"So you were a b​rave k​night in life, I take it?"
"Of course I was! The leader of the cavalry, no less," said Sir Cadogan. Not wanting to continue the conversation, which I assumed would be full of bragging, I said, "I've got to get to Charms. You can tell me all about your achievements some other time."
"Thank you, good lady. Would you like to be escorted to class?"
"No thank you," I said hurriedly. I practically flew to Charms, where I'd said I'd meet Tonks and Alice.
When I got there, I saw them talking quietly. "Hey. Whatcha talkin' 'bout?" "Nicknames," they said.
"Nicknames?" I asked.
"Yeah. Like we need a group name and names for each other," Tonks explained.
"Like for you we were thinking Ash, and­­"
"I said she should go by Fluffytail," Tonks interrupted.
"Hmph." I thought about this and said, "Well, Alice could be Tamale, because in
Animagus form her eyes look like Hot Tamale candies." "I like it!" said Alice.
"What could I be?"
"Uh... M&M?"
"It would be too food based," I objected.
"Well it's already settled, like it or not," Tonks sniffed snootily.
"I hate it when you guys gang up on me!" I whined. An assorted group of Gryffindors
and Slytherins was watching us with interest. I heard footsteps, and saw the person I least wanted to see right now (or ever, for that matter): Marie."Oh. It's you," Alice said, and looked down her nose as if Marie were a piece of dirt.
"Treat your superiors with respect, Mudblood," she spat, to many angry shouts from the Gryffindors.
"Superior? I think not!" I said indignantly. "I've never seen a superior person who brings down the enemy with insults they don't even know!" That last part was a lie if I ever saw one. But it did the trick. Marie's face turned sour, and she said, "A MUDBLOOD is a person with dirty blood because of their filthy Muggle parents."
"MY PARENTS ARE NOT FILTHY!" Alice yelled, going red in the face.
"At least the Mudblood knows what she is," Marie retorted. I saw Alice's eyes fill with tears.
"Come on Tam, let's go," I said to Alice.
"What in the name of Merlin's pants does Tam mean?" Marie exploded.
"It means," said Tonks cooly, "That she, unlike you, is a hot tamale, Pugface."
"Burn," one of the Gryffindors, a boy named Jerry. Tonks spun around and started to
walk off with Alice. I followed, close on their heels. In one fluid motion, Marie pulled out her wand and shot green flames at Tonks' back. She keeled over, in obvious pain, then slumped over on the floor. No one laughed but one stupid, idiotic, jerky Slytherin.
"Alice, help me with this. W​ingardium Leviosa!"​Tonks floated limply in the air.
"I'll push, you keep her afloat," said Alice.
"Thanks Tam," I said gratefully. Finally we made it to the Hospital Wing. Madame
Pomfrey shrieked, "What happened?"
"She was hit by a Dark curse," Alice said promptly. "But please treat her now."
"What did the curse look like?"
"Green flames," I said. Her face paled.
"We need to get her to St. Mungo's. Quickly."
"I'll tell Professor Dumbledore you're leaving," I said, and walked out the door. "On
second thought, Tam, you'd better come too." As soon as we got outside the door, we teleported (in Animagus form) to Dumbledore's office.
"Professor, Tonks is at St. Mungo's, and we're not allowed to join her, can you please, please, take us in our Animagus forms?" I got out all in one breath.
"Come. We must get going," was his only answer. Alice and I transformed and climbed into the magically expanded crate he held out for us. Dumbledore then tossed some Floo Powder into the fire.
"St. Mungo's!" he said clearly. We were soon there, with Tam and Dumbledore coughing behind me. The ash had only bothered them.
"I am visiting Nymphadora Tonks in the Spell Damage wing," Dumbledore said to the lady at the front desk.
"She's not doing very well," the lady said quietly. "They don't know if she'll make it. She's in Room 7g.""I must go. Thank you." Then Dumbledore strode out of the room with Tam and I in tow. We were met by a horrible sight. Tonks was out cold on the bed, being tended to by Healers, looking very helpless. Dumbledore unlatched the crate and Tam and I hopped out.
"Please sir, no animals in here," said one of the many nurses.
"Don't worry, they aren't just animals. They're very good therapists." I silently thanked Dumbledore and flew over to the bed. Alice hopped up also, causing Tonks' eyelashes to flutter.
"Tam... Ash?" she mumbled.
"We're here," I tried to say, but that beautiful song came out of my beak. Tonks smiled slightly, and fell back asleep. Alice put her ear to Tonks' chest and looked up, worried. She started to thump her foot uncontrollably. One of the nurses muttered a spell.
"We're losing her!" she exclaimed. "And there's nothing else we can do." I started to cry, very softly, the tears dripping onto her face. Suddenly, the place on Tonks' chest where I was standing started beating wildly. I beat my wings, flying in the air. Tonks sat up and smiled.
"What happened? Where am I?" The nurses and Dumbledore filled her in as best they could.
"Ooooh. I'm gonna get Marie," she said.
"That's who did it?" said Dumbledore.
"I'm not sure. You'd have to ask the witnesses," Tonks answered uncertainly. "Can I
go?"
"No, most definitely not," answered the head nurse.
" B u t , b u t I w a s c u r e d b y p​h o e n i x t e a r s ​f o r g o o d n e s s s a k e , " s h e w h i n e d .
"No buts. Also, we can't be sure they worked completely."
"I know that phoenix tears cure anything," she insisted. I was very amused, and it looked
like Tam was, too.
"Stay for a few more days. You might find Alice and Frank Longbottom to be good
company," said Dumbledore, winking at me. Alice and Frank. Alice and Frank. I knew I'd heard it before. Then it hit me: they were Mum and Dad's Auror friends! I flapped over, and a nurse called out, "You won't be able to cure them. They were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange." I felt so mad, I could have torn out Bellatrix's lungs and eaten them for supper. I alighted on the bed and fresh tears sprung into my eyes, but I knew nothing could reverse the Unforgivables.
At least let them remember who their son is, I thought. I turned around and flew back into Dumbledore's crate, where Tam was waiting for me and waved goodbye as well as I could to Tonks. I felt exhausted after seeing the post­war affects on people I'd known. Dumbledore walked downstairs and Floo'd back to Hogwarts, where we transformed. I ran to our dorm with Tam close at my heels.
"We need to get Marie!" I yelled furiously. "She'll never be caught!" "How?" asked Alice.
"Pranks. What doesn't she like?""Love?" Alice questioned. I snapped my fingers. "I've got it!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days later, Tonks was back with us. As we walked into the Great Hall, Tam and I looked at each other and grinned. No one was sitting at their tables, they were all clustered about the Slytherin table, hugging them. Tonks looked at the flying banner above the table and would
have fallen over laughing had it not been for Tam, who held her up.
"Serves... her... right..." Tonks wheezed between laughs. I was very proud of Tam and
my banner, which read: "H​UG A SLYTHERIN DAY.​" I ran over to join the throng and searched for Marie. I found and embraced her as if we were old friends.
"You'll pay for this," she whispered menacingly.
"I think not. You see, the teachers are watching you very closely after you almost murdered Tonks.
"Almost?" she exclaimed. "It should have killed her!"
"But it didn't," I said snootily, and flounced off.
I sat down next to Tonks, wondering what the day would hold. She picked up a croissant,
but before she could bite into it, I grabbed it and smooshed out all the air. Then I handed it back to her as if nothing had happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Class was hilarious, instead of ever boring. In Babcock's class, people constantly got up and hugged the Slytherins. But in Binns' class, I got a big surprise. A guy who I vaguely
recognized walked up and hugged me.
"What do you want?" I demanded.
"Do you want to go out with me?" he asked shyly. Suddenly I recognized him. He was
the one who had laughed at Tonks' almost­demise. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since that first prank."
"Okay," I said kindly. "Over break, I'll meet you on the corner of You Wish and Never." "Where's that?" he asked, looking confused.
"It's in Not a Chance. You know?"
"I don't get it."
"Okay. You laughed when Marie almost killed Tonks. You think you have a chance? No, you don't. So buzz off, shoo fly, don't bother me," I said, quoting a Muggle song. He sadly walked away.
"Wait," I said. He noticeably perked up. "What's your name?"
"My name is Lesith Cogwit," he said eagerly.
"Oh. Go away Cogwit," I said. That explained a ton. He looked a lot Marie, if I thought
about it. Same ugly pug face, same evil hatred that froze their hearts and ruined their looks. Twins. I should have known."What was that all about?" Alice asked, sounding concerned.
"Marie's twin asked me out, I refused, you know, the usual." From that point forward, the day went as planned except for one tiny quibble: Uncle visited me at dinner.
"We both know you pranked my Slytherins today," he said.
"Well, she deserved it!" I explained. He held up a finger.
"And you pranked the staff on Halloween."
"Oh yeah... how did that end?" I questioned. He sighed.
"Not to mention when you put flowers in my hair. You are so much like James: an
arrogant toerag." I pretended to look offended, but brightened up quickly.
"Thank you, thank you, to all my wonderful fans out there," I stood up on the bench and
bowed.
"Therefore I have decided you will be staying with a special friend of mine over the
Christmas holidays."
"What! No, you can't! That's not fair!" I screamed.
"They are consequences for your actions," he returned bluntly.