Tonks Residence, Reading, 6/30/1995, 15:28
Harry stumbled when he got out of bed, he had grown six inches in a week and it was quite a bit to adjust to. Harry clumsily got dressed in the clothes that Missus Tonks had bought for him. He had never really had new clothes and quite liked the fact that his jeans fit him properly for a change.
Harry was still in shock whenever he thought about everything Tonks had told him. He couldn't believe that Pettigrew had somehow been portkeyed back to Hogwarts with his and Cedric's lifeless bodies.
Thinking of Cedric, Harry still couldn't believe the boy he had come to see as a friend had been killed right in front of his eyes. He was just grateful Cedric's murderer would be brought to justice. That still didn't take away the sadness he felt at the thought that he would never talk to Cedric again. Now Harry had one more reason to hate Voldemort, one more reason to want that evil bastard dead.
Pettigrew's capture was the one good thing that came from that night, not only would he be tried for Cedric's murder but also it meant that most of Sirius' charges would be placed on him as well. And since Sirius had never had a trial in the first place, he wouldn't have to be retried at all.
There were still the two charges of escaping ministry custody, one charge of fleeing to elude capture, and one charge of resisting arrest but according to Tonks, those charges would be thrown out as Sirius had been held illegally for twelve years without trial. Tonks had informed him that her boss was already expecting Sirius to file a suit against the ministry for what he went through at their hands.
Harry finished pulling up his trousers before looking in the full-length mirror on the wall. He was surprised to notice he couldn't see his ribs any longer, he actually looked healthy. His face had a more rounded quality to it now and his shoulders seemed a bit wider than he remembered. He looked to be about five-eight give or take which wasn't really tall per se, but he looked to be about the same height as the rest of his dorm mates now (excluding Ron of course).
Harry jumped when the door banged open and Tonks barged in though she was now sporting a pair of torn jeans, combat boots, and a tight-fitting Weird Sisters tee shirt.
"Do you mind?" Harry exclaimed his face flushing in embarrassment.
"Not at all. You're a bit young for my taste but it never hurt to look," Tonks chuckled as she shut the door behind her.
"I'm not finished getting dressed yet!" Harry protested.
"I can see that, how long does it take you to get dressed anyway? It's been almost twenty minutes," Tonks snorted.
"It took a bit to get used to walking, I feel like I'm on stilts or something," Harry defended.
"Yeah, I've been there before. So are you done staring at your reflection, my mum wants to meet you?" Tonks asked as she plopped down onto the bed.
"Almost," Harry muttered as he hastily pulled his new tee-shirt over his head.
"Good, mum is getting impatient," Tonks chuckled as she watched Harry almost fall over trying to slip on his socks.
"I'm ready," Harry said as he stepped into the pair of house slippers Tonks had brought him earlier.
"Follow me then and be careful walking down the stairs," Tonks said as she stood up and took three steps before stumbling over her own feet and tripping into Harry, taking them both to the floor with a loud crash, Tonks landing heavily on top of him.
"Oomph" Tonks exclaimed when she landed on the boy she was supposed to be looking after.
"Oi, what was that about?" Harry's muffled voice demanded from under Tonks.
Idly Harry noticed something... soft pressing into his face and wondered what it was he was feeling.
"Sorry about that, I am the clumsiest person on the planet," Tonks mumbled as she slowly got up and offered him her hand.
Harry blushed scarlet when he realized exactly what it was that had been pressing into his face. Shaking the thoughts of how soft they felt against his cheek, Harry took her offered hand and let her pull him to his feet.
"What is all of this noise about?" A voice demanded as the bedroom door was thrown open.
"Sorry Mum, I tripped and took him with me," Tonks said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, I should have known it was you," The woman exclaimed before turning to him and giving Harry a warm smile.
"Hello Harry, my name is Andromeda Tonks," Tonks' mum said offering him her hand.
"Pl-pleased to meet you, Missus Tonks," Harry said nervously as he shook her hand.
"Just Andi will do, how are you feeling, Harry?" Andromeda asked curiously.
"Pretty good, though I'm still trying to get used to walking," Harry muttered.
"Yes, you've grown quite a bit since you arrived here," Andromeda nodded as she gently guided him into the hallway.
"So you're Sirius' cousin?" Harry asked curiously.
"I am, I take it you're acquainted with the miscreant?" Andi questioned.
"Yeah, I met him last year when Hermione and I helped him escape Hogwarts," Harry admitted.
"He was always my favourite cousin," Andromeda said, a fond smile playing on her lips.
"Tonks said he will be getting his charges dropped tomorrow?" Harry asked as he concentrated on walking down the carpeted steps without losing his balance.
"Yes, he's been staying at his mother's place but I invited him over for dinner when Nymphadora sent word that you were awake," Andi said slowing her pace to match his.
"Who is Nymphadora?" Harry asked in confusion.
"The pink-haired brat walking behind us," Andromeda explained ignoring the growl coming from her daughter.
"If you ever call me Nymphadora, I will hurt you, Potter," Tonks whispered into his ear making Harry jump.
"Don't threaten our guests, Nymphadora," Andi admonished, looking amused at her daughter's aversion to her proper name
"Sure mum," Tonks said as Harry stepped off of the stairs onto the ground floor.
Harry looked around the hall noticing the layout of the home was very similar to the Dursley home, though thankfully the Tonks family had better taste in decor. The floor was dark hardwood with a long decorative rug going down the hallway leading toward the kitchen. The walls were an off-white colour broken up by many family pictures, they seemed to be in chronological order, going from Tonks' baby pictures to Tonks graduating from the Auror Academy.
The home had a comfortable lived-in feeling, that put Harry at ease which was a stark contrast to the sterile feeling of his former residence on Privet Drive.
"My husband and I inherited this house when his parents passed on. I hope you don't mind living in a muggle home?" Andromeda asked sounding a little nervous.
"Not at all. I grew up in a home very similar to this in Surrey," Harry assured her.
"That's a relief. The headmaster wouldn't give us any details about your past living situation," Andromeda said as she guided him toward a door that Harry assumed led into the kitchen if the smells of food were anything to go by.
Harry observed Andromeda out of the corner of his eye as they walked side by side down the hall. Andromeda reminded him of someone he'd seen recently, Harry just couldn't put his finger on who.
She was wearing everyday robes in a soft lavender colour and was pretty tall for a woman, standing maybe a few inches short of six feet tall (though some of that could have been due to the high-heeled boots she wore). Andromeda had long brown hair that fell in large ringlets down her back, she had a kind face and dark grey heavily-lidded eyes. When she caught his gaze she gave him a warm smile that put him at ease.
There was very little doubt in Harry's mind that she came from an old pureblood family, her high cheekbones reminded him of some of the purebloods he knew from Hogwarts. That combined with her straight posture was a dead giveaway that she was born into wealth.
The way she carried herself sort of reminded him of the Greengrass girl in his year who was as prim and proper as they came.
"I am sorry to say that Ted had to work this evening but you can meet him in the morning," Andi said as she pushed the kitchen door open and gestured for him to enter.
Harry stepped in and held the door open for her and Tonks, getting an approving nod from Andi.
"Such a gentleman," Tonks giggled as she stepped into the kitchen/dining room.
The smells that hit him when he stepped into the kitchen had him practically salivating. Harry wasn't sure what was cooking but he could make out garlic and rosemary in the air and had a hunch chicken was on the menu tonight.
The kitchen had an open homey feel to it, with large windows letting in the evening sunlight, large black and white checkerboard tiles, and soft cream-coloured wallpaper. The room was a cross between a kitchen and a dining room with a six-seater rectangular table in the corner near the windows.
On the other side of the room, there was a very nice kitchen with muggle appliances, they even had a microwave as well as an island and a large array of pots and pans hanging from the rack over the island.
The dining room was clean in his opinion but was a far cry from his Aunt Petunia's idea of clean, there were things out of place all over the room, like a stack of medical books on the sideboard and a large glass cabinet full of potion ingredients and a cauldron simmering on top of a potion burner at the far end of the table.
"Go ahead and take a seat, Sirius should be here soon," Andromeda said gesturing to a seat near the door leading outside.
Harry took a seat facing the window noticing there was a well-tended garden. From this distance, he could make out two rows of tomato plants, a row of carrots, and a large pond in the distance.
Harry was pulled out of his observations when Tonks sat down beside him and lounged back in her seat.
"So I heard that you're a quidditch player, are you any good?" Tonks asked curiously.
"I'm alright," Harry answered modestly.
"Just alright," Tonks said looking slightly disappointed.
"If I said I was the best seeker since Charlie Weasley, I would sound like a right prat, wouldn't I?" Harry smirked.
"Fair enough. I played beater for Hufflepuff when I was in school," Tonks bragged.
"Nymphadora has a knack for destruction, it was the position she was born to play," Andromeda cut in from in front of the stove.
"Thanks mum," Tonks huffed.
"So besides that silly game, what do you like to do for fun, Harry?" Andromeda asked curiously looking over her shoulder at him.
"I love to fly. Truthfully I like to fly more than I like to play quidditch. The spot was kind of forced on me in my first year," Harry admitted, finding the Tonks women easy to talk to.
"How was it forced on you?" Tonks exclaimed sounding incredulous.
"There was this kid named Draco Malfoy...
Harry went on to explain the events leading up to him being placed on the Gryffindor quidditch team, earning a gleeful grin from Tonks and a look of indignation from Andromeda.
"So my nephew got away with that?" Andromeda asked when Harry had finished telling his story.
"Malfoy is your nephew?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yes, Draco's mother is my little sister Narcissa. She's a right bitch on most days but we can't choose our family," Andi shrugged.
"Well, he did get away with it. McGonagall was more interested in talking to the quidditch captain than investigating Neville's rememberall," Harry admitted.
"Typical, you both should have been in detention for disobeying the flight instructor," Andromeda said in a disapproving tone.
"Yeah, but it was pretty cool that he got on the quidditch team as a first-year," Tonks protested.
"Actually it was a nightmare. My defence professor put a hurling hex on the broom during my first game, and I nearly got chucked off from a hundred feet up. I ended up crash landing and nearly swallowed the snitch in the process," Harry snorted.
"You're makin' that up!" Tonks exclaimed.
"Am not. Ask anyone who watched the match, they'll tell you," Harry said with a shrug.
"What happened to the professor who cast the hex on your broom?" Andi asked as she pulled the food out of the oven and turned the dial to switch the oven off.
"I killed him, at the end of my first year," Harry admitted rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably when both women looked at him in shock.
"You killed a professor?" Tonks exclaimed her voice coming out much higher.
"Yeah, but I didn't mean to kill him. He was possessed by the wraith of Voldemort, and when I touched him he just sort of turned to ash," Harry answered, feeling uncomfortable with the looks they were giving him.
"Bloody hell, and you said I was trouble in school," Tonks snorted.
Before Andi could say anything else, the back door swung open and Sirius strolled into the kitchen with a wide grin on his face.
Harry was a bit surprised at the man's appearance as he had never seen his godfather wearing anything but his ragged Azkaban robes. Today he was wearing pristine navy blue robes that looked brand new and shined-up dark dragonhide boots.
The clothes were nothing compared to the man's physical appearance. Sirius was looking much better than when Harry had seen him at the end of February. His hair was clean and trimmed and but up into an old-fashioned ponytail and his face was clean-shaven (minus the goatee he was sporting). His teeth were clean and white and looked to have all been regrown. He also seemed to have put on a bit of weight and was looking quite healthy compared to a few months ago.
Sirius' eyes still had a slightly haunted look to them but that would probably never go away. Sirius looked more like the man from his parent's wedding photo than Harry had ever seen him look since he'd met him.
"Ah about time you woke up," Sirius beamed before pulling Harry out of his chair and wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug.
"How have you been, Sirius?" Harry gasped out, a smile on his lips as he hugged his godfather back.
"Great, hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll be a free man," Sirius exclaimed before releasing Harry and looking him over critically.
"Good, you look like you have washed, it's a good look on you," Harry quipped.
"Yeah, well it looks like you're actually growing which is definitely an improvement," Sirius rebutted.
"I'm still getting used to that," Harry snorted as he let Sirius guide him back to the table.
"I bet. I had to polyjuice myself as this bloke that was like six and a half feet tall, it was a nightmare trying to walk around," Sirius admitted.
"Who were you polyjuiced as?" Tonks asked curiously.
"Devon Rosier back in seventy-eight. It's good to see you again, Nymmie," Sirius said as he took a seat across from Harry.
"It's just Tonks, Sirius," Nymphadora huffed.
"I used to call you Nymmie all the time," Sirius exclaimed.
"When I was eight, I just turned twenty-two you wanker," Tonks rebutted.
"Nymphadora, Harry doesn't need to be exposed to such crass language," Andromeda admonished.
"I've heard much worse in my dorm, ma'am," Harry replied, earning a bark-like laugh from Sirius.
"You're a Gryffindor, that doesn't really surprise me," Andi sighed.
"What house were you in, Andi?" Harry asked curiously.
"Slytherin, like every other self-respecting Black since Hogwarts was founded," Andromeda said matter of factly.
"Oi, I was in Gryffindor," Sirius exclaimed, sounding indignant.
"I rest my case," Andi smirked as she carried over a tin pail to the table before going back to take the food out of the oven.
Looking in the bucket, Harry saw it was filled with ice cubes and glass bottles. He made out the necks of six butterbeer bottles sticking through the ice and icy mist rising from the bucket.
"You should have been a badger, Sirius," Tonks said pulling Harry's attention away from watching the icy mist rising out of the bucket.
"Nah, they were a bunch of hippies in my day, though they did grow some pretty good grass," Sirius said thoughtfully
"I hope you're all hungry," Andromeda called from the kitchen as she levitated a platter of baked chicken over to the table.
"I'm starving Missus Tonks," Harry said, his stomach growling audibly as if to make his point.
"Excellent. Ted said that you would have an increase in your appetite for the next few weeks. And it's just Andi," Andromeda gently admonished as she brought a pan of roast potatoes and a bowl of steamed vegetables over to the table and took a seat beside Sirius.
"Dad also said you would have to start exercising or you'll get fat," Tonks cut in as she loaded her plate with food.
"Thank you for volunteering Nymphadora, you can take him jogging in the morning," Andi said sweetly as she summoned the utensils from the counter.
"Mum, tomorrow's my day off," Tonks protested.
"We don't want you getting fat either dear. How are you going to snare yourself a husband if you look like a blimp?" Andromeda asked as she loaded a plate full of food before setting the plate in front of Harry.
"Thank you," Harry smiled before digging in with gusto.
"I won't get fat, I'm a metamorphmagus. I can make excess weight disappear," Tonks pouted.
"That's cheating dear," Andromeda shrugged.
"Mum, you can be really mean sometimes," Tonks grumbled as she fixed herself a plate.
"So how bad is it at Walburga's house?" Andromeda asked looking over at Sirius and ignoring her daughter's last comment.
"Awful, it's full of people. The Weasley woman is driving me mad and she has like a thousand children!" Sirius exclaimed as he opened a butterbeer.
"Walburga's?" Harry asked curiously accepting the butterbeer Andi offered him and popping the cork.
"That's my late mother, the order is using her London townhouse as headquarters," Sirius explained.
"What's the order?" Harry asked in confusion between bites of potatoes.
"The Order of the Phoenix, it's a vigilante group that Albus Dumbledore founded in the first war," Andromeda said in a disapproving tone.
"So the group fights death eaters or something?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Sometimes, mostly we try to slow old Voldy down, we even have an ear in his meetings so we are pretty up to date on his movements," Sirius explained.
"So everyone knows Voldemort is back then?" Harry asked somewhat surprised about this turn of events.
Even though he knew the ministry had captured Pettigrew, he half-expected nobody to believe him about Voldemort's return.
"Oh yeah, Wormtail sang like a canary during his interrogation, though Fudge is still denying his return and trying to keep it hushed up," Tonks cut in before reaching over Harry to grab herself a butterbeer.
"Figures, so I guess Snape is your spy then?" Harry asked saying the man's name like one would reference a disgusting wart.
"H-ow *cough* do you know that?" Tonks demanded, coughing up the butterbeer she had just been drinking.
"Mum told me he was a death eater," Harry admitted looking down at his plate.
"What do you mean your Mum told you!?" Sirius asked sharply.
"I saw her when I got hit by that killing curse," Harry said quietly.
"Impossible," Andromeda muttered.
"Which part?" Harry asked looking over at Andi.
"That you got hit with a killing curse," Andromeda said looking troubled.
"I did, Voldemort stood over me and cast the spell then everything went black... for a bit," Harry assured her.
"Then how is it you're still alive?" Andi asked gently.
"I had a piece of Voldemort's soul latched onto my scar from when he tried to kill me when I was a baby, that took the brunt of the curse," Harry shrugged.
"H-his soul?" Sirius asked weakly.
"That's what Mum said, it's why I had all of those blasted visions last summer," Harry explained.
"I s-see, did she tell you anything else?" Sirius asked looking unsure if he wanted to know.
"Yeah, she did. Mum said that Voldemort went after me in eighty-one because of a prophecy that one of his followers overheard. It concerned a child born at the end of July who was destined to defeat him. Voldemort thought that child was me and hunted our family relentlessly," Harry answered, doing his best to remember the conversation he'd had with his mother while he was in the in-between.
"How is that possible?!" Sirius demanded, his face having paled considerably during Harry's explanation.
"You mean there was a prophecy?" Andromeda asked looking at Sirius in disbelief.
"Yeah, there was. That was why Lily and James went into hiding. Someone overheard the seer giving the prophecy to Dumbledore and ran to old no-nose, telling him everything he heard. I just wish I knew who that death eater was," Sirius muttered darkly.
"It was Snape who told him about the prophecy," Harry replied matter-of-factly.
"You're sure?" Sirius asked looking at Harry.
"That's what Mum said. She also said she and Snape used to be friends," Harry snorted still finding that very hard to believe.
"T-they were," Sirius said shakily.
"What?!" Harry demanded feeling his stomach sink at this news.
"They grew up in the same neighbourhood, they were always together until our third year when Snivellus fell in with some of those pureblood supremacist types. They still met up to study together and whatnot until after our O.W.L's when they had a big falling out," Sirius explained.
"Damn, I was kind of hoping it was all a hallucination," Harry mumbled.
"I will look into this. If Snape is the one who got your parents killed, then he will pay for that!" Sirius promised.
"Alright, can we talk abou' sumfink else," Tonks muttered through a mouthful of potatoes.
"Nymphadora, don't talk with your mouth full," Andromeda huffed.
"Sorry mum," Tonks shrugged after swallowing her food.
"She is not wrong, though. This is not proper dinner conversation," Andromeda said as she shot Sirius a pointed look.
"Right, so if my name gets cleared, I'm going to invite you all to stay with me at the Black Island for a few weeks," Sirius said looking between the other three occupants of the kitchen.
"I don't see that as being a problem, though Ted will have to take the time off from work," Andromeda said with a bit of excitement in her voice.
"I had planned to go towards the end of July, so he should have time to make arrangements," Sirius assured her.
"What's the Black Island?" Harry asked with interest.
"My family acquired a tiny island in the Caribbean back in the sixteen hundreds. It's where I hid out last summer," Sirius answered between bites of chicken.
"Is that where those birds you sent came from?" Harry asked a fond smile playing on his lips.
"Yep, they don't use owls in that part of the world," Sirius beamed.
"So the island is tropical?" Harry asked after swallowing a rather large bite of chicken.
"It is. Which reminds me, we need to get you a new wand," Sirius said before taking a drink of his butterbeer.
"Why do I need a wand to go on vacation?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Lethifolds, the island is infested with them. It's a good thing you've got the patronus charm down," Sirius grinned.
"What happened to your wand, Harry?" Andromeda asked before Harry could ask his next question.
"It exploded in my hand," Harry admitted and glanced at his right hand noticing a smattering of thin white scars resembling stripes across the widest point of his right palm.
"That would explain why the scar salve wouldn't work on your hand," Andi said sounding thoughtful.
"I have a lot of new scars since I woke up," Harry muttered, thinking of the long one on his forearm from that ritual and the scar on his ankle from the acromantula bite.
"Well the scar on your forearm was caused by a cursed knife, it will probably never fade. The one on your ankle will fade over time," Andromeda assured him.
"I'm not fussed either way. I've been known for that scar on my forehead since I entered the magical world, What's a few more?" Harry chuckled.
"That scar on your head has been fading since you arrived here," Tonks pointed out.
"It has?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yes, it's no longer raised from the skin and it's been gradually losing its colour," Andromeda answered.
"All that time you spent staring at yourself in the mirror and you didn't notice?" Tonks teased.
"I was a little preoccupied with the fact that I have meat on my bones for a change," Harry defended.
"Yeah, you were pretty puny when you arrived, looked like you were about twelve," Tonks smirked.
"It's not my fault my aunt and uncle barely fed me," Harry shrugged before digging back into his plate not noticing the angry look that passed between the adults.
"What do you mean they didn't feed you?" Sirius demanded.
"Just that. They gave me the bare minimum and wouldn't feed me if I had a bout of accidental magic," Harry said, feeling wary about the direction this conversation was going.
"Dammit, I can't believe Dumbledore put you there," Sirius scowled.
"Yeah I know what you mean, but they're dead now so let's just forget about it," Harry said trying to convey his lack of interest in the topic at hand.
"Albus should have checked up on you, Lily always said her sister would have fit in with those nutters that burnt witches at the stake in the middle ages," Sirius exclaimed.
"And her husband was cut from the same cloth," Harry snorted.
"Ugh, you two keep jumping from one depressing conversation to the next, how about we talk about what you're going to spend all of that gold you won on," Tonks said, giving her cousin a pointed look.
"I don't care, to be honest. I'll probably just donate it to Saint Mungo's or something," Harry shrugged.
"Really, a thousand galleons is a lot of money," Tonks exclaimed, giving him an incredulous look.
"I have gold and I never wanted to be entered in that infernal tournament, to begin with. Cedric won that tournament with me, so half of that should have been his if Wormtail hadn't murdered him," Harry said shortly.
"I think donating it to Saint Mungo's is a wonderful idea, the long-term spell ward is funded mainly through donations," Andromeda cut in giving her daughter a warning look.
"Good, then maybe some good will come out of that tournament," Harry said, giving Andromeda a grateful smile.
"Speaking of gold," Sirius said as he dug in his pocket removing a tarnished silver key, "Here is the key to your trust vault," Sirius said as he tossed it to Harry.
"I already have a key to my trust vault," Harry said confusedly as he snatched the key out of the air on reflex.
"You have a trust vault from the Black side too, you are my heir after all," Sirius shrugged.
"I don't need-
"Well you've got it anyway, better it goes to you than Cissa's brat," Sirius said with a tone of finality.
"And you don't have the Potter trust vault key. Molly Weasley just mailed it here two days ago," Andromeda added looking unhappy about that for some reason.
"So I guess I need to go to the alley soon," Harry said as he pocketed the key.
"Yep, I'm taking you tomorrow afternoon but you have to stay with me," Tonks said losing all hints of the playfulness she usually had.
"Okay, does Voldemort even know that I'm still alive?" Harry asked curiously.
"No, there are very few that do, mainly Poppy and the members of the order," Sirius answered.
"What about Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Not yet," Sirius admitted.
"Well they should know, they are my best friends," Harry said giving Sirius a pleading look.
"Alright, I'll take care of it," Sirius promised.
"I guess I should go in disguise tomorrow then?" Harry suggested looking over at Tonks.
"Yes, I had already planned to place some glamour charms on you," Tonks said as she pushed her empty plate away.
"So how are you feeling, you seem calmer than I remember," Sirius asked curiously.
"To be honest I feel great," Harry admitted as he pushed his own empty plate away and leaned back in his chair.
"I will talk to Albus about what you said about the prophecy if that's alright with you?" Sirius said as he gave Harry a questioning look.
"Go ahead, I would like to hear what he knows about it as well," Harry said after thinking about it a moment.
"Right, well I have to head out, There is another order meeting tonight. Andi thanks for dinner," Sirius said getting up from his seat and placing a kiss on Andromeda's cheek.
"Right, I'll head out with you," Tonks said as she got up and stumbled into Harry using him to stop her from falling over.
"Geez, you are clumsy," Harry snorted.
"Yuck it up Potter, you'll be stumbling over your feet when we run tomorrow," Tonks smirked.
"I'll have you know I'm usually pretty graceful," Harry protested.
"I'll see you tomorrow Harry," Sirius said as he opened the backdoor.
"Be careful," Harry called to his retreating back.
"Don't worry, I'll watch his back," Tonks grinned as he followed after Sirius.
"Nymphadora, you be careful too," Andromeda said worry obvious in her voice.
"Don't worry, Mum," Tonks grinned before she shut the door behind her.
"Do you want to watch a movie?" Andromeda asked as she flicked her wand at the table and the dishes flew to the sink before they began to wash themselves.
"Sure, I don't get to watch the telly very often," Harry grinned as he watched the kitchen begin cleaning itself.
"Have you ever seen Star Trek before?" Andi asked curiously as she stood from the table.
"No ma'am," Harry said as he followed her into the sitting room.
"Just Andi, Harry," Andromeda admonished as she pulled a VHS tape off of the shelf and pushed it into the VCR.
"This is one of Ted's favourites," Andy said as she sat beside him on the couch and the music began to play.
Harry was enthralled. True the special effects were a bit behind the times but the story drew him in from the very beginning, the music was catchy and the plot was quite interesting.
Harry had never been allowed to watch movies with the Dursleys. He would usually consider himself lucky if he got to watch a few hours of the telly when the Dirsleys went out somewhere, so this was a novel experience for him.
When the end credits came on, Harry stretched his arms over his head and yawned widely, feeling very sleepy all of a sudden.
"You should probably turn in, dear. Nymphadora will be waking you pretty early to run," Andi said stifling a yawn of her own.
"Okay," Harry said as he got up and stretched again feeling a satisfying pop in his back.
"Andi," Harry said as Andromeda got up and pushed the rewind button on the VCR.
"Yes Harry?" Andi asked looking at him curiously.
"Thank you for healing me up, I know you guys didn't ask to take me in," Harry said genuinely grateful for what they had done for him.
"You don't have to thank us. We were thrilled to learn you would be coming to stay with us," Andromeda said as she closed the distance between them and pulled him into a gentle hug.
Harry was taken aback for a moment but relaxed into her embrace, it reminded him of his mother's hug when he went to that place after getting hit by the killing curse and he soaked up the feeling of warmth coming from Andromeda.
"Well thank you all the same," Harry replied as he tentatively hugged her back.
"I knew this day was coming," a male voice called from the entrance to the kitchen.
"What day is that, Ted?" Andromeda asked as she released Harry from the hug, a warm smile playing on her lips.
"The day I come home to find you in the arms of another man," Ted said a playful grin playing on his lips.
Ted was a portly man with blond hair and a cheerful face, he stood about six feet tall and seemed to be pretty easy-going, he was currently wearing his lime green healer's robes and carrying a healer's bag.
"Edward, such an awful thing to say. I was planning on easing him into it," Andromeda exclaimed shooting Harry a playful wink
"Ha, I've shown up in the nick of time then," Ted beamed as he placed a kiss on Andi's cheek
"Hello Harry, I'm Ted Tonks," The man said offering Harry his hand.
"Harry," Harry replied shaking his hand.
"Has the wife been taking care of you?" Ted asked as he took out his wand and began waving it over Harry's body.
"Y-yes, we just got through watching Star Trek," Harry said a bit taken aback by the wand pointed at him at first.
"He's just running diagnostics," Andi assured Harry when she saw the look on the boy's face.
"Sorry lad, I should have asked permission first," Ted said sheepishly as he cancelled the spell.
"It's fine. So am I healed up yet?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Not completely. Your core still hasn't fully replenished itself but it should be back to normal within a few days," Ted assured him.
"Oh," Harry said feeling a little disappointed at this news.
"Not to worry, your body used a lot of magic when you were unconscious. Your core seemed to settle last night so whatever was going on, worked itself out in the end," Ted chuckled as he took a seat on the couch and groaned appreciatively.
"Harry was just about to go to bed when you came in," Andromeda said before disappearing into the kitchen.
"It really is good to see you up and about, Harry, you gave us both a right scare," Ted said sounding more subdued.
"Thanks for patching me up, I feel better than I ever have," Harry said giving the mana a grateful smile.
"I can't take credit for that, your own magic did most of the healing. I just kept feeding you nutrient potions and monitored your health," Ted waved him off.
"Well thank you anyway," Harry said genuinely.
"Think nothing of it. You really should get some rest," Ted chuckled when Harry yawned a second time.
"Yeah, I shouldn't be this tired. I haven't even been up very long," Harry said stifling yet another yawn.
"It's because your core isn't fully replenished yet," Ted explained as he kicked off his boots.
"Alright, good night sir," Harry said as he turned to head out of the room.
"Good night Harry," Ted called to his back.
Harry was still getting used to his new situation but his first impression of the Tonks family was very good. From what he could tell, they were good people and had already done a lot for him.
'Maybe things are starting to get better,' Harry thought to himself as he slipped out of his clothes and climbed under the covers, falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.