red eyes and dead bodies.

uuum, so I've been working on this story for a while and I'm finally publishing. Hope you like it! Also, first story so be gentle, please. Some parts of Deathly Hallows were modified, of course.