Author's Note: Welcome to chapter three. As always, I don't own anything. This is J.K.'s world and I'm just playing in it.
"Speech"
~Parseltongue/foreign language~
"Thoughts."
Chapter 3: Making Changes.
Harry was woken up by Hermione a few hours after he'd gone to sleep. "Come on you two wake…" Harry leaped out of bed and began stretching startling Hermione. Harry was grateful for this since it gave him a moment to collect himself. The sight of Hermione had him once again needing to clamp down on his Occlumency shields. Though this time it wasn't in anger, but in regret and sadness. The last image he had of her was being surrounded by dementors for a crime that wasn't her fault. All he wanted to do at the sight of her was pull her into a hug and beg her to forgive him.
"Good morning Hermione, you're looking radiant today." Harry grinned at her as she just blinked in shock at him for a moment. Her shock didn't surprise Harry since he knew he used to have to be pulled out of bed when he wasn't at the Dursley's. However, war and being an Auror for several years afterward had beaten that out of him. Eventually, she turned to Ron who was drooling on his pillow and snoring loudly. Harry rolled his eyes at the sight while fighting the urge to punch Ron just on principal. "You go ahead. I'll get the human garbage disposal up." Harry was surprised to see Hermione actually laugh at his joke. Harry was sure that Hermione already fancied Ron to some degree at this point in their lives. But Harry was starting to wonder how much of that was real given the compulsion ward and after what the other Ron said about her being a lesbian.
"Okay Harry, see you downstairs." She turned and walked out of the room. Harry grinned as he walked over to Ron's bed. As he stared at the useless lump of an individual, thoughts of killing him in his sleep crossed Harry's mind. After all, it would be so easy to do. Harry could use some wandless magic, which is untraceable, and the cutting curse was certainly on the list of spells he could cast wandlessly.
"NO!" Harry thought to himself as he shook those thoughts from his head and took a deep breath. This Ron hadn't committed the crimes that made Harry hate him. So he couldn't out right slaughter...yet. Ron needed to commit the crimes first. The problem now is that Ron is still technically Harry's best mate. Harry wanted to end that friendship immediately, but he had to play this outright. If he just decided out of nowhere to hate Ron everyone would assume Harry was under the effect of a spell or a potion. Breaking ties with Ginevra was easy since he was never really friends with her at this point in his life. She was just usually around because of her relation to Ron. Ron, however, was supposed to be his best mate. If Harry wanted to remove the lump from his life it had to be done right.
"Or better yet," Harry whispered. "I'll just let him self-destruct." Harry grinned viciously as he stared at Ron. Harry knew every button to press to make Ron lose it. "This could be a lot of fun," Harry whispered before raising his voice enough to rouse Ron and adding a slight amount of panic to his voice. "Ron, Viktor Krum is downstairs. He's saying he won't play today unless you have breakfast with him first." Harry leaped away as Ron shot out of bed and ran down the stairs in his PJ's. Harry could hear him downstairs demanding to know where Krum was.
Laughing Harry got dressed and packed a small bag. When he went to grab his wand, he ended up dropping it. He blinked at it for several moments. He reached down to pick it up and while he was able to, he noticed it felt like lead in his hands. "Okay, that's new. Guess I'm gonna need a new one. Good thing I can do some wandless magic." Harry put his wand in his jacket pocket and walked downstairs.
-Scene Break-
In the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was yelling at Ron. "Ronald Weasley, Viktor Krum is not here, and he has never been here! Now you march right back up those stairs and get dressed this instant!" Mrs. Weasley glared at him as she pointed to the stairs. The twins came up behind Harry who had stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
"What happened?" They asked together and Harry could help the joy that filled him at the sound of the twins speaking as one again.
"What you guys didn't hear? Ron was clearly dreaming about Viktor Krum and thought he was here, so he rushed downstairs in his Jim Jams." The twins roared with laughter as Ron walked past them grumbling. The twins and Harry sat down at the table. Harry deliberately sat next to Ginny who avoided looking at him. "How did you sleep, Ginevra?" He asked and he heard the twins gasp at him from across the table. Even Hermione and Mrs. Weasley stopped what they were doing to stare at them. Harry was ignoring them as he looked at her while scooping eggs on to his plate. Ginny looked torn between yelling at him and running for her life.
Harry saw a light flash of red in her eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it came. Harry had to resist the urge to use Legilimency on her to find out what that red flash was. Harry knew it was something that needed looking into, but he knew if he went into her mind, he would rip it to shreds without mercy. Harry decided to mention it to Bill when no one else was around. Harry had to fight the urge to laugh at the idea of Ginny being permanently locked up in Saint Mungos.
After several tense minutes, she finally spoke. "I slept really good, but could you please call me Ginny. I really don't like the name, Ginevra." Harry could see how much pain it must have caused her to say that and he was amazed she didn't use the compulsion wards magic. Harry tapped on his chin for a moment as if in thought.
"I don't know I'm not really one for following the rules." Hermione snorted at that but tried to hide it in a cough. Harry turned to the twins, "What do you guys think? Should I call her Ginny and follow the rules, or should I hang the rules and do what I want?"
The twins beamed at him as they said, "Hang the rules" in unison.
"Sorry, I'm afraid it's Ginevra." Ginny was glaring at the twins and it was clear she was going to make them pay when she got to Hogwarts.
Harry felt Hestia squeeze his arm before Mrs. Weasley spoke to him. "Harry, Dear, I think you should be respectful of Ginny's wishes." Harry felt her magic wash over him like Ron's did only it was ten times stronger.
Harry shook his head before grinning at her. "Sorry Mrs. Weasley but as the son of a Marauder, it would be a disgrace to my heritage to follow such rules."
The twins cut off their mother before she could start talking. "You're the son of a marauder?" Harry nodded at George's question.
"Which one?" Fred asked.
"Prongs was my dad. Remus or Professor Lupin was Moony. I'll tell you the other two later." Harry said with a wink and he thought the twins were going to explode from excitement. "If you make it worth my while that is." The two of them looked at each other for a moment and then back at him. The grins they gave him told him he was in for a real treat.
Hermione, who had been quiet so far, decided to create a change in topic seeing that Mrs. Weasley looked like she was about to start yelling. "So, Harry, were you able to get all of your homework done while you were at your relatives?" Harry grinned at her but before he could speak there was a soft pop next to him as Dobby appeared there.
Harry turned to him and was grateful that Dobby was using magic to hide the house crest on his uniform. "Good morning Dobby."
Dobby bowed to him. "Good morning Master Harry I have the letter you were waiting for. Professor Taby-cat seemed extremely excited about your letter to her." Harry chuckled as he took the letter from Dobby
*Earlier this morning at Hogwarts. *
Of all the things Professor McGonagall expected to get so early in the morning, it was not a letter from Harry Potter. She quickly made some tea and sat down to read it.
Dear Professor McGonagall,
I am writing this because I cannot take another year of Divination. I would desperately like to switch to Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. I have been self-studying them whenever Hermione wasn't looking. Not an easy thing to do mind you but I did. The reason for this is because I desire to acquire my mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts and then become an Auror for ten years before returning to Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I feel that these two subjects would be a better fit. To be completely honest with you I've been holding myself back because of my relatives. Whenever I get better grades than my cousin, I usually get in trouble for it. So, I've been holding back all this time. I deeply regret this, and I will be happy to do whatever is needed to prove it and get into those classes. I truly hope that this is possible because if not I might have to actually kill myself to get a passing grade in Divination. Just kidding, but she does predict my death every class. Anyway, I really hope that you can help me with this, and I look forward to seeing you in the new year.
Sincerely, Harry James Potter.
P.S.
Please call out for my house elf Dobby when you wish to send a response as it will be quickest. I'm staying with the Weasley's so if you could send your response as soon as possible it would be greatly appreciated.
Professor McGonagall reread the letter at least a dozen times to make sure she had actually read it right. She couldn't believe it, Harry Potter wanted to be a teacher. She didn't even know being a teacher was on his radar for a career path. Not to mention getting a Mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts and becoming an Auror. She didn't like that he had been holding himself back but if he was serious about starting to put forth the effort, then the prospects of how good he could potentially be, greatly intrigued her.
Professor McGonagall immediately got up and headed to Professor Vector's office. After chatting with her and showing her the letter, she headed for Professor Babblings office with Professor Vector on her heels. After much discussion, she wrote a response to Harry and called for Dobby and sent it to Harry.
*Present at Weasley Kitchen. *
Harry took the letter from Dobby and opened it while ignoring everyone at the table as Dobby popped away.
Dear Mr. Potter,
First let me start by saying the next time you tell your elf to leave me a letter, tell them to leave in on my desk. Do NOT let him leave it attached to my face! Secondly, I am greatly disappointed to hear that you have been holding back in your classes. Now that I know this, I will no longer be allowing it to continue. Even if it means going to your relatives and dealing with them myself! On that note, I have removed you from Divination and if you want to take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy you will need to pass a test set up by the professors for those classes. They are making the test now and will be at the Weasley residence on Friday at 9:00 am to test you. This means you have one week to prepare and know that if you fail your punishment will be to continue taking Divination. I am greatly impressed by your desire to obtain a mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts as well as becoming an Auror and eventually a Teacher. As long as you put forth the effort then I will do everything within my power to help you.
Sincerely Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Minerva McGonagall.
P.S.
If Miss Granger is there, I suggest asking her for help as well. No more self-studying. You're going to need every bit of it for these tests.
Harry grinned as he looked across the table at Hermione who just blinked at him. He handed the letter across the table to her as his grin continued to grow before turning to Mrs. Weasley. "I hope you won't mind, but on Friday three teachers from school will be coming here to administer two tests that I need to take." Before she could respond Hermione squealed and rushed around the table to hug him.
"Of course, I'll help you. When can we start? Do you want to start now?" Harry laughed as he patted her back and then motioned for her to go back to her seat.
"Today we're going to watch the Quidditch World Cup Hermione. But the minute we get back here I don't want to be seen without my nose in a book, got it?" The look that came on her face told him he might regret those words. Mrs. Weasley had picked up the letter and for some reason, she didn't seem happy. "Is there a problem Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked and she looked at him with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"No, of course not dear. I just thought you were enjoying your current classes. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just keep your current classes?" Once again Harry felt her magic wash over him but this time it felt like getting hit by a tidal wave. So much so that Harry actually had to reinforce his occlumency shields to defend against it.
"No, I would not!" Harry said a little more forcefully than he meant to but followed it up with. "I hate the Divination teacher and the class in general. I'm pulling a Hermione and quitting the course!" Hermione beamed at him, while Mrs. Weasley just blinked at him in surprise.
"Are you sure you can handle the workload?" She asked and Harry laughed at her dismissively. Harry had to give the controlling bitch a bit of credit for not just yelling at him like she did her children. He wondered if the effort was causing her pain to do so. The thought of causing her pain by making her keep up the act brought a smile to his face as he answered her.
"While it's true it will be a lot of hard work. However, not doing it would be taking the easy way out and I'm done doing that. Besides all the best things in life are worth working for. I want to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and to get there it's going to take a lot of hard work. Besides if these two…" Harry pointed to the twins. "Ever have kids that school is gonna need all the help it can get." The twins, Hermione and to Harry's surprise, even Ginny roared with laughter at that.
"You stand no chance against our kids' mate." The twins said in unison.
Harry grinned at them. "Oh really? Don't forget guys I'm the son of a Marauder and thanks to you, your kids won't be able to make a move without me knowing." The twins looked like Harry had just told them he was canceling Christmas forever. "But I doubt I'd stop them too much. Just enough to make sure they don't get killed or worse expelled." Hermione choked from how hard she snorted at that one.
"Harry, I really think you should…" Harry stood up and looked Mrs. Weasley directly in the eyes as he fought off her magic for the third time this morning. Power started rippling off Harry, but he didn't care. He'd been holding so much back since he got here, he felt like he wanted to explode.
"Mrs. Weasley, I thank you for breakfast and your concerns about my future. But this is my life and I am going to live it my way." Harry took a deep breath to calm himself as he saw Ginny flinch out of the corner of his eye. "I think I'm gonna go outside and wait for everyone. I could use a good stretch and fresh air." Harry picked up an apple off the table and walked out the door ignoring the stunned looks on everyone's faces and the breakfast he put on his plate.
-Scene Break-
Harry walked out of the house not caring if he made Mrs. Weasley angry. A few minutes after he leaned up against the fence, he heard someone walking up behind him. He turned and smiled as he watched Hermione walk up and lean on the fence with him. "Are you okay?" She asked and he nodded.
"I am now. I just needed to vent, I guess." She chuckled at him as she nudged his shoulder with hers. They stood there for a couple of minutes in silence before Harry broke it. "Hey, Hermione…I'm…I'm sorry…" She just stared at him as he looked at the ground.
"For what Harry?" The images of what happened to her and everything that happened between them flashed through his mind. Harry sighed before turning to look at her. Hermione had a shocked look on her face no doubt from the tears building up in his eyes that were trying to spill over. Harry could have repressed these emotions like he had everything else, but this was Hermione. She was his sister and he just couldn't find it in him hold back with her anymore. He'd spent so many years keeping her at an emotional distance thanks to Ron and what the Dursley's had beaten into him. He finally said, "No more," in his mind and let everything out.
"I'm sorry for the way I behaved last year, hell every year! I've been holding back in my studies and using you to skate by. I also stood by whenever Ron insulted you and never really did anything to stop him. And don't even get me started on the whole Firebolt incident. I was way out of line and I never should have jumped on you the way I did." Harry was legitimately crying at this point, and he really hoped it wouldn't be like this whenever he ran into someone whose life he screwed over. Hermione seemed to be in shock and unable to say anything. "I've been the worst friend and you've been the most amazing friend I could have ever asked for. I can't even call you a friend at this point you're more like the sister I've always dreamed of having. I don't know how you'd ever be able to forgive…" Hermione grabbed him and pulled him into the biggest and tightest hug he'd ever gotten from her.
They stood like that for a good couple of minutes before she eased up on the hug and made him look her in the eye. When he did, he noticed she was crying as well but her smile was blinding. "Harry you are my brother in every way except blood. I love you and I will always stand beside you. Even when you are being a total git!" She chuckled which caused him to chuckle as well. They let go of each other, wiping their eyes as they did so, and decided to sit on the fence watching the house.
"So... What happened after I walked out?" Harry asked and Hermione grinned.
"Mrs. Weasley looked like she was gonna come after you, but Mr. Weasley came downstairs and stopped her. He reminded her that while she may think of you as one of her kids, you're not. He told her that she has to let you live your life the way you want, or you'd never come over again. I was completely shocked to see him stand up to her like that. I mean it's pretty clear who wears the pants in this family." Harry laughed and nodded in agreement with her.
"Hey Hermione, what do you think of the Weasley's?"
"All of them as a whole or as individuals?"
Harry considered her question for a moment. "Both." She laughed at him but seemed to be enjoying the way they were talking. It was only at this point that Harry realized they had never really talked like this. Usually, Ron was always around, and it was next to impossible to have a good conversation with him around that didn't involve food, chess, or Quidditch. Harry found he was really enjoying this with her and found himself vowing to make sure this happened more often.
"Well, as a whole, I think they are a very respectable family. But separately some of them rub me the wrong way." Harry looked at her and she seemed to shift uncomfortably.
"Which ones?"
She shook her head. "I don't want to answer that because you're going to hate me." Harry scooted towards her and wrapped his arm around her.
"Nothing you say will go past this fence and I swear I won't hate you as long as you tell me the truth." Hermione looked at him like he was some kind of dangerous animal that might attack her.
"I don't like Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley." Harry laughed at her and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed bright red as he gave her some room. "What was that for?" Harry smiled as he took a bite out of his apple before offering some to Hermione. She politely declined and then waited for an answer.
"That was for being the perfect sister and for the record I agree with you one hundred percent. Mrs. Weasley comes off as a very caring individual, but she is very controlling. We both know what's wrong with Ron but what is your issue with Ginny." Hermione laughed at the comment about Ron.
"With Ginny, you might not have noticed but she's obsessed with you. Aside from this morning, she is always looking at you like you belong to her and you're already married or something. She keeps coming to me for advice on how to get your attention. I just keep telling her to try dating other blokes or just treat you like a friend. I mainly do this in the hopes that she'll meet someone else and move on. Though given the way she was looking at you this morning I don't think she'll be asking me for advice anymore." Harry laughed at this.
"Yeah, I got her pretty good with that Ginevra thing huh?" She rolled her eyes like she was about to explain something obvious.
"No, it was like she was scared of you. Like you were going to snap and start performing dark magic on her or something." Harry laughed.
"Yeah, that was probably because of last night. I had a bad dream and came outside to calm down. When I came back in, I was still really on edge and well she startled me." Hermione gasped as Harry looked down in false shame.
"What did you do?" Harry grimaced as he looked at Hermione trying to decide the best way to answer that question.
Eventually, he sighed and said, "I grabbed her a pinned her to the wall by her throat before I realized who it was." Harry braced himself for Hermione to yell at him but instead, she placed her hand on his shoulder in comforting manor.
"Harry, it's okay." Harry just stared at Hermione in shock.
"You're not gonna yell at me?" Hermione laughed as she scooted closer to him and wrapped him up in a hug.
"You're not the only one who has bad dreams, Harry. One time when I was much younger, I had a nightmare that scared me half to death. I got up to get some water. On the way back to my room my dad came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. The hallway was dark, and I never heard him sneak up behind me. I reacted…defensively." Hermione struggled as Harry motioned for her to elaborate. "I struck out with my fist and because of my height at the time, I ended up hitting my father in…well, a sensitive area." Harry just stared at her for a moment.
"You mean you hit him in the…" Harry let his sentence trail off as she lowered her head in shame and nodded. Harry cringed and crossed his legs. "How much trouble did you get in?" Hermione looked up and him while smiling softly.
"Once everything was explained, and my father could stand again, he forgave me. He brought me back to their room where I slept for the rest of the night. I think I was seven or eight at the time." Harry gave her a sad smile as he thought about how nice it must have been.
"Yeah well after I realized it was Ginny, I tried to apologize but she didn't seem like she wanted it. She smacked me and took off to her room." Hermione turned to glare at the house.
"If I had to guess I'd say you shattered her image of the boy-who-lived when you did that. Because he's perfect and would never do anything like that." Harry rolled his eyes at Hermione's assumption. While what he told her wasn't the truth, Harry felt she would have been right if things had gone that way.
"Well thank the gods then because I hate that title and the less said about it the better." Hermione nodded in agreement before she turned and narrowed her eyes at him.
"By the way Harry I've been meaning to ask. What did Professor McGonagall mean about 'no more self-studying'?" Harry gulped and avoided looking into Hermione's eyes.
"Well remember how I said I'd been holding back?" Hermione nodded and he sighed. "I do extra studying whenever no one is looking. Sometimes I would even borrow your books after you'd fallen asleep in the common room. That's how I got interested in the two classes once I realized how bad Divination was." Hermione just stared at him. "After we got out of school, I did a lot of thinking at the Dursley's and I decided that I wanted to be better. No decided I needed to be better. Let's face it my life is a dangerous one and if I'm gonna live through it I need to be my best. So, I wrote a letter to Professor McGonagall and here we are. I'm sorry I borrowed your books without asking." Hermione rolled her eyes and the next thing Harry knew the two of them were discussing the two classes. Thankfully Harry had done enough work in them after the war in his previous life to be able to talk about the basics with her.
They talked about the classes for several minutes until the door to the house opened with a slam. They both looked up to see Ron stomping towards them looking extremely upset.
"You're giving up Divination and switching to two of the hardest classes in school! Are you mental?" Ron asked and Harry tried not to look annoyed with him. Harry noticed Hermione just chose to get annoyed with him, but Harry shook his head at her silently telling her not to say anything. Hermione blinked at him in surprise but nodded her head. Ron didn't even notice this silent exchange as he glared at Harry who got off the fence to confront the angry redhead.
"Yes, Ron, I am going to try to get into those classes. I have made up my mind and nothing anyone says is going to stop me. I've found something this world needs and that's a competent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The students of Hogwarts only barely get by in that subject. I seem to have a talent for it and even when I'm holding back, I can beat Hermione in that class." Harry quickly turned to Hermione. "No offense," He said sincerely and she dismissed it with a grin. Harry turned back to Ron who seemed shocked that Hermione didn't rip Harry's head off. "Ron ancient runes can be used in so many ways that it boggles the mind. Combine it with arithmancy and you can make some really incredible things. The way you could protect your home alone makes it worth learning." Harry could practically feel Hermione beaming from behind him.
"Well…I mean…yeah, I know that but now you and I won't be in all the same classes." Harry had to use all of his restraint not to roll his eyes at him.
"Ron you'll have one class without me. I think you'll make it and who knows maybe you can be the one who gets the death predictions now." Ron paled greatly causing Hermione and Harry to laugh.
Ron looked like he was about to argue so more, but the twins, Ginny and Mr. Weasley came outside before he could. They were about to leave when Mrs. Weasley came out and used her wand to search the twins for their joke products. It took ten minutes, but she eventually had everything they were hiding in a bag she placed in her pocket. She then sent everyone on their way with the twins looking miserable. Harry walked as slowly as he could, and the moment Mrs. Weasley started to turn around Harry wandlessly tugged the bag out of her pocket. When it reached him, he shoved it into his pocket and turned around before she could turn back around. Unfortunately, Mrs. Weasley noticed the bag was gone and rushed over to the twins to search them again only more angrily. While searching she was accusing them of underage magic. When she found nothing on them, she tried to ground them, but Mr. Weasley stepped in and stopped her. Even Ron defended them since they were walking in front of him. Mrs. Weasley ended up stomping back to the house grumbling angrily.
Once they were on the other side of the hill. Harry grabbed the twins and pulled them back a bit behind Mr. Weasley. "What's up, Harry?" They asked and Harry quickly took the bag out of his pocket and shoved it into George's hands.
"Sorry I almost got you grounded." Harry gave them his lop-sided grin before dashing ahead to walk with Mr. Weasley and Hermione. When he glanced back, he saw the twins grinning at him like he was their hero.
The meeting with the Digory's went exactly as it went the first time around and so did the portkey. The only difference was that this time Harry didn't land on his butt. He landed perfectly but pretended to stumble so no one got suspicious. After helping Hermione up, they followed Mr. Weasley into the campgrounds.
Harry was considering going back to sleep when he realized something didn't feel right. ~Zeus?~ Harry asked in a whisper, but Hestia was the one who responded.
~He's not here Master Harry. He slipped off at the entrance of the campgrounds after disillusioning himself.~ Harry was shocked it took him this long to notice.
~Shit! Do you know where he went?~
~No, but I can track him if you go back to the entrance.~ Harry grabbed a bandana and after using it to cover his hair and scar, he took off for the entrance.
When he got there Hestia slithered out slightly and to Harry's surprise, she breathed fire on the grass. ~My flames come in many forms. Scent flames can follow anyone who leaves a scent. I just have to find it and then breath on it. Normally only I can see the flames but as my master, you can see them too.~ Harry grinned brightly at Hestia. Harry tightened his bandana and took off following the flames as they slowly burned up Zeus's scent.
Zeus had traveled quite a distance around the edge of the campgrounds. When he saw where the flames were leading, he grinned brightly and then frowned when he saw what was going on. The flames had burned all over Zeus before they vanished and judging by his lack of response. Harry guessed that the flames didn't hurt him in any way. It did, however, show that Zeus was still disillusioned and pressed up against a large wall. He was only twenty feet long but was as thick as a full-grown basilisk.
"Well, at least he's protecting a friend." Standing in front of Zeus was none other than Auror Nymphadora Tonks and she looked pissed. Three guys were standing in front of her and Harry didn't like the look of any of them.
*Tonks's Point of view. *
Tonks couldn't believe her luck. Here she was on guard duty for this tournament and now she was cornered by three of her exes and not one of them was someone she wanted to remember. The one on her right was James Caldwell. He was an average guy with an average build with short blonde hair and blue eyes. In the middle was Jack Lawson he was a tall lanky individual with a brown crop top and ugly green eyes. On her left was Blake Maxwell, he was a pudgy fellow with curly black hair and brown eyes. All three of them were jerks who only wanted her for what she could turn into.
"Come on Nymph. Come play with us." Tonks's hair and eyes turned an angry red as she glared at Blake. She hated her full first name and most shortened versions of it as well. Nymph was at the top of the list of nicknames that she hated. She would love nothing more than to hex him but that would only get her in trouble.
She was about to say something when out of nowhere a boy was standing in front of her with his back to her exes. He was wearing glasses and had really kind emerald green eyes. He was smiling at her with a lop-sided grin. "Hey Cuz, sorry I kept you waiting, stupid portkey schedules." She just blinked at him in total confusion.
"Hey kid get lost we're busy here." The boy turned to look at them as he continued to stand between her and them.
"Oh, wow Dora, where did you find these tossers?" Tonks blushed at the nickname he said. Only two people had ever called her by that name, her father and her mother's cousin.
"You trying to pick a fight with us?" James asked as he walked up and grabbed the boy by the shirt. She was about to intervein when James suddenly leaped back like he had been electrocuted. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!" He shouted as Dora noticed what looked like sparks bounce off of the kid in front of her and wonder if he had zapped James in some way. James had pulled out his wand and the other two followed suit. Tonks started to draw hers but before she could all three of them were knocked right off their feet like they were hit by something big and invisible.
*Harry's point of view. *
Harry glared as he watched the three blokes recover from Zeus knocking them down. "While it was nice meeting you three gentleman, I suggest you leave," Harry said with a tone he only ever used when he was an Auror. He had developed this tone over years of dealing with angry mobs that wanted to get revenge on people who weren't even at fault for the Death Eaters actions.
The three guys looked at Harry like they didn't know how to register him. To them, he was just a punk kid, but his eyes were swirling with power and without even a flick of his wrist they were all knocked on their asses. They were about to get back up and fight but at that moment Zeus shimmered his disillusionment so his eyes and fangs could be seen. Once they caught sight of him, they hit the road as fast as they could. Harry chuckled at the looks of terror on their faces. Harry turned around to Zeus who had already started shrinking.
"Care to explain how a kid still in school is doing magic?" Tonks asked him and Harry laughed.
"I haven't done any magic. He has been though." Harry watched Tonks look down where she saw Zeus wrapping himself around her feet. Harry grabbed her wrist and covered her mouth to stop her from screaming. "It's okay he's not dangerous. He's my familiar and he's completely harmless to you. I'm gonna let you go, so please don't scream or hex him, please?" Harry looked at her with a pleading in his eyes and she nodded. Harry sighed and let go of her.
"Get him off of me!" Harry was amazed that she hadn't shouted at him given that Zeus was now all the way up her body nuzzling his head against her chin.
"Come on Zeus. She wants you off." Harry spoke in English knowing that Zeus would understand him.
~But master she's so snuggly.~ Harry laughed and couldn't resist having some fun.
"Well, of course, she's snuggly. Beautiful women like her always are. But you can't snuggle with a beautiful woman without her permission. That's how you get hexed or worse." Harry watched the look of shock fight the blush that appeared on Tonks's face. The fighting emotions caused her hair to turn half yellow and half pink.
"You can understand him?" She asked and Harry nodded.
~Okay Zeus come on she's really uncomfortable and me speaking parseltongue isn't gonna help that any.~ Harry tried not to laugh as Tonks's hair turned white with fright. Zeus sighed and then slowly slithered into Harry's arms while shrinking down to the size of a garden snake. "See told you, completely harmless." Harry grinned at her as she glared at him. The next thing he knew she was pointing her wand right between his eyes.
"Alright, start explaining right now young man. How do you know my name? Why did you call me cousin? How did you attack those three and what the hell kind of snake is that?" Harry sighed as he held up his hands in surrender.
"I know your name because I know your cousin and your pink hair was a dead giveaway on who you were. I called you cousin because my great, great grandmother was Dorea Black and since your mother is Andromeda Black that makes us distant cousins. I also didn't attack them. Zeus was behind you disillusioned and as you saw he can change size. He was about twenty feet long and as thick as a full-grown basilisk. It was no trouble for him to knock them on their asses with his tail. As for what he is well obviously he's a Thunder Serpent." Tonks just stared at him as she registered what he said. Slowly she lowered her wand but didn't put it away.
"And you're a parselmouth huh?" She narrowed her eyes at him like he was something evil. Harry rolled his eyes at this and sighed.
"Yes, I am and no I'm not evil just because I talk to snakes." She glared at him.
"Yeah, and how do I know that? Maybe, you just haven't been caught yet? Maybe I should take you to my superiors for questioning." Harry glared at her and to his surprise, she took a step back from him. The look of fear on her face was something he didn't want so he took a deep breath and calmed down. Tonks was the last person he expected this from, and he was betting if she knew he was Harry Potter she wouldn't be questioning him. Harry ordered Zeus into his sleeve and held out his wrists to her.
"If that's what you need to do then you may." She relaxed a bit but was still very cautious of him.
"What's a Thunder Serpent?" Harry smiled at her as he put his arms down.
"It's a very ancient, and at one point thought to be extinct, serpent. He can change his size at will. He can shoot and emit lighting. He can disillusion himself at will as well as detect people who are concealing themselves. He also seems to have a thing for beautiful women." Harry winked at her with that last bit and she blushed right up to her hair. He started laughing at her. "Wow Dora who knew you were such a cradle robber." She glared at him and fired a stinging hex at him. Harry jumped in response mainly because that was the required reaction, not because it caused him any actual pain. Harry didn't think anything could actually make him feel pain anymore after what he'd been through. "Okay, okay I'm sorry please stop!" She eventually stopped it with a satisfied grin on her face.
"Don't think I'm letting you out of my sight parselmouth." Harry narrowed his eyes at her.
"You're a metamorph right?" Harry asked she rolled her eyes at him.
"What was your first clue, Sherlock?" Harry ignored her and hated himself for what he was about to say.
"So, does that mean you're a whore?" Tonks's eyes and hair turned black. Despite how terrifying it was Harry took a step towards her and glared right back. "It's not fun, is it? I was born with the power to talk to snakes, so of course, I must be an evil bastard out for world domination. You were born a Metamorphmagi so clearly you must be a whore running around seducing and sleeping with every man you meet right?" Tonks's hair went from black to gray. She looked ready to cry and unable to stop himself he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. She stiffened at his hug but eventually, she relaxed into it which made him smile. "I'm sorry Dora. I know that's not how you are, and I know what it's like to be judged for something you were born with."
Harry broke the hug and took a step back but kept his hands on her shoulder. "What do you say we start over?" She sniffled as she nodded, and Harry grinned as he pulled the bandana off his head revealing his scar and messy black hair. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you Cuz." Tonks's jaw had literally hit the ground in shock.
Author's Note: Well I hope you all enjoyed it and I can't wait to read the reviews.
Author's Recommendation: 'Spring Equinox' by Harry50. Word of warning for a lot of adult content. That being said this was one of the first Harry Potter fanfics I read. I'll be honest with you did not know what I was walking into. The description said Umbridge was trying to restore an old tradition and it backfired on her. I went into it looking to see some serious punishment and all I can say is wow. If you wanna see Harry get laid and slowly take over Hogwarts, then this is the story for you. Also, Umbridge did get what she deserved, and Snape got to give it to her. LMAO!