Chapter Text
Aunt Andromeda had to rush around after they arrived home only to be off again as she was running late for work. Corinna felt guilty over this as she had insisted on saying goodbye to her friends, but Uncle Ted reassured her that St. Mungo's will understand. Today was, after all, a dark day for those in the wizarding world.
Corinna was glad to be home. Being in the castle was a dark reminder of that night and all that they had lost. The parting conversation she had with Harry, Ron, and Hermione circled around in her head as it really dawned on her what was happening.
But that was going to have to be a worry for another day. After she had taken her school trunk and bag up to her bedroom, she rejoined the others in the living room. She was used to Uncle Ted and Dora's presence in her life. The addition of Remus Lupin was not completely unexpected as Dora had admitted to her last summer that she had been interested in him, but he had been dragging his feet for various reasons. It was just odd to see her third year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher sitting on the couch holding hands with her cousin. At the very least, they were happy, and it seemed that Uncle Ted approved.
They all sat in the living room, reminiscing about Dumbledore. Lupin had the most to share as he wouldn't have received a proper education without Dumbledore making the arrangements. "No one else would have allowed a werewolf to come into the castle," he said, and Corinna could feel Uncle Ted shifting. "But that man would not have a child go without an education, no matter the reason."
"There was no one else like him," Uncle Ted agreed. He abruptly stood from the couch. "I'll start something for lunch." No one seemed to be hungry, but he was the type who needed to do something.
"What's going to happen to the Order now?" asked Corinna, as she scraped her nail against the rim of her teacup.
"Moody has stepped up as leader," said Lupin. "He was always Dumbledore's right-hand man, even during the first war. As much as it seems impossible to, we have to keep going."
"When can I join? I'm seventeen now." It felt odd to Corinna that this was the first time she thought about her birthday. It almost seemed like it shouldn't even be happening right then, but it was.
"Dumbledore never agreed to recruit anyone while they were still in school, whether they were of age or not," said Dora. "We're going to keep that up. And that includes Harry and that lot."
They had no idea that Harry was already recruited for something even outside the Order's knowledge. Corinna will keep her mouth shut, of course. There was a reason why Dumbledore wanted that secret to remain so. He gave Harry his permission to tell his closest friends and that man never missed anything.
"Not that it has ever stopped you all before this," said Lupin a slight twinkle in his eyes. "When I was in school, rebellion included sneaking out to drink out in the courtyard or pulling pranks, not dueling Death Eaters or breaking into the Ministry."
"Should've upped your game," said Corinna, which just made Lupin laugh.
"You have changed a lot since that thirteen-year-old who purposefully moved to the back of the line so you didn't have to face a boggart," said Lupin.
"You noticed?" asked Corinna and Lupin nodded. She made a face. "Well, all I had to do was stand behind Harry, it seemed."
"You noticed?"
"Well, you wouldn't want to start a panic with You-Know-Who popping into the staff room."
"That's what I assumed as well," said Lupin. "But he confided in me that it would be a dementor as he had a nasty run-in with them while on the train. It's quite understandable and quite mature for him as what he feared was really fear itself."
"How noble," said Corinna, rolling her eyes.
"Tell me," said Lupin, releasing Dora's hands and leaning forward. "What would your boggart be?"
"You aren't my teacher anymore," she reminded. The truth was, she wasn't so sure what it would be anymore. At thirteen, it would have been a giant wasp, no questions asked. But she was no longer thirteen and had been through more horrors in the last few years than she would have ever expected. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if the boggart took the shape of Bellatrix.
"She has a point, Remus," said Dora as she gave Corinna a small smile. "Some don't know until they face them."
"Dora, can you come help me?" Uncle Ted called from the kitchen.
"If you want to guarantee a disaster, sure," said Dora as she stood up from the couch. Lupin watched her go, a look she had seen often whenever she walked away from Harry, or whenever Ron or Hermione left the other.
"Her parents aren't very thrilled about our relationship," Lupin admitted in a soft voice. "And I can't say that I blame them. She does deserve better."
"I stand by what I said in the Hospital Wing," said Corinna, setting her tea aside. It had gone cold. "They might have had different expectations for Dora. She is their only child, but I'm sure, at the end of the day, they just want her to be happy." She gave Lupin a look. "And I'm sure that is also what you want."
"She wants to get married right away," he said softly. "She said we've wasted enough time this last year and I want to agree with her, but…"
"But you don't want to do anything to upset Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted," said Corinna when Lupin seemed at a loss as to what to say. She sighed softly as she crossed her arms. "Listen, you are both grown adults. If you two want to run off and elope, there's nothing that they can do about it."
"But they are still her parents," said Lupin. "I don't want to start things off by making them angry. That isn't fair to Tonks."
"Do you want me to talk to them?" asked Corinna. "They seem to like me."
"I don't think there is a 'seem' about it," said Lupin. "Tonks talks about you a lot. I think she sees you as a little sister at this point." There had been a heaviness in her heart the entire day, but Lupin telling her that seemed to add a bit of lightness to her chest. It was, to her, the highest compliment she could ever receive. "That's also why I'm going to warn you now. If we do get married soon, she's going to ask you to be the witness."
Corinna was surprised to hear that. "I figured you would want one of your mates to do it."
"The ones I would want to stand next to me are dead." Corinna was surprised by his bluntness, but that was a fact of war. "And it should be a small affair anyway. There's going to be a lot of backlash as it is."
The injustice of it all burned in her veins. How anyone could look at Remus Lupin and only see a monster was beyond her. Sure, he was covered in scars, but his eyes were kind and sharp and his knowledge of Defense Against the Dark Arts surpassed anyone else she had learned the subject from. Snape, she had to admit, came at a close second, but that was only grudgingly so. Whenever he looked at Dora, love was evident in his face and he would die rather than hurt her.
"You know I'm going to say yes," said Corinna firmly, determination shining in her eyes. "I see her as my older sister."
Lupin nodded. "I wouldn't have expected anything less."
A knowing smile graced his lips and he nodded to something behind Corinna. She turned sharply and her jaw dropped. "I told you lot I didn't want to do anything today." Uncle Ted had come out with a birthday cake loaded with candles. It was simple decoration with dark purple frosting and pearly white icing said, 'Happy Birthday Corinna.' Behind Uncle Ted was Dora, carrying a bottle of firewhiskey and goblets.
"Dumbledore would be annoyed if his funeral overshadowed someone coming of age," said Lupin as Uncle Ted set the cake in front of Corinna. She felt tears prickling her eyes all over again. "He would think the living more important than the dead."
Corinna stared down at her cake as they sang to her while color rose to her cheeks. She made a simple wish that no one else had to die for this stupid war and blew out the candles.
While Uncle Ted served out cake, Dora asked Corinna, "Have you even used any magic since you left Hogwarts?"
"I've already used magic outside of Hogwarts, remember? The Department of Mysteries?"
"That doesn't count," Dora insisted as Uncle Ted handed her a piece of cake. "Come on, what's something you have always wanted to do?"
Now that the pressure was on, she drew a complete blank as to what she would want to do. She spotted the fire whiskey and gave a slight smile. She pulled out her wand. "Locomotor firewhiskey," said she. The bottle rose into the air and she poured each of them a glass. She then sent all the glasses over to them. Not the best use of magic, but it felt good that she could do such a thing now.
For the rest of the afternoon and evening, they kept the topics light as they all pointedly focused on what was good with the world. Although it was traditional for a wizard to receive such a thing, as a collector of timepieces, Uncle Ted decided to bequeath her with one that was his mothers. It was of a Muggle style with a mother-of-pearl clockface finish and neat gold lettering and gold band. It looked much nicer on her wrist than the one with the scratched face and fraying leather band. Dora got her Quidditch Through the Ages "since you seem to finally be a fan of Quidditch—or is it only when a certain Boy-Who-Lived is flying around?" which earned her a nudge from Corinna. But she thought about her boyfriend, stuck at home with the muggles who wanted nothing to do with him, completely alone after sitting through his mentor's funeral.
"I'm going to claim the firewhiskey as my gift since Dora sent me out to get it," said Lupin with a slight smirk. Of course, they were almost out of it, so she summoned the one that was supposed to be Ron's own birthday gift but, as he was poisoned, they did not get a chance to celebrate his seventeenth. She will just buy him a replacement for the next time she saw him.
Aunt Andromeda apparated home just after midnight to the four of them talking loudly over each other about various topics. It seemed that they had also found some other spirits to indulge in. She just huffed and headed upstairs to clean up after work. Uncle Ted went up to check on her and never came back down.
Dora was stretched out on one of the couches, her legs on Lupin's lap. The sifter had been full of various liquids all night, but it was now full of water that Lupin had told her was some weak vodka. Corinna was falling asleep in the chair she was curled up on, letting their low murmurs lull her further into darkness when a sharp tap against the window made her jump up and knock what was left in her sifter into her lap. At least it was only on her than on any of the furniture.
"Isn't that Harry's owl?" asked Lupin as the three of them looked over. Sure enough, the snowy owl, Hedwig, sat on the ledge, pecking the pane to get their attention. Corinna slowly stood from the chair, both feeling very heavy and very light. She leaned heavily against the wall when she unlatched the window. Hedwig hooted softly as she flew in. She held her leg out and Corinna struggled to untie the string. Once she was finally free, Hedwig flew over to the corner where they had an open cage for the Tonks' owl and for Corinna's, which she said anyone could use. She gratefully drank the water and ate some of the food. The other owls paid her no mind.
"Little late, isn't it?" asked Dora as she had sat up. Her pink hair was standing straight up, so she resembled a bird.
"I told them not to do anything on my birthday," she said as she opened the letter. "It's midnight, so I guess that means it's fair game."
Dear Corinna,
I told Hedwig not to deliver this until after midnight, and I hope she listened. She usually listens to be, even if she does look at me like I am an idiot at times.
You rejected my attempt at a breakup, which is something only you would do, but I was going to give this to you either way. I remember seeing it in my parents' Gringotts vault and it reminded me of your eyes. I think it was my grandmother's, but I like to think she would be alright with me giving it to you.
Just remember what I said, please. I can't live with myself if you get hurt because of this. I also know you, Ron, and Hermione. Just know you can back out at any time and I will completely understand.
-Harry
She stared down at the letter, slightly annoyed with Harry at that moment. Of course he would mention their almost breakup. With a sigh, she took the package and then went to take the glass to the sink.
"What's that look for?" asked Dora when Corinna came back. "Please tell me if you're going to upchuck."
"No, I'm fine," she reassured, rubbing her eyes as she felt a headache starting to build. "Just dating righteous men can suck sometimes."
"Amen," Dora drew out the syllables as she looked sharply at Lupin. "Does it have anything to do with that conversation I interrupted earlier?"
"A little," she said, wondering how much she heard. "I think I'm just going to go to bed. It's been a long day."
They all exchanged goodnights and Corinna trudged back up the stairs to her bedroom. She flopped down onto the bed, disturbing Zelda as she was curled up by the pillows. She opened the package and looked at the velvet box. It was reminiscent of the box she received on her fifteenth birthday, but she forced those thoughts away as she lifted the lid to reveal the most gorgeous necklace she had ever seen. It was a simple gold chain attached to a dark blue stone with gold flecks scattered around like stars. Lapis Lazuli, she believed it was called, but she had never seen one as clear or with as dark of a blue as this one had.
"Harry, you sentimental arsehole," she muttered. She quickly penned a response, thanking him for the beautiful necklace and that she was standing firm in her decision. She crept down the stairs but stayed hidden as it seemed that Dora and Lupin had moved onto doing other things. Thankfully, Hedwig was a smart bird, as she had silently flown over to Corinna and landed on her arm. She carried the owl up the stairs and released her back to her owner.
Other owls and packages arrived the next morning. Terry sent her a beautiful leather-bound journal with a matching peacock feather. In his letter, he talked about leaving for France later that day. Seamus's mother wouldn't allow him to go, which is something that Corinna wasn't surprised about, but as the three of them spent some time together while she was staying in Hogsmeade for the funeral, she was very much warmed up to the idea that her son was gay and would be willing to have Terry visit them over the summer. He also promised Corinna he would pop in once they were back on English soil.
She had also received a package from Hermione, but she said it was from both her and Ron. It was a very advanced potions book with ones they wouldn't even cover for their NEWTs. Hermione's letter, however, specified that she needed Corinna's help if they were going to go off with Harry after the wedding. She had a list of potions that needed to be made, including Polyjuice Potion. Corinna wanted to point out how Hermione successfully made it during their second year, but she was not about to pass up such an opportunity to make the potion herself. She just needed to get to the Apothecary to get some of the rarer ingredients.
It seemed she would have her chance. Dora let her know that she scheduled her apparition test for Monday afternoon. "You'll have to come with me in the morning as I won't have a chance to come get you during the day," she explained. "Just bring something to do since it can be really, really boring at the Ministry."
All day, she poured over the potions that Hermione said she should make and made a list in her new notebook on what she would need. Some of the things she knew she could get in Diagon Alley without much problem. Others were going to be iffier. She knew, as healers, Uncle Ted and Aunt Andromeda would have access to potion ingredients that would be more difficult to obtain, but she wasn't sure if she could trust either of them. They might ask too many questions, same with Dora and Lupin.
But there was also the other part of Hermione's letter that bothered her. They were going to have to do something in order to protect their family. If You-Know-Who finds out that they are off with Harry, he might hurt their families. Hermione said she was going to obliviate her family's memories and send them off to Australia. Corinna knew she couldn't do something like that to her family. For one thing, Dora and Lupin were too important to the Order, especially with Dumbledore's demise.
But, the more she thought about it, she realized not a lot of people knew that she was living with them. It was basically just the four of them and some of those in the Order. All she would need to do was tell them to pretend to have never taken her in in the first place. She would take what she would need, but then send the rest of her things to Crouch Manor in order to make it look like she had been there the whole time. Once Terry visited, she could ask him to take Zelda.
Come Monday, she was dressed and had her bag with her with the list of potion ingredients and a book to pass the time in the morning. Since her test was at three, it wouldn't give her much time to pop into Diagon Alley afterward (assuming she passed) and get the ingredients she could get there. Since she seemed nervous, Dora reassured her that they would give her some time before the test to practice. In her last practice, she was able apparate a few times without any loss of limbs. She was pretty sure she lost a few inches from her hair, but she needed the dead ends clipped off anyway.
Side-along apparition with Dora was much easier on her as all she had to do was guide Corinna as she was able to do most of the work herself. They apparated to an alley just outside of the Ministry of Magic guest entrance. She tried not to think about that, the last time she was there, it was when they went down to the Department of Mysteries. Instead of the little star badge saying, 'Rescue Mission' under her name, it said 'Apparition Test' and she had to submit her wand with security. The squat witch eyed Corinna's badge and nodded. "Good luck," she said. "I failed the first three times I took it. There's a reason why we have the floo network."
With that vote of confidence, Corinna followed Dora into the office. It was odd to see her in such a serious role. Although she still had her shock of pink hair, she was stony faced as they walked into the large room full of cubicles. "Wotcher, Kingsley," she greeted. Corinna recognized him as one of the men that was present when Dumbledore's Army was caught. Harry told her later that he was a part of the Order of the Phoenix.
"Tonks, Miss Crouch." It seemed he also remembered her. "Here to find out more about being an Auror? From what I hear, we could use someone like you."
"Sorry, she's already got her heart set on being a healer. She's here for her Apparition test."
"Good luck," he said, and Corinna was glad he hadn't announced how many times he failed.
While many of the Aurors around the office kept their desks organized and were only messy from whatever work they were currently doing, Dora seemed to not have received the memo as she had everything scattered about and had difficulty finding what she needed whenever someone popped in for something from her. Corinna just sat in an uncomfortable wooden chair in the corner of the small cubicle, pointedly trying to focus on her book. Her mind kept wandering, worry filling every nerve in her body. Aunt Andromeda packed them a small picnic lunch, but she didn't taste much of it. Instead, she kept staring at the clock on the wall, teasing her by going as slow as possible.
Finally, at a quarter to two, Dora told her that she could head over to practice. She shakily stood from the chair as she took the lift to the sixth floor with the Department of Magical Transportation. She approached the man sitting at a long counter, talking with Ernie Macmillan. It seemed he was also eager to take the test after having to miss out during the school year. "And there's the other afternoon appointment. Miss Crouch, fill out this form and then you can practice until your test time."
She accepted the clipboard and went to sit in the small waiting area. Ernie sat down next to her, even though there were a few other spots he could have chosen. "I think they should at least let us take the test while in school, even if they won't give us the licenses until we turn seventeen so we don't have to go all the way to the Ministry to do this." She just nodded along as he complained about the supposed injustice of it all.
The form was fairly straightforward, asking for some personal details such as height, weight, birthdate, et cetera. It was easy to fill out while Ernie kept talking to her about…whatever it was. It seemed that his coping mechanism for dealing with nerves was prattling on and on.
Once they turned in their forms, the man at the corner directed each of them to a different room to practice until their examiner was ready for them. "If you have any questions, you can ask me. If you lose a limb, please just scream loudly." Corinna thought that was supposed to be a joke, but neither of them laughed. He cleared his throat at his failed attempt at comedy and showed them to each of their rooms.
There wasn't anything in the grey room, not even a chair for her to put her bag. She just shoved it into the corner and noticed that there were marks on the floor. She supposed she would need to be able to Apparate and Disapparate at different points, so she practiced. As she hadn't done it in a few weeks, it took her a few attempts to Apparate. Since time was really messing with her today, after what only felt like a few minutes, the examiner came in, a middle-aged wizard that introduced himself as Cole Auteberry. He told Corinna to start at different points and Apparate to where he told her to. She was relieved that she was even able to Apparate while the pressure was on. After what felt like a million attempts, the examiner deemed her exceptional and issued her an apparition license. He had a speech prepared how she still needed to extend caution whenever she apparated and to always focused on the three D's.
With a promise she would, she left the office and went back to the Auror department. She made a beeline for Dora's cubicle and showed her the license. "Brilliant, Cor," she said. "Now I don't have guide you along anymore. Listen, I have a few more hours of work ahead of me, so you are welcome to head home now, as long as you only head home. Don't be making any side trips to visit any wizards."
Corinna rolled her eyes. "It's as if you want me to do that," she said, and Dora just gave her a smirk. "No, I promise to head home. Besides, apparently the Muggles he lives with are the worse kind of sort. They would not take kindly to me just showing up at their doorstep."
"Definitely not," she agreed. "I'll see you at home, then."
Corinna stopped at the security department to pick her wand up. It was just another quick trip through the visitor's entrance, and she was back in Muggle London. She then popped over to Diagon Alley and she was already beginning to wonder how she had lived life without such an easy access to transportation. The summer after her fourth year would have been much, much easier than having to learn how to use the underground.
Diagon Alley was reminiscent of last summer when she went with Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys to get their various school supplies, but it was much bleaker without the students going around to get their things. There was no one in the Apothecary, so the clerk was able to focus her entire attention on Corinna's various potion ingredients. There were a few she would have to owl order, which she was okay with, but others were regulated to the point that even the shops would not be able to deliver them to her without a specific license or proper permission from the Ministry. She had to settle for what she could get including an additional pewter cauldron, and she was glad she had the gold for it. She had plenty left from the year as they weren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade after the first visit.
But she did not look forward to the fact that she now had to recruit either Uncle Ted or Aunt Andromeda.
Uncle Ted was home when Corinna got back, and she decided to take that as a sign. He beamed at her with pride when she arrived home alone. "I knew you could do it!" he said and gave her a sharp hug. Although she loved her Aunt Andromeda, she couldn't help but feel an odd kinship to Uncle Ted. He was there when she received her OWLs results and he was always easier to talk about things that were bothering her. "I know your test was at three and it doesn't take that long. Did you take a detour to visit someone?"
Corinna rolled her eyes. "No, Uncle Ted," she muttered. She sat down at the table while he made tea. "Actually, I went to the Apothecary."
"Not what I expected, but alright," he said. "You shouldn't have gone to Diagon Alley alone. You just had to tell me you wanted to get some potion ingredients and we could have gone together."
"I was hoping that I didn't have to involve you," she admitted. She knew she was dancing around the subject, but she couldn't help it. Uncle Ted had graciously accepted her into their home, and now she was about to shove it in his face. "However, there are some ingredients that I need that I cannot get because I don't have the proper licensing."
Uncle Ted stayed silent as he carried the tray over to the dining room table and set it down in the space between them. She made no move to take her cup. "What do you need?" he asked. Corinna took out her notebook and listed off the ingredients. She kept glancing up after each item and saw his frown deepen each time. "Corinna," he said after she had listed off the last item. "What do you need these for?"
"There are a few potions I need to make because…" She took a steadying breath, but it did nothing to help. "Because Dumbledore gave us a task to do. Please, please don't ask me what it is," she added when Uncle Ted started to do just that, "just know that I cannot talk about it outside of those who are involved."
"And who are involved?" he demanded.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione, and me," she listed off.
Uncle Ted's jaw clenched when he heard that. While both Dora and Aunt Andromeda were both quick to anger, Uncle Ted seemed to let things roll off him like water off a duck's back.
"What does this entail? And don't give me the excuse that you can't talk about it bullshite!"
"All I can tell you is that it involved stopping You-Know-Who," she said, staring down at the tablecloth. She never noticed the subtle pattern in it with swirls of the same white color but threaded with a shiny thread. "The rumors involving Harry being the only one who can kill him are true. But it's going to take a little more than just Avada Kedavra-ing You-Know-Who into oblivion."
"And Dumbledore personally recruited you lot to help him?"
Not in so many words… "Yes."
Uncle Ted abruptly stood up from the table and paced over to the window. The jovial face he held during Corinna's impromptu birthday party was gone, replaced with a scowl. Although his hair was thinning and wrinkles lined his mouth and eyes, he started to look his age to Corinna.
"You do understand what you are telling me, right?" he asked without turning to face Corinna. "That you are telling me that someone I consider a daughter is being sent out on a dangerous mission by someone who wouldn't even recruit someone who was still in school?"
"Harry's the only one who can do it," she said, unable to get her voice to be louder than a whisper. "I'm only telling you this because I need the potion ingredients, but I…I also need you to lie that you took me in."
"What?" He turned sharply to face Corinna. His kind eyes flashed with anger as he stared at his niece.
"It's to protect you and Aunt Andromeda and Dora and…" She had to clear her throat to get passed the lump that formed there. "I'm going to make it look like I have been living at my old house the last couple of years rather than here. If the Ministry or someone else," she didn't need to specify what she meant by that—Uncle Ted seemed to understand, "asks you questions, you have to act like you reached out to me, but I ultimately decided that I wanted…that I wanted nothing to do with this family."
"I can't believe what I am hearing right now."
"I don't think that way," she said quickly, feeling tears stinging her eyes, the mist clinging to her lashes. "I will always be grateful for what you have done for me. You took me in when I had no one and I…I love you and Aunt Andromeda and—"
"And you want to throw that all away?"
"I am not throwing it away. You should know me by now, Uncle Ted. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't going to stop this war."
Uncle Ted turned back towards the window and stared out at nothing. Corinna remained silent, breathing hard as it seemed like her lungs weren't accepting the oxygen they needed. "How long? Will you be going back to school in September?"
"Not likely."
"So not only are you abandoning your family, you are abandoning your future, and you can't even tell me what the hell you will be doing?"
"It's to stop Voldemort," she shouted. "Shouldn't that be enough?"
She hadn't realized she had said his name until she saw that Uncle Ted was now horrorstricken. Corinna didn't know how long he would have stayed in that state if it weren't for the front door opening. "I'm home," Aunt Andromeda called as she entered. She walked a few paces and stopped as she looked into the dining room. "What's going on here?"
"You should ask Corinna," said Uncle Ted, not looking at his wife. "I'm going for a walk."
He stomped passed a bewildered Aunt Andromeda, and she turned sharply to face him. "Okay, don't leave the—" The front door slamming cut her off, and made Corinna feel like she was stabbed in the chest, "wards." She then turned to face Corinna. "What happened? He never gets this angry."
Corinna braced her elbows on the table and dug the heel of her hands into her eyes, trying to push the look Uncle Ted gave her out of her vision.
She heard a chair scrapped against the wooden floor next to her, and she barely registered the gentle hand on her shoulder. She knew it was Aunt Andromeda, but it didn't bring her much comfort as she now had to drag her into this. "Take your time," she said softly.
It took a moment, but she finally straightened up and told Aunt Andromeda almost the same things she told Uncle Ted. Corinna expected her to react in almost the same way, but she seemed to almost expect this.
"I wish you had come to me instead of Ted," she said simply. "I will get you the ingredients you need the next time I work, and we will do whatever we need to once you leave."
Corinna gaped at Aunt Andromeda. "You aren't angry."
"Oh, I'm furious, but not with you." She abruptly stood up. "When were you planning to leave?"
"August second," she said. "We have to wait until Harry's seventeen and Mrs. Weasley would kill Ron if he missed his brother's wedding."
"That will give us enough time to come up with a cover story and to make sure you have what you need. And to talk Uncle Ted down."
Guilt burned her throat. "I thought he would be more understanding than this."
"Maybe if you had failed a class or snuck out or…or anything that is expected of a teenager," said Aunt Andromeda. "But this…you have to understand, Corinna. We love you and want nothing more than to make sure you are safe and sound with us. Knowing you are going to have to do this—whatever this is—it breaks our hearts. We know how important it is, but it doesn't change the fact that we would do anything to prevent you from doing this."
"I'm not going to abandon my friends or the cause."
"And we would never ask you to," said Aunt Andromeda. "Just remember what position we are in. We took you in. We love you and care about you. No parent would want their child to do this."
"Dora joined the Order," she reminded. "This isn't much different."
Aunt Andromeda sighed and shook her head. "We are proud of everything she has done with the Order and with the Aurors. Would I much rather have her be home and be safe, yes, just like with you. But we've accepted that she needs to do this, just like we need time to come to terms that you need to do this." She took Corinna's hands in hers. "This war was supposed to be over. You both should never have needed to be involved in this."
She stood up and pressed a kiss to Corinna's temple. "Let me talk to Ted. He just needs to cool down, and then we'll figure it out. Right now, just get me a list of those ingredients you need."
"Thank you," Corinna said softly as she looked up at her aunt. "I feel like I don't say this enough. Thank you for everything you have done for me. For giving me love and for giving me a family."
"I just wish we would have found you sooner," said Aunt Andromeda as tears started forming in her eyes. "Then we would have had more time."