dark side • draco malfoy

19 | Tonks and Lupin

"I'll see you in a few days, okay? Be sure to owl me as much as you like, and you can visit as much as you want too." Ginny told me, before pulling me into a tight hug. Since my meeting with Dumbledore the night before, she had hardly left my side and had been so supportive. I was so lucky to have her as a friend.

"Now come on. Let's go find Remus and Tonks." She smiled, taking my hand and pulling me off the Hogwarts Express as we arrived at Kings Cross Station.

After a moment of pushing through the crowd of excited families, I finally spotted the ex-Hogwarts professor and the spunky, young auror.

"Hey Tonks, hi Remus. This is Ivy." Ginny greeted them each with small hugs. Earlier, she had told me that she got to know them quite well in her fourth year when everyone was staying at Harry's godfather's house in London.

"Hi Ivy, you remember me right?" Tonks asked, with a hint of awkwardness in her voice as she tried not to mention my parents to me.

"Yeah, you worked with my dad. He always said great things about you." I spoke with a half-hearted smile to the pink-haired girl.

"You remember Remus too, then?" She asked me, gesturing to her lover.

"Of course. How could I forget my favourite Defence Against the Dark Arts professor?" I softly smiled at him, and he returned it with a sad one.

"I've got to go now Ivy, but I'll see you in five days for Christmas, okay?" Ginny asked, hugging me for the millionth time.

"Thanks Gin." I whispered into her ear, before she disappeared into the crowd to find her family.

"Ready?" Tonks asked, taking my hand and Remus'. I nodded and tightened my grip on my suitcase before the familiar twisting sensation of side-along apparition washed over me.

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"Here we are. It's not much, but we call it home. You can stay in this room here. The loo is across the hall, and Remus and I sleep in the room next to it. Can I get you anything? Some food, maybe?" She offered, stumbling over a loose floorboard. I suddenly remembered my father telling me how clumsy she was.

"No thank you, Tonks. This is perfect, thank you so much, for everything. I think I'd actually just like to be alone for awhile, if that's okay?" I asked, glancing down at my shoes.

"Of course. We'll be here if you need anything." She nodded at me, before leaving the room and closing the door.

Sighing, I felt a single tear slide down my cheek, and soon there were rivers of tears flowing from both of my eyes. I collapsed down onto the small bed in the corner of the room, and pulled a knitted blanket over myself before allowing the silent sobs to take over my entire body.

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A few hours later, I woke up to gentle knocking on my door. It then creaked open, and Tonks poked her head inside.

"Dinner is ready, love." She told me, slowly changing her hair colour from pink to purple.

"I'm not actually very hungry." I answered, continuing to stare at the blank ceiling above me.

"Nonsense. Please Ivy, come eat." She asked me, before closing the door and leaving me to my thoughts. However, seconds later, the door opened again and Tonks was back.

"Ivy, I respected your father more than anyone else at the Ministry, and he was there for me when no one else was. I wouldn't be an auror today without him. Please, helping you is the least I can do to repay him. He was a good man, Ivy." She sighed, and I noticed her eyes beginning to water.

"How dare you act like you knew my dad, like you were friends with him! You didn't know him at all!" I shouted, feeling my heart break for the thousandth time since I learned of my parents' murder.

"You're right. I-I'm sorry." Tonks looked hurt as she quickly left the room and shut the door, and I immediately felt bad for lashing out at her, she was only trying to help me.

Several minutes passed before I decided that I should probably eat something, and try to apologize to Tonks.

I forced myself to stand up and make my way to the bathroom across the hall. Looking at myself in the mirror, I almost screamed. I didn't even resemble myself, and I looked like a dead zombie that had come back to life. Awesome.

I splashed some cold water on my face and wiped it dry with a plush red towel, before brushing through my dark hair and throwing it up into a ponytail. That would have to do.

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Both Tonks and Remus looked honestly shocked when I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Tonks, I'm really sorry about earlier. This... it's really hard on me. I didn't mean what I said, I'm sorry." I apologized, nervously twirling a loose strand of dark hair around my index finger.

"It's alright, Ivy. I know you're really going through a tough time right now. Remus and I are both here for you. If you need anyone to talk to, we're here." She smiled warmly at me, and I breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't angry at me.

"Thanks."

"Group hug!" She cheered, standing up and pulling both Remus and I up with her.

"Love, I don't think-"

"Shush, we're going to have a group hug." Tonks interrupted her husband, before pulling all three of us into a tight hug. I looked up at Remus with what must have been an awkward look on my face, and he mouthed "sorry" at me before cracking a small smile and pulling away.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm very hungry." He said as he sat down and began to cut his steak.

"Hungry like a wolf?" The words immediately shot out of my mouth as I remembered the old muggle song that my mom had played for me once, and I giggled at the obvious pun of Remus being a werewolf.

"What?"