The Forest of Dean

Tonks: I shook my head, "Why is it always the Gryffindors who get in the most trouble?" I asked. "It's like all of you have a talent for it or something, since when does courage cause recklessness? I never.... okay, once did I get in enough trouble that I had to go see the headmaster, and that was an accident,"

Ginny: "We didn't really do anything wrong though, and, this is Amber, by the way, Amber, this is Tonks and I'm sure you remember Professor Lupin, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from a few years back? Well, they're both members of the Order of the Phoenix and former Hogwarts trouble-makers," I smiled. "And, as I was saying, we didn't do anything, except decide we wanted more information..... so we left the common room,"

Amber: I looked at Professor Lupin then back at Ginny. I nodded at Tonks and smiled. "Nice to meet you." I said, politely. "Yes I remember Professor Lupin." I chuckled at the mention of trouble makers. "Ginny's right, we were just overly curious. We didn't know we were supposed to stay in our common rooms or that Death Eaters were roaming around making sure we were." I looked at Ginny and grimaced, "Good thing we didn't see one on our way from the Library." I chuckled.

Lupin: "I doubt you'll get information from inside Hogwarts. Everyone who would give information is most likely scare senseless." I said grimly.

Tonks: "It's nice to meet you as well, Amber," I smiled, then nodded in agreement with Remus. "Sadly, he's right. The Death Eater presence puts everyone on edge, the teachers because they're worried about the students, and the students because they don't know if they're safe to do... anything really, it's the same kind of situation at the Ministry, everyone is afraid to talk, because they don't know who to trust. It's a very messed up world we're living in at the moment," I sighed. "Anyway, maybe we should head inside, and warm up? It's really dark out here, and we're beyond the protective enchantments,"


Ginny: I nodded, it was getting cold. I was glad I'd changed out of my robes and into something a little warmer before we'd left.

Lupin: "It's not wise to stay out of the protective enchantments for long. We don't know who is on what side anymore."

Tonks: I nodded, and let Amber and Ginny go into the tent first, then I followed. "Hold on," I said as we walked in, and Ginny looked as though she was about to ask something. I walked out the front and looked at Kingsley, who was still sitting with his wand aimed at the trees. "Do you want one of us to take over for you, Kingsley?" I asked.

Kingsley: I looked over to the tent as Nymphadora spoke. "No, you need your sleep, both you and Remus have been working too much, I'll stay for a few more hours. Then you can leave and go to your mother's house like you arranged. And yes, I did hear your conversation. The two of you weren't exactly whispering," I chuckled.

Tonks: I rolled my eyes. "Alright, let us know if anything changes," I told him, before walking back in. "Sory about that," I told Ginny, who had taken a seat on one of the cots, Amber was sitting next to her, and Remus was standing. I sat on the cot across from theirs and waited, expectantly for questions.

Ginny: "So, what happened after you all left the common room?" I asked looking from Tonks to Remus. "Did everything go alright?"

Tonks: I sighed. "Alright. We went to the Entrance Hall, and saw Bellatrix and Draco leaving through the front doors, so, naturally, we followed them. Almost all the Death Eaters were gathered there, and You-Know-Who was.... Instructing them or something. Then Alecto Carrow came running out in a panic, telling them that there were intruders. They knew we'd be watching them. You-Know-Who started hurling killing curses in every direction, and by that point they could see us. Well, one of the... One of the curses hit someone. I didn't know who at first, because all the Death Eaters were hurling curses now, I couldn't exactly stop. Then they all Disapparated, and we all crowded around to see who had been hit," I bit my lip, not wanting to say the rest, because I knew this death was going to be almost as hard for everyone to accept as Mad-Eyes had been. I looked at Remus to continue, knowing I couldn't.

Amber: I sat there and listened as Tonks explained what happened after they had left the Common Room. I frowned when she stopped, not saying who had been hit with the killing curse. "Who was hit?" I asked, scared to even find out who it was.

Lupin: I looked at Ginny solemnly when Dora didn't say anything. "Bill fought until the end, but there were too many, and he couldn't watch all of his sides. We are lucky that we weren't all slaughtered."

Tonks: I bit down on my lip and looked down as he spoke. War was far too brutal, especially for families.

Ginny: "W-wait. Bill?" i asked, not daring to believe it. "No, you must be mistaken, he was probably only stunned," I shook my head. "Bill can't be.... He just can't be...."

Tonks: "I'm so sorry Ginny," I told her honestly. "And I think we can get you, and probably Amber too, to your home in the morning, but it's getting rather late, we've all had a really long day. We need rest, tomorrow will be a new day," I said quietly. "Believe me, I'd rather not believe it myself, I've known Bill since I was eleven, and with him having just been married and all, I can only imagine how terrible it must be for Fleur..." I stopped knowing I was probably not helping much. I looked pleadingly at Amber, hoping she could think of something to say.

Amber: I looked up and saw Tonks looking at me with pleading eyes. I turned to Ginny and placed my hand on her arm, comfortingly. What could I say? Ginny won't want to hear that everything will be okay because it won't. "I'm so sorry Ginny," I said quietly.

Ginny: I nodded, feeling numb. "What happened next?" I asked, hoping to be distracted by the rest of the story.

Tonks: I sat further back on the cot and thought. "Well, we headed back to the school to see what we could do to help, we knew they wouldn't have gone far with Harry there. We were in the courtyard for only moments before we were dueling again. This time with Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, Antioin Dolohov and Snape, it was Remus and I against the four of them. Obviously they don't play fair, and Snape used the Cruciatis Curse on me... At that point Harry had joined us, so had Minerva. Then Kingsley came over and started helping. Harry distracted Snape and I was able to fight again, Remus was handling Dolohov fine. Lucius was hiding, and Snape was standing there. Then two students came out and one was injured, I only know one of them, the Lovegood girl was the one who was injured, we forced Harry away and Minerva took the students to the Hospital Wing. Kingsley was helping me fight Bellatrix who was shooting killing curses as if her life depended on it. I was almost hit by one but Kingsley knocked me out of the way and we came here," I explained.

Lupin: "And now the school is swarmed with Death Eaters...."

Tonks: I nodded. "Exactly, which means the students and teachers are in danger, especially those who tend to be rebellious, but I don't think now is the best time to talk about things like that," I added. "There'll be plenty of time for that in the morning," I said, noticing there were only two cots, and four of us, I quickly conjured another, because it looked as though three would be all that would fit. I stood up from were I was sitting on the one cot, and gestured for Remus to take it. "Sleep, you need it.... old man," I grinned with a wink.

Lupin: I smiled softly at her, "You need it more than I do."

Tonks: I rolled my eyes, "Honestly, I do not, I've gone three days without sleep before, during training Mad-Eye made me be vigilant for a whole 72 hours, I'll survive a few more hours without sleep. Besides, you and Kingsley are going to be out here a lot longer than I will be, since you're making me go home, and I can catch up on my sleep then,"

Ginny: I looked at Amber, I really didn't want to sleep. "Want to go outside for a few minutes?" I asked her. "I think I need some air,"

Lupin: I sighed. "Alright," I said as I sat on one of the cots.

Amber: I nodded at Ginny. "I'll go outside with you. I'm not sleepy yet." I said, standing up.

Ginny: "Thanks," I smiled a little, also standing up, I walked out of the back of the tent and sat on a log that was still within the protective boundaries. "This is horrible," I shook my head.

Tonks: "See, being stubborn gets you no where, because I'm not likely to cave," I said.

Amber: I followed after Ginny and sat beside her on the log. "I know." I nodded and sighed. I looked down at the ground.

Ginny: "Why does it have to be like this? Families being torn apart, and destruction everywhere?" I sighed, barely keeping back tears now.

Amber: I looked up and frowned. "Everything's going downhill," I sighed. I looked at Ginny and saw she was holding back the tears. I wanted to reach out and hug her, but I didn't know if she was a huggy person.

Ginny: "It seems as if the rebellion is failing, there's not much hope, is there?" I asked, sighing.

Amber: I grimaced. "There's always hope," I sighed. "But I guess now, there's nothing to hope for." I turned to look at the forest.

Ginny: I looked into the forest, my vision blurry from the tears still threatening to spill out of my eyes. "I sure hope Harry knows what he's doing, I think he's the only hope we have,"

Amber: I nodded, agreeing with Ginny. "He is the only hope we have left."