𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫 | n. tonks

xxvi

Hadley loved running through the grass with the cool breeze blowing through her fur. Spring was in full bloom with summer on the way, and on nice days like these, Mad-Eye would give her a break from her training to enjoy some time outside. The only rule was that she had to be accompanied by a fully trained Auror, which she had no problem with since that meant getting to spend extra time with Tonks.

"Ginger, slow down!"

Hadley came to a stop by a large rock. She placed her front paws on top of the rock and turned her head to look at Tonks as she jogged to catch up at her.

"Oh, my Gods, don't move. That is adorable." Tonks pulled a polaroid camera out of her bag. Hadley tilted her head to the side in confusion, letting out a yelp of surprise when the camera clicked loudly and flashed her with a bright, white light.

She morphed back into her human form, her jaw dropped and brows furrowed. "What the bloody hell was that?!"

"Have you never seen a polaroid camera before?" Tonks chuckled. She took the picture that came out of it and placed it on top of the rock. Hadley's brows furrowed even more as she watched the photo slowly develop. "I would've thought having a dad that works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office would mean you knew at least a little about Muggle technology."

"I've heard of polaroids," Hadley said. "I've just...never seen how they work."

"Well, lucky for you, you have the best girlfriend in the world to show you." Tonks lightly rubbed the crease between the redhead's brows, and they unfurrowed. Hadley turned to look up at her. Tonks pecked her lips affectionately before sitting down on the rock and patting the spot beside her.

Hadley sat down next to her. She leaned her head onto her shoulder as she explained how polaroid cameras work. Once she got the general gist of how they work, Tonks and Hadley took turns taking each other's picture. Tonks morphed her features into funny faces, and Hadley struck several poses in her animagus form.

When the sun started to sink lower in the sky, they gathered all the polaroid pictures and began to make their way back to Grimmauld Place, talking and laughing about the pictures all the way.

─── ⋆·✧·⋆ ───

That night after dinner, Hadley was hanging out in the kitchen with a few other Order members, including Tonks, Remus, Bill, and Fleur. The younger members were joking around while Remus sipped his tea and read The Daily Prophet.

"Pick a card." Bill said, holding a stack of Chocolate Frog cards out to Hadley. The younger Weasley selected a random card. "Look at it, but don't let me see it."

Hadley took a look at her card: Rowena Ravenclaw. She handed it back to Bill, face-down. He shuffled the cards and picked one at random and showed it to Hadley.

"Is this your card?" he asked.

"No." Hadley shook her head and laughed when Bill tossed the cards down onto the table.

"Ah, well. I never was able to understand Muggle magic tricks." He sat down and took a swig of his butterbeer.

"It's kind of an insult to the magical world, if you ask me." Hadley shrugged, munching on a carrot stick. Fleur nodded in agreement and muttered something in French.

"Alright, playtime's over," Mad-Eye growled as he walked into the kitchen, his walking stick clunking on the floor.

"What is it?" Remus asked, looking up from his newspaper as Tonks stole a brownie off of Hadley's plate. She smiled cheekily when the redhead narrowed her eyes at her.

"Just cause you're eating it with carrots doesn't make it healthy, Haddie." Tonks smirked.

"Fork you." Hadley picked up her fork and shook it at Tonks, both of them laughing.

"Urgent message from– Nymphadora and Hadley, pay attention!" Mad-Eye snapped and glared at the two girls, who stopped laughing. "As I was saying, I've just received an urgent message from Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore is leaving Hogwarts tonight, and they need back-up. Remus, Bill, Tonks, you're all going in."

"I'll go with him," Fleur said, standing up to join her fiancé.

Hadley sighed and looked over at Kreacher, the house elf, who was cleaning in the corner. "Looks like it's just you and me tonight, Kreacher."

Kreacher glared at her. "Filthy blood traitor–"

"Hadley, don't get too comfortable," Mad-Eye said. Hadley looked up at him, confused. "You told me a little over a year ago that you wanted to prove you had what it takes to become an Auror. Now's your chance to do so. Put your training to good use."

Hadley gasped, her ocean eyes lighting up. "Really?!"

Mad-Eye nodded.

She jumped up from her seat and hugged him. "Thank you! I won't let you down." She ran to catch up with the others, tripping over the umbrella stand. Luckily, Tonks was standing nearby, and she caught her before she could fall.

"Careful there, you little klutz." Tonks chuckled.

"Oh, you're one to talk." Hadley scoffed playfully. "So, how are we getting to Hogwarts?" she asked as they left the house.

Tonks smirked and held up the broom in her hand. "We fly, of course."

─── ⋆·✧·⋆ ───

a/n

thank you karsonromanoff for the polaroid idea and for these  pictures!!

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there's only two chapters left in act ii, so i'm gonna try to get it wrapped up before the end of the week!