the girl with all of the choices

e i g h t y - s e v e n

8856 words

august first- the ministry has fallen

~ Addison ~

It was extremely surprising how many weddings I was attending during a war. First, Remus and Tonks, and now Bill and Fleur.

I had known Fleur somewhat. We had shared a few conversations during the Tournament when Cedric and she were at events. She was sweet.

I wasn't explicitly invited, of course. Remus and Tonks were invited, and since I lived with them, they asked if I could come. The Weasleys said yes. The Weasleys always said yes.

If I was being honest, I was worried. I hadn't seen George in a long time. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I weren't exactly the best of friends. Nor was Ginny all that close to me. I guess I'd have Fred's sympathies because of Ainsley, but even that I couldn't ensure. They all knew about Draco. Harry stormed out into the Forbidden Forest after him, which probably meant that he had seen something damning.

I wasn't sure I was ready to see them. Would they ask questions? Would they even bring it up? They probably would. All of them were involved with the Order. They knew I was too.

They'd probably call me a traitor.

A sympathiser.

They wouldn't think I was good anymore.

It wasn't that I wasn't good. I was a good person.

I thought so, at least.

Draco was a good person. He had to do terrible things to protect the people he loved. That was what I was doing: lying to everyone I knew and protecting a Death Eater because he was the one I loved. If Draco was a good person, I had to be.

But everyone expected him to be bad. Nobody expected me to be bad.

Me, the quiet Hufflepuff, best friend of deceased Cedric Diggory, co-founder of Dumbledore's Army, Order trainee under Auror Nymphadora Tonks. A fierce friend. An even fiercer advocate of what was right.

Protecting a Death Eater.

Maybe they wouldn't bring it up. After all, they had more pressing things to focus on. The Battle of the Seven Potters, as it had so affectionately been named, had been awful, even though it was technically a success. George had lost his ear due to Snape. It was a form of Sectumsempra, the spell Harry had almost killed Draco with. Mad-Eye had been killed. Voldemort himself had even shown up. It was a minor miracle that nobody else was killed or seriously maimed.

Tonks hadn't stopped sobbing when they first got back. It was almost four in the morning when she and Remus apparated back to Andromeda's. Andromeda and I had fallen asleep in the sitting room, glasses of wine on the table. She stumbled her way over to us and curled up next to me on the sofa. Remus had a bit of a nervous breakdown after I had Tonks in my arms. It was all very strange.

Who was I kidding? None of this would have happened if Draco hadn't attempted to kill Dumbledore.

There was no way they wouldn't bring it up.

I was in my room getting ready. Tonks had laid out a beautiful light blue dress for me. It was very much not her style, so I started to wonder if she had purposefully bought it for me. The only places she went were Order meetings at the Weasley's, though.

I still thought she had bought it for me.

It was truly stunning. It clung to me in all the right places, while still being flowy and summer-like. I was convinced she had placed a tailoring charm on it to allow the fabric to fight me just so.