cycle

There is no need to deliberately adapt to life at 12 Grimmauld Place, which looks to me like a decaying Gryffindor tower that has been old for many years-if it is not arranged every day to clean up all kinds of things in this old house The weird thing is that the class is taught according to the schedule.As Harry and the others said, the adults made up their minds not to let us know what they were busy with. They left early and returned late, leaving only one person to take care of us at a time.It seems to me that the reason for the inefficiency of the clean-up work is very obvious. As soon as there is any movement downstairs, the boys will drop everything in their hands and try to eavesdrop. The Weasley twins even sent us a ball of flesh color They said that the retractable ear helped them hear a lot of things before, but now it has become unstable, and they are thinking about where the device is broken.

"The kitchen door wasn't distracted when we verified it didn't work with poop eggs," said one of the twins (I still can't tell who was which) in a serious academic exchange tone, "It shouldn't be malfunctioning , let's study it again tonight."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it." I looked at the retractable ears in my hand, "I guess my dad was there when you couldn't eavesdrop."

"It seems...it seems to be." Ron narrowed his eyes and recalled carefully, "That's right."

"Close your ears and listen to the spell." I briefly introduced my father's invention to them. "It can fill the ears of people outside the conversation with an indistinguishable buzzing sound."

"Cool." The twins said in unison, "Merlin, we're going to compliment Snape one day!"

Staying in Grimmauld Place to look after us most of the time are Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Potter, as well as Kreacher, the eccentric house-elf of the Talluses, whose presence we check on every night before we go to bed. Check whether the door is locked or not, otherwise it may sneak in in the middle of the night and try to restore the place we cleaned.

"It loves everything here. For it, the whole meaning of life is waiting for a member of the Black family to chop off its head and decorate it on the wall." Tallus said in a disgusted tone, "Don't Stare at me Hermione - it's not normal, I don't think anyone will be normal after living here for a long time... Otherwise, why would my dad run away from home?"

Mrs. Potter, on the other hand, always wished me to eat more at mealtimes, and kept pushing piping hot stews and large plates of bread crumbs towards me. She insisted that my bad complexion was caused by the Cruciatus Curse last time. Because of not being taken care of well, the nagging little girl of our age is always torturing her body for beauty.There is no way, I can only stuff all kinds of food into my mouth desperately to show that I don’t have a problem with her cooking skills-she cooks delicious food, and I can barely drink half of the mushroom soup bowl.

But our favorite member of the Order of the Phoenix is ​​Tonks, and although she looks reckless, she doesn't check on our progress when she stays on duty and doesn't care when we try to get her to say something. Doesn't chase us away right away, doesn't come upstairs at night to check we're asleep (I think Mrs. to amuse us with her hair and facial features—she was a natural Transfiguration Magus, and she later explained to me, who had been staring at her curiously, with a little pride, a rare and useful talent in Pride During Luo's training, she directly got the highest score in the part of hiding and disguising (I think Mr. Potter must not calculate the points that should be deducted for her knocking down various things).

Mrs. Weasley wanted us to finish cleaning the drawing room before Neville came here.According to the limited information obtained through Telescoping Ears, the Order of the Phoenix hoped to transfer Neville's parents from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries to a safer place. Wei may have to attend an occasion like a hearing or a debate, so he will come to live here after a while.

"It seems that my mother is hosting, but the situation is not good." Tallus said, "The Ministry of Magic is clearing up the so-called 'Dumbledore faction', Harry's father is directly forced to leave for no reason, Fudge is sure I wish my mother would give him some clues, he has a good idea."

"But he can't clean it up, right?" I tilted my head, "My mother is still there, er, although the Department of Magical Sports shouldn't have access to anything now, and Tonks and Kingsley--still With Percy?"

I seem to have mentioned a name that shouldn't be mentioned. All the Weasleys present showed very ugly faces, and Ginny roared like a kitten under attack: "How dare we count on him?"

"Percy fell out with the family." Hermione quickly pulled me aside and explained how Percy believed the Daily Prophet's story, how he had a big fight with Mr. Weasley and moved out of the house, "They are very Get mad and don't mention Percy in front of them - especially Mrs Weasley, she'll cry at the name."

The cleanup of 12 Grimmauld Place is progressing slowly. It is like an uphill battle. The old house resists us in various unexpected ways. wardrobe, Ron and Hermione almost fell for it.

"Oldest and Noble House of Black—Forever Pure." The tapestry with this line embroidered on the top is Kreacher's most precious thing, and it uses its emaciated and crooked body to try to stop everyone who wants to get it off the wall The person who is the most famous person—in fact, we suspect that this tapestry has been cursed permanently, and we don’t need it to protect it by cursing. We can only stare at this tapestry that covers the entire wall.

"Forever pure means that they will destroy the part they think is not pure." Tallus said to us mockingly, pointing to a scorched dot on it, "this should be my dad's place, he After I ran away from home, I was dismissed by my grandparents."

"Potter!" Hermione looked curiously at a name above, "So Harry and you are related?"

"Pure-blood families basically have relatives. After all, the number is limited. In order to maintain the so-called purity, some families even allow close relatives to marry directly." Harry shrugged, "What kind of pure-blood family list did they make before? , and then our family was expelled for liking Muggles and anti-purity. I'm actually a generation older than Tallus - but we don't usually count that, after all, his father is still my godfather."

"This was originally my mother." Tonks pointed to another charred dot next to it. "She was also removed from her name after she married her father."

I followed her finger and looked to the side, the dot had Bellatrix Black written on the left, a double gold thread connected it to Rodolphus Lestrange, and on the right Narcissa Black, a double-strand gold thread connecting her to Lucius Malfoy, and a single-strand vertical gold thread extending down reads Draco Malfoy.

Maybe it's because life after I came here is so fulfilling, busy cleaning and eavesdropping during the day, and sneaking around at night trying to lower my voice to guess what the adults are doing, I didn't realize that I hadn't thought of Draco for a while.But his name suddenly appeared in this place that seemed to have nothing to do with him at first glance, and I felt that thorn in my heart reappeared in an instant, and it even popped up a little.

I didn't participate in their routine discussions and conjectures that night. After all, the boys insisted that the adults were trying to find a powerful weapon that could directly make the mysterious man disappear from the world. Said Muggles have expressed interest in "extraordinarily dangerous nuclear weapons".I excused myself to rest in the room because I was not feeling well, but I felt so awake that I couldn’t fall asleep at all, so I got out of bed and cautiously wanted to go downstairs for a while.

"Hey." As soon as I walked to the hanging booth, I heard Tonks' voice. She now has a long hair and is wearing pajamas, "Can't you sleep, Alice?"

Of course I couldn't tell her that the "Youth Order of the Phoenix No. 17 meeting" was in full swing upstairs, and I lied to her: "I've had a bit too much dinner, I'll go to bed after staying here for a while."

"He's kind of my cousin... by blood," she said, looking at Draco Malfoy's name, "but it's best for both of us to pretend we don't have such relatives as each other."

I looked away unnaturally, pretending I wasn't looking there just now.

"Would you like something to drink?" She winked at me, "They put some good things downstairs, and I can't sleep, can you stay with me for a while?"

"Uh, I'm actually alone..." I instinctively wanted to refuse.

"Then I can only take you upstairs to see if the others are asleep." She smiled slyly, "You choose one."

The kitchen in the middle of the night looked even more eerie, especially when Tonks was so excited that he pulled out several white candles with a subtle smell from the corner and lit them. illusion.But she didn't seem to care, and after a crackle, she pulled out a dirty glass bottle with a cork from a hole in the wall.She tapped the cork with her wand, and the moment it jumped up, the room was filled with sweet warmth.

"A little bit, I have to go to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow." She conjured up two glasses, "Tsk, a little more should be fine—well, you finally look a little like your father at this moment."

I put down the glass a little embarrassedly, just now I habitually checked the color and viscosity of the liquid against the light.

"It's very good, you take a sip and swallow it all at once." She showed me, "It's a bit uncomfortable at first, I think you haven't had any alcohol other than butterbeer—"

"Drink it." I said softly, "When I was a child...he lied to me that there was a box containing ordinary chocolates, but it was actually filled with strong malt whiskey-and I chased him around the garden. , As a result, I passed out drunk and slept for a whole afternoon... I didn’t drink any more after that.”

"Try it, this tastes better than whiskey, very sweet." She didn't ask me who "he" was, she just took a sip of the pale golden liquid in her cup, then closed her eyes contentedly, her hair became beautiful pink.

"I haven't actually met Draco Malfoy." I didn't drink the wine in my hand, and she didn't seem to care, and said to me enthusiastically, "My mother has been cut off from the family since she married my father." Of course, he won’t be invited to his sister’s wedding because of his relationship. But I guess he doesn’t look like the Black family, more like the Malfoy family, light blond hair?”

"Hmm." I nodded, "I actually didn't know that he was related to Tallus. If I didn't look at the family tree...they were rivals at school."

"Then isn't it hard for you?" She looked at me curiously, "The boy I like can't get along with the friends around me——uh, I heard that, as long as they say you..."

"It's okay." I nestled on the chair, feeling the familiar numbness, "I understand, this is an extraordinary period."

"But I always think," I couldn't help continuing, looking at the slightly shaking glass in my hand, "then why did I get to know him in the first place? You all knew from the beginning that Lucius Malfoy had He is a Death Eater, so why did Dad still contact him in the past? Why did no one tell me since I was a child that you should not be friends with this person, you should stay away from him, you are not the same kind of people, if Even if someone told me so, I don’t think I’ll be so uncomfortable now——Obviously my parents are doing such dangerous things, I feel that I’m ignorant at all, but I can’t help it, if someone tells me in advance ...I won't do anything wrong...I'm very obedient...I've always been obedient..."

"No one is accusing you of doing something wrong." Tonks put down his glass in a panic and dragged the chair towards me. "No one said that, who can say that? You are just a little girl. Loves someone at an age when it's supposed to love people—we all understand, my dear, that all grown-ups here were once young."

"I actually don't know if it's a liking or just a habit." I said, staring at the glass in my hand, "I always knew that he...was bad to other people, but...I actually knew a long time ago that we were bad to a lot of people. Things are seen differently, I just don't want to think about it."

I don't know why I chose to say this to Tonks this night. I have been in a state of seemingly calm but chaotic since I got home-I don't understand why I can no longer open up with my mother, nor can I Understand why I don't want to mention related matters with Hermione.

But in fact, these questions have been answered in retrospect. At that time, I naively attributed the pain I experienced that summer to my parents not intervening with me and Draco in time. No matter how much I told myself, I should be considerate of adults at this time We are so busy that we have no time to take care of a little girl's mood. This kind of blame is doomed to me not being able to open my heart to my mother without reservation as before.At the same time, I understand that Hermione doesn't agree with Draco from the beginning to the end. It's better to say that she tolerates the relationship between me and Draco because she cherishes me as a friend. I have thought of it a long time ago” to comfort me, saying that everything I did was right.

But the thorn grew in my heart little by little, and I knew that if I didn't deal with it, it would pierce my skin one day and turn me into a monster-this time Tonks appeared, she had never Having been involved in my life, there shouldn't be too many intersections with me in the future. She is older than us, but not old enough to be an elder. I grabbed her like a drowning man grabs driftwood.

"When I was young, my mother was very busy. At that time, I didn't understand the reason. Thinking about it now, the Mysterious Man just fell, and so many outstanding wizards died in the past few years... the young wizards who survived were probably arranged It’s a heavy task,” I whispered, “I don’t cry, I don’t ask my mother to stay with me at home, I can play with the cauldron in my father’s office all day, put the doll in it and soak her It's dirty, anyway, dad can make her back to normal in a second. Dad doesn't like mom's colleagues parties. He thinks it's noisy and never goes. I think it's noisy too. Those adults always pinch my face... Mom Naturally not going to join one of Dad's alumni circles, and she never wanted me to. I first went to Malfoy Manor because Mum got a sudden overtime notice, and Aurors were never in the office to catch dark wizards Right? But you can't leave me alone at home, I'm only a little older, so Dad took me to Malfoy Manor."

"Then you've known each other long enough," said Tonks. "He wasn't so... er, how should I say, like a Malfoy when he was a kid?"

"No, we had an argument the first time we met. He arrogantly slandered me and threatened to give me a hard time." I shook my head, "Then I beat him up—he was not as tall as me at that time , his face was pale again, it was too easy to beat him up. Then he made an excuse to treat my wound, but secretly wanted to take revenge on me with poison, and revenge on the Potions professor's daughter with poison... I beat him up again, He's being honest."

Tonks frowned: "Then if it were me, I would hate this little bastard very much. I know such vicious revenge at a young age."

"But I thought...it was funny at the time." I felt a choke in my throat, "Dolls are good, but dolls can't talk; dad is nice, but dad... never laughs and talks with me." I play games; Mom is nice, but she is always in a hurry, comes home late, looks tired, and argues with Dad about some things from time to time, I think they won't bother if I behave better A lot of things. Many people think that I am very quiet, and Professor McGonagall thinks so too, but now that I think about it, maybe it’s just because I’ve developed a habit—I’m also noisy when I stay with Hermione and the others every day I didn't feel bad. Draco was like a fun Christmas present to me at the time, I could fight with him, I could run after him, he could talk and scream and cry, Bib Dolls are much more interesting."

"You never mentioned this first impression to him, did you?" Tonks chuckled, "You still cry!"

"The next time Dad goes to Malfoy Manor, I muster up the courage to say I still want to go with him - Mom and Dad look surprised because I hardly ever ask to go out with them. Mom always I respect my own choice very much, Dad...Actually, I have never really understood his thoughts, but he took me there without saying anything, and basically he will take me with him when he goes to Malfoy Manor in the future."

"I see," Tonks clapped his hands, "There is no child who doesn't want to play with their peers. When I was a child, I used to sneak through the window to play with the Muggle children next door-but once I couldn't control them seeing me The color of my hair changed, and they never took me fishing again."

"Maybe." I lowered my head and took a sip of the wine, feeling as if my throat had been burned, but there was a sluggish warmth in my stomach, "So maybe I'm actually just... used to life. This person exists, and I'm not a person who likes to change. I remember he always said to me at that time that both of us will definitely be sorted into Slytherin, although Hogwarts is generally controlled by Dumbledore, But Slytherin is very good. But the sorting hat sorted me into Gryffindor. I remember it only hesitated for two seconds before making a decision. I took off the hat and looked back at him in a daze. He was also dazed. He looked at me intently. He even insisted that the Sorting Hat was wrong, how could the head Slytherin's daughter go to Gryffindor?"

"I told him that my mother is a Gryffindor, and he snorted at that time... In fact, I should have felt something at that time, but I didn't want to think about it, and neither of us wanted to." I bowed my head Looking at his nails, "I knew what kind of person he was from the beginning, he was domineering, arrogant, bullying the weak, and at odds with other Gryffindors, he was terrible, and now he is the son of a Death Eater, But he's always been...to me..."

"Everything is fine?" Tonks saw that I couldn't say the following, and kindly helped me fill in the words.

"I think at the beginning it was just because he couldn't beat me, so he chose to be patient... When he could beat me, he realized that my father was his future dean, and bullying me didn't seem like a wise choice. Later ... I don't know what happened afterwards, he started to mind me contacting other boys, we quarreled more and more, but in the end we were able to reconcile—"

"Youth." Tonks held out her wine glass and touched it with me, "What the hell did I do when I was in school, hey."

"Then he said he liked me and made me believe that I liked him too." I looked at the liquid in the glass shaking from the collision, and I tried to keep my tone calm, preferably as if I was talking about someone else story, but I clearly failed, and what I said was actually confused, "I'm actually confused, Tonks, I don't know if that counts as liking, I mean, I like being with him because I'm used to , I feel at ease - he is my first real friend, I have very few friends, although now I have a good relationship with many people because of Hermione's relationship, but this is not the same... But I Can't tell where it's different."

"Have you ever eaten the Volcanic Chocolate that is only sold in the winter at Honeydukes?" I gestured to Tonks helplessly, "They release an upgraded version every year, which is actually better and better-but only The first time you eat that kind of chocolate, you will be scared by the hot juice in it, even though it may be the worst version, but when it comes to volcano chocolate, you always think of the scene of eating it for the first time.”

"It's a wonderful but apt metaphor," Tonks said. "I understand that you don't have to run away from the fact that you like him, and you don't have to deny it... As I said at the beginning, no one can I blame you on this one. In fact, come to think of it, maybe young people are prone to liking people who at the time others thought they shouldn't like - just like my mother was married to a Muggle at the time."

"Then have you ever liked someone you shouldn't?" I tilted my head at her.

"Ha, haha, no, I've always been dull, hahaha." She lowered her head to drink the wine in her glass, even under the dim light of the white candle, I could see that the color of her hair gradually turned into a bright red , "I don't even have anyone I like."

"But about the volcano chocolate analogy just now, I think there is a bit of a hole," she showed a gentle expression, and took my hand that was not holding the wine glass, "You are right, you can eat many boxes of volcano chocolate, but only the first I felt my heart beat faster when I ate it once, but there are not only volcano chocolates in the Honeydukes store, but also a variety of candies. I think I will be shocked when I eat ice mice for the first time? Anyway, I It was freaking out, I thought I had my front teeth glued off - uh, off topic, I meant to say - Alice, you're only 15, there's lots and lots of candy to come, and a long, long time It’s enough time for you to fall in love with another person, and you may even have to love several people before you can finally find your other half. Not all of those songs are sung like this-how many bars I have to go through, how many times I have listened to playing and singing, before I can Met that girl who smelled like a love potion—well, I'm off-key, sorry."

When I laughed, she wrinkled her nose and slowly turned it into a pig nose. She said to me: "Be happy, you look so good when you smile! I feel that there must be many boys who like you. In fact, you Why don't you think about Talus? Hey, don't be choked--I said it casually, I just think he looks so good-looking, if you get married, you don't have to worry about who the child looks like--God, that child What does it look like?"

I feel that my nose is now full of wet mead. Tonks panicked and wanted to find a handkerchief to wipe my face and skirt, but I tripped over an unplaced chair, so I quickly reached out I helped her, but she dragged her to the ground. In the end, the two of us burst out laughing.

"It's bad!!" We just got up from the ground when we suddenly heard Harry's roar from outside, "Tonks! Where are you?"

Tonks jumped up and pulled me behind me, the portrait's screams were heard outside the door, and I had barely pulled my wand out of my nightgown when the kitchen door was flung open.

"I knew—" Tallus yawned and shouted out the door, "I found it! She's with Tonks!"

"Harry doesn't usually do that," Tallus said to Tonks, after we had breathlessly stunned all the portraits and covered Grandma Tallus's with a velvet drapery. He's not very good about Snape."

"Very awkward." Ron shook his head dazed by the screams. "I just said Alice should be with Tonks."

"You should have left us a note." Hermione clapped my hand reproachfully. "We're going back to our room - no, we woke up and found your bed empty, thinking..."

"Go to bed!" Tonks' watch jingled and she jumped up, "God, if Mrs Weasley comes over and finds none of you asleep - I'm afraid I'll be fired Get out of the Order of the Phoenix, hurry up!"

"Sleep well," she said to me as she walked us upstairs at the end, "I hope you're happy, uh, don't know if you did..."

"I'm much more relaxed." I hugged her, "Really, after I said it, I feel... not so heavy, thank you."