Deus Nova: Chapter 1

The morning sun scattered through the large and rustic yellow-tainted windows of a charming coffee shop, illuminating every crevice with trickling light. Its stillness reflected the silence of the street, where few were awake so early in the morning. The old redbrick walls glowed with the warmth of dawn, and the smooth surfaces of the round wooden tables shimmered brighter than the stars that had just faded. The only noticeable presence in this little shop was a young raven-haired boy, who looked no older than fifteen, slowly wiping at the counter. His pale skin and average build would seem ordinary if not for his eyes: two bright emeralds sparkling with the dim sunlight. Although barely visible under his messy hair, the boy had a distinct scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, which appeared as though a recent wound, even though it was an old scar.

The gentle tinkling of the wind chimes signaled the arrival of the day's first customer. The boy rushed over to welcome his usual morning guest, but he was surprised to find that there were actually two people standing by the door of the shop so early in the morning.

The first, standing at the front, was a chubby old lady wearing an overlarge brown fur jacket and a felt hat, a combination that seemed too strange, even without the context of the hot summer climate, though this was a strangeness he recognized and grew to love. The person behind her was a beautiful young woman, wearing a very tight leather jacket and a pair of matching leather pants that hugged her legs tightly, with a full head of disheveled pink hair that reached down to the base of her neck. The two customers clearly did not know each other, and seemed to have no interest in doing so anytime soon.

"Mrs. Hudson," the boy smiled warmly as he pulled a chair by the counter for the elderly lady, "Your usual spot."

Turning his attention to the unfamiliar young woman, the boy nodded in greeting. "Good morning, miss. Take a seat wherever you want, and I will be with you shortly."

The young woman smiled brightly at the boy. After curiously wandering around the entire shop as though conducting an inspection, she chose a seat next to a window opposite to the main counter where the elderly woman sat and focused her eyes on some distant wonder out of the window into the street.

Getting back to Mrs. Hudson, the boy went behind the counter. "You are never a minute late. Would you like the usual, Mrs. Hudson?" Seeing the nod from the old lady, the boy poured her a cup of coffee, added three tablespoons of sugar and a streak of skimmed milk, and handed the cup to the old lady. The young shopkeeper quickly reached behind him to grab an already prepared bag of baked goods and turned to Mrs. Hudson, who accepted them graciously.

"Mr. Fitzroy, your coffee is as good as ever," the lady said as she placed her cup back on the plate, "The way you make it is almost magical."

The young boy blushed and nodded. "Please call me Harry, Mrs. Hudson. Do I have to remind you that every morning?"

"No, my dear boy," the jovial old lady chuckled warmly with a shake of her head, "I guess I'm too accustomed to having your father in the store. One day the young Fitzroy will take over the senior Fitzroy, although that time has not yet come to pass." Mrs. Hudson then leaned in and whispered with a grin: "And between you and me, I am not as fond of the latter."

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Hudson. But I don't think the old man is about let me take over anytime soon. Wait, I will be right back."

Harry quickly wiped his hands on his red apron and walked over to the window seat where the beautiful young woman was situated. She seemed to have taken interest in the conversation he had with Mrs. Hudson earlier, but her gaze was still fixed outside the window, as though transfixed by some wonderful scenery.

"What can I get you miss..."

"Tonks, just Tonks," the lady replied with a wide grin as she fixed her attention on the boy. Harry shuddered as Tonks's eyes traveled up and down his body, almost predatorily.

"Ok, miss… ugh, Tonks, how may I help you today?"

"You can start by taking off that apron," Tonks teased, "I bet you look so much better without that big red thing hiding those abs." Seeing Harry face flushing as red as his apron, Tonks laughed. "I'm only joking, Mr. Fitzroy. The broomstick design of your logo looks good actually! I would like an espresso with steamed milk, and an egg-a-muffin. Make it choppy."

"Coming straight up, Ms. Tonks." The still embarrassed boy grinned at the antics of the ebullient young woman. It has been too long since he heard somebody order a latte by asking for 'espresso with steamed milk,' but he did enjoy the change for once.

Getting back to his counter, Harry expertly prepared the breakfast egg and muffin, which he had cooked shortly before the customers arrived, and began assembling the young woman's latte. Taking his time, he slowly sculpted the frothing milk on the to resemble the head of a rabbit. With two little foam paws on the rim of the cup, the rabbit looked as though it was pulling itself out of a warm creamy bath. The details on the bunny were especially realistic – too realistic. The head and ears were not flatly drawn on the surface but were sculpted from the foam to protrude from the cup.

Harry carefully carried the latte and the breakfast egg and muffin to the girl, who looked very impatient, and gentley placed the items on her table.

Tonks stared at the boy with mild annoyance. "You took sweet your time! There is only one other customer, and... SWEET MERLIN THAT IS A CUTE BUNNY!"

Whatever complaints the impatient lady had in mind vanished, and in its place, was the awe and excitement of a five-year-old girl seeing a foam bunny for the first time.

"It's so fluffy! I love bunnies – jackrabbits to be specific - they are my favourite animal. I guess I must forgive you this time, Harry, but if you call me anything other than Tonks next time, I will have to kill you." Harry grinned at the girl's mocking threat but was a bit surprised to see a sliver of seriousness in her expression. This girl was getting stranger and stranger. Never had Harry heard of the expression 'Sweet Merlin', but the quirkiness of this girl made Harry enjoy her presence even further. Taking the now empty tray under his arm, he smiled and turned around to get back to his counter.

"Wait," Tonks said as she grabbed the edge of Harry's apron, "Come sit with me."

Nervously Harry looked at Mrs. Hudson. He very much desired to agree to the request of the girl, but there was another customer in the shop, and Harry was not about to let the shop's image and his professionalism down.

"As much as I would love to, I am on my shift right now, and there are other..."

"Just sit with the girl, you fool," interjected Mrs. Hudson with a hearty chuckle across the shop, "You'll be seeing plenty of these old bones… more than you will ever want to I assure you!."

Smiling gratefully at Mrs. Hudson, the boy sat opposite to Tonks but had to divert his gaze to avoid his embarrassment. The girl was resting her chin on the table and looked at the bunny with her eyes level to the rim of the cup. Her pursed lips rapidly opened and closed, reminding Harry of a goldfish. Chuckling to himself lightly, he turned his eyes to her flamboyant pink hair.

Hearing his chuckles, Tonks lifted her eyes menacingly and gazed into the deep emerald eyes of the boy. "You have a problem with my hair?"

Taken aback by the abruptness of the question, Harry quickly shook his head. "No, I think its brilliant." He realized this must be a sensitive topic for her to be this self-conscious, a feeling he was overly familiar with.

A few small speckles on red appeared on her face, but her expression remained nonchalant.

"You really think so?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah," Harry smiled, answering honestly, "Do people usually have an issue with your hair?"

"They say they don't, but I can tell that they are usually lying," Tonks shrugged.

"Well, am I lying?"

Tonks playfully squinted at the boy, eyeing his face closely.

"Hmm... I think you're good. I've been trying to decide on a new colour actually, but I can't seem to make up my mind." she answered.

"I think red would look better on you," Harry blurted, realizing the comment might seem a bit rude, he looked at her apologetically, but Tonks didn't seem to find it that way.

Tonks sank back into her chair and tapped her finger on her chain. After a short moment of contemplation, she grinned at the boy.

"I'll take that into consideration," the pink haired girl said as she returned her gaze back to the foam bunny, "Did I tell you that you're really evil. I mean really really evil."

The bespectacled boy blinked in confusion, which caused the girl to burst into a fit of giggles.

Tonks reached for the boy's hand and stroked it gently. "How can you expect me to drink it when there is such a cute bunny sitting there. It would be like killing it just to take a sip. I am not heartless enough to do it." The girl lifted the back of her hand to her forehead, feigning a dramatic faint.

"That should be easy to solve," Harry said with a chuckle. Inhaling sharply, the boy blew on the foam bunny, which was level to Tonks's face, and dispersed the bunny into several large foam chunks which splattered everywhere on the unsuspecting girl.

Yelping in surprise, the Tonks closed her eyes and suppressed a giggle, but upon hearing Harry's laughs, she broke into a fit of laughter of her own. Quickly wiping her face with the back of her palms, Tonks crossed her arms and pouted.

"Is that any way to treat one of your customers?" the pink haired girl teased.

"That's standard procedure for every new customer," Harry answered with mock seriousness.

While eyeing the boy in intrigue, Tonks took a sip of the latte. Her eyes widened as the rich flavor and the pleasant aroma washed over her.

"Wow, this is good!" Tonks exclaimed as she stared at Harry, "I wasn't expecting that from a little shop like this, no offense. Well, I definitely wasn't expecting somebody as young as you to be running the store."

Harry chuckled at the straightforwardness of the eccentric girl. Harry enjoyed the company of those who do not try to hide their thoughts. "Thank you very much. This little store has been passed down for four generations, and our coffee is the best in London. My parents actually own the store, but they are currently on vacation... somewhere."

"Aw, so those meanies left a little boy all by himself," Tonks pursed her lips teasingly.

Harry chuckled and shook his head, not taking her teasing too seriously. "Well, they have been taking these strange vacations since I was eleven, leaving the store for me during the summer."

"What do you mean by 'strange vacations'?" Tonks asked in genuine intrigue.

"Well, I don't really know where they go… Every time I ask, they simply refuse to tell me," Harry shrugged.

Tonks, clearly fascinated, leaned in with anticipation. "Is this normal for mugg... your family?"

"I don't think this is normal at all," Harry answered, oblivious to her slip of the tongue, "The strangest part is the postcards they send. Every time they travel to a new city, they somehow manage to find these postcards of the most insignificant landmarks, and there is usually no text to explain where they actually are."

"Why do they do that?" Tonks asked with fascination.

"I don't really know," the boy frowned and answered honestly, "But I do get a souvenir if I guess their location correctly. Did you know there is a small town in Canada with only one tree? It took me three weeks of searching through geography books to find out the meaning behind the postcard of that darn tree."

"Wow, I wouldn't even bother with the postcards if I were you," Tonks grinned, "I would just enjoy the alone time with somebody special if you know what I mean."

Harry stared at her blankly, clearly not understanding what she was saying, or pretending not to anyway. "Well I'm usually very occupied by school work, so these little puzzles are pretty fun from time to time."

"How old are you, Harry?"

"Just turned Fifteen," the boy answered, "How old are you?"

"My age is beside the point!" Tonks said quickly, eying the boy opposite to her menacingly when his convenient cough sounded a lot like the word hypocrite, "There shouldn't be that much work for you to do over the summer at this age! You should enjoy the youth!"

"Well, I don't really have the time to do anything between working at the shop and completing my studies."

"Why not?" Tonks asked.

"I skipped a few grades," Harry said uncomfortably with hesitation, "I have been attending a pretty challenging school since the last school year."

"Oh, perhaps I've heard of your school?" Tonks pressed.

"Maybe," Harry glanced away, "Are you still in school?"

"I asked you the question!" Tonks grinned wickedly and pointed an accusing finger. "And I expect all my questions answered, if you know what's good for you. So, your school, Harry?"

"Oxford…" Harry shifted unnaturally.

Whatever Tonks had in mind was nowhere close to the answer she heard. Her messy pink hair seemed to spike up instantaneously like a startled cat..

"Are you... one of those geniuses or something?" Tonks asked, "Like that guy with the puffy white hair who sticks out his tongue all the time?"

"I'm no genius, just different," Harry answered while fidgeting, surprised that she used an Einstein reference, "What about you, Tonks. What do you do?"

Tonks was surprised at how defensive Harry suddenly became. He answered all her previous questions and teases lightheartedly, but somehow she had struck an open nerve. Sensing his discomfort and desperately obvious attempt to change the topic, Tonks opened her mouth, but hesitated for a brief moment before beginning."I'm a... detective. Just finished my three years of training, and now I'm on my first official assignment."

"Wow, I wasn't expecting someone as young as you to be a detective," Harry teased, relieved by the change of topic, "Remind me, how old are you again?"

"Prat!" Tonks laughed, "If I hurt your feelings earlier with the age thing, I apologize… NOT! And that is nowhere close to asking a proper lady about her age! The... Oh Merlin look at the time! I have to go!"

The panicking girl sprang from her chair and chugged down the remaining latte. In a quick motion, she placed a ten-pound note on the table, grabbed her egg-a-muffin, and broke into a sprint out the door, but tripped on the door frame clumsily. After comically regaining her balance by swaying on one leg, she ran across the street and disappeared from Harry's view.

With a warm smile and a shake of his head, Harry picked up her plates and the ten-pound note before wiping down the table. Upon returning to the counter, Mrs. Hudson got up to leave.

"Pleasure as always, Harry."

"The pleasure is always mine, Mrs. Hudson."

"Wonder if Nymphadora will come again tomorrow," the chubby lady muttered as she wobbled to the door.

Although he didn't hear what Mrs. Hudson said, and even if he did he wouldn't recognize the name, his thoughts were exactly the same.