Fences
I'm sitting in a room
Made up of only big white walls
And in the halls
There are people looking through
Though they know exactly what we're here for
Don't look up just let them think
There's no place else you'd rather be
Jenny
5/2/10
7:34 p.m.
"Draco, it's not their fault." I said softly, knowing that he would hear me, but he ignored me. "Draco, it was that or let me die. I know I can handle this." I said louder, and he turned on the spot to look at me.
"But I can't handle it Jenny. I can't stand seeing you like this…never mind doped up and tied down like some psycho!" Draco muttered, but I could hear the defeat in his voice. I beckoned him back over, and took his hands.
"After I drink this and fall asleep, you are going to get some rest; I know you must be hurting terribly. When you come back, I'll probably be half asleep, but I'll know that you are there. I'll be safe here. Take care of you." I said seriously, keeping a straight face, even though my chest was aching, my voice raw yet. I lifted the potion out of my lap again and met Draco's gaze firmly. "In a few days, hopefully, my trial will start, and then I'll be out of here."
"I love you," he said desperately as I raised the bottle to my lips.
"I love you more," I smiled, then drank. The potion had no flavor, but after about half the bottle, the pains vanished, so I stopped, setting it on the table. Seconds later, my head felt pleasantly dizzy. "Oh, goodness," I murmured sleepily, sinking downward, too relaxed to sit up straight anymore. Hands laid me back flat again, and I sighed happily before drifting off.
Draco
5/2/11
7:40 p.m.
"We'll be going then. The faster and longer we can work, the better for her. Have a good evening." Dawlish said calmly before he and Williamson left. As soon as they were gone, I turned to face Tonks and Lupin.
"What have I missed?" I demanded, and Lupin rubbed his face, looking exhausted.
"A lot," he said wearily. Slowly, the Weasley's, Tonks and Lupin, and the golden trio filled me in, until I was sitting in shock next to Jenny, who was sleeping peacefully. I hated the sight of straps on her body, it made me sick.
"But not everything about this is bad," Lupin said quietly after a few minutes. "When Jenny wins her trial, hopefully this will ease some prejudice against werewolves, and Muggles as well." More silence descended until a Healer came back in.
"I can conjure beds for this room, but only three can stay in here. The rest of you will have to go home, visiting hours have long been over. You can always come back tomorrow." She said kindly. With quiet goodbyes and promises to return, everyone trickled out except for Tonks, Lupin and I.
"Both of you need sleep, and lots of it. I'll stay up to make sure nothing happens. You know that Jenny wouldn't want you to stay up all night." Tonks said, and after a moment of struggling with myself and what Jenny had told me to do, I nodded. I lifted one of her hands and kissed it before turning to one of the beds that had appeared in the room and climbing in it, Lupin following suit after kissing his wife goodnight. For the longest time, all I could do was watch Jenny through heavily lidded eyes before at last, I fell asleep.
Draco
5/3/11
5:04 a.m.
I jolted awake for no reason at all, and for a moment, just stared at the stark white ceiling until I remembered where I was and what had happened. Instantly, I swept back covers that had been pulled over me and got up. Tonks was asleep in a chair next to Jenny. Lupin was still asleep, and so was Jenny. I couldn't tell if it was drug-induced, or if for once, she was simply asleep. Walking over to the other side of her bed, I watched her for a moment. Inexplicable pride for her rose inside of me, creating the first smile since I was bitten across my face. Lightly, I brushed the back of my hand against her cheek, and she stirred, a sleepy smile crossing her face. "Wake up, beautiful," I said quietly, and she laughed lethargically, her eyes slowly opening.
"Hey," she said quietly, moving her cheek into my hand. "How was the sleeping?"
"Needed." I said, and she smiled, closing her eyes for a moment.
"Draco, do you remember what you said to me right after you were bitten?" she asked, and I frantically wracked my mind, trying to remember. Judging by my silence, she continued, looking directly at me. "You said that you changed you mind, and that you wanted to marry me." I stared at her, confused.
"I said that?" I asked, sounding dazed to even my own ears. She laughed. "Wow," I said, my brain finally starting to think. "Well, I mean, I love you, but Jenny, I'm seventeen! I'm sorry, I don't even know your birthday-"
"June 10th, 1993. I'm only sixteen." She said coolly, then laughed again. "It's ok, Draco, I don't want to marry you. That's way too intense." She said, and I leaned down and kissed her.
"I knew we get along so well for a reason." I muttered, and she chuckled, then turned away from me to look at Tonks as she stirred. "She stayed up the whole night, I think." I answered her unasked question and she swore softly.
"Great hairy flobberworms," Tonks murmured, curling up tighter on her chair, making Jenny chuckle again.
"Will you prop me up?" She asked, and I prodded the bed with my wand, causing it to recline upward, just as Tonks sat straight up, her hair turning long thin and mauve in her sleepiness.
"What's going on?" She asked as urgently as she could, rubbing at her eyes, trying to wake up faster. Hastily getting up, she tripped onto her own feet and had to grab the edge of the bed to keep herself upright.
"As graceful as ever, Tonks," Jenny said lightly, and Tonks jumped. "Welcome to the morning."
"Jenny! How are you?" She nearly shouted, standing up straight, beaming.
"Great, actually. Madam Pane didn't lie about everything being healed, I feel perfectly healthy." She assured her, and Tonks beamed brighter, if possible. "Have you heard anything from Dawlish and Williamson?" She asked, and her face hardened over.
"They sent down a message before midnight, saying that they had checked all of the memories they took, and all of them were true. They also requested memories from all of us, apparently to 'strengthen' their case." She said, her tone irate.
"Tonks, I don't think anyone was more pissed off at them than me, and I trust both of them. I saw the memories he was looking at, and I can't see how he would argue them against me." Tonks snorted and looked down. She looked up as I heard footsteps in the hallway, and as if he had heard us talking, Williamson poked his head in, and I could see Dawlish behind him. Both looked exhausted, yet had an air of satisfaction about them.
"Is everything alright?" he asked uncertainly, staying in the doorway, obviously afraid of Tonks, who was the only adult awake in the room.
"Why wouldn't it be?" I asked with a slight edge of menace.
"There was a rumor going around that someone was planning on attacking you, Miss Quinty." He said in a rush, and I raised an eyebrow.
"Anyone stupid enough to try to attack me with two other werewolves in the room, plus family and friends around at all times must really be pissed off." Jenny said easily, and Tonks glared at her.
"Jenny, this isn't a game." She hissed.
"Mrs. Lupin is right. From now on, an Auror will be in the hallway to screen the visitors coming down this way. It's for your own safety." Dawlish said from the back, and with a slight hesitation, Williamson stepped inside the room, Dawlish following. Tonks looked at him a moment, looking furious, and then sighed; her face falling back to normal as she turned back to me.
"Anything else, Auror Williamson?" She asked, and Williamson gaped at her a moment, as if he hadn't expected her to be so polite.
"Actually, yes. We-well, I" Dawlish amended, seeing Williamson's face, "thought up kind of a…unusual idea, if you would be willing to try it." Tonks' eyes narrowed, but Jenny looked thoughtful.
"What idea?" I asked cautiously. If it involved anything painful, I would try to persuade her against it. Jenny had been hurt enough.
"Assuming you can still use a wand to some extent, you would remove some of your own memories for us. Also, Williamson and I can use our own memories of you doing so in court to show that you can 'use magic', strengthening your case to become a normal citizen." Dawlish said, nervously eyeing Tonks the whole time.
"Absolutely not," I said after a moment. "Reliving everything again will bring nothing but pain and regret, Jenny, you know that." She closed her eyes for a moment.
"It's now or by force at a trial with a whole bunch of prejudiced old wizards watching me. I can do this at my own pace, assuming that I can actually do it." She said softly, looking from me to Tonks. Tonks looked torn.
"Do you need more memories, or is this just a safety net? I'd rather have her try first instead of having them taken from her again." Tonks' words hung in the air, and I noticed Jenny shiver slightly.
"We do need a few more to resolve some unanswered questions that the Wizengamot will pick over. But anything you supply will only help you." Dawlish said kindly to Jenny. It seemed that he wasn't afraid to address her directly anymore.
"I have to try." She insisted determinedly, but then frowned. "I lost my wand in the fight for Hogwarts, unless you picked it up, Draco." She looked at me hopefully, but I shook my head silently.
"Lupin has it somewhere," Tonks said, and went over and tenderly touched Lupin's shoulder. Almost instantly, he sat up straight, face fierce until he saw Tonks. He sighed and rubbed his face, then sat stock still as he noticed everyone.
"What's happening?" He asked tersely, and I wondered if he always woke up that way.
"Jenny's wand. We need it." Tonks said calmingly, and Lupin instantly reached into his robes and after a moment of searching produced the driftwood wand. Tonks took it then stopped on her way back over. "How is she supposed to remove the memories if she can't use her hands?" She asked bitterly, and Jenny looked at her hands with a forlorn yet unreadable expression as Dawlish and Williamson looked at each other a moment.
"Right," Dawlish said, and walked over, Jenny tensing as she usually did whenever anyone unfamiliar approached her, especially him. They both flinched when his hand slipped off the strap around the cuff and touched her hand. "Realshio." He muttered finally, giving up on simply untying it, and the strap untied itself. He slid off the cuff and stepped back, as if expecting Jenny to seize him around the throat. Experimentally, she bent her arm towards her head, but was stopped by the strap crossing over her chest. Dawlish repeated his spell and the strap fell away.
"I feel so liberated," Jenny joked half-heartedly, stretching her left arm. She accepted her wand from Tonks, and I noticed that both Aurors hand's unconsciously went to their wand handles. "So…what do I do, exactly?" Jenny asked patiently enough as the silence lengthened.
"Here, I'll demonstrate. What memory do you need from me?" I asked the two Aurors.
"The night you told Jenny about her family." Williamson supplied, and I glanced at Jenny as she glanced at me. We hadn't really talked about that night.
"Ok, put your wand tip at your temple as you focus your mind entirely on the memory you want to duplicate and remove. Push it to your temple…and, it should cling to your wand tip." I said, my eyes on the memory I was pulling away from my temple, until it broke off and hung from the wand tip, swirling in the dim light. With a wave of his wand, Dawlish brought the Pensive out again, and I dropped the memory in.
"What do you need from me?" Jenny asked after watching the swirling memory, transfixed as Shell Cottage appeared, then swirled away into the silvery mass once again.
"All of your transformations as a werewolf." Dawlish said, and Jenny shuddered, but placed her wand tip at her temple none the less, closing her eyes and biting her bottom lip, like she always did when she was concentrating…