Shapeshifter
6th of July, 1995.
Ray was walking into the Auror training and duelling hall the next day. He walked up to Dora and looked at the trainees she was overseeing. "How are things going?" he asked.
"They are doing pretty good," Tonks said. "Quite a few of them want to face you. I told them they would get the chance today."
"Well, I better get started then," Ray said. He walked out in the middle of the floor and called out, "Who wants to have the first go?" He drew his wand and stood ready.
The trainees moved to the sides and one of them stepped forward. "You think you are hot stuff, don't you," he said.
"I think I'm fairly good at what I do," Ray responded. "I'm not saying that I'm any better or worse than you are. I just have different experiences."
"That's not what it looked like yesterday."
"Did you want me to perform worse to save your ego? I was asked to go through the Gauntlet and I did," Ray said.
"Stop bickering Luke," Tonks said. "Do you want to duel Ray or not?"
"Oh, I'll duel him," Luke said. He drew his wand.
They bowed and Dora counted them off. Spells were flying rapidly between the two. Everyone else was shielding themselves to keep safe. Luke growled as he changed and turned into a giant grizzly bear. He barrelled forward and Ray held his hand out. A calming green light surrounded the bear. Ray had kept from using that kind of magic until then. If only the characters he portrayed could do magicka it would come to hinder him someday. Maybe it was time to teach some to Hermione and Neville. Maybe he could teach Fleur and Gabrielle this summer too.
Luke turned back to himself and looked at Ray. "How did you do that?" he asked.
"I calmed you down," Ray said.
"You took the fight right outta me," Luke said.
"I didn't feel like getting mauled," Ray said. He sheeted his wand and looked around at the others. "Next?" he asked.
"Sure."
Ray got ready for another duel. He smiled as he fought his way through all the trainees. They were pretty good. Some were more imaginative than others. Halfway through the day, they ate some lunch.
"How about you come with us for some drinks tonight?" Luke asked.
"Can do that," Ray said.
"You coming too, Tonks?"
"Why not, sounds fun," Tonks said.
The pub was lively that evening. Ray laughed as Luke came over with the third round. He grabbed the water from the tray. "Thank you," he said.
"I don't get why you want water," Luke said.
"Doesn't matter he bought the first round."
"Guess you're right," Luke said.
Ray chuckled. He watched as the rest of them got livelier and drunker. Some of them took off after they had paid for their rounds. In the end, there was Luke and Dora and Ray. Dora had mixed in water and wasn't that bad off, but she was certainly too drunk to apparate. Ray helped them both outside. Thankfully, Luke lived within walking distance so they could walk him home.
"Where do you live?" Ray asked Tonks.
Tonks mumbled. She yawned. "I guess we are going to the Leaky Cauldron then," Ray said. He found a dark alley and disapparated.
"Late night?" Tom, the barman, asked.
"Yeah, I don't know where she lives so I figured getting a room here was better than nothing. I don't think my uncle would appreciate me bringing her home," Ray said. He paid for a room and helped Dora upstairs. He dropped her into bed and looked around. There was a cosy-enough-looking couch that he could sleep in. He sighed. He didn't want to leave in case she woke up really confused the next morning.
7th of July, 1995.
Dora yawned. She groaned. She had a horrible headache. Why did she drink so much the night before? She sat up slowly and squinted. "Now where the heck am I?" she muttered.
"Headache potion?"
Dora jumped in surprise. She looked over to a man sitting by a table filled with food. He was holding a potion vial out towards her. "Ray?" she asked. She looked down at herself. She was fully dressed.
Ray laughed. "No, I didn't take advantage of you," he said.
Dora took the potion and downed it. She stood up and walked over to the table. She grabbed some water and washed the taste of the potion out of her mouth.
"I bought you a set of clothes in case you wanted to take a shower," Ray said.
"Oh, that sounds good," Tonks said. She grabbed the clothes and headed to the bathroom.
Ray continued with breakfast. He guessed she'd be back eventually. He had never gotten that drunk. It had been a really bad idea in Skyrim.
"So, where are we and why are we here?" Tonks asked.
"Leaky Cauldron and because I didn't have anywhere else to take you. You weren't cohesive enough to tell me where you lived last night," Ray said. "And trust me Uncle Alastor would not have appreciated me coming home with you drunk."
Tonks snorted out a laugh. She could see that ending badly. "I guess I should thank you then," she said.
"Do we have training today?" Ray asked.
"No, thank heavens unless you want to go in. I'm free for today," Tonks said.
"Want to do something?" Ray asked.
Tonks grabbed some ham and cheese for a sandwich. "What do you have in mind?" she asked before taking a bite.
"I was thinking of a museum or an amusement park," Ray said.
Tonks chuckled. "You want to go to an amusement park with me?" she asked.
"Why not? I have never been," Ray said.
"Oh, you poor thing," Tonks said. She smiled. Maybe it would be fun to go to an amusement park. Guys always wanted to go do really boring things on dates. Ray maybe wasn't thinking of it as a date, but it sounded like fun. "Why don't we go to Chessington World of Adventures," she said.
"Sounds good to me," Ray said.
"Do you want to go home and freshen up first?" Tonks asked.
"No, I have done that already," Ray said. "We can eat and head out."
"Good, we'll need as much time as possible. There is so much to do," Tonks said enthusiastically. Her hair turned pink.
"You better hold one hair colour," Ray said. "We are going into the non-magical world after all."
"Oh, I know," Tonks said.
"How did you do that when you were younger?" Ray asked.
"Mother had spells that kept it looking one colour to everyone else," Tonks said.
"I can do that too. Would you like me to?" Ray asked.
"I… that would be nice," Tonks said.
Ray chuckled. "I'll have to head home and fetch something, but I'll be right back," he said.
Ray was only gone for a short while before returning with a silver and moonstone bracelet that Katla had made for practice once. He had brought several pieces like that with him throughout Skyrim and had completely forgotten that he had them in his backpack. He had found them when he did some cleaning of his backpack. He didn't need to carry all that stuff around. Some he had placed in his vault for safekeeping until his house was done. He had kept a few pieces of jewellery around in case he needed them for some reason. He figured a permanent hair colour for Dora was a pretty good thing to use one of the pieces for. "Here you go," he said. "I opted for brown."
"That is my natural hair colour," Dora said. She put the bracelet on and looked in the mirror. "And this will just keep working?" she asked.
"Yes," Ray said.
"It completely hides my hair colour without messing with the rest of my hair. She focused and her hair went curly. "So it only hides the colour."
"I figured the colour was what changes based on your emotions," Ray said.
"Well, yes," Tonks said. "Length and structure take a bit more and other changes take a lot of concentration."
Ray held his arm out. "How about we head out?" he asked.
Tonks took his arm and they left the inn.
Lines were already forming at the gates of the amusement park. Most of the people there were families with children of many different ages. There were some teens on their own and a fair amount of couples as well.
Ray paid for entrance.
"You didn't have to pay for me," Tonks said.
"How about you pay for lunch then," Ray said.
Tonks nodded. "Okay sure," she said. She looked down at the map they had been given. Then she took Ray's hand and started dragging him along. She had been here once before with her parents and she remembered it quite well. They fed the giraffes and Ray walked up to a snake handler and was given a boa.
Tonks walked up to him and reached out. She petted the snake. "It's so smooth," she said. "It isn't poisonous, is it?"
"Boas aren't more poisonous than bees," Ray said. "They crush their prey before eating them whole."
"Wait so this snake could eat you?" Tonks said.
"He's been fed recently," the handler said. "He isn't likely to hurt anyone."
"Not likely?" Tonks said. She hadn't gone near the snakes when she was younger. She wasn't a fan of snakes, but Ray looked pretty cool holding the boa, and he didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that it was strong enough to crush him.
They stopped to get some ice cream before continuing.
They had lunch and went to see the felines.
"Big cats are so majestic," Tonks said.
"They are also lazy," Ray said with a smile on his face.
"Well, kings and queens don't seem to do much unless they have to. Isn't that similar?" Tonks said. She smirked at him.
Ray laughed. He took her hand and the two of them headed to the rides.
Tonks giggled uncontrollably as they walked away from Rameses Revenge. She pointed at a sign. "Let's... go. Let's go there," she said between breaths.
"Terror Tomb," Ray read. "Sounds like fun."
They spent their time in line pairing Hogwarts teachers with animals. Tonks would describe them and Ray came up with an animal.
"Mysterious, dark, brooding. Kind of aggressive but in a hissy way," Tonks said.
"Sounds a bit like a crocodile to me," Ray said.
Tonks laughed. "Yeah, that sounds kind of right," she said. They got into a cart and sat down.
Ray chuckled as Tonks grabbed him. They spent more of the ride laughing than screaming. Ray was holding Tonks up as they walked away from the ride because she was laughing so hard. She reached up and kissed him before she realised that he hadn't asked her out on a date. She almost pulled away before he returned the kiss.
They pulled apart to breathe.
"That was nice," Tonks said.
Ray laughed. "Is this what you want?" he asked.
Tonks nodded. She leaned her head on his chest. "This has been the best date ever," she said.
"You must have had really bad dates if a day with me in an amusement park is the best date you have had," Ray said.
Tonks sighed. "Well, I do wade through a lot of guys who only want to be with me because of… you know what," she said. She took his hand and they started walking.
"That must be so annoying?" Ray said.
"It is," Tonks said. "Could you make your boobs bigger? Could you be thinner? I even got this guy once that asked me to look pale with blue lips."
"Did he want you to take a cold bath too?" Ray asked.
"I left before that," Tonks said.
Ray shook his head. "Some people are sick and some are just really annoying," he said. He squeezed her hand.
"Let's talk about something nicer," Tonks said.
Ray hummed in agreement.
They stepped into a restaurant and sat down at a table. "So what do you do normally?" Tonks asked. "I mean you are here helping us with the trainees now, but…"
Ray chuckled. "I do a bit of this and a bit of that. I work with the goblins a lot," he said.
"So nothing specific," Tonks said.
"I do warding and enchanting," Ray said.
"Like my bracelet?" Tonks asked.
"Like the bracelet," Ray confirmed.
Tonks looked at the bracelet. It was really quite pretty and it looked handmade. "Where did you get this?" she asked.
"I got a few from this guy called Kato. I think his sister makes them. We have worked together on a few things for the goblins and we shared a Master for a while," Ray said.
"Isn't he the guy who brought the lycanthrope cure forward?" Tonks asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Ray said.
They ordered food and moved on to lighter topics. Some nice food and good wine later saw them heading to Tonks' apartment.
8th of July, 1995.
Raiden woke up slowly. A ray of sunlight was resting over the sheets. He shifted and looked down at Dora. He felt strange. He figured that maybe he was uncomfortable. He couldn't figure out why though. Dora was great. She was fun and they had a great time the day before. He sat up slowly. Dora was really pretty. Her hair was a soft brown colour that he guessed was her natural colour. He hadn't been that far off with the bracelet.
"You're awake already," Tonks mumbled.
"I am," Ray said.
"Why, it's early?" Tonks whined. She reached up and grabbed him before pulling him down. She kissed him and Ray chuckled. He pulled her up into his lap. "Good morning," he said.
Tonks was smiling as she pulled away from him. Her hair was slowly shifting colour and her eyes were closed. She opened her eyes and looked straight at Ray. She saw his eyes widen and then she could feel how she was pushed back. She hit the floor and she could hear the front door slam. What did she do? She stood up and walked over to the mirror, but she must have changed back in surprise when he pushed her.
Tonks walked out to the kitchen. Yesterday had been great. Why did her damn ability always ruin things? She grabbed a tub of ice cream out of the freezer looked at it and threw it back. She got dressed and headed outside. She reached the nearby park and started running.
10th of July, 1995.
Ray rubbed his face. His head had been a mess the past two days. He had to apologise to Dora. It wasn't her fault that he reacted badly. He arrived at the training hall. He could see her across the room. He wasn't going to ignore this. He walked up to her. "Can I talk to you?" he asked.
Tonks looked at Ray. She wasn't sure what to think. She guessed she could give him a chance. "Sure," she said.
They walked away from everyone else and Ray threw up several privacy spells. "I… I'm sorry," he said. "I overreacted. I'm so sorry if I hurt you physically and I'm really sorry for hurting you." He closed his eyes and rubbed his face. "I… some time ago I lost my fiancé. You managed to change to match her and I… I overreacted."
"You loved her?" Tonks asked.
"I did," Ray said. There was pain and longing in his eyes. "She wouldn't have wanted me to get stuck on her, but I guess that it is just too soon. I had so much fun with you. I would love for us to be friends, but I don't want you to be holding out for me. You are an amazing person and you deserve a man that won't be driven away by something you can't control."
Tonks ran her hands through her hair. "Do you think we could work out?" she asked.
"I…" Ray paused. "I think we could… given time," he said.
"You just don't want me to pass up on another opportunity just to wait you out," Tonks said.
"Kind of yes," Ray said. "I'm not ready for a serious relationship now and I won't be for many years to come."
Tonks nodded. She liked Ray. They had a really good time together, and the sex was pretty darn good. Did she love him, though? She wasn't sure. Could she grow to love him? Maybe. "I'll need time," she said.
"I'll be leaving tomorrow. I'll send you a letter at some point during the summer. If you don't want to talk then don't respond," Ray said.
Tonks nodded. "Thank you," she said.
"I hope I will see you again," Ray said.
"Me too."
