CHAPTER {243-245}
****ANOTHER-TALK-THEY-HAD (III)****
After clearing his throat, Harry raised his hand and knocked on the door. He could have Apparated straight inside the room, but he was a gentleman and he also needed to do some thinking… Moments later, he heard a muffled answer from inside, so he decided to knock again.
"Go away!" The voice was slightly slurred, but the voice was pretty clear this time.
"It's me, Tonks, Harry" Harry called out, not knowing what to expect, though he didn't see any reason to lie. He heard Tonks curse something before something fell on the floor. Harry deduced that it was probably Tonks. He heard some shuffling from the inside before the door was finally unlocked.
Harry stared at Tonks… She looked like a complete mess. Right now, she was sporting a mane of mopy mousy brown hair along with dull brown eyes and with how puffy and bloodshot her eyes were, it was pretty obvious that she had been crying. Harry felt a pang of guilt at her visage, but he quickly crushed the feeling.
Yes, he fucked up, but he was here now and he was planning to try his best to fix his fuck up…
"Harry…" Tonks slurred out while looking at him apologetically. "Look… I am soooorryyy" She slurred out and Harry finally decided to stop her.
"Can I come inside?" Harry asked and Tonks blinked at his question before she turned her head to look inside her room. Then she turned back to Harry.
"Uhhh… It's a mess" Tonks hiccuped, looking really sheepish.
"I don't mind" Harry answered and Tonks seemed to blink again at his words before she finally stepped aside from the doorframe and seemed to stumble a bit, but she managed to retain her footing.
"Whoops!" Tonks exclaimed with a giggle before waving her hand at him. "Sure, sure, come inside my humble abode" Tonks added and Harry finally entered her room before closing the door.
"Look, Tonks… I don't think you are in any condition to talk, so… do you want a Sobering Potion?" Harry asked and Tonks seemed unsure what to do, so Harry decided to insist a bit. "Look, I really want to talk with you, but I don't think we can talk like this" Harry elaborated, and after thinking for a bit, Tonks finally agreed.
So, Harry called Alef and asked him to grab a Sobering Potion from the infirmary. After only a couple of seconds, Alef returned with the said Potion in his hands and disappeared after handing the vial to Tonks. The woman seemed to glare at the vail for the next few seconds before she uncorked it and downed it in one go. For the next couple of seconds, nothing happened before all of a sudden, her stomach rumbled.
Tonks covered her mouth and rushed into the washroom and after spending a whole minute inside the place, she came out, looking much better, but she was still a mess…
"Uh… Harry-" Tonks began to speak, but Harry stopped her and Tonks winced at his gesture, believing that Harry was probably angry at her.
"Take a seat" Harry prompted as he Conjured two extremely comfortable-looking chairs. He decided to wait for Tonks to take the seat and when she did, he also sat down. "Listen, Tonks… I am sorry. I shouldn't have left like that" Harry apologized, surprising Tonks since she was almost certain that Harry probably hated her. Still, she decided not to get her hopes up.
"It was a dick move, but I was so surprised by the kiss that I didn't know what to do, so I did the first thing that came to my mind" Harry explained slowly, not trying to rush as he wanted Tonks to understand his circumstances.
"It is clear that I have hurt you and for that, I once again apologize to you" Harry finished, and decided to wait for his words to sink in. "I am not done, let me finish" Harry spoke up when he saw that Tonks was about to say something, but at his words, she stopped. "Look…" Harry began to speak, but he stopped as he failed to come up with the right words.
"...Gah! Why is this so hard!" Harry muttered furiously before clenching one of his fists. He had cowered a whole Wizarding Community with his raw power and talking with a girl about his true feelings was making him stumble. It was downright insulting. After taking a deep breath, Harry resumed talking.
"Look, you are an amazing woman. You are beautiful, witty, independent, strong, and funny… I would love to pursue a relationship with you, but it is not that simple" Harry finished with a sigh and Tonks didn't know what to say. She was over the moon when Harry was complimenting her, but the next moment, she crashed down on earth at his next words.
"...There is already someone I love. I love her more than anything else" Harry confessed and Tonks felt her heart shatter into pieces, but she clamped down on her Occlumency Shields as hard as she could, to stop herself from leaking any of her true feelings. "I went to meet her after I left, to talk about what happened" Harry added, ignoring Tonks' inner turmoil.
Tonks stared straight into his eyes at his words… "We talked… and she told me quite a few things I am still not sure about, but I am willing to give it a try" Harry finished and when Tonks realized that he wasn't going to anything else, she decided to speak up.
"What did she say?" Tonks asked hesitantly and Harry seemed to shift in his chair uncomfortably at her question.
"...She said… She said she wouldn't mind sharing me with other women" Harry revealed Tonks gaped like a fish out of water at his words and her hair and eyes started to shift through various colors. "Look, I know how it sounds, so I would totally understand if you wouldn't want to pursue a relationship with me" Harry said, trying to assure her that he wouldn't mind if she didn't want to be with him any more.
"Fuck yes! I am on board!!" Tonks exclaimed excitedly as she dived toward Harry, completely ignoring anything Harry said after revealing the fact that his lover wouldn't mind sharing him with other women…
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****ANOTHER-TALK-THEY-HAD (IV)****
"Wha– What? Just like that?" For the second time tonight, Tonks had managed to catch him off guard and he couldn't help but sputter at her actions. Firstly, he wasn't expecting her to accept the offer in the first place and secondly, he was a healthy young man, and being so close to Tonks was starting to affect him even though he was holding back any outward reaction using his Occlumency Barriers.
He had been close to his Mom, but he wasn't in his physical body when he did that, so even if he was affected, it happened on the outside and when he saw Hela in the nude, he popped a boner, in both states, but he was more comfortable around Hela and his Mom, than he was around Tonks.
"Yeah… If I can be with you, I am completely on board" Tonks clarified proudly as she snaked her arms around his neck. "I thought you were disgusted with me… You aren't disgusted by me, are you?" Tonks asked worriedly, looking straight into his eyes, looking for any hidden emotions, but to be honest, Harry couldn't understand why she thought she would be disgusted at her.
Tonks was everything he wanted in a woman, so why would he be disgusted?
"Why would I be disgusted?" Harry asked, looking confused. Tonks gave him a weird look before she started to speak.
"Uh… You know we are kind of family, right? I mean after Sirius adopted you" Tonks explained, looking at him worriedly.
"Yeah… So, what's the problem?" Harry asked, looking equally confused, making her eyes grow wide like saucers, and Harry suspected that she must have used her powers to make her eyes bigger.
"You don't see a problem with that?" Tonks asked, looking at him in bewilderment.
"Uhh… There are some problems, obviously, but they can be easily avoided and we are far enough in the family tree that we wouldn't need to worry about them" Harry explained, making Tonks stare at him with wide eyes before she started to cackle.
"So, you ran away because you wanted to chat with your lover?" Tonks asked in between her cackles and Harry decided not to humor her with an answer, which made her cackle harder. Harry was annoyed, but he decided to let it go… After all, he could cut his own lover some slack.
"I can't believe it!" Tonks blurted out before continuing to cackle even more, but instead of becoming any more annoyed at her, a smile appeared on his face. To be honest, he couldn't bring himself to be angry at her, not because he had agreed to accept her as his lover, but because he liked the feeling of being casual with her… After all, Tonks was an amazing woman.
"So, what's her name?" Tonks asked after she finally calmed down and Harry froze at her question. The smile on his face disappeared and his face turned grim, while Tonks started to look at him with worry. She started to wonder if she had asked something she shouldn't have.
"It is complicated…" Harry answered with a frown before he finally relaxed. "Someday, you are going to meet her, I promise you that, but for the time being, I am going to keep her identity to myself… I hope you can understand" Harry slowly explained and not knowing what else to do, Tonks simply nodded her head in acknowledgement even though she looked kind of unsure.
"Uhh… I wonder… Can we kiss?" Tonks asked nervously after a few seconds of silence, but she was looking kind of hopeful.
"Sure… I didn't get to enjoy the kiss last time" Harry accepted the offer as wasn't able to enjoy the kiss last time, at least not completely and he had to admit, even though he lacked his physical body whenever he kissed his Mom, he enjoyed the feeling. So, he wanted to see if he could enjoy someone else kissing him since his mind wasn't raging any more.
Instead of lunging at me, this time, Tonks decided to take it slow as she didn't want to freak him out by some accident, but she stopped right in front of his lips, wanting to see if he was willing to close the distance… Harry realized what she was trying to do so he easily closed the distance and captured her lips. It wasn't as magical as the first time he kissed his Mom, he had to admit, he liked kissing Tonks.
Maybe, he could fall in love with the feeling in the future…
"Do you want to stay over?" Tonks asked, pulling away a bit from her.
"Aren't we moving too fast?" Harry asked, looking at her weirdly.
"No! No!" Tonks immediately blurted out, trying to clear the misunderstanding, realizing how her suggestion might have sounded. "No. No. We won't be doing anything like that… You know, just cuddle and stuff?" Tonks explained nervously, not sure if she was pushing it. The Black Madness had her… There was no point in denying it or trying to stop it, so she decided to simply go with it.
After all, she didn't want to turn out like her dear Aunty Bella…
"...Alright" Harry agreed after thinking for a bit. Tonks smiled widely and they returned to kissing…
~~Timeskip~~ (An hour later)
Harry appeared in Hel, looking for Hela, and found her Cultivating in the naked, once again. It has become a routine for her… Nowadays, she always stays in the nude, in an attempt to seduce him, which she always veiled as training. According to her, he should get used to sexy female bodies, so he doesn't get seduced by an enemy…
"Peverall… I saw what happened" Hela said with a grin as she stood up.
"Yes… Well…" Harry trailed off, not sure how to bring it up. "But, I won't be giving you any higher status than the others… All of them are going to be equal" Harry added. Since Hela saw everything through his eyes, he decided not to explain everything once again.
Hela arrived in front of him and leaned down… "While I am not enthralled by your decision, I am not going to complain… I am in no position to negotiate, husband" Hela replied in an amused tone as she stared straight into his eyes.
"I am not your husband, yet" Harry pointed out, but Hela simply waved her hand, dismissing the pesky detail.
"Semantics, husband, semantics…" Hela replied dismissively before capturing his lips with her own…
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****TRAITOROUS-FRIEND-INDEED (I)****
~~Nott Manor~~
Voldemort slowly rolled his shoulder and a grimace appeared on his face. His busted shoulder still ached in pain. He had no idea the Spell Harry had used to injure him, and that irked him to no end. He was certain that the Spell was Dark Arts, but the Spell was unknown to him and he prided himself to be the best in Dark Arts. The slight was not acceptable.
However, he failed to find the said Curse in any of his tomes… That irked him even more. Since he was unable to find the Curse Harry had used to hurt him, he had to heal in the normal way… Thankfully, the spike stopped growing inside him after he left the Wards of the Bones Manor. That thought seemed to anger him even more… He was frantically frothing in his mouth, but there was nothing he could do.
Then he turned toward his Wand arm and grimaced again… His Wand hand was completely healed since his Wand hand wasn't cursed, but he could still feel the phantom pains from when his hand was crushed by… Voldemort felt his temper flare to unimaginable levels, but he quickly slammed his Occlumency Shields, knowing that losing his temper wasn't going to help him.
He needed to think about everything with a clear mind… Harry Potter was not just a common enemy. He was better than anyone he had ever faced… He would admit that Harry Potter was not someone he imagined. The boy was ruthless to boot and he was equally wicked. He could respect that, but that didn't mean he would have to like that.
What was even worse was the fact that he simply didn't lose to a boy only a fifth of age, he lost to a boy only a fifth of age in front of his followers, and it wasn't even a fight. The boy was simply playing with him… He was planning to return the favor in spades, but that didn't mean that he wasn't incensed. However, now that he had faced the boy, he knew that he couldn't face him again without a trump card of his own.
He expected the boy to be inexperienced, but the boy proved himself to be a formidable foe when it came to experience. The boy knew how to use his Magic and the boy was impossibly powerful too… Voldemort wanted that power for himself, but at the same time, he wanted to take it after beating him. His ego wouldn't accept anything less.
Thankfully, he still possessed his Wand… The boy never bothered to take his Wand away from him or maybe, he simply allowed him to keep the Wand to give him a fair chance… No! No! He needed to keep a clear mind. It wouldn't do if he lost his temper… He had other important things to worry about, like the brand on his Soul and his precious Horcruxes.
He had inspected his Soul and he had discovered something foreign sticking to his Soul and while he wasn't sure what it was, he decided to trust Harry on this… However, that wasn't the end of his problems. The boy knew about his Horcruxes… He decided to place the blame on Lucius' shoulders for that. The man was going to pay for his foolish plans, but not yet, he was passing information whenever he could.
He needed to check on them… After all, the boy knew that he had made more than one, but he wasn't sure if he should. The boy might have tried to bluff him… Revealing their existence would urge him to check on them and he would be leading the boy straight to them, so the best course of action for him was to send a Death Eater to inspect them, but he didn't trust any of them.
All of his most trusted followers were either dead or still recovering from their stint in Azkaban… If he was being honest, he was missing Snape's expertise in Potions. If the said man was here, then they would have been recovering much faster, but he had to work with common Healers and Potion Masters… Maybe, he should use the family of a competent Healer to force them to work for him.
Yes… That might work. He really needed a good Healer in his corner…
After some time, he finally decided on a course of action… He decided to check on the Diadem. He didn't believe that any of the students would be smart enough to realize what it was and he was planning to contact a student directly. It wouldn't do if one of his followers decided to poke their nose where it didn't belong.
With his mind made up, he decided to pen a letter to Theodore Nott Jr. With Dumbledore and Snape gone, he was sure that there were going to be no issues, but then he remembered that the school was closed and it wasn't going to open until the school was repaired… He considered Hogwarts his home and that was another reason why he hated Potter and his followers.
Once again, he faced the same problem… He couldn't visit the school to check the Diadem or the boy might discover the location… He wasn't even sure if the boy could locate him even if he was living under the Fidelius Charm. He did know someone he could send to recover the Diadem and go completely unseen, but he wasn't sure if he trusted the man.
After pondering for quite some time, he simply released a long-drawn sigh… He simply decided to summon Pettigrew and give him the task. He was a cowardly man, and that ensured that the man wouldn't try to run away… Knowing Harry Potter was still looking for him, the man would return to him since he didn't have any other option.
Maybe, he would need to remind the man that his fate would be quite gruesome if Harry Potter found him…
~~Malfoy Manor~~
Meanwhile, Harry, who was lying beside Tonks, smirked ferally…
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