Thicker Than Water: Year Six

Chapter 4 - Rebirth and New Life

Tonks came by late in the morning, in a bad mood. She knocked over a chair in the kitchen and reached to right it, launching into a tirade about Mad-Eye Moody. "I swear, the man's a right old codger. Caught him first things this morning - what a grouch! Remember never to wake him.... He had his wand on me when I got to the door, it took ten minutes to convince him it was me and not some lousy Death Eater. Paranoid old coot!"

Brushing aside her irritation, Harry eagerly asked what sort of disguise could get him back for his sixth year of school without being recognised.

"Of course Mad-Eye didn't agree to polyjuice potion - that's a no-brainer, after what happened to him last year," said Tonks. "I suppose he's right, though. You'd just have to miss taking a swig once, and your cover would be blown. And getting you a willing replacement - well, we'd have to swipe a head-full of hair from a muggle morgue..."

Harry blanched at the thought, and Tonks continued, "We went through the regular methods of disguise, but none of them would hold up well for an extended period of time. Mad-Eye finally agreed with me that it would have to be a good old-fashioned cosmetic transformation."

Harry and Remus began to talk simultaneously. "Will that hurt?" asked Harry, while Remus quipped, "Can you give him breasts?"

Harry threw the older man a disgusted look, while Tonks raised one eyebrow contemplatively.

"No, Harry, a transformation won't hurt but it will be uncomfortable and your skin will feel a bit prickly. And no, Remus, since I can't change his personality or voice, we won't be doing trans-gender. Pity, though," Tonks sighed. "We can do the whole transformation today, but it will take a while. After that, you will have to come back here every two weeks for a "top-up" - that'll be much quicker, but if I don't do it regularly, some things may fade and you'll quickly become easy to spot."

"Will you be able to conceal his scar?" asked Remus. Tonks bit her lip, and placed her hand on Harry's forehead as she inspected it closely. "That'll be a tricky one.... But I have an idea! Harry, do you trust me to make you look okay, scar and all?" she asked.

Harry smiled, "I guess if it will get me back to school - yeah, I trust you. But do we have to transform me so soon? I mean, shouldn't we wait until the end of the summer?"

"No, definitely not," Remus said. "I don't want you to stay locked up here all summer. If we do the cosmetic transformation today, than I can also be around when you come back every two weeks. Otherwise, we'll run into my moon-times, and I'll miss every second visit."

Tonks nodded, and began muttering to herself about which potions and lotions she would need and the many things she had to prepare. "I can get all my supplies and make it back by four o'clock - how does that sound to you?"

Remus nodded at Harry, and Harry reluctantly nodded at Tonks. He was still emotionally raw from the explosion, the loss of his family, and that morning's look into his remaining possessions. But it didn't seem as if there was much time for coddling his hurts right now - not with Voldemort at large, planning his assaults on the wizarding world.

*

Tonks had declined lunch at the Manor and left to make her preparations. After a quick bite - duly supervised by a concerned Dobby - he and Remus retreated to the library. Remus threw a handful of powder into the fireplace, and communicated with Bill that Harry was ready for an occlumency lesson, but wouldn't be available later in the day.

Within fifteen minutes, Bill was stepping out of the fireplace. "Sorry for the delay. I was in the middle of something. Nothing that can't wait, though." He added, seeing Harry's look of concern.

Remus excused himself as Bill settled his lanky frame into a plush chair beside the fireplace, facing Harry. "Now then, Harry, let's see what we can do. I'm not nearly as talented as your former teacher, but I'm much better looking."

Harry smiled, and relaxed at Bill's off-the-cuff manner. On request, he related the whole of last year's experiences of learning occlumency with Snape; his description was punctuated by huffs and snorts of disgust from Bill.

"Okay, Harry. I'm going to try legilimency on you, and I want you to resist my attempts to enter my mind. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you," said Bill. Then he pointed his wand, and rapidly began the assault.

Though the attack was not nearly as violent as Snape's had always been, Harry felt bits of memories flying through his mind. Upon receiving no resistance, Bill stopped and used his wand to summon a table onto the rug between them.

"Harry, do you know how to arm-wrestle?" Bill asked, bending a well-muscled arm and placing his right elbow in the table in front of him. Harry nodded, confused about how this related to occlumency as Bill indicated a challenge to Harry.

Complying anyhow, Harry found himself arm-wrestling Bill, his teeth gritting as he tried to push back the much-stronger Bill. Finally, Bill had his arm flattened onto the table with Harry breathing heavily. Bill's breath remained normal, and he showed no sign of a struggle.

"Now, I am stronger than you and can win an arm wrestle without a problem. However, you can still resist me, and with practice and some more muscle, you would easily be able to hold your own. Let me see you resisting mental intrusion in the same way. If it helps, use your hand when you're resisting," said Bill, putting his elbow back down onto the table. Harry did the same, and clamped his right hand into Bill's.

They stared at one another, and Bill used his left hand to cast a clumsy legilimency hex at Harry. Harry began to see the stream of past events again, but in trying to resist the intrusion, found himself pushing against Bill with his hand and arm as well. After a bit, Bill released the spell and smiled over at him. Harry had began to pant slightly, but was gratified with Bill's assessment.

"You did much better that time. I still had access, but I could feel it when you began to push me out. Concentration, practice, and muscle, Harry; that's all it will take for you to occlude me from your mind. Let's try that again, and see if you can resist me further this time."

Harry began to get the hang of pushing back at Bill, though he was still no match for the intrusions by his best friend's brother. Between attempts, Bill would allow him short breaks. He even initiated spontaneous games of exploding snap, or silly wand exercises such as shooting streams of coloured bubbles. The nonsense helped Harry to relax between legilimency assaults, and gave him time to refocus his energy for the next round.

Before he knew it, Bill announced that it was 3:30 pm, and that he had a meeting to attend five minutes ago. Harry was shocked at how quickly the time had flown since lunch. Bill gave Harry's shoulder a friendly thump, sent his best to Remus, and the turned towards the fireplace.

"See you tomorrow afternoon, Harry!" he smiled, and with a wink and a burst of green flame, Bill was gone.

*

Harry found Remus and Dobby waiting for him after his lesson. Dobby quickly prepared a large bowl of ice cream topped with fresh fruit, and Remus pulled him out to the patio, so that he could get some fresh air and sunshine before Tonks returned.

Harry slumped back in his chair, savouring his snack with a sudden appetite. Closing his eyes, he turned his face to the sun and continued to eat. When he had finished the bowl, Remus finally asked, "I take it the lesson with Bill didn't go too badly?"

"No, not too bad. I was able to resist him a bit by the end," Harry said. "I was also able to resist Snape a few times last year, but Bill wasn't violent about it."

Remus looked alarmed, but Harry was saved further explanation by the timely arrival of Tonks. Though he asked if they could do the transformation outdoors, Tonks shook her head sympathetically, and steered Harry into the dining room.

"I know it's nice out but we have to get going now, if I'm going to get done by this evening," she explained, arranging bottles and brushes, lotions and potions on the table around her. "You look beat, Harry, but just relax and I'll work while you rest."

At Tonks' request, Remus summoned a recliner from the drawing room and Harry was laid back in it. The cosmetic transformation took a lot longer than Harry had imagined it would. Tonks got him to start by drinking a rancid potion that smelled strongly of rotten eggs. It would take a while for it to be expressed in his skin, so she turned her efforts to his head.

With various creams and magical curlers, Tonks treated and permed Harry's hair. She pointed her wand at his eyes, and performed the transfiguration spell that changed their colour. Then she made some minor adjustments; it took three tries before she was satisfied with the colour. Another potion was used to broaden each of his nostrils and lips, augmented by whispered words and wand movements that made his skin feel as though it was being combed and stretched. The most painful was a procedure to straighten his teeth; Tonks then applied a minty-flavoured paste to whiten them.

Each stage of the transformation took a long time. A few times, Remus gasped as he watched the outcomes of the various procedures. Once he interjected with an impressed, "Merlin! Tonks! I see what you're doing - you're a genius, pure genius!"

Tonks had moved down to his hands, and was massaging them vigorously before she performed light taps with her wand to each of his fingernails. Although Harry was quite curious about how he looked, the hours spent studying occlumency with Bill had taken their toll on him. He lay quietly with his eyes closed as Tonks poked and prodded him, relying on her mutterings and Remus' comments to gage her progress.

Long after the supper hour had come and gone, Tonks finally slumped back in her chair and said, "All done, Harry. How would you like to see yourself?"

"Okay, just hand me my glasses, on the table..." he started, but Tonks yelped, "His eyes! Dammit, I totally forgot!"

Harry was pushed back down into the recliner, as Tonks spent the next 20 minutes assessing and correcting his short-sightedness, and fiddling with his astigmatism. When Harry finally passed the sight-test (counting flowers on the wallpaper on the opposite side of the room), Remus held up a large mirror and Tonks told him to take a look.

Harry let out a gasp, and a long whistle. Staring back at him was an unrecognisable black boy, with dark brown skin, dark eyes and curly hair. He reached up to touch his forehead in shock, the neat locks and dark skin obscuring his scar completely.

Remus and Tonks were both holding their breaths and staring at him, waiting for a response. Harry finally tore his eyes away from the mirror and looked straight back at Tonks. "It's... why, it's bloody brilliant!" he exclaimed.

Both of the adults exhaled in relief, and Remus smiled appreciatively at Tonks as he explained to Harry, "It takes some amount of talent to pull off most of those transformations, but the whole effect - why, Tonks, I've never seen anything like it!"

"Now we just have to think up a new name to go with the face," she said, beaming at both of them. "How about Patrick? Or Curt?"

"Jermaine?" suggested Remus.

"You can call me James Evans," said Harry decisively. Remus seemed taken aback, then began to shake his head no.

"Why not? That's what I want to be called!" Harry fumed, steeling himself for a fight.

"There is absolutely no way I am addressing you by your father's name, Harry!" said Remus in a firm voice that brooked no opposition. "Besides, the whole point of this exercise was to conceal your identity, and with that name, you might as well just wear a billboard that says 'Harry Potter here!'"

Harry glared belligerently at the man, but then deflated when he realised that Remus had a point.

"Isn't your birthday at the end of July, Harry?" asked Tonks. "That would make you a Leo, the lion for Gryffindor House."

Remus grinned, and offered Harry a compromise, "How about Leonid James Evangy? Can you live with that?"

Leonid James, Harry tried out in his mind. Leo. He pursed his lips, but nodded his assent anyway.

Tonks called for Dobby and asked for a celebratory meal, though it was almost midnight. Remus walked over to the sideboard, and poured out three glasses of a dry red wine. Handing them out, he raised his glass for a toast, "To Leo Evangy!"

Tonks followed suit, and Harry happily drained his glass, toasting his own rebirth from the cruel ashes of death.

*

Bill met Fleur at the bank on the afternoon of Harry's first occlumency lesson. He caught her from behind in an embrace while she was still seated at her cubicle. Pushing an accounting table away, she turned to him and flashed on her Veela charm. "Wow, fancy lady! I'm going to take you to the moon!" Bill purred in her ear.

She pushed him away and - because the head goblin in accounting was staring at them - affected shock, saying, "Bill, really! I haven't finished working, and you didn't even tell me you were coming by. Aren't you busy pursuing evil or guarding the secrets of the wizarding world?"

"Wizarding's best secret will just have to guard itself!" he said, cryptically referring to Harry's new-found ability to perform occlumency, which Fleur knew nothing about anyway. "But I've managed to get a well-deserved evening off and have a surprise planned."

They went back home, and Bill suggested Fleur put on something nice. "How nice?" she asked coyly, disrobing for a shower. He lazily looked her up and down from the next room, and said in a slow voice, "Not too nice... I'm not planning to spend my night off getting into any fights!"

Bill changed into black jeans, a black button-down, and his dragon hide boots. He tied back his hair and slipped on an earring that he had made form an incisor of some ancestral animal; he found it in a German cave a couple years back, when he was working on a special site for Gringotts. Fleur dressed up, too. It was all Bill could do to maintain his composure when he saw her in a long, straight grey skirt with a silk white sleeveless top, a light summer jacket draped over her arm.

They walked through Diagon Alley, Bill steering Fleur towards the Leaky Cauldron. Bill noticed that heads were turning as Fleur walked by; he missed the facts that many of the heads were female, their gazes firmly fixed on him. Through the famous bar and out the far door they went, stepping into the humid evening in muggle London.

If wizards were strongly affected by Veela-magic, it was nothing next to the responses of muggle men. During the 15-minute walk to the restaurant, Bill had to push aside several gaping guys in their path. One car even swerved to a halt beside them; the window came down and several gangly teens ogled at Fleur. Thank Merlin she's only one-quarter Veela, he thought. I'd be fighting the crowds tooth-and-nail if she were the real thing!

The small French restaurant had a line-up snaking out the door. Bill had made a reservation, and pushed his way through the would-be patrons to be shown to a private booth near the back. They ordered Fleur's favourite dishes and, as they ate, she asked questions about the work he was doing for the Order.

Bill replied with the minimal information, and he could sense Fleur getting angry as she grumbled, "I'm home every night worried, you often don't even come home and I have no idea where you are!"

"I'm sorry, my dear, but you know I'm not allowed to share any of the details of the things I'm doing. There are serious security concerns," he told her in a placating tone.

Fleur still seemed irritable when they were finished dinner, and muttered that she was tired. Bill, however, insisted that they go to a hip club for a while; he had bought tickets to see a great emerging muggle rock group whose music he liked. They walked up to the club, Fleur following him in reluctantly.

Bill bought himself a beer, but Fleur only wanted a soda water. The bar pulsed with noise, as a cover band appeared and began to play. Cigarette smoke filled the large room with a haze, and the loud music became overwhelming. Fleur suddenly grabbed Bill's arm, shouted something indecipherable through the noise, and ran out of the building, pushing through crowds of people.

Slamming his beer onto a table, Bill took off behind her. He found Fleur ducking into an alley beside the club, and retching. Bill caught her as she became quite sick and, when she was finished, helped her up.

Tears streaming down her face, Fleur buried her head into Bill's chest and sobbed. He held her, spoke consolingly, asked if she needed to see a doctor, or if the food disagreed with her - all to no avail. Fleur continued to cry, until she had got it all out of her system.

She looked up at Bill, and he asked if she wanted to go home. Fleur nodded, and Bill called a cab to take them back to the Leaky Cauldron. As soon as the car began to move, Fleur burst out, "I'm sorry, Bill, I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner - I'm pregnant! We're going to have a baby!"

Bill stared at her vacantly, trying to make sense of the words. He knew better than to try legilimency on Fleur, but her admission just didn't make any sense, or else wasn't quite reaching his brain. Like a fish out of water, Bill gulped and asked her, "Are you...? Did you just say, we're having a baby?!"

She nodded, and smiled at him through her tears. Through some instinctive sense of self-preservation, Bill smiled warmly back at her, as a jumble of panicked thoughts flew through his brain: Oh Merlin - not now! I'm involved in this gawdawful war against Voldemort and now... What a time for anyone to get pregnant!

Bill remained in a stunned daze the whole way home.