Legilimens

| Ten |

5 June, 1998

Josephine woke up from a restless night, her back and shoulders stiff from having slept in an uncomfortable position through the night. It was her turn to take care of the uncounscious man for the night, and she had woken up every two hours to force him into drinking the potions. Even though Harry looked less like a corpse, he hadn't woken up yet, and everyone was starting to worry. Three weeks had gone since the attack on the Shell Cottage, and the dark forces were trying harder than ever to find the Order, or anyone associated with it. Reports of missing witches and wizards made their way to the Order's headquarters, and it seemed that they were soon going to lose the battle against the Dark Lord.

Three weeks had gone by, and only now were Ron and Hermione warming up to the idea of working with a Slytherin. George Weasley had taken the news rather well, only having fond memories of the French girl refusing his and his twin brother's advances at their brother and Fleur's wedding, only the year before. All were glad their friend was alive, grateful even to Josephine and Andromeda. But Ron couldn't seem to trust Josephine, and Hermione felt the witch was hiding something, though she couldn't tell if the impression came from her Veela's lineage or something else entirely. She had once read in a book Veelas were frivolous creatures not to be trusted by the human species, and feared that Josephine had played them all. She had shared her thoughts with Ginny, who had seemed offended and had replied that her sister-in-law Fleur also had Veelan blood and she was very kind and trustworthy. Ron had joined the conversation.

"Of course, Fleur is trustworthy. She's... well Fleur. She never dated the ferret!" He scorned.

Ginny hit him on the chest and scoffed.

"Bloody hell, Ronald! Stop thinking about Draco Malfoy for a second, and think about your best friend. You remember, Harry Potter? She protected him and she brought him back here to heal him. Why would she bother save him if she was on Voldemort's side all along?"

"She-"

"Shut it and let me finish! Josie is the same person she was before getting sorted into Slytherin. You don't have to like her, but she's my friend, and you'll have to respect her in my presence, understood?"

Ron gulped and nodded. He had never seen his little sister so mad before, not even when Fred and George had turned her hair to blue with their Comb-a-chameleon. He left the room, cursing her under his breath, when he crashed into Josephine, who was about to enter the room. Not bothering to apologize, he marched off. Josephine hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but their voices were so loud, she couldn't keep herself from hearing their conversation. She smiled at the thought of her friend taking her side, but Hermione and Ron's opinions about her still bothered her, even if she would never admit it aloud. She stepped into the room and smiled at the two witches before sitting beside Harry on the bed. Leaning forward his head, she forced the potion down his throat and laid him back down. She noticed Ginny and Hermione's exhausted look, and offered to stay the night with Harry. The two refused, but she finally convinced them to leave and go have a good night's sleep. Josephine had then spent the night beside Harry, feeding him potions every two hours.

Now that the sun was up, Josie could hear voices coming from behind the closed door and quickly got up to go and fetch a new phial of potion. They were running low on their supply, and Andromeda would need to prepare more some. She got up from the chair, not noticing that Harry's eyes were wide open.

***

She went downstairs and joined everyone sitting at the table eating breakfast. George, as usual, winked at her and she rolled her eyes before turning her gaze to the left. Ginny was smiling at her, but unexpectedly, so was Hermione. She smiled back a vibrant smile and sat down beside Dromeda.