With a soft crack, Minerva McGonagall appeared on Privet Drive. The all-business professor strode from the cover of the trees and bushes in the park towards Number Four. She had traveled this very same path years ago only in feline form. 'Why does it feel like I am returning to the scene of the crime?' As early as it was, Minerva kept an eye open for any muggles who might be out. She saw none on her trip to the Dursleys. 'I should have checked up on him. I will never forgive myself. Lily has always been my favorite. I should have taken better care of her son. I can never forgive myself.'
Reaching her destination, she searched for Dung who was supposed to be on duty. She heard muffled snores from near the garden wall she had sat on when Dumbledore had arrived that fateful night. "Good-for-nothing drunk." Minerva shook her head trying to refrain from cursing the hopeless man.
She looked up at the dull-looking house. She never understood how muggles could enjoy living in such boring places. Not a single place on the block had any real character. Everything was the same. Every house had the same appearance and feel to it. 'How can Harry Potter live here? How could I have left him here with them?'
Ignoring the self-hating thoughts, Minerva advanced towards the door. Hearing a crack behind and to the left of her, she spun around and leveled her wand at the source of the noise. Dung's snores continued on unaffected. What, or rather who, Minerva saw nearly brought a smile to her face.
Molly Weasley stormed towards the front door. Her apron flapping in her wake and her wand already out; she looked ready to do battle. Clearing her throat, Minerva lowered her wand. Molly continued on unfettered.
"Molly," said Minerva.
Molly stopped and turned to the voice. "Professor? I didn't see you there." Molly looked around the yard as if she knew she wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.
"Molly, after nearly seven children I believe we are on a first name basis. The twins first year should have proven to you that much."
Molly looked guiltily at the grass beneath her feet. "Minerva, yes, I remember those days. If only things were as bad as a few pranks and some stolen knickers."
"If only," Minerva offered sadly.
Changing the mood, Molly asked a tentative question. "What are you doing here, Minerva?"
Unable to stop her forceful snort, Minerva let it flow into a deep chuckle. "It would appear the same thing as you, Molly." Minerva motioned to the wand in Molly's hand. "Coming to check up on Harry?"
Molly looked at her wand and sighed mournfully. "In a heartbeat, Minerva. I love the boy as if he was my own. I would protect him with my life if I had to." Taking a breath and speaking with grim determination, "He is my kid. That is all there is to it. He has no one else"
"He has that way about him, doesn't he?" Minerva asked already knowing the answer. "He got that from his parents. James could infuriate you one minute and charm you the next. If Lily hadn't captured his eye, the Wizarding world would have had a dangerous rogue on their hands. No women would have been safe. And I know I couldn't have said no to Lily if she asked me for something. So sweet and lovely."
Minerva stopped and dabbed at her eyes with her hand. "I find myself doing that more often, Molly. Whenever I think about her or increasingly when I think about Harry. He has been through so much. How can you not?"
"I understand, Minerva." Molly moved to her and wrapped a consoling arm around the tall woman's waist. A few tears fell from Molly's eyes as well. "They were a family of three. We are a family of nine, well ten. How many of my babies am I going to lose? I didn't know his parents very well, but I have never heard anything bad from anyone except Severus."
"There is someone who should steer clear of Mr. Potter for the near future," Minerva said with a slight smile. "I will deny it if asked, but Severus had better learn to chose his words more carefully around Harry. I was afraid that Harry was going to cast that spell last night."
"I think he almost did, Minerva. I have never seen Harry that cold. I thought for a minute that he was going to kill Severus."
"Did you see Tonks?" Minerva asked. "I think she half expected Harry to do it. She has become another determined friend of the boy. I think you know all about that condition, am I correct?"
"Ah, I believe I do." Molly nodded her head in affirmation laughing at the thought. "We are a rather pro-Harry household aren't we? Bill finds him respectable and driven and his friendship with the goblins has only increased Harry's standing with him. Charlie loves his daring and he bested a dragon no less at fourteen. Percy, well, we won't mention his ideals. The twins love his disregard for the rules. I know that boy has something to do with their business, but I do not know exactly how much. Ron is his best friend. You know how they are. And Ginny, well, she has had a crush on him since she first heard his story when she was toddler.
"Meeting him in person, not to mention the events of her first year, only made her infatuation worse. I am afraid that she will never get over The-Boy-Who-Lived. Not an easy thing to do for a young woman. Arthur loves him like a son. All this do-to with the Ministry has only made Arthur more appreciative."
"Enough of dodging the matter at hand," Minerva redirected the conversation. "We are here to see if the treatment of Harry is as bad as he has said. What are your plans if it is?"
"I will curse them every way from Sunday and take Harry home where he belongs. What about you?"
"I plan to lecture the muggles and maybe use a little magic and help Harry move in with you. I am glad to see we are in agreement then."
"After you, Minerva."
"Thank you, Molly." Minerva walked the rest of the way to the front door. Molly raised a hand to knock, but Minerva pulled it down raising her wand instead. She unlocked the door and entered the very organized house.
"Good thinking, Minerva. I would have banged on the door until someone opened it."
"If you know what you want, go for it. I learned that from a Slytherin I dated many moons ago. Among other things…" Minerva stopped speaking and tried to regain her composure.
"Minerva?" Molly said barely able to control her own shock. "I would be very interested in hearing about that story."
"I have said too much, Molly. Now, it appears that everyone is asleep. We should go find Harry in case he wakes up from us moving around. His actions during the last two meetings tell me that he will act first then figure things out later. Let us check upstairs…" Minerva swept her arm up the stairs but drifted off when she spotted the cupboard under the stairs with a bolt on it. "Is that the cupboard?"
"I believe so," Molly offered. "The twins came and took him from here before Harry's second year. They mentioned a cupboard."
The two women opened the cupboard and found dust and cobwebs covering a broken cot. Boxes and other things cluttered up the small space. Initials could be seen carved into the wood on the far wall.
"Those bloody people!" Molly shouted. "How could they?"
"Shush," Minerva said listening for sounds upstairs. "Harry has turned out to be who he is regardless of this. Remember that if you must."
They closed the door to the cupboard and walked up the stairs. Minerva cast Silencing spells on every step before they used it and they made their way to the top floor. Minerva stopped and pointed to the cat flap on the door. "What is this doing here?"
"I believe they used to feed him through that one summer," Molly said sadly. She looked to the usually calm teacher and found her to be far from it.
"They used a cat door to feed Harry?" Minerva looked down the hall and scowled fiercely. "It might be best if I stayed away from the muggles, Molly."
"I won't do any better, Minerva," Molly said pointing to the row of locks on the outside of the door before them. "They lock him in. How can they do that to Harry, the poor thing? I will kill them, Minerva. I will do it and I don't care."
"We are getting too emotional about this," Minerva said calming herself again. "Harry is fine. At least we have an idea of what it was like for him. I understand so much more about him now than I did. Shall we talk to Harry now?"
"Yes, I want to hear all about this place and those people. We can hurt them later."
By agreement, the women turned the knob and pushed the door open. They were not prepared for the sight that met them. The messy tuft of hair was easily identifiable, but the brown hair was not. The sheets covered both of the people who were wrapped up in themselves in a very friendly manner.
"Mr. Potter," "Harry," was said at the same time by two different people.
Bright green eyes shot open and searched out two familiar shapes hovering above the bed. Thoughts raced through Harry's head, but only one vocalized.
"Fuck," Harry said as he grabbed for his glasses and placed them on his face bringing the room into sharp view. Immediately, he didn't know which way was better; blurry or in focus. "Uh, um, morning Professor, Mrs. Weasley. How are you doing today?"
"Harry!" Molly shrieked. "What are you doing?"
"Um, I was sleeping, but now I am not," Harry offered lamely.
"Mr. Potter," Minerva stated in her professor tone. "Who is that in bed with you?"
"Um, well, I am not sure I should tell you." Harry looked through the curtain of hair and found Tonks' eyes shining up at him. She smirked and slowly brought her hand up and brushed the hair away from her face. She smiled meekly at the two women standing over them.
"Who are you?" Molly demanded pointing her wand at Tonks.
Minerva inhaled from shock. "Nymphadora Tonks! Explain yourself!"
"Nymphadora…" Molly said trying to put everything together.
Tonks shifted back to her normal self and smiled up at them again. "Wotcher."
"Tonks!" Shrieked Molly again. "What in the bloody hell is going on here?"
"Tonks, you haven't grown up one bit have you?" Minerva said in her teacher and authoritative voice.
"Hi Molly," Tonks said brightly. "No, Professor, I haven't and I don't think I ever will," she said to Minerva.
"Get out of that bed this instant young lady," Molly yelled.
"Um, well," Harry fumbled. "If you would give us a few minutes, alone, we will speak to you then."
"Why on earth would you need a few minutes?" Molly yelled again.
"Because," Minerva said blushing, pointing at the floor, desk, and Hedwig's cage. "Their clothes are scattered around the room."
Molly looked around the room and saw all the various articles of clothing. She saw the owl cage and didn't know what to say about the bra lying across the perch. She saw Hedwig sitting on the back of the desk chair. Hedwig hooted at Molly and gave Harry an evil look.
"Sorry, girl, but you know, things happened and…" Tonks burst into laughter forcing everyone to look at her.
"You are in so much trouble, Harry," Tonks said between laughs.
"Yes he is," Molly yelled again.
"Not from you, but from Hedwig. He is so whipped it is laughable." Hedwig hooted again and turned her gaze to Tonks shutting her up quickly.
"I am not the only one, Nymph," Harry said smirking. "You realized that she owns both of us, right?"
"Well, it could be worse," Tonks admitted looking into Harry's eyes.
Clearing her throat, Minerva spoke up. "It could be worse?"
"It could be, I guess," Tonks relented, "But I am not sure how much worse it could be. Either way, if you could give us a few minutes to get dressed we can talk things over then."
Molly looked over the pair and saw Harry holding Tonks tightly as if protecting her. Tonks smiled up at her and winked. "You said you found a man?"
"I did," Tonks answered. "It just happens to be Harry. Now, unless you want a full view of us, you might want to leave the room."
"We will be waiting downstairs for our discussion," Minerva said efficiently. She guided a confused and shocked Molly out of the room and down the stairs.
"Well, not exactly how I wanted people to find out about us," Harry stated. "Not the people I wanted to find us either especially not like this."
"But it was funny," Tonks mumbled as she kissed Harry deeply. When they broke the kiss, they started getting dressed.
"Funny or not…" Harry began as the door burst open to reveal a fuming Vernon Dursley.
"What is all the blasted racket," he stopped speaking when he saw Tonks slipping on her shirt. "I knew it. You and your bloody whore." He grabbed Harry by the shoulders and threw him out of the room and into the hallway wall. Harry crumpled to the ground, hard, as Vernon made to grab Tonks.
The noise had caused Minerva and Molly to race back up the stairs. They saw Harry slowly getting to his feet and could hear noise from Harry's room. Things were getting broken and grunts could be heard.
Tonks jumped out of the room and ran to stand next to Harry. "If you touch him, I will kill you!"
"Where is your stick, bitch?" Vernon roared as he emerged in the doorway wielding the leg to the desk chair. "No stick, no magic. I know that."
"You know nothing, Uncle!" Harry yelled from the floor. He got to his feet and saw Tonks had a cut on her arm. "You're bleeding!"
"I will do more than that, Boy!" Vernon said advancing on Harry with fury on his face.
Harry's mood darkened and he felt his hate well up inside of him. Tonks had been hurt and it was going to happen again. He waved his hand and Vernon's leg shattered with an echoing crunch. The vicious man fell to the ground instantly screaming in pain.
"Look, Uncle, no wand," Harry said venomously as he stalked towards his uncle. Harry Summoned his and Tonks' wands from the room. He gave Tonks hers and put his in the waist band of his pants since he never had a chance to put on his shirt. "Give me one reason not to kill you."
"Fucking, worthless, brat," Vernon shouted between his grunts of pain.
"Wrong answer," Harry shouted and kicked Vernon in the chest. "I warned you never to insult Tonks again. It goes without saying that you were never to touch her." Harry pulled his wand in a blur and leveled it at his uncle. "Avada…"
"Harry," Tonks said calmly placing her hand on his right arm. "Please do not kill him for me. If you are going to kill him, do it for you and what he has done to you all these years?"
Harry stopped the incantation. A sickly green light remained twisting on his wand waiting for the final word. "You owe your life to Tonks, Vernon. I wanted to kill you. She saved you. Never forget that." Harry took a deep breath. "We are leaving, Tonks."
Harry looked at Vernon closely. He fired a Stunner at Vernon with all the strength and magic he could. The hallway was bathed in a red glow nearly blinding those in it. "Should last a few hours."
Minerva and Molly stood at the top of the steps completely dumbfounded. In the last ten minutes, they had seen Harry in bed with Tonks, heard him thrown into the wall by his uncle, saw him cast wandless magic, nearly kill said uncle, and they felt the strength of Harry's spells pass over them. Their wands hung limply by their sides in shock.
Turning to Petunia, Harry told her simply what was going to happen. "His leg is shattered and he will be unconscious for awhile. I wish him a very dreadful existence. I wish you goodbye; no more, no less. We are leaving as soon as we get our stuff collected. You had better hope the wards will protect you after I leave or the Death Eaters will torture you, badly, before they ultimately kill you."
Harry pointed his wand at Vernon's body and swept it down the hall in one fluid motion tossing the man down the hall and out of his way. "Nymph, let's pack up. We are leaving."
"Got it, Harry." Tonks gave Petunia a sharp look before reentering Harry's room and started gathering their things. She directed all of their clothes into her work trunk and put the other items into Harry's. His normal trunk was full of the things he never unpacked from school leaving little room for new things. Molly and Minerva looked into the room but did not enter. They watched as Harry moved about the room gathering up his belongings using magic without hesitation.
When he pulled up the lose floorboard, the women knew that he had always been a prisoner at Privet Drive. Harry carefully placed the items filling the limited room in his school trunk and scanning the room once, then twice, before gathering up Hedwig in her cage.
"We are leaving, girl. No more Dursleys to put up with anymore. You can go where you want and do what you want now. Would you like that?"
Hedwig gave a hoot in agreement. Tonks closed the trunks and shrunk them before placing them in their respective cloaks. She looked for anything that had been overlooked. She cast Summoning charms checking for any forgotten items that were important. She reversed the charm on the bed shrinking it back to its normal broken down state and laughing as the parts of the destroyed chair fell to the floor. She turned and pushed past Minerva and Molly walking down the stairs and spreading their things out in the living room.
Harry gave the room one last passing glance and turned to leave. He stopped when he saw the expressions on the women's faces. "You are new to this, but this is how my life has been since I can remember. I knew it would come to this, but no one ever listened. Tonks and I have been prepared to leave here since the first week. Now, if you will make it the living room, we can all talk a bit before we leave."
Listening to the direct words Harry gave, Minerva and Molly walked down the stairs still in a state of shock. Harry gave Petunia one last pathetic look before turning away in disgust.
Once all magical people were in the living room, Harry sighed and stretched. Cracks could be heard from his back and neck. "And I woke up in such a good mood, too," Harry said absentmindedly. "Well, you didn't come here for the show."
Minerva watched Tonks move through the remaining items she had laid out. Slowly, everything was disappearing into one of the trunks. "I am not sure where to start, Harry," she said confused.
"I like the beginning," Harry offered. "How about you start there."
"Well, we came to see if things were as bad as you made them out to be last night. Obviously, it is worse."
"We have our good days and our bad days," Harry said offhandedly.
"And which was this, Harry, dear?" Molly asked.
"It was the last day," Harry said firmly. "I am out of here. I will not stay. You saw what happened and almost happened."
"You are going to be expelled, Harry," Molly cried with worry.
"Nope," Harry answered her concerns. "The only people who know what happened are in this house. If you say nothing, no one else will find out."
"Harry," Minerva started, "it doesn't work like that."
"Yes, actually, it does," Harry said evenly. "If you can't keep it quiet, we will be forced to Memory Charm you." Harry drew his wand as did Tonks who had stopped her previous actions. Both women found themselves at the business end of friendly wands which were not so friendly at that moment.
"Harry?" Molly didn't know what to do. "This is not you. Are you under a spell or something?"
"Imperius doesn't work on me, Mrs. Weasley," Harry looked to both women. "I want your word, magically binding, that you will not speak of what happened here to anyone."
"If we refuse," Minerva tested.
"We wipe your memories," Harry left no room for debate. "Your choice, but I will tell you that I haven't practiced the spell before. I might stuff it up and that would bother me since I like both of you."
"I can do it, Harry," Tonks offered without a hint of remorse.
"Tonks?" Molly pleaded. "What have you done to Harry?"
"I did nothing but treat him as an equal which is less than he deserves and more than anyone else has ever done. He is taking control of his life and we just have to accept that. If I can help him, I will. You came here because you care about him. I was here because I care about him too."
"You did more than care, Tonks," Molly accused. "You are too old for him."
"Six years or so isn't that much," Tonks defended herself. "I am here because Harry wants me here. If he wants me to leave, then I will."
"I want Nymph here, well not here," Harry said waving his wand around the room. "But here with me. I like her and she makes me feel good. I enjoy being with her and she has helped me this summer. Above all, she has been honest with me and right now that means a lot to me. Now, your word or Tonks charms you both."
"I accept," Minerva said shocking Molly at how fast she relented to being forced into the arrangement. "I swear, with all my magic, that I will not speak of today's events with anyone who does not already know about them." A small shimmer appeared around the firm woman as she finished her words.
"Molly," Tonks prompted.
Not sure what other option she had, she recited the same words. Harry and Tonks stored their wands away once everyone seemed to be agreed. Harry stepped forward and hugged Molly tightly. Once done, he gave Minerva a more formal hug. "Now, what questions did you have?"
"How long have you and Tonks been, intimate?" Molly asked haltingly.
"Since the beginning of summer," Harry said without hesitation. "She has helped me a lot. As you could tell upstairs, I can get a little protective of her."
"Harry," Minerva looked to Tonks and back to Harry. "What spells did you use on your uncle and how did you do it without your wand?"
"Ever efficient," Harry said to himself out loud. "I used the Bone Exploding charm and a Stunner. I seem to have a knack for wandless casting. We discovered that this summer too." Harry smiled at Tonks who returned it warmly.
"How is the Ministry not going to find out?" Minerva continued.
"Can't answer that, sorry Professor," Harry honestly looked remorseful.
"Where are you going to go, dear?" Molly asked eager and hopeful.
"I am sorry, but not to the Burrow," Harry frowned sadly. "I don't want you in danger like that. I would love to, but with the Death Eaters and Voldemort out there I can't risk it."
"Where will you go then?" Molly was becoming hysterical.
"To somewhere I should have gone to years ago. I just found out about it and I can't wait to see it. Now we must really be getting along." Harry stood up from the trunk he had sat on and helped Tonks up as well. He looked into her eyes and found acceptance and affection. He leaned forward and kissed her quickly. "Thank you, Nymph."
"My pleasure, Harry." She smiled and winked at Minerva and Molly earning her two reproachful stares. Harry fished out his portkey ring and held it out for Tonks to grab onto. He reached out to grab onto Hedwig's cage.
"This won't be fun, girl, but please just trust me." Hedwig gave him a questioning look but puffed out her feathers in defiance of any anything bad that could happen. "I will take that as I am ready then."
"Harry, is that a portkey?" Minerva asked.
"Yep."
"The Ministry."
"Has more important things to worry about right now than one portkey being used. I wouldn't worry about it if I was you. I will be at the Order meetings and all of that. The only thing changing is my home address. Cheers."
Tonks smiled and grabbed onto the ring taking them and their belongings away from the Dursley's living room.
"Your address along with your entire attitude, Mr. Potter," Minerva said the empty space in front of her.
"What just happened, Minerva?"
"Molly, we were just forced into an agreement with Harry Potter aided by Nymphadora Tonks. If this is what Harry is going to be like, I doubt the Magical world is ready for it. I know that Albus surely isn't."
"What can we do?"
"Nothing I can think of. Harry made sure that what happened here would not be spread by us. I only hope he knows what he is doing."
"He was going to kill his uncle, wasn't he?"
"Yes, he was." Minerva answered. "He isn't the same frightened little boy who didn't know the first thing about magic."
"He didn't even know how to get to the train," Molly reminisced. "I wanted to take him home with me right then and there and teach him everything he missed out on. He was such a sweet boy. He did hug us before he left. He has never initiated hugs before."
"That would be Tonks' influence. She is much more forward with things like that. This morning was such a flashback to her school days."
"What do you mean?"
"Tonks is not unfamiliar to being caught in someone's bed. I had caught her a few times while she was in school."
"That hussy is with Harry?"
"Molly, Tonks had a rough time growing up. Her abilities made it nearly impossible for her to find someone who truly cared about her. That fact that she was her real self proves that she cares about Harry more than she let on. Playful as she is, I believe she really cares about him."
"She had better not hurt him or I will hunt her down, mark my words," Molly said vehemently.
Minerva thought seriously about the situation before answering Molly threat. "I think they are good for each other." She felt Molly's eyes bore into her head. "Both want to be loved for who they are, not what they are. One acts younger than she is and the other acts older than he is. Together, they might be able to be who they really are and find acceptance."
"I accept them just fine."
"Yes, but one level of acceptance is beyond your ability to offer. They seem to have no problem with that one considering the state of his room when we walked in."
The tension slipping away for a moment, Molly laughed at the picture in her head. Clothes everywhere, even in the owl cage. "What about the nasty muggle upstairs?" Molly's grip on her wand tightened in anger.
Minerva looked at the ceiling and sighed before answering. "He made his bed, let him lie in it."
Molly nodded and smiled. "Care for some tea? Ginny and Ron won't be up for a few more hours."
"Excellent suggestion, Molly. After you."
They left the house and never looked back.
Harry and Tonks arrived on a single lane, dirt path. In the distance, a stone and wrought iron gate could be seen. Trees lined the path on both sides providing a very picturesque scene. The wind blew gently and the leaves in the trees rustled slightly.
"Harry," Tonks said nervously. "I have to, a, I have to go, somewhere, not here, somewhere else, now. Right now."
"Nymph," Harry yelled as he jumped towards and grabbed onto Tonks' arm. "Nymph, it is okay. Just hold on to me. Don't let go. There is a Repelling charm on the area surrounding the property. That is why you feel the urge to leave."
"It is more than an urge, Harry," Tonks said clearly distressed. "I feel better, but I still don't want to be here."
"I think it will get worse before it gets better. Just hold on to my hand until I figure out how to protect you from the ward. My dad's letter mentioned that there should be a journal on it inside the house."
"What house, Harry?" Tonks' distress seemed to remain constant, but she was visibly weakening every minute.
"Let's get you inside the grounds at least." Harry led the way after giving Tonks Hedwig's cage and levitating their stuff ahead of them. They walked, or in Tonks' case, was dragged up the lane. Reaching the gate, Harry reached out and touched the metal lock. With a shimmer, the gate opened revealing lush grounds and a worn cobblestone road.
Harry followed the road to a roundabout nestled in front of an elegant home. In the center of the roundabout was a fountain with water shooting out of a griffin's mouth. Harry stopped walking and stood in place. He felt odd, not confused but settled. Something seemed right, but he didn't know what it was. All he could think was that he was, home. He felt like he was home.
"I am home." Harry wore a lost look about his face as he stared in wonder. A faint smile grew to replace the lost appearance. "I am home. I don't know how, but I am home."
The house seemed to be a collection of various pieces added on to each other over time. The dominant feature of the manor was a stone tower that stood at least five levels above the ground. The battlements atop the tower had a worn but well-kept look about them. Closer to the ground and on the left side of the structure was a slightly aged, modest, two story addition composed of stone and timber. While the tower looked to be at least nine hundred years old, the addition couldn't be more than four hundred years old.
On the right side of the tower, a much newer addition had been added. To an untrained eye, it couldn't have been older than a hundred years, but it matched the other pieces very well while giving the entire structure an overall updated look. Off of the newest addition, Harry saw a row of garage doors slightly hidden by a copse of bushes. The main entrance was in the newest addition and Harry started walking towards it leaving their belongings behind and dragging Tonks and Hedwig forward.
Advancing on the home, Harry could see a pair of solid oak doors with iron accents blocked entrance to the home. On either side of the doorway hung aged and blackened oil lamps. Above the doors was a magnificent timbered arch with the words, "Potter Estate" carved ornately into the wood. Harry rounded the sputtering fountain dragging Tonks behind him with an irritated Hedwig bouncing along in her cage. Harry was pulled by an unseen force to the building. He couldn't think of anything but getting into the house.
A screech from nearby echoed across the grounds reverberating off some old-growth trees on the southern edge of the property. Harry stopped suddenly at the noise leaving Tonks to run into him and Hedwig made an unhappy sound from being knocked into the side of the cage. Harry looked in the direction the sound came from to find a massive griffin running towards them. Harry put himself between the animal and Tonks. He drew his wand and readied for an attack.
"Tonks, is that Vincent?" Harry asked nearly panicking.
"I don't think so. Vincent is smaller isn't he?"
The griffin ran right up to Harry and stopped right before running him over. The creature screeched again hurting Harry's ears. He didn't know what to do so he waited with a shield spell on his lips and another in his mind. The massive animal clawed at the ground viciously sending sod and dirt flying behind it. It sounded again and Harry could swear that the glass in the windows above him rattled.
Harry and Tonks slowly retreated from the doorway backing away from the clearly irritated creature. The main doors opened and a house elf scurried out of them. The elf wore a neatly pressed, plain dark grey dress. The elf looked well fed and very sure of itself as it advanced on the griffin which towered over it.
"What you making noises for, Jules?" Snapped the elf. "Stupid griffin yelling 'bout everything. You lucky the funny muggles can't…hear…you…" The elf drifted off as she turned to see Harry holding his wand at the ready and Tonks fighting both herself and Harry to escape. "Master James?" the elf asked but stopped almost as soon as the words left her hopeful lips. "Master Harry!" The elf screamed and ran to Harry almost knocking him over when she impacted his legs.
The elf began to weep and held on to Harry's legs as tightly as she could mumbling about Master's Harry and James and Mistress Lily. Harry would have laughed had the griffin not followed the elf and been staring him down at that very second.
"Um," Harry said not sure how to address the blubbering elf, "this is great and all, but the griffin looks like it wants to kill me. Could you, um, fix that, please?"
The elf looked up at Harry and gave a watery smile. "Master Harry is as nice as Mistress Lily always was." She turned to the griffin but didn't let go of Harry. "Jules, be nice. This is Master Harry. You stop making noises." The elf turned back to Harry and held on to him again.
Jules looked at the elf and back up at Harry. She sniffed at Harry a few times with each time getting more forceful. After a series of sniffs, the griffin visibly relaxed and lowered to the grass. It nudged Harry with its beak seeking some attention. Harry did the only thing he could and petted it as he had done with Vincent.
"How many griffins do we have?" Harry asked under his breath.
"We is having two griffins, Master Harry," the excited elf announced loudly. "Vincent is watching the chamber and Jules is watching here. I is so happy you is returning Master Harry. I is being so lonely with only Jules and Paul to talk to. They is not very talking. Mistress Lily loved to talk."
"I don't mean to be rude, but my friend is not keyed into the wards so she is having a terrible time. Do you think you could get me the journal on the house, please?"
Tonks still fought against the wards and Harry had a nasty bruise forming from her ever-tightening grip. Jules seemed somewhat pacified from Harry's attention and had settled near the front door blocking entrance to the home. The elf looked up at Harry and smiled widely before letting go and snapping her fingers, disappearing from the grounds.
Harry turned to Tonks and helped her to a sitting position before she collapsed. Harry pulled her shivering body to him and held her tightly as she moaned slightly from the effects of the ward. The elf reappeared next to him bouncing on her feet holding out an old worn book. Harry grabbed it with his right hand and tipped it open. He quickly looked at each page as he flipped through them searching for the right one.
He found the necessary information about halfway through the book. He scanned the process needed and started saying the words while moving his wand over Tonks. Once he finished, Tonks stopped shaking badly and sort of drifted off to sleep in his arms. "Nymph?" Harry asked worriedly. He felt her head and shook her shoulders lightly.
"Your friend be fine in awhile, Master Harry," the elf said still jumping in place.
Harry kissed her head and stood up bringing Tonks with him. He lifted her into his arms and she snuggled into him. "Um, I don't know your name, but could you show me a comfortable place to put her."
"Yes, Master Harry," the elf said bowing low and sweeping her arm towards the open doors behind Jules. "Jules, you move for Master Harry and his friend." Jules stood slowly as Harry approached and sniffed him and Tonks before moving out of the way allowing entry.
The elf led them through the doorway and into a granite-tiled foyer. The stone shined from the light coming in the door and from the medieval looking chandelier hanging above them. A dark wooden staircase to their right ascended to the next level opening into an ornate hallway that disappeared from view as Harry continued to follow the elf.
She led them from the foyer through tall double doors into a deep room with a few couches and a massive fireplace that would be at home in Hogwarts. Harry carefully settled Tonks onto the softest looking couch. He laid her head on a fluffy pillow the elf brought to him at just the right time. Tonks' head slowly sunk into the pillow and as she curled up slightly.
Harry pulled a folded blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over Tonks tucking her in with it. He smoothed it over her body and brushed the hair off of her normal face. The intimate gesture led Harry to kiss her lightly on the forehead before standing and looking at the elf waiting not-so patiently for him.
"Um, hi," Harry said nervously. "I am Harry and please call me Harry. I am not fond of 'master' or any other formalities. Just Harry is fine."
"Harry is so much like Mistress Lily," the elf replied looking reminiscent. "Mistress wouldn't let Tiki call her Mistress no matter how much Tiki asked to. Master James always laughed at Mistress and Tiki."
"Okay, so you are Tiki?" Harry asked trying to get all the names correct.
"I is Tiki, Harry, sir."
"No sirs, either. Just call me Harry. First off, how long will Nymph be like this?"
"Nymph will be asleep for an hour maybe more."
"Alright, now if my mum wouldn't let you call her Mistress before, why can you call her it now?"
"Mistress Lily never ordered Tiki not to call her Mistress after she died. I choose to call her Mistress now."
Harry smiled sadly at the reverent mentioning of his mum. "I don't remember her. Tiki, could you tell me about her, stories or really anything some time?"
"Tiki be happy to, Harry. What would Harry like to hear?"
"Right now," Harry said sitting down in front of Tonks and rubbing her shoulder. "I would like to hear about this place and who Paul is."
"Paul is First Elf. Paul served Master James' father. Master James never took personal elf so Paul still First Elf. I Mistress Lily's elf. I play with baby Harry when Mistress need time for things. Baby Harry like me." Tiki smiled a wide smile at Harry as she told the story. "Paul and I stay here when Master and Mistress left. Tiki never saw Mistress again until after 'it' happen. Tiki cry for month. Paul never been same."