I don't own Harry Potter.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. I decided to post it a few days ahead of schedule as I have an insanely busy weekend planned and I didn't want to let you wait until afterwards.
Thank you to all of you who reviewed and/or sent me PM's. It was really nice to see how people commented on the first chapter and how well it was received by most of you. I wish I could reply to each and every one of you but I'm short in time as it is.
I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations so please let me know. Don't be afraid to be critical but be polite about it. I'm not going to break down if you have something to say on how you didn't like it or anything but I do like it to be done in a mature way.
That being said, enjoy the chapter.
Chapter Two: A trip into the past, part one
When Tonks returned the rest had been watered and fed by Dobby and now all of them were waiting to get their questions answered. Tonks laughed as they all shouted their questions out loud and none of them were willing to back off. Each of them wanted their question answered first.
"Okay, everyone calm down." Tonks shouted. "Why don't I start? I'm sure all your questions will be answered by the time I'm finished."
"Very well but this better be good." Amelia and Hermione glared at Tonks.
"Fine but before I start there will be a few rules to follow." Tonks said. "Firstly, and I'm looking at you Hermione Granger, no interruptions. Hermione, if you interrupt me I'll ban you from the library for a whole day. And trust me, the library is huge."
"What? That's not fair." Hermione said outraged. Then in a softer voice she asked. "How big is the library?"
"Remember the Black Library you weren't allowed to see?" Tonks smirked when Hermione nodded. "Well, it's easily twice as big. Remember, interrupting is punishable with a one day ban, and believe me when I say I'll enforce it."
"Fine." Hermione sighed.
"Great. Second rule, everything you learn about Harry's private life will remain that way." Tonks said sternly. "I won't ask for a magical oath but please respect this. If there is something I cannot talk about please don't press on. I won't tell no matter what. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Everyone nodded their understanding.
"Thank you. Thirdly, there will be things that you'll discover about Harry." Tonks said. "Yes, even you Hermione will learn that Harry has kept quite a bit from you. He asked me to tell you that he didn't do this because he didn't trust you; as a matter of fact, you being here proves he does, but because he wanted to keep some things hidden."
"I understand." Hermione nodded. "I always knew that Harry still kept secrets from me. Maybe you'll just be confirming things for me."
"Good and lastly, when you meet Harry don't mention anything about the death of Sirius." Tonks said. "Madam Bones, I know that you think Sirius Black betrayed the Potters to Voldemort but that's not true. It will become clear throughout the story so please don't judge just yet."
"I guess I can give him the benefit of the doubt." Amelia nodded.
"Thank you." Tonks smiled. "Our story starts in the summer after Harry's second year at Hogwarts. As you may or may not know, Harry had an eventful year at Hogwarts with the heir of Slytherin petrifying Muggleborn Wizards and Witches. In a big way these events showed Harry that if he wanted to survive Hogwarts he would have to change his ways but more on that later. After being dumped back at his relative's place, he had a terrible summer. Especially when his uncle's sister, Marge, "Here Tonks growled angrily when she said the name. "spent several days at their place. Marge had always treated Harry badly and that year was no different. She insulted him and berated him for being who he was. But worst of all was when she called Harry's parents useless drunks and basically called his mother a whore."
Here Amelia, Susan and Hermione gasped at the audacity of calling someone like Lilly Potter such a terrible name. Lilly was loved by everyone she met and many were proud to call her a friend. When she and James had died, there had been many who shed quite a few tears. In fact, she and James were almost just as famous as their son was thanks to their role in the death of Voldemort.
"Yes, it made Harry very upset and he unwillingly used some accidental magic to inflate her like a balloon." Tonks said with a small smile. "Knowing that he would be in trouble Harry fled the house and made his way over to Diagon Alley. It was there that I met Harry for the first time."
"What? But I thought the two of you only met each other last year." Hermione said loudly.
Tonks just smiled and grabbed her wand before conjuring a white board. Another flick of her wand and words appeared on the top of the board. Everyone chuckled as they read the lines 'Number of days Hermione is banned from the library'. Under the words appeared a small line indicating 'one day'. Hermione looked at Tonks in horror before sitting down, pouting like crazy.
"You were warned, baby girl." Dan chuckled.
"But Daddy…" Hermione complained.
"Let's move on shall we?" Tonks said clearing her throat. "We have much ground to cover. So like I said before I was interrupted, it was in Diagon Alley that Harry and I met for the first time."
FLASHBACK
Harry was currently sitting under a tree working on his essay about Witch Hunting during the Middles Ages. It was an assignment by Professor Bins, the teacher of History of Magic. The class itself was dreadfully boring as he droned on and on about the Goblin wars and neglected everything else that had happened.
This assignment had been smooth sailing once he had gotten some help from Florean Fortescue from the ice cream parlor. Despite being a simple shopkeeper the man was quite knowable about medieval witchcraft and Harry had remembered everything he could use in the essay. While he was formulating how to finish his argument about the ineffective way the witch hunters worked he suddenly heard some commotion coming from his right. Looking at what was happening he saw people jumping out of the way for another wizard who seemed to be coming his way. Another person was close on his heels and seemed to be trying to catch him.
"Stop him." The second person yelled out. "He's a thief."
Harry noticed that the second person was a young woman with pink hair and he wondered why she had colored her hair that way. Nonetheless, he decided to help her out and just when the thief passed him, he put out his right foot causing the man to trip and slamming into the ground hard, effectively knocking him out. Harry winced as he was sure the man had broken a few teeth on the pavement.
"Thanks." The young woman said to him while she grabbed the man and put some manacles on him. "If he had gotten away I would've been in so much trouble."
"Don't worry about it." Harry said smiling. He was surprised when the girl made no motion of recognizing him in any way. Usually people started to fuss around him and stared at his forehead. This girl however did nothing of the sort and he liked it.
A few seconds later several more Wizards showed up and the woman handed the thief to them saying that he had been caught at stealing from a shop and resisting arrest. The girl didn't mention anything about Harry helping her and he appreciated it immensely. The last thing he wanted was drawing even more attention to himself.
"Very well Junior Auror Tonks, I'll await your report." A dark skinned man said to the young woman. "Continue with your patrol."
"Yes sir." The woman saluted. When everyone was gone she let out a breath of relief and turned to Harry.
"Thanks for your help." She smiled at him. "He was a quick one. I don't think I would have caught him before he could disaparate on me."
"It's no big deal." Harry said. "Thanks for not mentioning me to your colleagues."
"I figured that you didn't want the extra attention. I'm Tonks by the way." The woman now known as Tonks said.
"Nice to meet you, Tonks." Harry said smiling. "I'm Harry but I guess you already knew that."
"I used my brilliant observational skills to come to that conclusion already." Tonks smiled. "So what are you working on?" She said pointing to his parchment on the ground.
"Oh just some assignment from Binns." Harry sighed. "Medieval Witchcraft and Witch hunts."
"Blimey, is Binns still teaching at old Hoggy Hogwarts?" Tonks said shocked. "I remember his classes and boy, were they ever so boring."
"You went to Hogwarts as well?" Harry asked her surprised.
"Of course, Hufflepuff class of '91." Tonks said proudly. "Ah, that seems so long ago now."
"So you're an Auror now?" Harry wanted to know. It seemed like a very interesting job to him.
"Nope, I'm just an Auror in training." Tonks admitted. "I'm in my first year of Auror training. It's been rough, let me tell you. Doesn't help that I'm clumsy as they come."
"I'm sure you'll do great." Harry reassured her. "I mean, you seem pretty strong to me. I bet you could have kicked that guy's ass if you used magic to stop him."
"Maybe." Tonks said smiling. "Thank for trying to cheer me up. I'd better get going before my boss gets back. I'll see you around Harry."
"Bye Tonks." Harry nodded and waved as she disappeared into the crowd. 'Tonks? What a weird name. Maybe it's a nickname of some sort. I'll ask her later.' He thought before he went back to his essay.
END FLASHBACK
"That was the first time I met Harry." Tonks smiled at the memories. "I was actually quite surprised at seeing that he was such a small boy. Like so many I had been told stories about the famous Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived but I knew instantly that those stories were just that. Stories. The real Harry was totally different and I liked the real Harry much better."
"Did you meet him again?" Susan asked her.
"Oh yes, Harry and I met up almost every day as Junior Aurors like myself are always assigned to patrol in Diagon Alley." Tonks nodded. "It didn't take long before the two of us became real close and by the end of the summer we considered each other best friends."
"That seems a bit farfetched." Dan said to Tonks. "I mean, he was a thirteen year old boy and you were what, eighteen? I don't know many people that age who would consider a thirteen year old as a friend, let alone their best friend."
"I admit, it's unusual but Harry and I connected right away." Tonks nodded. "Harry is very mature for his age even if he doesn't always show it. His upbringing and the things he had done and seen have changed him. I wouldn't say it literally took his childhood away but it might be close."
"It's true Dad." Hermione agreed. "I've seen Harry act like an adult at some times. Usually he's a boy who goofs around most of time but when the time calls for it, Harry transforms into a whole different person."
"Exactly." Tonks said smiling at Hermione. "Anyway, by the end of summer Harry had introduced me to Hedwig and we promised to stay in touch throughout the time he was at Hogwarts. I didn't mind because I didn't have many friends and Harry said he liked to talk with me as he felt comfortable around me."
"But how come I never saw Harry sent any letters to you or Hedwig delivering letters to him." Hermione questioned before she slapped her hand in front of her mouth, realizing what she had done. Everyone chuckled as Hermione groaned loudly in frustration when Tonks drew another line at the board.
"As a said before I was interrupted again, Harry and I decided to exchange letters from that day on." Tonks glared at Hermione but they all could see a smile was threatening to break through. "On the first of September I actually went to say goodbye to him at the platform. Nobody but Harry knew I was there and nobody saw me leaving either. It was our little secret and while it may seems childish, I liked our secret friendship."
"That was the year that Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban." Amelia said suddenly.
"Yes it was." Tonks nodded. "I only found out late during the summer and I told Harry about it immediately. It was quite a shock for him and I made him promise not to take any risks. Imagine my surprise when I received his first letter that very night saying that Dementors had attacked him on the Hogwarts Express."
"What? I never heard anything about such a thing happening." Amelia said outraged.
"Just because you never heard about it, doesn't mean it didn't happen." Tonks snorted. "I'm sure Hermione here will confirm what I'm telling."
"Tonks is telling the truth Madam Bones." Hermione said remembering that very event. "The Dementor entered our compartment and instantly went for Harry. In fact, if it hadn't been for Professor Lupin, who was sitting with us, Harry would surely have been Kissed."
"Unbelievable. That dammed Fudge almost killed Harry Potter with his foolishness." Amelia said angry.
"I'm afraid it won't be the last time you'll curse our minister." Tonks sighed. "Because of him we're in a very bad place to fight a war."
"I'm well aware of that Auror Tonks." Amelia said. "It was one of the many things that made me want to curse the man multiple times over. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to stop him."
"I understand." Tonks nodded. "Let's continue the story. So Harry was now in his third year and we were exchanging letters almost daily and poor Hedwig couldn't keep up with us. Sometimes we had to take breaks from writing each other because she was too tired to fly." Tonks chuckled at the thought. "One day Harry wrote me a letter asking me to meet up with him at Hogsmeade as it was a weekend when students could visit Hogsmeade when they had a waiver signed by their parents. Of course, Harry's uncle had refused to sign the waiver so Harry couldn't visit Hogsmeade. Therefore I was quite surprised when he asked me to meet up with him."
"So what did you do?" Emma asked.
"I went to Hogsmeade of course." Tonks grinned. "I wasn't about to miss seeing my friend. Surely enough, when I was waiting behind Gladrags, Harry's floating head appeared before me. Let me tell you, it was only the fact that I was too shocked that I didn't hex the living daylights out of him."
FLASHBACK
Thanks to the twins and his trusty Invisibility Cloak Harry had managed to sneak out of Hogwarts without any trouble. He was excited because he would see Tonks again . He had missed talking to her and having fun like they did during the summer. Sure, they exchanged letters almost daily but it just wasn't the same. Suddenly he grinned as an idea popped into his head. He knew she would probably kick his behind afterwards but it was just too much of an opportunity to pass on.
He slowly made his way towards Gladrags where Tonks would be waiting and made sure not to make any noise. When he saw her standing there, he almost let out a giggle in anticipation but managed to hold it in. Moving to right before her, he held his breath before he removed the cloak from over his head, making it as his head was floating in the air.
Tonks who hadn't expected anything of the sort screamed loudly before she understood what he was doing. She pulled the cloak from his body and glared at him. Harry was fighting to hold in his laughter but in the end he just let go. He laughed as Tonks kept glaring at him.
"Think you're being funny are you, Potter?" Tonks said going for her wand.
"Y-yeah, a little bit." Harry said between giggles. "You should have seen your face, Tonks. It was hilarious."
"Haha, I'm glad giving me a heart attack amuses you." Tonks said. "You do know that I'll get you back for this, don't you?"
That stopped Harry's laughter immediately as Tonks could be downright vicious in her pranks. He had seen her pull pranks on some of her colleagues during the summer. Deciding to save what could be saved, he changed the subject hoping that she would forget about her revenge.
The two of them spent several hours together just talking about things and drinking a few butterbeers that Tonks had bought for them. Both of them were happy to be able to spent some time together, knowing that it would take quite a while before they could meet again.
Suddenly Tonks saw her chance and grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it down Harry's collar into his shirt. Harry shrieked at the cold sensation and started jumping around trying to get the snow out of his shirt. Meanwhile Tonks was laughing like crazy at seeing Harry.
"Argh, that's cold." Harry said glaring at his friend.
"Seems that what they're saying is true." Tonks smiled. "Revenge is dish best served cold."
"Oh yeah?" Harry said grabbing some snow before making a snowball. "Let's see how you like it."
"You wouldn't throw a snowball at little old me, now would you?" Tonks said batting her eyes at him. She had hardly finished speaking when a snowball hit her straight in the face. She shivered and wiped the snow out of her hair before glaring at Harry. "That's it Potter, you're going down."
"Bring it on." Harry said accepting the challenge.
The next ten minutes were spent by throwing snowballs at each other. When they were done both of them were soaking wet and cold but both of them had big grins on their faces showing that they enjoyed their little game. Unfortunately, it was time to get going so Tonks quickly dried both of their clothes before saying goodbye. They promised to keep writing each other at least once a week.
END FLASHBACK
"He pulled the same thing on me and Ron." Hermione laughed. "That damned Invisibility Cloak of his."
"Quite right." Tonks smiled. "Well, we spent a few hours together not far from Hogsmeade where nobody could see us. I used a nifty little 'notice me not' charm to keep everyone away from us so we could talk without having to worry about being discovered. after I kicked his scrawny little butt for scaring me like that, he joined up with you and Ron while I returned home."
"An Invisibility Cloak? Does such a thing actually exist?" Emma said surprised.
"It sure does." Tonks smiled. "Want to see?"
"Yes please." Dan and Emma said together. Tonks nodded and raced upstairs before returning with Harry's cloak in her hands showing it to everyone.
"Looks like an ordinary, old cloak to me." Dan said after looking at the cloak.
"Observe." Tonks smirked and pulled the cloak over her head. Instantly she disappeared from view shocking Dan and Emma. Even Amelia was very impressed with the magical item while Susan was trying to find where Tonks had disappeared to. Suddenly, Hermione yelped as she felt someone pinch her bum. She turned around but Tonks was long gone.
"Tonks, I can't believe you would do that." Hermione shrieked.
"What? What did she do?" Emma asked her daughter.
"She pinched my bum." Hermione said embarrassed.
"That was for interrupting me again." Tonks said reappeared as she removed the cloak. "I could add another day to the board if you like that better?"
"No!" Hermione all but yelled making everyone laugh again at her love for books and libraries.
"Amazing. Imagine the things you could do with this." Dan said to Emma.
"It's an amazing piece of work, alright." Amelia agreed. "Where did Harry get this?"
"He inherited it from his father." Tonks answered. "It's been in the Potter family for generations and it's passed on as an heirloom from father to son. It's one of Harry's most prized possessions so I better return it right away." She said before going back upstairs. When she returned she sat back down and continued the story.
"The rest of the year went by pretty fast and soon it was Christmas." Tonks said. "We exchanged small gifts to each other. They were simple things but both of us were very happy with what we received from each other. There was only one dark spot on Christmas that year." Here she looked at Hermione, who seemed to get what Tonks was referring to. "Harry also received a Firebolt that year from a unknown person. However before he could tell me about it was confiscated by a teacher after Hermione argued to her that it might by a trick from Sirius Black. Hermione, let me tell you that I would have done the same thing."
"I was just scared for him." Hermione admitted softly. "He had already fallen of his broom during that Quidditch match, when those Dementors attacked him once more. I didn't want anything to happen to him."
"You did the right thing, Hermione." Tonks said to the younger girl. "It was a very suspicious gift but you failed to take in account Harry's feelings about the broom. You see, to him flying means freedom. It's the one thing that allows him to leave all the fame and stress of being Harry Potter behind. So when his Nimbus was destroyed, it broke his heart. That Firebolt was an escape of some sort. So when it was taken away again, he was angry at being stuck again."
"I didn't realize flying meant so much for him." Hermione admitted softly.
"Harry felt terrible that he had been angry at you." Tonks continued. "He wrote me a letter with tear stains on it, saying that he probably ruined a beautiful friendship because of a broom. He was devastated and didn't know how to make it up to you. It took him weeks to gather up the courage to apologize for being a jerk as he himself saw it."
"So he was trying to apologize all those times in the library?" Hermione asked. She had seen Harry loitering around in the library whenever she was around but he never talked to her. She had been very hurt by this and figured that Harry didn't want to be friends anymore.
"Of course, he did." Tonks smiled. "It's just that he was too much of a coward to talk to you. He was afraid you would yell at him or even hex him into the next dimension. When the letter came that the two of you were on good terms again, I could tell how happy he was, having his best friend back."
"I remember how Hermione wrote us a letter saying that she had done something bad." Emma said. "She said that she had lost a friend because she cared too much about him. I didn't understand at the time but now I do. You did the right thing Hermione. I imagine that your friendship with Harry only got stronger because of it."
"I guess that's true." Hermione nodded. "Harry and I never argued like that again after that. So what happened next?" she asked Tonks.
"Well, the next few weeks our letters didn't mention anything too spectacular but one day he wrote me that the was learning the Patronus Charm from Remus Lupin." Tonks told them. "I was shocked because the Patronus Charm is a Charm that even most adults can't do. At that time, the only thing I got was a thick mist and I had been training for years. So when he told me that he managed to do the same thing after a few tries, well I felt a little jealous." She admitted.
"I remember seeing his Patronus at his OWL examination last year." Amelia nodded. "That was quite the achievement for one so young."
"Then you'll be shocked to know that Harry was capable of producing a full corporal Patronus by the end of his third year." Tonks smiled at seeing Amelia's shocked face.
"That's unheard of." Amelia said but what her niece told her next shocked her even more.
"It's true Auntie." Susan said proudly. "Harry taught us how to do the Patronus last year. Most of us who joined the DA are capable of doing the Patronus Charm."
"Of course, none of our Patronus' were anything like Harry's." Hermione said equally proud of her friend. "Harry managed to drive away over a hundred Dementors with his Patronus."
"Surely you're exaggerating." Amelia said, not believing the girls' statements.
"No, they're telling the truth." Tonks told her. "They're getting a bit ahead of the story though. For now let's get back to third year. So during all this time Sirius Black was still at large and was making his way to Hogwarts in search for Harry. Many believed that it was to kill him but that's not the case. Also, Harry wasn't the only one Sirius was looking for."
"Who else was he looking for?" Amelia asked interested. Sirius Black had been one of the few fugitives that had been able to escape Azkaban and managed to evade the Auror forces for such a long time. It had been one of the most irritating cases in her career.
"Peter Pettigrew." Tonks simply said. "I know that he's supposed to be dead. Murdered by Sirius in fact but again that's not what happened. The Wizarding World has the tendency to overlook details because we think that we know everything thanks to magic. In this case however it's the details that made the difference. To explain this I need to go back to the time Harry's parents were at Hogwarts. You see, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were all friends."
"That's common knowledge indeed." Amelia said not understanding why this was important.
"True but what's not known about them is that James, Sirius and Peter became Animagi in order to support their friend Remus." Tonks nodded. "Remus is, as you know, a werewolf and every month he underwent his transformation in solitude in the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. His friends wanted to help him and therefore they started studying to become Animagi. They succeeded in their fifth year."
"Hold on, are you saying that a bunch of kids managed to achieve one of the most difficult magical achievements without any help in only a few years?" Amelia said while Hermione was busy explaining to her parents what an Animagus was.
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Tonks grinned. "It's amazing what one can achieve when there is something that drives you. So the three of them all became Animagi. James' form was a stag, Sirius' was a black grim and Peter's was a rat. Together they managed to control Remus in his transformed state during the nights of the full moon. Coincidentally, it's also thanks to the fact that he was an Animagus that Sirius survived his time in Azkaban without losing his mind. When things got rough on him he transformed and this protected his human mind from the effects of the Dementors, that and the knowledge that he was innocent."
"Incredible, I never thought such a thing was possible." Amelia said visibly impressed.
"Indeed, so when Sirius managed to get a newspaper from Fudge, who was doing an inspection in Azkaban, he immediately recognized a certain rat in a picture." Tonks continued. "The picture showed the Weasley family as they had won a competition in the Daily Prophet."
"Wait a minute, were the Weasleys hiding a murderer in their household?" Amelia said angry. She knew Arthur well enough that he would never do such a thing but one never knew for certain.
"No, they were unaware of the true form of the rat." Tonks quickly explained. "It seemed one of the boys had found the rat in their garden and decided to keep it as a pet. They had no idea the rat was in fact Peter Pettigrew. Sirius however recognized him immediately and it gave him the courage to try and break out of Azkaban to hunt Pettigrew down. Sirius knew the Weasleys quite well and he quickly found out that Pettigrew was at Hogwarts as he was now the pet of the youngest boy, Ron. He tried several times to get to Pettigrew but unfortunately, the rat managed to get away and hide."
"Until the day of Buckbeak's execution." Hermione said remembering what had happened next. She quickly explained who or what Buckbeak was and how it had been punished for attacking Malfoy. Harry, Ron and her had tried to save him but in the end it was inevitable.
"Correct, Sirius managed to scare Peter into the Shrieking Shack and dragged Ron with him so Harry and Hermione would follow him." Tonks said. "They did and when they found Sirius and Ron, he was holding Scabbers, the rat, in his hands. After some explanations and the joining of Remus, the truth came out and Pettigrew appeared pleading for his life. Things were looking up for Harry and Sirius until Remus started transforming into his werewolf form. Pettigrew escaped and Sirius got hurt while trying to restrain Remus enough so the kids could get away. As if that wasn't bad enough the Dementors decided to join the party as well. It was a miracle nobody got kissed."
"But Sirius got caught anyway and was about to be kissed anyway." Hermione added. "That's why Harry and I used my Time-Turner to go back and change things."
"You did what?" Amelia roared furious. "Do you have any idea how dangerous such a device is? Where did you get a Time-Turner anyhow?"
"I received it at the start of the year from Prof. McGonagall." Hermione admitted. "She had been giving it by Prof. Dumbledore so I could attend all my classes. I knew how to use it and I knew about the dangers so I was very careful."
"That idiot, giving such a dangerous item to one so young." Amelia said angry. "What was he thinking?"
"Idiot or not, it was that Time-Turner that saved Sirius and allowed him to escape from Hogwarts." Tonks said while she explained how Harry had saved himself and Sirius from the Dementors with a Patronus that scared away all the Dementors. "I was relieved to hear that he was okay but also angry that he had to face such things. I almost marched into Hogwarts to check up on him after reading his letter."
"Wow, and here I thought my years at Hogwarts were full of adventures." Susan remarked to Hermione. "Being Harry's friend sure comes with a lot of excitement."
"Yeah, amongst other things." Hermione smirked.
"How about we take a little break?" Tonks said. "We've covered quite a bit already but there's still much to do. I'll be right back, if you need anything just call Dobby and he'll help you out."
While Tonks went back upstairs, the other were discussing everything they had heard and here and there Hermione filled in the gaps that Tonks hadn't mentioned or explained a few things to her parents. All of them were already impressed and wondered what else they were going to learn about Harry and Tonks.