Alright! The weekend is over, homework is done with, and the new chapter is up!
Hey everybody, it's me, the Lonely Lorekeeper, here again with another new chapter of To Date a Metamorph. Sorry again for taking a few days to get this done with, I had a bunch of big assignments and projects that came due over this weekend, and I—the procrastinating fool that I am—had forgotten to do anything about them, so I had to quickly cram my way through. So far, it's looking pretty good, though, so I had time to get this chapter out to y'all.
While I have you here, though, can I say how happy I am at how well this has been received? I mean, this chapter is coming out exactly one week after the first chapter was published, and in that time this story has picked up 207 followers, been favorited 391 times, and been picked up by 3 different communities. And I know, a lot of this has to do with losthpfanficwriter paving the way ahead with his incredible story Nymphadora's Beau, but...it still feels really nice to pop on every day or so and suddenly see a bunch more people have decided to stick around, or see a bunch of new reviews telling me what they like or dislike about my retelling.
Anyways, that's enough gushing from me, let's get to the story!
Chapter 4: One Step at a Time
"I knew this was going happen, I just knew it!"
Harry paced nervously back and forth in the center of his newly cleaned and refurbished room. His hands tousled and dragged through his wild locks as he tried to calm himself down but to no avail. He was going to court because of improper use of magic, and the Minister was going to have him expelled and his wand snapped. It didn't matter what he said or did—the whole of the Ministry was against him, so even if he did tell the truth that Tonks had been the one to cast the spells, it wouldn't make any difference. He was doomed.
Tonks, meanwhile, was sitting quietly on the edge of Harry's bed, staring at the missive in her hands once more. Her mind was spinning, gears inside her head whirring, as she tried to make sense of this. Harry shouldn't have received this reprimand from the Ministry. That much was obvious, of course, and would certainly need to be addressed, too. But the fact that he had received the missive so quickly was odd as well.
While Tonks hadn't actually worked as part of the Improper Use of Magic branch of the DMLE, she did know a fair bit about it thanks to her training. One of the first and most obvious facts about the IUM was that it took hours for reports to work through the system before being sent to their respective litigants. It needed to go through the proper channels, due process, and was otherwise slowed due to general laziness, of which she knew first hand that the IUM was overflowing with.
So, for Harry to have not only received this letter, but for him to have received it so quickly after the improper usage—whether or not it was his mistake to begin with—more than slightly roused her suspicions.
She sat silently on the bed for a moment longer before looking back up at the manically pacing Harry. Sighing, Tonks stood up and quickly walked over, snatching one of his hands with her own. Harry came to a stumbling stop, the hand that had been ruffling his hair slowly dropping back to his side as he turned and looked back over at Tonks with nervous, wary eyes.
"Harry, I know this looks bad, but it's going to be okay," Tonks stated calmly. "I was sent here to keep you safe, and that includes any attempts from the Minister to screw you over. We'll work this out, but I need you to calm down first."
Tonks watched as the nervous, fearful look that had filled Harry's eyes began to fade. It was still there, lingering in the backs of his emerald orbs, but for the moment her words and her reaching out to him had managed to calm the young man before her. After another moment of silence, Harry nodded slowly back at Tonks. "Thank you," he managed to say, keeping his head bowed low.
"Don't mention it, Harry," Tonks nodded. Progress is progress after all. "Now, why don't you come join me on your bed, and we can work this out together, alright?"
Harry didn't answer, but then again Tonks didn't really give him the chance to. Still holding his hand gently in her own, Tonks led Harry back to the bed where she sat down on the side and pulled Harry along to join her. The teenager stumbled a bit and nearly fell onto her—something that actually stirred a bit of excitement in her chest—but he managed to catch himself at the last moment, and instead ended up sitting nervously beside the attractive witch.
Tonks pouted subtly about the missed opportunity, but simply sighed and turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Now, Harry, while I'm currently helping Dumbledore out with his Order, my real job is as an Auror for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I'm essentially the wizard version of a police officer, got it?"
Harry nodded, before frowning and raising an eyebrow. "Does…this mean that you're gonna be the one taking me to court, then, Tonks?"
"What? No!" Tonks quickly replied back, shaking her head. "No, I'm not going to bring you in, Harry. If anything, I can stand as a witness for you, since I can fully confirm that it was my spells that triggered your trace, not yours. And that's only if this actually goes to court to begin with."
Harry perked up a bit at that, and both his eyebrows rose to his hairline. "If? But, Tonks, it says on my letter, right there, that I'm already scheduled for a court session on the fourteenth."
Harry jabbed a finger at the letter for emphasis, but Tonks merely shook her head. "Yeah, it says that. But I—being a well-trained and rather clever Auror, if I do say so myself—say otherwise."
Tonks took a moment to gather her thoughts before moving forward. "First of all, this whole situation stinks, and not just because your trace went off because of a spell you didn't cast. I know how the Ministry works, how long it takes for things like misuse of magic felonies to make their way through the system. Usually, it takes you a few hours to get the official missive from the IUM, and a few weeks before you have to attend court to either defend your case or pay the fee."
Looking back at Harry, Tonks frowned. "You, however, received your missive within five minutes of me spiffing up your room, and your court date is in four days. Which, I don't think I have to spell it out for you, feels really odd. Knowing you, and knowing what the Ministry has been saying about you in the Prophet, the Minister's probably been keeping his supporters aware of any mistakes you make, and pushed this through quickly so you would be out of the way."
"Wait, you really think he'd do that?" Harry asked, sitting up straight in surprise.
He was nearly knocked back by the flat, deadpan stare Tonks leveled at him. "Harry, you've met the Minister—does he really seem like the type that wouldn't leap to such inane methods to keep you quiet, and Magical Britain at ease?"
Harry blinked, then thought back to all of the past interactions he'd had with the illustrious Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Just a month ago, he had firmly denied Harry's claim that Voldemort had been resurrected, claimed that Harry was being delusional, and then had one of the witnesses and a major form of evidence—Barty Crouch Jr.—Dementored. The year before that, he had also ignored Harry's claims about Sirius Black being innocent, believing Snape's claims that Harry had been confounded.
And of course, how could he forget the time he and Ron had accidentally listened in on Lucius Malfoy and the Minister coming to Hagrid's hut to have him arrested. There had been no due process, no warrant or form of legal authority to have him taken away. Yet Hagrid had been taken, sentenced to Azkaban, and Dumbledore had been removed from the office of Headmaster. And the reasoning Fudge had given for his actions still echoed through Harry's mind.
"The Ministry must be seen doing something."
Harry finally looked back up at Tonks and shook his head. "You're right…he'd do it…but then, what can we do about it?"
Tonks smirked. "Well, if he is trying to stack the deck against you and give you a firm and quick court session to silence you, that could easily be seen as a misuse of power by the Minister. If I can plead your case to my boss, Madam Bones of the DMLE, then we can probably push to hold off your court session for the usual wait time of a few weeks, giving you the time you need to gather your defense."
Her smirk widened, and she turned to flash a wink at her young cohort. "And that's only if they're able to get it to court to begin with. Again, I can go and plead your case to Madam Bones. That means also bringing up how your Trace picked up on my spellcasting. On top of that, the spells used were all housework-style spells, in a home that was empty of all muggles—magically aware or not—so there was no danger of breaking the statute. Add to that your story of the house elf tricking your Trace the first time, and Bonesy might just drop the charges right there!"
The shocked smile on Harry's face filled Tonks with a warmth, and she couldn't help smiling back. "Really? You think so?"
"Couldn't hurt to ask," Tonks replied with a playful shrug, before shooting Harry a slightly more serious frown. "If anything, it'd only hurt to keep quiet and let the Minister do what he wants. If we can get this to Bonesy and get her on our side, we can nip this in the bud and maybe teach Fudge a lesson."
"Alright, let's do it," Harry nodded, his smile being a bit more sure now, more confident.
Smiling back at him, Tonks hopped back up off of the bed and over to the desk, pulling out one of Harry's sheaths of parchment and reaching for the quill he'd set out. "I'll write up the letter for Bonesy explaining the whole situation, then your owl can deliver it for her. I'd send it myself, but I'm not on duty, so I can't actually use my method of getting the paper to her."
"Yeah, alright," Harry shrugged. "I mean, Hedwig'll be a while still, but—"
"Preeeck!"
Harry sat up in surprise and turned to see a large white shape sail in through the open window and land gracefully on the foot of the bed, right beside Harry. Hedwig glanced up at her master expectantly, before blinking and turning her head around, taking in the sights of the room that had previously been a den of rubbish and refuse. Her gaze finally landed on Tonks, looking back at her, before giving a faint, almost confused, hoot.
"…or, I guess she'll be right in," Harry finished. "That's odd, she never comes home this early—she usually takes about another half hour or so."
"Maybe she could feel that you were in distress and came to help? She is your familiar after all," Tonks suggested with a shrug, turning back to the parchment before jotting down some last notes. Feeling satisfied with her message, the metamorph quickly rolled the letter up and produced a short length of twine from her moleskin bag. She then turned to the snowy owl on the bed and cautiously approached.
"Hedwig, is it?" she asked, glancing back at the owl's master for a second, before looking back at the bird and speaking slowly. "Hedwig, I'm trying to help your master get out of a bad situation, and in order to do so, I need to send this letter to Madam Amelia Bones, Director of the DMLE. Do you think you can do that for me?"
The look the snowy owl pierced her with sent shivers down her spine. Before she could say another word, the owl had hopped up and snatched the scroll of parchment from Tonks; hand, flew up in a wide loop near the ceiling of the room, and then shot out the window and back out onto Privet Drive.
Harry watched his familiar go, and then turned to Tonks. "I guess she could do it," he replied with a small chuckle.
Tonks looked back at Harry and smiled in return. "Well, let's certainly hope so—we'll find out in a few hours whether she actually managed to get there or not." Sighing, the metamorph sat back up from the desk's chair and stretched once more, smirking as she noticed Harry's eyes dark to her chest again before darting away. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to use the shower."
"The shower?" Harry echoed. "Whatever for?"
"After all that stress from the spellcasting from earlier and the whole Ministry trial debacle and now getting my boss mixed in, I feel like I need to relieve some tension, and a nice shower always works for me." She smirked over at Harry and shot him a wink. "You're more than welcome to join me, too, if you'd like."
Harry blushed a bright red and began to splutter a reply again, but Tonks only laughed and shook her head. "Oh, don't worry, I was only joking." Grinning at the brightly blushing young man, Tonks reached into her moleskin pouch again and withdrew the letters that Sirius had handed her that morning. "Nah, while I'm in the shower, you can read these. Sirius sent them—said they'd be a bit more personal than what Dumbledore's letting him send you normally."
"Sirius sent them?" Harry leaped forward as he asked the question, reaching out to take the envelopes from her. Tonks nodded and turned to the door, walking back out into the hall.
"Yep, he seemed concerned about you, so he had me bring them along. Go ahead and read them, I'm gonna get to lathering myself up." She then paused in the doorway and shot the dark-haired young man another wink. "Offer still stands if you get bored of reading before I'm done."
Her last sight of the room before closing the door and walking to the shower was the Boy-Who-Lived looking at her with a bright red blush on his face, and bright green eyes staring back at her in shock. Again, Tonks only laughed, though once the door closed she licked her lips and nodded eagerly to herself. Oh yes, even with this small road bump, getting with Harry was going to be a lot of fun.
Ordinarily, owl post never actually made it that far into the Ministry. There was a specific section of the Ministry where letters and missives were dropped off, either by the owls or by officials and passerby that had come to deliver the letters themselves. From there, the missives were sorted and organized, the charmed into paper airplanes that sailed out to their intended recipient. Most owls, then, only ever saw as much as that first room of the process.
Hedwig was not like most owls.
Whether because she understood the importance of what the letter contained or simply because just a bit more particular than most other owls, Hedwig avoided the usual owlpost entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Instead, she flew down the elevator shaft that connected to one of the telephone booths on the muggle street above. It was a bit difficult to make her way inside and get the contraption to go where she wanted, but after a bit of hassle, Hedwig was well on her way.
It was in thanks to this peculiarity about Hedwig that she avoided getting the letter vetted by the Ministry. Which meant that the Minister would never know about the letter, nor would his allies be able to stop it from getting to its intended target.
As she flew into the main entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic, Hedwig could hear a few startled or shocked gasps down below. The snowy owl ignored them all—if they were this surprised by one owl flying where she wasn't supposed to be, she really didn't consider them worth her time. No, her attention was better left elsewhere, such as finding where to go to drop off her master's letter.
She finally landed on what looked to be the front desk of the main entrance hall. Her piercing amber eyes stared up at the man standing behind the desk, before her head swiveled over to inspect the nearby list of names and places. The female that had been with her master had told her to take the letter to someone named Madam Bones in the DMLE, so hopefully she could find where to go from this…
"What's this then?"
Hedwig's head swiveled around quickly, and she let out a sharp shriek as the man behind the desk reached for her letter. Her beak snapped forward and clipped at his hand, nipping a red line along one of his fingers.
"Gah! Watch it!" the teller grunted, pulling his hand back and clasping his other hand over where Hedwig had bit him. "Bloody bird…"
Hedwig clicked her beak indignantly back at him. This was her master's letter, and she took great pride in ensuring that all of her master's letters made it to where they needed to go completely unimpeded. She fixed the man behind the desk another piercing gaze, before turning back to the list of names.
After another moment, Hedwig let out a hoot. Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Level 3, Department Head's Office. She'd found it—now, hopefully, it wouldn't be too difficult to get where she needed to go.
Turning back around, Hedwig took a moment to fix the man behind the desk with another piercing stare and a threatening shriek, and then flew back up into the air. She circled the entrance hall a moment before gliding down quickly, looking around for a way down to this "Level 3" the board had listed. She found it in the form of another elevator at the far end of the room—this one manned by an attendant, it looked like.
Hedwig sighed in relief. The one disguised as a telephone booth had given her enough trouble for one day.
As she flew down, the attendant inside cast a disinterested gaze down at the owl. Johann Harper had been a lift attendant for about fifteen years now, and in those years, he had seen more than his fair share of odd and unusual passengers. By comparison, one snowy owl standing on the railing of the elevator was hardly anything to get bent over.
Still, he couldn't help asking, "You do know that the Ministry's mail department is in that direction, yes?"
Hedwig turned and fixed the attendant a piercing stare, but unlike the man behind the desk, it did little to unnerve him. Instead, Johann just turned and pressed the button to shut the life doors. "Well, alright then. Which floor you going to then?"
Hedwig blinked in surprise, before puffing herself up a bit. Glad to see someone who wasn't completely annoying for a change. Preening a bit, the owl turned to the list of departments and levels, before barking out three quick hoots.
Johann raised an eyebrow at the owl before shrugging and pressing the third dimly glowing button on the dashboard. "Department of Magical Law Enforcement it is then," he replied, nodding back at the bird. The owl, for her part, ruffled her feathers a bit, looking every bit proud in herself, and let out a pleased bark in return. Johann let a small smile slip onto his face in return, just for a moment, then stood at bored attention once more.
When the lift came to a stop on the third level, Hedwig roused herself from her perch on the railing inside and hopped out, her wings unfurling and lifting her up into the air. "You're welcome," Johann called out after her, before turning back to the dashboard of floors and sent the lift back up to the main entrance level.
It wasn't difficult for Hedwig to find the Department Head's Office, as it was the largest office on the level and at the very end of the first hall. The snowy owl soared down the hallway, past the floor's receptionist—who was too busy reading the Daily Prophet to notice the bird fly through—and landed on the office's doorknob. Shrieking, she pecked her beak rapidly on the door in an attempt to get the attention of this 'Amelia Bones'.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!"
The door opened a minute later, and as soon as it did, Hedwig flapped off of the doorknob and soared into the office. The woman in the room—older than the woman her master had been with when she'd been given her letter, and with a sterner and more serious appearance—stared at the owl in surprise, before drawing her wand from her holster and holding it silently at her side.
This might've seemed like a bit of an overreaction, but Madam Amelia Bones didn't get to where she was by being complacent. While she was nowhere near as overly cautious—or, as some would say, paranoid—as her former mentor, she had picked up a few habits from Alastor that had managed to save her more than a few times in the past. And so, when something unexpected showed up inside her office, practically unannounced, it was probably good to err on the side of caution.
"How did an owl get this far into the Ministry?" she asked, frowning.
Hedwig, for her part, merely blinked at the tall, redheaded woman, before barking sharply and gesturing adamantly at the letter she was still holding in her talons.
Madam Bones noticed the letter, and a frown split across her face as she took a step forward. Hedwig did nothing to stop her, and unclasped her talons once the department head had taken the letter. The witch raised an eyebrow at the parchment, waving her wand over it a few times. When she was certain that there was no trap or hex hidden within, she finally looked back at the owl on her desk.
"I'm assuming this is for me, then?"
Hedwig shot her a piercing look with her amber eyes and barked once more, stamping her feet for emphasis.
"I'll assume that means yes, and possibly that I should read it," Madam Bones replied, feeling more than a little unnerved at how the owl was staring at her. It seemed far too intelligent, even for magical post owls, and the attitude it was giving her made her feel as though she was being judged.
Frowning, Madam Bones turned her attention back to the letter, unravelling the length of twine that kept it shut. "From Auror Tonks?" she murmured, her brow furrowing in confusion as she read the sender's name on the letter. "I thought she didn't have an owl…what does she want, anyways, I gave her the vacation that she asked for…"
Seeing as asking her questions would give her nothing but an annoyed owl staring her down from her desk for every minute she wasn't reading, Madam Bones turned back to the paper and began reading. After a moment, however, she found herself doubling back in surprise. She read, and reread, the letter, the gears in her mind spinning rapidly as she tried to understand the message that had been sent her way. By the time she was done, the woman was so filled with righteous anger that she nearly knocked over her chair as she hastily stood up and shouted out the open doorway.
"Dawlish! Get me Mafalda Hopkirk, this instant!"
It was time to get to the bottom of this.
Harry smiled a small smile to himself as he read the last of the letters Sirius had sent him by way of Tonks. He had missed his godfather—even though he had only known him for a couple years, he already felt a deep connection to him, and not being able to send or receive many letters from him over the summer had really weighed on the young wizard's shoulders. These letters, then, had been a godsend to his weary heart.
In the letters, Sirius made sure to apologize for not being able to send more letters, as Dumbledore had been regulating the post that came to and from…wherever he was. Apparently, Sirius wasn't allowed to say exactly where, as the place had been warded over to keep it safe from detection. Which was very good for Sirius, as he was still a supposed ex-convict on the run from the law, but very bad for Harry, as he wasn't able to accurately send his mail to them, nor could he just simply find them when in a pinch.
Of course, Dumbledore had been the one behind that plan.
Getting beyond the trouble with sending his letters, Sirius' messages to Harry mostly alternated between making sure Harry was dealing well with the stress from the Triwizard Tournament, offering some not-so-sage advice about life and the pursuit thereof, and general explanations about what was happening…wherever Sirius was staying.
Apparently, wherever that was, Ron and Hermione were there as well, as Sirius had mentioned the Weasley family more than a few times in his letters, as well as a certain bushy-haired bookworm reading her way through the Black family library. Knowing they were all in abut the same place actually made Harry feel a bit better about not getting more letters from them so far this summer—as Sirius had previously mentioned, they were trying to regulate the post so that there wasn't too much attention drawn to…wherever they were.
Harry, meanwhile, couldn't help but crack a smile at Sirius' messages about dealing with the Weasley brood. Apparently, he had taken a quick liking to the twins—Fred and George—and had shared with them many stories of past exploits and adventures as a member of the Marauders. Molly Weasley, however, seemed to only be driving Sirius further towards insanity, something Harry could honestly understand. Mrs. Weasley could be a bit insufferable at times, and being stuck in the same house as her for hours on end must be driving Sirius even more stir-crazy than normal.
That, of course, brought a brief frown to Harry's face. Though his letters showed that he was getting better, it was clear to him that not all was right with Sirius. He needed help, but he couldn't get any if he couldn't go ten paces outside without being hounded by Ministry officials. In a sense, he was just as trapped as he was before he left Azkaban.
A feeling Harry probably understood far better than he should.
Harry had just finished reading the last letter from Sirius when he heard a shout from down the hall. "Harry! I need you!" the voice called out—the voice of what sounded to be a very frantic Nymphadora Tonks.
Harry stood up with a start, the letters sitting in his lap falling in a cluttered heap onto the floor. He ignored them, moving instead to grab his wand from where he'd left it on the edge of the bed and rushing out the bedroom doorway and into the hall. There probably wasn't any real trouble in the house—they were alone, after all—but he wanted to be ready in case of anything.
It was as he was drawing near the bathroom when he heard a sudden shriek, a loud crash, and Tonks's voice again, this time muttering out the words, "Oh bollocks…"
"Tonks?!" Harry shouted, throwing open the bathroom door with a start…
…and freezing upon seeing the sight before him. Nymphadora Tonks was laying on her back on the bathroom floor, her naked body still wet and sudsed up from the shower that was still running. Her hand was clasped over her eyes, and she seemed to be struggling not to release the string of profanities hanging off the end of her tongue.
Tonks, as it happened, was frustrated more at the situation she'd found herself in, and less at the pain in her eyes and her back. She had been intending to lure Harry into the bathroom under the guise of needing assistance, claiming she'd gotten soap in her eyes or something, and give him a bit of an 'unintentional' show. The sight would further plant the seed of seduction into Harry's mind, give him something about Tonks to truly lust for.
And that had been all well and good…right up until she'd actually accidentally gotten soap in her eyes, slipped on the floor of the tub as she reacted to the stinging in her eyes, and ended up falling arse-over-tea-kettle out of the shower and onto the bathroom floor. It was more than a little embarrassing, as well as frustrating that her plan had gone so awry.
"U-um…Tonks?"
Harry's voice roused Tonks from her thoughts, and she let out a frustrated groan. "Hey, Harry," she replied, groaning as she reached around for something to grab onto. "I was calling you because I needed some help getting a towel, but…well…I slipped."
"I, er…I can see that…" Harry replied, blushing more as he stared down at Tonks's nude form on the floor, before he jolted himself into action, his face a bright blush. Closing his eyes, Harry dropped down and grabbed her grasping hand. "Here, um, let me help you up!"
Tonks nodded, letting Harry guide her back up onto her feet. She dropped the hand from her eyes and blinked furiously, the stinging soap finally gone. As soon as she did, though, she noticed the bright red blush spread across Harry's face, as well as the fact that he had his eyes closed—but only just, she noted—and he seemed to by trying to look away.
Maybe the shower trick wasn't a loss after all.
Tonks let Harry guide her over to sit down on the toilet cover for a moment, his eyes still shut. Tonks smiled and placed her hand on the back of his. "Thank you, Harry, I'm alright now—though, if you could still get me that towel, that'd be grand."
"Uh, towel—yeah, right! Got it!" Harry nodded quickly, turning and rushing out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. The next minute, the door opened again—though only partway, enough for Harry to slip his arm through, holding a soft bath towel. "Here you go, Tonks!"
"Why thank you, Harry," Tonks replied, smiling at him through the crack in the door. She reached out and grabbed the towel, making certain to let her hands drift over his hands for a moment, before she turned away, a wicked grin on her face. "I'll be out in just a moment."
"A-alright!" Harry replied.
A few minutes later, Nymphadora Tonks stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body, covering just from about halfway up her breasts to just barely her mid-thighs. She entered Harry's bedroom like that, and had to hide the grin on her face when she saw Harry's reaction. The boy had actually jumped in surprise, a bright blush spread across his face. Quickly, he'd looked away, and so Tonks decided to pretend she hadn't noticed his stare, either.
"Sorry about that, Harry," Tonks said with a chipper tone, hopping over onto the bed right beside him. "Hope you didn't see too much when you walked in like that."
"N-no, don't worry," Harry replied, making sure not to look directly at her. Somehow, seeing her in just a towel was almost more evocative to him than seeing her nude no more than a few moments ago. Blushing, Harry shook his head, trying to rid himself of that thought.
Tonks noticed his blush and smirked. "So, any word from Bonesy yet?"
Harry shook his head, glad Tonks had decided to change the subject from the embarrassment of before. "No, Hedwig hasn't returned yet. She'll probably be another hour or so—"
"Preeeck!"
Harry and Tonks sat up in surprise. Once again, as though she had been summoned by her master's words, Hedwig soared into the bedroom. The large snowy owl made a slow loop around the ceiling of the room once more before slowly gliding down to land right beside Harry and Tonks. Clutched in Hedwig's talons was a sleek black envelope, with a name written in golden ink on the back.
"Well, that was quick!" Tonks finally stated, smiling over at Hedwig and giving the owl an affectionate stroke through her chest feathers. "Your owl is definitely impressive, Harry."
Hedwig preened at the complement, hooting happily.
Harry grinned as well, before looking at the letter. "So, what's the letter?"
Tonks took the letter from Hedwig's talons and held it out. "Well, it's from Bonesy alright—I'd recognize that handwriting anywhere." With a nod, Tonks tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter sealed within, black ink on a crisp white parchment.
Tonks read the letter quietly for a moment, during which Harry gently stroked Hedwig's feathers, as much to thank her for her hard work as to settle his anxious nerves. He was also very glad for the distraction of his familiar, as otherwise he'd find himself ogling the very attractive, barely-clothed witch beside him. Instead, he only occasionally found his gaze drifting in her direction.
"Alright, good news!" Tonks finally cheered, and Harry quickly snapped his gaze up from where it had been lingering on her soft and smooth thighs… "Madam Bones has had your suspension frozen, and for the moment your trial has been put on hold. She wants to get a clearer picture of what happened, though, so she's gonna take your testimony tomorrow. Otherwise, it looks like you're in the clear!"
Grinning, Tonks reached over to hug Harry, glad that they'd managed to figure this out. Harry, for his part, merely blushed in surprise, before leaning into the hug from the woman beside him. It felt nice, really nice, especially feeling her breasts press up against his side through the cloth of the towel…
"Wait, tomorrow?" Harry asked, sitting upright as the words finally clicked in his head. "You mean, she's going to be coming here tomorrow?"
Tonks however, shook her head and grinned back at Harry. "No, of course not," she replied, shooting him a small wink. "We'll be going to her." Smirking, she passed the letter over to Harry, letting him read it himself.
"Tomorrow, we're taking you to the Ministry."