The Last Meddlings of Lord Black
Chapter 4 The Ground From Under Them
'Spinning and more spinning, oh, it's finally stopped; but why am I still spinning? God, now I know why people don't come down here.' Tonks thought while she tried to regain control of her wayward body if it weren't for the seriousness of the present situation her Order colleagues would be enjoying the clown show she was currently providing.
'Don't trip, please body, don't trip,' was the mantra that Tonks was repeating desperately in her head.
Her thoughts began to run wild …
'They don't have time for my clumsy rebellion. Bloody hell, they've been here for at least 30 minutes, Merlin knows what could have happened, it might already be too late.'
'NO! Harry wouldn't give up that easily he's got bite.
'But he's 15 and Merlin knows who he's against, but they're more experienced than him and most aurors would struggle with a couple of Death Eaters. Why, then, in Merlin's baggy breeches should I expect more from him…
'Coz he's Harry bloody Potter, that's why; the guy who could cast a fully corporeal Patronus at 13; the guy who's survived moldy-shorts four times; the guy who's outwitted and outclassed half the order over the last few years; oh, and don't forget, he's gonna be my husband so I kinda have to believe in him.
'Fuck, I'm arguing with myself. Come on, gotta get my head back in the game. I'm not gonna be the weak link. They need me. He needs me.
Blood. 'Please not Harry's, Merlin, where the bloody hell is this protective fear coming from we haven't even spoken since he found out! Shouting, yes, but he wouldn't even look at me, he doesn't care so why do I?
'Because you've started paying attention, he's no longer off limits, he's allowed-in fact, he's the only one who's allowed now, thanks to those meddling …FOCUS! I need to focus so I can deal with the crap later, it's not like it's going anywhere, but if I don't start paying attention soon, the crap won't matter because we'll probably be dead.
'Yeah, but if we were dead then at least I wouldn't be forced into an unhappy marriage.
'Stop, I'm not that kind of person, I care, I don't want death for anyone, I'm better than that, I'm better than them. I have to be, since I'm marrying the hero of the wizarding world.
'Oh Merlin, that's the veil, that means we're in the chamber of death. How on earth did Harry end up here, of all places? That boy needs to be taught the importance of planning and strategies-after all, he can't seem avoid trouble, maybe he'd let me teach him auror tactics. I love to see what he'd make of them outside of real life and death situations with those reflexes …
'FOCUS!
'This isn't a simulation, or a training opportunity, this is real, this is what I train for, what I work as, who doesn't matter…
'But it does matter, doesn't it Nym?
'It is different, it's personal. It's my life, my family, my future, not some stranger. Even more reason to stop this bloody monologue and start fighting.
'Cloaks, masks, spells, the dance of opponents, so many of them! How have the Hogwarts' students lasted this long?'
Tonks scanned the room, doing a quick recon, before fully engaging in the battle. Her eyes seek out her Hogwarts' friends, and she notices the varying degrees of injury. 'Merlin what happened to Ron?' But before she could contemplate further, another of the room's occupants caught her eye.
'Harry.' He looked so natural in a battle situation. Where was the lanky specky kid she'd collected from Privet Drive? He was moving with a fluidity that many aurors would be jealous of. The 'Boy-Who-Lived' definitely had more to him than had first met her eye.
Tonks mentally chastised herself-there would be time to analyze the apparent enigma that was 'Harry Potter' later; right now, there was a potentially deadly band of Death Eaters that needed dealing with.
Tonks catapulted herself head first into the chaos her first target-Malfoy, the bastard.
Swish, flick, flick, twirl, jab.
The blond ponce incapacitated for the time being, she moved forward.
'Bellatrix shit.'
Swish, swish, jab, jab, flick …
'Sirius, thank Merlin.'
'Green, dodge-damn, violet. Arghh, can't breathe! Need air, not ready, burning fire, tightness, falling,' crunch 'this can't be good. Oh, here comes the darkness.'
"ARGHH!"
'Probably not dead if I'm in this much pain,' thought Tonks while grunting at the audience she was as yet unaware of. Tonks began groping around her, seemingly searching for her wand. After a couple of minutes, her frantic efforts to find her wand had resulted in exhaustion, and she had to admit defeat. The lack of action, the clean smell, and the lightness of her surrounding told her that, yet again, she was in the hospital.
Tonks finally became fully aware of her surroundings and started to sit up in the bed when a hand and a silky voice focused her attention
"Hello, darling. Don't try sitting up just yet, the healers need to check you. You've been out for 48 hours since Aunt Trixie got you with a couple of nasty hexes. Do you have any idea how worried your father and I have been? I really wish you'd get a safer, more appropriate job for a young woman; I'm not sure how many more times my poor heart can take the emergency firecalls for St. Mungo's"
"Mum" Tonks groaned "I'll tell you the same thing I told you when I graduated the academy. I want to be an auror, I enjoy being an auror, and, this way, I'm actually in a position to clear up some of the mess my relatives create."
Tonks and Andromeda entered into an uneasy silence, each knowing the other would not back down they had both inherited the black stubborn streak.
Suddenly a look horror past over Tonks's face "What's happened while I've been out? How did the battle go? How's Harry?" At the last question, Andromeda allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk, only for it to be wiped away a second later by her daughter's next question, "How's Sirius?"
With the battle of the department of mysteries, and the resulting acknowledgement of Voldemort's return by the ministry, the last few days had been very busy for Dumbledore and the Order members. However, due to the injuries received during the battle and the political chaos the battle had brought the wizarding world, the first post-battle meeting of the full Order of Phoenix took place 5 days after the battle.
By this time, Tonks had been discharged from St. Mungo's, on the condition that she stayed under the care of others for a few days. Unfortunately for Tonks, that meant moving in with her parents until they deemed she was well enough to go back to her flat or she felt well enough to stage an escape.
Although she had talked to her parents since the truth about the contract had come out, she hadn't really forgiven them just yet, which lead to a very tense atmosphere in the Tonks family home. At the best of times, Tonks was not a good patient, as she hated seeming weak and dependent. But with the extra baggage it was far from the best of times, and thus, a nightmare for all involved. The latest argument had led to the whole Tonks family being sat in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place waiting for the latest Order meeting to begin.
Earlier that day, Tonks had insisted that she was attending the latest Order meeting, much to the chagrin of her mother, who had tried to put her foot down, threatening to restrain her daughter if necessary to prevent her attendance as somebody recuperating from serious injuries should not, in Andromeda's words, "Be gallivanting with vigilantes in the middle of the night." However, Tonks had played her trump card, pointing out very politely to her mother that the Order's business concerned her husband-to-be's safety and future, and, therefore by association, her own, courtesy of their actions. Andromeda and Ted had to concede that point. However, it wasn't an all-out victory for the young auror as her statement led her parents to the realization that their family was, now more than ever, at the focal point of this upcoming war and, consequently, both her parents had decided they wanted to become full members of the Order.
The first topic of the Order meeting saw a dozen or so new members join the Order, including the Tonks seniors. Evidently, the events of the last few days had shown many that a fight was on its way, that action was needed, and that the ministry couldn't be relied upon.
Then there were the normal, boring, status reports, and Tonks switched off for a bit, hoping her recent injury would serve as a believable excuse if anyone picked up on her inattentiveness.
Next, Tonks listened as Shack and Moody delivered their reports of the events in the Department of Mysteries; at one point she was asked if she had anything to add, but she had to admit that everything about the battle was a bit hazy. Dumbledore proceed to disclose the events around Harry and his confrontation with Voldemort. Tonks emotions fluctuated between shock, amazement, horror, concern, and guilt that she wasn't strong enough to be there for Harry when he went through Voldemort's possession.
Her concern for Harry's wellbeing only increased when Dumbledore and McGonagall proceeded to share with the group how Harry and his friends were dealing with the aftermath of the battle and Tonks vowed to write to Ginny when she arrived home.
Her attention was bought back to the meeting by Molly Weasley inquiring about the accommodation plans for Harry's summer. Tonks listened as Dumbledore outlined the necessity of Harry returning to his relatives home for his protection from Voldemort and his followers despite Molly's, Minerva's and Remus's concerns. The more Tonks heard about Harry's family the more she worried, and what she already knew about his living conditions didn't reassure her. Unlike last year, she felt she now had the right to voice her opinion on the matter even if it seemed odd.
"Albus, I understand your desire to keep Harry safe, after all, it's what we all want, but does he really have to go back to those awful people, there are plenty of us in the order who have strong wards who would happily accommodate him, hell, I'd happily but my flat under Fidelius Charm, he needs to be around people who understand what he's going through."
"Nymphadora I appreciate your concern and the offer to house Mr. Potter but the blood war…"
Tonks expecting this interrupts "But Albus, surely the wards stopped working against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when he used Harry's blood to resurrect himself last year?"
The rest of the group looked to Dumbledore for his response
"That may be Nymphadora, but we do not know for certain, and I do not want to test it. In addition, even if the wards no longer protect against Voldemort, they do stop his followers. I will ask that a number of you guard Harry's home during the summer. Now let's move on."
Realizing from his tone that protesting would get her nowhere, Tonks dropped the subject. The meeting went on to more mundane and procedural things. Finally, the meeting ended when it was nearing 11pm. Despite her exhaustion Tonks decided to hang around in the hopes of catching Dumbledore before he flooed back to Hogwarts. Promising her parents she wouldn't be long, she approached the headmaster.
If her hairstyle was anything to go by, its mousy and limp appearance would lead one to suspect that the Nymphadora Tonks who stumbled out of the floo was feeling dejected. She barely acknowledged her dad as she headed to the childhood bedroom she was currently occupying.
Crashing onto the bed she tried to process the last hour; she had always respected Albus Dumbledore. How could she not, he had saved the wizarding world from evil, he was the 'Leader of the Light,' and the only one Voldemort feared. But right now, her thoughts about the man were less than positive. Thank merlin for the vow she elicited from Albus prior to revealing the nature of her connection to Harry. She could understand why he was feared when she told him of the contract he was furious and that only increased when he realized the contract was unbreakable. He had pretty much told her that the wizarding world was doomed because of her! Like this was her choice. He seemed to be struggling with the idea that anybody would do something affecting Harry without consulting him. She had to admit the look on his face at that point was highly amusing and, she imagined, rarely seen; it had been somewhere between surprised, confused, and unsettled.
She couldn't understand why this was quite such a big deal to him; her and Harry yes but what she still couldn't get her head around was why Dumbledore cared so much. Of course he already realized he was not going to see the contract after all he was one of the most knowledgeable people alive on wizarding laws and customs.
He tried to convince her to keep Harry in the dark for the 'Greater Good' but she politely informed the wizened headmaster that Sirius had already informed Harry due to penalties. He then had the cheek to suggest that her and Harry not being able to have children or being in constant pain would have been preferable. Apparently, Dumbledore thought that Harry's power of love was going to save the world and this contract had made that impossible. Clearly Dumbledore was panicking based on some of his suggestions during their conversation, as if having sex with Harry would make him fall in love with her and a love potion would not be helpful in the long run considering they were stuck together for life. Anyway, surely they both deserved a real chance at love and happiness rather than a superficial substitute. So her rejection had been less than courteous.
Was it so unbelievable that Harry could fall for her? Over the last couple of months, she'd been gradually coming round to the idea being married to Harry. Yes, this situation wasn't what she dreamed of, but the more she learnt about Harry the more she realized Sirius might be right, they were well suited. Now that she had allowed herself to view Harry as a romantic prospect, she couldn't deny she found him physically attractive, and she definitely cared about him. She truly believed that she could come to love Harry, she just hoped Harry could love her, and of that she was currently uncertain given Harry had ignored her completely while escorting him back to school.
By the end of her conversation with Albus, he seemed somewhat resigned to the situation and, although clearly not happy, he had said he would support them. Apparently, he had quickly decided it was a waste of time fighting the situation. Unfortunately, this did not mean he would change Harry's summer accommodation, but Albus had agreed to Harry spending his birthday with her and it was on that thought she drifted off to sleep, the letter she intended to write all but forgotten.
/AN/ Thanks again to my beta Proud Mudblood who did another great job. Thank for reading and reviewing, I never anticipated the reaction this story has had so far. The next chapter may be a few weeks as I've only just started it but it will provide a peek at Harry's reaction to the bombshell at the end of chapter 3 /AN/