Breaking Free- Fred Weasley

Chapter 79

*Unedited*
Eva's POV

I let out a big yawn and roll over on the bed. I open my eyes and expect to see Fred beside me, but instead of Fred a small package lay there with a note on top of it.

Hey Ev, sorry George and I had to go back to the shop. I was going to give this to you earlier but I never got the chance to. Now we don't have to wait on owls!
Love, Fred

I open the poorly wrapped package to find another copy of the small notebook Fred had gotten me last year. I quickly open it, and with the quill beside it I scrawl-Thank you for the gift.

When a response doesn't come right away, I snap the notebook closed and start getting dressed. I needed to get out of here before Draco came back for the day. After getting my clothes back on, I use the map to sneak back into the dorms without being caught by Filch and to my surprise when I get back, Luna and Kala are already awake.

"Eva!" Luna beams happily. "Where were you?"

"Er the hospital wing. Ron's been poisoned." the lie slips out of my mouth before I have time to comprehend it.

"Really?" Kala, who had been trying to ignore me, gasps. "Is he going to be fine?"

"Yeah, he got lucky. Harry saved his life," I try to smile at her but she looks away. I deserve that.

"First Katie, now Ron..." Kala shakes her head looking worried.

"Katie? What happened to her?"

"Remember on the Hogsmeade trip in..." Luna trails off when she realizes I wasn't at school at the time.

"Is that why we can't go to Hogsmeade anymore?"

"Yes, but I get to go in the end of April. I'll be taking my apparation test!"

"That's great Luna!" I smile at the excited blonde. "I'll come to cheer you on."

"We're not allowed to go," Kala says in a monotone voice.

"Oh," is all I say. I was hoping our conversations could go back to how they used to be. But now they were awkward and mostly hit dead ends. It's your fault, I remind myself as I pull out the mountain of schoolwork I had.

For the next few weeks I'm able to my snappiness down a little. I attempt to start conversations with Kala or Luna but they end up ending quickly and awkwardly. I even attempt to apologize to Ginny, but she avoids me like the plague. The only thing that kept my mood up was my constant conversations with Fred. If the notebook wasn't spelled to have the ink disappear, it would have been completely full my now.

On a quiet Sunday afternoon with Luna in Hogsmeade for apparation practice and Kala at Quidditch practice, I am able to slip away to the Room of Requirement easily. As I walk up the stairs, map in hand, I notice Harry hovering in front of the door and Tonks walking down the hall, about to pass him. As much as I don't want to get caught, I needed to see Tonks again. I bolt up the stairs to find the two in mid-conversation.

"Tonks?" the two whip around to meet me. "What are you doing here?"

She ignores me. "Have either of got any letters from anyone in the Order recently?"

"No one from the Order writes to me anymore. Not since Sirius-" Harry's eyes meet mine and I look down quickly, feeling my stomach twist. Suddenly a tear falls down Tonks cheek and the two of us gape at her. "I'll see you two around.." She walks away without so much as glancing at us.

"Is she okay?" I ask Harry staring after her.

"I don't know," he says. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I...saw Tonks on the map," I say staring over Harry's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I've-I've got see what's wrong with Tonks. Bye Harry!" I leave him looking confused and hope that Harry doesn't catch Draco. "Tonks!" I call after her, but she just ignores me. "Nymphadora!" This makes her turn around.

"Oh Eva...did you need something?" Her face still holds the same broken expression as earlier.

"Wha-hold come you aren't trying to bite my head off for calling you Nymphadora?" My voice softens a bit. "I know you weren't the close with..Sirius. So, what is it?"

She stares at me with big watery eyes. "R-remus. I don't know if he's hurt." Tonks collapses in my arms crying. Though I had known about Tonks' obvious crush on Remus, I didn't know what had happened since last year.

"Shhh....it's okay. He'll be okay Tonks." My voice starts to fill with worry. "I-it's Remus. He can survive anything. H-he's going to old and senile when he dies, because...it's Remus." She sobs into my chest for a few more minutes before slowly unpeeling herself from me.

"Your right Eva. T-thank you." She gives me the loop sided smile that I was used to and silently walked away. I lean against the wall and try to get rid of image of Remus' dead body.

"He's okay. He's okay. Remus is alive. He's alive...he has to be." I whisper to myself as a few tears slip down my cheeks. "You're being stupid, stop it." I take myself off the wall. "Stop it Eva." I wipe the tears off my face and take the map out. Harry had abandoned his post outside the Room of Requirement, leaving it open for me to enter.

"You're late," Draco snaps as I make my way towards the back.

"That's because Harry's decided to stand guard outside. He probably saw you come in here."

"Potter," he mutters before doing a double take of my face.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I snap. "Just hand me the book."