Chapter 6

It didn't take her long to get unpacked; all she had brought with her was a few changes of clothes, some toiletries, and a book or two. Coming downstairs, she found me cooking up some dinner.

“Merlin, Harry, that smells delicious,” she said, sitting down exhaustedly at the kitchen. “Can I help?”

“Sure. You can start by pouring yourself a big glass of red wine over there and trying to relax a bit,” I said. “Pour one for me, too, while you're at it. Spaghetti alright?”

“Right now I'd eat chocolate-covered dog shite, I'm that hungry, so yeah, spaghetti is perfect. Never would have taken you for a chef, though,” Tonks said.

“When you live alone ... or live with Ron for that matter,” I said wryly, stirring the sauce, “you learn to cook or you starve. Not saying it's gourmet but it'll get you through til tomorrow.” I pushed up my sleeves, dishing up two giant plates of pasta and spooning a thick red sauce overtop.

“Tuck in,” I said, placing it in front of her. We ate in silence for a few minutes, but soon the air grew heavy with unspoken words.

“Tonks, I hate to do it, but you know I have to ask you some more questions about that letter,” I said, wiping sauce off the edge of my mouth.

“Yeah, I know. Go ahead,” she said, still working her way through her plate of food.

“So the letter ... you said you found it inside your front door. Someone slid it underneath, right?”

She nodded yes.

“And no alarm went off on your wards. No sign of someone foreign to them coming there?”

“Not a thing. I know how to set wards, Harry. Nothing happened,” she said, pouring us both another glass of wine.

“Okay. Tell me everyone that your wards allowed,” I said.

“Me and Teddy, of course. Remus. You. Ron and Hermione. Cecily, and Hannah and Neville from when they used to bring her over. That's pretty much it, I think, for those that had regular access,” Tonks mused. “And Mum ... until last year, that is,” she said quietly.

“You didn't change the wards after Andromeda died?” I asked quietly. Andromeda's death last March hadn't been a total surprise; she'd been frail ever since the war. But even Teddy handled it better than Tonks had. She'd been inconsolable for weeks. It had been one of the few occasions when I had spent any real length of time with her and Teddy since she split up with Remus. I sneered inwardly at myself. Some godfather, some fucking friend I'd turned out to be.

“No. Didn't … didn't want to at first. Then sort of figured there was no fucking point,” Tonks answered bitterly.

“Probably doesn't matter,” I said, but I tucked that information inside a pocket in my mind for later. “The wording of the letter ... does that mean anything to you? Sound like anyone you know?”

“Believe me, Harry, I don't have anything that anyone would want ... except Teddy, and clearly whoever is after me doesn't want him. I keep thinking about it, but I have no idea what it means,” she said tiredly, wiping a hand across her pinched eyes.

I watched her for a second, mulling things over, then came to a decision. “Look, you're exhausted, and I can't think of anything else to ask you right now. You want to turn in early?”

“Oh, no, at least let me clean up in here as thanks for your hospitality,” she said anxiously.

“No way,” I said. “I like cleaning up the Muggle way. Gives me time to think after a long day. Go on, I'll be fine.”

“Well, if you're sure,” she said, getting up from the table and carrying her plate to the sink.

“Out, out, out,” I said, waving a dishtowel toward her rear playfully.

She stopped by the doorway, looking at me thoughtfully. “Thanks, Harry. Had I known all of this would be so much trouble for you ...” She walked over beside me. “You're a good friend.” Looking me straight in the eyes, she bent over and kissed me. “See you in the morning.”

I stood there by the sink, listening to the sound of her footsteps slowly disappearing up the stairs. It wasn't for a full five minutes that I realized I was stroking my thumb across my lip. Shaking myself awake, I turned to the dishes with a sigh. Something about this whole mess just didn't feel right.

I know where to find you. One day all you have will be mine. The words of the letter repeated through my head over and over like a skip on an old, dusty record.

All you have … all you have … But what did she have? Tonks was right. She'd never been wealthy; what she did earn was just enough to keep her and Teddy afloat and still save up for Hogwarts expenses. She got nothing of monetary value from Andromeda. No family heirlooms, no property, nothing that anyone could think was worth all this trouble. And then there was Teddy. It would be different if someone had threatened him, or kidnapped him, but the plain fact was that someone tried to kill him. What could anyone want from Tonks?

Pouring myself two fingers of Ogden's Old and tamping down a fresh packet of cigs, I settled myself on the couch in the living room. I swirled the amber liquid around in the glass, mesmerized by the trails of droplets falling down the side, and inhaled that beautiful first lungful.

I know where to find you. One day all you have will be mine.

Blowing a steady stream of smoke out of my nostrils, I sat up. “It's one person,” I said to myself. “It's just one person. An individual, not a group of people.” I wasn't sure why, but somehow I knew that was important. But no other revelations followed.

I headed upstairs for the evening. As I jacked myself off in bed, I thought of soft lips on mine.