Walden knew that something was wrong the moment he opened his eyes. For one thing, it was night outside, and he could see perfectly well despite the darkness in the room.

For another, he wasn't breathing.

Oh no he didn't, he thought incredulously. He took his pulse gingerly, but sure enough, there was nothing for him to feel. His skin was cold. For Merlin's sake, he didn't!

The door opened at that moment and Tony walked in, looking agitated. He started when he saw that Walden was awake.

"What part of Do not turn me into a vampire under any circumstances did you not understand?" Walden demanded crossly as he sat up in the bed.

"I…you…Wal, you were dead," Tony said sheepishly. He couldn't meet Walden's eyes. At least he had the grace to look guilty.

Gods, I am dead. Well, undead, to be accurate. "To answer my own question, you didn't understand any of it, apparently," Walden muttered.

"You were dead," Tony repeated, more forcefully this time. "What the hell was I supposed to do?"

Walden glared at him. "Let me die! Is that truly so difficult to understand?"

"Do you want to die?" his brother asked. "Is that it?"

"Of course I bloody well don't want to die, you twit, but I don't want to live like that, either," Walden growled. "Damn you, we talked about this. I told you–" He cut off with an irritated huff. "You know what, never mind. You're a self-centred jerk. Nothing's going to change that."

"Oi, there's no need to be like that. I was just trying to help, for fuck's sake! What's the big deal? You're alive. Well, the next thing to it, anyway. That's what matters, isn't it?" Walden didn't bother to reply. It was like talking to a particularly stubborn wall.

"I panicked, alright?" Tony went on defensively when Walden remained silent. "You're the level-headed one. You would have let me die without hesitation. But I just couldn't do it, Wal. Do you have any idea what it was like? Seeing you like that?"

"I mourned you for two weeks, you bloody idiot!" Walden exclaimed. Tony averted his gaze, and would likely have blushed, if he could. Had he already forgotten about that? How convenient. "And yes, I'm level-headed, but I'm not cold-hearted, burn you. Of course I would have hesitated. And I would have regretted not doing it for the rest of my life, even though it was obviously the best option. The only sensible option."

Tony shook his head in denial. "Look," he continued, "I made a mistake, alright? Don't think I don't know that. It's even more of a cock-up than you know."

"How so?" Walden asked with a frown. How could it possibly be worse than it already was?

"I can only turn one person, Wal. Only one, in all my existence, and it must be someone who has what the others call the spark. We're supposed to wait for the next Ancient, not bite the first family member who dies…" He passed a hand through his already tousled hair. "Gorgo will be furious," he grumbled. The next instant, his eyes widened, as if he'd just realised he'd said something he shouldn't. Again. "I mean, the Queen will be furious," he amended quickly.

"Gorgo?" Walden repeated slowly, wonder in his voice in spite of everything else. "The Queen of Sparta? Wife to Leonidas?"

Tony groaned. "Wal, you know I'm not supposed to… Ugh, what the hell. What's one more clanger at this point," he said bitterly. "Yeah, it's her."

Walden tried to process this new information, but it was a lot to take in. Blimey, she's over two thousand years old! She's witnessed history unfold in front of her eyes. No, don't think about that now, he scolded himself. He had to focus on the matter at hand. Tony might have let it slip on purpose just to distract him.

"I can't believe Evey let you do this. I told her to never allow you anywhere near me if I died, I made her promise," Walden said. In hindsight, perhaps he should have forced an Unbreakable Vow out of the two of them. Then again, he hadn't expected to die quite so soon. How had he died, anyway? No, it didn't matter at this point. Back on track. "I know neither of you were given a choice when it came to becoming what you are, but…" Tony tried to interrupt him, but Walden ignored him. "…but that doesn't mean I shouldn't get one, damn you both."

"Walden," Tony said again, more insistently this time.

"What?" he barked sharply.

"Evey's gone."

In the moment of utter silence that followed that statement, Walden was dimly aware of crickets chirping in the night. He was staring at Antonin in horror. "Gone?" he said weakly when his brain finally unfroze. "She's dead?" And the bloody idiot had decided to resuscitate him?

Tony raised his hands quickly. "No, no, not dead. Well, I don't think she is." He took a deep, unnecessary breath. "Greyback took her."

Something in Walden's mind clicked. He remembered now. Greyback had tackled Evey, and Walden had rushed toward them. He'd known that no spell would do much damage to the werewolf; Greyback was notoriously resilient to magic. Walden would have to get closer and physically remove him, somehow. However, something – his death, presumably – had prevented him from reaching them in time.

Walden found his voice again. "And you let him take her?" Shit, being Greyback's captive was probably worse than being dead! "Tony, you're a bloody Ancient!"

"I didn't notice, alright? I didn't even know you were dead until the battle was over. I was on the other side of the room, trying to keep all the kids in one piece. Then I tried to save Sirius, but he was gone before I could get to the archway. I guess I'm not as fast as I thought," he mumbled.

"Sirius is dead?" Tony nodded, looking guiltier than ever. Well, that sucked, but it was not the foremost thought on Walden's mind at the moment. "We have to find Evey," he said determinedly as he got out of bed. He was wearing pyjamas that were too tight for him, but he didn't stop to think about it. He had to rescue Evey before it was too late. "Why are you even here? Why aren't you out looking for her?"

Tony gave him a hurt look. "You think I don't want to do just that? We're not allowed outside."

"We were outside just yesterday," Walden pointed out. "Besides, this is an exceptional situation. Surely they'll agree. Don't they want to find her?" Walden demanded.

"Of course they do, Wal. Lupin is already making enquiries to locate Greyback but, apparently, it's not as easy as that. He's been in hiding for years, and only members of his pack know his whereabouts. And by the way, it was a week ago, not yesterday."

Walden started. "Evey's been gone for a week?" He shook his head. "Let me rephrase that: Fenrir Greyback, an infamous cold-blooded murderer, has had her for a whole bloody week?"

"Well, six days," Tony amended, biting his lower lip. His fangs were showing, a clear sign of his nervousness, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. Blood welled up from the twin pricks and ran down his chin, and Tony wiped it almost reflexively with the back of his hand. "Transforming into a vampire is a lengthy process."

Six days. Merlin! Walden didn't want to imagine what Greyback must have put Evey through already – if she was even alive. They had to find her, and fast. "Lupin was turned by Greyback, wasn't he?" Tony nodded hesitantly, confused by the question. "Isn't there some sort of…bond, between a werewolf and his…maker?" That was what Tony called Jeanne, but he wasn't sure that the term applied to werewolves.

"How would I know?" Tony asked with an arched eyebrow. Merlin, he could be such an annoying twat, sometimes. "Ancients have this…blood call thing. A maker can summon his or her offspring. Another perk of turning you, see. Now I can summon you at will," he said with a tentative grin.

Walden's fists contracted reflexively at his sides. That was bad; he had to rein in his tempter and focus his energy on helping Evey. Punching a hole through his brother could wait. "I'm going to kill your undead arse if you don't quit joking around," he said through gritted teeth. "Tony, this is serious. Do you have any idea what Greyback could be doing to Evey right now? Hell, you saw what happened to her the first time they met."

Tony's smile vanished at once. "Yeah, alright, sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood." He ruffled his hair once again. If he'd been human, his hair would have fallen off a long time ago. "Wal, I already requested to be allowed outside to search for her. Dumbledore assured me that he had several people working on it, and that there was not much more we could do anyway. He's got a point," he went on with a helpless shrug. "As vampires, we won't go far, hunting down werewolves. They can literally smell us out, and when they do, they'll be unlikely to assist us. You know how things stand between us and them."

"You get along just fine with Lupin, though," Walden pointed out.

"Lupin is an exception. He's an outsider among his own kind. Greyback probably despises him. Honestly, I don't even know why he bit him in the first place. Lupin makes a terrible werewolf." He leaned against the wall behind him, crossing his arms. "Anyway, I don't know why we're supposed to hate each other. It's…visceral. Like it's imprinted in our genes, or something. According to legend, it dates back from the time when vampires and werewolves first appeared. Jeanne didn't tell me much about…well, anything, really. I got a cursory history lesson about my fellow Ancients, basic feeding information, and then I was thrown off the nest, so to speak. Most of them still call me fledgling," he muttered sourly.

"Tony…" Walden hesitated. "If I'm not an Ancient, because I didn't have the spark, what am I? Just a regular bloodsucker? A half-breed?"

"Just a vampire, I guess?" He shook his head. "The sun will toast you, that much I know." He didn't say how he knew, but he was avoiding Walden's gaze again. "That's a bother, I know. No more walking around in daylight for you. On the bright side, though, you probably don't have to feed off humans. Animal blood should suffice."

Walden's gut twisted painfully at the mention of blood but, thankfully, his stomach didn't rumble as if he were a hungry human. There were more pressing concerns than his hunger. "Since you broached the topic, whom are you going to feed off now? I assume I'm out of the question. Dead blood and all that."

Tony's face went blank for a moment. "Um…I hadn't thought about that," he admitted. "But I don't have to feed very often, anyway." He made a dismissive gesture. "We'll figure something out."

"Are we at the Burrow?" Walden asked suddenly. He didn't recognise the room, but it felt...familiar, somehow. Although spotless, it was cluttered with an assortment of very random things. That was an accurate description of the Burrow in general, if he remembered correctly.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, we had to relocate the Headquarters, now that Sirius is gone. Dumbledore said that the Grimmauld place wasn't safe anymore."

"Is everyone else alright? The kids?" Walden forced the question out. He really wanted nothing more than to jump out the window and start looking for Evey, but he had to keep his cool. Plan out a proper search. Find out who was still alive and could therefore assist them.

"There were no other casualties. The kids are fine, but they're pretty shaken, Harry especially. Oh, and the Ministry has formally acknowledged Voldemort's return." Walden's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "He made an apparition, soon after you…" Tony trailed off, looking embarrassed, then cleared his throat. "Harry and Dumbledore fought him right there in the main hall, and Fudge showed up around that time with some Aurors. Fudge resigned, by the way. They're considering Scrimgeour to be appointed Minister in his stead."

"It could be worse, I suppose," Walden said. "But that doesn't help us find Evey. I need to talk to Molly," he went on, walking toward the door purposefully.

Tony stepped in front of him. "Um…Molly's already in bed, Wal. We're in June, you know. The sun sets late."

"Well, that's just bloody perfect," Walden grumbled. That meant less time for him to look for Evey.

He would never see the sun again, he realised at that moment. That would take some getting used to. That, and the fact that he would have to drink blood. At least he could still eat regular food, unlike Antonin. Unless his brother's Ancient-ness had somehow affected him more deeply than they assumed.

Damn, what would Evey think of him, if Walden ever saw her again?