Harry and Tonks: a love story, chapter four
I walk down the stairs, the morning after the night before, when I argued back to Mrs Weasley, feeling nervous as I almost walk into kitchen but bottle it – I can't face her yet!
I lurk in the shadows by the door ad get a fright as a figure steps out.
"Hello Harry," Sirius says, "What have you been doing to Molly? She's in a frightful mood and I get the distinct feeling that it is your fault."
I look sheepish and Sirius takes that to be a yes so he asks me
"What happened Harry? You should know better than to be rude to Molly not only is she an amazing cook but she IS a good woman and you should know better than to insult the woman who has fed you, and helped you, for the last 4 years. Now, I want you to go and apologise profusely and say you will NEVER speak to her like that again. Understood?"
I nod my head, abashed and insulted the way that Sirius has treat me like I'm a little boy: how is that going to help me in anyway shape or form? However, he is watching me as I enter then kitchen so I walk up to Mrs Weasley and go:
"Mrs Weasley I am frightfully sorry about how I spoke to you last night and I promise it won't happen again."
Mrs Weasley looks affronted, but seems to accept my apology: yet she doesn't talk to me, indicating that she is still fraught with anger. I look at Sirius, who merely nods and then sits at the opposite end of the table to where I am stood: what is with people and me recently?
I sit down and great, I've got the rickety chair. Just my look. Yet my fortunes seem to be increasing, as Tonks enters the room, and decides to sit down next to me! Yes, this day is looking up and it has barely begun!
"Harry, I appreciate what you did last night but I don't want you to be in trouble so-" Tonks begins, but I cut her off with
"it's fine, really, I've just apologised; I'm still in the doghouse but it'll sort itself out soon – afterall I AM Harry Potter!" I laugh off with her, and she laughs along, our voices in key, soprano and bass.
At that precise moment, Ron and Hermione enter the room and see my laughing form: Hermione gets an 'I know what you're thinking' look on her face, so I guess later I'm going to have to make up with them to find out what she thinks I'm thinking about.
"Harry," Tonks says, "Harry what's going on between you and Ron and Hermione? You're best friends so why aren't you talking?"
"well," I reply, "It's to do with the way that they never include me, they didn't tell me anything over the summer, and they expect us all to be best friends and nothing more said after it, no apology: but I cannot accept that."
"Hmmmmm," Tonks goes. "I think you should make up with them: they are your friends after all and they support you. If you won't do it for you, then do it for me, I want to see you act like the adult you're trying to be, to know all the Order's details, so suck it up and be a man!"
I stare in shock, as she talks about me being a man, until she continues: I thought for a moment that she had figured out my secret plan. But, this is something that she will recognise in me as being a man, and although I was going to do it anyway, she needn't know that.
"And Harry," Tonks says to me. "Harry, the information I told you about my missions, well I need you to keep it secret because I shouldn't technically have told you: Kingsley wouldn't mind but mad Eye, well, lets not go there."
I reassure her that I wouldn't dream of telling another soul, and she seems content with my reassurance, so we continue our breakfast, talking about our favourite teachers at Hogwarts, and how some of them had been there for years, most of them had apparently taught Mr Weasley many years ago! Of all the adults in the room, only two were talking to me: Mr Weasley and Tonks – what have I done to the rest of them?
With a jolt, I realise that everyone else has finished breakfast, and is waiting on me and Tonks to finish our conversation – they have been listening in!
"Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and I will be tackling the Drawing Room today," Mrs Weasley announces, "Whereas Tonks, Arthur, Sirius, Remus, Fred and George will be clearing out all the debris, and making the floor safe to stand on, in the dining room, so my group can be cleaning it later on: I do not want to find a single piece of wood or floorboard unsafe understand? Also, lunch is at one for half an hour – not a minute longer!"
Nobody dared to disagree with her, in fact everyone; even the adults, looked terrified, so with that we all dispense and scarper upstairs to our relevant rooms. In the Drawing Room, Hermione smiles at me; hesitantly I smile back – I'm showing that I'm relenting but very slowly, or at least that's what I'm trying to do – and in return I get a whopping grin stretched out across her mouth, so bright that it's as if the Sun has been put into her mouth!
"Hi Harry," Ron apprehensively says to me, "How are you mate?"
"Good," I reply and the fact that I have actually spoken to them, sets Ron and Hermione off on unexplainable levels of happy. "But, I need to talk to you both, later on, ok? How about at lunch?"
"Sure Harry, whatever you need," Hermione reassures me. "We can go to the Dining Room as if your mum comes in Ron, we can say that we have decided to start early – of course if that's alright with you Harry?"
After saying that it is fine, we start our work: firstly we are de-doxying the curtains, apparently a dangerous task, as Mrs Weasley felt it was necessary to drag out Gilderoy Lockheart's book, even though we all know he was a complete fraud until he performed a strong memory charm on himself so his brains are now completely addled!
I put on my mask and pick up my spray, and wait for the command to commence squirting, all the while deciding what to say to Ron and Hermione: do I tell them that I have a crush on Tonks, or do I deny it completely? What do I say that distracted me about asking questions about Voldemort as soon as I arrived? What? Should I plan out what I'm going to say or just on the spur of the moment? All these decisions; yet I decide to wing it and tell them what pops into my head: good practise for the hearing that takes place in 2 days time.
We begin de-doxyfing the curtains, and swarms of Doxys come out yet we stun them with the spray and put them in the buckets at our feet. We continue until the curtains lay limp and moth-eaten and then it is safe to remove our masks.
I brush the hair from my eyes and clean my glasses from the layer of dirt upon them. Mrs Weasley provides us 'children' with a plate of sandwiches, some drinks, and a large chocolate cake. I take a cucumber and ham sandwich an egg mayo sandwich, a glass of orange and a hunk of the chocolate cake and wait for Ron and Hermione to point the way to the Dining Room.
We enter the room that is now 'safe' and contains remnants of people who have been bored for a very long time – foundations of card towers, fake duels, even scorchings of outlines of the twins bore into the floor that must have been mended in an instant!
I place my food down on one of the silver plates on the table, after wiping it clear of a filmy layer of dust, and wait for Hermione to begin talking.
"So," she says, "Where do we begin?"
Thanks for reading this: please review.
I had a question for you that I hope you could answer:
Do you think Harry should tell Ron and Hermione his feelings for Tonks and should they help him fulfil this, or should he tell them nothing and go about it himself? Tell me your views!
Vicky xx
