Food for your soul Ch11
Andromeda Tonks walked through Diagon Alley towards Flourish and Blotts, she was interested in seeing the crowd gathered to purchase Harry's books. She thought the humor was rather crude but they were well written and easy to follow. She could have really used them when she had first married Ted. She had grown up with the luxury of house elves, she very much doubted that any of the Black women knew enough to boil water. Had it not been for her mother-in-law, she and Ted would likely have starved that first year.
The original Mrs. Tonks had been very kind and patient teaching a young Andy Tonks to cook. Although looking back she wasn't very good at it either. The English tradition of put it in a pot and boil the flavor out of it was a go to for Mrs. Tonks. Oh, how Andy wished that wizards had a cure for dementia, she really missed that old woman. After the third time holding her while she cried over the deaths of Ted and Nymphadora, Andy had had to stop visiting for the sake of her own sanity.
Approaching the book store Andy was surprised by the crowd, where she had expected to see witches in line there was quite a few young wizards. Many just barely out of school. Andy moved closer and overheard some of the conversations.
"Me ma'am is a terrible cook. I spend nearly half me pay at the leaky."
"My girlfriend is muggleborn, she told me that if she wasn't so tired after cooking supper she might be more willing…"
Andy didn't want to hear what she'd be more willing to do.
"I Thought I was free when my boys finally moved out but alas they come nearly every night. Not so much as a thank you or even that was good Mum. Let'em make their own food for awhile, maybe then they'll show some appreciation."
"Mrs. Tonks! Care to make a comment on the rumors of Harry Potter's bastard daughter?" A shrill voice said behind her.
Andy had expected to see Rita Skeeter but instead found a dark haired witch with the face of a pug.
"Mr. Potter's ward, is of no concern of yours. You should be very careful you don't besmerch the good name of the Head of houses Potter and Black. You may find the head of your family called to fight an honor duel. Now, who are you?" Andromeda said in her haughtiest pureblood voice.
"Pansey Smith, Daily Prophet. Are you saying that the child mis not in fact Harry Potter's? What kind of slut allows herself to become pregnant when she isn't married?"
Andy was close to cursing the stuck up little bitch. Instead she decided to turn the tables.
"I find it amusing that you would attack Harry for following an ancient wizarding tradition. Before the statute of secrecy it was not uncommon that when a woman even a muggle woman fell pregnant with little or no memory of who the father might be, that a head of house would take such a woman into his protection. Claiming the child of a friend when the father of said child is unknown or unavailable is not unheard of."
The crowd was listening to the conversation intently. The woman from earlier spoke up.
"Are you saying a wizard took advantage of that poor muggle girl, then obliviated her?" She said indignantly.
Andy turned to the woman. "It is possible and I have very little doubt that is the little girl turns out to be magical, Harry will have the goblins perform the inheritance rite just to determine who wronged his friend. I wouldn't be at all surprised that in a few years House Potter calls a blood feud against the dishonorable wizard who would do such a thing. My advice to such a.. I hate to call such a cad a man, such a wizard would be best served turning himself in to the aurors and hiding in Azkaban. I fear Harry would make their death particularly painful."
"And so he should! Imagine a wizard doing such a dishonorable thing. If my boys even thought about such a thing, I would tan their backsides before disowning them!"
Many of the women in the crowd shouted their ascent. Many of the young men did as well, though Andy noticed a few looking a little shifty. She glared at those ones.
000
Life onboard ship was very different from what Harry was used to. Everything was a little cramped. Everyone was always busy but they were all very helpful. Harry was a bit of an oddity. He was senior staff but unlike many he could and would talk with even the lowly pot washers. Everyone spoke some English as it was the official language onboard the ship, but few outside the senior staff spoke it well.
Harry's roommate Mario Lima, was a Portuguese navigation specialist and worked on the bridge. Harry was happy to agree to teach him conversational English in exchange for lessons in Portuguese. It wasn't too different from Spanish so as usual Harry was learning quickly. They would only be together a week but if Harry stayed with the cruise line they were likely to meet again.
Cooking on a moving boat had a pretty steep learning curve. You had to get the timing just right. Anything delicate was still beyond him but Angela has assured him that it didn't take long for your body to automatically move to keep in balance with the typical rock and sway of the ocean. It wasn't easy for anyone if you were in high winds or a storm. She warned him that if he had any choice, never work the Carribean Islands run in September and October because trying to do anything in a hurricane was usually painful. Tropical storms weren't much better. Even a ten foot swell would occasionally make pots jump off the stove. She showed him the burn scars on her arms for touching the sides of the oven while pulling out baked goods. Anyone who thought this was a safe job would be in for a ride awakening.
Covorting with the ships guests was frowned upon and you were never to be seen by guests in your uniform when you weren't working. Harry could use the different attractions but he had to dress like a guest.
Harry had spent a few hours in the casino but hadn't seen the appeal. They had a very nice beer selection in the lounge but working twelve hours a day with a hangover or trying to navigate the lower level of the ship didn't sound like fun. The knee-knockers were bad enough sober. Harry wondered why they called the bulkheads knee-knockers when he kept smashing his shins on the damned things.
000
A/N: I'm going to try for another chapter later tonight. Thanks for the reviews.