Another-Talk-They-Had (III) [Chapter 243]

After clearing his throat, Harry raised his hand and knocked on the door. He could have Apparated straight inside the room, but he was a gentleman and he also needed to do some thinking… Moments later, he heard a muffled answer from inside, so he decided to knock again.

“Go away!” The voice was slightly slurred, but the voice was pretty clear this time.

“It’s me, Tonks, Harry” Harry called out, not knowing what to expect, though he didn’t see any reason to lie. He heard Tonks curse something before something fell on the floor. Harry deduced that it was probably Tonks. He heard some shuffling from the inside before the door was finally unlocked.

Harry stared at Tonks… She looked like a complete mess. Right now, she was sporting a mane of mopy mousy brown hair along with dull brown eyes and with how puffy and bloodshot her eyes were, it was pretty obvious that she had been crying. Harry felt a pang of guilt at her visage, but he quickly crushed the feeling.

Yes, he fucked up, but he was here now and he was planning to try his best to fix his fuck up…

“Harry…” Tonks slurred out while looking at him apologetically. “Look… I am soooorryyy” She slurred out and Harry finally decided to stop her.

“Can I come inside?” Harry asked and Tonks blinked at his question before she turned her head to look inside her room. Then she turned back to Harry.

“Uhhh… It’s a mess” Tonks hiccuped, looking really sheepish.

“I don’t mind” Harry answered and Tonks seemed to blink again at his words before she finally stepped aside from the doorframe and seemed to stumble a bit, but she managed to retain her footing.

“Whoops!” Tonks exclaimed with a giggle before waving her hand at him. “Sure, sure, come inside my humble abode” Tonks added and Harry finally entered her room before closing the door.

“Look, Tonks… I don’t think you are in any condition to talk, so… do you want a Sobering Potion?” Harry asked and Tonks seemed unsure what to do, so Harry decided to insist a bit. “Look, I really want to talk with you, but I don’t think we can talk like this” Harry elaborated, and after thinking for a bit, Tonks finally agreed.

So, Harry called Alef and asked him to grab a Sobering Potion from the infirmary. After only a couple of seconds, Alef returned with the said Potion in his hands and disappeared after handing the vial to Tonks. The woman seemed to glare at the vail for the next few seconds before she uncorked it and downed it in one go. For the next couple of seconds, nothing happened before all of a sudden, her stomach rumbled.

Tonks covered her mouth and rushed into the washroom and after spending a whole minute inside the place, she came out, looking much better, but she was still a mess…

“Uh… Harry-” Tonks began to speak, but Harry stopped her and Tonks winced at his gesture, believing that  Harry was probably angry at her.

“Take a seat” Harry prompted as he Conjured two extremely comfortable-looking chairs. He decided to wait for Tonks to take the seat and when she did, he also sat down. “Listen, Tonks… I am sorry. I shouldn’t have left like that” Harry apologized, surprising Tonks since she was almost certain that Harry probably hated her. Still, she decided not to get her hopes up.

“It was a dick move, but I was so surprised by the kiss that I didn’t know what to do, so I did the first thing that came to my mind” Harry explained slowly, not trying to rush as he wanted Tonks to understand his circumstances.

“It is clear that I have hurt you and for that, I once again apologize to you” Harry finished, and decided to wait for his words to sink in. “I am not done, let me finish” Harry spoke up when he saw that Tonks was about to say something, but at his words, she stopped. “Look…” Harry began to speak, but he stopped as he failed to come up with the right words.

“...Gah! Why is this so hard!” Harry muttered furiously before clenching one of his fists. He had cowered a whole Wizarding Community with his raw power and talking with a girl about his true feelings was making him stumble. It was downright insulting. After taking a deep breath, Harry resumed talking.

“Look, you are an amazing woman. You are beautiful, witty, independent, strong, and funny… I would love to pursue a relationship with you, but it is not that simple” Harry finished with a sigh and Tonks didn’t know what to know. She was over the moon when Harry was complimenting her, but the next moment, she crashed down on earth at his next words.

“...There is already someone I love. I love her more than anything else” Harry confessed and Tonks felt her heart shatter into pieces, but she clamped down on her Occlumency Shields as hard as she could, to stop herself from leaking any of her true feelings. “I went to meet her after I left, to talk about what happened” Harry added, ignoring Tonks’ inner turmoil.

Tonks stared straight into his eyes at his words… “We talked… and she told me quite a few things I am still not sure about, but I am willing to give it a try” Harry finished and when Tonks realized that he wasn’t going to anything else, she decided to speak up.

“What did she say?” Tonks asked hesitantly and Harry seemed to shift in his chair uncomfortably at her question.

“...She said… She said she wouldn’t mind sharing me with other women” Harry revealed Tonks gaped like a fish out of water at his words and her hair and eyes started to shift through various colors. “Look, I know how it sounds, so I would totally understand if you wouldn’t want to pursue a relationship with me” Harry said, trying to assure her that he wouldn’t mind if she didn’t want to be with him any more.

“Fuck yes! I am on board!!” Tonks exclaimed excitedly as she dived toward Harry, completely ignoring anything Harry said after revealing the fact that his lover wouldn’t mind sharing him with other women…