Noon the next day

THE "A" TRAIN

Disclamer: none of it is mine

A/N: It's FINALY here the second chapter and I am sorry it took SO long but I won't anoy anyone by comeing up with excuses, mine are that same as everyones. Anyway on with the story.

I bounce around the room in my favorite outfit of patched jeans and my "Weird Sisters" T-shirt. I grab all the belongings I have in the room one at a time and begin to throw them in my bag, it's red and gold with a lion on it. Hey, just because I'm not in Gryffindor anymore doesn't mean I can't show house spirit. Anyway it keeps any idiots who happen to know who my family is from making stupid comments. Well, it usually does.

Remus will be here any minute but I slept in a little bit, I was up late thinking. Okay, so I was really plotting but, in my case, it's the same thing. Good thing he didn't convince me to leave in the morning I would have slept right through it. I have a plan. I'm going to break it to him slowly, and if he doesn't think he feels the same way I will simply have to convince him that he does. He will find out just how stubborn I can be. Of course he can be pretty stubborn too. I still can't get him to stop calling me Nymphadora. I will set my plan into action as soon as we are done with our little chat with the Dursleys. He needs to think about Harry until then. He doesn't need any distractions, even as delightful a distraction as me.

As I continue to bounce around the room, I soon finish putting my things in my bag. Now I sit down on the bed and wait. I can hardly sit still. This going slowly is going to be very difficult. I've always hated stealth and patience. I take a deep breath and compose my features into something I hope resembles a normal "cheerful Tonks" expression. I may be able to change my appearance at will but the same cannot be said for my expression. In fact sometimes my appearance changes with my mood, I'm glad this isn't one of those times.

The door opens and Remus enters. "Wotcher Remus!" I cry in a fairly good imitation of my usual bubbly self. His robes are just as patched as usual and he still looks like he hasn't been eating.

"Hello Nymphadora," he replies with a slight smile and I know he doesn't think anything is out of the ordinary. I just hope I can keep fooling him. Harry's summer may depend on it.

"Are you ready to go?" he asks politely.

"Yep, I'm all set." I stand up. "I have been waiting to get out of here all week."

"Patience is a virtue, Nymphadora." He says in his "teacher voice" adding a mock stern edge to it. Then he and I both smile.

"Not one I've ever had much use for myself." I respond as insolently as possible, lifting my chin to add to the effect. This is a game Remus and Sirius and I would play, Remus would pretend to scold us and Sirius and I would rebel. I have a feeling it goes back to the days of the Marauders though.

He smiles at me, but it's not a normal smile. He looks as though he is seeing something far away. "James and Sirius started that when we where in our first year. It was our way of making fun of ourselves. Since I always tried to talk them out of their crazy plans and they always managed to talk me into joining them instead." I picked up my bag and he opened the door for me but continued talking. "They would always have some major problems with their plan and I would end up having to fix them. Whenever I refused to help they got caught. But if I helped we all got out safely." We walk down the hall. "Well Wormtail would help too but he was not much good at pulling pranks so he would get left out a lot."

"Sounds like you are feeling a bit better than you where yesterday." I comment. "That's good, now all we have to do is make sure you eat."

"Oh and what makes you think you can make me do anything Miss Tonks?" He asks amused.

"Well to start with, this." I make my eyes big and brown and sad and pout at him. He simply raises an eyebrow skeptically. "And," I continue as my eyes return to normal. "I'm sure I can find something to "Black" mail you with."

"You do know that is a horrible pun, don't you?" he responds.

I ignore him and continue with my list. "Third, you must be faint with hunger and that would put you at a sever disadvantage." He rolls his eyes at that. "And lastly," I announce as dramatically as possible. "I will have Molly on my side."

He laughs, "The real reason comes out at last."

Then we walk on in silence until we reach the bus stop. We talk about nothing of importance until the bus comes. We board the bus and chat about nothing of significance until we reach our stop. In fact, we talk about nothing of any importance whatsoever until we reach the front door of my flat. I open the door and step aside. He hesitates so I grab his hand and pull him inside. "Come on, we can leave for King's Cross in a minute. I just need to put this away first and grab a bite to eat, I hate hospital food." I close the door and walk to another door across the room. I open that door, throw the bag on my bed, shut the door and say, "You are going to eat too." I head for the kitchen part of the room just to the right of the door. A small bar with stools and cabinets in it divides the living and cooking spaces in the flat. I open a cabinet and pull out bread, then get some honey roasted turkey breast, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and several other "must haves" for sandwiches.

I open the drawer to get a knife and hear Remus say, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"What, eating sandwiches?" I look up and see an evil twinkle in his eye.

"No, you with a knife." He smirks. Who knew Professor Lupin could smirk!

"You are getting on my nerves." I say in an irritated tone. "Don't you know that's dangerous?" I add mocking him.

"You are no more dangerous than a pixie." He responds in a superior tone.

"Well I'm very dangerous then." I inform him. Instead of laughing he looks confused. "Professor Lupin," I scold in an outraged tone, "You need to listen to your students more."

"Apparently. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Hermione told me a story about her Defense against the Dark Arts class." I pull out bread and start to make the sandwiches. "It was the first practical lesson they had, in second year. Lockhart turned a cage of Cornish pixies loose in the classroom and told the class to 'round them up'. The class had a lot of trouble with them so he tried to stop them himself."

"I suppose that didn't work to well."

I loom up from the sandwich I am attacking, grin, and shake my head. "One of the pixies threw his wand out the window."

He laughs, "That's one story I hadn't heard. I heard a lot about the other teachers from my students but no one told me that one."

"Probably because the Gryffindors in that class had been told what a git Lockhart was about the chamber of secrets and didn't want to talk about him." I look at him "They really admire you. You should hear them. When Ginny told me about the DA she said Harry taught like you. She and Ron actually agreed that you where the best teacher they'd had. And you know they never agree on anything."

"Apparently they like to exaggerate because I am not as good a teacher as say, Minerva. But then the other Defense teachers they have had haven't been all that great."

I raise my eyebrows, "That has got to be the understatement of the century. Two were working for Voldemort, and two were completely incompetent. However, I tend to believe them anyway."

He shakes his head, "This is an argument I can't win isn't it?"

I nod and hand him a sandwich. "Sit, eat!" I order.

He shakes his head. "We'll never make it to King's Cross in time if we don't leave now."

"Are you a wizard or not? We can apperate." He opens his mouth to say something but I glare at him and he sighs.

"You win. But mark my words, apperating the day you leave the hospital is not a good idea."

"Remus," I am so tired of this. "I have been ready to leave that place since I got there."

He just rolls his eyes. I stick out my tongue, and change my nose into the pig-like form. Then I cross my eyes and make them flash from bright pink to white (which I usually avoid as people find it disturbing) and to lime green. Finally, I make my hair flash with my eyes. Remus gives me a look that suggests he thinks I'm completely crazy. But then, that was the point. I truly love being a Metamorphmagus.

We have apperated to the station just fine and I am now standing next to Remus. Just in front of us is Mad-Eye in his ridiculous bowler hat. In front of him stand Molly and Arthur Weasley waiting for their children. Fred and George stand beside them dressed in horrid dragon hide jackets. The children have begun to stream through the barrier and I have just spotted Ron's red hair above the heads of the others. "Ron, Ginny!" cries Molly, and she rushes forward to hug them. Then she turns to give Harry a hug, "Oh, and Harry dear- how are you?"

"Fine", he answers. Oh like we're going to believe that. Ron asks the twins about their ridiculous jackets as Remus and I approach the group. "Hello Harry," Says Remus.

"Hi," says Harry looking surprised. "I didn't expect… what are you all doing here?"

Remus smiles slightly as he responds, I can tell he's going to enjoy this. "Well, we thought we might have a little chat with your aunt and uncle before letting them take you home."

Harry looks alarmed. "I dunno if that's a good idea," he says. What's he afraid of? They can't get any worse.

"Oh, I think it is," growls Mad-Eye, clunking up next to me. "That'll be them will it, Potter?" I turn around slightly to see the owners of the clean little muggle house that scares me more than number twelve Grimmauld Place ever could. The man and the boy both look about as wide as my old potions teacher, Professor Slughorn. However, these two have a nasty look about them that Slughorn could never pull off. It's the woman who I know I will dislike the most. She has a look on her face that distinctly resembles Aunt Narcissa. The muggles all look shocked to see us. Good.

"Ah, Harry!" says Arthur turning away from the Grangers. "Well- shall we do it then?" Mad-Eye agrees and the two of them lead everyone but Hermione's parents across the station to them. "Good afternoon," says Arthur cheerfully. "You might remember me, my name is Arthur Wesley." Whatever incident they might remember Arthur from was apparently not one they thought of as pleasant because Vernon Dursley turned a interesting shade of red that I'm not sure even my morphing could match. Dudley is trying –and failing miserably- to hide behind his parents, and Petunia was looking around much like Narcissa would if she was forced to talk to my father.

"We thought we'd just have a few words with you about Harry," continues Arthur calmly.

"Yeah," agrees Mad-Eye. "About how he's treated when he's at your place." These two should have their own show on WWN, they have the "good cop, bad cop" routine down perfectly.

"I'm not aware that it is any of your business what goes on in my house-" begins Harry's uncle.

"I expect what you're not aware of would fill several books, Dursley," interrupts Mad-Eye

This conversation is getting off track. Insulting people won't get us anywhere, despite how entertaining it is. "Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, if we find out you've been horrible to Harry-"

"-and make no mistake, we'll hear about it," Remus adds before I can finish. His voice sounds pleasant enough but I can hear something behind it, an ice that I've never heard in his voice before.

"Yes," agrees Arthur, "even if you won't let Harry use the fellytone-".

"Telephone," I hear Hermione whisper.

"Yeah, it we get any hint that Potter's been mistreated in any way," Mad-Eye is attempting to draw attention away from Arthur's mistake. "You'll have us to answer to."

"Are you threatening me, sir?" Ouch, my ear. That man talks too loud, there's no need to yell.

"Yes, I am." I think Mad-Eye is happy to be intimidating people again.

"And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?" This man has an ego the size of a dragon.

"Well…" Mad-Eye pushes back his hat so we can see his magical eye. The man across from him jumps back in terror and clumsily bumps into the trolley. "Yes, I'd say you do, Dursley." Mad-Eye turns to Harry, "So, Potter… give us a shout it you need us. If we don't hear form you for three days in a row, we'll send someone along…" Petunia whimpers at this. That woman has issues. "'Bye then Potter," He finishes, patting Harry on the shoulder.

"Take care, Harry," Remus say's quietly, a note of sadness in his voice. "Keep in touch." The rest say their farewells and Harry smiles, not saying anything, and waves goodbye. Then he and the Dursleys leave the station.

I start to laugh. "Yes, I'd say you do, Dursley," I mock Mad-Eye. The others begin to laugh as well. Even Remus can't resist. I wish this moment could last forever.

A/N:Please review. Oh and I have a chalenge for you: the story and all of it's chapters are named after songs, can you tell me the artist who performed each song. I'll post the awnsers in later chapters.