AS Usual I do not own any of the characters or the original story itself, I write this for fun (even if I'm terrible at it.) and am making no money.
Chapter 8: The New Normal:
The next two week flew by as he adjusted to his new housemate, he wanted to say that he was finally past her teasing but that would be a lie. She was right though so far that pout was winning every argument, Ted thought it was hilarious while Andi just gave him a look he couldn't ascertain. As much as Dora thoroughly annoyed him, he did enjoy her company, she made him laugh and she brought excitement to every room she entered, her attitude was a welcome addition to the otherwise quiet house. One thing he could do without though was her and Zephyr's constant tag team of pranks, he was coming to realize that Zephyr was the snake equivalent to Dora. Thank Merlin he was quieter, probably the nature of being a snake after all. Andi had already written into Professor McGonagal and gotten his transfer request in courtesy of the fake paper trail that the unspeakables organized. Andi had even gotten permission for Zephyr to be allowed in since he was a bonded familiar, he himself hadn't decided if he was going to reveal that he was a Parselmouth. He was mostly worried about revealing it because when the chamber reopened in 5 years, he might be considered suspect number 1. He would have to have a conversation with his guardians about what he should do.
He was broken out of his musings when Dora entered the room and did her usual morning routine by bounding over and giving him a hug with a kiss on the cheek, which of course elicited a blush and her a giggle.
"Morning beloved."
He just rolled his eyes at her morning greeting; he was starting to get used to it after all.
"So serious question Har, would you like me to help you run through your exercise to control your morph this morning?" she said while piling her plate high with breakfast.
Before he could answer Andi and Ted entered the kitchen "Morning kids, Morning all."
"NOT a kid mum."
"Yes you are child"
"Ugghhhh you enjoy tormenting me don't you?" she said throwing her hands up in exasperation.
"Whatever you say dear." Andi said taking a swig of her morning tea, while Ted looked on in amusement of his daughter's annoyance. He exchanged the usual look with Harry, that was becoming a morning routine as they both hid their smirks, which like usual caused his daughter to let out a sigh of annoyance.
"So what's the plan for today, You do know your mother and I expect the both of you to behave yourselves now that we are finally going back to work." Ted said looking sternly at Harry and Dora.
"We know dad, no surprising snogging for Harry." she deadpanned causing Harry to choke on his coffee.
Clearing his throat he threw a glare at a beaming Dora, "Thanks a lot Nymphadora."
This earned him the usual Dora glare accompanied by the standard don't call me Nymphadora speech, which he just looked at her with amusement.
"Now that Nymphadora has let out her daily name threats we should get going Ted."
"Right you are Dromeda." Waving a quick goodbye to the kids him and Andi disapparated out.
Dora looked at him innocently, "Sooooo, wanna fly?"
Harry bounded up going to grab his Nimbus, ignoring the laughing girl in the kitchen.
Scene Break
It was a few hours later and a completely exhausted Dora and Harry re-entered the house. They had spent and enjoyable time just basking in flying. Dora while clumsy on the ground was anything but, in the air, while she wasn't as great of a flyer as Harry, she was still good. Up in the air there were no expectations just the rush of speed, something that Harry wholeheartedly agreed with. He could always be himself when he was flying, it was nice to find someone that felt the same way about flight as him.
Harry retreated to his room to continue his studies on runes, he had finally finished 3rd year material at an EE level of quality, at least according to Ted. He still had a whole year worth of material to cover before September, but he knew he could do it. Ever since he had been ejected to this time, he had felt stronger both magically and mentally, he was really starting to believe the Horcrux was dampening his mental faculties. While he didn't have in eidetic memory, he did find he retained knowledge easier.
The one other thing than flying he liked about Dora was her ability to just sit in silence with him. She didn't interrupt his studies all that much, other than to ask him if he wanted something or when he would be done. She herself was rather studious in his opinion, she kept going on about being an auror. He thought she would be an excellent auror, especially if her work ethic was anything like her study habit. While he recognized her prankster self, he also recognized her drive to prove herself, hoping to distinguish herself apart from her horrible family history.
"Hey Har?"
Harry was startled out of his thoughts by the appearance of Dora, who was in his doorway with Zephyr coiled around her wrist.
"Yeah?"
"When do you want to run through your morph training?"
Looking at her in contemplation, "Do you think we can skip it today?"
Shaking her head, "Harry we can't do that, otherwise you'll never get it down. We don't want you to regress."
"I know, but-"
"No but's, unless you're looking at mine." She said winking at him, eliciting him to groan in annoyance.
"It's just that I'm trying to catch up in runes and arithmancy."
"And you will Harry, but if you ignore one thing for the others you will suffer in the long run. Mum always said it was about balancing different aspects of our lives. Until you get your powers down you won't be balanced." Dora interjected patiently, trying to get him to see her point of view. Judging by his expression she got through his thick skull.
"Fine!"
"Good on the bed." she giggled plopping on his bed, startling Zephyr who just hissed in annoyance. Harry rolling his eyes sat in the center of the bed facing Dora.
"Ok, so we have just finished with your cosmetic changes, next comes the fun part structural and muscle structure changes. Unlike cosmetic changes this will take longer, you have to will your magic to make the changes. I still have trouble holding structural changes for too long."
What followed next was a grueling 2 hours were Dora put Harry through his paces. Cosmetic changes were easy to him now but learning to change what his face looked like was harder than he expected, he couldn't imagine trying to shift his body completely. Dora said it would get easier the more he did it, all he could do was believe her because as he called her, she was the senior Metamorph. She hated being called the senior Metamorph, she would pout every time he called her that, which made him smile. So of course, he kept calling her it, she really hated it for the fact that as she said it made her seem old. He would constantly remind her she was born 7 years before him; she would get annoyed whenever he brought that up, always arguing that due to time travel they were the same age. He would than point out she was still older by 2 months regardless. She really didn't like being the older one in relationship he found out, not that they were in a relationship.
"So Harry have you ever seen Star Wars?" she chimed in breaking him out of his thoughts.
"No, the Dursleys never allowed me to watch tv."
Dora scowled at the mention of his relatives, from what little she learned of them she really wanted to take a trip to Privet Drive and 'accidentally' murder them and rescue younger Harry. From the comments her mum and dad wanted too as well. She had asked why they didn't, apparently they had sworn an oath to not intentionally disrupt the timeline. Mum did say that in 7 years there would be a reckoning. Dora saw the malice in her parent's eyes and did the only sane thing, she told them she would bring the shovel. Her dad laughed at that but what really freaked her out was her mum looking at her completely seriously and saying they could just vanish the bodies. Her dad quickly quit laughing when he realized she was serious. She and her father were reminded then and there that you never mess with a Black. Her mum's family had always been dark or as Dora liked to think evil, but in all her contemplation she had forgot the fact of her mum being one for revenge. She was so used to seeing her as a Tonks that she forgot how her mother was raised, eye for an eye. Or as her mum like to say, eye for a life, that way they don't take the other one. Her mum was scary.
Shaking her head of her negative thoughts she stood grabbing Harry and dragging him to the den.
"Come on then, your gonna love it. It's got a young hero and a dark lord." Pausing for a minute and her eyes widening in realization she smiled, "It's practically your story!"
Raising his eyebrows, "What do you mean it's my story?"
"Welllllll, it's about a young man that finds out he has special powers like his dad and has to fight a dark lord and save the galaxy. Your Luke who learns he has special powers and has to fight the dark lord, Darth Vader to save the galaxy or in our case fight you-know-who and save the wizarding world!"
Scowling at her, "I'm not a hero!"
Rolling her eyes at that, "says the guy that has fought you-know-who several times and won. Not to mention the basilisk." She shuddered at that, still freaked out that there was a 70-foot killer death glare snake in what she was referring to as the basement of the school.
"I didn't win when it mattered." He said tears forming in his eyes.
She wrapped him in a gentle hug, "You were lucky to survive in that graveyard, from what you tell me you were surrounded and outnumbered by people that had decades of experience on you."
They stood like that for a minute, Harry taking comfort in his friends embrace. So much had changed in the last 2 months. He had found a family that made him feel welcome, even Dora. It had started rocky with Dora but the more he spent with her the more he saw her who she was. She was smart, caring, and so many more things. All she needed to do in his opinion was get over her 'fangirl' crush on him, it was weird to have a fangirl that was attracted to him not based on his history but on his Metamorph abilities. With the way Dora talked he was sure he would have more when he finally entered Hogwarts again.
"Now come on, enough wallowing we have a galaxy to watch being saved." She said winking at him dragging him the rest of the way to the den.
Scene Break
"So, what did you think, did you like, did you see the similarities, do you want to watch the next one?"
"Slow down Dora, geez your like Hermione." She frowned at the name; she could say with no small amount of worry that she was jealous of this Hermione.
"I did like it, I guess I can see some similarities. I do admit I want a lightsaber; I might have to make that as my newt runes project. According to your mum we must make a runic item during our final year. Yes, I would like to watch the sequel, but can we get something to eat first."
"Ok I'll meet you in the kitchen!" Harry just shook his head at her exuberance. Zephyr just looked at him.
$ What is she on? $
Laughing at that, $ What do you mean Zephyr? $
Zephyr just looked at him like you know what I mean.
$ Fine, I doubt she's on anything she seems to naturally exude energy. Either that or she steals it from those around her. $
Zephyr gave him a long look before responding, $ I have to say she probably steals it from us. With that said I'm going to my room to sleep, enjoy your mate. $
Scowling at him he said at the departing Zephyr $ She's not my mate! $
He heard Zephyr say in what sounded like hissing laughter, $ Whatever you say speaker. $
Entering the kitchen, he noticed Dora at the counter making sandwiches while singing her favorite song by the Weird Sisters, Can You Dance Like a Hippogriff. Going over to help her she waved him away. Taking a seat, she brought 2 plates of sandwiches and 2 butterbeers. He thought she was going to drop it but by some miracle it all made it to the table intact, of course she still tripped after depositing her spoils on the table. She just smiled at him embarrassed at her clumsiness. They just sat in silence enjoying the company and food.
"Come on let's go watch Empire it's the best one! We should finish it just as dinner is ready." Dora said leaving the kitchen with Harry hot on her heels. He was excited to watch the next one. He also liked seeing Dora's reaction to the big moments, the way her eyes widened in excitement, like she was seeing it for the first time.
Soon the movie ended, with Dora suggesting they start the last one, but Ted and Andi had arrived home and suggested they eat dinner first. Harry and Dora were embarrassed at losing track of the time. When they were done eating a nice pot roast the family made their way back to the den to watch the final installment in the trilogy.
Harry looked at his new family, all watching in awe at the movie. It was this moment that Harry would come to cherish years from now, not the excitement at chasing down a lead or taking down a suspect, but the quiet moments with people he cared about. His finally thought before he drifted off to sleep that night was that today was a perfect day, he dreamt of many more days like this.
