The Worst Christmas
by TheRealXenocide

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the book series of that name, or anything related to it. I am not making any money off of this story. This is a story written just for fun.

Note: Based on some of my reviews, I think I need to clarify something. This story is NOT the start of a long, sprawling epic. It's just a "moment in time" fic. However, it is also a kind of sneak preview at a much larger fic that I do plan on writing.

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Chapter 2

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Tonks had guessed that Harry would retreat either to his guest room or the small practice Quidditch pitch in the courtyard, but she didn't find him in either place. Instead, she found his invisibility cloak in his room, and Seamus and Lavender near the pitch. Deciding that it wasn't her place to interrupt their lovemaking, she moved on in her search for Harry.

Her next idea for where Harry might be wasn't as much a 'where' as a 'what', and it would make it a bit more difficult to find him. She knew that Harry tended to wander when he needed to think. She recalled the story of how, after Sirius died, Harry had wandered the halls of Hogwarts. It was in one of those wandering that he ran across Luna. His conversation with her did more for him than anything else that had been tried, and was the spark that starting their dating during most of Harry's sixth year. It also solidified a habit for Harry of taking to his legs when he needed to think and couldn't fly.

That left Tonks with a problem, though. Walking around the halls of Malfoy Manor in the hopes of bumping into him didn't seem like a good idea. The place was big enough on the outside, but the various magical enlargements it had undergone thought the centuries had made the inside immense. She could literally walk for weeks and never see him.

"If only Moody had made it tonight, I could ask him to use his magical eye." Tonks grumbled to herself.

"Is you be addressing Dobby, miss?"

Tonks spun around, wand out, at the voice that had startled her. When she realized who it was, she lowered her wand. "Sorry about that, Dobby, but you surprised me."

"I is very sorry, miss. Dobby never meant to surprise the great Harry Potter's friend."

Tonks couldn't help but smile. She could just see Harry's face if he'd heard his small friend call him great again. Then something came to her. "Dobby, why are you here?" The elf started to slouch, which she'd learned from being around him during summers at Grimmauld Place was his reaction when he thought a witch or wizard was upset with him, so she tried to reassure him. "I'm sorry, but from all I'd heard about the way the Malfoy's treated you, I never would have expected you to come back."

"The headmaster Dumbledore asked Dobby if he'd like to come with Harry Potter, to help him avoid the bad places in this house, miss. Dobby came, of course. Too many bad, dark things here. But Dobby still knows this house, so Dobby is keeping Harry Potter safe."

A couple of ideas came to Tonks when she heard that. "Dobby, do you know where Harry is right now?"

"Yes, miss."

"Can you take me to him?"

To her surprise, the elf shook his head. "Harry Potter is upset, miss. He likes to be walking alone when he is like this."

Tonks wondered for a moment how to phrase this so Dobby would want to help her. "Dobby, I know why Harry's upset. He had a bad vision about Voldemort." When Dobby flinched, it occurred to her that she didn't anymore. "Harry thinks that Voldemort's going to try to kill me to get to him." The look on Dobby's face left Tonks with little doubt that he already knew about Harry's feelings. "He also told me that he loves me. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Yes, miss. Dobby was helping Harry Potter's friends give him a party for his birthday. Harry Potter had too much drinking, and said things he didn't want to have said."

"Dobby, That's why I need to talk to Harry. Will you take me to him?"

Dobby had to think for a moment. "Dobby will do it, miss." He took her hand in his. "It is best if you is holding your breath, miss." Tonks wasn't sure what he meant by that, but knew he wouldn't say it without meaning it. So she held her breath as asked. A second later, she wasn't where she had been.

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Harry was watching the clear night sky thought the window in the study he'd wandered into when he heard the 'pop' that meant that a house-elf had just arrived. And, as far as Harry knew, there was only one house-elf here tonight. His friend and 'mother hen', Dobby. "Hello, Dobby."

"Wotcher, Harry."

Harry spun around at the familiar, and very unexpected, greeting. "Tonks!?!" His voice cracked as he said that, and his cheeks reddened slightly.

"Dobby is leaving you two . . ."

"Wait, please." Tonks interrupted. "Dobby, would you do me a big favor. It just might help everyone stay alive."

Dobby's eyes seemed to somehow grow larger than their normal. "How is Dobby doing that, miss?"

"Go to Hermione. Tell her that I said we're already in a fortress, then start telling her how much you know about this house."

"It will not be easy, miss. But Dobby is a free elf. He will do what he can to help Harry Potter and his lady." With that, he vanished in a pop.

When Tonks turned to face Harry again, she couldn't read his face. "My lady?"

"He wouldn't bring me at first, so I told him a short version of what happened."

"Oh."

"It seems he already knew."

"How could he know?!? I never told him."

"He was helping with that birthday party, Harry." Harry winced. "Just how many people knew this before I did?"

He didn't hear any anger in her voice. Something inside him told him he should tell her. "The twins decided that I needed a different kind of 'coming-of-age' party than what Molly had planned, and scheduled it for the Saturday after my birthday. They got most of the D.A. to come to the party, along with Remus." Tonks looked surprised by that. "But most of them had left by the time I was too drunk to stop myself from saying that. I think it was just the twins, Remus, Seamus, and Justin left."

"Wait a minute." Tonks said. "The twins knew? Weren't you still dating Ginny?"

"Yeah, but they knew it was all but over already. Besides, they didn't want to risk her fury. When she told them not to interfere, she meant in ANY way."

Tonks shook her head, then decided to get back to what she came here for. "Harry, why didn't you tell me before?"

Harry looked at her like she'd gone mad. "Are you serious? Scrawny little seventeen-year-old me is supposed to go up to a woman seven years older than I am and just tell her I love her. And not just any woman, but a gorgeous woman whom I need to work with AND whom I consider as much my friend as Ron and Hermione."

"Yeah, well, when you put it like that." Tonks said, trying to catch the dry side of his wit. When she saw she'd missed, she moved on. "Harry, I know you well enough to know when to take you seriously. We can't go back and change it, but I want you to understand that you can trust me with things. Things as big as this."

Harry looked her straight in the eyes. "What would you have said?"

"Haven't a clue. But I know what I'm going to say right now." She led him to where a couple of chairs were close to each other, and sat down. When he took the hint and sat, she continued. "Harry, I'm going to be completely honest, but I need you to let me finish before you say anything."

Harry couldn't help noticing the change in her tone. The normal lightheartedness was almost gone, replaced by a seriousness that he didn't generally ascribe to her. This, more than anything else, decided Harry's answer. "Of course."

"Until you said that, I honestly hadn't let myself think about you like that. Not because of you, but because I always figured I needed somebody older than me. As Remus says, somebody to settle me down. And before you ask, I haven't felt more than friendship for Remus since a crush when I was eight. But while I was looking for you, I started thinking about it. What I've come up with is this. Most of the things I've been looking for in an older guy, you have. In many ways, you're far more mature than your age. Yet, in others, you're still a youngster. While you're not the classic hunk, you're far more handsome than you give yourself credit for. You're one of the best friends I've ever had. And mum used to tell me that when I married, it should be to a friend that I also loved." Harry's face showed his surprise when she said the word married. "I'm just saying what mum said. After all, you've seen Ron and Hermione." Harry nodded. "I know it doesn't always work out that way, but it can. I guess what I'm getting at is this. I don't know if I love you yet, but our friendship is the closest thing I've ever known. I'd like to find out if it could be more. If you're willing, I'd like to start dating you."

"Wh - what? Dating? Tonks, Voldemort's coming to kill us, and you're talking about dating?"

"If you're going to be a defeatist . . ."

"Dammit, Tonks, this isn't a joke."

Tonks sighed. "I know. Honestly, Harry, if you hadn't had that vision, you'd probably be right. But we've been warned. I think that we have a very good chance now."

"You really think I'm ready to face him?!? Because you know the Prophecy, Tonks. If he comes, it has to be me."

"I don't know if you're ready, Harry. But between Dumbledore, Ron, and Kingsley, they should be able to make us a tough enough target to make Voldemort call it off."

"Maybe. I did get the feeling that he wasn't ready for a full scale battle yet. But he desperately wants one of us dead."

"I understand that, Harry. But I need you to have faith in your friends. We'll get through this the way you always have. Together." She decided that it was time to change tactics. "Because that's the only way you'll get to start dating me."

Harry's first reaction was to hang his head in what looked like defeat. Then he looked at her, a small smile fighting with incredulity for control of his face. "You really mean that, don't you? I mean, I know what you said. But it just seems impossible to me that a woman like you would want to go out with me."

"Right. The first thing I'm going to have to do is work on your confidence." Tonks said, clearly beginning to get annoyed. "You've had three girlfriends that I know of. All of them pretty, and two of them good people. Why is this so difficult for you to accept?"

"Did you forget that all three of them approached me about it first? Or that the two "good people" are both younger than me? Or how the older one was only seeing me for a connection to her dead boyfriend? You, however, are older, intimidatingly beautiful, and probably have far more experience with guys than I do with girls."

Tonks found herself enjoying Harry's description of her until the last bit. "Hey! You think I'm some kind of . . . scarlet woman of something?"

"No, but considering the only time I got past kissing with ANY girl was by accident, it wouldn't be difficult."

Tonks had to fight her laughter at the memory of the event Harry was referring to. At the birthday party Molly had thrown him, Ginny dragged Harry out to dance to a fast song that she loved. Harry's two left feet got the better of both of them, landing them in a heap on the floor less than thirty seconds later. In the process of trying to break his fall, Harry's hand landed squarely on Ginny's breast. His extreme embarrassment and guilt were all that saved him from Molly's wrath. The twin's still tease Harry about it, but only when they know Ginny's not in the building.

"Really? That's the only time?" Tonks said, surprised. "I guess I'll just have to be your teacher, then."

"Is that why you want to date me? Pity?"

She nearly snapped at him, until she saw in his face that he was joking. Instead, she swatted his shoulder. "Feeling better I see?"

"A little. I'm still worried."

"You wouldn't be you if you weren't. I also know you don't convince that easily." She stood up. "Up with you."

"Why? What are you up to?"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "I wanted to explain this in another way."

"What other . . ." This time, it was Harry's turn to be interrupted by a kiss. Only this time, she waited until he began to return the kiss. A moment later, she broke it. "I don't kiss just anybody like that, Harry. I'm serious about wanting us to start dating. Just accept it, alright?"

As the shock faded, Harry wore a look that Tonks realize she'd almost never seen on him before. He was happy. "I believe you. I just never expected you to be interested. It's going to take me a little while to get used to it."

"Anything I could do to speed that along?"

"I don't know. Depends on what you've got planned, Professor Tonks."

At first, she didn't understand why he'd called her that. She wasn't a professor, at Hogwarts or anywhere else. Then she remembered her earlier remark about being Harry's teacher about women. "All right. First, I'm going to teach you how to kiss a girl senseless. Then, if you figure that out fast enough, we'll move on to part one in the use of hands."

"I like the sound of . . ." Harry stopped in mid-sentence, and frowned. "Wait, fast enough? Did Dumbledore put us on a time limit?"

Tonks knew that the idea of being manipulated by Dumbledore was still a sore spot with Harry. "No, Harry. I was just playing along with YOUR professor joke." Then she smiled a soft smile that Harry hoped very much that she'd never again show anyone but him. "I was going to give both lessons anyway."

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"But Molly, you know as well as I that Harry loathes invasions of his privacy even more than being manipulated. While we might convince him that giving Nymphadora no limits with him is not the same as manipulation, asking Alastor to use his magical eye to check on him would be a blatant invasion of his privacy."

"I know, Albus. And I know what we told Tonks. But Dobby came here over an hour ago. You know how Harry is when he's depressed. And I can't recall ever seeing him quite this bad."

Dumbledore sighed. "And I have only seen him come close to this twice. But given what we now know is coming very soon, I do not believe it is wise for us to risk antagonizing him."

"Then I'll play the bad guy, Albus." Moody cut in. "I'll tell them it was part of a general sweep of the place when I arrived. I was thinking about doing one anyway, so it's not a lie."

"Would it do any good to tell you not to, Alastor?" Dumbledore asked.

"Only at wand point."

"Very well. But I must ask that you not linger."

Without further delay, Moody's eye began a very controlled rotation of the Manor, starting at ground level. He quickly cleared his throat. "Minerva, while I would suggest leaving them alone for now, the next time you see the Brown girl, have a discreet talk with her about contraceptive charms."

"What?" Professor McGonagall said at first, not expecting that. Then it hit her what he'd said. "Oh. Yes, of course."

"Way to go, Seamus!" Fred responded to the news.

"Behave, Fred." Molly snapped.

"Me? I'm not the one with Lavender."

Moody wasn't paying attention to them. He simply continued his sweep. When he arrived at the third floor study, he said "Found them." This was quickly followed by "Moving on" as his eye resumed its movement.

"Alastor Moody, what did you see?" Molly demanded.

"The boy's fine, Molly." Moody answered.

"Is that it, Moody?" Fred asked. "Or is Harry reading from Seamus's play book."

"Fred, I thought I told you to behave."

"Besides," Ginny cut in, "it's Harry you're talking about. He's so bashful with girls, you can barely get a kiss out of him unless you start it."

"Not that is any business of any of you," Moody interrupted sharply, "but it would seem that you're both wrong." The look on his face prevented any further comment or question from the younger group.

"Very well." Dumbledore said. "As I believe Kingsley, Ronald, Draco, and Dobby have the planning for defending Malfoy Manor well in hand, I suggest we begin making arrangements for bringing the obvious targets here. I am sure that will be work enough until Harry and Nymphadora return and give us a full list of those targeted."

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Note: That's the end of this story. As I said before, this story is NOT the start of a long, sprawling epic. It's just a "moment in time" fic. I do plan on writing a longer fic, which will include many of the events touched on here. However, that story will start at the end of fifth year, and full year-and-a-half before this story is set.

Consider this story is a sneak preview of my style and preferences.