It couldn't be real. There was Harry Potter, her boyfriend, her best friend, the boy who claimed to love her, who told her to never doubt his feelings for her, who told her that she was crazy out of her mind to ever even consider that he might fancy Cho Chang.
There he was, kissing Cho.
Time stopped. Rory couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she couldn't do anything, but stand there as this horrible thing was emblazoned forever in her memory.
"Oh," was all she said, as time started again. Harry and Cho looked over to her. The color drained from both their faces.
For a moment, Rory was hopeful that maybe it wasn't Harry. Maybe it was just someone who looked like her boyfriend. But no. It was him. Those eyes she'd stared into, the lips that she'd kissed a million times before, dark hair that she loved to lazily run her fingers through. It was her Harry.
"Rory," Harry started to say.
Rory wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth only a sob came out. She felt a knife in her chest, like it would split her open. But what could she do? What could she say? It was over. What else was there to say but that it was over?
She nodded, accepting that this was it, feeling foolish for not seeing it coming. "Okay."
She turned and fled from the room. She ran all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, trying to see through her tears the whole time. She felt like the ground might fall out from under her. She barely got out the password to get inside.
She waded through the sea of people in the common room. She heard Matilda and Neville call out to her, but she ignored them and dashed up to her room which was blessedly empty. She slammed the door closed and let the silence envelop her as she reclined against the door.
How could it be real? How wasn't this a nightmare? Harry was a lot of things, and no, she didn't like everything about him, she especially hadn't the last few days. But this wasn't Harry. This wasn't the boy she knew. This wasn't the boy who doodled love notes in the margins of her notebooks during class or who got nervous when she kissed him a few seconds too long at Grimmauld Place.
She tossed her school bag to the ground. She stared at the dinosaurs printed there and felt a tight squeeze in her chest. Her bag from Harry. He'd given it to her for her birthday. And now it seemed tainted somehow. She kicked it across the room, its contents spread out across the floor. Rory walked over and sat on the trunk at the foot of her bed. She stared at the mess in front of her. Her head felt like the pile of books and papers on the floor.
Her bedroom door opened and an out-of-breath Harry walked in. He pushed the door closed and went to speak, but Rory was on her feet.
"Get out," she said pointing to the door.
"Just wait a second," he said.
"What for? So you can lie to me some more?" Rory asked.
"It wasn't what it looked like," Harry said.
"Wasn't what it looked like? Was seeing you kissing Cho some sort of hallucination then?" she asked.
"I did kiss her, but-."
"But nothing. There is no excuse in the world that you're going to give me that's going to make this right," Rory said.
Harry groaned. "Can you just calm down for a minute? You sound hysterical."
Rory paused for a beat as blinding fury overtook her body. "I saw you kiss some other girl and you're telling me to calm down?"
Harry took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. You're right. But Merlin, Rory, I know you've just been looking for some excuse to break up with me. It feels like you don't even like being around me anymore."
Rory was wounded, because all that she'd wanted since Valentine's Day was to bury her head in the sand because she'd shunned the one person she always wanted to be around. Tears poured out of Rory's eyes faster than she could wipe them away.
"Why would you think that?" she asked.
"You said you wanted to talk and then you completely ignored me the whole day. You even left the meeting early. You've been ignoring me for three days. What else am I supposed to think?" Harry asked.
"I wasn't ignoring you. I've barely talked to anyone all day because I'm sick and I feel like my head is going to explode. Before she got distracted by the fire, Matilda was supposed to tell you that I left to get medicine and that I'd be back so I wouldn't be completely out of it after the meeting so I could talk to you," Rory said. "To apologize."
It took a moment for the words to click in Harry's head. "Apologize?"
"For overreacting about Cho. She did deserve to know what you were going to say about Cedric in that interview, even if your timing was abysmal. So I was going to apologize for overreacting and overthinking. And I wanted to just talk and try to fix things because they've been so awful lately and I hate it and I miss you, but…" Rory stopped to take a breath, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "I feel like such an idiot. I'm so stupid."
There was silence for a beat. Then two. And three.
"Rory, if I could take it back, I would," Harry said.
She shook her head and wiped her face again. This time felt the brush of cool metal against her cheeks as she did. She looked down to her wrist and saw the small fish charm on the nylon bracelet Harry had given her.
She pulled it off and tossed it at Harry's feet.
"Come on, Rory. Don't do this," Harry said.
"I didn't do this. You did," she said.
Harry picked up the bracelet from the floor. "Fish-."
"No," Rory said. "Don't call me that. Not anymore."
"Rory, Listen to me. I love you," he said.
Rory swallowed, choking back a sob. She shook her head. "I don't believe you."
Harry did not want to talk. He wanted to lie in bed and wallow and be pitiful and sad.
"I don't believe you."
Of course, she didn't believe him. He'd kissed another girl. He'd utterly betrayed Rory. All year she'd been putting up with him and his moods and his connection to Voldemort. It had driven her mad, but she always understood that part of it was beyond his control.
But talking to Cho Chang was within his control. Ignoring her was something he could have easily done. Rory never told him not to speak to Cho or to not be her friend, because she wasn't that kind of person. She just assumed that Harry, in realizing that Cho fancied him, might put the wall up and keep it there. But whenever there was the slightest bit of friction between him and Rory, he let the wall come down and was back to being friendly with Cho.
How must Rory have felt for him to repeatedly turn a blind eye to Cho's obvious feelings just because she was "nice" or because she was "friendly." Of course she was those things. She liked Harry.
But Harry loved Rory. Or he said he did. He could have been polite to Cho, said his hellos and goodbyes and helped her in their DA meetings and left it at that.
Instead, Harry was now lying on his bed staring at the little, black bracelet he'd given Rory for Christmas. She'd put it on at the Yule Ball and had worn it every day since. Until now. What an idiot he was.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said. "Really."
He knew Hermione was being sincere, but it didn't help.
"What happened?" Ron replied.
"I screwed up. Like I always do," Harry said. His friends stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "I don't want to tell you; you'll think I'm a terrible person."
"No we won't," Ron said dismissively.
"You always say that we're going to think you're terrible, but we never do," Hermione said. "Besides, it's not like you went and kissed another girl or something."
Except Harry had done exactly that and his lack of denial was all the proof his friends needed.
"Oof," was all Ron said. But Hermione gasped.
"You kissed another girl?" Hermione asked. "Who?"
Ron scoffed. "I mean, it was Cho, obviously. Right?"
Harry nodded.
"Oh, Harry, you really are an idiot," Hermione said. "How could you do something so stupid?"
Harry didn't have an answer. After the DA meeting he started talking to Cho and before he knew it, he found himself venting about how frustrated he was about Rory. And then Cho had kissed him, and he knew that he should tell her "no," but what did it matter who he kissed if Rory was just going to dump him anyway?
But then he'd heard Rory's voice and he regretted every single time he'd failed to push Cho away all year, and realized all he'd done was push Rory away instead.
"I don't know," Harry said, clutching the bracelet in his hand a little tighter. "It doesn't matter anyhow. Can't go back and undo it can I?"
"Maybe it's better this way," Hermione said. "Both of you have just... You've been so unhappy lately."
"Yes, and I feel excellent now," Harry said bitterly.
If Harry felt unhappy before, he had no words to describe what he felt now. Things seemed fixable before. But now they were completely shattered. There'd be no making up, no talking it out, no trying to repair it. It was the end.
He couldn't stop playing back the image of Rory crying, the sound of her bracelet skidding across the floor, her voice breaking as she said "I don't believe you." He felt like a deep pit had opened up inside of his chest and that it was going to swallow him up completely.
The leather bracelet she'd given him for Christmas felt uncomfortably tight around his wrist all of a sudden. He pulled it off and stared at it in his hand beside the well-worn one he'd given Rory. Then he tossed both into the bedside table drawer and slammed it shut.
He kicked his shoes off and pulled his legs up onto his bed. He was done with today. He wanted to try and start putting this behind him. Hadn't this been inevitable? What was their conversation going to solve anyway? If he told her that he couldn't take her jealousy and insecurities and acting like she didn't trust him, what would she have said? Would she continue to deny that her jealousy existed? Insist that she was perfectly in the right to tell Harry to never exist in the same place at the same time as Cho Chang?
Maybe Hermione was right. Maybe this was for the best.
"I'm going to bed," he said.
Ron and Hermione only lingered a moment longer before leaving Harry who snapped his curtains closed, lest anyone else come in and try to talk to him. He was sure to get an earful from Neville at some point, but tonight was not the night for it.
Rory woke up the next morning feeling awful. She was sweaty and hot, but also cold. Her head was throbbing and she felt as if razors coated the inside of her throat. Whatever illness that was starting to creep into her yesterday had fully taken over now. Even her ears and her teeth hurt.
She could hear her roommates moving around outside the curtains. Under normal circumstances, she'd make one of them walk with her to the hospital wing, but these were not usual circumstances. The moment she opened the curtains, they were going to ask how she was doing, because she'd broken up with Harry.
Matilda, Neville, Hermione, and Ron were all standing outside of her bedroom when Harry left. Rory had been sitting on her trunk, sobbing her eyes out, her school things still a mess on the floor. It took what felt like ages for Rory to calm herself down enough to tell them what happened. They'd cleaned up her bag and sat with her until she was too exhausted to sit upright from the crying. She'd closed her curtains and cried herself to sleep.
And this morning, Rory wished that Harry was the furthest thing from her mind, but even as he was solidly in the ex-boyfriend category now, he was right there at the forefront of her brain. As usual.
But she really did need to see Madam Pomfrey. It could not be avoided. There was no way she was making it to class today and if she missed Umbridge's class without a sick note, there was surely going to be hell to pay.
The room quieted and Rory could feel herself drifting off to sleep again, but her curtains opened.
"I know you're upset, but you can't cut class just because you're single now," Matilda said. Rory groaned. Even the light was hurting her eyes. Matilda frowned. "Oh, Sweets, you do not look well." She reached out and touched Rory's forehead. "Merlin, you're burning up."
"Heartbreak will not stop my pursuit of education. Only terminal illness," Rory replied. "I need to go to see Madam Pomfrey."
"Definitely. You look half dead, but I think terminal is a strong word," Matilda said.
"Thanks," Rory replied.
"I'll get you something clean to wear and I'll walk down with you," Matilda said.
Rory sat up as Matilda started to rummage through Rory's clothes. She was lightheaded and desperately wanted to be back under the covers.
Matilda sat the clothes beside Rory and gave her a weak smile. "You're going to hate me for asking, but I have to. How are you doing, illness aside?"
"Not to be dramatic, but Crouch used the torture curse on me last year and it didn't hurt this badly," Rory said.
"You failed to not be dramatic," Matilda said.
"I feel like I hurt all over," Rory replied.
"You've got body aches because you're ill," Matilda said. She shook her head as Rory started to change into a fresh set of clothes. Maybe the body aches were from the sickness, but that pain in her chest definitely was not.
"It just… It doesn't really feel like something Harry would do. Like, he's the last person I expect to go around snogging other girls behind your back. I mean, he's an idiot, but he's not, like… I dunno. He's not really a huge asshole," Matilda said.
"I think snogging Cho is something that's helped him earn the label of an asshole, don't you agree?" Rory asked.
"I guess it's just hard to believe he'd do something like this to you," Matilda said.
"Join the club," Rory replied. She hopped down from her bed and pulled on a pair of slippers. She didn't want to talk about Harry anymore. It was bad enough that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from thinking about him. She felt hollow inside, like a piece of her was gone. "I really need to see Madam Pomfrey."
Most peoples' first thought when Rory didn't show up for History of Magic that morning was that she was so heartbroken over Harry that she'd skipped class. It wasn't until afterward when Matilda made a point of very loudly talking about how Rory was currently confined to the hospital wing with the flu that people stopped their whispering.
Harry woke that morning feeling surprisingly normal until he felt his naked wrist and remembered what happened the night before. And then he felt sick. He felt sick enough to cut class to avoid seeing Rory, but he knew that wasn't an option.
So he got dressed and showed up for class and that was all he could muster the strength to do. He thought about going by the hospital wing to check in on Rory, but Hermione told him that would be the dumbest thing he could do right now.
His Occlumency lesson with Snape went about as badly as it could possibly go. Trying to do his homework that night was an insurmountable task. He kept expecting Rory to come through the common room door and drop down into the seat beside him to ask how his lesson went, or to air her grievances about choir practice. She would offer to look over his homework when he was finished or she might steal him away to his room to snog in the small space of time before his roommates showed up.
But not only was she sick in the hospital wing, but she was also not his girlfriend anymore. There would be no more talking about Occlumency or choir, no homework help, and there would certainly not be any snogging.
He finished his assignments and went to bed early. The next day was no better, and Rory was still out of class. That was making things worse. He hadn't seen her since she'd thrown him out of her room in tears that night and now he was awaiting the inevitable moment when they'd have to see each other again.
Friday morning, Rory finally returned from the hospital wing. She walked into breakfast with Matilda and Neville and they sat as far from Harry as possible. Harry couldn't help but watch her.
Hermione poked him with the blunt end of her knife.
"Stop staring," she said.
"Sorry," he said, turning his eyes back to his flavorless breakfast. "It's just weird."
"I know," Hermione said. "It'll get better."
It didn't feel like it was ever going to get better. He didn't know whether to miss her or feel angry with her or feel guilty. Somehow he felt everything all at once.
Rationally, he knew there was no fixing things. Too much happened between them, and kissing Cho was easily the nail in the coffin. There was no apologizing or undoing it. One day, if Rory felt generous, they might be friends again. They certainly couldn't avoid each other forever.
He assumed the day was going to be torturous.
And it was.
As predicted, when they showed up for Divination, Rory and Matilda sat together. Harry and Ron didn't even blink at this. Neither did Trelawney. But Umbridge, their ever-present overseer, did.
"Switching seats, Miss Lupin?" she asked.
For the briefest moment, Rory looked over to Harry and he quickly turned his eyes to his book as if he was unbothered.
"I feel like my inner eye would be more accurate if I sat here," Rory said.
Umbridge scoffed at the obvious lie. "Professor Trelawney, you allow your students to move around so sporadically?"
"Sure," Trelawney answered flatly. The poor woman had all but given up, doing the bare minimum when it came to teaching.
"Hmph." Umbridge scratched on parchment. "As a reminder, the seat you chose in my class at the beginning of the year will be your permanent seat."
"Noted," Rory replied nonchalantly, completely unbothered.
When Umbridge's class did roll around, she repeated herself about their seats being permanent. Rory sat beside Harry. His whole body tensed as she unpacked her things. He did a quick glance over to her as she set her notebook on the desk and then looked straight ahead.
This was painful. It was going to be physically painful if he couldn't relax around her in this class.
He never really paid attention to Umbridge in the first place, but he was even less focused today. When class was over, Rory moved at the same leisurely pace as she always did. Harry shoved everything into his bag and got up from the table. When he was at the door, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Rory talking to Hermione as she closed her bag.
Harry realized that she wasn't carrying her usual bag, the dinosaur bag he'd given her for her birthday. He remembered their fight and seeing the bag lying on the ground with all the contents strewn everywhere in her dorm. She was carrying her old school bag now. He felt an unexpected stab of pain.
A week after the breakup, Rory didn't feel the overwhelming urge to cry. She still definitely felt like crying, the ache in her chest was deep and painful, but she managed to keep it together. She still dreaded going to class and seeing him, sitting next to him in Umbridge's class, but she could get through it.
When she walked into the Great Hall at breakfast, there were lots of eyes following her. She was used to it by now. Lots of people were paying her extra attention since she'd broken up with Harry.
She walked past him, doing her best to pretend that she didn't even see him. She sat with Neville and Matilda who were also staring at her.
"What?" Rory asked.
"Harry's interview came out," Neville said. "Lots of people are talking about Sirius."
"Someone's asked me already if I know if you think he's innocent," Matilda said. "People are so annoying."
Neville handed her his copy of the paper and Rory started to read through it. She couldn't help but feel proud of Harry for doing this interview, for telling his side of things. The energy in the Great Hall even felt different. She could see people looking at Harry and questioning if everything The Prophet and Cornelius Fudge said was true.
Rory finished the article and stared at Harry's face on the cover.
"You can go and tell him 'good job.' He deserves it," Matilda said.
Rory folded the paper over and pushed it over to Neville. "No thanks. I'm sure he's got a ton of people telling him anyway."
Neville and Matilda both gave her a forced smile.
"What?" Rory asked.
"Just because you want to talk to him about the article doesn't mean you have to get back together with him or something," Matilda said.
"Well, I'd rather not talk to him, thanks," Rory said. "Pass on my congratulations if you talk to him."
Matilda let out a sigh. "I hate seeing you sad. This article is great, but I'd still like to knock Harry Potter in his head."
"Join the club," Rory replied. She looked down the table and saw that Umbridge was there. She snatched the copy of The Quibbler from Harry's hands. After reading for a few moments, she sent a glare at a rather smug-looking Harry. Good.
Umbridge deserved to be taken down a notch, especially by Harry. Rory was certain Umbridge would find a way to take this victory away from Harry, but at least he could enjoy it for now. People deserved to hear the truth.
Even if the person telling the truth was presently at the top of her list of people who upset her.
"Did you tell your dad?"
Rory looked over to Neville. "Sorry, what?"
"Did you tell your dad about Harry?" Neville repeated.
She sighed. "Not yet. Suppose I should do it since it's been a week."
"Why haven't you told him yet?" Matilda asked.
Because she didn't want to give everyone the satisfaction of being right about Harry. Because she didn't want her dad to be weird and feel sorry for her. Because Rory had been worried she might change her mind about Harry.
Mostly it was the latter.
"It doesn't matter. I'll write to him today. Have to tell him about the article anyway," Rory said. "Hopefully he'll be more concerned with that than the status of my relationship, or rather, lack thereof."
Matilda looked down the table toward Harry. "I still think you should-."
"I'm not talking to him," Rory said finally.
Matilda sighed.
"I'm gonna go show this to Seamus." She got up from her seat and walked away. Rory took a drink of her coffee and looked up at Neville.
"What is it?" Rory asked. "I don't want to talk to him."
"I wasn't going to say anything," Neville said innocently.
"You were giving me a look," Rory said.
"I'm not allowed to just look at you?" he asked.
"Not when you're mentally giving me a lecture about Harry or not talking to my dad," Rory said.
"You can't control what I do with my brain," Neville said. "I was just thinking-."
"Uh-huh," Rory started. Neville shushed her.
"About the DA," he went on.
Rory paused. She hadn't thought about the DA at all. She was the one who made up the lesson plans and tracked everyone's progress. Harry just executed the lessons. He was not nearly organized enough to do it on his own. And she couldn't just bail on the DA just because they'd broken up. Everyone still needed to learn.
"I'll figure it out," Rory said.
"You're still going to do it?" Neville asked.
"Have to. You want me to, right?" Rory asked.
"Need is more like it," he replied.
"Right. So I have to figure it out," she said.
Ron was experiencing the least amount of fallout from Harry's breakup with Rory. She'd had a friendly chat with him following Gryffindor's abysmal Quidditch loss. That aside, he sat beside her in History of Magic. Usually, he found himself struggling to stay awake during class but figured he'd need to now that he probably wouldn't be able to ask her for notes anymore. Hermione had already told them that Rory wasn't saying much more than "hello" and "goodbye" in the dorm.
So he was surprised when Rory slid a folded piece of parchment across the desk to him in class. Ron looked over to her.
"Can you do me a favor?" she whispered. "Give this to Harry?"
Ron was kind of stunned for a moment. He really didn't want to be the person who was passing notes between them.
"It's about the DA," she said.
Ron let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. He nodded. "Sure."
"I just… I don't want everyone else to suffer just because we… You know," Rory said. "It's the lesson plan."
"I'll give it to him," Ron said.
"Thanks," she said. She turned back to the front of the class to listen to Professor Binns's lecture. Ron felt like he should say something, but he didn't know what.
"I just thought you should know," Ron started, hopeful that his brain would figure out what else he was going to say as he moved his mouth. She looked over at him. "He feels really badly." Rory opened her mouth to speak but Ron shook his head. "I don't mean that to say that, like, you should get back together with him or something. We all knew things with the two of you were kind of-."
"Terrible," Rory said.
Ron nodded meekly. "But we all told him that even so, that was a really crap thing he did. I just mean that… I'm sorry."
Rory smiled and she looked a little misty-eyed. Ron had been looking at Harry being sad and mopey all week. Ron had been operating under the assumption that Rory was probably doing okay since she'd been the one who broke up with Harry, but clearly, she was doing about as well as he was.
"Thanks, Ron," she said. "You're a good friend."
He shrugged. "I try to be."
She gave him another weak smile before she returned to Binns's lecture.
"…You can still borrow my notes if you need them," Rory said without looking at him. "So you don't irritate Hermione."
Ron realized then, something he always knew but was only just now really realizing, that Rory was his friend. She wasn't just Harry's girlfriend who he always had to hang out with. He just liked hanging out with Rory. They were just friends.
Remus was rushing out of his flat that afternoon. He always had trouble getting his sleep cycle back on track after the full moon and he'd agreed to meet Sirius at Grimmauld over an hour ago. He was almost out the door when he saw an owl at his window. He quickly grabbed the letter in its beak before heading out. He recognized that it was from Rory so he assumed that whatever information was inside he was to share with Sirius as well.
When he got to Grimmauld, he was surprised to see Tonks there as well.
Since they'd had lunch together back in January, they'd had lunch again a few more times. And sometimes dinner. And then sometimes she would just come to visit at his flat after work. And they were definitely just friends. But the atmosphere between them was constantly feeling more and more intense to the point where it was hard to be around her, but also unbearable to not be around her.
"Hello, Remus," she said. She tapped the newspaper sitting in front of Sirius. "Have you read The Quibbler this month?"
"I don't think I can recall the last time I read Xenophillius Lovegood's paper," Remus said.
"Well, you should this month," Tonks said.
"'It's very interesting that the Ministry of Magic is putting so much effort into reforming Hogwarts, considering a member of their school board, Lucius Malfoy, is still actively a death eater,'" Sirius said, tears in his eyes, a grin on his face.
"What?" Remus asked.
"Harry gave an interview to The Quibbler. Though interview might be the wrong word. 'Tell-All' would be more accurate," Tonks said. "Says everything that happened in the graveyard, and talks about Sirius. Absolutely-."
"Brilliant," Sirius said gleefully.
"I was going to say reckless," Tonks said. "But, I kind of respect the chaotic energy he's exuding in the interview. I suppose you can only tolerate so much libel being printed about you in the paper. And after the breakout from Azkaban, people are skeptical. This interview is actually kind of genius and perfectly timed."
"I have a feeling this was the brainchild of Hermione," Remus said. "I'm sure Fudge is delighted."
"He's furious. And I've heard that even having a copy of this paper can get you expelled from Hogwarts," Tonks said.
"I thought I was proud when Aurora told Umbridge off at the beginning of the term, but I might frame this paper," Sirius said. "And I'm sure she's having a great day as well. He does go on about the unfairness of your leaving the school."
Remus nodded. He really did appreciate Harry coming to his defense, even if, at the end of the day, it wouldn't do anything.
Then he remembered his letter from Aurora.
He pulled it from his jacket and opened it as Tonks and Sirius continued discussing the paper.
Dad,
I've been trying to write this letter for literally a week. I'm sorry for the delay. I got the flu last week and was incapacitated and spent all weekend doing makeup work from the classes I missed. I didn't even really want to think about this, but I also knew I really wanted to tell you. But also it really sucks.
I broke up with Harry. It was so stupid. Valentine's Day ended up being a disaster and after that everything just kind of imploded. I don't really want to get into it. But it's over, We're over. I think I waited to write to you because I thought maybe I might change my mind or we might make up. But it's definitely not happening. I feel like a complete idiot.
So it's done. And it sucks. I feel like I should have a better word for it than "sucks," but I don't. I feel absolutely miserable. I think I spent the whole last week being sick and also crying. And I still have to sit next to him in Umbridge's class because she's evil and now I dread that class more than I have all year. Even when I don't have to be around him, most of the time I feel so sad that it might actually kill me.
I'm obviously not a fan of Harry Potter right now, but you guys are all the family he really has, so you know. Be nice to him still. Within reason obviously. But, basically, just leave him alone.
I can't wait to come home. I miss you.
Love,
Aurora
Remus read the letter over twice before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up at Tonks.
"Everything okay?" she asked.
"Sorry," he said. "Harry and Aurora broke up."
Tonks and Sirius gasped.
"Really? What happened?" Tonks asked.
"She didn't say," Remus said. "Just that Valentine's Day was a 'disaster.' That seems to be the nail in the coffin."
"Valentine's Day was a while ago," Sirius said.
"She said she'd put off writing to me for a week because she was afraid she might change her mind," Remus said.
"Poor thing," Tonks said. "I'm sure Harry isn't doing so great either."
"She specifically says to still be nice to him," Remus said.
"Weird he hasn't written about it," Sirius said.
"Yes, very weird that Harry hasn't written to either of you about your daughter breaking up with him. Can't imagine how he didn't send that," Tonks said, rolling her eyes.
"Alright, no need to be sassy," Sirius said.
"I'll check in on him," Remus said.
He did feel badly, for both of them. Mostly for Aurora, obviously. She was his daughter after all, and he was, admittedly, not a huge fan of Harry lately, just from hearing about the state of their relationship. But, at the same time, he did care very much for Harry, and Aurora was right. He had no one else.
"How is she?" Tonks asked.
"She said 'most of the time I feel so sad that it might actually kill me.' So not great," Remus replied. He hated to think of his daughter feeling that way. He knew heartbreak was essentially an inevitable part of life, of growing up, of being a teenager. But he still wished he'd been able to keep her safe from it, or at least be there for her when she felt it for the first time.
"I remember when Charlie broke up with me. I definitely felt like that would kill me," Tonks said. "Aurora's a tough girl. She'll get through it."
Sirius sighed. "I was really rooting for them... I'm sure wherever James is, he's also lamenting this."
"And Lily will be rolling her eyes all the way into the back of her head because even in death she cannot escape your dramatics," Remus replied.
"But that's why she loved me," Sirius said.
