I have been awake way too long...anyway obviously, insomnia chapter, thankfully not filler, so enjoy!
Oh and those of you who responded to my little Q/A on Reddit, thanks!
"Am I a terrible person Dora?"
Dancia had not meant to blurt that out at random, but it had been in her thoughts ever since she had finally admitted she was in love with her best friend after he had snogged her senseless and made her question everything about her second life.
Languidly swinging her leg off the side of her cousin's love seat Dany turned her gaze towards Tonks and the honest pain in her voice was enough to make the young Auror break away from her parchment work long enough to respond, even if briefly.
Dora glanced up from the report she was reviewing just long enough to shoot out, "The worst," before turning back to her documents.
Dany continued as if her cousin had not spoken, "He is my best friend. I saved him from those muggles and made him part of our family, isn't that just like what Dumbledore was doing? Grooming him for a role he must perform?"
"Did you intend to entice him with a promise of a brighter future?"
Dany blinked, then nodded slowly looking a bit unsure, "I wanted to show him what the magical world had to offer so...yes?"
"Doesn't count you didn't ask for anything in exchange so stop the pouting face."
"I am not pouting!"
"Totally are, did you disparage the muggle world while emphasizing their inferiority?"
Dany scoffed, "No, he loves water parks, arcades, rollercoasters, and...*ugh* rock and roll, at least I've got an in to give him a little bit of class when Lindsey Stirling becomes a thing..."
The last bit was muttered so quietly that Dora hadn't caught it, thus she quickly replied to her little cousin, "Did you at any point mold him to be something he was not fully capable of becoming under his own power?"
She shot her cousin an incredulous look at that statement, "A boy that stubborn? He would never do anything he did not feel was necessary. Really sis?"
Dora never lost her serious look as she thumbed through the parchments before her while muttering "For you he would destroy the moon if only to make you smile. You tell me."
It was a simple statement, a casual one, and one that could be accounted to simple hyperbole, but...
"Does...does he really care that much about me...?"
Dany hated saying it, hated hearing it as her own quiet and fragile voice hitched, and the fact that Dora's fountain pen was no longer scratching along parchment meant she now had the undivided attention of the undeclared Heiress of the Black Family.
Dora turned and faced Dancia for a few moments before letting out a tired sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose the young metamorph stood up and slowly approached her little cousin, leaning forward she rested her forehead against Dany's before letting a grim smile slip across her lips.
"Love, that boy is the grandson of Charlus Potter, Dorea Black, Magnollia Brinks, and Jonathon Evans. He is the son of James and Lily FUCKING Potter, he is the heir to the Marauders legacy, and is only loyal to those that are loyal to his family."
Stepping back Dora stared down at Dany a moment before cocking her head to the side, "What do you think?"
Dany broke her gaze and stared down at the floor a few moments before nodding to herself and quickly stood while muttering out, "Thanks Dora... I needed that."
Dora winked at the younger witch as she turned back towards her desk, "Reality checks are free between family members love. Now get home and grab your trunk, the train doesn't leave for another three hours but you know how the Aunts are."
There was dead silence for a moment then Dora felt a set of warm lips touch her cheek, "Thank you for being there when I needed you, sis."
With that Dancia took a pinch of floo powder, yelled, "Malfoy Manor!" and tossed it into the flames turning them a lurid green, and she quickly jumped through the fires to swiftly appear in the foyer of her family home.
As the fireplace flared back to normal from the floo transportation Nymphadora Tonks simply smiled as she turned back to her report, "I'll be there for you always and forever littler sister, always..."
When Dany met Harry and Mia on platform 9 3/4s things thankfully didn't get weird, the trio had always held hands and they collectively felt that there was nothing wrong with that, though Hermione was shooting the newly minted couple amused glances they chose to ignore.
If their best friend wanted to tease them about their budding relationship, well...they would accept that, at the very least they knew it wouldn't be malicious.
Finding a cabin for themselves the 'Terrible Trio' were just settling in when the door slammed open as Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil rushed inside grasping magazines to their chests while screeching out, "IS IT TRUE!?" in stereo.
Dany blinked in honest confusion as she glanced over the Gryffindor's shoulders and met the much more sane Padma Patil and Su Li's gazes while mouthing, "What the hell?" to them. Padma grimaced as Su pointed to the magazine in the other girls hands, tearing the one Lavender's from grasp Dany couldn't help but gape incoherently as she read the headline of the 'Witch Weekly' magazine.
It was plastered over a picture of Harry kissing her on New Years, in bold letters, for the entire world to see.
'The Boy Who Loved, and the Mother of His Child?'
Harry and Mia leaned back after they read the headline, and Dany's eyebrow twitched.
She took in several deep breaths, then turned to the two Gryffindor's before her, "It is not true. Someone spiked our punch and we were drunk, nothing other than some rather spirited snogging occurred." The pair seemed honestly disappointed at that declaration as they left the cabin, Su and Padma sat down looking about sheepishly and then there was awkward silence.
That was fine, it just gave Dany time to figure out exactly how painful and prolonged she was going to make Rita Skeeter's death be.