Dora's brother Evan was late getting to The Three Broomsticks, so the two of us ordered butterbeers and pushed our way to a tiny table in the corner. As usual, the pub was packed with Hogwarts students. The two of us chatted aimlessly about what we were going to do for the rest of the day as we sipped our drinks.

Dora sighed and took another sip of butterbeer. "I wish people would stop staring at me." She smiled as she saw Evan weaving his way towards us, clasping a tumbler with a few inches of a deep brown liquid in it. It looked like firewhiskey, but it was only ten thirty in the morning. Apparently, Dora was thinking along the same lines. "Isn't that stuff a bit strong to be drinking so early in the morning?" Dora asked, indicating the drink.

"Dora, you sound just like mother," Evan snapped at her. "I'm old enough to decide for myself."

I expected Dora to argue, but she didn't. Instead she asked, anxiously, "How is mother?"

"Absolutely insufferable," Evan said. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. She really isn't coping well."

Dora looked worried and hunched closer. "What do you mean?"
Evan gave a long sigh and launched into a long litany of complaints about their mother: she wasn't looking after the house, she never seemed to eat anything, she was barely capable of conversation. The household was apparently falling into ruin, and the house elf was losing the plot with no-one to properly control him. Dora looked more and more worried, toying with the straw in her drink.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked finally.

"Well, you can't help manage the household while you're at school. I suppose you could try writing to her," Evan said. "I'm sure she'd appreciate hearing from you."
"I have been writing to her," Dora said accusingly. "She insists that she's coping very well, but she's worried about you."

Evan raised his eyebrows slightly. "Worried about me? That's a bit rich from a woman who doesn't look as though she's brushed her hair in the last month."

Dora looked as though she was about to argue back, but didn't. Evan sat back slightly, raising an eyebrow slightly as though challenging her. I glanced around the room, feeling a little embarrassed to be watching their argument. And that was when I spotted Tonks.

He was walking through the doors of the pub with two other boys. The three of them were chatting animatedly and carrying huge Zonko's bags. Ted's face broke into a grin when his eyes lighted on me. I smiled back before I could stop myself- then panicked as he said something to his friends, and started to cross the room towards me. I tried to shake my head at him, signalling that I couldn't talk, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Dora, I can't believe you're even trying to argue with me!" Evan burst out at Dora at that moment. "You really do sound just like mother- and quite honestly, I don't think either of you are in a position to criticise anyone else's lifestyle! You haven't even seen her!"

"Hey," Ted said, reaching our table at last. "How's it going?"

"Great," I said coldly, wondering about the best way to get rid of him before anyone noticed that I was talking to a muggle.

"Oh, about the book-"

"What book?" I asked quickly. "Did you want something?" I glanced around to check whether anyone seemed to be noticing that I was talking to him. Dora and Evan were still bickering.

Tonks looked hurt. He followed my gaze, suddenly seeming to realise why I was so reluctant to talk. "Uh- yeah, I wanted to ask if you knew when they were, uh, going to put up the new Prefect duty rota? Normally it goes up on Saturday morning, but it wasn't-"

"No, I don't know," I interrupted. "I suggest you try again this evening."

"Uh- right. See you."

I didn't dare reply, still reluctant to show any friendliness to a muggle in front of so many people. He shot one last glance at Dora and Evan, who were both almost shouting now, and hurried away to rejoin his friends. I couldn't help but stare after him for a few seconds, almost tempted to call him back and apologise.

A moment later , my attention was drawn back to Evan as he stood angrily. "I don't have to listen to this." He drained the last inch of his firewhiskey. He pulled a letter from inside his robes and threw it onto the table. "I'd appreciate it if you'd give this to Regulus Black. I believe you both know him. There'll be trouble for all four of us if he doesn't receive it." He turned and strode away.

"Evan!" Dora called furiously after him. His step didn't so much as falter. "Evan! Don't you dare threaten me! What is it?" She started to get to her feet to run after him, but I pulled her back.

"Let him go. The two of you aren't going to be able to discuss anything sensibly today."

She sunk back into her seat, slowly and reluctantly, and I couldn't help but notice the tears in her eyes. "That bloody idiot!" she said furiously. "Ugh, I could kill him! I certainly won't be I delivering letters and running errands for his so-called friends." Dora narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me. "And what did that boy want, anyway? Isn't he a muggle?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. Just wanted to ask me something about the Prefect rota. Idiot."

"Oh, right. Trust a muggle to not be able to sort anything out for himself," she said absentmindedly. "I can't believe Evan! I honestly don't know how he expects to be able to speak to me like that and then have me deliver letters for him." She went into a long rant about Evan and my mind wandered- torn between worry about Dora, worry about Bella; sadness that I'd probably destroyed any chance that I might have had with Tonks; and disgust that I was giving a muggle so much as a second thought.

When we finished our drinks, we left the pub (I slipped Evan's letter into my bag when Dora wasn't looking, just in case) and wandered around the shops for the rest of the day, stopping in a café for lunch. Neither of us were much in the mood for shopping or eating, though. We went back to the castle early, without even stopping to stock up on cream cakes at our favourite bakery. I spent the rest of the day trying to work on an essay and failing miserably. When I reread the sentence I'd written and realised that I'd written "The rune Naudiz has beautiful brown eyes, with just a hint of gold-" I scribbled it out so furiously that I ripped a gash in the parchment. I gave up on the essay then.

At dinner, Dora and I were both hungry enough from our small lunch that we ate ravenously, although neither of us felt much like talking still. After dinner I tried to read but soon gave it up as a lost cause and went to bed.

I climbed the stairs miserably- but what I found when I reached the dormitory changed my mood entirely. The hangings around my bed were shut as I'd left them, but when I climbed through them I saw that a book lay on the green pillows with a note pinned on top. I looked at the book first: a battered paperback, similar to the one I'd found in Diagon Alley what felt like a lifetime ago. This one bore the title "Sense and Sensibility". Delighted despite myself, my eyes turned to the note.

Someone bought me a second copy of this, and I thought immediately of you. Maybe bump into you in Hogsmeade later? TT.

My hands twitched towards the wastebasket to throw both the book and the note away. I knew that was the sensible course to take. I don't know why I didn't- maybe I simply needed some comfort after the day I'd had. I found myself sliding both the book and Tonk's note into the bottom of my trunk, where Pride and Prejudice still lay. I told myself that I was simply hiding the book- if I put it in the bin, one of my dorm-mates might notice it. Deep down, I knew that I was lying to myself. Before the week was out, I would have read the book cover to cover- and loved every word of it.