Disclaimer - This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Authors Notes:
OK people, first things first. To say that I was disappointed at the number of reviews I received for the last chapter would not be far from the truth. Since you see 18 reviews, out of which 3 were posted for the Authors Notes I posted before the real chapter explaining the lateness, are less than that I received for Chapter 3 (17 reviews). Combine it with the fact that I have 60+ people on Author Alert. But I reasoned that maybe this was due to the fact that was down due to server problems or you readers didn't get enough time to review or like that. I only hope that you people like the story and there won't be any problems this time and I will get a healthy amount. Please understand that I require the reviews to understand what the people who read my story think about it. This way if I make mistakes, you can warn me and I will try to give you a good story which will be worth a read. It also helps to boost my morale. So please help a poor soul.
Secondly, sorry for the long wait, but I can't help it. I have a life and that unfortunately includes studying. I have decided that I will try to post at least 2-3 chapters a month, i.e. roughly a chapter every 10 days or at least once a fortnight, but I can't promise it. I will only hope that I can keep up with this resolution. Anyways, apologies for wasting your time. Here is the next chapter.
Chapter 5 - Pleasant Surprises
Sunday arrived bright and clear and Harry woke up early as always in a very bright mood. For a few minutes, he sat in bed and wondered what he was feeling so happy about. Fortunately, he had only one nightmare in the entire night and besides that he had a restful sleep. Though he wasn't much of a morning person, the lack of sleep forced him to get up early everyday. Since the day his godfather had died, sleep had felt like a distant relative. Though it wasn't closer to him in the first place, it had moved much more far away since then. The nightmares always had adverse effects on his health and a good night's sleep usually did wonders to his being.
But today was different. He wasn't happy since he had slept a good night's sleep. He wasn't happy since Fudge had agreed to all his demands yesterday, and that too cooperatively, though that had a part in it, a small part albeit. He didn't think that a small favour as that could make him this much happy. Try as he might, he couldn't place his finger on it. The feeling that he was overlooking something kept nagging him in the back of his brain. He felt like it was on the tip of his tongue but something was preventing it from coming out. But this did nothing to thwart his good mood. He got up to begin his day as usual and surprisingly started whistling, which was a vocal sign of his mood.
After a good, long, hot-shower, he came back to his room. He put on his trousers and was drying his hair with a towel when his eyes fell on his desk near the open window. Hedwig had still not returned from her nightly wanderings and he felt immensely alone without her. She was the only living being he could talk to in the holidays and though she couldn't reply to him, he knew that she understood him really well. He could feel his own emotions reflecting in her large amber eyes. Since the day Hagrid had presented her to him, she had become a part of him. Even though her job was to carry letters, she was more like a family member to him than a simple pet.
Thinking of letters brought his vision to the pile of letters on his desk and he received a jolt of memory as something clicked in its place. Tonks had written to him yesterday saying that she would be visiting him today. And he had forgotten completely about that. Well, completely except for the fact that his good mood was in fact due to this. At least people were coming to meet him this year instead of abandoning him like last year. And he certainly wasn't going to mind if Tonks was coming. The Dursleys are certainly not going to like people coming in their house from the front door everyday, he mused. He would certainly have to do something about that.
One thing he remembered that Tonks had not mentioned when she was going to come. She could come any time; morning, early noon or even later then that. The only thing he knew was that he could not sit and wait for her. So after a hurriedly made breakfast, he returned to his room to see that Hedwig had returned with a dead mouse and was currently busy grooming herself. As soon as she saw him enter, she flew over to him and settled on his shoulder. She nipped playfully on his ear and began brushing her feathery head against his cheek. He smiled at the gesture; his first genuine smile in many days. He realized how much she meant to him. He wouldn't have survived the loneliness all these years if Hedwig had not been there with him. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the best friend he would ever have who was not a human.
Harry was currently sitting on a blanket in front of the Dursleys house dressed in his baggy jeans and a T-shirt, soaking the warmth of the sun. He had nothing to do as of now and he mused that he shouldn't let the last few days of summer go without taking advantage of them to the fullest. He looked around at the well manicured lawn of the Dursleys. The threats from the Order had prevented his aunt from using Harry to do work on the lawn. Harry discovered that she had instead hired a contract service who took care of people's lawns on a weekly basis. The first visit would be taking place tomorrow. He had overheard that they had taken a less expensive plan than normal people take. He figured that since his relatives were cheapskates, this was to be expected.
He was just looking around thinking of nothing in particular when he caught a movement through the corner of his eyes. He turned his head and saw a medium sized white cat with a couple brown patches sitting on the fence. When the cat saw him looking in its direction, it eyed him for a few seconds, jumped down and then started to make its way towards him. Harry wondered if the cat was an illegal animagus like his godfather, but he didn't know what to do if it were. He kept his eyes on the cat as his right hand slowly fingered his wand, fearing that the cat would suddenly change and attack him.
But nothing like that happened. When the cat reached him, it meowed softly and began to brush its body against him. Harry figured that it must be one of Mrs. Figg's cats. The old woman was very fond of cats and had at least half a dozen running around her house. He wondered since when one of her cats liked him because whenever he had gone at her place the cats seemingly stayed away from him. But he had never seen this cat before. Perhaps Mrs. Figg had bought a new one, he thought. He ran a hand along the cats body and it purred its approval. He petted it for some time and scratched behind its ears to earn more sounds of satisfied purring.
He had spent almost fifteen minutes petting the cat when he saw Mrs. Figg herself approaching the house. She was dressed in her usual muggle attire and was walking briskly towards the Dursleys house. At first, Harry didn't think too much about this but as on cue, Moody's voice rang out in his head. CONSTANT VIGILANCE. He tightened his grip on his wand to defend himself from a curse if she would be someone polyjuiced as Mrs. Figg. Mad-Eye Moody is definitely rubbing on me, Harry thought.
When she arrived besides him, she gave him a small smile as she saw him petting her cat. When Harry did not respond, but instead leveled his wand at her, she looked to the sides to see if someone could overhear them and moving a little closer to him, addressed him in a kind voice.
"Harry, I know that you will want proof that I am really me. So I want to you to ask me whatever you think only I will know. You see, Dumbledore warned me about this actually. Said that I should prepare before I come to meet you. But you may better hurry up since we don't have much time to waste."
Harry contemplated what he should ask her. He could ask her many things from his childhood but the memories weren't good enough that he himself would remember. He thought for a moment and then asked her in a calculating tone, a question to which the answer only she would know.
"Who was on guard-duty the night I was attacked last year?"
Her expression changed suddenly from the small smile to that of a vicious cat defending her cubs.
"Why that old drunk, stupid, worthless pile of bat droppings... Mundungus Fletcher of course, Harry dear. I was so going to kill him, but Dumbledore stepped between and saved his arse. Otherwise I would really have killed him."
Harry smiled at the old woman's words. All he had wanted in his life was that people would care for him. Now he had realized that there were many who really cared for him.
"Its alright Mrs. Figg. I am glad that you did not kill him, otherwise who would have come to defend me in the hearing?"
"If you say so, Harry. But you better stay away from him. Molly says that he has even blackmailed Fred and George to work for him. She suspects he has given them the gold and told them to black-market his stolen cauldrons."
Harry just started laughing at this while Mrs. Figg just looked puzzled at this odd behaviour.
"Can you do me a favour Mrs. Figg?" he managed to say after a minute. "The next time you talk to Mrs. Weasley, tell her, I have told you explicitly that she should not, in any way, doubt Fred and George. They have received the money from a respectable person, at least many think he is, and she may take my word that her sons are not working for old Dung."
She raised an eyebrow at this but let the topic drop.
"OK. Now I will go inside and talk to your aunt about you taking lunch with me. Don't worry, she doesn't know that I know about magic. I will tell her that I need your help to clean the attic and she should not worry about you since you will most probably spend the day with me cleaning."
Harry just nodded and she went inside to inform his aunt. He could hear their voices but couldn't catch a word. A couple of minutes passed and Mrs. Figg came out followed closely by aunt Petunia. She eyed him for a moment before speaking in a falsely cheerful tone.
"Now, you see Mrs. Figg here, wants to clean her house and has asked for some help. Go and help her nicely and be on your best behaviour. Do not give her any trouble. Do you understand?"
"Yes, aunt Petunia." Harry replied in a dull monotone. He did not want his aunt to see the glee in his voice at being able to get away from his relatives.
Mrs. Figg said her thanks to Petunia and started towards her house with Harry besides her. The cat scampered off to roam in the neighbourhood when she saw the look Petunia was giving to her.
When they were sufficiently away from the Dursleys house, only then they both relaxed from the fear of being suspicious. It was better to keep the fact that Mrs. Figg was a part of the magical world, a secret from Harry's relatives. Mrs. Figg broke the silence first.
"So, how come all my cats stay away from you while Phoebe likes you very much?" she asked smiling.
"Who? Oh, the cat. I was wondering the same thing Mrs. Figg. I've never seen her before. You bought her recently?"
"As a matter of fact she belonged to an old friend of mine. When she died last year, she asked me to take care of her. She was also a avid cat lover like me."
"OK. Thanks for taking me away from there, Mrs. Figg, if only for a short time at least." he said to her.
"I would take you away from them forever if i could Harry. But Dumbledore says that staying close to your aunt protects you from danger. And I trust Dumbledore, Harry. He knows that this is not the best place for you to stay but it is the only place where you can remain safe."
"Shit load of good it did last year when the dementors attacked." Harry grumbled.
"I know that Harry and I argued with him about that. But he says that perhaps the protection was weak since you were not near the house. As long as you stay near it, you will be safe. He double-checked the wards before you were brought here. If there was even an iota of danger, he would never have made you come here."
"I know that Mrs. Figg. Its just that... I don't know what to do. I know that I am safe here but I don't need to be happy about it."
"I understand that Harry." she said in a sympathetic tone.
"I would also like to thank you for coming to the hearing Mrs. Figg. Dear old Fudge was ready to put me in prison for life. If it weren't for you, he would definitely have succeeded."
"There's no need to thank me Harry. If it weren't for that drunken bastard, such an mishap would never have happened."
"But still..." Harry argued as they neared her house.
"Harry, I don't think I brought you to my house to go over your misfortunes and thanking me for my help. There is no use crying over spilt potion. All that has happened is the past and you should try to forget it, not necessarily everything mind you, but you should not make yourself suffer."
"I understand Mrs. Figg. Remus helped me a great deal. So, what are we here for exactly? I don't think you brought me to really clean your house, though I wouldn't mind doing that. As it is, I am just getting bored all day sitting and doing nothing."
"Someone has come to visit you Harry and I think you will like to spend the day with more worthy people than your relatives." she replied with a smile.
"Tonks?" he enquired, somewhat hopefully.
"Right you are, young man. The damsel is waiting to spend an afternoon with her Knight in Shining Armour."
Harry couldn't stop the heat from burning his ears as his cheeks flushed from embarrassment. Mrs. Figg just looked at him and laughed.
"Relax Harry. I was just teasing you." she said and opened the door.
Harry entered the house behind her and turned to close the door. When he turned around he was greeted by a shriek of his name and immediately crushed against the hard wooden door with a body pressed against his and a pair of arms around his neck. He groaned at the impact and opened his eyes to see a mass of emerald green hair the same colour as his eyes. In a normal condition, he would have complimented her on her choice of hair colour. But being squeezed between a very hard door and a very tantalizingly soft body prevented any rational thoughts from entering his mind as he felt his blood rushing to a particular part of his body and its reaction in a way he did not want it to react at this particular moment. His cheeks flushed again but he was saved from further embarrassment as his body was released from Tonks' grip. She moved a little away from him but quite close nevertheless and he let out an involuntary groan at the loss of contact.
He closed and reopened his eyes to adjust his vision and his eyes fell on Tonks' face which had an expression of concern etched across it. He was glad to see that she cared for him, well this fact was more or less proved by the greeting he received, and sad to see that the expression was on her face. He smiled at her and the concern gave way to a beautiful smile that adorned her face.
A smile for which he would willingly give all the gold in his Gringotts vault if only it would remain there, forever.
Tonks had been waiting for almost half an hour now. She had decided to come early in order to spend the day with Harry. She knew that even though the Dursleys were kept silent by the Orders warnings, they wouldn't let her spend time with Harry. So she had asked Mrs. Figg if she would mind having Harry and her over for lunch and to spend some time away from the Dursleys. Fortunately for her, Mrs. Figg had readily agreed. And to top over that, she was going out after lunch leaving Tonks to take care of Harry. She had arrived at Mrs. Figg's house and after a quick greeting had asked her to fetch Harry. Mrs. Figg told her to wait while she went to the Dursleys.
But now, when half an hour had passed, Tonks was getting a little worried. True, there was always someone from the Order keeping an eye on the surroundings, but she couldn't help but worry. She had spent the time looking over some muggle magazines but she was getting nowhere. Spending half an hour waiting for him had become like an eternity for her. At last she heard voices from outside the house; two of them. The feminine one was definitely that of Mrs. Figg; the other was masculine and had to be of Harry. She waited with bated breath for them to come inside the house.
She heard the lock click and the door swung open as Mrs. Figg entered inside. Behind her entered the object of her interest and concern, Harry, who had not glanced inside at all and thus failed to see her. He turned as soon as he entered the house and closed the door behind him. At the moment he turned again, she did the only logical thing any woman in her place would do; she cried out his name, as loudly as she could at that instant, and launched herself onto him. As she pressed him against the hard wooden door with her arms circling his neck, seemingly unaware of the fact that she had pressed her body on his in a rather intimate position.
She released him after a couple of moments, rather reluctantly but stayed close, as the happiness she felt gave way to her concern at how he would be feeling after the death of Sirius. She saw him blink and as his eyes fell on her, he gave her a small smile and she felt her insides churning at the simple gesture. As she smiled in relief that he was not neck deep in grief, a thought entered her subconscious mind.
One day you are going to be a heart breaker, Harry Potter.
Mrs. Figg, who was seeing this exchange between Harry and Tonks from the sidelines, smiled to herself. They both definitely were attracted to each other. She only hoped that they don't take too much time to understand the other's feelings.
Seeing the smile on Tonks' face, Harry relaxed a bit. Initially he was afraid of how he would react in front of her. He remembered the time when he was attracted to Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker. He was nervous as hell and stuttered like Quirrel when he talked to her. But with Tonks, it somehow felt natural to speak. Maybe it was due to fact that he was just attracted to Cho's outer beauty and knew nothing about her while he knew a considerable amount about Tonks and he was not attracted to her due to her beauty but due to her understanding nature. Maybe it was the fact that her friendship meant more to him than hurting her by being her lover. He didn't know; but he knew that as long as nothing adverse happened, he didn't care.
The seconds went by as both continued to look at each other as if in a trance. Finally, they both realized what they were doing and snapped out of their dazed states.
"Wotcher, Harry!"
"Wotcher, Tonks!"
They both chorused at the same time and the silence dissolved in fits of laughter. Even Mrs. Figg was not left out of it as she watched at the reactions of the two young people. Both were laughing and blushing at the same time, which, when you looked properly, looked a little strange. She decided to interfere for the time being.
"Okay, you two. Lunch will be ready in .half an hour. Make yourself comfortable."
Saying that, she strode inside the house leaving them alone. Harry started towards the living room while Tonks followed behind him. He sat to one side of a plush green sofa while Tonks sat a little away from him, but quite close however.Harry looked around taking in the appearance. The room was decidedly similar to what the Dursleys would term as normal, nothing in it giving the appearance of belonging to a person of the magical community. Harry knew that Mrs. Figg, being a squib, was not able to do magic and as a result had to live her life the muggle way, well mostly.
The wallpaper was of a soft orange colour which accented the interiors and the room was neatly decorated. A Television set was placed on the opposite side of the sofa in the center. A couple of flower vases were in two corners adjacent to the set with fresh lilacs placed in them. Everything else gave the room a decidedly muggle impression. The two once again fell in companionable silence and Tonks was the first to break through it.
"So, how are you Harry?" she asked. The concern was once again there, this time in her voice.
"I'm fine Tonks, I really am. Just holding up, I guess." he replied tilting his head to look in her direction. "I just can't forget him in a couple of days now, can I?"
"No you can't Harry. But it won't be good if you blame yourself for his death. Sirius was one of my favourite people in this world. I miss him too, Harry. But you should remember that no one blames you. Your intentions for going to the Department of Mysteries were good. You were ready to sacrifice your own life to save his. So you see, his death is not your fault. It should righteously be blamed on Voldemort and his minions. Do not dishonour his sacrifice by blaming yourself Harry."
"I agree with you Tonks. Its just that... he was the last hope of a real family I ever had. I had never before known anyone who cared for me enough to break out of Azkaban. I had dreams of spending the rest of my life with the person who had a close link to my parents. Did you know when he escaped from the prison, he fed off rats and other filth just to be close to me. I still have the Weasleys and everyone to take care of me, but they are not my real family Tonks, they never will be. He was my godfather, my only real family."
Tears were freely falling down their cheeks now as Tonks moved close to him and pulled him in a hug. He stiffened a bit at the contact and tried to pull away. But she held him firmly and loosened her grip only when she felt him relax and put his head on her shoulder. She held her like this for some time as his tears dried and only his sniffling could be heard once in a while. Mrs. Figg who had heard their conversation lurking just in the doorway just out of sight also dabbed on her cheeks and decided to wait for a while before calling for lunch.
Harry pulled away after a while and smiled at her and she smiled in return.
"Sorry." he mumbled, obviously embarrassed at the breakdown.
"Its alright, Harry. I am glad I could help."
He spent his time looking at her and this time really taking in the details. She was wearing a plain baby blue turtleneck T-shirt and a black jeans. Her face was her normal pale heart shaped and her eyes were violet in colour that seemed to sparkle and shine. Her hair, as he had observed earlier, were emerald green in colour, the same as his eyes, and reached just below her shoulders.
"Hey Tonks, nice hair colour by the way. Suits you." he complimented her as he had wanted to do earlier but failed due to some... irrepressible problems.
She beamed at him, her eyes sparling with joy at his admiration, while his heart skipped a beat.
"I knew you would like it Harry." she said as her hair changed colours rapidly in a rainbow fashion while coming to rest finally on the same emerald green colour.
A few seconds passed and Mrs. Figg hollered from inside that lunch was ready.
Lunch was a much more pleasant affair here than at the Dursleys. The three people chatted animatedly with each other on various topics from Quidditch to school lessons. Harry never knew he could talk so freely with people except his friends but somehow he felt free. Now that he realized it, he was taking full advantage of it and before they knew, lunch was already over. Tonks and Harry adjourned to the living room again while Mrs. Figg took care of the cleaning. They resumed their talk once again seated on the sofa in the same positions as earlier. Mrs. Figg returned after a few minutes and announced that she was going out and would return a little late in the evening.
"Just latch the door when you decide to leave. I already have the keys and would have no problem to enter. Enjoy your time both of you." she admonished before leaving.
"Yes Mrs. Figg. I'll take care of it and also Harry, of course." Tonks replied.
After she departed the two youngsters returned to their conversations. It was almost tea time when Tonks got up to prepare tea. They both headed to the kitchen and Harry sat at the table while the tea was being prepared.
"So, how are things going on in the magical world?" Harry asked.
"Not very good Harry. The community is in an uproar over the events in the Ministry building. Combine it with the fact that everyone hates Fudge with a vengeance. Multiply the disorder by a hundred times since he slandered Dumbledore and the Boy-Who-Lived. I don't think the ministry can hold much longer. The Daily Prophet publishes daily articles blaming him for the events. All in all, the whole thing is a pandemonium. The only relief is that Voldemort is sitting quietly and not started attacking now that everyone knows he is back."
Harry, who had been listening to this closely, looked up sharply as she said the name most wizards and witches fear to say, and had an astonished look on his face. Tonks, seeing his expression screwed up her face and asked the first thing she could think of.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
"You said the name."
"Name? What name?"
"Voldemort."
"Oh that. Well you see, my dad is muggle-born and I was raised as one so his name alone doesn't strike as fearful to me. So I have said it from the beginning. Even my mum and dad, though dad doesn't care since he behaves almost as a muggle. Also as Dumbledore says, 'Fear of a name increases the fear of the thing itself', or something similar to that. I don't really remember."
Harry smiled slightly at that while Tonks served them the tea.
"So how's your job? It didn't seem well in your letter." he asked smiling while taking a sip.
"Oh well. Its not much bright that is sure. After the ministry fiasco, I was given a desk job. Just paperwork about the trials and stuff. Real boring too. Still its good pay and the boredom is just a side effect. I would do the paperwork willingly if they just took the boredom out of it. I don't know what terrible boring things are there for me in the future."
She finished sipping her tea and put the cup back on the table. By the time she was talking, Harry had already finished his share. Suddenly, hearing her last comment, a wonderful plan began to form in his mind. Now, he only hoped that he didn't screw it up.
"Hey, I can help you there. I am very good at predicting the future by reading tea leaves." he said very smoothly.
Tonks sent a disbelieving glance at him but Harry did not see it and took her cup in his hands and started to examine it very closely. He started to speak after a considerable time.
"Curious... very curious." he stated dramatically in a mystic voice..
"Yes I can see that you have a shape like a desk here maybe which tells about your desk job. But wait. What's this? The desk has a broken leg. Perhaps you will be transferred to another job or worse you will lose your job. But then there is nothing to worry about, I can tell you that. I can see here a girl dancing with joy which indicates you will be very happy soon, perhaps. It may also mean that if you lose your job and get a new one you will be sad at first, but then will be very happy and dance with joy." he finished in a suave manner.
Tonks look of disbelief was now mixed with a little bit of astonishment, horror and happiness; astonishment at his prediction, horror at losing her job and happiness at being able to dance with joy, Harry reasoned. He didn't understand how she could project so many different emotions on her face. It was like somehow they were pasted there. She finally snapped out of her stupor and gave a mocking laugh.
"Ha Ha, very funny, Harry James Potter. I don't know how you got those weird ideas but that was definitely not a real prediction."
"You don't believe me?" he asked in a fake incredulous voice. "Oh my God! What will Professor Trelawney say? I am her best student you know. I will tell you one thing Tonks. Whatever I have said will happen in a day, two days at the most. If it doesn't, then you can blame me. But when it does you will learn to believe the greatest seer in history, Harry James Potter."
Harry knew very well that Fudge would keep his end of the bargain. But if he wouldn't, then he would definitely have a tremendously hard time. He only hoped that Tonks didn't take the matter seriously. He would hate himself if she was hurt in any way. He didn't know how bad a temper she had, but considering that she was an auror, he would surely have hell to pay.
The two had continued to spend the rest of the evening leisurely chatting about random things. When it was almost close to dinner time, they both decided to call it a day. Tonks had to report early due to the fact that she had a desk job now instead of her auror duties, even though Harry had almost no work whatsoever. However, both of them were very reluctant to leave.It seemed that it took them every ounce of their conscious effort to do so. When they were leaving Harry was once again gathered in a fierce hug similar to the one's he usually received from Mrs. Weasley. He awkwardly returned it however, blushing slightly feeling her body against his, as his arms circled her waist. She was the same height as him and thus both were able to lay their heads on the others shoulders. She pulled back after a few seconds but again held him close. They both gazed in the others eyes and as emerald green met violet, they both seemed transfixed by the other. They separated after a few seconds and started to make their way towards the Dursleys house, each seemingly in their own thoughts.
Just when they reached the front door, they both turned to each other.
"So, I'll see you tomorrow then?" Harry asked her.
"Tomorrow? Why?" Tonks asked, her brow furrowed in question.
"Well, considering that my prediction will most probably happen tomorrow, you will come to meet me and confess your mistake of doubting me." he replied cheekily, a smile playing on his lips.
"In your dreams Mr. Potter. Nothing of that sort is going to happen. But if it does, which I really doubt it will, then I'll see what to do."
"Your choice, milady. Don't tell then I didn't tell you."
"Sure, sure. Whatever."
"Bye Tonks."
"Bye Harry. See you soon."
With that she leant forward and gave him a quick peck on his cheek, so awfully close to his lips that he thought if he had turned his head ever so slightly, he would have been dead and buried six feet under. She quickly glanced around to see if anyone was watching, her own cheeks ablaze, and apparated away with a soft pop, leaving a equally blushing Harry. When he managed to control his thought after a few moments, one thought entered his mind.
Soon, my dear Nymphadora. Very soon.
When Harry entered the house later, he went inside to receive a glare from aunt Petunia and a very annoying smirk each from uncle Vernon and Dudley. Harry realized that they must be thinking that he had spent the day working in a dusty old attic doing the cleaning. He decided to play along and acted very exhausted but had a wide smirk from the inside. It would be very good for him if the cover lasted for the summer. Thus he would at least have a relative calm in his not so normal life.
When Harry laid back on his bed that night, the day kept replaying in his mind. He felt that this surely was the best day of his life; well second best really following the one when he had first arrived at Hogwarts. He came to know Tonks a lot better than before. Though whatever he knew was only bits and pieces of her life, he thought that this was certainly enough for now. He wanted to have her friendship comparable to the one he shared with Ron and Hermione, although his heart wanted her to be more than just friends. But he remembered Remus' advice. He didn't want to screw up things with her. He didn't know if she liked him that way. Perhaps she would think he was too young and naive for her. Or perhaps she just wanted to be friends with him. He had no idea.
He remembered the time when she had almost kissed him. His brain was actually in a dilemma, whether to be happy or to be sad with the kiss he had received; Happy because that would have caused some disturbances in their growing friendship and sad because he was unable to kiss her. When he was unable to reach a conclusion, he decided to let the matter rest and that he should feel both sad and happy. The night was thus spent in pleasant dreams of a lovely metamorphmagus.
In a cold and dank hall of an old castle somewhere in England, illuminated by the sickly green light of torches hanging on the walls, sat a lone figure on a large throne embedded with several magnificent stones situated to one side of the room. He was wearing a dark robe and his face was covered by a large hood. Skeletal thin arms and bony fingers emerged from the hands of the robe, the skin so pale that it appeared almost translucent. On one side of the throne curled up on the floor was a large snake which hissed something every now and then. The figure in the throne would then emit a similar hissing sound. It appeared that the two were having a conversation.
Suddenly the figure in the throne cocked its head to one side and waited, apparently listening to something.
"Wormtail!" he said in a voice similar to a hiss, but loud enough to carry it to its intended recipient.
The doors of the hall opened and a slightly crouched man dressed in a black robe entered the room. He was a bald man with a pointed nose and grubby skin. He approached the throne and then bending down, lifted the hem of the figures robe and kissed it. He stood up again and moving a little back stood in front of the throne.
"What news do you bring me, Wormtail?" the figure in the throne hissed.
"The scrolls shall arrive in two days, my Lord." the man said, shaking a little.
"They better arrive, Wormtail. Else you will know the wrath of Lord Voldemort. I do not accept failure from my followers."
"Yes, my Lord. I will not fail you, my Lord."
"You can go. And return with the scrolls or else..." he left the rest of the threat hanging there.
The man approached the throne again and bending down kissed the hem of the robe as earlier. He then turned and hurried out of the room as fast as he could. The snake curled next to the throne hissed something again. The figure let out a soft chuckle.
"I promise, you will have him someday, my dear Nagini. But only when he is not needed. Soon Potter shall be dead and I will rule the world. And the old muggle-loving fool won't be able to do anything to stop it."
He let out a high-pitched maniacal laughter to which the snake hissed, probably agreeing with the plans of her master.
Authors Notes:
1) Thanks to my beta-reader Himanshu for all the good work he is doing.
2) Thanks to all the Readers who have reviewed the story. Thanks for letting me know your views.
3) uNople: I had also thought about using the idea of Harry and Tonks falling and ending in a compromising position. But that one is used so much that I couldn't resist the urge to not use it. Also your idea of merging and bonding is quite good. Why don't you write a short story using it? I can tell it will be great.
4) HermioneGreen: Do all your reactions to my chapters start with 'Fanta'? Last one was 'Fantasmic', this one 'Fantabulous'. He He. Just kidding. Thanks for encouragement.
5) Also, this chapter may seem a little slow, but I wanted Harry to have some change in his depressed mood. And what better than spending time with Tonks. I would certainly love to do so. I promise that the pace will increase as the story progresses.
6) OK, last point. You see the little rectangular button below with 'Go' written over it. Just click it and post your opinions. Please Review.