Second Chances
A Harry Potter/Nymphadora Tonks fanfic
By: Sleeper3173
I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, I just like to play around in the world created by J.K. Rowling.
The battle was over. The last of the magical fires had been put out, and the dead Death Eaters, giants, and spiders tossed into a mammoth pile and torched with fiendfyre. Voldemort's body had been hauled outside, and used as a target for Reducto curses until there was nothing left but a few small piles of ash. The bigger question was what to do with the 50 plus bodies of the defends of the Hogwarts that had fallen. It was finally decided that part of the grounds would be set aside as a cemetery, so that the dead could be buried in the place they fell defending, an idea borrowed from the muggle world.
Too many. Too many funerals. After awhile they started to meld together in one endless ceremony in Harry's exhausted mind. He had struggled to function when they buried Fred, barely recognizing the fact that almost all of the Weasley family except for George stayed away from him. That was the fifth funeral he had gone to, and now, 30 later, he was starting to regret his insistence on attending each and every single funeral. His eyes had dark bags under them, and a majority of the muggleborns whispered behind their hands that he looked like someone called Anna Kin Sky Walker. Whoever that was. He looked down at the twin graves with the open caskets in front of them. Remus and Tonks.
He had been a little surprised when he found out that very rarely did the deceased in the magical community share a grave. That was mostly a muggle tradition. He had just assumed that since his parents had been buried together, so did most couples. Still… Sighing, he gathered what was left of his mind together and walked over to the last two close friends of his left to be buried and gazed down into the caskets. He fought to contain the smile that threatened to break across his face when he saw that at long last Remus was dressed in fine wizarding robes instead of the thread bear set that he had always seen him in. He looked at peace. However, his attention was drawn to the woman in the casket next to him.
Looking down at Tonk's face, he was glad that whatever had killed he her had left her unmarked. He wished he had spent more time getting to know the true Tonks that lay before him. While the heart shape remained, her true face was much similar to her mom Andromeda and her aunt Narcissa, although if the early photos betrayed anything, she looked a lot like Bellatrix before her stay in Azkaban.
He scowled. When they had been moving the bodies, it was discovered that Bellatrix was gone, but a dragon hide vest with a deep crater in it from Mrs. Weasley's curse was left behind. A large manhunt was currently underway to locate the witch, but he had a strong feeling it would be a long time till anyone saw or heard from her again.
He focused his attention on Tonks again. Her jet black hair rested past her shoulders, though the ends had a slight curl to them, once again betraying her relation to Bellatrix. He fought off a small blush when he noticed that her breasts, while large before, were several sizes bigger in their true form. He wondered why she had decided to make them smaller, and had a sneaking suspicion that by doing so, it threw her center of gravity of, resulting in her famous clumsiness.
He was barely able to restrain a sob as he continued to look at her. This was the first time since Voldemort's defeat was he able to actually think about his belated discovery of his feelings for her. He had briefly hoped when he confronted Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest that he would be able to see her again, so that he could tell her how he felt. He was somewhat disappointed when she hadn't been there when he used the Resurrection Stone, but then again, how would he have been able to tell her how he felt while Remus was there too? No matter. Now that would all have to wait… for a very long time. Unless someone came after him to try and claim the Elder Wand, he didn't think he would be dying anytime soon.
Knowing that he was taking up time, he made to walk away, when to his surprise he was stopped by George. He looked into George's troubled eyes for a few seconds. "This is the last chance you're going to get to talk to her." George told him in a voice soft enough that the others attending the funeral couldn't hear. Harry thought about that for a short while then nodded and took a step back towards Tonks' coffin and looked down at her. He could almost swear that her hair was taking on a pinkish tinge, but he shook it off as fond memories of the past.
"Tonks…" he whispered, then stopped and cleared his throat slightly before continuing to speak softly. "Tonks… like George said… this will be the last time we ever…talk. I realized a few things during the battle. I realized that you and I have gotten close over the past couple of years… very close in fact." He swallowed, a painful lump starting to build up in his throat. He needed to get this out before he couldn't talk at all.
"Due to the way I was raised, I grew up not knowing what love is… I didn't know what it felt like. As a result, I screwed up a relationship with Cho Chang… and I pushed Ginny away because I knew if I was with her any longer, I wouldn't be able to protect her like she needed to. And… you…" he gulped hard, suddenly realizing that he not only had tears running down his face, but the people attending had moved closer so that they could hear what he was saying.
Reaching out his hand, he took Tonks' still hand into his. It felt strangely warm, but he shoved the thought aside to focus on what was important, telling Tonks how he feels. "Tonks…" he started again. "The biggest thing I realized… is that… I'm... in love with you." He heard a gasp from one of the females, but chose to ignore it. "I know it's cheesy, but when I stop to think about it, I've loved you since we first met. I… just really wish I had realized that before…before…" His voice caught and he started crying in earnest. "I love you Tonks" he choked out before turning around and stumbling back to the small group of people watching. One of the females who had been there to say goodbye to Remus put her arm around him and hugged him.
The official who was overseeing the funeral stepped forward and lifted his wand. The lids started to close, and Harry stared at the face of the one he loved. As it closed, he could picture her laying there with her favorite pink spiky hair. The official waved his wand, and the two coffins slowly lowered into the open holes beneath them. Harry briefly wondered if it was possible to locate the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest to use one more time before he found a way to destroy it. He quickly dismissed the thought as he knew deep down that the stone would never be found again.
Time seemed to slow as he watched the official point his wand at the mound of dirt next to Remus' grave. What was next for him? It was one of the few things he had given any amount of thought to and so far what he had come up with was not good. For the past six years, he had looked upon Dumbledore as his brilliant, kindly, ever crazy, grandfather. However… Snape's memories as well as his own and the "facts" in Rite Skeeter's book threw all of that out the window.
"You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?" Snape had asked, to which Dumbledore had replied, "Don't be shocked Severus…" That right there told him more than enough. While he still respected Dumbledore for his power, he now saw him for who he really was: a manipulative old bastard. He had to wonder just how much of his life after his parents died was the truth. Except for George, the entire Weasley family had been taking pains to avoid him, and it made him wonder if they had truly been friends at all, or was the death of Fred just too much for them to handle.
All of this thinking took place in the few seconds it took the mound of dirt to rise up and float over the hole containing Remus' coffin. He marveled at how fast the human mind was at times. He watched the dirt settle into the hole and the coffin was lost to sight forever. The official flicked his wand and a magnificently carved headstone appeared and settled at the head of the grave. He pointed his wand at the mound next to Tonks' hole, and time slowed again.
What was left for him? What could he do next? Besides Bellatrix, all of Voldemort's Death Eaters had been killed or captured. With Voldemort dead, and just a single insane Death Eater with most of the world hunting for, his desire to join the Aurors had died with Tom Riddle. So what was truly left for him? What more was he to do for a world that couldn't decide if he was a hero or a villain?
Sure, he knew Shacklebot wanted him to join the Aurors right away. Wizarding Britain wanted him to run for Minister of Magic, a job he was more than happy to let Shacklebot to keep. All Hermione cared about was figuring a way to finish her schooling. He knew it was just a matter of time till she started pressing him on that subject as well. But what did he really want to do?
The truth was that there was nothing. Dumbledore had done his job well. "Don't be surprised Severus…" No doubt Dumbledore didn't expect him to have survived the destruction of the Horcrux inside him. If it weren't for the fact that he was the one to finally end the Dark Lord, he wished he had died… taken that train in his mental Kings Cross. At least then he could have been with Tonks again.
His heart caught when he thought about Tonks again… and in that moment came to the conclusion that his current line of thought had taken him: he had absolutely no reason to live. No job that held his interest. Only a handful of friends… if even that many. Everyone he had truly loved was dead. No… he had no reason to go on at all. With that final thought, his mind snapped.
Mere seconds before the dirt was to be released into it, Harry darted forward and leaped into the hole and landed on top of Tonks' coffin. Yells of shock and horror filled the air and only several quick levitation charms prevented the dirt from coming down and crushing Harry. The woman who had hugged him rushed over and kneeled at the side of the grave and looked down at Harry with panic filled eyes. "Harry! What are you doing? Get of there before you're killed!" "I know." Harry replied. The woman blinked a few times and once the dirt was moved aside, she crawled into the hole and sat down next to Harry on top of Tonk's coffin.
"Alright." She said gently. "What's really wrong? This is more than just losing the one you love." Harry, who had been staring at where Tonks' head would be, looked up at her. "Why should you care? I don't even know you." The woman chuckled softly. "Considering that after today, you'll most likely never see me again, getting to know me is kind of pointless. But I do know the pain your feeling right now." Harry sighed, knowing she expected him to ask. "How?" she laughed. "Simple." She said "I felt the same about Remus Lupin."
"You what?" Harry asked in shock. "I was in love with Lupin." She said again. Harry frowned. "Why haven't I seen you or heard about you before?" "Mostly because he chose to ignore me. You see, I was bitten by him a long time ago, his only victim, and even despite that, over time, I fell in love with him. However, he couldn't get over the matter in which we met, and his own reluctance in the possibility to passing on his condition, he didn't see me in the same light. In the end, he fell for Tonks, the only one outside his species who could see him for who he was. Regardless, I still love him. So yes, I know what you're feeling right now. Having established that, what is really wrong?"
Harry sighed. "You're right… it's not just Tonks' death… but there is also so much that the rest of the world doesn't know about. Harry sighed. "Your right… it's not just Tonks' death that has got me upset, yet I can't really tell you what the problem is because you don't know the back story. I can tell you that due to the betrayal of those who I thought had my best interest at heart, my future is… complicated." The woman nodded. "Dumbledore?" she asked. Harry looked at her in shock. "How did you guess?" she smiled. "I didn't. I knew. It was one of the few things Remus would talk to me about. He may have respected Dumbledore early in his life, but towards the end he only followed the man as the lesser of two evils." She sighed. "However, your life is something only you can fix…" he voice trailed off as her hand jerked and her wand was in her hand. Harry, still running off of months or reflexes honed from being on the run, hand his wand out a split second later and his protego charm reflected deflected her surprising powerful stunning charm…. right into the upper lid of the coffin, which shattered. "OI!" they both yelled at the same time. Furious, Harry turned on the woman, his wand poking into her belly. "What did you do that for?" he demanded. "Did you really think I was going to leave you down here?" she yelled back. "Remus would come back and haunt me for it!"
Harry scowled and looked at the damaged lid to try and decide what would be the best way to repair it but stopped and his mouth fell open. The woman sensed his shock and grew worried, thinking that her spell had done harm to Tonk's body. "Harry, what's wrong?" she asked slowly as she took a look for herself. At first she couldn't figure out what the problem was, till she looked at Tonk's sawdust covered shoulders… and realized that when the lid was closed, her hair had covered said shoulders. Even as the two watched, Tonk's hair continued to slowly retract back into her scalp and turning a brighter shade of pink. "Umm…" Harry said slowly as he stared. "Do dead people do that?" "No!" the woman yelled before shoving Harry off. Jumping off herself, she carefully blasted the rest of the lid off the coffin. They could plainly see Tonk's chest moving up and down and her facial muscles start to twitch. "We need help down here!" she yelled loud enough to be heard outside of the grave. George's head appeared over the edge almost instantly. "What's going on?" he asked in a concerned tone. "We heard spell fire…" "Tonks is alive!" the woman interrupted him and then glanced at Harry, who was rapidly paling as he looked at Tonks. "And I think Harry is going into shock bad. We need to get them both out of here as soon as possible." It was clear George was confused but he nodded anyways and his head vanished, and they could hear him yelling for Madam Pomfrey and the mediwizards from Saint Mongo's that were still at the school.
As the news of what was happening at the gravesite spread, and people got over their shock of the news, they started to stream towards the spot, some to lend aid, many more just to watch. As the crowd grew, so did the noise, till some came just because they thought it was another impromptu celebration. However, through all the noise that was flowing into the grave, three little words spoken in a soft feminine voice managed to work its way into Harry's shocked mind making him blink a few times: "I Love You…" Harry looked down and saw Tonks looking at him with half lidded eyes, but very much alive. "Harry…" she said softly. "I Love You too…" Harry sucked in his breath, and then, in the relative privacy still being offered by the grave walls, with only a nameless woman as a witness, he walked over to Tonks, picked her up bridal style out of the coffin, and kissed her.
Perhaps things were meant to be. After all… how many people got a second chance?
A/N: yes, I know this takes place in 1997, and Star Wars Episodes 1-3 weren't even filmed yet, I couldn't help but toss in that joke. As to why I wrote a sequel to "Missed Opportunities," I was asked by several people to do it, and I myself wanted to write it, so it was a win-win. As always, please leave a review, it is the life blood of us small time fan fiction writers, and I will see you next fanfic.