9. Fair?


When Harry woke up, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was. He felt around for his glasses, finding them on the bedside table. He put them on, but stayed lying in bed for a few minutes. After getting up, he slowly walked into the living room. He peeked into the kitchen to see if Tonks was there before walking into the bathroom.

He stood in front of the mirror for a couple minutes, reflecting on the previous night. It had been quite a while since he had wept openly.

He took a deep breath, remembering the feeling of lightness after letting some tears out, before picking up his toothbrush. He looked around the bathroom as he brushed his teeth. He wondered how long ago Tonks had left. Would she be at the Ministry? Would she have dropped in at the Burrow? Would she have seen Hermione?

He wondered how Hermione was feeling. A part of him wished for Hermione to be feeling horrible for doing this to him. Even that part wasn't sure what 'this' was. The rest of him was simply regretting telling her the truth.

When he finished brushing his teeth, he heard the front door open. He walked out to find Andromeda walking in.

"Oh hullo sweetheart! Did you just wake up?"

"Oh hey, Mrs. Tonks," said Harry while she walked up to him and engulfed him in a hug.

"Uhhh..." Harry said, a bit confused.

Andromeda grabbed his hands as she pulled away and asked in a voice full of care, "You ok, sweetie?"

"Yeah," said Harry, his confused look morphing into a bright smile at seeing the concern in her eyes, "thanks Mrs. Tonks."

She made a sound close to a "tut" and said "Andi!"

Harry chuckled. "Right, thanks... Andi!"

"Good... Now, had anything to break your fast yet?"

"Just brushed my teeth," said Harry, shaking his head.

"Well, good, means I get to feed you. What would you like, sweetie?"

"Oh, uh, have you eaten?"

"Yes, love," Andromeda said with a warm smile, "so no point saying whatever I'd like. Come on, hurry up."

Harry smiled at her before saying, "I'd honestly love to have anything you make for me, Andi."

"Awww. Well, eggs and bacon?"

"Yes, please."

"Great! Well, go get ready, take a bath and oh, oh, oh, could you please put the cooking thing on that thing?" Andromeda asked, pointing towards the TV.

"Yeah," Harry said with a tiny laugh, walking towards the remote.


"Nymphadora came to see me about you."

"Ah!" said Harry, "what did she say?"

"She was a little bit worried," Andromeda said with a little smile, "said that she had to force herself to get out of here to go to work. Just wanted to stay at home with you. Now I know I'm not as fun or as bubbly as -"

"No!"

"- my lovely daughter, but I hope you don't mind me coming over."

"First of all, you are fun! You might even be too much fun, actually," Harry said, making Andromeda laugh. "Secondly, I am very happy that you came over. Thirdly, thanks again for the breakfast. It was lovely."

"Aw you really are as sweet as Nymphadora says."

Harry grinned at her, before saying, "I don't know what it is. The Tonks women bring it out of me."

"I'm glad," said Andromeda with a smile. "Now if I may ask, how did you end up living here? Are you and Nymphadora much closer than I had come to believe or-"

"No, no, I'm just here until we check out Grimmauld Place and make sure it's completely safe. I'll move there as soon as I'll be able to."

"Ah, I see. Are you expecting it to be dangerous?"

"Possibly. Death Eaters knew that it was our base for some time, so…"

"Oh! Very sensible then, good."

Harry nodded, before saying, "ad's over."

"Oh good."

They watched TV silently for a few minutes until the next ad break.

"She's rather interesting, isn't she?" Andromeda remarked.

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen this show before, but it's really good."

"Oh what is that?" asked Andromeda, looking at an expandable broom being advertised.

"Oh, it's for cleaning. Makes it easier to reach things."

"Ah, interesting."

"There are some channels without any advertisements, I think. I can change it."

"Oh, will Nigella be on them?"

"I don't know. Probably not."

"Oh just leave this on then. It's good having some breaks in between, anyway."

"Alright," said Harry, slumping heavily into the sofa beside Andromeda.

"You can lie down properly, if you want, sweetie. Put your head here," said Andromeda, patting her lap.

"Oh, uh, that's ok," said Harry, sitting up.

"Aww! Alright."

"Sorry," said Harry quietly.

"It's ok, love," Andromeda said with a warm chuckle.

Harry felt embarrassed but stayed quiet, not wanting to admit how much Andromeda's little gesture meant to him.

They watched television together for a few minutes. When it seemed as if the show was about to end, Andromeda asked, "That didn't seem that hard to make, right? We can try that."

"Uh. Sorry I don't remember exactly what she did."

"Oh, that's fine. I think I remember it well," said Andromeda, getting up.

"I don't think we brought any chicken yesterday."

"There's a shop nearby, right?"

"There's a supermarket," said Harry, getting up. "I'll go get some."

"I'll come with you. Might see something else I should buy."

"Oh! Just remembered, I don't have any money just yet," said Harry apologetically.

"Don't worry about it at all sweetie," said Andromeda warmly. "We can pop into Gringotts to convert some."

"Oh I don't think I can go there."

"Why? Wait… That dragon business! That was real? Oh shit! I saw it mentioned in the Prophet but I thought that was just…"

"I think Kingsley is trying to make a deal with Gringotts about the three of us, Ron, Hermione and me. It's only me who has an account of my own there anyway. But I have no idea what will happen."

"Oh! Well, Gringotts might not even be open, in fact, if it really happened."

Harry nodded.

"You know, I think I have almost all of that stuff at home anyway. We could go there, but we wouldn't have the television."

"That's ok," said Harry.

"Or we could just go out somewhere just to roam about, and go to my home for lunch. I'm sorry. I really should have remembered to get some converted."

"Please don't worry about it, Mrs. Tonks."

"Alright. Well we'll try that particular recipe some other time, I suppose."

"Tonks, uh, Nymphadora wasn't planning on coming home for lunch, was she?"

"I don't think so. And you weren't planning on going to the Weasleys, were you?"

"I… Might have, I suppose."

"Ah! Well, no worries in that case," said Andromeda, getting up. "I'll stop bothering you and go home."

"No, that's not - Actually, well, I suppose I should at least drop in there," said Harry with a resigned sigh.

Andromeda simply looked at him with a quizzical look.

"I had a... fight, with Hermione. I'm not really looking forward to running into her at the Burrow."

"Ah!"

"But no," said Harry, getting up, "I really should visit them. I did kind of leave suddenly without any explanation yesterday."

"Ok," said Andromeda, "well, I hope I get to spend some more time with you in the coming weeks. Yesterday was quite lovely, I must admit."

"For me as well, Mrs. Tonks,"

"Andi!"

"For me too, Andi. And today morning! It was so nice of you to come to check on me," said Harry.

"Oh psh, it was nothing. Uh, do you want to disapparate from here?"

"Here is ok, I guess?" Harry said unsurely, "oh, I'll just go get my keys anyway."


"Harry!" Ginny welcomed him warmly, opening the kitchen door. "I didn't know if you were coming."

"Hey Ginny, oh," said Harry, accepting Ginny's hug with a little bit of surprise. "How are you?"

Ginny shrugged but gave him a little smile before asking, "you ok?"

"Yeah, better than I was expecting, I suppose - Oh good morning Mrs. Weasley," said Harry when he saw her.

"Good morning dear!" She greeted him with a smile, before asking in a concerned voice, "are you doing well?"

"Yes, I'm good, Mrs. Weasley. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. Nymphadora's potions helped. Come, sit, I'll get you some -"

"Oh no no, I already ate a lot, Mrs. Weasley," Harry interrupted.

"Oh! Are you sure, dear? I could quickly whip up something."

"Yes, definitely Mrs. Weasley. I'm completely full."

"Ah, well, good. I was a bit worried you wouldn't eat properly."

"Please don't worry about me, Mrs. Weasley. I can take good care of myself," said Harry, not wanting to tell her about Andromeda coming to make him breakfast. "Is anyone else up?"

"Yeah, Dad, Charlie and Bill came down a while ago," Ginny answered. "They went to the Ministry. And Percy actually stayed at his place last night."

"Ah ok."

"Hermione woke up, but… Not in the mood to come down just yet."

"I'll just get some food ready for her," Mrs. Weasley said, "you wouldn't mind taking it up to her, would you, dear?" Molly asked Harry.

"Oh, uh -"

"I'll take it up, mum," said Ginny.

"Oh alright, dear," said Molly before saying in a hushed tone, "actually could you…?" She gestured towards the door and started walking.

Ginny followed her after giving Harry a confused glance.

They came back after about a minute. Ginny gave Harry a smirk before sitting down next to him. "Well that was fun."

"What?" asked Harry.

"So… Yesterday evening, when I told Mum that you were gone, she didn't really ask any questions. I suppose she just made a few assumptions by herself."

"And?"

"Just now," Ginny whispered, with a glance towards her mother who was occasionally looking at them both while preparing some breakfast for Hermione, "she couldn't even hold it in for a few minutes. Just had to tell me to tell you that…" Ginny paused and grinned, "you and Tonks living together, so early in your relationship, it's very improper." Ginny said, bursting into laughter.

"No, Mrs. Weasley, that's not -"

"Now I know it's not my place to say this, dear. And Nymphadora is a lovely girl, but still -"

"We're not together!" Harry interrupted. "She's not my girlfriend."

"But then, why would you leave and -"

"I just didn't want to be a burden to you, Mrs. Weasley. I'm sorry. I just thought it would be easier if I left. I'll be moving to Grimmauld Place soon anyway. I'm only living with Tonks temporarily."

"You're never a burden, dear. Please never think that."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."

She looked at him for a few seconds, seemingly refraining from saying something, before focusing her attentions back on the food. "You're welcome here anytime. In fact, you can take Percy's room, if you don't want to share with Ron."

"That's no problem, Mrs. Weasley."

"Alright, dear!"

After a few seconds of silence, Harry turned to Ginny, who looked at him with a smirk.

"You could have told her about me and Tonks."

"I didn't know what to tell her. I assumed you wanted to keep the Hermione fight a secret. And I didn't wanna come up with a story."

Harry sighed. "Yes. Right. Well, thanks for not telling that to anybody. Is she ok?"

"Hermione? No? I mean, yesterday, the entire day, she was kind of a mixture of angry and sad."

Harry took a deep breath. "Should I go talk to her?"

"I have absolutely no idea," said Ginny. "When I get her breakfast, I'll tell her you're here and see her reaction."

"Does she know you know?"

"No, not yet."

Harry nodded.

"Actually, I'm not sure I know exactly what happened anyway," Ginny whispered.

"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley called.

"Be right back."

After a couple minutes, Ginny came back and sat next to him with a sigh.

"I said to her, Good morning. Mum made you some breakfast. And Harry's here! And she just went arghhh. So… Make of that what you will."

"Right."

"So," Ginny said in a whisper, leaning towards him, "what exactly's going on? What did you guys fight about?"

"Oh, so you don't know," said Harry.

"Don't know what?"

Harry sighed loudly. "Let's go outside, I'll tell you there."

"Ok, just one second," said Ginny, walking up to her mother. "Mum, you need anything?" "Nothing right now, dear." "Alright, we're just outside. Just call if you want us." "Ok dear!"

"So…" Harry said, when they were outside. "yesterday morning, Hermione and I were talking. And I told her... that I've liked her... romantically… for years."

"Oh!"

"Yes. And technically, we didn't really have a fight. I just… Want to keep my distance."

"So she doesn't like you back?"

"Don't even ask that. Come on. She's your brother's girlfriend."

"You're more important than my brother."

"Woah, don't," said Harry in an annoyed tone, "that - that's a horrible thing to say."

Ginny sighed, "yeah, I suppose. But… What the fuck?" She suddenly burst out.

"What?"

"Hermione… Is choosing Ron over you? What the fuck is wrong with her?"

Harry stopped walking and turned to Ginny, "ok, just stop right now! Don't you dare say that."

"I'm sorry, but seriously -"

"Just shut up, Ginny. Just stop. Ok? That's not how it works. It's not a competition. She likes him and he likes her. Done. End of story. Great for them both. Doesn't matter if I like her. Especially not when I tell her now, when she has a boyfriend, after keeping it secret from her for years."

Ginny shook her head, looking angry. "I don't care what you say. I just lost a fuck ton of respect for her."

"Oh come on. Just… Just think about it for a moment. She didn't do anything wrong."

"What the fuck are you saying? She rejected YOU!"

"NO! She didn't. It's not as if I asked her out. Again, she has a boyfriend. But even then… So what if she did reject me? I can't just change her feelings. If she doesn't like me, she doesn't like me. I can't blame her for it. I just gotta get over it."

"It's not fair!" Harry heard her say in a moaning tone after a few seconds.

"Oh Ginny!" He said quietly, putting an arm over her shoulder when he saw her start to tear up. "It's ok."

"Couldn't you just have fallen for me?" Ginny asked with a chuckle, "I'd drop Dean in a second."

Harry laughed and said, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," said Ginny, taking a step towards him and putting her arms around him.

She let go after a few seconds. "By the way, know what's gonna happen now?"

"What?"

"My dear mother is going to think that you just asked me out."

Harry looked towards the Burrow and saw Molly's silhouette suddenly move out of his line of sight through the door. "Aw shit!"