foxfire [draco malfoy]

twenty five

Deathly Hallows pt. 1
a slight fabrication of the truth

     Aunt Jade was watching the television, with the lights off, only having the screen light up the room. It was another lonely night, as she was home for a few days until work again, and she never knew how to spend those times. She already finishes studying for her exams coming up, so she needed to relax. As she stood to throw out her empty beer bottle, she opened the trash bin to realize it had been overflowing. So she pulled the bag out, tying it, and proceeding to the outside.

She walked down the long drive, and just as she lifted the lid to the metal can, a sound caused her to jump. Her heart began to race slightly, as she looked around through the darkness, wondering what creature or person could be lurking about. She quickly lifted up the metal lid to the can, and held it up in quick defense. "Who's out there?" She shouted into the pitch black night, as not many people came this far out of the city lines. "Come on! Show yourself!" She demanded, trying to sound as tough as she could.

"It's just me." A familiar voice announced, stepping from the dark. Jade lowered her weapon, dropping it to the ground, and ran over to the hooded girl, scooping her into her arms in a tight embrace.

"Oh my god, Foxfire, where have you been?" She asked, feeling a wave of worry release from her body. Foxfire stood still, as she was distraught and frightened, in all honesty.

"It doesn't matter." She told her, shaking her head.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Jade pulled away from her, looking confused but also slightly furious. "I've been worried sick about you! I haven't heard from you in weeks, no owls, no appearances. I waited for you at the train station and you never came. What is going on?" She demanded in total disbelief of her nieces actions.

"Look, can we uh, just go inside?" Foxfire asked, looking around nervously. This caused Jade to look around, as well, confused even more. The two walked inside, and Jade immediately noticed Foxfire's bloodshot eyes. She was clearly a mess. "There's um, some things happening." Foxfire told her as they sat on the couch, and Jade brought her a cup of hot tea.

"Like what?" Aunt Jade asked with concern in her voice. Foxfire looked down at her hands in her lap. She stared at each crease in her fingers, and followed the trails they led to. She didn't know what to say to her aunt. All she knew was there was no way her aunt would let her leave if she knew the full truth, so she decided to fabricate it some, to the best of her ability.

"Harry just needs some help with a few things. His aunt and uncle have really made his life even worse, and we've all decided to just spend the summer with him." She lied. Her aunt looked at her, unconvinced, as she straightened her back, and stared.

"I feel like you're not telling me something." She commented, adjusting her glasses. Foxfire sat there for a moment, wondering how the hell she could tell her aunt the truth. What does she say? 'Oh, yeah, by the way, Voldemort and his cult following of death eaters have infiltrated Hogwarts and her boyfriend, (if he even was her boyfriend at this point, since the two were so up and down), is one of them and basically there's a war coming in the wizarding world'? Yeah, seemed practical.

"Dumbledore died." She stated simply, looking up at her, hoping that was a sufficient enough answer. Aunt Jade's face dropped, with a speechless look.

"I am," she began, knowing there weren't enough words to express her sympathy. "So sorry, Foxfire." She sighed, pulling her hand around Foxfire's head and stoking the back of her hair, comfortingly.

"It's fine. It's just hard. And Harry's having a rough time, so we've been trying to help him through this." She told her. Which hey, it wasn't a total lie, but it wasn't entirely the truth, either.

"I can't imagine." Aunt Jade shook her head, sadly. "Where will you be staying?" She looked up, already giving permission to Foxfire, knowing that Foxfire would do what she wanted anyways, and there'd be no stopping her, but also knowing Foxfire loved her friends and would do anything to help them, and Aunt Jade knew it wasn't her place to interfere.

"With the Weasleys." Foxfire blurted out on a whim. Which, it was believable enough, as they'd most likely be there for a little while, she assumed, but she also couldn't tell her that she didn't know where they'd be going. "It'll be alright." She assured her, knowing full well her aunt was worried. She stood up, setting the cup on the coffee table.

"You're leaving now?" Aunt Jade asked, surprised. "It's nearly midnight!" She too, stood to her feet, as Foxfire slung her bag over her shoulder.

"I'll leave tomorrow." She told her, assuring that she'd be safe and give her one last goodbye.