You'll never have to
A/N: Okay this chapter is a flashback. It starts at the beginning of the summer after Sirius died. People have made the comment that they want to see a friendship between Tonks and Harry. This chapter establishes that they built their friendship in the past and then slept together later. I hope I did an interesting twist with the metamorphmagus powers. I haven't seen anything like it in another fic to my knowledge. Well on with the show.
Chapter 4
Harry shot up in his bed, breathing heavily, his body sweating from the images in the nightmare. Sirius falling through the veil again; his hand reaching for Harry's and Harry failed to catch it; Bella's insane laughter, mocking him for his failure. His hands gripped his head, as he shook muttering to himself that none of it was real, it was just a nightmare. He continued in this fashion for several minutes before finally calming himself down.
He ran his hands over his face, drawing in raspy breaths as he brought it back under control. His sheets were damp and sticking to his body because of the sweat. Throwing them aside he swung his legs over the bed and stood on shaking legs. The cold, sharp wind that was blowing throw the open window, hit his body, cooling it down. Slipping on a pair of sweats and leaving the shirt off, Harry strolled out the door and into the hallway.
He leaned against the door, drawing in a few more deep breaths. Rubbing his neck with his left hand, he braced himself by placing his right against the wall and slowly moving towards the bathroom. Stepping inside to see the immaculately clean tiles, courtesy of his slave-labor, his feet moved along the padded carpet, leading him towards the sink. Turning on the taps, Harry slowly watched the water swirl around the basin in a counter-clockwise motion. He sighed as he compared it to the fact that his life was spiraling out of control. His childhood basically gone, innocent in only a few things.
Cupping his hands and letting the water fall into his makeshift bowl, he splashed his face several times. He rested the top of his head against the mirror above the sink, his thoughts going back to the nightmare. The images flashed by him once again, his body shuddering with grief as he recalled Sirius' face when he started to fall. He looked up into the mirror and did a double take, shaking his head rapidly from side to side. Backing up against the wall, he slid down to the floor, knees drawn up, head buried in between them, muttering, "No, no, no, no, no, no…."
He stayed still for ten minutes, slowly counting the time, calming himself down once again. With a sharp intake of breath through gritted teeth, he raised his head and saw that his image was still the same from last time. The long hair to his shoulders, straight and falling down elegantly. His piercing grey eyes, sunken in lightly from past horrors. A sharp nose and chin, Sirius' face looking back at him.
Closing his eyes tightly, clenching his hands into fists so hard that the nails were digging into the skin, leaving half-moon shaped marks that were leaking blood, Harry counted slowly to ten. At the mark he opened his eyes, to still see Sirius' face staring back at him. Closing his eyes again, Harry forced himself to think of himself, of what he looked like, trying to banish the thoughts of the nightmare to the recesses of his mind. Again raising his eyes, he slowly saw the grey eyes change to green, the nose becoming less refined, his chin becoming less pointy, the small hint of stubble on the chin growing back. Running his hands through his messy locks that had grown to the nape of his neck, checking to see if everything was the same as when he went to sleep.
His long fingers slowly ran down his face, occasionally prodding at certain parts, the cheeks, the nose, etc. Letting go of the breath that he had been holding, he cupped his hands again and splashed more water on his face, turning off the taps afterwards. Walking back to his room, he let his mind focus on what had just happened. Polyjuice Potion came to mind, but there wasn't any in the house and he would have known if he had drank some. The only thing that made sense was metamorphmagus powers, but he didn't have any. Still it was the only thing that made sense.
Stepping into his room, he whistled for Hedwig. Coming through the open window, his snowy owl landed on his outstretched arm, talons carefully gripping his forearm so as not to wound him. Moving to his desk, picking up a piece of parchment and a muggle pencil, he wrote out a quick message.
Moony,
Something happened. Send Pink-Haired shifter right away. Just the one person.
Prongs Jr.
(Scene Break)
Tonks was standing at the doorway to Privet Drive #4, her mousy brown hair, hanging limp on her shoulders, her body drawn inwards in a hunched manner. Pulling back on the brass knocker, she slammed it down twice and waited. The door opened and her greeting died on the way out as she took in Harry's appearance. His hair was growing longer, but it was unkempt, even wilder than before. His eyes were sunken in with heavy bags under them. His body was slightly hunched over. She frowned when she realized that he hadn't been taking care of himself.
"Wotcher Harry. Have you looked at yourself lately?
"Yeah, just this morning. What about you?"
She gave him a tired smile before responding, "We don't look like a good pair of people. So what's the emergency?"
Seeing his gesture to follow him inside, Tonks stepped through the doorway. Inside the hall, she saw how clean it was. It was unnatural and made her feel slightly off. Following him up the stairs and into his room, she was greeted by an apprehensive hoot from his snowy owl. She sat down in the nearby rickety chair that was in front of Harry's bed.
"So how come you called for me Harry? I'm sure Remus can help you better with dealing with what happened?" She saw him shake his head in the negative and pressed on towards what the problem is.
"This is something that only you can help me with. Close your eyes." Looking at him shrewdly she did as he asked. A minute passed before she was told to open them only to receive the shock of seeing her dead cousin's face. With a muttered curse she fell down to the floor. Standing up rapidly, she watched Sirius with a wary eye, only to see that Harry was there again.
"Now you see why I need your help?" Nodding her head slowly, she asked him to demonstrate it again. After seeing it another time, she asked him if he could do anything else. Another shake of his head was his answer.
"Okay, let me write a note to my boss and to Remus."
"Uum…Tonks?" With her attention drawn away from her letter, she looked to Harry to see him blushing slightly, "Why do you have to write to your boss?"
"Obviously you turned into Sirius because of your grief. It can get worse during the night because you have nightmares and don't you say that you don't have nightmares." That last comment shut Harry's mouth, "So I'm staying here to make sure something doesn't happen?"
At this Harry's hair changed into the Weasley red, his face taking on the same color from his massive blush, his voice high and squeaky, "S-stay…in here?!"
Some of Tonks' hair started to turn a light shade of pink as her mood brightened, seeing the chance to tease Harry, "Yep. I'm going to stay in the same room as you to make sure nothing happens. Oh and Harry, just so you know, I sleep in the buff."
Harry's mind slowly processed this last bit of information. Rapidly shooting himself off the bed and turning his back to her, his hair grew an even darker shade of red as his blush took full force. He only turned back when he heard Tonks laughing, rolling around on the floor, her hair that bright bubblegum pink he had always associated her with.
Standing up and wiping away the tear that had rolled down her cheek, she moved up to Harry and wrapped him up in a tight hug. She whispered in his ear, "Thanks Harry. I really needed that."
Harry wrapped his arms around her in an awkward hug, his hands tentatively placing themselves on the small of her back, his chin resting on her shoulder. His mind processed that they were about the same height, but he wondered if this was her natural height. Banishing that thought away he whispered back, "Your welcome…it wasn't really funny though." He only heard her laugh and her hug get tighter. He tried to pout, but a smile kept tugging at his lips.
"You're such a bad liar Harry," his body instantly became stiff making her laugh even more, "I saw your…reaction…when I mentioned I sleep in the buff." His hair which had started to turn back to its ebony color instantly turned back into a dark red. With shaking hands, he slowly untangled himself from Tonks and turned his back to her. Managing to find his voice, albeit it was higher than normal, he spoke, "S-so…what's…the plan?" He only heard her laugh again, his groan lost in her tinkling laughter.
(Scene Break)
About two months had passed by in this fashion. Tonks stayed in his room, and slept in a bed that she had conjured (thankfully she wore pajamas, but they were still revealing). The teasing that was there on the first day had continued. Tonks was by far better at it, Harry only making her able to blush twice. Those were stellar victories in his mind and he decided that she looked very pretty when she blushed.
Nobody knew, but when he first met her in the living room of the Dursley's he thought she was very pretty. He got a certain little crush on her and had harbored some midnight fantasies. Throughout the school year, he had slowly pushed them back and let other girls occupy his thoughts. However, with all this close proximity and the teasing, his dreams started to come back at full force. He often found himself waking an hour earlier then she did, his sheets sticky at a certain area. He found himself living with Tonks as both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that he could use magic to banish the stains on his sheet and a curse in the fact that if she wasn't here he wouldn't need to use magic.
Even with those slight mishaps, he wouldn't want to get rid of her. With Hermione's and Ron's letters becoming less and less informative, repeating themselves constantly, he found Tonks' presence reassuring. With her being out of the loop in Order information, he didn't feel the need to question her at all with anything concerning the wizarding world. In fact, he basically ignored it, content with his little summer with Tonks.
The first week was rocky with both of them still grieving over Sirius and Harry's face shifting into Sirius anytime he found his thoughts wandering. It led to a slight argument between the two of them, with each of them blaming themselves for causing Sirius' death. Harry, saying that if he had only studied Occlumency harder then he could have blocked the vision, that if he had only stopped to think then he could have realized it was a trap and sought some other way to see if he was safe. Tonks argued right back, saying that if she had only trained herself to be a better auror than she could have stopped Bellatrix and she would have never gotten to Sirius. They argued for ten minutes, but they're emotions were running so high that it seemed to take forever.
They ended up in each other's arms, crying themselves to sleep. Harry didn't have any nightmares that night, but still found himself awake before Tonks. Her hair which had turned black and red during the argument had turned back to pink, which he found out was her natural color later on. He had leaned forward slightly and gave her a small kiss, unable to resist. Thankfully she didn't wake up. The next few weeks after that had gone better. Their grief dealt with, Harry started to make some process in his powers. He couldn't change to another face besides Sirius; he was only able to change his hair and eye color.
He had woken up again this morning, performing the customary cleaning charm on his sheets and boxers, then looking at the calendar seeing that it was July 31st. He had received a Gringotts owl about halfway through Tonks' stay, informing him that he was the beneficiary in Sirius' will and that he was to be present during a private will reading in the offices of Gringotts. Their grief and guilt already dealt with, the announcement was only met with smiles.
He picked out some of the dress clothes that Remus had gotten him for the will reading, an emerald green button down shirt along with some black slacks, and moved towards the shower. After twenty minutes, he stepped out and dried himself off in a towel Tonks had made just for him that showed flying broomsticks and a snitch, the water accumulating on the towel causing the scenery on the towel to change to a rainy day. Putting on his new clothes, he stepped back into the room only to be assaulted by one of his fantasies come true.
Tonks was kneeling on her bed, leaning forward slightly, giving him a slight view of her cleavage. One of the straps of the tank top that she wore to sleep had slipped off of her shoulder, more of her pale, beautiful skin being revealed. Her head was cocked to the side, her pink bangs falling in front of her eyes, her lips pouting slightly in such a cute way. His eyes traveled down the rest of her body, admiring her long legs, only a short amount hidden by her incredibly short shorts. Paying as close attention as he was, he completely missed what she said.
He looked up to see an impish smile on her heart-shaped face and felt his blush deepen, knowing that whatever she was going to do he would hate it and love it. He saw her legs slowly slide over the edge of the bed, setting them on the floor. She stood up and stretched her arms above her head, lifting her tank up higher, revealing the bottom of her breasts. She walked to him with steady steps, her arms coming down to wrap around his neck, her head resting against his, their noses touching, her hot breath caressing his lips.
"Happy Birthday Harry," said Tonks in a low whisper. She leaned in closer, brushing her lips against his in a soft caress.
Harry's body went stiff, unable to move, air hardly passing through his lungs, his mind becoming numb with something akin to pleasure. He could feel all the blood rushing down to a certain part of his body. The pants were loose enough in that area that his problem became evident to Tonks when she giggled.
Pulling back with a mischievous grin, Tonks walked to the closet grabbed her respective clothes for the Gringotts meeting, moved back to Harry and after a kiss on the nose she sashayed her way to the bathroom for a shower.
Hearing the door close, Harry sank down to the floor, his back pressed against said door. He grinned goofily at the memory of her lips on his even if they were there for just a second. Yes, indeed, living with Tonks was a blessing. Still it was a curse as well as he looked down at his crotch and pleaded with his body to calm down.
(Scene Break)
He was sitting down in one of the hard-backed wooden chairs in one of Gringotts offices. There were only three people including him; Tonks, sitting on his right, her hair in a short bob style, colored black; and Remus, sitting to his left, a few streaks of gray in his sandy hair, looking none the worse for wear.
The legal consultant for the Black Estates and the executor for Sirius' will, a goblin whose name had already slipped his mind, were sitting behind a large wooden desk, an array of papers strewn across the desk. The properties and monetary items in the black estate had already been split amongst himself, Remus, Tonks, and the Weasley's (for taking care of Harry according to the will). They were just waiting for the personal items that Sirius was giving to them.
Remus came first, receiving some vaguely mentioned items, things that were probably just between the marauders. The smile and tears on his face showed that Remus was glad to be having them. Next came Tonks, netting all his journals of when he was an auror and his motorcycle (something about how she would be less clumsy on wheels). Tonks scowled and laughed at that.
Finally it came to Harry. His breath started quickening when he heard his name, but it calmed down when he saw that he was just given a ring. From the dumbfounded look on his face, the gobbling explained to him that this ring is given to the Black heir and that according to the will, Harry James Potter would become the heir to the Noble and Ancient House of Black.
The body of the ring was silver, with a black stone in the center of it. On the stone was an image of a sword pointing downwards, with rays of light or darkness shooting outwards. On the inside of the ring, the words Tojour Purs was inscribed. Sirius' gift to him was freedom, to become an adult. Once he becomes the Black heir, he would be legally recognized as an adult. A shock of elation went through his body at the thought of becoming of age; no longer living with the Dursley's being the prominent thought in his mind.
With glee Harry slipped the ring onto his right hand. He felt nothing at first and thought it didn't work, but then, as in answer to his summons, a harsh bitter cold swept through his body. His eyes flew open as the sensation went along its course only to be replaced by a feeling akin to a warm summer breeze.
He loosened the tight grip on the armrests of his chair and looked around to see worry and concern on everyone's faces save the goblin's. There were a few more formal proceedings about what his job as Lord Black was, but Harry didn't pay any attention to that. The only thing that was on his mind was that Sirius had given him probably the best gift he ever could have.
(Scene break)
Harry was lying down on the bed back in his room at the Dursley's. This was his last night here and then he would go to Grimmauld in the morning, courtesy of Dumbledore's orders. Not like he can stop me from going now anyway.
He raised his right hand to his face and looked again at the ring, admiring its style and how something so small could mean so much to him. He closed his hand into a fist with a small smile on his face as the realizations of freedom washed over him again. He glanced around the room, noting the flaking paint of the walls, the rickety pieces of furniture, the loose floorboards, and anything else that caught his eye. He leaned up when he heard the door open and close, only to have his greeting caught in his throat as he looked at Tonks.
Her normal sleeping attire was gone, replaced by something that was more sophisticated, but more erotic as well. It was a pearl white slip on that came to her hips, the material clinging to her body. Her legs and arms were bare to him, the thinnest straps on her shoulders. He felt a reaction in his body as she slowly walked over to him.
His eyes went to her face, to see her natural pink hair (the color she was born with) in a short cut framing her heart shaped face, ending at the bottom of her chin. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and her succulent lips were just a shade lighter. She climbed down on top of him, her body fitting against his (they were the same height, her with long legs and short torso, him, with shorter legs and a longer torso).
She rested her forehead against his like earlier, their noses touching again, her lips centimeters away from his.
"I never gave you your present," whispered Tonks in soft sultry tones.
He gulped audibly but replied in the same whisper as he licked his lips, "I know."
Tonks smiled in a way that was lazy, mischievous, and lustful at the same time before dipping her head down and ensnaring his lips in a gentle kiss. She tilted her head every now and then to get a better angle as the kiss became more intense with time. A slight nibbling of the lips to open his mouth and then he felt her tongue snake its way in to meet his.
His body shuddered against hers, her own body doing the same a moment later. She slowly circled her tongue around the edges of his, stroking in a lazy manner, enjoying the kiss to its full extent. When the need for air came, she gently pulled back, their lips touching each others, mouths open, panting into the other's mouth. Her eyes were slightly glazed over and he knew his looked the same.
"I've wanted to do that for a while now. And now that you're all grown up, there's nothing holding me back," she whispered in those same sultry tones. She gave him that impish smile that he had grown fond of over the summer before she proceeded to kiss him senseless.
(Scene Break, Present Time)
Harry looked at Molly's face, waiting for her response. It wasn't what he expected.
"That doesn't explain to me why you were doing what you were doing earlier this morning when I found you."
He blinked once in confusion, but then understood what she was hinting at. With a grin on his face he started explaining, "Well you see Mrs. Weasley, when two people really like each other they start spending time together…"
"I know what you were doing, but not why! Why are you with her?!"
Harry mentally groaned as he guessed to what direction Mrs. Weasley was going to. A quick look at Remus and Tonks showed that they came to the same conclusion. Remus' eyes changed to the amber of the werewolf and his nostrils flared slightly. Tonks hair started to turn black with scarlet streaks, her eyes turning black as well.
Looping an arm around Tonks shoulder and pulling her close to him, he responded, "Well I like her. A lot, to be frank. I got a crush on her during fifth year, definitely during Christmas time. What did you mean by what you said? About why am I with Tonks?"
Three sets of eyes looked closely at Mrs. Weasley, but she didn't seem to notice, "You're not supposed to be with her. You're supposed to be with Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley in motherly tones, "she's loved you ever since I told her the story of the boy-who-lived. You're supposed to marry her, Hermione marry Ron, and we'll be all one happy family."
Harry sighed, "Mrs. Weasley…I think of Ginny as Ron's brother. And I see Ron as a brother so that would make Ginny like a sister." For some reason when he said this, he felt it wasn't the right thing to say to Mrs. Weasley. She immediately drew herself up to her full height and turned back to the stove, chopping ingredients in an agitated manner.
Shaking his head, Harry turned to Remus and talked for a while in hushed tones. Simple things from how the other was, to what they were doing, and other things like that. After a murmured congratulations to him and Tonks, Remus left by floo.
Harry looked at Tonks to see her frowning. Upon noticing his stare Tonks smiled which quickly became mischievous after a glance at Mrs. Weasley. She jumped in his arms and Harry caught her bridal style. Laughing loudly, he captured Mrs. Weasley attention as he moved out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Tonks giggling and her feet kicking in the air, told him that Mrs. Weasley saw what they did.
Moving up the stairs and past the room that he and Ron shared, where the others were talking in lowered voices, he moved to Tonks' room and stepped inside. Laying her down on the bed, he stripped off his shirt and pants. He lay down next to Tonks after she had stripped down to her knickers.
Snuggling up to him, Tonks spoke in a whisper, "You know they're gonna come looking for us, right?"
He murmured sleepily, "Don't care, I'm knackered. Hardly got any sleep yesterday."
She smiled playfully and replied, "You're not gonna get any sleep tonight either."
He only laughed and entwined his legs with hers. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, Harry drifted off to sleep, glad that he didn't have to hide his relationship with Tonks anymore.
A/N: Okay sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but I didn't want to mess it up. It's double the length of the last chapter. I didn't go too much into detail of their friendship, in other words show how it built up little by little. The chapter started with them already in Grimmauld near the end of summer and their friendship built in early summer.
So this chapter was a flashback from mainly Harry's point of view, a couple of tidbits thrown in from Tonks. I took the suggestion of not focusing on lemons, but I made it a little juicy. If any complaints you know what to do. Honks Forever!!!!