Chapter 20: This is just the beginning
"Who's that from?" Ron asked suddenly. His mother prodded him, hissing-"Ron, manners!"
"It's alright," I nodded, scanning the letter down the the signature, paling at what I saw.
It was a quick letter from my parents, in short, saying that I must stay in my common room tonight and not fight the Death Eaters as they'd promised that Daphne and I wouldn't fight, and that there would be trouble if we did.
"Uh...my parents," I said, fear growing rapidly. What did they mean, there would be trouble? What kind of trouble? Had Daphne fought? Or had she stayed in her common room?
"Are you alright, Astoria?" Hermione asked from her chair next to me.
"Erm...yes," I said in an oddly strained voice. I had considered telling her what was going on, but I wasn't sure if Lupin had told them the story about my parents. I wasn't even sure if Lupin knew the situation.
"What did the letter say?" Ron asked innocently, earning him another exclamation-"Ronald!" from Hermione.
"It's alright," I smiled at her. "I assume Remus didn't tell you all about my parents..." my voice faded as Ginny and Hermione shook their heads.
"Well," I began in a small voice, eyes glued to the floor. "My...my parents aren't Death Eaters...but they're friends with them, I think they give them information, it's like...it's like they have some sort of agreement... I don't know, really, but it's almost as if my parents don't give them information, they'll do something really bad," I was almost whispering now. "My sister Daphne and I...we think they're being blackmailed." No one spoke for a moment, and I rested my chin on my fists, leaning forward and losing the staring contest with the floor.
"Oh, Astoria," Hermione murmured.
"It's alright," I said in a small voice. "Look what they said. I think I was supposed to read this before the battle," I miserable tossed the letter into Hermione's lap. I didn't realize it then-I don't think any of us did, us three girls-but it had already clicked into place, already started. A friendship was forming, a trust-we were bonding over this. "I still wouldn't have obeyed it...but...now I'm kind of scared," I added. "What if I can't go home, or something like that?" I looked up. Hermione was scanning the letter in horror.
"Astoria?" She nodded toward the letter when she was finished, talking in a carefully controlled voice. I nodded, silently giving her permission to read it aloud.
"Daughter, there are going to be Death Eaters in your school tongith. This is the first thing you need to know. But they will not fight, not attack any student."
"They lied," I inserted quietly at the same time Ron exclaimed angrily. "I think they said that so I wouldn't feel the need to go out and fight them."
"They only came for one thing, and will leave when they get it, without killing," Hermione continued.
"Lies," I repeated in a whisper, looking down at my hands. I glanced up to see Draco looking at me mournfully.
"And so you and your sister-we have already contacted her-must stay in your rooms. Go to sleep, study, do not worry. We cannot stress this enough. Do not leave and fight. We have promised that you and Daphne wouldn't-"
"Why did they think they're have to promise that, if the Death Eaters "weren't going to attack us?"" I burst out, quoting the last bit, furious at my parents. "Sorry, go on."
"-We have promised that you and Daphne would not be in the resistance, if there was one," Hermione continued. I noticed how Ron's eyes kept flickering over her face, and I wondered if they would soon join the ranks of the Order romances.
"If word reaches us that you have chosen to disobey orders and have fought, there will be trouble. We do not know if we can keep under our roof a daughter that has attacked our close friends. Sincerely, Mother and Father," Hermione finished, entailing silence. I peeked through the fingers I had been using to cover my eyes as Ron said,
"Bloody hell, Astoria!" Breaking the silence.
"Would your parents really do this, Astoria? Or do you think they were being influenced by Death Eaters as they wrote this?" Tonks wondered aloud as Hermione gingerly handed the note back to me as if it was poisonous. Without my noticing, Tonks had heard the whole letter.
"I know it was the Death Eaters," I looked up at her miserably. "I know exactly why they want to do this, too. They want me out of my "Perfect, Voldemort-supporting pure-blood family,"" I quoted unhappily. "They want to eliminate the problem-me. When they want something, they get it. I don't know why they want me out-scratch that, I think I do. They don't want me to influence my parents or Daphne," I barked a harsh laugh as the answer dawned on me.
"I think you're right," Tonks said quietly. "But...also, do you think your parents are eliminating you...to protect you?" She finished. "Especially now, that you've fought them? They'll be wanting to hurt you more than ever?"
"Maybe," I squeaked, and my voice sounded like nonsensical babble even to my own ears.
"What's going on, Astoria?" the pounding in my ears almost drowned out the sound of Molly Weasley's voice.
"My parents...they're...being difficult," I finished uncomfortably, not wanting to burden anyone else with my problem, not until it was necessary.
"Eez that a 'owler?" Fleur asked loudly, earning her cold glares from Ginny and Hermione. I glanced up at Draco, who was across from me-he gave me a silent nod, assuring me that this was going to turn out all right.
Lupin quickly tossed me the crimson envelope as it began to tremble either with excitement with it's upcoming message or that it was about to combust if I didn't open it soon.
"Astoria Renee Greengrass!" I had prepared myself, but I still jumped in shock at my mother's screaming voice.
"We gave you a direct order not to fight! Astoria Greengrass, you attacked our friends!" I bristled at the crazy injustice of her words, although I knew, deep down, she was doing this to protect me, as Tonks had said. That, and the Death Eaters were forcing her and my dad. They were going to kick me out, I knew it, I accepted defeat. But I found my lifeline when Ginny's reassuring hand found my shoulder.
"We even told you beforehand, we warned you of the consequences!" I winced as though my mother was right there in the room with us.
"Now Astoria, we told you what would happen-you're almost seventeen anyway. You are no longer offered a home here! You are no longer a part of the Greengrass family. You may come retrieve your things, but owl us beforehand."
I let my breath out, expecting the howler to be over. But almost inaudibly, just over my breath, I though I heard one more sentence-
"Good luck, daughter. We have faith in you. One day, we will be together again."
The howler shredded itself floating down to the floor in small pieces.
I turned to Hermione, eyes wide. "Did you hear that last bit?" I asked excitedly and she nodded back vigorously.
"I think-I think you were right! They didn't disown you willingly-and they only could only communicate that to you through the howler because a howler self-destructs-" she trailed off and grinned at me. Even Ginny looked satisfied, squeezing my shoulder. For the first time in a long, long while, I felt what every child should-that my parents were watching out for me, protecting me. Loved me, even.
In the Great Hall several mornings later, the general mood was quiet, subdued. Everyone dressed in their best dress robes, to pay respects to the best headmaster Hogwarts had ever seen. He would be dearly missed. Students from all of the houses mingled, paying little attention to the orderly way of eating at our own tables-this morning was different.
No one seemed very hungry as the air filled with quiet conversations. The food was, for the most part, untouched.
Draco had left the night before, and I felt very alone as I wasn't going to be seeing him for several weeks- or longer. Whenever he could manage to slip under everyone's radar and floo to the Burrow, which was where I would be spending the summer, after many insistences from the Weasleys. I'd wondered many times how that would go over-Draco willingly going, and willingly being received, at their house. But in the light of all recent events everyone, even Harry, seemed to be making an effort to accept Draco. Draco had even promised me himself he was going to put his old prejudice behind him. I had talked to Daphne, who had in fact stayed in her room prior to the battle, obeying our parents' orders. It made me glad for her that she would not have to go through what I was, but somehow sad at the same time, because she chose not to defend her friends and school. And she was graduating this year, moving away to work some small job for now, as she was unsure which permanent career to pursue.
Julie sat next to me at the bench we occupied, where we watched silently as Lucy and Sarah talked to the Patil twins.
"Where is it again you'll be staying this summer, Tori?" Julie asked quietly, hands resting on her light blue dress robes, chocolate hair curled and piled loosely on her head. I suspected she had been slightly hurt when I didn't ask to stay at her own house over summer break, but she had told me, as Lucy and Sarah had, that I was always welcome at their houses.
I had not talked to my parents but once, and that was with Arthur Weasley over owling, when we had set up a date where I could floo over to retrieve my things. I had half-expected for a large, dramatic reaction from my parents when I told them I'd be staying with the Weasleys, and half-hoped for an abrupt refusal, and an insistence that I return home, where I belonged.
But I only received a cool reply confirming the date. I couldn't bring myself to throw away their last letter, keeping it safely tucked away where I had lost time analyzing, searching desperately for some sort of secret message or hidden meaning.
"Astoria?" Came Julie's voice again as I had mentally began to run over my parents reply confirming the date. I had memorized every short, curt word.
"Oh, sorry. Erm, the Weasleys," I told her, snapping myself back to reality.
"Alright," she sounded a bit disappointed. I offered her a brave smile, noticing at the same time Daphne was staring over at me from the Slytherin table, her strawberry-blonde hair that she had straightened curtained around her face perfectly, her dark-emerald robes swirling around her legs as she walked to her new boyfriend, Stephan Zabini, linking her arm through his. But not before returning my smile, my heart aching a bit, thinking that my time seeing her now would be greatly diminished.
I grabbed a biscuit, but it tasted like sawdust in my mouth as I chewed it, doing a double take as I observed Rufus Scrimgeour and several of what must have been his co-workers from the ministry sitting among the staff table.
My mind fell back among the last couple of days-students had been removed left and right by parents upset by the attack on the school, and, ultimately, the death of a girl, and Dumbledore. Dawn's funeral had not been a school-wide affair, but a quiet ceremony with family and friends. I had not gone as I was temporarily without means of transportation; I didn't want to burden the Wasleys with asking them to take me, not wanting to cause them more trouble than I already would be doing this summer.
Third years and up remembered the baby blue, house sized Beauxbatons carriage being pulled by majestic, winged golden horses. They had flown in yesterday afternoon for Dumbledore's funeral, adding onto the extra attendance number of the many wizards flocking into Hogsmeade to say a last good-bye to the departed headmaster
"It is nearly time," came Professor McGonagall's announcement, almost completely silencing the already quiet of the Great Hall. "Please follow your heads of houses out onto the grounds."
My head automatically snapped towards the staff table, well-trained as were the other Ravenclaws, because we knew we would lose our head of house as soon as everyone began to stand, due to his height. Or lack thereof.
Julie and I linked arms as we silently filed out along with the other students, whispers rippling around like wind rushing through grass.
We stepped out of the entrance hall and began toward the lake, the sun warming everything that lay below the expanse of perfectly blue sky; the lovely summer day seemed inappropriate for a burial, especially someone would be as missed as Dumbledore.
Hundreds of chairs divided by a single aisle had already started to fill up; members of the Order, staff and students, store owners from Diagon Alley-even the castle ghosts were just barely visible, shimmering lightly as the sun shone through them. I found myself automatically scanning the heads for Draco, though I knew it would be much too risky for him to come, as he had told me.
Instead, my eyes fell upon another welcome sight-Remus and Tonks sitting close together, hands entwined. I did a double take at her vivid pink hair..after staring at her for a moment, puzzled, before my eyes shifted to Fleur, who was supporting Bill-he looked slightly better, although the cuts on his face would always be his most prominent feature along with his Weasley red hair. Harry and Ginny were talking quietly, and Hermione was being comforted by Ron as she sobbed into his shoulder. I wanted to walk over and sit beside them, but I didn't want to leave Julie alone, either.
Half-heartedly, I turned back around in my seat, and glanced at Julie's side profile-it made me wonder if she would remain such a big part of my life now that everything around me was completely changing. Most likely, we wouldn't be able to see each other at the whole summer...but there would always be next year."
The last year of Hogwarts, the last year before one of my only constants left, changed forever. Disappeared.
Suddenly, I wanted it all to rewind, start over from the beginning of the innocence of first year; it would be worth it even re-living the bad parts.
I was jolted back into the present sight of Cornelius Fudge miserably twisting in his hands his bowler hat as he walked toward his seat near the front-
Rita Skeeter, who wore a look on her face which could easily be identified by eagerness for the new, hot story. Rather than at least trying to conceal her lack of grief, she clutched in her long, crimson-clawed fingernails a notebook and a quill that was a rather sickly shade of green.
The second less than decent lady attending was Dolores Umbridge-memories of her reign at Hogwarts sent chills down my back, similar to the feeling of fingernails down a chalkboard. I suppose she thought she was doing a swell job of looking grief stricken, but the expression on her face looked to be much more like smug satisfaction.
Could she actually be satisfied that Dumbledore had died? Could the toad-like-
"Tori, look!" Julie whispered, nudging me and pointing toward the back- she was looking at what appeared to be Fiorenze-our temporary fifth year divination teacher-standing at the edge of the lake, watching his fellow centaurs as they became just barely visible at the forests' edge, quite a ways back-then looking to Julie I saw her eyes had flickered toward yet another inhuman guest-Dumbledore really did have friends everywhere, and in every species. There were even house elves consoling each other, wiping great tears from their large eyes.
But the one Julie was looking at most must have been a giant-he dwarfed even Hagrid, with whom he was sitting on the ground beside.
And again, to increase the variety of species even more, heads turned and whispering as the sounds of a choir of merpeople singing in what must have been mermish floated from the Great Lake, almost a green color in the bright sunlight.
I shivered as a chill raced up my spine at the music-it was inhumanely beautiful, and unlike anything I'd ever heard before. They sang clearly of tragedy and loss, and I was so entranced that I didn't notice the tears slipping down my cheeks until they trailed under my jawbone. The song stirred emotions in me, another tear falling as I realized I would never receive Dumbledore's reassuring, wise council again. I wished Draco would have been here, to be by my side as Ron was with Hermione. I knew Draco missed Dumbledore just as much as I did, and I wondered where both Dumbledore and Draco were right now, what they both where doing, and thinking.
Soon Hagrid drew the attention of all the funeral-goers; tears flowed abundantly from two black eyes, leftover tokens from the battle. The tears glistened over his beard, but his crying was soundless.
But what was in his arms was what really got me sobbing-in Hagrid's arms, wrapped in a royal purple silken shroud dotted with golden stars, was the body of the best headmaster Hogwarts had ever seen. Tears rolled hot and fast over my cheeks as silent sobs wracked my body-Julie was crying the same way as we held each other for comfort. We were not the alone; the presence of his actual body seemed to make it much more unbearable-the great majority of the attendance had broken down into tears, weepily comforting each other.
Which caused the pang in my heart to sear even more, knowing how much I needed Draco to be here with me.
But Julie and I crying together, head bowed, like two sisters, twins, even, over a grandfather, was next best.
I could barely see through my tear-filled eyes, but it appeared that Hagrid was placing Dumbledore's body on a table of some sort, breaking his silent facade on the way back by blowing his nose noisily.
I tried to draw comfort by imagining that this was not, in fact, Dumbledore's funeral, but anothers', and the headmaster himself was walking beside Hagrid, petting his shoulder, murmuring, "There, There..." winking at me as he passed...
But alas, when I blinked, Hagrid was alone. The music stopped, leaving a gaping silence. A small man with wispy hair stood in front of Dumbledore's body, plain black robes fluttering as he turned.
He began to speak of the greatness of Dumbledore's contributions, his "nobility of spirit, intellectual contribution, greatness of heart..." but I was remembering the ways his always twinkling blue eyes seemed to look straight into your soul, the way his wise words always seemed to be the perfect ones to mend that something broken inside of you, filling you with new hope.
I fully expected more people to stand up, but no one else did. There must have been so many offers that they were forced to limit the speakers to one. As the wispy haired wizard returned to his seat, several screams pierced the air at the suddenness of bright, opaque flames exploding out of thin air, bursting up and engulfing the covered body.
The oddly white smoke curled into the sky, and doing a double take I concluded I had seen the smoky shape of a phoenix emerge from the tendrils.
Blinking again, the flames were gone, and in its place had appeared a grand, pearly white marble tomb; Dumbledore's final resting place.
Several more cries of shock rang out as a flurry of arrows flew over the heads of the crowd, and turning to see the centaurs whirling back into the woods, I knew it had been their last tribute to Dumbledore. Possibly one of the only, if not the only, human they respected. The merpeople dove from the surface of the lake without a splash, the ripples disrupting the surface of the glassy lake the only proof that they had been there at all to sing their haunting tunes.
Everyone began to stand, voices growing louder as people began to file out of the aisle. I wiped my hands over my eyes to rid them of remaining tears.
Julie and I let those in our aisle pass us as they exited so we could meet up with Lucy and Sarah, who had sat several rows in front of us.
"I can't bear to go in and pack," I said miserably as they joined us. We were among the last to leave-Harry was just walking away from Ginny to the lake, with Rufus Scrimgeour running after him as his colleagues looked after him, waiting. Ron and Hermione as well still remained in their seats, as did Hagrid and the giant next to him.
"Me neither. That will just make me think of endings," Lucy whispered, eyes downcast.
"What kind of endings?" I asked as we walked toward the glistening waters of the lake.
"This is the end of Dumbledore-Hogwarts," Lucy started. "McGonagall's headmistress now. It'll be...alright but it won't...be the same," her voice grew thick with tears. "And this is our last year of being able to think we've still got another one to come back to." We reached the edge of the lake, sitting at the edge so grassy we didn't have to worry about our robes getting muddy as we dangled our feet in the sun-warmed water.
"It's not the end, though," I said as I watched Harry with Scrimgeour across the lake. Looking over Julie and Sarah to Lucy, I smiled at our entwined arms as we sat in a row, thinking of the very first time we had all met in first year. "This is just the beginning."
I took one last look at our sixth year dormitory, surveying the emptiness, wincing at the absence of what made the room ours.
I had quickly scarfed down lunch to come up and give the room one more look, and I felt as if I was leaving a dear friend. I continued to feel this way though I reminded myself continually that this would not be my last time seeing Hogwarts, which I had come to love like a beloved home.
"Knock, knock," came a voice from the door. Turning around to see Julie at the door frame I smiled sheepishly as she had caught me in a major moment of sentimentality.
"It looks so empty, doesn't it?" She said as she crossed the room to stand beside me.
"It does," I agree. "The seventh year rooms are bigger, though," I smiled at an attempt to cheer both of us up.
An owl swooped in from the large window I had opened to let a breeze blow through the stifling room, startling me as it landed on my old bedpost.
Dear Astoria,it read. Immediately recognizing my boyfriend's handwriting, I concluded that this must be an answer to the letter I had sent him last night.
"Who's it from?" Julie asked absentmindedly from several meters away, pulling the quilt further up over the pillows of her old bed.
"Draco," I said bluntly. I felt that if there was any time to tell her, it was now. I could practically hear Dumbledore applauding what I hoped was perfect timing. I didn't want to hide what we had anymore; it was summer, and I would be with the Order at the Burrow-how much danger could I be in?
"Draco Malfoy?" Julie asked, surprised.
"Yup," I said, biting back a sarcastic remark.
She looked at me quizzically. "Don't tell me...have the two of you finally given in and realized what the rest of us had known for years?"
"Why, yes, I believe so," I grinned.
"How did it happen?" She asked excitedly, perching on the edge of her four poster bed, eagerly awaiting a story.
"Well, actually, it all began..."
And so Julie came to know the story of Draco and I, minus the Order and the Death Eaters, and Dumbledore, of course. Finally, when she was all caught up, at that moment, Sarah and Lucy came through the doors to retrieve their trunks and things to levitate downstairs; it was time to start the departure from Hogwarts.
The sky was darkening, the heat of the June 12th summer air lifting as the coolness of night set in. It was exactly a day after the funeral, and surprisingly, life seemed to return to normal. As normal as it could be at the time. My birthday was in nine days, and I was so looking forward to performing magic outside of school, of officially being of age. Finally. So it wasn't really that my parents were kicking me out, I was just...leaving my parents' home, as all adults did sooner or later. I felt strange traveling out toward the thestral-drawn carriages with the rest of the school, walking with my best friends after the seventh year graduation. I felt almost like I Was leaving childhood behind forever as adulthood hit me too soon, hard and fast.
I squinted as I did a double take when the glossy black carriages came into view-but it wasn't just the carriages that made me doubt my eyes. It was what was pulling it. Some sort of black, bony horse-type creature: two each were harnessed to each carriage, perfectly matching in sleek black color. They snorted and tossed their manes: I stood mesmerized even though I wasn't seeing them in normal light, the blackness of their coats blending with the darkening atmosphere surrounding the, as the sun slipped away. It made them quite difficult to see them completely, but their red eyes glowed.
"Do you see that?" I asked Julie excitedly, looking to her right to gauge her reaction. To my surprise, she only looked slightly baffled.
"See the carriages?" She asked. "Yeah, I see them."
"No, the..." Suddenly, it dawned on me. Quite literally, in fact. Dawn. She was the reason I could see the the... "Thestrals," I finished, just above a whisper.
"Oh...Dawn?" She asked carefully, catching on right away. I looked back at Hogwarts unconsciously, almost laughing at the size of luggage we had piled to magically follow us until it was stowed on the Hogwarts Express. The only thing we carried with us was our owls.
"Yeah, Dawn," I sighed, causing my owl to hoot indignantly and shake out her wigs as I accidentally knocked her cage against the side of the carriage as I boarded with Julie behind me. I was still staring at the thestrals as I sat down, drawn in by their other-worldliness. Sure, I had seen maybe one or two drawings of the creatures, but none really managed to capture the look of them.
"What do they look like?" Julie asked, her eyes trying to focus unseeingly on what was, to her, just a blank expanse of space in front of us. I began to explain as we lurched forward.
When she sat silently, digesting the description, I was suddenly reminded of a very different carriage ride all those months ago as sixth year began, before absolutely everything had changed. I reached for Draco's necklace, that, like always, circled my neck. Then I practically jumped out of my seat as I remembered my unread note.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, startling Julie, clawing through the pocket in my cloak.
"What?" Came her baffled reply. I scrounged for the note, and finally, relieved, I pulled it out triumphantly. I had never gotten the chance to read it yesterday, and couldn't stand to wait any longer to open it.
"The note from Draco. I never read it yesterday," I offered, and saw her nod knowingly out of the corner of my eye.
"What does it say?" She asked eagerly, leaning forward.
"Hang on, nosy!" I laughed, pushing her back, straining to read in the darkening light. It was already about nine, and we wouldn't reach King's Cross Station until about midnight. And then, I didn't know how long it would take to get to the Burrow with the Weasleys, or how long it would even take to get there.
Losing patience, I muttered- "Lumos!" illuminating the carriage. I quickly turned the parchment around, realizing that in the dark I had been holding it upside down.
"Tori, you're not of age yet! Put that out, I'll do it!" She said, a note of anxiety creeping into her voice as she whipped her read around; I could practically hear her imagination going, conjuring images of the Ministry popping into our carriage out of thin air.
"We're still on Hogwarts grounds, it's fine," I muttered, beginning to read.
Dear Astoria,
I don't have a lot of time to write this, Death Eaters are in my house at this very moment, and I can only send out my owl now, while they're busy...So, I may not be able to get to the Burrow to visit right away, but now that I can Apparate it'll be easier. I'll try to make it by your birthday...June 21st, if my sources are correct.
I grinned at this, at the same time angling the papers away from Julie, hiding Draco's mention of Death Eaters.
So, I may not have the time to send out a warning before I actually show up, so ask the Weasleys if my invitation still stands if it's a surprise visit. Write back as soon as possible, and make sure it's at night. Don't sign it, in case it's intercepted. Be careful.
Love you,
Draco
A smile spread across my face as I quickly folded the letter, pocketed it, and put out my wandlight. The carriage grew even darker than before as we neared our stop, where I could see the long expanse of train cars making up the Hogwarts Express waiting to be boarded. I saw our luggage was already packed in the train cars, the last trunk being closed behind the sliding door as the train let out a burst of steam from the top. It was going to be an interesting summer, that was for sure.
Goodbye, Hogwarts, I thought sadly in my mind as Lucy, Sarah, Julie and I all pressed our faces against the window of our compartment as the scenery began to roll by. Until next time.
I had just began to nod off, as my friends had, when a soft rap at the compartment door sounded. Yawning wildly, I went out to greet my sister, taking in the hard look in her eyes, alerting me immediately that she was trying not to cry.
No words were passed between us, but as we opened out arms in a sisterly hug I felt closer to her than ever, united in our goodbye and our identical resolve not to let a tear slip.
Pulling back, she smiled bravely at me, gripping my upper arms with her hands as she stared into my eyes, charging me with confidence as we communicated wordlessly, as only sisters can do.
"I'm not going home, either," she said in a thick voice. "I'm going to live in a wizarding community in a very nice apartment building with Stephan," she sniffled.
"Stephan?" I asked. "Your boyfriend? Is he good to you?" I launched questions at her.
"Yes, yes he is, it's only his brother that's dreadful, really," she gave a short laugh. "We're talking about getting married, maybe in a year or two, Tori," she added suddenly, causing me to snap my head up.
"What?" I screeched. "Didn't you just start dating the guy?"
"No," she said, looking at me, surprised. "I thought you knew. I've been dating him since before Christmas break," she offered me a smile.
"Well...tell him that if he hurts you, I'll hex a part of him off that he really wanted to keep," I said significantly, raising an eyebrow, causing Daphne to throw back her head and laugh. "Daphne Zabini," my smile faded as I said aloud what could someday be my sister's new name. It scared me how close we were to no longer having the same surname.
"You're really going to leave me, aren't you?" I whispered, and suddenly the tears I had been trying to hold back came spilling out, stinging my eyes as I tried to stop them. Daphne quickly gathered me into her arms, crying some herself-
"I'll still be your sister, Tori," she patted my back. "Nothing can ever change that, even if we have different last names," she sniffled.
"Promise?" I whispered, feeling like a little girl again.
"Promise," she agreed solemnly. "I know we haven't been the closest...but I want to change that," she pulled back to look at me with a tear streaked face, smiling bravely. "Nice time to decided that, huh?" She laughed bravely.
"Perfect timing-you're moving-where again?"
"It's not far from here, actually, which doesn't matter anyway because you took the apparation test-the second one, for the younger ones-and passed, didn't you?"
"Yup. Can't actually do it though til I'm seventeen."
"Alright. Well, apparation makes the world smaller...I could be living in Australia right now and it wouldn't even matter," she laughed.
"Are you trying to cheer me up?" I asked suspiciously.
"Is it working?" She grinned.
"Actually, yes. However did you get into Slytherin?" I teased. "Promise me I can visit?"
"Anytime you want."
"Promise to name your firstborn child after me?" She rolled her eyes, slugging me on the shoulder playfully.
"I expect you to visit," she raised her eyebrows, moving us out of the way as Su Li, a pretty Ravenclaw girl in my year passed us, walking toward the bathroom.
"I will, I promise. And...will...mom and dad be here?" I asked tentatively, looking at the floor.
"No, Stephan and I are apparating there, since it's so late, spending the night, and moving tomorrow."
"Okay," I whispered.
"I know exactly why they...you know," she whispered, lifting my chin. "They love you...they love us both, and were trying to protect you, to get you away from them It will all make sense one day, I promise," she pulled me into one more tight hug. "Now get some sleep, we still have two hours," she ordered. "I'll see you this summer."
"Love you, Daph," I told her as I stepped in front of the door to my compartment.
"Love you too, Tori. Sisters?"
"Sisters forever."
A\N-Hey guys, I noticed that the number of reviews has been decreasing lately-if you haven't reviewed in a while, or have never, PLEASE DO! They motivate me to update faster, and they make me soooo happy. Even a short review, honestly. They all completely make my day! Thanks to all of you, and especially to the faithful reviewers! If you want to read an especially amazing Twilight story, go and check out 2cool4you!
-Cassia