So, Immortali asked if I would write a sequel to Too Dangerous. The thing is, I'm already in the works rewriting Too Dangerous – which is what this is. But as soon as I'm gone making it better, I would be more than happy to write a sequel or two if you guys wanted.

I wrote this story when I was an amateur at writing, but now that I've gotten better and meddled in a few other fandoms, I've come back to one of my favorite stories and am rewriting it to make it better. I hope to get reviews from old and new fans, and I hope everyone enjoys this! I am taking a bit different direction with this, but I still hope you like it! Also, this is completely AU, because it does not follow Deathly Hallows at all. Another thing – I kinda almost stole a scene from the Half Blood Prince movie in this first chapter, so, yeah.


Without further ado, please read on!

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It was extremely hot and humid for the July evening as Arthur, Bill, and Charlie set up tables out in the garden, Fred and George chasing out the last of the gnomes that usually ran amuck through the tall grass. Ginny and Hermione sat on the old wooden fence at the edge of the garden, watching the proceedings as Harry and Ron carried dishes across the uneven ground, Fleur drifting along in her usual flowing manner behind the boys and carrying the silverware. They were setting up for Harry's seventeenth birthday, where more members of the Order were set to show up and help celebrate.

"Really Molly, its not a big deal for me to help!" Came a slightly putout voice, drifting out from the open kitchen window. "I can help!" The voice followed Molly out the door of the house as she walked behind several large dishes of food, having charmed them to float. The voice belonged to the currently dark-haired Auror following behind, attempting to balance a rather large basket of dinner rolls in her hands. She stumbled over the uneven ground after Molly, a large grin on her face as she managed to keep her balance up. At least until she tripped over what seemed to be air, and tumbled head first, sending the rolls flying as she hit the ground with an 'oof!'.

"S'alright. I'm fine." She muttered and began to pick herself up off the ground, not really wanting to face what she knew would be a disapproving look from Molly. But when she did look up, the dinner rolls were floating in mid air as well as the basket, and were slowly beginning to pile back into the basket. She glanced around, finally spotting Remus, who was the one charming the rolls back into the basket. No one missed how Tonks's hair instantly went from the dark blonde to the bright, vibrant pink she normally wore. "Wotcher Remus." She grinned cheerily.

"Good afternoon, Nym - Tonks." He corrected himself, lest endure her wrath, even on Harry's birthday. She flashed a wide grin.

"Oh, er, thanks for that by the way." She added after a moment - she'd been staring a bit too long at him. He nodded, continuing to charm the basket all the way over to the table and setting it down before tucking his wand away in his robes.

"Not a problem." He gave a weak smile to match her own, before beginning toward the table. Others were appearing in the distance, just outside the magical charms that protected the Burrow from harm. Tonks finally made it to her seat - but only after nearly taking another tumble when the lace of her boot caught around a table leg. She glanced over at Harry as she sat down, who looked a bit too modest as he tried to tell Molly that all this work wasn't worth it. Tonks shook her head slightly, ends of her pink hair just brushing her shoulders.

"I was told to give you this, Tonks." Kingsley's deep voice said after they had started eating. He'd sat across from her; she looked up and took the folded note he was handing her, pulling it open and scanning it. Her eyes turned dark for a moment, before refolding the note and placing it in the pocket of her torn jeans.

"Excuse me a moment." She said quietly and got to her feet, ignoring Molly's questioning looks as she pulled herself from her conversation with Hagrid to watch Tonks walk across the yard, back into the house. She silently shut the door behind her. She shed her black trench coat and tossed it across the back of the couch as she darted up the crooked stairs, eventually working her way into the bathroom. She shut the door - this time not even bothering to be quiet about it - and collapsed on the edge of the bathtub. She pulled the note out again, staring at it for a moment before angrily ripping it up and tossing the bits in the floor.

Not moments later, there was a knock at the door. When she gave no response, it was opened, and Molly's head poked in to find Tonks laying in the bathtub, staring at the ceiling.

"What's the matter Tonks?"

"Oh nothing. Except I have nothing to live for now." She said morbidly, her attitude from downstairs having changed drastically from being bubbly, to being as lamented, as there was possible. Molly stared at her for a moment, trying to form the right words to say something before she disappeared. She was replaced by Remus, who stepped all the way into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it - which Tonks had neglected to do. He frowned, sitting on the edge of the bathtub.

"You want to share with me why you're in such a bad mood all of a sudden?" He asked quietly. She didn't look at him when she spoke.

"I lost my job." She said finally with a sigh. "Worst part about it is they couldn't tell me to my face, but fired me through a bloody note."

"Any reason why they'd fire you?"

"Something about me not doing my work properly." She muttered bitterly. Since when had she not done her work properly? Being an Auror was what Tonks lived for - she wasn't trained to do anything else for Merlin's sake. Sighing, she shook her head ever so slightly. "I think it's because You-Know-Who has people in the Ministry and they know I work for the Order, so they fired me so I wouldn't interfere at the Ministry."

"Well, that's an interesting theory." Remus replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. Tonks glanced at him, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

"Is it now?"

"Yes, considering we got word today that there is in fact someone inside the Ministry. We just don't know who - and Scrimgeour refuses to believe us." Remus continued, and the edges of Tonks's lips twitched, almost as if she wanted to say something, to turn her frown into a smile.

"Well, that just sucks for him doesn't it now?"

Remus got to his feet and extended a hand down to Tonks. With a sigh, she took it, letting him pull her up and out of the bathtub. No sense in crying over spilled Butterbeer, she thought to herself. She should have known it was coming anyway, with Voldemort getting closer and closer to getting into the Ministry. Kingsley was probably next, or even Arthur. There were not really any chances of stopping it, so she was going to have to suck it up. It's what Moody would tell her anyway. Suck it up and get on with more important things. Constant Vigilance.

"Tonks? Are you listening to me?"

"Hm? Oh! Sorry, no. What was that?" She said quickly, Remus's voice having jerked her from her thoughts as they were heading back downstairs.

"Are you coming with Molly, Kingsley, and I to escort the children to Kings Cross?"

"Er, sure. No problem." She said, almost distracted. He frowned slightly, but nodded, letting her wander back into the living room silently, obviously still a bit upset about the loss of her job. But something was settling deep in the pit of her stomach – a feeling she didn't like. It was the feel of dread, an emotion that hardly came over her unless she was fighting a losing battle. A chill ran down her spine and she held back a shiver – she wasn't about to let Remus know something else was wrong, because she'd never hear the end of it. Of course, the change of her hair from the pink, into a jet-black color probably tipped him off. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him open his mouth, but turned toward him with a fake, cheery smile.

"I'm going for a walk. Tell Molly and the lot where I went – I won't be long." She said quickly, and before he could question her, she slipped out the front door. It was still sweltering hot outside, but the sun was starting to go down, which would be a relief from the heat. She reached up and pulled her hair through the hair band she usually wore around her wrist to keep it off the back of her neck as she walked, heading in the opposite direction of the Burrow. Just over the hill was the small town she could never remember the name of – maybe she'd pop down and buy Harry something for his birthday. She'd neglected to remember to get something for him.

She suddenly plopped down on the grass at the top of the hill with another sigh escaping her lips. She was more tired than she had first thought – after all, she'd been up for the past twenty-four hours, if not longer, doing various jobs that needed to be done for the Order. But in times like this, there was not much time for sleep. And by the looks of things, she wasn't getting any sleep anytime soon.

Tonks had just started to relax when she heard the terrifying laugh that send another chill down her spine. A streak of bright orange flame fell from what appeared to be the sky, an intense magical fire encircling the Burrow. She leapt to her feet and instantly went running down the hill, wand already drawn. There was another laugh – Tonks would have recognized the sound anywhere.

Bellatrix stood just outside the ring of fire, cackling. From her place on the hill, Tonks saw Harry's form dart toward Bellatrix, who had began to run, out into the fields that surrounded the Burrow. Once Harry had crossed the fire, the flames became higher, and even more intense so that no one else would be able to make it across. She ran the rest of the way down the hill, skirted around the fire, and followed Harry and Bellatrix into the field.

"Harry!" She called, nearly avoiding tripping over several rocks embedded into the ground. She could just see the back of the boy's head as he ran after her aunt, apparently still having that grudge for her killing Sirius. Tonks was pretty pissed and upset at her aunt for killing her favorite cousin, but that didn't mean she ran after Bellatrix like a bloody idiot, as Harry was doing now.

She reached forward, catching Harry by the back of his shirt and pulling him to a jerking halt. He struggled against her, angry.

"Let me go!"

"Harry! Stop it! You're going to get yourself killed! Then what use will it be to us having gone and protected you all this time!?"

It took a moment for her words to sink in, but apparently they did and he stopped struggling for the moment. There was another howl of laughter, this one a male voice. Streaks of black came from nowhere, landing in front of Harry and Tonks – there were now four Death Eaters standing in front of them, including Bellatrix. Her sister, Narcissa Malfoy, stood beside her, wand drawn, both of them facing Harry. It took Tonks a moment to recognize the two standing in front of her – Rodolphus Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback.

"Harry, I want you to run. Back to the Burrow." Tonks whispered as they stood together, back to back.

"I'm going to kill her." Harry hissed between clenched teeth and Tonks inwardly groaned – why did the Chosen One have to be such a stubborn teenager?

Then, everything seemed to explode. A spell was half out of Tonks's mouth when all four of the Death Eaters simultaneously shouted spells of their own, aimed at the two. Tonks shoved Harry down out of the way, hitting the ground on her back and briefly knocking the breath from her lungs. She scrambled back up quickly though, sending a spell flying at Rodolphus as Harry began to take on Narcissa and Bellatrix, mostly concentrating on Bellatrix. Greyback had suddenly disappeared back into the tall grass of the field.

"No Order to save you now!" Rodolphus hissed, and for the only time, Tonks forgot about Harry and began to envelope herself in her own fight with Bellatrix's husband. Thick ropes shot out from his wand and tried to wrap themselves around Tonks's legs.

"Diffindo!" She hissed and cut the ropes in half, stepping backward. Flashes of red and green caught her attention in the corner of her eye and she briefly glanced at Harry, who was defending himself rather well. All those years of Defense Against the Dark Arts seemed to have paid off. She turned back to her own fight, feeling a bit more confident as she did.

She screamed in pain as a set of claws suddenly raked down her back, slicing her shirt into thin strips and making long bleeding scratches in her back. Apparently Greyback had returned. She turned, her back throbbing in pain now as she send several curses at Greyback, all of which he deflected like it was nothing.

"Stupefy!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Bombardum!"

Her, Bellatrix's, and Greyback's voice all sounded at the same time, but neither spell hit. The thick ropes came from Rodolphus's wand again, and this time, Tonks didn't fight against them. The orange glow was disappearing from the horizon, which meant the fire was going down, and soon the others would be coming. Except they had no idea where she and Harry were among the many weeds. She pointed her wand to the sky and the large silvery wolf patronus she had developed shot from it, soaring over the grass and toward the Burrow. As she performed the spell, the ropes wrapped around and up her legs, tripping her as they continued to wrap up her body, pinning her arms to her sides. Greyback stooped and picked up her wand where she had dropped it, pocketing it for later with a grin.

The silvery patronus was easily recognized as it leapt over the last of the flames, landing in the center of Remus, Arthur, Molly, Fleur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Hagrid, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. They had just put out the last of the fire when the patronus appeared. It paused for a moment before it began back the way it came, leaving a silver trail after it. Remus instantly ran after it, closely followed by Bill, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George. They darted through the tall grass, barely able to see one another because it had grown dark. Only the flash of lights up ahead and the patronus kept them on track.

Remus sent a stunning spell at Rodolphus's back, and he didn't have time deflect it before it hit him in the back. He fell at Harry's feet – Harry was still trying to fend off Bellatrix and Narcissa. Seven different spells were suddenly aiming for the two sisters, but both were gone with a loud 'crack!'.

"Harry!" Hermione cried and grabbed him in a tight hug. "Are you all right?"

"Fine." He muttered. "Where'd Tonks go?"

"Tonks was here?"

"Yeah. She was fighting him," He pointed at Rodolphus. "And some other guy. He scratched the hell out of her back and then took her that way."

Remus was off in a second, it taking everyone else a few moments to realize what Harry had said, and take off after Remus. Hermione and Ron took Harry back to the house, as Bill, Fred, and George continued after Remus, following the way Harry had pointed. It seemed like slow motion as he ran, pushing the grass out of his way and trying desperately to find her. Greyback never was the most talented at magic, so there wasn't much of a chance he could have Apparated with her.

That's when the smell of blood reached his nose. His heart hammered in his chest as the rusty scent got stronger – behind him he could hear Fred and George making rather sick gagging noises. They could smell it too. And that was never a good sign.

He came upon the clearing with a sudden halt, splashing down into the water of the stream that ran through this part of the field. Tonks's body lay across the rocks on the other side of the stream, broken and unmoving, her pink hair stained red with her own blood. It almost made Remus sick as he crossed the water, ignoring the fact of his robes getting wet as he pulled out his wand with shaking hands, and ran his wand across her body – but the cuts and scratches weren't healing. A hand settled on his shoulder and he looked over to see Bill.

"Lets get her to St. Mungo's." He said quietly. Remus nodded silently, slipping his arms under her back and knees, lifting her out of the water. "Go back to the Burrow, tell mum and dad where Remus and I went." Bill said to Fred and George, who nodded, serious for once as they took off, back toward the Burrow. Bill took hold of Remus's arm as he held Tonks and turned on the spot, Apparating them out of the field.

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