Three days after the New Year, all thoughts of happiness had vanished from Kevin’s mind. He trudged through a forest in Albania with his face hidden under a large, black cloak. His boots sloshed in the fresh mud that had been formed after a fierce rainstorm. After an hour of trekking through the forest, Kevin came to a clearing. He took a seat on a rock at one end of the clearing, and waited.
Reaching inside his cloak, he pulled out a piece of parchment that had been delivered to Godric’s Hollow two days ago. It told him to come to this forest, to this clearing. He knew who the sender was, and so did Sara. She had fought so hard to keep him from coming, but she knew that it wouldn’t do any good. Once his mind was made up, Kevin could not be dissuaded.
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Two days earlier…
“Breakfast is ready,” Sara called up the stairs. She and Kevin set out some plates and started putting pancakes and eggs on them all. Ginny and Hermione were the first to bound down the stairs and come to the table. Ron and Harry soon followed, but the two of them seemed to have unwarranted smiles on their faces. “Don’t think you all are being cute. I know what was going on and, while I won’t give you the stern lecture you all deserve, I will say that you better be glad Kevin and I are here and not Molly and Arthur. It would be a lot harder to get away with this if they were watching you.” The kid’s faces turned red.
Kevin sat down at the table and they all started to eat. “Are you all set to go back to Hogwarts?” he asked.
Everyone nodded. “When are we going to start learning new defensive spells?” Harry asked.
“Soon,” Kevin answered. “Professor Snape and I need confer on a few things before we decide just what needs to be taught and when.”
“Why?” Ron asked, a bit indignant.
“Because he’s the other Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He needs to be in on all the decisions.” Kevin spooned another egg onto his plate. “Besides, this means you get a few days of relaxing review before I brutally maim you all with new teaching methods. There’s going to be a lot more practical exercises.”
Breakfast ended in the house and the younger wizards went off on their own, as they had every day they could at Godric’s Hollow. Kevin was worried about them being out in the town, but Sara tried to keep him calm. What seemed to work best was when she told him that the house would be theirs for most of the day. Kevin sent the dogs out to watch the others and settled in for a relaxing day with his wife.
Today, though, would not be relaxing.
Early in the afternoon, a black-feathered owl graced the house with a letter for Kevin. He opened it, and his eyes almost left his head. “I don’t believe…the audacity…”
Sara rushed to his side. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s him,” he said. “He wants to meet me in Albania.”
“What for? Why Albania?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, but I know I have to go.”
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Kevin had been waiting in the clearing for almost twenty minutes before his host arrived. The dark figure slinked from the trees across from him, his red eyes narrowed to slits. Voldemort walked slowly towards his “son.”
Kevin got to his feet and drew his wand. “Stop right there.”
Voldemort stopped. “I had hoped that wands would not be necessary. I had hoped we could just talk.”
Kevin did not lower his wand. “Since when do want to talk about anything, except yourself? Say what you have to say before I get impatient.”
The dark wizard folded his hands in front of him. “For thirteen years, I was doomed to a lifeless existence. In all that time I had to wonder why I was alone, why my followers did not seek me out and revive me. However, long before that, I had to wonder why my greatest follower deserted me at such a young age. I gave you everything, Tom.”
Kevin’s grip on his wand tightened. “That is not my name. My name is Kevin Hall.”
Voldemort’s lips formed a small smile. “Yes, I know, but that does not answer my question. When I chose the children that would succeed me should death befall me, I knew that you would be the greatest of all; even before I knew of the blood you carried. I chose the other four simply because of their blood, but you and your mother had a power that I required in an heir. That, and the beauty of your mother was intoxicating.”
Kevin’s fist slammed into the rock. “Stop it! Just, stop it! If I thought it would do any good, I would kill you right now, but we both know that that would not do any good. We both know the prophecy, and we both know that prophecies can’t be changed.” He started to lower his wand. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t try.” He raised his wand.
“Avada Ked…”
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Sara ran as fast as she was able through St. Mungo’s hospital. She bounded up the stairs and almost ran straight into Arthur Weasley. He reached out his hands to stop her. “Sara, it’s all right. He’s fine.” She still pushed past him.
Molly and Tonks each grabbed an arm and pulled her away from the door she was trying to get through. “You can’t go in yet, dear,” Molly said. “The doctors are still doing some work.” They lead her to a chair.
She sat, more so because her legs were about to give out. “I never should have let him go. I never should have…”
Tonks took a seat beside her. “It isn’t your fault. He wanted to go. There was nothing you could have said that would have stopped him. I only wish that we could have gotten there sooner.”
Tears started streaming from Sara’s eyes. She took a handkerchief from Tonks and wiped them away. “Tell me what happened.”
“Well,” Tonks said. “After we got your letter, we went as fast as we could to Albania. When we got to the clearing, Kevin was lying on the ground. He was hurt badly, but alive.”
The doors opened and a Medi-wizard walked out. “He’s all right,” he said. “You can go in if you like.” Sara stood up and followed him into the ward.
Molly took the seat that Sara had left. “Poor thing. She shouldn’t have to deal with this in her condition. Why that foolish man cannot simply keep himself out of harm, I will not understand.”
“It’s not his fault, Molly,” Arthur said. “If he hadn’t gone to meet You-Know-Who, then he might have put Sara, maybe Harry, and maybe our own children in danger. Kevin did what he thought was best.”
Tonks looked up at him. “Arthur, why do suppose You-Know-Who left Kevin alive? He was ready to kill him back at Hogwarts.”
Arthur folded his arms. “I’m not sure, Tonks. It could be the You-Know-Who is hoping that Kevin will come back to his side. Good luck of that happening. That could have been what this whole thing is about. If Kevin knows how to deflect the most powerful curse known to our kind, You-Know-Who may want him to teach his own followers in the event that the Ministry allows the Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses again.”
“Whatever it is,” Tonks said. “We have to be ready to face it.”
**************************************************
Sara sat on a stool beside Kevin’s bed. He was bandaged on his chest and upper right arm. She reached out and took his left hand in hers. “How are you feeling?”
Kevin shrugged, as much as he could anyway. “It hurts, but I’ll live.”
“I’m glad.” She reached over and hit the side of his head. “Now, would you mind telling me when you thought going to meet him by yourself was a good idea?”
He rubbed the spot. “About the same time you decided it was a good idea to hit an injured man. You could have done this before I left. It wouldn’t have done any good, but that pain would be long gone.” He saw the hurt in his wife’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Sara. I wish I could have forgotten about the letter, but if I had, he might have come for us at Godric’s Hollow. I didn’t want to put you or the others at risk.”
“At least, tell me it was worth it. What did he want?”
Kevin shut his eyes and lowered his head. “I wish I had found out. I lost my temper and attacked. He must have had Death Eaters waiting in the forest, because I never got off my first spell.” He looked up at her. “I think it had something to do with me, because he talked about my mother.”
Sara’s eyes suddenly widened. “Your mother? What did she have to do with this?”
“I don’t know. I wish I could have kept my cool for just a while longer.” He squeezed her hand. “What did you tell Harry and the others?”
Sara’s expression softened. “I told them the truth. They’re old enough to know it. They wanted to come with me, and I didn’t want to leave them alone, but Moody came by and offered to watch them. They’ll be safe with him.”
A Medi-wizard came into the ward. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Hall, but I am going to have to ask you to leave. Your husband needs rest.”
Sara, reluctantly, got to her feet. She leaned down and kissed Kevin. “Get better fast. I love you.”
He held her hand as long as he could. “I love you, too.”