A few days later, I was picking at a plate of eggs, toast and bacon when the usual rush of owls swept into the Great Hall. It was only a few days since Dora had left and I missed her desperately. I looked up quickly and scanned the mass of feathers for a bird I recognised.

My heart leapt when Dora's owl Quill landed next to me and held out his leg for me to remove the letter. As I fumbled with the string he leant over to try and pinch a rasher of bacon from my plate, lost his balance and fell headfirst into my breakfast.

"Hey, calm down," I said, smiling for the first time in days. Quill had always shared Dora's appetite. A group of first year Gryffindor's saw my smile and huddled closer together, looking shocked.

I managed to take the letter from Quill's leg and absent-mindedly passed him a few rashers of bacon as I opened it up and read it.

Meda,

Home is just as awful as you'd expect. Mother seems to be falling to pieces. Most days she doesn't even get out of bed, and the meals the house elf brings her are almost invariably sent back untouched. The level in the sherry bottle, however, seems to go down with alarming rapidity.

Your sister's been remarkably helpful, though. She's been around a lot, helping to make sure the house doesn't completely fall to pieces.

I paused and frowned. That didn't sound much like the Bella I knew at all. I continued to read, hoping for an explanation.

She's also talked to me about Evan, explaining what he was fighting for. It helps to know that this was more than just a bar-room brawl: he knew what he wanted. Apparently he's become something of a martyr to the cause. Bella's promised to introduce me to some of his other friends at some point.

I still miss you a lot, though. How's school?

Yours,

Dora.

I bit my lip worriedly as I studied the letter again. I wasn't at all sure that Dora should be getting involved with whatever Evan had gotten himself into, but I couldn't see how I could say so without hurting her still more. I supposed that if Bella was involved it couldn't be too bad- my sister wouldn't get involved in anything risky. Would she? I asked myself. Suddenly, I wasn't so sure. I thought of all the books on the Dark Arts she had collected, all the hours she spent studying them, the nights when she didn't come home…

Quill nipped my finger sharply. I had been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I'd forgotten to keep feeding him. I handed him another sausage, laughing softly as he tried to swallow it whole and almost choked.

The bell rang. Around me, students began to get to their feet and start towards classes. With a sigh, I passed Quill one last chunk of kipper and shooed him away. "Go on. Go home before you get to fat to get off the ground."

With a reproachful hoot, Quill took off. I gathered my things and began to walk to Transfiguration, worrying about Dora. I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't pay attention to where I was going.

There was a missing step on one of the staircases I had to walk up- one which I often forgot and Dora was always either having to remind me to jump or helping to pull me out of- but today I fell straight into it, hard. There was a crunching noise, and a shooting pain shot through my right ankle. I tried to pull myself out with my free leg to no avail. I was stuck.

A few more gaggles of students passed in tight-knit groups, casting me accusing or worried looks as they passed- as though getting stuck in a staircase might be part of some kind of bizarre Death Eater plot. Not one of them offered to help. I glared back at them and struggled harder to get out, but only slipped deeper into the gap. My eyes watered from the pain in my ankle.

"Er- are you stuck?" a hesitant voice asked.

"No," I said sarcastically. The pain in my leg made me bad-tempered. "I do this on purpose. There's nothing like getting your leg stuck in a staircase to start your day with a bang."

"Fine," he said coldly. Ted Tonks strode past me on his way to the same Transfiguration class that I was supposed to be in. Why did I always end up throwing everything he did back in his face?

"Wait!" I called. "I'm sorry!"

He paused and turned slowly. Now it was his tone that was sarcastic. "Wow, are my ears deceiving me? A Black, apologising?"

I took a deep breath, wondering if I'd pass out from the pain. "I'm sorry for everything. Really." I winced again. "Now will you help me out? Please?"

He shrugged, with a carelessness that I was sure was forced. "I suppose so." He walked back to me and put his arm around my shoulder (I tried not to notice the way my skin tingled at the points where we touched, and the warmth that seemed to spread out from it, and the smell of him- a mix of library books and aftershave and shampoo). "I'm going to count to three and then try to heave you out, ok? Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," I gasped.

"Ok. One, two, three-" On the last word, I felt the muscles in his arm contract as he started to pull me out. Moments later, my leg came free and I was out of the gap.

"Thanks," I said. "I thought that I was going to be there forever." I gingerly tried putting some weight on my right foot, and gasped in pain again.

"Are you alright?" Tonks asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I think I've hurt my foot." I hitched up my robes slightly to reveal my ankle. Already it was starting to look red and swollen.

"Do you need help getting to the hospital wing?"

I glanced down the corridor worriedly. It was now almost empty. "We'll miss Transfiguration."

Tonks looked at my ankle again pointedly. "I don't think you're in any state to go to Transfiguration. Come on, I'll help you." He slipped an arm around me gently to support me and began to steer me towards the hospital wing. I didn't argue. Even if I had been able to have walked unaided, I don't think that I would have wanted to.

Tonks supported me all the way to the hospital wing. We walked in silence except for my occasional gasps of pain as I was forced to put weight on my ankle. Despite the pain, I was disappointed when we finally reached the hospital wing.

Madame Vervain bustled out of her office immediately and looked the two of us up and down as if trying to work out what was wrong with us. She obviously got plenty of practice, because she figured it out almost immediately. "Ankle injury?"

"Yes," I said.

She sighed. "Let me guess. Quidditch?"

"No," I said. "Staircase."

She nodded briskly. "Let's have a look at it then." She shot Tonks a sharp glance. "Hadn't you better be getting to class?"

"Uh- yeah," he said, startled. He glanced at me, then turned and began to walk away.

"Thanks," I called after him.

He glanced back. "Any time." And then he left. I forced myself not to stare after him. My knight in shining armour… My muggle knight, I reminded myself. But suddenly, his being a muggle didn't seem to matter quite so much.

I was brought back down to earth by a sharp jab to my ankle I gasped and jerked my foot away. Madame Vervain was prodding my ankle with her wand, a rather grim expression on her face. "Why the headmaster lets the stairs continue to have their way, I don't know. Honestly, the amount of injuries they cause. Right, sit down on a bed and I'll sort it for you. It's a clean break, so I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies." She guided me to one of the beds in the hospital wing and I sat down, grateful to be able to lift my foot off the ground- it still hurt, but the pain was slightly more bearable. Madame Vervain prodded it with her wand again, and twisted it from side to side as if searching for something. It hurt, a lot. I screwed my eyes shut but it was still all I could do to keep from crying out. I wished that Ted were there to hold my hand.

Madame Vervain began to run her wand around my ankle more gently, muttering as she did so. Suddenly, the pain vanished, and when I looked down at my ankle I saw that the swelling had disappeared entirely. "Right, that should be healed."

"Thanks," I said with relief.

"Just look where you're going in future. Now, shouldn't you be in class?

"Yes," I said, getting to my feet and gingerly testing my ankle. It felt great. "Thanks again."

I hurried off to Transfiguration, looking forward to the chance to thank Tonks properly. When I arrived, the class was so absorbed in what looked like a very complicated spell involving dormice. McGonagall was the only one to notice me, and she didn't look at all pleased.

"Miss Black, how kind of you to join us," she said. "This lesson started forty minutes ago."

"Sorry, I had to go to the hospital wing. I fell into a staircase."

McGonagall regarded me sceptically, but before she had a chance to speak Tonks said quickly, "She did, Professor- I took her there. I can explain the spell to you, if you like."

McGonagall regarded me for a few seconds longer. I silently begged her to let me work with him, and to my relief she did. "All right. Your stories both seem to agree, anyway. Miss Black, Master Tonks will help you catch up on what you missed. And watch where you're putting your feet in future."

"Yes, Professor," I said with relief. I walked over to where Tonks sat and dumped my bag on the desk next to him. He was sitting alone- presumably he'd arrived too late to get a seat with his friends. "Thanks," I said gratefully. "That's twice you've helped me today."

"Don't mention it," Tonks said. If I had hoped that his sudden helpfulness showed a desire to be friends, however, I was wrong- he showed me the spell in a businesslike way and the two of us practiced it for the rest of the lesson. We barely spoke- I got the impression that Ted was waiting for me to speak first. I wanted, more than anything, to break the quiet between us- to ask him if I could borrow another book, to invite him to Hogsmeade, to scream that my engagement was a mistake and my family was a mess. But of course I didn't. I was careful to keep my manner as cold as his and didn't once let myself forget that he was a muggle.

I couldn't decide whether I was relieved or disappointed when the bell finally rang. We both picked up our bags and left without another word to each other. He joined a group of his friends as they headed towards the Great Hall. I thought that he might have glanced back at me, but I could equally have imagined it. I realised that I was once again staring after Tonks as he walked away from me, and wrenched my eyes away. My thoughts, however, were not so easily controlled.

A/N: I'm sorry that this has been so long coming, and that it's possibly not the best thing I've ever written. I want to thank anyone reading this for keeping going with the story, and everyone who's left a review so far. I really appreciate it!