I don't own anything related to the Harry potter World.
Just a reminder this is AU and Dumbledore is evil.
Happy reading.
Once Tonks left Harry retreated to his room, the occlumency book she had brought him clutched in his hands. He settled on his bed skimming through the introduction and starting the first chapter titled mediation.
An hour later he closed the book in frustration. He didn't understand how they expected him to clear his mind when it was so full to begin with. What was he supposed to do with all the thoughts floating around in there?
He tried to focus on one thing like the book suggested but everything he looked at brought thoughts to the surface instead of clearing them away. His eyes settled on the twin stacks of clothes across the room. He remembered his dash to do laundry and separating the clothes into what he could wear around Tonks and what would cause too much embarrassment. This of course led to him thinking about the way her tee shirt had stretched extra tight that afternoon and the glimpse he'd gotten down the front. He shifted in his bed as he decided that line of thought was definitely not the way to clear his mind.
His eyes landed on Hedwig's cage and he felt anger sweep through him along with a feeling of loneliness. Dumbledore had kidnapped his owl, taken away his faithful summer companion and his only means of communication. He thought back to his first summer holidays, when they had been locked in together with bars on the window, no food and no word from his friends. Hedwig had been the one to keep him from going into a deep depression. HIs second summer holidays he'd had to practically push her out the window when Marge came to visit. HIs faithful friend hadn't wanted leave him alone with his enemies and this was after searching out Hermione so that he could have something for his birthday. That owl was more family to him than anyone in this house and Dumbledore had taken her away, just like he had taken everyone else away from him.
He tried looking at the ceiling but the spider in the corner reminded him of Ron and the lack of communication from his best friend. Was he that much of a pansy that his friends thought they could abandon him at will and expect him to just forgive them the moment he saw them? Did they think he was that desperate for friends that he would accept bad ones? Harry snorted. He did have only the two friends and he was fiercely protective of them and he had accepted Ron back without argument after he called him a cheat and a liar last year. But he had learned a lot this summer and he rather thought that it would be better to have no friends than to continue to be let down and betrayed.
Giving the mediation up as a lost cause Harry rolled over, allowing the aches in his muscles to pull him into a light sleep. He should have known that he wouldn't have a peaceful time of it, not after the confused state he'd been in for most of the day.
The dream he entered was fuzzy and indistinct. He felt disconnected, as if he was watching something on the telly that he wasn't even interested in. There was no emotion when Cedric was hit by the green light and thrown to the ground, no fear as he was tied to the stone.
He blinked in confusion when the images flickered, as if he was getting a bad signal. The squat figure of Wormtail morphed into a tall figure being over and back again. Images that had been etched in his mind by fear and pain became adrenaline rushes. The dream continued all the way to the end, the changing images annoying him more and more so that he was relieved to touch the portkey.
He blinked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Weird," he mumbled turning over and sliding into a deeper sleep.
This time he was in the familiar landscape of Tom Riddle's house. The man himself, once again healthy and looking well, sat at the head of the dining room table. Greyback sat at his side while an adult Rabastan sat further down the table.
Tom looked up as the door slammed open before exchanging a look with Fenrir. Rabastan took one look at the angry woman and pushed back his chair. "I think I need to get to work."
Narcissa Malfoy leveled him with an angry glare. "Sit back down. There's no reason you're getting out of this conversation."
"Why do I have to be involved?" He grumbled causing his father to chuckle.
"What can we help you with Narcissa?" Tom asked offering her tea.
"I need you to talk to that imbecile I call a husband," she announced as she settled into a chair. Her glare switched to the chuckling werewolf.
"What exactly did Blondie do now?" Fenrir asked in amusement.
"He plans to send my son to Hogwarts," she snapped, fingers tightening on her wand as she contemplated using it on him.
Tom sighed as he sipped his tea. "Draco can't stay home forever Cissa. I know it's hard to send your only child away for the first time but he has to go to school."
She turned to him with a snarl. "Dumbledore Tom! I am not sending my child to that monster."
"It is a valid concern but…."
Narcissa cut him off with an icy glare. "It should stop at valid concern. This is my son we're talking about."
"So don't send him him there." Rab pointed out as he edged away from the table. "There are other schools to send him to."
"Just because I'm blonde does not mean I'm without brains," she bit out causing him to wince. "I fully plan on sending him to Drumstrang. Lucius is determined he go to Hogwarts."
"So this is your solution?" The blonde man asked as he strolled in the open doors. "Run to the adults and have them sort out the problem?"
Fenrir snorted. "Sounds about right."
Narcissa ignored the werewolf as she glared at her husband. "It is when you're trying to kill my son."
"Luc sit down," Tom instructed tiredly as the aristocratic man made to retort. "We will discuss this as calm adults." He pointed a finger at the younger man. "Adults."
Lucius settled himself in a chair across from his wife and look at the man he considered a second father. "We both know, due to my position in the wizarding world Draco has to go to Hogwarts. Drumstrang is considered a dark school. My loyalties would be questioned if I sent him there."
Narcissa huffed. "So it's okay to subject our son to death as long as you remain in a position of power?"
"Narcissa," Tom warned frustration on his face. "Luc is right in this regard. Sending Draco elsewhere could very well send your husband to prison."
"So I'm to choose between my son and my husband?" She asked tearing up.
"If I truly believed that Draco would be in danger I would not let him go," he reassured her quietly. "Dumbledore will do nothing to harm him inside the school."
"You say that yet you refused to let your own son attend his school," she pointed out resentfully.
Tom stared her down. "There were secrecy issues with Rabastan. But I do have another son and he did go to Hogwarts for much the same reasons as Draco will have to."
'Regulus ended up almost dying."
"Narcissa," her husband hissed while across the table Rabastan growled.
The pale woman lifted a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."
"Lets look at the facts and leave this womanly emotion on the table," Fenrir barked in a gruff voice. "Lucius is a school governor at Hogwarts. It would look odd for his son not to go to the school he has a measure of control in. But it also means that he can visit anytime he wishes."
"The boy's own godfather works there," Tom pointed out quietly, his lips pinched from the previous comment. "Severus will do everything in his power to keep Draco safe."
"Draco wants to go Cissa. All of his friends are attending including Blaise," Lucius reminded her.
She huffed. "If anyone has a good excuse to go to Drumstrang it's Blaise. HIs stepfather is Russian for Merlin's sake." She looked at the four men. "Fine he can go but if something happens to him I'm holding you responsible Lucius Malfoy. You and Tom." She rose gracefully from the table. "I apologize for disturbing your breakfast."
"Cissa," Tom said stopping her departure. "We're here for you even if it's only to rage at your husband." She gave a nod in acknowledgement before leaving.
Rabastan smirked as Lucius let out a breath. "You're going to be sleeping in a guest room tonight."
"Tonight? More like until that boy comes home for Christmas break," Fenrir pointed out smugly.
Lucius scowled. "Jewelry usually works," he muttered before noticing his friend standing in the doorway. "Severus, have you come to watch my humiliation?"
The darkly dressed man smirked. "As much as I would enjoy that I'm here to talk to Tom."
Said man rose, pushing his half eaten plate away. "Let's take this into my office."
Snape followed sinking into a chair across from the large desk silently.
"You mentioned in your owl that you had something important to tell me?" Tom prompted after a few minutes of silence.
Snape nodded. "You will remember how I mentioned some time ago that the headmaster was convinced that you were the spirit possessing animals in albania?"
Tom nodded. He had investigated the problem himself and had found a poltergeist to be the source of the problem. "I'm still not quite sure why he thinks I'm a spirit and not dead like most believe. We were very careful to keep Tom Riddle dead. All of my companies and my identity are fully backstopped."
"I think his mind is starting to go." Snape confided. "I think he actually believes the alter ego he created for you is real and he's twisting circumstances to fit."
The older man nodded thoughtfully having had much the same idea a time or two in the last couple years himself.
"The pending arrival of his boy hero," Snape sneered, "has spurred him into action. He plans on luring the spirit to the school." He informed the older man, his eyes wary.
Tom's face had darkened. "How does he plan on doing that?"
The potion master shrugged. "As far as he's concerned it's already happened. He sent Quirrel, our lackluster Muggle Studies professor on a sabbatical to Albania last year. "
"He purposefully sent the man to get possessed knowing it would kill him?" Tom asked shaking his head. "But he would still need bait."
"Dumbledore just happened to have mentioned in the last teacher's meeting that Quirrell attended how the Flamels were growing concerned about the safety of their famous stone. They were pressuring him to hide it in the school. He was sure he could hold them off but only for a year." Snape explained sneering at the lack of subtlety.
Tom rubbed his head in frustration as he tried to figure you the madman's plans. "What exactly did this pawn of his bring back from Albania that convinced him Voldemort is near?"
The other man's eyes gleamed as he sat forward. "Quirrell isn't the simpleton Dumbledore believes him to be. It isn't hard to spy on the headmaster has I have proven. Quirrell knew what the old man was hoping would happen and decided he wanted the stone for himself. He's pretending to be possessed, playacting for Dumbledore. Stuttering, acting scared of his own shadow and wearing a ridiculous looking turban. It's nauseating."
Tom chuckled. "It would serve him right if the fool stole the stone. " He tapped his lips. "What is Dumbledore hoping to accomplish? Does he want Voldemort to get the stone and come back to the living? Or is he hoping to prevent that but show everyone that Voldemort still exists? Either one will put him back in the limelight."
Snape swallowed and shifted backward slightly. "I believe he intends to test the Potter boy by having him face Voldemort and save the stone."
Harry watched as Tom got up to pace, muttering curses under his breath. "You'll watch out for Harry, keep him out of harm's way as much as possible?" He asked once he'd calmed down.
The younger man sneered. "He's Potter's spawn."
"He's a child, a member of this family that has been under Dumbledore's control for the last ten years despite our best efforts to find him." He pointed out firmly, his eyes pinning Snape to his seat. "I don't care if he is the scion of the light. I don't turn my back on family."
"Dumbledore will have filled his head with lies." Snape warned. "He won't stop fighting you if you bring him here."
The older man sighed and fell back into his chair. "I'm not going to take him from everything he's ever known or rip him from the loving arms of whoever raised him. I just want to know that he's safe and maybe someday he'll follow in his mother's footsteps and become disillusioned with Dumbledore."
"And until then?" Snape's expression said he doubted it would ever happen.
"We keep Dumbledore from killing him." Tom said simply. "Now tell me more about the plan for the stone."
The scene in front of Harry went blurry. When it refocused he found himself back in Tom's dining room only this time it was full of happy people. Tonks grandparents were there, in quiet conversation with Tom. Bellatrix sat next to her mother her attention on an older teen that bore a striking resemblance to her. The boy's twin was talking animately with their father.
Harry was shocked to see that Snape was there, a halfway pleasant expression on his face as he listened to Regulus. Further along the table sat the three Malfoys along with the Antonin guy from one of the previous dreams. He was sitting next to a supermodel. Harry was shocked to recognize the boy she was talking to. Blaise Zabini was a slytherin in his year and the the resemblance between the two he guessed the model was his mother. They both had dark honey colored skin and light brown, almost golden eyes.
Harry watched them for a little while unable to keep from thinking how the quiet slytherin had grown his hair this past year so that it brushed his shoulders, though he often had it pulled back into a stubby tail.
Harry shook himself out of his thoughts wondering why in Merlin's name was he thinking about another guy's hair. He turned back to the conversation as Rabastan spoke up.
"Why the long face Draco? You have the whole summer ahead of you."
Blaise shared a look with his best friend. "Slytherin won the house cup." He explained.
"Until Dumbledore decided to award the stupid Lions bogus points in the middle of the feast," Draco said petulantly. "We were celebrating and all of the sudden we were losers." He was rewarded as his grandmother hissed disapprovingly.
"That man. I bet he did that just to hurt Slytherin house."
"And to create more friction between Slytherin and Gryffindor," Regulus pointed out. "I remember the marauders getting several points at the last minute and I always thought he did that to pull Sirius further away from me."
"It's all stupid Harry Potter's fault," Draco whined as the attention moved away from him.
The words caught Tom's attention. "What did Harry have to do with it?" His tone had the observing dreamer backing up a step while his two sons exchanged amused looks.
Snape looked aggravated as everyone looked to him for an answer. "He saved the stone and defeated the evil spirit." He told them snidely.
"The one that was hidden underneath a Cerebus and protected by a bunch of traps?" Antonin asked in disbelief.
"We can't blame the boy too much." Rudo spoke up. "From what you said earlier in the year Dumbledore wanted him to save the stone. Adults can't defy him, what chance did an eleven year old boy have?" Harry eyed the stern look and went to stand behind the older Lestrange.
Tom snorted. "I might think that if there hadn't already been a troll and a dragon," he said dryly.
"You can't ground him when he doesn't live here." Rabastan reminded his father in amusement. "Though with Dumbledore as his guardian I'm sure he wasn't punished at all and that's not healthy."
"Did Dumbledore realize that Quirrell was just a greedy man and not the spirit of Voldemort?" Cygnus asked catching everyone's attention once again.
Snape looked troubled. "No he told me that the spirit had already fled by the time he reached the chamber. When I asked him what happened to Quirrell he calmly told me that he had killed him to put him out of his misery."
"Out of what misery?" Bellatrix asked confused. She frowned as her son sat forward eagerly.
"Being possessed takes a toll on a boy with no chance of recovery," the potion master explained. "It was better to end his suffering. Dumbledore incinerated the body as an extra measure to wash away the dark magic."
There was silence around the table. "But he wasn't possessed. He killed the man just to keep up his delusion," Madam Zabini realized. "More than ever now I do not want Blaise to go back."
"I have to," her son cried. "Daphne, Tracy and Theo are there. Besides someone has to keep an eye on Potter even if it's only from the sidelines."
"What did Harry think about fighting Quirrell?" Rabastan asked suddenly.
Snape snorted. "I wouldn't say he fought him. More like in the process of being killed. As it was Potter was passed out from being strangulated and didn't see Dumbledore arrive." He didn't see Tom tense or most of the worried looks on most of the room.
"How bad was it? Was his hyoid bone crushed? How long was he without air?" Rudo questioned rapidly. Harry's eyes were wide as he waited tensely for an answer.
Snape sneered at the interruption. "I have no idea. Pomfrey had no trouble though she kept him in a healing coma for three days. The dunderhead didn't even realize how injured he was."
He turned to look at Tom. "Dumbledore is convinced that the trauma erased the memories of the fight so he gave them back, so to speak, so that Potter would realize he had beaten Voldemort. I looked into Potter's had at the feast. He has images of a face on the back of Quirrell's head. "
Regulus looked worried. "He's rationalizing what he's doing to fit his delusions. He's becoming even more dangerous."
"Did you ever figure out what was killing the unicorns?" Narcissa asked her eyes hardening. Harry imagined she was thinking about her son's detention in the forest.
Snape looked surprised at the question. "It was Quirrell."
"That's going a little far in his attempt to fool Dumbledore." Lucius pointed out.
"We all underestimated his greed," his friend answered. "He wasn't killing to unicorns to fool Dumbledore. He was doing it gather ingredients. Unicorn hair, horn and blood go for a lot of money in the markets."
"But I saw that thing drinking the unicorn's blood." Draco pointed out with a shudder.
"You saw a cloaked figure bending over a slain unicorn." His godfather corrected gently.
"Enough with the gruesome topics," Druella declared. "We're supposed to be having a welcome home party for our students and discussing where we will go on holiday this year."
Harry woke up to the sun shining brightly through the window. Turning over he glanced at the clock, straining his eyes to make out the numbers. Ten am. He didn't think he'd ever slept that late while at the Dursleys. Even if he hadn't' been made to get up and work the Dursleys were usually too loud to sleep through.
The house was quiet though he could faintly make out the sound of the morning show his aunt like to watch on the telly. He rolled out of bed and grabbed some clothes from the second stack as he wouldn't be seeing Tonks that day. After a quick trip to the bathroom he looked at his books before looking out the window. It was too nice of a day to stay inside all day.
He grabbed an old satchel of Dudley's and after tying the broken strap began to fill it with what he would need. His occlumency book and third year charms book. One of the deli sandwiches that Tonks had brought and a chocolate frog joined them. He dug out the now empty thermos and made a second trip to the bathroom to fill it with water.
Slinging the satchel over his shoulder he crept down the stairs and out the back door grinning when he didn't even get a look from his aunt. He began walking with no particular destination though he kept a wary eye out for Dudley and his gang.
His mind drifted to his dream. So much of it made sense, things that had always bothered him before. Why Quirrell suddenly decided to go to Albania of all places when he'd had a cushy job at Hogwarts. Why Voldemort had decided to pick that year of all years to come out of hiding. Why after having lived for centuries on the stone's elixir were the Flamels suddenly so worried about the stone's safety.
But it couldn't be true could it? He remembered seeing that face on the back of Quirrell's head. It had taunted him about his family and about Snape. But then again those were things Dumbledore knew about and he had been the only one to see the face.
But if the dream was true then he had almost died. He reached up and rubbed his throat, remembering how Quirrell's hands had grabbed him there. In his memories he had reached up and grabbed the man's face burning him. Which had never made sense to him. If his memories were wrong Quirrell had never let go, had continued to squeeze until he'd suffocated, possibly even had his throat crushed.
Harry frowned. Madam Pomfrey had told him he'd had magical exhaustion though it would explain why she had been so worried about him choking when he ate. Was she in on it or was she another one of the sheep, believing everything Dumbledore told her?
He shook his head not wanting to dwell on the near death experience he'd had without even knowing it.
The scene with Narcissa intrigued him. The one time he'd met her she had been cold and aloof. It was nice to see that she actually had feelings. And it had been funny to see her and Malfoy bicker like little children.
He didn't understand why though they would send their son knowing what they did about Dumbledore. For that matter why Slytherin house had any students. Was the prestige of the school really that important?
Snape he decided was still a slimy git. He couldn't decide yet what side the man was working on. It sounded like he was on Tom's side but Tom had given Snape the task of keeping him safe. Harry snorted. That certainly hadn't happened. Well okay he might of helped with the broomstick thing. But Snape still treated him like the slime beneath his shoe. Hadn't Tom said that Harry was family? Was this how he treated family?
Maybe he's just trying to protect himself from the hurt you might cause him and Tom, his inner voice pointed out. After all you were on Dumbledore's side.
'But I might have come over sooner if the dark side representatives weren't' being such gits, he argued back. Both him and Malfoy. How was he supposed to think Dumbledore was wrong about anything when they were just proving the old man right?
Of course they did have good reasons to be angry after the feast. He hadn't realized it at the time what it must have done to Slytherin house to have their Championship taken away after they had won. Really Dumbledore had four days to award those points and he had waited until the feast. Wasn't there a cut off point? A time where the professors agreed that the points system was closed and the winner was named.
Had Dumbledore really done it just to drive him further away from Slytherin? His frown deepened as he thought back to all the other instances that year that had kept him from seeing Slytherin in a good light. Hagrid's tales of no one good ever came from there. Ron's firm conviction to hate everything green.
Harry stumbled as a thought occurred to him. Everything about his first year had been a lie, was Ron a lie too? Why hadn't Molly Weasley known the platform number? Ron had accepted the duel for him, Ron had tried to hit Peeves so that they'd had to run for the door to the third corridor, Ron who had kept urging him to protect the stone, Ron who had never liked Hermione until he realized she would help with his homework.
Harry shook his head to clear it. He honestly didn't think Ron was working for Dumbledore but he couldn't deny that the Weasley family were definitely sheep in the headmaster's pen and that Ron was an arrogant bigoted person who he really didn't want to be friends with anymore.
He turned back to the dream latching on to something that had made him feel good. Tom had looked for him. Why couldn't he find him? Harry knew wizards didn't have a lot of logic but how hard would it have been to look up his mum's family before searching elsewhere. Was there something else keeping him hidden? Was Petunia even Lily's sister?
He made a mental note to have Tonks search his mum's family before putting that thought aside. Tom had said he wouldn't remove him from his home but if he knew how the Dursleys treated him would Tom had taken him? A warm feeling went through his chest as he remembered the man declaring him as family and how he didn't give up on family.
Looking up from his thoughts he realized he had wondered several streets over and out of his neighborhood. He noticed no one seemed to know of him, at least they weren't glaring and whispering about him to their neighbors which was a new experience.
Hearing a sound to his right he glanced over, spotting a tiny elderly lady trying to push a lawn mover through some tall grass. "Here let me do that," he called hurrying over.
The lawn mower shut off as she turned to him. "Oh not I couldn't possibly," she started to protest though there was a pleading look in the rheumy eyes.
"I insist. It'll give me something productive to do." Harry said swinging off his bag and reaching for the handles.
"I can't pay you." She warned turning and walking up the steps to sit gratefully in the shade.
Harry smiled at her before making quick work of the front lawn.
The old lady, who introduced herself as Mrs. Landry, invited him in for milk and biscuits once he was done.
"Why were you trying to mow yourself anyway?" He asked munching on a chocolate biscuit.
She sighed. "I had a service but they closed up. My son said he'd find me another company but he won't be here until next week. I was fine letting the yard go until then but the neighbors were up in arms over the untidiness of it. I got tired of hearing them complain."
He commiserated with her about nosy neighbors before making his excuses and preparing to leave. He was touched when she insisted he take a box of biscuits home with him as a thank you.
In a much better mood he retreated back to his haunted woods, stretching out in the cool dirt to eat his late lunch and study more about occlumency.
Tonks paused on the steps leading to Grimmauld and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Come on girl, you got this. They have no reason to suspect you." She reminded herself. Of course she was going to be sitting in a room with Dumbledore. Given what she knew about him now she wouldn't be surprised if he had a second guard on Harry just to watch the first guard.
She checked her occlumency shields wishing for the first time since she'd endured her mother's lessons that they were stronger. "I'll sneak in the back, keep quiet, have a quick word with Sirius and be out before anything happens," she told herself, taking another deep breath.
Her plan immediately had a setback as she tripped over the troll leg umbrella stand in the entryway. "Damn thing. why haven't they gotten rid of that already?" She grumbled under the screaming of the mad portrait.
She waved in embarrassment to the Order members who rushed to shut the shut the madwoman up, following them towards the kitchen only to be held up by a hand gripping her arm. Her heart rate tripled as she looked up into the scarred face of Mad Eye Moody.
"Not just yet girly, I'm wanting to talk to you," he growled pulling her into one of the unused rooms
She pretended to look chagrined. "What did I do now?" She asked not having to fake her anxiety.
"I heard you were going to Azkaban tomorrow," he narrowed his normal eye at her. "Awful sudden."
Tonks gave a huge sigh of relief while on the inside she remained watchful. "Oh that, Rogers approached me about taking his shift. I wasn't on guard duty tomorrow so I had no reason to say no. Besides it reminded me that I hadn't signed up for any this year. At this rate I'll get stuck with the Christmas holidays and you know Dumbledore wants us available incase something happens. Figured I better start getting them in."
The older man grunted. "You should have come to me about them. No reason you have to pull grunt duty when you have more important work to do. I'll get you out of the rest of them," he promised
She struggled not to narrow her eyes at him as she wondered if he had a reason for wanting her to stay away. Thinking back she realized they had only done one shift there last year. He had claimed they had more important things to learn than how to sit around a drafty prision. Once there he had assigned her to the lower floors while he had taken the high security wings. Did he know about the prisoner switch or did he just want to keep her away from her aunt? "That's brilliant, thanks."
"Why did Rogers suddenly need to change," he asked suspiciously.
"Didn't ask," she answered with a shrug. "He seemed a bit desperate though."
He nodded, waving her out the door and down to kitchen.
"What no detention?" She asked brightly, giving a cheeky grin that had him scowling. Slipping past him she hurried to the meeting and slumped into a seat at the back. The combined rush of adrenaline and nerves kept her from hearing most of what was going on, only snapping back to attention when Harry was mentioned.
"He's been leaving the house frequently and going further and further out. Today he went completely out of his neighborhood. Diggle had a hard time finding us when he came to relieve me." Hestia spoke up.
"What was he doing?" Dumbledore asked, a worried expression on his face.
She shrugged. "He moved some old lady's lawn and then spent some time in her house."
Tonks watched as Dumbledore and Moody exchanged looks. "Bill came to watch the third task, it would be almost natural that he would want to check up on Harry," the old man mused. "Perhaps you should stop by tomorrow and remind him of how much danger he's in and how his aunt's house is the safest place for him."
Bill nodded. "No problem. I would hate to think he got caught by a death eater just because he was wandering around bored."
"It would be better if Harry just came here," Sirius argued, an angry expression on his face.
Dumbledore sighed. "I will not go over this with you again."
"Yes you will," The dog animagus roared. "We'll go over it every day until you finally see sense."
"Then I will never bring Harry here," Dumbledore stated, his voice infused with power. "You do not tell me what to do."
Two hours later Tonks was in Little Whining. She had tried to go home but hadn't been able to settle. She had needed to talk to someone and she was a bit depressed that the only one she could talk to at the moment was Harry. Not that she didn't care about the kid but right at the moment she wouldn't mind someone who drank alcohol.
She crept quietly as she snuck through the bushes. As an extra precaution she had assumed the identity of Harry's aunt. She was half hoping the real woman would spot her. That could be a bit of fun.
Coming up behind Diggle she shot a sleeping spell at him, timing it to end ten minutes before the end of his shift. She was a bit disgusted at how easy it was to to get access to Harry. If she thought he was actually in danger she would be very concerned about this.
It didn't take her anytime to unlock the door and slip up the stairs soundlessly, taking extra care not to knock into anything. Of course it helped that the Dursleys didn't fill their hallways with clutter.
She knocked softly on the door and waited for Harry to answer, grinning as she saw that he was once again shirtless.
Harry's eyes immediately narrowed at seeing Petunia at his door, wondering what she could want at this time of night. Tilting his head he could distinctly hear the supposed woman talking to her husband in their bedroom. He jumped to the side to grab his wand off the desk and whirled around prepared to fight. Tonks, once again in her natural state and pink hair, waggled her fingers.
"Wother Harry. Sorry about that but I'm just a little paranoid today." She explained.
He let out his breath. "Merlin Tonks don't do that to me. I almost had a heart attack." He narrowed his eyes again. "What are you doing here?"
She softly closed the door and walked over throwing her arms around him and laying her head on his shoulder. "It has been a really sucky day and I need a hug."
Harry circled his arms around her and hugged tight, his face a bright red as he remembered that all he had on was a pair of baggy shorts. "So um do you want to sit down? I have a chair here. it wobbles a bit or um you can sit on the bed. Um sorry the room's such a mess, half this stuff isn't mine but I can't throw it out."
She cut off his rambling as she let go of him and flopped on the bed. "Harry you've seen my apartment." She reminded him stretching.
"Oh yeah," he mumbled, his eyes glued to the strip of skin that was exposed as her shirt rode up. A chuckle had him lifting his eyes to find her smirking at him. The blush was traveling down his shoulders as he turned and grabbed a shirt off the good pile.
"This is why I like being around you Harry. You make me feel good about myself."
He rolled his eyes at her as he reclaimed his seat and tossed the box of biscuits at her. "Here."
"Hey where did you get these?" She asked taking a bite. "Merlin homemade and chocolate."
He shrugged self consciously. "I helped a lady out today and she gave them to me."
Her eyes snapped up to his. "About that, Dumbledore's not happy with you leaving the house. Bill's coming by tomorrow to remind you to be a good boy."
"Yeah like that will happen," the teen snorted angrily.
"Harry, you have to play nice. And you do need to curb some of your wandering, at least to the immediate area," Tonks told him earnestly. She waved a biscuit at him. "Dumbledore will probably be the next one to come talk to you and you don't want that."
He grimaced before eyeing her in concern. "So was today really that bad?"
She shrugged pushing the box away and turning over to lay on her back. "Well lets see. I had to figure out a way to get on the Azkaban roster for tomorrow so I had to charm a fellow auror's wife to give him an emergency call and sent them out of the country on an errand that they probably can't afford."
"We'll find a way to make it up to them." He promised bringing a smile to her face. "You know you really don't have to go to Azkaban."
"I need to know." She sent him a pleading look. "They're my family and I've been avoiding them all this time because I thought they were evil incarnate when really I'm working for the most evil one of all."
He leaned forward in his chair. "That's not your fault Tonks. Your own mother thinks they're evil." He reminded her.
The pink eyebrows drew together. "Does she? If things go as we think they will I'll be needing to have a talk with her." A sad look crossed her face. "I figure once you're back in school I'll contact the Malfoys though I doubt they will listen to me."
"Of course they'll listen." He protested. "And if they don't well you know all kinds of stuff about them now." He pointed out with a sly smile.
She couldn't help smiling back. "Very true. I just wish I didn't feel so guilty about Rogers and his wife. I should have waited until the next available slot but it was weeks away. I would have gone mad waiting."
"Why the elaborate charade though?" Harry asked confused as he rocked back in his spindly chair. "Why not just ask him to trade?"
"Mad eye," She made a face. "The paranoid git already pulled me aside to ask about the sudden change."
Harry's chair dropped back down with a loud noise. "He doesn't suspect anything right? He didn't hurt you?" He asked worriedly.
She tugged on a lock of his hair in appreciation. "No, he's just a paranoid git who has to know the answers to every question." She kept the rest of her suspicions to herself. "So the Order meeting was interesting."
"Really?" He asked making a face.
"Okay, a tiny part of it was interesting." She amended with a grin. "Dumbledore lost his cool for a minute."
The green eyes opened wide. "What caused that?" He asked eagerly. She explained what had happened.
"That that….urgh." Harry tossed his charms book across the room in anger. "How can he make those kind of decisions about my life! And Sirius! Why does he put up with it?"
She grimaced. "Well Sirius is a wanted fugitive and Dumbledore is the head of the wizagmont. He can stun Sirius and have me or Kings bring in at any time."
He shoved that thought and the cold feeling it produced away. "Is Dumbledore my guardian?" He asked thinking back to his dream.
She looked started at the nonsquieter. "I don't know. It never really applied to me but I think muggleborns and people without a guardian in the magical word automatically fall under his purview." She shrugged. "Muggles don't really understand our world so they wouldn't understand things like dementors or triwizard tournaments."
"So no one's really looking after me." He realized sadly. "Dumbledore doesn't send anything to the Dursleys, not even my grades. But he's never talked to me about them either. Maybe if he had I might have tried harder. And maybe I wouldn't have risked my life so much if I'd gotten in trouble for all the stupid things I do. What kind of eleven year old fights a troll?" He mused too deep in his thoughts to notice her face.
"You fought a troll in your first year?" She demanded.
"Uh yeah." He eyed her warily. "You aren't going to start yelling are you?"
"Merlin Harry," She took a deep breath. 'Nope I am not my mother. Just ..I don't think I want to know anymore dangerous stuff." She teased her smile fading at the worried look on his face.
"Do you think it hurt me to grow up like I have, you know with no consequences?"
She tugged his arm until he was lying next to her on the bed, becoming alarmed when he didn't even blush. "Harry the things you do they're not normal teen misbehavior. And I wouldn't say you don't have consequences. You're locked up here. I'd say this was pretty grounded."
He thought about it for a moment before grinning. "What is normal teen behavior? Cause I'm pretty sure being in a bed with an older woman while my aunt and uncle are down the hall is pretty bad."
She pushed the laughing teen out of the bed and pointed at his chair. "Sit. Behave and tell me about your dream."
He smirked at the blush covering her face before describing what had been wrong with his graveyard dream.
Tonks pursed her lips, her embarrassment gone. "If there's a memory charm on you then it's possible it's starting to break. The extra figures you saw might be the real memories coming through."
"But if there are memory charms don't you think the one from my first year would be one to break since I just dreamed about it?" He asked looking confused.
She shrugged. "Maybe the one in fourth year was hastily done and didn't stick as well."
"I bet the cruciatus curse is part of why it didn't work," he mused. "I know no matter what happened that I was hit with that curse. Madam Pomfrey confirmed it." He sighed. "I don't want it to happen again, the memory thing. I tried studying but I can't get the mediation right. I can't figure out how to clear my mind."
She nodded sympathetically. "You're like me. I was a total failure at mediation. I'm too restless." She shrugged. "I'm not made to sit without moving."
"So what did you do?" He asked curiously.
"I tried all kinds of things. My mum, she was teaching me, was getting so frustrated. We finally hit upon sounds." She could tell by his look that he didn't understand. "Take you pen and tap it on the desk in a slow steady motion." She waited until he complied. "Now concentrate on the sound and nothing but the sound."
She left him alone for five minutes watching as toward the end the lines of concentration on his face relaxed and his breathing even out. "Good job. You're a lot better at this than me. The first time I tried I ended up tapping out the rhythm to my favorite song. "
"So what's the next step." He asked excitedly.
"You practice that little trick until you can do it without the pen and under a minute." She smiled at his groan.
He went back to practicing losing himself in nothingness. He resurfaced sometime later to find his friend asleep on the bed.
