After Minister Eggleson left, Evangeline turned to Remus Lupin with a heavy sigh.
"There's a lot to do. Will you help me?"
He smiled at her comfortingly. "Of course I'll help you, Evangeline. Do you even have to ask?"
She looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, of course, I should know you'd help. You've always been a wonderful supportive friend to me, Remus." They exchanged smiles. Then she said, "Well, I guess the first thing I need is the book from my shop."
Nodding in agreement, he said, "That should be easy. I assume there're lots of paintings in your shop. You could be there and back again in moments."
A look of sadness flitted across her features, and she placed a hand on her abdomen. Slowly she turned away from him and went to gaze out the window.
Lupin frowned in concern and followed after her. Greatly puzzled by her manner. "What's the matter, Evangeline?"
She turned serious eyes back to him. "I… can't go through the paintings at the moment, Remus."
He looked confused. "Why not?"
She hesitated as she looked at him, but realized that he had to know. So much for keeping the baby a secret. "I'm pregnant, Remus, and travel through the paintings could be harmful to the baby."
Lupin felt like he'd been kicked in the head and a sense of unreality settled down on him like a shroud. He stared at her numbly. "You're pregnant? You and Severus are having a baby?"
She nodded silently and looked down as she rubbed a hand over her stomach. A wistful longing expression spread over her face. "Yes. That's why we took the chance to go and get the marriage license yesterday. If I hadn't been pregnant, he would never have left the safety of Hogwarts." Against her will, she felt her eyes fill with tears again as she closed them tightly and covered her trembling lips with her hands.
Wanting to comfort her, Lupin reached out, pulled her into his arms, and held her close. He closed his eyes for a moment and stroked her hair gently, as he tried not to think too much about this painful development. "It's all right, Evangeline," he murmured reassuringly. "That doesn't make it your fault. Wasn't Severus happy about the baby?"
Clutching him gratefully, she nodded her head against his chest and sniffled loudly. "Yes, he was. Very happy. A wife and family were something Severus never thought he'd have. Oh, we've got to get him out of that awful place, Remus! We've just got to!"
Still numb over this new revelation, he nodded automatically, closed his eyes again, and gave her one final squeeze, then reluctantly he opened his eyes and released her. "We will, Angel. I'll go get the book for you. Just tell me where it is, and what to look for. Should we tell Albus and Minerva about this?"
Dashing the tears from her eyes, she shook her head firmly, determination hardening her expression. "No. What we're doing is stooping to blackmail. We can't get them involved in something like that. It would reflect badly on Hogwarts. I have no choice but to try this, however. My reputation can't exactly get much worse at this point, and I'll do anything to get Severus out of Azkaban. Anything!" She looked at him solemnly. "Are you absolutely sure you want to be involved? I'll understand if you say no. You could be fired if we're caught. I wouldn't want to be responsible for getting you into any trouble."
As he gazed at her, all he'd let himself think about was trying to erase the worry and pain he saw in her eyes. Nothing else really mattered. "I'm not worried, Angel, and I won't abandon you. I'll bet Sirius would like to help, too. As a fugitive, he really doesn't have much of a reputation to worry about at the moment."
Her lips quirked in amusement at his wry remark. "Okay. Come with me. The key to my shop is downstairs. I'll tell you where the book is, then while you go get it, I'll find Sirius and tell him what we're up to."
She paused, suddenly doubtful. "Remus, tell me truthfully, would Sirius really be willing to help free Severus from Azkaban? Perhaps he feels that he deserves to be there."
Lupin smiled encouragingly at her. "Ask him, Evangeline. I think he'll help."
She nodded, and they left the room together and headed down to the dungeon to begin their mission.
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Lupin materialized in a narrow alleyway next to Evangeline's shop in Diagon Alley. He fingered the key in his pocket as he remembered the last time he'd come here. Snape had led him here when the two of them were desperately trying to find Evangeline after Malfoy had abducted her. It seemed that trouble kept bringing him here. Only now, it was Snape who was in need of help. Lupin sighed, took the key from his pocket, and walked to the back of the small building. There was no sense in having anyone see him if he could help it.
When he was facing the narrow back door, he checked it quickly for traps and notification spells. Just in case anyone had booby-trapped it to let them know when anyone entered the shop. He found nothing, but he decided that he'd probably better not hang around for too long.
Quickly he unlocked the door and entered a cluttered workroom. Once he'd locked the door behind him, he took a moment to look around. The room was full of racks that held many paintings. Two large worktables that were currently unoccupied, and an assortment of easels were scattered about the room. Everywhere he looked drawings and paintings hung from pegs on the walls. There were portraits of people he didn't recognize and many marvelous seascapes. Evangeline had obviously spent time near the ocean, as these certainly appeared to be her work. As he looked at the artwork, he realized that this was her life before. Before Hogwarts. Before Death Eaters. Before him…before Snape. God, he wished he'd known her then…maybe things would have been different.
He sighed. And now she and Snape were going to have a baby. A baby. That would certainly create a stronger bond than ever. Sadly he realized that a part of him still held on to the increasingly foolish notion that maybe she'd come to her senses and leave Snape. After all, the man was stuck in Azkaban! His sins as a former Death Eater would surely be held up to the light and carefully examined in any trial. His dirty laundry would be publicly aired, and Snape's laundry was no doubt dirtier than most. How could she want to put herself through that?
He shook his head and moved across the room to examine a small bookcase that should contain the reason for this trip.
It wouldn't matter. None of it would make any difference to Evangeline. She was totally, unequivocally, and unconditionally devoted to Snape. He could probably stand up and slaughter half of the population of Hogwarts right in front of her, and she'd marry him anyway!
Lupin sighed again, and reached out a hand to pick the book he was here for off the bookcase. He stared down at it solemnly. He knew he wasn't being fair…just jealous. Snape wasn't a bad person, despite his murky past. He'd finally gotten to know the man…at least a little…this year, and if he was being fair he had to admit that. But, damn it! He didn't want to be fair…to be noble and honorable! Where the hell had that gotten him?
Viciously Lupin flung the book away as hard as he could. It sailed across the room and knocked a painting off the wall, cracking the frame as it hit the floor. His anger seeped out of him just as fast as it'd possessed him.
He had to get past this! He had to! There was no other choice for him. Damn it but he was sick of telling himself that! The reason he was here was that he was trying to help Evangeline help Severus. He needed to focus on that. More than anything else, he just wanted her to be happy. Getting Snape out of Azkaban was the only thing that would do that. Absolutely the only thing. Nothing else mattered to her. Nothing and no one else.
Slowly he crossed the room and picked up the book. Fortunately its collision with the painting and the floor hadn't damaged it. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. He was going to be the good and noble Gryffindor if it killed him! First, he was going to go and put this book into her hands, and then he was going to do his level best to help her get Snape out of Azkaban and back into her arms. Then he was going to smile and tell them both how happy he was for them and their baby. Their baby…
He opened his eyes and looked around the silent studio. Time to go. Time to be the helpful supportive friend. The only role left for him to play. In an eye blink the room was empty. Evangeline's former life was left to quietly continue to gather dust.