Brick By Boring Brick

If it's not real

You can't hold it in your hand

You can't feel it with your heart

And I won't believe it

Jenny

1/1/11

12:01 a.m.

The New Year did not come with the things I wanted most: peace, safety, and Kingsley's body on a stick.

It seemed like the day we left, Mother Earth planned on dropping a giant freaking mess of the coldest, wettest weather she could come up with. It made traveling miserable, the nights alone in the tent dreary. And waking up in the morning after a wolf transformation was fucking cold! The 'snow burn' as I nicknamed it would leave me shivering for the whole day.

When we started to find tracks from people in a one mile radius around our tent, Lupin started putting protective spells around us every night, and when Draco learned them, he would place some too. It was surprising, his lack of useful spells. But he knew enough Dark Magic for all three of us, which made me feel safe in a sick sort of way.

The only high part in our lives was broadcasting Potterwatch! as often as we could. It was hard to put forth new information, but with all the free time on our hands, we started to travel almost all day to get the very latest in news to broadcast. We had no idea if anyone knew it was on besides the broken up Order members, but it gave us something to do. We hadn't heard much from anyone, except for the Weasley's, who managed to keep in touch via Patronus or basic letters. Both were in code, so we would spend a while trying to figure them out, but soon, we had a whole code language made up, and we would write or send Patronuses often.

The fast pace, high stakes, dangerous turn my life had taken felt like it was dragging me down. Funny how running for your life continuously gets old. Despite that, Draco and I grew closer, and I noticed Lupin trusting him a lot more when it came to sending messages, the protective spells…it made me happy, even though it was obvious he was not. He missed Tonks and their child like his heart was gone, so I bullied him into letting her stay with us. It was safer then letting her stay home all day with the doors barred. Tonks livened up our lives, even when times were tough. I would make fun of her growing bump all the time, and she'd just laugh. It was the one thing she couldn't change on her body, but that seemed to make her love it even more.

Ron

1/1/11

3:09 a.m.

The morning after I finally got back to Harry and Hermione, I filled them in on everything I had known when I left. It hadn't been much, but spending Christmas under a tree with a radio I had seriously started hunting them down. When I told them I had been staying at Bill and Fleur's with Jenny, Hermione flipped out.

"Jenny? Really? How is she? Can she take potions now, has she gotten hurt?" She demanded, grabbing onto her seat and leaning forward in anticipation and anxiety. I immediately flashed back to the conversation I had had with Lupin.

"Why is Malfoy making so many Wolfsbane Potions? I know that you'll need them, but he's working as if he actually cares." I asked Lupin in an undertone one night after Draco had immediately went upstairs after dinner to work on his potions. He reminded me too much of Snape. Lupin frowned at me.

"In case you haven't noticed, Jenny is a werewolf, and she needs those potions. And her and Draco are together. Plus, there is the obvious." Lupin raised an eyebrow at me when I looked shocked at his suddenly cold tone.

"The obvious? I don't understand." Lupin stared at me for a moment, then swore lightly under his breath, smiling sadly.

"She didn't tell you, of course she wouldn't. The last night Jenny didn't use a Wolfsbane Potion, she found me. I knew I could outrun her, but she kept attacking me. I finally got away, but she gave chase and fell. I knew that if I stayed near her, even if she was down, she would try to attack me again, so all night I stayed far away, worrying. In the morning, I couldn't find her…but when I did…" Lupin shook his head, running a hand through his hair, looking pissed off.

"When you did…?" I asked worriedly, wondering why Jenny hadn't told me about this.

"When I found her, she had fallen down a ravine and into a bear trap. She wasn't right for a week." Lupin said coldly.

"Jenny's been fine, as fit as ever. She's actually been able to take them because…well, ok-this is going to sound ridiculous, but they questioned Draco under Veratisereum and found out that he's been pressured into the Dark Arts all along, and he truly wanted to help the Order…so he's been making them potions ever since." I left out the part about Jenny's last night as a true werewolf. If she hadn't told me, then I would keep it a secret from Harry and Hermione; I wasn't even supposed to know.

"Sorry? Did you just say that Malfoy didn't want to use the Dark Arts? He helped murder Dumbledore!" Harry said furiously.

"I know, I don't trust the git either…but Jenny does…and well…they are together. Like, a couple." Dead silence spread through the tent, so I pushed on. "During the…interrogations, Kingsley kind of lost it on Jenny and tried to hurt her. They kicked him out of the Order, but when they didn't modify his memory right away, he ran. They've been after him ever since."

"Good Lord," Hermione breathed, gnawing nervously on her bottom lip, looking pale. "Kingsley isn't on our side anymore…"

"Tonks is pregnant with Lupin's baby, and they got married." I informed them after a minute of their brooding.

"What? Really?" Hermione's face lit up, and I spent another two minutes filling them in on that, and then Kingsley's would be attack on Jenny and Lupin.

"So where did they transform then? They couldn't really leave the safety of the cottage." Harry asked, looking still slightly pissed off and surprised at more news of Kingsley's betrayal. I'm sure he wasn't thrilled about Jenny being with Draco too.

"Oh-you guys are going to love this-they were both safe, and when we got caught up in an argument, they ended up transforming right in front of the cottage."

"You mean you saw Jenny as a wolf?" Hermione asked, sitting up straighter. I nodded, picturing it in my mind. One second she had just frozen, the next second her body was disappearing under a large wolf frame, with a soft blond pelt…

"Yeah, and when Malfoy went outside, Lupin and Jenny started giving us rides—"

"You rode a werewolf? You rode Jenny?" Harry asked in shock. I couldn't help but grin at their faces.

"Yeah and, bloody hell, she is fast. When they know who they are, Jenny and Lupin are pretty sweet and intimidating. She could purr and laugh and talk, but it was kind of a yipping sound…what?" I asked them as their jaws dropped.

"What was it like?" Hermione asked faintly. She was very pale.

"Kind of like the speed of a broom, but like riding a giant soft and fuzzy horse. We went over these cliff things, and when she jumped it was such a rush. And her howl sent these tingles up my spine, it was so eerie." I finished lamely; not describing it the way I wanted to, but Hermione was hanging off my every word. Compared to her coldness last night, it was more than inviting, it was treasured.

"Bloody hell, Ron." Harry chuckled, starting to grin like an idiot. "I hate to say it, but I'm jealous."

Hermione warmed up to me more as the weeks passed; we went to the Lovegood house, and learned about the Hallows. Harry started to only think of them, and he was losing track of what was important: The Horcruxes. The whole reason we were living out of a tent like we were. I kept trying every night to get the radio to work, but I couldn't remember the last password, and I could never get them right. I didn't think that my wand nor the radio could take any more beatings, when one night, I finally got it.