The last morning at Hogwarts was bright and low-key, and Kevin spent most of it at Hagrid's hut.
It was the kind of morning that wanted to feel normal — friends sitting around, tea cooling in mugs, the distant sounds of the castle finishing its year. Kevin kept his voice easy as he talked them through the graveyard, leaving out the parts they didn't need yet and keeping the tone the same way you might describe an inconvenient commute.
By the end of it, the tightness in the group had eased somewhat. Voldemort was back. That was terrifying. But Kevin had faced him twice now and was standing here at Hagrid's table eating a biscuit that could have been used as a weapon, so.
The Hogwarts part was true, at least — Dumbledore in residence, ancient wards on every stone, nowhere safer in Britain. The rest they'd handle together.
The door opened.
Draco Malfoy looked rough. Not tired-rough — genuinely shaken, the kind of unsteady that came from a night of very bad thoughts.
"Kevin." He paused in the doorway. "Can you come outside for a minute?"
Kevin registered the look on his face and stood without being asked twice.
They stepped out of earshot of the hut. Ron watched through the window with unconcealed curiosity, working out the angles.
"Before dawn, my mother dismissed a house-elf," Draco said, once they were far enough out. He was holding himself very still, the way people did when they were trying not to let the shaking show. He pulled a letter from his pocket and held it out. "She sent it with this."
Kevin took it and read.
Voldemort had called the Death Eaters the night of the ritual. Lucius had answered. He was now at Malfoy Manor, and Voldemort was using it as his base.
Narcissa wanted Draco to stay away. She didn't spell out why. She didn't need to.
"If Goyle and Crabbe find out I didn't go home, they'll tell him," Draco said. "He'll use me against you. That's what she's afraid of."
"But if I don't go back—" He stopped. Started again. "He'll hurt them. To send a message. He'll—"
"Then let's go back," Kevin said.
Draco stared at him. This wasn't the answer he'd prepared for.
Before Draco could speak, Kevin raised his wand.
The silvery memory-thread came away from Draco's temple smooth and clean. Kevin turned it between his fingers — made a few careful alterations along its length — and pressed it back.
Draco blinked. His expression changed: less lost, more decided.
Inside the hut, the group watched.
"He took a memory," Harry said quietly, watching Kevin's wand work through the window glass.
"And put it back," Hermione said. Her voice was careful.
"He changed it," Ron guessed.
A folded note appeared at the window sill and dropped through. Harry caught it before it hit the floor. He read it. Passed it to Hermione without a word.
A minute later Kevin and Draco came back inside.
Kevin stood in the doorway, and his expression was the flat, serious one that meant he'd already made the call and wasn't looking for a vote.
"Voldemort has taken Draco's parents as leverage. He wants our help to get them out."
The note was already in Hermione's hand. She'd read it twice.
She was on her feet before Kevin finished the sentence. "Absolutely not."
The word came out with force. "This is bait, Kevin. Voldemort is using the Malfoys to get to you, and you're talking about walking straight into it—"
"What about my parents?!"
Draco's voice broke on it. The control he'd been holding cracked down the middle. "You'd just leave them there? Just let Voldemort—"
"Your father is a Death Eater," Hermione said. Her voice was not cruel, but it was not soft. "Your family made these choices—"
"Hermione!" Hagrid's voice, pained.
"—your father gave Ginny that diary and nearly got her killed. He hired people to attack Kevin and me. And now you want Kevin to risk his life for him?"
"I already talked my father out of school business!" Draco's voice went louder, sharper. "I vouched for him! Kevin dropped it, Harry dropped it, Ginny dropped it — why can't you—"
"Because forgiving past harm doesn't mean walking into new harm—"
"You're nothing but a lousy Mud—"
Kevin's foot connected with Draco before the word finished. Draco went through the doorway and hit the turf outside in a graceless heap.
Kevin followed him out. His voice, when it came, was very quiet.
"Shut your mouth, Draco."
Draco pulled himself upright. His eyes were bright with fury and something more desperate underneath.
"Hermione's right," Kevin said. "Your parents made their choices. The ones that matter weren't made last night — they were made years ago. That's not something I can undo by raiding Malfoy Manor."
"You have two options. Come clean, cut ties with your family's choices, and stand where you stand. Or go back to them, and stand where that puts you."
"Two choices. That's it."
Draco looked at him for a long, burning moment. Then his eyes swept the doorway — Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, Hagrid, all of them watching.
"Fine." His voice had gone strange and flat. "Fine! You're heartless, Kevin! You don't get it — you never will — because you don't have anyone!"
He watched to see it land.
"You and Scarface both — a pair of parentless strays who wouldn't know what family meant if—"
Harry's spell caught Draco mid-sentence and sent him three feet backwards through the air.
Harry had his wand up for the second shot when Kevin stepped in front of him. He put his hand on Harry's arm and pushed it down — not hard, just firm.
Draco staggered back up. His face was a mess of emotions he'd stopped trying to contain.
Kevin looked at him steadily. "Apologize. We'll consider it said and done."
"Apologize." Draco repeated the word like it was in a language he'd never learned. Then he laughed — a short, broken sound. "Cower here with a bunch of blood traitors and Mudbloods? I'd rather serve the Dark Lord than apologize to you."
He reached up and pulled the tie from his collar — the one Kevin had given him. He dropped it on the ground without ceremony.
"Remember this, Kevin. This was your call."
He turned and walked back toward the castle.
Kevin watched him go, hands in his pockets, face unreadable.
Nobody said anything for a moment.
Draco's silhouette disappeared through the castle doors.
Kevin turned around.
"He'll be alright," he said.
Nobody looked like they quite believed him.
---
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