It had been two years since Mary Macdonald had graduated from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now age 22, she found herself in the middle of a war, one that she was sure to get far worse before it was done. Rumors of the Dark Lord, Voldemort, had spread like wild fire, and with those rumors more and more people disappeared.
In the Prophet the Minister calmly stated that the "disappearances" were caused by everyday magic experiments gone wrong, but Mary knew better. She had heard more than a whisper in Diagon Alley that some people were becoming Voldemort's servants in his army he called the "Death Eaters"
This was not too much of a surprise to Mary; many students in her year gloated about joining Voldemort when they finished with Hogwarts. Lily Evans' old friend Severus Snape had once spoken of it in front of her. Even Evan Rosier had spoken of it…
"Oi! Mary! Get those Quidditch books will you? They're trying to fly out the door!"
Her co-worker Cassandra Bulup snapped Mary out of her thoughts. Mary quickly gazed towards the front door of Flourish and Blotts, and spotted the books.
"Accio Bludgers and Broomsticks!" Mary shouted.
The books were quickly propelled backwards towards Mary, whom caught them one by one. She staked the books neatly on the front counter and placed a charm on the books to hinder their flying abilities. Mary looked over at Cassandra; she was busily documenting the older copies onto a list upstairs. Cassandra was an older Witch, but still had her spunk.
Mary often wondered what she did before working at a bookshop, but whenever she asked Cassandra always said,
"I have had enough adventure in my lifetime. I felt it time to work somewhere safe, and around something else I love: Books."
There was a delightful jingle as an older woman walked into the bookshop, looking rather delighted.
"Good afternoon!" Mary greeted with a smile.
"Afternoon! Do you happen to have a book on Quidditch? It's for my grandson; he just turned 8 and is eager as ever to get on a broom." The old woman asked with a loving smile.
"In fact, we got a new shipment of Bludgers and Broomsticks today! They will tell your grandson everything he needs to know about Quidditch." Mary grabbed a copy and handed it to the woman.
"Oh yes! This is perfect!" She exclaimed.
She paid for the book, and had Mary wrap the book in festive wrapping paper, since Christmas was steadily approaching. By the looks of Diagon Alley, one wouldn't be able to tell; the windows of the stores scarcely showed the Holiday Cheer, as did the absence of shoppers.
"Thank you very much, my dear!" The elderly woman said with gratitude.
"You're very welcome!" Mary pleasantly replied as the woman left the store, as a group of cloaked wizards walked into the shop. Mary looked over at Cassandra who nodded discreetly; they were Death Eaters. The Ministry wouldn't mark this group as lethal, even with the rumors of their merciless killings.
Cassandra rushed down the stairs wiping the dust onto her apron, "How can I help you this evening?"
One of the members pulled off their hood; Mary felt a pang of familiarity, but brushed it away at once. The woman walked towards Cassandra and politely replied, "We're looking for books about Rare Artifacts."
Cassandra nodded, and with a forced smiled gestured upstairs, "We have a couple of Lockhart's books upstairs, as well as some aged books. A little pricey-"
"Price is no obstacle." The witch said walking upstairs. Cassandra glanced towards Mary, but continued on her way behind the witch. Mary turned her gaze to the remaining men. Still hooded, two walked up to the register.
"Mind if we take a look around?" The tallest asked.
"Of course not. It's a book shop." Mary replied. The two men chuckled and walked toward the Potions section. The last man stood by the door, without his hood and staring at Mary. He was a dirty blonde, average looking man compared to the two men who accompanied him. His eyes were an unusual shade of blue, one that struck a chord in Mary's memory.
(Flashback)
"How can anyone not know my name?" A rather smirk seventeen-year-old boy by the name of Evan Rosier exclaimed standing upon his desk. He was clearly a Slytherin with the sliver and emerald tie hanging loosely around his neck. His fellow Slytherins cheered him on as he conjured his name in the air.
A young Mary Macdonald scoffed, crossing her arms over her Gryffindor tie. She was used to displays of big-headedness from the Marauders, but Rosier wasn't a Marauder, nor was he pleasant enough to get away with being that egotistical.
"Come off it Rosier!" One of Evan's friends yelled throwing a balled up piece of parchment at him. Evan laughed and danced on the table.
"Who couldn't know your name when you go about the castle with that over your head constantly?" Mary asked annoyed. There was a collective "Ooh" from the Slytherins as Evan stopped dancing.
"You seem to speak a lot when no one wants to hear you, Mary." Evan scowled.
"And you seem to dance a lot when obviously you haven't any lessons." She retorted clumsily. It wasn't one the best lines she had said, but the point was clear.
The class was almost silent now; excluding the giggling and collective "Ooh" s. Evan jumped off the table and walked over to Mary's desk, towering over her. She took this moment to stand up and stand her ground.
"Actually, Macdonald, most girls recognize the value of my dancing expertise." He smirked at her, always welcoming a challenge. That was what Mary was to him: a challenge.
"Girls!" Mary laughed, "You mean your mum."
The classroom burst out in laughter, however Evan's smirk did not falter. Mary arched an eyebrow ready for his harebrained remark when Professor Slughorn entered the room.
"What's going on here? I leave for 5 minutes and all of you are out of your seats! Sit down! Sit down!" He walked to the front of the classroom where the blackboard was already writing down the ingredients for the potion they would be working on.
Evan and Mary continued to stare at one another, until Evan finally took his leave, the smirk never leaving his face.
(Flashback done)
"How's business?" The blonde man asked, tearing Mary out of her pensive state.
"Oh, fine. Not as much business as one would like, but at least we have some customers." She replied glancing casually around, looking for the two larger men who had seemed to disappear.
"Ah yes, the threats of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named have certainly frightened the community." He said perceptively, walking towards the counter.
She simply nodded, feeling uncomfortable talking to this man. Cassandra knew what Death Eaters looked like; she had worked in Knockturn Alley for the summer for her uncle and business certainly boomed when the rumors of a Dark Lord rising became more of a reality.
"You were never one for small talk, Mary." The man casually observed, as he looked though a small novel sitting upon the counter.
"Pardon?" She asked taken aback. The man smirked putting down the book. It was Evan Rosier. She could recognize that smirk anywhere; it had been a constant expression on his face whenever they were together.
"Rosier?" Mary cocked an eyebrow, immediately becoming frustrated, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Been a while hasn't it?" He asked, ignoring her question. He leaned against the counter sociably. Mary took this opportunity to slap the smirk off his face.
"Bloody hell!" He exclaimed holding his face, in obvious pain. For the first time in weeks, Mary smirked.
"What the hell was that for?" Evan asked, still holding his cheek.
"Oh, I don't know Evan." She started sarcastically, "Maybe it was for you leaving me at Kings Cross without even an explanation."
A sign of reorganization and guilt crossed over Evan's face, "I had to sort out some things… I tried to find you to explain but you had decided to make it impossible for anyone to find you!" He argued quietly lest his companions would hear.
"Oh please." She rolled her hazel eyes; "If you wanted to break-up with me you could have just said that before agreeing to travel with me."
"I didn't- look, there were some crazy things going on." He began to explain.
"Like what? Becoming a Deatheater?" She whispered angrily. Evan's eyes widened slightly, until he realized why he was here.
"Did you end marrying Carrow? You two were perfect for each other. Actually… Is that-" She was silenced by Evans hand, so she licked it to get his hand off.
He chuckled, "Like that's going to make me stop. Mary, you need to be careful what you say." He said seriously, "I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
She rolled her eyes and brought her hand to his to remove it, "If you were so worried about that, Rosier, you wouldn't have left the way you did."
Her hand was still holding his when one of the towers of books from the second floor tumbled down to the ground with a loud thud. Mary looked up to see a lifeless Cassandra slumped up against the railing with the hooded witch standing nearby.
Evan quickly ran behind the counter and held his wand to Mary's throat, and whispered, "Just go with it." Mary would have rolled her eyes, however as the two men reappeared in the shop, she realized that she might die.
"Did you get it?" The witch asked the two men, as she walked gracefully down the stairs.
"Yeah, she had it hidden under the shop. We even cleaned up after ourselves." One of the men smiled, his teeth looking remarkably dark.
"Good. Now, we must take care of this one." The witch walked over to the counter. Evan tightened his grip on Mary, though she wasn't able to decipher whether it was out of protection or to prepare for, what she assumed, her death.
"Wouldn't it be better if she was kept alive, but we erased her memory. Bulup won't be missed as it is, but her," He tapped her throat with his wand, "We don't know of her family.
"Ah yes, right you are Rosier." The witch smirked at him. Mary felt her cheeks get red; it was Alecto Carrow, just as she thought.
Mary glanced sideways at Evan who smirked back at Alecto, infuriating Mary. She was getting increasingly tired of being lied to by the same man.
"Amycus! Yaxley! Let us leave Rosier to clean up the mess." She said to the two men, then turned back to Rosier, "See you back at headquarters." She winked.
The 3 Death Eaters apparated instantly, leaving Flourish and Blotts uncomfortably quiet.
"Can you let go of me now?" Mary asked, attempting to hide her contempt.
"Not yet." He replied quietly, and then conjured the window curtains closed, locked the door, and finally let her go.
"Care to explain, or shall you erase my memory now because quite frankly, I think not remembering you would be a blessing." She snapped.
"I just saved your life, at least be a little grateful!" Evan yelled.
"Grateful!" Mary scoffed, "Oh yes, I am very grateful that I got to witness Carrow flirt with you while I stood there wondering if she was just going to kill me then." She attempted to walk past him, but he blocked her way.
"Move." Mary ordered, irritated.
"Not until you listen." He replied looking at her solemnly. Mary didn't reply but stood still, averting his gaze.
"I had to leave because of this. The whole Death Eater business, and before you say anything I know how you feel about this."
"Do you?" She scoffed. "You are fighting for-"
"For a better world!"
"For a world that does not accept people for who they are. You are fighting to kill off as many half-bloods, muggle-borns, and half breeds as you possibly can. If you haven't noticed Evan, I'm on that list."
Evan looked grim, "Look, I made this choice and I can't just back out of it."
"Well then, here we are. Are you going to kill me, erase my memory, or both?" Mary asked once again, almost scared that he would.
"You know I can't do that." He said softly, looking down.
"Honestly Evan, I don't know anything about you. It's been 2 years." Mary admitted. "I need to go see Cassandra."
"I have to destroy her body." Evan said at normal volume.
"Of course." Mary said shaking her head.
"Mary, I didn't want to leave, it's just that I had obligations and if I don't fill them I could be killed." He began to explain once again.
"You made that choice Evan."
"But I didn't!" Evan ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "You know how my family is."
Oh yes, Mary knew. She had heard only horrible things about his family when she and Evan were together. She wouldn't be surprised if they were the co-founders of the Death Eaters. In fact, as hard as they tried to conceal their relationship from his parents they always knew. Mary always suspected Carrow told them because Evan turned her down 7th year.
"Fine." She finally replied, "Then perhaps you should go, before any of your friends suspect anything." Evan sighed, and looked up at Mary.
"I never forgot you." He whispered, standing closer to her.
"Sometimes I wish I could." Mary whispered back honestly.
"I can make this right." He grabbed her hands.
"How?" She allowed herself to ask, looking down at their hands.
"I have a place no one knows about. Not even the Death Eaters. Sort of a safe haven, just in case." He said hastily, almost excited. Mary wasn't sure how to respond so she just rubbed his hand with her thumb, thinking.
"This is senseless, Evan. We can't just pick up where we left off." She finally admitted.
"We can." Evan said with so much optimism, it shocked Mary. "I'll prove it to you." He promised.
Mary finally looked up at his eyes, those piercing blue eyes she knew, and wanted to disagree but didn't.
"I have to go." He began, a little more blissful than before, "We wouldn't want any suspicion led here." He let go of her hands and pointed his want at Cassandra's body and made it turn to ash. Mary watched, feeling horrible for her friend, but not knowing what to say or do.
"I doubt any Death Eaters will come here again. We got what we needed." He kissed her cheek, which surprised Mary, but she didn't move away, "I'll see you soon. You'll see. Everything will be fine." He disaparrated.
She really wanted to believe him. She wanted what they had 2 years ago, but how could she be sure? So much time had passed.