November Snow

f o u r t y - f i v e

"Oh come on, really?" Tonks complained "You've won fourteen times in a row! Can't you give it a break?"

"Fifteen, actually." Lupin added "November never really loses in these kinds of mind games."

"Then let's play something that is not mind games." Tonks said.

"Afraid you're going to lose even worse." I laughed "Do I have to remind you how much of a klutz you are?" 

"And while you're debating games, November Avery, you should already be on your way to the train station or you'll be late." Moody said walking into the dining room.

"Right, can't be late." I murmured.

"Come on, I'll see you off at the station." Lupin stood up.

Ever since Dumbledore returned my memories, the Order had declared that it was unsafe for me to leave the Headquarters without any form of protection, and that meant someone in the Order of Phoenix had to be with me all the time, throughout my whole summer holidays. To be plain, members of the Order now had three tasks: protecting Harry Potter, protecting me, and fighting against Voldemort and his growing army of Death Eaters. Now that we had the Ministry and Daily Prophet on our side, it was much easier.

Sirius' name had been cleared, at last. They finally concluded that the crime wasn't his to commit and the punishment wasn't his to take. But even so, he was no longer around. There wasn't a day gone by that I didn't think about him, how happy he would be now that his name was cleared and he was able to live with Harry at 12 Grimmauld Place. Considering how closed we were in the past, there was no way I could forget about him. Not that easy, anyway.

Harry and Lupin were one of the few who understood and never tried to tell me to move on soon like everyone else. Harry and I wrote to each other every week when he was in the Burrow with the Weasleys and Hermione, from the words he wrote I could tell he was still devastated about that, though he did try to conceal it. Lupin would spend nights talking to me every time I couldn't sleep, even though I knew how tired he was after a day working with the Order, and I could see how sad he was now that he had lost all of his closest friends. I was, from a girl who didn't know what fear was, afraid of almost everything now and I didn't know how to stop it.

"Good luck at Hogwarts." Lupin said as soon as we were at the platform. It was fifteen minutes before the Hogwarts Express' departure.

"That's if I had luck." I mumbled "I felt like all the luck I've ever had is washed away."

"Come here." He opened his arms and I went for a tight hug "We'll always be there for you. If you ever need help, you know where to find us."

"Of course I do." I smiled "Now I have to go before I'm officially late."

"Stay safe, okay?" He said.

"Merlin's Beard, you're one of my best friends, not my mother, Remus Lupin." I laughed "And I really have to go."

"Go." He laughed "Bye. See you at Christmas."

"See you at Christmas." I walked away "Hope that by then you've made a move with Tonks."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He called after.

"Oh you know exactly what I'm talking about." 

Laughing at his confused face, I climbed on board and went searching for a suitable compartment. Since the end of last year, I knew I had no hope of being in peace around my fellow House mates, but instead, I could seek hospitality in all other houses. I walked past the compartments where Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws or Gryffindors I didn't even knew waved at me gleefully as soon as they caught the glimpse of me passing by. I guess our conflicts were over. I was just taking my eyes off a few Ravenclaws in one compartment when I bumped into someone's solid chest.