CHAPTER {276-278}
****A-DATE-NIGHT (IV)****
After pointing her finger at the most delicious-looking Starter on the menu, Tonks simply leaned back in her chair as she started to wonder how Harry was going to produce the food. "Would you like something to drink?" Harry asked as he took a look at the dish she wanted.
"Wine?" Tonks answered, looking unsure. Tonks was not a wine connoisseur by any means, but according to her mum and Aunt Cissy, wine was the only choice to go along with a high-class dinner date.
"Alright" Harry nodded his head in understanding as he pulled out his Wand and flicked it in the air and a chime rang out. Moments later, a woman dressed in waiter garb appeared beside their table with a loud crack, startling Tonks. The woman was slightly pale and if observed carefully, there was a minute tremble in her hands and her knees.
Tonks might be a klutz with a silly personality, but she had been an Auror. She was one of the best Aurors to ever graduate since she was personally trained by Alastor Moody, so she easily noticed the minor tell-tale signs but decided not to say anything in front of the woman. She was going to question Harry after she was gone.
"Can we have this for the starter, please?" Harry requested as he pointed at the picture of the dish Tonks wanted to eat.
"Of course, sir. Is there anything else you want?" The woman asked with a slight tremble in her voice, but she still managed to act professional enough.
"We would also like to have some Wine. Is there anything you recommend?" Harry asked with a polite smile on his face. "The price is no issue" Harry added softly after a moment. He knew just how expensive good Wine could be as he had seen Narcissa's Wine collection, but for tonight, he wasn't going to spare any expenses.
It hurt him to splurge so much money for just a date, but he knew that women held dates in high regard, and sometimes, he needed to make sacrifices to keep his loved ones happy. He wouldn't say that he loved Tonks, at least not yet, but he definitely cared for her, and he most definitely wanted to make her happy.
He was also attracted to her, but that was just a bonus since she could change her looks at whims…
"Then may I suggest Chȃteau Cheval Blanc?" The waitress asked after thinking a bit.
"That's perfect, please bring us a bottle" Harry clapped his hands, looking pleased even though he winced inside at the supposed price of the said bottle. He didn't know the exact price, but he was certain that it wasn't going to cost anything below 500 Galleons.
"Of course, sir. I will get one right away" The waitress nodded her head, trying to act as usual, but the sweat on her forehead was an obvious sign of her distress. "Is there anything else you would require?" The woman asked, following through her usual routine.
Harry glanced toward Tonks and she simply shook her head. "Not anything else for the time being" Harry answered as he turned toward the waitress. The waitress smiled back at him even though it was forced and disappeared with a soft pop, leaving Harry and Tonks alone.
"Did you threaten them or something?" Tonks asked as she leaned forward on the table. "She was looking like she was going to pass out" Tonks whispered furiously as she glared at Harry. She wasn't angry at him, not truly, but she was annoyed… The Auror inside her was kind of nagging at her.
"Some threats might have been involved" Harry answered dismissively, hoping he hadn't ruined the date. "I didn't want them to inform the Aurors of anything by some misguided sense of justice. The Aurors would have ruined our night and then I would have been obligated to kill them" Harry explained righteously.
'Merlin on a bike…' Tonks trailed off inside her mind as she stared at her boyfriend, completely gobsmacked. Harry was speaking like whatever he said made complete sense and now that she thought about it, it did make sense in a kind of roundabout way. If someone interrupted her date, then she would want to kill them too.
'I knew he had good reasons for threatening them' Tonks nodded her head as she decided to drop the matter. After all, he threatened to save their date, so it was alright in her books… "I see…" Tonks mumbled to let him know that she had decided to drop the matter.
"By the way, can we go down there after we are done here?" Tonks asked in a hopeful tone.
"Of course" Harry agreed with a smile on his face. He was glad that she understood his reasons and decided to drop the matter and as for going down there, he knew Tonks was a wild girl at heart, so no matter how much she enjoyed a high-class dinner, she would always crave a wild party and he wasn't against that.
A couple of minutes later, the waitress finally returned with the food and a bottle of Cheval Blanc. After placing the food on the table and pouring them a glass of wine, the waitress decided to hightail it out of there. Harry picked up the wine glass and twirled it in his hand as he inspected the food for any unnecessary additions.
Satisfied that the food and the wine were completely untampered with, Harry took a sniff of the wine before taking a small sip… He savored the taste for a moment before nodding his head in satisfaction. He liked the taste even though it was going to be fucking overpriced. He smiled at Tonks as she dug into the food while thinking about the brief conversation he had with Amelia.
He had informed Amelia about the impending attack and he had also directed Gellert and the rest of the members of the Lost Garden to help the Aurors fend off the attack so that they could create some goodwill with the public… He had no plans to stop the attack, but he intended to capitalize on it. Yes, some people were going to die, and regretted that, but some sacrifices needed to be made.
The Muggles were going to hit the hardest since Tom was planning to use the Dementors to attack them, but out of goodwill, Harry had informed the Royal Mages. However, he had no intentions of joining the fight before capturing Pettigrew… "Aren't you going to eat?" Tonks asked, breaking him out of his internal musings.
"Oh sorry, I was simply thinking how beautiful you are" It wasn't a lie, since he was staring at her, but it was far from the truth. Nonetheless, Tonks blushed brightly at his words…
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****AN-ILL-FATED-ATTACK (I)****
~~Meeting Room, Ministry of Magic~~
Alastor Mad-eye Moody stepped inside the room and immediately started to inspect the room with his Magical eye. Unable to find any traps or any surprises, he huffed before walking up to an empty chair. He had no idea why Amelia had decided to call the meeting, but he preferred to be here rather than sulking alone inside some random alley with a rookie.
"It nice to see you, Moody" Rufus greeted dimly as he slowly turned around to stare at his most unsubordinate like subordinate. While the man technically worked under him, Moody rarely listened to his orders. However, he was the best Auror on the active roster and the man never shied away from facing a dangerous criminal, so Rufus could look past all of his inadequacies.
"Rufus" Moody greeted the man gruffly as his magical eye continued to roll around creepily. He never liked Rufus too much, the man was way too much of a politician rather than an Auror, but he trusted the man to do the right thing when push came to shove. "Do you know what the meeting's about?" Moody asked, leaning on his staff, not expecting an answer.
Whatever Amelia wanted to talk about, she was quite secretive about it…
"No. The Minister-" Rufus ground out and Alastor could practically feel the bitterness in the man's voice from here. It wasn't a secret that Rufus wanted to become the next Minister until Amelia came and stole the mantle from under his nose. Amelia never displayed any ambition to become the Minister, then out of the blue she was there, nominating herself for the mantle. "-never informed me" Rufus finished lamely.
Alastor simply hummed as he decided to drop the matter while he started to wonder what could have made Amelia change her mind and nominate herself to become the Minister of Magic even if the arrangement was quite temporary. Amelia was different after he returned to Britain from his small stint inside the MACUSA cell, but he was unable to comprehend how, at least not completely.
Amelia had been avoiding him since he returned to Britain, which was not good in his books. Their little alliance to thwart Dumbledore and kill Voldemort might have collapsed, but that was not a reason to avoid him. He knew that Augusta had joined Potter, but he didn't know what happened to the alliance after that, since there were no more meetings.
"Moody, Rufus, what a pleasant surprise!" A cheerful voice rang out from the doorway and a man dressed in a Greycloak stepped inside the meeting room.
Alastor practically rolled his original eye in exasperation while Rufus simply closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, looking really tired. Neither of them wanted to deal with an extremely cheerful Grreycloak, especially when they knew that the man was acting cheerful just to annoy them. Saul entered the room with a spring in his step and plopped down across Moody and Rufus.
"How are you, Moody? It has been some time since we met" Saul asked cheerfully with an amused grin on his face, in an attempt to annoy the grizzled Auror, but his attempt failed as Amelia along with Connie arrived before Alastor could give him an answer. Saul, Alastor, and Rufus stood up at her arrival, but Amelia simply gestured them to take a seat.
"I am really glad that all of you are here at such short notice and Croaker, thank you for joining us even though your Department is not under my purview. We are going to need as much help as we can get" Amelia addressed the whole room while looking around before her gaze focused on the Greycloak and she decided to address him professionally, instead of addressing him familiarly.
"I have received information that tonight Voldemort is planning to attack Diagon Alley and Muggle London" Amelia revealed before anyone else could say anything. Rufus and Alastor paled at her words, but Saul didn't show any outward signs of distress.
"What do you need me to do?" Saul asked, breaking the silence, but sounding extremely focused and serious.
"I want you and your buddies to patrol London. From what I have managed to learn, Voldemort is planning to use Dementors to attack Muggle London, which saves us from the headache of worrying about the Statute. If nothing happens, then all is well and good, but if shite hits the fan, then I want you and your people to deal with it as quickly as possible" Amelia explained sharply.
"Alright. I will head there right after we are done here" Saul accepted the mission even though it wasn't his job. Amelia gave him a grateful look before she decided to continue.
"Alastor, I want you to take a team to the Knockturn Alley and keep an out there while Rufus, I want you to keep an eye around the Diagon Alley with men you could trust completely" Amelia ordered sharply. Rufus nodded his head in understanding, but Alastor gave Amelia a suspicious look. He started to wonder how Amelia managed to learn all of that when Severus was out of commission.
'Did she somehow manage to get someone from the Inner Circle to become a spy for her when I wasn't looking?' Alastor wondered suspiciously, but he decided to go along with her orders for the time being as there were other important things they needed to deal with. "Alright. Is there anything else or should we head out there?" Alastor asked gruffly as his Magical eye continued to spin around creepily.
Amelia seemed to hesitate for a moment, but she decided to speak up… "If the Lost Garden arrives to help, then don't antagonize them" Amelia said and alarm bells started to go off inside Alastor's and Rufus' heads as soon as she finished speaking, however, the two of them decided to go along for the time being.
'Is she somehow connected with the Lost Garden? Potter did help her when the Dark Lord came for her…' Rufus mused thoughtfully as he started to wonder if he could somehow use her connection with Potter or the Lost Garden to dethrone her and become the Minister. However, he knew that he needed some proof if he wanted to dethrone her. The woman had too much support…
'Did she join Potter when I was in the States? Or did Potter coerce her to join him by some means?' Alastor wondered but decided to keep his thoughts to himself for the time being…
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****A-DATE-NIGHT (V)****
"Come on, Harry. Don't need to feel shy!" Tonks exclaimed happily as she continued to drag Harry through the crowded streets of Paris. The streets were filled with people enjoying themselves. The music was pretty loud and they could feel the bass hitting them, and to be honest, Harry was starting to enjoy himself, much to Lily's delight.
Harry rarely enjoyed himself, so she was glad that he was taking some time to enjoy himself…
"I am not feeling shy, Tonks. I just don't feel comfortable around so many people" Harry answered, looking around. Thanks to the ambience, he was starting to enjoy himself, but that didn't mean he was feeling relaxed. He had never been around so many people, so it was obvious that he was on guard.
"You need to relax, Harry. Nobody is going to attack you here!" Tonks screamed so that Harry could hear her clearly. She had no idea what sort of Magic Harry was using to be heard so clearly by her, so she could only scream and hope that he could understand what she was trying to say.
"I know and I seriously doubt that any of them could even hurt me even if they tried, but I can't help it" Harry retorted glumly.
Tonks stared at her boyfriend before coming to a decision. "Come on! I know something that would help you relax!" Tonks exclaimed with a sly grin on her face and started to lead him toward one of the alcohol stalls. Harry noticed where Tonks was taking him and wanted to protest, but surprisingly it was Lily who stopped him.
|As a Mom, I shouldn't be saying this, but maybe some alcohol would be good for you| Lily suggested helpfully. Yes, Harry was only 14, but she was only 13 when she snuck a drink from her Mom's cabinet as she wanted to know how alcohol tasted. She never liked the taste, but by the time she graduated from Hogwarts, she started to appreciate the taste.
|Are you sure?| Harry asked in a weird tone. He knew that his Mom was not normal, but even then she forbade him from cursing or swearing until he was fourteen, and now she was telling him that he was allowed to drink. He never expected something like this from her, in fact, he was expecting her to forbid him from drinking until he was seventeen or eighteen.
|I am sure, Hadrian. A little adventure never hurt anyone| Lily assured him in a gentle tone.
|What about Pettigrew?| Harry asked. After all, he didn't want to get drunk and miss the chance to capture the traitorous bastard.
|Hadrian, you can make yourself sober without raising your hand, so what's there to worry about? And this could be a lesson for you that you should always drink under a limit. You need to grow up to be a responsible man, so you should never lose sight of your objective and ambition| Lily calmly explained and Harry clutched his hands in determination.
"Two cocktails please!" Tonks screamed at the guy behind the stall, but the guy simply eyed Harry suspiciously.
"How old is he?!" The man asked in English. Right now, Paris was filled with tourists from all around the world, so it was kind of understandable that the shopkeepers knew English.
"Old enough" Harry answered before Tonks could say anything while he used his Magic to simply Confound the Muggle. Tonks, who was in the process of pulling out her Wand so that she could Confound the guy, simply grinned and placed a kiss on Harry's cheek. Meanwhile, Harry used Magic to make himself look older as he didn't want to draw any eyes.
"Alright! Two cocktails on the way!" The guy behind the bar exclaimed cheerfully and went to work on the drinks. It didn't take him long to finish the drinks and he simply placed the plastic glasses on the table along with two slices of lemon and a small plastic cup filled with salt. Tonks picked up the drinks and handed one of them to Harry.
"Follow my example, alright!" Tonks said with a grin as she held up her drink. "Down the hatch!!" Tonks exclaimed cheerfully and she downed the whole drink in one go. Then she grabbed one of the lemon slices from the table and after dipping the lemon slice in the salt, she sucked at the lemon before releasing a huge sigh.
"Hah!! That hit the spot!" Tonks sighed with a silly grin on her face. "Go on, it's your turn now!" Tonks urged him, looking hopeful. Tonks knew what she was doing was extremely irresponsible, but she was never a responsible person to begin with…
Harry glanced at the glass in his hand before he glanced toward Tonks, who was still staring at him with a hopeful look on her face. Harry simply took a deep breath and downed the drink in one go, following Tonks' example. He heard Tonks cheer loudly, but he wasn't paying any mind to her as he felt his insides burn.
He quickly grabbed the lemon slice and after dipping it in the salt, he sucked at it and the burning feeling slowly disappeared, only to be replaced by a cold feeling. He wasn't a fan of the burning feeling, but he liked the cold that came afterwards…
Harry's whole body was enhanced to extreme levels as he had strengthened his whole body with Transfiguration and then he was using the Cultivation method Hela gave him to strengthen his body, but the drink still managed to make him feel like his food pipe was on fire… He started to wonder how Tonks was able to enjoy something like that.
Maybe, adults were simply built different…
"Wow! You didn't even cough" Tonks blurted out, looking surprised as she slung her arm around Harry and pulled him closer. "So, what do you think?" Tonks asked with a toothy grin.
"It was good" Harry admitted with a nod of his head. He was finally starting to feel a buzz in his head and it was quite pleasant. He liked the feeling.
"So, up for another drink?" Tonks asked slyly as she wiggled her eyebrows at him. Harry already had the answer, but he still decided to act like he was thinking it over.
Tonks was starting to look slightly concerned, but her concerns disappeared at his next words. "...Yeah, sure, why not?" Harry agreed, returning the toothy grin. He decided that in for a Knut, so in for a Galleon…
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