Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory by Tradiferis
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Everything that you do not recognize is most likely mine, everything that you do recognize isn't mine. Onto the story.
Chapter Eight
I Palindrome I
"OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs, while laying flat on his back unable to move most of his body.
"It's called the Morph-Reveal. Just a simple spell that causes a Metamorphmagus to revert back to their original form," Tonks said, sitting on a table with her legs crossed in front of her, "You'll find that you will gradually regain control over your body, depending on how many changes you've made to it."
Harry, who had only modified his skin tone slightly, and his height slightly still, felt his legs come back into feeling, and then finally his upper body.
"Only a select group of people actually know that spell," Tonks went on saying, helping Harry off the ground, "Most of them Metamorphmagus' themselves."
Tonks looked around the Room of Requirement before looking back at Harry.
"How do you get something to drink in here?" she asked him.
Harry sighed, waving his hand, he felt like he had the wind knocked out of him, "Just concentrate on what you need, and it will appear."
"Really?" Tonks responded, getting a slightly mischievous look on her face, before scrunching up her face in concentration. Suddenly, a bottle of firewhiskey appeared next to them, "I think you've earned the right to knock a few back with me."
"Are you trying to teach me bad habits?" Harry asked, with a slight bit of laughter in his voice.
"Listen, you have a dark lord after you," Tonks said as two shot glasses appeared next to the bottle, "A few shots are not going to hurt you. In fact, it might help you calm down. Just don't tell anyone I'm letting you do this, or, in fact, do this without my supervision. The Order might get a little peeved at me."
"With good reason," came a deep accented voice from the corner of the room.
"How did you get in here?" replied Tonks' surprised voice.
"Let's just say that a little bird told me how," said the laughing voice of Ludwig Waechter, who hugged his fiancé and gave her a kiss, "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing alright, glad my fiancé is back in the country again," Tonks replied as Harry watched the two shared a moment, "I was just helping Harry with his morphing abilities."
"And teaching him how to drink horrible whiskey?" Ludwig said with a skeptical voice.
"Hey, he deserves the chance to unwind every so often!" Tonks responded, defensively.
"Wasn't saying that he shouldn't," Ludwig retorted pulling a bottle out of his quote, "Just saying he shouldn't drink something that is better used for cleaning stains out of my dog's blanket."
He looked over to Harry, "Here, directly from Germany: Beckermann's Original...
Harry was woken up from his nap at his desk by a folder being slapped down next to him. Harry looked up, trying to remember where he was, and then saw the slightly serious face of Patrick.
'Oh that's right, I came here last night after that,' Harry thought, 'I was going to wait for Patrick before going home.'
"What time is it?" Harry asked, leaning back and trying to get rid of the knot in his back.
"It's eight in the morning, you've been asleep for about four hours," Patrick responded, picking the folder up and looking at Harry from over the top of the folder, "Nymphadora Tonks, seventeen years old, just completed Auror internship, second highest marks for Defense Against the Dark Arts of her year, Metamorphmagus, and apparently the girlfriend of one Ludwig Waechter. She also is going to be the first person accepted into Auror training in over two years."
Harry still trying to work the knot out of his back where he was hit with the Morph-Reveal the night before, "Who's the first in the class?"
"You," Patrick responded with a bit of concern in his voice, "Listen I didn't know she was going to be part of that test last night, and she probably didn't realize that you were going to be part of it either-"
"I'm not concerned about that," Harry responded, surprising Patrick, "I'm more concerned with how much she's going to hate me for keeping a secret from her."
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Patrick replied, as Harry gave him a questioning look, "She's down in the Medical Center; apparently you knocked her for quite a loop."
Harry lit up for a second, and was just about to go dashing out of the room when Patrick spoke up again, "Hey wait up a second."
Harry turned around just in time to catch something that Patrick had tossed to him. Looking at it he saw that it was an ID card that had his picture on it along with the words 'LEVEL NINE 'E' CLEARANCE.' Looking up at Patrick quizzically he asked, "What's this?"
"You've officially been accepted into Unspeakable training, and because of that you are now granted low level access to the Department," Patrick explained, "The card basically allows you to walk through the hallways without me holding your hand, and into some other low security areas, such as the Medical Center."
"Thank you," Harry said, clipping the ID onto the pocket of his robes.
"Go see your girlfriend," Patrick said, waving his hand in Harry's general direction, who walked as fast as possible to the Medical Center.
"I was wondering which room Nymphadora Tonks is in?" Harry asked the witch that was at the counter.
"Card please," the witch replied nonchalantly as Harry handed his newly granted ID card over. The witch ran her wand over the card, which glowed a bright blue, before saying to Harry, "Miss Tonks is in room 15 B Mr. Waechter. Have a nice day."
Thanking the witch, Harry grabbed his ID before following the directions on the wall to Tonks' room. Once he was outside the door, he was about to enter when he heard voices from the inside.
"Don't worry mum," came Tonks' voice, "Just have a sore throat, a headache, and my ribs hurt a bit from where a Morph-Reveal spell was cast..."
Harry cringed from outside the door, and quickly conjured up a vase of lilies in his hand before listening in on Tonks' conversation with her mother once more.
"Why are you in the Department of Mysteries though?" came the voice of Andromeda Tonks, and Harry could tell by the clarity of the voice that she was in the room with Tonks. Not to mention the fact that there wasn't a fireplace in the room...
"Well seeing that the person that got me was an Unspeakable, it makes sense they brought me to their healing station-"
Harry cut Tonks off by knocking on the door and walking into the room, "Person wasn't quite an Unspeakable, just a trainee."
"Oh Ludwig!" Mrs. Tonks exclaimed, getting up and hugging Harry, "It's so good to see you! What are you doing here?"
Harry looked at Tonks a second, who was giving him a look he couldn't quite understand before turning back to Mrs. Tonks, "I'm being trained to be an Unspeakable...and I'm responsible for your daughter's condition right now unfortunately."
"Oh," Mrs. Tonks replied, looking between her daughter and Harry, who was currently studying his shoes like they were going to help him with his N.E.W.T.s. Mrs. Tonks looked back at her daughter a second before saying, "Well, I need to get a hold of Ted and tell him how you're doing. I'll be back in a while dear, it was nice seeing you again Ludwig."
"You too Mrs. Tonks," Harry replied, allowing her to leave through the door he was currently blocking. Once the door was closed, he looked at Tonks who had an awkward look on her face. Harry sighed, before holding up the vase of lilies, "I, uh, brought these for you."
"Why didn't you tell me you were a Metamorphmagus?" Tonks instantly replied, leaving Harry standing holding the vase.
Harry sighed, thinking that he had no good reason to tell her why not before saying, "I don't know...why didn't you tell me YOU were one?"
"I thought you would want me to take on specific appearances like all the other boys in my life have," Tonks said with a slightly guarded voice, looking down at her blanket covered feet, before looking up at Harry with a look that almost broke his heart.
"Oh 'Dora," Harry whispered before sitting down in the chair next to the bed, and wrapping his arm gingerly around her shoulders, "I would NEVER ask you to be someone that you aren't. I like you just the way you are!"
"Thank you," Tonks responded with a slight bit of happiness in her voice, before saying, "So you were the Unspeakable agent last night?"
"Yes, I, uh-"
"Well can you take his appearance on again, he was yummy!" Tonks said with a slight smirk on her face, while Harry adopted a 'hippogriff in the headlights' look.
"I-I-I-uh," Harry trailed off before he saw the look on Tonks' face. She was laughing her head off. Harry laughed and said, "You little Nymph!"
"I'm sorry, but the look on your face was priceless," Tonks said laughing. Harry smiled, he was glad to see her happy again.
"So you're not mad about what I did to you last night?" Harry asked, breaking the question that could possibly ruin the moment. Tonks looked at Harry, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Luddie, I am not mad," Tonks said, very seriously, "You were just doing your job, and so was I."
Tonks got a smile on her face before continuing, "And besides, it just reinforces that you are an amazing wizard, seeing as you have to be to get the better of me!"
Harry wrapped Tonks up in his arms laughing at her. Everything was going to be okay.
-
Harry took in the sea of people in the Great Hall. It was two weeks after his last official class at Hogwarts, and he was now in black dress robes standing on a platform with ten of his fellow students. Scanning the crowd he caught Tonks' eye and smiled. Returning back to reality he heard Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, continue on with his commencement address.
"This is one of the most successful classes in recent memory," Fudge stumbled on. Harry rolled his eyes, the man did not have the slightest clue that the more he talked the less people were interested.
"He obviously forgets the class two year ago," Liam Flaighly muttered to Harry, who was standing right next to him. Finally Fudge's speech was over, and Dumbledore stepped up to the podium.
"I once again congratulate all the students who have survived these seven years," Dumbledore started, "Goodness knows that we tried our hardest, but they managed to survive despite our best efforts."
The crowd chuckled, and Harry once again wondered at how Dumbledore was light years better at speaking than Fudge.
"It is now time to hand out achievement awards to the fine students standing on this stage," Dumbledore went on, "The following people are the top ten ranked students in this graduating class, and when I call their name they will step forward to receive the Golden Education Wand signifying this..."
Harry tuned out as each of the student's names next to him was read, and they got their award. When the last student received their wand and walked off stage, Dumbledore started speaking again, "Now, the following student is a transfer student who transferred after the fifth year, so unfortunately was unable to be counted in the class rankings. However, he is eligible for one of the oldest honors in school history due to his excellence in Defense Against the Dark Arts. It is my honor to present Ludwig Waechter with the Defense Against the Dark Arts Aptitude Shield."
Harry heard thunderous applause as he approached the podium where Dumbledore was waiting with a shield that was roughly the size of Gwen. As Harry stood next to Dumbledore, he went on, "The Defense Shield is different from the Defense Crest in that the Shield is only presented to students who have consistently managed to maintain a grade average of 110 in N.E.W.T. level Defense, along with N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration and Charms. A truly high honor that I now present to you Mr. Waechter."
Harry smiled at Dumbledore and could hardly contain the joy that he felt when Dumbledore handed the shield over to him and shook his hand. As he was walking off the stage he noticed Patrick, his wife, Gwen, and Stacy near the back of the audience. His adoptive family. He then took his seat with the students waiting to get their diploma's and caught the eye once more of the love of his life, Nymphadora Tonks, and he didn't think he had ever seen a bigger smile on her face. Yes, he had never felt this content ever before in his life.
Later that evening, Harry was sitting out on the Tonks' back porch just looking into the sky while her graduation party was winding down on the insides with only adult friends of the family remaining.
"We each start training next week," Tonks said in a quiet voice to Harry, who was currently encircling her with his arms, "and it's at least three years for the both of us before we actually begin working."
"Well, only two for me," Harry said with a chuckle, "I got a head start."
Tonks snorted, "Lucky you. You seem to have all the good things happen to you."
"Not necessarily," Harry replied, with a slight bit of mirth in his voice, "Not everyone got extra credit on their Charms N.E.W.T. by hexing all of the professor's robes pink."
"Yeah, that was a good prank," Tonks said to herself in a stage whisper, getting a laugh out of Harry. They both quieted up for a moment, and just continued looking at the stars, with Harry looking at the Dog Star, Sirius and thinking of how he wished he could change the timeline...
"These next few years are going to be harder than last summer," Tonks said to Harry, breaking him out of his thoughts. Harry swallowed before responding.
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he said, turning her around so they were both looking at each other, "It IS going to be a long time for us to be apart, and I don't think I would be able to handle that-"
"Don't you dare tell me you're breaking up with me," Tonks said with a low voice and glint in her eyes, which scared Harry more than anything he had ever experienced in his life, and made him happy that he WASN'T breaking up with her.
"No, no, nothing like that," Harry replied quickly, and was relieved when he saw Tonks' features soften, "No, I was thinking what if we didn't have to be apart for the next few years?"
"Keep talking," Tonks said with an interested voice.
"I was talking with Patrick about where I would stay seeing that it is against the Unspeakable's Code for trainees to live with their mentor, even if they are their son."
Tonks chuckled at that.
"And he told me that he would be getting me a flat in Surrey that his wife's sister owns," Harry went on, seeing Tonks become interested, "And I'm sure that he wouldn't want me staying in such a big place all by my lonesome..."
Harry trailed off as Tonks' grin became bigger and bigger as he went on. Tonks just looked at him for a moment, before saying, "I'm asking my parents right now."
Harry laughed as she launched herself back into the house. No, these few years weren't going to be long at all.
-
Harry watched Susan as she walked away. It was about one week before the End of the Year ball, and the two had stayed after the DA meeting to talk about the plans for the ball: where to meet, what they were wearing, etc. Harry smiled to himself, glad that Susan was going with him. She was the only girl that he knew in the entire school that treated him like a normal person. Gathering his cloak that he had taken off during the meeting he left the Room of Requirement.
"Hey Harry, wait up!" Harry heard a voice come from behind him. Turning around he saw that it seemed like Ron had been waiting for him outside of the room.
"Hey Ron," Harry said, waiting up for Ron.
"What took you so long in there?" Ron asked as the pair started to walk to the kitchens.
"I was talking with Susan about plans for the ball," Harry replied.
"What's going on between you two anyways?" Ron asked, as they walked down a staircase. Harry got an annoyed look on his face.
"For the last time Ron, nothing is going on between us," Harry retorted. Ron must have asked him at least once a day since he and Susan had met for lunch on one of the Hogsmeade weekends earlier in the year.
"Sure, mate," Ron said with a grin on his face, "I believe you."
Harry spun around with an angry look on his face right outside of the kitchens, "Listen. Me and Susan are just good friends. Much like you and I are. The only reason I'm not going to the ball with YOU is because you're a bloke, and I don't swing that way. Besides, Susan is a nice girl."
"Harry, I'm sorry," Ron said, getting a startled look on his face, "It's just that ever since Hermione died I just don't want to see you give up an opportunity for....for..."
Harry softened up immediately as Ron trailed off, looking really upset. Harry quickly tickled the pear and led Ron into the kitchen.
"Listen mate, it's okay," Harry said as he led Ron to a table Dobby always had ready for him, "She wouldn't want you to become this sad over her."
"I'll never know that, because I waited so long to tell her," Ron said, leaning back in his chair and looking at the ceiling with red eyes. As Dobby arrived silently with dinner for the two of them Harry made up his mind about something.
"Dobby, can you get me the bottle?" he asked the house elf. The house elf's eyes widened slightly for a moment before it responded.
"Yes, sir, Harry Potter, sir, would yous be needing two of the smaller glasses Harry Potter sir?" the hyper elf asked. Harry just nodded, and the elf cracked away for a moment before reappearing seconds later.
"Heres you are sir," Dobby said, handing Harry a bottle filled with burgundy liquid. Ron saw what it was and his eyes widened.
"Is that...?"
"Beckermann's Original, imported from Germany," Harry said pouring both himself and Ron a shot, and pushing Ron his.
"Where did you get it from? How did you manage to get it in here?" Ron asked looking at the liquid that looked like it was on fire. Harry smiled as he thought of Ludwig and his first experiences with this liquid. He had felt as if someone had punched him in the throat, stomach, and head simultaneously. Now he was used to the beverage, as he had a shot of it at least once a week.
"That's for me to know and me only," Harry responded, holding up his glass, and gesturing Ron to do the same, "To Hermione. She was the best of friends."
"To Hermione," Ron said, chocking back a sob, clinking glasses with Harry, and then downing the liquid. Or at least trying to, because as soon as he put it in his mouth he spit it back out all over Harry.
"Thanks," Harry said with a bit of a laugh in his voice.
"My GOD that's strong," Ron said, waving his wand and cleaning off Harry who was trying not to laugh to hard, "I'm so sorry Harry."
"Don't worry about it, it's your first time," Harry replied, before smirking, "Lightweight."
Ron laughed and the pair spent the rest of the night drinking pumpkin juice and eating their dinner while talking about some of their best memories of Hermione.
-
Harry took a deep breath as he crouched stock still behind a pillar. He was in the middle of his final field test before he became a fully certified and active Unspeakable. He was required to wait for a "Mr. Alexander Dimitry," and when the man was alone in the room, his office, Harry was to subdue him, gather information that was in Dimitry's safe, and return with both Dimitry and the information to headquarters.
Looking at his watch, Harry saw that he had ten minutes before Dimitry returned to his office to collect his briefcase, and then return home. Harry started going over in his head everything that he had learned about Dimitry in the ten days he had spent learning his patterns before submitting his plan of execution to the Unspeakable Heads. Once Dimitry entered the room, Harry would have between four minutes and five minutes before Dimitry would be missed.
Looking back at his watch, Harry saw that he had eight minutes. Allowing himself to relax for a moment as to calm his nerves, Harry thought about the past two years. All the training sessions that he had been in to hone his stealth and concealment skills. All the hours perfecting his aim with his wand. All of the hours that he had spent late at night studying different books to learn different curses. All the time he had spent practicing with Tonks so that the two could both advance in their training...
It all came down to this mission that would be ending in the next five minutes.
"Remember, this is a live mission. There will not be stunners from the other side, only killing curses. Good luck."
Harry heard voices coming from the other side of the door, and realized that he had two minutes until Dimitry entered the room.
'Okay Harry,' he thought to himself, 'Just remember your training and everything will be fine. Truth serum, vault combination, stun him, grab files and Dimitry and get the hell out of Dodge.'
Closing his eyes, his hand reached into the pocket of his robes that is holding the hypodermic needle filled with Veritaserum. Readying himself, he makes sure that his wand is securely in his wrist holster, and that his spare wands were currently in the spots where he had put them. Setting the timer on his watch to five minutes, Harry listened as Dimitry walked into the room and locked the door.
Muttering a soundproofing spell and waving his hand at the door Harry snuck up behind Dimitry and stuck the needle as hard as he could into Dimitry's neck. Instantly, Dimitry collapsed on the ground. Making sure that his mask was firmly in place; Harry picked Dimitry up and placed him in one of the chairs of his office.
"What is your name?" Harry asked using a voice that was reminiscent of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Alexander Vladimir Dimitry," was the response he got from the nearly catatonic man.
"How old are you in years, months, and days?"
"Forty six years, five months, and 16 days."
Satisfied that the potion was working, Harry started to ask his serious questions, "Where is your safe located?"
"Under my desk."
"How do you access it?"
"By pressing on Moscow on the globe next to my desk."
Walking over to the globe, Harry pressed on Moscow, and watched as a glow emanated from under Dimitry's desk. Looking underneath he found a safe that did not have a combination lock, or any type of lock or door.
Walking back over to Dimitry he asked, "How do you access the contents of the safe?"
"You must press your wand on exactly the right point."
Thinking about his choices, Harry saw that he had three more minutes to get Dimitry, the contents of the safe, and himself back to headquarters.
"You have been granted a full Unspeakable's License for this mission until you are issued a permanent one. This includes License to Kill, and License to use Unforgivables. Use it wisely."
Looking at the man, Harry drew his wand, pointed it at Dimitry, and whispered, "Imperio."
Instantly telling Dimitry through his mind to open his safe, Dimitry quickly complied and walked over to the safe, and touched it with his wand. The safe emitted a golden glow, and then opened. Harry commanded Dimitry to sit in the desk chair with his mind, and then proceeded to pull the briefcase and two folders that were in the safe out. Shrinking the three objects, and pocketing them, Harry then stunned Dimitry, and slung him over his shoulder. Suddenly Harry saw the door glowing gold and heard talking on the other side.
"Sir! There's something you need to know before you leave!"
Cursing his luck, Harry quickly levitated Dimitry over to his Apparation point before transforming his face into the visage of a typical Russian gang member. Harry watched as the door opened, revealing a middle aged man who looked at him before going to pull his wand.
"Who the hell are-?"
"AVADA KEDAVRA," Harry shouted at the man with a Russian accent, and watched as the spell hit its mark dead on. Quickly picking up Dimitry, Harry Apparated straight back to headquarters.
He was met by Patrick, Bode, and two of the Heads. They were surprised to see a Russian gangster, but that changed quickly as Harry transformed back into 'Ludwig.'
"Any problems Waechter?" the Head with purple robes asked.
"I had to use Imperio on him to open the safe, and used the Killing Curse in order to safely leave, and also make this look like a hit committed by a rival gang," Harry responded.
"That would explain the face," Patrick muttered as looked Dimitry over.
"Do you have the contents of the safe?" the other Head asked. Harry nodded and enlarged the briefcase, and two folders.
"Excellent," the first head said, and he picked up the objects and walked with Bode out of the room.
"Good job, and congratulations," the other head said, pulling a folder out of thin air and handing it to Harry, "Fill out the necessary paper work, and you're free to go home on convalesce for the next three days Agent Waechter."
Harry grinned as he saw the Head walk out of the room. He turned around and looked at Patrick, who was beaming.
"Agent Waechter?" Patrick said to Harry with a smile.
"I made it..." Harry said, opening the folder to see his brand new ID ministry ID card, his LEVEL NINE 'C' CLEARANCE card, and the official documentation of him being an Unspeakable.
"I knew you would be able to do it Harry," Patrick said to him, causing Harry to swell with pride at the use of his 'real' name. Patrick stepped over and hugged Harry around the shoulders as Harry just stared at his papers with a happy look on his face. Harry was brought back to reality when Patrick started to speak again, "We're having a family dinner tomorrow, Harry. I know the twins would love to see their brother, the Unspeakable..."
Harry smiled, even after being officially part of Patrick's family for the past three years, he still was nervous about inviting Harry over, "I would love to be there."
"Make sure to bring your lady along too, Helen has been itching to see her again," Patrick said as he released Harry, and picked up his cloak.
"I'll make sure," Harry replied, taking off his robes, and transfiguring his underclothes back into what they were before: a black, formfitting, turtleneck sweater, and black dress pants, "She probably just wants to ask her over and over when we're going to get married."
"Well, it has been three years, and you have been living together for two," Patrick said as he and Harry walked towards the Apparition Point out of the Department of Mysteries.
"Well, we're waiting for our lives to settle down more than anything right now," Harry responded, and then noticed that Patrick had stopped at the Apparition Point.
"You're not going home?" Harry asked, folding his cloak over in his arm. Patrick shook his head.
"No, I have to interrogate the person you just brought in," Patrick responded, "Have a good three days Harry; see you tomorrow night at five."
"Bye Patrick," Harry said, closing his eyes and visualizing the flat he shared with Tonks, Harry felt his body move with a barely audible 'pop.'
Appearing in his kitchen Harry noticed that most of the lights were off, and no one appeared to be home. His instincts told him better though, and he followed them right into the bedroom where he had to stop and stare.
Tonks was standing looking out the window of the bedroom into the rainy night with a hand sewn quilt that matched her medium length light blue hair. Harry felt as if he had fallen in love all over again when she turned around and he watched her face light up.
"LUDDIE!" Tonks said running over to Harry, and grabbing him in a fierce hug that he gladly reciprocated. Nestling her head on Harry's chest, she whispered, "I've missed you so much."
"Me too," Harry replied, running his hand up and down her back, "Guess what?"
"What?" Tonks replied, leaning back and looking into Harry's eyes.
"I made it," Harry said with a big smile, "I'm an Unspeakable now!"
Tonks' face lit up even more, and she pulled his head down and captured his lips in a fierce kiss.
"I love you," Harry said when the parted, kissing her gently again.
"I love you too, Luddie," Tonks said, as she leaned into his embrace again.
"Did you have anything to eat yet?" Harry questioned, still hugging her, and felt her shake her head against his chest.
"No, not yet," was the response that he got.
"Want to go to that new restaurant in the village?" he asked as she slipped out of his embrace.
"Sure," she said with a smile on her face, walking over to her wardrobe to change her clothes.
"Oh, by the way, we're invited to dinner at my family's tomorrow," Harry said, as he walked into the bathroom to make sure his face didn't have any bruises or marks on it.
"Helen just wants to ask when we're getting married then?" Tonks called from the other room, getting a laugh from Harry.
"Yeah, pretty much," he called back, looking at himself in the mirror as 'Harry' for a moment, before stepping back out of the bathroom as 'Ludwig.'
"Ready to go?" Tonks asked, stunning Harry with the long black formfitting dress and curly blue hair that she was wearing. Concentrating for a minute, he shifted his slicked back hair to match the color of Tonks'.
"Now I am darling," Harry responded with a smirk, as Tonks laughed and hooked arms with Harry before the two Apparated away.
End Chapter