"Shorten your wand movements, Harry." Andromeda advised, she was currently sat on a chair and was gently stroking Jet who was sat in her lap. The pair were watching as Harry and Tonks were engaging in another duel. "He's gotten better, hasn't he?" Andromeda whispered to Jet who nodded in response.
"Come on Harry," Tonks said as she dodged a disarming spell and shielded against a knockback jinx. "you can do better than that. Think outside of the box."
"What about in the triangle?" Harry asked as he drew a golden triangle shape in the air with his wand. "Triplex inspiratione." Harry said as he jabbed his wand in the middle of the triangle, three small golden beams shot out from the corners of the triangle and headed towards Tonks.
"Whoa!" Tonks blurted out as she dodged two of the beams and barely shielded in time to block the third. "Where the hell did you learn that?" She blinked.
"I have a lot of books." Harry shrugged before aiming his wand at Tonks and firing a blindfold at her, Tonks cut the blindfold in half before it could reach her and she blocked the fire blast that Harry followed up with.
"My turn then." Tonks said before she began firing at Harry. Harry knew that Tonks had an advantage in the fact that she could silent cast while Harry hadn't yet learned to do that. Harry could recognize a few spells she would use but chose to try and avoid them even if he did. Harry hadn't yet mastered the shield charm, Tonks and the other two members of the Tonks family have told him that he is far closer to mastering it than any other person at his age would be but it still wasn't good enough to use.
As Harry side stepped a stunner he quickly ducked to avoid a follow up body bind spell, then dropped flat on the floor to avoid a second stunner. Harry learnt a lot from his duels with Tonks, even if he admittedly lost all of them. One thing that Harry would learn is what tricks Tonks would use in a duel, an example being tricking him into dodging one spell only to step right into another two spells. Harry fired off a tripping hex and a knockback spell to distract Tonks long enough for him to get to his knees.
"Pila ricochet!" Harry yelled as he aimed his wand up at the ceiling, a glowing white ball shot out of his wand and bounced off the ceiling, it shot down and bounced off the ground, it went up and nearly hit Tonks in the face but she barely managed to lean back in time to avoid it.
The ball bounced off the ceiling again and headed to a wall, it bounced off the wall to the floor before charging towards Tonk's back. Tonk's blocked a disarming spell from Harry before glancing back and seeing the ball, her eyes widened and she quickly stepped to the side, the ball grazed her clothes but didn't really hit her. It flew past her but didn't fly too far past thanks to Harry's next spell.
"Flippendo!" Harry's knockback spell hit the ball and pushed it backwards, it struck Tonk's in the stomach, causing her to stumble back just as the ball disappeared. She managed to block Harry's next spell but tripped as she did so and fell on her butt, allowing Harry to hit her with a body bind spell. "I...did...I just...I just...I won!" Harry gaped. "Did you guys see that?! I won!" Harry said happily as he looked at Andromeda and Jet.
"Excellent as always, Master." Jet hissed just as Andromeda carried him over and handed him to Harry.
"Well done, dear." Andromeda smiled at him before she took out her wand and released Tonks from her body bind.
"Damn," Tonks groaned as she sat up. "please tell me I didn't just lose to someone who is not even really a second year."
"I wish that I could," Andromeda replied with an amused look on her face. "I wish that I could, but you did. You got cocky and weren't performing at your usual standards."
"You're right." Tonks sighed as she stood up, she had beaten Harry so many times that she expected this time to be no different and wasn't treating him with the seriousness he deserved. "I pray to any and all gods in existence that Mad-Eye doesn't find out about this." She said, grimacing at the thought of what Mad-Eye would do if he found out that she'd lost to Harry, the screams of 'constant vigilance' would never leave her ears. "Still, well done Harry." She smiled at Harry.
"Yes, well done." A voice said just as two other people walked into the room, the first person being none other than Arcturus Black while the second was Ted.
"Hey guys, we have a visitor." Ted said in a bland voice.
"Those spells," Arcturus said as he walked over to Harry. "they're your grandfather's spells."
"He left a few books at Gringotts." Harry said, answering the unasked question of where Harry learnt those spells.
"Hmm, good. You make sure you pay good attention to those books." Arcturus said, before he reached into his robes. "Your grandfather was a smart man, a good man and he was even better with a wand." Arcturus said as he pulled out a photo and handed it to Harry. "This is a picture of me and your grandparents." Arcturus said, he watched as the boy took the picture, looking at it like he had just been given the secrets to magic. The boy continued to impress Arcturus, most people simply didn't understand the importance of family, he was glad that that wasn't a problem with the boy.
Harry's eyes were wide as he looked at the picture, he recognized the younger version of Arcturus who was standing next tall and proud with his hands behind his back. Harry was sure that if the picture was in color then his hair would be black. Standing on Arcturus's left was a man who was just as tall, he had a thin face with a strong jaw and the messy hair that was commonly associated with the Potter males, Harry quickly realized that this person had to be his grandfather. One hand was on Arcturus's shoulder and holding onto his grandfather's other arm was a beautiful woman with her hair done up in a bun.
"T...thank you sir." Harry spoke, his voice barely above a whisper and filled with gratitude.
"I haven't given you anything that you shouldn't already have," Arcturus grunted. "I only came here to check on your progress, you're improving at an excellent rate. Continue to do so." He said before he turned and walked away, once he was gone Ted sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Um...did he really just come here, give Harry a picture, tell him to keep doing good and leave?" Tonks blinked.
"He's a Black," Andromeda sighed. "we're a dramatic bunch." She admitted.
Harry was currently sat watching TV, he had eventually gotten around to talking with Andromeda and Ted about why they were able to have a TV and have it not be ruined by magic. Apparently they didn't have to worry about electronic equipment in a simple home with a small amount of people, taking it somewhere like Hogwarts on the other hand was an entirely different situation seeing as it had hundreds of magical creatures and people along with many non-living magical objects plus all the magic the castle and the ancient wards.
"You alright Nym?" Harry asked when Tonks came back into the house and dropped into the seat next to him on the sofa. 'Nym' was quite simply the nickname that Harry had started calling Tonks, and apparently he was the only one who was allowed to do that and not get hexed. Something which admittedly made Harry feel quite happy, he just felt much closer to Tonks now that he had his own personal nickname for her.
"I am so tired, Hare-bear." Tonks groaned as she leaned into her seat, she had not yet decided on a nickname. "Moody put me through the ringer," She sighed. "if I hear someone say 'constant vigilance' then I will hex them. I want to sleep but I am somehow too tired to sleep, how the hell do you get too tired to sleep?"
"Not a clue but me and Jet will help you." Harry said as he leaned over and grabbed Tonk's by the shoulders, he pulled her so she was now lying down on the sofa with her head on his lap. "Jet, you know what to do." Harry said to Jet who nodded.
"'Rock-a-bye Tonksie, on the treetops," Jet began singing as well as a snake could sing just as Harry began massaging Tonk's forehead. "When the wind blows, the cradle will rock, and then I think the cradle will fall? Rock-a-bye Tonksie, I've forgotten the lyrics, fucking hell! Who thought up this shit? Well...whatever, I'm going to keep singing, mostly because...when I speak you can't understand a thing'."
"Masterfully done." Harry softly hissed back.
"Hmm," Tonks softly moaned as she curled up like a cat and closed her eyes. "I can't understand a thing that he is saying but keep it up." She whispered. "And you keep doing whatever the hell that you're doing." She added to Harry before letting out a content sigh.
"Just for you, Nym." Harry smiled, "from the start, Jet." Harry added to his loyal snake friend.
It was several minutes later that Ted arrived, he found Tonk's lying on the sofa with her head on Harry's lap while Harry was reading a book with his left hand and massaging Tonk's head with his right hand while Jet was softly hissing to Tonk's who appeared to be asleep.
"Isn't this adorable?" Ted commented as he stepped in front of Harry. Harry blinked at Ted's sudden arrival and then looked between Ted and the sleeping Tonks.
"Um...she was tired." He said with a small shrug.
"No need to explain." Ted said as he reached down and gently scooped Tonk's into his arms. "I'll take her up to bed, thanks Harry." He smiled before he carried the still sleeping Tonk's upstairs.
"Jet...I really like it here." Harry admitted.
Harry and the Tonks family found themselves on platform nine and three quarters, Harry had been enjoying his summer more than he ever thought he would have but he did need to go to school.
"You have everything you need?" Ted asked, looking at Harry and Jet who was on Harry's shoulder's like usual.
"Yep," Harry said as he tapped his trunk. "triple checked everything. The only thing I don't have is Hedwig and that's just because she's flying to Hogwarts."
"I'm going to miss you, Harry." Andromeda smiled as she pulled Harry into a hug while being careful to not squash Jet, a hug that Harry returned. "You have a good year at school." She said, kissing him om the head. "You too Jet." She added to Jet once she let go of Harry.
"Do I get a hug?" Tonks grinned as she came over and pulled Harry into a hug, one which he also returned. "I'm going to miss you, little brother."
"Brother?" Harry blinked as the two let go.
"Brother or bro. I can go back to 'Hare-bear' if you want." She offered with a smirk.
"No! No...um, brother works. Thanks...sister?" Harry spoke in a tentative voice.
"You're welcome," Tonks smiled as she ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. "now remember to write every week or I will personally storm up to the school looking for you, got it?"
"Got it," Harry grinned. "goodbye guys." Harry said before he took his trunk and got on the train. "I've got a sister." Harry happily hissed to Jet before he began walking down the train, looking for a compartment.
Eventually he found one that already had Daphne and Tracey sitting in it, "hi guy's." Harry said as he opened the door and walked in.
"Hi Harry." Both girls said just as Harry placed his trunk up on the rack above, something which was made much easier by the featherweight charm that Andromeda had placed on it.
"How was your summer?" Harry asked as he sat down.
"Mine was fine." Tracey shrugged.
"Same," Daphne nodded, "what about you? I know you said the Tonk's family was nice in your letters."
"They were great," Harry smiled broadly. "Ted is awesome, and so is Andromeda but Tonk's is my favorite. She called me her brother." Harry said happily.
"I like her too," Jet added before he looked at the girls. "hello pet, hello non-pet." He said to both girls.
"Hi Jet." Daphne smiled as she reached over and began petting Jet.
Eventually Blaise and the other Slytherin's had arrived, after a fairly long journey they found themselves sitting at the Slytherin table in Hogwarts and watching as Professor McGonagall entered the hall, followed by group of first years that followed her all the way up to the stage by the teacher's table. It was an odd experience for Harry, watching the first years get sorted and remembering how it was only last year that he was the one being watched by a school of hungry and impatient students. Soon the sorting began, Harry made sure that he politely clapped whenever a student got sorted into Slytherin. He also ignored the way that the new Slytherin's would stare at Jet.
The order of the students getting sorted was naturally done by alphabetical order of the last name, just like last year. Nothing really interesting happened, at least not until Professor McGonagall reached the letter 'L'.
"R..." She paused as she looked at the name. "Roman Lestrange." She said, the hall began whispering just as a nervous looking first year boy with black hair and brown eyes walked out from the crowd.
"Lestrange?" Harry whispered in a questioning voice to his other Slytherin first years, he of course recognized the name. Lestrange was the name of a bunch of pureblooded supporters of Voldemort, including Andromeda's sister who had married into the family. Andromeda had told Harry about what the Lestrange's did to Neville Longbottom's parent's, tortured them into insanity, that did make Harry feel bad for the boy but he wasn't going to do anything. If Longbottom didn't want to spend time with him then Harry wasn't going to force himself on the boy.
"Father told me that the boy is a bastard." Draco whispered to Harry. "Apparently, from what he has heard, the boy's mother was a muggle." Harry frowned at that and averted his attention back to the sorting.
"Slytherin!" The hat called after a few minutes. The boy got up and walked to the Slytherin table on shaky legs, he slowly sat down near the other first years. They weren't being obvious about it but the way they were leaning away from him made it clear that they wanted some distance from him. Harry glanced at the Gryffindor table and saw Longbottom glaring at the boy, it was an odd look to see on the usually frightened Gryffindor.
"The boy will be in a lot of trouble." Jet whispered to Harry. Harry was about to reply when he noticed the Lestrange boy staring at him, Harry raised an eyebrow at the boy who quickly looked away. The sorting continued, a couple of more Slytherin's arrived when suddenly the last person of the year was to be sorted.
"Ginerva Weasley." Professor McGonagall called.
Harry watched as little Ginny Weasley walked up to the stool, looking as scared as any other first year. She sat on the stool and the hat was placed on her head, her sorting wasn't a quick one and it was several minutes later when the hat had finally made its choice.
"Slytherin!" The hat yelled out, surprising everyone as pretty much everyone was expecting the Weasley girl to go to the house of lions like her brothers. Professor McGonagall removed the hat from Ginny's head, she stood up on shaky legs and quickly walked towards the Slytherin table, looking like she was about to pass out from fear. She looked at the Slytherin first years, none of them looked willing to let her sit next to them, or at least until Roman moved up enough to give her a spot. She quickly took that seat and gave him a grateful nod, Harry glanced at the Gryffindor table and the saw all of the Weasley brothers sitting in pure disbelief.
"Well...this year will be interesting." Harry commented.
A.N: Hi guy's, hope you liked the chapter. By the way a person contacted me a while ago and mentioned that his reviews were missing and had asked if I had blocked him. I just want to say that I don't really know how to block a specific person, or even that you could block people. My theory is that this might have happened because the person was using a guest account because sometimes his name would come up with (Guest) written next to it. I've messaged the person to let him know but he hasn't replied so I'm not sure if he has read the message yet.
Anyway that's my theory about why his reviews weren't coming up, if someone else knows better then please let me know.
Also Roman Lestrange, yes I plan for him to be a big character in the story. I chose the name Roman because I was just watching WWE before writing this and it started with an R...(shrug). As for Ginny, no she will not be paired with Harry in this story. I like Ginny, even if I know that other people don't, but despite that she will not be part of the pairing.