A/N: Hey, thanks for all the words of well wishing (or something like that!) :) I'm pretty sure I've lost a few readers because they can't stomach seeing the % of H/Hr to H/T being so low... Well, I guess it's there loss, eh? :) Thanks to all of you who were patient enough to keep reading my story, I hope I don't disappoint you with the rest of it... And without further ado: Chapter 14! (If you want a quick nibble of H/Hr Fluff, please see Amynoelle's chapter 13 review reply... :)
"What?" Tonks asked, bewildered. "H-How could you tell?"
Hermione broke into tears of joy and hugged Tonks to her tightly. "It was in your faces! My parents had that same look when I'd done something that made them proud..."
She quickly changed to Harry and hugged him tightly as well. "Congratulations, James!" she mumbled through her tears. "You're going to have the family that you've dreamt of!"
Harry hugged the crying Hermione and patted her on the back gently. "Thank you, Hermione," he whispered softly and looked to Tonks who seemed ready to burst into tears herself.
"Is it ok?" Tonks asked quietly when Hermione pulled herself away from Harry.
"Are you mad?!" Hermione asked incredulously and hugged her friend once again. "I couldn't be happier for the two of you! Of course it's ok!"
The tears that Tonks had been fighting off spilled forth and she hugged Hermione tighter. "Thank you," Tonks sobbed into her shoulder.
"You don't have to thank me," Hermione said softly and laughed slightly. "This is brilliant news!" she crowed to Tonks' sputtered laughter.
"It's these blasted hormones!" Tonks sobbed.
"When did you find out?" Hermione asked with a comforting hand on Tonks' back.
"I knew before we left on our trip and told James before we came back," she said truthfully, trying to calm down.
"Boy was I surprised," Harry said with a nervous laugh. "Before I knew, I made the mistake of asking her what she'd been eating..."
Hermione cringed but began laughing. "That must have gone over like a ton of bricks!"
"You don't know the half of it," Tonks deadpanned with a faux glare at Harry.
"Well, now is as good a time as any," Harry said in a very happy, Mr. Weasley fashion that caused Hermione to look at him strangely. Harry pulled a bag from his pocket and enlarged it to twice its normal size. "Marion, if you would be so kind as to reach into the bag and pull out one item."
Tonks looked at him with a mix of suspicion and glee, causing Harry to laugh once again. She reached into the bag and her eyes went wide at the number of small packages her fingers came across. She controlled herself, however, and pulled out a hand-sized, wrapped box. Harry grinned at Hermione and winked at Tonks before relieving her of the box and setting it on the floor. In the span of a heartbeat, the wrapped box grew several times its size. Tonks gasped and looked at the package with wide eyes.
"Open it," Harry said with a bright smile, bouncing energetically on the balls of his feet. Tonks reached for the magical bow and with one, swift tug, the paper fell from a large box with a wizarding photo on each side. Tears sprang to her eyes once again when a mother walked into the scene depicted in the photo. She was carrying a small bundle and the room was obviously a nursery. A man entered the scene just afterwards and the two kissed their baby on her small head before laying her in the crib. The scene dissolved into large, friendly letters and a representation of the bedding that was in the box.
"It's perfect," she breathed as Harry opened the package to reveal the crib. As the cardboard fell away, Tonks wrapped Harry in a tight hug and wept happily into his chest.
"It knows the age of the baby," Harry said with a smile. "When she gets older, the bed self-transfigures into the appropriate bedding..."
"That's wonderful," Hermione said as well, tears streaking her cheeks as she looked over the crib. "And the company took Muggle regulations into consideration!"
"Shall we unload everything else?" Harry asked with a laugh. "I didn't buy everything... there was too much to choose from!"
"You got more?!" Tonks and Hermione asked in unison.
"Mostly furniture and nappies," Harry admitted with a grin, "and a few toys..."
"You should have waited!" Hermione said in a huff. "How am I going to throw a baby shower for her if there's nothing left to buy?!"
"A baby shower?" Tonks asked in surprise. Tears welled in her eyes again when Hermione nodded.
"Of course! I can't let one of my closest friends go without a baby shower!" Hermione said incredulously. "Especially for her first!"
Tonks didn't know what to say or do so she hugged Hermione as tightly as she could. Hermione gasped at her strength but laughed heartily at her friend's reaction.
"Why don't we see what your husband bought since he's gone ahead and done it anyway," she said soothingly, sending a wink towards Harry.
Tonks wasted no more time and gift after gift was produced from the bag and enlarged. Soon, the nursery was complete, save for the baby to go in it. There was also a solid lack of clothes and such which brought sparkles to the women's eyes.
"I'm sure my friends would be happy to join in!" Hermione said excitedly as Harry watched the two of them. He was dreading the day that he and Tonks would come off of assignment and reveal themselves to Hermione. He only hoped that their talk on Christmas would help ease the blow. His eyes focused on Tonks and slid down her body to rest on her belly. Though she hadn't started showing yet, there was a firmness present she hadn't displayed before.
Harry looked up to see Tonks watching him, a smile playing at her lips and an infinite depth to her hazel eyes that clearly told him she was in love with him. Hermione noticed the look and smiled as well.
"I think it's time I head home and work out this baby shower," she said after clearing her throat. "I think we can get it together after Christmas, is that ok with you?"
Tonks' eyes misted again and she smiled. "Thank you, Hermione," she said, holding back the grateful tears. The two women hugged and the three of them went to the front door.
Tonks fell into Harry's arms after Hermione had left and he held her to him patiently. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head several times before she finally calmed to sniffles. "She's not going to be happy when we reveal ourselves after this assignment," she said sadly.
"I know," Harry said quietly. "She'll be angry at first, but everything will work out."
"How do you know?" Tonks asked quietly. "How can you know that everything will be ok?"
Harry gently cupped her chin and brought her tear laden gaze to his. With a soft smile, he wiped her cheeks clear and kissed her ever so tenderly on the lips. "Because," he said with a widening smile, "I have the most wonderful woman in the world in my life and she's carrying our first child. I've never felt so complete and I can only expect that our lives will become better as we have more children and grow older... Then we get to see our grandchildren..."
Tonks wrapped her arms around him, kissing him hard and long. "I love you," she whispered after they pulled apart.
"I love you too," Harry said with a bright smile that made Tonks weak in the knees. "Why don't we have some tea and get ready for tomorrow's outing? Hermione's coming over so we can all go to Diagon Alley before tea at her parents'."
Tonks smiled and the two went into the kitchen. A few hours later, Harry stepped from the bathroom to see Tonks gazing into the nursery with a wide, goofy grin on her face. He smiled at the sight and shifted her long, auburn hair to the side so he could kiss her bare neck.
"Hey," she said softly, reaching up and running the fingers of her right hand through his hair.
"Hey," Harry said as he wrapped his arms protectively around her and rubbed her taught belly. "It won't be long now..." Harry smiled against the bare skin of her neck.
"What?" she asked quietly, glancing out the corner of her eye to his smiling face.
"What if she's born on my birthday?" Harry asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
"I'm not sure, but the end of July is when Madam Pomfrey said he'd be born," Tonks said with a wry grin, feeling his silent laughter rumble through her body.
"I can see you rocking her to sleep in the corner," Harry whispered more seriously. Both of them looked to the rocking chair instinctively. There was a stuffed, pink elephant currently occupying the cushion and on impulse, Tonks left Harry's embrace to take her position. She smiled and held the stuffed animal as if it were a baby. Harry laughed at the sight and crossed the room to join her. "See, even the fates are pointing to a girl," he said with a kiss to Tonks' temple as she laughed at the absurdity of his statement.
"Let's get to sleep, Love," Tonks said as she cupped his cheek and brought him in for a tender kiss. "We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, then... Christmas..." she trailed off with a nervous look.
"It'll be rough at first," Harry said softly, helping her from the chair though he didn't need to do so. "But Hermione will work around her anger, I'm sure of it."
"I hope so," Tonks said quietly as they took one last look at their future child's room. She subconsciously rubbed her stomach and, still smiling, switched off the light.
"How long has she been in there?" Hermione asked quietly as she and Harry sat at the kitchen table nursing their mugs of tea.
Harry sighed. "For the last half hour," he said wearily. "I made the mistake of making sausage for breakfast this morning and it set her off."
Hermione smiled at him sympathetically. "That was very sweet of you last night," she said quietly. "Surprising her with all the nursery furniture..."
"I got excited," Harry admitted with a nervous smile. Tonks called for his help and he quickly excused himself. "Be right back..."
Harry hurried to the bathroom and smiled comfortingly at the woman who was still kneeling on the bathroom floor.
"Just go without me," Tonks said with a queasy voice. She opened her mouth to say something more but her face went green in a flash and she vomited once again.
Harry knelt beside her and rubbed her back comfortingly. "There's no off limits food at Hermione's parents' house," Harry said reassuringly. "Besides, getting out in the fresh air will help..."
"You know I hate snow," Tonks said after she suppressed a gag. Harry handed her a glass of water which she sipped at gratefully. "But I do feel better now."
"Why don't you brush your teeth then and we'll head out?" Harry asked with a smile. "We can look at baby robes..." he prompted.
Tonks' eyes lit up immediately and with a quick, reassuring smile, allowed Harry to help her to her feet. She cleaned herself up and the two of them caught up with Hermione in the kitchen.
As quick as a blink, they were gone, apparating to the Leaky Cauldron and heading out the back. Harry had never been in Diagon Alley during the winter seasons and his breath caught in his throat at the sight.
Snow had been packed down and magically modified to not be slippery, garland stretched across doors, windows, and between the buildings. But the centerpiece of all the decoration was a giant Christmas tree that was flashing merrily in front of Gringotts. Harry stared in awe at the holiday decorations all around the main street and barely realized that Hermione and Tonks were laughing at him.
"I've never been here during Christmas," Harry said quietly as he turned to them.
"I'm sorry, James," Tonks said sweetly. "I forgot about that..."
"I wonder if Harry has been down here this time of year," Hermione wondered aloud as she smiled at her friends. "He's lived a very sheltered life long before we finished school," she explained as her gaze shifted to Flourish and Blotts.
Harry and Tonks knew immediately what caught her attention and as her friends, James and Marion, they smiled knowingly. One did not spend time around Hermione without realizing her love of books.
"Shall we stop in Flourish and Blotts first, then?" Harry asked with a slight grin.
"You don't mind?" Hermione asked hopefully, returning her full attention to her two friends.
Tonks laughed. "Not at all," she said with a smile, "but if I know James, he'll want to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies to gawk at the latest broom..."
Harry blushed slightly but smiled sheepishly. "Do you mind if we part ways for a half hour or so?"
Hermione laughed and shook her head. "What is it with blokes and Quidditch?"
"I happen to be a Puddlemere fan myself," Tonks said with a disgruntled sniff.
"Oh, I didn't mean to offend you, Marion!" Hermione covered quickly and frowned at her friend's sly grin. "Honestly!" she said in a huff but laughed all the same.
"I'll meet you two lovely ladies in a bit then," Harry said with a chuckle before giving Tonks a quick kiss. He waved to them as the two women wound their way through the masses of last-minute holiday shoppers. He grinned to himself and set out for his favorite store, with any luck a new broom would be on display.
Harry wasn't disappointed when he arrived to find the latest model of the ThunderBuster, the Mark III, displayed prominently in the window. He smiled when he remembered Tonks' description of how he'd gawk at the new broom. She wouldn't be disappointed... Harry thought as he did, indeed, gawk at the wonderfully built, pro Quidditch sanctioned broom that could fly circles around his old Firebolt.
He went into the store and looked around, hiding, despite himself, when the store owner looked in his direction. His stomach fell when the tall, slender Asian woman walked over and offered him a smile.
"Welcome to Quality Quidditch Supplies!" Cho Chang said happily as she closed in on him. Harry blushed involuntarily though smiled slightly in return. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked inquisitively. "I saw you admiring the new ThunderBuster, are you interested in purchasing one?"
Harry cleared his throat and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I just came in to browse-" He stopped when he noticed that she wasn't looking at him but was instead staring fixedly out the plate glass window overlooking Diagon Alley. Harry caught a streak of red light out of the corner of his eye and he turned around to see someone on the street slump to the ground.
"CALL THE AURORS!" he shouted earnestly and pulled out his wand. Much to Cho's credit, she shot to her back room where the store's fireplace was. Harry braced himself for the fight and ran for the door.
The place was in chaos. Everywhere he looked, people were slumped in the street, children were running frantically in an attempt to find their parents and the gigantic tree was on fire. Three black robed wizards suddenly appeared around him and instinctively Harry ducked. A green light and whoosh of wind shot over his head only to strike the Death Eater opposite the caster. Harry's wand shot out and red streaks of light claimed the consciousness of his remaining two assailants.
With a bang, ropes shot out of his wand to cocoon the unconscious men and he surveyed the situation. Children's screams came from the direction of Knockturn Alley and without a second thought, Harry raced in that direction. He growled angrily when he arrived to find two hags pulling screaming children towards an open door and, with an anger born of a new father, Harry stunned and bound the evil creatures with ropes. The two children immediately clung to him and told him where their parents were.
Harry looked around the dark alley once more and satisfied, pulled the children to the safety of the Quidditch store. He shot back outside to hear Hermione's voice shouting above the din, directing people into the nearby stores as she deflected spell after spell from the surrounding shadows. He ran towards her and in rapid succession took down two Death Eaters that were sneaking around her flanks.
"JAMES!" Hermione shouted in warning as her wand flicked towards him followed by a "STUPEFY!" Harry ducked in time to hear the thump of someone falling behind him. Hermione quickly dispatched the other three wizards and lifted a crying toddler in her free arm. "Marion is further up the Alley!" Hermione said quickly as she headed in the opposite direction.
"Thanks," Harry said and ran full out towards the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. Tonks was working just as efficiently as Hermione had been but her face was becoming increasingly tinged with green. Harry made it to her side and with their combined efforts put the four wizards that were surrounding them out of commission.
Tonks, however, immediately fell to her knees and vomited in the middle of the alley. "Why now of all times?!" she gagged as another wave of nausea claimed her. Harry kept an eye open around them when the hair on the back of his neck stood bolt upright. Instinctively, he pushed Tonks out of the way and he dove in the opposite direction.
Mere seconds later, the snow-covered cobble street exploded in a flash of green light and stone shrapnel. Harry rolled to a crouch a few meters away and launched a stunner at their attacker only to have it rebound back at him. He dodged again and concentrated. Sure enough, a powerful shield was protecting this one but Harry knew how to correct that disadvantage.
He aimed his wand again but purposely struck the shield at an odd angle. His blood froze when he heard the familiar laugh of Draco Malfoy echo from beneath the mask he wore and Harry smiled brightly at the sudden turn of events.
"Why are you smiling?" Draco asked in a growl.
Harry simply looked above the arrogant wizard and pointed.
Draco glanced up quickly but the falling gargoyle that Harry's deflected curse had dislodged knocked him unconscious.
Harry bound his school rival and levitated him from the street. Tonks had recovered from her bout of morning sickness and joined him. "Looks like we've got the git!" she growled with a punch to the unconscious wizard's body. "I wish we could have told Ginny that we were tracking him down!"
"I know," Harry said sadly. "Let's get back... there might be more of them..." With a nod, Tonks trotted slightly ahead with her wand at the ready. Harry had to walk slower with Malfoy dragging along the ground behind him. The sound of multiple apparations filled the air and Harry glanced around to see Aurors flood the street. He caught sight of Hermione with the toddler, handing the crying child to a woman who was sitting on the ground with a splint on her leg.
Time from that moment onward suddenly slowed, making it feel as if everyone was moving through molasses.
"HERMIONE!" Tonks shouted at the top of her lungs just after a flash of blue light glared off the roof of Flourish and Blotts. Tonks bolted towards Hermione who was still unaware of the curse that had been unleashed her way. Dropping Malfoy to the ground with a satisfying thud, Harry started forward as well. His eyes caught sight of the wizard who'd unleashed the curse and without using his wand Harry launched a stunning curse. Caught by surprise, the dark wizard crumpled and fell from the roof into a pile of snow in the street.
Tonks, however, didn't see the debris in her way. She tripped on a large stone just before reaching Hermione and she fell into her. The blue curse struck her squarely in the back and she slumped unconscious over Hermione's prone body.
"NOOO!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs as he half-stumbled, half-ran to his fallen partner. He slid to a halt next to the two of them and immediately cast an enervation charm on her. The spell had no effect on her, nor did a second casting of the charm. Tonks still lay unconscious as Aurors filtered in, collecting the bound Death Eaters. "AUROR DOWN!" Harry yelled in a panic when his repeated attempts to wake her failed. Fear paralyzed him even as he sat, cradling Tonks in his arms.
"Get her to St. Mungo's!" Moody barked from down the street.
"A-Auror?" Hermione stammered as she watched the scene unfold before her eyes.
Harry didn't waste any time and immediately apparated his unconscious fiancée to the wizarding hospital. "Unknown curse!" he shouted as a team of mediwitches and mediwizards ran up to him.
"What's her name?" one of the mediwizards asked hurriedly.
"Nym... Marion Baker!" he corrected. "Auror, security ward, code eye-ex-eye-eye!" Harry rattled off. Harry followed the team as they ran to an operating room and was stopped at the doors.
"Sorry, you can't come in..." a mediwitch said sympathetically. "You'll have to wait in the sitting area!" She turned and followed the rest of her team into the room, leaving a shell-shocked Harry Potter staring at the doors in front of him.
A deep depression began to settle in his heart as he walked dumbly to the sitting area. He'd just gotten engaged, found out that he'd be a father, and in the span of a few days, he may have lost the future he craved so much. Why does it have to happen to me!? he screamed silently as he slumped into a chair, blind to everything happening around him.
"James?" a female voice came from somewhere around him.
He glanced about in a futile attempt to find the speaker but returned to staring directly at the operating room door.
"James..." Hermione said again as she sat next to him. "How is she?"
"What? I haven't heard..." he said distantly. "I just got here..."
"You've been here for four hours..." Hermione corrected quietly, turning him to look at her.
"Four hours..." Harry said dumbly, looking at his friend but not seeing her. The words sunk in and he shook his head. "FOUR HOURS?!" he asked incredulously.
Hermione nodded sadly. "Three Aurors and fourteen civilians died," she whispered. "There were fifty-six injuries... including M-Marion," Hermione said with a sob. "I'm sorry, James... I should have been paying attention!"
"Don't blame yourself, Hermione," Harry said evenly. "I could blame myself, but it is neither our faults! That ruddy coward of a Death Eater is the one that did it all! But... but my wife..." Harry said, feeling tears start to sting his eyes. "He hit my wife... with an unknown curse!"
"I'll see what I can find out," Hermione said compassionately, leaving him in the waiting area. She returned a few minutes later with a frown on her face and sat next to him again. "She's in her room, but they won't tell me anything, you're going to have to talk to them."
Harry nodded dumbly and followed Hermione to the information desk. After explaining he was Tonks' husband, they let him and Hermione visit her.
They stepped from the lift and walked down an infinitely long hallway. The walk seemed to take forever, yet, almost instantly, he was standing in the doorway looking at a pale-faced Marion Baker lying deathly still in her bed. He rushed to her side immediately and took her hand in his as he sat down.
"Can you hear me, Love?" he asked with a trembling voice, feeling her cold skin in his hands.
Tonks' eyes fluttered open slowly, fighting the brightness of the room. She looked blearily at Harry and a wide, but weak, smile crossed her face. "H-hi," she said weakly, barely able to squeeze his hand.
"Shh, don't talk," he said as tears began to roll down his cheeks.
"Is she ok?" Tonks asked quietly with a ragged breath escaping her lips.
"I'm fine, Marion," Hermione said reassuringly, taking the woman's other hand. "I'm right here..."
Tonks smiled at Hermione as tears began to streak from the corner of her eyes. "Take care of him, Hermione..." she whispered hoarsely, a sob catching in her throat.
"What?" Harry asked taken aback. "You're going to be fine, Love!"
"I'm sorry..." Tonks whispered. "I tripped... I should have-"
"Shh, it's ok," Harry said painfully as he caressed her cheek. "You're going to be fine and it wasn't your fault... it wasn't your fault..."
"Mr. Baker, may I have a word with you?" a mediwizard asked solemnly from the door.
Harry stood on gelatin filled legs and barely stumbled to the door. He couldn't grasp what was being said to him as his hope began to drain away.
"She's not going to make it through the night," the man said sadly. "She was struck with an advanced curse that wasn't keyed to her. Whatever was used reacts with an unintended target as if it were a slow-acting killing curse."
"S-she's dying?" Harry asked in a distant voice that didn't seem to be his own. His heart crumbled as the mediwizard placed his hand on Harry's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
"I'm afraid so," he replied softly.
"What about the baby... our baby?" Harry whispered as all the feeling in his body began to leave him. He looked pleadingly to the man in front of him.
"If we can find a surrogate mother that matches your wife's blood-type, then we might be able to save it," he said softly. "But your wife has a very rare blood-type of O negative..."
The world faded to a haze and he nodded his understanding. The only things clearly in view now were Hermione and Tonks. The room they were in swam out of focus as unshed tears made ready to escape the prison of his eyes. He closed the door quietly and walked slowly to Tonks' bed.
Hermione turned in her seat and saw the look of despair on her friend's face and the tears came unbidden from her eyes as Harry made his way to Tonks' side once again.
"I know that look," Tonks said with a sad smile. "I wasn't lucky this time, was I?" she asked with a hollow chuckle that caused her to roll into a coughing fit.
Harry smiled lovingly as he helped her settle back into her pillows. "I'm sorry... I wasn't fast enough this time either..." His tears finally broke free even though he tried to be strong. "Just when I thought I'd finally found a family..."
Tonks' eyes went wide. "What about the baby?" she gasped desperately. "Can she be saved?" she pleaded, clutching Harry's arms tightly.
"Not without someone who has O negative blood..." he whispered sadly and pulled her into a hug.
"Oh, no, the baby!" Hermione whimpered as everything sank in. "How can O negative blood help?" she asked with a determined flame sparking in her eyes.
"A surrogate m-mother..." Harry said looking up to Hermione.
She looked nervously from Harry to Tonks, weighing something in her mind. "I'll do it!" she declared forcefully, the fire in her eyes igniting into a bonfire that Harry had only seen when she was truly serious about something.
"W-what?" Tonks asked in a whisper as Harry laid her back once again.
"I have that blood type," Hermione explained, "I'll carry your baby for you."
"Hermione-" Harry said quickly.
"No, my mind is made up," Hermione interrupted.
Harry shook his head as he looked into Tonks' hazel eyes. "There's something you need to know first."
She looked at Harry in confusion. "What is there to know? My friend is dying and the only way to save her baby is for me to carry it..."
Harry took Tonks' hand and nodded. "Go ahead," he whispered and with a sigh of relief, Tonks reverted to her normal self.
"Tonks?!" Hermione whispered in disbelief. She looked hurriedly to Harry just as he shifted back to normal as well. "H-Harry?" Her hand shot to her mouth as she stumbled back into her chair in shock.
Harry's head drooped as he nodded. "This was our undercover assignment," he explained quietly. "We were posing as husband and wife..."
"Don't be angry, Hermione..." Tonks wheezed as her eyes fluttered closed then back open lazily.
"You've been with me the entire time?" Hermione whispered, still in shock.
"Inadvertently, yes," Harry admitted softly. "I couldn't reveal who I was, only Albus, Moody, Remus, and Kingsley knew..."
"But a baby?" Hermione stuttered, tears flowing down her cheeks as the realization that Tonks was dying right in front of them registered in her mind.
"Accident," Tonks breathed, trying to catch her breath, "p-potion..."
"She built an immunity to the birth control potion..." Harry said with a sob, cradling her head in his hands and kissing her gently.
Hermione didn't become angry, the scene before her shunting any thoughts of spite from her mind. She looked between the two of them and raced out the door at a desperate run.
"Do you have the strength to change back?" Harry asked quietly. "Let me see those wonderful hazel eyes of yours?"
Tonks opened her eyes and smiled, watching Harry's reaction as tears streaked down her cheeks. "I kept my natural color, Love..." she whispered, but shifted to her Marion Baker persona as Harry shifted to James'. "Hermione will take care of you..." she wheezed. "And E-Erin... she p-promised..." Her voice trailed off just as her eyes fluttered closed once again.
"Love? Tonks?!" Harry gently shook her shoulders.
She started awake once again and smiled lovingly at Harry. "T-take c-care of them... H-Harry," she whispered weakly. "Remember, I love... you..."
This time he felt her body go limp in his arms and a sickening feeling gripped his heart. "Wake up! Don't go... please..." Harry pleaded desperately but she didn't respond. Her breathing became weaker and weaker as he broke down, cradling his dying fiancée in his arms.
"Sir, you'll have to sit back," a mediwitch said earnestly as he rocked back and forth with Tonks' limp body in his arms. "We've got to transfer the baby now!"
A pair of strong hands grabbed Harry by the shoulders and dragged him from Tonks as a flurry of white-robed wizards and witches dashed between hers and another bed that had been moved into the room.
"We're losing her!" One of them shouted as their wands waved frantically in the air. Harry watched in stunned silence. He caught Hermione downing several potions before lying back in the other bed and closing her eyes. Harry looked back to Tonks' still form and he fell to the floor, landing hard on his knees as a sadness he never knew existed wracked his body.
"Transfer is complete!" Another mediwitch said as the same strong arms lifted Harry from the floor and pulled him into the hall where a chair was waiting for him. "Check her vitals and make sure she's not rejecting the transplant!" a mediwizard said hurriedly. "Try to stabilize the other!" another mediwitch said urgently before the door closed.
"Harry..." the man's voice whispered in his ear. Harry looked up though the waves of anger, sadness, and tear-blurred vision to find none other than Albus Dumbledore standing before him, a look of profound sadness on the old wizard's face.
"Doesn't it ever end, Professor?" Harry choked with a pathetic sob, having seemingly reverted to the scared little boy that used to live in a cupboard under the stairs at four, Privet Drive.
"I understand that you've captured the one you were after," Dumbledore said quietly. "And I've taken the liberty of finding someone to cover your classes until you're fit to return, if you indeed decide to return..."
"Thank you," Harry said in a daze, attempting to get to his feet but the old wizard's grip kept him firmly in place. He looked to his old mentor in confusion and saw something in his eyes. "What is it?"
"You need to come with me," Albus Dumbledore said sadly, "there's something you need to know."