I had decided that I was going to sit with Cissy and Reg and Matthew
on the way to the platform. I had already made plans with all my other
friends, and I knew Mother would never allow Cissy and Reg over. Though
Lily was somewhat upset, she still let me go.
"I'm so happy you guys are together again!" Cissy said. I smiled at her.
"Me
too. I mean, I know it's going to take a while for us to be back to
normal, but we're all together again," I paused, "You know I'm not
thinking about leaving you guys, right?"
"We know," she replied. Reg put his hand on my shoulder.
"Matthew?" He looked up at me.
"Are you feeling better?" He nodded, smiling.
"He still hasn't spoken. Poor thing. He's a fourth year, so young," Cissy sighed.
"Cissy, we're only a year older than him," I tried to say with a straight face. Cissy scoffed.
"So, he's still...dangit. You win," she said. I laughed.

"I'll see you guys next year! Owl me!" I shout to my friends. Matthew and I met up with Frank. We waited for Mother.
"Matthew,
Charlotte is coming over. Will you be happy to see her?" I asked.
Matthew's face immediately lit up. He smiled and nodded. I chuckled.
"Good."

A few minutes later, we were in the car, going home.
"How was school?" Mother asked.
"It was good," Frank replied.
"Lily, Jinxy, Marlene, Alice and I are friends again," I stated.
"That's great!" The car fell silent.
"Matthew, dear, do you have a middle name?" Mother asked. Matthew nodded.
"What is it?"
"Jackson," he mumbled.
"Well,
Jackson, in this family, we call each other by our middle names. Serana
is Rivers, River, Rivvy, or Riv, Frank is Dannie or Daniel, and you
will be Jackson, Jack, or Jackie, if that's alright with you," Mother
explained. Matthew nodded. I put my hand on his shoulder. Mother sighed.

"River, why don't you tell Jackson about Tonks," Mother said.
"Mother-"
"He needs someone to relate to," Mother pressed. Matthew looked at me, eyes wide. I sighed.
"Last
summer, I was at a friends house. You heard of Nymphadora Tonks,
haven't you? Well, I was at her brother'a house with his girlfriend and
her. We were attacked by Death Eaters. Tonks' brother and his girlfriend
left us. She died. I made it out, but only because of luck. I know what
it's like watching someone you live die," I told him. I had tears
brimming my eyes. Mattew, still saying nothing, simply wrapped his arms
around my neck. I hugged him back.

We were running down the halls. The green spell shot past me, missing me by inches.
"Ha! You missed!" I mocked, looking behind me. I tripped and tumbled. I looked back. It was a body I'd tripped on.
The Death Eater didn't miss. I wasn't his target. Tonks was.

"Rain?
Rain? Why didn't you save me? Why did you let me die? How could you do
this to me? What did I ever do to you?" I heard her voice. I tried
screaming her name, but no sound came out. I tried again. I couldn't see
her. Where was she?
Then she was screaming. The sound pierced my heart like a million daggers. I fell to the ground. The ground felt wet.
I touched it and looked down. Red. Everywhere was red. I was surrounded in blood. I shrieked.
I
fell backwards, expecting the ground, but I kept falling. I noticed if
galled in a hole. Blood was pouring into it like a red waterfall. In the
blood, I saw images. Tonks, dead. Lily, angry. Antonin, shouting.
Sirius, hurting. Everything that had happened to me, that haunted me,
was replaying over and over again on the blood-screen.
As I fell, I
pressed my hand firmly against my ears and screamed. I sobbed and
screamed and cried and wailed and pleaded for the voices and the images
to stop.
They started shouting my name. I curled myself into a ball,
trying to shut out the voices. The Wind from falling whizzed past my
ears. My hair whipped around me, slashing at my face as if each strand
were another hand.
"Please, no," I pleaded.
"Serana. Serana.
Serana. Serana! Serana! SERANA!" The voices slowly turned into Frank's
voice. I felt him shaking me. I shook my head and kept my hands over my
ears.
"Hey, River, it's me, it's just me," he said.
"River?"
That was a voice I'd never heard before, "It's Jackson. You're going to
be alright. It's going to be okay." I shook my head again.
"No, no," I murmured. I felt a hand on my shoulder. A soft one.
"I promise you. You'll be okay. Just open your eyes," he said softly. I slowly opened my eyes.
I
wasn't falling. There wasn't a waterfall of blood. My hair wasn't
hands. There weren't any mocking voices or memories. It was just my
family.
"Did I wake you all?" I asked, my vice hoarse.
"Sweetie, I think you woke all of China," Mother replied.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"Don't be," Frank said, "I mean, you got Jackson to talk."
Jackson.
I looked over at the Slytherin. He was smiling slightly. I smiled back.
"Thank you," I whispered to him.
"No, thank you."