$3
″Lucius?″
″Be quiet!″
"Where did you take me?"
The young man sighed tiredly and looked at his sister.
"You're already so big and mature that you realize you couldn't have a rest at home. If you trusted me, you would know that I am trying to help. Or do you think father suddenly changed his mind and wants you to go to Hogwarts?″
The girl pondered her brother's words, but this time she did not speak again. "Andromeda," the blonde boy greets the woman who appears at the entrance to the strange portal.
"Lucius," the brown-haired woman, Andromeda, nodded. Roxanne was familiar with her name from somewhere, she knew who she was, but at that moment she couldn't tell. "Roxanne," the woman greeted her. She couldn't be older than her brother. "Go inside, upstairs we've already prepared a room for you. I think you'll find it," she smiled at the girl, though her smile wasn't entirely sincere, "I need to talk some more with your brother″
″Go″ Lucius muttered too "and don't disappoint me″
The young man's farewell to his sister did not come as a surprise to the girl. She has become accustomed to the fact that showing love in their families is almost a sin. She found her room really quickly, as only one door was left open upstairs, indicating where she could go. The place wasn't huge, but the house itself was much smaller than the Malfoy manor, yet she leaned contentedly into her bed.
"Is that still what you want?" the witch's voice filtered in through the gaping open window.
"I'm not going to take any chances. You are the last one they would look for, and even if they did, they would be too proud to come near you.″
"It's taken you two years, too," the woman remarked, "yet here you are″
"That's what they can't find out."
"Actually, Lucius, do you want to protect yourself with this now, or have you got a few drops of altruism in the Malfoys as well?"
Lucius did not respond to his sister-in-law's comment, he looked bored into the other's eyes.
"You want to drag this out for a long time?"
″I was wrong. You don't change anything. Turn around! The sticky note I gave you is your Portkey. I don't know where it takes you, it's Ted's work, but anyway, get out of here to make sense of what we're doing. Now think about everything you want to forget, I won't get to it all day either″
Andromeda took a deep breath, and then softly, almost unheard it herself, uttered the spell.
″Exmemoriam″
They didn't know how effective the spell was, but it was planned that way. Lucius couldn't see where or who he was with, otherwise he would put everyone in danger. The Portkey immediately flew him away, only Edward Tonks knew exactly where.
″Are you sure it's a good idea? Along with a couple of weeks old baby and″
″We've already discussed this, darling″ the conversation was heard upstairs clearly and intelligibly.
"We're taking precautions, she's forgetting it too″
″And what about our daughter?″
″Darling″ Andromeda sighed, "I'm sure she's not here to hurt Nymphadora. Give her a chance″
Roxanne did not close the door to her room, even she knew they were talking about her. Edward Tonks didn't even try show as much kindness to her as his wife. She leaned sadly on her bed. She was tired of everyone being prejudiced against her because of her name. It's as if everyone knows what it's like and they're just waiting for her to show her true self. But she was exactly as she looked. She wasn't acting, she wasn't secretly weaving plans, she was just herself, Roxanne.
She quickly settled into her sister-in-law's home routine. Andromeda, if she didn't trust her at first, let Roxanne show her what she was really like. If she could, which was almost always true, she helped the brown haired witch in the kitchen. Meda liked to do things herself, she once told the girl, because that way the young mother would at least keep herself busy. It took some time, but finally the master of the house also calmed down to her presence. Roxanne was able to deal more and more with the little Nymphadora, playing with and nursing her, giving the adults some free time, for which they were both sincerely grateful.
″What a scent pervades the whole house″ Edward came home from work after a long day. Even he was tired, he didn't immediately step aside like the white-haired girl's father did, Ted Tonks picked her daughter up from the carpet and kissed her, then went into the kitchen with the baby in his arms.
"What's going on?" he stepped up next to his wife and greeted her with a kiss. The man's habit of patting the young witch apprentice's head in greeting had recently come up, and he wasn't far behind. The Malfoy girl was surprised and weird at first, but over the past time she had gotten used to it and was glad that she had almost completely disappeared towards distancing.
"Don't touch it" Meda smiled at her husband's hand, "it's for dinner. It was made by Roxanne, completely alone″
"I can't wait to taste it," Nymphadora was seated in the high chair by her father, "it smells sublime"
"Meda helped me," the girl finished setting the table
″That was nothingness, don't be modest, it's your credit now″
Dinner was in a pleasant mood, and though Roxanne didn't really feel tired, she quickly left the others. However, she learned that the little ones sleep and eat a lot, so she offered to lay down her niece while Meda arranged their things.
The girl knew exactly that all the good things that fit into a fairy tale would end once, so the girl who kept smiling in the summer remained only a memory. She was nervous and scared, she didn't really want to go to school but didn't say a word to anyone about it. By the time she woke up again she was already in London on the 9¾th platform of King's Cross railway station.
"Can I go to you again in the summer? I had a great time," sadness rang in her voice as she asked.
"I'm afraid not" the witch hugged the young "don't tell anyone where you've spent the last few weeks, okay?"
"Thank you for everything," the girl hugged her sister-in-law back as well, and waving goodbye to her temporary family. Finally boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time in her life. Sitting alone in one of the train's coupes, she wasn't so enticed by Hogwarts anymore. The new student wasn't sure she was doing the right thing.
She had a whole summer to remember, to find out what his sister-in-law's brother was looking for, but she had neither a sane memory nor an explanation of how he got there. When the Hogwarts Express started rambling and leaving London behind, she was overcome with guilt. Roxanne took her eyes off the scenery for a moment and looked down the hallway when a figure rushed past her coupe, with more boys in his wake. Driven by curiosity, she opened the cab door and stepped out into the hallway.
″ Out of way!″ someone shouted from behind her back, but before Roxanne could do anything, she was smeared on the wall of the hallway. When she glanced up, a skinny, pale, blonde boy held out a helping hand to her.
″Are you okay?″ the boy wearing school attire asked shyly.
″Yes. I think" Roxanne rubbed her elbows "what's this big hurry?"
"Usual," the boy replied, avoiding eye contact, "James came up with a crazy idea, and I tried to dissuade him from it. Unsuccessfully, as always.″
Presumably the boy expected an unintelligible expression as a reaction, so they stood facing each other in awkward silence for long seconds.
"Don't get mad, but I guess I don't know what you're talking about″ Roxanne finally replied "I have a feeling I should know this James, but the thing is,"
"You're new. I’m sorry" the blonde boy cut in "I didn't suddenly realize you were wearing the first-grader's robe. I'm Lupin. Remus Lupin," he extended a hand. "Roxanne," the girl replied with a still puzzled expression on her face, "so what am I supposed to know about this James?"
The blonde boy smiled.
"You'll soon know the names of James Potter and Sirius Black. I don't want to influence your opinion with anything.″
"Wait, did you say Sirius?"
"Remus come on already!" shouted the boy who had run away earlier ″the girls could wait, this is not!″
"I think I should go," he waved to the boy waiting at the end of the corridor as he said goodbye to the girl "I was glad to meet you, Roxanne."
After being alone again, she was no longer in the mood to get to know the others. She quietly headed back into her coupe, paying no attention to anything but the floor, surprised to see when it opened that the cab was no longer empty.
"If I didn't know you weren't here, I'd think I was dreaming right now.″
The familiar voice was finally noticed by the girl. She stood in astonishment at an old acquaintance, but she couldn't hold back her smile.
"If I didn't know that every Black was Slytherin, I'd think I was imagining it now," she sat down in the seat opposite the boy after checking his robe.
"It's true" Sirius pulled out proudly, "the first to break the family tradition.″
"As is true," she smiled modestly but sincerely, "that I am now studying at Hogwarts.″ "How did you manage to convince Abraxas?" he continued to watch the girl with a gaze sparkling with curiosity.
"The thing is," the smile faded from her face, but she didn't know what to say "we have arrived.″
″For Merlin’s sake!″ The boy snapped, "I need to find the others″
"Go ahead. Maybe I'll tell you later the answer.″
″Don't forget your word″ winked the disheveled-haired boy and stormed out of the room.