Don't Think I Can Fight This Anymore

Evelyn,

Don't turn around and come back. Tess was at home alone and someone tried to break into the house. I went out for something and I came home and...she's still unconscious. We don't know who or what but she fought hard. The house was half destroyed.

We lost the baby.

Be safe,
Colin

~*~

“Here.” David said, holding out a pair of headphones. “You're going to love this.”

Evelyn stood in the middle of the music shop, smiling at one of her few muggle friends. She had gotten back from Alberta the week before to see the note from Colin. She had worked her ass off to make up for the week she missed, but where work usually distracted her it didn't this time. She had more dreams where Charlie was hurt because of her, now with her brother weaving in and out.

Evelyn took the headphones and slipped them over her ears. She grinned as she listened to the rock music.

“This is awesome.” she smiled, taking the headphones off again. “Who is it?”

“New band. Rise Against.” he held up a CD case. “I'll just slip this in your pile.”

She smiled and Davids partner Andrew danced by in jeans so tight they were like a second skin. A portable CD player swung freely in his hand.

“What the hell is he listening to?” David asked.

“What the hell is he wearing?” Evelyn asked.

Andrew saw them watching him and started to sing, “Judgy judgy judgy.”

David smiled and shook his head. “Okay, ignoring the alien who replaced him. I've got that Joy Division compilation you asked for. Let me go grab it.”

Evelyn nodded and looked down at her small pile of music. If this didn't help her relax a bit, nothing would.

Quinn dead. Tess in the hospital still.

Evelyn flipped through the CDs without seeing them. She had gotten letters from Charlie reassuring her that what she was going through was normal. Molly showed up two nights ago with a basket of homemade chocolates. She made tea and they sat and talked for a few hours.

“Here you go.” David said, sliding the Joy Division album onto the top of her pile. “That it?”

“Yeah.” Evelyn sighed. “Just these.”

She paid for the music and stuffed the CDs into her backpack. Andrew leaned across the counter at her.

“What's new, love?”

She smiled sadly. “Rough week.”

“Beneath that.” He frowned. “Ah. A man?”

“How does everyone know? Is it in the tabloids? On a billboard?”

“It’s easily identifiable on your face.” He propped his chin on his knuckles and circled his index finger around her face, settling in front of her eyes. “Right...there.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes and zipped up her backpack. “Right.”

“See you soon, love!”

Evelyn waved over her shoulder as she walked out the door. She zipped her jacket and swung a leg over the seat of the Ducati Monster. A young black woman with thick heavy dreads crouched in front of a closed cafe, watching. Evelyn slipped her helmet over her head.

The girl looked familiar. Like a shadow that lurked under a streetlight or on a street corner.

Evelyn started the bike and drove down the street at a leisurely pace. Poor Tess. She couldn't even imagine losing a child. One that wasn't even born yet. Tess was safe in her coma, not knowing. Poor Colin though.

And, hell, she couldn't imagine Tess being hurt like that. Taken by surprise. The healers said she'd be awake soon but...the hits didn't seem to stop coming.

Evelyn swung through a turn and continued down the street. She wasn't sure where she was going, just riding to clear her head.

Another turn. Evelyn noticed a grey sedan behind her, just keeping pace. It had been behind her since she had gotten on the bike.

Get a grip, Evs, she told herself. Who would be following you in a muggle car?

She sped up to catch a yellow light, and the sedan burst through the red to follow her.

“What the fuck?” she muttered, speeding up even more.

She glanced over her shoulder, trying to see the driver, but the windows were tinted. Much too dark to be legal, too. Now the car was speeding up, getting closer and closer to her. Evelyn hooked a sharp left and sped down the street, the sedan right behind her.

He was going to drive her right off the road.

She pulled out her wand, but what could she really do? If she broke the Statute of Secrecy it would be right to Azkaban for her, with or without a muggle running her off the road. She let out a long stream of swear words as she tore down the street, gripping her wand and the handle bar.

There were construction cones coming up. The car was right behind her and she knew she only had one chance to get it right.

It was a trick that Quinn suggested once. It was difficult and took concentration. But if you did it right, you could quite possibly survive a horrific motorcycle crash.

Evelyn sped between the traffic cones, hearing the car crunch over them behind her. She steered the motorbike right at a very solid concrete divider that was waiting to be placed.

Her eyes wide open, she started to scream.

The motorbike hit the divider and the back wheel kicked up, tossing Evelyn high the air head over heals. Only then did she close her eyes tightly.

Destination. Determination. Deliberation.

It was a quiet afternoon at Saint Mungos. A few potion mishaps and one little girl with her fingers in knots. The blonde witch behind the information counter winced and snapped her gum. “That got to hurt. Spell Damage. Fourth -”

A pop and a horrific crunching sound as a witch apparated into the lobby and flew straight into a marble support column. A potion spill patient screamed and the witch lay still on the floor.

The Information Witch scurried out from behind her desk and dashed to the witch on the floor, shouting for a healer. Not a lot of excitement, these days.

The information witch combed brown hair away from the round face. The scalp was bleeding and her breathing was labored.

“Oh no.” the Information Witch sighed down at Evelyn. “What did you do this time?”

~*~

Molly Weasley burst into the ward, looking around frantically. “Where - oh, thank Merlin. George.”

George looked up. “Hey Mum. Why are you here?”

Molly approached the bed her son sat next to and bit her lip. Evelyn looked peaceful, even though her head was wrapped in a turban of bandages.

George sighed. “She’ll be fine, Mum. I'm guessing Dad told you? Healers have her knocked out until the swelling in her brain goes down. She broke her spine and punctured her lung but they fixed that in about three seconds.”

“I just…” Molly sat in the chair next to George’s and fixed the blanket covering Evelyn. “...well, everything she's said about her parents, they won't be here for her. And Charlie in Romania...well, she's been so good to you and -”

“Mum.” George smiled. “What's wrong with you? Seven kids isn't enough?”

Molly gave a small laugh.

“You're right. I sent a letter to her parents but I doubt anything will come of it. I also wrote her brother and Charlie. Ian Forest was here before I was. He just left. Seems they found her motorcycle in pieces.”

“What happened?”

“We don't know. She was probably doing something mad. What we do know is that she managed to apparate in mid air, and the force of her fall completed downstairs in the lobby against a support column.”

Molly bit her lip and pet the brown hair. “She's reckless.”

“I call it talent. But, call it what you want..”

Molly grimaced at her son, deflecting the pain of seeing his best friend broken like this. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Charlie would feel, once he found out.

“I need some tea.” he announced standing. “I'll get you some too.”

“Mom.” a weak voice called. “Mommy.”

Molly looked down at Evelyn and grabbed her hand. Evelyn tossed her head in her sleep.

“Can't save them.” she muttered. “Mommy. Can't get there.”

“Go to sleep, honey.” Molly said softly. “No one wants saving.”

Evelyn tossed her head one more time and fell back into her deep sleep. Molly sat and watched over her.

~*~

Evelyn ran forward, up the hill. The dark figure was hunched over the human, robes moving earily. As she got closer to the top of the hill, it got colder and colder. Tess, running alongside her, screamed obscenities.

She thought about freezing water over the back yard and playing hockey with her brother. “Expecto patronum!”

The silver labrador burst from her wand and dashed up the hill ahead of her. At the top of the hill, it bit the robes of the dementor. The dementor howled and tried to shake the patronus off.

Tess found a final burst of speed and reached the top of the hill. She collapsed onto the ground in front of Hayes, sobbing and shaking him by the lapel.

“No. No. Wake up. Get up.”

“Move aside, Tess.” Evelyn said softly.

“No. He's just...he’s fine! It's still there!”

“Tess. We both saw him get kissed.”

Tess let out a final sob and released Hayes, and Evelyn closed her eyes tightly.

“Avada Kadavra.”

There was a flash of green light. But when Evelyn opened her eyes, Kevin Hayes wasn't beneath the tree any more. And neither was Tess. Charlie slumped on the ground, eyes open and unseeing.

Evelyn fell to her knees and dry heaved into the grass. She looked up to find Daniel standing over her.

“You know what the definition of a hero is?” he asked her. “Someone who gets other people killed.”

Evelyn sat upright in her bed and saw a blur of red hair. “Charlie.” she gasped.

“Evelyn!”

“Oh, honey, I'm so glad you're up!”

“I'll get a healer.”

Evelyn blinked a few times and saw Molly sitting next to her, gripping her hand tightly. She looked a little pale in the face.

“Molly.” she said uncertainly. “Why are you here?”

Molly smiled kindly. “We were worried about you. You're in Saint Mungo’s. Do you remember what happened?”

Evelyn nodded. “I crashed my bike. And apparated here.”

The healer burst back into the ward, trailed by George and a trainee.

“Can't say it's good to see you again, Miss Finch.” the healer said briskly.

Evelyn smiled. “Hi Healer Carson.”

The healer shone wand light in her eyes. “Who's Minister of Magic?”

“Kingsley Shacklebolt.”

“eight plus three?”

“Eleven. Before you ask, my name is Evelyn Rose Finch. My birthday is February ninth. And I passed out on Friday, June 11.”

Healer Carson scowled. “Well, it's the 12th now. You do realize there's something wrong with you, having my questions memorized.”

“I'm demonstrating higher brain function.”

“Hmm.” The healer sighed. “Well, I want to keep you for another night just to be safe. I'll be back in a bit with some food.”

Evelyn nodded and Molly let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I'm going to send Charlie and owl. Let him know you're okay.”

“Send one to Daniel, too.” George told her as she rose from her chair.

“Of course.”

Evelyn straightened up in her bed. “How many people did you alert?”

“Not many.”

He wasn't going to tell her that he had written her parents and they hadn't responded.

“How's Sherlock?”

“Upset. He knows somethings wrong. Sylvia has been watching him.”

Evelyn nodded. “I need a favor.”

“Evelyn, you just almost died. Relax a bit.”

She shook her head. “This has to do with why I'm here.”

He sighed. “Of course it does.”

“I need you to get Ian and Kingsley Shacklebolt.”

“You want an audience with the Minister of Magic.”

“Yes. And today.” She grimaced. “It's important. I'll tell you when they're here.”

The trainee came back in, levitating several trays of food before him. One gracefully floated over to Evelyn’s bed and settled on her lap.

George snatched her jello cup and stood. “Alright, I’ll go get Ian and then he can deal with getting Kingsley.”

“Hey! That’s my jello!”

“Yes. And I sat here all night worrying about you, idiot. Even Mum went home at one point. Least you can do is give me your jello.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Fine. Just please get Ian and Kingsley. Then you can sleep.”

“Oh, and miss your audience with the Minister? Sleep can wait. That’s why I have the jello. Sugar.”

~*~

Molly hugged Evelyn tightly. “Come for dinner next Sunday.” Molly said.

“Okay.” Evelyn gently released Molly. “Thanks for waiting with George.”

“Keep safe.”

Molly left and Evelyn looked up at Ian, Kingsley and George. “Thanks for coming.”

“Why are we here, Evs?” Ian asked.

She took a deep breath. “It wasn’t an accident. Someone drove me off the road.”

Ian shook his head. “Evelyn, the muggle police pronounced the driver of the car drunk. We managed to find a corpse to put in place of you, so it doesn’t look suspicious. But - “

“I’m telling you.” Evelyn insisted. “Someone tried to kill me.”

Now Ian looked slightly angry, or frustrated. “Why? Why? The war’s over! Why would someone try to off you? For your shop?”

“We did some awful things in the war.”

George sighed and shook his head. “Evs…”

“Look, Sarge. Tess gets hurt in a home invasion, and we both know how unlikely that is. Not even two weeks later I’m driven off the road. And honestly, maybe Quinn wasn’t suicide.”

“Christ, Evelyn!” Ian shouted. “Let it go! He was sick!”

“He was getting better!”

They glared at each other, and finally Kingsley pushed off the wall and stepped forward. “Finch, how sure are you? About all of this?”

She swallowed heavily. “Eighty percent.”

Kingsley studied her for a moment, then looked to George. George grimaced, not wanting to but believing all the same. “Right. Forest, warn the rest of your unit to be careful. I'll look into this myself. Finch, is there anywhere you can go for a week or so?”

Evelyn considered for a moment.

“My parents - “ George started.

“No.” Evelyn said. “They’ve had enough trouble. I’ll go see Charlie. He wanted me to visit Romania anyway.”

“Excellent.” Kingsley said. “And Finch, be careful.”

“Thank you, sir.”