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Harry Potter and the Paradigm Shift
Chapter 7
By Kinsfire
The students all jumped back in shock. Moira Cybelle cleared her throat. "I’m sorry, sir, but you’re dead. We can’t bring you back."
"Bloody hell you can’t!" Sirius barked. "I fell through that bloody Veil in the Department of Mysteries with my bloody body still with me! It wasn’t some bloody Knight bus hitting me, or some bloody rock out of the sky, it was my bloody cousin knocking me back through the bloody thing!"
"What are you talking about?" Moira asked.
Sirius opened his mouth to speak but Harry interrupted him. "Let me, Sirius. You’ll take twice as long, swearing at everyone." He turned to his teacher. "Long story how we got there — suffice it to say that I was an idiot and went to the place he mentioned to save him when he didn’t need saving, and he came to save me when I needed saving. He fought with his cousin, who hit him with a Stupefy, and he fell backwards through a physical Veil. He ended up wherever he is right now. I was told he was dead, but apparently that information was less than accurate," Harry finished, mentally chalking up another point against Albus Dumbledore.
"Wait, you mean that there’s a physical Veil?" Moira said. "You were alive when you passed through it?" The last was aimed at Sirius.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Would you be terribly offended if I said ‘Duh’? I was as alive as my godson there is. I still am. I’m just stuck in this god-forsaken limbo. Now can you please get me out of here?"
The teacher walked over to her desk. She tapped a crystal and said calmly, "We’ve got a situation here at the séance. Get someone here."
A few moments later, they heard a loud crack in the hallway and Moira opened the door to allow Mrs. Raines into the room, after cutting a hole in the wards with a charmed knife, and resealing it once the woman was in the room. Harry was talking to Sirius, while the other students listened avidly. "They acquitted you, Sirius. If I were going back, you could walk Diagon Alley without being arrested. I’ve still got the proclamation of your innocence, personally signed by Amelia Bones." He paused. "I am so sorry for getting you into that situation, Sirius. If I’d just listened to Herm …" His voice broke, and he leaned forward, tears in his eyes. "You’re over there because I was too stupid to realize I was being played by Voldemort."
"You and I are going to have a long talk when I get back, Harry, and you might not be able to sit for a week after I get done kicking your arse for thinking like that."
"We’ll have to figure out wherever that’s going to be, Sirius. I’m in San Francisco right now, and we’ll need to move immediately after we get you out. I couldn’t exactly hide my identity with you screaming it out like that. So much for the Dan Radcliffe identity, though. I’ll have to get a new name and start over again somewhere else."
"Why are you on the run — why aren’t you at Hogwarts? You’re safest there! Why are you in America?"
"Long story for when you’re out. It’s bad enough that these folks know who they’re going to school with, let alone telling them why."
"We’re going to have a long talk, Harry, and you won’t be able to sit for two weeks. Dumbledore is the best person to watch out for your safety right now …"
"Dumbledore is the last person I want watching out for my safety right now! Have you been watching any of what’s been happening?"
"How? It’s dull and grey here. Nothing. I float everywhere. Thank Merlin I don’t need to eat while I’m here, or else I’d be with your folks right now anyway."
"Then I’d appreciate you not making judgements about my life when you haven’t any bloody idea what’s going on in it!" he yelled at the coalesced smoke. He thought about it for a moment, and then brought his face forward into his hands. "This is ridiculous. I’m arguing with the man who wouldn’t be in this position if not for my stupidity. You’re right, Sirius. We’ll figure out how to get you out of there, and then head back to England. Coming here has probably killed several more people."
The room was utterly silent for long minutes. All that Sirius could do at Harry’s outburst was blink — a disconcerting thing at best from a head built of smoke. Finally, there was a quiet cough from behind Harry. He turned to look at Lissa Raines. "I’ve already contacted some friends of mine. They should be here any minute."
At that moment there was a knock on the door. Moira opened the door to show Charlie Watson and a handful of other people outside the door in what looked to be the Wizard equivalent of hazardous materials gear — silver robes with shiny helmets covering the full head and face, silver gloves, and silver talismans sewn all over everything. A door was cut in the wards for them, and they carefully entered the room. "So, what do we have here?" Charlie asked.
"Might as well take off the helmet," Harry said. "If we’re in here like this, you should be okay. Anyway, the head floating above the table is Sirius Black. He fell physically through a Veil in our Department of Mysteries, and apparently ended up wherever ‘there’ is. He’d kinda like to come back, if possible."
"So, how do we manage it?" came the irrepressible voice from the smoke. "I need to have a long talk with my godson, and explain to him that I’ve always had a tendency to speak before thinking, so he should take some of my rants with a large dash of salt."
Harry just sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. "I’m just tired of it all, Sirius. I want it gone. I want it done. And that’s just not going to happen any time soon, as far as I can tell. Is it too much to ask for a normal life? You know — finish school, get married, have a child or two, find a nice boring job, and not have to worry about some insane wizard who’s not even human anymore and who wants me as dead as he killed my parents?"
"Voldemort died sixteen years ago," Rick scoffed.
Harry’s eyes opened, and he stared coldly at Rick Stone. "Every time you open your mouth, Stone, you prove yourself an even greater idiot." He pulled up a sleeve. "See that scar? Basilisk bite in the arm, cured only by a phoenix’s tears. Oh, I forgot, phoenixes don’t exist, because you haven’t seen one. I’ll just have to go home and tell Fawkes to toddle on off somewhere, since he doesn’t exist. And the basilisk didn’t exist either, so I guess I was pretending I almost died." He showed another scar, a long one. "This one is from when his servant, the man Sirius supposedly killed, used my blood in an ancient spell to bring Voldemort back to the land of the living. Oh, sorry, you didn’t see the spell actually happening, so it didn’t happen, and Voldemort isn’t running around getting into the Ministry several months ago. I guess the breakout of prisoners from Azkaban didn’t happen either, or Dementors don’t exist. Wait — you didn’t see them get murdered by Voldemort, so my parents must actually still be alive! Do you actually believe in anything outside San Francisco, Rick? Are you really so self-centred that you think nothing exists until you personally have verified its existence?"
"Calm down, Harry," Moira said calmly.
"It’s hard to be calm when I have an arse walking around calling me a liar about things I’ve seen with my own two eyes. I put up with enough of it at Hogwarts, and now I walk into this school and run into some jerk who belittles someone to make himself look bigger to the girl he wants. He can have her, for all I care! I don’t love her and I never will! Do you understand me, Carly? I’m. Not. Interested." He breathed deeply. "I have seen Voldemort with my own two eyes. I was there at his resurrection — I was unfortunately a major ingredient in it, and yes, I did use the right word. I was there a few months ago when he fell through the Veil," he said, pointing his thumb at Sirius. "I have some damned prophecy hanging over my head, and idiots like him telling me that I haven’t seen what I’ve seen. I’m just sick and tired of the whole business. I’m really at a point where I just want to chuck it all and walk away from the whole thing. I’m just sick of it, and I want it to end." He sat back and closed his eyes again.
"Whiner," muttered Rick Stone, which he immediately followed with an "Oof!" as Carly elbowed him in the stomach — hard.
"Well, as entertaining as that all was," said one of the people in the haz-mat suits, "we’ve at least figured out what’s going on. We’re going to have to open a rift to let this man through. I recommend that everyone be removed from the room, and everything not nailed down be packed away securely or removed as well, because there’s likely to be a pressure difference between sides."
"Might as well drop the wards you have up, because what we’re going to do will blow right through them. It’ll make it easier to get all the kids out of the room, too." Moira nodded and carefully lowered the wards that sealed the room, and opened the door. Only Harry remained seated as they moved everyone out. "Come on, son — you too."
"No. I put him in there, it’s only fair that I help get him back out."
"You could get sucked in there with him, and we won’t allow that."
"Then you’ll have to stun me and carry me out, because I’m not leaving. My being at the Ministry caused him to be there for the last several months, so I am going to be here in case you need help getting him out. End of statement. Either stun me or start the removal process."
One of the people raised a hand with a wand in it, but Charlie reached over. "No. He may be useful to the process. You know as well as I do that we’ll need some sort of an anchor for the process. If he’s here as someone that the man we’re trying to rescue wants to be with again, then that should help us out immensely."
Harry could hear the sound of spell work in the hallway, and was curious. Charlie smiled at him and said, "Well, you were kind of obvious about who you are. We’re giving them the vague recollection of something odd concerning Dan Radcliffe and the spirit that was summoned, and that they were sent home for their safety. That way we can at least save the Radcliffe identity and let you stay on here if you want. We’ll start in a few minutes, after the last of them has been sent home."
It was then that the Defence teacher, Mr. Davis appeared, stalking into the room. "You seem to have an inbred ability to ignore direct orders from your teachers, Mister Radcliffe," he snarled. "As I understand it," he added as if talking to a five year old, "You were told to leave the room with everyone else. Now move!" He grabbed Harry’s arm and roughly yanked him to his feet.
Harry pulled himself free from the teacher. "You will keep your hands off me, Professor Davis," Harry said in a cold voice, "if you wish to keep all your teeth inside your mouth."
"I will break you of that attitude, Mister Radcliffe, before you have left this school," Davis hissed. "Either that or I will see you expelled."
"Then it’ll have to be expulsion, then, Mister Davis, because the day I let a half-arsed wizard like you break me will be the day I cast Avada Kedavra on myself from the shame. Delores Umbridge was a better Defence teacher than you, and all she did was teach from the book!"
"You little …"
"Language, Mr. Davis," Mrs. Raines said dangerously. "I’d love to let you keep going on that, but I can’t have you striking one of the students when I can do something to stop it."
"I will not put up with this attitude from a student." He sighed. "Why do I have to get exchange students like him? Why can’t I get a student who actually cares for the subject coming over? Harry Potter would be a good example. There’s someone who apparently has an inborn understanding of the concepts behind defence."
"Y’know something, Mister Davis?" Harry asked, fighting to keep the smile off his face. "I know Harry Potter, and you couldn’t handle him. He’d wipe the floor with you, and smile about doing it."
"I doubt that," sniffed Davis. "I think he’d probably appreciate a fellow student of the fine art of defence."
Harry snorted. "He’d laugh in your face about your hero worship."
"Davis?" Mrs. Raines said. "I think it best if you leave. These gentlemen have a need for Mr. Radcliffe to be here, so your attempts at injecting yourself into the scenario for a little glory were unsuccessful. You might wish to go back to your office and work on your story of how you saved the day. It looks like you’re going to be successful with avoiding punishment for attacking Dan the day he came here to finish his registration, but don’t think we’re not watching you."
Davis sniffed again. "Radcliffe is nothing but a troublemaker and hooligan, and I look forward to the day you realize that." He spun on his heel and started to leave.
"Just shut up and leave, Severus," Sirius said from the smoke cloud. Davis stiffened, but kept moving, and was quickly gone.
"Why do you keep pushing him, Harry?" Mrs. Raines asked.
"No offence intended, but I could teach the defence class better than he does. I have taught a defence class — illegally, when Umbridge performed her overthrow of the school in an attempt to mould the minds of the upcoming generations."
#####
Hermione's jaw dropped. "Please tell me you did not pick a fight with a teacher and then tell the administrator that you could run his class better than him. Please tell me that."
"Okay, I could tell you that, Hermione, but I'd be lying to you. Remember how I said that I was teaching students how to really defend themselves? It was due to that Halloween that I started that. Since a club would need an advisor to run it, and the only real advisor for a Defence club was Davis, we decided to run it out of the house here. Moira decided to study Sirius's experiences, and if it just so happened that a number of students were willing to visit me at the time … well, who were Sirius and I to stop them from visit during those visits from Moira?"
It was as he said it that the front door opened. "Dan? Sirius?" A woman came into view and walked over to Sirius and hugged him tightly. "Oh, sorry. Didn't know you had company."
Harry grinned. "Moira? We were just talking about you."
"I knew there was a reason I felt I had to come over. Now I can clear up any misunderstandings these two have given out about me." She spun and shot a look at Sirius. "I'll thank you to keep a clean thought in your head right now."
"I thought you said you weren't telepathic!" he said indignantly.
Ginny fell off her chair laughing. "Sirius, it doesn't take a telepath to know you were thinking lecherous thoughts about her! Do you ever have any other kinds of thoughts?"
"Sure! There was that time with … no, wait, I was admiring her arse. How about … no, she had great cleavage … hmm, you just might be right, Ginny!" he laughed.
"As long as the only cleavage you're doing more than admiring is mine," Moira said with a chuckle.
"Before this gets out of hand, Moira, let me introduce the people who mean more than my own life to me. You already know Sirius, and the occasional lack of silencing charms tells me that it's biblically." They had the grace to blush. "The only other male in the room, and only one of three men that I literally trust completely at my back, is my best friend Ronald Weasley …"
"Sorry, we forgot to tell you," Ron said with a blush. "They gave us all new names as well when we came over. They wouldn't tell us where you were, but for some small sense of acting the part, we all got new names. I understand that she knows the truth, but when we step out into Frisco …"
"San Francisco," Harry corrected automatically.
"… sorry. San Francisco. It would be best to use our new names. Hermione there is Emma Watson, and Ginny and I are Bonnie and …" He grimaced. "I hate comedians sometimes."
"Tell me about it," Hermione grimaced. "I almost became Jane Greystoke! You becoming Orville Wright is pretty bad, though. At least they gave you a middle name you could use."
"Yeah," Ron said. "Bonnie and Bill Wright."
Ginny started to giggle. "I'm glad we both fought their first idea, though. I do not think I could have handled a last name of Grint." She fell to giggling again.
"I ask you," Ron said, looking affronted, although there was a twinkle in his eyes, "do I look like a Rupert Grint to you? Rupert, for Merlin's sake!"
Harry lost it then. "Jane Greystoke? Rupert Grint? I thought Dan Radcliffe was odd enough, but …" He leaned forward, laughing. A few moments later, he got himself under control and said, "Okay. Need to finish the story of how Sirius got himself out while I sat there and looked stupid." He took a breath and started to speak.
"I never did kick your arse, Harry," Sirius said. "We're going to talk about this attitude of yours at some point."
"Let me," Tonks said. "I've got a four year old conversation that Harry and I need to have. In the meantime, he can finish the story of how Sirius came back." Harry nodded, the smile still on his face, but the light of laughter leaving his eyes.
"Okay, but there isn't a lot more to it. I'd just finished insulting the thundering git …"
#####
The people in the haz-mat suits finished preparations that Harry hadn't been aware they were performing. "Okay, people," one of them said. "It's time for the main event. All the smart boys and girls have gone home, and just us crazy people are left behind. It's time to bring our smoky friend through."
The group pulled their wands and pointed them at Sirius, who looked as if he'd back up, if only he could. The air crackled and Harry lost the words that were being said through the noise. Suddenly there was a thunderclap, and the air in the room began tearing — it was the only description that Harry could come up with. As if did, the wind picked up, and began rushing toward the rift forming in the middle of the room. As it enlarged, Sirius’s face blew away in the smoke — but he became visible as an actual form. Harry reached out and grabbed Sirius’s hand as they both fought against the now howling wind. He began to pull — slowly, inexorably, relentlessly. Sirius began to slide out through the rift, and was almost through to the waist, when he suddenly began to slide back inside. "Sirius! What’s happening?" cried Harry.
"Something’s got me," gasped Sirius, kicking back violently at something unseen. He was pulled almost all the way back into the rift. "It’s no good! Let go before you get pulled in with me!"
Harry braced his feet and tugged harder, but he and Sirius kept sliding.
"Let go! It’s too strong!" screamed Sirius.
"No! Either you come out or I go in! There are no other choices!" Harry yelled into the screaming wind. "I put you in there, so I either get you out or join you!" Harry could feel the people in the haz-mat suits grabbing him and holding him, but even with the added help they could gain no further ground, and for a long moment Harry thought it might actually be useless. Then suddenly Sirius gave a yell and flailed around more freely.
"Hey! It let go! Whatever it was let go! Pull me out now before it changes its mind again!"
Harry put his back into it and got Sirius back at the edge of the rift, pulling him far enough out that one of the other people was able to grab a hand. It was short work at that point to get Sirius out through the tear in the very air.
As soon as Sirius was completely within the confines of the room, and no longer in that other space, the wind stopped completely, and the rift began to close slowly. Everyone shook themselves, and several of the wizards ran their wands across Sirius, and then unclasped their helmets. There were wide grins all around.
"Dorf?" came a voice from the middle of the room. They turned to see a small man who appeared Chinese wafting around the other side of the rift. He was quite obviously a ghost, given his appearance. He surveyed the scene before him, then pronounced, with satisfaction, "Dorf." He drifted away from the rift, back into the void, at a lazy pace.
"What the hell was that?" one of the men asked.
"I’d say it was a small Chinese man who says ‘Dorf,’ but beyond that, I have no idea," Harry said, boggled. He finally turned to face his godfather, and threw his arms around him. For the first time since running away from Hogwarts, he allowed himself to really cry. Giant sobs wracked his body as he held the man he knew that he’d killed those months ago — tears of loss, even though the man was right here holding him understandingly — tears of joy, that he could hold the man again and thank him for existing — but mostly tears of pain and frustration, that this job he was destined to do was just too big for him to handle.
Finally, he got himself under control, and pulled free of his godfather. "Sirius, I didn’t get to say it to you before, but I love you. You’re basically the father I’ve never had."
"I love you too, Harry. I’m sorry for yelling at you. You were right — I don’t know the situation, so I have no right to be bitching at you." Sirius stood and held his hands out to Harry. "Shall we head to wherever you call your home? You can fill me in there. I want to get as far away from that … that place," he said, glaring at the closing rift, "as possible."
#####
"I was living with the Watsons at that point, but Sirius and I started to look for a house of our own right after that. That’s how we ended up with this huge Victorian. This thing is so damned big that you could all move in here with us, and we’d never see each other for a week." He frowned. "That reminds me — how long are you guys in San Francisco for? If you don’t have a hotel, you could stay with us for your time here."
"That’s up to you, Harry," Tonks said. "We’ve left the East Coast to find you." Her eyes decided to start sparkling at that moment with unshed tears. "We’ve lived for years without being able to see you, Harry, and we’re tired of it. We’ve moved out here."
He blinked at them. "You picked everything up and just moved pell-mell out here?" The girls all nodded at him, their eyes suspiciously bright, while Ron simply gave him a look that seemed to say, "And this surprises you why?"
"Sirius?" Harry said, looking to his godfather for advice.
"All I’m saying to you is that I’m going to invite Moira to move in with us too, if you ask them. After all, if you’re going to have your girlfriends here, I reserve the right to have mine here."
Harry was once again at a loss for words. "You … you actually just left the lives you’d built in wherever — I think you said New York City, but I’m probably assuming — just to find me? Why?"
Tonks shook her head sadly. "I think I’m going to hunt down the Dursleys some day, and make them pay. Harry, we love you. End of statement. I left England to find you." Her eyelids dropped halfway and she gave him a smouldering look. "I have a present I’ve been waiting four years to give you. You’re definitely old enough for it now."
He gulped audibly. "Hey, how about dinner?" he said, doing an obvious change of subject. "I know a nice steak restaurant in walking distance."
"Well, that was about a thirty pound segue," Moira chuckled at Sirius, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"He’s embarrassed," Sirius said conversationally. "He thinks he doesn’t deserve to be loved, because he thinks he abandoned the four people who mean the most to him. So when they show up to show him that they do love him, it unnerves him." He looked at Harry and smirked.
Harry simply shook his head.
#####
As they walked down the street, Tonks listened to Harry’s conversation, describing the beauty of this city he had adopted as his own. She was surprised, however, when they approached one home and heard him call out a hello to the woman sitting out in her front yard. "Mrs. Noriega, I’m glad you’re out. I wanted you to meet …"
"Dan, you’re the happiest I’ve ever seen you. Which one of these ladies is the … oh, never mind, it’s obvious." The woman walked over to Tonks and gently took her hands. "Thank you, miss. Just being here is making my Dan happier than I’ve ever known him to be. Treat him well."
Tonks found tears springing to her eyes yet again. "I will, ma’am. He had to leave suddenly those four years ago, but I finally found him again, and I’m not letting him go." She reached out and gently clasped Harry’s hand.
Looking over, she saw tears in his own eyes, and he suddenly pulled her into a heartfelt embrace. "Oh my God, Tonks, I love you," he whispered in her ear.
After the embrace finally broke, Mrs. Noriega said, "Well, it looks as if Miss Thomas is less than pleased with the situation." The crowd looked over to see the girl in question staring at them from the balcony of her house across the street, and for just a moment, a look of intense hatred could be seen being aimed at the crowd, which was quickly replaced with a smile as soon as she realized that the group was looking her way.
"Dan, honey, you must introduce me to your friends!" Carly cried out. She disappeared from her balcony and was out on the street a minute later. She was more dressed than she had been earlier, this time wearing what looked to be a very long tank top as a sun-dress, a simple gold chain as a belt. "Hi, I’m Carline Thomas, and I’m an old friend of Dan’s." She held out her hand to Ron.
"Hi, I’m Bill Wright, and I’m Dan’s gay lover," Ron said with a straight face. Harry leaned over and kissed Ron’s cheek at that, trying very hard to keep himself from laughing.
"I’m Bonnie Wright, and I’m one of Dan’s harem," Ginny said, also serious in demeanour. She held out her hand to the stunned woman in front of her.
"But, if he’s Dan’s …"
"Oh, Bill’s gay, but Dan’s not," Hermione said. "Emma Watson. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She held out her hand, and Tonks was hard pressed not to laugh, because this was pure Hermione — stun her with a sweet attitude while wanting all the while to throttle the woman.
Tonks was last, and introduced herself, "Shirley Henderson. Chief concubine. I’m pleased to meet you, Miss Thomas."
"Likewise," came the stunned reaction. "Um, can I look you up in a day or two, Dan? I need to talk to you about something, and now seems to be a bad time."
"You know where I live," he said cheerfully. "We’re off for dinner now. See you in a few days." She nodded and disappeared back inside the house she’d erupted from. His face immediately fell. "She’d be smart to stay away from me, but she’s got it in her head that she’s my girlfriend. It’s cruel to say, but I want nothing to do with her."
"Understood," Tonks said. "Well, shall we get moving? It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Noriega. Thank you for taking care of Dan for us all."
"I didn’t do anything for him, miss. You did everything by showing up."
"You’ve been his friend. Trust me when I say that he remembers his friends fondly. You have a special place in his heart, and that makes you special in my book." As the woman opened her mouth to speak, Tonks added, "I’ll not hear another word about it." She looked serious, but the twinkle in her eyes made the woman laugh and acquiesce. They took their leave of the woman and continued their walk.
Shortly, they came to a small restaurant that seemed to have quite the line outside. The woman at the door saw Harry and called out, "Dan! Get up here!" He carefully made his way forward, where he was informed that he and his party were going to be seated immediately, much to the chagrin of several people waiting in line. Harry was more than a little embarrassed by this.
As the others looked at Harry in curiosity, Sirius said, "Harry here has been making good use of the money James and Lily left him, not to mention the money I left him."
"Ruddy bastard won’t let me give it back, either," Harry grumbled.
"I’m dead, H … Dan. You know how those contracts work," Sirius smiled beatifically as he said this. "I’m more than happy to sponge off you for the time being."
Hermione interrupted. "Are you trying to say that you own this place?" she squeaked.
"No. I just gave them some start-up money. Went to school with their son, and he was talking one day about the banks. They didn’t have enough credit history to get a loan from a Muggle bank, and the goblins at Gringott’s wanted a percentage of the business. I talked with them, introduced Sirius to them, and we all sat down and talked seriously about money. Next thing they knew, we were signing a contract for them to pay me back over a five year period. It was all paid back in exactly fifteen months and four days. I’ve been informed that I will never wait for a table in this restaurant in my lifetime for what I did."
The waitress came over to the table with their menus and kissed Harry on the cheek. "Dad’s already said this meal is on the house, Dan," she said, "so don’t argue with him."
"C’mon Tina. This bill is going to run to over two hundred dollars — you and your dad know that. I won’t let you take a loss like that."
"Are you arguing with my little girl, Dan?" asked a man as he came over to the table. "Your money’s no good here, you know that."
"It was certainly good enough to get the place started," he replied cheekily.
"And that’s why it’s no good anymore. We wouldn’t be the unknown steak house to go to in San Francisco if a young man who befriended my son hadn’t surprised us all by being filthy rich. You may see us taking a loss on your meals, but we make it back in spades, Dan." He grinned. "Besides, the only beautiful woman you ever walk in here with is Moira, and suddenly you grace us with three more at once? It’s obviously a special occasion, and you thought of us. Whatever the occasion, consider this meal our gift." He looked around the table. "I’ll be offended if you don’t order what you want, no matter the price." He grinned and walked away.
"He means it, too. I’ve never won that argument with him," Harry said with both admiration and chagrin.
"One note," Moira said. "He’s got a thing for faces — you’ll never pay for a meal in here either. He won’t let me pay, since I’m a close friend of Dan’s." She picked up the menu. "Oh, be aware that you’ll get large portions here, and if you’re worried about quality …"
"He wouldn’t bring us here if he thought it was bad." Tonks looked to him. "Did you really think they’d let you pay?"
"I’ve never brought six other people. I thought that, just once, he’d realize the loss he might take and let me pay for the food." He shrugged. "I’ll just have to make sure the advertising is already paid for. We talk about things related to the business, so I know when certain bills are due. I pay for advertising in all sorts of interesting places, like the internet, for travellers to San Francisco. I handle the advertising to the odder places that he might not think of. And the word of mouth around the mage community has been astonishing. We’ve had mages from New York City Apparate in for a meal."
They ordered their meals and set to talking again. "You mentioned our peculiarity in a public place, Har … Dan," Hermione said with worry. "I know the secrecy statutes aren’t the same here, but …"
He interrupted her. "Listen to the other conversations in the restaurant, Hermione. Really listen to them." Tonks watched the girl cock her head, and listened as well. She could hear the murmur of voices, but could not make out any actual conversations, no matter how hard she tried.
"Impressive," said Tonks. "Specialized charms for the restaurant environment."
"Yup. Now, before I forget it again," Harry said, "let me repeat something I said earlier. I offered you space in that house for as long as you’re here. If you’re moving here to be with me, then the offer still stands. If you can handle living with me, then I’m offering you the chance."
"Is your bed big enough for all of us?" Ginny cooed at him, and then laughed at his stunned look. Tonks was in a position to see that shock hadn’t been his only reaction. She also noticed that a look of anger crossed his face before he shook his head and looked at her in apology.
"Okay, we need to get a few things out in the open, right now," Tonks said. "Harry, midnight marks your twentieth birthday, and you already know one of the things I’m giving you. You also need to know about everything else."
"Are you sure that this is a good time?" Ron asked. "It is rather public."
"Honestly, Ron," Hermione said, "it’s best to do it when we’re all feeling courageous enough to do it."
"True," Ron answered.
Tonks laughed out loud to see the very slight change in Harry’s body language. "Guys, you’d better explain the change in your behaviour. Unless I’m very much mistaken, Harry has just dropped his wand into his hand and is, at this very moment, pointing it at the two of you under the table."
"Why?" Ron asked, eyes twinkling after a moment’s consternation.
"Really, Ron, is it that difficult to understand? We haven’t been bickering like we used to!" Hermione huffed back at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her own eyes were sparkling with mirth.
"Yeah, well that was before we realized the real reason we were fighting!" Ron barked back at her, and then he turned to Harry. "Is that better, Harry?"
Harry laughed, and brought his wand hand back above the table, empty. "You guys are crazy, do you know that? Absolutely mental." He picked up his glass of soda to drink, but asked, "So what was the reason you stopped bickering?" before taking a sip.
"Well," Ron said, waiting until Harry had a good mouthful of soda, "we realized that we both wanted to shag the same guy."
Harry’s reaction was priceless. He looked as if he wanted to perform the classic spit take, but realized that Moira, Sirius and Ginny would end up wearing it. He fought with himself for quite some time before he was capable of swallowing. "Gack!" he finally coughed. He coughed a few more times before he said, "At least I kept it from shooting out my nose. That can be as bad as orange juice." He shook his head. "Are you serious, Ron?"
"Actually, yes," was Ron’s reply. "I also happen to know that you don’t even remotely swing that way, as they say here on this side of The Pond. That was where quite a bit of my frustration was coming in. We finally worked it out one day when we had a rip-roaring fight, and Ginny stepped into the middle of it and just short-circuited the argument. And since then I’ve been the gay best friend that every girl should have."
Harry blinked at him. "It’s when you say things like that — I mean, short circuited, not the other — that I realize that you’ve been here in the States for a while."
"You mean using an electrical term?" Ron grinned. "See, I can even pronounce it properly, too!"
Harry laughed. "So, how long have you guys been here?" he asked as their meals arrived.
"About three or four days less than you," Ginny said quietly.
#####
Tonks nearly ran into the Ministry and looked for Amelia Bones. When she found her, she handed her a letter and started to head for her desk.
"Auror Tonks? What’s the meaning of this?" Bones asked as she finished reading the very short letter of resignation.
"Dumbledore threatened my job, and he’s got the power to get what he wants, if it comes down to it. He said something to Harry in his office at Hogwarts that led to Dumbledore’s office now having an unexpected bay window, minus the glass, of course. I failed in my mission — I got too close to the subject, and thanks to Dumbledore’s interference, I have currently lost track of the subject. I need to find him, and I need to find him now. I need to return my supplies to the Materiel Department, clean out my desk, and then I’ll be out of your hair. I’d be out of Kingsley’s, too, but he doesn’t have any to be out of." She chuckled nervously. "I’ve enjoyed being an Auror, but if I’m going to lose my job, I’d rather it be on my terms, and not Dumbledore’s, y’know?"
Amelia Bones nodded sadly. "We’ll miss you, Nymphadora. Be well, and Godspeed."
Twenty minutes later, Tonks was at her apartment, with all the contents of her desk in one small box. She took five minutes to have a good cry, and then another five to make herself presentable. Even being a metamorphmagus had its limits. She Apparated to just outside Gringott’s and entered the building. She met Dumbledore as he was leaving. "Albus," she said calmly.
"You need not bother looking for him here. I have just spoken with Rackspit, and he assures me that, while Harry had in fact been sighted in this building, he is unable to tell me more. He does not believe that Harry is within the confines of the building anymore, however."
Her shoulders fell slightly. "Well, I came here for another reason, actually, but yours is as good news to expect. I know where not to look now." She shrugged. "Keep me up to date on your searches, please, Albus. No sense in wasting our time duplicating efforts."
"I am sorry for what I requested, but I truly do believe it to be for the best," the headmaster said. "I will do as you say, however." He turned and walked slowly from the building, as if defeated.
She got in line behind the other customers, and waited until she reached the head of the line — a surprisingly short period of time. The goblin in question took her name, and she quickly found herself speaking to Rackspit herself. "Miss Tonks? I have a letter here from a Mister Harry Potter that I am to give you under the condition that you sign a binding magical contract that you will tell no one of the information contained within the letter."
"That important, huh? Not to be insulting, but how do I know it was actually Harry, and not something Dumbledore set up?"
"Valid question. I will tell you that the letter contains information that Dumbledore would like, but that Harry would prefer he not have."
"I’ll trust you guys and sign that contract." A moment later, she was reading Harry’s letter to her.
Tonks,
I love you. That’s why I’m leaving. I don’t want that old bastard using you to get at me. I’m allowing exactly four people to have some concept of my destination. Dumbledore will probably eventually suss it, but for now…
I don’t want you telling anyone, but it would be a good idea to bring Hermione, Ron, and Ginny here if you want to ever be able to talk to anyone about this.
I won’t tell you what he said that made me blow out his wall — just telling me the relationship had to end wasn’t enough to do that — but suffice it to say that it’s the reason I won’t say more than that the goblins are good friends and that I understand that New York City is beautiful this time of year. It can never be as beautiful as you, though.
I’m sorry to leave you, and I can never say how much it hurts to think that I’ll probably never see you again. My life had just started to feel like it was worth something, and that bastard had to do something about it.
I love you.
Harry
P.S. — in case I forgot to tell you this, I Love You!
Her eyes were tearing up when she finished the letter. She wiped them quickly and said, "I expect I’ll back today with more customers."
Rackspit handed her a token. "Give the guards this, and they’ll bring you and the other three in directly to see me."
She nodded and immediately Apparated to the point set up near the Granger home. Mere minutes later, she had a wide-eyed Hermione in tow with her as she Apparated to the Burrow and left minutes later with Ron and Ginny, leaving behind a sputtering Molly.
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in Florean Fortescue’s establishment working on sundaes when Hermione said, "I don’t know about you, but I’m going after him."
"How?" Ginny asked glumly.
Hermione grinned, holding up a key, identical to the ones that the other three carried. "We use some of his money to get to America and see if we can get their Aurors to help us find him."
"What if that’s what Dumbledore wants us to do?" Ron asked suddenly.
The table was silent as they contemplated that. "We’ll take that chance," Tonks said suddenly. "Albus would really have to settle into Death Eater tactics in order to successfully get Harry back, and then he’s got to figure out how to keep him here. I think he’ll let us be, and see if we can convince him to return to the British Isles before Dumbledore is dead."
"He really said that?" Hermione asked in awe. "What made Harry react like that?"
"I have no idea."
Three days later, they landed in New York City, at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
#####
"We talked to a really nice guy named Reggie, who recognized us immediately by our names, and he explained what had been done. We searched on our own since then."
"Reggie’s a nice guy. If it hadn’t been a good idea to leave New York, I would have liked to have gotten to know him better." Harry said as he finished the last of his meal, and then patted his stomach. "I keep saying I’m not going to eat their desserts, but they’re just too good to pass up."
Hermione erupted with a surprising belch, which set the rest of the table chuckling, especially at the scandalized look on her face. Ron said, "The motion has been made and seconded. All in favour, say ‘Aye’." They met each others’ eyes, and everyone else at the table burped at roughly the same time, and then fell forward laughing so hard they began to cry.
Eventually, the waitress came over just as they were recovering and said, "Guys, you really need to cheer up. You’re depressing the other customers." She had a huge grin on her face as she said it. Hermione simply shook her fist at the girl as she collapsed into another fit of giggles.
When the group was finally able to breathe again, Tonks looked at them all. "I think we should take this back to the house. Even with good charms on the tables, I think that there are some things better talked about privately. Shall we?" With a nod, the group stood and headed for the door, Harry dropping an affectionate kiss on Tina’s cheek as they left.