章 20: Relationships
Remus Lupin was not a morning person. Normally, since he was universally considered a bookworm (which he was), people thought of the werewolf to be the type of person who wakes up at the crack of dawn and is all fired up from the minute he opens his eyes. That assumption was further cemented when his schoolmates, as well as his closest friends, James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, would all wake up in the morning to find him already dressed and ready for school. It took his friends nearly five years to realise the truth (much longer than it took for them to realise that he was a werewolf by the way) that Remus Lupin took a near hour to get ready for the day. The only reason people thought of him as a morning person was because he would get up earlier, when they were still asleep, and slowly get ready for the day by the time his friends and dorm mates had woken up. Remus' condition made it so that he was more nocturnal than diurnal. A night owl more than an early bird in other words. In his earlier years, he had managed to force his body to sleep earlier than usual in order to be awake a bit earlier so that he could attend his classes. However, that conditioning was all shot to hell when he turned fifteen, finally revealing the fact that he was not the stereotypical studious bookworm. Initially, he would go through the first few hours of the morning in a twilight zone, not exactly awake, but not fully asleep either, before he gradually woke up, usually by nine in the morning. And on the days before and after the full moon, he tended to be rather cranky before he woke up enough.
Leaving school gave him the luxury of lying in bed in a semi-sleepy daze before waking up enough to get about with his life. It was mainly for that reason that he normally either took a night job, or one that required him to be present later in the morning.
So Remus was understandably surprised when he woke up that morning instantly on alert. He only registered his shock when he found the time to be only eight. A good hour before he normally properly wakes up.
Confused, he idly looked at the room he was currently in. Tonks was nowhere to be found.
Nymphadora now Remus corrected himself mentally with a smile. He remembered the discussion they had last night. Remus had refused to call his girlfriend (that word still gave him a pleasurable thrill of excitement) by her last name. At first he had conceded to her wishes ("Auror Tonks" did sound rather nice when he was being a naughty boy or playing the part of the big bad wolf in their games ... especially when she had that riding crop). But after a while, he wanted to be given the pleasure of having a name which only he was allowed to call her in non amorous situations. After some negotiations, involving many ridiculous nicknames, she had finally decided to allow Remus the privilege of calling her by her first name. Then again, she really had no choice. She had turned her nose up (rather cutely, in Remus' opinion), at the usual endearments like "luv" or "sweetheart" saying they sounded rather sappy and had positively baulked at "Nymphy" and "Nym", finding them stupider than her original name. Eventually, having no other choice, she had very reluctantly and quite grudgingly given him the permission to use her first name.
Snorting in amusement at that and revelling in his minor victory, Remus got out of bed and, still naked, padded out of the bedroom of Nymphadora's flat and into the hallway, heading towards the kitchen with last night's clothes in his arms that he had absently picked up. Putting the clothes in the washer with the other dirty clothes, he tapped the magical device that was installed in place of the normal Muggle one with his wand, starting the process of getting the clothes washed. When he had moved in with Nymphadora, a week back, after finishing the assignment Dumbledore had given, the flat was a mess. However thanks to his penchant for cleanliness, that problem had been more than taken care of. Nymphadora certainly appreciated the benefits of coming home to a clean house, not to mention being able to wear clean clothes.
She had also readily agreed with Remus that he was not a "neat freak".
His job done, Remus put on a kettle to boil for tea and headed towards the bathroom to find out how Nymphadora liked her eggs, figuring he would surprise her with a home cooked breakfast for once.
He felt the first signs of foreboding when his beloved did not answer when he knocked on the door. His worry only grew when he found the door unlocked. Usually Nymphadora was the type to lock the door whenever she went into the bathroom. While she was usually relaxed about other things (both of them walking around the house starkers proved that), she was a stickler for this.
'Luv?' Remus asked tentatively as he stuck his head into the bathroom. He saw her sitting on the toilet seat, naked as the day she was born, her thick black hair flowing down, covering her breasts and hiding her stormy grey eyes which were looking at something in her hands blankly.
'Is everything all right?' he inquired with an increased sense of concern when she did not respond immediately. Normally she would growl at him when he called her "luv". It was enough to get her attention no matter the situation. Thus growing concerned when she still did not respond, he crouched down in front of her. While the sight of his lover in any state was enough to get him excited, he came to the conclusion that the situation demanded he control those urges.
After an indeterminate amount of time spent in silence which Remus spent silently and patiently looking at her, Nymphadora Tonks finally spoke. 'I'm pregnant,' she said in a daze.
It took a bit of time for Remus' brain to catch up with her words. 'Sorry, what?' he finally said dully when his brain had the opportunity to partly process the meaning of the words that had come out from her lips.
Nymphadora finally looked at him and said slowly, 'I. Am. Pregnant.' She really did not sound happy. Nor did she sound sad. In fact, Remus really had no idea what she thought of the whole situation.
'Oh,' he finally settled on saying. 'Are you sure?' he asked her, figuring that it was a safe enough question to ask.
'Yeah,' his girlfriend of less than a year said succinctly. 'I checked five times each using both Muggle and Magical methods.' She held up her wand which she was staring at all this while. The tip was glowing a bright cheerful blue. 'I did the charm to test for pregnancy. If it hadn't lit up, it would have been negative. A blue colour means that it probably is going to be a boy while yellow means that it might just be a girl. Of course, the book says that the colour at this stage isn't much of an indicator and that it is a good idea to check again much later to ensure the sex of the baby. The book also says that the charm is a hundred percent accurate.' She rambled on pointing in the general direction of a book that Remus saw on the countertop titled Pregnancy and You.
'Not only that, but I have been finding it hard to change forms lately.' She continued speaking mechanically, 'Especially in the mornings. It is a sure sign that I am pregnant.'
'But ... but we took precautions!'
'I know,'
'I've taken regular doses of the potion,' He said as he got up to pace.
'I know,' she said as she looked at him moving up and down the bathroom floor, she felt rather detached.
'And I have even used those Muggle contraptions as an added precaution.'
'Again, I know. After all, I was there, giggling away and telling you that you were being silly and paranoid when you first put that condominium thing on.'
'Then how...?'
'That,' she said without rancour, 'is what I don't know.'
'Well bugger me,' he said, finally sitting down propped against the wall beside her. She snorted at the irony of the statement.
'I need a drink,' she said after a few moments of silence.
Still in shock, Remus said automatically, 'you can't ... you are pregnant, remember?' he did not notice the toxic look sent his way for his rather obvious statement.
'Say something,' she said after a few more moments of silence.
Now Remus had a decent amount of experience with relationships in his time as, despite his condition, he had managed to get into quite a few relationships. Added to that were the stories he had heard from James about Lily and from Sirius about the many flings he had. All those sources agreed that those two words plus the way her voice was shaking were not good signs. He would have to tread very, very, very carefully if he wanted to come out of this alive.
'I think,' he said carefully. 'That we need to calm down ... take time to breathe ... come to terms with what we have learned. And then talk about it at the end of the day. Those tests only come positive so consistently when you are definitely pregnant. That means that you have been pregnant for quite awhile now. Go to the Ministry, finish your work, and then, when we both have had time to come to grips with it, we'll talk.' The delivery of his speech was calm; however, he was panicking inside. He hoped to Merlin, Morgana and all the four founders that he had chosen the right words to say.
Thankfully it seemed he had said the right thing as Nymphadora did not get visibly angry (or invisibly as far as Remus could tell). She nodded after a while and agreed with him.
The day passed in a haze. Thankfully Auror Tonks did not have any field work to do that day. Remus had more than enough time to think as he was currently in that zone where he had recently said goodbye to his past employer and had yet to say hello to his future employer, meaning that he did not have what was called a "job". Not that he could afford to get another job, seeing as he was "at standby mode" according to Dumbledore.
So by the time his girlfriend came in, she was presented with a hot, appetizing dinner made of her favourite foods, a clean house and a plan. A plan that she found to be so sound and romantic, she had all but ripped his clothes off as she snogged him senseless. After all, that is generally what one does to one's new fiancé.
As they lay in bed together, Nymphadora fixed her large grey eyes on him and asked, 'So, any idea if the baby's going to be a werewolf?'
'No, not really,' Remus replied as he traced a line on her shoulder. 'I think that this is the first time in history that a werewolf and a witch will be having a baby. Generally it is hard for both individuals to pursue a relationship, seeing as one is normally running away from the other.' His comment earned him a snort from his beloved.
They spent the rest of the night debating as to what Remus' condition would mean for the child. Both of them, (Remus more than Nymphadora) were apprehensive about this. Would the child become a werewolf? Would he stay normal? Or would he become some weird half werewolf? Also would this make Nymphadora a werewolf herself?
Out of these, the last question was the most easily answerable. She hadn't transformed in the full moon after they had started their relationship. Thus, lycanthropy was not a sexually transmitted disease, but just vector-borne.
At least they had some information to give to the boffins at the Centre for the Research of Magical Diseases. Though, that did carry a lot of risk and unnecessary attention to their relationship. Currently, Remus was rather unknown despite information about his condition having been leaked out by certain a greasy-haired person he really hoped he would never meet in a dark and empty alley, lest he end up killing them.
At first, Remus did not want to burden Nymphadora with his problems anymore. He initially wanted to break things off with her, saying that it was too dangerous to be with him. After all, the normal contraceptive potions wouldn't work on him. Who knew what else could happen.
Then he began to reconsider. Nymphadora would then be left alone, a young Auror, with a baby to take care of and a job to manage. It wasn't a healthy way to raise a child. Sure she could use help from her mother. Andromeda would have been more than happy to raise the child. But it would not be the same as having a proper mother.
There was also the small fact that he was madly in love with her and did not want to leave her or the child alone. Not when it was he who was responsible for her becoming pregnant.
James, Lily and Sirius would never forgive him, nor would Nymphadora's parents. And he shuddered to think of what Harry would think of that situation. He also knew that he would be dishonouring his own father's memory. If his father could raise him despite him being bitten by a werewolf, then the least Remus could do in his dad's memory is not abandon his own child.
Of course all that paled in comparison to what Nymphadora herself would do to him if he thought of leaving her. He still vividly remembered the way she had burst in on him and told him off for being a prat and to snog her already ... or else. The dangerous and determined look in her eyes had done it for him then. He did not want to think what she would do to him if he left her.
So, he decided that the most honourable thing to do was to ask her to marry him. That way, his child would grow up with a normal life.
The proposal hadn't been romantic (at least to him, though she seemed to think it was). He had just honestly spoken of his love to her and how he wanted to be in the baby's life. He had even added something that had just occurred to him as he was proposing to her: That he was actually, in the deepest corners of his mind, considering asking her the question sometime in the near future. Before he had found out that she was pregnant.
Nymphadora Tonks was a unique person because she had befriended him and loved him despite knowing what he was from the beginning, and that made her special in his eyes. The last people who had done that were his parents. James, Lily and Sirius (he did not even think of Peter) were not the same as her. While he appreciated that they had still stuck by him, and not shunned him when they had found out about his condition, they had the opportunity to know Remus-the-person before knowing Remus-the-werewolf. It was only because of their years of friendship that the two pureblood boys were still friends with him. Nymphadora, on the other hand, had known of Remus' condition from the minute she had laid eyes on him. She knew Remus-the-werewolf from the beginning ... and loved him regardless.
He would have been a fool to let that go. Many people would have shunned him, and Remus understood that sentiment. He knew that he was the exception and not the rule when it came to how werewolves behaved with humans. The scent of human flesh called to werewolves daily, even in their human form, just as human blood made the non-functioning hearts of vampires sing. He was one of the few who could resist the temptation and stay sane, at least when he wasn't transformed. He was a freak of nature, so to speak; the werewolf equivalent of a vampire capable of walking in daylight. Unlike Dumbledore, who felt that it was the choices a werewolf made that made him different, Remus knew better. He knew that werewolves were dangerous. While some preferred to stay away from civilisation, content on feeding on animal flesh, they were the minority. Most had embraced their true nature and would frequently attack villages on full moon nights, preying on the unaware humans inhabiting the area, only turning the few they felt would be useful to their cause.
It was this sentiment that Remus truly loved her for, and he appreciated her for looking beyond the beast and into the man that had convinced Nymphadora to say yes.
The thought of abortion never did enter their heads. That was mainly because in the wizarding world, contraceptive potions had been in use and in production for a very long time now. And they had only improved in effectiveness since they had been first invented back in the seventeen hundreds. So much so that now it was only possible to have a child only if both the parents wished it. Thanks to the potions, extremely stringent abortion laws had been passed and accepted by the public. The last recorded legal abortion was done in 1781, a year before the first contraceptive potion had been put into production and the last anti-abortion law had been passed in the nineteenth century. So enough time had passed that abortion was no longer a part of the vocabulary of the average witch or wizard. There were exceptions of course where medical issues made it necessary, but those were also rare to the point of being nonexistent. Just like the potion failing here in Remus' case.
The next day, the happy couple had gone over to Andromeda Tonks' house to break the news. They hadn't mentioned that Nymphadora was pregnant, however, when announcing their engagement. Though, Remus knew that Andromeda would not be fooled for long. The woman was a Black. The whole family was known for three things; their keen mind, their penchant for finding out the deepest darkest secrets of people and their insanity. Almost every single one of them were insane in some way, Remus idly reflected as he saw mother and daughter gossip together as he sat with Ted Tonks, Nymphadora's father, as the man tried to play the father-of-the-girlfriend routine with Remus.
First there was his dear mate, Sirius Black. As a boy, Sirius thought that it would be funny to send another boy into the path of a fully transformed werewolf. Then as a man, he was crazy enough to be the first person in recorded history to escape from Azkaban, only to go to the next heavily fortified place that was Hogwarts despite it being surrounded by the same Dementors from Azkaban. And that was only the beginning of the crazy and borderline insane things Sirius had done in the course of his life. Remus still vividly remembered the run in Sirius and James had with the Muggle police on Sirius's flying motorcycle.
Then there was his dear Nymphy-Poo (something he called her in the deepest darkest corners of his mind ... if he ever said that out loud ... well, she would make Greyback look like a cute little puppy), she was insane enough to marry him despite knowing what he was from the beginning.
Then there was Andromeda, her mother. She was insane enough to marry a Muggleborn against her family's wishes. Despite the fact that said family was reputed to be one of the darkest and most powerful houses of British magical society. Oh, and not to forget, the woman thought that "Nymphadora" was a cute name for a girl
Then there were the other two members of the family; Bellatrix and Narcissa. One really did not need to list the things the former had done to be deemed insane. Narcissa, on the other hand, seemed to be an exception. Or perhaps her insanity was just hidden. Remus did not have the pleasure of meeting the Black. She always held herself in a certain way, as if she was above the rest of the world. She was also the only blonde Black. Maybe that had something to do with it.
As they sat down for dinner, Andromeda "suggested" that they break the news to Harry next. While he wasn't directly responsible for Nymphadora, he was still the head of the Black family, the family Andromeda was born into. Andromeda had a high regard for the boy since he was the one who had gone ahead and put her name back into the tapestry, along with her husband's name, forever removing the stain of being called a blood-traitor from her and her family. While Andromeda loved her husband, she was still crushed over her family's rejection. After all, her parents had shown affection towards her before she had gone and married him. She was also close to her cousins, and even had a cordial relationship with Bellatrix (before, when she wasn't that much of a loon) and her banishment from the family meant that she could never talk to them.
Adding Ted's name was just icing on the cake. This meant that her husband was considered a part of the Black Family. Once the war was over, Andromeda and Ted were fully intending on capitalising on this fact to further their business and their reputation.
So it was only fair that she be accommodating to the boy. And this included sharing family news like the fact that her daughter was getting engaged.
Remus wondered why Andromeda was being so insistent on it. After all, as far as the werewolf was concerned, Andromeda had never met the boy. So why ask him to tell a relative stranger? Not that he was planning on holding this information from Harry. In the end, he did not ask that question. He would find out from Harry directly.
'She's pregnant,' Ted Tonks stated flatly to his lovely wife after their daughter and her fiancé had left.
Andromeda, seated in her armchair next to him snorted, 'She is. I don't know who she thinks she is fooling with that charade of hers. We're her parents for Merlin's sake! She might be able to hide it from those dim-witted morons she calls her colleagues, but it won't work on us!'
'I think that we wouldn't have known either if we hadn't overheard them talking about it before dinner, dear,' Ted said dryly. 'The question is; do they know that we know?'
'I don't think that they know that we know,' said Andromeda absently as she flipped a page of the book she was reading. 'Though even if they know that we knew, then that would automatically mean that we know that they know that we know, something I doubt they would be expecting to know.' Andromeda was silent for a minute before speaking up again, not looking up from her book. 'I wonder if we should let it be known that we know. That way we would know if they knew that we know about it. Or,' she looked up at her husband questioningly, 'Should we just pretend that we don't really know even though we knew from the beginning until they tell us?'
'That is worth thinking about,' said Ted as he took a sip of his single malt.
A few days later, when Hogwarts had a Hogsmeade weekend, an engaged couple met up with a teenager in the Shrieking Shack to break the news of their recent engagement.
'So let me get this straight, you two are getting married shortly?' said Harry as he rubbed his face as he reclined on the armchair he had conjured. He had initially wondered why the two had sent him a letter a few days back. At first he had been worried that his escapades in the Muggle world had been discovered by one or both of them. After all, when somebody sends a note with only the words "we need to talk" followed by a date, location and time, it generally isn't good news. He was relieved with the news to be honest.
Seeing Tonks nod, he exhaled. Looking at them shrewdly, he asked the black haired Auror, 'You're pregnant, aren't you?'
Immediately Remus sat straighter on the conjured sofa, his eyes narrowing, as Tonks just sighed and nodded again.
'How did you know that?' Remus asked reflexively at the same time. Seeing Tonks nod silently from the corner of his eye, he concluded that she hadn't told Harry. Which meant that someone else had told him ... the question was, who?
'It's the ring,' Tonks said resignedly.
'What ring?' Remus asked. Suddenly the Knut seemed to have dropped in his mind as he looked back at Harry and said, 'So Sirius managed to give you everything, huh?' he tried to hide his bitterness at this. Harry was innocent in the bad blood between the two old marauders. He did not know that while Sirius had forgiven Remus for thinking that he could have been capable of betraying James, and Remus had in turn forgiven Sirius for thinking him capable of being the spy, the whole incident which had ultimately resulted in Sirius being thrown into Azkaban had changed things between them. While they still were friends, they hadn't been able to regain the rapport that they initially had in their school days. Sirius definitely hadn't fully forgiven Remus, if the fact that he had left nothing to him was any indication. And Harry could be forgiven for not wondering why Sirius hadn't left anything for his best friend or thinking of Remus at first. After all, he hadn't done much to foster a relationship with the boy before this summer.
'Pretty much' said Harry as he flashed the ring.
'But, how?' Remus asked. He was sure that the headship would only go to a blood relative. This curiosity was helpful in squashing the bitterness.
Harry briefly explained the blood-adoption ritual that Sirius had arranged for him, embellishing on a few details and avoiding the mention of a few others.
'So now because of an anomaly, I am a full Black. The goblins have no idea how that happened either,' he finally concluded.
Remus sat back to think on that. He had no idea that the Ancient and Noble houses kept tabs on the offspring of the daughters of married female family members. Being a pureblood from a minor house, Remus' family did not move around in those circles. Thus, he, like the rest of the Wizarding World, was not privy to the goings on of the Ancient and Noble houses. It looked like he now knew of one of the secrets of the Ancient and Noble houses. It would make for a large family tree though. 'So why keep it a secret?' he asked Harry after a few seconds. Now that he looked at his best friend's son closely he could see some of Sirius's features standing out.
'No reason, really,' said Harry lifting a shoulder nonchalantly as he flung a leg over the arm of his chair reminding Remus further of his late friend. 'I just don't plan on mentioning this till ... later. It will keep some things private. For example; the fact that I have disowned a family member won't be made public.' Seeing Remus' inquisitive look, Harry smiled and said, 'Bellatrix, her husband and any future offspring will now be considered blood-traitors.'
Remus whistled, 'Good one, cub,' he said approvingly.
'What?'
'What, what?' Remus replied with a straight face.
Harry just gave him a sour look as he repeated the question, 'What did you call me?'
'Cub,' said Remus. 'It was something I used to call you when you were a baby. For some reason, Lily wasn't a big fan of that nickname,' He trailed off nostalgically.
'I can see why,' said Harry dryly. 'Of all the nicknames you could come up with that was pretty lame. Truth be told, I was expecting Sirius to have come up with something stupid like "pup" or something. Not,' he gestured towards Remus, 'you!'
Remus' smile just got larger at Harry's declaration. Seeing this, Harry said in growing horror, 'He called me pup, didn't he?'
'Oh yeah,' said Remus, a wicked smile on his face, and a gleam in his eye as the opportunity to prank his best friend's son came up. 'I think the names Sirius and I came up with were better than the name James had initially thought of. He started calling you "Bambi" the minute he first held you.' He paused for a minute, pretending to look far off into the distance while reminiscing that it was quite a long time since he had last pulled a joke like this. 'He reckoned that those big huge green eyes of yours reminded him of this character in this Muggle show Lily had made us watch once. You know ... that one with the deer and all? It looks like a moving portrait ...'
Seeing Harry nod dumbly, Remus continued, enjoying the shock on the young man's face, 'In fact, James actually thought of officially giving you that name.' he said that innocently enough. However, the mischievous look in his eyes betrayed his true intentions, looking almost demonic as he dropped that last bombshell.
'Bambi,' Harry said indignantly, 'Bambi? No really, Bambi? Bambi Potter? My father was actually going to name me Bambi? What on earth was wrong with him?'
Tonks, who by this time was practically sprawled on the floor breathless from laughter spoke up, '"Bambi James Potter" ... B.J. Potter ... I can only imagine what you would have gone through in your life being called B.J., Harry ... oh this is hilarious!' she said breathlessly, amidst fits of laughter.
'Actually it was supposed to be "Bambi Prongslet Potter". James' reasoning was that since his nickname was Prongs, his Animagus form was a stag, and that you were his son, it was only fitting to name you that.'
'WHAT?' said Harry horrified as Tonks started to practically cry with laughter.
'Oh yes, He even had half the letters of your first name written down before Lily found out about it and put her foot down.' Remus invented wildly, now that he knew that Harry had fallen for the story, 'She hexed him so badly, that the poor bloke was still twitching a week later. And then as she filled in your current name in a fresh certificate after making him actually eat the first one, she had banned him from naming any other living thing.'
'Well ... it's a good thing that ... that it wasn't B.J. Potter ...' Tonks managed to gasp out. 'At any rate I don't think I'll be able to be with Remus without thinking of you!' she burst out into fresh gales of laughter at that.
It took a minute for Harry to get what Tonks was talking about. Scowling he said, 'Oh shut it! It's not like you can say anything ... Nymphadora Monoceros Tonks. Your name is actually, officially and legally that, mine is Harry James Potter-Black. So there!' he stuck his tongue out.
Tonks immediately stopped laughing, 'How did you know about my full name?' she asked aghast as Remus asked, 'That's your full name?' in a voice barely hiding his glee.
Tonks gave Remus a baleful look as Harry said, 'Oh you didn't know, Remus? Well, look on the bright side Tonks, he would've found out on the wedding day at the least.' He smiled winningly a glowering Tonks who was making slashing gestures at her throat as she gave Harry a nasty look. 'Besides, "Monoceros" isn't that bad a middle name ... it's quite fitting actually ... I heard that your mother was quite attached to her great-aunt Monoceros, so it's a good way to honour her by giving you her name, and I think unicorns are very ... fetching on girls!' He grinned winningly at the murderous look Tonks was giving him for his last statement.
'If any one of you says anything, I will end you!' Tonks growled threateningly.
Harry just raised his hands, 'I'll keep my silence if you and Remus here don't mention what my name would have been.'
'Deal,' said Tonks immediately.
'Hey, don't I get a say in this?' Remus asked Tonks. 'You can't just promise my silence for me!'
'Of course I can.' Tonks said primly, acting as if Remus had just said something particularly dim. 'It's your fault anyway that this has happened.'
'How is it my fault?' Remus spluttered.
'If you hadn't gone ahead and opened that big fat mouth of yours, he wouldn't have blackmailed me! But you just had to blab.'
'Well, I must be off,' said Harry, interrupting the retort Remus looked like he was going to make. He waved his wand as he stood up making his armchair vanish. 'Tell me when the wedding is going to be. I would love to be present for it at the very least.'
Quickly saying his goodbyes, he walked towards the door of the room. However, just as he was outside the door, Remus spoke up.
'Harry, I didn't know that the Family Rings could tell when a member of the family was pregnant.' He stated mildly, his tone went up a notch in pitch at the end signalling the clear question he wanted to ask. The curiosity was very apparent in that sentence.
'Well, I'll tell you that if you tell me how you ended up pregnant, Tonks. Weren't the two of you taking your potions?' Harry asked after considering Remus.
'We were,' said Remus resignedly. 'At least I was. I even used a condom. We think that the potion wasn't as potent because I am a werewolf. Perhaps it was my accelerated metabolism, if only we had taken that into account ... at any rate; I still love her and was planning on asking her to marry me before I got the news. This only speeds up my plans.' He looked at his fiancé lovingly as she gazed back at him with lust in her eyes.
'Huh,' said Harry, 'Interesting ...' He turned around to exit the room.
'Hey, you didn't answer my question,' said Remus stopping Harry in his tracks. 'Can the Rings tell if a family member is pregnant or not?'
'Hm? Oh yeah it can. It does have a limitation though. Only the children of a female member of the family are tied into the ring. Their grandchildren won't register. If it did, then the heads would have gone insane with the information overload! And that is if the ring does not explode.'
'But you just said that the Ring had made you aware of the pregnancy!' Tonks exclaimed.
'Oh, no I didn't.'
'Then-then how did you know?' Remus stuttered out.
With the door closed halfway, Harry looked at the couple with a beatific smile on his face, 'You told me! I just guessed that you were pregnant. You all but confirmed it for me! What with the way the two of you acted ... thanks for telling me!' with that Harry grinned and slammed the door shut.
The couple sat there in stunned silence as they heard the teen's footsteps fade away as he ran away laughing.
'Why that little-'
'Oh, forget it,' Tonks laughed, interrupting Remus. 'The little bugger has additional blackmail material on us, for now at least. I bet he's guessed that we haven't mentioned me being pregnant to mum yet. At least you now have additional reason to shut up, Remus.'
Nymphadora snuggled in Remus' arms as they sat in companionable silence for a minute.
'Remus?'
'Yeah?'
'James wasn't actually going to name Harry "Bambi", was he?'
After a moment of silence, just as she was going to repeat her question, Remus spoke up.
'No, not really ...' shocked, she looked up into Remus' eyes, only to find them filled with mirth.
'You made that up?' she said incredulously.
'I am neither denying nor confirming what James was originally going to name Harry,' said Remus diplomatically in response with a straight face although his eyes gave him away. At any rate, it did help alleviate the small amount of ill feeling he felt toward the teen for his thoughtlessness.
The wedding was a week later. Since Nymphadora did not want her full name to be made public nor did she want Remus' status as a werewolf remarked upon or acknowledged, they used an old contact of the Order's to conduct the ceremony which was really just signing of the marriage certificate as they exchanged vows and rings, with Harry as the witness, while the happy Andromeda and the misty-eyed Ted Tonks watched. So far, no law had been passed prohibiting a werewolf from marrying, as the general consensus was that nobody would be fool enough to go around marrying one nor would two werewolves actually approach another human being and bear being around that person long enough to get officially married without infecting said human. However, Remus and the Nymphadora did not want to rock the boat. The fact that Nymphadora planned on keeping her original name despite her reluctance was proof of that.
A few weeks later, they felt it safe enough to announce Nymphadora's pregnancy to her parents. Andromeda and Ted Tonks were genuinely happy about the news, but they did not let their daughter and son-in-law know that they knew that their dear daughter had been pregnant before the marriage even though she hadn't told them then. Eventually, the older couple felt that it would be better that the young couple did not know that they knew ... yet.
'I think that mum and dad knew about the baby,' said Nymphadora as she traced a finger over Remus' chest.
'What?' Remus squawked, 'But, how? Unless Harry told...'
'No, I don't think Harry said anything. I think mum and dad figured it out by themselves. I never could hide anything from mum.' She sighed as she snuggled against her husband. 'At least they don't know that we know that they knew.'
'Uh-huh ...' Remus took awhile to wrap his head around what his wife had just said. 'But what if they in fact knew that we know that they knew?' he continued gamely, hoping that he had the terms right.
'Well, then they won't be expecting us to know that we now know that they know that we know that they knew.' Tonks said absently, making Remus wish that he had just shut up in the first place instead of trying to play this game. He clearly was out of his depth.
Chuckling, Remus kissed her and said, 'I don't think I know who knows what anymore. But what I do know is that I am up for another round...' he looked at her suggestively.
Nymphadora just smiled at him as she kissed back, marking the end of their conversation for the night.
Harry put his book down and sighed. Life had become rather interesting in the past few days. Now that Christmas was near, he was confronted with quite a challenge in the hallways every time he had to go to the next class. Somehow, the rabid fan girls had managed to get information about his timetable and what classes he had on which day. They would use this as an opportunity to cluster around sprigs of mistletoe in order to ambush him while he was on his way to the next class. Initially he did not mind this as he used the opportunity presented to him to get a good snog from a few of the more attractive girls clustered there. He had even enjoyed using the techniques Victoria had taught him in addition to his agreed upon lessons while snogging them. The girls had certainly appreciated what he did.
However, in a few days it had become rather old. As stories of his kissing prowess had spread, more and more girls wanted to experience the "Potter magic" as they called it. This had led to a bigger cluster of girls under the mistletoe waiting to pounce and some increasingly hostile looks from their boyfriends.
Then there was the fact that the gaggle of girls had also become younger. While Harry was willing to snog the odd girl without giving a fig if she was in a relationship or not (after all, they approached him!) he drew the line on kissing anyone under the age of fourteen.
So in a bid to keep the peace, Harry had resorted to using his knowledge of the castle to take shortcuts to his classes. He also used his position as House Captain to tear down bunches of mistletoe at night when all the students were asleep. Not that it did him much good. They would just mysteriously appear back in a day or two.
He was thankful that there were some girls out there with their heads screwed on straight. Otherwise he was pretty sure that he would not have survived.
His new friends all took it in stride. Neville did not really mind, while Justin, Ernie and Blaise found Harry's situation downright hilarious. Susan, Hannah, and Astoria were actually rather smug about the whole thing. They had all, in their own unique ways, warned Harry that it would not end well for him if he continued to encourage things. Daphne also found the situation pretty hilarious. She did not mind that Harry was fooling around with different girls. After all, she had given him carte blanche to do so. And she wasn't really that worried; no matter what Harry did, he would end up with her thanks to that thrice damned contract.
However, she was planning on staking her claim on him soon. After their first date, they had gone out more, spending time with each other every odd weekend whenever they did not have any responsibilities to attend to. They had even studied together and recently Daphne had also joined him as he tutored the Gryffindor first-years in an empty classroom that McGonagall had graciously provided to promote a better atmosphere for studying. This had shortly inspired Daphne to bring over the Slytherin first-years she had "volunteered" to tutor. In that time, she had grown to admire the intelligence and kindness that Harry had shown. She also loved the way he would inspire the Gryffindor first-years to do their very best as he patiently explained concepts to them using words that they understood. She observed, as she taught the Slytherin first-years, that he would also crack small, sometimes lame, jokes related to the topic to help them remember things better. The muted laughter emanating from the group of Gryffindors had also attracted the attention of the Slytherin first-years.
So by the end of the second joint session, Harry ended up having the undivided attention of both the Gryffindor and the Slytherin first-years as they too found him easier to understand. Something he took in stride as he continued explaining things without missing a beat, seamlessly including the Slytherin first-years.
Harry still remembered the snog they had shared just after the last first-year had left. He had to admit that he was becoming rather attached to Daphne. He wondered if this was love. Like many teenagers, Harry really had no idea what it meant to be in love with another person.
What made things even more confusing was a certain redhead. Ever since he had seen Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas together with their lips firmly attached to each other after Quidditch practise, he had not been able to get her out of his mind. She was the star of most of his dreams, second only to Daphne. And that was driving him crazy. What was he to do? If Ginny were just any other girl, he would not have any qualms in wooing her, getting into her knickers and after a while, when he had figured out just what he felt for her, moving on. However, she was the sister of his best friend, and more importantly, a Weasley. The family had done a lot for him in the short time he had known them, and he wasn't willing to risk their wrath should he break the heart of their youngest.
He also did not fancy going up against Bill, the Curse-Breaker. Not only did Harry respect and look up to him, but, the oldest Weasley sibling knew a tonne of curses that Harry was not in the mood to be on the other end of. After Bill, there was also Charlie. Even without the dragons at his disposal, the man was bulky enough to give Harry a good thrashing. However, both of them did not worry Harry as much as the thought of Fred and George being after him! The twins were very inventive. Not to mention quite malicious when they wanted to be. Ron's teddy-spider and subsequent arachnophobia was proof enough of that!
Ron and Percy did not even register as a threat. Harry was confident that he could dominate the former in any duel, Magical or Muggle. He knew more spells than Ron did, and thanks to dear Dudley and his friends, Harry had enough experience to know how to get out of a scrap. Percy was too much of a quill-pusher, a toady and a stickler for the rules to be a threat. He was like Hermione really; only more stuck up.
Even without Percy and Ron, there were still four siblings and two parents more than capable of making Harry's life hell should he break Ginny Weasley's heart. And that wasn't counting the girl in question. She was quite the spitfire.
In the end, Harry decided to stay the hell away from her. He knew that a relationship between them would not work. Not when he was going to marry Daphne anyway. It would be best if Ginny found someone to make her happy and settled down with that person. She did look happy enough with Dean. Also, he had slowly become attached to Daphne. She was pretty, intelligent, and a nice person overall. Harry could see himself growing old with her. Though she did not get his blood rushing the same way as Ginny did, what with that silky auburn hair, those big busty breasts...
Harry shook himself. Thinking along that line would not be wise. It certainly wasn't doing him any favours. Irritably he lifted his blanket, looked at the tenting in his pants and said, 'Down, boy, down!' When his body refused to obey, he sighed in frustration. He picked up the book again, hoping that Slytherin's life would be enough of a distraction.
Harry was now halfway through the fifth volume. After India, Salazar had gone further east towards China and Japan. The Chinese Muggles used to coexist with their magical counterparts. This coexistence was best seen in the Shaolin monastery. Salazar had stopped there and had made an important discovery.
These monks do not use wands for their magic like the rest of the world. Instead, through intensive training they have managed to harness their magic, boosting their reflexes, strength and speed. The amount of time it takes for the training depends on how much magical potential a person has. Their training is so effective that even those who have no magical talent to speak of are stronger, faster and more agile than their counterparts who haven't gone through the training. However, they have to undergo a lifetime of training to achieve what their magical counterparts can do in years.
After using my skills, I have managed to obtain entry into their hallowed halls. They may claim to be above such petty things as wealth, but even I know that to run such an estate, money is needed. With the right, and careful application of my amassed fortune, it was only a matter of time before I was let inside.
I managed to finish the training The Master set for me. It took me less than five years. That was mainly due to my own considerable amount of magical power coupled with the meditation techniques I have learnt in my travels.
Not only do I feel faster and stronger, but I also feel ... younger. My hair, turned grey due to my advancing years, has regained its original colour. The ravages of time on my skin that had left so many blemishes and scars have receded. The Master tells me that this is a by-product of letting my magic flow through my body more freely. He himself claims to be over two hundred years old, due to his high magical power. And I know he speaks truly, for I can feel the power coursing through him.
After that, Salazar travelled to Japan where he unearthed some of their secrets in stealth. Using them as inspiration, Salazar had developed a spell that would be the precursor to the modern day silencing charm.
Five minutes after he had opened the book, Harry had to set it back down again. He just had to come across the part where Salazar described a woman decades younger than him that he had met and had fallen in love with, and that woman just had to be a redhead. And if that wasn't bad enough, the pervert just had to write (in excruciating detail) what the two of them had done that night after the wedding. The imagery had Harry thinking of Ginny again. He was certainly grateful that Salazar had not described his exploits before in great detail, otherwise, Harry was sure he would have been scarred for life. This was bad enough; he doubted he could cope with more!
Harry eventually fell asleep. Although, his dreams were confused, resulting in a fitful slumber. He woke up the next day completely grumpy and thankful that it was a Sunday.
He went about his day in a less than cheerful fashion, making sure to avoid Ginny as much as possible. He had regained some of his good mood by the end of the day, as Neville noted when he joined the brown haired boy in the Gryffindor common room.
'You seem to be in a better mood,' Neville remarked casually.
'Yeah, I didn't sleep that well,' said Harry rubbing his nose.
Want to tell me about it? Maybe I can help,' said Neville hesitatingly. 'After all, you look like you have been keeping a lot to yourself. Talking about it could help.'
Harry regarded Neville for a moment. Then running his hand through his hair he spoke, 'I guess I could. You have been quite trustworthy ... but I-I need ...' he broke off, not knowing how to frame what he wanted to say. Hermione's betrayal really had made him wary of things.
'You want more proof of my trustworthiness,' said Neville shrewdly. When Harry just shrugged, Neville said, 'I understand, Harry. I don't really know why you are being so cagey, but I understand.' He was silent for a while before he brought out his wand, 'I could swear an oath of secrecy if you want.'
Harry regarded the offer given to him so readily. He was stunned that somebody would be so willing to do such a thing.
'Alright,' he said after a while. And so they spent a few minutes rehashing the oath that Neville would swear, getting the wording right. Soon enough, they had reached a compromise, and Neville swore his oath.
Harry looked around and cast a basic privacy ward around the two of them. He did not feel that it would be needed though. The common room was rather noisy at this time.
Taking a deep breath, Harry started talking. He told the other boy about his situation between Daphne and Ginny. He did not name Ginny though, but referred to her in the broadest terms.
'Wait, how do you know Daphne? And why do you have to be with her?'
Harry raised his eyebrows. He was not expecting that question.
'Well, it is because of this marriage contract between my family and her family that was made by our ancestors which we have to honour.'
Neville frowned for a moment, 'Wait a minute that cannot be right. The Black family's affairs don't really have any bearing on you.'
'What do you mean?' said Harry in surprise.
'Well, that contract became rather famous in high society,' said Neville, shrugging his shoulders. 'Mainly it was because the people who this contract affected were not even named, nor were they even born! Usually, a contract is set up after the families meet, and the couple that are to be married find each other agreeable. This was the first contract in modern history at the very least to have been made without the consent of the couple, and just naming the people to be married as "the heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" and "the girl-child of the Noble and Ancient House of Greengrass". It was widely believed that the contract was a result of Walburga and Orion Black's insanity and Jonathon Greengrass's, who was Daphne's paternal grandfather, desperation for money. Of course, that fact is not openly spoken about in public. But the ramifications of the contract were discussed a lot in the gossip circles.' Neville looked at Harry for a moment, 'So you see, I don't know what a contract between the Blacks and Greengrasses has to do with you ... unless you are trying to take the mickey-' he said with growing suspicion.
'Neville, I assure you that I am not trying to take the mickey,' Harry interrupted the other boy. He softly cursed under his breath, 'Great, I just had to end up with the most unusual contract in wizarding history.'
Looking back at an intrigued Neville, Harry sighed and said, 'you know that Sirius Black was innocent and my godfather right?' Seeing him nod, the raven haired teenager continued. 'Well you also probably know that he was the last male Black remaining. Now in his will he had left everything to me. And I mean everything. To ensure that there was no hiccup, he had left his blood with Gringotts so the goblins could carry out the blood adoption ritual, if I agreed to it. And for reasons heavily personal to me, I decided to go ahead with it. Thus Sirius became my adoptive father.'
'But that still does not explain why you are bound by the contract,' said Neville. 'As I understand it, an adoptive heir is not bound by that.'
'That would be true,' Harry sighed. 'However, something ... different happened, and because of that I have been considered a full Black in addition to being a Potter. And nobody knows why or has any idea about why this happened.'
Neville whistled softly, 'Wow, that's ... different.' He said after a pause.
Harry snorted, 'You're telling me.'
Neville looked at Harry for a moment, staring at his face long enough for Harry to ask, 'What?'
'Hm? Oh, it's nothing,' said Neville. 'It's just that I noticed some features on your face that resembles a Black's. Why did I not notice that before?' he asked more to himself.
Neville continued staring at Harry for a few moments longer before eventually asking, 'So why is it that you are going around with almost every girl in the castle that is unattached?'
'Well, Daphne basically told me to "get some experience" so that I could "make her scream in her first night"' said Harry, roughly paraphrasing Daphne's words.
'Wow, lucky you,' said Neville with a small amount of jealousy. 'So, why don't you just do the same with the girl you are talking about? You could just date her and after you are done with her, move on.'
Harry laughed mirthlessly at that 'If it were that simple. The reason I can't do that is because her name is Ginny Weasley.'
Neville started laughing at that. 'You poor sod!' he chuckled. 'I can see your dilemma now. If you did her, and she got pissed off with you dumping her, then you are going to end up with six of her brothers after you! And that is if they have anything of you left to take their vengeance on after she is done with you!'
'Who would've thought that Harry Potter would fall for his biggest fan girl?' He howled with laughter at that, making Harry look around nervously despite the ward he had set up.
'Wait, what do you mean, "Biggest fan girl"?' Harry said blankly.
'You don't know?' Neville said incredulously. 'That is the worst kept secret in the school! How could you not know it! Ginny Weasley was one of the founders of the Harry Potter fan club, for Merlin's sake!'
'"Harry Potter Fan Club"' Harry repeated a trifle hysterically. 'I have a fan club? Since when?'
Neville gave Harry a look of utmost pity. 'Mate, that club has been in operation for five years now, ever since our second year. In fact there are rumours that it was formed in first year, after you made the Quidditch team.'
'Bugger,' was Harry's succinct response. He ran a hand through his hair, 'So why don't I know of that? After all, I am the house captain. They would have to come to me to organise any events.'
'You assume that the president of the club is actually in our house. For all you know, the person could be in any one of the other two houses.' said Neville. 'Also, the club's been more or less underground. Nobody outside the club knows who the president is, and they keep it a secret from the teachers as well. Personally, I don't really care much about it. The only reason I even heard of this was because of Hannah, and her source happens to be Hogwarts' gossip grapevine.'
'So it could be just a load of bollocks?' said Harry hopefully.
Neville just shrugged, 'Maybe.'
Harry sat there for a while thinking about this new piece of information. In the end, he decided he really didn't care much about it. What was most important was the fact that he now knew that Ginny Weasley was nothing but a fan girl. Just another one of the swooning masses of the female kind. Suddenly the appeal of knowing her diminished. Sure she was a great person who had a bit of determination in her, and she could be sly and resourceful at times, but that meant nothing if she was just a fan girl.
'It was a good thing I spoke to you Neville. Things certainly have become clear thanks to you. So, thanks, I guess.' Harry said gratefully.
Neville just shrugged modestly, 'Glad to help.' He paused, hesitating for a moment, then drumming up courage he continued, 'I-I won't tell people anything about you, you know. I hope you can trust me as much as you trust Ron and Hermione. I may not be as confident or as brave as Ron, or as clever as Hermione, but I can listen.'
'Of course I trust you, Neville,' said Harry looking at the suddenly shy boy. 'And don't sell yourself short mate, you are pretty intelligent yourself. And you are becoming confident slowly. You certainly have come a long way from first year. And you are just as, if not more, courageous than any of us will ever be. I don't know if I would be able to stand up to three of my friends and try to take them on without a wand like you did then either.'
Neville blushed at the reminders of first year, 'I actually thought you lot were planning on breaking more rules then. I didn't know that you were planning on saving the Wizarding World!'
'I know, and I understand,' said Harry. 'It still doesn't change the fact that you were pretty brave then. So yeah, I do trust you to have my back.'
'You sure?' Neville said, unsure. 'Because, well, you do keep a lot of things to yourself ... I know that it's none of my business, and I am not going to ask you to share, but it is a bit frustrating at times. I just wanted to make sure that you can trust me.'
Harry could see the honesty shining in the other boy's eyes, and that gave him pause. Neville definitely was different than Ron and Hermione. Hermione especially would insist that Harry share everything with her, and that was ... irksome. Ron didn't even know if Harry had a secret to begin with until Hermione pointed it out. Normally that would not be a bad thing, but then the ginger would passive-aggressively try to browbeat Harry into talking, saying things like "you know she won't stop till you talk". It really was refreshing to know someone who knew that you had your secrets and respected you for keeping them.
All the same ... 'What makes you say that?' said Harry warily. He wanted to know what the other boy knew. Perhaps it would clue him on what the others knew.
Neville gave Harry an exasperated look. 'Well, there is that fact that you seem to disappear for indeterminate amounts of time. Especially at the weekends ... I don't really know where you go, and I'm not going to ask. But I know for a fact that you aren't with Ron or Hermione. Nor are you with any of the others.'
'Fair point,' replied Harry. 'Then again, it is rather hard to be around with Ron Weasley at this point.' He gestured towards the redhead in question who was currently snogging Lavender Brown who was seated on his lap on a couch a bit away from them.
'I know,' said Neville as he looked at the scene with equal parts fascination and disgust. 'What is that? Is he trying to suck the life out of her?'
'You should see Hermione's face whenever Ron is mentioned to her nowadays. And you should see her face when the two of them are mentioned together. Though that is nothing compared to her expression whenever she is thinking of them herself, or when she actually sees them together.'
'Yeah, I heard that she had attacked Ron with some conjured canaries?'
'Oh yeah, I saw that myself. Speaking of which, is there anything going on between you and Susan? I couldn't help but notice that the two of you seem rather close.' Harry looked at Neville teasingly, finally tearing his eyes away from the fascinating yet horrifying scene of Ron and Lavender going at it.
Neville blushed, 'Yeah, we might be going together to Slughorn's party.' He said absently, his eyes still fixed on the scene in front of him. His face suddenly went even redder. Wondering what was the matter, Harry turned to look back at the scene.
He was confronted by the sight of Lavender's rather round bum encased in a skimpy black pair of knickers that practically disappeared into the cleft between her cheeks. Not that he could tell much since Ron's rather large hands were covering most of it as he started groping her as he enthusiastically kissed the blonde. Not that Lavender was complaining. She was busy running one of her hands across the ginger's chest through his unbuttoned shirt, while one was heading downwards...
Harry looked around the common room. They really had to be stopped. Harry noticed a bunch of first- and second-years who were looking at Lavender's arse in fascination as they stared at the amorous couple, following each movement and gesture closely with their eyes. Harry did not think that it was something that they needed to see. In his opinion they were too young. Besides, if this went on any further, he shuddered to think what else would end up being shown. He was also shocked by the indecency and lack of decorum at display here. Not to mention the lack of common sense. There were hundreds of more private places where the two of them could have had their little ... session (Harry personally knew of quite a few such areas, having used most of them). If McGonagall caught wind of this ... well, losing his prefect position would be the least of the red-head's worries. The ginger would be lucky if he only got away with detention for the rest of the year.
He growled softly in frustration when he did not find a prefect nearby that could put a stop to this. Suddenly it hit him; he was the House Captain, he had the authority to stop this.
With this epiphany, Harry swiftly brought down the privacy ward he had put up and got up to put a stop to this before anybody lost their innocence ... or their dinner.
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