The Cottage on the Beach
I knelt there in the sand for a few more minutes, waiting for Dobby to return. I had this stupid little thought inside my head that maybe, just maybe, he'd come back with not only Ron and Harry and Hermione, but Draco also. I looked behind me to see my friends and family waiting for me to say something.
"Could someone please help me up? I can't walk…" I said, to no one in particular, and my dad stepped forward and scooped me up in his arms. He hadn't held me like this for years. "Thank you." I whispered, suddenly exhausted for no apparent reason. He started to walk back to mum and Kay, but when he past them and kept walking, I got concerned. My mother and sister followed us. "Wait, stop. Can't we wait and make sure they get back okay?" I asked, and my parents looked at each other.
"Don't worry, we'll wait for them." Luna said, and the others nodded. My family started to walk again, and I looked up at the house for the first time. It was an adorable, little cottage, and I immediately recognized it as the cottage that me and the Weasleys used to visit all the time. Shell Cottage.
"Hello?" My mother called, wondering if anyone was home. We heard movement coming from the stairs, and a second later, two people came into view. Bill and Fleur.
"Talia?" He asked, as if unsure.
"Bill!" I exclaimed, and he ran over to hug me. He was smart enough to be gentle. He didn't even notice who I was with until my mother spoke.
"Bill, you've grown up so much. Very tall." She said, and he looked at them.
"Sean? Melissa? Kayla? I thought you all were dead. Everyone thought that." He said, hugging them all. We walked into the living room, where my dad set me down on the couch, and Fleur brought me a blanket.
"Yes, we're well aware of what everyone thought." My mum said, and Bill looked at my sister.
"What happened to you, sweetie?" He always used to call her that. She moved her hair back to show him her bite marks from when Greyback turned her.
"Greyback. I'm told he got to you, too." She said, and Bill's face fell.
"Yes, but thankfully I wasn't completely turned. Are you—?" She nodded, and that made him sad. He looked over to me, and noticed the bandage on my neck. "Should I ask what happened to you?"
"Take a wild guess." I said, deadpan, and his eyes widened. "Don't worry, I wasn't turned. That lunatic had no intention of killing me. He knew how valuable I was to the Dark Lord. He just wanted to play." I said, my voice getting bitter, and Bill got pretty angry.
"That monster needs to be stopped." He said.
"I theenk we 'ave more important theengs to worry about at the moment." Fleur said, and we all followed her gaze out the window, where Harry and Ron and Hermione and Dobby had just appeared on the beach. I stared in horror as Dobby's tiny little body started to weave, and then collapse, and Harry caught him. After a few minutes, the others left those two alone to come inside. I wished I could get up on my own, or I would have run to meet them. When they finally made it inside, their faces were extremely grim.
"What is it?" I asked them. Ron looked at me.
"Dobby's dead. Bellatrix threw her knife at him when we apparated." He said. I swore under my breath. Instead of standing still, Ron and Hermione ran to me and enveloped me in a huge, bone breaking hug. I missed them so much.
"Talia, we've been so worried about you!" Hermione said when they pulled back, almost crying. I reached out and stroked a lock of her hair.
"Yeah, we kept on wanting to come save you. But we had no idea where you were. And Harry kept on saying that you'd want us to finish getting the Horcruxes first, because that was more important." He said, and I lightly punched his shoulder.
"You're damn right! And anyway, I was being taken care of." I said, but Ron lightly touched the bandage on my neck, while Hermione surveyed the scar on my cheek.
"Yeah, we can see that." Ron said sarcastically. Hermione stood up.
"Ron, we should go. We have to help Harry bury Dobby."
"Right." Ron said, and he stood up as well. Before they got too far, I spoke up.
"You guys? Can I come too? I never got to thank him. For saving me." I said, and Ron came over and picked me up. When we got outside, Hermione carrying Dobby wrapped up in a sheet, Ron set me down so we could all throw sand in the hole, covering him up. When it was all finished, we stood up, and Harry marked the gravestone with words saying "Here lies Dobby; a free elf." That was nice. We could tell that Harry wanted to be left alone with him for a bit, so we left. But before we did, I whispered to the silent grave.
"Thank you, Dobby. You saved my life. I'll never forget you." And we went back inside.
...
We were sitting around the table, drinking some warm tea, waiting for Harry. It was silent, because no one felt like talking. But then my mother decided to break the silence.
"Do you need anything, Talia? A warmer jacket, maybe? Do we need to change your bandage at all?"
"No, mum, I'm fine. Honest."
"Well, I think we'll at least take care of that wound. Bill? Fleur? Do you have anything—?"
"Yes, of course. We'll go get it." Bill said, and they left the table. Hermione looked up.
"So this is your family, Tal. I'm so happy you found them." She said, smiling over at me. I smiled back.
"Me, too. Told you they weren't dead." I told her, and she looked embarrassed. "Don't sweat it, Herman." She groaned.
"I hate it when you call me that." I laughed. She looked at Kayla. "You and your sister look just like each other." She said.
"Yeah. They always have." Ron said, and Kayla ruffled his hair. Bill and Fleur came back with the stuff, and my mum and dad both helped clean and bandage me up again.
"What happened?" Hermione asked me.
"Greyback decided that I was a suitable snack." I said, and both her and Ron looked appalled, and glanced at Bill. And then Ron looked at Kayla.
"Weren't you killed by Greyback?" He said, and I wondered how many times we were going to have to go through all this explaining.
"Obviously not, since I'm sitting right here, talking to you."
"So you're a…" He seemed afraid to ask. She sighed.
"A werewolf, yes. Very good reasoning skills." She said. That's when Harry finally walked in. He looked like he was on a mission. But, first, he came over to me and gave me a hug just like the one the other two had given me.
"I'm so glad you're safe." He said.
"Thank you for helping rescue me, Harry." I said. He pulled back.
"Yeah, about that. After all this is over, you're going to have some serious explaining to do about Malfoy." He said, and I had a feeling my face turned red. He walked away, as if needing just a little time by himself still. Or finishing up the details on whatever master plan he had going on in his head. Luna walked into the room.
"It's beautiful here." She said, eyeing a wind chime.
"It was our aunts. We used to come here as kids. The Order uses it now as a safe house. What's left of us, at least." Bill told her as he and Fleur prepared something to eat for all of us.
"Muggles think these keep evil away. But they're wrong." Luna said. Just then, Harry came back again, looking determined.
"I need to talk to the goblin." He said, and then he and Bill went upstairs, followed by Hermione and Ron. I started to get up to follow, but Ron gestured me to stay down and rest. I pouted.
…
"You're going to do what? Are you guys crazy?!" I said to them, loudly, a few hours later when we were in the living room, and they were telling me their plan.
"I think you know the answer to that." Ron said, but I didn't laugh. Not this time.
"Do you guys realize how dangerous this is?" I asked, and they all nodded.
"We have to. There's a Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault." Harry said. Well, that changed things a little.
"Well, then, when are we leaving?" I asked, excited to finally be able to help them. They looked at me with sad expressions. "What?"
"Well, Tal, we were thinking that maybe you should stay here. You're still pretty weak." Hermione said, and I got mad.
"This is crazy! You guys have no idea how maddening it was to be cooped up in that awful mansion, abused," I said, gesturing to my cheek, "While you guys were all out here saving the world and shit! All I've wanted for the past year was to be able to help you guys!" I said, and I could tell they felt bad. And deep down, I knew they were right. I still had healing to do. But that didn't mean this didn't hurt still.
"We know, Tal. We're sorry! And you will help us, alright? This isn't over yet." Harry said, and I believed him. "Just do us a favor and sit this one out, okay?" I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. Hermione was giving me a funny glance.
"What?" I asked her.
"Well, for a moment, it looked like… I don't know. Maybe it was just the light." She said, but I had a feeling it wasn't just the light.
"You saw my eyes turn green for a moment, right?" I asked, and she nodded.
"But I thought that only happened when you sang." Ron said. I shook my head.
"Lately it happens all the time, when I'm emotional. Angry, sad, super excited…" I said.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know. Probably because I've been working on controlling it more." They all looked at me with surprise. "Well, I had to, didn't I? Voldemort practically threatened me into doing it! Thank God you guys got me out of there, or I would have been his personal secret weapon or something." I said.
"Can you show us?" Harry asked, and I nodded.
"Stand aside, peasants." I said, waving them away with my hand. They all laughed at my familiar Talia-humor. I took in a huge breath, targeted a glass on a shelf across the room, and with one belt of my voice, it, and only it, shattered into a million pieces. I quickly repaired it with my wand, and the other three came back to sit by me.
"That was bloody brilliant." Ron said, and I laughed.
"That's not all, either. I can totally control people's minds. If I wanted, I could make one of you walk right out into the ocean and drown yourself." I said, and they looked impressed. "Or I could make Rona and Hermione go at each other." I said, giving them a look. Harry leaned over, close to my ear.
"That wouldn't take much persuasion, these days." He whispered. I giggled.
"Are you guys sure you don't need me?" I asked, giving them a cute little puppy dog face.
"Tal, you know we'll always need you. It's just, right now, we need you to be here." Harry said. I tried one last time to convince them.
"But, I'm almost all better! You guys didn't even need to carry me around today. Look!" I said, and I stood up, and put my hands on my hips. But then I got a huge head-rush, and had to sit back down again. "Whoa." I said.
"Exactly." Harry said, and they stood up. Time to go, I guessed. He looked down at me and smiled. "I reckon that in just a few days, you'll be back to the old ass-kicking Talia we know and love."
"Damn straight." I said, and the boys went outside with the goblin while Hermione went to the bathroom. A couple minutes later, Bellatrix Lestrange emerged, and I hand to actually physically hold my hand back from grabbing my wand and attacking her. "That's… very accurate." I said, and she could tell how hard this was for me. She gave me an apologetic stare, and then joined the others outside. I waited until I saw them disappear, and then I got up.
"Hey Bill?" I called, and he immediately ran to my side.
"What's up?"
"I'm exhausted. Can you show me where I can crash?" He nodded, and started to pick me up. "No no, I don't need to be carried. Just guide me there." He laughed, and kept one hand on my back. I supposed I could live with that.
…
Despite how tired I had been, that night was very restless. I kept on worrying about my friends, even though I knew they could handle this. They've all been through worse. I also wished I could be with them, but even I had to admit now that I wasn't strong enough at the moment. And mixed in with all these worried feeling for my friends, was, of course, worried feelings for my boyfriend. I wished that Draco could have come with us here. Maybe him being here would have made me having to stay behind a little easier. But, I'm sure he was doing okay. I was just missing him.
I might have been nodding off when the sun started to rise, but I wasn't sure. Pretty soon, at probably somewhere around ten o'clock in the morning, I heard voices coming from downstairs. I figured that it just meant that I was the last one to get up, but I didn't care. I was going to stay in bed for a little while longer. I was just starting to fall asleep, once again, when I heard Bill's voice calling to me from downstairs.
"Talia? If you're awake, could you come downstairs, please?" I groaned, but got up none-the-less. I walked, very slowly, to the door.
"I'll be down in a minute." I called groggily, and started to look around the room for some fresh clothes to change into. I slowly made my way downstairs, ignoring all the voices. Still half asleep, I randomly yelled out, "Did anyone make any tea?"
"Mint Chamomile, right?" Asked a familiar voice, one that I had missed the most this past year. Ignoring my weak state and dizziness, I bolted the rest of the way downstairs to find all the Weasleys, minus Ginny and Ron, standing around in the kitchen. My mother and Molly were talking, catching up, while my dad and Arthur were sitting at the table with Charlie and Bill. Everyone turned to look at me, smiling, but I immediately ran for the two twins in the middle of the room, who were already waiting for me. I threw myself into their arms, and started to cry.
"Freddie! George!" They tightened their arms around me, and I could tell they missed me too. When they pulled away, they were smiling, but I could tell that they were fighting back tears also. Softies.
"Are my eyes deceiving me?" Asked Fred.
"Or is Talia Jackson actually crying?" Asked George, and I laughed.
"Yeah, well, this past year has pretty much broken me." I said, and we all hugged again. I went around and hugged everybody again, and we talked for a little bit. Caught up. But I really just wanted to be alone with the twins for a little bit. It had been so long since we talked, and I missed it. After a little while, Fred gestured to George and I, and we got up. But, having a second thought, I gestured to Kayla to come with us. We all hurried outside, and sat on the hill overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful, just as amazing as I remembered it.
"Do you remember coming here, Kay? Us and the Weasleys once vacationed here together." I said, and she thought about it.
"A little. Isn't that when you three convinced Ron to run into the water naked?" For a few seconds, it was silent, and me and Fred and George all looked at each other. And then we burst out laughing.
"I totally forgot about that!" I said.
"That was the best!" George said.
"And then he got that crab stuck to his ass, and cried for an hour!" Fred said.
"That was so worth the grounding." I said. We all nodded in agreement. It took a few more minutes for us all to calm down, and I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to explain everything to them. But, as always, Fred was able to read me like a book. He broke the silence.
"Tal, you can't just sit there and wait for us to ask you about this gigantic elephant in the room. Or, rather, the gigantic elephant on the beach."
"Yeah, what happened? Where have you been?" George asked.
"And start from the beginning. We want to know everything." Fred said. I took a big breath, and plunged into it.
"Well, I suppose it all started at school last year…" I began, and went into everything. I went through my amazingly hot affair with Blaise Zabini, and they were surprised, and then my even hotter affair with Draco Malfoy, to which they were almost outraged. Kayla punched Fred in the shoulder when he started to yell at me, so they shut up and let me continue. I went through me finding out about him being a Death Eater, and me telling him about my special abilities. And then I got into the invasion, and them taking me to Malfoy Manor, and Draco protecting me from the wrath of his Crazy Bitch aunt. I told them about the little show that Voldemort made me put on, and how I lost control and almost killed everybody. And how much I liked it. I told them about finding my parents, and then finding Kayla, and especially how amazing both Draco and his mother had been to us.
"What happened to your neck?" Fred asked.
"I'll get to it." I said.
"What happened to your cheek?" George asked.
"I'll get to it!" I yelled, and they laughed. I explained everything, even about Draco's Lord of the Rings horses. The twins even slightly nodded in approval, which gave me hope. Finally, I got to how Bellatrix scarred my cheek, and everyone winced when I told them. I told them about finding Luna and Ollivander down in the dungeons. And if they were troubled by Bellatrix slapping me, that was nothing compared to the horror in their eyes when I told them about Greyback attacking me. They both attacked me with hugs, but were careful about my neck. When they leaned back again, they looked angry.
"Someone needs to stop that monster once and for all." Fred said, and George nodded.
"Yeah, that's what everyone else said. Trust me, I'm working on it. There's no one else I'd rather see dead. Well, except for the Dark Lord and Bellatrix Lestrange, of course." I said, and they all nodded grimly. It was quiet for a little while, while we all contemplated my story. But then Fred spoke up.
"Can I just ask one thing?" He asked.
"Go ahead." I said.
"Why Malfoy? Isn't it awkward? He's such a bastard. How did that even happen? Is he forcing you or something? Got you under some spell? Last time I checked, you hated the git." He said. I laughed a little sheepishly.
"Yeah, I did. I really hated him. And he really hated me." I said, looking down at me hands while they played with a blade of grass.
"Then… why?" He asked again, and I looked him straight in the eye.
"I don't know, okay? All I know is that somehow, I fell in love with him. And he loves me, too. And do you know what? I'm not ashamed." I gave both of them a stern look, daring them to challenge me, but they didn't. They both looked right back into my eyes. They took a moment to look at each other, and then they looked back at me again, unwavering.
"Well then, we're okay with him if you are. But if he hurts you, we will personally make sure he gets a one-way ticket to hell." Fred said, and I smiled at them.
"Thank you, guys." It was quiet for a second, and then I added, "And also, he's really good in bed." I said with a sly smile on my face. They both laughed.
"Oh, now we know why you fell in love with him." George said.
"Yeah, it's because he has a big penis!" Fred said.
"Mystery solved!" Kayla said, and we all started laughing again.
"I really missed you guys." I said to the twins.
"We missed you, too." George said.
"Yeah, we've all been really worried about you. I mean, we were worried about the other three also, but at least we had an idea of what they were up to. We had no idea if you were even alive." Fred said.
"Honestly, if it wasn't for Draco and Narcissa, I probably would have bled to death in that barn." I said.
"Well, we'll have to thank them personally next time we see them." My face fell a bit. "What is it, Tal?"
"What if I never see him again?" I whispered, afraid. Fred put his hand on my knee.
"You will. I promise." He said. I smiled up at him, glad to have my favorite brother back.
"If you say 'because eventually, you'll both die and be in Heaven', I swear to God I'll kill you." I said, and Fred smiled.
"That's not what I meant. But you do have a point… ouch!" He said, because I had just punched him in the stomach.
"Bloody bastard." I said, and George fell over laughing, almost rolling down the hill. Kayla was laughing at George, and Fred was still clutching his stomach. I think I may have knocked the wind out of him. Oops. Pretty soon we were all lying in the grass, watching the clouds. My head was resting on Fred's arm, and I started to drift off. It was so much like the old days that it made my heart hurt. I hoped that soon, after all this shit had passed, that things could be like they used to.
Later on, I'd find out that they weren't.