See chapter 1 for disclaimer and warnings.
Later that night Harry waited tensely in his room as the Dursleys prepared for bed. Tonks had been true to her word and had had a talk with his relatives before she had left. He figured the outcome could go one of two ways. Either the Dursleys would be frightened and would start ignoring him to the point where he would actually wish to be yelled at or they would be angry that he had brought more freaks into their lives and take it out on him.
He gave a sigh of relief at hearing his aunt and uncle's bedroom door shut. For tonight at least he had a reprieve. He shucked off his clothes, pulling on a baggy pair of basketball shorts and forgoing a shirt in the summer heat.
He laid down, giving a brief thought of grabbing his charms book but couldn't find the strength to move after the hours of painful work he had done before Tonks had rescued him. He closed his eyes as a new wave of embarrassment washed over him. Not only does his uncle beat the crap out of him but then the hot girl rescues him and heals him. Merlin he was such a wimp.
He groaned and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow as he forced his mind away form the events of the day. Within moments his breathing evened out as he slipped into sleep.
Harry immediately noticed he had landed into one of his unusual dreams and he eagerly looked around for Tom. He was a bit surprised to find them not in Tom's manor like normal but in front of a cosy cottage. He gaped as the door was opened by a woman who looked suspiciously like his mum.
"Tom," the woman smiled, inviting the man in and wrapping him in a hug. "I wasn't sure Peter would listen to me when I told him to give you the secret."
Tom gave her a stern look. "You took a big chance Lily. I'm not entirely sure he's not playing both sides of the fence."
The redhead pouted as she turned to lead the way into the kitchen. "Don't be mad. We get so little time together."
Tom moved so that he was standing in front of her, stopping her progress. Harry watched fascinated as the older man continued to give her a stern glare. "I have known you for almost a year and a half now. In that time I have come to view you as a daughter and that means I'm entitled to worry and get mad when you do something that puts yourself in danger!"
She grinned impishly at him. "I love you too Tom. Now come on. James is going to be with the headmaster until late, again." She led the now amused man into the kitchen where Harry blinked at the baby version of himself seated in a highchair. His eyes grew round with shock as he watched Tom pick up the toddler and bounce him on his knee.
"Lily, please tell me you didn't ask me to come just because you were lonely," Tom asked in exasperation.
She had a serious look on her face as she brought tea to the table. "I've been making myself crazy thinking about Dumbledore. Every week he has some stupid restriction for us. It started out so innocent, shouldn't take the baby to Diagon Alley its not safe. Then he got more aggressive and now we're practically prisoners in our own home. I should have never agreed to the fidelius charm but James was insistent."
"Because of the prophecy," Tom guessed.
She sighed. "That stupid prophecy. I know he made it up. I know its ridiculous. You would never hurt Harry. But I can't help thinking that Dumbledore might somehow trick you or force you into doing it." She bit her lip. "Last time we talked you mentioned a blessing ritual you could do."
The older man nodded. "We share worries about what Dumbledore is capable of. But even if that wasn't a concern I would still want to do the ritual. The two of you are part of my family." He replied reaching out to prevent the toddler from overturning his cup.
"And its a blood ritual." She clarified getting up to retrieve the box of biscuits and handing one to her son.
Tom nodded again. "And that makes it illegal even if we're using it in the best possible way. It would be my blood only, unlike the adoption ritual I used with Rabastan though it wouldn't take much to complete it if its ever needed."
Harry sank into a chair in shock at the words. His mind flashed back to the graveyard where his blood had been used to resurrect the man. Did this mean that the ritual had been completed and he had officially been blood adopted by Voldemort? He barely heard the rest of the conversation, only snapping back to attention when baby Harry started fussing and calling for "Pa foo".
Lily sighed as she summoned a black dog plushie and handed it to the toddler who immediately began chewing on its ear. "He's wanting you to change into Padfoot."
Tom looked up at that, "How is Sirius?" He asked hesitantly.
She shook her head sadly, a troubled expression on her face. "He's gotten even worse since Marlene died. He's starting to avoid people. Dumbledore is understandable. He doesn't trust the man anymore than I do. But Remus hasn't seen him in weeks and even James was complaining that he's only seen Sirius once this week. He's using his role as decoy secret keeper to isolate himself."
The older man rubbed at his eyes. "He's going to kill himself before long. I would talk to him but I'm sure that would only make things worse."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Lily noticed her son's sleepy eyes. "Lets get the ritual done so I can put him to bed," she suggested.
Harry watched in fascination as his mother held his younger self in her arms. She stood as Tom drew symbols on the floor, mirroring those he had seen during Rabastan's adoption. Next Tom sliced open his palm and drew runes on the toddlers forehead, including a lightening bolt symbol in the spot where his scar now resided. A lengthy latin passage later and a bright while flash enveloped them.
Once it had faded Lily rushed over and hugged the older man. "Thank you."
Tom kissed her forehead. "Go, put the little one to bed. I'll clean up down here." He said shooing her up the stairs.
She soon returned and poured them both new cups of tea.
"You know," Tom started. "The two of you would be much safer if you just came home with me."
She merely shook her head, having heard the same argument many times before. "Is the new place done then, your mini Hogwarts?"
He nodded. "Two hundred and fifty acres with every ward and enchantment known to wizard past and present in place. Of course I've placed a couple of parseltongue wards that only myself and my son can lift."
"Are you the only one living there then while Rab's at school?" She asked feeling bad for the man.
"For the moment though Lucius and Bella have claimed wings for their own use. Fenrir's built a whole community for his pack in the woods, he'll be moving them in soon." He gave her a teasing look. "Are you sure you won't come to keep me from becoming a lonely old man?"
"I would but I love my husband despite his obsession with the mad man." She wagged her finger at him. "And don't think I don't know you'll have a house full of people before too long."
"But I would feel better if I knew you were safe," he countered.
In the next room the floo suddenly flared to life causing Tom and Lily to jump to their feet. Harry followed them into the living room, watching in horror as James stepped out followed closely by Dumbledore.
James was white with anger as he stared at his wife. "I didn't want to believe it when Peter told me but it's true. You actually invited the monster here," he spat, his wand hanging in his hand as if he didn't know who to point it at.
Dumbledore shook his head in disappointment. "I was afraid this would happen. Normally I would stay out of family affairs but I'm afraid Harry is just too important. I feel I must take him away for his own good."
"What? No you can't!" Lily cried, her fear overcoming her distress over his husband and her worry over Tom. She turned and sprinted up the stairs with Dumbledore quickly following.
Tom moved to follow only to be stopped by James. "I don't want to hurt you but I will if you don't get out of my way. Dumbledore is going to hurt Lily."
"Only because you did something to her you bastard," James cried banishing his wand. Tom was forced to dive out of the way of an incoming spell.
Harry was torn between watching the fight in front of him and straining his ears to hear what was happening upstairs. He was startled to hear the words he always heard when a dementor was near, only this time it was directed at Dumbledore.
"Not Harry, don't take Harry, I'll do anything."
"Stand aside, stand aside girl."
Harry turned to look at his father as James yelled up the stairs. "Lily just let him take Harry. It's for the best."
His teenaged son stared at him in shock, unable to believe his father was just giving him away even if it was to Dumbledore. He watched as Tom threw a stunner at the distracted James, catching him in the shoulder and throwing him off balance.
Tom cursed as James fell backwards striking his head on the fireplace. He quickly performed a diagnostic spell before cursing again. "Sorry Lily." He murmured regretfully.
Harry barely had time to process that he had just witnessed his father's death when there was a green flash from upstairs. He followed as Tom ran towards the source.
"Why?" Tom asked in a broken voice as he gazed at Lily's sprawled body. "She hadn't done anything."
"She was in the way." Dumbledore said simply causing Harry to gape at him in disbelief.
He watched as Tom raised his wand and shouted out the death curse. Dumbledore's quick reaction had him levitating the crying toddler in the path of the speeding green light. Tom, unable to stop the spell, cried out as it impacted the toddler before being reflected back towards him.
Harry was jerked from the dream as soon as Tom was hit. "No," he screamed loudly. He laid there as sobs overtook him. He didn't hear his uncle come in, shout at him to be quiet, or feel the slap the man gave him.
After what seemed like a long time he laid there staring exhaustedly up at the ceiling. He wondered where the anger was then wondered who he should be angry at. Dumbledore had killed his mum after she had invited Tom over. His father had given him to Dumbledore but had fallen to his death just moments later.
Really he didn't feel anything. He felt numb and fuzzy with no energy to even roll over. He stayed like that for hours, staring at the ceiling, not thinking about anything.
Tonks could hardly wait until noon when she took over guard duty on Harry. Thanks to it being her day off she had a double shift but she didn't mind. Not only was she anxious to check on the teen after her conversation with his relatives the night before but, if she was honest with herself, she wanted to know what he had dreamed during the night. Harry's daily recountings were as interesting as those soaps her mum was addicted to.
She stopped and grabbed some sub sandwiches and crisps, making sure to grab a couple extra for the teen. She winced as she paid out the total, making a mental note to talk to Sirius soon. She was sure he would be willing to lend her some money no questions asked. If not she could probably go to her mum and beg. She would get a lecture on irresponsibility as she wouldn't be able to give the real reason but it was a small price to pay to keep the teen alive.
She smiled brightly when Petunia opened the door. "I'm here to check on Harry."
Petunia sniffed. "I'll not have your lot traipsing in and out all day long."
Tonks pretended to think about it. "Well I could turn the three of you into something furry and sell you to a pet store or you could allow me to check on my friend whenever I feel the need." She fingered her wand.
Petunia paled. "He's upstairs." She snapped. "Hasn't left his room all day."
"Well then," the young auror smiled. "I'll just have to cheer him up." She bounded up the stairs, glancing at the closed doors before focusing on the one adorned by numerous locks. She growled though she noted they were unlocked.
"Harry?" she called poking her head in the door. Spotting the teen on the bed sans shirt but otherwise not doing anything embarrassing or incriminating she entered.
"Harry," she called again when he gave no indication of hearing her. "Hey you, what's going on?"
"You might as well leave Tonks," he finally spoke, his voice a monotone. "I don't want to talk about anything today."
"That's okay," she said frowning at him in concern. "Are you hungry? I brought sandwiches." She sighed when he shook his head. "This is going to be a very boring ten hours," she mumbled sinking into the rickety desk chair.
"If you have something more important to do go ahead," he turned red rimmed eyes toward her. "I don't plan on going anywhere."
"Even if you weren't looking like you went a round with a vampire I wouldn't leave you alone. I take my responsibilities over you very seriously." She pretended to groan. "Still it would of been a lot of fun. I go every year, except this year I guess." She looked up to see the teen frowning at her.
"Is it important to you?" Harry asked.
"A bit yeah. I went to all the trouble to get the day off from the ministry." The auror made a face. "But once Dumbledore found out I was free he assigned me to watching you all day. I thought perhaps I could get you to go with me but I guess you don't feel like it."
Harry moved to sit up on the side of the bed as he continued to frown. "I probably won't be very good company but I don't want you to miss out either."
"You mean it?" Tonks asked excitedly bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.
He shrugged. "Might as well. It'll get my mind off of everything I guess."
"Brilliant," she announced before smirking. "But you might want to get dressed stud. Shirts are a requirement." She laughed as he blushed a brilliant red.
Ten minutes later they were headed down the road to the apparition point. Grinning she reached out and pulled him close delighted when he blushed again before turning and popping them up north.
Harry blinked in the bright sunlight. "Where are we?" He asked, his eyes widening as he took in the flashing lights and loud music in front of them.
"Newcastle Town Moor fun fair. The largest traveling fun fair in all of the UK." Tonks announced grandly.
He turned to give her a narrowed eye stare. "You don't really come here every year do you?"
She shrugged unapologetically. "My dad has family up here so I've been a few times. I wasn't really planning to come this year but you looked so miserable and its a nice way to pass the time."
He raised an eyebrow. "And if I demanded you take me home?"
Tonks threw an arm around him. "Ah come on Harry, don't be like that. You've got me all excited, now you have to follow through."
He groaned as he followed her to the entrance. "You do that kind of stuff on purpose don't you?"
"Yep." She rubbed her hands together as she looked around. "Where do you want to start? Food, rides or games?"
"Rides," Harry answered promptly. He eyed one of the metal contraptions. "Are they safe?"
"Probably not but that's half the fun." She answered dragging him to the nearest one.
They rode ride after ride, ones that spun in circles, some that turned them upside down, and others that both tipped them over and spun. Tonks was delighted to see that Harry couldn't keep the grin off his face after the second ride.
They took breaks to chow down on cheesy chips and fried donuts. They played games, Harry winning a large purple monkey at the shooting spree which he promptly gave to Tonks. She reciprocated when she won a plush snake at the fishing game. She burst out laughing when he draped it over his shoulders.
Night had fallen when they finally reached the Ferris Wheel.
"Dumbledore killed my mother." He blurted out suddenly once they had reached the top.
She turned to stare at him in shock. "What?"
He quickly spilled out the whole story leaving her speechless. He was thankful the emotional roller coaster he had been on seemed to have abated and he hadn't broke down into tears once more.
"Well," Tonks said finally. "Its kind of a good thing." She shrugged when he gaped at her. "Think of it this way. You wanted Tom to be good but there was still that doubt because he killed your parents. But now that's not an issue. You can't hold your father against him. That sounded like an accident."
"It was," Harry confirmed. "He really didn't want to kill him."
"And bonus Tom seemed to really care for you. He wanted to protect you." She added with a smile.
"Tonks he tried to kill me just a few weeks ago." Harry pointed out sourly. "What ever feelings he might have had probably disappeared about the time he was hit with that curse."
Tonks looked out at the slowly moving countryside. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. Everything has been different so far, why wouldn't the rest of it be too?"
"Because the rest of it is from my memories and not dreams." He answered dryly.
"Harry we live in the world of magic." Tonks reminded him, flicking his ear. "It is possible to mess with your memories and its something I can see Dumbledore doing."
She looked over to see Harry looking alarmed. "You mean he might be mucking around in my head changing things?" He demanded.
She nodded. "Oh yeah. Dumbledore and even Snape are good at legilimency which is basically looking into your mind. I'm sure the really good one's can plant false memories."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Is there anyway I can stop him?"
"Well there's occlumency, er barriers around your mind." She admitted looking thoughtful. "You'd need someone to teach you though."
"Will you do it?" The teen asked eagerly.
She waited until they had been let off the ride before answering. "I can only do occlumency somewhat. I can get you started but you really need someone who can do legilimency to get you to the point where you can hold off Dumbledore."
"You know what I find strange?" Tonks asked a moment later as they wandered down to the entrance. "Why is Dumbledore so obsessed with you?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I think he enjoys playing games. When things were quieting before down he created Voldemort. But it wouldn't be as exciting if he just defeated Voldemort. What if he made a hero, a puppet, he could raise and control? Wouldn't that be more fun for him?"
She nodded thoughtfully. "And you're a Potter, one of his most trusted families so that's why he chose you."
"Or its possible I was chosen because he didn't like my mum and was mad that my dad got with her." Harry shrugged.
"Urgh," Tonks groaned. "I have a headache just thinking about it. For now lets just say that Dumbledore is an evil evil man."
They stayed quiet as she apparated them both back to Little Whinging.
"Thanks Tonks," Harry told her as soon as he caught his breath. "For putting up with my bad mood and getting me out of the house."
"Anytime." She assured him. "I'm just glad you had fun and that you were able to talk to me." She looked at her watch with a grimace. "I hope you know that you can always do that, no matter what."
He gave a nod. "I do feel better now that you know. It was just such a betrayal. I know I've been thinking Dumbledore was bad for a while now but for him to be the one too..."
Tonks gave him a hug. "It'll get better and we'll get this whole thing figured out." She grimanced as she looked at her watch. "You better get inside. Bill will be here soon to relieve me." She gave the teen a wink. "Sweet dreams."
Harry wrinkled his nose. "I'm not sure I want to dream about ghost Tom using the bodies of animals just to exist." He looked up at her. "You will start teaching me that occlumency thing soon right?"
"I'll bring some books with me tomorrow." She promised him.