The Boys Are Back

Ila spent the next half an hour staring at Salman Khan on her ceiling. He smiled effortlessly at her.

"Oh, piss off," Ila muttered angrily at the picture. The more she thought about the entire situation the more she became annoyed. How was it that she hadn't gotten a single congratulations from anyone? She managed to defeat two Dementors, one of them nearly sucking the soul out of her. Mr. Weasley's letter only came ten minutes or so after the first, so word would have gotten around pretty quickly that she used magic.

What the fuck were they even doing here?

The voice in the back of her head piper up.

She knew why they were here. She knew who told them to come here and get rid of her soul.

The sound of plates crashing onto the floor startled Ila out of her thoughts. She immediately grabbed her wand. She debated if she should go down. This is how people in those muggle horror movies die. Would she really be that stupid? Another crash, this time voices followed after it echoing through the silent house.

It must have been Death Eaters.

Or Sisters.

Maybe even Voldemort.

This part of his plan wasn't it?

For the Dementors to come and attack Ishani and make sure the Varma's were gone. Easy to kidnap Ila...

She had to go.

Even if this was her last moment, she was going to be the Gryffindor that she was and die like a hero. Ila counted to ten, before walking to the door.

Her hand was about to turn the knob when she heard another crash and quickly ran back to her bed.

She couldn't do it.

You know what, who cares if she didn't die a hero? People would give her the benefit of the doubt considering this was the same man that –

"You're a bloody idiot Tonks, do you know that?"

Perhaps it was a coincidence that Voldemort suddenly grew a wooden leg and sounded exactly like Moody, Ila thought as the sound of a wooden leg grew louder.

"Oh piss off Moody," a familiar woman's voice said. "You're only saying that because you're annoyed that I passed. Don't think I don't remember you failing me all the time-"

"Tonks," another male said. This one was different, it was softer and more tired. Ila was now out of her bed and once again walked to her door, this time the grip on her wand looser. This could still be a trap. Maybe Him and His Death Eaters used Polyjuice Potion. That's what Barty Crouch Jr did last year and he killed his father and nearly Ila. "Moody's right. You'll scare Ila away with the amount of noise. Besides, we're here to collect her without anyone noticing."

"The Varma's aren't here. They already left."

"Yes, but there was a chance that they didn't."

"But they did."

"Tonks, I don't think you-"

Ila opened the door.

She was greeted by Remus Lupin arguing with a woman with brightly coloured hair that looked all too familiar. They stopped mid-sentence and turned to Ila. Moody was there behind them. Ila was too shocked to do…anything really. This was the first time she had seen anyone.

"Hello Ila," Remus said gently, like talking to a frightened animal.

"Professor Lupin," she said under her breath.

"Wotcher Ila," the woman said, pushing her hand out to shake. Ila stared at the hand and wondered why she couldn't bring hers. "I'm Tonks, but we've met before I'm pretty sure. Yeah, I remember you were running down the hallway – I'm pretty sure it was right before the Third Tas…" Tonk's sentence stopped abruptly with a look from Remus.

"We're here to pick you up," Remus said swiftly.

"If you didn't hear already," Moody said snarkily. Tonks tutted but didn't say anything. "Go and take her things you two, I'll be downstairs. You" – Moody pointed to Ila – "come with me."

"We'll see you downstairs," Remus whispered to Ila as he and Tonks went into her room.

She followed Moody downstairs to find three more wizards standing, idly checking out of her living room. For some reason, Ila felt the need to fix a few things up, move that newspaper, straighten that pillow.

"Why are you here to pick me up?" Ila asked after she was introduced to the three wizards. "Is this about the trial? Sirius and Mr. Weasley told me to not leave."

"They seemed to have forgotten to tell you it was because we were going to pick you up," Moody replied. Upstairs, Ila could hear the muffled argument between Remus and Tonks. Getting tired of their bickering, Moody lifted his cane up and hit the ceiling.

"Knock it off you two!"

The bickering soon stopped.

"But why? Where are you taking me?"

"Dumbledore's orders," Kinglsey, one of the new wizards said. "He thought it would be better to have a closer eye on you during the trial."

"Dumbledore sent you?"

"Who else would?"

Was she going to see him tonight? The stomps above her stopped as Remus and Tonks came down the stairs with Ila's belongings in hand. Tonks' hair was suddenly red while Remus had a pinkish tinge to his lips. Gross. Ila didn't want to think about what they were doing in her own room.

Merlin, does she ever get any privacy?

"Are we going to the Weasleys?" Ila asked, watching Remus and Tonks warily.

"You'll only stay for the night with them before you and the Weasley move to someplace…safer," Kingsley explained.

"You do know that I didn't do it on purpose. There were a bunch of Dementors that - "

"Course we know that lassie," Moody said gruffily. "We're not like the eejits at the Ministry."

Whilst he didn't sound comforting, Ila still felt a bit of relief that there were people on her side. That believed her about Voldemort.

However, she wondered what convinced them. Dumbledore would've easily told them about what happened to her.

Suddenly, she didn't Dumbledore's help.

"We should get going soon," Kingsley said, checking his watch.

The group of adults lead the way out with Ila following them. She bet Dumbledore was loving this. Ila making a mistake and him having to save her. Merlin, how did she ever like him?

As she stood on the driveway, Ila glanced at Mrs. Figg's house. There was one thought that crossed her mind. How could Dumbledore have known to send Mrs. Figg here before her parents died?

Maybe he knew from the beginning, a thought popped from her subconscious.

OK, Dumbledore's a bitch but he's not horrible…

"Right," Moody said, moving to the front. "All of Potter's belongings there?"

Ila saw the two packed trunks and empty owl cage.

"Yep," Remus said, looking at Ila momentarily. She sensed that it was because she hadn't unpacked. Everything was still left in her trunks, never being touched through the summer.

She thought it would help the summer go faster.

It didn't help but at that point, she didn't have enough energy to unpack.

"How are we getting there?" Ila asked, a sudden worry taking over her muscles, as they twitched uncounciously. "Are we going by – by Portkey?"

"Too inconvenient and loud," Kingsley said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And no, we're not going to apparate," he quickly added.

"So then how - "

"Here yous go," Moody said, shoving a broomstick to each person. Where the fuck did those come from? "Potter, you ride with Tonks."

"I ride fine by myself," Ila said, too harshly. Moody looked back to Ila just as he handed to last broomstick to Kingsley.

"I'm sure you do lass," Moody said, taking no offence. "There's just not enough."

Stepping back into line with a red, or at least red as she can get face, Tonks stood by her side.

With a soft smile, she said, "Hop on, Ila."

Ila always loved the feeling of flying.

It was only one of the reasons why she kept with Quidditch, even with Wood's horrible, horrible training. Waking up at 5 a.m. just to run around in the rain for an hour and being forbidden to fall asleep on the off chance that they would get hypothermia, which wasn't allowed before a game, wasn't really how Ila liked spending her weekends.

But the moment she got on the broom, all the pain, all the worry, everything swept past her.

The only thing she could concentrate on was flying.

Her favourite thing to do was to fly as high as she could until everything was silent. Until the only thing she could hear was the blood rushing around her head, trying to get as much oxygen to her brain. When you're that far up, nothing feels real. Ila's mind wasn't hers, her body wasn't hers, her life wasn't hers. Nothing was about her when she was up in the sky.

After years of being defined by that name and story and that mark on her head, she was truly happy.

When Ila watched the city of London sweep past her, she felt nothing. If anything, she felt the most like her. She was reminded that if she didn't do something soon, this city, this country, even this world wouldn't be here. She had no idea when it would be. She had no idea how.

It was just a thought, and she shouldn't be scared of thoughts, but, she glanced down at her hands wrapped around Tonks.

And she wondered what would happen if she just let…

"We're here," Tonks said softly, as their feet touched the ground. Ila looked up to see the familiar tower of the house the Weasleys'.

It would have seemed like no one else had arrived if she hadn't seen her trunks and owl cage at the front of the door.

"I'll see you soon," Tonks said quickly before taking off. Ila watched her until she disappeared, probably joining the rest of the people who came with her.

It was a strange combination of people that took her.

Ila checked the time on her watch, seeing that it was 11. She wondered if anyone was even awake.

Maybe she should wait until the morning.

Just as she was about to take her belongings away from the door, she was stopped by –

"I knew it was you!" Ron exclaimed, as he swung open the door and launched himself at Ila. Considering she could barely hold up the weight of her own cousin, a growing Ron wasn't going to end well.

"You're crushing…you're crushing my ribs, Ron," Ila managed to sputter from the ground. Ron rolled over, giving Ila the chance to finally breathe.

"What took you so long?" he asked, getting up and giving Ila a hand. She took it before the two grabbed her belongings and brought them inside.

"It wasn't my fault – I was with other people," she said, stepping inside. She could smell the remnants of Mrs Weasley's cooking from the evening.

"Like who?"

"I don't know, it was Moody, Remus, some woman called Tonks, another guy called -" Ila was interrupted by Mrs Weasley, who greeted her.

"Oh, Ila! I thought it was you!" Mrs Weasley said kindly, pulling her into a tight hug. Any jealousy Ila had was washed away as she wrapped her arms around Mrs Weasley, who felt significantly smaller.

"Are you guys done?" Ron said.

Mrs Weasley shook her head at Ila knowingly, before ushering them into the kitchen where

Hermione and Ginny were both waiting anxiously.

Just like Ron, the two leapt and hugged her, this time, managing to stay on her feet.

What was about people leaping at her? Was she wearing a sign?

"I thought something happened," Hermione whispered for the two to hear, "What happened?"

"Where do you want me to start?" Ila replied. The three broke apart and Mrs Weasley sat Ila down and placed a bowl of Shepherd's Pie in front of her.

Before Ila could even take a bite of her pie, Ron nabbed a bite to Mrs Weasley's dismay.

"Ron!" Mrs Weasley scolded, hitting her son lightly. "That was not for you. You already had your bowl."

"I'm a growing boy, Mum," Ron said, flexing his muscles, which to Ila's surprise had grown. What had everyone been up to? "You barely gave me anything. It's like we're in World War Two and we have to go back to rationing food!"

While it wasn't obvious, something had shifted in Mrs Weasley. Gone was the playfulness and instead, it was replaced with the same anxiety that had been eating away at her for the entire summer.

"I'll be in the other room waiting for your father," Mrs Weasley said quietly, leaving the room swiftly.

"Go on," Ginny said, the three friends taking seats around Ila, the moment the kitchen door closed. "What's been going on?"

Sleepless nights, constant fear that Voldemort was going to take her away, the other constant fear that the end of the world was near and she was the cause of it, the nightmares of the Sisters cutting her open and summoning even more creatures…

"Not much," Ila said, taking a bite. "I've been stuck in the house all day."

"What about the Varmas?" Ron asked, taking another spoonful of the pie. "Have they been giving you more trouble?"

"Nah, I've been keeping out of their way mostly."

"Do you they know?" Ginny asked. "About the whole - "

"Yep," Ila said, exaggerating the 'p'. "I think my auntie knows, but…I mean she's the only one that would understand…then again my cousin…she's been acting pretty weird."

"How?"

"It's the whole reason everything happened today," Ila began to explain. "Long story short, my auntie and uncle and my cousin are moving to Australia, which was a complete shock to Ishani - "

"Wait, wait, they're moving to Australia?" Ron asked. "Don't tell me they're taking you too."

Ila shook her head, to see the relief on his face. "They've wanted to get rid of me for years. They wouldn't pass up that opportunity."

"Where are you going to stay then?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, you can stay here!" Ginny said excitedly. "You can stay for the whole summer next year."

If the world doesn't end by then, Ila thought darkly.

"I wouldn't mind that. Anyway, my auntie and uncle were telling me about how I wouldn't come with them and my cousin blew up on them. Like she telling them that they were horrible parents and relatives for leaving me behind. When I tell you I thought she was possessed by a jinn or something."

"I guess some people don't realise what's good until they won't have it anymore," Hermione said.

"True that," Ginny said, eyeing the pie. Ila gave her, her own spoon, wondering how much food Mrs Weasley was giving them.

"She shouts at them before dragging me out to the park with her and we end up talking about stuff. It was weird how nice she was to me. She was asking about Hogwarts and even about my friends."

"Did you tell her that you didn't have any?" Ron joked.

"I actually told them that there was this annoying ginger that keeps on stalking me and thinks I'm friends with him," Ila replied.

Ron tutted, spooning another mouthful of pie. "What a weirdo."

"Anyway we talked and…did you guys have a storm here?"

The three shook their heads.

"It's been a bit cloudy but definantly not any storm."

"Weird…" Ila said. "Right, there was a storm and we took shelter under this tunnel and all of a sudden my cousin punched me and…basically, there were a bunch of Dementors there. They made my cousin unconscious but I used my patronus and then they left but…"

"Demontors?" Hermione exclaimed. "What on earth were they doing there?"

"Fuck if know," Ila said, though the voice in the back of her head piped up again.

"Do you think it's cos of…You Know Who?" Ron asked.

Ila shrugged.

"It might not be," Ginny said. "It could be that…I don't know if they got lost or something."

"From Azkaban?" Ron asked, raising a brow.

"I'm not a Demontor expert am I?" she sighed, holding her hands up.

"Is that why you're here?" Hermione asked. "For protection?"

"Maybe…I don't know when I asked…basically Moody, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley – I don't know if you know those two - "

"Yeah we do," Ginny said. "Well, we know Tonks. She's an Auror."

"Wait seriously?" Ila said, remembering the amount of noise she was making. Not that Ila was mad about it.

"That's what I said but apparently she graduated top of her class," Ginny replied.

"Weird…you know her and Remus were making out? In my room!" Ila said.

"Go on my boy!" Ron cheered.

All three girls stared at him.

"He was our professor, Ron," Ila said disgusted.

"Not anymore," Ron sang. "Besides, the man's gone through enough. Shouldn't we be happy that he's finally gotten with someone?"

"You make it sound like he's undatable," Hermione defended.

"It's not cos of the werewolf thing," Ron quickly said.

"Wow Ron, you hate werewolves?" Ginny said, shaking her head. "I don't think we can be siblings anymore."

"Yeah, unfortunately, all of my friends have to like werewolves," Ila said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's actually a part of my list."

"Ok tell your list to fuck off," Ron grumbled, "and I'm not saying it like that...it's just...he's a bit worn out y'know..."

"Some girls might like that worn-out look," Hermione said.

"Sounds like you're one of them, Mione," Ila teased.

"Oh my merlin, please don't tell me you had a crush on him!" Ginny said shocked.

"It was only during third year," Hermione said before covering her face with her hands.

"Are you jealous now?" Ginny said, patting her shoulder.

"Can you shut up!" Hermione sighed before asking Ila to continue.

"Well...yeah I asked them about it, and they just said that Dumbledore wanted to keep a closer eye on me. It might also be cos I'm going to be on trial."

"HUH?" Ron said, his eyes bulging out, completely forgetting about Hermione's embarrassment. Even Hermione was over her embarrassment. "For what? For using magic?"

Ila nodded.

"But you were literally doing it to protect yourself," Ron said. "Isn't that good enough?"

"I don't think the Ministry's tracking system is that nuanced," Hermione said before explaining, "Every wizard under the age of seventeen has the Trace on them. It's like a magical tracking device that registers every time that you do magic so that it cases where magic out of school happens…but it doesn't register which spell you do, only that you've done it."

"You're telling me we have magical tracking devices?" Ron said. "How the fuck do I get it out? I don't want the Ministry to know everything I do."

"You lost it after seventeen and for the most part, it's not that bad," Hermione said.

"Yeah, what've you got to hide?" Ginny said.

"Nothing."

"Definantly not suspicious," Ginny said, narrowing her eyes.

"At least I don't sneak off to the forest to meet Dean!" Ron said, sticking his tongue out to the shock of Ginny.

"OK," Ila said, unsure of how to change the conversation,"…I dunno, I think…Dumbledore'll probably do something about the trial. Oh, speaking of…do you guys know what's going on?"

"About what?"

"Y'know…the whole…Voldemort and the ministry and wizarding society knowing…"

All three shook their heads.

"We've been banned from talking about it by mum," Ron said. "But tomorrow, we're all moving somewhere else. Apparently, it's not safe for us here and…remember that group I was telling you guys about, the one that Dad was on about. Apparently, they're going to be there tomorrow. The wizards that picked you were probably from that group."

"Do you think Dumbledore will be there?" Ila asked.

"What're you going to do if he is?"

"Nothing…I'll just ask him what the fuck was wrong with him telling everyone about what happened when I specifically told him," Ila said hotly before realising that it was friends in front of her and not him. "…Sorry."

"It's OK Ila!"

"ARGH!"

With a loud crack, Fred and George appeared on either side of Ila.

"Can you stop fucking doing that?" Ginny yelled at her brothers, trying to hit them. Ila slowed down her breathing, trying to push away the images of that night…the crack of thunder, the Sister's chants, the –

No, no, no, no. Not in front of them.

"Just cos you're jealous," Fred said, sticking out his tongue before moving to Ila. "Anyway, don't be sorry. You shouldn't bottle up your feelings."

"Yeah," George agreed, "let it out for the whole world to hear. And Dumbledore."

"What do you guys want?" Ron sighed.

"We're just hear to comfort our favourite person in the entire world," Fred said, patting her head.

"Just cos I gave the prize money doesn't mean I should be your favourite person," Ila mumbled, her guilt slowly crawling up her throat. Her pie no longer looked appetising.

"Alright fine, you got us, you're not our favourite person," George replied. "We actually really hate you. Every time we see you, we want to throw - "

"Get to the point," Ginny said.

They cleared their throats before Fred started, "Well, since Ila's here now, we just thought it would be a good idea to go to Angelina's house party."

"Really?" Ron exclaimed, sitting up.

"When?" Hermione asked.

"Now," they both said.

"Now?" she repeated.

"Now."

"But why?" Hermione asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" George said, cocking his head towards Fred. "Besides, it's a party. Why wouldn't you want to go?"

"Yeah, but how are we going to get there past mum and dad?" Ginny said. "Besides, with the whole…thing going on, they're going to be worse. She won't even let us go to the corner shop anymore."

"Well, that's where our favourite person in the entire world comes in," Fred said, smiling at Ila.

"Me?" she asked. "What makes you think I want to come to this party?"

"Get your mind off things, snog a few lads, maybe even - "

"Nope. I'm not doing it," she said, standing up.

"Oh c'mon, Ila. We won't stay there for long," George begged.

"Besides, don't you want to help a fella out here," Fred said. "I just need to talk to her."

Ila had already left the table.

"Please Ila, it'll do you some good," Fred added.

She turned around and stared at the two boys. She glanced at her friends too. It didn't look like they really wanted to go either, barring Ron, who looked absolutely thrilled that they were getting invited to a seventh-year's party. Sensing this, George quickly added –

"Dean Thomas'll be there."

Ginny went bright red in the face before, in a quiet voice said, "I don't care about him."

Though, when she faced Ila, a pair of pleading eyes locked onto hers.

"See? Everyone wants to go," Fred said. "Let's go. We'll have fun."

"I don't want to go," Hermione said.

"It's four against one, Hermione," George retorted. "Please, Ila."

She sighed. "If you think I'm going to go to this stupid party when I've gone through a stressful - "

"Mrs Weasley?"

"Come in Ila."

Ila opened the door to see Mrs Weasley sitting by the window, stopping her from knitting the beginnings of a jumper. She closed the door quickly so that Mrs Weasley couldn't see her children waiting patiently by the door. Ila walked to the window seat and took a seat.

"How was the food? Was it good? I didn't add too much salt did I? Ron always tells me it's a bit salty - "

"It was good Mrs Weasley, thank you," Ila swallowed before watching out of the window. The view outside the window were fields upon fields. Nothing in sight.

"You know, when me and Arthur were looking at houses at the beginning, I hated this one. I hated how clunky it looked and how…unstable it was. I thought this could never be a house fit for a family. There was a small little bungalow that I wanted in south London. But do you know what convinced me?"
Ila glanced at her.

"I was heavily pregnant at the time with Bill, so I couldn't really go upstairs. I sat in this very spot and waited for Arthur to be done with the tour of the house so that we could go. I remember just sitting here and…watching the outside. I saw the constant back and forth of the grass. The sun was shining ever so brightly. The sky was completely blue and I just thought…it was this house. This was the house that I wanted to raise our kids in. None of the others…I had never felt so calm as I had been sitting there. While the house probably caused more chaos than the kids…I still had this spot that I could go back to," Mrs Weasley smiled.

"It is a nice view," Ila said.

"How are you feeling Ila?" Mrs Weasley asked, ever so quietly. It had hit something in Ila. She hadn't realised that this was probably the first time since the end of fourth year that someone had asked. In fact, it was probably Mrs Weasley who was the last person that asked her about how she was feeling. A hot tear rolled down, leaving a burning sensation in its trail. She quickly wiped it away.

"Are you sleeping?" she asked.

Ila looked out at the window. The image of Voldemort's red eyes reflected back to her. His lips moved up as he smiled, showing the two rows of yellow teeth. He was going to say something. Maybe it was a killing curse – no. That's too merciful. Maybe it's –

"I don't know if this will cheer you up, but tomorrow, we're going to No. 12 Grimmauld Place. I don't know how much the others have told you but…Sirius will be there."

She looked at Mrs Weasley.

"Sirius? He's here?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Mrs Weasley nodded. "It was his idea to move all of us to his house. So, make sure you have enough sleep. We'll be going very early. Ok?"

Ila nodded, before standing up and heading towards the door.

"Goodnight Ila."

"Goodnight Mrs Weasley," she said before opening the door. As soon as she closed the door, she was bombarded by a bunch of redheads who were patiently waiting for her.

"So?" George asked. "What did she say?"

Oops.

"I forgot to ask," Ila cringed.

She was met by a cacophony of groans.

"You literally had one job, Ila," Fred sighed.

"You're not our favourite person anymore," George added.

"I'm sorry that I got emotional," Ila replied quickly.

"What're we going to do now?" Ginny said, trying her best not to sound desperate or annoyed.

"Not go?" Hermione tried.

Fred imitated the sound of a buzzer. "Incorrect answer. C'mon, we'll just sneak out anyway."

"We should've just done that in the first place," Ron groaned.

The Weasley siblings headed upstairs, leaving the two girls standing.

"Are they seriously doing all of this for a party?" Hermione groaned. "Do you want to go?"

If they go to the party, that means Ila doesn't have to sleep for another few hours. Less sleep, less time she gets…

"It might be fun."

Hermione groaned once more before taking Ila's hand and the two walked up the stairs.