Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Lupin didn’t need any checking — he could tell Tonks was real, just like Sirius could tell Harry was real.

Of course, Evan could also confirm that the Hermione in his arms was real.

As soon as he hugged Hermione, he was sure.

“I thought I’d never see you again, Evan,” said Hermione, holding him tightly, not caring at all that others were watching them.

“I was worried about you too.” said Evan, giving her a firm hug before letting go. He glanced at the broom Tonks had thrown to the ground — their experimental Starcatcher. “So what kept you? I remember you left on a Thestral. How come you’re on a broom now?”

Before Hermione could answer, Tonks let go of Lupin and said excitedly, “You don’t know yet, we won a fight. Hermione was amazing, she stunned two Death Eaters. At the beginning, there were three of them chasing us, and Hermione took down two all by herself, one of them straight to the head, when you’re aiming at a moving target from mid-air — You should’ve seen the look on the last one; he was so terrified of Hermione he turned and ran. Of course, I couldn’t just let him go, so I chased after him. But the Thestral was too slow, so I switched to a broom. The Starcatcher was really fast — I caught up to him quickly. He was riding a Nimbus 2010 — the new model this year. Great balance, but not as fast as the Starcatcher.”

Well, only Tonks could pull something like that. No wonder they hadn’t returned on time.

Still, this was one of the rare bits of good news that night — even if the two of them really shouldn’t have gone chasing Death Eaters in the first place.

“You just went after that Death Eater?!” Lupin was furious with Tonks.

“Yeah, but we were soon on the run again. I had just stunned that Death Eater when five more came out of the darkness, led by Bellatrix,” said Tonks. “She’s way stronger than those other three — much crazier too.”

“You ran into Bellatrix?”

“We did. More precisely, she was looking for me,” said Tonks. “That old witch is insane — she was hell-bent on catching me and didn’t even look at Hermione. Remus, she was dead set on killing me. I just wish I’d got her, I owe Bellatrix. But we definitely injured Rodolphus. … The two of us weren’t a match for them, but she couldn’t catch us either. … Then we got to Ron’s Auntie Muriel’s and we’d missed our Portkey and she was fussing over us —”

A muscle was jumping in Lupin’s jaw. He nodded, but seemed unable to say anything else.

“Tonks pissed Bellatrix off,” Hermione whispered, a little embarrassed. She wasn’t as reckless as Tonks. “By the way, Evan, when we broke out of the encirclement, we saw Voldemort chasing Ron and Moody’s group. He wasn’t using a broom or any other mount, he was just —”

“— flying in the air. Yeah, Sirius and I saw him when we went to rescue Ron and Moody,” said Evan. “It’s some Dark magic we don’t understand, but don’t worry, Hermione. Sirius and I got them back. They’re still unconscious, but they’ll recover.”

“How’s everyone else?”

“Mr. Weasley, Fred, Bill and Fleur haven’t returned yet. After our fight with Voldemort, he also went after Harry and Hagrid in the end, but they’re both fine. Lupin came back with George, but —”

“George lost an ear,” Lupin finished for Evan.

“Lost an — ?” repeated Hermione in a high voice.

“Snape’s work,” said Lupin.

“Snape?” shouted Harry. “You didn’t say —”

“He lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra was always a specialty of Snape’s. I wish I could say I’d paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after he was injured, he was losing so much blood.”

“Damn it — just don’t let me run into that filthy, Snivellus!” Sirius bellowed in fury.

“Calm down, Sirius. One day we’ll settle the score — but not today.”

Silence fell on the yard. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent.

Mr. Weasley, Fred, Bill, and Fleur hadn’t returned yet. Hopefully, nothing had happened to them.

“Hey, could someone give us a hand here!” called Hagrid hoarsely from the door, in which he was stuck again.

Evan, Hermione, and Harry went to pull him out, then the four of them headed through the empty kitchen and back into the sitting room, where Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Elaine, and Gabrielle were still tending to George. Mrs. Weasley had staunched his bleeding now, and by the lamplight they saw a clean, gaping hole where George’s ear had been.

“How is he?”

“I can’t make it grow back, not when it’s been removed by Dark Magic. But it could have been so much worse. … He’s alive,” said Mrs. Weasley.

“Yes, at the very least!”

“Thank God!”

“I heard something in the yard. Is my sister back?” Gabrielle asked.

“Not yet,” said Evan. “Don’t worry, Gabrielle, she’ll be fine. Fleur and Bill wouldn’t be stopped by ordinary Death Eaters.”

There was another brief silence. Clearly, until everyone had returned safely, this atmosphere would linger.

Evan felt they shouldn’t stay here. He was just about to suggest going upstairs to check on Ron when George stirred against the pillow and opened his eyes.

“Hey, you lot — you’re all here. Stop looking so gloomy,” he said weakly. “Cheer up, I’m still…”

At that moment, there was a great crash from the kitchen.

“I’ll prove who I am, Remus, after I’ve seen my son, now back off if you know what’s good for you!”

Mr. Weasley shouted, and then he burst into the living room, his bald patch gleaming with sweat, his spectacles askew, Fred right behind him, both pale but uninjured.

“Arthur!” sobbed Mrs. Weasley. “Oh thank goodness!”

“How is he?”

Mr. Weasley dropped to his knees beside George.

Fred gaped over the back of the sofa at his twin’s wound as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

“How do you feel, Georgie?”

George’s fingers groped for the side of his head.

“Saintlike,” he murmured.

“What’s wrong with him?” croaked Fred, looking terrified. “Is his mind affected?”

“Saintlike,” repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. “You see … I’m holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?”

Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever. Color flooded Fred’s pale face.

“Pathetic,” he told George, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?”

“Ah well,” said George, grinning at his tear-soaked mother. “You’ll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum.”

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