The day had arrived. Harry was coming back to his relatives today, and I would get my first look at him since he
lost his godfather, and his best friend. Today was when I would decide when to get started on his training. It
was simple, if he looked like hell ran him over with a bus, then I would hurry up and set the training schedule,
and get him over here as soon as possible, and no doubt call Hermione, because she would know how to handle
him best. She would of course be mourning as well, but sometimes the quickest way to get over a tragedy, is
talking to someone who understands what you are going through. Those two would be perfect rocks for each
other, and since they were soul-mates it would definitely benefit them greatly. If he looked alright, I would give
him a week break, and then I would get him going on the training slowly, like with a morning jog, stretch
afterwards and then maybe some lean muscle building in the weight room that was attached to the dueling
arena. Then he would have a couple hours of free time to do what he wanted, I would recommend the library, but
that's just because that's where I would be spending my free time. Of course there was going to be one thing
that I forgot to think about. Harry was still going to have his Order of the Phoenix protection, and if it just so
happened to be Mad-eye Moody, then they would know I was a wizard, by the wand attached to my wrist. Also
of course he can see through my walls in the house, and see that its bigger inside than it is outside. Of course I
planned on telling them anyway, and I would do it before I went over to the Dursley's if, and only if it was that
Tonks woman. From what I knew about her, she was incredibly nice to people, at least compared to the majority
of the Order of the Phoenix. She was one of the least likely people to attack first, and ask questions later. Now
the only thing I had to do was make sure it was her. I already knew where they would hide, the bush right
across the street from Harry's house. It just so happens that, that was my bush now. It was about 4:00 when I
saw the Dursley's pulled up to the house, and I wasn't expected over there until 6:00. I was out working in the
garden (actually trying to see if I could work on my earth element without the meditating part, but wasn't having
much luck) when they pulled up, and I looked over as Vernon waved at me, however I got the distinct feeling that
he was the decoy, as Petunia hurried a very depressed looking Harry Potter in to the house, with Dudley carrying
his trunk behind them. Apparently they didn't think he would be quick enough out of the car with the trunk, and
they really didn't want me to see him. As I headed back in to the house to take a shower and get cleaned up, I
heard the distinct sound of an apparition pop. I hurried inside, took a quick shower, got dressed nicely for the
dinner and looked out the window to see if I could see an imprint behind the bush, and sure enough there it was.
Now all day long, since I woke up at 9:00 this morning anyway, I was working on my air element, and I was
finally able to create at least a small gust without meditating, nothing else, just a small gust. I was going to use a
small gust to lift the edges of the invisibility cloak, to see if I could see her boots, that she was well known to
wear when on the job. I got to the front window and focused on the spot. I noticed there was already a tiny
summer breeze flowing through, and that made it practically child's play. I took the breeze and increased the
flow, right under the edge of it, and sure enough, I got to see her boots sticking out and her legs, apparently she
was sitting down on the ground out there. She was quick to pull it back down, but of course I already had what I
needed. I hadn't grabbed my mail from the mail box, because I was going to use it for an excuse for me to stand
there a little longer. It would look from the outside that I was just glancing at my mail before I went back inside,
but I would actually be talking to her. I shut my door a little louder than needed and noticed a surprise squeak
from the bush. She obviously wasn't paying attention when she showed up, because my car was sitting right in
front of my garage, it wasn't exactly hard to miss. I walked to my mail box, grabbed my mail, and casually took
about half a step towards the bush. "You know Ms. Tonks; you may want to work on your sneaking, because I
could see your ass print on my grass from the 2nd floor." That last remark was a little unnecessary, but this
woman liked to tease people, and I had never had a relationship with someone that was based off of making fun
of them. If we became that close, I had a feeling she would eventually become like a big sister to me, and to be
honest, I would love that. Of course I didn't know if that was actually going to happen, but a guy with only
'brothers' could hope. "You absolute wanker, if you think I'm going…" I chuckled and raised my finger to my mouth
like I was contemplating something, but really was shushing her. "You are invited in to my house Ms. Tonks if you
would like, we could continue this lovely conversation in there". She just huffed and walked to my front door, with
me chuckling along the way behind her. As we stepped in to the house she whipped off the cloak, and pointed
her wand at me "You know it's not very nice to insult a lady's ass". That only made me chuckle more, and that
made her hair turn red from what looked like anger. "I'm sorry Ms. T…", "Just Tonks please". "Alright Tonks, I was
just seeing if you had a sense of humor, and I can tell from your language outside that you do, but just like any
woman, you don't like your ass being insulted, so I won't in the future. Now if you could just turn around, I will
apologize to your ass". Not in a million years did I expect her to do that, but for the first time (definitely not the
last, as I would learn in the future) she surprised me. She turned right around and bent down with her hands on
her knees. I of course was shocked, but went right along with it. "I'm sorry Tonks's ass, you are actually quite
nice". She turned around then "thanks for the compliment, but before you get too comfy looking at it, you should
know that I'm a witch's witch, and well you aren't bad looking, I would rather have a go with an older sister of
yours instead, if you have one that is". I of course knew this, and fully supported gay rights. Quite frankly God
had way bigger things to worry about, then sexual preference, and him being all forgiving and everything worked
quite well. Of course it was a little weird when a 'less accepting angel' ran in to a gay or lesbian angel, but it gets
handled quickly enough, and without any hate crimes, it is heaven after all. "Hey, I don't judge, it just means we
have more in common, and though my opinion my not mean anything to you, I was not lying, you do have a nice
ass, and I bet most women would kill for it…or really want to touch it, either way, I'm sure your happy." She just
laughed and then like flipping a switch she caught herself and pointed a wand at me "Who are you?" well I guess
now was my first introduction to Harry's part of the world. "Well first my name is Damian Godsend, I'm obviously
from America, I'm 16 years old, and I just moved here to end my last two years at Hogwarts. It was a large
coincidence when I discovered I was living across the street from Harry Potter, but I can't say I'm all that
disappointed." I walked with my back to her and her wand in to my living room and sat down. "You can sit Tonks,
I am only 16 years old, which means no magic for me, and you literally have all the power here". She didn't need
to know about the elemental stuff yet. She sat down and looked around a little, "You are doing quite well for a 16
year old, and where are your parents?" Let the interrogation begin. "They are dead"; "Oh I'm sorry..." "Don't be,
they weren't great parents, and I have learned to live with it". "Okay…but don't think for a second I believe this
crap about not knowing about Harry, because that's just too big a coincidence". Okay so something better than
that excuse. Well I was rich, had a giant library, and wasn't close to my dead parents, so that tailor-made an
excuse for me. "Well you see Tonks, your right; I did know Harry was here. Let me explain, my parents had
millions of dollars, literally over 800 million U.S. dollars, and I watched them use it on themselves every day.
Lavish dresses for mother, fancy cars for father, and nothing for anyone that really needed it. We had one of
largest libraries of magical knowledge in this world and I was the only one that used it for the last 10 years. My
parents were brilliant potion makers who also invested majorly in the U.S. stock market. When they made their
fortune, they retired from the business they created, and therefore didn't need the entire collection of knowledge
in said library; they just kept it because it was impressive. They were horribly vain people, who always wanted
more, so while they did retire; they never stopped experimenting with new ingredients. However since they
stopped using the library, they stopped learning, and therefore they started making more mistakes, and lost their
lives because of it. So when I was left everything, I decided it would be best used over here, helping people who
needed it. Obviously Harry doesn't need money, but that isn't the main thing I brought. In a magically enhanced
room in this house, is that very same library I told you about and I wanted to give Harry free range of it, and help
him with his dark lord problem." That was an incredibly long winded lie, and the lying part was already starting to
bug me, but I had to keep it up for now. She looked interested in my idea, like she was considering it, of course
she really didn't have a say in it, but it would be nice if I could get a glowing accommodation to the Order of the
Phoenix. "Can I see it?" Well that could be arranged, but an opportunity for a joke popped up, and I couldn't
resist, "I don't know Tonks, we just met, and I thought you were a witch's witch, not to mention, I'm technically a
minor…", "You are such a bastard". I laughed and stood, holding a hand out to help her from the couch. "Come on
then, if you want to see the library I'll show you, but only because I know that Harry trusts you". She looked at
me then after I helped her up and I started leading her through the house, "That's actually a good point, how do
you know so much about Harry, and me for that matter?" and having a lot of money helps again. "I'm rich Tonks;
money speaks loudly in this country. If you use enough of it, you can figure out anything, including about
government workers such as yourself, and of course famous people, like Harry." I led the way to the library which
was down the hall opposite of the dueling arena, and through two large doors. As I opened them, I turned in
time to see the look of shock on Tonks's face. She could hardly believe this actually fit in a muggle house. The
library had over 50 rows of shelves, 15 shelves high, and went 10 rows back from the doors. If you did the math
right, that meant over 7,500 shelves filled with books, that's not mentioning of course the 10 books in my room
that cataloged my existence. Those would come in handy if my girls ever wanted to know a little bit more about
my past after I told them my secret. Tonks was still gaping at the library, and I was starting to get worried her
jaw would get stuck like that. "You know, I have dinner at the Dursley's in about two hours, you can stay here
and browse if you like, I trust you not to steal anything while I'm gone". She finally jumped at the sound of my
voice and looked down at me, and just nodded. She walked past me and started for the books, looking for
something, but what I wasn't sure. "What are you looking for?" She apparently didn't hear me because she just
kept on looking, so I repeated my question and got a "huh?" as a response. "It's not nice to ignore the person so
graciously allowing you to use his library. I asked what you were looking for." She stuck her tongue at out me
and said "I'm looking for defense spells that I don't know yet, you know, trying to get better at my job. I'm not
sure where you keep them though." I was glad she knew that she needed to get better. It was always best to
keep learning and getting better, if you didn't, you would never learn your full potential. I chuckled at that last
part and pointed up. She did as I had signaled and noticed a sign that said 'TRANSFIGURATION'. "All you have to
do, is look for the sign that says 'DEFENSE', it's not all that complicated. The sections are in alphabetical order, so
I would head to my left, your right." I'm not sure what I expected from her, but it definitely wasn't to go running
down the length of library to the 'D' section yelling back "You keep an eye on Harry during dinner, and I'll tell the
Order that you're trustworthy." She turned down the aisle before I even accepted her deal. Apparently she
already knew I would take it, and she trusted me to watch Harry for a little bit, so that was good. Well if she was
going to go ahead and entertain herself with the books, then I'd go upstairs and game plan for the Dursley's
dinner.
2 HOURS LATER
As I headed across the street I realized that I had just left a woman alone in my house that I had only known for
a few hours, and only talked to for about 15 minutes. I hadn't actually seen nor heard from her since I left the
library, and I could only guess she was still looking up spells. Hopefully she would be smart enough to use the
training arena to test the new spells, didn't need my library getting destroyed after all. I didn't have time to think
too much on that though, I had to worry about the dinner at the Dursley's tonight, and convincing them that I
could turn their nephew in to a 'normal' person. Of course I could just bribe them not to say a damn thing about
Harry coming to my house, but I didn't feel like giving the Dursley's any money what-so-ever, since quite frankly,
they're terrible people. I could tell that the whole house had been prepped for my arrival just by looking in the
living room window. Everything looked pristine and expensive, no doubt exactly how they wanted everything to
look, to impress me, and get in to my very rich good books. Probably thought they could try and get me and
Dudley to be good friends and hope that I'll help him along in to my guaranteed large and influential social circles
when we were older. Well that just wasn't going to happen. If Dudley wanted to stop being such a trouble
maker, then I wouldn't ruin his sparkling reputation with his parents. However if he continued down this path
then he was going to end up in a lot of trouble with the police, and it would ruin his, and the rest of Dursley's
reputation. Hmm… that could be another path to go down, blackmail. Definitely wouldn't be my first choice but
could be considered a last option kind of thing. I rang the doorbell and heard the floorboard creek under every
step Vernon took on his way to the door. He really needed to lose some weight, it sounded like he might bring
down the house with his steps. I plastered a convincing smile on my face just before he opened the door, "Hello,
Mr. Dursley nice to see you again". Looks like he decided to pull out his best suit for this one, I must have made a
very good impression on them, because I thought he only brought that out for business dinners. "Young Mr.
Godsend, please come in, and welcome to our home". One thing about the Dursley's that I needed to remember
was that they cared about the way people saw them, and you didn't need to look any further than the inside of
their home as proof of that. If I could find a single dust particle in the house I would be surprised. Every surface
was spotless and shining as if they were just polished by the carpenter that made them. The fire place had three
perfectly identical logs stacked in pyramid formation, just waiting for Vernon to set them ablaze. Petunia, the ever
dutiful wife, was standing just inside the living room smiling as she gestured to the sofa, "Please have a seat Mr.
Godsend, dinner will be ready in a few minutes, just waiting on Dudley to set the table". Well they weren't fully
ready yet, that was a tad bit surprising, considering Petunia's severe OCD with being prepared on time. "Please
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley call me Damian, Mr. Godsend was my father. You are making me feel older than I really am."
It really was a beautiful home, despite the almost 'too clean' feel it gave off. The Dursley's and I made small talk
until we heard the door to the dining room open and out stepped Dudley Dursley with a depressed look on his
face. "The table is set mum", and then he turned around and went back without even glancing in our direction.
"Sorry Damian, he's been behaving differently today, probably just hungry." While Vernon laughed at his little
joke, I got the feeling that whatever was bothering Dudley had nothing to do with hunger, and a little something
to do with his cousin in the house. Before time was reversed, this was when Dudley started to think for himself
when it came to his opinion of his cousin. Actually it was about a week after Harry saved him from the dementors,
but Dudley isn't exactly connected with his emotions. Probably took the poor kid that whole year, to figure out he
should probably apologize for all the crap he put Harry through. Maybe that could help me get Harry down here.
As we all sat down at the dinner table, I was trying to figure out a way to get Dudley talking about what was
bothering him.
"This is absolutely delicious Mrs. Dursley, thank you again for having me over." It was very good, though I was
probably laying on the charm a bit thick, then again they weren't exactly holding back in that area either. Dudley
had yet to speak yet, and his food was barely touched. I could see the concern in his mother's eyes and the
confused look on his father's face. Well what better way to bring up a subject than during a pause. "So Dudley,
I've heard a little about you from your parents, why don't you tell me a little something about yourself?" he
looked mildly surprised that I spoke to him, but he just lightly shrugged his shoulders and continued playing with
his food. Well that didn't work, luckily I had a feeling it wouldn't, considering the mood that Dudley was in. I
glanced over at Petunia and lifted an eyebrow in a confused manner. I could count on her to talk to her son. "Hey
Duddikins, what's the matter with you today. You are being awfully rude to Damian here." Dudley stopped playing
with his food and set down his fork. "I…I want to apologize to Harry". Whatever his parents thought he was
going to say, it obviously wasn't that. Vernon choked on the food he had been chewing on at the time, and
Petunia did a spit-take on the sip of wine she had just taken. I other hand wasn't all that surprised considering
what I already knew, and I wasn't about to allow his parents to talk him out of it. "Well Dudley, do you really
think you need to. Because if you do, then why don't we get Harry down here now." Dudley shifted his focus to
me and looked at me quizzically, and asked "What do you know about Harry?" Well I wasn't exactly counting on
Dudley asking an intelligent question. Technically I wasn't supposed to know about Harry. Luckily the Dursley's
aren't well liked in the neighborhood for their 'I'm better than you' attitude'. "Well I heard from a couple of my
neighbors that you guys had an orphaned nephew living with you, so I just assumed…" I trailed off as realization
made its way on to the Dursley's faces, along with some anger from Petunia and Vernon, no doubt from someone
talking about them behind their backs. Not that they had any right to be mad considering what they have said
about some of their neighbors. "Anyway Dudley, as I was going to say. If you really think you want to apologize
to Harry, then why don't you go get him, and bring him down here so you can?" He looked at me a little
skeptically, like I was just an outsider, why would I care if did or didn't. "You don't even know why I should be
sorry, so why should I listen to what you are saying?" While it was kind of rude to ask that question, he did have
a really good point. "Well in my experience, sometimes it's better to ask someone on the outside, with no real say
in the matter, because they can look at the situation with more perspective than someone on the inside can". He
took about five minutes to make up his decision, suddenly standing from his chair and running out the dining
room doorway and up the stairs. Dudley's parents were left kind of speechless, probably from many different
things. They hadn't been able to say much since Dudley's sudden proclamation, and they probably weren't
expecting me to go all psychologist on their son and convince him to talk to Harry. I stood and said "Well Mr. and
Mrs. Dursley, dinner has been delightful, but I believe we should probably retire to the living room for this coming
conversation. Don't worry, I'm sure it will all be fine soon, if I know anything about being an orphan, it's that all
we really want is someone to call our family. Maybe watching your son do this, it might encourage you to do
some…repenting yourselves." I gave them a meaningful look on my last sentence and led the way to the living
room where I sat on one of the only single chairs. The Dursley's weren't evil by any means, just sort of cruel. If
they wanted to, they could change, and if they did that, then maybe their punishment wouldn't be so bad when
they died. It didn't take long for us to hear two sets of steps making their way down the stairs, and watch as
they came in the living room. Seeing Harry made me regret agreeing to this. He looked like he hadn't had any
sleep in weeks; his skin was pale, and his hair a complete mess. There was a certain haunted look in his eyes
that came from losing someone close to you. Of course I couldn't take it back now; all I could do was make it
better. Though it looked like I would have to wait until Dudley said his peace, because he obviously wanted to
get it off his chest. As they sat down, I looked over at Vernon and Petunia and noticed they were looking slightly
pale themselves. Understandable considering they had an outsider in the midst of their slightly abnormal family
situation. To be honest, I'm surprised Petunia hadn't fainted at least twice by now. I looked over at Dudley and
he was sitting there with what looked like his struggling with something face. Poor kid probably couldn't come up
with the right words. Dudley had never been a person of words, more about action, and by action I meant
bullying other kids, and smoking cigarettes in park behind a tree with his little play gang. He might need a little
help…"Dudley, the best thing you can do when you can't figure out to say, is just remember to keep it simple". He
looked at me and nodded. "Alright, ummm Harry, what I wanted to tell you, was that I'm sorry". Harry's eyes
widened in surprise, no doubt from the first nice thing his cousin ever said to him. "I've been a shitty cousin to
you, our entire lives, and that's not how family is supposed to treat each other, so that's why I'm apologizing."
Harry was just sitting there slightly gob smacked no doubt about this whole situation. He took a few moments to
gather himself and in a hoarse voice said "thanks Dudley that means a lot". I winced at the sound of his voice, it
was no doubt that he had been crying for some time, and probably not speaking all that much to anyone. I was
definitely getting Harry over to my house tomorrow, as early as I could, to get him focused on something positive,
and ask him if he wanted to call Hermione and ask if she wanted to come over. That way both their souls can heal
each other. Dudley grinned and held out his hand to shake, "Thanks for forgiving me Harry, but to be honest if it
weren't for this Damian kid here, I wouldn't have had the guts to do it". Harry whipped his head around to me, at
the name Damian and stared. Well time for the 'formal' introduction, "hello Harry, my name is Damian Godsend, so
nice to meet you". He snorted and grinned slightly at my last name. it was good to see he was capable of
grinning at a time like this, it meant that while he was grieving, he was also remembering that it wasn't over, and
that he could heal and become better from this. "Hi Damian, it's nice to meet the person that had my aunt and
uncle in such a fuss today, about cleaning up the house." Well it looked like Harry wouldn't need any acting
lessons. He didn't even give a hint to him may already knowing me. "Yes well, I'm pleased to say they have
impressed me very much, but while have gotten the last few hours to get to know them, I haven't learned much
about you. So how about you come over to my house tomorrow morning sometime, say around 10, and we'll talk
a lot more." All of the Dursley's looked a little surprised at this. "I'd stay longer now of course, but I want you to
have time to talk to your cousin. Plus I have a house guest staying the night over at my house, and when she
gets bored she starts to wonder, and whenever she starts wondering…well she's liable to hurt herself with how
clumsy she is". He chuckled at that, and I stood to walk over and shake Harry's hand. "I'll see you tomorrow then
Damian". I nodded then nodded to Dudley. As I walked out the door, I realized I hadn't said anything to Vernon
and Petunia, and they hadn't said a word about me leaving. I wondered if they even noticed or if they were still
lost. I walked in to my house; and I went straight to the library to see if Tonks was still there. I found her laying
on one of the tables with a pillow behind her head and her knees up, with a book held up in front of her face. I
wondered if I should try to scare her then remembered she had spent the last couple hours learning new
defensive spells, so it probably wasn't a good Idea. I made sure she could hear my footsteps before spoke. "Hey
Tonks, glad you made yourself so comfortable. You know if you really wanted to, you could stay here. I know you
don't make a lot of…" I trailed off there because I got a closer look at her face. It was sort of pale, and her eyes
looked glassy. I walked closer and touched her cheek with my finger and it felt sort of...DING! Next thing I know
I'm hanging upside down by my ankles. Suddenly I hear loud guffawing coming from right in front of me that was
definitely female in origin. Tonks whips off the invisibility and points her finger at me while still laughing. "I'm so
glad my books could teach you new traps Tonks, I really am. Can you let me down now?" She just kept laughing
at me. After about 5 minutes of her pointing and laughing at me, she finally calmed down enough to form a
complete sentence. "That is for the ass comment earlier. Now I believe you were about to say something about
me staying here?" I was all fine for completing this conversation…right side up. "Tonks get me down, and ill
speak". She looked at me and shook her head, "Nope, you will tell me what you meant now, and then I'll let you
down". I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do that, but I was pretty sure I didn't want to argue with Tonks for too
long upside down. "Fine, what I was going to say is, is that I know you don't make a lot of money as an auror
just out of the academy, so I'll let have the one of the 2 guest bedrooms for free, and in return, you help with
Harry's training, and help put the magic anti detection spells up over the training room. Now I might add that this
offer comes with meals as well as your own private bathroom." She put her finger to her chin while her other
hand went to her wand and she waved it…and I (very manly like I might add) screamed as I fell head first to the
ground. As I was rubbing the top of my head, trying to get my bearings back from my possible concussion, she
was thinking over my offer behind me. "You say I get to move out of my parents house, and in to this beautiful
place with larger bedroom and private bathroom with meals, just for helping out Harry, and putting up some
spells…Hell Yeah! I'll take that deal any day." Well it was nice I made such a compelling offer. "Alright then, so
when can you move in?" She finally offered me a hand getting up as I asked this. "Well all I have is some clothes,
and a few galleons to my name, so maybe in a half hour." Well that was simple enough then. "Ok, I will take it
that you haven't eaten dinner yet since your still down here. So I will start dinner for you, and you go get
everything you want to bring over, and I'll give you the tour of the house and everything. Fair warning though,
Harry will be here in the morning around 10 to train, and I might have him invite the Granger girl that he hangs
out with all the time, because after everything that has happened to them, I think they may need each other
through this time". She nodded at that and we walked back up the stairs and went our separate ways for the
time being. Everything that happened today went very well as far as I was concerned, and I even got a
roommate out of it. A roommate that was so going to pay for that trap she pulled on me.
