Death Doesn't Discriminate (Tonks)

[harry james potter]

It was strange, different to think that Hogwarts was starting today. Only eight years ago, today, Harry was finally joining the magical world. So many things had happened since that day, which seemed an eternity away from the present time. And now Harry was graduated. Strange. Sure, he didn't go to school last year, but that was different. Back then, he was hiding from Tom Riddle while the rest of the Wizarding World was dominated by him and his followers. Now life was back to normal. At least, it was as close to normal as it could be, but Harry wasn't going to Hogwarts. Hermione tried to convince him to go, but he didn't want to. That school held too many memories that he wasn't ready to revisit. Besides, he had a job now, as an auror. Except today he had the day off, which was why he was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron, letting his mind float over memories from the last few years. At least his life was finally starting to calm down now.

nymphadora evangeline tonks

[nymphadora evangeline tonks]

Tonks was about to go crazy. She had been cooped up in the house for most of the day trying to get Teddy to stop fussing, and then had spent a solid two hours trying to remember all of the members of the Order that she had to invite to the next meeting now that she had taken up the position of Head. That was substantially harder, since, by design, the members of the Order weren’t supposed to know the identities of all of the other members. Kept the place safer, sure, but it was also a hell of a lot more annoying when the transfer of power came – especially when it came unexpectedly, and the new Heads were more or less self-assigned. Tonks didn’t anticipate anyone raising a fuss about it, since she and Remus were now the most senior members of the Order that didn’t have more important duties – like being the Minister – to attend to. She had finally gone stir-crazy enough to decide that the return of her focus would be wroth whatever time she wasted by taking a stroll through Diagon Alley. When she went into the Leaky Cauldron on her way to the Alley, though, Tonks found herself seeing a very familiar face in the crowd. “Wotcher, Harry.” She said with a grin as she sat down next to him, nearly knocking the stool over in the process. It was strange to see him, since today was the day that the students departed for Hogwarts and Tonks still thought of Harry more or less as a student, but she didn’t want to bring that to attention and get a lecture about how he had defeated the Dark Lord, etc., etc. Just a simple hello was enough.

harry james potter

[harry james potter]

Harry was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice and Tonks sat down in front of him. "Hey Tonks," he greeted with a smile. "How's Teddy doing?" Harry loved that kid. He'd spent a fair amount of his time since the Battle of Hogwarts with Remus and Tonks and Teddy and he loved every minute of it. Even just looking at the little boy brought a smile to Harry's face. But maybe Tonks needed a short break from him or something, since she hadn't brought him along. Whatever she was doing, Harry was glad to see her here. It was nice to have a familiar face distracting him from his thoughts. And she'd probably have something to do that he could tag along with, which would be nice as well. "What brings you down this way?" He asked casually, hoping it wasn't something official that she needed to be alone for.

nymphadora evangeline tonks

[nymphadora evangeline tonks]

Tonks offered Harry a tired smile when he asked how Teddy was doing. Harry had been around at her and Remus’s place quite a bit since the battle, and had obviously spent a fair bit of his time with Teddy. “He’s still a cute little bugger, but wouldn’t stop fussing all morning.” Tonks ran her fingers through her hair, realizing that she probably hadn’t remembered to comb it that morning. Hopefully the bright pink color would be enough to distract from any messiness. Harry asked why she was in the pub, and Tonks shrugged her shoulders, attempting to be casual but failing rather miserably. “Cabin fever, I guess.” She had always wondered if she was meant to be a mother, given her clumsiness and taste for danger, but it was too late to be reconsidering that sort of thing. “Speaking of which…” Tonks began. She trailed off, trying to think of a way to ask Harry about using Grimmauld Place as the Order’s Headquarters without giving anything away. The pub wasn’t crowded, but that just meant that everyone could hear what they were saying. “Your vacation home, is it still in good condition?” She asked, hoping that Harry would be able to follow her.

harry james potter

[harry james potter]

On second glance, Tonks looked exhausted, which meant that Teddy was probably in a quite restless mood lately. "I'm sorry." It was hard when Teddy was in a bad mood. Most of the time he was adorable and happy and cheerful, but when he wasn't it was sometimes hard to calm him down. Maybe that was how all babies worked, Harry didn't know. His only reference was with Teddy, after all. He smiled when Tonks explained why she was out. She needed a break from the house. "Well, you know that if you ever need help with Teddy, I'm willing to try," he offered, wanting to make sure Tonks was aware of that. He loved spending time with the baby. She changed the subject, seeming to think through her next few words carefully. His vacation home? Right before Harry was about to ask her what she was talking about, he realized. Grimmauld Place. He nodded, a smile touching the corners of his lips. "I keep it in good repair. I've actually been visiting it a lot more lately." Meaning, he was living there at the moment, but if it was supposed to be a vacation home, that wouldn't be a normal thing to say. 

nymphadora evangeline tonks

[nymphadora evangeline tonks]

Tonks shook her head when Harry apologized for Teddy’s foul mood. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. He was just a baby, and sometimes babies were fussy. Tonks raised her eyebrows at Harry when he offered to help with Teddy’s care. “I love you, Harry, really, but I’m not sure you’re well-suited to child care.” Defeating a Dark Lord was hard, but raising an infant was a whole different level of difficulty, one that Tonks didn’t exactly trust Harry with. When it came back to Grimmauld place, Tonks considered her words carefully before speaking. “Would it be alright with you if Remus and I visited it, once or twice?” She asked. The bartender came over and Tonks ordered a butterbeer to sip on, hoping it would make her feel a little more at ease. She really ought to have been better at discussing covert topics in public, but it was easier when the other person in the conversation had some idea of what you wanted. Tonks had no idea how to ask Harry if the secret organization she was reviving could hold its meetings in his house without using those words. “Teddy needs to go on his first vacation, right?” She said, cracking a smile at Harry to try to relieve some of her own tension.

harry james potter

[harry james potter]

Harry let his mouth fall open, even though he was pretty sure that Tonks was kidding. No, that was a lie. He knew she was serious and in a way she was right, but he didn't want to admit that so soon. "What, so you don't think I can handle him for a few hours?" Harry asked, pretending like he was entirely serious and upset about it. He wasn't very good at acting though. "Of course you two can! Come anytime you want." He said easily. He didn't want Tonks and Remus to feel like they had to ask for permission in order to come and visit him. He wasn't sure why exactly she wasn't asking him outright for what she needed, but he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. He shrugged when she mentioned Teddy. "Well let me know if you want me to come as well. Not that I need to be there, but just in case." Wow, this would be a weird conversation to anyone listening, but Harry didn't really care. He smiled, really just happy to be spending time with Tonks. It was a good thing for him today.

nymphadora evangeline tonks

[nymphadora evangeline tonks]

Tonks smiled a little when Harry pretended to be offended by the fact that she didn’t trust him to look after her baby boy for a few hours. “Unsupervised, nope.” She said bluntly. Part of it was probably the whole new-parent syndrome, and she was being overly protective of her firstborn, but part of it was that Harry was barely more than a kid himself, and letting him look after a child…Well, it felt kind of wrong. He had already been through so much already. Tonks accepted the butterbeer that the bartender gave her and took a long draw of it before speaking again. She didn’t know whether Harry was just a better actor than her or if he genuinely didn’t know that she was asking about Grimmauld Place in respect to the Order, because he seemed oddly calm about the whole thing. Well, this was a wash. “You off work today?” She asked. Training to be an Auror could be intense, so days off were few and far between. Tonks was surprised that Harry would be in the Leaky Cauldron on one of his days off, but then again, it wasn’t like he had much else he could do, since Hermione was back at school and Ron was off being Ron.

harry james potter

[harry james potter]

Harry finally stopped pretending to be upset when Tonks just answered his question, saying she wouldn't leave Teddy with Harry unsupervised. He rolled his eyes and smiled, "Then I guess I'll have to come see him when you're there." Not that he minded that. Harry loved seeing Tonks and Remus and was always ready for a chat with one or both of them. He nodded when she asked if he was off work. "Yes, I have the day off," his mind flitted back to Hogwarts, where quite a few of his friends were headed at the moment. No, better to focus on Tonks and what was actually going on here with their conversation. It was still weird to him that he'd moved on from school. Then again, when he was training, he didn't have much time to think about that. "Do you have anything going on for the rest of the day?" Maybe if she didn't he could come and see Teddy, or something. Harry wasn't exactly sure what to do with the rest of his day.

nymphadora evangeline tonks