A/N: I was thinking of using a Twitter or something, is that a thing people do here?
Chapter 42: A day off
Every fibre of my being screams in protest as the sudden blinding light hits my eyes, the sensation is like having daggers plunged through them. My muscles ache, my fingers and toes try to curl back on themselves. The entire sensation is unpleasant, and usually called 'waking up'.
"Is that your wand against my butt, or are you just pleased to see me?"
"We'll go for the latter." I mumble, breaking off into a yawn as I crinkle my eyes open. Tonks shifts in my grip to face me, the sheet tells me that at some point in the night, I'd wrapped my arms around her and not let go. "Why're you orange?" And it's not just sleep-delirium, her skin is a bright orange colour. It looks good.
"You always said I wasn't adventurous enough, so I thought I'd give this a go." Did I say that? Sounds like me. She leans forwards to kiss me, which reminds me just how much I've missed her. Life can be cruel. "By the way, where are your clothes?" My clothes?
"Oh, I burned them last night." I trail my fingers along her orange arm. "Azkaban kind of sticks to clothes. I managed to persuade Albus to let me skip school today, and shouldn't you be at work? It's half nine." I frown.
"Nah, Just paperwork today. I can do it all here." Her pupils turn a dark blue. She can't always tell me what she does at work, because if she gets asked about it, and they use veritaserum, she can't truthfully say she hasn't spoken to any external parties. It makes sense. Tonks flicks my forehead. "No internal-monologuing in bed."
"Sorry." I grin sheepishly. "Erm, you can change little bits of your skin right? Like that time when you did to give yourself tan lines?" I'm not sure where she got the idea from, but I was more than happy to inspect her handiwork.
"Yeah?" She nods slowly.
"And you've said that tattoos don't persist when you shift, so could you create the patterns yourself? I don't know how much detail you can-" She silences me with a kiss, right before rolling out of bed, on to the floor, swearing, then climbs back to her feet and runs out of the room. I let my head fall back onto the pillow. I'm not quite sure how I never came up with this idea before. "Is it working?" I call out.
"Mmm." Comes the in depth response. I stiffly climb out of bed and retrieve a clean set of boxers from the cupboard. I really wouldn't want that Azkaban feel lingering on me, even though it's stuck on my glasses.
I walk into the living room and see that Tonks has changed back to her normal complexion and appears to be in deep concentration whilst standing between to mirrors. The skin along the left side of her torso is slowly shifting through a wide array of blotchy colours as she slowly works them into shapes. It's mesmerising to watch, but, then again, anything involving Tonks and low amounts of clothing catches my attention.
"No Hedwig?" She asks, not turning to face me whilst I reposition my armchair to watch her.
"I think she's fallen in love with the castle. It's different being able to walk around it instead of flying, apparently." The shapes on Tonks slowly begin to form into a chain of colourful flowers down her side, starting just below her armpit and extending slightly below her hip.
"This is the best idea you've ever had!" She spins on the spot, showing off her new 'tattoo'.
"Well, if you ever get bored of all the paperwork involved with being an Auror, you can always become a tattoo artist." She grins at the compliment and turns back to the mirror. "Did you make it yourself, or see it somewhere?"
"Just made it up as I was going along." She shrugs.
"I'm sure Dobby will be happy to make breakfast for more than just you for once. You keep uh … tattooing yourself."
"I think you'd have made a good healer." I point at Tonks with my spoon as we both sit cross legged on the kitchen table.
"Ya think?"
"Yeah." I nod. "Healers have to learn what bodies are like on the inside, which takes more time to research than learning the charms they need. You could grow a tail and know exactly how every muscle works, right?" She nods. "So you have some innate magical knowledge of biology. So a couple of basic charms, and you'd know exactly what needs to be fixed. That's half the job right there." I was thinking a cooked breakfast, but Dobby had somehow managed to procure a box of cornflakes. I hope he didn't steal them.
"Never really thought about it like that." Tonks taps her spoon against her lips thoughtfully. "I could try for my Medi-Auror certification in a few years." She says. "They usually want you to be on for a few years before they offer it." She shrugs her tattooed shoulders. "So, how's ol' Mad Eye?"
"He was grumpy before we left for Azkaban..." She snorts. "...and his mood, oddly, didn't improve when we were swarmed by dementors. Another failed assassination attempt on the Old Man Adventure Squad."
"The what?" She wrinkles her nose up, smiling.
"It's my 'gang'." I say seriously. "Albus, Moody, and me. I'm thinking we need a fourth member, but I don't know any other old people that would be interested. Maybe Flitwick would join."
"Don't you get worried? With people trying to kill you? Maybe I could get bodyguard duty to look after you." She smiles suggestively.
"Somehow I don't think that's going to happen." I laugh. "Although after nearly getting my soul eaten last night, maybe the Ministry will realise that I'm being targeted?" I ponder that for a moment. "Nah, not likely."
"Too right." She grins. "Soooo, what was it like?" She's almost bouncing on the table. "You should see people when they come back from dropping somebody of in Azkaban, they look like they've not slept in about a week."
"It's horrible." I grimace. "Centuries of screaming and fear, cold as ice and packed with dementors." Tonks listens with rapt attention. "The whole tower is made from big mithril bricks, which were carried by these giant stone sentinels. The original gates are made of the same stuff, but the Ministry has added these enchanted iron ones all over the place, for security, I suppose. There's 7 layers, slowly getting closer to the heart of the prison, which is a dementor hive. Hundreds, thousands – I don't even know." I shake my head. "It's pretty gross to look down into the pit, but there are cells going down below it."
"They keep people in there?!" She looks shocked.
"Well, not in the lower ones, if you go a couple of floors down, it gets too much for people to handle, so the Ministry don't even bother going down there, warding anything down there, or enforcing laws down there."
"Merlin..."
"So, obviously, I had to go down to investigate."
"You're mental." She dead pans, which makes me laugh.
"I try my best." I say, smirking. "There wasn't any light down there, so I had to run around with my wand out, which they handily gave back to me. The guy with us said I had 1 hour, or they'd leave without me."
"What was down there?" She asks, putting her bowl in the sink.
"The usual, portal to the underworld, or something, the golems that built the place and some old books." I point at the bundle of books wrapped in my cloak sitting on the coffee table. "Don't tell anyone, but I nicked 'em."
"You..." She shakes her head. "Never mind, what are they?"
"Just journals from the guy that built the place, I'll look through them whilst you're doing your paperwork." She looks grumpy now.
"I hate you."
"Tonks, I need a snake." I say abruptly, pulling my gloves off after carefully setting the crumbling book down.
"Huh?" Tonks looks up from the kitchen table. For the past hour, she's been slumped over the latest version of her report, hopefully she doesn't screw this one up. There's already a couple of drafts crumpled into balls lying around the flat.
"I'm squandering a rare ability that has apparently only been seen a handful of times in the past couple of centuries of British history." I explain, heading into the bedroom. Why did I burn my jacket? "A parselmouth without a snake, doesn't really seem right, does it?"
"Are you allowed a snake in Hogwarts?" She calls back.
"There's a rule about parselmouthes being allowed a pet snake, nobody has ever changed it." I reason.
"And the rule about one pet per student?" She counters.
"...Are circumvented because she is my familiar." I flick my wand at my belt and it whips forward, winding through the loops on my trousers and fastening itself snugly. I should try and recreate the automatic-clothing charms that St. Mungos use.
"What kind of snake?" Tonks asks, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed.
"I was thinking something venomous?" She rolls her eyes. "Speaking of venomous, though, Has the Ministry set a date for when you are to be stationed in Hogwarts?"
"They keep messing people about with schedules, but it's looking like late October now. Twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth."
"Still over a month away." I sigh dramatically.
"Can you make it that long without me?" She smirks, sauntering over to me.
"Providing nobody kills me, I might be able to cope." I say as Tonks snakes her arms around my neck. Yes, a good snog before shopping will improve the experience.
Hell, a good snog before anything will improve it.
I managed to talk Tonks out of the flat, the report would still be there when we get home. I know it's a bit selfish of me to pull her away from her work, but I enjoy being selfish sometimes.
"Why didn't you take one of the builders?" She asks, the door locks behind us as we leave.
"Not sure if they'd shrink correctly, or if they function afterwards."
"Could you fix them? Or would you need schematics?" She zips up her boots having apparently forgotten to. I swear she'd lose her wand if it wasn't strapped to the inside of her arm all day. It's oddly endearing.
"Do you think I'm some sort of master enchanter?"
"I thought you were supposed to be good at everything?" She sniffs.
"I wish. I'm just a quick learner." I shrug.
"So you couldn't fix them?"
"Oh, I'm sure I could, but what use would I have for them?" I ask, Tonks ponders the question.
"A hat rack?" She suggest with an exaggerated shrug.
"That's a good idea, actually. Moody has a hat rack, just a boring metal one, that comes to life if he's ever attacked in his office apparently." Tonks swears.
"The one with the gargoyle head on the top?" I nod. "He's still got it? Dammit. I thought I destroyed it. It also attacks people for no reason if he wants it to." She scowls as we enter the main street, main alley.
"I feel safer knowing that you can protect the public from hat racks." I tease.
"Lucky the bloody thing doesn't have a bigger base, else I'd probably trip over it." She grumbles, shaking her head to return the hair to long brown curls.
"I think Albus is going to get a couple of letters tonight." I look around at a few of the people in the alley that have spotted me, the looks of surprise aren't normal reactions.
"Hmm?"
"Supposed to be in Hogwarts, any other student would cause the same problem."
"Maybe you'll get some leeway, because you're best buds?" Tonks offers, biting her lip as she tries not to laugh at me.
"I kind of spun it that I was upset and wanted to rest, which probably didn't include shopping in his mind." I scratch my chin. "I might get detention, but it's not entirely a school related matter."
"For being the Golden Boy, you sure do get detention a lot." The Golden Boy. Another of my nicknames. I swear the Daily Prophet has somebody to come up with these … and why does that sound so plausible?
"It's easier to just volunteer for them before I do something, I can get away with most of my nightly exploration providing I don't accidentally say that I'm doing it in front of Albus."
"Still going into the forest a lot?" She asks as we pass Ollivander's.
"Yeah. I see Luna there sometimes." I shake my head with a sigh.
"The Quibbler girl?" She asks, I nod.
"I'm afraid her curiosity will get her hurt one day."
"And you?"
"If anything wants to fight a giant wolf that can turn into a wizard, they're more than welcome to try." I grin, holding the door open to Magical Menagerie for Tonks.
"Careful, you might get cocky. You already have to contain that giant ego in your head." She jokes.
"I think Julius Caesar once said 'It's only hubris if it fails'." The bell above the door twinkles again as the swings shut. This shop always has that weird 'pet shop' smell to it. A mixture of the animals and the various food smells all mixed into one, thick scent.
"I'm going to look at the puppies, you go and talk to your minions." Tonks instructs, hasitly making her way to the walk-in puppy enclosure. I didn't think dogs were so popular amongst magicals. You certainly can't have them in Hogwarts. I venture deeper into the shop. I've never card much for dogs, maybe Marge's put me off the species.
"Master!" The snakes exclaim in one, communal hiss as I approach them. Can't I just buy them all and keep them in the Chamber of Secrets? They'd probably escape and be killed. Now, how to pick the right one. They have to look cool, but also be small enough to not be cumbersome if I carry them.
"Divide into groups. Venomous and non-venomous." I instruct them. The case that they are kept in is larger than last time I was here. I pop the latch open to get a better look at them. They slither to try and complete my request. Various colours and sizes, one incredibly long python of some sort too. Odd that the magical breeds of snake are kept in this case too. I reach into the case to inspect them better. "Behave." I command. In an instant, they all become more subdued as I move their heads around to get a better look.
"Can I help you, sir?" Shit.
"I'm looking to buy a snake." I look over my shoulder. A woman, around 40, with dark hair and an apron. She looks a bit concerned. "As a pet, not food." I add, turning back to the snakes. This one has horns. "Climb." The horned snake dutifully wraps itself around my wrist. I turn to the, very shocked looking, woman. Her eyes make the customary flick up to my forehead before she looks down at the snake. It's about as long as my arm when it's uncoiled. Thick looking pale-brown scales with small areas of darker brown clusters around it's body. The head is wide and flat with a small horn, about one centimetre total, protruding above each slitted eye.
"I see you've got your eye on our Desert Horned Viper." She smiles, walking past me to close the case.
"Farewell, minions." I hiss. The woman, Heather, shudders a bit. I suppose not talking to them too much is for the best, I wouldn't want to hear them talk about their Snake-Religion again. I'm glad there aren't loads of Parselmouthes, else there would definitely be the crazy ones that bought into it all … Maybe that's why Voldemort went mad?
"Does Professor Dumbledore know you're here?" She asks, putting her hands on her hips.
"Yes, Ma'am. Well, not right on this shop, but he knows I'm not at Hogwarts." I give her my best innocent smile. I feel like having a snake wrapped around my arm doesn't help to convince her.
At all.
"Did you pick her because she has horns?" Tonks asks after we get home. She's kneeling to be eye-level with the coffee table.
"Of course not!" I say indignantly. "She's also venomous." I affectionately stroke Nysa's head. "She's so beautiful too, aren't you, Nysa?" She's currently lain out receiving the petting.
"Yessss." She replies happily.
"Did you pick the name?" Tonks asks, gingerly poking Nysa's head with one finger.
"Yeah. Did I ever tell you that Salazar named his basilisk Nysa? Figured that somebody needed to carry on the legacy." I split my attention between the real snake and the tattoo that Tonks is busy creating on her wrist. "How long before you get bored of making tattoos?"
"Never!" She smiles brightly. "I was always pants at drawing, I'm all thumbs, but this is much easier. If you've got any more great ideas, let me know. I might just keep you around."
"Try some horns? I don't know." I yawn at the end of the sentence. "You've still got work to do, remember? I'm going to sleep off Azkaban whilst you do it."
"Sleep? But it's only..."
"Three o'clock." I supply.
"Exactly!" She exclaims.
"There's nothing wrong with sleeping in the middle of the day." I say. "And it gives you time to write that thing. We'll get something to eat when you're done?"
"Oh, fine. But I want the biggest pizza you can find." She challenges.
"I'll see what I can do." I smile, kissing her forehead before going into the bedroom.
A/N: A naked Harry Potter, I'm sure Tonks enjoyed her first viewing.
I know I apologise for slacking with my update speed a lot, but hey – It's 7.7.2016 now, which is a full year to the day since I posted the first chapter! (I may have held this chapter back a few days, it's the fourth of July (Happy Independence Day to you Americans ) as I write this, but it's here now!)
I've been thinking of having Harry use a different name for Tonks than just 'Tonks'. Part of me think it suits the laid back relationship they have, but maybe it's odd for him to call his girlfriend by her surname, even if she doesn't like her first name. I'm not decided - Suggestions?
Enjoy!