Black Dawn Side Stories - Tales of Dawn Ch.1: Cousin Chaos

The light of the afternoon sun shone through the hallway of the Tonks household as ruckus, young laughter rang through the house. Andromeda looked up from the documents spread across the table as a dull crash echoed through the walls, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“Nymphadora?” She craned her neck, trying to peer down the hallway. 

“I’m alright, mum!” Dora yelled back, the sound of Harry’s laughter mingling with her voice. “Come here, you!”

In the next moment, Arcturus’ three-year-old ward shot out of the hallway into the drawing room atop a toy broom, sending Andromeda’s papers fluttering as he tore past her and turned sharply, stopping right behind her before she could even scream. 

“Harry!” Her heart pounded in her chest as she clutched the papers in her hand. “What are you doing—”

“Aunt Andy, save me!” He yelled between giggles, peeking over her shoulder just as Nymphadora burst into the room, clay sticking in her blood-red hair.

“You!” Her eyes narrowed at Harry, as her hair turned even redder. “Come here!”

Andromeda glanced over her shoulder, only to be met with Harry’s big, pleading emerald eyes. “Aunt Andy, she’s chasing me!”

‘Nymphadora’s never worked that well.’ Andromeda felt that look squish her heart.

She turned to her daughter. “Nymphadora—”

“Mum, Harry stuck clay in my hair! And stole my old broom!” She complained, darting around the table trying to catch Harry. 

He gave a startled shriek, flying out of her reach and zooming to the other side of the room in a gust of wind. Dora tried to follow, but Andromeda grabbed onto her, stopping her dead in her tracks. 

“Mum! Lemme go!” She tried to claw her way toward Harry, who darted behind Ted’s high-backed chair.

“Nymphadora, that’s not very nice. Your brother’s just playing. You’re his big sister, aren’t you?” Andromeda sighed as Dora still tried to slip out of her grip, her eyes narrowed at Harry, who stuck out his tongue. 

Before she could chastise Harry, Andromeda’s attention was drawn to the sound of chuckles, and she turned to see her husband standing in the doorway.

“Ted! Come here and help me,” she hissed.

Her husband grinned, shaking his head as he leaned against the doorframe. “Looks like you’ve got things well in hand, luv.” 

Andromeda glared at him. “Very funny. Now take your daughter—”

“Whoa, whoa. You’re not volunteering me for nappy duty again here.”

Andromeda smiled sweetly. “How perceptive of you. Since you’ve appeared, you can take them both upstairs and—”

But before she could finish, a sharp whoosh came from the fireplace, and a shimmering green flame roared to life. 

Ted’s grin faltered, and he made his way to the fireplace. “Oh, Merlin.”

A head appeared in the Floo, shouting over the crackle of emerald fire. “Ted Tonks? It’s Urquhart from Nimbus.”

“I know who you are, Urquhart. What’s the matter?”

“The other team messed up something with the cushioning charms on the new broom, and now the thing is flying backwards. Thankfully, no one has broken it yet. Can you come and have a look?”

Ted glanced over his shoulder at the table. “Can this wait? It is my day off today.”

“If we want to keep the showing at the end of the week, yes.”

Ted sighed, glancing apologetically at his wife. “Sorry, Andy. This one can’t wait. I might be a while.”

“Good luck, Ted,” she said, and her husband stepped into the flames, vanishing in a swirl of green fire.

Andromeda exhaled slowly, then turned to see Dora glaring at Harry, still clutching at her clay-caked hair.

“Alright,” she said, crouching beside her daughter. “Let’s fix that before it hardens.” With a practiced flick of her wand, the clay lifted off Dora’s curls in a soft puff, reforming into a neat little ball in Andromeda’s palm before she vanished it. “There. All better.”

Dora huffed, crossing her arms. “He still has my broom.”

Harry peered out from behind a chair, grinning impishly. “You said it’s a baby broom! And I’m your baby brother.”

“That’s true,” Andromeda muttered. “Harry, be a dear and get off the broom. And no flying indoors. Or anywhere near here until you’re older. Merlin knows how you can fly so well, but get back down.”

“Okay, Aunt Andy,” Harry said, floating down back to the ground and trotting toward them. He thrust the broom toward Dora. “Don’t be upset now, big Sister?”

Dora grinned and nodded, taking back her broom.

“Alright, why don’t you two play something that doesn’t involve flying indoors or anything dangerous?”

“Yes, mum,” Dora clutched Harry’s hand, and the two rushed down the hallway, scooping a small quaffle on their way.

Andromeda shook her head as their ruckus echoed through the walls and returned to her work.

Just as she said it, her pendant began to vibrate softly, and she frowned. “What came up at work today that qualifies as an emergency?”

She glanced between the fireplace and the hallway, where the sound of Harry and Dora playing was coming from, before sighing.

“Nyphadora? Mum’s gotta go to the office for a bit. I’ll be back in ten minutes, okay, dear?”

Nymphadora poked her head out of the doorway, her hair turning a bright orange. “Okay, mum.”

“The two of you behave,” Andromeda knelt in front of her. “Until I’m back, you’re the adult of the house, Nymphadora, so you'll have to look after your little brother.”

“I will, mum.”

Andromeda hesitated. “Good. I’ll be right back then. Ten minutes at the most.”

Dora nodded enthusiastically, and Andromeda stepped into the flames, whispering, “Andromeda Tonk’s office.”

The flames swallowed her, and Dora brightened and turned around to see Harry looking up at her with big emerald eyes. “Harry, do you want chocolates?”

Harry’s eyes lit up as he nodded enthusiastically. “Chocolates.”

Dora grinned, and she held Harry’s hand before they raced to the kitchen, weaving past the table and the pile of Andromeda’s files. 

“Mum has hidden it somewhere up there,” Dora murmured, pointing to the shelves above the kitchen countertop, and Harry squinted at it. “She hid it there so she can only summon it with magic.”

“Magic!” Harry beamed. “You get it with magic. Or fly”

“I can’t. I don’t know how, and I don’t have a wand. And the broom doesn’t go that high. I’ve tried.” She told him. Harry frowned, glancing up at the shelves before running out of the room, where she followed. “Harry, what—”

Harry walked over to a dining chair and began tugging on it with both hands, his tongue poking out in concentration while the chair barely budged. 

“We can climb,” he muttered, giving it another determined pull.

Dora’s eyes widened. “Harry! You can’t climb that. If you fall or something, mum will kill me.”

Harry puffed out his cheeks, still tugging. “You can climb,” he insisted, grunting as he managed to drag the chair an inch across the floor. The legs squeaked loudly against the tiles, and Dora winced.

“Merlin’s beard, you’re noisy.” She looked toward the hallway, half-expecting her mum to appear out of the Floo already. “Alright, alright! Stop before you break it.”

Harry stopped, panting a little. His hair stuck up more than usual, his cheeks flushed red. “Up?” he asked hopefully.

Dora sighed and lifted the chair, dragging it into the kitchen. “Fine. But I’m climbing, not you. You stay down there and hold it still.”

Harry nodded very seriously, placing his small hands on the leg of the chair like a dutiful assistant. “Holding.”

“Good boy.” She gave him a quick grin and stepped onto the seat. It wobbled slightly, and Dora clutched onto the cabinets. “Okay, maybe if I just stretch a bit, it may work. Hold steady, Harry.” 

Dora rose onto her toes, fingertips brushing the edge of the shelf. She could see the tin—shiny gold, with the familiar Honeydukes label glinting in the light. The chair wobbled again, and she nearly lost her balance but steadied herself at the last moment. 

“Alright, this isn’t working,” she muttered, and Harry nodded solemnly. “So, come up here and I’ll lift you up.”

“Upsie?”

“Yes, upsie. You’re small and I’m big, so if I lift you up, maybe you can reach the chocolates.” Dora crouched slightly, holding out her arms. “Come on, you can reach the tin, and then we’ll both have chocolate before Mum comes back.”

Harry beamed and scrambled up onto the chair beside her, his tiny hands gripping the counter for balance. Dora slipped her arms under his shoulders and huffed. “Merlin, you’re heavier than you look!”

Harry giggled as Dora straightened, holding him as high as she could. “Can you reach it?”

Harry stretched, his small fingers grazing the edge of the golden tin, pushing it further away on the shelf, the scrape echoing in Dora’s ears. “Almost, a little more.”

Dora grunted, wobbling forward and rising on her tippitoes on the chair. “Come on, Harry! I can’t hold you forever, and Mum will be back any minute.”

Harry puffed his cheeks and squinted at the tin, his little brow furrowed. 

The tin trembled, scooching forward toward Harry’s fingers but still out of reach. Below him, Dora froze. “Wait, what did you—”

Before she could finish, the entire shelf shuddered. The next moment, with a great clatter, the chocolate tin launched itself into the air, followed by jars of jam, a bag of sugar, a sack of flour, several bowls and spoons, and inexplicably, a stray ladle.

“Wha—Harry!” Dora shrieked as she ducked, losing her grip on him as the chair tipped sideways. Both of them tumbled to the floor with a thump just as the kitchen exploded in a storm of sugar and flour.

The tin of chocolates soared over their heads, hit the cupboard door, and burst open midair, sending a rain of chocolate frogs bouncing across the tiles as flour rained over their heads.

Dora coughed, sitting up slowly in a thick white cloud. Flour coated her hair, her face, and her shirt, and she coughed, sending a cloud of flour into the air. Beside her, Harry blinked through the haze, a perfect white handprint smudged across his cheek and four coating his hair like snowflakes.

Then Harry sneezed, and a little puff of flour shot out in front of him like a smoke bomb.

That did it for Dora, as she broke into hysterical laughter, clutching her stomach as she fell back onto the floor. “Oh, Merlin’s pants, look at you!”

Harry looked down, grabbed a handful of flour from the floor, and tossed it in the air. “Snow!” 

Dora wheezed through her laughter, brushing a streak of flour from her nose. “That’s not snow, you silly thing. It’s flour!”

“Snow!” Harry declared again, giggling as he scooped up another handful and flung it skyward. The cloud settled over a leaping chocolate frog, which landed in Harry’s lap. “Chocolate!”

“Alright, alright, we need to set this right before mum comes back, Harry!” Dora tried to get up, but her foot slipped on a chocolate frog wrapper, and she plopped right back into the flour pile with a squeak, causing Harry to burst into shrieks of laughter, and he rolled in the flour.

“Dora fell, Dora fell,” he said between giggles.

“I did not!” Dora protested weakly, trying and failing to look stern. She reached out, snagged him by the waist, and tickled his side. “Got you now, you little troublemaker!”

Harry squealed, wriggling away and darting behind the table, leaving tiny white footprints all across the kitchen tiles. Dora followed, half slipping, half sliding, a trail of flour puffing in her wake.

By the time she caught him, pinning him with a triumphant grin, the kitchen looked like a snowstorm had passed through it. Chocolate frogs hopped lazily over mounds of flour, the bag of sugar had toppled entirely, and a lone ladle dangled precariously from a light fixture.

Then, both children froze at the sound of a soft crack from the fireplace.

“...Mum,” Dora whispered, her grin vanishing.

Harry’s eyes went wide as the familiar shimmer of green flames danced through the kitchen doorway.

Andromeda stepped out gracefully, brushing soot from her robes and muttering, “Well, that was quicker than expected. Honestly, I don’t know why I—”

Her voice trailed off as she took in the sight before her: the white-haired, flour-covered duo staring up at her with matching guilty expressions.

“What in the name of Merlin…” she whispered, feeling a headache well.

Harry toddled forward, holding up a flour-covered chocolate frog, and smiled brightly. “Chocolate, Aunt Andy? Grandpa says we should share!”

Andromeda looked around the kitchen and then at Harry and Dora before sitting on the kitchen floor and burying her head in her hands.

This, she decided, was going to be a long day.

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AND… DONE! Hope you all liked this chapter!

So, this was my very first side-story of Black Dawn! I’ve been thinking about doing this (and someone requested it too in the past). These aren’t going to be all very big or important Side stories like LoSP has, but rather, cute, fluff pieces that show you the glimpses of Harry’s childhood or the likes. Also, these will be limited in number. (I am planning 7, but my plans are subject to change, as always.) Henceforth, these will be labeled 'Tales of Dawn'.

Also, I intended to publish this yesterday, but I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather. The next update will be for GotSIS on the 24th or 25th (depending on my health and mood that comes with it.)

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Stay Happy! Stay Safe! Keep Smiling! Keep Reading!

HPfanfictioner66