𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. ʀ. ʟᴜᴘɪɴ

forty-nine

"Mary! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Evangeline stood up from her chair behind her desk to greet Mary, who showed up at her office unannounced. 

"I would've sent an owl, but I figured it would hopefully be a welcome surprise," she said, accepting Evangeline's hug.

"It certainly is. What brings you here?"

She shrugged, "oh, I just hoped we could maybe grab lunch... if you haven't taken a break already."

 "I can take it now, let me grab my things."

The two settled on a restaurant not far from the ministry, ordering food and talking amongst themselves.

"How are you feeling, Evie? I really don't mean to kill the mood but... I thought it'd be good to ask."

Evangeline took a sip of her soup, savoring the warming feeling it brought to her stomach. 

"Better, truly. Still not one hundred percent but... better."

"That's good. And Remus?"

"Better, but not one hundred percent," Evangeline repeated.

On their way back to Evangeline's office, the two were very unpleasantly stopped by Damien.

"Long time no see," he said, stalking towards them like a predator, not that he was far off. 

Evangeline stilled and Mary's eyes widened, stepping behind Evangeline on autopilot.

"What the hell do you want?"

"I thought you were expecting, shouldn't you be on maternity leave?"

She swallowed dryly, of course he knew. 

"Lost the baby," she quietly said.

He tutted lightly, "what a shame," he said. His eyes flickered to Mary, "Mary Macdonald, is that you? Been a long time... thought you ran away?"

"I didn't run, I just... left."

"You ran," he said, lips twitching up into a smirk at the terrified look on her face. He scoffed with a more smug grin, "come on Mary, it's been years. It was just a laugh, wasn't it?"

"What was?" Evangeline snapped, stepping in front of Mary.

"What? Didn't tell Lina?"

"I'd stop speaking and walk away before I make you regret it," Evangeline threatened, hand reaching into her coat for her wand. 

He eyed her movements, but stayed still nonetheless. 

"Oh... my little cousin and his friends had a bit of fun with Macdonald in their seventh year, didn't you all? Told me all about it when he came home for the holidays."

Evangeline felt her blood boil at his words. He knew he was stirring the pot, he wanted to get her worked up and it sure was working. 

"Mulciber?" Evangeline quietly asked, "you're related to that bastard?" she spat out. 

Mary wiped a tear that fell from her eyes, making Damien chuckle. 

"Oh come on, Macdonald. It was like, what, almost twenty years ago? You're still upset about it?"

"He ruined my life!" Mary snapped, earning the attention of a few people passing by. 

"It was just a bit of fun, wasn't it?" he lowly asked. 

Evangeline didn't remember the exact events of what happened next, but within the blink of an eye he was being thrown through a window into a hallway that had various doors leading into offices and boardrooms. 

She stomped across the small pathway where bystanders were watching with gasps leaving their mouths. She climbed the small ledge and kicked some glass out of the way as she stepped through the window. She held her foot down onto his chest and pointed her wand down at him, "I should kill you," she gritted. 

"Careful, professor," he said with a wicked grin, "we've got an audience."

She slowly turned around to see nearly a dozen Ministry guards with their wands all aimed at her. Her eyes flickered to Mary's horrid expression, body stiff with shock. 

Tonks and Mad Eye arrived at the scene as Evangeline slowly sat her wand down onto the ground before raising her hands up. She glared over at Damien, who wiped the blood from his lip as he passed her. 

Mad Eye stopped the guards from approaching Evangeline, but motioned for her to step through the window. She did as he said, a guard stepping through the window to take her wand. 

He sighed, "let's go, Vandeleur."

She was escorted to the chambers in the Ministry, not missing the guilty look on both Tonks and Mad Eyes faces as they escorted her. 

"Whatever happened, I know he deserved it. But please, keep your mouth shut until you've got someone to represent you," Mad Eye said with a huff. 

"You think they'll hold me here long?"

"Bail, I imagine," Tonks said nervously. 

A guard walked up and closed the gate in the cell she was in. Evangeline huffed and sat in a chair, "go on then, I'm sure you've got damage control to do and I've got a lawyer to talk to."

Tonks mouthed an I'm sorry before leaving with Mad Eye. 

Nearly one hour hour later, Evangeline's lawyer showed up looking very frazzled. 

Vincent Jenkins was Evangeline's lawyer throughout her career as an Auror. Every time she went on a mission she had to testify in court and explain what happened, having a lawyer present was often helpful. He was often scattered and incredibly high strung, but he was kind and did his job well at the end of the day. 

He held up a piece of paper and scanned it over. 

"uhh, Mister Lupin, Mister Black, and your mother are currently arguing the terms of your bail with the Minister of Magic, but you know Fudge..."

"Doesn't care about the truth, loves propaganda," she muttered. 

"Mister Black and your mother have thrown some very high numbers at Fudge, it's likely that you'll get out soon, but that doesn't mean this is over," he said after a guard let him into the cell. 

He pulled up a chair, sitting in front of Evangeline as she sighed.

"I don't want him wasting his money on me."

"Wouldn't be a waste, Miss Vandeleur. I was only in the room for a few passing moments, it's chaos in there. Mister Lupin looked quite unsettled and Mister Black was furious while Miss Macdonald was quite silent. Dolores Umbridge brought up the death penalty and Mister Lupin had to be escorted from the room."

"Sweet Salazar," she groaned.

"They won't, you know. That's extreme, most of the Ministry knows that."

"Damien taunted us, he brought up some very sensitive memories from Mary's past so I shut him up. I've got no regrets about what I did. He's a dangerous man, Vincent. I'm baffled that he's managed to stay around as long as he has. Him and his whole fucking family are terrible. His cousin is Mulciber! The man who assaulted Mary. I had no idea they were related."

"What this will look like to the Ministry is that you let some words dictate your actions. As an Auror and Hogwarts professor and with your family history... this doesn't look good."

"You don't think they'll lock me up, will they?" she timidly asked. 

"I doubt it. Even if they do, it won't be for long. Nobody can deny that you are one of the best Aurors the Ministry has ever seen and you've done a lot to keep the people safe."

"I think I kept the people safe by throwing that bastard through a window. Should've hexed him."

"Don't say that in court, please."