Chapter 35: Ginny's Feud

December 16, 1993

Tonks woke up groggily, wrapped in a blanket. She blinked once, then twice, frowning at the ceiling. This room didn't look familiar…

She turned around to see Remus sitting on the couch, flipping through a newspaper, and a smile broke across his face when he saw that she was awake. "Good morning," he greeted warmly, dropping the newspaper and crossing over to where she was. "Did you sleep well?"

"Wha… Yes, I did." Tonks frowned, realizing that she was on the bed. "What happened? I remember we were talking, and… oh no," she moaned, realizing what had happened. "I fell asleep?"

Remus nodded, ruffling her hair. "Yeah."

She buried her head in her hands. "Oh no! I can't believe it!"

"There's nothing wrong with it," he told her. "You just had a long day of exams. It's completely all right."

She blushed. "Yes, but…" Then she frowned. "Wait, why am I on the bed? How did I get here?"

"I carried you." Remus tilted his head to the side, looking confused. "Do you mind?"

"What? No! Of course not! But then… where did you sleep?"

Remus gestured towards the couch.

"What?!" she shrieked.

"Er, yeah?" he asked. "What's wrong, Tonks?"

She threw her arms out in the air. "You gave me the bed? All to myself? And you were on the couch?"

"Yes," he said, gently taking hold of her arms and putting them by her side. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Why did you let me sleep on the bed?" she cried. "And you had to sleep on the couch! It's your room! You should've put me on the couch or on the floor! It's my fault."

"What on Earth is your fault, Tonks?" he asked, looking bewildered.

"I fell asleep," she explained miserably. "And you had to sleep on the couch! It's not fair."

"It's completely fair," he assured her. "I don't mind. Your sleep is more important."

"No it's-" She stopped as he gently put his fingers over her lips, shutting her up.

"You had a long day of exams," he said in a soothing voice. "You deserved some sleep."

"Fine," she grumbled, running a hand through her turquoise hair. She started to get up before she noticed a light brown, worn teddy bear sitting on the bed. "Is this… yours?"

He followed her gaze, a small smile settling on his face. "Yeah, it is."

She blinked. "You have a teddy bear?"

The smile grew smaller. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, of course not!" she exclaimed, tripping over her words. "That's really cute, adorable. I like it. I just… never knew."

He laughed. "Yeah, I've had him since I was four."

"That's really cute," Tonks told him. "What's his name?"

"Beano."

A smile grew on her face. "That's so adorable."

"You think so?"

"Of course!" she cried. "Do you sleep with him?"

"Sometimes. I used to every day until I was seventeen. When I graduated Hogwarts," he explained. "Now I just do… when I want to. Before or after a transformation. When I'm going through a tough time." He met her gaze. "It's childis-"

"No, it's not. It's really not."

He smiled and pulled her off the bed, wrapping her in a big hug. "I don't know what I did to deserve you," he whispered in her ear.

Tonks broke out into a smile.

Fred and George entered the Common Room to bursts of applause, cheering, and hooting.

"That was amazing!" Lee cried, jumping up to them and giving them a hard thunk on the shoulder. "Really! Is Dumbledore really going to give you a prize?"

Fred grinned, nodding. "Yep."

"Ooh, what do you think?" Lee asked.

"I don't know. Maybe like a free trip to Hogsmeade?"

"He seemed like it'd be bigger, though," mused Fred. "I wonder what."

George shook his head. "Dumbledore's always been a lunatic."

"Since the start," agreed Fred, laughing. "Ah, well, I wonder what."

"Whatever it is, I can't wait," George replied.

"Neither can I."

Kylie was practicing for the frog choir.

"Vos postulo ut dilectio, vos potulo ut amor," she sang, and then stopped. "No, it's vos postulo discere amare. Oh come on!" She scratched out the line, cleared her throat, and started again. "Vos postulo ut dilectio, vos postulo ut amor! Vos postulo discere amare. Cum enim anima scientia et plena corde micante tam celeriter, quam fecerunt ad scire, O, quod sic," she sang loudly, smiling to herself. "Come on, frog, let's go."

Her frog croaked.

"Seriously? It's got to be on the beat. O, quod sic."

Croak.

"While I sing! Let's try it again. "Cum enim anima scienta et plena cor-"

"Nice singing," Liana said, appearing out of nowhere and leaning against the wall behind Kylie. She was wearing a red sports jacket and black pants.

"Thanks," Kylie replied, dropping her frog, who immediately jumped over and onto Draco's lap.

"Ew!" he cried, jumping off the couch. "That is disgusting."

"It's a he," Kylie argued defiantly, picking up her frog and stashing it in her bag, ignoring his croaks. "But it's okay, Draco! If you think he's disgusting, then he is." Though he isn't, but Draco didn't need to know that.

Liana facepalmed, walking up behind Kylie and grinning at Draco. "How sweet," she said sarcastically. "Don't forget to invite me to your wedding."

"Not funny," muttered Draco, flopping back on the couch.

"Aren't you cold in shorts?" Kylie wondered.

"Nah. It's really warm in here."

Liana rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Kylie, are you celebrating Christmas with your family this year?"

"Duh. You think I'm going to celebrate Halloween instead?"

Liana rolled her eyes again. Didn't they ever get tired? "I asked because you're invited to our Christmas Potter Party."

"Potter Party?"

"Yeah, it's our family's annual Christmas Party. Harry and I call it the Potter Party. Sometimes Dad does too. Mom didn't really use to like it, but I think she's grown used to it now. I heard her calling it that once."

"Ooh, sure!" exclaimed Kylie. "I'd love to come. Uh, can my brother come too?"

"You have a brother?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, Jones."

"Sure. He's invited," Liana responded, sinking down on the couch next to Draco. "And your mom and dad. They should have gotten the invite, anyway. I just wanted to tell you."

"I'm coming!" cried Kylie enthusiastically, pumping a fist into the air. "I can't wait!"

"Am I invited?" Draco asked slyly, smirking.

"I actually did ask Mom, but she said something about no controversy." Liana rolled her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time. "But your family is coming the day after."

"Really?" Draco asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yep. For tea." Liana snorted. "But Harry's going to be there too."

Draco grinned. "I can't wait!"

Liana burst out laughing. "It's going to be hilarious."

Kylie jumped onto the couch next to the two of them. "Well, I think we shoul-" She stopped as she was interrupted.

By a loud frog croak from her bag.

Moaning Myrtle was moaning.

And setting up a trap.

Nobody came often to the Girls' Bathroom which she had taken over, but the occasional wanderer always did, and she liked setting up traps for them.

She blew a little stinging potion that would erupt into painful smiley faces on whichever part of the body touched onto the toilet first, and blew the toilet paper around the toilet seat. Oh, this was going to be so much fun. Now onto the next one…

"MOANING MYRTLE!"

Myrtle turned, her face livid. Did she look like a moaning ghost? Why on Earth did they call her that? Her name was not Moaning Myrtle! How dare somebody call her that. How dare somebody call her that! What guts? What rights? She was going to talk to a lawyer about this. "It's Myrtle. Myrtle Elizabeth Warren."

"Yes, yes, whatever." It was the youngest of the Weasleys. She had long, bright red hair, and a scowl on her face. Wasn't her name Milly? No, it was an unusual name. Hmm... oh, was it Bobby? No, that wasn't it eitiher. Oh! It was Billy! Right. It was Billy. But that didn't seem quite right... "I need to talk to you."

"No one does that anymore," Myrtle shrieked, her pitch growing higher, tears now streaming down her cheeks. Why didn't anybody talk to her now? "I remember when they did… when I was likeable, when I…"

"Oh, shut up," growled Billy. "Stay off Harry."

Myrtle blinked. "Say what?"

"Harry Potter? I know you two are dating."

The truth was that no such type of the sort had happened. But the thought of dating Harry was too good to be true, to good to ignore some fun. "That's right, we are," Myrtle said defensively. "I'm dating him, he loves me, I love him, end of story." She eyed him. "Where did you come from in the middle of our love?"

"HARRY IS MINE!" she yelled loudly. "YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO THINK ABOUT BEING WITH HIM!"

"He is mine!" shrieked Myrtle back. "HE'S MINE! DON'T EVEN TRY, LOVERGIRL!"

Milly/Bobby/Billy/Hinny scowled, her face fierce. "We'll see about that."

"We sure will," agreed Myrtle, shaking.

"May the best human win."

Myrtle glared at her.

"I can't wait for the party," Hermione said.

"Yeah, last year was fun. Each year it gets better, though, I really can't wait to see what they've added this time," Ron replied.

"Neither can I," agreed Hermione.

"I'm worried about Harry, though. I think he's going to try to go after Sirius Black, now that he knows…"

Hermione grimaced. "That was the worst way for him to find out."

"You'd think his parents would tell him something like that, though," mumbled Ron.

"I know," Hermione murmured, putting her head in her hands. "His life is so complicated. I feel horrible for him."

Ron rubbed her back comfortingly. "He'll be fine. He has us."

Hermione snorted. "Some comfort."

He laughed too. "But enough about Harry. The topic is too dramatic."

"Yeah, it is. So… how's the essay coming along?"

"Please, Hermione, that's boring," he moaned. "Can we talk about something interesting? I mean… essays are so bad."

"Meaning you haven't done it," Hermione summed up.

He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah."

Hermione sighed. "How's your family and everything?"

"They're doing fine," Ron said matter-of-factly. "What about you? How's life?"

It was strange. Hermione and Ron were probably best friends, along with Harry, of course, but they never had many talks like this. Sometimes a quick chat and a quick 'Hey, how you doing?' and a 'Good, how about you?' would pass along, but just an hour with just the two of them, talking about personal things... It didn't happen often. They usually talked either about Voldemort, Sirius Black, Harry, or schoolwork.

"I guess I'm fine," Hermione answered slowly. "I mean, there's a lot going on… and a lot of stress with all the classes I'm taking, because I have so much homework, and I can barely keep up with it all. I'm feeling so tired these days and I don't know what to do…"

Ron patted her shoulder. "It'll be okay," he said warmly. "You should cut out taking all these classes though, I mean…"

"No, Ron, I have to learn!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms out.

"Yes, but it's wearing you out. You already work super hard, everyone knows that."

"I don't care about what people know, Ron. This isn't for a job application. I actually want to learn."

He leaned forward so that his face was inches from hers. "You're the most self-driven person I know."

She blushed.

"I'm so happy for you!" exclaimed Sia once Tonks had finished talking about her Auror exams. "I'm sure you aced it."

Tonks grinned. "Thanks. I hope I did." She paused. 'How's your library book going?"

"Great. I read it three times, I'm reading a new one now."

"Oh?" Tonks smirked. "Fast reader."

"Yep."

"I'll let you get to some reading, now, I'll just sit here."

"Are you sure?" Sia asked.

"Totally. I'm not going anywhere."

Sia grinned and opened up her book. Tonks settled on the couch, immersing herself in a magazine. After about ten minutes, she looked up to see Sia crying. Tears were streaming down her face as she flipped the page.

"I told you you shouldn't be reading sad books!" Tonks chided, taking the book from her and skimming the page. "Wait. This is about… happy families."

Sia's hand, almost instinctively, flew to the scar on her forehead, fear and sadness evident in her eyes.

"You didn't fall off a tree, did you."

Sia took a deep breath and began.

"My parents weren't at all sympathetic that I was born a vampire. They were born vampires too. It's part of their bloodline." Then she cringed. "Bad joke. But yeah, they were born with it. It's like an inherited thing. They've always been kind of… strict."

Words didn't come out of Tonks's mouth. What was she supposed to say, watching the eleven-year-old girl who was clearly terrified but trying to hide it?

"Strict means…" she managed.

She pointed to the scar on her forehead.

Tonks's eyes bugged out, her mouth dropping open. "They… did… that?"

She nodded once, fear shining in her eyes.

"But… why?"

"Do they need a reason?" She laughed, a little bitterly. "They're my parents. They have every" - she winced - "right over me."

Tonks wanted to give her a hug, to wrap her arms around the girl, but she couldn't move. She was frozen. Obviously they did, they were her parents, but...

"They hurt me when they want," Sia continued. "When they're mad. When they want to vent their anger. When I mess up on something. Which they think is a big deal. Once it was about me forgetting to dot an 'i' when writing an essay. Another time, when I was two years old, I almost sucked somebody's blood before they came and stopped me. Then they beat the heck out of me. Or if I forget to put salt when cooking something."

Tonks still couldn't move. She didn't deserve it. Nobody deserved it. Especially not this little, young, tough, over-mature girl. Now she could see it all. Why she was so tough, why she was so hard, why she was defensive.

"It started when I was really little. They would beat me, and I would cry." Bitterness caked around the edge of her sad eyes. "I'm stronger now, though. I don't cry in front of them. I don't let them know they had hurt me, both physically and emotionally." Sia rubbed a finger across her thick black jacket.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Tonks. "I don't know how to help. No, shut up. Sorry doesn't cut it at all. I feel terrible for you. You don't deserve any of this, and I know you don't want pity, so I'm not giving that to you. I'm offering for my help.. What can I do, Sia, can I-" She stopped suddenly at the terrified look on Sia's face. "What's wrong? Did I say something?"

"You can't do anything!" Sia cried. "No! My parents will kill you. Literally. I'm not joking! Once, they feasted on the blood of someone who only figured out that I was being mistreated. That guy only knew. If you try to do something... It'll be much worse. If they know you know, then you'll be in big trouble. Being sucked is much worse than dying with a quick spell."

"But… But surely I can help somehow," Tonks said, still shocked. "I can't possibly… you shouldn't have to go through that, Sia."

"Yeah, but I'd rather it be me." Sia squared her shoulders. "I'm ready to go through this Tonks. You can't tell anyone."

Tonks sighed. "Sia…"

"Promise me," she pressed. "You can't tell anyone. You won't tell anyone. Not even Professor Lupin."

Tonks blinked. "But…"

"Please," Sia whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "You. Can't. Tell. Anyone."

Tonks still wasn't sure. How could she not tell anybody? She had to tell Dumbledore or somebody. Somebody who had power and could stop this.

But she wasn't going to. How could she refuse? And she wasn't gonna break a promise once she made one.

"I promise."

"Let's take a break," Lily decided, waving her wand as the last couple of streamers "We deserve a rest, James."

James wiped his forehead. "You sure?"

"Yep." Lily jumped off the stool and jogged over to where he was. "Harry and Liana are coming home tomorrow, anyway, we can ask them to help us decorate. Kids are supposed to do some work, after all."

"Sure," James said, holding out his arms and pulling her in for a hug. "What do you want to do?"

Lily looked up at him, smirking at him. "It's snowing."

James grinned back at her. "Let's go."

In five minutes, they were both wearing coats and were outside. James couldn't help but notice how Lily looked like a goddess in the snow. Snowflakes were gently laying on her hair, snow clumps had landed on her sleeves, and there was a young and vibrant smile on her face.

"Do you not mind the snow?" James asked, pulling her against his chest and smiling down at her. He loved her. A lot. "You used to hate it."

She smirked. "Used to is the key word there. I've changed." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah? Why do you like it now?" James asked, gently letting her go and packing together a ball of snow.

"It's fun. It's fun to play with, we can make snowmen, we can have snowball fights, we can create snow forts, it's pretty…"

James took a step forward and her breath hitched as he put his hands in his hair, gently drawing out the clumps of snow. "You look amazing in the snow, love," he murmured, trekking his fingers down her hair.

She blushed a light pink.

He took his hands off her hair slowly. "You never finished. Why do you like the snow?"

And so quickly she might've been under the Imperius Curse, she jumped onto him and tackled him into the snow.

"Because I can do that."

A/N: Wow. Lots of stuff going on! Well, Sia's 'big secret' has finally been revealed.

Next up: The Potter Party! A sweet ending to Part 1 :)