Harry was fast asleep on the couch when a big bellied man entered the front door. It was six o' clock in the morning and Ted Tonks had just gotten off work. He was exhausted after putting three teenagers in jail. He had found them not far from Privet Drive playing dice. One of them had a broken ankle, the second had a broken nose, and the third looked as if he were attacked by a bird.
Ted hung his jacket on the coat rack behind the door. He gave the couch a glance and saw a teenaged boy lying on it fast asleep. He continued on into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He saw the left over pot of spaghetti and pulled it from the fridge. He sat the pot on the table and opened one of the cabinets and retrieved a bowl.
He loaded his bowl with spaghetti and placed it in the microwave. He placed the pot back in the fridge and grabbed a fork from one of the drawers. The microwave went off and he pulled the bowl from it and started eating.
He went over to the fridge and opened it to get a cold beer. He then kicked the fridge door close and made his way to the living room. He put the beer on the table and sat down on the blue covers.
Harry felt something heavy on his chest and he found it hard to breath. He opened his eyes and saw the back of a police uniform. His eyes roamed upward and he could see the back of a man's head. A man was sitting on him!
Harry screamed. The man bolted up and turned around. When he saw Harry he gave a loud scream.
The screams vibrated around the house and both doors on either side of the hall opened. Andromeda and Tonks appeared. Tonks was wearing white lingerie and white slippers. She was clutching a brown teddy bear and her hair was a mess.
"What's wrong?" asked Andromeda. "Ted, did you just sit on that poor boy?"
"I didn't know he was here." said Ted. "What's he doing here? Are we kidnapping random people again?"
Tonks walked around her father to get to Harry, who was shaking from the whole event. She put her arm around him trying to calm him.
"It's okay, Harry." said Tonks. "This is my father Ted Tonks. He didn't mean any harm." She looked up at her father. "Dad, this is Harry Potter. We've told you about Harry Potter."
"Oh." said Ted. "So you're the famous Harry Potter." He walked over to Harry and peered down at him. "You don't look like a super hero."
Tonks sighed impatiently. "Harry's not a super hero." she said. "He's an ordinary teenager. He was kicked out of his uncle's house so I'm going to take him to the Ministry of Magic."
"Okay." said Ted. "I just wish people would give me a call before I come home to warn me about guest."
"Yes, dear." said Andromeda. "We don't want you sitting on anymore of our guest."
"Now that we're all acquainted," said Tonks as she made her way to her room. "Can we all go back to sleep?"
It felt like a few minutes later when Tonks came to wake Harry up. He opened his eyes and saw that she was already dressed. She was wearing black jeans, a pink shirt, pink boots, and had her hair in that rock star style.
"Come on, Harry." she said shaking him. "It's time to get dressed. I've got some clothes for you."
Harry sat up and scratched his head. He looked around at a clock on the wall and saw that it was eight o' clock. He looked at the table and saw that there was a wash cloth, a dry towel, a tooth brush, a bar of soap, tooth paste, under garments, and a soft bathrobe.
Harry picked up the items and made his way to the bathroom for a long shower. He climbed out of the shower and put on his under garments. He pulled on the bathrobe and tied it.
He walked over to the mirror, wiped the steam off, and peered at his reflection. Everything looked in order except his messy, black hair was wet. He toweled his head dry and grabbed his tooth brush.
He had just finished rinsing his mouth when someone knocked on the door.
"Harry?" came Tonks voice. "I have some clothes for you."
Harry opened the door and Tonks passed him a pair of jeans, a white t shirt, and a red hoody. He took the clothes, closed the door, and began to dress. He stepped out of the bathroom and into the kitchen where Andromeda was preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, Harry." she said kindly as she sat down a plate of waffles. "Would you like some breakfast."
"Yes, please." said Harry sitting down at the table.
"You like waffles, right?" asked Andromeda as she set down a stack in front of Harry.
"Yes." said Harry as he picked up the fork. He cut the stack with his fork and placed several pieces of waffle in his mouth. The flavor made his mouth water. "These are the best waffles I've ever tasted."
"Thank you, Harry." said Andromeda putting more batter into the waffle iron.
Tonks walked into the kitchen talking on her cell phone. "Ew." she said. "I don't like Bob Cassidy. Number one, he's a dork, number two he's a dork, and number three he's a dork. Besides, you know I'm waiting on the perfect one." she said sitting down at the table. Andromeda put a stack of waffles in front of her. "The perfect guy has good manners, very passionate, strong, and of course, very sexy."
"Tonks," said Andromeda folding her arms and frowning her disapproval. "I don't think this is a conversation for a thirteen-year-old boy to hear."
Tonks wasn't listening. Her attention was still on the person on the other line. "Well, it'll be easy for me to get married. I'm still a vir-"
"Tonks!"
Tonks looked up at her mother and saw that she was angry. "Oh," she said understanding her mom's expression. "I have to go. It's breakfast time and there's a load of waffles on my plate. I'll see you later." She hung up the phone and started on her breakfast.
Andromeda placed several more waffles on Harry's plate. She kind of reminded him of Molly Weasley, his best friend's mother.
"Tonks," she said pouring syrup on Harry's waffles. "You have to remember that you're in the presence of a child. You have to watch what you say."
"I know how to watch a child." said Tonks taking a sip of orange juice. "I did have a baby sitting business two years ago."
"True." said Andromeda sitting down to eat her own breakfast. "But the kids you were watching were eight and under. You've never watched a teenager." She looked at Harry's plate and saw that it was empty. "Do you want some more waffles, dear?" she asked him.
"No, thank you." said Harry. "I'm full." He turned to Tonks. "May I go outside for some fresh air?" he asked her.
"Of course." said Tonks. "But don't go too far. We'll be leaving in a few minutes."
Harry got up from the table and went to the living room. He went out of the front door and into the morning sunshine.
He looked around the street at his neighbors' houses. Some people were leaving for work or running errands. Some people were outside mowing their lawns, getting their newspapers, and taking out their garbage.
This reminded him of Privet Drive except the neighbors looked friendly and he was allowed to talk to them.
"Mom," came a voice. "I'm taking out the garbage."
Harry walked over to the fence and looked across his neighbor's yard. A teenaged girl with long black hair walked out of the house. She was wearing a pair of blue jean shorts, a white t shirt, and a pair of white flip flops. She was slender, but had curves. Something Harry had never paid attention to before.
He watched as the girl dragged a garbage bag across the lawn. It looked like she was having a hard time with it. Harry climbed over the small fence and walked towards the girl.
"Here," he said as he took the bag out of her hands. "Let me help you."
He carried the bag the rest of the way toward the garbage. He placed it in the can and dusted his hands off.
"Thank you." said the girl walking over. "I always have trouble with Monday's garbage. My name's Tiffany." she said holding out her hand.
"I'm Harry." said Harry shaking her hand. She had soft skin.
They let go of each other's hands, but continued to stare into each others eyes. Her eyes were a baby blue color and he was getting hypnotized by them.
Suddenly there was a loud crash as the garbage can fell over. Garbage spilled all over the lawn. Harry and Tiffany turned and saw a black dog sniffing inside the can.
"Bad dog." said Tiffany.
The black dog backed out of the garbage can and turned to look at the humans. He spotted Harry and started to wag its tail excitedly. It stopped when he realized a can of baked beans were stuck on his nose. It began to whine as it tried to rid itself of the can.
Harry knelt down and pet the dog on its head.
"Calm down." said Harry calming the dog.
The dog remained still as Harry pulled the can from its nose. The dog was grateful. So grateful that it licked Harry on the cheek. Harry laughed.
Tiffany knelt down besides Harry and petted the black dog. "You seem like a good dog now." She looked at the dogs neck. "No collar. That means it doesn't have a owner. All the dogs around here have collars. It's a neighborhood rule."
"Maybe we should call the pound." said Harry.
The dog whined and then gave Harry a lick.
"I think it likes you." said Tiffany. She looked at the dog again. "It looks like a boy to me. Are you a boy?" she asked it.
The dog bark to answer the question.
"I bet its hungry." said Harry. "I'm going to bring it into the house and feed it." Then he remembered that he didn't live with Tonks. He was only staying with her until they left for the Ministry.
"What's wrong, Harry?" asked Tiffany.
"Um…" said Harry. He didn't want to tell Tiffany that he was homeless. "Everyone's about to leave the house. How about we take him to your house."
"Good idea." said Tiffany.
Tiffany led the way into her house with Harry and the dog behind them.
Tiffany's house was similar to Tonks' except that it was decorated completely different. Tonks' house was a messy neat, while Tiffany's house was just neat. They walked into the small kitchen where a woman that resembled Tiffany was washing dishes.
"I'm back, Mom." said Tiffany. "I brought a friend."
The woman turned around. "Hello." she said when she spotted Harry.
"Hi." said Harry. "I'm Harry."
"Nice to meet you." said Tiffany's mother. "I'm Tanisha."
"We're just going to feed this dog." said Tiffany. "He looks hungry."
"Okay, dear." said Tanisha. "I think there's some leftover ham in the fridge."
Tiffany pulled a bowl from the shelf and placed it on the table. She then went over to the fridge and pulled out the ham. She placed it on the table next to the bowl and tore off a piece. She placed the meat in the bowl and sat it on the floor.
The black dog walked over, wagged his tail, and barked happily. He began to eat the ham, grateful for having something to eat.
"He likes it." said Harry.
"Too bad we can't keep him." said Tiffany. "We already have a pet cat." She took the ham back to the fridge and placed it inside. She closed the door. "We might have to take it to the pound."
The dog finished eating. He looked up at Harry and gave a whine. From that, Harry knew the dog wouldn't want to go to the pound.
"I guess I'll take him." said Harry staring at the dog.
"You sure your folks won't mind?"
"Positive." said Harry.
Harry knew that if he didn't get a family he would be in an orphanage and he didn't want to go alone.
Harry could hear Tonks calling for him outside so he said good bye to Tiffany and Tanisha and returned outside. The dog followed him.
Harry found Tonks standing by the car. She was looking in her purse for her car keys. She found them and looked up to see Harry standing there with a large, black dog next to him.
She screamed and climbed on top of her car.
"Run, Harry!" said Tonks. "There's a giant monster right next to you!"
Harry laughed and Tonks gave a puzzled look.
"This isn't a monster." said Harry kneeling down and rubbing the dog on top of the head with one hand and rubbing the dog's neck with the other. "This is a dog I found. Can I keep him?" he asked. "Please?"
Tonks slowly climbed off of the car and peered down at the dog. He wagged his tail happily and barked playfully.
"Hmm." said Tonks thoughtfully. "I bet with a lot of training he could make a great Auror dog." she said kneeling down and petting the mutt. "Of course you can keep him."
"Thanks." said Harry. "I've always wanted a dog."
"We can bring him to the Ministry with us."
"Tonks." called Andromeda from the front window. "Can you come here for a minute?"
Tonks stood up and headed back towards the house. Just then Hedwig fluttered down on Harry's shoulder.
"Hey, Hedwig." said Harry. "I want you to meet my new pet. What should I call him."
The dog bark at the snowy owl as of means of trying to communicate with it.
"He says his name is Padfoot." said Hedwig.
"Okay." said Harry. "Padfoot it--wait." he looked at Hedwig who was still sitting on his shoulder. She was cleaning her feathers. "Did you just talk?"
Hedwig stopped cleaning her feathers long enough to look at him. She then continued as if he didn't interrupt her.
Harry was positive he heard his owl talking. He wondered why she wouldn't say anything else. Harry looked up just in time to see Tonks return.
"Mom wants me to stop at the store on my way home." she told him as she got in the car.
Harry heard the doors unlock so he opened the door to the backseat and allowed Padfoot and Hedwig to go inside. Once they were settled in the backseat, Harry got into the front of the car and put on his seatbelt.
Tonks had already adjusted everything so she was ready to pull out. She pulled out and headed down the street towards major traffic.
"Can I ask you a question, Harry?" asked Tonks.
"Sure." said Harry. He was hoping that she wasn't going to ask him what he had been doing while he was outside. That's something the Dursleys had always asked him. They wanted to make sure that he hadn't talked to the neighbors. Not that the neighbors wanted to talk to him anyway.
"I know you told me you couldn't tell me, but…why don't you want to go back to Hogwarts?"
Harry knew if she was going to try to keep him away from Hogwarts he would have to have a good reason.
"Alright." said Harry. "But if anyone asks you can't tell them. I don't want to go back to Hogwarts because every year I get into some type of danger. In my first year I had to protect the Sorcerer's Stone. In my second year I had to kill a basilisk. Both times I was in danger and Dumbledore did nothing to help me. I just want to be left alone in peace."
Tonks chanced a glance at Harry before she responded. She saw that the teen looked stressed out and needed a break from the magical world. She could do that. All she had to do was pull some strings with the Minister. Kingsley could help her with that.
"Okay, Harry." said Tonks. "You won't have to go to Hogwarts. But I'm worried about your magical education. How would you learn to defend yourself with magic?"
"I got it all planned out." said Harry. "I have friends at Hogwarts that I can correspond with. They could tell me what I should be learning and I could hire a tutor to help me in my education."
"It's a start." said Tonks. "If they find guardians for you, I'll tell them that you don't want to go to Hogwarts."
It only took them forty-five minutes to get to the Ministry. Tonks parked in the Trainee Parking Lot and got out of the car. Harry got out of the car as well and opened the back door to let Hedwig and Padfoot out.
Hedwig soared into the air before landing on Padfoot's back.
Tonks led the way over to a telephone booth. They all crammed themselves inside and Harry shut the door behind them. Tonks picked up the receiver and dialed the numbers six, two, four, four, and two.
"Welcome, visitor, to the Ministry of Magic." said a feminine voice. "Please state your name and the purpose of your visit."
"Nymphadora Tonks, a Auror Trainee, escorting Harry Potter to the Department of Wizarding Child Services."
"Thank you." said the voice. A rectangular piece of paper came out of the coin returned slot. "Visitor, please where the pass doing your visit. Have a nice day."
Tonks hung up the receiver and passed Harry the visitor's pass. Harry looked at it and saw that his name was written in large bold letters. He peeled the pass off the paper and stuck the pass to his chest.
The floor of the phone booth started to descend as if they were on the elevator.
Harry had heard of the Ministry of Magic, but he had never been to, or even inside the building.
The booth came to a stop and they left out of it. They went a few steps forward and Harry turned around to see the telephone booth ascending.
They continued walking until they came upon a security desk. The security guard was fast asleep with his feet on top of the desk, so Tonks had to give his foot a shake. He startled awake.
"Huh?" he said looking around sleepily. "Oh." he said sitting up. "Welcome to the Minister of Magic." he said in a bored voice. "I need to see your trainee I.D. and the guest's wand."
"I've been using this entrance for a year now." said Tonks going in her purse. "You should know me by now."
"I'm just doing my job."
Tonks pulled out a green I.D. He could see her picture on it along with a description of her. On top of the I.D. were the words 'Auror Trainee'. She passed the I.D. over and the Security Guard checked it.
He then gave Tonks her I.D. back and took Harry's wand. He placed it in a machine and on a monitor appeared a picture of Harry. He could see a description of himself as well as his wand.
He nodded and returned the wand to Harry. Tonks led Harry through a double door and Padfoot and Hedwig followed. The security guard didn't even question the two animals.
Tonks looked at her watch as she moved through the Ministry. It was ten o' clock. She led the way to the elevators. They got on with about five other people so they were once again crammed.
"Where is the Department of Wizarding Child Services?" Harry asked as he tried to get remove the woman in front of him long braid out of his eye.
"It's on the same floor as the Auror's office." answered Tonks. "I have a test today so well be here for a few good hours. You can play with your dog and owl until then."
They got off the elevator and Tonks headed in a direction that marked 'Wizarding Child Services'. They entered a door and saw many witches and wizards working with computers. Some were already talking to families with pleased expressions on their faces, but some was angry over how a child was treated.
"Let's see." said Tonks. "You're last name is Potter so your Social Worker name is Jay Camelton."
They walked over to a young woman who was sitting at a desk. She was tall with long blonde hair. She was a few years older than Tonks and was wearing orange robes. Tonks and Harry sat down in front of her desk. They waited for her to get through with her typing. When she was finished she looked up.
"Name." she said simply.
"Harry Potter." said Tonks. "He used to live at Number Four Privet Drive until his uncle kicked him out of the house."
"Harry Potter?" asked Jay in amazement. "THE Harry Potter."
"Um…yes." answered Harry.
Jay began to type information on the computer. "Let's see." she said reading the monitor. "Harry James Potter. It you're thirteen years old and in you're third year at Hogwarts. You've been living with the Dursleys for twelve years?"
"Yes." answered Harry.
Jay began to search for some parchment. Tonks looked at her watch and saw that she was about to be late for her test.
"I have to go take a test." said Tonks standing up. "Can you show him to the Ministry's daycare."
Harry groaned. "Tonks, I don't need a daycare. I'm thirteen-years-old."
"That maybe so, but I can't have you wandering around the Ministry. I'll pick you up when my test is over."
"Alright." said Harry. "Do you have any gum?"
Tonks went into her purse and gave Harry a stick of gum. Then she left the room. Harry placed the gum in his mouth and turned his attention to Jay, who finally located her parchment.
"Okay, Harry," she said as she wrote on the parchment. "Tell me about your life with the Dursleys starting with the earliest you can remember."
"Well," said Harry thinking back as far as he could. "I remember when I was three Dudley pushed me down the stairs and I got in trouble for bleeding on the floor."
"Yes." said Jay. "I have the hospital records explaining that incident. All though it says your Uncle Vernon said that you fell down the stairs."
Harry went on telling Jay about all the abuse he suffered by the Dursleys. The physical abuse, the mental abuse, and the emotional abuse. Jay had all of his hospital records to confirm that the abuse really did happen. It didn't take long before she placed a restraining order on the Dursleys.
"Okay." she said. "Now I have to place you in a orphanage until I find you a family."
"What?" said Harry in horror. "I don't want to go to an orphanage. Can't you just find me a temporary family."
"Sorry." said Jay. "I can't just give you to anyone unless they were close friends or family. You could go to the Weasleys if they take--"
"No!" said Harry quickly. He knew that if he went to the Weasleys they would make him go to Hogwarts.
"Then you'll have to go to an orphanage."
"Can…can you give me a minute to think about it?"
"Sure." said Jay. "I'll take you to the daycare."
Harry stood up and followed Jay out of the room. He didn't want to go to an orphanage. Why couldn't he just stay with Tonks?
Tonks…
Harry had an idea on how to stop himself from going to an orphanage that didn't involve running away.
He had something to discuss with Tonks when her test is over.
