Unravelled² → Tom Riddle [Rewritten] ✓

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Evelyn gave him information whenever he asked, but she only did so in exchange for a visit with the Healer. And by the time she was ready to pop, she had barely scratched the surface of her time at the Malfoy Manor.

Albus knew nothing of Little Hangleton, he knew nothing of Orion Black, of the phial of her memories. He knew nothing of imporance.

Instead, she drowned him with the details. She spent days talking about her duel with Astrea, she detailed the title of all the books she had read, the meals she had eaten, the layout of the Malfoy Manor. And when he appeared as though he was regretting his promise of safety, she would throw him a rope, she would give him the tiniest sliver of information.

She would do what she had to do to keep herself alive in this war.

Inside the Headmasters Office, Albus Dumbledore paced, "it's not enough Albus, you know it isn't," spoke the familiar voice of Remus Lupin.

"You're quite right, but perhaps she know nothing more."

"You cannot surely believe that!" Remus shook his head, exasperated. "She stayed with him for years, she is carrying his child."

"Remus, you did not know Tom like I did." Remus shuddered hearing his muggle name, "he was no ordinary boy. His closest of peers barely scratched the surface of his plan, I believe perhaps, he is the only one who truly knows everything."

Remus ejected, "but surely she must know more! She is hiding something, I can sense it Albus."

"That, she is." He simply nodded, continuing to pace around the office.

"Surely we ought to do something? Alastor would be more than willing to use Legilimency again, then we would have everything? Albus this war cannot continue!"

"Alastor will do no such thing. The woman is pregnant, we cannot harm her or the child. It may be just what we need to defeat him, once the child is born, we will seek more information from her, should she fail to produce enough of use...." He trailed off, there was little he could truly do. Both Evelyn and the child would be weapons, he needed them both alive if he were to use them againt Tom.

"We cannot harm the child, but he will harm Harry if we do not stop him!" Remus pleaded, "we must save him!"

"Remus, we shall, but we are not him, we are not as he is. And I do not believe that Evelyn knows any more than we do regarding the prophecy.

"Albus, what do we do?" Remus' voice was quiet, "what do we do if she fails, what do we do if the child does not make it, if she does not make it?"

"All of those are what if's, Remus, for now, we hold onto that hope. In a war, hope is of such rarity, and right now, we are blesssed with it. We should hold that hope close to us, for we may not get another chance like this. We will hold hope for Harry, for Neville. We shall do our best to protect them." He stopped pacing, "we cannot give up before we have even tried." Albus looked Remus in the eye, "Remus call the Order, we ought to meet, we ought to create a plan for when the chid arrives. I fear it shall be soon and I do not wish to decide this alone."

"Absolutely." Remus nodded, and in a few moments, his office was filled with a scattered collection of members.

"As you are all aware," he began, taking a seat at his desk, "Evelyn will give birth any day now. Now I made a promise to her, that the child would be cared for, that the child would be protected, and I intend to uphold that promise."

Alastor Moody spoke next, "when she child is born, we must keep it safe. We are not sure when, but the child will be a weakness, of both Evelyn and You-Know-Who. In order for a weapon to be effective, it must be kept in pristine condition. Albus," he paused, nodding his head at the Headmaster, "I know of someone who may be able to take the child, who would keep it safe. The Brocklehurst family, they had just had a child of their own, they would be able to pass them off as siblings if required?"

"We intent to raise his child? What if it turns out like him?" Sirius spat, "we can't do this Albus, it is foolish! We should be turning our efforts to protect those we love, what about Harry?"

"Harry is well protected, I assure you Sirius." Alastor nodded at him, "I set up the enchantments myself."

"Sirius, what happened to Tom was a rarity. His creation was under a love potion, I can only assume this child was not. He had no parents, this child would have two loving parents. Should this child veer towards the same darkness of their father, we can steer them back on the right path. After all, the same could be said about many families Sirius, yours included." He nodded his head at the man, "we cannot judge others for their family, something which they cannot control."

"So the child shall go to the Brocklehursts?" Alice asked quietly, "but what shall we do with Evelyn? Do you really believe she would let us take away her child? She shivered, shaking her head at the thought.

"I do not believe she will have a choice, Alice." Albus shook his head weakly, "she would be weak, she has no wand, she could not fight us if she wanted to."

"And what of Evelyn?" Remus spoke up, "once the child is safe, she will have no reason to share information?"

"She doesn't have to want to," Sirius said, "it is a war, we do what we have to do."

Nobody spoke, but deep down, they were all glad someone had said it. If Evelyn was the key to winning this war, then their actions would be justified, everything that they did would be for the greater good.

"Speaking of Evelyn," Alice said, "I ought to go and swap shifts." She made her way out of the office, towards Evelyn's quarters. She knocked twice, "time to swap shifts Peter!" She paused, "Peter?" Alice dropped her wand into her palm, readying herself before she pushed the door open, "Peter?" But Peter was not there, the only one in the room was Evelyn, sat in a crimson puddle of blood.

"Help," she choked before she let her eyelids fall shut.