Part 1: Hiding
The first time he saw her he was awestruck and terrified all at once. He always thought that he was alone. At least until the woman came stumbling through his door with a Wotcher.
He remembered looking away and trying to bury his feelings deep inside. He should feel happy that he wasn't the only one of his kind, but instead he was scared his secret would get out and people would look at him even more.
Living with the Dursleys was… an experience. One he learned early on to hide who he really was. The constant neglect and starvation with the very few occasions of physical abuse showed him the real side of the world. It was a world where you didn't always get what you want, a world where happiness was nothing but a dream.
Then he turned 11 and his whole world changed. He found out that he was a wizard just like his parents. So, his dreams returned and he for the first time felt happiness was in his grasp. Like all good dreams though, you wake up.
His first year was a disappointment. He made friends and for once he felt like sharing who he was, but he decided to wait for a bit to make sure it was real.
Then second year happened, and 99 percent of the school turned on him for utilizing another bloodline gift he possessed. So, he kept quiet, not even trusting the friends that stuck by him. He trusted his new friends, at least to a degree.
Hermione seemed to be a voice of reason, but she was obsessive about authority figures being respected. He learned long ago that people in authority could not be trusted, a consequence of his upbringing.
Ron was another matter, he was a petty, jealous, insecure child. That was the thing though, he was a child. Whereas Harry himself had lost whatever remained of his childhood the first time his uncle took his belt to his back and beat him bloody.
The twins cared more for pranks than anything else. Oliver lived and breathed quidditch, nothing else mattered. His three big sister chasers though, he almost told. He decided against it though, for the simple fact that he didn't want to burden them with his problems or in this case his truth.
It was funny how everybody always considered the pair of Ron and Hermione to be his best friends when in fact he was closer to his 'sisters'. They were always there for him, if they knew about his living conditions, he knew they would kill his relatives. Alas he didn't want to be like his worthless relatives, so he let it go. Besides Katie, Angelina, and Alicia didn't deserve to go to prison for dealing with scum.
Third year passed and he lost the first real chance at a real family. He lost some of his respect for his headmaster when he sent two underage children to deal with an innocent escaped convict by means of time travel. He pitted them against a werewolf for merlin's sake. An idiot werewolf at that. You think after being a creature of destruction so long he would be a bit smarter at dealing with his 'issue'.
Fourth Year approached and he started dreaming of Riddle and he knew things were going to get bad. Dumbledore allowing his participation in the Triwizard Tournament made him start contemplating at who his headmaster really was. He had read the rules a month after the first task, and he discovered the headmaster could have withdrawn him anytime before the first task.
He was convinced that the man wanted him to die against Voldemort. Maybe it was due to his scar and its connection to Voldemort, he didn't know.
Either way he started to think smart, Hiring Dobby was the first step. The second step was gauging the reactions of his fellow students. The only ones he was convinced of that were on his side was his 'sisters', Neville, and Susan Bones, and a little third year by the name of Luna Lovegood though he wasn't sure about that, she seemed spacy, like nothing really mattered.
Yet he still kept his secrets, he allowed Ron and Hermione back in. His third step was to see if he could be emancipated, considering he was in a death tournament meant for adults. He found out that he was technically temporarily emancipated until the tournaments end.
While it sucked that he would have to return to his guardians, he was grateful for the temporary emancipation, it helped accelerate his plans. He claimed his entire inheritance from his parents and moved it into a separate vault, so that he could always have his money at his disposal.
He turned half into muggle currency and invested half of what remained of his gold into lucrative businesses in both worlds. The goblins didn't care, it was his money anyway.
He had more money than he thought, turns out there was a second vault that was from his grandparents that he wouldn't have gotten access to until his coming of age. That vault held 10 times the amount held in his parents' vault. He thanked his Grandfather Fleamont for being an extraordinary potioner.
He quietly bought 2 houses that he had warded to the max. He even sprung for an added enchantment that functioned like a fidelus, only difference being that he could hold the secret and still live there. The houses themselves were cheap, the warding was what truly cost him though. By the time the purchases and warding were complete his grandparent's inheritance was down 70 percent.
The houses were his failsafe for when Voldemort finally returned, he had no illusions that he wouldn't. The signs were all there and he knew it was a matter of time.
Turns out he was right, when he won the tournament, he was transported to a graveyard where he was bound and used in a ritual that restored the root of all his troubles to a full-fledged body.
He barely made it out of the graveyard. Luckily, he managed to hit a Bombarda into the group of death eaters. He was sure he killed a couple, not that he stayed around to make sure. Before he made it back to the cup, he was intercepted by Voldemort's snake. He wasn't sure how he did it, but he summoned the sword of Gryffindor and chopped the vile things head from its body.
The last thing he saw before he escaped was the black tendrils that escaped the snake and the enraged visage of his foe. The adrenaline was the only thing that helped him move after he killed the snake, the pain that erupted from his scar was all encompassing.
He arrived back and only Dumbledore believed him, at this point he was sure the whole tournament and Voldemort's resurrection was a game to the man. He felt like he was just a chest piece for the wizened old man, the last drops of trust he held for the man evaporated in that moment.
At the closing feast the game master told everyone about Voldemort's return. Most seemed skeptical. It seemed only his three fellow champions and a third of the Gryffindors believed him.
Life once again moved on and he was once again stuck in his prison. Gone was his emancipation, moving to his houses was out. He needed to save them for when he really needed them. As much as he wanted to escape his relatives, he knew that it wouldn't be smart for Dumbledore to snoop around his plans.
Ever since his third year he had placed rune stones around his room that kept his relatives out. Having Dobby stock his trunk full of food kept him well fed, just like his previous year. Preservation charms truly were a wonderful thing. Luckily, he had reduced the size of his trunk to keep in his pocket so it wouldn't be locked in the cupboard. It resized a day after his arrival.
He spent most of the summer studying, trying to block the connection he had to the dark lord. Luckily, he kept a sack full of galleons in his trunk, he owl ordered most of the books needed to learn a new skill set he was eager to learn.
Learning Occlumency was… hard. It was also slower than he liked. He managed though. One positive though was that he could change his shape much easier and faster though. Especially after he blockaded what he now knew was fragment of Riddle's soul.
He didn't know how he would get rid of it; he had found no references to soul magic. Which didn't surprise him, it must be truly vile after all. Just knowing that he had a fragment of his adversary's soul in him made him sick.
Then the most unfortunate and most fortunate event happened, he was attacked by dementors. In the scuffle he was almost kissed, but his idiot self-had the bright idea to shift his face when the dementor went to suck his soul out. Gone was the fragment of the dark lord and he was free of him. At least of the fragment in his head.
An Expecto Patronum later and he was a proud recipient of an expulsion letter. Then he was besieged by half a dozen more letter that basically told him to hide in his hell.
For once he didn't mind, he noticed that after the fragments removal he felt freerer then he had ever felt. A consequence he quickly learned was that with the leach gone his magic felt much stronger, his shapeshifting was much harder to control. His damn hair kept changing at the drop of each emotion.
Occluding his mind only worked so much, so he cut off his emotions completely when in the company of others. It worked but he felt like a robot, he hated it. His secret was coming to an end, and he knew it and feared it. Even to this day he had refused to look his strange power up, too scared of people finding out.
Then the Order arrived, and he realized he wasn't alone. Still, he removed his emotions, he could tell everyone was worried about him. He kept quiet though.
By the time his trial arrived he could tell that everyone was fed up with his behavior. They finally confronted him after his acquittal. He tried to beat the emotions down but he could feel his control slipping.
Part 2: Revelations
"Pup, come on tell us what's wrong." Sirus for the fifth time that week was trying to get his godson to open up. Something was wrong and he and the rest of the order knew it.
"I said I'm fine Sirius, I'm just thinking about things."
Sirius scowled at his godson, "You're not fine, you're acting like those robot things Miss Granger talked about. We all know somethings up." He gestured to those assembled around the room. The Weasleys entire clan minus the eldest three children or rather adults now, Hermione Granger, Hestia Jones, Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, and his contemplative cousin Nymphadora Tonks.
Worry was etched over the assembled, they wanted to break the stale mate and learn what was deadening the young man. All their efforts so far had been for naught, the chosen one was resisting all their attempts.
"Padfoot every-" The emotionless tried again to reason only to be interrupted by his 'best' mate slugging him in the face and shouting in his face to quite lying.
Then the dam broke, and he felt his first emotion in weeks, anger. His hair lit up a bright scarlet, his face etched in fury. The anger didn't last long though, too many emotions coursed through him. It almost broke him, he barely managed to make it out of the room while sobbing his heart out.
"What just happened?" Sirius asked the rest of the room which was full of surprised and shocked people.
Tonks meanwhile looked horrorstruck, "Oh, merlin." She managed to get out.
At once the room turned towards her.
"Dora what's going on?" Her cousin managed to ask the question that the room itself wanted to know.
Tonks let out a sigh and closed her eyes thinking of what had happened. She felt shocked that Harry Potter was a metamorph like her, but also terrified of what he had done.
Sirius hand on her shoulder broke her out of her thoughts.
"I think he turned his emotions off." She managed to get out.
"He's like you?" Ron asked.
Running her hands through her hair, "If you mean a metamorph, then yes. He's an idiot though."
"What do you mean." Remus asked.
Throwing her hands up in the air in frustration, "Because! He turned off his emotions, metamorphs don't do that if they know what's good for them. It's why we always have the mood hair."
She paused to take a moment to calm herself, "You guys don't understand what it's like to be a metamorph. Everything is heightened, he closed himself off, emotions are what help us change. He tried to control himself so thoroughly that he risked permanently destroying his psyche."
She looked around the room and saw the shocked and terrified looks that adorned the inhabitants of 12 Grimmauld Place.
"He needs me right now; you lot best stay clear. You'll do more harm than good at the moment." Tonks said sweeping out of the room ignoring the looks of anger she was getting from half the room.
She made her way towards the direction that her fellow metamorph had fled, a quick revealing spell and she made her way to the locked room he was in. Unlocking the door she made her way towards the now emotionless young man.
Stopping right in front of him she leveled him with a glare, "Turn them on now!"
"Everything is fine, I would just like to be alone Tonks." The emotionless response filled her heart with pure unadulterated anger.
She did the first thing she knew would work, she smacked him. Normally she didn't proscribe to violence, but considering his supposed best friend's response had worked, she figured the best way was the quickest way.
His façade broke as momentarily his hair turned scarlet, only for it to start to turn back to his natural black. Before it had finished though he was enveloped in a warm hug, courtesy of his fellow metamorph.
"It's ok, you're not alone anymore, let it out." Her words soothed him like no other before ever had, and he crumbled.
What followed next was him sobbing and reacclimating to his normal feelings. Tonks had managed to get him to open up and tell her everything about why he turned off his emotions. Soon he was telling her everything, not just about turning off his emotions. By the time he had passed out in exhaustion, every secret he had ever held had left his lips.
Tonks was enraged from what she had heard. She held four people accountable, and they would all pay if she had anything to say about it. Dumbledore had treated her Harry like a game piece, she wouldn't be surprised if he allowed the abuse to make him more docile. Remus had abandoned the only son of his friends to a life of neglect and abuse, whatever crush she had on the werewolf was now replaced by only fury. Snape had continuously mentally abused him. Voldemort wouldn't leave him alone, even after he took so much from him.
He was her Harry now, just as she was his Dora. Metamorphs were incredibly rare, she had only ever met 1 full metamorph, a 320-year-old female in Uganda. While she had no romantic thoughts about her compatriot, he was hers for the sole fact of their shared ability. Whether that be as a friend, a sister, or a lover it didn't matter, all that mattered was being there for him.
She owed loyalty to him, she would help him and make sure he never felt this way ever again. The people that had hurt him would pay. She would start first with that Lard-ass Walrus.
She would unleash the black fury that coursed through her veins. She would have to make it look like an accident, maybe a car crash or a heart attack. She hated those options because then he got the easy way out.
Maybe she could capture a death eater and Polyjuice him to look like Vernon Dursley, then off him, so she could torture the real one to death. She would have to talk to her mother, she would help her exact revenge.
It really enraged her that her parents were denied custody by one Albus fucking Dumbledore, who continually spouted that he was safe and happy. Who the fuck would be happy to be starved and beaten, maybe she should lock the headmaster with child abusers and see how he liked it.
Next came the giraffe, maybe she should transfigure her into an actual giraffe and leaver her at the zoo.
Dudley she would leave alone for now, after all he was a child that was influenced by his parents. While he was an ass and deserved some well-deserved vengeance, she would leave that up to Harry.
How she would go about the revenge and vengeance on the four ringleaders she didn't know yet. She would have to be creative for the bearded manipulator. He was over 100 years old; he had probably fended off attacks from those older and stronger then her.
She left Harry on the bed he had broken down on, not before covering him with a blanket and taking off his glasses. Frowning she realized that she would have to teach him how to properly morph his eyesight so he wouldn't need it.
Returning to the Parlor or sitting room, whatever the hell it was. Was a parlor the same as a sitting room, she didn't know, nor care.
Her fury broke free when she spotted the wolf and the weasels. They looked at her in hope that she got through to Harry, not realizing the storm that was about to occur.
Walking up she put all her power and speed into a kick that shattered the wolf's nuts. He dropped to the ground screaming in pain, just as every male in the room cringed, and covered their own precious manhood. Even the females in the room winced in sympathy.
Before Hurricane Molly could emerge, Tonks started berating the group, all except for Sirius who she knew was only stupid rather than an accomplice to abuse.
She yelled for over an hour at Molly and Arthur for not reporting the child abuse her Harry went through. By the end they looked positively devastated. Their excuses of Dumbledore fell on deaf ears to Tonks. The Weasleys looked ashamed that their whole excuse was that Dumbledore said everything was fine.
"If any of you so much as hurt my Harry, I will kill you." Tonks said holding the fury inside her.
Molly's face contorted in rage, "YOUR HARRY! NYMPHADORA HE IS 7 YEARS YOUNGER THAN YOU, YOU HARLOT!"
A resounding smack echoed in the room as The Weasley matriarch held her hand to her now reddening cheek, shock etched across her face.
Most of the room was stunned at someone finally growing a backbone to the banshee, "Yes, My Harry! Not everything is about sex. Metamorphs stick together, we are incredibly rare. No one else is there for him, only me! Sirius is an escaped con, when he is acquitted then Harry will have two people that won't leave him through jealousy or anger."
She pointed to the still downed and whimpering werewolf, "That piece of trash was his parent's best friend and he allowed him to grow up with monsters. This is just the first part of his punishment." The males in the room faces paled as they tried to block out the fears of what could happen to them if they crossed Tonks line.
Sirius looked down at his fellow marauder and felt nothing but shame at the both of their actions. Sure, all he did was make a mistake that caused him to be absent for most of his godson's life, but Moony actively did nothing to help his own charge. He knew that when they passed on James was going to rip hole in them, Lily on the other hand would make what James did look like a slight boo boo.
"AND YOU TWO!" Tonks said glaring at the other two of the supposed golden trio, "How dare you treat your friend that way. Respecting authority figures is one thing Granger, worshiping them and treating your friend like he's dirt when he doesn't agree that a meddlesome old goat is a god is another."
Tonks shook her head in disgust as Hermione looked down tears in her eyes.
"While you Weasley, all you are is an insecure, jealous, jackass who can't stand when someone has something that you want. I hope that Harry drops you, because you aren't a friend, you're a parasite."
Ron looked embarrassed and angry, in his anger he rushed to attack Tonks forgetting the fact that she was a fully trained Auror. A mistake he regretted as he was dropped almost exactly like Remus was, albeit with less power directed towards him.
With one last sneer of disgust, she turned and left the room to return to Harry's room and keep him company. She wanted to be their when he woke up, so that she could make sure that he would be alright, or at least somewhat alright.
Nothing would be the same after tonight, and she was damned sure that she would never leave him to deal with his problems again. She felt ashamed of her own reactions towards him, how she thought he was being a spoilt brat, and how she used violence to snap him out of his state. She felt like the damn Dursley's for even slapping him, even if she meant well.
It was a good thing that the room Harry retreated to had a separate bed, as much as she would be there for him, she wasn't comfortable sleeping in the same bed as a hormonal teenager.
She silenced the room, locked, and warded it so no one would get to him and question him before he was ready. She was going to be his guardian now, she knew three loopholes she could utilize that would give her custody or the ability to transfer custody to a suitable home. Perhaps her parents would allow it, or even her boss Madam Bones. She would worry about that tomorrow; Dumbledore better avoid her or their would-be hell to pay.
Scene Break
Harry awoke the next morning feeling better than he had ever felt before, at least until he remembered the conversation, he had held with his fellow metamorph. He told her things he had never told anyone. He had never confided in anyone about his treatment at the Dursley's. That wasn't true he did once, but nothing ever happened other than he got a worse beating.
There was something about Tonks or Dora as she insisted that he call her, that caused him to drop his mask around her. Was it because of her being like him or just her natural charm? She was able to destroy his walls and he wasn't sure if he wanted to put them back up again.
The thing was that nothing would ever be the same for him ever again.
Part 3: Done Hiding
Things changed quickly for Harry, soon his guardians went missing. He didn't know what happened to them other than he suspected Tonks. Not that he cared, he cared more about the crossword in the newspaper then he did for his relatives.
One change he liked was that his guardianship was taken over by the Tonks family. He had liked the family immediately, though he didn't like the thought of thinking of Tonks like a sister as Ted had said. He didn't know why, it's not like she wasn't close with him.
Since they would be in even more danger than before for taking him in, he had insisted in them living in one of his safe houses. Much arguing occurred before they agreed. Good thing they did because a month after they accepted their house had been destroyed. He had apologized profusely but they didn't care, he did sign over the house they were staying into much to their protests. They said the house was better than the one they had lived in anyway.
The year passed slowly due to the toad that had taken residence in the castle. She made torturing children a pastime. Blood quills were the normal and the teachers did nothing about it. Not that the inaction surprised him, they never did do anything to stem the hate he had suffered.
With Voldemort ramping up abductions people started to believe him. Then the holidays approached, and the news came that Arthur Weasley was attacked in the ministry. He would survive but he would never be able to walk again.
He went to his new home with the Tonks for Christmas and for the first time he felt like he had a true family. Sirius was their also, it was a joyous time that made him wish for it to never end.
His morphing had been a big point of contention for his 5th year as people were astounded to find out that he was metamorph. The girls had started looking at him even more lustfully than before and the men looked jealous.
He confided in Dora about their reactions during the holidays and she explained the worst part of being a metamorph, being an object of desire. She taught him to ignore the rabble and eventually he would find his place like she did and maybe even find love. He asked her if she ever found love, she merely shrugged and said she would eventually.
Dumbledore was still ignoring him, though he did order him to learn occlumency from the greased bat. He refused much to the anger of said bat. Not even Dumbledore's twinkling bullshitting grandfather approach worked as the metamorph stormed out of meeting.
One thing he found out when he tried to enter the chamber that year was that he had lost the ability to speak to snakes. The soul fragment in his scar must have been what allowed him to speak Parseltongue.
Another change was the repairing of his friendship with Ron and Hermione. He had his friends back and they treated him better than they ever did. Ron was actively taking counseling from Madam Pomfrey to stem his jealousy issues as was Hermione on her blind worship of authority figures.
They had managed to convince him to start a study group along with Cedric Diggory so that the students could pass their Owls and Newts. They had almost been caught a couple of times, but they managed to stay ahead of the Toad and her spawn.
Then the war officially kickstarted with him being port keyed to the ministry from Hogsmeade. What followed was a battle in the D.O.M. that resulted in the death of his godfather and Tonks being seriously hurt. In his rage he killed Bellatrix with an overpowered bombarda as she fled back to the atrium. He managed to hit her in the back of the head.
Voldemort's arrival and his subsequent duel with Dumbledore resulted in a spectacle of epic proportions as the two fearsome fighters traded blows. It ended with Voldemort trying to possess him but with the anchor of his scar gone it barely went anywhere as he enveloped his mind in the protection of his own Patronus. Surprisingly it worked extremely well. Voldemort had apparated out in agony, his arm decaying from the pure love of the Patronus.
Unfortunately for him he had been spotted by the minister and half of the Wizengamot.
Harry had then sent back to the headmaster's tower in Hogwarts courtesy of the old goat. He proceeded to destroy the office as the old man had explained why Voldemort went after his family all those years ago. He left the office in a rage and told Dumbledore he was just as much his enemy as the Dark Lord was, much to Dumbledore's shock.
He avoided much of the school for the next two weeks, only spending time with his 'sisters' and the rest of the golden trio. In a rare show of support Hermione backed up by Ron berated the headmaster in the middle of the closing feast about his inaction and being a party to child abuse. They had ripped off their prefect badges and threw them to the ground and left the great hall shocking everyone leaving them in silence.
The summer before his sixth year passed quickly as he spent most of his time with the Tonks family, minus Dora who was swamped with work at least until she was fired. Fired due to the fact of Fudge trying to retain his power and coerce Harry into supporting him. He had fired her when she refused to allow him an audience with Harry.
Amelia Bones had been incensed and stayed late into the night yelling at him for getting rid of one of her most promising Aurors. Nothing the Bones matriarch said worked though. It was a good thing that Fudge had flexed his incompetence though, because that very night Voldemort and his death eaters had attacked the empty Bones Manor.
Fudge got his reckoning a month later when Amelia called for a vote of no confidence and exited the meeting as the new minister of magic. She instituted sweeping changes that not only brought back Tonks but forced trials on all death eaters that had been declared imperious victims. Truth serum made them all spill their deepest secrets, secrets which disgusted most of the Wizengamot and the public.
Gone was the non-aggression the ministry employed, field aurors were allowed equal force, something which greatly angered Albus Dumbledore. He kept calling for mercy and being the better person, even as each 'imperious' victim was thrown through the veil of death.
On a personal level, he was a wreck. The death of Sirius caused him nightmares that dominated his nights. They only stopped when Dora had enough and started sleeping next to him, holding him as he slept drove the nightmares away.
That had the unfortunate consequence of causing him to start to crush on the older witch. Something that was picked up by his guardians. Ted found it amusing as did Andromeda. It was a good thing they never poked fun at him in front of the oblivious Dora.
His changing feelings for her confused him. He kept it inward though, there was nothing that he could offer the woman that was slowly dominating every thought he had. Besides the war was on and he didn't have time to worry about if a 22-year-old liked him. She was very insistent that she was only 6 and half years older than him rather then the 7 years every one said she was.
6th year went fast. He finally had a name for the vile magic that had inhabited his scar. Horcrux. The madman had made 7, with him, the snake, the diary, and the ring taken care of it left 3. Dumbledore was surprised when he realized that the fragment attached to his scar was gone. He looked as if all his well-crafted plans were destroyed.
At the end of the year, they made a cave trip that netted them a fake horcrux, a fake he recognized. With a quick call to Kreature the locket was destroyed, and Dumbledore was dead, slain at the hands of one Severus Snape.
It was a good thing that Tonks had answered the call that night, with her help they managed to kill not only Draco Malfoy but Severus Snape. 2 death eaters dead was a goodnight, unfortunately Bill Weasley wasn't so lucky as he had been maimed by Fenrir Greyback.
Fleur's confession almost broke his resolve and had him admitting what he felt to Tonks, but it wasn't the time or the place. Besides she deserved someone better than him.
His resolve finally broke though when he explained why the golden trio had to go on the lamb to destroy what was keeping Voldemort immortal after the ministry fell. Amelia Bones had nearly been assassinated by Pius Thickness, luckily, she had escaped along with her niece to the second of Harry's safe houses.
When his resolve broke everything, he had been holding in escaped, he had tried to keep his face down to avoid the heartbreak that would surely follow. He was surprised when she had lifted his head and started to kiss him passionately. The night they had spent together was the best night of his life.
After they had exhausted themselves, they laid in each other's embrace. She had explained that her feelings had changed and she herself felt she was too old for him, but now that he was legal, she didn't need to hold it in. His personality and selflessness had drew her in. She admitted that him being a metamorph had jumped started it though as her initial thoughts of protecting him had turned her feelings to one of love the longer she spent with him.
Two days later he left telling her that if he survived the hunt, he wanted to build a life with her. The new lovers had embraced as if they were the only two in the world. Much to the happiness of older Tonks couple. For years they had seen their daughter look for love, and from the looks of it she had finally found it.
Leaving Dora was the hardest thing Harry James Potter ever had to do. Only the promise of the future life he could lead with her was what kept him going.
6 months later they had felled the next horcrux leaving only something of Ravenclaws. Robbing Gringotts was risky, but with the help of the deposed chief Ragnok and Amelia Bones they had acquired the cup of Helga Hufflepuff. Much brainstorming went into the location and what the object itself was from Ravenclaw. At least until Hermione remarked that it had to be the Diadem of Ravenclaw.
They made a plan to sneak into Hogwarts to talk to the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw, at least that was her name according to Amelia.
3 months after the Gringotts break in they had started the questioning of Helena, finding out it was in the ROR was a shock. It was too bad that Voldemort realized that they were now hunting for his soul anchors. A massive battle ensued that left many dead including Percy Weasley, Lavendar Brown, Kingsley Shacklebot, Pomona Sprout, and Charlie Weasley.
After destroying the Diadem Harry faced Voldemort on the field of battle. Much destruction was wrought, but Harry prevailed, and Voldemort was slain with combined efforts of Ron and Hermione.
After 17 years he was free from the prophecy that had dogged him his whole life and cost him almost everything. The only thoughts he had though were for one Nymphadora Tonks, he had searched everywhere for her, but she wasn't there. His thoughts turned turbulent before Madam Bones patted him on the shoulder and told him to go home, Dora was waiting for him.
He ran to the ward line to apparate away, it was the longest 5 minutes of his life, the minute he passed the ward line he popped away causing the biggest crack he ever had. When he knocked on the door his thoughts were excited to see the woman he had fallen in love with, but he was also scared that she didn't want to be with him and would spurn him and tell him to take a hike.
A tired looking Ted opened the door, his face lighting up into a smile at seeing him. Harry was quickly wrapped in a hug with the man telling him he knew he could do it. He ushered him inside telling him to be quiet, much to the confusion of the chosen one.
He led Harry towards his former room, they were stopped by Andromeda whose face lit up the same way that her husbands had. She also pulled him into a hug that made him feel like he was being hugged by his mother.
They silently stopped at the door to his room before slowly opening it. What awaited him on the other side of the door blew his mind. Because in that room was Dora laying on the bed looking exhausted, and she was holding two babies.
Epilogue: Dreams Sometimes Don't End
Dora beckoned him forward, he was stunned by the bundles in her arms. He mechanically made his way to the two shifting babies, their hairs what little they had were lighting up to different colors.
"I knew you could do it Luv, do you want to say hi to your bundles of joy." Dora's face lit up looking at her, or their children.
Words seemed to fail him as he merely nodded.
Dora let out a low laugh, as she tried to keep her voice low. "This one on my right is Amaryllis Lillian Potter, or Amy for short. The one on my Left is Edward Sirius Potter, or Teddy for short."
He sat on the bed looking over his family and in that moment every challenge and every bit of pain was worth it. Looking at his daughter, his son, and the woman he hoped never to be parted from again caused him unspeakable happiness. For once he had everything he ever wanted.
"I guess I owe you a ring." Her laugh and nod of her head may have woken their children but even with the cries all he felt in that moment was happiness, and a little bit of panic at what he should do. The resulting laughs of his family at his panic filled the final voids in his heart.
After all these years he found where he belonged, and he was never going to let it go. Happiness was no longer a dream anymore; it was a reality.
AN: This was a one-shot idea I had that wouldn't leave my head. It caused me to delay finishing Chapter 12 of an Unexpected Development. I have 2 more one shot ideas that I'm going to do soon. One is an AU to New Dimension, about if Fleur had survived, it's Harry/Fleur. Another One-shot is if Harry had comforted Tonks at the beginning of book 6 instead of Molly. That's what this one shot was supposed to be but the more I wrote of it the more it deviated, the only thing I kept was the ending with the twins.
I did write Tonks a little different, I wanted her to have the anger of the Black Family, and yes, she did Crucio Vernon to death with the help of her mother. Honestly couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Remus meanwhile took off like a coward after his testicles were destroyed, he was never seen again.
I hope you liked this one shot, it wasn't supposed to be grand or epic, it was more an exercise in writing. Tell me what I did right and what could improve my stories (Still looking for a beta if anyone is interested).