Chapter 3 – The Dark Lord Awakens

AN: Third chapter up! We'll have a look at the Dark side, before we continue with Harry's summer. I'm giving you fair warning (though this ought to be a reason for celebration) that Voldemort will be very different from canon, more capable of his reputation. Also, this story deviates from canon right after Harry's and Voldemort's spells connected, as some of you may have figured out by now. Find out some more in this chapter. Enjoy :P

On the same day Harry was getting a visit from Tonks, far more sinister happenings were occurring in the laid back village of Little Hangleton. The Hanged Man was found a tad crowded that evening. It was getting a lot of business. One couldn't call it good business, not with a fair conscience. But still, an unusual number of people had turned up at the lone village pub to drink off their unease.

The village blacksmith saw his friend the baker enter the pub, and hailed him over to spare him from looking for a suitable table. The baker approached and saw his friend ordering a large whiskey for him, and sat down without objecting.

The blacksmith murmured, "Strange night isn't it? The last time this pub got such a crowd was last summer, when everyone condemned poor Frank before finding him dead, just like the Riddles all those years ago."

"Aye", the baker replied "I feel that this place has never been the same since. I was getting ready to turn in for the night, the wife already asleep, when I felt a strange shiver run through my spine. Then I started getting all kind of nasty thoughts in my head, started remembering the old man's long and drawn out death in the sick bed. I decided that I needed a stiff drink, and lo and behold, I find the place like this."

"You're not the only one to feel so tonight. From what I've been hearing, most people seem to be feeling scared." said the blacksmith, soothing his friend. "I do reckon you're right, the Riddle house must have some curse on it. Maybe the Riddles' ghosts are haunting the place, not even the boys who liked to dare each other go anywhere near the place, last I heard."

The blacksmith didn't know how close he was to the truth. Muggles couldn't actually become ghosts, but Voldemort had trapped the essences of his father and grandparents inside the house with dark magic. They weren't sentient enough to be real ghosts, but they gave a foreboding presence to the place that caused the house to be a favourite target of foolish dares.

More importantly, the essences could still sense the presence of their killer, and there were traces of dread, pain and horror hanging in the air that actually helped Voldemort heal faster. Peter Pettigrew felt more cowardly than usual when in the manor and even Lucius Malfoy felt an implacable fear in the back of his mind. None of the Death Eaters realized that it was because their master had awoken, and had at last recovered from the events succeeding his rebirth.

Lord Voldemort, on regaining his consciousness, went through the last thing he remembered. He had cast the Killing Curse at Potter at the same time the boy had tried to disarm him. The curses had connected. After that, he had blacked out. He seemed to regain consciousness briefly and issued an intense need to transport his master to this place to that rat, Wormtail, before blackness took him once more.

He hissed to Nagini, who was lying near his bed, "Find the rat, and bring him to me." She needed no further instruction, and promptly slithered out. Concentrating on the wards he had set up, he could also detect the presence of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. No doubt, thought Voldemort, he wanted to be present when I woke, to impress his loyalty upon me. He still seems to dread a personal meeting very much. Good, good, perhaps I'll have a chat with him after Wormtail.

In another part of the manor, Pettigrew was distracted from flashes of painful memories, like being cornered by Remus and Sirius a year ago and cutting of his hand for his master more recently. When he noticed the source, he trembled further, knowing that his master wanted his presence. Last year, Pettigrew took solace from the fact that he felt a little disgust for the wrinkled lump that was The Dark Lord. It helped curb his terror at his master's presence. However, since The Dark Lord regained his body, Pettigrew once again felt full-fledged fear, like during the first war.

He entered his Lord's bedroom and immediately fell to his knees and kissed the hem of his master's robes. "You wanted to see m- me, my L- Lord?" he squeaked, shaking with terror. He was the first one summoned to The Dark Lord's presence after the fiasco that was his rebirth and he was expecting pain any second.

Voldemort surveyed him for a moment from the armchair, inhaling his terror, finding it utterly rejuvenating. It was the prime reason he kept Pettigrew alive, these days. Though he has been actually useful lately, he acknowledged. "Rise, Peter. This time, I'm not displeased at your actions. You fulfilled your part. I'm aware that competence is especially rare in your case and I'm capable of appreciating it when it occurs."

Wormtail got to his feet, mumbling "Th- Th- Thank you, my Lord. I'm glad to be of service."

Voldemort hissed "I did not permit you to speak, Wormtail." and savoured the immediate flash of panic that rose in his servant. "However, I will overlook it this time on account of your recent, ah, usefulness." Wormtail stayed motionless, too scared to even nod in response.

Without warning, Voldemort tore into his mind to view what had happened after he had fainted. He batted aside Pettigrew's fear with ease and came to his memory of that night. The moment the curses connected, his Killing curse seemed to spread though Potter's curse and envelop Potter in a deadly cocoon of light. It was followed by an intense backlash as the light erupted, knocking out Voldemort completely. It seemed to affect the Death Eaters to varying degrees. Most of them were knocked back and those who dropped unconscious did only as a result of physical injury and not due to any magical effect. However, he noticed that Wormtail's perception dimmed, indicating that he had transformed out of fear, and immediately went out, indicating that he had become magically unconscious like Voldemort himself. He noted, however, that Malfoy and Nott seemed to be least affected.

Voldemort ruthlessly held on to the memory even after Pettigrew blacked out and was rewarded with the memory of him waking. He noticed that Pettigrew had run scared to Voldemort. He noted that Potter had woken before Pettigrew had and was running towards the dead boy's body with the few conscious Death Eaters trying to curse him into capture. He then noticed himself waking for a few seconds before Wormtail's mind was overcome with a sudden need to bring his master to the Riddle manor.

Coming out of Pettigrew's mind, Voldemort emotionlessly watched him writhing on the floor in pain before gasping in relief but continuing to twitch. Weakling, he thought, before waving his wand. Mindless pain, though entertaining, had no actual use to Voldemort. Wormtail immediately stopped twitching and rose to a bow.

"Very well, Wormtail, though your actions were cowardly and selfish, you managed to carry out my instructions. For that, you have Lord Voldemort's favour. Go now and fetch Malfoy." He said dismissively, leaning back to contemplate his meeting with Malfoy and his recently witnessed behaviour.

Pettigrew left in haste, relieved to have escaped the Cruciatus Curse, and within a minute Voldemort sensed Malfoy's approach. Malfoy bowed respectfully at the door and waited for Voldemort to notice him. On receiving a curt nod from the latter, he immediately fell to his knees and kissed the hem of his robes, just like Pettigrew did. He was much more accomplished at hiding his fear from his face than Wormtail, but Voldemort could sense it anyway through the mark.

"Lucius" Voldemort started, in a calm voice that his intelligent Death Eaters knew indicated danger, "I have just had the pleasure of viewing your performance on the night of the rebirth. I know that you and Nott, along with a handful of other Death Eaters, were conscious after the backlash. I find it curious, my friend. Perhaps you have an explanation?"

Voldemort could tell that Malfoy attached no particular alarm to the question, indicating that he truly did not know its significance. "I'm not sure, my Lord. I assume it was because we were furthest away from the explosion." he said, his fear rising a notch as he realised how his master would view that.

"Rather suggestive, don't you think, Lucius, after you swore to be at my side the instant you had any news of my existence?" Voldemort stated quietly.

"My Lord! It was unintentional", he started, fear starting to break through to his face.

"However," said Voldemort, cutting him off, "I will dismiss that as happenstance, if you can explain how grown wizards just happened to let a teenage boy escape their clutches. Especially after the boy just recovered from being caught in the centre of an intense backlash that they were fortunate enough to avoid."

Malfoy started to panic now, knowing that there was no excuse that would be acceptable to Voldemort. "My Lord, the backlash did drain me though it did not knock me out. Potter appeared to have largely recovered from it. I can offer no explanation for it, my Lord."

"Liar" Voldemort hissed, "I'm fully aware that your magic was almost unaffected by the blast. You have disappointed me, Lucius, and at such a simple task." The next minute was filled with Malfoy's screams. Voldemort waited until Malfoy's twitching reduced enough to indicate his coherence and said warningly "Be grateful that I still find a use for you Lucius. You will start making up for your failures by destabilising the Ministry. Start convincing that fool Fudge that Dumbledore is his enemy. Potter may cause us an enormous setback if he talks about my rebirth. I know for a fact that he is the type who wallows in his guilt and is ashamed to relate painful experiences to his friends. Even if he talks, I want the Daily Prophet on our side. Discredit Potter. I trust that you are financially and politically capable of these simple tasks?"

Malfoy mumbled, with some difficulty, "Of course, my Lord. I'm glad to be of use. Consider it done."

"Do not disappoint me in this, Lucius, or I may have to look to others to replace your support to Lord Voldemort." said Voldemort. Malfoy's fear evolved into delicious dread at the threat of his own death and he scrambled out on Voldemort's dismissal.

Voldemort sat silently for a minute, breathing in Malfoy's lingering emotions. Fully refreshed, he then reviewed the second-hand memory of Pettigrew's. There was a curious change in Potter after he had awoken. Voldemort could see it in the way Potter moved. His hesitancy and fright at the presence of numerous Death Eaters, that Voldemort saw in his eyes when they arrived, had been replaced by steadfast action.

What was it about the boy that had enabled him to thwart me thrice, Voldemort wondered? The first time, it had nothing to do with Potter himself; it was his mother's sacrifice that had undone his Killing Curse. Voldemort knew that many mothers had sacrificed themselves to try and save their children. However, he knew exactly why such love based magic worked effectively on him and him alone. Seeing no reason to love or trust others, he had undergone many transformations to give up those capabilities, in exchange for the ability to thrive on the emotion of fear in its various forms.

It was a consequence I should have foreseen, he reprimanded himself. However, he was sure that using Potter's blood had invoked in him some measure of resistance to such magic. He also knew the power of belief. He had gone to the Potters that night with the belief that the baby would be a powerful threat someday. It was possible that his magic might have acknowledged this and so made the rebounding curse capable of destroying much of his power, as he had believed it possible, even probable, in the moment his Curse failed.

Looking back, such an unusual perception of weakness, of doubt in his power, had been sparked by the prophecy. At that time, he foolishly felt fortunate at getting that titbit from Snape. Whatever else you are, Snape, you make a very good spy, thought the Dark Lord maliciously. But, he wondered, a very good spy for whom? It is possible that Dumbledore instructed or manipulated Snape into delivering an arranged prophecy to make me doubt myself, to stall my plans.

Snape's motives are already suspect, due to his absence from my rebirth. From what I have learnt, Snape could be of considerable use to me in his position as a Hogwarts professor. He was certainly intelligent enough to consider this. He also has enough cunning in him to obtain Dumbledore's 'permission' before approaching me. That is one explanation. However, Snape could also have turned under the old fool's influence, perhaps even before my fall on that fateful day. It is time for a little chat with Snape. Soon, I will decide whether his talents are really that essential in the light of his possible double-play.

x-x

Earlier that day, blissfully unaware of the beginning of such dark tidings, Harry Potter was enjoying his summer like any teenage boy. He had made a grand entrance into the Tonks residence by spectacularly crashing into Tonks, due to his early entry into the Floo and his usual fumbling exit. Her parents had come rushing in, fearing that Tonks had broken something in her clumsiness, to find her in a tangle of limbs with Harry Potter.

"I wasn't aware that you were seeing someone." quipped Tonks' mother playfully, well aware of the situation, causing Harry's face and Tonks' hair to shift to tomato red. After the two had been completely separated with the help of both parents, Harry found himself joining the Tonks for lunch.

Harry already knew that the Dursleys' standards were far from the 'normal' that they idolised. Still, he couldn't help feel a pang at the cheer, the casual glances between Tonks' parents (Andromeda and Ted Tonks, Harry had just learnt) and the general lightness of the atmosphere.

Still unsure whether he could ask for a second helping of the delicious pot roast and thinking that they may be offended if he ate too little, Harry hesitantly reached for the dish and the same time Tonks saw his empty plate and tried to serve him, causing the dish to be knocked over the table edge. Harry thought he hadn't been this embarrassed even when Fleur Delacour kissed him in front of the whole school.

Further highlighting their difference from his 'family', Ted grinned ruefully and commented, while Andromeda repaired the dish and vanished the mess with a swish of her wand, "Perhaps you two should start going out. You seem to be made for each other."

Tonks groaned at her father's persistent match-making while Harry forced down a blush and commented, hopefully in a casual tone, "I thought that the girl's father was supposed to be overbearing and in general, try his best to scare the guy off?"

At this, Andromeda laughed and said "If she'd bought someone she was indeed seeing, that would have been my role. Ted would most likely be busy trying male bonding with whoever it was."

As the lunch progressed, Harry found the Tonks family refreshingly open and casual about everything. They treated Harry like any other friend of the family, without drowning in his fame. Harry found himself opening up and talking about random things. "You look like someone I've seen before, but I just can't place who." Harry commented to Andromeda at a lull in the conversation.

For the first time, looking slightly nervous and upset, she replied "I hope you haven't personally met her, because I bear a close resemblance to one of my sisters, Bellatrix Black, now Lestrange."

Harry suddenly remembered the memory of Barty Crouch Junior's trial and realised the reason for her reaction. "Oh I'm sorry to mention about that. Tonks told me about the notorious reputation of the Blacks. Now that you mention her, I recognise the resemblance."

Andromeda merely nodded, reluctant to bring up her murky family, but Ted saw this as a chance to get his wife to open up toward the road to acceptance. "It's alright Meda, Bellatrix Lestrange isn't your responsibility. Where did you see her Harry? Last I heard, she was chucked into Azkaban when you were just a baby and I assume nobody who had any of her photos would have been willing to share them, or anything else, with you."

Tonks jumped in before Harry could answer, "Oh you don't know Harry; he somehow finds himself in life-threatening situations every now and then." At her parents' worried looks, she added "and he somehow manages to escape unhurt too."

"Oh this is nothing like that, don't worry. I just saw Professor Dumbledore's memory of her trial. I think I'll meet her soon, considering that I'm Voldemort's prime target. Anything I should tell her from you?" Harry asked playfully.

Andromeda sighed sadly and said "Oh, I know how she's turned out and Narcissa is almost as bad, what with her beliefs in purity of blood. I doubt I'd have anything to say to either of them, they'd probably try to kill me if we meet."

Tonks, who didn't like the way the conversation was going, elbowed Harry and asked "So what do you think of us now Harry, now that you know we're related to Draco Malfoy?"

Harry took the hint and replied "Oh, you guys are nothing like that prat and his family. I had the misfortune of meeting them at the Quidditch World Cup. Besides, I wouldn't judge anyone like that; look at the Dursleys, my so-called family!"

After that, Harry and the Tonks family had a most enjoyable time insulting each other's relatives in fun and imaginative ways. They found it cathartic.

Later, Andromeda and Ted left to attend to some business, leaving Harry and Tonks to talk. Tonks immediately claimed the sofa and swept some paper and parchment off to put her feet up and settled in, claiming lazily "Ooooh, I'm too stuffed to try out your Firebolt today. So Harry, you seem genuinely uninterested in flirting with me. Got your eye on someone else, have you? Is it Hermione? Come on, I can keep a secret! I'll even give you advice if you want." She turned to him, her eyes gleaming with a light Harry had come, from watching Parvati and Lavender, to associate with gossip.

Harry replied, "No there's nothing like that. She's like a sister to me. That reminds me, I have to send her this letter. May I borrow your owl?"

She said "Oh ok. I don't have one, but I can give it to her tomorrow, if you'd like? I promise not to open it."

Harry handed it to her and said "Sure, no problem. Why are you going to see Hermione, anyway? Oh wait let me guess, you are setting up a Floo for her house too?"

Tonks adopted an extremely offended look and said "What do you think I am, a construction worker? I'm an Auror, and when you apply, I'll make you work your ass off for this!" She then ruined the performance by giggling and said, "Unfortunately, you're right. By the way, you're not supposed to know this, strictly speaking, but the Order is planning to shift you to headquarters, and Hermione and the Weasleys will be shifted over the next couple of days. Before you ask, Dumbledore thinks you ought to stay with your relatives for another week to recharge the blood wards on your house."

"Damn it! My birthday's this week, I wanted to celebrate it with my friends and I'm certainly not inviting anyone over to my house." Harry grumbled.

Tonks merely ruffled his hair and said, "Poor Harry! I'll get you a nice present. I already knew that your birthday is on the 31st of July, by the way. It's general knowledge in the Wizarding world. Maybe you could come over, but no, that won't work. You can't use your Floo. Nobody will be watching your end, but for safety, as little people should know about the Floo at your house as possible. Sigh, I'll have to get you a really nice present."

"You don't have to, you know, we just met!" said Harry, though he was feeling a little grateful at having made such a good friend, an Auror at that.

"Come off it, Harry, I feel like I know you already. Except which girl you've got your eye on. Come on, spill!" Tonks prodded.

Harry said regretfully, "No one, yet. I know that Ginny Weasley likes me but she's almost like a fan girl and I don't want that. Don't tell anyone, but I think Ron and Hermione like each other. I just know it, but I don't think they've realised it yet. I just feel out of sync with everyone, what with Voldemort after me and all! I don't want to put anyone in danger by becoming close to them. They killed Cedric just because he was standing next to me."

Tonks immediately slipped into elder-sister mode. "Harry, that's a noble sentiment, but you must realise that you shouldn't put your life on hold just because some madman is after you. If you do that, you're letting him win."

Harry replied, somewhat angrily, "This isn't a game, Tonks. I've seen how Voldemort and his Death Eaters are. They wouldn't hesitate to use her, whoever she is. I've even thought about distancing myself from Ron and Hermione. I'll do anything to keep my friends safe."

Tonks said gently "But you didn't push me away, Harry. I know you don't want to put me in any danger either, so why did you do it? You do realise that you need people like everyone else. You won't be happy if you push everyone away out of paranoia. I've seen it in person in my mentor, Mad-Eye Moody. I'm basically the only person he's somewhat nice to and even I have to prove I'm me every time I meet him. Trust me; you don't want to live like that."

Harry nodded reluctantly and said "Hang on, you knew Mad-Eye Moody? Didn't you suspect anything last year then?"

Tonks said "Oh, he isn't the type to keep in touch, send letters, or any of that stuff. He'd have a quiet word if he saw me in the Ministry, that's all. That Barty Crouch impersonated him too well. Found out everything by putting Mad-Eye under the Imperious, didn't he? I'm somewhat glad that he's been kissed, though it's the thing that lets Fudge keep on believing that you and Dumbledore are lying."

"What?" yelped Harry "he still doesn't trust Dumbledore's word?"

Tonks nodded sadly "I suspect that he's in shock. I always knew he wouldn't make a good war-time Minister. He'll no doubt come to his senses soon. Unfortunately, we can't openly oppose the Ministry standing as it will give corrupt politicians like Malfoy a chance to deem us as illegal and have us arrested. Besides, we must keep our existence a secret."

"Oh, but I have no doubt that Malfoy will have instructions from Voldemort to keep Fudge in denial and make him oppose Dumbledore as long as possible." Harry said bitterly.

Tonks looked surprised at his depth of thought and said "You know what? You'd make a good Order member already. You seem to know how Voldemort thinks, probably from facing him so many times."

Harry shook his head and said "That's not it, it's because -" and stopped. "Look, Tonks, I trust you, somewhat, but I don't know if I should tell you this."

Tonks shrugged and said "Hey, I'm an Auror remember? I'm also an Order member. I know the importance of war secrets. But do tell me the regular gossip stuff, ok?"

Harry laughed and said "Hey, if I get a girlfriend, you'll be the first to know, all right?"

Tonks grinned and said "I'll hold you to that!"

x-x

Later that night, Harry thought back and felt good about how the day went. I'm glad to spend a day like a normal guy, for once, he thought. I do have lots of information about the Order, though I don't think Tonks would have told just anyone all that. I can see the look on Sirius' face now, he thought, when he finds out I know all this before he could impress me with it! Harry grinned, picturing Sirius' look of dropping disappointment at a failed chance to show off. Harry thought of writing to him, asking how he was and stuff, but Tonks had told him it's best to wait a week as he was going to stay with him anyway. Harry had, after some convincing, agreed and was regretting that right now.

After a long talk with Tonks, neither of them had felt like going out to roam the neighbourhood. Besides, Tonks had decided that they had pushed their luck far enough and came back with Harry to his room. After checking the spells on the fireplace once and finding nothing wrong, she told Harry that he had until midnight to show the Dursleys the fireplace and left after giving Harry a hug. It had made him tingle all over in a strange way though he could tell that she felt nothing of the sort. He could think of nothing but the feel of it for the next few minutes. He had never felt this when Hermione hugged him.

That evening, dinner with the Dursleys was awkward in a completely new fashion. For the first time, the Dursleys had allowed magic into their home willingly and although it was for a completely selfish reason, Petunia and Vernon found it hard to hate Harry for his magic just then. They were in no way close to liking him and Petunia was completely silent, thinking up new reasons to hate her nephew.

Vernon, on the other hand, was behaving as though he had, by allowing the Floo to be set up, done a great thing for a noble cause and Harry could tell that he expected him to be grateful and eager to please. Harry, however, was having none of that and tried to ignore their presence as much as possible, instead of the other way around.

Dudley seemed to have decided that nothing had changed and Harry thought it was probably true for him. Dudley treated Harry the way he did because that's how his parents had treated Harry from the earliest he could remember. He had never really sat down and thought out reasons for his behaviour; it was simply the way things were. Harry wondered what would happen if Dudley's parents started to treat Harry differently. Would Dudley mimic them, or would he be set in his ways and refuse to change?

Harry ate slowly to make time with Dudley's and Vernon's huge appetite. Once they were done, Petunia helped Harry put the plates and dishes away. Harry found it strange that she tried to share her domain, the kitchen, with him. He suddenly thought of how it would feel if he was putting the dishes away with his mother, and found the gesture bizarrely familial.

They went back to the dining room and Harry nodded towards his bedroom. Grumbling under his breath, Vernon got up and went to stand next to his wife. Dudley heaved his great bottom off the chair and stood behind his parents. Harry led them up the stairs and it felt to him as though he was taking them on a tour of the pope's grave, the situation was so solemn and formal.

Petunia and Vernon simply looked at the fireplace and got out of the room, somehow knowing that it was enough. Petunia shot a worried glance at Dudley as though fire was suddenly going to erupt and swallow him whole. Dudley gaped at the fireplace that was not there this morning and said "I didn't see a chimney. How can there be a fireplace without a chimney? And where's the wood?"

When Harry replied "Magic", he shook his head and retreated, muttering "Freaks" at which Vernon shot him an approving glance. Petunia looked highly relieved that her son had survived his encounter with magic, making Harry wonder why she was so paranoid about it.

Harry had had enough of their disapproval and decided to go to sleep and forget that the whole thing had happened. His plans were put off when Hedwig flew in very fast and landed on her perch with an annoyed hoot. For a second, Harry had a ridiculous thought that she was being tracked, before the cause of her annoyance shot in after her and collided with the opposite wall. Apparently, that wasn't enough to dampen Pig's spirit and he flew around dazedly for a minute before Harry took pity on him and snatched him out of the air.

Hedwig, who had been observing this, decided that Pig had been sufficiently disgraced for daring to annoy her and begrudgingly allowed Harry to settle Pig on her perch and feed him some water from her bowl before removing Ron's reply from his leg.

Dear Harry, the letter read,

I told dad you'd receive this too late to be of any use, but Dad wanted to tell you anyway that someone called Nymphadora Tonks (funny name, I know) is coming to set up the Floo this afternoon. I hope you got the same person. I thought about sending this with Hedwig, but frankly, Pig was annoying everyone with his zooming around and mum decided that he needed some exercise.

Anyway, from the teen front, we think it's great that you want to visit when possible. Ginny's thrilled that you can come visit easily and Gred and Forge wanted me to tell you that they wanted to talk to you about something. Wouldn't tell me what, the pricks, I think they told me that just to annoy me. Or, it could have something to do with the fact that the number of explosions from their room has increased a lot this summer, though I don't know what you'd have to do with it.

Other than that, Dumbledore visited today and spoke to mum and dad. I think it has something to do with his group that we saw at the hospital wing that night. Things have started moving, haven't they? Everyone wants to know how you're doing, so I don't think even mum and dad would mind if you visited, though they feel it's unsafe. Dad was just telling mum that the wards were getting shoddy and I expect that Bill will be visiting to look them over.

Hope you're feeling okay. I just want to say, don't blame yourself mate. Come visit soon.

Yours,

Ron

Fred and George probably want to show me the stuff they've developed with the galleons I gave them, Harry thought. I wonder what Ron will think if he finds out. He's being a lot more mature these days, after the Third Task. I only wish they all could be safe from the war, safe from me and the danger I present. But Tonks is right, mum and dad were right, I do need my friends, to keep sane, to keep from going mad with guilt and worry.

I can probably go see them anytime, thought Harry, as Tonks had told him she was going to offer to guard him for the next week and it'd mostly be approved as the Order was hard pressed for people to spare at the moment. She'd probably insist on accompanying me, mused Harry with an evil grin. I can't wait to see Ron try to tease her about her name. Those boils had itched like crazy, but Tonks had said they'd go down by the following morning after she'd refused to perform the counter-jinx. Harry had begged her in seven different ways and praised her beauty for fifteen minutes before she relented and removed them.

Harry felt too sleepy to reply to the letter immediately. Pig probably needs to recover too, he thought ruefully. He decided to reply the next morning, or maybe even visit if Tonks was the one assigned to guard him.

Sometime after Harry had gone to sleep, across the English Channel, a beautiful bird that looked like an eagle with a sharp, cruel beak, but with wings that looked more scaly than feathery, had a scented letter addressed to Harry tied to its gleaming talons and launched itself out of a stately window with the fluid motion that comes from being a top predator.

x-x

AN: A minor cliff-hanger, though I'm sure you can guess who the letter is from. Harry's next week is going to be the start of some major changes in his life. I intend to keep Tonks as Harry's close friend and sort of mentor into the ways of adult life (not the physical part, as far as I've planned), some of which they learn together and some that one teaches another. It's something different, rather than the usual Dumbledore / Snape / Voldemort mentors and I hope to portray it well. I hope you liked this chapter.