Her peaceful world had been fractured a few years back when she had been called to Hogwarts on emergency. Her daughter had gone missing and some monster - a basilisk, as it turned out - had been terrorizing the school. Of course, no one could confirm anything at the time, but she knew what that kind of thing had to mean.
To her immense relief, Ginny had been rescued from the basilisk, as well as a memory of the Dark Lord himself, by Harry Potter.
Harry was so different than Molly ever expected him to be. She had known Lily and James, of course, and had always pictured the boy to be... well, she wasn't quite sure how she would put it into words. But the youth she saw that day in the hospital of Hogwarts wasn't it. He was painfully skinny, as if he'd never eaten a good meal in his life. She had discussed this with Poppy Pomfrey, who told her that Harry was indeed eating heathily at the school.
And it seemed like the poor boy could never seem to catch a break. And being there to actually bear witness to the Dark Lord being resurrected... it was all too much to handle. She had no idea how Harry had remained as relatively cheerful as he had. Of course, he had spent most of the last year at Hogwarts shuffling about and being depressed, but she could hardly blame him. He had seen a fellow classmate killed in cold blood. And despite Voldemort summoning his Death Eaters, Harry had still been level-headed enough to bring the Diggory boy back with him.
She was pleased to hear that Harry and his friends would be coming to Grimmauld. It would do Sirius good. That man had simply been moping too much lately. Seeing his godson would do wonders for him. And she knew that Harry would be glad to see Sirius as well, given they had never really had any time to just sit and talk to one another. They had never been given the chance to be a family. And to Molly, family was everything.
She fully planned to treat the boy as well as one of her own, too. Ginny was still alive because of his bravery.
She was hoping to have a one-on-one talk to him this morning, to see how he was holding up. She had been cooking for awhile and, once she had a pair of plates piled high, she set out towards the room Harry was staying in. Knocking once when she arrived, she called out softly, "Harry, dear? I'm coming in!"
Molly opened the door and slipped into the room quickly, closing it behind her. "Good morning, dear. How are y--"
Harry, looking bleary-eyed, was glancing across the room at the redhaired woman with something akin to annoyance on his face. Tonks, who was nestled up against his side, was also glancing at Molly, looking more groggy than irritated.
"Wha's up?" Harry asked, rubbing at his left eye. "Breakfast time? Want me to come help or something?"
"HARRY POTTER!" Roared the woman, turning to deftly place the full tray of food on a dresser by the door. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
"Well I was sleeping." Harry grumbled darkly. "Guess this is our wake-up call, Nymmy."
"Bleh. I wanna sleep in." Tonks whined, tugging the covers back up as Harry slipped out of bed.
"That is NOT what I meant! Explain yourself, young man!" Molly cried.
"What's to explain?" Asked Harry. "I was sleeping."
"Sleeping WITH someone!"
"Well obviously." Harry replied, shaking his head as he stared at the woman.
Molly sputtered for a moment. "You shouldn't be--"
"Oh, don't you dare." Harry said, the realization of what the Weasley matron was getting at finally entering his groggy head. "We were doing exactly what I said we were doing - SLEEPING!"
"You expect me to believe that?!" Asked Molly, her pitch shrill.
"Ask anyone in my inner circle." Harry replied, putting a hand on his hip and shifting his weight. "Not like this is a new occurrence or anything. I can't sleep well without Tonks with me."
"Awwww..." Came Tonks' voice from beneath the covers.
"You're far too young for that sort of thing! You get back to your own bedroom at once, young lady!" Molly said, pointing an accusing finger towards the lump under the covers.
"This is her room. And mine." Harry said, glaring openly at Molly Weasley now. "OUR room. And don't you dare order her around, you bloody COW!"
Harry's hand stretched out towards the table his pile of books were sitting on. His wand rattled briefly, then flew to his open hand. His fingers quickly curling around it, he continued, "This is SIRIUS' house. NOT YOURS. As such, it's as good as my house as well. And I'll be damned if anyone's going to order myself, Tonks, or any of our friends around in it!"
"Oh you think not, eh?" Molly replied, eyes wide. "Well let me tell you something--"
"No, let me tell you something, you old GORGON!" Harry spat back. "Perhaps you haven't been
privvy to the news - I was there when Voldemort was resurrected! He killed a friend of mine! I've had to deal with him in SOME form or another almost every year I've been at Hogwarts! You'd think I'd have been used to it given my relatives put my life in danger plenty of
times on their own. But that's the funny thing about almost getting killed - it never gets
easier! The once chance I have to relax and collect my thoughts is over the summer holiday,
and now even THAT was threatened! I should at least be allowed one of the few things that
still manages to make me happy in life - being curled up next to the woman I love!"
Harry turned, facing the bed again. "Nymmy, let's get out of here." He said, his tone noticeably softer.
"Do we have to?" Whined Tonks. "Can't you just blast her into the hall and lock the door behind her?"
"I could, yes. But I'd rather avoid a physical confrontation if at all possible. Come on. The library should be mostly vacant. Let's head down there. There's a couch, so you can stretch out and sleep a bit longer on it if you want." Harry said, heading for his trunk and fishing out a clean shirt. He really should have gotten his clothes put into one of the dressers in the room the previous night before going to bed.
"Don't talk about me as though I weren't here." Said Molly, hands on her hips as she watched Harry slip the shirt on, buttoning it halfway up.
"Then don't talk about me as if I were one of your kids." Harry growled, glaring back at Molly.
"You're as good as!" Cried Molly.
"I already have a mother figure in my life." Harry said coldly. "Oi, Nymmy, you coming?"
Tonks groaned, slipping out of bed and scratching at her head. "Nn. If I must. Lemme find some jeans."
Harry waited as Tonks got a pair of jeans from her trunk, tugging them on quickly. Once she was through, she nodded Harry's way and the two started across the room. "Let's get away from her. She's far too rude for my liking. Especially at this hour." She grumbled.
"Agreed." Harry said. The two brushed past Molly and headed into the hall. "I wonder if Hermione is down there already..."
"She must be." Tonks said. "I doubt anyone in the whole house is still asleep after someone began screaming like a banshee!"
Harry was in a foul mood. One that certainly wasn't remedied as the two passed by the portrait of Mrs. Black. Of course, she herself had been awakened by the commotion upstairs and wasted no time in screaming at the Ravenclaws. Harry twitched, a headache coming on very quickly. In his unstable state, he had a very weak grasp on his own power and, as the woman started to insult Tonks, it broke free.
Harry let out a surprised yelp and dropped to his knees as a green surge of energy arched from his right hand, flickering across the floor before going up the wall and coming in contact with Mrs. Black herself. The woman let out a horrified shriek as the energy began to tear at the portrait's material.
Tonks wasn't quite sure what to do. She had seen Harry's magic go haywire before and knew it could very easily go chasing after anyone who tried touching him. On the other hand, Harry looked like he was hurting quite a bit, though he was doing little more than letting out strained gasps now that the magic had him on the floor.
The energy surging out split into four separate bolts, each lashing across the portrait over and over until a cracking noise could be heard. The energy then seemed to almost dissipate entirely, causing Harry to let out a relieved sigh.
"You okay?" Tonks asked, her voice small.
"Yeah..." Harry said, groaning as he stood back up. "My head feels like it's on fire, but I'm good. I wa--"
Harry was thrown backwards as one final power surge found a way out of him. Tonks let out a surprised scream and toppled over backwards, missing the giant sphere of energy as it slammed into the wall. Mrs. Black let out one last terrible scream before her portrait (and most of the wall surrounding it) exploded.
Every adult in the area (as well as some of the younger crowd) had gathered at the explosion, arriving just as Harry shakily picked himself up and dusted bits of wall and portrait from his pants.
"...Good show." Sirius said, rubbing his chin as he observed the carnage. "It'll be a lot nicer without the old battleaxe breaking the peace. You alright?"
"Kinda sore." Harry admitted, rubbing his lower back.
"What happened?" Asked Lupin.
"Wild magic went off." Harry said, helping Tonks to her feet. "Sirius' mother started insulting Nymmy. I was already in a mood because someone gave us a rude wake-up call. You'd uh... you'd better fix the wall, though. It's making some nasty sounds there..."
"Good point. Go off and get some rest. We'll deal with the wall." Sirius said, motioning towards the library. As Harry and Tonks set off towards it, Tonks helping Harry walk, Sirius looked around at the mostly-motionless crowd. "Well? You heard the man! Help me fix this mess!"
"Unwanted, but it felt good to shut her up." Harry muttered as he and Tonks padded into the library. As it turned out, Hermione wasn't around, which suited the two of them just fine. After grabbing another book on Dark Arts, Harry flopped down on one end of the couch. Tonks waited for him to sit before stretching out along the couch, her head resting on Harry's right leg. Smiling, Harry shifted the book to his left hand, using his right to play with Tonks' hair.
"Not as good as being curled up in bed, but close enough." Purred Tonks, her eyes fluttering shut. "Honestly, who does that woman think she is?"
"Which one?" Asked Harry dryly.
"Both." Tonks growled. "What the hell did she expect, anyway? She comes barging into our room far too early in the damn morning, then tries ordering us around? That takes a lot of nerve!"
"Almost a shame my wild magic didn't trigger around her." Harry said.
"Almost." Tonks agreed. "You okay, Harry? That looked like it hurt..."
"I'll be alright. Gonna need to work with Boris some more on meditation. Maybe once we get
back to Hogwarts. If I can keep myself from getting worked up like that, my wild magic won't
be able to come out. I'll hopefully be able to just tap into it and channel it like normal"
Harry said.
"Good luck." Tonks said. "Wasn't sure what to do back there..."
"It looks worse than it is." Harry said. "Anyway, it's a good thing you didn't try grabbing me. Probably would've gone after you, too."
"Figured as much. Well, at least we don't have to listen to Sirius' mother anymore. He looked right proud of you." Tonks said, grinning.
"Well, I did him a huge favor. Wonder if he, in turn, can rid us of Molly Weasley." Harry pondered. "I'll have to ask sometime."
"Y'know... it was really sweet what you said up in the bedroom." Tonks said, cracking an eye open enough to look up at Harry.
"I spoke naught but the truth, milady." Harry replied in a very Lockhart-ish voice.
Tonks snorted. "We will have to leave for food eventually. Think she'll still cook for us?"
"Who needs her to?" Asked Harry. "I can cook. And barring that, I'll see if I can't summon a certain House Elf who seems to worship me. I'm sure he could bring us anything we wanted."
"So long as it's Dobby and not Kreacher." Tonks said, making a face. "...Damn it, I'm going to have to leave my wonderfully comfortable spot here before too long, though. I need... socks. I'll be glad when some warming spells get attached to the floors in this place."
"If you go for a sock run, grab me a pair too, would you?"
"Will do." Tonks said. And, with much drama, the girl got back to her feet. "I'll be sure to see what kind of aftermath we've left in your wake, too."
"Yes, yes, I'm a one-man wrecking crew." Harry said, waving his right hand dismissively.
Tonks returned a few minutes later with socks on. She lobbed Harry a pair as she re-entered. Harry set the book down to catch them, noticing that she hadn't returned alone. Hermione and Ginny were in tow.
"You picked up some extra cargo on your voyage. Good morning, ladies." Harry said, slipping the socks on. "What news bring you of the outside world?"
"Mum's in a mood." Ginny said, sitting down in one of the room's many chairs. "Best not bug her for awhile. Also, you're going to owe Sirius a present or something. Without you around to continue railing on - she won't dare come in here after seeing what you did to that portrait - she decided to go after your closest living relative."
"Ouch. Poor Sirius." Harry said.
"They did get the wall fixed, though." Hermione piped in, staring at the books along the walls and picking out a random one eventually. "I can only assume what happened earlier, but..."
"She barged into our room, saw Tonks and I in bed, and had a fit." Harry said, shrugging. "I wasn't going to put up with that. I realize she probably has a fond place in her heart for me, given I saved Ginny a few years back, but that doesn't give her the right to boss me around."
"She's very overprotective and quite old fashioned." Ginny said, making a face. "By the way, Harry, I went back up to your room and collected Boris for you. He seems a bit miffed you forgot him."
"Crap. Sorry, Boris." Harry hissed as the snake slithered out from Ginny's right shirt sleeve. "I was distracted."
"Obviously." Said Boris. "That woman certainly had a set of lungs on her."
Ginny snorted.
Harry cocked an eyebrow. "You laughed."
"Uh-huh."
"...You laughed after he spoke."
"Yeah."
"...You understood him?"
"More or less."
Harry stared. "Well when the hell did you pick up 'the gift?'"
Ginny shrugged, hopping up to bring Boris over to Harry. "Dunno. Probably while Riddle had me possessed. Not very good with it yet, though. It doesn't seem to be built into me like it is with you, despite the ordeal in my first year."
"Yeah. Seems to be one of those things you either get born with or never learn." Harry said, letting Boris curl up loosely around his neck. "I could try teaching you, if you wanted. Not sure how well I'd do."
"That's okay." Ginny said. "No offense to Boris or anything, but I'm perfectly happy not knowing more of the language than I already do."
"Yeah, I guess I can understand that. All things considered, you-- dammit, Nymmy, what in the name of Azathoth are you bouncing for?"
"I just thought of something really fun to do over dinner!" Tonks said in a singsong voice.
Hermione, who had sat down with her book and had been watching this whole exchange, just shook her head and groaned. "I'm not going to like this very much, am I?"
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Dinner that night was a quiet matter, just as Harry was hoping it would be. Molly was doing the lion's share of the cooking, which seemed to take her mind off of other matters. That was fine with Harry. As usual, Order members were coming and going throughout, with only a few being able to sit and stay. Of those taking a break from their various duties were Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher and, much to Harry's irritation, Severus Snape.
But even that was alright. Snape would gape like the rest when he put his plan into motion. He had Boris curled up around his upper right arm. The miniature taipan was waiting for Harry to tense up his muscles. That was his cue.
It came not long after everyone was finally seated at the table, their meals being started on. Small talk started to issue from around, with the Order members being vague and secretive about their plans.
When everyone was roughly halfway through their food, Boris started hissing at Harry. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. Harry frowned, glancing down at his arm and hissing back. Of course, neither was saying anything of importance. It was all just small talk in increasingly heated tones. By the time Harry got his last line out (something about how Snape's nose would eventually curve so much it would enter his mouth), they were almost yelling at one another.
Scowling as he looked up, Harry stared at Ginny.
"What?" Asked the redhead.
"Boris says he wants to hang out with you again. Says you 'smell better,' whatever that means." Harry muttered. "Little traitor..."
"Well, clearly your snake has a good taste in women!" Said Ginny, grinning at Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes. "He wants to come over and spend the rest of the meal with you. That alright?"
"Oh, it's perfectly fine." Ginny said, getting up and walking over to Harry, who held up his arm so that Boris could slither from one teen to the other.
"We'll be having a little talk later." Harry said, glaring at the taipan.
"'Later,' you say." Replied the snake, raising his head to turn and look at Harry. "What makes you think there will BE a later?"
Harry gaped at the snake before glaring outright once more. "Of course there'll be a later! What are you, planning to stay with Ginny now?"
"No he certainly will not." Said Molly.
"Oh come on, mum!" Ginny said as she walked back to her seat. "Boris is adorable!" And then, switching to Parseltongue herself, she continued, "Cheeky, but adorable nonetheless."
The stares around the table increased tenfold. Molly looked horrified, her eyes bulging so wide they threatened to pop out. Harry was biting down hard on his lower lip at this point. Tonks had to duck under the table, pretending to have dropped a spoon, to keep everyone from seeing her shake with laughter.
"Cheeky indeed." Harry mumbled in English. Then, switching to Parseltongue himself, he addressed Ginny. "They're going to pass out at this rate."
Ginny giggled. "So let them. I'd pay good money to see Snape faint."
"You and me both." Harry said, smirking. "But I have to admit, this isn't very fine."
"It's YOUR plan." Ginny pointed out.
"Why so it is!" Harry said, looking mock-surprised. "Well, I guess I'M not very nice, then!"
"You're both bananas if you ask me." Said Boris in a dry tone.
Harry and Ginny exchanged a look, their eyebrows raised. The two then dissolved into laughter. Tonks finally popped back up, giggling as well.
"Oh man, never have I wished for that Colin kid to be around. I would pay a fair amount for a picture of that. I thought I was going to bust a gut!" Tonks said, wiping at her eyes.
"Yes, I thought it went rather well." Harry agreed. "Bravo, Ginny."
"Oh yes, bravo!" Tonks said.
The two Ravenclaws proceeded to give the Gryffindor girl a golf clap for her acting, to which she only laughed more.
"I've got to stop eating here." Said Snape suddenly, getting to his feet and gliding out of the room.
This, of course, ended up causing Tonks to fall back into a gigglefit.
"If I knew that was all it took to get him out of here, I would've had you do it sooner!" Commented Sirius.
"We aim to please." Harry said, taking Boris back after Ginny walked back over with him.
"Did I do alright?" Asked Ginny.
"You did wonderfully!" Tonks said, her breathing uneven from her laughing.
"How terrible of you." Said Molly. "Pulling my Ginny into something so... so..."
"Hilarious?" Offered Harry.
"Incredible?" Suggested Tonks.
"Snape-repelling?" Sirius tried.
"Awful!" Molly cried. "That horrible language. Absolutely filthy!"
"Oh, don't be stupid. Of course it isn't filthy." Harry said, letting Boris curl up around his neck. "Not worse than speaking any other language."
"But it's snake-language! It's unnatural!" Molly exclaimed.
"Yes, well, we're all a bit unnatural in our own ways, aren't we? You, for example, seem to be living in the late 50s." Harry said.
"And I will not have you running your mouth at me, young man! I demand you apologize this instant." Molly huffed.
"You first." Harry said, narrowing his eyes.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You barged into my room without permission and proceeded to have a hissy fit. You then
tried to order both myself and Nymmy around." Harry said, crossing his arms and leaning back
in his chair. "I'd say that was more rude than speaking another language at the dinner table,
wouldn't you?"
Molly got to her feet, snatched her plate and goblet up, and stared towards the sink with them. "I won't have anyone sleeping around in my house." She said.
"It isn't your house you god damned hippo." Harry growled.
"Oi, don't call my mum a hippo." Ginny said, lightly swatting Harry on the arm.
"When she stops acting like this house is hers and not Sirius', maybe I'll ease up on the insults. But until she starts treating people like rational-thinking humans and not servants or whatever the hell she sees Sirius as, they will persist. Terribly sorry, Gin." Harry said.
Sirius and Lupin watched as Harry argued back and forth with Molly Weasley for the next twenty minutes. It was like a bizarre tennis match. They would look one way, then the other, then back the first way, and so on. Eventually, Lupin leaned in and whispered, "Harry is managing to go toe to toe with Molly. Rather impressive, I'd say."
"Of course it's impressive." Sirius whispered back, a grin on his face. "He knows he can get away with it. He takes after me quite a lot, I'd say."
"Yes. Quite reckless in who he picks his battles with." Lupin murmured, quietly chuckling.
"Oi oi..."
Harry finally stood up. "You are not the boss of this house and I will not follow any orders you give me. This is his house. If anyone should be telling people what to do, it's him. And yet he's allowed you lot to use it for whatever you need. I don't recall commandeering it from him being part of that, though. Tell me, what gives you the right to boss the rest of us around?"
"I'm older and I'm wiser." Molly said simply.
"You're half right." Harry said, smirking. "And I'm afraid it isn't the latter half. That gnarled old house elf is wiser than you, I'm afraid."
"Sirius, will you please get him under control?!" Molly finally asked, exasperated.
"What's to get under control? Moony and I started a bet midway through." Sirius said.
"Oh? Who's winning? And what was the bet?" Asked Tonks.
"So far neither of us is winning. If Harry leaves the room first, he wins." Sirius said, grinning.
"You bet against me, Moony?" Asked Harry, a fake pout on his face.
"Very few have ever come out on top of an argument with Molly Weasley. Merely playing the odds, Harry." Lupin said.
"You are the worst role models I have ever seen in my life!" Yelled the woman suddenly, throwing a dish cloth down into the soapy water of the sink. "Do you always plan to let him walk all over people?!"
"You think you can. Why shouldn't he?" Asked Sirius darkly, narrowing his eyes at the woman.
"She seems to be under the impression that any house she currently walks about belongs to her. There's no other logical way to explain it." Harry said. "Anyway, I've better things to do than to sit and bicker with her all night. Sorry, Sirius. Looks like Moony's going to win the pot."
"Oh, I don't mind. It was a wonderful after-dinner show." Sirius said cheerfully. "Going to head on up to bed?"
"Not yet. Going to head back to the library. You really don't mind if I snag a few for my own collection?" Asked Harry.
"Nah, feel free. Like I said, somebody seems to want to chuck out all the Darker things in there. Someone might as well sweep in and find some before it happens." Sirius said. "That goes for you too, Hermione."
"Really? Well, thank you, then." Hermione said, looking a bit surprised.
Sirius waved a dismissive hand. "Nothing to thank me for. I'm not a huge reader and Moony's usually too busy to sit down and read for very long. Takes him a good while to make it through a single book. As long as you don't clean the place out entirely, it's all good."
"Children their age shouldn't read such things." Molly chimed in.
"We aren't children any more than you are." Harry said, stretching. "I've fought Voldemort. That's more than I can say for you. Nymmy, Hermione, want to hit up the library now?"
"Sure." Said the girls.
"Leon?"
"I'll pass, thank you." Solieyu said, nursing his goblet. "I...am not feeling so good. Most likely I'll retreat to my room before long."
"Ah." Harry said, nodding at him. "Fred? George?"
"We've got other things on our minds." Said George, winking at Harry when he was sure his mother wasn't looking.
"Gin?"
"Need to finish up some Charms homework." She replied, making a face.
"At least Flitwick doesn't overload us." Harry said. "Well then, I guess that's it. We'll be in the library if anyone needs us!"
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"I'm amazed your voice hasn't given out." Said Hermione, sitting down in a chair next to a small mountain of stacked books. "I hate to praise you for fighting with her, but..."
"Yeah, Harry really gave her what for. Probably the first time anyone's ever done that, given the amount of indignant sputtering she did." Tonks murmured. "Find anything, Harry?"
"Nothing yet. This back wall is mostly about wars, politics, and spell creation. I've really got no use for any of it." Harry said, walking along the back of the room slowly. "...I want to get to the Darker stuff before Molly gets in here and cleans it out."
"I imagine she and Sirius are having a terrific fight right about now." Tonks said, laying out on the couch.
"Again." Hermione added.
"Yeah. Again."
Harry stared along another wall, heading back towards the girls. "Sirius can hold his own. Plus I'm sure I gave him some good footing to fight on. Honestly, the old cow needs to just learn to shut up and not mess with anyone else's life when her own is so awful."
"What if she bursts into our room again?" Asked Tonks.
"If it happens again, I'll see about getting Sirius or Moony to make the door password protected or something." Harry said. "...Come to think of it, doing that for the library might not be a bad idea, either."
"Wonder if there are any secret passages. Surely there are." Tonks said. "Usually these ancient manor houses have at least a few."
"There's a lot I'll need to talk to him about, then." Harry said. "Ooh, a book discussing alternatives to apparition for magical travel. If I never experience that again, it'll be too soon. Hang how useful it is."
"Yoink?" Asked Tonks.
"Yoink!" Said Harry, plucking the book from its shelf. "So what kind of books are you looking for, Hermione?"
"Oh, anything that looks interesting. I'm not picky." Hermione said. "I really don't have much interest in the Darker subjects like you do, so if Mrs. Weasley really does purge this place of that kind of thing, I'll still be able to grab a few I want."
"Sounds like a plan." Harry said. "Hmm. A book on house elf magic. Might be worth a read. I want to know how Dobby can pop around the castle like he does. Clearly he isn't apparating. You can't apparate on Hogwarts grounds. Meaning house elf magic bypasses anti-apparition wards. If people gave more of a damn about researching their magic, the castle could be in serious danger some day."
"Ooh, don't even joke about that." Hermione said, shuddering. "You know, I always thought house elves got a bad rap. I was thinking about starting up a club to try and get them some more rights, at least within the school, but the idea sort of fell flat."
"Yeah. Dobby says all the house elves at school really like what they do. Talk of freedom is a taboo subject, it seems." Harry said. "Let's see here. ...Oh, now here's an odd one."
"What is it?" Asked Hermione.
"A book on necromancy-related spells." Harry whispered. "Damn, I was almost hoping it would be by Boris' old master."
"Don't even joke about that." Grumbled the snake quietly.
"Sorry. This one's by... Jenever Nemeseia." Harry said, reading the spine. "No worries there?"
"None that I'm aware of." Hissed Boris.
"Good. Into my collection it goes. Oh wicked, a whole section on alchemy..." Harry said, 'ooh'ing as he glanced through the subjects. "...Hey, look. Snape's got a book published! I'm taking this one for the comedic value alone. I can't imagine how it must read. 'You see this brew? This is what it does and these are the ingredients. Use these particularly vague directions. Good luck not exploding your organs.'"
Tonks snickered. "Snape writing a book. I think the thought of him sitting down and writing it is a funnier picture than what the actual contents are."
In the end, Harry wound up with almost a dozen new books, half of them on potions and alchemy. The two bid Hermione a good night and headed back up to their room, Tonks carrying half the load so Harry wouldn't fall over something or run into anybody. Harry packed away the Darker of the books at the bottom of his trunk and chose one on alchemy for that night's reading material.
"We gonna be sleeping like we were last night?" Asked Tonks, moving her clothes to one of the dressers.
"I don't see why not. I'm not altering my sleeping habits to satisfy a crazy old harpy."
"Have I told you that I love you lately?" Asked Tonks, grinning across the room at Harry.
"Not lately, no." Harry said, grinning back. "You want in the bathroom first or can I go wash up really quick?"
"Just don't use up all the hot water." Tonks said.
"Roger that." Harry said, disappearing into the bathroom.
Some thirty minutes later, he returned wearing a pair of jeans. As he dried his hair with a towel, he sat on the edge of the bed. "You're up, Nymmy."
"Aww, you should've just changed out here." Tonks said.
"And risk that bloody woman bursting in and seeing me naked? Never." Harry said, shuddering at the thought.
"Ew. I see your point. I don't want her seeing me either. I'll just... take my night clothes in there and do what you did." Tonks said, making a face.
"I'll get Sirius on the password protection thing in the morning. And if he and Moony won't or can't do anything, I'll get the twins on it." Harry said.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Asked Tonks, standing in the doorway to the bathroom.
"I think it's better than her seeing one of us in the buff." Harry said.
"...I agree wholeheartedly. I'm going to go try and wash that thought out of my brains now!" Tonks said, whining as she closed the door behind her. "If I have nightmares tonight, I'm punching you awake!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Harry called. "Understood, ma'am!"
"Don't be a smartass!" Tonks called back.
"But it's fun!" Harry said. He had to quickly duck to one side as the bathroom door partly opened and Tonks blindly flung her shirt back into the room.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Notes: Did you all have fun on the ride? You did? Well that's nice - please exit to the left!
In the original draft, for whatever reason, Harry used the Eximo to asplode Mrs. Black's painting. But THAT was dumb since, y'know, underaged wizards can't do magic unless they want to end up at the Ministry. I settled for having Harry's wild magic go loco again. It's fun doing that, but Harry really has to be in a bad mood for it to go off. Between Molly bursting in like Kool-Aid Man and Mrs. Black insulting Tonks, it just wasn't a good start to his day.
I've stuck (more or less) to my chapter guide for Order so far. You may notice that Harry and company aren't all gung-ho about sneaking into meetings or anything. Mostly because the Order won't really play a massive part in this. They're mostly useless in the canon, too.
The next chapter is mostly fluff and padding, save for one very important plot point to be revealed in the last part of the chapter. Harry still has one prize for winning the tourney, remember. Ah, but what could it be, what could it be?
Chapter 8 is the train ride and Umbridge's intro chapter, which will also be quite fun to write. I have some very fun things planned at Hogwarts this year. But I've rambled on far too long as is. See y'all next chapter!