𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | l. lovegood

xxiii

𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒 of her summer holiday in and out of therapy sessions, some with her parents and several on her own. She started eating better and gained back a good amount of the weight she had lost. She looked healthier, and she felt stronger than she had all summer.

Some days were easier than others. She still wasn't talking much, but she'd started to say a few small phrases here and there. She still missed Sirius more than anything. She still felt like curling up under her bed and hiding from everyone, but she was slowly getting better.

A week before she was to return to Hogwarts, she received the annual letter from the school. Inside was the list of supplies that she would need and, to her surprise, a—

"Prefect's badge?!" Andromeda gasped when Dorothea set the badge down on the table. Tonks looked up from that morning's Daily Prophet, and Ted dropped his coffee mug. Dorothea used her mind to catch it before it could shatter and spill its contents all over the floor.

"Oh, my God!" Tonks jumped up from the table and rushed to hug her baby sister. "I should've known you'd be the one to become a prefect, Thea! This is amazing!"

"Prefect?"

Dorothea noticed Tonks's face flush at the sound of Remus Lupin's voice. The older girl snatched up the Prophet and used it to cover her face as she rushed out of the room.

Dorothea bit her tongue to keep from giggling. She knew that Tonks fancied Remus. She found out when she read her diary.

"Remember, Thea," Remus said as he shook hands with the teenager to congratulate her, "with great power comes great responsibility. Now, I know I don't have to worry about you abusing this position, but let that serve as a reminder to you."

Dorothea nodded and gave the man a small smile.

"And who might this little guy be?" Remus asked when he spotted Porcus sitting in his chair at the table.

"That's Porcus, Thea's pet pig," Ted said. "Dromeda tried to convince her to get a puppy, but she insisted on a pig."

Porcus oinked happily when Remus patted his head.

"Well, he is very handsome." He chuckled.

"Thea, sit down and finish your breakfast, honey," Andromeda said as she cleared the empty plates from the table.

Dorothea eyed her partially eaten plate of bacon, eggs, and buttered toast. She shook her head and pointed from the bacon to Porcus.

How dare she cook Porcus's brethren.

"Just..." Andromeda sighed, "finish your eggs and eat what you can of the toast. After breakfast, Remus is gonna go with you and Dora to get your school supplies. Mad-Eye insisted that you were to be accompanied by at least two members of the Order."

It was getting dangerous out. Now that the Death Eaters were free, people were disappearing daily. There'd been many reports of attacks in the Daily Prophet. Andromeda was even considering pulling Dorothea out of school; she said it was too dangerous to risk sending her to Hogwarts. But after talking things over with Ted, she decided that she would be the safest inside the castle's walls.

"Your sister seems a bit skittish this morning," Remus said to Dorothea, who couldn't help the knowing smile that spread on her lips. "What do you know, Thea?"

Dorothea shook her head. She mimicked sealing her lips and locking them with a key. When she finished her eggs and toast, she offered the bacon to Remus, picked up Porcus, and went upstairs to finish getting ready for the day.

»--✩--«

Diagon Alley was practically deserted. Shops were abandoned; their windows boarded up. Only the essentials like Flourish & Blotts, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Mr. Mulpepper's Apothecary, and a couple others remained open. Fred and George had even opened up their own joke shop, which was booming with business.

Dorothea refused to go in there, though, considering how the Weasley twins had never been very nice to her.

Porcus walked beside Dorothea in what the Muggles called a service animal vest – her father had gotten him registered so that she could bring him with her whenever she left the house. She kept hoping that she'd run into one of her friends from school as she went from shop to shop, more specifically, Luna Lovegood, but the blonde wasn't anywhere to be found. The only blondes she saw were her cousin, Draco Malfoy, and Aunt Narcissa when she went into Madam Malkin's to get new school robes – her old ones had become a little tight since she started eating better.

"Hey, Thea," Draco said when he spotted her. He was standing at the checkout counter with Narcissa, who looked over at her after paying for her son's robes.

"Hi," Dorothea whispered, her voice horace from lack of use. She glanced over her shoulder at where Tonks and Remus were standing outside the door keeping an eye out for danger.

"How has your summer been, Dorothea?" Narcissa asked. The girl shrugged and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Is that a...pig?" Draco frowned softly at the small barn animal.

"Porcus." Dorothea leaned down and picked him up.

"I see you've stuck with the Black family tradition of using constellation names," Narcissa said, smiling softly when Dorothea did too. "How is your mother doing? Draco tells me she's made you go to therapy."

Dorothea hadn't expected Draco to keep in touch with her, so she had been surprised when she got a letter from him over the summer. He had told her that he couldn't say much in case the letter was intercepted, and they had used codenames so that no one would know they were in contact with each other in case it was.

She had told him about her trip to the psychiatrist, being diagnosed with autism, and starting therapy for her PTSD. She had been worried about telling him, thinking that he would judge, but he was more understanding than she would've thought.

"She's good," Dorothea said, gently stroking Porcus. "Therapy's...fine."

"Still not talking much?" Draco asked. Dorothea nodded.

"Are you here alone? Do you want me to stay with you?" Narcissa asked. She didn't think that Andromeda would send her youngest daughter to Diagon Alley alone given the state of things, especially when one took into consideration that she was underage and couldn't use magic outside of school, even if it was to defend herself against an attack.

Dorothea pointed outside. Tonks and Remus's silhouettes could be seen outside the window.

"See you at school, Thea," Draco said before he followed his mother out of the robe shop.

Madam Malkin got Dorothea fitted for new school robes. She used the money her mum had given her for her supplies to pay for them before leaving.

"Got everything you need?" Remus asked, and Dorothea nodded in response.

"Is there anything special that you'd like to celebrate being chosen as a prefect?" Tonks asked. "And no, you cannot get another pig," she quickly added when Dorothea glanced at Porcus. The younger girl's shoulders slumped. "Do you want to see if there's anything you might like from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?"

Dorothea scrunched her nose and shook her head. "Meanies." She took her Walkman out of her pocket and pointed to it.

"New music?"

"Yes."

"Alright then." Tonks took Dorothea's hand and kissed her temple. "Let's go see what we can find."