Aloha!

So, this chapter is a lot of set up for upcoming chapters so its a bit silly. Just enjoy it!

Questions/Answers from the last chapter:

Two mutants: Sand Mutant was based off of Kurohebi from Raventail Guild in the Fairy Tail Manga/Anime series. Gas guy is Kyle Nimbus from the Flash (DC Verse).

Hufflepuff nesting time is basically when the Puffs all get together in their common room to lay in huge piles of blankets and pillow, drinking warm drinks, and eat snacks as they talk and cuddle.

Disclaimer in Ch. 1. Will Add as Needed.

Harriet practically dragged Neville through the Leaky Cauldron the second they stepped from the floo, Frank and Alice following behind them, amusement clear on their faces.

"S-slow down Ha-arriet!" Neville stuttered.

"Neville I'm finally going to be able to get a Firebolt!" Harriet said with a grin back at her godbrother, "There is no time for slow!"

"Th-ey aren't g-going any-where." Neville protested.

Harriet pulled to a stop as the four of them entered the small area behind the Leaky Cauldron and Harriet pulled her wand to open the Alley, "Actually, despite their price they go pretty fast." She lowered her voice and leaned a bit closer to the Longbottoms, "The only reason I managed to get one last time was because Sirius sent it to me over Christmas."

*Ha!* Sirius hissed from Harri's shoulder, *I'm the best Godfather!* Remus smacked at Sirius with his tail.

Harri laughed lightly as she tapped out the pattern to open the alley.

Seconds after the arch formed people took notice of who had just stepped into the Alley. Harriet hooked her arm confidently through Neville's as Alice and Frank stepped closer, standing tall with the two younger Gryffindors. Harriet settled her press smile into place as they were bombarded by fans, snapping pictures and asking for autographs. Harriet held strong through all of it. Despite actually needing to go to the Alley to buy things, the Firebolt being just one of them, they had a secondary reason for coming to the Alley and the attention was just that. Word would get to Dumbledore fairly quickly about just who Harriet was with and, even without them playing to his compulsions too much in public, he would feel more secure in his plan which would give Harriet the space she would need to set the final preparations for the invasion in motion.

Neville stuck close to Harriet as she moved through the crowd of fans, fielding questions, signing things, and smiling for pictures. Beside her, Neville was shaking like a leaf under the attention. Harri kept her smile but leaned close to Neville, "Breath in Neville, really deep, then let the breath out long and slow, pushing all your worries out with it. Then smile, it doesn't have to be real." Neville did as Harriet told him and while it didn't work as smoothly as Harriet may have hoped, Neville did now have a half smile.

Eventually the managed to make it past the crowd and to Ollivander's shop.

"Harriet Potter." Came Garrick's voice where, for once, he was already engaged with customers at his counter. "You are in my shop much too often. Thinking of becoming my apprentice?" by the looks of it he was just finishing up.

Harri laughed, "I think not Garrick. I think we both know that I would be terrible at wandcraft. My patience, unlike yours, has a limit."

The family of four ahead of them looked on interestedly and Harri smiled when she saw it was one of her younger snakes standing next to who must have been a young sister who was preparing to come to Hogwarts. "Darius. Good to see you."

The younger boy bowed slightly at the waist, "Lady Slytherin." Both parents, Harriet knew, were also Slytherins and had been at the reunion but had been ones who wisely stayed silent. They were watching her stiffly, their eyes wary.

However, the little girl was looking up at her with wide eyes, "You're Lady Slytherin?" she asked curiously.

Harri's smile softened a bit and she tucked her hands together in front of her, "Indeed. Who would you be?"

"Constance Berrow." She piped cutely, her long straight dark brown hair swaying as her blue eyes looked at Harri.

Harriet nodded, "Nice to meet you Constance. Will you be joining your brother in Slytherin this year?"

"I hope so!" Constance said excitedly, clutching her new wand to her chest as she started to bounce next to her brother, "Darius has been telling me all about it! I can't wait to be a snake!"

Harriet glanced up at Constance's parents, her smile just edging on a smirk, before looking back down to Constance, "Well we'd love to have you. I hope to see you after the sorting." The Berrows all bowed to Harriet respectfully before leaving the shop and Harri inclined her head to them in acknowledgement.

Alice looked at Harriet with a raised eyebrow, "The Queen on and off the field huh?"

Harri's soft smile turned into a grin as she wiggled her eyebrows at her godmother, "You know it."

Alice chuckled, "You're Lily's daughter alright." Harriet's smile turned blinding.

Garrick chuckled as he put back the stack of wand boxes with a flick of his own wand, "She sure is." He locked in on Neville, "Ah, the youngest Longbottom. I must admit I expected you a couple years ago."

"Yes, well, my mother thought that Neville should use my wand." Frank said, disgruntled.

Garrick frowned, "No, no, that won't do. The wand chooses the wizard. You shouldn't just go around using other people's wands. To really succeed you need your own."

Alice nodded and nudged Neville gently toward the counter, "We agree. We were furious when we found out. So we brought him here to get his real wand."

Neville swallowed hard under Ollivander's laser like gaze, "Hmm…let's see shall we?" he tilted his head as he studied Neville, "Any insight Miss Potter?"

"Are you suggesting that you cheat Garrick?" Harriet asked in amusement.

"Neville looks like his is about to faint Harriet." Alice hummed softly, "Maybe just a bit? To encourage him." Ollivander looked over at Harriet with an expectant expression.

Harriet laughed, "Alright then, try something in cherry."

Ollivander's eyes lit up, "Cherry! How wonderful!" he quickly began pulling wands from the shelves, "I was thinking a fruit tree but for it to be one of the rarer woods! Truly excellent Mr. Longbottom. Cherry wands are highly sought after, especially in Japan. They are wands of strange but truly magnificent power, they often choose those with kind hearts that also hold strong minds." Frank and Alice smiled proudly even as Neville blushed. Garrick turned back to the counter with five boxes in his hands, "Right, let's get to is shall we?" he set the boxes down and opened the top box, "Ten inches, pleasantly springy, cherry wood with a dragon heartstring."

Neville took the wand from its box carefully and gave a small flick toward the counter before him only to stumble backward as green spiky vines exploded from the counter in front of him, Garrick only just managed to grab the other wand boxes as a small but toothy mouth appeared from the countertop. "Decidedly not." Garrick commented dryly as the plant writhed on the counter.

Frank watched this with wide eyes, "Is that…a venomous tentacula?"

Neville dropped the wand he was holding without thought as he raced over to the plant, his hands coming up confidently to grip gently but firmly at the wildly waving vines. Harriet watched with a fond smile as Neville calmed the vicious plant with ease, carefully extracting the plant from the destroyed counter top and cooing at it ridiculously as the plant wrapped itself around him and pressed its tiny head into his chest.

"Dear Merlin, did Neville just…" Alice started, her eyes wide at the scene before her.

Harri giggled, "Only Neville."

"Well," Garrick began, summoning the failed wand, "That was actually a first for me. Well done Mr. Longbottom." Neville ducked his head as he blushed and the tentacula rustled its leaves as it tightened its grip on the Gryffindor. "Will you be keeping that then?" Harrick asked curiously, still peering at Neville.

Neville bit his lip and looked back to his parents and Harriet. "Can I?"

"Well you summoned and tamed it." Frank chuckled.

"It does seem quite attached." Alice mused.

Harriet just shrugged, "It's your greenhouse Neville." He beamed at her.

Garrick hummed, "Curious." The small family looked back to him; he sat the other boxes on a section of the counter that hadn't been destroyed by the arrival of Neville's newest plant and pulled out the bottom box. "Dragon heartstring is apparently a bit too strong for you. You need a steady but gentle power." He opened the box and offered it to Neville, "Thirteen inches, swishy, cherry with the hair of a young unicorn that happened to be raised by a particularly nasty Devil's Snare after its mother died."

Neville stared down at the wand with wide eyes, not seeing Alice elbowing Frank excitedly or Harriet smiling. Neville picked up the wand reverently and gasped as sparks fell from the tip and the tentacula made a strange purring sound as his magic connected with the wand. "This is it." He breathed.

Alice and Frank cheered loudly, making Neville blush again. Garrick chuckled, "Yes, well done young Longbottom." He sent the other boxes back to their spots with a flick of his wand, "Now, a holster I presume, then we'll get you going before miss Potter explodes. She seems very eager to leave my shop." Garrick said the last with a strange pout on his face.

Neville looked over to Harriet and gave a small smile, "It's where we're headed next."

"Firebolt time!" Harriet sang, the Marauders cheered on her shoulders.

The Longbottom's watched the scene before them in amusement.

Harriet was standing in the Quidditch shop, just in front of the large display of brand new Firebolts. Next to her was the owner of the shop who had insisted on taking care of Harriet personally. He may have been regretting it at the moment as Harri seemed keen on giving the man a heart attack.

"How many did you say you wanted?" the man stuttered.

"Three." Harriet said.

"Three." The man repeated in a rasp, his eyes darting over to the price sticker displayed rather prominently on the show broom. "Are you sure Miss Potter?"

Alice snickered as Sirius and James started hissing frantically at Harriet and she nodded seriously, "You're right." The shop owner smiled pleasantly until Harriet dropped her bomb, "I'll actually need eight."

"Eight?!" the man squeaked.

Harriet cocked her head at the display, "Maybe I should get ones for the team too. Oliver would lose his shit." Remus hissed to her and she nodded decisively before looking to the shop owner, "I'll need twelve please."

"Twelve?!" the man nearly screamed, his breathing picking up.

"Yes." Harri hummed as her bright eyes went back to the brooms in front of her, "If you could put them all in one box so I don't have to shrink them individually that would be great."

"Miss Potter these are…very expensive brooms, perhaps you should take a closer look at the price." The man said nervously.

Harriet waved him off as she slid her hand into her back and pulled out her Gringotts card, "I know how much they are. The order still stands. Twelve Firebolts." The man stared at her completely serious face for several moments as his breathing got faster and faster, his disbelief and his excitement driving him further and further with his inner dialogue of 'TWELVE FIREBOLTS! TWELVE FIREBOLTS! THE GIRL-WHO-LIVED IS BUYING TWELVE FIREBOLTS!'

With a final barely audible squeak of disbelief the man fainted.

Alice descended into giggles as Harriet looked down at the man with an unimpressed look, "Oh Merlin Harriet you're hilarious!"

Harri looked over to her godmother with the same blank look, "This isn't funny. Firebolts are serious business. I need my broom back. Don't get me wrong, I love my Nimbus but the Firebolt is better." She looked back to the rack of perfectly uniform racing brooms with bright eyes and a longing smile, "Tony's coming over later to race! I can't wait!"

Frank chuckled before whispering softly to his wife, "Oh Merlin, she's so serious about it. She could be James' twin if I didn't know any better."

A moan drew Harriet's gaze downward and she leaned over the shop owner just as the man opened his eyes, "So…about my twelve Firebolts."

A little while later, after two more faintings by the shop owner and one near miss, Harriet was walking from the shop with a shrunken box filled with racing brooms and care kits, a bright smile on her face. Neville was walking beside her again, his venomous tentacula apparently pouting because Neville had stopped it from eating the shop owner. "Are you going to give it a name?" Harriet asked.

Neville looked over to her with a frown, "Why?"

Harri shrugged, "It's acting like a puppy. Might as well name it."

Neville gave the plant that was still clinging to him a considering glance, "Jerry."

Harriet stopped and looked over to Neville in amusement, "Jerry?" Neville blushed and looked at the ground, Harri just smiled, "Jerry it is."

"I think it's a wonderful name dear." Alice threw in while Frank just smiled, "You wouldn't want to belittle your new pet with something silly." Neville shot his mum an appreciative look and continued on by Harriet, they were heading toward the herbology equipment store now, so he was excited to keep up.

At the door to the new shop, Alice and Frank pulled them to a stop, "Alright you two. We're going to go get some new clothes. Meet us at the Leaky Cauldron in an hour and we'll have some lunch before heading to Flourish and Blotts." Frank said seriously.

"Yes dad." Neville said dutifully.

Harriet nodded, "Will do."

With that the group split up. Frank and Alice making for Madame Malkin's and Harriet and Neville going into herbology centered shop.

Harriet smiled as Neville's confidence came up just entering the space, "Alright Neville. I showed you the household budget for the greenhouse maintenance and expansion. And the full budget hasn't been used in over one hundred years since there hasn't been another Lady of the Castle in that long. Get whatever you need to keep the plants healthy and happy." That was all it took, apparently, to turn shy little Neville Longbottom into a shopping machine that rivaled many shopaholic girls. Harriet followed behind her godbrother sedately, holding more and more as they wove through shelves of sheers, pots, ties, soil, seeds, and sprouts. Eventually Harri did get a basket but it too soon over flowed.

As they were nearing the hour mark they finally made their way up to pay for their items, the clerk behind the counter going bug eyed at the amount of product. Sliding the special pay parchment over to Harriet the clerk noticed Jerry and he and Neville immediately fell into a deep conversation about the strangely attached plant that was supposed to be vicious despite its current puppy like demeanor. Signing her name below the card imprint Harriet listened to the conversation with only half an ear.

Just as Harriet set down the quill a scream sounded from the Alley outside and Harriet jumped into action, leaving Neville with their purchases as she made for the sound of crying. The Marauders tensed up on her shoulders, ready to strike if need be. Harri started to push her way through the rapidly gathering crowd and quickly took in the situation with a practiced eye.

Constance Berrow, the little girl she had met in Ollivander's earlier, was cowering on the ground in front of what seemed to be a very drunk man who had her by the hair. Harriet had to clench her jaw to keep from sneering at the sheeple around the two who were staring rather than helping the frightened little girl, that was Lady Slytherin and she couldn't let her out into public quite yet.

"Lettle chit." The man was slurring, "Who ye think ye 're runnin' inta me like 'at?!"

"I'm sorry!" Constance cried, "I lost my brother! I didn't mean to!"

Harriet shook Remus and Sirius off her quickly, setting them on the ground as gently as possible without losing speed or site of the situation, *Try to get close enough to stun him while making it look like a bite.* she hissed quietly as she continued toward the front of the crowd, trying to go faster even as the bodies started to pack in for the show. Harriet knew she couldn't use her magic without blowing her cover but she could make her physical attacks seem clumsy enough to be explained away as beginning to take self-defense classes. It would have to do, because Harri didn't see Darius or his parents anywhere close by to help the youngest member of their family.

"I recognize ye!" the man was saying now, his body jerking backward as the alcohol was messing with his equilibrium, making him yank on Constance hair and causing her to let out another scream. "Yer me bastard boss' girl!" Harriet almost rolled her eyes, "Din' Mr. High an' Mighty teach ye manners?!"

A second later Harriet finally broke the front line of the crowd and she strode the last few steps to grip the man's wrist tightly, making him release Constance's long hair, before shoving her way in between the two. "She has fine manners. You're the only one I see that needs an adjustment." Harri released the man and quickly pulled Constance away from him, "Just leave, before I call the Aurors." She said evenly, ignoring the crowd who had begun to recognize her in favor of calming Constance who had latched onto her like a limpet and was crying into her blouse.

The man looked bewildered before he puffed out his chest and chose the stupid way rather than the easy one, "Who the hell do ye think ye 're?!" the man gruffed, swaying as he regained his balance, "I'm teachin' tha' cit a lesson in manners! Don' be interferin'!"

Harriet narrowed her eyes at the man as she wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the shaking girl, "I'm Harriet Potter and I'm not about to let you harass some lost little girl just because you have a drinking problem! Now back off or I will defend myself and call the Aurors!"

"You're not doin' nothin'!" the man snarled, lunging at Harriet who slid into a defensive stance.

Before the man could reach Harriet, Harriet could throw the man off, or someone could intervene, a large snarl sounded from just behind Harriet and a black blur hit the drunken wizard in front of her like a missile. The man landed on his back, his breath shoved out of him by the roughly one hundred pounds of black fur that had its paws on his chest. The crowd of onlookers gasped and backed up several spaces while Harriet stared wide eyed at the figure, emotions waring inside of her.

*Aw shit. Why did you do that Paddy?* James muttered on Harriet's shoulder.

Padfoot growled down at the drunken man who had been going for Harriet and the little girl, barring his teeth, his ears folded back. The man trembled, not even the alcohol dimming the fear factor of having a large angry black dog pinning you down. Padfoot lunged forward with a loud bark, snapping his teeth in the mans face, and the man screamed before wetting himself and passing out.

Padfoot perked his ears up and turned to look for Harriet, his tongue lolling out of his mouth before he froze, finally remembering the crowd…and the fact that he wasn't supposed to be drawing attention to himself.

Bloody hell.

Padfoot looked back to Harriet to see her constructing a mask of some kind…probably to throw off the cameras Padfoot could now hear going off in the background. Harriet snapped her fingers and Padfoot trotted easily over to her side, sitting at attention just moments before the crowd burst into applause. Harriet played up her shy persona as people shouted praised and called out questions, the main one was, "What's your dog's name?"

Harriet zeroed in on the first to ask that and the crowd quieted a bit when Harri repeated, "What's his name?" Padfoot felt a shiver of dread go down his back at the small smile that to many would seem shy but to him looked like a fellow Marauder about to take revenge, "His name is Snuffles!"

The crowd started cheering again, this time both Harriet's and 'Snuffles' names while James practically cackled on Harriet's shoulder and Padfoot whined at the awful name. For once Harriet (and 'Snuffles') were happy to see Rita approaching with her quill and notepad, her photographer following right behind. Glancing over the rest of the crowd, Harri pinpointed the Longbottoms who were looking completely bewildered at the sheer amount of crazy this had generated from the wizards and witches of the Alley, she also noted that Remus had managed to make it to Alice and was currently curled around her arm. Further back Harriet could see Darius fighting his way frantically through the crowd. Harri took a deep breath and focused on Rita, pushing to the back of her mind plans for punishing a certain mutt.

George and Fred had spent the morning working on their prank products again, specifically the fireworks as they had yet to figure out the fine tuning that Harriet had missed after being banned from working with the highly explosive materials. They had only just managed to put together the basic ones that were guarding their growing stock of pranks items. So it was a challenge that kept them pleasantly distracted from the fact that their soulmate was currently out of reach. They also knew that this was a relatively simple shopping trip with only one real alternative motive that would be handled with little to no extra work, so they weren't too awfully worried about her other than the normal.

That was why they were so confused when they came into the family common room to find Harriet mid-rant, pacing in front of the couch where Sirius sat with his arms crossed and a pout on his face like a petulant child.

"-oody hell! Do you even see the mess you've made? What it the name of Merlin's beard were you thinking you deranged mutt! I 'aught to skin you alive and use you pelt for-"

"Harriet?" George called, drawing her attention from her current prey. Harri turned to them as they came from the hall leading up to their rooms and visibly relaxed at the sight of them.

George pulled Harri into a hug as Fred crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed the room, "What happened?" Sirius refused to look at Fred, James and Remus were at the small table looking torn between amusement and worry, the elder Longbottoms looked confused, and Neville was trying his best to melt into the armchair he was currently sitting in with that looked like vines wrapped around him. Loki and Strange who, by the stacks of books and the tea pot between them, had been here before this had happened, looked confused as well but that was almost fully covered by their amusement at Harri's threats. "Well?"

James sighed, "We were getting Neville's greenhouse supplies when we heard a scream. Harriet went to go investigate. There was some drunk idiot harassing a little girl in the middle of the Alley. Harri sent Remus and Sirius to do sneak attacks while she and I went head on. She managed to get the girl away from the man but he tried to jump at Harriet, Padfoot took him down in front of the entire Alley."

Fred raised an eyebrow at Sirius, "Couldn't you have stunned him with parselmagic?"

"Or let Harriet handle him." George added, rubbing at Harri's back soothingly as she took deep breaths to try and reorder herself.

Sirius hunched in on himself, "Not as satisfying." He grumbled.

"You broke your cover for satisfying?" Strange asked with a frown.

"Alright…" Alice spoke up, "I don't get it! Yeah, him breaking character will give us a bit of a shit storm on the news front but why is this such a big deal? He's not registered so no one knows that Snuffles is an animagus." she looked over to Harriet who had looked up at her questions, "You weren't planning on them staying snakes forever were you? Because not only is that a slightly ridiculous plan but it's just plain wrong."

Harri scowled, "Of course I wasn't planning on them staying snakes forever. They were supposed to be my trump card! We were going to reveal them at Dumbledore's trial! He would have had no idea! No time to prepare! The look on his face then alone when they were revealed would be worth me having to play dumb about all his stupid plans for me! Everyone else might not know that Snuffles is an animagus but Dumbledore knew about them as did most of the teachers from your guys' time at Hogwarts. They may be a bit batty but they weren't stupid!" Harri let out a sigh as she ran a hand over her face, "Now Dumbledore will know that Sirius at the very least is alive. And unless I've overestimated my enemy, which is unlikely at this point, he will at least consider the notion that since Siri is alive then so is Dad and Remy! If he starts suspecting me now I'll have to move up plans and start picking up on my contingencies because his moves will get more erratic the more I change what happened last time!" George started to rub soothing circles on Harri's back as she started a deep breathing exercise.

"How does me being alive equate to James and Remus being alive?" Sirius huffed, he had started to deflate a bit under Harriet's speech.

Harri sighed, "The golems I set up both died from believable causes and a coincidence of you dying within the same time as each other under those circumstances that you were in may be accepted because of what extreme conditions you were kept under. However, if you throw in a 'one is really alive, hey his fake death happened close to his friend's death' well…paranoid minds will start to wonder. Then, once he gets his theories going, he will try to dig up your bodies and if he succeeds, the golems won't be there. They will have rotted by now. They weren't made for long term. They were only meant to exist long enough to kill you off. If it had been your actual bodies then bones would remain at the very least and those bones could be matched to your blood." She ran a hand through her hair, "Then Remus 'died' a couple weeks later when Moony should have started going insane from the actual deaths of his pack mates. At the time he wouldn't have had a strong enough bond with me for Moony to survive simply because of his cub being out there. But of course if your deaths were faked then Moony would still have even the faint connection, so he wouldn't have went insane and he most probably wouldn't be dead." Now Sirius looked guiltier, dropping his head and wincing.

"Merlin, how did you follow all of that from the perspective of tall, pale, and crazy?" Alice asked.

Harriet gave a small snort as she sagged slightly against George, "Know thy enemy." Her lips quirked up at the side, "Though sometimes it is hard to keep up with that level of batshit crazy. I can't often plan for insanity, that is why I have been trying to keep control of things. Not just jump off into the deep end."

Loki nodded, "It is a good idea. Trying to control the decent even if you know you are going to crash at one point. We can plan all we like but until we get a read on what Dumbledore has found out or how he is going to react we may stretch ourselves too thin or in the wrong direction and end up getting sucker punched because of it."

Harri hummed, "Yeah." She let out another sigh but clapped her hands together, "Alright, this is getting depressing. We can't react until he begins to so let's have a little distraction shall we." She looked to her mates and grinned, "Want to break in the new Firebolts?"

Tonks stood in Potter Manor once more, fidgeting nervously.

It had been four days since Harriet had given her the choice of the DMLE, a 'safe bet' that came with job security and the occasional adventure that was only marred by dealing with the corrupt government and the prejudice that came from simply being a half blood, or this new division in the mysterious Shield, which had been confirmed by the Goblins easily enough despite this new job not even technically existing yet and had promised to train her up and let her help people, all people and not just the ungrateful ones that dismissed her out of hand because she was a woman or because her blood wasn't as 'pure' as theirs or because her favorite pajamas were yellow with little cartoon honey badgers or…pretty much any fault idiots liked to make up to put her down and feel superior. It really had been a tough decision, despite all the bad, Tonks had always wanted to be a Auror, Harriet had certainly been right when she said that Tonks loved her job. But the promise of adventure and personal growth and being able to truly protect innocents without corrupt governments letting criminals off or 'suggesting' that they turn a blind eye to something called to her, moving past her love for the job and striking at the tiny little lion that would sometimes roar through the midst of badger fur that surrounded it. And of course her rabid curiosity didn't help either.

So, in the biggest leap of faith she had ever taken, Tonks had quit this morning.

"Tonks?" the woman shook herself and found vivid green eyes staring at her, "You alright?" Harri asked.

Tonks smiled, "Yeah, just thinkin' Harri."

"Thinking deep thoughts?" Harri teased, "Do I need to break out the hot cocoa and blankets little Puff?"

Tonks gave a fake scowl, "Don't be insulting the healing power of cocoa and blankets! In Hufflepuff that is the cure all!"

Harri giggled but nodded, she tilted her head, a small smile still gracing her lips, "Have you come to a decision?"

Tonks swallowed hard but stood up straight, "I have."

Harri raised an enquiring eyebrow, "And?"

"I quit this morning." Tonks replied evenly. Harriet blinked and shifted slightly on the spot as emotions warred over her face. Tonks got a bit worried and took a step back, her hair turning a dusky pink, "Oh no, you didn't…was this some…did you change your mind?"

Harriet shook herself and waved a hand, "No, it's just…" she gave Tonks a sheepish smile, "I don't know whether to celebrate or tell you that I'm sorry you had to give up your dream job."

Tonks let out a laugh and her hair changed to a bright blue, "Oh you can celebrate Harriet. I came to the realization while I was thinking things through that I was more in the DMLE because I wanted to protect people. As long as I can do that where I am working then it will be my dream job."

Harriet laughed excitedly and all but tackled Tonks in a hug, "Awesome!" she pulled back and grinned at the older woman, "Welcome to the club!"

Tonks laughed brightly, "Thanks! Glad to be here!"

Harri nodded, "Let's go to HQ then! Lot's to get you caught up on! Have to do a bit of paperwork since you'll probably want to be paid."

"That would be a good idea." Tonks chuckled.

Harriet hummed, "After that we can go over what you've missed and I can go over the training schedule. I'll have to get your measurements for your uniforms. Then I can take you to meet your partner."

Tonks looked down at Harriet with wide eyes, "I have a partner already?"

Harri laughed, "Sort of, he most likely won't stay in the division once the A-team finally gets put back together but he will be your partner for now until we can expand and we can find you a partner that works best with you." Harri stopped and tilted her head at Tonks, "Did you have your own place or did you want to take up the housing benefit I wrote about in there."

Tonks scratched her head sheepishly, "I didn't know if that was a real thing or not. Contracts aren't my strongest point."

Harri nodded, "It's alright. That was a genuine offer but if you want your own place so you can have a bit of space then you can just commute daily. You can decide that once you've seen the place."

"Alright then." Tonks said with a smile.

Harri grabbed her elbow gently and Tonks stared in surprise as blue flames appeared around them, engulfing them with a feeling that could only be described as being compressed under a mountain of snow. When the blue flames cleared Tonks gaped at her surroundings, freeing herself from Harriet's grip just to spin slowly and take in the grand foyer that they had appeared in. "Welcome to LeFay Castle!" Harriet called dramatically, Tonks could only stare at the place, not noticing Harriet's pout or her muttering, "It's more dramatic with the explosions." Harri tugged at Tonks gently, "You can explore later, we should get the paper work out of the way." Tonks could only nod dumbly, still spinning around to take in as much as she could as she followed Harriet through grand hallways and past enormous lavish rooms.

Tonks should have known better.

With her clumsy nature she really should have known better than to do all that twisting and turning even if it was to get glimpses of the grandest Castle she'd ever been in. It didn't end well but, as she would be known to say later, her clumsiness did give her one good thing.

Twisting to look at a tapestry, Tonks tripped over her own feet and went flying into a solid wall of muscle that had been coming around the corner at that very moment. Tonks bounced off the strangely lumpy wall and landed on her butt with an embarrassingly adorable squeak.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry." Came a deep voice.

Tonks looked up from where she had landed and her eyes found a tall blond man that was rippling with muscle standing over her with piercing blue eyes locked onto her, sincerity practically screaming from the orbs as he offered a hand down to her. Tonks knew that he wanted her to take his hand so he could pull her to her feet but in that moment all Tonks could do was blurt, "Why didn't you put down 'hot blond hunk' as a perk Harriet? It seems like something a potential employee should know about their work place."

"An oversite on my part apparently." Harriet said with amusement. But neither Tonks or Steve was paying attention to her, it they were they might have heard the faint clink, her laughter, and then the snap of her camera phone.

The man pulled away as a blush burned onto his cheeks, "Wha…I don't…you can't…"

Tonks grinned as she climbed to her feet easily, "Aw, he's got the cute stuttering thing down. Another perk missed."

The blond took a stuttering step back, "I'm s-sorry ma'am, I d-didn't mean to bu-mp you."

Tonks grinned, "No worries there, you can knock into me any time love." The blush grew and Tonks laughed lightly.

Harriet cleared her throat pointedly and finally both of them looked to her, she grinned, "Tonks, this is Steve Rogers. Steve this is Nymphadora Tonks. Tonks, Steve will be your partner for the time being."

"W-what?!"

"Excuse me?"

Jerry the Venomous Tentacula will make more appearances.

The A-team! Get it! Lol

Next time: Checking In #3: Villain Edition