Chapter 17

What a Waste

Harry opened the door cautiously before making his way inside, cursing the anti-apparition wards they had placed over the house that prevented him from appearing directly in his bedroom. He just hoped Remus and Tonks were still sleeping and wouldn't notice him slinking back to his bed.

He crept carefully up the stairs and down the hall, managing to make it past their room without making a sound. Carefully opening the door he slipped inside, leaning against it and breathing a sigh of relief. 'And my luck holds,' he thought to himself brightly, 'I could probably even go back to sleep for an hour or-'

"Morning pup." His eyes snapped open to find Remus sitting on the corner of his bed, his face pale and drawn as it usually was in the days following a full moon. Tonks stood nearby keeping a wary eye on him in case he over exerted himself.

"H-hey Moony, wotcher Tonks," he said, stammering as he looked warily back and forth between the pair, "Beautiful morning, isn't it?"

"Oh absolutely fantastic Harry," Tonks replied, her overly cheerful smile setting warning bells off in his head, "We woke up early with the sun coming in our window, a nice breeze blowing in through the curtains and the teenager we're supposed to be protecting missing from his bed!"

Harry winced as she shouted, "Sorry. I meant to leave after Susan and Hannah, but I... kind of got distracted."

"Really?" Tonks asked crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at him, "What was could have been so distracting that you would forget to come home?"

"Well, I went to thank Neville for throwing such a great party, but he was passed out and the twins were pranking him, so I thought I'd join in a little and things kind of... escalated from there," he said, trying to avoid blushing as his mind drifted to what had happened next, or at least the little he remembered of it. After Apparating to the twins new shop they had opened up another bottle of firewhiskey and started the 'real' drinking games as one of the twins had put it. The last thing he actually remembered was offering to give Katie a lift home after the twins had disappeared with Angelina and Alicia, forgetting that she was still a couple weeks away from getting her Apparition license yet.

"Which explains why he was all pink when we went over there this morning," said Remus, obviously expecting him to finish his story, causing Harry to grimace. He had been hoping that they would just assume he had crashed at Neville's.

"Well after I helped prank Nev, they asked me if I wanted to come for the tour of their new shop."

"And so you thought it would be a good idea to sleep in an unprotected shop?" asked Remus disapprovingly.

"We didn't sleep there, they're still living at the Burrow," he said quickly, hoping to mollify his new guardian. Remus had never yelled at him, but Harry found his disappointment worse. Harry had a lot of experience with adults yelling at him, quiet disappointment on the other hand...

"Well thank Merlin for small mercies," said Remus, looking slightly relieved, "though why you couldn't have just Flooed home from the Burrow, I don't understand."

Harry winced again, debating whether or not to tell him where he had actually slept. On the one hand, Remus didn't seem too mad right now and he would avoid having Tonks tease him for the rest of his life, which was a definite positive. On the other, if they ever did find out that he hadn't stayed at the Burrow... Remus trusted him, he didn't want to lose that, "I uh-" he mumbled, deciding to tell the truth and get it over with, "I didn't stay at the Burrow..." he finished, his eyes fixed on his feet.

"And where exactly did you stay?" Remus asked, lowering his head into his hands, obviously dreading the response. "What was that?" he asked, as Harry mumbled the answer so low even the werewolf couldn't hear it.

"K-Katie's," he said, just loud enough for them both to hear. Harry looked up at them slowly, scared of what he might see. Despite his time with the Weasley's, this was the first time in his life he had something even remotely resembling a family of his own and he couldn't bear the thought that he might drive them away by doing something foolish. He knew staying anywhere other than the Den was dangerous, not just for him but for the people he was staying with, which is why he was surprised when instead of scolding or yelling at him, Remus burst out laughing.

Tonks seemed just as surprised, "Remus!" she exclaimed, swatting him on the shoulder.

"Sorry Dora," Remus said as he tried to contain his laughter, "you're right I shouldn't be laughing right now. He just reminds me so much of James sometimes..." he trailed of, a sad smile on his face. Noticing Harry's curious look he explained, "It was the summer after sixth year, Padfoot had been staying with your grandparents at the time and I came to visit for a week. Your parents had been dating for a few months at this point and James decided that it was absolutely essential that they spend their 77 day anniversary together."

"77 day anniversary?" Harry asked, wondering whether a 77 day relationship had any special significance in the magical world and if it was something women would expect him to remember and celebrate.

Remus smiled, "Prongs was something of... well Lily would call it a romantic, though Padfoot and I had another term for it. Anyways, Prongs had decided that 77 was their lucky number and he'd be damned if they were going to spend the 77th day of their relationship apart, so he snuck out leaving Padfoot and I to cover for him."

"But wait, why 77?" Harry asked, his confusion etched clearly on his face.

"Well James always said it was because one 7 is lucky, so two 7's must be even luckier," Remus replied, a large grin on his face as he reminisced about his old friends, "But our theory was that it took 77 tries before Lily finally agreed to go out with him." Harry felt his eyes bulge. It had taken his father 77 attempts to convince his mother to go on a date with him? He had learned from Sirius that his father could be a stubborn bastard when he wanted to be, but 77 times... "We managed to keep it from your grandparents all day," Remus continued, "which wasn't easy by the way. With Voldemort terrorizing the Wizarding community and James being their only child, your grandmother could have given Molly a run for her money when it comes to over-protectiveness, but we managed to keep it from them all day, only for your dad to walk right into them as he tried to sneak back inside the next morning."

Harry couldn't help the sad smile on his face as Remus finished his story. It was always bittersweet to hear stories of his parents, especially since he had learned that it was his fault that Voldemort had been after them. "I'm sorry for worrying you Remus," he said, "you too Tonks. I should have known better, I don't know what I was thinking."

"It's alright pup," Remus said with a sigh, "I understand. Sometimes I forget that you're still a kid and that you still need to act like it once in a while. But you need to be more careful. You can't go running off on your own like that, not telling us where you're going. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you."

Harry nodded slowly, "I'm sorry Moony, I didn't mean to worry you. It won't happen again."

Remus smiled weakly at him before pushing himself to his feet, "Alright pup, we'll talk about this more later. Right now I need to get some sleep."

Harry watched his guardian leave before turning towards his bed, jumping in surprise as he found Tonks still there, arms crossed and tapping her foot on the ground, "I hope you don't think you're getting off that easily," she said as she advanced on him, causing him to gulp. With Moony recovering from his transformation he should have known that Tonks would take it upon herself to punish him. He watched her carefully, trying to guess what she was planning, her evil grin making him incredibly nervous. She quickly grabbed him, shoving him onto his bed before jumping up beside him and looking at him expectantly with her legs tucked underneath her. When she finally spoke, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry, "Details. Spill."

OoOoO

A few hours later, Harry looked down in wonder at his hand or more precisely, where his hand should be, as in it's place was a paw covered in black fur.

"Very good Harry," Professor McGonagall said from where she had been observing Tonks, causing him to look over at them. Tonks, being a metamorphmagus, was a natural at transforming herself and had quickly surpassed him in their Animagus training. She was already capable of changing each of her four limbs and was now working on growing her tail. Seeing him looking at her, Tonks gave her half-bare bum a shake and winked saucily at him, causing him to blush and McGonagall to attempt to hide her smile with a glare that he would have missed if he hadn't been looking for it. Over the past few weeks he had spent a lot of time with his Transfiguration teacher and had noticed that despite her stern mask, her favorite students always seemed to be the ones that caused the most trouble, which probably explained why she seemed to have a soft spot for him.

He looked back at his paw, taking in every little detail, before focusing on changing it back into a hand. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he was staring at his fingers once more. "Excellent work Harry," said McGonagall once again as he looked up to find her right beside him.

"Thank you Profe- Er, I mean thank you Minerva," he replied, tripping a little bit over her name. Due to their advanced lessons and him choosing her as his secret-keeper, she had decided to allow him to call her by her first name and he was still getting used to it.

She gave him another one of her rare smiles, something else she had been doing more often over the past few weeks. "I think that should be enough for today," she said, sending Tonks a look to let her know that she had better pull her pants quickly.

Tonks grinned back at her, deliberately taking as much time as she dared before making her way towards them, causing Harry to smile and shake his head wryly, "Are you ready to go pick up Ron and Hermione?"

"In a moment, I have something for you before we go," she replied, seating herself at her desk and looking through one of the drawers.

"Minerva, you shouldn't have," Harry said as he took the comfier of the two chairs across from her, prompting Tonks to stick her tongue out at him.

"Mr. Potter, I am your Professor, it would be highly inappropriate for me to get you a gift," she said, arching an eyebrow at him in amusement before pulling a few Hogwarts letters from her desk and handing him the one with his name, "Your OWL results have come in and I thought I would save a few trips for the school owls."

"Minerva, you shouldn't have," he repeated, eyeing the letter as if it were a poisonous snake. Both women laughed as he resignedly took his letter from her, before opening it and unfolding the parchment inside.

Ordinary Wizarding Level Results for Harry James Potter

Pass Grades:

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectantions (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades:

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

Results:

Astronomy – A

Care of Magical Creatures – O

Charms – O

Defense Against the Dark Arts – O

Divination – D

Herbology – E

History of Magic – T

Potions – A

Transfiguration – E

Harry read the parchment several times, rereading his scores. He had known he would fail Divination, as he had absolutely no aptitude for it and collapsing halfway through his History of Magic exam probably had something to do with scoring a T, but at least he had passed everything else. He handed the parchment to Tonks, who had been trying to read over his shoulder. Picking up his envelope again to get his supply list, he noticed something extra inside. Curious, he tilted it over, allowing a badge to fall into his hand. Expressionless, he looked down at it, reading the two letters on the front over and over.

McGonagall seemed disappointed by his lack of response to the badge in his hand, "Are you alright Harry? I thought you would be excited to be named Quidditch captain."

"So did I," he said quietly, examining the badge in his fingers, "it's just that... I don't even know if I'll have time to play Quidditch this year, let alone run the team. Between classes, homework, friends, teaching, making lesson plans, my own workouts, Animagus training, full moons..." he trailed off, still looking at the badge in his fingers. If he had been given this last year he would have been overjoyed, but now he wasn't so sure. He enjoyed Quidditch, but after being banned from it for most of the previous year he had realized it was flying that he had truly missed. The wind running through his hair as he plunged towards the ground or the feeling of nearly being pulled from his broom as he took a turn at full speed. He handed the badge to McGonagall, "I'm sorry Professor, I can't accept this."

"You're sure about this?" she asked, a surprised look across her face.

Harry nodded, "Yes. If things were different..." he sighed, "But they're not. I'd love to be Quidditch Captain, but I just don't think I'll have the time this year."

His head of house nodded slowly as she took the badge from him, "It is your decision Harry. I can't say I'm not a little disappointed, but I'm proud of you. To turn down such an offer in favor of helping your classmates shows a lot of maturity," she said, before standing and picking up the small stack of letter she had removed from her desk, "Now, it's time to meet your friends."

OoOoO

"Try it on, try it on!" Tonks cried out excitedly as Harry finished unwrapping her gift, pulling out a beautiful black leather jacket.

Harry quickly complied, pulling it on and zipping it up, "What do you guys think?" he asked.

"It looks great pup," said Remus from his place at Tonks side, "you look just like your godfather."

Harry beamed at his guardian as the metamorph beside him sat almost bouncing in her seat, "So, do you like it?" she asked eagerly.

"I love it, thanks Tonks," he said, pulling her into a tight hug. After letting her go, he took off the jacket, placing it beside the Quidditch gloves he had received from Ron. The watch Hermione had bought him was snug on his wrist, having finally replaced the one that he had broken beneath the Black Lake.

"Well I suppose that just leaves me," said Remus, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a rolled up parchment with a ribbon tied around it. He handed the parchment to Harry, who eagerly pulled off the ribbon, only to find that the parchment within was blank.

Harry regarded the parchment in confusion for a moment before a look of understanding and delight crossed his face. Before he even knew what he was doing, his wand was in his hand, moving towards the parchment, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." At once thin lines began to spread from the point his wand had touched, joining and crisscrossing until they resolved into a map of Hogwarts. "But- How?" he asked, looking up at Moony as he did, "I thought the map was destroyed with the rest of my things."

"It was. I made a new one," Remus explained pointing at the title near the top, "with just a few minor modifications."

Harry read the spot where he had pointed, 'Messrs. Moony, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present The Marauder's Map.' "You got rid of the rat," he said in surprise.

Remus nodded, "Among other things. He didn't do much to help with it anyways, it was all he could do to try to keep up with James and Sirius's Animagus training."

Harry looked back and forth between the map and Moony with tears in his eyes. He had been heartbroken when he had realized that the original had been destroyed, as it was one of the only things that he had from his parents, one of the few remaining pieces of his father's legacy. "Thank you," he said, hugging his guardian tightly. When they released each other he could see tears in Moony's eyes as well, mourning the loss of his packmates, Padfoot and Prongs. They stood in silence, unsure of what else to say, until Tonks interrupted in an attempt to restore the lighthearted fun they had been having earlier.

"Cake time!" she said excitedly, quickly disappearing into the kitchen before reappearing just as suddenly carrying a large cake with 16 lit candles. "Happy Birthday to you..." she sang as she reentered the room, quickly joined by the others. Harry sat in silence, a wide grin on his face as he listened to his friends sing him happy birthday for the first time in his life. "Happy Birthday dear Harry, Happy Birthday to you!"

Hermione hugged him from one side as they finished, while Ron pounded him on the back from the other, "Happy Birthday mate, blow out your candles." Harry gave him a wide grin before turning to his cake and taking a deep breath.

"Wait!" said Tonks, stopping him, "Close your eyes and make a wish."

Harry shook his head and rolled his eyes at her, but decided to play along. Closing his eyes he debated what he should wish for. The obvious answer was getting rid of Voldemort, but wishing for someone's murder, even someone evil seemed a little bit dark for a birthday wish. He was so intent on his task that he didn't see the mischievous grins passed between his guardians as he took a deep breath and attempted to blow out his candles, only for the entire cake to blow up in his face as he extinguished the last one.

Harry gaped in amazement, his face, glasses and upper torso covered in bits of cake and icing, as Remus and Tonks burst out laughing. Slowly reaching up, he used a finger to brush the worst of the pastry off his glasses and took a look around the table. While Remus and Tonks didn't seem to be affected, no doubt because they were the masterminds behind it, Ron and Hermione were almost as filthy as he was. Ron, who was the most composed of the three of them, took it in stride, no doubt due to his years of experience dealing with the twins and was picking bits of cake of his face. "Not bad," he said, nonchalantly swallowing a particularly large piece that had been stuck to his nose, "seems like a bit of a waste though." The four other people around the table couldn't help but stare at the redhead, who continued licking icing off his finger, before they burst out in laughter. Looking around with a small grin, Ron slid a finger along his cheek, gathering all the icing there as everyone else collected themselves. He looked carefully at the cake and icing built up on his finger, before calmly flicking it to his right, hitting Tonks square between the eyes.

Once again, the room broke out in laughter, all except the metamorph glaring at her boyfriend who seemed to laughing hardest of all. "Think it's funny do you?" she asked dangerously. Unable to respond, Remus could only nod as he tried to catch his breath. By the time he realized his mistake it was too late, as Tonks had grabbed a large handful of cake from the table and rubbed it into the werewolf's face. Remus stopped laughing and looked at her in shock as she gazed back with a self-satisfied smirk. They stared at each other for a moment before each dived at the cake, grabbing handfuls of pastry and icing. Harry couldn't help but laugh as the two of them wrestled, each trying to smear the other with pastry. Wiping the rest of the icing off his glasses, Harry looked toward his friends. Ron was focused on the remains of the cake, trying to move the biggest surviving piece onto his plate, while Hermione had already cleaned most of the cake from her face and was using a handkerchief to wash off the rest as she watched the older couple fighting. She had just managed to get the last bit when a large glob smacked right into the side of her face with a loud 'thwop!' causing her to freeze.

Slowly she reached up and wiped away a large chunk before turning her attention towards her two best friends. She quickly discounted Ron, who was looking sadly at his empty plate and instead turned her attention to her raven-haired friend, who was currently whistling quietly, twiddling his thumbs and carefully avoiding looking anywhere near her direction. Just the barest hint of a smile played around the ends of his mouth as he turned his attention towards her, "Hermione, looks like you missed a –" he ducked as a handful of icing flew over his head, before making a dash for the kitchen cackling madly, a bushy-haired bookworm hot on his heels.