SALEM ᵈ ᵐᵃˡᶠᵒʸ

ii. Veela Alert

EVERY time before September first arrived, it's been tradition for me to stay with the Weasleys for a few weeks and go with them to King's Cross Station.

Sometimes my parents would meet us there and sometimes they wouldn't, but either way I didn't really mind. Though they were quite reluctant to let me go this time around with everything that's been going on, but thankfully they caved.

And so I found myself flooing in after a quick goodbye to my parents and was immediately engulfed in a hug by Mrs. Weasley.

I coughed out some dust and hugged her back.

"Sorry for the mess, Aunt Molly," I said, dropping the formalities cause I knew how much it frustrated her that I still use them.

She pulled away and wiped my face with her apron. "Oh, don't worry about that, dear. Ron and the others are upstairs sleeping and Tonks is in the kitchen if you want to go see her."

I brightened. "Tonks is here? What do you mean 'the others'?"

"Hermione arrived a couple of days ago."

"Epic," I breathed then heaved up my trunk from the chimney.

Mrs. Weasley was quick to retaliate. "Ah, ah, ah! I've got this Margo. You go and get yourself washed up now." And with a wave of her wand, my trunk vanished on the spot.

I smiled gratefully and kissed her cheek. "You're the best."

There was a knock on the front door that suddenly made Mrs. Weasley drop her smile. She and I looked at each other warily — I didn't blame her, dark times were ahead indeed. I already knew the Burrow was surrounded by all sorts of charms and spells but it was always best to be careful.

"Should I go with you—?"

"That's alright, Margo. Go and greet Tonks if you'd like," she said. "She needs a bit of cheering up these days."

I frowned after her and wondered what she possibly meant. With a shrug I headed to the kitchen to see Tonks sitting on the dining table with a mug between her hands. The first thing I noticed was her hair, it wasn't bubblegum-pink anymore but rather a sad brown shade.

"Hey Tonks," I greeted.

She looked up from her mug and gave me a short smile, reaching over the table to embrace me in greeting.

"Hey Margo."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her, sensing a hint of dejection in her tone. "You alright, Tonks?"

She sighed and looked at her mug again. "Yeah."

I already knew that was a lie. Sirius dying really took a big hit on Tonks the following months. He was the only other family she knew about that wasn't so deranged. Something told me that there might be other reasons why she looked miserable. Before I could confront her about it, a voice rang out through the threshold of the kitchen.

"Ah, hello, Nymphadora!"

It was Dumbledore and Harry, who looked tired despite the wide grin on his face when we locked eyes.