Alexandra Weasley: Book 6

3

Alex saw Tonks sitting at the table with a bowl of Weetabix. She slid in next to her, as Tonks twirled her spoon.
"Hi." She said and Tonks looked up in surprise.

"Oh. Hi." Alex sat in silence. There was still an hour before Hermione was due and she couldn't leave Tonks looking so pitiful.

"Survivor's guilt." Alex said. Tonks frowned.

"What?"

"That's what my therapist would say. It's what she does say, actually."

"You have a therapist?" She looked shocked and Alex rolled her eyes.

"There's a lot more that's wrong with me than meets the eye. Though I'd appreciate it if you didn't really talk to anyone about it."

"Yeah, of course. When did you start going?"

"It's been on and off since summer '94."

"Isn't that before Diggory passed?"

"Oh, yeah. Cedric's only a fraction of what makes me so messed up." Tonks turned back to her bowl. Alex sighed. "It's no secret that I didn't like him."

"You hated Sirius." Tonks corrected.

"A little bit, yes."

"Why?"

"I don't- I don't trust easily. But when I met him, he was a dog. I loved animals. I love animals."

"Saphira." Tonks said and Alex nodded.

"It never occurred to me that I couldn't trust him, because he was a dog." Tonks nodded. "And I have a lot of secrets. Secrets I could have told him. Things I did tell him because he didn't have the decency to leave me alone." She said. "He let me trust him and love him as though he was just a dog."

"Right." Tonks looked sympathetic. "Though maybe he just wanted the company? He'd just broken out of Azkaban after twelve years. That's a long time to go with no human contact."

"If I'd met him as himself, I might actually have heard him out. For months, he just let me talk about things I didn't want anyone to know about. Anyways, that's not the point. The point is, it's not your fault."

"I could've defeated Bellatrix and he'd have survived."

"I used to wish that I'd never see him again." Alex said. "And now there's not even a body."

"That's not- that couldn't possibly do anything."

"You're one of the good guys, Tonks, and the only way to stop Bellatrix would have been the killing curse."

"Should've used it." Tonks muttered darkly.

"No, you shouldn't have. You couldn't have." Alex slowly raised her hand and hesitantly set it on Tonks's shoulder. "What you can do is your job and one day we'll win and we'll put down Bellatrix and Voldemort and all the stupid, crazy voldeminions. Hold onto that."

"You sound like Remus." Alex snatched her hand back in disgust.

"And... moment over. I've got to pick up Hermione, so-" She shrugged. She stood up but saw Tonks still looked miserable. "Why don't you come with me?"

"Where?"

"Hermione's house." Alex offered. Tonks nodded.

"Sure."

"Great." Alex picked up her bag, pulling out her mirror. Hermione's smiling face soon appeared. "Stop that, or I'm leaving you with Ron for the rest of summer."

"You wouldn't do that." Hermione smiled. "You coming?"

"Yeah. Bringing Tonks too. Your parents warned?" Hermione nodded.

"Are you being nice or are you being forced?"

"Neither." Alex retorted. Hermione raised a brow. "It's called empathy, not kindness. Be there in five." She put her mirror away, cutting the connection. She turned to a befuddled Tonks and held out her arm.

"You have a twin mirror?"

"Yeah." Alex smiled. "It was a gift. We used it to keep in contact when I went to Japan. You coming or what?"

"Okay, seriously, tell me everything." Hermione gushed the moment Alex closed the door to her room.

"I did tell you everything. Hey, you wanna go see Susan with me on Saturday? We'll go with Charlie and Megan, and it'll be just us girls. Susan's staying with Hannah's family."

"Poor Susan, she was close to her aunt wasn't she?' Alex nodded. "I'd love to. Have you told your mum?"

"Not yet."

"You know you have to?"

"We could pretend to go to the twins."

"You can't always do that. You're an adult. You'll even be one by muggles standards in a few months. How long are you going to lie to your mum?"

"Until we defeat Voldemort."

"Alex!" Hermione scolded.

"Just a little longer. She's scared, and Sirius is dead and... she's just afraid."

"Talk to Shay about it." Hermione said and Alex nodded. Sometimes Hermione ended conversations that way, asking her to talk to Shay about it. And when Alex did bring it up in her next session, long conversations ensued. "Now talk to me about Pedro. I want to know what makes you eighty-five percent sure. What's the fifteen percent doubt?"

"His grandfather had a sister who was a Slytherin, who met him and who loved him and who was killed by him."

"Maybe she was like Bellatrix. Could be a crush."

"Why would he kill her? He likes devoted followers. Besides, he was going to say more. I stopped him."

"Does that mean you have more family?"

"Pedro said his grandfather was all he had and he's dead now."

"So, to reiterate. Biologically, you now have a father, an uncle, a great grandmother, a grandfather and a cousin. That's like a whole set." Alex groaned. "Are you going to tell him?"

"What? No! Why would that thought ever even cross your mind?"

"You're right. After five years, I should know better than to think you're going to open up to family."

"He's still kind of a stranger."

"He confided in you."

"And I really wish he hadn't."

A/N- Favourite line is "you now have a father, an uncle, a great grandmother, a grandfather and a cousin. That's like a whole set."

Hermione's got points though. I love it. Eep, Pedro's her cousin. We get more Pedro content tomorrow, xx. Hope you enjoy 💚💚