April, 1998
Los Angeles, California
"One more push sweetie, it's almost over."
"Please just let it end already-"
I was able to make out those words among all the screaming Penny was letting out. Her eyes were glazed and dilated while the head was popping out. I wondered if childbirth had some kind of strengthening power as all the circulation from my hand was gone as Penny was literally squeezing the life out of my fingers.
The doctor reached his hands out and secured the head. Next came the arms, then the legs, and then…
"It's a boy!"
He handed us a small child swaddled in blue blankets. We originally decided to keep the gender a secret and brought a blue and pink one in anticipation. It was Penny's idea as her mother had apparently done the same when her and Beatrice were born.
Penny took her newborn son in her arms and gave the softest smile I had ever seen. It took a few ups and downs before the child had finally stopped crying. "Hi my little angel. Nice to meet you."
The baby cooed a few times and took in his surroundings.
"He looks just like his father and uncle.
Just as she said, he had inherited my Hershey brown skin, almond eyes, and small tufts of black hair.
Penny kissed her son on the cheek and handed him to me to let him hold. I was initially hesitant, but finally held him. I was light and delicate with how I held him and sat down next to my wife. "Hey buddy." It was all I could say as I choked up and was slowly starting to cry.
Penny gave me a smug smile. "What are you crying about? I'm the one who did all the heavy work." She took a deep breath and clutched her bloated stomach before groaning in pain again.
"You okay?"
Penny slammed back into the bed and loud out several loud cries. I looked back and forth between her and the doctor with a horrified expression. "What the hell is going on?"
It took the doctor one good look to tell me in the most basic way imaginable. "You might be needing that second blanket."
After another hour of contractions and absolute chaos, the doctor left the new parents after I gave him his payments, and he apparated away.
Now letting in others, I led Tonks into the master bedroom where Penny was lying on the bed, fast asleep from the exhaustion. In her hands were both of our newborns, the son on her left, and the daughter on the right. All three were sound asleep, with Penny holding them both to her bosom in comfort.
The two of us heard skittering footsteps, and saw as our pet Crup Lovey walked into the room and jumped onto the bed barking hysterically. If we hadn't performed a Silencing Charm earlier, I would've had to once Penny and the twins were rudely awoken. However, I wasn't going to let him jump them awake and grabbed a sleeping draught from the nightstand drawer and waft it over his nose. The smell alone was enough to knock him out cold.
At the time, we were only aware of the fact that they were going to have one child, leaving the gender to be a complete surprise. The fact that we had twins, and fraternal at that, was something that left the both of them both shocked and happy at the same time.
While their son inherited her father's looks, the daughter took after her mother and gained her golden blonde hair.
Despite her attempts to whisper, Tonks couldn't hide her excitement and bent over, kissing the two on their foreheads. After that, she walked up to me and gave me the biggest hug. "Congratulations Kurai."
"Thank you Tonks." I returned the hug and the two soon separated. We left the room and settled in the kitchen table. I pulled out my wand and two shot glasses levitated to the table, followed with a glass of whiskey that soon filled the two glasses.
"None for me," Tonks denied.
"They weren't for you." I smirked and downed both glasses, sucking my teeth at the strong, bitter, yet effective taste.
"I take it your ready for fatherhood?" Tonks teased resting her chin on her hand.
"Back when it was just one." I replied and took a seat.
"What did you name them?"
"We're still debating on our daughter, but Penny is pushing for Elisa. We named our son Jacob Jr."
"J.J, I like that. Perfect troublemaker name, this little auntie will teach him everything I know. Filch won't know what hit him."
"Glad to see you haven't changed at all." I chuckled at how carefree she was.
"Never have, never will."
The two sat in silence for a few seconds before…
"Ton-"
"Kura-" She stopped realizing she interrupted him. "You first."
"Don't be like that, we both know what I'm going to say."
"And my answer hasn't changed. Just as I can't convince you to stay, you can't convince me to come." The tone in the two's voices changed drastically as well as the air. It was no surprise, considering that we were at war right now.
What the ministry and the Daily Prophet now referred to as the second wizard war, it started as a campaign against all muggles and muggle-borns, but everyone soon realized it was now a battle for control over the entire wizarding world.
As members of the Order of the Phoenix, we were the few people keeping the wizarding society they knew from falling into complete anarchy.
"Kurai, no one blames you for wanting to leave."
The three of us weren't recruited until after the Triwizard Tournament, and Voldemort's resurrection. It was several months after Penny and I got married that Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere and told us of what happened. The worst part about it was hearing of Cedric Diggory's death. I could only imagine how Amos, who used to always talk praises of him, must have been coping. Even after marrying Penny, I devoted myself to the Order's goals. As part of the reconnaissance group, we oversaw stake outs and infiltration. I was literally the eye in the sky as I was an unregistered Animagus and used my heightened sight and hearing as an eagle to scout out enemies.
That had all changed last year when I had watched my former leader and headmaster fall to his death at the Astronomy tower.
I had initially wanted to avenge him, even if it meant having to fight another one of my old professors in order to avenge him, but with all the Death Eater's running amok, especially the two most dangerous ones; Greyback and Lestrange, my hands were tied, and in the end, almost all of them escaped.
It wasn't just the grief of losing the person I looked up to, or the shame of letting all of them escape, it was the fact that a few weeks later, I found out I was going to be a father. I couldn't stay anymore out of fear for their safety.
"Where exactly are you planning to go?"
"Stay here, wait out this madness." After Penny was discovered to be pregnant, we packed and ran off to the U.S. Right now, we were at a pent house suite in California that belonged to my brother. Apparently it was one of his many safe houses from when he was on the run.
"What makes you think "he" won't find you both? If his influence spreads out any farther, nowhere is safe."
"There's a Fidelius Charm cast on the building, and Merula is the Secret Keeper."
"You really trust that lying bitch?" Tonks couldn't hide the look of disgust she had at how I could even consider putting my familie's safety at the hands of someone like her.
"I said the same thing at first." I rolled up my sleeve and revealed a marking on my right hand that looked like small strands of glowing thread wrapped around my hands. Merula wanted nothing to do with Voldemort and the war and bailed the moment she heard of his resurrection. She wanted to get away from him and her parents. I was surprised that day when she came to me and asked me to be her Secret Keeper. While skeptical, I accepted under the condition that she kept our location secret and that we perform an Unbreakable Vow to keep one another's secret. The condition was that if we even muttered the first word of the other's address, even accidentally, the spell would crush our hearts instantly.
"The point is, it's safe until the war is over. Your mum too, little Teddy and Remus, there's more than enough room for them." At that moment, I could feel my eyes sting and ears grew hot. I knew Tonks was a capable fighter, her skills were more refined than mine. But that didn't stop me from fearing for her safety. "I already lost my brother, I don't want to lose another friend."
My plead wasn't enough to convince her, and a smile formed on Tonk's face. It had a mix of both relief and sadness. She took the both of my hands and held them tight. "What happened to your brother, you know he would never blame you."
The thing about my graduation from Hogwarts, was that it wasn't as happy a farewell as I was planning. I had finally found and reunited with Jacob. All that was left was to ride the same enchanted boats that took us to the school during our first year. Tonks, Penny, me, and all the friends we gained throughout the years.
If the final vault never existed, my dream of reuniting and making amends with Jacob, would've been a reality.
The final cursed vault was the most dangerous yet. If it wasn't stopped or destroyed, everyone in Hogwarts would've fallen into an eternal slumber. To destroy it, one lone person had to fall victim to its curse.
Our reunion was short lived as he had decided to take my place even after I volunteered to do it. If only I was quicker to react when he planted that portkey on me, we could have found another way.
On account of all the Explosive potions he tucked in his coat, there was nothing left of his body.
"She's right you know."
Tonks and I turned around and saw Penny walking out from the hall and into the kitchen.
"Penny are you okay?" I immediately rushed to her side and supported her shoulders. She brushed it off in reassurance. "I've been on my back for hours. I needed to stretch my legs for a second."
"How you feeling love?" Tonks asked.
"Much better, the twins are asleep." She and Tonks embraced each other "Thank you for being here."
"Yeah, but it's about time I get going."
"Is there really nothing we can say to make you stay?"
Despite being supportive, I could see in her eyes how much she didn't want her to leave, as much as I didn't want her to.
"You two are my best friends, so I'm going to fight, so that you two and my family can live in peace." Tonks looked towards the hallway. "For their future too."
"…"
I couldn't stop her at this point.
"Just be careful dammit." That was all I could say.
"You know I will. Tonks smiled and gave the both of them one final goodbye hug and one kiss on the cheek. "When I come back, you better have a crap ton of liquor ready. We'll be drinking till we can no longer feel feelings."
As the both of us waved her off, she apparated back to what I was assume was Grimmauld Place.
"She'll be fine." Penny said as she rested her head on my shoulder. "You should really feel bad for the unfortunate Death Eater that crosses her path."
Even though that brought a small chuckle, that couldn't completely rid myself of the concern I held for her.
A month later, we had received an owl from Rowan saying that Voldemort was killed by Harry Potter…and that Tonks and her husband were among the casualties in the final battle.
Alright, so this is just a two parter that I wanted to write for a while. I recently got into the game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, and kind of had this idea while interacting with Tonks, who was one of my favorite characters in the canon story and wondered how the MC would've reacted finding out about her death, so here it is.
A few things, I don't know what truly happened in the game whether Jacob actually died or the fate of the MC or his friends, so this could be slightly AU, but I don't need people jumping down my throat about the technicalities.
So hopefully, I'll be able to finish the last part of the story either tomorrow, or Sunday at the latest.
