Once the holidays were over Harry was excited for classes to begin again, now that they spent months on much of the basics in classes they were going to be doing more spellwork, simple still but it would be there to build upon. When the girls came back to the castle Harry noticed that Katie Bell had gotten a necklace too, although hers had a bronze charm of a broom on it.
Many of the girls he saw commented on that in different ways, he overheard them say it was obviously going to happen and they lamented that they missed out on the chance to become seeker since the position had been filled. He wasn't sure why they thought that they would get tight necklaces because they were on the house quidditch team, he didn't get one. Not that he wanted jewelry so he chalked that up to a girl thing. Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker had one that was gold and another girl had one that was bronze as well, they were both in the shape of a unicorn horn.
Hermione, though he noticed, seemed upset. She told him that her parents had been fighting over the holidays but they wouldn't tell her what it was about. So he was just happy to be there for her so she could vent about the frustrations that came with it all.
But all in all there didn't seem to be much going on, for the first month of the new term. Although once February started Harry noticed some more decorations going up.
"Oh right, Valentine's day," Harry nodded his head when the flowers shaped like hearts were being placed around the castle. But as he didn't have a girlfriend he figured it was for the older girls because they were talking about it.
What did confuse him was that some girls came to him for advice. Katie Bell wanted to know what to get Oliver Wood and a fourth year girl he was pretty sure he saw sitting with Cedric Diggory was very insistent that he tell her what to get him and he recognized her as the girl with the bronze charm on her necklace.
He wondered if it was just because they all played Quidditch that they wanted his opinion, but he mentioned that on his first night in the castle Oliver had found a poster he lost so if there was a frame for his favorite poster that might be a good gift. Since he'd not really interacted with Cedric before and they would first crosspaths on the Quidditch field in a few weeks, Harry said he had heard Cedric was pretty good at charms so maybe a book with some out of the ordinary spells might be a fun gift. That he also said the two of them could find time to work on the spells together had the girl running off to find the perfect book.
But he was just going about his day on the fourteenth like normal until Tonks came up to him and she was holding a box in her hands. "Who's that for?" Harry asked because he didn't know Tonks had a boyfriend, and figured that maybe he had graduated, at least he thought that until Tonks blushed and held it out for him.
Now every ounce of his brain power was scrambling for a solution, Tonks got him a Valentine's gift and he had nothing. "I will be right back," Harry said nervously as he started to sprint through the halls, he'd nearly bowled over a group of girls who were coming down the hall towards him, quickly blurting out an apology as he headed for the thankfully empty transfiguration classroom. For some reason the headmaster had classes end around lunch time but that did benefit him as Professor McGonagall wouldn't be teaching right now.
Harry was panting as she opened the door and Minerva changed through a number of different expressions before motioning for him to enter. "Is there something that I can help you with Mr. Potter?"
"I need to get to Diagon Alley really fast," Harry stated while catching his breath. "Is there some way to do that?"
"There are, but I'm curious as to why you require that?" Minerva wondered just what came up suddenly that the young wizard would have to go shopping so suddenly, had he tarnished his favorite robes or was his preferred shampoo on sale.
"It's Valentine's day and I don't have anything for Tonks," Harry said desperately. Surely his professor would understand the problem he was in, he didn't get a girl a gift on this holiday and she clearly thought he was going to get her one.
Minerva was surprised that Harry was such a progressive wizard in that regard, also getting the witches in his coven, even if it was just the one right now, a gift when all the other girls were going to be doing everything they could for their warlocks. Humming to herself as had this been the reverse she would have left the girl to her fate for forgetting such an important date, that they would have not gotten the wizard any gifts. But Harry had been one of her better students so far, of course he was a wizard so she expected as such and he had played a crucial role in winning the last quidditch match.
"Very well Mr. Potter, I'm sure that some shops might still have some trinkets," giving in to the request, but she didn't doubt that many stores would already be picked clean by last minute panic purchases from witches who were trying to not end up on the couch tonight. "I will take you through the floo and we'll spend no more than a half hour in the alley."
She didn't want to give up her entire afternoon if he got it in his head to browse every store to make purchases for himself.
"Thank you so much professor," Harry said with noticeable relief. "What's a floo?"
The sound of a roaring fire went out followed by a tremendous crash as Harry collided with a number of chairs that had been moved into the center of the room. Harry let out a groan and saw the looks he was getting from the few patrons still in the pub. "I'm okay," he said with a forced smile. "Might have used a little too much floo powder."
Minerva stepped out of the floo gracefully to see Harry hurrying to pick up some chairs on the floor and she just wasn't sure what had happened to get this result.
Tamsin was scurrying over from behind the bar and came short of Harry who rubbed the back of his head. "I swear Professor, I didn't have time. He just shot out," Tamsin pleaded with the professor to not get her in trouble.
"I'm fine, it was my fault, sorry about knocking over your chairs," Harry apologized as he put them all right before bowing respectfully and quickly walking to the back of the pub like Hagrid had shown him.
McGonagall just sighed and went after her charge because she was responsible for him while they were out of the school. "It is this combination," Minerva reminded the wizard who was tapping one brick off.
"Oh right, thanks, I didn't remember it from when Ms. Hagrid showed me it," Harry chuckled as the bricks moved out of the way and he could see the nearly empty streets, which was very different from his summer trip as it had been packed with shoppers, and he could only see some witches running between stores at the moment.
"So do you have any idea what you plan to get Ms. Tonks?" Minerva wondered just what he had in mind.
"Well she knows I didn't get her anything so flowers and chocolate aren't going to be enough by themselves," Harry moved over to grab a bouquet of roses and a giant heart shaped box that surely held treats, that they were some of the only ones left, in part because they were the more expensive ones, Harry didn't notice. Even though those typically were only purchased as part of an apology gift.
Minerva saw that Harry had scampered his little legs to Madam Malkins and she was going to tell him that she wasn't going to give him all the time in the world to find a new blouse for himself, but Harry was pointing to a pair of red pumps. "They're not for me," Harry looked at the clerk for a moment. "But they change size right?" Harry asked again.
"They do?" the lady behind the counter said in confusion.
Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Then I'll take those and that dress."
He didn't know what would be the appropriate amount of things to get for an "I'm sorry I forgot about Valentine's day," present. Harry just figured that if he got flowers, chocolate, shoes and clothing then he would have covered all of his bases with what girls liked.
The clerk rang up the thin red dress with a plunging neckline and slit on the side, the shoes and before Minerva could even comment Harry was out the door again. "What is happening?" the confused woman at the counter asked the professor.
"I don't know with that young man," Minerva admitted because it seemed he was prepping Nymphadora for a much more vigorous evening, but if he tried to get alcohol, that was when she'd put her foot down.
By the time she caught up to Harry he had gotten to an apothecary and was asking about potions and Minerva hurriedly stepped in because it would seem the saleswitch was getting a very different idea or the correct one and Minerva couldn't allow that to happen. "But they said there were potions that would make Tonks feel really good," Harry questioned why he was being led out.
"There are… we will…," she wanted to go with the tried and true, ask your parents, as she had in the past with some more curious students but that would not work in this situation. "Just… I promise you have enough already."
"Are you sure, I could go in there," Harry pointed at a shop down a sidealley that had a sign outfront advertising special sales for Valentine's day.
She tightened her grip on the rambunctious wizard because that was a shop that catered to the more intimate moments between a wizard and his coven. And no amount of explanation would cover everything wrong with taking a student into that store. "Next year Harry," Minerva said in the hopes that he forgot by then or that it was someone else's problem.
Coming back to Hogwarts Harry took his gifts and ran back out in the hopes of finding Tonks. He did but instead of just waiting against the wall or talking with someone she was sitting on the steps and it looked like she had been crying. "Tonks," Harry shouted as he ran up to her. "What… how… what happened?"
Nymphadora quickly wiped her eyes of the tears because she didn't want a wizard to see her cry it just… it just looked bad. "You ran off," she quietly answered.
Harry deflated at that. He took it to mean that because she approached him with a gift and he didn't have one, meant he wasn't even thinking of her. "I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot, I didn't realize. I got you these," pointing to the presents he'd dropped after seeing Tonks in distress. "Please let me make it up to you."
Tonks sniffled because she didn't understand what he meant, that he had to make it up to her. She thought he ran off because of her. "Whatever you want to do, I'll make it happen," Harry promised because he didn't ever want to see Tonks or any of the people he cared about cry.
"I'm being silly," Tonks just tried to play it off to save face. Not that it would matter all that much, plenty of girls saw Harry run away. If that didn't embolden them, nothing would.
"You aren't," Harry assured her as he reached up to wipe away a stray tear off her cheek. "I'm sorry I forgot to get you a present before today, I promise that next year and the year after that and the year after that forever. I will make sure you get the best gifts I can give you."
"What did you get me?" Tonks asked as Harry went over to pick up his gifts. "Well I figured pretty girls like flowers and chocolate. Those were the biggest ones they had."
Tonks stifled a giggle because these were pretty huge, she once saw a witch get three of these in the alley when she went shopping with her mum once and when she asked, her mum only had this to say.
"She's clearly doing whatever she can to just get back on the couch after what she did," Andromeda snorted a laugh at this witch's misfortune or poor judgment.
"And these?" Tonks picked up the longer box. She was surprised at the choice of clothing.
"I just you know, hoped they were your size," Harry said as he looked at the box.
The dress was shapely, she could fill it out, but it might be a bit of a tight squeeze. Tonks then remembered she had Harry's gift, getting her own had distracted her so much she forgot it entirely.
"Here, I thought you might like this but…" Tonks trailed off because honestly she couldn't figure out what to get him, and it didn't help that she couldn't ask the other girls in her dorm about this, they would just sabotage her.
Harry was holding a satchel, it was a pitch black cloth with green embroidery. She had the idea because Harry never seemed to carry his with him and he always had his books in hand, so she assumed his make up and everything else took up so much space he didn't have room for books. "I got it enchanted with an expansion charm, just thought you might have a use for it."
"Will I?!" Harry said with glee, this was going to save him loads of trips back to his dorm to drop off his books and get different ones. He'd seen Oliver with one but he only kept things like brushes and stuff in his. "Tonks, this is incredible."
She hadn't expected that much out of Harry, just a thanks for a second makeup bag but him latching onto her with a tight hug around the waist, that was pretty great. She stood up once Harry let go of her. "Here let me just go change into this," Tonks said as she figured Harry would want to see her in the dress and shoes since he bought them.
Harry just nodded and turned to watch the various groups wandering the yard, not that there were many, two boys with nearly a half-dozen girls each were passing by him when he heard someone clearing their throat behind him. Turning to face them he felt his heart skip a beat upon seeing Tonks again.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and ran a hand down her side to smooth out the dress. "Tada," Tonks smiled awkwardly because the dress did fit, but it didn't leave much to the imagination,
"Oh wow," Harry gulped as Tonks walked over to him. He knew she was pretty but this was, he didn't have the words to know why his heart was racing. "You, Tonks… wow."
That was a major confidence booster that her warlock couldn't even form a sentence. She'd never seen a wizard in the castle react like that to a witch before. That did make her cheeks nearly as red as the dress she was wearing, holding out her hand Harry quickly took it and she gulped down her nervousness. "Could you do one more thing for me?"
Harry nodded his head because he's already promised her this, so he closed his eyes and waited.
Tonks looking down at the wizard leaned forward and her mind was racing. 'This is it Tonks, your first kiss with a boy,' she thought to herself as her lips made contact.
She pulled back and while she knew her entire face was burning she didn't expect for Harry to be blushing as well. She watched as he slowly opened his eyes and touched a finger to his lips. "Woah," Harry said in amazement that he'd just gotten a kiss and it was from the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.
Tonks bit her bottom lip and held out her hand. "Do you want to go to dinner?"
Harry wordlessly accepted the offer and the two entered the Great Hall. That night as Harry lay down in his bed, his mind kept going back to the kiss Tonks gave him. "Wow," repeating it over and over until he finally drifted off.