Don't Think I Can Fight This Anymore

Dear Mom,

I’m alright, how are you? I spent Easter with some friends this year. It was nice, being around a family.

No, I’m afraid I won’t visit this summer. You know that you’re more than welcome to visit me here. But I won’t see Dad. I’m sorry, I love you. But I don’t need him to yell at me and ignore me and everything after all I’ve been through.

Love,
Evelyn

~*~

As soon as Evelyn and Charlie walked in the kitchen door of the Burrow, there was a flurry of activity. Molly was at the height of her cooking fervor and was directing Hermione and George in setting the table. George looked up and winked at Evelyn.

“Oh, good, you’re here.” Molly smiled, wrapping her arms around Evelyn before taking her jacket from her. Molly didn’t think she had ever seen the young witch in wizarding dress. Not even a cloak.

“Thanks for inviting me.” Evelyn smiled as Charlie took her jacket and his cloak to hang. “How can I help?”

“By enjoying yourself in the sitting room.” Molly said, pushing her towards the door. “Go on.”

“Evelyn!” Sylvia cried as soon as Evelyn entered the room, followed closely by Charlie. “Come help me beat Ron.”

Evelyn smiled hello at everyone, and sat on the arm of her friend’s chair as Ron prodded a knight forward. Charlie sat between his father and Percy on the couch. Arthur smiled.

“Evelyn’s here. Excellent.”

“Evelyn Finch?” Percy frowned. “That’s who she is?”

Charlie glanced at his brother. “What of it?”

“Well, isn’t she Canadian military?”

“She retired. And what is it to you?”

Percy’s mouth formed a thin line. There was something about her he didn’t like, but Charlie ignored it. There was something Percy didn’t like about everyone.

“Grand-dad!” Victoire cried, toddling up. “Grand-dad! It’s broken!”

Arthur took the pocket watch from her. The cover had been snapped off. He smiled and reached for his wand. “It’s an easy enough fix.”

After repairing the watch he scooped up the tiny blonde and placed her on his lap, letting her play with the watch again.

“I like Evelyn.” Arthur said mildly. “She’s a good fit for you Charlie.”

Percy almost spit out his tea. “You’re dating her?”

“What makes you say that?” Charlie asked his father.

He shrugged. “You two just seem very similar.”

“No!” Sylvia cried across the room and Ron laughed gleefully. “Ugh, Evelyn, you’re awful at this!”

“You asked for my help.” Evelyn smiled.

“Well I thought you were good! You were in the army!”

Evelyn snorted and moved to sit on the loveseat. “Quinn Tracy was the strategist. I was just a fighter. Tracy would say, ‘Hey, Finch, when you get there, try doing this.’ And usually it would work.”

“You were a lieutenant, right?” Percy asked sharply. “An officer. You had some schooling.”

“Well, second lieutenant. But yes. An officer.”

“You had schooling and all you wanted to do was fight?”

Everyone in the room started to look uneasy, save Victoire and her pocket watch. But Evelyn just smiled. A debate was a fight, in its own way.

“And now I run a tea shop. Funny how life works out, isn’t it?” She propped her chin on her hand and studied Percy. “You have something against the military.”

“I don’t think we should give a body of government that much power.” He said quickly. “Military personnel, as a group or even as an individual, have more powers than our aurors.”

“Military personnel serve to protect their people and country. Your aurors have their offices in the Ministry of Magic building.” She glanced across the room at Harry. “No offense.”

“None taken.” Harry replied, but looked thoughtful none the less.

“But you’re government funded.”

“And the government is funded by the people.” Evelyn spread her hands wide. “But. Aurors, military. Same purpose. Protect and serve.”

“Is that how you justify everything in the war?” Percy snapped.

“Percy!” Charlie snapped, as Ginny yelled, “Shut it!”

Evelyn’s eyes flashed, but she maintained her smile. “It was you and your people I was protecting in the war. You’d do good to remember that.”

George poked his head in the room. “Mum says dinner’s ready. What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing.” Evelyn said cheerfully.

“Yeah, nothing.” Ron said, standing. “Percy’s just being a prat, as usual.”

“Ronald.” Arthur said sharply.

“Well he is.”

Ginny smacked Percy on the upside of the head as she walked by.

Everyone moved into the kitchen and jammed themselves into seats. The house had been rebuilt after the war, but realistically they never could have made the kitchen big enough to fit everyone comfortably. Charlie used the little room as an excuse to drape an arm along the back of Evelyn’s chair.

“You alright?” he asked her quietly.

She looked at him with sparkling eyes. “I love debates.”

~*~

Towards the end of the night, Bill cornered Percy in the hallway. “Percy, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Do you know what she is?” Percy hissed.

“A decorated veteran of the Canadian army, who fought - no, shut up, Percy - who fought alongside us and comforted George when none of us could.”

“I’ve read her file.”

Bill looked weary. “Her file.”

“She did a lot of bad things.”

“Well, someone had to.” Bill said grimly. It made his scars look deeper.

“There’s people in my office, in the Law Enforcement, who think it shouldn’t go unpunished. That’s why I read the file. Her government rewarded her, instead of punishing - “

“And so it’s your duty to punish?” Bill advanced on Percy. “If you took two minutes to talk to her, you’d know she’s doing the best she can to move forward. We all have our scars of the war, Perce. Don’t give her new ones.”

Percy looked doubtful.

“Now, she makes Charlie happy. He actually brought her round and this is the second time he’s been home in as many months. And that makes Mum happy. And if you ever, ever, make Mum upset again, even if it’s by driving off the reason your brother comes home, I will make you suffer Percy.”

Now Percy looked frightened as Bill walked away. Bill smiled reassuringly at his family, and sat next to Fleur and kissed her on the cheek. Most of the family were laughing hysterically while George and Ginny carried out a whole host of impersonations. Evelyn laughed and played mindlessly with Charlie’s hair.

What could Evelyn’s file possibly say that would make Percy want to ruin that?

Eventually, it was time to leave. Harry kissed Ginny shortly, shook Arthur’s hand, and hugged Molly before apparating away to the flat he and Ron shared. Hermione left for her own place, Ron not far behind. Evelyn thanked Molly and Arthur about twenty more times, shook hands with Percy just to make a point, and then let Charlie walk her to the back door.

“You sure you don’t want me to go with you?” he asked.

She smiled. “I can apparate just fine. Besides, I think your mother wants you to stay here for at least tonight.”

“Hey, you said it, not me.” he smiled.

Evelyn laughed. “Come by tomorrow around twelve. I’ve got a few ideas of things we can do. Wear muggle clothes.”

“Muggle clothes?”

“Oh, yes.” She smiled and kissed him, then stepped away and zipped up her jacket. “See you tomorrow.”

After she disappeared, Charlie stood at the door for a moment, looking out at the garden. What did she have in store for him?

~*~

Evelyn got her gym time in early the next day, alone without Trip. The other fighters were eager to see her step into the ring again, after a few weeks of seeing her fight her friend. But she went back to her bag. A trainer approached asking if she’d like to go a few rounds with his fighters, but she smiled him away.

She got home in time to shower and change into jeans and a low cut long sleeve shirt. She sat on the floor with Sherlock and rubbed his belly.

“I’ll be out all afternoon.” she told the dog. “Will you be okay?”

He smiled at her, in the loving way that only a labrador could smile.

She sighed and started to pull on the knee high leather boots. “Well, I hope he likes it.”

There was a knock on the door and Evelyn finished zipping up her boots before opening the door. “Hey.” she grinned.

“Hey.” Charlie said. He held his arms out for her to examine him. “Muggle enough?”

She smiled and looked over his loose jeans and sweater. “Perfect. Here, you need this though.”

She held out a men’s leather jacket to him. He took it and pulled it on, surprised to find it fit perfectly. “What’s this for?”

“I have a whole adventure planned.” She pulled on her own black leather jacket. “Oh, wait. Hold on.”

Charlie took a few steps inside and knelt down to scratch Sherlock behind the ears. Sherlock leant forward and licked Charlie’s face.

“Your breath is awful.” Charlie told him. “What did you eat?”

“He had some chicken for lunch.” Evelyn called, not looking up from digging through her purse and pocketing various items. “And an omelette.”

Charlie looked over at her. “Why do you feed him like that?”

“I found him on the street when he was only a few days old. His mother and the rest of the litter were dead. It took a lot to get him healthy, and then when he was he always looked out for me. So, I reward him as much as I can.” She straightened up, jingling a set of keys. “Alright. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

Charlie burst out laughing. “What, in the name of Merlin, does that even mean?”

“You’ve never heard that?”

“No.”

“Hm. Must be a Canadian thing.” She patted Sherlock on the head and led Charlie out the door, tapping the handle with her wand to lock it. She stowed her wand in and inside pocket and frowned at Charlie. “What the hell are you still laughing at?”

“Popsicle stand? Really?”

“Alright, come on, Chuckles.”

Evelyn led him down the street and to the Leaky Cauldron, then grabbed his hand to apparate away. Charlie blinked around at the strange alley they were standing in.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Near Whitechapel.” She didn’t let go of his hand and pulled him along. “Come on, you’re going to love this.”

They left the alley and Charlie blinked in the noise and sunlight. Evelyn lead him down the street a bit and then turned into a small corner store.

“Hey, Vikram!” Evelyn shouted over the Bollywood music blasting out of the speakers.

A skinny Indian man looked over the counter at the pair of them and waved. “Hello, Evelyn!”

“Can’t you turn it down?”

“No! It’s broken!”

Evelyn rolled her eyes and just pulled Charlie straight into the back of the shop. She pushed open the back door to another alley. This one was a makeshift garage, with a tin roof covering a shiny car.

“Why didn’t we just apparate here?” Charlie asked, his ears still ringing with Bollywood music.

“It’s all about the experience, Weasley.” She walked to a black lump of tarp next to the car. “And this is our next one.”

She ripped the tarp off with a flourish. Underneath was a bright red motorbike. It was nothing like the one Charlie’s father had secretly rebuilt in the shed. It was smaller and sleeker. Evelyn pulled on one of the helmets sitting on the seat, and held the other out to Charlie.

“Ever ride a motorcycle before?” She grinned at him.

“Can’t say I have.”

“This is a 98 Ducati Monster. You treat her with respect, she won’t throw you off.”

Charlie pulled on the helmet and jumped as she kick-started the engine. “You sure that’s safe?” he called over the engine echoing up and down the alley.

“Come on, Charlie! It’s just like a broomstick! Fast and dangerous as hell!”

“It sounds like a dragon!”

“Where’s your sense of adventure!”

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the motorbike, even if it was literally called a monster. He just wasn’t sure about Evelyn’s driving. Charlie took a deep breath, and straddled the bike behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He smelled leather and petrol and her shampoo.

“Hold on!” she shouted, and zoomed out of the alley, spraying gravel behind them.