Chapter 3: The Talks

Tonks herself was a mess. She had not slept much the previous night. She had lain in bed thinking of every possible way this situation could play out. In the end, the only way that the Order would not be compromised was to go through with the marriage.

Tonks felt almost the same way as Harry did. She understood that he was as much a pawn in this situation as she was. He never asked for Sirius to die. He never asked for the inheritance and he surely never had anything to do with the passing of 'The Purity Laws.' She wanted to be angry when she first got to her room and started to think. How could she be expected to marry someone six years younger than her? Granted he was more grown up than most of the people his age, but still. Hell sometimes he acted more mature than she did.

She knew now that she would accept the marriage solution. It was the only way to keep the Order safe and to keep masses amount of finances out of Voldemort's hands. She also resolved to try and make the best out of the situation. She knew that Harry didn't love her. She knew she didn't love him. She knew that love wasn't a possibility right now. They barely knew each other. They had met a few times over the last year but had never really sat down and tried to get to know each other better. She resolved that if he was willing to marry her that she would try her best to make sure that she was a good wife.

Men didn't grow up having dreams of big fancy weddings and all of that, but even they wish to be able to fall in love and be able to marry the person they love. The final nail in the coffin for her came earlier that evening.

Shortly after she had departed for her room; she had worked herself into a rant. She had taken out her wand and was ready to go after Harry and hex until next week for causing this situation. However just as she approached Harry and Ron's room she heard Harry yelling at Ron. She decided to take a second to cool off she listened to what they were saying.

"Damn it Ron. I'm not just going to use her as a sex toy or something. I'm serious about this situation. I may not have planned for it to happen but I will support Tonks in whatever decision she makes. If she so chooses that the idea is ludicrous and that we should just find another Order HQ that's fine with me. I may not want Voldemort to have any of this but I could care less if I got it either. This is more about the security of the Order. If she decides that we should get married to keep this stuff out of His hands then I will do everything I can to make sure she doesn't regret that choice. I am not the kind of person to force his will upon somebody else."

"I realize that it is every woman's dream to be proposed to in a romantic situation and marry the man she loves in a huge ceremony with all of her friends. I may not be able to be the man she loves but I will do everything I can to make sure she has the rest of it. Maybe someday she will grow to love me and for me to love her and maybe it wont ever happen but that doesn't mean I wont try."

She ventured to guess what it was that Ron had said prior to this rant from Harry. She assumed it had something to do with how lucky he was to have a chance at shagging a metamorphmagus. Ron seemed to share the attitude most guys had when it came to her.

Tonks had never had a relationship last more than two weeks. It seems that around the two week mark the guy would decide that he had played it safe for long enough and could ask her to change her appearance to their 'ideal woman' without making her upset. As soon as any guy would ask her to change she would end the relationship. She wanted to be with a man that loved her for her not what she could change into.

No one with the exception of her parents has ever seen her in her natural state. She vowed, when she was young, to never show true form to anyone except her husband. She actually toned her looks down quite a bit to form what most people would call her 'standard' form. She also purposely acted like a klutz all of the time. As an Auror she had to be more than capable to walk without tripping. Again she wanted people to love her for her not outward appearances.

She knew in her heart after hearing Harry's words that she would marry him. The love may take time to grow but if he was as willing as he said he was to make her happy, even in this forced situation, then she was willing to meet him halfway. By the end of Harry's rant she slowly walked backed to her room with silent tears falling from her cheeks.

She realized that he would never force her into anything she didn't want to do and she knew she would never force him to do anything he didn't want to. It made sense that if they both put in the effort to make the other happy then just maybe this situation could work out for everyone. The Order will get to keep their headquarters, she would get a selfless husband who would do anything to make her happy even at his own cost, and Harry would get someone to confide him and to give him the family that he never had growing up.

She decided to go back to her room and lie down and go over how this could possibly work out for everyone. Now that she knew how Harry felt, and she knew how she felt, she knew that it was time for her and Harry to have a talk. So she put on her bathrobe and headed down to the kitchen to wait. She knew that since he had skipped dinner like her that he would be up and in the kitchen before anyone else the next morning. So she sat at the table with her tea and waited for him to arrive.

Harry slowly sat down at the table almost fearing the conversation he was about to have. He had never been very good at talking to girls let alone women. He had absolutely no idea how to proceed in this situation. So he waited.

They sat in silence for almost thirty minutes before he couldn't stand it anymore and spoke to her.

"Tonks-"

"Harry-" Tonks started at the same time.

They both gave a little smile now that the tension was broken. Tonks decided to let him go first and motioned to Harry to continue.

"Tonks, I just wanted to apologize for putting you in this situation. I-"

"It's not your fault Harry. You are as much a pawn in this situation as I am. The only difference is you were informed about it first so it seems more like your doing than it actually is."

"But-"

"No buts, Harry. I heard you talking to Ron upstairs after the meeting."

"You heard that? Um….How much did you hear?"

"Enough to make my decision. I want you to know that I have made up my mind and I do not intend to change it."

Fearing her response Harry remained silent.

"I have decided that if you are willing, then I would like to go ahead with the marriage."

Whatever he had expected it wasn't that. He sat there slack jawed trying to figure out why she hadn't drawn her wand and hexed him yet.

His expression must have shown on his face. Tonks let out a small laugh and then took pity on him.

"Close your mouth Harry. Yes, I was upset at first and I actually did go to your room with the intent of hexing you. But once I got to your room I heard you yelling at Ron about what I can assume was his 'why can't I be lucky enough to bag a woman that can change into anyone I want' comments. It was when I heard your response that I stopped and truly considered your position in this and realized that both of us are in the same boat."

"I also figured that since you are so willing to go out of your way to make this work, then the least I could do is to meet you halfway."

"What about the age difference?" Harry finally found his voice and asked the first question he could think of that she hadn't covered yet.

"What about it? Does it bother you? I realize that I am six years older than you but you are also more mature than most people my age, myself included. It was awkward thinking about it to begin with but ten years from now the age it won't seem so bad. A 26 year old and a 32 year old as a pair are fairly common. It seems like a lot now but it won't matter soon enough. It doesn't matter to me now and in the end it only matters what you and I think. You will be at the age of consent on your birthday and then it is your choice."

"You've really thought this out haven't you?"

"I guess in my heart I knew the answer after I stopped eavesdropping on your conversation, so yeah I have had a bit of time to think through the details of it."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"So I guess we make the announcement tomorrow?"

"Today. Or did you already forget that it is almost breakfast time."

"Oh yeah. Well we have a few minutes still before anyone else arrives so how about we iron out a few more details?"

"OK. I think that we should probably plan for the ceremony to be on your birthday. After all we have to make sure that you are at the age of consent."

"I think that that is for the best. If you don't mind I would like to spend the rest of the month getting to know each other a bit better. You know like birthdays, favorite color, likes and dislikes, things like that."

"I think we can arrange something like that." Tonks replied with a smirk. She had already come up with some ideas as to how they could get to know each other better. She had some vacation time from the Aurors that she planned on using this month. Since she had spent her entire time with the Aurors knowing about the return of Voldemort, she never used any of her vacation time last year so she could spend the time getting information for Dumbledore. She planned on taking full advantage of that situation now. She had a month and half of paid vacation and she was going to take it all right now. After all, what better way to spend ones vacation then getting to know their fiancé? It's not like she would need the money after her marriage anyways, if the Black fortune is as big as everyone makes it out to be.

Harry was just getting ready to respond when Remus walked into the kitchen. He got up and walked over the grey haired werewolf and gave him a hug. He had unofficially adopted Remus as his father figure. He was after all the last of his father's friends.

Remus was a little surprised at the greeting but returned it just the same. He had no intentions of trying to replace Sirius in his life but he knew that he would always be there to support Harry in everything he did. Remus had stayed silent during yesterday's Order meeting. He had long thought that Harry was capable of making his own decisions. He decided to sit it out and see how he handled the situation. He was mildly surprised to see Tonks at the table with a smile on her face. He thought she would have had her wand drawn and Harry backed into a corner.

Remus joined them at the kitchen table and the two of them filled him in on their decision. To say he was shocked was an understatement. He was almost positive that they would eventually agree to it and get married but he never expected them to be so content with making that decision fourteen hours after the situation was brought to their attention.

Remus sighed and looked at Harry. "Harry, I think it is time that you and I had a 'talk'."

Realizing the talk he was about to get Harry blushed beet red and looked to Tonks for help. Tonks for her part was trying her best to not laugh out loud in front of Harry. She only succeeded in snorting rather loudly.

Remus looked at her and smiled. "And what makes you think that you are going to get out of this situation free from embarrassment?"

"I'm 22 years old, Remus. I had that talk when I turned 16."

"Be that as it may, I think it is time that you had another talk with your mother. I'm sure that she would want to be informed of her daughter's engagement before the Order of the Phoenix is. Don't you agree, Nymphadora?"

Scowling, Tonks decided that he was right and left the room to go get dressed and floo her mom.

"So, Harry. When a man a woman love each other they……..

That was as much as Tonks heard before the door closed and she headed upstairs.

Tonks arrived back in the kitchen ten minutes later to see Remus sitting with a glass of firewhiskey looking like he had blushed a great deal recently and Harry, who was still sitting at the table with his head in his hands rocking back and forth. She could not see his face but his ears were as dark as the Weasley's hair.

She walked up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She expected him to be more embarrassed and maybe stutter a bit when he turned around and saw it was her. What she got instead was a look of terror and then Harry ran from the room blushing horribly. Remus just shook his head and downed the rest of the firewhiskey.

Tonks decided to go after Harry since she needed to talk to him anyway. He was going to have to get used to being around her if they were going to be married. She also promised her mom that as soon as she finished getting ready that she was going to bring her fiancé over to meet her and her dad. She did not tell them the circumstances of the marriage or the name of her fiancé. She figured that that was something that needed to be discussed in person.

Tonks found Harry in the sitting room. He was lying down on the couch with his eyes closed. Tonks sat down next to him and he looked up. He did not run this time but he couldn't maintain eye contact for very long either. They sat there for a few moments before Tonks turned to him and said, "Harry I know that whatever twisted version of the talk one of the marauders was able to think up has probably embarrassed you more than is necessary but I need to have a serious discussion right now."

"What's up Tonks?" Harry immediately did his best to act in control of his emotions realizing that this was something that obviously had her a little worried.

"My parents want to meet you?" Tonks said not quite meeting his eyes. This was all still new to her too. She never had a serious relationship were she had to take her boyfriend to meet her parents and now she had to bring her fiancé.

"When?"

"Right now."

"OK."

"OK?"

"Yeah. OK. I knew one of the things to expect in the near future was to have to meet your parents. While I wish that I had a bit more time to prepare for it, I knew it was going to happen. It's best just to accept the fact and meet it head on since it can't be avoided."

'Maybe this wont be so bad after all. He certainly has no problem taking responsibility in situations were it is required.'

"OK then. Let's go."

"How are we getting there?"

"We are going to floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then take a muggle taxi to their house. They have the floo set up so that you can make floo calls but not enter the house that way. It would be too easy for Death Eaters to get to them."

"I'm going to go tell Remus where we are going and then we can head out."

"Should I go change first?"

"No you look fine." Tonks said, even though he looked a lot more like a homeless person than a powerful wizard. She couldn't understand why he always had to wear around those rags.

"Ok let's go." Harry responded.

After telling Remus where they were headed and assuring him that they would indeed be back before the meeting started the headed to the floo. The distance from the Leaky Cauldron to her parent's house was actually further than the distance between Grimmauld Place and her parent's house but it was not safe to call for a taxi in front of the Order's Headquarters.

They hailed a cab and Tonks told him to go to Number 19 Oak Ridge Drive. The ride took about fifteen minutes in which Tonks gave Harry a crash course on what to expect from her parents. She assured him that he would do fine.

Harry stood next to Tonks as she rang the doorbell. A woman in her early 40's answered the door and Harry assumed that she was Andromeda Tonks.

Andromeda's eyes flickered over Harry quickly before turning to her daughter and giving her an enthusiastic greeting. After the hug, Tonks motioned to Harry.

"Mum, I would like you to meet my fiancé, Harry Potter."