Disclaimer: I alas do not own Harry Potter I wish I did but I don't. All I own is this computer I'm working on and a few other items in this room of mine.
A/N: I must say it is nice to be wonted and you my faithful reviewers have shown that in your comments. I must say I look forward to your comments on this chapter. Anyway enough from me on with what you're really here for Rise of the Dragon Lords Chapter 9.
Chapter 9: Home
/Telepathic/
Deaths realm
Harry and Silvenestri found themselves in the midst of the black and purple mist that marked the realm of the dead. Harry looked around searching for a landmark that he might recognise or for Death himself moving in the mist. Silvanestri peered about her with wide and wondering eyes.
"I wonder if he would like it that I dropped in again or if he might not be too pleased to see me?" Harry mused to himself while peering into the mist. "How the devil are you supposed to find anything in this mist?"
He was uncertain about time in this place and how much might have passed before the sound of horses hooves come from somewhere behind them. Tuning around to peer into the mist he winced as the hooves seemed to come, once again from behind him and he turned, searching for the source of the sound. Mist swirled around them and from within its dark depths something lighter moved and gradually the white horse he knew as Binky emerged from the mist and walked over to Harry and Silvenestri. Seated astride his back was Death who once again was draped from head to toe in black robes and cloak.
Harry looked up at Death expectantly as he approached and he could feel the weight of that strange gaze on him and his companion. Silvanestri moved uncomfortably beside him but she remained silent and did not flinch when Death dismounted and stood in front of them.
"Well, Mr Potter. What are you doing here this time?" Death said in that rich but cold voice of his the blue glow from his eyes seemed to suggest amusement at this return visit of Harry's. To Harry it did not seem that Death was at all surprised to see him.
Harry knew that in the face of Death he must be careful but he must be true to himself. Death could be a prickly fellow and he had his own views on reality and morality that were unique to a creature that reaped souls.
"I am here to make a deal." Moving himself to stand before Silvenestri protectively while also thinking if what he was about to offer might possibly be enough to get Silvenestri into his time.
Death looked at Harry for a long moment and eventually gave a short, sharp nod. "Very well, Mr Potter. What is it that you offer Harry? I take it you want your friend here, the lovely Silvenestri to accompany you to your time? You do realise, do you not that it simply is not done? There are rules that even I must obey. Your companion, should she go forward would be and yet not be a few thousand years old. What are you offering that might convince me to permit this thing from happening?"
Harry drew in a deep breath, well aware that what he was promising would not be so easy to accomplish. "I'll close the portal under the Ministry of Magic for you if in return you will ensure that Silvenestri gets safely to my time. Deal?" Harry said glancing up at Death and looking him right in those blue glowing eye sockets.
Death raised a bony hand to rest on his jaw as he thought on this, he admitted somewhat unexpected offer, his eyes never leaving Harry's face. The gate beneath the Ministry of Magic he considered to be a personal affront and one that had annoyed him for some time, which considering his age through the ages was rather a long time. He personally loved the paradox of time.
"Very well, Mr Potter. Deal but I make one condition myself. You will seal the portal and you will do so within one week of your return. Do this and I well send Silvenestri to the woods out side your home of Little Whinging. Remember that I give you one week or Silvenestri will be returned to her own time line."
Harry nodded once, accepting the conditional. He knew that Death might well have refused his offer or placed some other much more unpalatable condition on the task. This seemed more than fair. At his agreement Death raised again his skeletal hand and Silvenestri vanished, seeming to become a part of the mist. Harry felt Deaths burning eyes on him as the mists began to swirl thickly around him and he knew that he was moving through time. Faintly, mixed and blended to be a part of the mist itself he could hear that rich and chilling voice.
"Did you recall our last conversation, Mr Potter? Did you recall that the physical form has a memory of what it should be or did you forget? You are, after all merely a teenager Harry and in many ways your body has much more innocence than your mind. It remembers and seeks to return to its appropriate place in time and space, but have no fear, you will at least remember all that you learned."
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08 August 1996 13:03 PM A.D
"It must be soon. He'll return soon."
Tonks was seated in the living room of Harry's suite of rooms magically placed within the bedroom at Privet Drive when the sound of a thud and a grunt came from Harry's bedroom. Tonks was on her feet in a flash and running into Harry's room to see Harry slowly getting to his feet and staring at first his arms and then legs, turning his hands over and over and shaking his head slowly as though in disbelief.
"Harry!" Tonks almost screamed and jumped Harry, giving him a large hug and a kiss on the cheek. She never saw the somewhat dazed but definitely pleased look that crossed Harry's face before she brought her hand around and slapped him across the face. "Where the hell you been?" she yelled after letting him climb back to his feet, her hands on her hips as she glared at him, awaiting his answer.
Harry blinked away the shock of such a contradictory greeting and with a much more careful smile he returned the hug while rubbing his red cheek and then completed looking him self over. The fading voice of Death returned to him and sighed as he understood Deaths warning and amusement.
He was sixteen.
'Damn. I am going to have to re train my body. I'm no longer twenty two.' Looking up at Tonks Harry could see the concern for him in her eyes and the worry his trip had caused her. "I'm fine Tonks. Really. Just a little tired from… well, it's hard to describe, but I can't rest yet. I have to meet a friend of mine before any problems might arise. Care to join me?" He said to her putting one arm around her shoulders and giving her a small smile, hoping that for now she would accept this. He really had to find Silvanestri before the dragon panicked or was discovered.
Tonks nodded and followed Harry out of the room knowing only too well that determined look in his eyes. "Fine, but you had better tell me what you did while you were gone or I will hex you into next week."
She made no move to remove Harry's arm from around her shoulders, finding it rather nice to have that weight there. It had seemed to be so long since he had left and really it had not been long at all. Merely a few hours but that weight was reassuring and produced a rather nice warm glow deep inside.
'Rather nice to have that arm there.' She thought.
"Where are we going, Harry?" Tonks said after they left the buildings behind and entered the woods.
Harry had been silent, looking around him as they had left the houses behind as though he was only too happy to be in the open air. Harry glanced at her and smiled as he moved a little ahead of her his hands pushing braches out of the way and holding them long enough for Tonks to walk through before releasing them and moving ahead of her again.
"It's just up ahead, Tonks. Trust me." Harry said, leading the way through a thicket of thorn bushes and he smiled when he saw his destination. He motioned ahead to show her the old cave where he had lived for three years. "Here we are. Just wait here please and I'll just get my friend."
Harry gave Tonks a reassuring smile and walked over to the cave mouth, pleased when Tonks trusted him enough to wait as he had asked. He knew that she must have been burning with questions but she had not snowballed him with an avalanche of demands that he explain but how much longer that would last he was uncertain. Certainly she was going to want some explanations when she saw his 'friend'.
Approaching the cave he calmed his thoughts and reached out with his mind, calling out to Silvenestri. He could only trust that Death had kept his word. /My Dear. You can come out now. I have brought a friend to meet you./
From deep within the cave there was a rustle of movement and then Silvenestri was there. In her human form she walked out of the cave and hurried up to Harry who picked her up and held her close. The dragon gone human buried her head into his shoulder shyly. At his encouraging murmur Silvenestri looked up from Harry's shoulder and at Tonks who's hair was at this moment a bright pink and the dragon child gave a small chuckle then turned to Harry.
"Don't leave me alone like that again Harry." She admonished him in a small hard voice, then she looked back over to Tonks and gave a small little girl shy smile.
Tonks looked in stunned surprise at the little girl with her silver hair and star blue eyes. A child? Where had Harry gotten a child and what had she been doing in a cave? It made no sense. "So, who is this Harry? Some competition for your heart maybe, or some one else?"
She was thinking furiously about what possible effects might be generated by that spell. For all she knew this child was his daughter from where ever; when ever he might have gone. Harry certainly did not look old enough to be her father but who knew what effects that time spell might have had? Just how long was Harry gone for Harry? Hours for her but for him…?
Harry smiled at Silvanestri and positively beamed at Tonks and after putting Silvenestri down he walked over to Tonks and gently but quite firmly hugged her. "No competition. I'll settle for the only woman in this clearing but you will have to share me with Silvenestri, Tonks, for my little dragon here can be quite demanding sometimes." Harry finished with a smile down at the little girl and then reached out and messed up her hair a little smiling at the hard look the little dragon child gave him for his affront to her draconic dignity.
Tonks looked at the little girl with a smile and after a moment she crouch down to her level. "Hello, Silvenestri. My name is Tonks and I am very pleased to meet you. How old are you and could you tell me where you're mum and dad are?" She said, tilting her head slightly so that her hair hid her slightly pink cheeks at what Harry had said. She was also highly amused and could not hide the chuckle at the look Silvenestri was giving Harry for messing up her hair.
Silvenestri looked Tonks in the eye and after a moment began to sort out the mess Harry had made of her hair as though he had unforgivably made her unpresentable in public. Quite clearly and calmly she spoke to this odd pink haired woman who she was certain she was going to have to learn to like whether she wanted to or not. Clearly Harry thought a great deal of her.
"My Mother died a week before I was hatched and my father died a little before. Harry is my friend and I let him ride me when ever he needs me."
Tonks blinked, looking stunned for a long moment before she looked at Harry and raised an eyebrow. "She lets you ride her when ever you need her? Hatched? She sounds like an animal or a bird more than a quite charming little girl." She said getting back to her feet and looking back down at the little girl who had narrowed her eyes at the animal comment.
Harry had winced at the animal comment and sighed softly. "I wouldn't say that again if I were you, Tonks. She is more than big enough for me to ride her when the need arises. Here, I'll show you. Silvenestri would you change to your true form please?" Harry said stepping back away from the child and pulling Tonks with him. He shared a conspiratorial grin and wink with the child and wondered just how Tonks would take what was to come.
Tonks looked at Harry and then at Silvenestri as she started to blur and grow in size and Tonks moved closer to Harry as she watched the little girl transform. Her eyes widened as the child grew and altered until she was in her true form, her wings half stretched and sitting in a fashion rather reminiscent of the sphinx, her head held high while looking down at the two who watched her transformation.
"Oh my god she's a… a dragon!" Tonks whispered in awe as Silvenestri lowered her head and playfully and gently nudged Tonks with her nose.
Harry smiled at Tonks and then reached up and started to rub Silvenestri's nose while Tonks just looked in shock at the Silver dragon before her. "Tonks, she won't hurt you. In fact she well protect you if I am not around as she knows how much I care for you." He looked into the starlight eyes of the dragon knowing that Silvenestri knew how he felt for Tonks. He wanted both of the ladies in his life to understand and like each other.
Tonks nodded and slowly, in a dazed, reached up and started to run a hand gently over Silvenestri's nose. "Oh, Harry. She is beautiful and do you mean what you say? You like me as more than a friend?" Tonks said the last part to Harry while still running a hand over Silvenestri's nose, her eyes however firmly on the young man standing so close to her. She could not help thinking about his diary and what she had read over the day. What he had written there and what he now said filled her with a glow of warmth.
Harry nodded once, decisively and pulled Tonks closer to him with a confidence that far exceeded his sixteen year old looks and while still running his hand over Silvenestri's head he leaned in closer to her. Harry smiled and then with infinite gentleness he kissed her while his free hand moved around her hips to draw her closer.
Tonks closed her eyes and let the kiss deepen, feeling the warmth within her grow at the confidence of the warm body pressed to her own. 'A boy his age should not be this good.' she hushed her dazed thought, not able to do more than enjoy the sensations.
Tonks was short of breath when Harry finally let her lips go. With a small shiver of regret that the kiss had ended she looked up at Silvenestri who was watching them with a questioning look and Tonks gave a small smile and rubbed a little harder along the dragons jaw. "What? Never seen two people kiss before, Silvenestri?" Tonks queried with a smile, bring both of her arms around Harry's neck pulling him in for another deep kiss which he made no effort to avoid.
The dragon snorted softly, wondering what was so fascinating about pushing lips together but the two humans were obviously enjoying it. "No, I have spent all of my time in caves and forests with Harry and he never left my side, not even to go after some of the village girls who seemed to want to chase him around a great deal of the time. I never did understand why they kept coming around. He does not seem to want to avoid you, that much is certain." Silvenestri nodded her head at them then with another soft snort lowered her head and butting her nose against them both, demanding some attention.
Tonks smiled, pleased to no end that Harry seemed not to have consorted with other women in the past and then kissed Silvenestri on the tip of her nose, marvelling at the warmth and apparent softness of the dragons skin. "I think I love you to Silvenestri. Now Harry, shouldn't we be getting back home and let me guess… you will want another room done for Silvenestri here?" she said looking back at Harry and giving him a smile.
Harry smiled back and nodded as Silvenestri blurred into the change and returned to her Human form and impulsively she jumped up into Harry's arms and hugged him after he let go of Tonks. She wanted her own hugs.
Tonks smiled at the little ones affections for Harry and the little girl jealousy that was quite endearing and lead the way out of the forest and back to number 4 Privet Drive.
It was sun set when Harry, still carrying Silvenestri and with Tonks leading them arrived at the Dursley's and walked up to the front door. On the walk back Tonks had told Harry everything that had happened to her over the day he had been absent right up until Harry had returned. She even told him what Dumbledore had said to her and waited for him to consider the information.
Finally Harry nodded and leaning forward he planted a quick kiss on her lips before looking at the door to Number 4. "Well, I think he was right about one thing."
Tonks frowned, looked at him for a long moment and then smiled. "Me too. Now all we have to do is make sure he does not keep us apart." Tonks finished by reaching out and taking Silvenestri out of Harry's arms, settling her on her own hip and giving her a quick reassuring hug.
Harry smiled, nodded once and open the door to number 4 only to be hit by his Aunt and Uncle at the same time yelling about what time of the day it was and the inconsiderate young upstart that he was.
Harry looked at Silvenestri and then Tonks and walked by them and sat down on one of the steps on the stairs, looking then at his red-faced relations with a small sigh of resignation. Tonks leaned against the wall with Silvenestri in her arms after they both looked at Harry. Half expecting him to say something the dragon child expected to see him rend these obnoxious and hideously impolite and noisy people limb from limb, but he just sat back and listened to his relative's rant in silence.
Silvanestri growled low in her throat but Tonks hushed her quietly and assured her it was going to be alright, this was just something that happened on a regular basis.
"Yes, I know what the time is but I had to pick up a friend who will be staying with me until school starts and before you say anything Tonks will be feeding her, not you." Harry said when their individual if simultaneous rants paused for breaths to be taken. You know I think we should have just walked right by and not stopped to take this. Harry thought to his friend while watching as his relatives blinked, he thought they rather resembled owls when they did that and silently apologised to Hedwig for even entertaining the thought.
Silvanestri blinked at him, slightly stunned by the outburst Harry seemed to take in his stride.
Petunia looked to Tonks to see Silvenestri in her arms and acquired a pinched look about her face before she flashed them with a hate filled look. "Whose child is that? Did you kidnap her, you little freak?" she spat at Harry while moving to stand behind Vernon.
A growl from deep within Harry was suppressed with difficulty but resisted the urge to teach them just how fed up he was with the treatment he had been taking for the last 15 years. He rose to his feet in an oddly graceful movement and pulled out his wand aiming for the two who made his life a living hell.
"You are to leave her alone." His voice came out as a deep growl. "If she comes to me and says that you have abused her in any way I will come and personally finish what Mad-eye Moody started the other week. Do I make my self clear?"
Tonks looked at Harry with wide eyes never having seen him like this in the time that she had known him. The anger for these people that he felt was radiating from him in something like the manner in which a power plant gives off power.
Vernon Dursley looked scarred for a moment but got his backbone back fast when he remembered Harry was banned from doing magic outside of that institute for psychopaths he called a school. "Nice try boy, but if you use magic outside that school you'll get expelled from it." He said with a nasty smirk and lot of confidence looking Harry right in the eyes.
"True. I can't use my wand outside of Hogwarts but what if I should use something else, hmmm?" Harry smiled a sweetly innocent smile. Putting his wand away he nodded to Tonks, his eyes meeting hers and clearly saying that he had been taught some new and interesting things while he was away.
Tonks nodded back and quickly worked her way past the confrontation taking place and started to go up the stairs to Harry's room, leaving him to deal with his Aunt and Uncle and a little scared of the look in Harry's eyes.
Tonks had just entered Harry's magically modified bedroom when Silvenestri was pulled gently from her arms and she looked up in shock as the girl was taken from her by Molly and Arthur Weasley. Then strong arms closed around her and Mad-Eye Moody held her, his magic eye looking down at Harry on the ground floor. Glancing quickly around the room she saw that Dumbledore was sitting in one of the chairs by the fire with Bill and Charley Weasley flanking him in the manner of two honour guards.
"What… Moody? What is going on here? Why are you all here?" Tonks said well aware that she was not only help physically by the man but was also in the grip of a binding spell.
Moody kept the binding spell up though neither his good eye nor his magic eye ever left Harry downstairs. She did not know what to make of this confrontation and she prayed that Silvanestri would not panic.
It was Dumbledore answered her, turning his gentle eyes to her and there was a hard glint there that was far from reassuring. "We are here to see if the unthinkable has happened. We are here to determine if Harry has learned the Dark Arts and, it would seem, that we need to learn where he got this child from." He spoke quietly and with great dignity, as though he had all the time in the world while studying the child fighting to get out of Molly's arms.
Tonks spared a valuable second or two trying to throw of the holding spell but was far from surprised when she failed. Moody kept renewing the spell as quickly as she worked against it and deciding enough was enough she looked at Silvenestri and tossed her head. Let them hear and realise that they could not treat them all like errant children. They deserved some respect and consideration.
"Inform Harry that he has guests!" she only hoped that Harry and Silvenestri had a way to talk to each other without screaming down the house.
Silvenestri quieted in Molly Weasley's arms and nodded. She was aware that everyone looked at her and that none of them, even Tonks knew what she was capable of doing and she thought the looks they turned to her were rathe funny. She did not know if she should be scared or not, these people did not radiate hate and rage the way those nasty people down stairs had but she closed her eyes and reached for him.
/Harry some people are here! I think they are going to try to take me from you. Be careful. What is Dark Arts? Do you have any?/ She opened her eyes and could see that everyone realised that she had power within her but she smiled sweetly knowing that some fun was about to begin.
Harry who was standing at the bottom of the stairs smiling knowingly at his aunt and uncle turning his head to look up the stairs and with a dismissing sniff at his Uncle he started to walk up them. Placing his feet with care and confidence he missed the creaky ones as he went and sent his thoughts to his friend.
/Its alright, Silvanestri, I'll deal with them. Just get ready to get Tonks out of harms way./ Harry continued to climb the stairs and then he was standing in front of his door.
Moody watched as Harry walked up the stairs, noting the quiet confidence in that stride. This was not a nervous student coming before a group of teachers but something else again and he focused his magic eye on Harry, noting the amount of power and confidence he generated was far more than he had shown when he was here a week ago. Moody was quietly impressed and curious. This would be undoubtedly interesting.
Harry paused before the closed door and gestured at the door and under his breath whispered, "Come to me, my cloak."
In the room everyone, even Mad Eye Moody looked up in surprise as the silver cloak whipped itself into the air across the room before disappearing through the narrow gap in the doorway that Harry had caused. Everyone in the room had either seen or been told about the silver artefact at one time or another and they tensed as they exchanged glances.
Silvanestri giggled.
The door opened.
Bill looked from the bedroom door from which the cloak had appeared to where Harry was now standing, the cloak having settled to rest around his shoulders. The silver folds hid most of his body and the hood was pulled up, concealing most of Harry's face.
"Well what was the point in that?" he said quietly with his wand at the ready, eyeing the silver folds of the cloth curiously.
'Good question and one to which I don't know the answer at this time, but Harry is defiant. I can feel his defiance clearly enough feel too not just his power. Curiously his mind feels older.' Moody thought while he kept Tonks under the holding spell and reflected that he was only just managing to hold her. She had gotten stronger over time and kept throwing the spell off faster and faster. He was quite pleased with her progress.
Harry fought down a quiver of unease and brought back to mind the years he had grown in the past. While he might look sixteen again he was something more than a student now. With a confident smile at them he turned his eyes to Molly who was holding Silvenestri around the waist.
"I think it would be a very good idea for you to let my friends go now or I can promise that you will all find you have bitten off more than you can chew." Harry glared at Moody and let his voice slip into the Dragon Lords deeper register while pulling his wand out and pointing it confidently at Charley. He knew that his choice of target would be surprising to them but none of them knew just who and what Silvanestri was and Charlie could be the most dangerous to Silvanestri as he was the one who knew the most about dragons.
Dumbledore considered Harry for a moment seemingly not surprised at all by anything that had thus far happened and nodded to Moody who released Tonks but removed her wand from her in the same move. Tonks joined Harry who stepped around her, placing himself in front of her. "That is one, Old Man. Now Silvenestri and then you can all leave this house and I will see you at Hogwarts on September 1st, as always."
Dumbledore shock his head gently and said, "No, Harry. Your are going to explain to us everything that you have done over the last 24 hours. Everything that happened since you left this morning."
Harry smiled and turned slightly to face Tonks and handed his wand to her without them seeing. "I'll say this much to you, Professor. Death will not like you messing with a deal I have made with him. I suggest that you let Silvenestri go." In a low voice so only Tonks could hear he whispered to her, "Can you get this room large enough for Silvenestri to reach full size in under a minute?"
Tonks nodded and taking a deep breath she started to make the room grow larger with Harry's wand, shocked to feel the power it held compared to her own wand. She was afraid of the confrontation building but she trusted him.
Dumbledore and the others looked around the room as it warped around them, growing larger and larger. "Harry what do you think you are doing?" Dumbledore murmured as he rose and moved next to Molly who was starting to have trouble holding Silvenestri as she struggled, trying to get to Harry. The little girl had even bitten Molly on the hand in an attempt to get out of her hold and to reach her friend.
Harry smiled then looked over at Silvenestri and shrugged. "Change, my friend, and show them what they have walked into." We will deal with changing their memories later.
In a blink Silvenestri smiled and stopped fight Molly and her smile grew into a draconic smirk as she started to blur, her eyes almost glowing in glee at the fun she was about to have with these lesser wizards.
Molly and Arthur both backed away from this child, dropping her to the ground, as they retreated and Dumbledore too stepped back quickly. Moody looked on with interest as his magical eye told him that this child was under some form of powerful illusion type spell. Bill and Charley Weasley looked on in shock as Silvenestri started to grow in size.
The next thing Dumbledore knew he was face to face with a monster of legend. A large Silver dragon, wings folded close to its body as the room was only just big enough for its body to fit without crushing half of them. Two large horns were atop its head each horn a good three feet long. There was no spines running down its back or along the tail that folded neatly close to its left legs.
"What the hell is this?" Dumbledore whispered as Silvenestri lashed her tail around and knocked Molly and Arthur across the room with the hit, knocking them out cold but not harming them to badly.
Charley sucked in a shocked breath. The history of dragons was a necessary part of his studies to attain the position he now had and he knew exactly what stood before him. "A silver dragon! But they are extinct!" He said in complete shock his voice showing both fear and respect for this beast of legend.
"Professor Albus Dumbledore, I would like you to meet Silvenestri, my friend and companion."
Drawing on the teachings of the Copper Dragon Lord Harry set a shield about himself that would negate any magic one of them might manage to throw at him. He reached deeper, drawing on his powers, reaching for the spell that was going to make this terrible hash of a home coming alright. "Now say good-bye to her and forget ever seeing her." Harry thrust one hand up in the air to release the spell. "Memories are a very valuable thing Dumbledore, they hold power for good or ill. Now its time to forget having seen Silvenestri and myself today so until September 1st" a bright flash of light emitted from Harry's hand and enveloped everyone in the room but Tonks and Silvenestri.
When it faded everyone was gone.
Harry was standing next to the fireplace when Tonks could see again and Silvenestri was still in her true draconic form and still standing where Dumbledore had been. The dragon looked bemused and not a little upset that her game had ended before it had really begun.
"Harry? Ah… what happened to everyone?" Tonks asked walking over to him and watching as Silvenestri blurred, changing back to her human form before she jumped into the chair Dumbledore had been sitting in when it all had started to go wrong.
"Well if the spell worked, and I do not see why it should not have done so, their memories have been altered so they all think that nothing happened to me in the past 24 hours. If I placed just the right amount of power into the spell then there will not even be a problem at Hogwarts. Silvenestri should be allowed to come with me at the start of the school year and no one will comment on her presence." Harry frowned as he considered the exact amount of effort he had placed in that spell but when he looked at Tonks he smiled. He was sure that he had gotten it just right and he looked at Silvenestri who was falling asleep in the chair.
Tonks followed Harry's sight and smiled then noticed her wand lying next to Silvenestri on the chair. "Harry how did you get my wand back? Moody had it in his robes didn't he?" she queried, taking it and placing it in its holster then handing Harry back his own wand.
Harry smiled taking his wand. "The spell I cast holds everyone but the caster in a moment in time for one minute per person in the room. That means that I had nine minutes to alter everyone's memories with additional memory charms and to get your wand back." Harry by then had walked up behind Tonks and warped his arms around her.
Tonks noted that Harry had also seemed to have found and retrieved the broach for his cloak as well and just smiled at him, leaning into his arms. "But how come they were gone when the spell was over instead of still being here?"
Harry chuckled and just shook his head slightly before he leaned close to Tonks's ear. "Some mysteries are good for people to figure out themselves. Now help me get Silvenestri into your room since I think that you will be staying with me tonight." He touched his lips lightly to her earlobe.
"You're awfully confident, aren't you, Mr. Potter?" Harry waggled his eyebrows at her and Tonks smiled. "But I think you might be right. This time." Tonks looked down at Silvenestri and then at Harry "Will she keep this form over night or should I make my room larger now?"
Harry also looked at Silvenestri, still holding Tonks and enjoying her warmth against his body. He was very glad to be back with her and after this awful scene he was looking forward to being quite alone with her. "I would make it bigger now just to be safe."
Tonks nodded and managed to get out of Harry's grip, slapping him lightly on the arm as a gentle reprimand for imprisoning her when she had work to do. Walking over to her room she started to make it larger even as the lounge shrank back to its usual proportions. Harry picked up Silvenestri and joined Tonks and they entered the bedroom where he placed Silvenestri on Tonks's bed and he pulled the blankets over her and planted a light kiss on her forehead by way of a good night.
Tonks watched Harry with a gentle smile, liking this new view of the teenager who seemed to be anything but a teenager. When he turned to her she lead the way to his room and quite promptly informed him that he could get those lecherous thoughts right out of his mind. They were going to be getting a good nights sleep.
'After all, Mr. Potter, I have to be certain that you love me. I don't do casual.' She mused as they settled to talk.
There would be nothing physical between them until she knew he loved her and it was not just a crush on either of their parts. As the night grew late they talked about the seven hours he had been gone. Seven hours for Tonks but so much longer for Harry. Tonks would know much of it before morning, if not all there was to know.
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