Harry Potter - The Accidental Animagus

Chapter 9 - Small Town Politics

July 1986

Andromeda Tonks felt a very strong twinge and shivered as she passed through the wards of the house. This place was protected by everything short of a Fidelius Charm, although considering who she was here to meet, that was no surprise.

To say she was nervous would be an understatement. No one had seen Harry Potter for almost five years besides Dumbledore and his closest confidantes. Now, she learnt that he had been adopted by a pair of muggles who happened to have a magical daughter, and now they wanted to meet her.

Andromeda had never met the boy before. Sirius had wanted her to, but the Potters were already in hiding when he was born. She would never understand how her cousin had gone so wrong. Sorted into Gryffindor, left the family and got disowned like her, apparently acting as the perfect godfather right up until the end...but now wasn't the time to dwell on such things. She rang the doorbell without hesitation. You don't spend fourteen years with Ted without picking up a few things.

Emma Granger opened the door to let their visitor in, but stopped in surprise when she saw that the woman at the door looked completely normal. She was an attractive woman in her early thirties, clean and formal, with mousy brown hair, and wearing a muggle dress. Her dress was even in style.

"Are you Mrs. Tonks?" she asked.

The woman gave her a nervous smile and shook her hand. "Yes, you must be Mrs. Granger. How do you do?"

"How do you do? Please come in. Harry, your cousin is here," she called.

Harry ran out to the foyer upon hearing the news, his sister and father in tow, where he saw a strange woman who froze and stared upon spotting him. He was starting to notice a pattern with that. And of course, his natural feline reaction was to get into a stare-down.

It took a moment from Andromeda to figure out that she'd got herself into a staring contest with the Boy-Who-Lived. Yes, this was James's and Lily's son, alright, but there was something else in his eyes. Since she didn't know about his ability, she could only guess that it came from his time with his new family. He was looking well, though. Based on Dumbledore's rather cagey report, she could figure out that he was doing a lot better than when they'd found him last fall. In fact, he had grown several inches and was well on his way to catching up with his year-mates, and the karate lessons were already leaving him fitter than the average little boy.

As she stared, though, Emma Granger seemed to be more on top of things. She leaned down and whispered something to the boy, who blinked once, slowly, then extended his hand and said, "Pleased to meet you Mrs. Tonks."

Something long suppressed broke free within her when she heard him speak. The boy seemed so normal. Even she had got a little wrapped up in the Boy-Who-Lived legend, but no, he was just an ordinary child, and suddenly, the formality truly pained her. He was family, after all-indeed, the only family she had besides Dora, Ted, and Ted's parents whom she actually cared to talk to. Perhaps it was time to redeem the hated nickname that her sisters had given her. She crouched down in front of him and took his hand in both of hers. "It's good to finally meet you, too, Harry," she said softly. "Please, call me Cousin Andi...Is this your sister?" She motioned to the girl behind him.

"Yes, ma'am-Cousin Andi, this is Hermione," Harry said with a smile.

"Pleased to meet you," Hermione introduced herself.