Title: Castles in the Sky
Summary: Harry Potter never received his Hogwarts letter. When Albus Dumbledore dies, the thread that's holding the wizarding world together begins to unravel. AU. Harry/Tonks.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Rating: M
Chapter 1: April 2002
The night air was crisp but unseasonably warm for the early April day. The dark cobblestone streets were filled with residents and tourists, all seemingly happy for the brief reprieve from the typically dreary English spring. In the array of lights, activity, and music, Nymphadora Tonks appeared to fit right into the eclectic borough. Though Nymphadora, or Tonks - to her friends - didn't feel quite as comfortable as she appeared. She used her pale slim hand, fingers covered in decorative rings, to smooth the bouncy lavender curls she had chosen to style her hair for the night. Rather than the shorter pink spikes she occasionally saw fit to wear, she let her hair fall longer to her bare shoulders for tonight. She walked at a brisk pace, glad the weather wasn't too cool on her bare legs as she had chosen to not wear tights with her skirt. Tonks thought she did a good job of dressing as a muggle this night. Making sure to imitate her muggle cousin and wearing a simple black skirt, t-shirt (stylishly tattered and falling off her shoulders), and low-heeled black leather boots that stopped at her knees. Her wand expertly hidden in her fitted jean jacket.
It was a rare occurrence that she was surrounded by muggles. Unusual, because although she spent most of her time in London, she didn't often find herself on the muggle side of town. Tonks typically could be found at the Ministry of Magic, which was hidden to eyes of Muggles. On a normal Friday evening as of late, she spent her time slaving away at the Ministry, covered under the piles and piles of paperwork she was now responsible for. For the past ten years Tonks worked as an Auror in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Although the title was fancy, and the occupation was generally revered in the wizarding world, Tonks would admit - only under duress- that compared to previous generations, things had mostly been quiet for the current Aurors. She started in the program when she was 18, after finishing her last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Tonks who had excelled academically, was an easy shoo-in for the program due to her unique inherited talent of being a Metamorphmagus. She received a quick acceptance to the Auror program after she put in her application. It was only Professor Snape who threatened to withhold a recommendation based on her occasional involvement in mischief.
Since the death of You-Know-Who back in 1981 there were far fewer occurrences of witches and wizards using dark magic to gain unseemly influence in the wizarding world. Although the older Aurors complained about the lack of interesting work, Tonks enjoyed a relatively quiet apprenticeship with few injuries. Injuries that occurred outside of her own influence. Tonks could often find herself losing her footing, and was known to often trip. Despite being one of the best students in the program during her year, she barely squeaked by in stealth training. A small price to pay, Tonks cheerfully thought as she stumbled on an errant cobblestone. Her cousin righted her before they continued their journey.
There weren't many magicals who could change their appearance at will, without the use of a wand, potions, or a complicated spell. Tonks' metamorphic abilities came in handy the few times she had to go undercover as an Auror.
Tonks worked in a peaceful wizarding world, but that didn't mean that all was well. Their world still bore the wounds of the You-Know-Who's reign. Muggleborn witches and wizards, though generally got by well enough after Hogwarts, tended to get passed over for important promotions in any prominent position. There had only been one Muggleborn, a wizard, Jones, who made it into the Auror academy this year.
And lately Tonks noticed increasing episodes of discrimination and incidents against Muggleborns and Muggles, which was what kept her so late at the Ministry.
Tonks could remember when she first noticed the change. It had been four years ago when Albus Dumbledore, the Greatest Wizard in recent history, died quite unexpectedly. Tonks remembered the day when the Aurors were called to Hogwarts to investigate the body of the old wizard, who had been found slumped over his desk by the distraught Transfiguration professor and Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. It seemed an uncouth passing for the great Wizard but despite the thorough investigation, it had been unclear what killed the seasoned wizard. The only clue was his right hand, which had been found blackened against the rest of his pale skin. Struck by a curse, however the best curse breakers on the Isle were unable to determine what exactly the curse was. Albus Dumbledore had died leaving many questions in his wake. Questions that had been quickly shoved under the rug by Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who declared in an interview to the Daily Prophet that Dumbledore had ultimately died of old age.
It was after Albus Dumbledore's death that activity began stirring in the wizarding work that only initially troubled the older, war-hardened Aurors. The ones that were old enough to remember what life was like when You-Know-Who was in power. They could remember the turmoil, fear, and suspicion that ruled over the average wizard's daily life.
Tonks' former mentor, the old Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody was among the first to put the pieces together. It was one year ago, almost to the day that Tonks was in St. Mungos, healing from a particularly nasty curse she took to her right arm. She had been in Liverpool, following a lead on a rumored attack that was being planned by a Wizard barely out of Hogwarts, Theodore Nott. It was rumored that he was gathering a group of other purebloods who were also the children of former Death Eaters, and they were planning some sort of violent demonstration in Diagon Alley She had been partnered for this mission with a new graduated Auror, a tall, wiry wizard by the name of Alucious Albright. They had been attacked by a group of four wizards in what the Ministry officially called "a random, irrelevant attack." According to the official Ministry report, the attackers had no mission and did not appear to be organized, and it was unfortunate that two Aurors were hurt in the scrimmage.
Mad-Eye was the only Auror who came to visit her while she nursed her wounds at St. Mungos. It was considered embarrassing to have your Auror colleagues visit you in the hospital after an injury, and most didn't do it to respect the fallen Auror's pride. She remembered sitting on the sterile hospital bed, watching petulantly as the healer rewrapped the burnt, flaking skin with gauze covered in healing paste. The young healer shook her head in confusion as she observed Tonks' wounds, which had barely improved from the night before.
"Your skin hasn't healed nearly as much as we would have expected," the healer said as she observed Tonks with a concerned look on her dark face, "I'll have to consult with the Chief Healer. We really should see more improvement at this point." The Healer looked up. She gave Tonks a pinched smile, as if realizing that her words were more concerning than comforting. "It might take a few extra days to get healed, but we'll fix you right up." She patted Tonks on her uninjured arm and returned to work.
Tonks didn't respond. She let the nurse finish gauzing the arm and leaned back into her bed after the nurse had left. She had her own room, thankfully. She briefly considered getting up and checking in on Alucious, whom she knew was in the room next to her. He had been wounded with the same curse, but on his face. Tonks couldn't shake the image of his melting skin from her mind as she ruminated at the events that led to their hospitalization. If only she had been quicker, or she hadn't been distracted by the muggles across the road who were drunkenly cat-calling her. If only she had -
"Nasty curse you got there," she heard a deep, gruff voice state from the door, interrupting her negative ruminations. Tonks knew the voice belonged to Mad Eye and opened her eyes, staring at her old mentor. Moody's face, deeply scarred as if carved in wood, stared back at her. His electric blue magical right eye scanned the room, as if checking for bugs, while his other eye - small and dark, stared fixedly at her. The small chunk of his nose, that had been missing for as long as she's known him added to his startling appearance.
"Hurts like hell, too," Tonks responded. "Wotcher," she said as she watched as Moody walked, or hobbled, to the chair that was located next to her bed. His wooden right leg making a sharp noise on the clean white linoleum floor. He sat, with more grace than one would expect from the crippled man.
Moody leaned back into the chair, crossing his arms against his chest. "Suppose you don't know what hit you?" he asked, now turning his magical eye on her. "That's what your notes say."
"Oi!" Tonks responded. "It's illegal to look at my medical records," she said as she glared at him. At Moody's unwavering stare, Tonks shrugged, once again leaning back into the bed. "Told them I didn't hear the curse they used. Came out purple and stung like hell."
Moody nodded, staring at her pensively. Tonks waited for Moody to speak, but it was nearly half a minute with nothing being said between the two of them.
Tonks sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure I'm in the mood to guess right now, Moody," Tonks said. "Seems like you know something about this."
Moody didn't appear to be affected at all by Tonks' frustration. Instead, he leaned so far back in the chair that Tonks briefly feared that he would tip right over. He finally began to speak again. "The last time I saw that curse was in 1981. They call it the Ustura curse. Boils you right up from the inside." Moody stopped speaking momentarily to swat at a fly that had buzzed in the room, killing it. "Course, when I saw it the victims were never alive. You're lucky. It looks like an amateur got you and Albright."
Tonks blinked at him and Moody stared back. Then, suddenly, Moody leaned forward in his chair with a piercing gaze. "You know what's happening, don't you?" he asked needlessly.
"'Course I do," Tonks whispered, letting her eyes close briefly, "We've been noticing it now, yeah?" She breathed out deeply, in an attempt to calm her worsening nerves. "But why? Why now?"
"Albus is dead," Moody replied in a blunt tone. "Him being all powerful kept everyone in line. No one wanted to cross the one wizard You-Know-Who was afraid of. Just Albus and -" Moody paused.
"Just Albus and who?" Tonks asked. She bit the bottom of her lip as she watched Moody struggle against an invisible restraint that caused his lips to move in an errant fashion but no words to come out.
"The spell should've never lasted this long," Moody muttered to himself, finally, appearing to give up on whatever he meant to say.
"Just Albus and who?" Tonks asked again, leaning forward in her bed. It was nearing lunch time and she knew the healer's assistant would interrupt their conversation soon to bring her a plate of miserable hospital food. They only had so much time to finish this discussion.
Moody let out a frustrated growl and slapped his large hand on Tonks' bedside table, startling her.
"I can't tell you," he said finally, giving up. His voice was quiet. Tonks thought he sounded perplexed…and almost impressed, to her utter confusion. "The old codger put a spell on me that hasn't ended even though he's been dead three years now." Moody again focused his non-magical eye on Tonks.
"He's protected the boy more than you know," Moody broke his gaze from Tonks' confused face and shook his head. He pushed up from his chair, standing to his full height. "More than anyone will ever know it looks like." He moved towards the door and went to open it before looking back at Tonks, who had been staring at him.
"I've got a lead I need to follow," Moody said as he opened the door, "I'll be in touch."
"You're retired!" Tonks yelled from her bed at the shut door. She shook her head and flopped unceremoniously back in her bed as she thought about their perplexing encounter.
That encounter with Moody occurred last year and Tonks hadn't heard from him since that visit. She tried on numerous occasions to reach him but he seemed to have gone deep underground.
The wind blew and Tonks shivered, moving closer to her cousin for warmth. Piper grinned and reached her arm over Tonks, letting it fall on her shoulders as they huddled together for the rest of their walk. Tonks shook her head, letting her curly hair bounce and hit her cheeks as she refocused her attention back to the present. It was Piper's Hen night! She wouldn't let herself get distracted by the goings-on in the wizarding world. She was determined to enjoy herself. This event brought Tonks out from her typical Friday night of late, which had been occupied by lonely nights at the Ministry Auror office, completing paperwork and assessing the chatter around the recent increase of dark magic assaults. She was here to relax, and she had to stop letting her troubles in the wizarding world affect her cousin's night.
Their small party included Piper's two mates from secondary school, Joanie and Cat, who were walking ahead of Tonks and Piper, leading the way to their destination. Piper was only a year younger than Tonks and was a relative from her muggleborn father's side. Piper and Tonks grew up fairly close although now mostly keeping in contact on holidays and birthdays. Prior to leaving for Hogwarts at age 11, Tonks attended primary school with Piper for a disastrous year before her mum decided that it was unfitting to continue obliviating muggles whenever Tonks experienced accidental magic.
Despite being closely related, Piper was completely unaware of Tonks' magical nature. This was the closely held secret of Ted Tonks, who in complying with the Statue of Secrecy, made sure to keep his muggle family members in the dark about the secret world that existed right under their noses. Although their lives had taken two completely different routes after Tonks left for Hogwarts, they managed to remain close. Piper had a familiarity with Tonks that others in their family didn't share and of all of their cousins, it was Tonks who Piper asked to be in her wedding this spring. Tonks accepted the invitation, of course, although feebly acknowledging that Piper was the last of her cousins to get married and at nearly 29-years-old, Tonks was still very single.
Soon, the small party reached their destination, a dive bar called The Middle East. She had been here before with Piper, a year or so ago and Tonks grinned sardonically as it was only Piper who would choose to celebrate her Hen night at a dingy bar, in order to watch her favorite band. The bartender, an old man with an unfriendly expression grunted when their party walked in.
There were only three men who occupied this level of the bar. They were older men and Tonks swore she saw all three men in her few previous trips to the bar. Probably sitting in the same stools, in fact. The men were ignoring the loud music that caused their worn chairs to vibrate. Piper led the way to the basement of the Middle East, where the music grew louder, and lights were dimmed.
"They're not coming on until later. This is just one of the opening bands!" Piper yelled. She had to raise her voice to be heard over the loud cymbals of the drummer. The basement of the Middle East was dark, and quite dank as basements are, but was deceptively large. Despite the generally unappealing atmosphere, the place was currently packed with a mixed crowd of sweaty young adults and teenagers. Dancing, or nodding their heads to the band currently playing. Piper escorted her party to the table that had been reserved for their group. It was located on the outside of the main pit and it was the only table available in the space. Tonks' figured that Piper convinced the grumpy old bartender to make an exception for his favorite regular.
"Gods, Dora, I still don't know how you get your hair to look so natural," Joanie said as she twirled a few strands of Tonks' hair in her hands, a speculative look on her face, "It's like it's coming from your roots purple."
Tonks winked and settled back into the chair and watched as the crowd in the center of the club danced excitedly at the bad who was currently playing. She watched as a set of fruity-looking drinks were brought to their table by a colorfully dressed bartender. She reached forward and picked up a pink drink that was tall and looked appropriately full of alcohol. She tried to ignore that of all the hands reaching forward at the table, hers was the only one that wasn't flashing a large diamond ring. She took a swig of drink to shut down the quelling feeling that was rising in her stomach as she acknowledged to herself the fact that everyone else at their table with was married, or engaged like her cousin Piper. She didn't want to ruin Piper's hen night by lamenting her epically single status. She averted her eyes and desperately tried not to think of her last relationship that ended over a year ago now.
Tonks let her eyes roam over the colorful array of young muggles and their interesting fashion choices. Tonks briefly imagined going into the Ministry dressed like the young girl to the left of them, who was wearing hair spiked higher than Tonks would dare and colored a neon yellow. Tonks liked to live on the edge of what was considered appropriate behavior and dress for young Wizards and Witches, but an outfit like that would certainly lead to a forced visit to the St. Mungos spell damage ward for the mentally unfit.
Tonks let her eyes leave the crowd and gaze at the band playing, nodding to the beat of their music. The pace was fast, the guitars loud, and the lead singer melodically singing in a loud, angry voice. The singer leaned away from the microphone and the guitar and bass players stopped their fingers as the song led to a drum solo. Tonks' eyes slid over to the drummer and felt her heart stop.
The drink she had been holding fell and she heard the startled yelp of Cat, who was sitting next to her and had been splashed by the fallen drink. Tonks' glass shattered next to them. Cat's voice sounded distant as Tonks felt her vision tunnel and her breathing slow. She felt suddenly light-headed, as if she were about to faint.
Cat's concerned grasp of her arm, momentarily shook from her stupor as Tonks quickly apologized and absently padded her napkin on the spill. Her eyes stayed firm on her target. It was Harry Potter.
It was fucking Harry Potter.
The missing Harry Potter. The absent Harry Potter. The feared-dead Harry Potter.
On September 1, 1991, Harry Potter never arrived at Kings Cross Station. Harry Potter never boarded the Hogwarts Express, and for all the wizarding world knew, Harry Potter had simply vanished. That was during Tonks' final year at school and she could vividly remember the turmoil caused by the absence of the Boy-Who-Lived.
The fact that Harry Potter never enrolled at Hogwarts seemed to be all the Daily Prophet would publish about for a year. The questions about where he was went unanswered. Albus Dumbledore had been famously tight-lipped. Never commenting on if he knew the location of the lost Boy-Who-Lived; or if Harry Potter were even alive.
After all, it had been Harry Potter that the wizarding world had to thank for the relative peace since the fall of You-Know-Who. It had been Harry Potter who had done the impossible and survived the one curse that no Wizard or Witch had survived before, the Killing Curse. As the story goes Voldemort went to the tiny village of Godric's Hollow to kill the entire Potter family, and had succeeded with the demise of James and Lily Potter. But when he tried to kill young Harry Potter, the curse had backfired. Voldemort was dead, and Harry Potter was alive, bearing a lightning-bolt shaped scar in the middle of his forehead. Nearly 21 years after the fall of You-Know-Who the story of Harry Potter still permeated in the wizarding world, almost becoming mythical. The missing boy with the lighting-bolt shaped scar.
Of course, the fact that Harry Potter was missing from the wizarding world was no small story. It wasn't until over a year later that the wizarding press had finally come to terms with the fact that Harry Potter likely had left England and was being raised elsewhere. Efforts were made to outreach Dumstrang, Beauxbatons, and even Illvermony to question if Harry Potter was a student there came back fruitless.
After that scandalous year, the Wizarding press continued to occasionally post stories about the missing Boy-Who-Lived, speculating about where he could be. The Quibbler famously published an article from a Hogwarts student who reportedly sighted Harry in Germany. Sightings came from all over the world after that article had run, but Harry was never found and slowly the boy-who-lived became a distant memory for the wizarding world, remaining mostly a myth.
But here he was. Harry Potter was playing the drums in a band, in a dingy bar in London. It was just so muggle.
Tonks squinted, her heart beating rapidly as she stared again the drummer. She felt sudden doubt. It just couldn't be him. She couldn't have gone out to a bar on a hen night with her cousin and her mates and run into Harry Potter. No, it had to be wrong.
She stared at him, her gaze intense and searching. She had only met James Potter once before he died. He was mates with her cousin Sirius. Despite it being a distant memory, she remembered the shockingly black hair that stuck out in odd angles. The tall, thin frame, and thin handsome face that was covered with wired square-rimmed spectacles.
This man looked remarkably like James Potter, but he wasn't wearing glasses. The man was seemingly lost in his own world, not looking at the audience as he expertly drummed. The song ended as Tonks watched him. He lifted the sleeve of his plain white t-shirt, soaked in sweat, showing an intricately inked arm as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Fit, isn't he?" Tonks heard her cousin say in her ear, laughing knowingly as she followed Tonks' gaze towards Harry, "I've seen them play a few times here. They're good."
Tonks took a deep breath in, steadying herself as she desperately tried to remain calm. She was an Auror, for Merlin's sake. She wouldn't lose all of her training in this moment. "What are they called?"
Piper took a sip of her drink, "Umm," she said scrunching her eyebrows are she tried to remember, "I think they're called Absent Minded," Piper nodded to herself, "Yeah, they play in London mostly. They're local."
Tonks nodded and casually stood up from her chair. "I think I saw a table in the back there, yeah? Where the bands are selling their tapes? I think I'll check it out. Be right back," she said as she purposefully strolled from her table and entered the back area of the club's basement. There were 3 long tables set up against the back wall. Each displaying the colorful artwork from the bands playing that night.
She walked to the table that had a poster taped on the wall behind it with the image of an orange tabby cat, with the words "ABSENT MINDED" in large, bold letters, covering the cat's eyes. A young man, who didn't look to be much older than 18, was sitting next to the table with a money box, looking bored. He raised a pierced eyebrow at Tonks as she approached the table.
Tonks smiled at the kid, "you got tapes for them?" she said, nodding at the display.
"Just CDs," he responded nodding at the display of CDs.
"I'll take one. How much?" Tonks asked, grabbing her wallet from her jean jacket.
"Five quid," he responded grabbing one of the CDs from the table. They exchanged money and Tonks wandered to the side towards the wall that was away from the tables. Tonks could hear the next band start to play as she opened the case of the CD. The artwork on the front the same as the poster near their table.
Tonks took the out the book from the CD case and flipped it to the back page. In small type, plain as day, she found what she was looking for: Drums: H. Potter.
Tonks nearly let the book fall from her weakened grasp as she once again could feel beat of her heart increasing at a frighteningly rapid pace. She fought to maintain her composure, taking in deep breaths as she willed her heart rate to decrease. She could see the same kid who sold her the record stare at her briefly before averting his eyes.
She walked back over to him. "They usually stay?" she asked, nodding to the door that was behind the display tables.
He nodded. "They stay in the back until the end usually, watch all the bands."
Tonks nodded to herself mostly. She had an hour or two to plan. Tonks nodded at the kid, thanking him before walking back to the table she shared with her cousin and friends.
"You alright there, Dora?" Piper asked, her blue eyes shadowed with concern.
Tonks nodded at Piper, "of course, Pipes!" Tonks yelled, once again letting her voice rise as the band on the stage started up a new song. "I'm going to get another drink," she said to the table. "Anyone else need one?" The ladies shook their heads and Tonks turned back towards the downstairs bar area.
She stood near the back of the crowd, blankly staring at the bottles of lager and stout that decorated the bar. She had to think quickly.
She now, without a doubt knew that it was Harry Potter that was playing in that band. She had to keep her mind straight. For all she knew, she was the only magical who had managed to run into the Wizard since he had missed that first train to Hogwarts. Piper's words bothered her. She called them a "local band," meaning that Harry Potter had been in London for at least the past few years and not a single witch or wizard had reported running into him.
Tonks left the bar, without ordering a drink and decided instead to step outside for fresh air. It was hard to concentrate inside the stifling air of the club and the loud music vibrating in her head.
Tonks soon found herself stalking the outside of dingy bar, pacing the alleyway as she attempted to come up with a plan. She had to introduce herself to Harry Potter. To let him know…
Tonks stopped in her tracks. What if Harry Potter had no idea who he was? What if he never knew about his magical heritage. The fact that she spotted Harry Potter in muggle London, playing in a muggle band increased her suspicions that Harry wasn't hiding from the wizarding world. He couldn't have been. It just didn't make sense.
Tonks watched the street lamp flicker against the dark sky, casting shadows of the bins on the wall of the alley. She had an awful thought. Almost too awful to let herself finish. What if…what if defeating You-Know-Who removed Harry's wizarding ability. What if Harry Potter was a squib?
Tonks flopped back against the wall and stared at the door across from her. This was the door to the area where the bands hung out after shows. She tapped her foot against the dirty ground, littered with cigarette butts, and almost went back inside before she heard a soft click.
The door opened with a swing and Tonks tumbled backwards, landing on hard on her bum and scraping the palms of her hands. But she barely felt the pain caused by her fall when she looked up and saw that it was Harry Potter standing next to the door, with an apologetic expression on his face.
"Sorry!" she heard him say, as he approached her, "didn't realize someone was standing back there. Are you hurt?"
Tonks shook her head slowly. There was no mistaking this. Looming over her with an outreached hand to help her up was none other than Harry Potter. Harry-fucking-Potter with the lightning bolt scar on his head. After a moment too long, Tonks took his hand, allowing him to help her up.
"Looks like you took a hard fall," Harry said when she stood up fully and absently brushed the dirt from her skirt. Harry Potter was taller than her and she looked up to get a good look at his face. Not caring in the moment how awkward she must look, observing him with such intensity. Harry Potter had bright green eyes, that were currently staring at her in concern. She noticed that he was now wearing glasses, with black thick square frames. He also appeared to have changed outfit, now wearing a plain long-sleeved white t-shirt and jeans and a thin black rain jacket.
"Wotcher," Tonks said finally, clearing her throat. "Liked the show tonight," she said awkwardly. "You lot play often?" Tonks asked.
She watched as Harry shoved his hands into his coat pocket. He shrugged, "no, not much anymore. We only open now for bands we used to tour with when they come back to London." Harry shifted the black backpack in his arm. "Sure you're alright, then?"
Tonks nodded, "'S'okay. I've had harder falls," she absently rubbed her backside before quickly stopping, as she realized how she looked. She felt her face warm as it turned pink as Harry smirked at her.
Tonks cleared her throat, "I'm just here for my cousin's hen night. Never heard of you before, thought you sounded pretty smashing."
Harry smiled, and Tonks couldn't help but notice just how vibrantly green his eyes were.
"Thanks," Harry responded, "it's been awhile since we last played. I'm glad you thought we weren't shit."
Tonks shook her head. "No, not shite. You leaving?"
"Yeah," Harry replied. "It's getting a bit late, thought I'd head back."
"What? There's no after party or anything?" Tonks asked.
"Guess I can go ask the guys if you want to stay out?" he asked, gesturing towards the closed door. "I don't usually do the after parties anymore, but they still have them."
Tonks shook her head. "No, just wondering. Seems a bit of waste to end the night here, though," Tonks said, stifling the wince at her corny words. She didn't mean to sound like she was chatting him up but she needed to learn more.
Harry chuckled and awkwardly brushed at his messy hair while Tonks stood silently, slightly mortified. "I don't think I've caught your name," he said finally.
"Dora," Tonks responded, reaching out her hand.
"Harry," he said, shaking her hand firmly. Tonks thought the handshake lingered more than what was completely necessary. She dropped his hand as the loud bang of the back door opening again startled them both. Sounds of laughter permeated the air through the open door as a man stumbled outside with a cig in his lips and lighter in his hand. Tonks recognized him as the lead singer of the band Harry played in. She saw the man do a double-take as he noticed her and Harry standing in the alleyway.
The man shook his head as he glanced at both Harry and Tonks, lingering on her face for a moment. "This what you had to rush out of here for? Another one?" The man asked Harry, his eyes were steely and Tonks could see Harry stiffen next to her, standing taller.
"Leave it, Marty," Harry replied, his tone sharp.
Marty ignored Harry, and stuck out his hand towards Tonks, "Marty Needham." Marty's words were slurred and Tonks could see Harry shift beside her as she quickly shook his hand.
"You want to come to the back?" Marty asked. He pointed at the door. "Or did Harry here already convince you to go home with him?" he finished coolly.
Tonks smirked and raised an eyebrow towards Harry, "He's got a bit more work to do for that."
Tonks could see Harry blush, as he fumbled before answering, "I really do have to head back."
Marty eyed him for a moment before turning back towards Tonks as he waited for her to respond. Tonks shook her head. " I think I'll pass tonight," she answered.
Marty shrugged and turned towards Harry, "I'm sick of Lucy squatting at my flat in tears over you, mate," he said before turning around and stumbling back towards the door to reenter the club, his mission to smoke his cigarette seemingly forgotten.
Harry and Tonks watched him go, the brief sounds of high pitched laughter and shouting again pierced the dark air before the door shut again.
"Well," Tonks said after a moment. "He seems quite cross with you."
Harry snorted, "I guess I'm not his favorite person right now."
"You break his heart?" Tonks asked.
This time Harry really laughed. "No, no," he said, shaking his head. "That's not it at all. " Harry ran his hand through his hair, as if trying to flatten it, "I'll have to let him know that one when he's cooled down a bit."
Tonks watched as shifted his backpack again to his other arm, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Dora. If you're alright, I should get going," he said, trailing off as he gestured towards the exit of the alleyway.
"Going far? You want to split a cabbie?" Tonks asked.
Harry shook his head, "I'm in the neighborhood, just a quick walk for me," he shrugged, "didn't you say you were here on a hen night?"
Tonks nodded, "I am," she answered, suddenly remembering Piper and her friends. She couldn't think of a reason to keep Harry in the alleyway with her. She briefly considered stunning him and dragging him to the Ministry but she knew that would go rather poorly; he wasn't a criminal. She had to be strategic about this and act like the Auror she had been for the past decade. She knew enough, already, to find him again at least. Tonks inwardly flinched, as she knew she still didn't have an answer about Harry's magical abilities, if they even existed.
Tonks stood in the alleyway, watching Harry as he walked away. "Fuck," Tonks whispered to herself, "That was Harry Potter."
TBC
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