a deadly, poetic infection (sappholococcus) wrote in hp_traditions, @ 2008-06-11 02:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | harry/tonks, nc17 |
Happy Traditions, jairissa!
Apologies to melfinatheblue, your gift was meant to be posted today but your gifter managed to contact someone who contacted me to tell me that her power's been out for a while. There are only three gifts left (this one, plus two that I have been promised will be in this week), so I'm posting my co-mod's gift now instead of going on posting hiatus.
Title: Spring Awakening
Author: ragdoll
Gift For: jairissa
Pairing(s): Harry Potter/Nymphadora Tonks
Summary: As the Weasleys' May Day celebration draws near, Harry decides to follow his heart and pursue his partner in the Auror's Department, Nymphadora Tonks
Rating: Hard R/NC-17
Warnings: Mention of canon characters' deaths
Author's notes: This is for jairissa who asked for many things including: laughter, discoveries, foreplay, alcohol, flowers, characters in love at all times, happy endings, flangst, humour, romance, EWE" and was more than happy to let the EWE extend several pages back so that I could let Tonks live happily ever after. . I hope this turned out to be close to what you wanted, jairissa, and that you feel better soon!
Thanks to my wonder betas and cheerleaders, specifically S., K., R. and E. without whom - and my undying gratitude to the mods for giving me the time to write this story properly.
Read it here or at Livejournal, and be sure to leave feedback for all of our lovely participants!
Harry Potter sat at his desk in the Auror's Department of the Ministry of Magic watching intently as Nymphadora Tonks, his partner of the last nine months, sorted through a pile of parchments and photographs pertaining to the Streatham case. Try as he might, it was hard to ignore the way her brow furrowed as she read over a particularly interesting statement by a witness, or the way her nose wrinkled as she looked over a gruesome crime scene photo, trying to detect a bit of evidence they might have previously missed. Harry's eyes drifted down towards Tonks's chest, noting the way it heaved as she sighed in frustration, or the way she tugged absently at the neckline of her robes as if they irritated her as much as the case itself, revealing the delectably pale skin of her neck and upper chest.
Harry wasn't quite sure when he'd realised he'd fallen for Tonks, or just how much. It certainly hadn't started out that way. When Kingsley Shacklebolt had first assigned him to work with Tonks, he'd groaned and moaned about it. As much as he'd liked Tonks as a person, Harry hadn't thought she had anything to teach him, that he was only being paired with her in order to help the young Auror out of a bad situation. But, it turned out he'd been dead wrong in his assertions. Tonks hadn't been Alastor Moody's protégé for nothing; she was a lot more adept and a lot cleverer than Harry had ever given her credit for in the past.
It had taken some time to break through to Tonks. While most of the world had been celebrating Voldemort's defeat, his partner found herself trying to cope as a 25 year old widow with a small child to care for. Harry knew it hadn't been easy for her, and he suspected that one of the reasons Shacklebolt had put them together was as much for Tonks's benefit as Harry's own, pushing her to go back to work, rather than sitting around mourning the loss of her husband indefinitely. The gambit had clearly worked -- Harry had found himself learning far more than he'd ever thought possible while Tonks's mood had improved dramatically over the past few months. Some days, Harry would even swear she seemed content.
At some point, although he did not know when, he had found himself noticing her as more than just a mate or a co-worker, and as a woman. Suddenly coming into the office every day became a lot more interesting; even if it was for less-than-pure reasons. Tonks was no longer just a friend who happened to be female; she was an attractive woman that Harry wanted to know better. An attractive woman with dark twinkling eyes, a curvaceous figure, a rounded arse that filled out her jeans quite nicely, and a pair of breasts that somehow he'd missed in the past, although he had no idea how. Obviously, this lead to some awkwardness on Harry's part -- he hardly wanted to come off as a lecherous drooling monster...and there was also Ginny.
Well, there had been Ginny was more like it. When the War had ended, Harry was certain he and Ginny were going to reconcile and go on to live happily ever after, at least once pesky things like finishing up school (for her) were out of the way. But somehow, the year long separation had taken its toll on both of them, and now, a second one had only added to it. In the end, he and Ginny had parted amicably and without rancour, although her family -- Ron in particular -- had not taken the news well. Harry still wasn't certain Ron or his mother had completely forgiven him, despite Ginny's insistence that it had been completely mutual. Harry had been eternally grateful for Ginny's friendship and counsel. In her recent letters, she'd been urging him to see other women, although he wasn't sure if that was because she had noticed his growing interest in Tonks or if she wanted to assuage her own guilt now that she was dating again.
"Harry? You all right?" The sound of Tonks's voice snapped Harry out of his reverie.
"Mmm? What?" he stammered, knocking his glasses off in an attempt to look as though he'd been hard at work. They fell to the floor with a clatter.
"Blimey, you're in desperate need of a holiday." Tonks bent over to pick them up, then handed them to him with a shake of her head. "Here's your specs. You're getting like me, mate. It's not a pretty sight."
"Erm," Harry slipped his glasses back on, trying to look everywhere but at her. "Holiday? Nah. Just...maybe just an early night."
Tonks nodded, then glanced at her watch. "You want to bugger off now? Whatever you were working on can wait till tomorrow, surely. I could use a bit of a break m'self -- I reckon Teddy would be thrilled to bits if his mum came home before bedtime for a change."
The thought of his godson made Harry smile. He'd tried to take his duties seriously, visiting the boy at least two to three times a week, as often as Tonks would let him. "I bet he would. Say hello to him from his uncle Harry, yeah?"
He could feel his stomach doing somersaults as Tonks smiled back at him warmly. "I will." There was a loud rattling followed by a crash as a very tiny owl came whizzing into their shared cubicle, bearing two rolled parchments bound by bright green ribbons and flew straight into a filing cabinet. "Pig?" Harry exclaimed, recognizing the owl as Ron's. "What are you doing here?"
Pigwidgeon hooted in excitement as he ricocheted off the cabinet, apparently unhurt, then landed on Harry's desk, managing to dump a large pile of files as he did.
"Blimey, hold still. Hold still!" Tonks ordered, reaching for the little owl as he hopped and danced across the desk. "How do you expect anyone to read your bloody messages if you don't let us have 'em?" She pulled the scrolls off of Pig's leg; Harry couldn't help noticing they were almost as large as the owl itself. "Here, Harry. It's for you. This one's for me. Hmmm, what's all this then?"
Harry accepted the scroll from her, then broke open the wax seal he recognized as belonging to the Weasleys. "Dear Harry," he read aloud, "you are cordially invited to the Burrow for our first annual Victory Day celebration to commemorate the defeat of Lord Voldemort and his minions at the hand of Harry Potter (that's you) and his friends. As it happens to fall on the first of May, we will be combining the celebrations with a traditional May Day fete. We hope you can come. The party starts at six o'clock. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience. All the best, Molly & Arthur Weasley."
He glanced over at Tonks who was scanning her own copy of the invitation, her smile fading as she did. Without a word, she crumpled the parchment into a ball and then tossed it towards the rubbish bin, missing it by about a foot.
"Tonks?" Harry asked. "What's wrong?"
Tonks drew in a deep breath, blinking back tears. "I don't think I've got any reason to celebrate that day, do you?" she asked quietly.
"What?" It took a moment before Harry realised just what she was referring to. "Oh." He looked at her lamely, worrying his lower lip as he tried to think of the right thing to say. "Look, you should go. It's been a year, Tonks. You know Remus wouldn't want you to mourn forever -- and you'll be amongst friends, people who care about you."
"How the hell would you know what Remus would want?" she snapped, glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest.
"He was my friend too," Harry reminded her. "And I know he'd want you to be happy, or at least -- not sad! We should go and celebrate his life, and everyone we've lost too! We have to go on living and appreciate the sacrifice they all made for us. They deserve at least that, they all do. Besides," he added, "I've never been to a proper May Day party before. I've always been at school, haven't I?"
"Well, you go on then. I've got things to do. And Teddy--"
"Teddy can stay with your mum for the night. Go with me," Harry blurted, his heart pounding in his chest. "If you don't like it, I'll take you home, I promise, but -- well, you shouldn't be alone then, should you?"
Tonks wiped away a stray tear as she considered his words carefully. "I'll think about it. I really don't know if I'm really up for a party of any sort. I'm not very good at that sort of thing these days to be honest."
Harry nodded, then fumbled for his pocket handkerchief, offering it to her as gallantly as he could. "You need a night out as much as I do, Tonks."
Shrugging, she dabbed at her eyes. "Dunno. You ought to go, Harry. It's you they want to honour, mate. Not me. I'd only bring the party down, I think."
"That's not true," he insisted. "The Weasleys love you. We all do -- it wouldn't be a proper party without you there. You were a member of the Order, without you I never could have managed what I did." Harry hoped he didn't sound like a whining little boy, that was the last thing he wanted. "Please?"
Tonks reached and mussed his already unruly black hair, managing a slight smile. "I said I'd think about it, mate. Though it's hard to resist when a handsome young bloke asks me so nicely." She let her fingers linger in his hair, idly playing with it, then abruptly pulled her hand away as she realised what she was doing.
Her words and touch caused him to blush; Harry bit back the urge to start grinning like an idiot. Tonks's expression was unreadable as she turned her back on him, then reach for her cloak. "C'mon, we both should bugger off home. I'm sick of this place and you ought to be too, matey. See you tomorrow, yeah?"