Miss Tonks
Miss Tonks came through the Floo the next morning, bright and early, with a smile on her face, a bounce in her step and two big bags in her good hand. The other arm was in a sling across her chest.
“Good morning, Master Snape,” she chirped.
“Good morning, Miss Tonks,” Severus answered while looking at her over his coffee cup and raising an eyebrow at her brightness. It was the first day of classes, he was most definitely not feeling bright. He had slept well, though, in a narrow bed the elves had put into Harry’s room. So had Harry, so he knew it could be worse. “If you want any coffee, there is more in the pot.” He made a gesture towards the carafe of coffee on the table.
“Thank you, maybe later. First thing first. Here.” Miss Tonks put a sheet of parchment on the dining table that Severus stood beside. “It’s the Oath of Secrecy I took yesterday before Mum sent me and Dad out shopping.” She shook the bags in her hand before putting them down by her feet. “This is just to show exactly what I said, and that Mum and Dad witnessed it. Mum has long had Dad and me under Confidentiality Oaths regarding her work. She is really careful, but in some cases, things slip out because she is distressed about the situation. Then it’s better that Dad and I are under Oaths too, so she can rant and rage a bit and relax in her own home, than stewing in it. Mum and I have the same Oaths for Dad’s work as a solicitor, and I will most likely ask them for the same when I get some real work as an Auror. Just to be absolutely safe.” She hesitated for a moment. “Master Snape, Healer Tonks told me that there are certain very important things I should know about the situation, things that are making the Oath more necessary than if it were just to keep Harry Potter’s privacy.”
Trust a Black to get around the Oath that much, Severus thought scathingly. Still, he could see her point. Miss Tonks would herself be safer if she knew what was at stake. She wasn’t just keeping a boy with company while he healed, she was looking after a hurt Omega when his Alpha could not. Keeping him safe was important not only for Harry himself, but for everyone else’s sake. At least everyone else, most likely including Healer Tonks and Miss Tonks, would see it like that.
Severus found himself silently agreeing with Harry from their discussion the evening before, Warder and Wyrd were better terms. Of course, few others would understand what they talked about, using those terms, and Warder was a high-profile profession in the magical world so it could be confusing.
“Healer Tonks is quite right. We discovered that Harry is an Omega that began to present early because of his rather desperate situation, and as I am an Alpha …”
Her eyes grew wide, then she blinked rapidly a couple of times and got her face under control.
“I see. I will take good care of him, Master Snape. How well are your quarters warded and who has access? What is the security protocol in case someone tries to gain unauthorised access?”
He was almost taken aback at her sudden shift in personality. No doubt he was now talking to Auror Tonks, and not Miss Tonks.
“My rooms are always very well warded, but I did put up some additional keep-out incentive last night. The security protocol in case someone tries to force access is to let the wards do their job, which is to stop any intruder with deadly force after two undeniable warnings, and also get me. I will know immediately if someone tries to get through. The deadly force is not used if someone tries to knock on the door, or similar, of course, only if someone tries to power themselves through the wards, or tear the wards down.”
She nodded once.
“During the days you are here I would appreciate it if you did not vacate my quarters at all, when I’m not present. It will disrupt my wards some if you leave. You are permitted to move around in here naturally, simply stay out of my lab and bedroom. The elves will get you whatever you ask for, but Harry has to keep to the menu from Healer Tonks. I will return as often as I can, in case bathroom breaks are required or there are any other issues. Harry prefers it that way, but he agreed to let you levitate him to the bathroom and stand right outside the closed door, if it becomes necessary. Healer Tonks fears he is too weak to take it for granted that he will be able to make these trips on his own as of yet, especially because of his left leg.”
Auror Tonks nodded again. He was certain she had done worse things than accompany a teenage boy to the bathroom during her Auror training.
“My classrooms and labs are right around the corner to your right, and down the hall. Send a Patronus or an elf if anything happens. Madame Pomfrey is just a Floo away, and if I understood it correctly, so are Healer Tonks. Those are the only two, except Harry, myself and you, that currently are authorised to enter my quarters. As already stated, I have made extremely certain of that.”
Not even Fawkes or an unsanctioned house elf could get into his quarters now. Last night after setting up the wards, he had called the three elves that mostly served him and told them the situation. Instead of being shocked or dismayed like most humans would be, the elves seemed to like, even celebrate, the fact that there again was a courting pair in the world. They had been all smiles and happy, squeaky voices. They had promised that the three of them would take care of Severus and Harry in the future, and only the three of them.
Auror Tonks shivered at his dark tone, or maybe she shivered because the room suddenly had gotten a lot colder and dimmer. The cold and dark disappeared as fast as it had appeared. Then Auror Tonks looked into the air while thinking, and suddenly asked:
“Have you talked to the Headmaster yet?” As if she could guess exactly why he had warded his quarters so very carefully. A general threat was one thing, and some foolish people could always end up being a threat, no matter the laws. The difficulty was when the foolish people were someone with a lot of power and influence.
“Yes, I went last night after Harry fell asleep. Poppy stayed here with Harry.”
Albus’ face when Severus had demanded an Oath of Secrecy even harsher than the one Poppy and Healer Tonks had been asked to take, would haunt him for the rest of his life. But Severus knew Albus, he knew he would use this, use them, use Harry, for his own aims. No matter how dangerous that could become for everyone else if someone interfered with a courtship. Albus would try, and he would lose, and everyone would pay for his mistakes.
But Albus had taken the Oath in the end, most likely sure in his capability to get around it if he needed, or wanted, to. He had been absolutely livid when Severus informed him that he as an Alpha now was courting Harry as an Omega, that it had already happened and that there was nothing Albus could do. Granted, it was only the first stage of the courtship and thus tentative, but it was as valid as it would ever be according to the human laws. Interfering with it in any way or getting between the two parties or hurting Harry was all forbidden now, by law. By the same law Severus himself was granted execution privileges if any of these things should happen. No matter why, how or who. That included the schemes of one Albus Dumbledore.
Albus knew that, and he had been enraged when he realised that The-Boy-Who-Lived now was out of his control. As the Alpha of an underage Omega, Severus, not Albus, nor any hypothetical parent or other guardian, had first and last say in Harry’s life. Anything else was impossible, given the circumstances of abuse. Severus would not trust anyone else to keep Harry safe, and thus giving legal control of Harry’s life to anyone else was a call to war. A war, history informed them, the Alpha would always win, to the disaster and destruction of the rest of society. That was the reason such harsh laws had been made. To stop such catastrophes.
Severus didn’t doubt for a moment that Albus would do everything in his considerable power to get around, or through, that law. He was old enough and powerful enough to believe he could manage that, even though history strongly differed and Albus really should be old enough to know otherwise. He might try to get the law retracted to get his hands on Harry again, or a number of other mischiefs. Severus didn’t doubt that he would find out soon enough.
In the end, Albus could do nothing but agree that Harry could stay in Severus’ quarters for now. He tried to make it more inconvenient for Severus by insisting that Harry’s friends get free access to Harry and thus Severus’ quarters. Severus had only smiled thinly and told him he would follow the Healers orders in this, not Albus’, as Albus was not a certified Healer, much less Harry’s Healer. Then Albus had told him to let Harry eat in the Great Hall so as to not be too isolated. Again, Severus had referred to Healers orders. Then Albus had tried to tell him that all the teachers, including Albus’ himself, needed to talk to Harry about his schoolwork and summer assignments. By then, Severus was done and had simply refused, as was his right. That had made Albus visibly livid, with sparks snapping out around him and magic pulsing through the air.
Severus had left, but he had left knowing that Albus was far from done. Severus had wondered how many would be hurt or dead before Albus gave in, and how and why Severus would kill them. He didn’t look forward to it, but neither did he doubt for a moment that he would do it. If it was necessary, he would do it. He knew that down to his very core.
“I see,” Auror Tonks said with a frown before the frown disappeared and she, now Miss Tonks again, chirped: “Any chance that I could talk to Mister Potter and go through my thoughts and plans for the week with both of you in the room? I don’t want to suggest anything that you don’t want in your home. Though, according to Mum, everything I have brought is acceptable pastimes for someone with Mister Potters injuries.”
“By all means.” Severus went first into Harry’s room. The boy had been awake when Severus had woken and had been very happy to get a short bath, new clothes, and fresh linens on the bed. Severus wasn’t certain, but he suspected that Harry had been covered in grime and blood for such a long time that being clean was a true luxury for him. One Severus would make sure to grant him as often as possible in the weeks to come.
“Hello, Mister Potter,” Miss Tonks said to the boy who sat up against the pillows in the bed. Her smile had gone mild and careful, but not pitying. “My name is Nymphadora Tonks, please call me Tonks, just Tonks, and I will be your fellow sufferer for the next week. Hopefully, I will make the time go by easier, and not actually make you suffer in my presence. With that in mind, I have brought this.” She set the bags she had brought on the floor and flicked her wand so three boxes with games floated up and placed themselves on the bed by Harry’s feet. “Muggle board games, sometimes you need something else than chess. Then there are these.” A stack of magical novels landed beside the games. “I know that you are Muggle raised and these are some of the stories magical children grow up with. I’m happy to read to you, or you may read them on your own, of course.
“Then there are some activity books with riddles, crosswords puzzles, mazes, word searches, sudoku and other word games. And of course, all your schoolbooks, the dictaquills Mum wanted you to have, some different coloured inks and parchment and all the new potions supplies for the year. There is also this.” She brought up a bag from one of the bigger ones, it seemed like there was something soft in it, and she gave it to Harry. “Just a couple of pyjamas and a few sets of lounge wear for when you feel well enough to leave the bed. Dad got all of it for you, on orders from Mum, so you know, just guys have seen it.” She smiled and by the way Harry blushed after looking down into the bag, Severus guessed that there were undergarments in the bag as well. The boy needed it. He needed pretty much everything.
“So, what do you think? Will this be enough to keep us occupied the next few days?”
Miss Tonks had said all this in one long stream of words and now Harry sat blinking at the little pile of things at the foot of his bed. His eyes were bright and then suddenly one tear slid down his face and he ducked his head while he hurriedly wiped away the tear.
“Oh!” Miss Tonks hand shot down into the much emptier, but not completely empty bag, and came up with a plush toy, a quite large, black dog that looked to be very soft. She put it on Harry’s lap before she knelt by the bed with her good hand close to his. “One of Dad’s rules when I grew up was that if Mum ordered me to bedrest, or sofa rest, for more than four days, I got a new plushie to keep me company. I’m a very clumsy person and have had a lot of accidents. Luckily, Mum is a world class Healer, or my plushie collection would be a lot bigger than it is. And let me tell you, it’s big! I got this for you, because I like Dad’s rule, and everyone deserves a plushie friend when life is hard.” Her voice got even softer. “You are allowed to cry, Harry. You are always allowed to cry and show your emotions. Especially when life is hard.”
Carefully Harry drew the black dog, who looked suspiciously like a certain mangy mutt Severus had been so unfortunate to meet again just some months previous, closer to his chest and huddled over it as well as he could with all his broken bones. There was a small sob, Miss Tonks patted the bedspread close to Harry, got to her feet and looked from Severus to the door in question. Knowing how he himself would have felt in such a situation, Severus left the room to give Harry some privacy, but he left the door slightly ajar.
“Mum said that might happen,” Miss Tonks said while getting a cup of coffee, “that or he might shut completely down, she still told me to do it, though. He deserves that much consideration, and much more besides.”
Severus sat down in an armchair and made a gesture for her to sit where she wished. She stumbled when she walked towards the sofa, but managed to keep to her feet, and keep the coffee in the cup.
“Thank you, for all of it,” Severus said sincerely, because even if it had made Harry cry, he doubted very much that it was a bad thing. “If you would inform me of the expenditure, I will reimburse you and your family.”
“Sure.” She grabbed something in her pocket and put three receipts on the table. “For the schoolbooks, the writing implements and the potion supplies. The boardgames and three of the books are on loan, but if he wants his own, I would be happy to buy them for him. Two of the books are my old ones that I’m done with, so no receipt there. The puzzle books and plushie are a gift from me and the clothes are from my parents. I’m afraid there might be more from them, in time.”
She hesitated and looked at him a bit more grave than before. “Mister Potter's grandmother was a Black, Master Snape, so even if Mister Potter's name isn’t Black and Mum was cast out from the family, she still considers him family. I’m enough of a Black myself not to try to tell her differently. Blacks and their view on family are … peculiar. Mum spent hours into the night in our ‘curse and crash’ room, just destroying and cursing things. She had been told, for years, that Mister Potter was with close family that cared for him and loved him. I didn’t understand it all before you told me about your designations and courtship, but if you …” she stopped, hesitated, “if you hadn’t been an Alpha and Mister Potter hadn’t been an Omega that you now are courting, Mum would have taken him in, in a heartbeat, and woe anyone who tried to stop her. A Black always get what they want, and they keep what is theirs.”
Severus could well believe that, and the realisation that Harry had someone else, other than him, that would care for him and help him and be kind to him, was strangely satisfying. Even people that would call him family. He remembered Harry’s new plushie and the actual flesh and blood mutt that had hunted Harry last year, hunted him and not touched a hair on his head. Harry had known he had been hunted by the mutt, but in the end, he had tried to protect him. He probably should have listened to the children and the wolf and their story, but he had always hated Black and long feared Lupin.
That was not important anymore. Black would be another who could help Harry and show him the kindness that had been sorely lacking during his earlier years. Severus didn’t doubt that Black would wish to come between Harry and himself, but surely even he would have enough brains to not come between a courting pair. Surely …
Severus should probably make some potions to heal the effect from the Dementors, at the very least, before mentioning Black to Harry, and via versa.
Severus nodded to what Miss Tonks had said, cast a wandless Tempus charm to check the time and got up. “I want to look in on Harry before I go to eat breakfast in the Great Hall. The elves will get you whatever you ask for, but Harry has to keep to the menu from Healer Tonks.”
“Don’t worry, Master Snape, I’m used to Mum’s sickroom rules.” She didn’t follow him into Harry’s room, but remained on the couch.
Severus knocked on the slightly ajar door. “Harry, may I enter?”
“Yes.” The voice was somewhat hoarse and stuffy, and Severus summoned a handkerchief which he handed Harry without remark. The pale, but almost bruise free face, was a bit puffy around the eyes, the eyes were red rimmed, and he still held onto the plushie dog, but now he wiped his face and let Severus banish the handkerchief again before looking up properly.
“Do you believe that you and Miss Tonks will get along well enough?”
“She seemed great,” Harry said hoarsely, he cleared his throat and tried again. “I have never … never …” He hugged the plushie dog closer to himself, looked at the little pile of things at the foot of the bed and then up at Severus with big eyes. “I don’t …” He stopped again.
“I hope you weren’t going to suggest that you don’t deserve the help or the consideration or the gifts, because you do, and much more besides. Even if it might take a while for you to truly comprehend that. It took me almost two years with a Mind Healer to admit to being just as worthy of compassion and understanding as any other person,” he admitted. “My father’s abuse and my mother’s indifference made it difficult for me to see my own worth. I hope that in time and with work, you will grow to see the same about yourself. For now, I have to leave for the Great Hall and breakfast. You will have yours with Miss Tonks. I will be by later and Miss Tonks knows how to get hold of me, if needed.”
“Yes, and thank you, Severus.”
Severus left his quarters while Harry and Miss Tonks discussed breakfast and what board game to try first.