Chapter 23
"Good morning..."
Nearly a month had passed since the business with Weasley the Sixth. For all that time, Mr. I-Cannot-Keep-My-Mouth-Shut had been going about looking thoroughly miserable, and all because the rest of his House had given him a thorough dressing-down for losing fifty points in one go. It was not as though the twins had never lost that many themselves, but they had a certain standing by now, and they earned points at a decent rate, so whatever they lost, they made back fairly quickly. Weasley the Sixth, on the other hand, had managed perhaps ten points in his entire time at the school so far, and lost considerably more than that.
In short, as Parvati had told me (her sister being in Gryffindor), the House had collectively decided to simply pretend Weasley did not exist. They had even tried to throw him out of the dormitory, but McGonagall had put a stop to that, settling instead for curtaining off his bed from the rest of the room. But it was not only that which was making his life difficult. Every professor had agreed to assign him longer work. He simply had no time left for anything else.
"Good morning..."
Parvati settled into the seat across from me and greeted me with an air of complete normalcy.
"And what brings you to our table? Not that I object. I am simply curious why you and your sister have suddenly decided to swap places."
"I..."
Parvati looked caught out. She clearly had not expected me to spot it so easily, and sat there staring at me.
"Hold on, you mean this isn't Padma?"
Hermione stared at our new arrival with genuine shock.
"No. Padma holds herself a little differently at the table, and she doesn't have this habit of tucking her curl behind her ear. Parvati does, though. I will admit that if I had not noticed those small things, I might well have mixed up the Patil sisters myself."
"I see..."
Hermione gave a slightly bewildered nod, though the others were listening just as closely.
"So what made you seek out our company?"
"Exhaustion..."
Parvati looked down at the table.
"...no, don't think I'm complaining, but sometimes Gryffindors are simply too much, and your table is always calm. Everyone here follows at least some basic courtesy, and..."
"And?"
"...and there is no one who just sits there shoveling food into his face. It genuinely turns my stomach to look at him, let alone eat at the same table."
The girl gave a small shudder.
"Well, just so you know, you don't need to swap places with your sister and put her through all that stress just to sit with us."
"I... thank you."
She gave an embarrassed nod. That, really, was the end of the conversation between Parvati and me. I drifted back into easy talk with the older students, who had by now worked out that breakfast, lunch, and dinner were the only times I could find time for them. I was occupied the rest of the time, though they weren't far behind me in that regard, and I preferred purposeful work to idle hours.
I ate, glanced at my watch, and confirmed that I had fifteen minutes before my lesson. Since I already knew the material, there was no need to hurry. So I decided to take the long way to Flitwick's classroom and enjoy a brief walk through the castle.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"
A vaguely familiar voice came from behind me. Actually, I knew that voice perfectly well, though I had spoken to its owner only very rarely.
"Nymphadora?"
"Don't call me Nymphadora! Tonks. Just Tonks."
She said it with a scowl, though it was not quite the scowl of someone who genuinely hated the name. It was more of a protest. A protest against what, exactly, I could not say.
"It's your name, and I intend to use it. It's rather unusual and sounds quite lovely, in any case. So, what did you want, Nymphadora?"
"Tch..."
"I am not afraid of hamsters..."
I gave a shrug that made it plain she could do nothing about it. She knew it, or suspected it, because she did not argue. She simply narrowed her eyes and continued to stare at me.
"What did you want?"
"To talk... we are family, after all..."
"Mm..."
I nodded at that. It was rather amusing to hear from her, actually. Her mother, Andromeda, had never been particularly opposed to our spending time together, but her father was another matter. Because of him, our meetings had been rare: once every couple of years, at most. Or at least, that was how it had been before I started at Hogwarts.
"What is that supposed to mean? Are you doubting we're related?"
"I doubt that you, your mother, and especially your father have any particular interest in relatives like us..."
I shrugged, conveying my complete indifference on the matter.
"...because if that were not the case, we would have seen a great deal more of each other."
"You don't understand..."
Nymphadora dropped her gaze to the floor. My words had clearly made her uncomfortable, but she was not about to back down and leave.
"...Father is stubborn, and Mother simply doesn't want arguments in the house, so she goes along with him. And I've never had much of a choice either. But now that we're both at Hogwarts, and I've had a chance to watch you for a bit..."
She gave a small, tentative smile.
"...I can say you're not bad at all, and I'd like to get to know you."
"Well..."
I spread my hands in a gesture of complete agreement.
"...I have no objection. I just hope you won't find yourself in trouble with your parents for it. If they find out..."
"My parents are my concern. Besides, I'm old enough to decide for myself who I spend time with."
Nymphadora said this with complete seriousness.
"Then, shall we?"
I opened my arms and she took a couple of hesitant steps toward me, shrinking as she did, so that when I hugged her, she could comfortably rest her nose against my neck. The clothing that had fit her a moment ago was now hanging off her like a potato sack...
"Little sis..."
I made it a question.
"Mm?"
She pulled back, slightly flushed at the endearment. She looked at me expectantly.
"Forgive me for asking, but if your outer robes are hanging off you like that right now... what about your undergarments?"
Nymphadora went scarlet, not just her face but her hair as well, flaring to vivid red.
"I... they're fine..."
"In that case, another question..."
"If you ask me one more thing about my undergarments, I will hit you. Hard."
"No further questions."
I schooled my face into an expression of blank innocence, though I was genuinely curious whether her clothes might dig into her when she shifted back to her usual form.
"Tch... you absolute clown..."
She shook her head, and I simply smiled.
"All right. I simply like to... provoke a reaction. In this case I wanted to see whether you actually want to spend time with me, and to find out where your boundaries are."
"You little..."
"Yes, yes, but much as I would like to stay, we really do have to part ways, because you have a class coming up, and so do I. So if you do want to talk and start making up for lost time..."
I watched as she stepped away from me and shifted back to her usual self. Her clothing settled around her as though nothing had happened. Well. Not "as though." We were wizards, after all.
"...my suggestion would be to join us at mealtimes, or come to the common room in the evenings, though I should warn you, I have even less spare time in the common room than at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You could talk to Penny. She can tell you what my schedule looks like."
"But didn't you take your exams already?"
Nymphadora looked at me with genuine puzzlement, clearly unable to figure out how I could have taken all my exams and still have no free time.
"I took them so that I could study according to my Gift, not so that I would have nothing to do. And Professor Flitwick offered me an apprenticeship, which comes with its own considerable workload. So free time is rather scarce."
"Tch... fine. I'll talk to Penny, and if you really are that busy, I'll fit around you. It's not as though I need to study that much anyway..."
I had been about to leave, but those words made me stop and look back.
"You are not serious."
"Actually, I am. I want to be an Auror, and for that you only need an Acceptable or Exceeds Expectations in Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, and Herbology. Nothing too difficult..."
Nymphadora gave a shrug.
"Tonks..."
My voice went very quiet. She flinched. It was the first time I had used her surname throughout our conversation, and the way I said it, it landed like a rebuke.
"...if those are the grades you intend to enter the Auror program with, the ceiling you are looking at is the combat auxiliary, the unit they use to plug gaps. The one where Unforgivables are currently banned, as are most serious curses, and the only spells permitted are Stunning, Binding, and Paralyzing, and the people on the other side will be throwing Unforgivables and worse at you without a second thought."
Tonks blinked, stunned.
"Or are you planning to coast on your Metamorphmagus ability? Because that leads to becoming a convenience to them, or worse, being used as bait for criminals, sent in to extract information."
"No!"
"Then what on earth are you thinking, Tonks?! You need strong grades in Arithmancy, Astronomy, Ancient Runes, and Muggle Studies as well!"
"But..."
"Right then. If you ACTUALLY want to end up in a PROPER department..."
I looked at her steadily, and she gave a very quick, very firm nod. The contrast between the warmth I had shown her earlier and the tone I was taking now had clearly done something to her, and she was ready to listen.
"Good. So, you are in your sixth year?"
"Yes..."
"Then starting today, you have no weekends at Hogwarts. I will write to my mothers, and they will pay for tutors in every subject."
"Draco, you don't need to..."
"I do."
I cut her off.
"I am not going to stand by and watch my little sister struggle through a miserable career when it can be avoided. To keep that from happening, you need to take a great many N.E.W.T.s at Outstanding level. That is the only thing that will get you a place with Amelia, and she does not keep fools close to her. Oh, you can get a fool into her office well enough, but that fool will not last long."
"But..."
"No buts."
I shook my head, making it plain that she had lost her say in the matter.
"Weekends are for tutors. And do not imagine they will sit and spoon-feed you everything. They will not. You have two years left, and you will need to read an enormous amount on your own, badger your professors for help, and make sure you do not disgrace yourself at the next session."
"Draco, please, I don't want you to..."
"You don't want to join the D.M.L.E. under Amelia Bones? You're content spending your life as someone's errand-girl, eating garbage and running dirty jobs on the Minister's orders? Or do you want to be a respected witch, Amelia's right hand? Just tell me if you are satisfied with being the unit's convenience..."
"No! Why do you keep saying that?! It's not even that bad a..."
"So you're refusing my help, then?"
She looked at me carefully. I looked back at her with equal care. And after a moment, she gave a very small, very hesitant shake of her head.
"No... I'll accept it... thank you..."
"Think nothing of it."
I allowed myself a faint smile.
"Now, go to your lesson. And it seems my leisurely stroll through Hogwarts is over, so... we will talk at lunch."
"Right..."
She gave a small, shy nod, then turned to go.
"Nymphadora?"
She turned halfway and looked at me inquiringly.
"I am glad you decided to come and speak to me. Truly."
"Mm..."
She gave an embarrassed nod, and with that we finally parted ways.
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