Chapter Twenty-Four

Serena's Problem, Tonks' Story

Remus caught up with Ginny after a moment. He stopped her to find out what had happened. However seeing her face, he knew something had upset her. He just didn't know what.

"Ginny, what is the problem? If you are worried about Harry, don't be. Dumbledore wouldn't cause him pain that he could not handle." Remus said.

Ginny smiled weakly. "Harry will win, Remus. If he chose to fight with all his power, Dumbledore would be down by now. I'm not worried about that." She said sadly.

"Then what is the problem, Ginny?" He asked.

"She loves him Remus." Ginny said softly.

"You know then." Remus said calmly. "Come with me, we can talk in my office. It is better than letting the entire school know about your problems."

She nodded and followed him to his office. He offered her a seat, which she took. Remus stepped out of the office momentarily, returning with a pot of tea. Pouring her a cup, he smiled sadly at her. He knew this discussion could not end well, either for Harry, Ginny or Serena he had no idea.

"What is it you're worried about then, Ginny?" Remus asked.

"Why did she lie?" Ginny asked.

"She wanted Harry to be happy. I really don't know the whole story myself Ginny." Remus said calmly. "I can tell you what I do know, if you would like."

"Yes, please." She said softly.

"First, she had been watching Harry as a favor to Sirius, since Voldemort returned." Remus said. "The crush she told you about was not a short thing, it seems. She told Sirius as much the first time she saw Harry that he was 'a cute little bloke.' Sirius didn't worry about comments like that until she said that he was quite a charmer, kind of like Sirius was before he went to Azkaban. That is when Sirius became worried, and gave her the third degree about why she kept talking about Harry." Remus laughed lightly. "Seemed he thought his godson should not have his first girlfriend being six years older than him. 'A right mess that would make for him. Bad to his ego as well, having to compete with people older than him. You especially Remus!' he said all the time.

"Tonks admitted that she had a crush on him, waving it away as a lingering thing from being a teenager. You see, Tonks didn't really have many friends in school. Being a metamorphmagus sort of makes people think you are a freak, especially when you are going through puberty. It was both sad and funny to watch her grow up. Sad, because people shunned her for being what she was. Funny because every day she had a new face.

"In that way she never had the chance that you did. You had a chance to develop crushes on people, date others, and have fun with your friends. She pulled herself away from everyone, because no one wanted to talk to her unless she was being insulted. When she turned 16, her body finally calmed down and she was able to be somewhat normal. That is when she became mischievous. Her mischief was worse than ours ever was.

"She always had something to prove, being the butt of many jokes she decided it was time to make some of her own. I won/t tell you all the damage she caused as it might give you too many ideas. Anyway, she didn't change once she left school really. It took her joining the Order to calm her down. Back to the story at hand. Sirius made her promise that she would only deal with Harry in an official capacity.

"Understand well, it was not because Sirius didn't think Harry shouldn't be free to make his own decisions, but because Sirius knew Tonks was...different. Sirius said many times if she was just like him, he would let her have her way with Harry and be done with it. However, Tonks seemed to be the exact opposite of Sirius. She never looked at any boy or man with caring. She may joke about her previous...encounters... but she was never even around people other than Sirius and I if she could help it. She seemed to be waiting for one person. Even I was shocked at this, and I was a boy scout compared to Sirius.

"No, Sirius did not want her to get attached to Harry. He felt that would be unfair to Harry, being as he had yet to have one girlfriend and seemed none to eager to look for one. Indeed, if not for Sirius' death, I feel he would still be single. I'm sorry if that hurts you Ginny, but if you look back you will realize that he did not even act eager to date Cho, as I heard from Dumbledore and Tonks both. He seemed to not have time for girls before Sirius died.

"I believe in his mind, he had finally gotten a father, and nothing else really mattered. Most boys dream of beautiful girlfriends on their arm while they are in school. Harry only dreamed of having parents and friends. When Sirius died, Harry found that the love he had for him had nowhere to go. It was then he decided he needed a girlfriend." Remus said as calm as he had started.

"So if Sirius hadn't died, he wouldn't have noticed me?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, he noticed you. We all knew that, by the way he would look at you during the summer before fifth year. He just wasn't interested in bringing this up. Sirius noticed as well, though he thought it was funny. He was reminded of James when he first noticed Lily. Tonks however, had noticed him as well. She began finding it harder to keep her promise to Sirius. Which is why she was only seen around the house if she was needed to protect him, or there was an Order meeting near the end of summer.

"When Sirius died, however, it seemed all bets were off. She was no longer being official. She would yell at me constantly about the way Harry was being treated for what he was doing. She agreed with him before she even heard his side of the story. She began screaming about it being his right to do that to the muggles, claiming that they deserved it. When she heard Harry's explanation, she put aside her promise completely. She even talked me out of holding her to her promise, saying that he needed her at this time, someone like Sirius who wouldn't judge him.

"Dumbledore assumed she was his confidant purely because he opened up to her in a way he never even opened up to you, Ginny. I surrendered to Albus' will because I thought it was right. I even began believing her, who said she just wanted to make him happy again. She put you two together, and it seemed you both were happy. She didn't even mention Harry in any way other than a friend would for a long time.

"Sirius was trying to be sly with the godmother bit. He knew Harry would pick her, because he knew that she was the only person Harry knew who was enough like him to take his place. The shock she received when Harry picked her, though, that was for a whole different reason. She told me about this during Christmas holiday, the night they had...well, you know. She was hoping that being around her would cause Harry to love her.

"It seemed to work too, as I noticed through the summer their reactions changed quite quickly. Harry had no qualms over her being close to him, as if it were natural. The worst problem came when Dumbledore offered her an option to be a teenager again. She remembered Sirius' words well. 'If you two were the same age it might be different, but do not force the boy to choose someone older than him.' She figured this was a loophole to her promise. She would be Harry's age, and so it would be no problem if he loved her then.

"From what she said, it only became worse for her after that. Her feelings jumped into a teenagers full swing. She couldn't control them, and he just kept on giving you the attention she was dreaming of. That night at the house, she came downstairs furious with herself. She began to rant about how she could have been so stupid, falling in love with a boy then just handing him to someone else. What made it worse was that me and Albus began to think that he was in love with her as well. Feeling this could be a volatile situation we obviously became nervous.

"Well, we weren't disappointed. Harry barged in furious. Thinking she was blaming him, he went on his own rant. Ordered everyone to get out too. Well the situation was resolved in a shocking way. Now, here comes the problem Ginny." Remus said sadly looking at the girl, his eyes sad at the sight.

The girl was sitting perfectly still, eyes wide with tears falling from her face. He couldn't help but wish she had never noticed Serena that day, wished Harry knew what he had started with his one mistake. Most of all, he wished Harry had simply seen what he saw from the time he saw Harry and Tonks together as Serena.

"Tell me Remus, and stop acting as if I am a fragile little girl." Ginny said trying to smile, though it didn't work. "I am a Marauder after all."

Remus smiled warmly at her. "Yes you are. I believe Harry feels the same way for her, though he can't escape the thoughts that she was his godmother, and then for so long was like a sister to him."

Ginny closed her eyes for a minute and sighed heavily. Opening her eyes she looked directly at him. "How do we find out Remus, cause I know you would not tell me all this if you didn't have a plan. I know the mind of a Marauder all too well now, remember?" She said, and smiled sadly.

"You're right, Ginny. I have had a plan since Christmas to see if I was right. I stopped myself from doing so because, even though I love both of them as my own children and friends, I didn't want to take away your happiness." Remus said carefully. "If we do this and I'm right, then you will loose him as a boyfriend. You do realize this, right?"

Ginny nodded, a final tear escaped her eyes. "Yes, but it would be better if he were happy, whether or not I was with him."

"Ginny, you are a true friend, and you must love him to do this. We have a lot to talk about, and not a lot of time. We will need to act quickly before they realize that we are brewing something up. As you know the mind of a Marauder, so do they, and perhaps Harry best of all. He is his fathers son. Lets get started." Remus said and they began to discuss their plans.

Harry and Serena searched for Ginny for half the day before deciding to just relax and have a good time. They decided to go flying for a while. Both of them grabbing their brooms, flew threw the halls and out the doors of the castle. Harry was still feeling wonderful from the duel earlier in the day, and now flying high in the air, it was all he could do to not just allow himself to forget that he still had responsibilities in the world. Today, he felt no worries, no cares. He felt like he was a normal 16 year old boy.

Landing by the lake, he took off his robes and laid on the ground, using the robes as a pillow. He looked out over the grounds of Hogwarts, his grin never fading. He watched Serena fly about for a while before she landed next to him and joined him on the ground. They just laid there, side by side, enjoying the beautiful day.

"Have I told you yet that you were amazing today, Potter?" Serena asked him cheerfully.

"About ten times." Harry said laughing suddenly. "But as I could use all the causes to have a big head as possible, I believe I can take hearing it again." He finished, grinning goofily.

"You were amazing today!" Serena said laughing.

They just laid their till dinner, occasionally telling jokes, or explaining a new plan for 'the next great prank', or talking about what they needed to work on in the DA. Both of them were surprised when Ron and Hermione got them for dinner as opposed to Ginny. Not seeing her at dinner either they became worried.

As soon as dinner was over they searched the castle again for Ginny. When they didn't find her they went to Remus' office, hoping he might know where to look. When they couldn't find him either, Harry got an idea and ran back to Gryffindor tower, Serena close on his heels. He grabbed the map from his trunk immediately.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Harry said quickly.

He looked at the map and saw that Remus and Ginny were together, in the anteroom where he had to wait during the Tri wizard Tournament during fourth year. Something occurred to him. He started smiling broadly. He knew what was happening now. It made perfect sense. Why she wasn't around all day, why she hadn't found them for dinner.

"They are planning something." Harry said. "And by the fact that they didn't ask us to join in, that means that we are the ones it's aimed at. I think this calls for some planning of our own."

"I would most happily agree. But first, lets see how well they do. So we know how to respond." Serena said smiling now.

"Agreed. We don't know anything till after the prank is pulled. This is going to be fun." Harry said.