Tony watched television as he waited for Evey to come back, without really paying attention to what was being said. Damn Walden! He was an apt Legilimens, true, but he had only ever used the ability for entirely different purposes. Women were always pleasantly impressed when a man knew what they were thinking, what they wanted. But to search Evey's mind, to witness what happened to her and her family… He shuddered. He'd seen the works of Greyback before. On the other hand, he was curious, he had to admit. Had the werewolf really bitten her? Walden's explanation made much more sense, of course, but the girl seemed lucid enough, given the circumstances.

Before long, there was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," Tony called out.

Walden didn't even glance up from his book as Evey stepped quietly inside the room. She walked up to Tony and sat beside him on the bed. "Let's do this," she said determinedly.

Tony passed a hand through his hair, not for the first time that evening. "Right now?" he asked. "We can wait a bit. Let you digest all that food."

Evey shook her head. "I'd rather get it over with. Before I lose my nerve," she murmured.

Tony sighed. "You're sure about this?" She nodded. "Alright, fine." He turned to face her and gazed into her eyes. They were more hazel than green, he noticed idly, and speckled with gold around the pupils. "Try to relax. Take deep breaths. Focus on that night, on whatever you remember. Don't fight me. And if you want me to stop, say so right away." Evey nodded again, looking pale but resolute.

He didn't need to borrow Walden's wand for this; his own had been destroyed after he was sentenced to life in Azkaban. He cast the spell nonverbally instead. How strange it was that, even after all these years, he could still practice Legilimency as easily as he ever had.

It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. The girl's mind was full of the same image, the same scene repeated over and over again. A gangly boy of about fifteen was flying across a bedroom, and his course ended brutally against a wall, where his head burst open from the violence of the impact. Merlin, no wonder she had blocked whatever else had happened that night. This would be enough to give him nightmares. If he ever slept, which he didn't.

He could tell that Evey was not fighting him consciously, but she still attempted to prevent him – or herself – from seeing what came next. Of course, Tony saw it all from Evey's perspective, and the images were blurry, unfocused. He almost broke the spell when Greyback threw her on the bed, but she wanted to know, and he couldn't sort through it all as easily as he would like. They had to take it as it came.

Thankfully – that may be the only thing he could be thankful for at this point – it appeared that the werewolf hadn't raped her. He'd hurt her, though, and it looked like he had... Tony swallowed some bile at the sight. He knew that Greyback was known to partially devour his victims, but gods, he wasn't even transformed!

Evey's recollection became even more clouded after that, but it was clear enough that Greyback had indeed bitten her – chewed her, really – then had apparently left Evey for dead after he'd had his fun with her. Considering the wounds she'd sustained, Tony would have expected her to die, even if her assailant hadn't been a werewolf. There was blood everywhere.

He couldn't say for sure how she'd ended up in Hogsmeade afterwards; one moment she was in her bed, lying in a pool of blood, panting heavily, and the next she was banging frantically on the front door of the Hog's Head. She must have Apparated, somehow. Tony noticed that her injuries were already gone by that time, although the blood that marred her torn pyjamas was still there.

He let go of her mind slowly, carefully, and focused on her, the present version of her that was sitting cross-legged in front of him. She was almost as white as he was, but she appeared remarkably calm. She wasn't crying, either; her eyes had taken on a faraway look. "Evey?" he whispered. "Are you alright, kid?"

She blinked at him, as if she was only now coming out of her trance. "Fine." Her voice was barely audible, even to him. "I'm fine. Thank you."

That had to be the most improbable thing anyone had ever thanked him for. "You want to lie down a moment?"

She nodded faintly and curled up in a ball on his bed. He left her to her thoughts, unsure what to do. Walden was looking at them, his brow furrowed, but he quickly shifted his gaze back to his book when Tony caught him watching.

Before a minute had gone by, he noticed that Evey had fallen asleep.

"She can't stay here all night," Walden muttered. "Molly will show up any second now, to check on her. I'm surprised she hasn't come by yet."

It was odd, admittedly, but not the oddest thing that had happened tonight. "Wal, Greyback did bite her. And don't tell me someone implanted fake memories in her head. It's gruelling work and I can't think of a reason why anyone would bother. Besides, I've seen fabricated memories before, and those certainly weren't."

"It's impossible," Walden insisted. "It's never happened before – never, Tony. Not since there are werewolves roaming the earth, nowhere in the world has it ever happened. Werewolf bites are fatal to women. He can't have bitten her. It's impossible," he repeated stubbornly.

"'It's only impossible until someone does it for the first time,'" Tony said with a bitter smile. "How many times must I tell you that? You also said that using electricity to create magical devices was impossible, but I did it."

"Those are two completely different issues," Walden pointed out. "Maybe she created the memories herself. It's not unheard of."

"Why in the blazes would she create memories like that? People do that to avoid the harsh truth, not to make things worse!"

"But it doesn't make any sense," Walden said with exasperation.

"Not everything makes sense, you know. I'm immortal, for Merlin's sake. Is it really so hard for you to conceive that a woman might have survived a werewolf bite?" He could be so bloody narrow-minded, sometimes.

There was a knock on the door. Walden glared at him and returned his attention to his book, to show that, whatever happened next, it was not his problem. The door opened before Tony could move and Molly narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Why is Evey still here?" she demanded.

"She…um, she fell asleep." He tucked his thumb in the girl's direction.

Molly crossed her arms over her chest. "She can't sleep here!"

Tony raised his arms in a placating gesture. "No, no, I know. She just…um, she was feeling a bit out of sorts, so I told her to lie down for a bit and…and then she fell asleep," he explained haltingly. "I mean, she hasn't slept much since…since she arrived here. She must be exhausted."

Molly barged inside the room and made her way to Tony's bed. She placed a hand lightly on Evey's shoulder. "Wake up, dear. It's time to go to bed." The girl didn't react. She was snoring softly.

"Maybe you should let her sleep here?" Tony said tentatively. "I'll go somewhere else, if you want. And Walden will be sleeping, anyway."

Molly was shaking her head firmly. "No. Absolutely not." She addressed the girl once more. "Evangeline," she said, a little louder than before, "let's get you in your own bed, dear. You'll be more comfortable."

Evey slowly uncurled from her foetal position and turned around, her eyes opening a fraction. "I think I'll stay here, thank you," she murmured sleepily.

"No, no, you can't sleep here. Come now," Molly said forcefully.

"Mrs Weasley," she whispered, "if I go to my own bed now, you can be sure that I won't be sleeping, and that means I'll sneak back here as soon as possible, to try and finally get some rest. I haven't slept for more than minutes at a time since I woke up at Hogwarts." She smiled drowsily. "I promise we'll be chaste." Tony gaped at her.

Uh-oh. Now he was dead for sure.

Molly looked at Evey in shock before turning to him, hands on her hips. "If you – if either of you! – even think of-"

"Molly, come on! She's just a kid. It never even crossed my mind, I swear." That wasn't entirely true, but he couldn't blush anymore, and that meant that he could lie much more smoothly than before. Besides, it had been nothing more than an idle thought. He had been in Azkaban for fourteen years, for Merlin's sake. Have some mercy.

Molly studied him for a long time. "Just tonight," she said eventually. "The door remains open. And you stay away from that bed!" she added dangerously.

"I won't go anywhere near it, I promise." He stood and took a few steps away from the bed, leaning against the windowsill. He wouldn't put it past Molly to stand watch in the hall all night to make certain that he respected that condition. He glanced down at the girl and realised that she'd drifted off to sleep once more.

"Very well," Molly said reluctantly. "But just tonight!" she repeated before stepping briskly into the corridor.

Molly walked away hesitantly, but she forced herself not to look over her shoulder.

Of course, she had expected some difficulties when Dumbledore explained what had happened to Evey and announced that she would be staying here, and not only because of her history with George. Although, if she was honest with herself, Molly had to admit that she had hoped they might reconcile. She rather liked the young woman, despite her fiery temperament. She had been a surprisingly positive influence on her son in the few months they'd been together.

She shouldn't have agreed to let Evey stay in Antonin's room. He might fancy himself a capable liar, but she knew him better than he thought. He'd always been a ladies' man. Still, she had faith that he wouldn't do anything foolish. Walden would make certain that he behaved, in any case. He was quite sensible, for a man. And the girl did need to sleep. Ginny and Hermione had told Molly that, whenever they woke up, Evey was always wide awake and staring out the window. If being upstairs helped her sleep… Well, in any case, it was only the one night.

It was not that Antonin was a bad person, far from it – in spite of everything that had happened. He was incredibly kind and supportive and he had helped taking care of the children more than once, when they were younger. He hadn't joined He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named because he despised Muggles or believed in Pure-blood supremacy. He had simply been young and enticed by the opportunity that presented itself to him, by the promise that the world would be open to him. His job at the Ministry had been unsatisfying, a real disappointment to him, who always overflowed with ambitious ideas and projects.

It was truly uncanny, how young he looked now – as young as he'd looked when Molly had first met him, all those years ago. Tony had explained that it was a rare side effect of being turned into a vampire, but Molly wasn't sure if she believed it. There were other…irregularities, the fact that he didn't sleep during the day not the least of them. But Dumbledore had assured her – them, really, for Molly was hardly the only one who'd attempted to keep the Death Eaters out of Grimmauld Place – that he was perfectly safe. That they both were.

As for what happened to Fabian and Gideon… It was evident, at the time, that Walden and Antonin were there against their will. Molly remembered it quite clearly.

The Lestrange woman had been in charge, and she had pointed her wand at Molly's brothers, once they'd been restrained – they had been caught by surprise, and they were outnumbered. Bellatrix had donned a twisted grin when her husband explained the situation. Walden hadn't dared gaze at Molly, but Antonin had given her a stricken look. They were both dishevelled and Antonin was even skinnier and paler than usual. She'd shaken her head at him – she'd been Silenced by one of the Lestranges, but he should understand what she meant. It was pointless, she knew – even then, she'd known that her brothers would die; she was only surprised that she'd survived.

They'd had no choice, not that day, but that didn't mean she forgave them. They had turned their back on Dumbledore willingly, and youth couldn't excuse everything – and certainly not murder.