Rory was in the best mood after having lunch with Tonks. They walked into Grimmauld Place laughing and joking. It was nice to have her around. She was so easy to talk to. She was always so honest with Rory and she treated Rory, for the most part, like an adult.
She immediately sensed Tonks's unease as they got to the dining room door. There was nothing Rory could do but give Tonks a reassuring smile as she pulled open the door.
They both stopped in their tracks when they saw Dumbledore sitting at the table with her dad.
"Professor," Rory said, "hello."
"Hello," Dumbledore replied. "Did you enjoy your lunch?"
"Yes," Tonks said.
"Do I need to go to my room?" Rory asked, assuming a meeting was about to happen. She wanted to be as far from Order business as possible.
"No, no. Please, sit. I was wanting to speak to you," Dumbledore said.
Rory looked to her dad, hoping he would give her an out, but he ushered her to sit. Dumbledore had told him whatever Rory was about to hear. She sat across from Dumbledore.
"You'll want to stay too, Tonks," Dumbledore said.
Tonks took the seat beside her.
"Nothing to be worried about," Dumbledore chuckled. "I'm asking a favor."
"From me?" Rory asked.
"I'm sure that is surprising to you," Dumbledore said. "I know you are not my biggest fan."
That was the polite way to put it, Rory thought. She felt she was already doing Dumbledore a favor by not trying to talk Harry out of helping him with Slughorn.
"What do you want?" Rory asked.
"There's a student I'm concerned about. I think he'll need some extra looking after," Dumbledore said. "Someone to help keep him on a good path."
"Like a mentor?" Rory asked.
"A friend," Dumbledore said.
"You want me to be friends with someone?" Rory asked. Dumbledore nodded. "That doesn't sound too bad, as long as it's not like Draco Malfoy or something."
"It is Draco Malfoy," Dumbledore said.
Rory immediately rose to her feet. "Well, this has been a fun, hypothetical conversation."
"Sit down," Remus commanded her.
Rory dropped back into her seat. "I'm not going to be friends with Draco Malfoy. His dad literally tried to kill me. And also Draco sucks."
Remus looked exasperated already, but Rory wasn't going to back down.
"Draco Malfoy has the opportunity to be better than his parents," Dumbledore said.
Rory frowned, but she agreed, Draco was allowed to have the opportunity to not be a piece of shit.
"And what do we get out of Draco being my friend?" Rory asked.
"One less Death Eater in the world," Dumbledore said. "And one less family member for you to worry over."
Draco sucked. But was he irremediable? Now that Lucius was in jail, maybe Draco might not be the worst.
"What would Voldemort want with Draco anyway?" Rory asked. "If his dad didn't manage to get the job done, why would he think his 16-year-old son would be more competent?"
"He doesn't. I think Voldemort wants Draco to fail at whatever task he gives him," Dumbledore said.
Rory opened her mouth to comment again but stopped. If Voldemort was giving Draco a task he couldn't possibly complete then he wasn't doing it for Draco or to get anything out of it. If he wanted Draco to fail, he wanted to punish Draco. To punish Lucius for his failure.
But if Draco got pulled out of that world, if he got away from Voldemort? It might save Draco's life.
Rory groaned. "I don't want to be friends with Draco Malfoy."
"But do you want him dead?" Remus asked. Rory paused, thinking it over. He frowned at her. "Aurora Delphine Lupin!"
"Of course, I don't want him dead, Dad," she grumbled. "That doesn't mean I have to like helping him."
"You have to make an attempt," Remus said.
"Even if he's a jerk?" Rory asked.
"Especially if he's a jerk," Remus said.
She rolled her eyes and then looked to Dumbledore. "I am doing this out of my moral obligation to be a good person. I cannot promise you results."
"I understand that, and I thank you," Dumbledore said. "I think you'll be glad that you did this."
"I hope so or this is all going to be very annoying," Rory replied. She looked to Tonks. "At least you don't ask me annoying favors."
"Yes, how was your chat?" Dumbledore asked.
"Tonks convinced me to leave profanity out of my letter to the Minister of Magic when I tell him to leave me alone," Rory said.
"I appreciate your restraint," Remus replied. He looked to Tonks and Rory held her breath. "And I appreciate your guidance."
"I try," Tonks replied simply, barely looking in Remus' direction. She turned to Rory and smiled. "Thankfully, she can be very agreeable when she wants to be."
"Wow, I don't think anyone has ever called me agreeable," Rory said.
"I wouldn't count on getting that compliment very often," Tonks said. "But try to be agreeable when you're befriending Draco Malfoy."
"I'll send you and Dad weekly updates so you can see me trying my best in real-time," Rory said.
She was surprised when she saw all three people at the table exchange glances. Rory looked quickly to her dad who was looking everywhere but at her.
Something was the matter. Of course there was.
"Aurora, I'll thank you for having this chat with me today. I appreciate it," Dumbledore said. "I'll see you at the start of term."
"I'll walk you out, Professor," Tonks said getting to her feet. "Lovely seeing you today Aurora. Remus."
Dumbledore and Tonks walked from the room and Rory looked to her dad.
"Well that was a strange departure," she said.
Remus sighed and sat back in his chair. "What is it you think I'm going to tell you right now?"
"Something I'm not going to like," Rory said. "You made Dumbledore uncomfortable and that man is unflappable."
Remus thought for a moment, putting his words together in a way that would be honest, and also minimize how upset it would make Rory. He'd become somewhat of an expert at delivering bad news these last few years.
"I'm going to be unreachable for part of the school year. Just until the Christmas holiday," Remus said.
"Unreachable? Like, I won't even be able to write you?" she asked. He nodded. Rory had never been out of touch with her dad. She hadn't written to him as often last year because her mail was being watched and she'd been kind of a brat in general. But her dad was always accessible. If she needed him she could always reach out to him and he'd be there.
The longest she'd ever gone without communicating with her dad was maybe two weeks. This would be over three months without hearing from him.
"If you run into any trouble, obviously, Sirius will be around," Remus said.
"I practically take care of myself, Dad. I don't imagine I'll need anything. I just…" Rory paused. "You're my dad. Am I just not supposed to talk to you?"
"Most teenagers would be delighted to not hear from their father for months at a time," Remus said.
"I'm not most teenagers," she said. "Why are you going to be unreachable anyway? Are you going somewhere?"
"I'm going to be doing some work for the Order," Remus said. She nodded, urging him to continue. That wasn't a sufficient answer for her. "I'm going to be with a pack of werewolves, one that Voldemort and his companions have been zeroing in on. Trying to keep them from turning to his side."
Rory's heart stopped. "That sounds incredibly dangerous."
"It could be," Remus admitted.
"I'm not a fan of this idea. I mean, I know you're the only werewolf in the Order, but it still feels unfair for Dumbledore to ask you to do this," she said.
Remus shook his head. "Dumbledore did not ask me to do this."
Rory raised an eyebrow. "You mean… Did you volunteer for this? This was your idea?"
"I want to be able to help the Order any way I can," he said.
"Even if it means you have to risk not coming back?" Rory asked.
"Of course, I'm going to come back," Remus said. "Things are going to be okay. I promise."
Rory shook her head. "I don't like it. Not one bit. Can't you get out of it?"
"Aurora, that's unreasonable," Remus said.
"I think your 16-year-old daughter fearing for your safety is a perfectly good reason to walk this back," Rory said.
"I'll have to be honest, I'm a little surprised at this reaction," he said.
Rory scoffed. "You wouldn't let me walk off and do something dangerous, would you? Do you think I should just not care because you're the adult? I still care about you risking your life. And not being able to be in touch with anyone? What if you just don't come back?"
"Aurora, that's not going to happen," he said.
"No one expected Mr. Weasley to get attacked at the Ministry and no one saw Emmeline being murdered coming either. Matilda's parents are dead. You can't just say everything is going to be fine because things are very not fine lately," Rory said.
"Aurora, please trust me," Remus said.
Rory rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "Whatever. You're going to do it anyway. You're not going to change your mind. I'm not going to bother having this conversation with you."
She didn't listen as she walked out of the dining room and went down the hall to her room. She slammed the door shut, hoping her dad would take the hint and leave her alone for a while.
She laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Rory knew that as she got older, inevitably, she would stop seeing her dad as perfect. But lately, he just seemed like an idiot. Why would he volunteer to do something so dangerous? She was his kid. She'd been sick about the prospect of being taken away from him.
Rory loved Sirius. At this point in her life, she might throw a similar fit if Sirius tried to do something like skip off into danger and be unreachable. But Sirius was reckless and impulsive. It was the kind of thing you'd expect from him.
But Remus was supposed to be sensible and down to earth. He thought things through. He had thought this through, obviously, but was not taking any additional input, even from his child. It almost felt like he was intentionally running away.
Rory sat up. Was he running away? He wouldn't run away from Rory. There was something else. Sirius? Tonks?
It didn't matter. If she confronted him about it, he would turn her away. There was no point in bringing it up.
She fell back on her bed again and let out a deep breath. She was so upset about her dad she almost didn't have the energy to be mad at the Minister of Magic. But there was nothing she could do about her dad. She could do something about the Minister.
Harry heard his name faintly. He was nearly asleep and thought maybe he'd dreamed it at first. But then he heard it again. He sat up and grabbed the mirror from his bedside and scrambled to put his glasses on. He could barely see her in the dark.
"Rory?" he said.
"Are you alone?" she asked.
Ron snored from his spot on the floor. Harry chuckled. "Might as well be. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she said. "I couldn't sleep. I've had an afternoon."
Rory told Harry about her lunch with Tonks, and then her conversation with Dumbledore and then her Dad, followed by an uncomfortably silent dinner.
Harry didn't like when Rory and her dad were arguing and things had been strained with the two of them all summer. She'd practically started crying when she told him about her dad's assignment, and how worried she was.
But Harry understood a little bit about what Remus was doing. Wasn't Harry trying to do anything and everything he could to help the Order? Even if it was dangerous? Maybe her dad did not have great reasons for doing this, but was it such a bad thing?
Rory, as always, was very blunt.
"I don't care if it's the right thing to do. I'd rather he be home and safe and not risking his neck," she said. "Maybe that's selfish, but I don't care. I don't want anything bad happening to him any more than he'd want something to happen to me. He's my dad."
It didn't have to be rational. Rory loved her dad and that was enough of a reason for him to not do this.
"Maybe you should try talking to him again," Harry said.
Rory shrugged. "What's the use? He won't listen to me. Won't listen to anyone. Of course, when I don't listen to people I'm being 'obstinate' and 'reckless.' Can you imagine anyone slapping that moniker on my dad?"
"Depends on which one," Harry said.
Rory managed a chuckle and then shook her head. "Never imagined that I'd see the day where Sirius was the reasonable one."
Harry nodded. He remembered sitting in the common room last year, telling Sirius not to come to Hogsmeade because he could get into trouble. Sirius had told him the risk was what would've made it fun. Perhaps what happened at the Ministry was a wake-up call for him to be at least a little more cautious, a little less reckless.
"Even if you can't convince him," Harry said, "you should still talk to him. If you're not going to see him for a while, you don't want to leave it like this."
Rory nodded slowly in agreement. "You're right… Going to be stupid and awkward though."
"You should work on having hard conversations with other people, not just me," Harry said.
"I love this new, insightful version of you, but I also strongly dislike him," Rory said.
Harry smiled at her. "Try to get some sleep, Fish."
"I will as soon as I finish writing my letter to the Minister of Magic," Rory said.
"Doing it all in one go?" Harry asked.
She shook her head. "This is my third draft. I told Tonks I wouldn't use profanity, but she would also probably request that I stop calling government officials 'idiots' even when they're clearly being idiots."
"I love you and your honesty," he said.
"I love you too," she said. She blew him a kiss and then she was gone from the glass. Harry could almost swear that he felt the warm press of her lips against his cheek.
Rory wasn't surprised when her dad seemed cautious the next morning. He was just sitting breakfast on the table, her French press was waiting to be pressed at her chair. There was also a parcel sitting at the end of the table.
"Hope that's to your liking," he said.
"You're the only one who always makes it right," she said, because it was true and because she wanted to offer the proverbial olive branch. She walked over to the pot and slowly pressed it. She nodded to the package. "What's that?"
"It's yours," he said. "I ordered it for you while we were in Hogsmeade. You can open it in your room."
Rory was confused by this but didn't push it. She had more important things to talk about this morning. She finished pressing the coffee and then poured it into a mug. She sat down at her plate and eyed the package again.
"Trust me," he said. "You'll want to open it in your room."
Rory was definitely weirded out now but decided not to dwell on it again.
"Yesterday I was kind of…" she paused and rethought her words. She did not want to take the blame for this. "I still don't want you to go. And I don't think I'll change my mind about that, but since you are going can you just… Promise if you ever get the chance to write, just to say you're okay… Can you?"
Remus nodded. "Absolutely."
"And maybe try not to do anything else like this again," she added. "Maybe you don't care what happens to you, but I do."
She could see the sadness in his eyes. But he nodded. "Of course."
Rory got up from her seat and walked over and hugged her dad. "I love you, Dad."
"I love you too, sweetie," he said. He kissed her temple and she returned to her seat.
Breakfast almost felt normal, except the subject was now an elephant in the room. To maintain the peace, they couldn't talk about it. But that was fine. She was going to properly scold him when he got back. Right now, she did not want to be angry with him. She did not want to go back to school and then maybe never see him again.
After breakfast, Rory took her package to her room and got dressed for the day. She suspected she would not see Harry today. But that was fine. If she really wanted, she would talk to him in the mirror again tonight and was willing to endure their chat being eavesdropped on by Hermione and Ron. School was going to start soon and she'd get to see him every day.
She saw the package on her bed and was reminded of her letter to the Minister. She'd also penned one to Matilda, who she hadn't heard from. She wanted to check in with her before school started if Matilda even started the term with the rest of them. Rory couldn't imagine being able to function if her dad died. Either of them.
The Order was now taking up residence in the dining room, so Rory sat the letters aside and turned her attention back to the package. Her dad had told her it was something she'd need to take to school. She didn't know why he was so bent on her opening it in her room.
She pulled off the brown packaging and saw it was a small wooden box, a much smaller version of the one she kept her potion's ingredients in at school. In fact, the box had the name of the same apothecary on its side.
Rory lifted the lid on the box. There was a small sheet of parchment on top of a set of 24 small glass vials containing a dull-looking pink liquid. Rory picked up the parchment and read it over:
Healer Bethel Firethorn's Monthly Contraceptive Potion
Rory sat the parchment back in the box and closed the lid. Right. She'd talked to Tonks who said she'd talk to her dad about this. Considering the state of their relationship lately, Rory assumed that this conversation hadn't and wouldn't happen. And yet, here it was sitting on her bed. So Tonks had obviously come through for her.
Of course, her dad wanted her to open this away from him. He'd promised he would not talk about it unless she wanted to and he was keeping his word about that.