"Sorry about that," Harry sighed turning to Tonks.
"It's fine, Harry." Tonks snorted and her hair flashed a quick blue before settling on purple. "She does kind of have a point. I am the only person outside your immediate group of friends who has a Comm Stone."
"Yeah, but you're my friend too, Tonks," Harry said. He frowned at her in concern. "Are you okay? You didn't really look too good throughout that meeting. Especially near the end…"
"It just sucks having your dreams and idol crushed, squirt."
"Squirt?" Harry said raising his eyebrow at her.
"Well 'Harry' doesn't exactly lend itself to an easy nickname now does it? And you've made it clear that Shiva already stole the 'kid' moniker so I'm left with 'squirt'. You're shorter than me. It works short term."
"Uh huh. We'll see. Stop dodging the question."
"Actually I didn't," Tonks shrugged. "Dumbledore was kinda the guy I always looked up to as a kid. The last few minutes rather effectively destroyed that."
"And your dreams? I take it the other Aurors aren't treating you well?"
"I rock the boat. It's kinda my thing," she smirked at him. "It nothing intentional anymore really beyond the hair and occasional pranks. I put in a few ideas for improved security and got shot down because of lack of seniority or funds. The thing with my cousin is just exacerbating things. It just sucks not being taken seriously by anyone except Bonesy."
"I'm sorry, Tonks. I feel like this is partly my fault for pushing you to begin with." He grimaced.
"Harry," she said with a snort, "you're one of the few things that still make me laugh these days. My problems with my coworkers are because they are arseholes who see me mostly useful for my powers rather than my brains. It's not much different from school honestly so I should be more used to it."
"I still say you should do what makes you happy."
"Well the faster you get your eventual rune shop set up the faster that might happen, squirt." Tonks laughed with him and gave him a quick hug. "Alright I gotta head out. Remember, call me if you find my cousin and I'll grab Bonesy and be right over."
"Take care, Tonks." Harry waved as she headed outside. He turned back to Daphne and sat down on the armchair across from her ignoring her grin. "Were these chairs here when we walked in?"
"No clue. I only noticed them when I was looking for an out of the way corner so you two could chat. Granger better be careful. You look like you're moving on to the older women."
"You're the second person to say that to me," Harry grumbled. "And you do realize Hermione is almost a year older than me right? Hell almost all of you except Luna are older than me."
"I rest my case," Daphne laughed.
"Yeah, yeah laugh it up, Greengrass. Are we going to talk about me and my potentially nonexistent girlfriend or are we going to talk about you and your potential girlfriend?"
Daphne grimaced. "That really doesn't bother you?"
"Shiva has had ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends," he commented with a raised eyebrow. "Tracey has mentioned several times that she is interested in girls only. I was right next to you when Diarymort mentioned she loved you. I have yet to shun any of you, Daph."
"I know," she said sighing, "but from my end this is all very…weird. And it is exceptionally odd talking about it with a boy, let alone a Gryffindor."
"I could go get Hermione you know," he said with a reassuring grin. "Or we could wait til Luna comes back which would solve both problems."
Daphne snorted. "No thank you. Luna is sweet enough but there is absolutely no chance of me having this conversation with her unless she drops the act entirely."
"You know it's not that easy, Daph. But we're getting sidetracked. Have you mentioned to Tracey what Diarymort said? That you know?"
"No, I haven't," Daphne shook her head. "Tracey's smart though. She knows something's changed. I've been trying to keep an open mind about it and honestly the idea has some appeal. She has been my best friend for nearly as long as I can remember…It could be…nice."
"So what's the problem then?" Harry asked.
"It's twofold really. The first and most obvious is that she is my best friend. What if it doesn't work? What if it ends badly and I lose her in the process? I would rather not start a relationship at all than lose her as a friend."
"You could both agree to move back if things start to fall apart. That your friendship would always be the most important relationship you have. It's pretty much what I'm going to say in a few minutes."
Daphne stared at him before shaking her head. "Gryffindors charge ahead indeed," she muttered. "Well good luck, Harry. I don't know if that approach would work for me but you are right I suppose that it would be something to bring up to her and work out amongst ourselves."
"I'm not sure that's what I said…but sure let's go with that." Girls made so little sense to Harry. He could've sworn she just made up a solution he had in no way been close to saying. "What's the second main problem?"
"Harry," Daphne sighed, "you weren't raised as a pureblood. More specifically as a pureblood Heiress. The expectations for Luna, Neville, Susan and myself are far different from people like Tracey and Hermione."
"Oh? Where do I fit into that expectations thing?"
"Well unlike us, you have never shown the slightest interest in the same sex. So you have nothing to worry about – despite Colin Creevy following you around like a drooling lost puppy at times."
"Wait Neville has – "
"Focus, Harry. We are talking about expectations here." Harry scowled at her comment. She had so done that on purpose. "As a pureblood Heir or Heiress to a Noble House, we are expected to provide an Heir to continue the bloodline. Luna, Susan and Neville are all last of their lines and so they must provide an Heir or be essentially shunned from high society for allowing their lines to die. I have slightly more leeway since I have a sister yet…I would not let that burden fall to Astoria. Tori has always been a wild child and, while she may frustrate me, I do love her dearly and would never force her into a Line Continuation arrangement."
"So," Harry said furrowing his brow, "you don't want to try and date Tracey because you need to have a baby in the future?"
"Well that is horribly simplifying it but…yes." Daphne shrugged. "I must provide an Heir at some point. Tracey lacks the rather necessary equipment for that. Magic can do quite a lot but it can't change your bits. Even your friend Tonks, while she could morph into a male form with the appropriate plumbing to enjoy the act, she could never actually impregnate a woman."
"Daph," Harry said, "you do realize that we are teenagers yeah? While I love a fairy tale ending as much as next wizard, there's no guarantee that who we start dating now is going to be who we marry."
"I know. But there is still a stigma against homosexual relationships involving Heirs and Heiresses. My father is difficult enough as it is. I do not relish the day he learns I entered into a relationship without the potential for an Heir of my own." She frowned and crossed her arms staring off into space.
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