When the small details about Voldemort had been filled in for everyone, ending with Sirius mentioning that Voldemort was looking for a weapon he didn't have in the last war, Molly put her foot down and demanded everyone head upstairs to bed.
"Aurora, Sirius, sit," Remus said as they rose from the table. They both plopped back down into their seats. He watched Aurora wave dejectedly at Harry as he walked from the room. Only Bill and Tonks remained seated at the table with them.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Sirius asked.
"No," Tonks replied, sipping from her still half-full glass of wine.
"Why would you leave if you can get dinner and a show?" Aurora grumbled.
"Now, that's quite enough from you," Remus said. He did not make a habit out of raising his voice to his daughter, but she was definitely trying his patience tonight. "I understand that you had a difficult evening yesterday and that you were not in a good mood today as a result, but do you think you think there is anything acceptable about the way you've behaved tonight?"
"I think I reacted in kind with the situations that were presented to me this evening," she said matter-of-factly.
"Why on earth would you possibly think that you've behaved appropriately tonight?" Remus asked. "What is your problem this evening."
"My problem is that all summer you've dealt with my nightmares and panic attacks. And I came here and I just wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to know why you weren't bringing Harry here when I said I knew something bad was going to happen if he stayed in Surrey," she said, her eyes brimming with tears. "But you tell me nothing, Harry gets attacked by dementors, and now that's he's finally here and Harry deserves to have all his questions answered. He's got no parents but you to make decisions for him. He's old enough to make his own decisions about all this. Not that I blame Harry at all for any of this. After all, I've only spent the last two weeks constantly harassing all of you about letting him come here and telling him what was going on. But I am upset that you made all these considerations for Harry just tonight, but decided not to make one for your own daughter in the last month."
Remus didn't know what to say. Sirius clearly didn't either. Aurora rose to her feet and walked from the kitchen, slamming the door shut behind her as she stomped off to her room.
They were all silent for a moment. That had not been what Remus was expecting her to say. He'd expected her to say that she was angry about how long it had taken Harry to be moved here, or that she was frustrated in general about not being told anything until tonight. But that she felt she'd been sidelined by Harry? That she felt like he and Sirius had jumped shipped to take care of Harry? That hadn't been what he wanted to hear at all.
"Well, I feel like an ass," Sirius said.
"Oh, only just now?" Remus asked. And then there was the adult child he apparently needed to be responsible for as well.
"Mum was kind of out of line," Bill interjected. "I'm sure Dad's giving her an earful."
"Not that you don't need one as well," Remus said. "It's not a contest who has Harry's best interest in mind. And from the way all of us has behaved tonight, Aurora might be right in thinking she's the only one that truly does."
Remus had felt like a bad parent many times in the 14 years he'd been looking after Aurora, but she always reminded him that he was not doing a bad job. She always told him he was the best dad in the world, that he tried too hard, and gave himself too little credit.
But to hear her tell him he'd messed up. For her to be truly angry with him, to feel less loved than she had when she woke up that morning? This hurt. How did she feel if he felt like this?
"This whole situation is new. For all of you. And of course, it's stressful for everyone. And you also have to remember when you're 15-years-old, everything is a very big deal," Tonks said. "She obviously considers both of you her dad and she loves you very much or she wouldn't be so upset with you. And Harry-."
"Will probably be upset that Aurora's upset tomorrow," Sirius said. "But maybe that's not giving him enough credit."
"He looks up to both of you too," Tonks said. "And I know for a fact that Aurora knows that he's important to the both of you, but-."
"But she's right," Remus relented. "Neither of us went to bat for her the way we did Harry. We should've talked to her before tonight. We should've moved Harry before-."
"Well we can't undo what's already been done," Sirius said. "Nothing to do now, but wake up tomorrow and grovel."
"You two'll figure it out," Bill said getting to his feet. "Just have to learn to co-parent."
"You make us sound like divorcees," Remus chuckled.
"Good luck groveling to your teenager," Tonks said.
"Well, you have to come back tomorrow to make sure we don't screw up again," Sirius said.
"I'm not the parenting expert here," Tonks said.
"Well, the parenting expert is cross with me. And you're the teenage girl expert. That's more important," Sirius said.
"I think you just want me to help you clean this house," Tonks said.
Sirius gasped. "I would never take advantage of my own family like that."
Tonks rolled her eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"We appreciate you," Remus said.
"You'd better," she replied.
It was barely past eight when Rory woke the next morning. She didn't sleep well, and couldn't imagine after the row she'd had with her dad that she would, even if she weren't plagued by nightmares.
She'd still been diligently writing her dreams down, though it was beginning to feel like a waste of time. They were all the same. She tried to spot subtle differences in them, try to determine their meaning, if any. Most she just assumed that she was traumatized. Trauma seemed to trump her inner eye.
She got out of bed and went down to the kitchen. She was surprised to see Harry there filling a glass of water.
"Morning, Potter," she said quietly.
He turned, a little startled to see her. "Oh. Hi. Didn't think anyone would be awake this early."
"Always am," Rory said. "Don't get much sleep these days."
"Not alone in that," Harry said.
"I'm even up before Mrs. Weasley when I stay over, though I'm sure she'll be around before long," Rory said. She got started on coffee, as she always did.
"I heard you last night. With your dad and Sirius," Harry said. "I wish I knew what to say."
"You don't have to say anything," Rory said. "You need someone on your team. It will not begrudge me to share my own, but if they're going to look out for you they have to remember to look out for me as well."
Harry nodded. "If I deserved answers about what was happening you did too. Maybe you especially."
"Me especially?" Rory asked.
"Last night your dad said they wanted to keep you here for the rest of the summer instead of going back and forth like you have been, to keep you from being a target," Harry said.
"Yes," Rory said.
"But why now? Why not just do that from the start?" Harry asked.
"Why didn't they just bring you here from the start?" Rory asked. "Why'd it take dementors attacking you for them to move you?"
"But that's exactly my point. Something prompted them to move me because I was in danger," Harry said. "What if something about those dementors attacking me prompted them to keep you here too?"
"But what? I don't even know who attacked you," Rory said. She put the percolator on the stove and lit the flame beneath it.
"We'll just have to find out," Harry said. "I do recall you saying you can be sneaky when necessary."
"Helps as well that I'm a seer, though I'm sure that's the reason I'm in this situation in the first place, and being your girlfriend is just a convenient scapegoat of an excuse they can toss at me," Rory said. She leaned back against the kitchen sink and sighed heavily. "It's been a long summer."
"Yeah," he agreed. He reached out and brushed her hair back behind her ear. "Better now you're here though."
She smiled at him. She wanted to say the same to him, but that didn't seem enough. So she kissed him instead. She kissed him like she'd wanted to yesterday. She almost didn't care that Mrs. Weasley or her dad would likely be coming through the doors at any moment. Harry didn't seem to care either as he pressed her back against the kitchen sink, his hands planted firmly on her hips.
Rory's body tingled all over and a heavy warmth fell upon her. It just felt so damn good to be kissing him again. Just to be with him again.
They finally disentangled themselves when the coffee was finished. Rory grabbed a tray and filled it with mugs, as she had many mornings and prepared to carry it upstairs, but Harry insisted he do it for her, she opted to fill her own mug with coffee and carry that upstairs so her hands weren't empty.
They were about to head upstairs when the kitchen door flew open. Rory's mug slipped from her hand and shattered on the ground. She hissed as the hot coffee splashed her legs. She knocked back into Harry who subsequently lost almost the entire tray of mugs to the floor.
Rory couldn't imagine who would possibly run into the kitchen as if all hell had broken loose, but then she set her eyes on the culprits. Her dad and Sirius. She frowned. Because there was only one reason both of them would come flying into the kitchen like that.
They'd realized Harry wasn't in his bed and Rory wasn't in hers, and they'd absolutely planned to catch them in the act of something illicit in the kitchen. Well, they were five minutes too late to interrupt their perfectly innocent snogging. And Rory was still upset from last night. So she was more than happy to play this situation to her advantage.
"Good morning," she grumbled.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle to you," Sirius said, as Remus waved his wand clearing the mess from the floor.
"Is there a reason you two came running in here like the devil's on your heels?" she asked.
They both gave noncommittal, poorly constructed answers about coffee and breakfast, but she could tell that they knew she wasn't convinced.
"I know this is a big house, but with twelve people and a house-elf constantly running about the place, no one's exactly getting any ideas about being able to sneak around, and if that's not enough to put your mind at ease, perhaps you should at least try being less conspicuous next time," Rory said.
"Noted," Remus said.
Harry held out a new mug of coffee to her and she flashed him a smile. He took up the tray and they prepared to leave the kitchen.
"Harry, you go ahead and take those up to the dining room. We just want to have a quick word with Aurora," Sirius said.
Rory sighed as Harry went upstairs.
"I thought you'd at least wait until after breakfast to corner me," she said flippantly.
"Don't be that way," Remus said. "At least pretend like you're going to listen."
"Okay," she sighed.
"We both owe you an apology," Sirius said. "Me more than him, I think. I have a habit of opening my mouth before I consider what words are going to come out of it."
"We both love you so much. You know that," Remus said. "And you were absolutely right. And you've been right since the day you walked in here. But we can't undo the past. But we can handle things differently going forward."
"You have to consider that none of us knows what we're doing. This situation is certainly unheard of," Sirius said. "And throwing Harry into the mix has only complicated things because nobody here knows who should be responsible for him."
"Harry seemed to at least tolerate listening to Dumbledore until he bailed," Rory said bitterly.
"It will all get figured out," Remus said with a sigh, clearly not in the mood to get into another argument about Dumbledore today. "In the meantime, I need you to give us both some grace. We're going to make mistakes."
Rory nodded. "I know."
"Also know, that sometimes we're not going to make mistakes and you're still going to be angry with us because you will not be right about everything all of the time," Sirius said.
"We'll have to see that in practice, but I understand," she replied. "I love you both, but I'm still upset."
"Perfectly understandable," Remus said.
"Can I go now?" she asked.
They stepped aside she walked past them up the stairs.
"She mostly rolls her eyes and groans, but at least she's talking to us," Sirius said. He sprayed the curtains in the lounge with doxy repellent and all at once the chittering came from the curtains.
"I don't think Rory knows how to communicate with me anymore unless she's rolling her eyes," Remus said.
"Teenagers," Tonks replied. She was shielding her face as she swatted at the curtain beside Sirius, shaking loose any stragglers. "They get over it. Just have to get over themselves first. I think I only just started getting over myself recently."
"Well, you are practically a teenager yourself," Remus commented.
Tonks rolled her eyes. His favorite to do was to tease her about how young she was. It was almost like a game to her now.
"Not only am I an adult, but I happen to be an Auror, which makes me almost a higher-level adult," Tonks said.
"Well, have you and all your adult wisdom come to any more conclusions about Aurora and her unusual gift?" Sirius asked.
"I haven't had the time since I was asked to return to help with this," Tonks said.
"Oh, I think you're just here because you enjoy our company," Remus said.
Tonks paused her swatting to, first, wipe a dead spider out of her hair, but she thought for a moment.
"I guess that's true," she admitted. This caused both the men to stop their cleaning. "What?"
"Are you having a laugh?" Sirius asked.
"No. I do genuinely enjoy your company," Tonks said. "Find it hard to believe people like being around you?"
"Well, not me, but this one," Remus said motioning to Sirius.
"Haha," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes.
And then there was a scream, followed by frantic voices and shouting. Remus was out the door first and Tonks and Sirius trailed behind. It was a testament to his paternal instinct that he was able to find Aurora, the source of the screaming, along with Harry, Ginny, and Ron.
Ron and Ginny had hoisted up a large table and they could hear loud thuds whacking against the other side of it. Harry was near the door kneeling beside Aurora. He'd taken off the flannel shirt and had it pressed against Rory's face which was clearly bleeding. His white t-shirt was speckled with spots of blood and there was a large gash in his shoulder.
"What the hell happened?" Remus asked going to his daughter's side.
"There's a murderous grandfather clock," Ron said.
"Murderous clock?" Sirius asked.
"As soon as Rory uncovered it started shooting at us," Ginny said.
Tonks walked over to the upturned table and peered behind it. She nearly got hit in the face with a bolt.
"Murderous grandfather clock seems to be accurate," Tonks said. She turned to Sirius. "The hell is wrong with your family?"
"Oh, don't try and divorce yourself from this insanity, Nymphadora Tonks," Sirius said. "We're in this together."
"Do. Not. Call. Me. That. Name," she hissed.
By now everyone else had come to see what the commotion was.
"All right, everyone out," Molly declared, clearing the room.
Harry and Remus had finally calmed Aurora down and gotten her to her feet.
Tonks was staring at the table, thinking about what to do with the clock behind it.
"Remus, I know you want to tend to Aurora, but I may need your expertise on this," Tonks said.
"I'll look after her," Sirius said.
Rory didn't seem to protest at the switch. Mostly she seemed to not want Harry to leave.
Once the room was cleared out Tonks continued to stare at the table. The clock had gone silent now. But when she stepped to the other side of the table, the clock began its assault again.
"You need my expertise?" Remus asked.
"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, correct?" Tonks asked.
"Well, as an Auror and a 'higher-level adult', I thought you could handle this on your own," he teased.
She rolled her eyes. "Is Aurora all right?"
"Harry thinks it was a gear that got her right in the eye. It's bleeding too much to tell," Remus said.
"Wounds on your face, especially near the eyes, bleed a lot. They always look worse than they actually are," Tonks said. "Might leave a scar, but she'll be fine."
Remus seemed to bristle at the mention of scars. She looked him over and realized that his face and his hands wore many scars. Most were old and not really there until you really looked but some were obvious. She'd met Remus knowing he was a werewolf, so the scars seemed like a no-brainer. But it might not feel good to see them on your child, even if they were caused by something as wild as a cursed grandfather clock in her ancestral home.
"Her boyfriend's got a cool scar too. They can match," Tonks said light-heartedly.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Don't repeat that back to her if you don't mind."
"Too obsessed with her boyfriend?" Tonks asked. She had a thought and flicked her wand out toward the clock. It shook violently but continued to attack them. "Damn."
"I worry if they're not too serious to be so young," Remus said.
"Well, they both went through something traumatic together," Tonks said. "Shared trauma brings people together. And if they were close before that then it's unsurprising that they're closer now."
"I suppose you're right," Remus said.
"They're very cute together though," Tonks said. "Harry is completely smitten."
Tonks had seen them today at breakfast. The two chattered away with each other like there was no one else in the room. It was wildly different than the way she'd seen them the night before, intense, and angry, and defensive. Today they were just two teenagers in love.
"This morning Sirius and I went to wake the pair of them, just to chat. To apologize to Aurora, and neither of them was in their room," Remus said. "Found them in the kitchen together."
"Did you walk in on a snog fest?" Tonks asked.
"We suspected we would, but instead, we made Aurora spill coffee all over herself and Harry dropped a tray full of mugs," Remus said. "Because they were making coffee together. And that's it."
Tonks cackled. "That's precious."
"Aurora was not amused. She told Sirius and me to be more conspicuous the next time we decide to try and spy on her," Remus said.
Tonks sat down, cross-legged on the floor.
"What are you doing?" Remus asked.
"Doing an inventory of every counter curse I know to figure out what the hell is going on with this clock," she said. "Can't concentrate as well when I'm standing."
"Afraid you'll fall over?" Remus asked.
"You know, you blame Sirius for how cheeky your daughter is, but I think you need to take a look in the mirror, Remus Lupin," Tonks said.
Remus sat down beside her. "I'll consider it."
"I wouldn't worry about them being too serious," Tonks said.
"Why do you say that?" Remus asked.
"I was just privy to a very interesting conversation. I promised not to tell you, but I did eavesdrop a bit after I left and I made no such promises not to repeat what I heard afterward," Tonks said.
"Playing it very fast and loose with your alliances, I see," Remus said. She chuckled. "So what did you hear?"
"I heard that… There's only snogging," Tonks said.
"What?" Remus asked.
"Only snogging. That's it. All Harry and Aurora have ever done is snog and nothing else. I'd left the room, she was talking to Hermione and Matilda. Matilda called her a liar when Aurora said that it's all they'd done and Aurora was adamant," Tonks said. "To put it as indelicately as Matilda did 'seven months and he's never even gone after a boob. That is a gentleman.'"
Remus scoffed. "For now."
"For now? You don't trust your daughter?" Tonks asked.
"I trust her. But I also remember being fifteen," he said. "And I remember when James was fifteen."
"Bit of a cad?" Tonks asked.
"More than a bit," Remus replied.
"Harry doesn't seem the type," Tonks said. "At the very least he clearly respects her boundaries, whatever they are. Just need to trust your parenting skills I suppose."
Tonks continued to flip through her mental catalog of curses, hexes, and the like. Remus was silent beside her.
"You're wise beyond your years, Tonks," Remus said.
She looked over to him. He was also concentrating on the table ahead of them.
"Weren't you just saying that I'm practically a teenager myself?" she asked.
"I rescind my commentary," he said. "You are remarkably insightful."
"I am an Auror," Tonks said.
"You'd still be brilliant even if you hadn't chosen this career path," he said.
Tonks felt herself blush. Obviously, he knew this was true. His own daughter was brilliant enough to be an Auror and would never be one, and it didn't make her less brilliant. Tonks knew how smart she was. But it felt like a hefty compliment coming from Remus.
"Thanks," she said. "You're quite brilliant yourself, or I wouldn't be sitting here trying to figure out this clock—" She leaped to her feet. "Sorry, I've just had an epiphany. Can you make sure I get behind this clock without being murdered?"
