"What in the name of Merlin?" Molly questioned. I paused my music player and gave her a friendly wave.
"Howdy," I said as Arthur walked in behind her.
"You're up early," he said, making me shrug.
"I usually am. Earlier than usual, which for me, says a lot," I said as I took a bite of food.
"But what is all this?" Molly said. I then gestured all throughout the table.
"'This' is food for once, not cooked by you. I got bored, so I made breakfast. It's not like I'm not an able cook. I had to survive more on sandwiches and TV dinners," I said, taking another bite of pancakes.
"Doesn't the Muggle world have some version of house elves?" Arthur asked as he sat down.
"We call them butlers and maids. One is a male derivative, one is female. And unlike the magical world that doesn't count Dumbledore, we pay them and treat them with some level of respect. But in any case, I can't just shove them in a suitcase and take them with me. So it was better I just learned to cook. After all, Arthur knows I know how to cook from just last year," I explained with an idle tone.
"He makes great chicken," Arthur confirmed as he looked to his wife.
"That's awfully nice of you, but..."
"I know what you're going to say," I interjected politely. "Just because you do all the cooking doesn't mean you have to. Trust me, this doesn't happen often, so your role as the cook of the house is still supreme. It's just for once you get to sit down and eat before everyone else instead of being the last one," I said as I took a drink of pumpkin juice. I still don't understand how I liked pumpkin juice over milk. One of life's greatest mysteries, I suppose.
"You're up early," Harry said as he walked in the kitchen.
"I know. I can't really explain why," I said as I finished off my plate and took it to the sink.
"So what does that mean? More training?" Harry asked.
"Perhaps. But firstly, I want to go over this hearing stuff. I mean, we already know the whole thing is a ton of bull, but according to them, you wrongly used magic in front of a bunch of Muggles with no good reason. What do you do in a situation like that? You discuss the facts," I told him.
"Tell the truth, and there's no possible way they can convict you," Arthur told him.
"I have the strangest feeling that Fudge will do everything in his power to try. But I'll be damned if I let that happen. Either Harry gets back in Hogwarts, or I break my foot off in his ass. I've run into a lot of spineless and foolish politicians during my time in the Muggle world, but this asshole takes the cake. If there was a threat to the country's safety, they acknowledged it. People didn't always agree on the solution, but they acknowledged it," I explained as I sat back down. "And these purebloods claim to be better than us? Yeah right. I don't even see average competence yet."
"To be fair, Fudge is an idiot with Lucius' hand shoved up his rear right up to the elbow," Harry said idly.
"True, true. Still no excuse. In any case..." I was cut off by someone walking into the room. And that someone had pink hair. "You're up early."
"Visiting before work. Ooh, food. Not a surprise Molly," Tonks said with a smile that I strangely couldn't stop eyeing. I could even ignore the screeching of Sirius' mother behind the door.
"Not me this time dear. This was Robert's doing," Mrs. Weasley said, gesturing to me. She looked to me as I was in the process of taking a bite of food.
"You cook?" Tonks questioned.
"I always did. Any self respecting bachelor who doesn't keep servants around learns how to cook for himself. Don't expect it to happen often. Molly will remain your Lord and Savior of the kitchen. I'm good, but my attendance record isn't as flawless," I said before finishing the bite that was hovering in front of my mouth. I smirked the sight of the smile Molly tried to hide.
"Liar. He cooked every day when he was at the house during the summer. Given he spent a lot of that training soldiers, it wasn't a lot, but it was something," Harry said, taking a bite of food.
"I can attest to that," Sirius said, peeking his head through the door. "Dog nose smelled his cooking. But I thank you for leaving my dear sweet mother to wake me up Nymphadora." Here he gave her a pointed look. Tonks gave him one of irritation.
"Don't do it," I told her as her hair flared up red.
"But he..."
"Called your by your name. And it's a perfectly fine name. Now stop being so sensitive about it," I told her, taking a bite of food.
"Jeez, you and my mother would definitely get along," Tonks said somewhat moodily as she put food on her plate. Sirius looked between me and Tonks before back at me.
"What?" I questioned.
"Do you have some magical powers or something against my cousin?" Sirius questioned.
"I do. It's called 'not taking her shit.' Try it some time. Though I doubt you'll be able to pull it off without nursing a Stinging Hex or something of the sort," I told him.
"Believe me. I've tried to get him like thirty times during the school year. I only stopped when I tried to catch him off guard and nearly lost a hand," Tonks said.
"You expected me not to be jumpy? Even though I had, 'Caution' written all over me?" I reminded her.
"Well, to be fair, I didn't know you were a very, very paranoid vigilante at the time, and I certainly didn't expect to almost share a trait with Mad-Eye. Severed limbs," Tonks said, raising her hands and wiggling her fingers.
"Harry was already making me soft. I didn't draw a gun and try and shoot you," I told her. Tonks' eyes widened before looking to Harry.
"Thanks," she said.
"Don't mention it. Believe me, he was a lot worse," Harry said.
"Oh, that I know. But now he seems, dare I say... laid back," Tonks said.
"I've gotten softer. But happier. Despite Lord Limp Dick returning," I said casually, making the entire table who wasn't Molly or Arthur snort into their breakfast. "Finished Harry?"
"Not even close," Harry said.
"Training room. Ten minutes," I said, taking my dishes to the sink.
"Training room?" Tonks asked.
"More like torture chamber," Harry said before chuckling. "If you're like me when I first started training under him, you'll think that."
"It can't be as bad as Mad-Eye's course," Tonks told her.
"I don't know about that..." Harry trailed.
"I don't hold back. I'm going to ensure you survive this shit storm. We're going to kill this jackass, and dance on his ashes. But to do that, you need to be prepared. Faster, stronger, and smarter than your opponents. You don't win a war by being weaker or lucky," I said with my arms crossed. "If you all were smart, you'd be joining him."
"We all learned how to fight in the Order," Sirius told me.
"Well, I certainly hope you'll be able to make me use more than one hand. Cause each of you are going to show me what you can do later. If you can even make me break a sweat, I'll be impressed," I said.
"You think you're that good?" Sirius questioned.
"We'll see, won't we?" I said before heading to the training room. "Third guest room! Ten minutes Harry!"
"I got it!" Harry yelled back.
"Good, cause if you don't..."
"You'll drag me by my ear. Yes, I know," Harry exclaimed before I could hear him say softly to the others, "Sadly, that wasn't a metaphor."
"I mean what I say!" I exclaimed with a small laugh.
"You're done," I said evenly.
"Dear Merlin, my lungs burn," Sirius said, gasping for air. Then he looked to his godson. "You do that every day?"
"At least three times a week," Harry said before taking a sip of water. "I'm more used to it by now."
"How are you used to that?!" Ron exclaimed from the floor. "I can't even stand!"
"I'm not that far behind, honestly," Hermione said, using the wall as support. "Where did you learn that regimen?"
"I made it. It was a ritual I did when I was training to be the Vigilante. I mean, I used a combination of experimental supplements to speed it along, but the exercise was no less grueling. Believe me. I felt just like you did when I was on those early stages," I said.
"And you look strong enough to lift a troll," Sirius said
"I haven't tried, so I wouldn't know. I did manage to lift a truck though," I said thoughtfully.
"Really?" Sirius asked, genuinely curious.
"Six years, three months, and nine days from now, there was a terrorist attack on the streets of New York. A bomb was dropped on the streets, and a few people were crushed by the quite heavy traffic. A blown up 18 wheeler crushed sixteen people on the sidewalk from the force of the detonation. I was the only option at the time, so I had to lift it off people," I explained to him.
"Jesus," Sirius said, looking slightly sick. "But what was the point? Didn't they die?"
"No, the 18 wheeler is what saved their life. It offered some level of protection against the explosion, and they managed to survive. Among the second degree burns, broken bones, and emotional trauma. I can't forget those faces either," I said in a rather grim tone.
"Did you catch the bastard?" Sirius questioned.
"I didn't sleep until I did. Took me just over half a day. Found him, tied him to two trucks, and had them pull his body apart. As slowly as possible," I said, a dark shadow crossing over my face. "I would've taken the time to make him suffer far more than that, but there was no time. There were still lives I could preserve, and they were worth more than his worthless carcass any day."
The entire room was silent and suddenly my rather plain mood wasn't so plain anymore. There were the familiar feelings of anger and sadness. I had been the Vigilante long enough to witness three terrorist attacks. It not happening in a while doesn't make you really forget all the screaming, all the suffering, does it?
"Hey, hey!" Harry said while snapping his fingers, jerking me out of my thoughts. "Don't go back there."
"Believe me, I do my best. Can't be helped sometimes," I said before checking my phone. "I'm done with you all. Feel free to spend your free time doing whatever you want."
"'Free time.' Yeah. Ten Knuts Mum will have us cleaning this house," Ron said, managing to get to his feet.
"To my credit, I got rid of the dirt, dust, and stains with my nanites. So there's nothing to take care of that front," I told him.
"I doubt it'll matter to her," Ron said.
"Good point. I'll talk to her. You don't have cleaning duty today," I told him.
"Thank Merlin," Ron murmured.
"Yes, because Robert is the only one who can torture us," Hermione said dryly, making me grin.
"Damn straight. I would've included spell casting with the exercising, but I'm not sure if they can still detect magic from here," I said.
"They can. The owls just won't be able to find the place. Such a shame too. I could teach you a few fancy spells," Sirius said, looking at Harry in particular.
"Don't worry. We'll get a lot of that stuff done at the school. Even some of the more... questionable ones," Harry said.
"You talking Unforgivables?" Sirius questioned.
"We're talking Dark spells in general," I told him crisply.
"I don't know if I'm ready for killing not yet. But after Crouch, I certainly felt like it. And...who knows? I may not use any of these spells. But in case I ever do make that step, I do want to know," Harry said, making Sirius turn to me.
"You approve of this?" he questioned.
"I encourage it. His decisions are his own to make. Whether he wants to kill or not. But I assured him that anyone he couldn't kill, I would. That is if I'm not dead from Cruciatus torture before the war is over," I said rather dryly.
"Voldemort couldn't hit you with a Killing Curse while his Inner Circle was helping him. And you were still firing volleys of grenades like Christmas presents," Harry said dryly. "His chances of killing you are next to nothing."
"Well, think about it this way. If I have the chance to throw myself in front of a Killing Curse to save one of you, I'll do it with no hesitation. Then there won't be much thinking left," I said brusquely.
"Well, it's a good thing you're training us," Harry said, seemingly trying to feel in the awkward worried feeling in the room that was there after my statement.
"I'll do everything in my power to make sure you are as ready for this war as you can be. I'll teach you how to beat a Death Eater without even needing your wand. Just make you know how to use it all the same," I said right as the door opened.
"Still training?" Tonks questioned, her head peeking in through the door.
"Just finished. I feel like crap," Sirius said.
"Well, it'll match your face," Tonks said happily, making Sirius raise his middle finger at his cousin. "No thanks. Let's not take after most of the Black family." Here Sirius shuddered.
"What do you mean by that?" Hermione questioned.
"A lot of the Black family kept it... 'in the family' if you get my drift," Tonks said, making Hermione and the rest of us wrinkle our nose.
"That's disgusting," she said, making Tonks shrug.
"The things people will do for blood purity," she said before turning to me. "Also, I wanna take you on."
"You wanna fight?" I questioned with a raised brow.
"No, I want to have shameless sex in front of the Gringotts doors," Tonks said sarcastically. "Yes, a fight!"
"What training do you have?" I questioned.
"Mad-Eye showed me how to fight," Tonks said. "Part of his tutoring."
"Better hope he trained you well," I said before looking to the others. "Give us some space." They did.
Tonks took the time to get in a fighting stance while I stood with my hands behind me back. She looked kind of ridiculous. But she also looked kinda adorable, so I didn't comment on it with anything other than a smile. Her eyes narrowed, and I put a hand in front of my face and made a 'come here' gesture.
Tonks came at me, but she was way too slow. She strode towards me and tried to hit me with a punch, but with an easy sidestep and a strike to her side, she was on the ground.
"Oof!" she groaned before looking at me, my hands still behind my back. I was absolutely relaxed.
"Try harder," I said simply.
This time she came at me with multiple punches, and there was actually a reasonable amount of structure to them. Focusing on the main points of the body to disable it, and once that was accomplished, that's when the hard hitting came into play to completely disable me. But she didn't hit me with a single punch because any punch or kick I didn't dodge, I deflected.
"Not bad. It seems Mad-Eye based your fighting style on a mix of Tai Chi and Wing Chun, which makes for an excellent hybrid fighting style of offense and defense," I said analytically.
"What do you use?" Tonks asked. I then stopped playing around, catching her in the stomach with an elbow, a headbutt to the face, and then a kick to the ribs to knock her down. She clutched her ribs and nose in pain, but I had enough control of my strength to not even break a bone. But it sure as hell hurt. I made sure of that.
"Everything. I don't have any style but one. And it's everything," I said with my hands still behind my back before tilting my head at her. "Still wanna try?"
"Nope. I'm good," Tonks said, clutching her ribs. "Ow. That's going to leave a bruise."
"It is. They said pain is gain as well as it being beauty. Use whichever you prefer. But you're good," I complimented, helping her to her feet.
"Good? You kicked my ass," Tonks said in a surly tone.
"I kicked the shit out of an entire room of martial artists with nothing on hand. You'll have to be the next making of Bruce Lee or Ip Man to actually make me try my hardest. And most people aren't that good," I told her.
"Not to mention you hit like a truck," Tonks said, making me chuckle.
"I could've hit you way harder if I wanted to," I told her.
"Seriously?" Tonks questioned.
"I'm strong enough to lift trucks and tear heads off like a candy bar wrapper. If I hit you as hard as I could've, my foot would've gone through your rib cage," I said, making her eyes go wide.
"Why do you need that much strength?" Tonks questioned.
"It's saved lives before. It might again one day. Besides, considering the enhancements I used are now permanent even without me taking them, me getting weaker is not an option. Even if the rest of my diet was nothing but fried chicken and donuts with a glass of sugar," I told her.
"Sounds like the kind of diet Sirius would try," Tonks said.
"I would give a few weeks before I wind up with that one disease Muggles talk about," Sirius said.
"Diabetes, and we have a cure for that," I told him.
"Have you got a cure for everything?" Sirius questioned.
"My research and tech was the forefront for finding all the cures to the stuff. I didn't find out how to cure all of it, but I have found the cures to a lot of ailments. Then other brilliant minds took it from there. I was just the stepping stone," I told him.
"Sometimes I forget that I'm around the Muggle version of Dumbledore," Sirius said with a smirk, making me groan. The others grinned just as wide at my dismay.
"Good God, if I hear one more person quote that Skeeter article..."
"It's still hilarious. It's true, but hilarious," Sirius said.
"Are you all still up there?" Molly suddenly yelled.
"Coming down!" I yelled back. "We'll continue this another time."
"What are you going to do?" Harry asked.
"Help Molly finish up the cleaning. May as well. Also..." I looked to Tonks for this. "...as for your stance, straighten your back, lock your elbows tighter in, and spread your legs further apart. It's more loose, therefore making you quicker. A side bonus is that your elbows won't knock into your boobs if you get hit."
I got looks for that last statement, and I chose to walk away. In all honesty, I don't know why I chose to add that last tidbit. Ok, that was a bit of a lie. I did know why.
I knocked a doxy to the ground with hard smack. In all honesty, I could've used the spray Mrs. Weasley offered me. Instead I was just knocking them unconscious with a baseball bat. While singing and dancing Thriller. I looked straight out of a comedy sitcom.
"Night creatures call, And the dead start to walk in their masquerade," I sung as I knocked the last one down and tossed it into a box with my foot. Then I felt one of my earbuds being taken out. I turned and looked directly into a grinning face.
"There's no escaping the jaws of the alien this time," Tonks sang, making me chuckle before pausing my player.
"You serious?" I questioned, closing the box of doxies.
"No. He's in the next room," Tonks joked, making me punch her in the arm. "Hey, you should've saw that one coming."
"Doesn't mean you had to prove me right," I said with an eye roll.
"Says the guy singing Thriller while knocking out an army of doxies. Just... why?" Tonks questioned.
"What? I can't have fun while cleaning? It makes it more bearable, to be honest. I haven't had to clean in ages," I told her.
"Speaking of cleaning, the place is spotless. As far as the dancing... Well, you had the Arthritis hands and hip thrusting down to a fault," Tonks said, imitating both movements. I laughed before picking up the box of doxies while shaking my head.
"You've been spending time in the Muggle world," I said with a raised brow.
"And if I have? At least there's a name to your hip thrusting instead of just fornicating with the universe," Tonks said with a wide grin.
"Will you stop? You'll send me to an early grave," I said dryly. Yet I still couldn't stop grinning.
"Make me," Tonks teased.
"Keep on, and I'll shove one of these unconscious doxies down your shirt," I said, my hand hovering over the top of the box threateningly. She covered her chest, and I chuckled. "Thought so."
"Merlin, you play hardball. That the last of the cleaning then?" Tonks questioned.
"I put the trinkets in a bag. Though, I did want to keep this one," I said, summoning a locket it to my hands. Strangely enough, I could feel a type of magic in the locket. That much was apparent. But I paid it no mind. It felt neither negative nor positive for me.
"Never knew you were into jewelry," Tonks said curiously.
"I'm not. I'll leave that for materialistic people, thank you very much. This looks strikingly similar to Salazar Slytherin's locket. For all I know, given how Sirius' family was rich and has a track record with Slytherin, it might be. The fucking thing won't open. And I put enough strength into trying to pry it open to knock it out of my hand and through a wall," I explained, pointing at the hole in question.
"Well then..." Tonks trailed awkwardly. "What do you expect to get out of it?"
"Nothing, really. I mean, if anything, it belongs at Hogwarts if it really is his locket," I said with a shrug. "I certainly don't need the money. I have plenty of that."
"You're rich enough to make the Malfoy's look dirt poor," Tonks said dryly. "Can I see it?"
"I don't see why not," I said, passing her the locket. The moment it made contact with her, the eager look in her eyes disappeared. It was replaced by something a little more... uncomfortable. Her eyes roamed over it before handing it back to me. The uncomfortable look was gone.
"You alright?" I questioned.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just... just felt kind of weird for a second there," Tonks said.
"I would assume it's got some kind of magic on it. I don't really feel anything from it though," I said before making it disappear. "I'll show Dumbledore when we get back to Hogwarts. If it really is his locket, he might wanna keep it for the school. Add an extra founder item to the collection."
"I have no idea where Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have their items though. Ravenclaw's would definitely be on any lazy student's bucket list," Tonks said.
"To be gifted with an insane amount of knowledge just for wearing it? Yeah, I would imagine so. Unfortunately, they're stuck with a sword and a lock. Then it would take a lot just to even be able to steal it," I said dryly.
"I used the words 'bucket list' for a reason," Tonks said with a knowing stare.
"True. Alright, let's get these blasted doxies out of here," I said.
"Blasted?" Tonks questioned.
"It's a Star Wars thing," I said with a shrug.
"I'm amazed at something though," Tonks said.
"What?" I asked.
"I know I haven't kept in contact and that was my fault, but... you've seemingly been able to continue where we left off," Tonks said, her expression truly curious.
"Not entirely true. Had I truly been willing to continue where we left off, I would asked you on a date," I said, making her flinch. It was a mental elephant I had, and I finally decided to bring it up.
"Jeez, you're nothing if not blunt," Tonks said.
"You do realize you were the first girl I had been willing to kiss in years? So yeah. Not in the mood to sugar coat anything," I told her.
"There was someone else?" Tonks questioned.
"Once before," I said, my face darkening. I didn't tell her about Gwen. And I was definitely not going to do so here and now.
"And now?" Tonks questioned.
"Now what?" I questioned.
"Now. Like, do I have a chance now? Besides you being rough around the edges, I liked you. I still find you rather outstanding. More so now, cause you've kind of loosened up," Tonks said, making me sigh. I looked outside the door to make sure no one was listening.
"I honestly don't know. There was someone else that I had gotten to know, and honestly, she's outstanding in her own little way as well. She knows about the monster that I am. She doesn't quite agree with it, but she accepts it," I told her.
"This Fleur woman?" Tonks questioned, and I nodded.
"Once I think something is set in stone, another cork is put in the road and completely throws everything off course," I said while shaking my head. "Let me go put these doxies up. See you around Nymphadora."
"You and my mother are the only people I don't feel the urge to curse when I hear you call me that," Tonks said.
"Your dad?" I questioned.
"Just calls me Tonks. Thank Merlin," she murmured before walking out. I followed behind her shortly after knocking a stirring doxy back into unconsciousness.
A/N: Haven't been on this in a while. I've just been really focused on one of my other stories, so I kinda left this one on the backburner. My bad. But hey. It's here. Enjoy.
