The-Meeting-Unscheduled (I)

~~Alley of Druids, New York~~ (July 15th, 1994)

Alastor Moody landed on his feet as the Portkey dropped him at the entrance of the Alley of the Druids, but unfortunately, his companion's landing wasn't that graceful… Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Mad-Eye Moody's protege landed on her feet, but as soon as her feet touched the ground, she stumbled forward and ended up planting her face on the ground, drawing attention from the passersby.

Alastor's grimace turned into an unhappy scowl when he noticed that they had garnered unnecessary attention… He was already expecting some sort of ungraceful display from his protege, but he wasn't expecting her to draw attention with her clumsiness. Alastor growled as stomped toward his protege, who still had her face planted on the ground.

"How long are you going to lie there?" Alastor asked unhappily as he arrived beside the lying figure.

"Sorry. Sorry… I am getting up…" The figure whined as she slowly started to push herself off the ground.

"We need to get out of here, soon" Alastor said impatiently as he started to tap his good leg on the ground.

"You could have at least asked if I was alright or not" Nymphadora (don't call me that) Tonks gave him an irritated look while dusting off her leather jacket and jeans.

"Your skin has become extremely thick to protect yourself from your own clumsiness" Alastor said drily as he turned around and started to walk away.

"How could you say something so rude to a lady?" Tonks exclaimed and she hurried behind him. She didn't want to be left behind in foreign territory, where something bad might happen to her. After training under Moody, she had also become somewhat paranoid.

"Lady? Please…" Alastor snorted derisively and Tonks felt an invisible pierce her heart. "At best, you are a bull in a china shop" Alastor added unhappily and Tonks felt another invisible arrow pierce her heart.

'Emotional Damage!!' Tonks exclaimed inside her mind as she barely stopped herself from coughing up blood. "So, why are we here, Mad-eye? You never told me anything" Tonks asked curiously, changing the topic when she realized that she had already sustained a lot of emotional damage and she probably couldn't take anymore.

Alastor sniffed as he took a sip from his hip flask. "We are here to find the Potter boy. Amelia wants me to meet him and get a hang of his character" Alastor grunted and Tonks immediately brightened up. Tonks was only seven when the War ended so she also grew up reading Harry Potter books, so she became excited as soon as Moody revealed that they were going to meet Harry Potter.

"Really? I've wanted to meet him since I was a child" Tonks gushed out excitedly.

Alastor's head snapped toward Tonks and glared at her… "There is no need to be excited. If you are hoping to meet the Harry Potter from the story books, then you are going to be highly disappointed…" Alastor barked and her shoulders slumped down after hearing his words. She was also aware of the fact that the real Harry Potter wasn't going to be anything like the Harry Potter from the story books.

After all, four year olds can't defeat Dragons or slay Dementors…

"Though the real Harry Potter might be more dangerous than the storybook one…" Alastor trailed off, surprising Tonks.

"What do you mean by that?" Tonks asked hurriedly.

"Just a warning. Keep your guard around him" Alastor huffed as he didn't want to go into details while walking through crowded streets. Tonks couldn't help but frown after hearing his words, but she still nodded her head in understanding.

"By the way, do you know where he lives?" Tonks asked while looking around, instead of watching her steps. It was a bad choice as moments later, she tripped and ended up stumbling forward, but fortunately, she was somehow able to balance herself before planting her face on the ground. Alastor growled and started to glare at her, making her chuckle nervously…

"No, I do not know where he lives… That is why I need to meet my contact before anything else and we would also need to avoid the Aurors. We aren't carrying Wand permits" Alastor explained after shaking his head at her antics.

"Wand permit?" Tonks asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yes, Wand permit. It's basically your license to carry a Wand" Alastor answered grumpily, making Tonks freeze in surprise. She hurriedly looked around and caught up to Alastor, looking extremely nervous.

"They aren't going to send us to someplace of Azkaban equivalent if we are caught, right? I am only nineteen and I am still single… I can't go to prison, Mad-eye. My mum wants to see me married and I don't want to disappoint her…" Tonks started to babble nervously, making Alastor growl in anger.

"Will you shut your trap?" Alastor barked, making her shut her mouth with a snap. "Stop drawing attention and follow me, you dunderhead and for Merlin's sake, stop drawing attention!" Alastor hissed furiously as balefully glared at Tonks, making her cringe back and gulp loudly. "Do you understand?" Alastor growled, making Tonks frantically nod her head like a little girl.

"Good!" Alastor snapped and turned around and started to walk away. "Bloody rookies" Tonks heard Alastor mumble as she followed him down the street with her shoulders slumped down…

~~Timeskip~~ (A few hours later)

"Mad-eye, you need to taste this! This is awesome! I don't understand why they don't sell all this stuff back in Britain" Tonks babbled on with a gleeful look on her face as she took a huge bite of her hamburger. Apparently, she fell in love with unhealthy American food… She hummed in satisfaction as she savored the taste before taking a large sip from her cola cup.

Alastor stuffed some french fries inside his mouth as his eyebrow continued to twitch in irritation. Everything besides simple french fries could be hazardous in this country… The continued existence of the people in this country baffled him. Their unhealthy food should have driven them to early graves long ago and what annoyed him more was the fact that his damn Protege was trying to entice him to an unhealthy lifestyle with mind-numbingly delicious-smelling food.

"If you eat all that junk then you might end up morbidly fat" Alastor commented drily as his eyes rolled over all the food Tonks had bought.

Tonks simply threw him a dirty look before shrugging dismissively. "Perks of being a Metamorphmagus. I can eat this stuff for the rest of my life and still maintain my shape" Tonks revealed smugly as she continued to enjoy her hamburger and cola.

Alastor would never admit it, but he did feel a bit jealous of her… 'Bah! Who cares?! It's only food, no matter how mind-numbingly good it smells!' Alastor complained inside his mind before looking away from his protege.

"Do you really think Harry Potter lives here? I mean… I mean this place is so unassuming. I was expecting him to be living in a mansion or something else" Tonks asked as she started to unwrap a hotdog after finishing her hamburger. Alastor shrugged dismissively as he continued to eat his bland french fries.

"That's the information, lassie" Alastor gave her the shortest answer, not wanting to start a childish argument with her.

"Alright" Tonks nodded her head in understanding. "Though I can't believe I am observing the Boy-Who-Lived without his consent… Wow! Now, I feel like a bloody creep" Tonks continued to babble unhelpfully, making Alastor's face twitch in irritation. Alastor didn't even bother to answer her question as he realized Tonks was bored and she would end up creating another sick theory from his answer.

"Fuck, Mad-eye! Your informant was right! There he is!" Tonks hissed hurriedly as she jerked her head toward a black-haired boy, who was making his way toward the apartment building. Alastor had to admit, Tonks was right… At first, he didn't recognize the boy as the boy was not wearing any glasses and he didn't look anything like in the books.

"So, what now?" Tonks asked as she hurriedly finished her hotdog. The two of them were watching the apartment building from the roof of a building on the other side of the street. The boy finally arrived in front of the apartment building and unlocked the door with a key.

"We wait and keep an eye on him. According to my informant, that's his apartment" Alastor said as he pointed his finger toward one of the apartments on the left.

"Wouldn't it be better if we made our move now?" Tonks asked with a confused look on her face.

"Ideally I would have done that, but this is not an ideal situation. We aren't planning to grab him, we are only planning to meet him and get a hang of his character. If we alert the Aurors then we will be in a lot of trouble" Alastor explained gruffly. "There are so many people walking around and one of them might decide to become a good samaritan. Then we will have another heap of trouble on our lap" Alastor added unhappily.

"So, stealth and anonymity are our priority, right?" Tonks asked as she started to unwrap another hamburger.

"Yes!" Alastor sniffed as he took a small sip from his hip flask… "Remember. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!" Alastor barked loudly, making Tonks wince. Thankfully, the Silencing Charm was still active or everyone walking down the street would have been alerted of their presence…

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