The Son of Lord Voldemort

Chapter 103

The next several months flew by in a whirlwind. Tom had become even more paranoid and took to sending Harrison boxes stuffed with books on a weekly basis. Harrison was glad that he already knew all of the third year material, or he would've ended up failing all of his classes since he had no time to study. Thankfully, Luna hadn't had anymore dreams that blurred the lines between vision and reality. Although in the back of his mind, Harrison was waiting for the day that it would. All of this had occupied Harrison's mind so much that he barely realized when the week of exams finally arrived.

Harrison listened to his classmates compare results as they walked out of their Transfiguration exam. Harrison had found it to be hilariously easy, but it would seem as if not everyone felt that way.

"I can't believe we had to turn a teapot into a tortoise," Sally-Anne Perks complained.

"Were the tortoises supposed to breathe steam?" Michael Corner asked.

"I found the exam to be quite easy," Leo said with a sidelong glance at Ernie Macmillan.

"Of course, you did," Ernie muttered. His face turning red.

The rest of Harrison's exams went by quickly, and he soon found himself walking down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express. He looked down when he felt Nani poke her head out of his sleeve, and he bumped into someone.

"I'm—" Harrison's voice died in his throat. His emerald eyes glinted as Ron's chest swelled up.

"Watch where you're going Riddle," Ron snapped.

"Believe me, Weasley," Harrison sneered. "The last person in the world I would want to touch in any way is you."

"I don't blame you," Draco drawled from behind Harrison. "I don't like filth touching me either. The house elves have such a hard time getting the grime off."

Ron opened his mouth, no doubt to say something snarky, when Dean grabbed his elbow. Harrison's eyes narrowed as Ron clamped his mouth shut. He hadn't given it much thought, but lately whenever Ron seemed to want to say or do something stupid, Dean would in some small way stop him from going overboard.

"We have to go Ron," Dean said tightly. "Seamus is waiting for us in our compartment."

"Yeah," Ron muttered. "Let's go."

Harrison watched as the two Gryffindor's walked away.

"What in Slytherin's name was that all about?" Draco asked. "Since when can the weasel control his infamous temper?"

"I'm not sure," Harrison said. "But have you noticed that those two, as well as Finnigan, haven't been antagonizing us much lately. Not since Umbridge gave them that large punishment in the beginning of the fall term? Their verbal attacks have dwindled down, and they haven't outright physically attacked us since."

"They've probably wizened up," Draco said. "They know they aren't a match for us."

"I don't think that's it," Harrison murmured. "I've been consumed with studying all of the books my father sent, and I haven't given it much thought. But they're up to something, and I have the feeling that we'll be finding out soon what it is."

"Are you sure you don't want anything else, dear?" Molly asked kindly.

"I'm ok, Molly," Tonks said. "I still have some coffee left. Thank you."

It had been months since her ordeal, but Tonks had yet to return to her former giddy self. She wasn't as jittery and depressed as she had been, and she no longer jumped five feet into the air when someone hugged her. Yet she was still paranoid that there was a Death Eater lurking behind every corner.

Tonks looked down into her mug at the creamer that floated in her coffee. Tonks hated coffee, but ever since her kidnapping and subsequent torture she had drank it like a dehydrated man would drink water. Coffee kept her awake, and Tonks was perpetually obsessed with staying awake. Whenever she closed her eyes she could feel Rabastan forcing his way inside of her, and his hands touching her in places that she couldn't bare to think about. And she couldn't allow her mind go blank, because she would hear Rabastan's panting, and the sound of his thighs slapping against hers. The images and sounds, although only echoes, were enough to make her want to vomit. In fact, she had woken from many a restless night only to throw up all over her bed.

Tonks gripped the handle of the chipped red mug more tightly, as she tried to quell her disturbed thoughts. She needed to project confidence, so that Molly would think she was fine. It had taken months, but she had finally convinced her boss to let her go back to work. She had wanted to go back immediately, but Kingsley wouldn't budge anymore than letting her go back on the first of July. That was in less than a month, and she knew that if Molly didn't think she was ready she would tell Kingsley, and Tonks wouldn't be able to go back.

"Have you been sleeping better?" Molly asked tentatively.

It was odd for Tonks to see Molly be anything but intrusive, but ever since Tonks had returned Molly had been nothing but thoughtful and considerate. Molly hadn't asked any questions about what had happened while she was in captivity, and for that Tonks was grateful.

"Loads," Tonks said. She forced a smile onto her pale face. "I haven't woken up in the middle of the night for a few weeks." It was a complete lie, but Molly seemed to buy it.

"Wonderful, dear," Molly said sincerely. "Wonderful." Tonks forced herself to hold onto her smile for a moment longer before it fell. Molly eyed her with concern before she gave Tonks a knowing grin. "I hear that you're attending the World Cup with Sirius."

Tonks felt a real smile break out onto her face. Sirius had been solid support since his name had been cleared. He had wasted no time in asking Tonks to meet up. She didn't know why, but whenever she was around her cousin, she felt more like her old self than usual. She knew that it was because Sirius had also gone through something traumatic as well, although even she thought that twelve years in Azkaban was worse than what she had gone through. Still, it was nice having someone to be around that didn't stare at her with pity.

"Sirius was given two tickets to the match," Tonks smiled brightly. Quidditch was one of her passions.

"I'm sure the two of you will have a great time," Molly said.

"I hope so," Tonks said quietly.

Tonks looked down into her coffee, and for a moment she thought that the cold creamer swirling in the blackness took on the form of a skull.