Evergreen

Tonks, or Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin Black, as is her full name- well, she was very forthcoming on answering all his questions about a certain beautiful raven-haired Lady sitting right next to them, who was still playing with her godson, who’s attention was equally devoted upon her.

The sight, which he had been sneaking glances from every now and then, from close-by now , left him feeling a certain way…which he could not explain. But what he knew for certain- 

Is that she would be a great mother…

“...- it’s crazy, right?!” Tonks, as she liked to be called, not that he had been left the choice to call her anything but that, but well she had just been telling him about the most interesting, but also most relieving thing about Hariel- she was unattached, or ‘single’ as the mortals called it now, and she hadn’t been in any relationship, of any kind, with another individual. 

Which left him feeling very gladdened (and also victorious), especially because it meant his brother had not had his filthy clutches on her. 

And he was not going to say the ‘yet’ , seeing as it was not going to happen. 

Ever.

Not if he had anything to say to it. He really had to gift Hera, and his mother he now realises , with the most grandest of gifts as a thank you, which they will know not the reason for, of course.

But well, this just made his day, all of his days that is!

She would be his , he would make certain of it. He thought with a certain possessiveness, which had not made itself know in a millenia, or more. 

It was a first of all firsts, he would later realise, especially when it concerned Hariel.

“Yes, it is rather crazy indeed, Tonks.” He then answered, which she nodded to in thanks, all the while she waved her arms towards the heavens, which then seemed to attract the pair sitting next to them, most especially her own child, who’s little tufts of curly hair then turned blue, he realised in amazement. 

He was not aware the mortals had this sort of gift, which he only knew the Goddess Aphrodite to have, well the ability to change her own appearance at will, that is…but he then realised the times the mother of the child, Edward Remus Tonks-Lupin Black, had changed her own appearance during the times that they have all followed Hariel’s story- well life, until his sister put an end to it of course, which he still felt resentment over, which had all been forgotten from the moment he had heard of Hariel’s presence during these times of course.

But well, there were instances he know realised that Tonks had changed her own appearance at will, and not at will, which had been changed by her emotional state, well the colour of her hair most especially that is.

While he did not truly know how far the abilities of Hecates chosen went, he knew for certain this was no mere ability, this was a special ability, which he thinks only comes from a certain blood-line, the Blacks now most especially, seeing as both mother and son have it, but well, this left him thinking…

Did the goddess perhaps lay with an ancestor of them? Which made the gift possible to begin with. 

But well, this thought then left him thinking of mayhaps all of the would be ancestors, or well blood relations that is, of the House of Black, seeing as they had characteristics he was very familiar by, seeing as he saw the resemblances in many of his ‘family members’...

But well, he left that thought alone, seeing as the boy was looking at him with his big eyes, that could put a baby seals to shame, and he stood frozen to the sight, especially when he then began to change his own appearance at the sight of him.

He was looking at his own child-like copy then, he realised with an opened mouth in shock because of the sight, which the two women then realised, which they at first chuckled at, used to the sight of the child changing to the appearance of many people, which consisted of his own family that is, before realisation then began to set in.

Hariel then gazed at him in thought,

“...Wait, can you see him change his appearance as well then?” she questioned, which he without thought quickly, but dumbfoundedly nodded to, without thinking of the consequences.

“That isn’t possible, well for the mundane to see it, that is, especially because he’s wearing the bracelet which the mundane would be none the wiser of, well his ever changing appearance that is- this might sound rude, but what are you?” She then asked him with penetrating eyes, which he stood frozen at, for other reasons now…

“You can’t ask people that, Hariel! …I’m actually surprised at how brazen you are at the moment, seeing as you would expect me to ask him that, but then again- she is right, as always, “ Tonks then turned towards him in question.

Now the three blacks were looking at him, which was a happy and intrigued baby that was the mirror image of him, the boys mother and the woman he was interested in, and wanted to acquaint himself very closely with. 

He was kicking himself in thought then, seeing as he couldn’t get himself out of this one now…so he then told them a lie, but also not a lie.

“...I’m an Elemental.”

He hopes they in fact had those in their world…well Hecate’s chosen that is.

And by the amazed gazes in front of him, he then relaxed his posture, which he now realises had been standing upright the whole time.

“Ah that’s cool! We’ve heard a lot about you lot, but never met one, seeing as we were told that they lived quite closed-off an everything, seeing as they were from ancient tribes, I think?” Tonks then questioned, while she turned her head towards her cousin, who simply nodded to her, all the while Hariel’s gaze had not left him for one second, her gaze was unreadable, even to him.

It left him feeling as though he was a deer standing in front of some vehicle’s headlights, about to be hit by said car…

It was not a feeling he liked actually, not one bit, seeing as he had the strange feeling to fidget underneath her unmoving stare.

Not even his own mother left him feeling this way, whenever he would anger her…

“...and we’re witches by the way, if it isn’t already obvious, well Teddy here is a wizard, aren’t you, my baby?!” Nymphadora then cooed towards her child, all the while she pulled him into her own arms, which made the child’s focus  turn to her fully then, with an added scream in delight, by the way his mother then bounced him.

The child's appearance then turned to what it once was, his hair turning the same shade as his mothers then, he now realises in awe, which was blue.

He then realised that they were talking in public, which made him turn his gaze towards the mortals around them, and seeing the action, Hariel then spoke.

“They don’t know what we’re talking about, seeing as I put in a shield of sorts, which would especially turn their attention also away from us. Do you know of us, the wizarding world, that is?” She then curiously asked him, with a peculiar glint in her pretty green eyes, a green unheard of, well one he had never seen, that is, which he now realises is flecked with bits of silver twirling within them.

She looks exquisite. 

He then answered before he could continue drowning in her enchanting eyes that is, especially because he did not want her to be uncomfortable with him, in any way.

And also because he was once more finally talking to her again, without being interrupted that is, seeing as the mother and child duo were now busy with one another, which left the both of them in peace, at last, even though he quite enjoyed the conversation he had had with Tonks.

“Yes,” He then simply answered him, which then made her then frown at him for a millisecond, before it vanished from her gaze,which then turned into a smile, directed at him, which left him happy but confused.

Very confused, but he then filed it away, seeing as she was staring at him again.

He was no green boy. He then berated himself, before he turned a charming smile towards her.

“So now that is established, I heard you were on vacation from your cousin, which I of course knew because of-”

“It's because of the accent, right, damn, who would have thought?! ” She then asked in humour, which he nodded to with a chuckle then, which he then realised made her focus on him even more in that certain way-

Actually, scratch that, he was starting to like this, very much so.

“Well, if you want a rather intimate tour, I’m your man .” He then without thinking told her in a rather low-pitched voice, which he now realises was very flirty of him, he was afraid that it might be a bit too much now, and that she would not -

But she then simply nodded to it, which left him agape then for a second, before he turned his gaze back to normal, which the woman in front of him did not see, by the way she was then gazing at the beach behind them with a smile.

“I’d like that, seeing as I’ve heard a lot about Australia, but that does not mean I truly know of it, so it would be much appreciated to learn from someone that lives here,” She then answered, and he now realised the innuendo simply went over her head then.

Which endeared her even more to him then.

She was innocent, well in that regard, he then files in his mind with a shine.

Which surprised him a lot, but he liked that, he liked it very much.

“It would be my pleasure to be your guide then, Hariel.” He then told her with a warm smile, his eyes were shining on her happy smile in answer then.

“Guide to where exactly, Harry.”  A man then asked behind him in a distrusting tone, which would have irked Poseidon in any other time, at someone, a male especially, disturbing them, that is.

But he then realised that this was her uncle, the Remus Lupin, what by the smile and a side hug she gave the man in greeting then.

“Remus!” She said, before she turned her gaze behind him then, expecting her other companions to be behind the man, he figured, but not seeing them, she then questioned the man about their whereabouts.

“We just reserved a table at a restaurant, I came to get you lot, so we could eat together, and Teddy especially will like it, seeing as they have a very entertaing nook for the little ones, won’t you son?” Remus then softly asked his son then, all the while he ruffled the boys hair in greeting, after he kissed his wife in greeting, still ignoring his existence all the while, which would have angered him in any other time, but he was simply amused by the man’s antics now.

Seeing as it was starting to get rather obvious on why the man was reacting in such a manner, which was to be expected.

Realising this Hariel then turned her gaze apologetically towards him, before she moved it towards her uncle.

“Remus, this is Sei, he just told me that he would show us around if we liked, isn’t that very kind of him? It would be fun, wouldn’t it, especially with him being a local and an elemental as well, we were just talking about that before, isn’t that interesting?” She told the man with a smile, which the man did not return when he looked at him in distrust, before he changed his expression to a more neutral one.

“Very interesting, I wasn’t aware your kind mingled with the muggles- well mundane, I thought your kind lived in tribes, away from the general public, that is…” The man then questioned in thought, before he raised his finger to his chin in thought all the while his gaze was still on him.

“That is correct, but also not correct, seeing as some of us like to ‘mingle’ as you say with the public here, which is a very new thing in fact, seeing as I am a newer generation and all.” He was lying through his teeth, seeing as he did in fact not know if it was true and all, but he thought it also was, seeing as there was times a dying civilisation needed to have new blood, just that their people could continue existing and all, which happened via wife-taking in the past, women the men most importantly brought from close residing places. 

But well the man seemed to accept it with a nod then, before he smiled at him in politeness.

“Well Sei, it’s nice to meet you, and we couldn’t possibly take you up on that kind offer, seeing as you must be very busy yourself and I feel that we would be fine on our own as we have been before, you understand don’t you? Well it was nice to meet you, but I’m afraid we have to leave now, it’s best we not get late to our dinner after-all-” Remus then started to say, before his wife then interrupted with a smile.

“Oh don’t be so tight, Remus, Sei is a nice guy, I talked to him personally as well, and that’s also a very nice thing he just offered, which he wouldn’t have done if he wasn’t certain that he could, so thanks, Sei, we’re definitely going to take you up on that! And better yet, why don’t you join us?!” Nymphadora then asked him with a smile, after she batted her husbands protests away, which Poseidon watched in amusement, before he then heard her question, which he was going to gladly accept, especially when it meant that he could spend even more time with Hariel, but before he could answer in agreement, Tonks’ husband then interjected once again.

“I’m afraid the restaurants rather full packed, darling, I’m sorry Sei, maybe an other time.” 

Never, Poseidon knew the man wanted to say, but was too polite to say in the open, which once more amused him greatly.

“Ah that is rather unfortunate, seeing as I had been enjoying the time spent with you all, but well I hope to see you again, and I will definitely take you up on that offer, Remus.” He then kindly answered, all the while he gazed at the man in question then, who had the expression of someone eating something sour now, which was hilarious.

“You will definitely be seeing us! Right Hariel?” Nymphadora then said with a grin on her face when she turned her gaze to her younger cousin, who seemed to be frozen on the spot then, by the attention, especially his , when he gazed at her in question, but also anticipation.

“...Yes.” She then simply answered while she held his penetrating gaze, which made him  then fully smile at her, which she then simply blinked at, before they were once more interrupted, this time by the Werewolf.

“Alright, we’ll be taking our leave now, lets go. Good day, Sei .” The man then told him, before he pulled his child against his chest with one arm, and another arm around his wife, and his gaze on Hariel, who then stood up with a small smile towards him before they then left him at the bar, with his gaze still firmly on the leaving figure of Hariel.

The restaurant in question was a cosy Italian restaurant, which did in fact have a kids nook, which Teddy did immensely enjoy before their food arrived.

Her gaze wasn’t on any of her dinner mates, for it was in front of her, at the ‘restaurant’ in a few ways in front of the one they were sitting in. It was a fish restaurant, which was rather obvious by the way she could see a large tank filled with fish and crustaens and the such, who were squashed against one another in fact, with the water retaining a strange colour, the fish looked to be on death’s door, she thought in anger and sadness for them.

It was also a reason why no one was even deigning to step into the establishment, besides a few who simply did not care that is.

No life should be treated like that. She thought, before her attention was pulled by a question Susan just asked her, 

“What will you be having, Harry?” and seeing as she simply looked blankly at her, which worried the others, before she repeated her original question. “For dessert? Are you- are you alright, Hariel?” She then asked her in worry, which the others, besides a sleepy Teddy then shared, which Hariel tightened her jaw in answer to, seeing as she did not like worrying them in any way, so she simply shook her head with a smile.

“No, I’m fine, Suze, and I think I’m full as is,” She told her, and the others, who then nodded to her in acceptance, before they all relayed their orders to the waiter.

All the while her gaze kept on flickering towards the tank, which took any of the houghts about her new acquaintance away in the first place, most especially on what she had come to learn about him. 

Especially on the fact that she knew he might not have been truthful on some accounts…

When they returned to the Manor, Hariel immediately went to her room and was greeted by the sight of Seraphina basking in contentment on the warm rock she put in the room,  which put a smile to her face.

Walking over to the snake, she softly petted the little one in greeting then, who simply in response hissed in pleasure, which she chuckled at.

~I’m glad you’re doing alright, little one. Seeing as I thought you might have been lonely without Hedwig and I.~ They had left Hedwig for obvious reasons with Kreacher and Andy, seeing as the owl was a snowy owl and she much preferred colder places because of it. 

That and it would have been rather cruel of her to bring her old girl with her along to Australia, seeing as it was truly hot here, which Seraphina in the contrary very much enjoyed, which she relayed to her.

That and that she wasn’t missing the owl at all, seeing as she was enjoying her free terrain, to hunt most importantly, which Hariel was very much gladdened by. 

She then left the snake to get ready to sleep for the day, with the young Basilisk then snuggling against her then, when she finally got under the covers of the large and comfortable bed.

It was the next morning that Hariel decided to slip out of the house by her own, which was easy seeing as it was very early in the morning, at an hour which no one in their right mind would have been awake at. 

She simply couldn't sleep, especially by the continuing picture of the tank in her mind, with those poor sea creatures.

So she decided to do something about it then, which is why she was standing infront of the closed restaurant now, in the empty street, which made things a whole lot easier for her, especially because of what she was about to do.

She was going to free them.

Walking around the streets in thought, especially because he did not want to return to the Palace, well that, and also because she still hasn’t left his mind.

Not once.

Smiling at the thought of her, he then kicked at a stray rock in front of him, before something caught his attention then.

Was his mind playing tricks on him? Because he thought he was seeing the woman in question then, with a rather large fish tank carefully floating behind her, a tank filled to the brim with some animals of his domain, might he add.

The sight of the tank left him feeling angry then, before he realised that this was in fact not a hallucination, and that Hariel was freeing them from somewhere.

And seeing as she was going to leave his sight just then, he then called after her, which of course surprised her, before she then decided to pull him along with her.

“ Shhh quiet , we don’t want anyone hearing us, lets go.” She simply said, while she pulled him along with her to … the ocean he then gathered, which was obvious,  but he was quiet throughout it all, seeing as his brain was short-circuiting at the moment because of the soft and rather dainty hand in his own, which was holding his very tightly at the moment.

But what he knew for certain, was that he liked it very much.