I fell out of the fireplace on the other side, crashing onto a hard stone floor and hitting my knee hard. "Ouch," I gasped. I looked up to find passing students cast me curious glances, and I realised I was in the Entrance Hall, just as students were walking to the last lesson of the day. I cursed myself for not specifying which part of Hogwarts I wanted to arrive in.

I hurriedly pulled myself to my feet, and glared at any student who looked at me. I briefly considered looking for Cissy- what I wanted more than anything was to see a friendly face. But I didn't want to keep her from her lessons, and I wasn't sure that I could bring myself to drag her into this. I still saw her as too young and too innocent to really understand.

I didn't want to go to Defence Against the Dark Arts, either. We were learning about Unforgivable Curses, and given what I now knew about Bella's recent actions I couldn't face it. Instead, I went to walk around the lake and found myself sitting on the bench that Dora and I had sat so many times before. I felt my loneliness washing over me, as all the old memories replayed in my head.

By the time the bell rang for the end of classes, I had made my mind. I had to write to Dora, and beg her to still be my friend. Surely she'd understand. She had to- we'd been friends for so long. I ate a quick dinner in the Great Hall, my appetite reawakened by the cheering thought of writing to Dora, and then headed down to the Slytherin Common Room to start writing.

When I entered the Common Room, my attention was caught by my sister. Cissy was sitting in a small group of friends, head bowed, and she was crying. I decided that my letter could wait, and began to walk towards her. Like Dora, Cissy and I had been close for so long I couldn't imagine her not wanting to speak to me.

As I got closer one of Cissy's friends glanced up and spotted me, then leant closer and whispered something in my sister's ear. Cissy looked up and glared at me.

"Cissy, are you alright? What's happened?" I asked when I reached them, trying to ignore the hate on Cissy's face and the disdain on the faces of her friends.

"Go away," she hissed. "It's all your fault."

"What?" I asked, taken aback. I had never seen Cissy so angry- that was Bella's domain. "I didn't-"

"Theo doesn't want to talk to me anymore, because of you. Nobody in the family talks anymore. And- and mother says you're never allowed to come home!" She broke into tears again. Two of her friends huddled closer and put their arms around her.

"You'd better go," one of her friends said with disgust. "I think you've done enough for one day."

I blinked, looking to Cissy for some kind of reassurance or recognition- but none came. "Er… Right."

I didn't want to stay in the Common Room any longer. Maybe I was imagining it, but I didn't feel that Cissy's friends were the only ones casting me hostile glances. Instead, I went to the library.

Tonks was already there. He was alone, maybe because his piles of books took up almost the entire table. I had started to walk towards my usual table, but I didn't feel like being alone. It was pathetic, but Tonks was suddenly the closest thing I had to a friendly face at Hogwarts. And it didn't seem like I had much reason to fear being seen with a muggle anymore.

I walked over to him and stood awkwardly by his table. "Um… Can- can I join you?"

He glanced up, and I noticed him do a double take to see me. His face hardened. "Aren't you and your kind ashamed to be seen with me?"

"I think I've burnt most of those bridges," I said quietly. As I spoke I felt tears welling up behind my eyes, but I blinked them away and hoped it wasn't noticeable. "I'm sorry for how I've been." There were a hundred other things that I wanted to say to him, but I couldn't bring myself to say them. And as Cissy's friend had pointed out, I had already said and done plenty of stupid things for one day.

His face became kinder again. "I'm sorry to hear that. Yes, of course you can sit here."

"Thanks," I said. I pulled out parchment and a quill, and began trying to craft a letter to Dora. It was hard. This was worse than trying to tell her I was engaged. None of the things I wanted to say seemed like things she'd want to hear. In my mind's eye, I saw the horror on her face in the moments before I dived for the fireplace.

Eventually I put my pen to the paper and forced myself to write, letting everything I felt pour out of my pen.

Please don't die. Please don't hate me, please don't become as bitter and hateful as Bellatrix, please, please let's just go back to the way things used to be. Remember how excited we were on the first train journey to school?

I paused and read back over what I'd written, then ripped the paper in two. It sounded so pitiful that I felt tears spring to my eyes, and kept tearing and tearing the pieces until they would go no smaller.

Ted glanced up, eyebrows raised slightly. "Wow. I know our Ancient Runes homework wasn't easy this time, but surely it wasn't that bad."

I forced a smile. "It's not homework." I took a deep breath and pulled another piece of parchment from my bag.

Dora,

I'm sorry. I wish I hadn't run out when I did. I love you too much to watch you end up dead or in Azkaban, and I can't imagine you could ever be as cruel and angry as Bellatrix. We had so many plans for the future, for things better than early marriage and death for such a terrible cause.

Whatever you do, can we still be friends?

Yours, as always,

Andromeda.

I glanced over the second letter. It wasn't the best thing I'd written, but it was heartfelt and I thought it made sense. Dora would understand. She had to.

I had one thing left to do before I went to the owlery to send it. "Ted?" He looked up from his essay, the gold in his eyes almost glowing in the candlelight. "I wanted to say that… I really am sorry for how I was before. I was rude, and ungrateful. I really did appreciate the book you left for me. If- if it's not too late, I'd still like to be friends."

"Um… Sure, I don't see why not." He smiled, although his smile was less open than it had been before I'd pushed him away.

"Thanks," I said. I felt things go slightly brighter. At least one person at Hogwarts didn't seem to hate me.

I walked to the owlery slowly and sent the letter, then returned to my dorm to pick up some school books. I didn't feel like working, but I was already falling behind because of the string of things that had gone wrong lately.

I kept my head down as I walked through the Common Room, trying to pretend I didn't hear the whispered gossip or see the hostile looks I got as I passed. When I got to my dorm, I gasped.

Someone had been through my trunk, and my belongings were strewn all over the floor. Not sure of what else to do, I began to collect my things into a pile. I folded my robes to get some semblance of order, but when I began to add my books to the pile I saw that pages had been torn out. When I flicked through my ruined copy of Numerology and Gramatica, I saw that Muggle lover had been scrawled on the front page. My Jane Austen books had vanished completely.

The tears that had been threatening for hours began to spill down my cheeks, and I collapsed onto the heap of folded robes and ripped books, sobbing desperately until I had no energy left for crying. When I was done, I was able to pack my stuff into my trunk as neatly as possible and fall into bed, pulling the curtains of my four poster bed shut around me. I didn't fall asleep quickly- hours later, I heard Katherine and Eugenia come in and get ready for bed. Hours after that, I finally fell into a deep sleep.