Tonks took several steps back, stopping only when she felt her back slap against a tree behind her. Venom's gaze snapped towards her. Tonks was barely aware of Fleur staring at her as well. Venom stared at her for several moments before casually tossing what remained of Fleur's mother away, not even looking as the headless corpse splatted against a nearby tree before falling to the ground, stone-cold dead.
"Tonks," Came Venom's voice, as dark and deep as Tonks remembered it. Yet she didn't hear it the same now. Now, she couldn't help but hear a small change in the voice, the same pitch that Harry usually spoke in. Another horrifying reminder for her that this Venom was none other than Harry Potter, pretty much her best friend and the man that she had tried hard not to fall for. "Tonks," Venom said once more as his tentacles carried him forward until they retracted into his body, dropping him onto the floor. "Are you okay?" He asked, a touch of concern somehow mixed with his demonic voice.
"H...Harry?" She asked nervously, unsure what to do with her wand. Every single bit of training and instincts told her to raise her wand, hex quick and fast and then book it out of there as soon as she could. Yet she hadn't aimed it at him, perhaps because she knew that he was resistant to spells or maybe because she was scared, perhaps because she wasn't as brave as she thought. No. No, she knew exactly why she wasn't raising her wand. This was Harry, someone she couldn't even dream of hurting, not again.
"Venom," Corrected Venom, who reached his hand out towards her. Tonks barely restrained herself from flinching as Venom's hand came near her head. She closed her eyes and froze when she felt the hand lightly place itself on her head. She slowly opened her eyes as the hand began patting her. "Tonksie," Venom said fondly. "We haven't talked in ages, it's good to see you face to face. I...wait, Harry wants to talk to you. See ya later." Venom pulled his hand back, and a couple of seconds later, he was replaced by one green-eyed, Harry James Potter. The wizard and witch stared at each other for several moments, neither knowing what to say.
"Hi, Tonks," Harry said eventually, being the first to break the silence. "So, how are you doing today?"
"Are you shitting me?!" Tonks exploded angrily. "How am I doing?! Harry Potter, in case you hadn't noticed, I just found out that you're Venom! You're the guy that I've been chasing for over a year!"
"Guys," Fleur corrected as she walked over. "They're quite fussy about it," She commented lightly as she stopped next to Tonks. "Believe me, it was a shock for me to find out as well."
"And just how long did she know?!" Tonks demanded, staring hard at Harry.
"Not that long," Harry said with a small shrug. "We only told her a little bit before the third task."
"Oh, Merlin on a unicycle, this makes so much sense!" Tonks groaned suddenly, rubbing her face with her hands. "I was wondering just how exactly you could beat V...Voldemort like you claimed, and now I realise, Venom helped you out."
"I did most of the work myself, thank you very much," Harry said in a slightly offended voice. "But yeah, he did help me out."
"You're welcome," Echoed Venom's voice before a black tentacle shot out from behind Harry's back, the tip of which shifted into Venom's head. "Hello, Tonks," Venom greeted, handing just over Harry's shoulder.
"O...kay," Tonks took in a deep breath as she stared between Harry and the tentacle head that was coming out of him. "I think I am long, long overdue for some very, very necessary explanations. Harry, you can start. What is that?"
"Tonks, meet Venom," Harry said with a small sigh. "Venom, meet Tonks."
"Hi, Tonks," Venom said enthusiastically. One other tentacle came out of Harry's body and waved at her before retracting back in.
"Hi," Tonks said weakly. "Now, no offence, but I'd like to ask you something, and I'm just going to be blunt about it. What the hell are you?"
"He's family," Harry cut in. "My family. I met him the same day I met you, actually." Harry revealed. "It was rough at first, but now...I can't really imagine life without him. He saved me, Tonks, multiple times."
"Those human traffickers!" Gasped Tonks. "I read the reports. It was you both times, wasn't it?"
"Ah, that was fun." Venom said with an unsettling grin.
"Then at the World Cup, you bit people's heads off," Tonks said to Venom, gulping slightly.
"Fuel in the tank." Venom's grin got bigger. "Besides, they were Death Eaters, Tonks, we all know it. Who better than for us to eat?"
"They saved me then," Fleur spoke up. "It was how I met them both, actually, though I didn't know it was Harry at the time."
"Not just you," Tonks thought about the aftermath of the attack. She had seen the reports and knew that Venom had, in fact, saved several victims from falling into the hands of those villainous cowards who had nothing better to do than attack civilians for fun. "I presume he's been helping you out ever since then." She said to Harry.
"The magical talent is all Harry; I've simply enhanced his physical abilities," Venom said, sounding quite proud of Harry.
"We're a team, Tonks," Harry replied. "He can't survive without a host, I wouldn't have made it through this year without him. He's been invaluable to me, to say the least."
"I suppose that's... wait, the Dursleys!" Tonks said suddenly, causing Harry to stiffen while Venom's grin somehow got even wider. "You...you killed them?" Tonks asked quietly, staring between the two of them.
"They got off lucky, in my opinion," Harry said with a small scowl.
"But Harry, the dark lord's evil followers are one thing, but the Dursleys..." Tonks trailed off, shaking her head in disbelief. "...I know they weren't the nicest of people, but..."
"They were just as bad as death eaters," Venom growled suddenly. "If you don't believe me, let me show you."
"What are you...ahh!" Tonks gasped as a tentacle shot out from Harry's chest and attached itself to Tonks's head.
"Venom." Harry blinked hard while Fleur froze. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Showing her a new perspective," Venom explained. "Yours, to be specific." He added before the tentacle released Tonks and retracted back into Harry.
"What did you do?" A still confused Fleur asked.
"I showed her Harry's memories, the vital ones anyway," Venom answered. "The important ones, the ones that explain everything."
"You can do that?"
"Wait," Harry frowned deeply as he stared at Venom. "You didn't show her that one, did you?"
"No, I thought that would be best left for us," Venom told Harry, who nodded. He wasn't exactly pleased with Tonks seeing all of his memories, but he reckoned that they could explain things better than he could. He'd still like to keep the memory of meeting his mother for himself.
"Tonks?" Harry spoke to the girl, who looked frozen in place.
"She's looking quite pale," Fleur noted in a worried tone. Harry opened his mouth to respond when Tonks suddenly turned to the side, bent forward and loudly emptied the contents of her stomach to the floor.
"Tonks," A voice called to her, sounding quite a long distance away. "Tonks," The voice called once more, sounding a tad bit closer. A sound followed it this time, it sounded like...was it dancing? Clicking? Was someone clicking their fingers in front of her?
"Tonks," Another voice called out for her. This one sounded more feminine than the last one. Somehow pretty, how the hell did a voice sound pretty? She wasn't sure, but apparently it was possible.
"Tonks," Another voice spoke up, a third voice, though this one seemed more like a growl. "Tonksie, wakey, wakey." It called for her.
"Try pinching her," The first voice suggested.
"OW!" Tonks yelped, eyes opening instantly as she looked down at the hand that had pinched her right breast. Fleur removed her hand and stared questioningly at Harry, who stared back at the veela girl with a slightly exasperated look. After a calming mental countdown from five, he spoke to her.
"That wasn't the spot I had in mind when I said pinch her," Harry said slowly.
"You didn't specify," Fleur said unapologetically, only to yelp when she felt herself get pinched in the same spot where she had pinched Tonks. She looked to see Tonks, who had pulled her hand back.
"Ask next time, please," Tonks sent the girl a mild glare before looking around. She recognised where she was after a few seconds, she realised that she was in the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, one of the private rooms there. She was currently sitting on a chair around a round table. Sitting on her right was Fleur, sitting opposite her was Harry, Venom's tentacle-head was out again and was currently positioned so that he was hovering above the chair on her left. "What happened? How did I get here?"
"You kind of went all haywire," Harry said, gesturing to her head. "So, we brought you here, had to sneak you in so Madam Rosemerta didn't end up asking too many questions. I think she thinks that Fleur and I just came here to snog."
"Alone in a room with a girl like me, and all you can think of is snogging, so unimaginative you are, Harry," Fleur said in a mock-disappointed voice. "There are far more fun things we can do than that."
"It's called foreplay," Harry shot back before turning to Tonks. "So, are you alright?" He asked in a concerned voice.
"I've just discovered that my best friend is housing another being in his body, and I've just received a fuck-load of memories that make me want to learn necromancy so I can revive your relatives and kill them myself," Tonks responded slowly before taking a deep breath. "All in all, not the worst experience of my life, surprisingly."
"This is not the worst experience of your life?" Fleur asked curiously.
"There was once an incident involving a rabid chipmunk and some fireworks," Tonks said in a tone that quite clearly said 'don't ask', so naturally Fleur looked like she wanted nothing more than to ask. "Damn, this has been a long day." She groaned.
"Tell me about it," Harry snorted. "Fleur and I had only just taken a walk after escaping the hospital wing when her bitch of a mother attacked us,"
"She actually tasted quite nice," Venom informed Fleur. "Tasted like white chocolate."
"And...just why did she attack you both?" Tonks couldn't help but ask.
"There are only three types of men when it comes to my mother." Fleur said darkly. "Those she is not interested in, those that she is and those that she wants dead. Harry was never in the first category, he was also the first person to ever intentionally refuse her, so he found himself pushed into the third and final category. She wasn't happy either about Harry being interested in me and not her. So she brought a small portion of her lovers and attacked us. I was holding a few of them off while she and the rest took on Harry."
"Old no-nose was tougher, but I admit I didn't expect her to be so fast when she turned into her veela form," Harry confessed. "I didn't know veela's were that physically strong either. I felt like my head was about to pop."
"No one messes with your head, inside or out, while I'm here," Venom said firmly.
"Thanks." Harry snorted amusedly before turning to Tonks. "So, Tonks, I suppose I am under arrest then?" He asked lightly.
"I...I...no, no, Harry, you're not under arrest," Tonks sighed deeply. "I am not arresting you. I wouldn't arrest you even if I could."
"I wouldn't fight you, Tonks," Harry pointed out.
"It doesn't matter. I can't and won't arrest you, Harry," Tonks said firmly.
"Wait, what do you mean 'can't arrest me'?" Harry frowned.
"Today's been a long day, Harry," Tonks sighed once more. "I...I kind of lost my job earlier." She confessed.
"What?" Harry and Venom asked at the same time in matching cold tones.
"And just how exactly did that happen?" Fleur asked, expertly ignoring her boyfriend and his crazed monster.
"I basically barged into a meeting with four of the biggest players in the ministry," Tonks began explaining slowly in a pained voice. "The Minister of Magic was there along with his toad-faced, cunt of a secretary. My two bosses were there as well. I tried to insist that that V...Voldemort was back, and I was basically told to shut up and get out. I argued with them, and then I got suspended. I thought that was it until Umbridge gave me an offer."
"What offer?" Venom asked. Tonks stared at him for a moment before answering.
"She wanted me to spy on you, Harry," Tonks revealed, surprising everyone. "Basically offered me a promotion if I did it, made it seem like all I had to do to move up in the world was report everything you were doing to the Ministry. She told me that in front of the Minister, the Head Auror and even old Bones herself. The whole meeting, I had hoped that Bones would say something, speak up...but she didn't. So I 'politely' told Umbridge to do one, and now here I am, jobless and going through so many emotions that I can't even tell what I'm feeling right now."
"Oh, Tonks, we're so sorry," Harry said genuinely. "You don't deserve that."
"It's fine, Harry," Tonks said, waving him off. "Fuck those pricks anyway, if being an auror means I have to keep working for them then I'm glad I got fired. I wasn't doing much good there anyway, I...I joined because I thought I was helping people. But I wasn't, not really. Thought I could make a difference, but that never happened. I looked up to Bones, you know, she was one of my heroes. I thought for sure that she'd be more concerned with doing what was right instead of playing politics."
"Politics are important," Fleur said diplomatically.
"Yeah, but they should take a backseat when a war starts popping up," Tonks said firmly. "Besides, she was willing to follow along with Fudge's inane orders. He basically ordered that they investigate everything but ignore anything that could have proved you were right, Harry. They would have just ignored any and all evidence that Voldemort was back and that Fudge's rich, pureblood buddies were with him. I reckon Fudge probably wouldn't have even let them investigate if you hadn't publicly come back with two dead bodies."
"What explanation does the man have for those two bodies anyway?" Fleur couldn't help but ask. "People don't just disappear in school tournaments and come back with a couple of bodies?"
"One and a half bodies," Venom corrected her gently.
"I don't know," Tonks shrugged. "But they're just going to ignore Harry's testimony until they find something stupid enough that people can believe or until they...oh shit, they might try and pin it on you, Harry. Say that you murdered them both."
"I've got Venom in my body and your dad in my corner, Tonks, I'm not worried," Harry said dismissively. "Besides, even if we did murder them..."
"Which we surprisingly did not," Venom cut in. "Well, not the woman anyway,"
"Then there's still the matter of me suddenly ending up in a place with both of them," Harry continued. "I didn't go there intentionally, and they can't prove that I did. That's a kidnapping, I acted in self-defence. Besides, I could always just say that Voldemort did both."
"They have ways to make sure you're not lying, Harry," Tonks pointed out softly.
"Ways that won't work with him around," Harry countered, gesturing to Venom, who grinned proudly.
"I've always wondered," Fleur frowned thoughtfully. "Is that how you resisted my allure? Because of Venom?"
"Not entirely," Venom answered. "Harry was already capable of resisting your allure; with my help, he is able to resist much more."
"Hmm," Fleur seemed satisfied by that answer if the smile on her face was any indication.
"So...what now?" Tonks couldn't help but ask. "I know you were acting in self-defence, but there are a lot of people dead in the forest now, and given recent events, that's not a good look for you, Harry."
"Only if they find out," Harry said with a small smirk. "We vanished all blood there and had the acromantulas take care of the bodies, they won't say anything to anyone, not that many people are willing to ask them."
"The acromantulas?" Tonks blinked. "You mean those massive, horse-sized spiders? Why on earth would they stay silent for you?"
"Because they know better than to disobey us," Venom said with a small chuckle.
"It's a bit of a story," Harry told Tonks. "I'll tell you later, given that I'm now not destined to spend a lot of time breaking out of Azkaban. So, what's happening now?"
"I don't know, I guess I'm going to have to look for a job now," Tonks frowned. "It's a shame, I was saving to get my own place."
"You know, Sirius has got plenty of Black family properties that he wants nothing to do with," Harry responded. "You could always ask him."
"I don't really want charity, Harry," Tonks frowned.
"Consider it a gift for all the years of presents he missed when he was in Azkaban," Harry smirked. "Truth be told, Tonks, if you seem interested, then he'll probably toss one of the property papers at you. He's really not a fan of his family."
"That's because they're all nutters," Tonks responded at once.
"Present company included?" Harry asked teasingly.
"Of course not, I'm the pinnacle of perfection," Tonks said easily.
"You know that you included your mother in that?"
"So what? She's a nutter too," Tonks responded at once.
"Better than mine at least," Commented Fleur.
"I...I can't believe I didn't ask, are you okay?" Tonks asked Fleur. "Your...well, I know you don't like her, but your mother just died."
"That woman is nothing more than a monster in disguise," Fleur shook her head. "The things I've seen her do, the things she has put my father through, I dare say the world is better off without her. I lost all love for her long ago."
"Tonks, you're a good person, but you don't seem to realise how lucky you have it with your parents," Harry told her. "Most people don't, not really. Your mother, for all of her faults, would die before hurting you."
"Our relatives were not the same," Fleur let out a deep breath. "Blood does not make the family, Tonks."
"I'm sorry, guys," Tonks said sincerely. "Neither of you deserves what you got."
"Neither do you," Harry replied. "You deserve to be working as an auror, making a difference, yet you've lost your job because of the same people who are going to toss this country into the crapper. All because you tried to do the right thing."
"There is one place that Tonks could work if she's looking for a new job," Venom spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him while he levelled his gaze on Harry.
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Harry asked in a disbelieving tone.
"I am," Venom said evenly.
"That wouldn't work," Harry shook his head.
"Why not?" Venom asked.
"It just...well..." Harry trailed off as a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "...Well...actually, I suppose I could see it."
"Told you,"
"But what about..."
"It'll be fine,"
"And the -"
"I wouldn't worry about it."
"Excuse me," Tonks cut in. "What exactly are you two talking about?"
"We'll get back to you on that," Harry said before turning to Fleur. "What about you?"
"Well, my father is soon about to discover his wife is missing, I'm hoping to use the opportunity to make him see some home truths," Fleur admitted. "After that, I think I will try to come here."
"You want to come back into a future war zone?" Harry couldn't help but ask.
"Well, you're here, aren't you?" She asked in return with a roll of her eyes before turning to Tonks. "And you, I would like you to please look after him until I get back, both of them please."
"That's an impossible task and you know it," Tonks snorted. "But I'll try,"
"Great, they're ganging up on us now," Harry muttered to Venom.
"What was that?" Both girls asked at the same time.
"Nothing," Harry said wisely. "Anyway, as for me, I'm going to spend the summer with Sirius."
"I don't think Dumbledore will be happy about that," Venom said with a grin.