The Marauders' Sons

It was almost Harry's birthday when Ron got an owl from his mother. Mrs. Weasley had invited the four of them to the Burrow on Harry's birthday so that he could have his first real birthday party, not just him sitting in his room with presents hidden under the loose floorboard that had saved him so many times. Harry was of course ecstatic at the thought of having a real birthday party, but Tom was a little nervous at the thought of being away from the castle for three days. It would be his first real test as a bodyguard, after all, and he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do. He could become Harry's shadow, but then he would be acting a little out of character, and he was determined not to blow his cover with the Trio, not to mention he would lose the opportunity to spend some time with Hermione. He could also leave Harry to his own devices for a few days, but should anything happen to him, he doubted he would ever sleep again, let alone the reaction he would get from Dumbledore. It was with considerable relief that Dumbledore informed him of what exactly was going on at the end of their next midnight meeting.

"Tom, as you are no doubt aware, the four of you will be going to the Burrow for three days, as a sort of vacation from the seclusion of the school. I know that you must be worried, but in reality, this is more of a break for you. You have successfully gained the trust of those three young people and I believe that you will be welcomed into the Gryffindor House when term begins, and since Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are in the Order, you will be effectively off duty," Dumbledore informed him at the end of the meeting.

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate the break, not that I have a tough job, Harry is easy to get along with and I am dead-set on keeping Harry safe for as long as I can," he then turned to leave the room, when Dumbledore gave him one last message.

"I believe that Miss Granger will appreciate your time off as well."

Tom did think that he was doing a good job. He had gained at least Harry's respect and acceptance, which was a start. He knew realized that it would be a while before they were as close as Harry was to any other Gryffindor, but progress was made. He also knew that he should enjoy the summer while it lasted, because with the start of a new school year came the danger of a few hundred potential assassins, willing or otherwise. The school year was his real test, this was just a warm-up.

All this studying of Harry, his habits, haunts, and personality led to a considerable lack of action in the Hermione department. The map that Dumbledore gave him would tell him where Harry was and who he was with at all times when he was in the castle, but for any of this information to be useful, he needed to know the significance of these conditions, so he had to learn as much as he could about his subject. If Harry was somewhere alone in the dungeons with Draco Malfoy, this would obviously be a time when he should worry. This required a lot of time and attention, both things he wished he could use on Hermione more often. It's all about timing, and this is the perfect timing.

The next day they took the Floo Network to the Burrow. Ginny Weasley was already sitting at the kitchen table waiting for them to arrive, but she was not alone. Sitting in the chair next to her, dirty-blonde hair everywhere as always, was Luna Lovegood. It had been over a month since Harry and Luna had seen each other last, and no one had told Harry she was going to be there. While Harry stared at Luna with a stupid grin on his face, Ron and Luna shared a knowing glance.

Ron was not exactly the most learned wizard in the ways of emotion, but he knew that Harry liked Luna. Harry spoke of her so often that it annoyed him to no end, not that he was a chatterbox. He tried to put on a face of happiness, but even Ron knew that he was full of it. He was quieter than ever, though he tried to overcompensate for his silence with being over the top happy when he did speak. But when he when he was being honest when he spoke, i.e. sullen, Luna came up more often than not. Ron also knew that he was not the one who Harry needed to help him get over the death of Sirius. He was smart enough to know that Harry needed a lady's touch for this one, and he therefore sent an invitation to Luna inviting her to the Burrow for the three days they would be there. He knew he could never rival Lavender and Parvati as a matchmaker, but it was still nice to help out his best friend.

Tom greeted the couple that had so graciously given him the next few days off and then started to brood as usual. As Tom stood in the Weasley's kitchen, he could not help but feel out of place. He barely knew these people, and now here he was in their home for not just the night, but three days. He wasn't use to this kind of treatment, because he usually limited his social contact. It wasn't that he couldn't deal with strangers or crowds, he just valued his privacy. Now he was faced with the prospect of three days, albeit worry-free ones, at the home of a guy he met just a few weeks ago, with people he never met before. Well, I'm on vacation, so I might as well make the best of it. He then followed Ron and Ginny to his room for the night, which he was told was the twins' room before they moved into an apartment above their shop in Diagon Alley, put his personal effects under his bed, and promptly laid down and closed him eyes in relaxation. He heard Ginny and Hermione say they were going upstairs to catch up on things, so he decided to wait and enjoy the solitude while Ron went to go visit with his brother Bill and Fleur in London for a little while.

Harry, meanwhile was having an internal struggle of his own. Talk to her you prat, you spent the all summer thinking about when you would see her next, now here she is, and you wont say a goddamn thing!!! "Hi, Luna...nice summer?" Good going, Romeo, you've been studying her letters religiously, you probably know about her summer as well as she does!!!

"Oh, yes, me and Daddy just got back from that expedition in Sweden that I told you about, and now we are going to be home for the rest of the summer. I hope to see you more often," Luna answered, ending with an air of flirtiness.

"Yeah, um, do you want to, ah, goforawalk?" Good job Potter, you said it and you still didn't know understand whatever you just said!

"Beg your pardon?"

"Walk, would you like to...with me?"

"Sure," she grabbed his arm, kissed him on the cheek, and led him out the door.

"Not much of a lady killer is he?" smiled Arthur Weasley, who was standing in the doorway with his wife, completely unnoticed by the young pair.

"But she knows what she wants, and thank God for Harry it's him," chuckled Molly Weasley, smiling fondly on the scene that had just taken place before them.

"I'm sure he will defend his honor with gusto," replied Mr. Weasley, "though I hate to be the one to tell her that you'll skin her alive if she harms your spare son," Mr. Weasley had not yet stopped teasing Molly over the boggart making himself to be Harry the previous summer at Grimauld Place.

And with an elbow to his stomach, Mr. Weasley guided his wife back into the living room, but even with the cuteness of the scene that had taken place before him, he was unnerved at the vibe of the newest guest to his house. The young man that had appeared in his kitchen reminded him so forcefully of Sirius, that when he first saw him, he made a double take. The resemblance was uncanny. The presence, the almost bored expression he had for everything, the chill in his voice, the ice in his stare, all shouted "Sirius" to him like a choir of banshees. He did not mention any of this to anyone else, but he made a mental note to bring this up to Dumbledore, who had a habit of playing his cards close to his chest. Mr. Weasley suspected that this was no exception.

Tom, meanwhile, was content as ever, lying in his bed, with nothing to think about, which was new, when he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in," he said half-hoping and half-knowing that it would be Hermione on the other side of the door. Indeed it was. This was a very different Hermione, however, as she was all dressed up and looked like she was about to go on a date. She was wearing an especially tight pair of jeans, which Tom felt were unnecessary due to his already established liking to that particular feature, a tiny little white t-shirt, and a pair of Muggle Vans. Nothing special, but she still looked as if she chose this outfit carefully, with the purpose of shoeing off her more appealing physical features. Tom was impressed. Girls rarely were able to be pretty much covered, yet still appear as sexy as Hermione did at that moment.

"Who's the lucky prick that gets to go on a date with you," he greeted her, with his usual sarcastic manner that he reserved for her. He was easily closer to her than he was to the other two, and had come out of shell with her considerably for him, though definitely not entirely. Not yet.

"Well, I was thinking of you, but then I saw this other guy outside, and he seemed much cuter, so I'll be off," she shot back as she walked over to the window. She knew he was going to say something of that effect, and she was well-prepared. Most of the "catching up" she and Ginny had done involved how she was going to entice young Tom O'Malley.

"Well, don't forget your potion."

"What potion?"

"Contraceptive potion, naturally, you cant have a kid yet, might interfere with your studies."

Hermione knew that she would have slapped anyone else at making a comment like that to her, even Ron and Harry, but for some reason she only smiled and retorted, "What would you need to know about contraception?"

"Fair enough," he smiled and looked out the window, "well, it seems that this cuter guy has run off with my Playmate date for this evening, so it looks like we will be on our own. Care for a walk? I don't think we will be bothered, Harry and Luna have just come back from their little constitutional, and I can see the red in Harry's face from here."

He then followed Hermione out the door, careful not to repeat his mistake in Dumbledore's office with Mrs. Weasley around. Damn! So much for that plan, hope a Weasley didn't catch that, temperamental redheads that they probably are. One of these days I'm gonna have to learn to keep my eye on the ball, as opposed to the ass.

Harry sat in what was once Percy's room, and now that he lived in London, it was for all intents and purposes Harry's room, seeing as he would be the only person who would ever make use of it. He could not help but replay the afternoon in his head...

He and Luna were walking along the countryside of Ottery St. Catchpole, and now that he had gotten over his edginess from before, he was more than happy to walk with Luna. As a matter of fact, he was thrilled. They talked for a while nothing particular, just small talk, when she took his hand, walked over to a tree about a mile from the Burrow, sat down, and pulled Harry down with her.

She smiled at him and said, "I really like you Harry," and when he grinned back, she proceeded to force herself on him. Harry didn't know how to react, though after about fifteen seconds he caught on and decided to kiss back. They spent the next three or so minutes like this when Luna finally pulled away. Luna was also very good at relating to people, and she knew that Harry would not mind a quick snog, or even a not so quick one. He didn't.

"You are a good kisser, Mr. Potter, I hope this is a standard the rest of you can keep up with," she giggled, fully aware of the blush coming over poor Harry's face.

"Well, Miss Lovegood, you'll have to stick around and find out," he answered, marveling at his own daring, making such a risqué comment.

"I think I will," she responded with a smile and she would have jumped on him again, had Harry not taken her smile as an invitation to play the aggressor. They went on like this for forty-five minutes when Luna, who had already assumed the role as the stronger woman behind the strong man, decided it was time to head back. Harry didn't mind her taking the reins of their just starting relationship. He was very used at being told what to do, and Luna's sheer honesty and forwardness was one of the reasons he spent a good chunk of his summer thinking of her. They walked back the same way that they came, though you could have told Harry that they wondered the countryside endlessly and ran into the Burrow by mistake. He was completely engrossed by the pretty blonde on his arm.

"You know, Harry, a few more walks like that, and I think I might try my little theory sooner than you think," at this, Harry blushed a deeper red than he had all day, when he noticed Tom and Hermione in the window to Tom's room...

Well, Harry thought as he sat on his bed, staring into space, at least it will be a Happy Birthday

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, while Harry lay in his room reflecting on his eventful afternoon, Tom was walking side by side with Hermione, trying to make his evening equally eventful. They had left the Burrow and were not talking, but it was a peaceful silence. It would not last.

"So, where exactly are you from, I know you're an American, but isn't it a rather large place?" Hermione was very intrigued by the young Yankee whom she was trying to impress with all the charm she could muster, though she would never admit it. This, however, was another attempt of hers to get some personal information out of him. Yes, they had grown closer over their month together, and yes, they could have a conversation, but other than his revelation of his father's fate, he had said very little about himself. What is he hiding and why is he hiding it? She undoubtedly had romantic intentions for this boy, but her curiosity came before her desires. This time, she would not back down.

"Boston, Massachusetts," was all that came back to her. He was not about to go into detail about his past, he was much too busy running from it.

"Well, what were your younger days like?"

"Interesting"

"Well, where do you go to school?"

"Salem Institute of Magic"

Now she was really getting angry. He would not tell her a thing about himself. The little that he did say sounded like it was tortured out of him. Hermione Granger was not about to be denied any knowledge, trivial or otherwise. She was going to make her stand right now. Deep down, however, the fact that she was having so much trouble interrogating him made her like him even more. Finally a challenge...

"Thomas O'Malley!" she cried, for it was time to try the angry rant approach, "I am sick and tired of you running around here like you are eternally misunderstood! This is ridiculous! What could you have possibly got..."

She was cut off by her first real kiss. Tom was running out of ideas on how to get her to drop all of this talk about his past. He was not one to divulge his secrets, and we wasn't one to waste an opportunity to kiss a girl he liked who obviously felt the same. Well, now that I'm in England, might as well say snog.

He was never much of a ladies' man, but he was no virgin either. He had kissed more girls than he could remember, though that was mostly due to the alcohol that flowed so freely in his Irish Catholic background. Still, he was in no way prepared for what happened. That one kiss was more satisfying than both of the times he had sex with girls who were mush wilder than he could ever envision Hermione to be. He never really had any intention of having this little kiss go anywhere, maybe a little tongue, but the electricity running between the two was too much. Soon they were rolling on the ground, completely lost in each other, and completely oblivious to the show that they were putting on.

Harry was just getting back from getting a drink when he looked out his bedroom window and saw Tom grab Hermione and pull her into a kiss about 200 yards from the house. She looked like she was yelling at him!! What is that son of a bitch doing to her!! I'll kill him, she might as well be my sister and he's...he's...rolling her around in the grass like they are about to shag right in the middle of the goddamn field!! Good she pulled away, maybe she'll...WHAT THE FUCK!!! IS SHE TAKING HER SHIRT OFF!!! That was all Harry could take. It was like watching a horror movie, he went back over to is bed and decided that he would need to find a way to kill that scumbag O'Malley when they got back.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned couple were finally starting to calm down, after about a half hour of "snogging" The Hell do they get these words??? They were sprawled across the grass in the middle of a meadow which conveniently prevented anyone from seeing where they were and more importantly, what they were up to. Hermione was lying next to him with her shirt still off and resting her head on his chest as he caressed her hair.

"Christ, if that's the first kiss, I can't wait for sex."

"Tom!" she mockingly rebuked him. In truth, she was shocked at her behavior as well. She had never done anything serious with Krum, a little peck on the lips being as raunchy as they got, and that was two years ago.

"You're not gonna mention this to anyone, are you?" she did have a reputation to maintain.
"Don't worry, I have a personal policy of confirm the encounter, but leave out the juicy parts. Your lecherous habits are very safe with me, for the time being," he added with a chuckle and a grunt, the latter due to the elbow she gave him in the ribs.

There they remained for at least another half-hour, not talking much, just being there together. All this joy, however, had its price. Tom had a peculiar gift that came from his mother's side of the family. He, like his mother before him, was an Astralimens, the distant cousin of the Occlumens and the Legilimens. As opposed to minds, however, this particular power had to do with magical auras. He could detect the aura of a person nearby and hence "see" them in the dark. He couldn't actually see anything, he would have to project himself to do so, but he could feel the presence of an aura nearby. As he lay there, with Hermione resting on his chest, he felt the sudden appearance of three distinct auras, auras with unique properties. Wizard's auras. He tightened up and when Hermione felt this she was about to say "What's wrong?" when he covered hr mouth with her hand and put a finger over his mouth to tell her to keep quiet. He then raised his head ever so slightly and saw the three people in the distance, about half-way between the two of them and the Burrow, with black cloaks.

"Death Eaters"

They were looking towards the Burrow, and Tom surmised that they knew who was there at the moment, i.e. Harry. First, he waved his wand in the air in a swooping motion and muttered "Gladius Stupefy". Out from his wand grew a four foot long blade of what appeared to be solid magic, and touched Hermione with the sword, Stunning her immediately. Then, taking advantage of his American heritage and newly acquired American Apparition license, he Apparated right behind the three would-be assassins and with one swipe of his sword, he stunned them all at once. He then turned around as he felt another aura appear, this one he knew, however, from almost daily meetings with it. Albus Dumbledore had just joined him.

"That was no fun, this was supposed to be a training exercise, and it took you about thirty seconds," Dumbledore sighed, as if he had missed out on a real treat.

"What! You said I was on break!" Tom was livid. He wouldn't have minded any of this, but he had a very attractive girl with no shirt on about one hundred yards away who needed tending to.

"I said you wouldn't be guarding Harry, I never said you would be completely left alone," he said, with a twinkle in his eye, knowing there was nothing the boy could say to that.

"Well, who are these three, if not Death Eaters?" Tom knew he was beat there, but he still felt that he should at least leave a frostiness in his voice, to prove his point.

"See for yourself."

Tom turned the first two over and saw a badly scarred old man with one enormous eye whom he did not recognize. Then he went on to the middle victim, who turned out to be woman that could only be 23 at the oldest, and could pass for his age. The last "Death Eater" he did recognize.

"Remus! I get it now, Enervate, Enervate, Enervate." he awoke the three Order members and proceeded to help them up, and give them some jabs of American assholery.

"Well, I certainly hope that the fate of the wizarding world doesn't depend on you lot, or we are all in trouble. I mean, here are three fully trained and qualified wizards and they fell in what was it Dumbledore? Thirty seconds? To a sixteen year old at that," he was loving the looks on their faces. Remus was as good-natured as ever, the young woman was glowering, but holding back a smile, and the old man was as livid as he himself had been when his vacation was interrupted.

"You got us, what can I say?" smiled Remus, taking the ribbing in stride.

"That's not on! How come you can Apparate? No one told us! Name's Tonks, by the way," Tonks was now smiling, but she obviously felt that the test was a little unfair. Yeah. Because I was told that my first date in a couple months would involve a fake assassination attempt.

"Call me Mad-Eye Moody. I wanted to see if you could hold your own, and you got the drop on us before we could test you at all."

"In the States, we do things a little earlier than you, school, Apparition, stuff like that," Tom knew he was pushing his luck, but he was having way too much fun.

"What was the spell that knocked us all out at once? You didn't even say a word," Remus had asked the $64,000 question, the question that was on all their minds, including Dumbledore's.

"It's a spell of my mother's own invention. It's called the Gladius Charm. You say Gladius, and then the spell you want turned into sword form, while waving your wand in a sweeping motion. The spell will not affect the caster, but if you get so much as nicked by the sword, you will be under that spell. It's very useful for covert stuff, and my Mum was an Auror back home, so I assume it got plenty of use."

"Well, needless to say, I think you are very well prepared for the task at hand, so once again good bye and good luck," as Remus said this, he and the others returned to Grimauld Place, very impressed with the young bodyguard.

"I shall be leaving too, but I hope to see you tomorrow, Molly has a wonderful afternoon in mind for Harry's birthday," Dumbledore added, then he too Disaparated.

Tom had other problems to deal with at the moment. He had just Stunned his date and shown her a spell that he rather her not know about, right now anyway. He decided to take his chances with the Order maintaining a code of silence regarding his status as Harry's bodyguard, so he slipped right under her again and decided to act as if he never had moved an inch.

"Enervate," he woke her up and after she recollected what had had happened, she rounded on Tom.

"You Stunned me! Why did you have to do that, and how did you do it? I've never seen that spell before and you better have a bloody good reason for knocking me out like that!" Tom let her vent her spleen a little before he was going to lie to her. She at least deserved to yell at him first.

"You have been sleeping for a while now. You must have been dreaming, I have no idea what you are going on about," he chuckled, hoping that she would believe him.

"Oh, um...sorry for yelling..." Tom felt a little bad that he was lying to her and she was the one apologizing, but at the same time he was a little relieved. She bought it, I'm safe...for now.

"Well, we should be getting back, and before you stand up, I recommend that you put your shirt back on first, nice as they are, I doubt Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would like your breasts to be broadcast throughout their house."

They walked back, holding hands and though they were not exactly the types of people to be all lovey-dovey, they were still not ashamed to display their affection for each other, which annoyed Harry to no end, being the protective "brother" that he was. The thing that really drove him nuts was that Ron didn't seem to care about the incident in the field, or that they kissed when they saw each other the next morning, or when they went to bed the night before. Of course, he did the same with Luna, though she was more...open...when it came to PDA. Harry wasn't quite sure if he would ever get used to the spanking.

Harry decided he was going to be hypocritical and air his grievances with Ron.

"Well, he is a little...aloof, but I think he is an OK guy."

"Yeah, but I told you what happened, that was not the Hermione we know," he pleaded, desperately trying to find an ally against this foreign invasion.

"Maybe that's a good thing mate, I mean, she is a great friend, but she never has any fun. Besides, he makes her happy, so that's good enough for me."

Harry was not sure what got him madder, the fact that he was obviously alone in his vendetta against O'Malley, or the fact that Ron was right. Instead of arguing against a point he knew was right or admitting defeat to Ron, he decided to compromise and leave in a huffy silence and find Luna. No go.

"I think its great that they are together. Hermione is a little bookish and Tom doesn't seem to be the kind of guy to let homework get in the way of a little fun, though that might be because he puts little stock in it, since he looks as serious as she does. He is good for her. Besides, I think that she is just as good for him, he seems to be very unhappy," Luna replied when he ranted to her about Tom and Hermione's hookup. Harry marveled for a second at his new girlfriend's ability to read people so thoroughly, and that is why he thought she was always willing to take the initiative. Then Harry had another thought-- Ginny.

"I'm sorry Harry, but she trusts him, so I trust him. I have been paying attention, too I'm not gonna say anything to try to tear them apart," then, after Harry had failed again to find a sympathetic ear, Ginny finished her response with some anger in her voice, "Personally, I cant believe that you are going to deprive one of your best friends the chance to be happy with someone they really like, it's a little fucked up."

With that, Harry decided that while he knew that no one would help him, he was going to keep an eye on this newcomer. The first time he mistreats her, he will know what power the Dark Lord knows not means. With that cheery thought in his mind, he did as he was told and went upstairs so the others could prepare for his first real birthday party.