"There's something I don't quite understand," Evey said, or so Tony guessed, since her mouth was full of blueberry muffin.

She was up early, today – it was around midday – but it was hardly surprising, for today was D-Day, so to speak. Harry, Ron and Hermione had left Shell Cottage in the morning with that fishy-looking goblin, Griphook. They were going to attempt the impossible: to break into Gringotts, and escape with their lives. And hopefully with the Horcrux they were after.

The kids had starkly refused their help – well, Tony's help, more accurately. Walden wouldn't leave Evey, and he wouldn't let her participate. Nobody cared what Tony did, but Harry insisted that the fewer people tried to get in, the less conspicuous it would be. Maybe Harry was just too polite to tell him that he didn't trust him enough to accompany them. It made sense, though it hurt Tony's feelings that the boy would trust a goblin rather than him.

It was a shame. Tony would have loved to see Evey impersonate Bellatrix. It would have been bloody hilarious, but he also had a feeling that she would have been great at it. He had to agree with Walden, though: it would be too risky. Well, it would be risky for the kids, too, but…they had no choice. Or so Harry claimed.

"Only one thing?" Tony asked teasingly. Evey shot him a flat look. "Sorry. Tell me, biscuit. What troubles you?" He leaned forward and gave her his undivided attention, prepared for the weirdest and most random question. This was Evey, after all.

"Why do the goblins let known Death Eaters and escapees from Azkaban enter Gringotts? They have the ability to catch thieves and intruders, so why don't they just capture them and hold them until the Aurors can get there?"

"Chiefly because they don't care," Tony explained. "They're clients, and that's all that matters. As long as they can prove their identities and that the vault indeed belongs to them, there's nothing more to it. The goblins' job is to ensure that belongings and wealth entrusted to their care are safe; catching outlaws is up to the Aurors. The goblins consider Gringotts to be outside any legal jurisdiction but their own, where only their rules apply. They've never had a good relationship with the authorities, anyway."

He still couldn't believe that the kids were counting on the help of one of those sly creatures to obtain the Horcrux they believed to be stashed away in Bellatrix's vault. Walden had warned them about it: goblins were notoriously unreliable and devious. Even if the kids managed to get inside the vault and retrieve the Horcrux, their safe escape was far from guaranteed. The rumours of dragons were not only rumours, as Walden had confirmed, and there were various traps and spells in place to keep intruders out – or in. This was a suicide mission, but Harry wouldn't relent. It was vital that they got that Horcrux before Voldemort had any suspicion of what they were trying to accomplish. Before he realised that his secret was out, that his mortal enemy knew of his one fatal weakness.

Evey didn't argue with Tony's explanation, which was rather disturbing. She must be quite worried. "I'm sure they'll be fine," Tony said without thinking.

What a stupid thing to say.

Evey abandoned the rest of her muffin and offered it to Nana – which was very disturbing indeed; Evey never shared her food. She looked out the window pensively. "I don't mean to be callous, but their well-being is a secondary concern. They have to succeed. They literally have to. Otherwise we're doomed."

Tony stared at her. Had she really just said that? She was technically correct, of course, but… That wasn't the sort of things you were supposed to say aloud.

"Though Harry's survival is important, too, I guess," she went on absent-mindedly. "If we get the Horcrux and he dies retrieving it, we're still doomed. According to the prophecy, anyway."

Merlin! Had Caraid put some Veritaserum in the muffin? "Um, V…are you alright?" She was always pragmatic, but this was a bit harsh. If anything happened to Ron or Hermione, Tony knew that she would regret saying this and likely feel guilty for years afterwards.

She turned to him slowly, then blinked, as if she'd forgotten that he was there. "Yeah, no, I'm okay. I'm sorry," she added, biting her lip. "I just…I have a bad feeling about this. Something's about to happen, something…big. Can't you feel it? It's like there's a storm coming. A massive, world-upending storm."

Tony frowned at the window, but the sky was clear. She probably meant that metaphorically. He checked the clock again. Quarter to one. Molly had promised to let them know the moment they heard from Harry and his friends.

It was going to be a long day.

Finally, around four in the afternoon, Tony couldn't stand it any longer. He turned invisible and Apparated in Diagon Alley to assess the situation.

He returned to the manor a few minutes later, amazed.

Everyone on the street was talking about it: someone had done it. They had broken into Gringotts and managed to escape, although it was unclear how they'd achieved that. There was a hole in the roof of the bank, and there were wild reports of dragons flying over London, but those had to be exaggerated. They would have to wait for Harry to come back for the full story – and for a confirmation that they'd found what they were looking for.

But Harry didn't come back, and neither did Ron or Hermione.

Evey and Tony left a note at the manor, enjoining Walden to meet them as soon as he was awake at Shell Cottage, where everyone had gathered. The Order was frantic, Molly especially, and the former Aurors had despatched requests to all of their allies to find the Trio, but it wasn't until late that night that they received several messages claiming that Harry was at Hogwarts and that there was a battle raging on.

Before they departed, Tony glanced at Evey, who shrugged fatalistically. "Told you."

Fenrir sank his teeth into the girl's throat, feeling the warm blood run down his own throat. She hadn't cried out; she hadn't seen him coming. She was wearing a rather revealing nightgown, which left most of her shoulders bare. Such smooth skin. He longed to take another bite, but there was work to be done. He let the lifeless body fall to the ground like a discarded rag doll and moved on.

He scanned his surroundings quickly: there was no lack of potential targets. That raven-haired girl with the Ravenclaw scarf, perhaps? Mm. Or the one with the Gryffindor pyjamas? Fenrir took a good sniff. Yes. That one. She smelled delicious.

Before he ran toward his next victim, he made certain that Evangeline was still in the area. She hadn't spotted him yet, but it was only a matter of minutes now. And when she noticed him, when she saw what he was doing, she would do the right thing, Fenrir knew. She wouldn't let him slaughter these poor, hapless children. She would surrender to him.

Fenrir might even stop the massacre, if she did, though he hadn't decided yet. He was enjoying himself immensely.

He was glad for this opportunity, and quite relieved, in truth. He should have kept the capture of the Potter boy to himself, he knew that now. He'd been too hasty, he hadn't thought things through. He'd made a serious mistake, releasing him into Bellatrix Lestrange's care. The pernicious witch had promised that he could keep the Mudblood, which would have served the same purpose, but the damn cubs had escaped before Fenrir could collect his reward, thus ruining his chances of trading one of the kids for Evangeline.

He wouldn't make that mistake again. Tonight, Fenrir was here for a single reason, and it had nothing to do with the cursed snake or his idiotic minions. Tonight, he would kill anyone who got in his way, be it an innocent child or Voldemort himself.

Or a pack member.

As if the appeal of indiscriminate murder had called out to her, Evangeline finally deigned to notice him. Fenrir grinned at her before bounding on the Gryffindor girl.

This one definitely saw him coming. Her screams rang in Fenrir's ears before he cut them off at the source.

"Tony, there's no other option," Evey insisted. "No one else can stop this." She gestured at the chaotic battlefield. Children were screaming. Death Eaters were laughing. Dumbledore's Army – though it should be Harry's Army now, really – was not faring well.

She was wrong. Everything she'd just said was wrong. They could not take Greyback down. Not without…

No! Never. He could never do that. He would sooner throw himself at the Wolf in a futile attempt at stopping him than ever, ever, consider this madness.

But if Tony sacrificed himself for no reason, the outcome would be the same as if he did nothing: Greyback would still get Evey, and countless people would die.

You know she's right. It's the only way. You just won't admit it.

"He's impervious to magic," Evey went on, unaware of his internal struggle. "They're defenceless against him. He's going to butcher them all, if we do nothing."

Just as she said the words, Greyback looked up from the girl he was currently savaging and beamed at her, his sharp teeth a bloody mess. He was in human form, but that made little difference, apparently. "He wants me. He's doing this because of me. How do you think that makes me feel? How many kids have to die because you refuse to do what's right, what you know is right? And what if he gets to Harry, huh? What then? Are you going to doom us all, to risk the destruction of the entire world, because you're a bloody coward?"

Okay, now she was just being mean, and she was exaggerating. She was obviously trying to goad him into doing the unthinkable. But come on – was she seriously angry with him because he refused to kill her?

"Would you rather that I surrender?" she asked more quietly. "He'll stop, if I do. He'll take me away, and you'll never see me again, but the bloodbath will stop. So I guess there is another option, if you're willing to consider it." She gazed at him with unflinching hazel eyes. "It's up to you, Antonin."

Antonin. She never called him that. She was disappointed in him. But neither option was acceptable, she had to know that.

Merlin, he wished Walden was here. He would talk some sense into his wife, surely. Walden was on the other side of the battlefield, though, fighting alongside Remus and Tonks against the Lestranges. Tony would never reach him in time. Evey would do something crazy and suicidal before he could.

Okay, quickly: which option was the slightly more tolerable? Greyback taking Evey from him forever and subjecting her to the worst things imaginable, or Evey very likely dying? Correction: Evey very likely being killed by him?

Fucking hell. Whatever he picked, Walden would never forgive him. He would never forgive himself.

You shall be miserable, the Questing Beast had foretold. You will oft long for death. Was his existence meant to be dreadful because of this very moment? Whatever he decided, it would turn out to be true.

"Tony, I'm begging you, if you love me at all…"

Ha! Very funny. But that did the trick, for some reason. Whatever happened, he didn't want her to hate him.

He tried to appeal to her senses one last time. "Evey, there's no way you'll regenerate quickly enough if I tear out your carotid. You'll bleed out in seconds."

"So will Greyback," she countered.

Well, hopefully, yes. That was the whole point.

"But you're wrong, actually," Evey went on. "I'll be fine, Tony. I swear it. On my life." She smiled brightly.

How could she joke at a time like this?

"Last time I bit you, I barely pierced the skin and it took at least twelve hours for it to heal completely. You will have seconds if I tore your throat out," he repeated, with emphasis on seconds, in case she hadn't heard it before.

"That was before I became what I am now," Evey said. "Don't you remember what happened last year, when Greyback and Jeanne fought?"

Tony flinched. He certainly hadn't forgotten, and he didn't like to be reminded of it. She knew that.

"Greyback was wounded," Evey continued carelessly. "I remember feeling a sharp pain in my shoulder, blood soaking my blouse, but a moment later the pain was gone. Greyback, though… Scabior told me he'd had to heal the mortal, human way. It took weeks." She gripped his arm. "I regenerated almost immediately, Tony. I will be perfectly fine. Hell, we should have done this months ago."

She could say that she'd be fine a thousand times, he still wouldn't believe it. This wasn't exactly the same thing as what had happened last June. Greyback had not been mortally wounded, then.

Evey shook her head in frustration when he pointed that out. "Look, I appreciate a heroic sacrifice as much as the next person, but I prefer it when I'm not the sacrifice. I don't want to die, Tony, and I wouldn't make you do this if I wasn't certain. I would never want that on your conscience. Please?" He was still hesitant, but Evey had run out of patience. "Do I have to give you an ultimatum and count to three before I run toward him?" she demanded.

Tony glanced in Greyback's direction. Merlin, he was actually eating the poor girl, he realised with what would have been nausea, if he'd had a functioning digestive system. They had to do something, he agreed, but this…

This was madness. It could go wrong on so many levels.

But Evey was right. Nothing else would stop the Wolf. And if this actually worked… They would be permanently rid of him. A life free of Greyback. Evey wouldn't be confined to the manor any longer; she could live her life to the fullest. Maybe it was worth the risk.

Then again… Even if it did work, everything else would still depend on Harry. If they managed to take down Greyback, but not Voldemort…

"Tony, I can tell from your expression that you know it's the right thing to do. Stop overthinking and second-guessing. Innocent lives are at stake. Please, trust me," she murmured.

He closed his eyes briefly. "If you die…" he began to say.

"I won't," she asserted.

"If you die," he insisted, looking into her eyes, "tell Hades he better watch out, because I'll be coming to claim you."

Despite everything, Evey chuckled. She knew he was going to do it. Curse him for a fool, but he was going to do it.

Tony let out a very human sigh. "This has got to be the world's craziest trust exercise."

"I don't need crazy exercises to know I can trust you," Evey said softly.

Reluctantly, and feeling like the rest of his existence would be defined by this very moment, Tony bent down toward her neck and let his fangs down.

Evey couldn't help but cry out at the sudden pain, but the sound died down quickly as her artery was severed. Already she felt weak with blood loss. Merlin, she hoped she was right about this. She hadn't been lying before; she really didn't want to die. But something had to be done. Lavender Brown was being torn apart, and she hadn't been Greyback's first victim that night.

Evey had felt sick from the moment she'd realised what the Wolf was doing: murdering innocent children in the hope that she'd surrender willingly and peacefully. Greyback had simply assumed that she would surrender, as if it were the only thing she could possibly do.

Whatever the outcome of this insane gamble, he'd underestimated her for the last time. Even if she died, Evey would take him down with her.

She felt herself fall, on the edge of consciousness now, but Tony held her until she was in a half-sitting, half-sprawling position.

"Come on, you promised," he whispered. Blood was running down the corners of his eyes as well as from his mouth, and dizzy as she was, she couldn't make sense of it.

Weakly, she turned toward the place where she'd last seen Greyback, and more blood gushed from her mangled throat. It was a very unpleasant feeling.

But it was worth it. The Wolf had both of his hands around his neck as he tried to stem the flow of blood. He looked at her then, and their eyes met. His golden pupils held a dangerous, feverish light, but Evey saw real pain in them, and fear. He stumbled to his feet, abandoning Lavender's mutilated corpse without a second glance, and made his way toward them, his jowls drawn back, revealing pointed, blood-stained teeth. His t-shirt was drenched in blood, but Evey couldn't say how much of it was his. He was advancing rather quickly, for someone in his condition. Tony stood and placed himself in front of her.

At least he won't have too much trouble finishing off Greyback now, Evey thought as the darkness claimed her.