Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. If I did I would be a far richer man. And I'd be a woman. I also don't own Star Trek or Stephen King or Pokémon.

Reviews are appreciated but certainly not required.

AN: Yes, I know the Star Trek quote is a bit out of place for the situation, but gosh darn it the original line was so freaking close to the quote I just had to change it to be exact.


Chapter 11: The Problem With Fighting Hurricanes

The lift doors opened on the Atrium just in time for them to see Bellatrix crossing it near the central fountain. She wasn't even bothering to hurry, barely managing a brisk walk. It was almost as if she wanted the trio to catch up with her.

Well far be it from Dora to disappoint family. "Os confractus!" Dora yelled sending a bone-breaker spell towards her aunt. Beside her Harry and Hermione also shout their own spells at the back of the Death Eater. Bellatrix managed to prove her skill yet again by executing a neat little pirouette and batting aside Dora's spell while blocking Hermione's and sidestepping Harry's.

"Awww, I missed with the Chest Crusher?" Bellatrix whined. "Well I suppose now I get to try again face-to-face!"

"I thought your master wanted us alive, Bellatrix!" Harry replied keeping his wand leveled on the woman as the group slowly started to separate to flank her.

"He does. But he was also quite clear that I could play as much as I wanted once the prophecy was no longer in play. You smashed it so now I can play," Bellatrix smirked at him and Dora felt a tremble run down her back. The mix of sanity and insanity peering out at them was disturbing to an extreme. "You reeeaaaallllly shouldn't have broken that sphere, Harry."

"And you shouldn't have killed my Uncle! Bombarda!" With Harry's spell the battle was engaged again. This time there was no taunting on either side. Dora barely had time to catch her breath in between spells to dodge out of the way of the next one. Bellatrix was like a woman possessed, fighting three opponents without seeming to break a sweat. She sent Killing Curses, bone-breakers, fire whips, explosions, blood-boilers…Watching Bellatrix use her repertoire was like sitting in on a Dark Curses 101 course.

Jumping behind the marble guard station to avoid yet another entrails expelling curse, Dora panted. A brief cry of pain rang out and Dora leapt back out to rejoin the battle. She saw a flame whip wrapped around Hermione's upper left arm with Harry barreling forward towards the whip behind a levitating shield of ice. Growling, Dora shouted, "Reducto!" Instead of aiming at Bellatrix – who would likely end up dodging or shielding anyway – she directed the spell at the Death Eater's feet. Bellatrix turned to leer at Dora and shifted her wand slightly to catch the spell. Her eyes widened as she realized her mistake an instant too late and the floor of the Atrium erupted at her feet.

Between Bellatrix's loss of concentration and Harry's icy disruption, the fire whip dissipated into nothingness. Hermione hissed in pain and tore off the damage section of her robes leaving the burnt skin visible and her arm hanging loosely at her side.

"You're learning, girly!" Bellatrix shouted from behind the pillar she'd fallen next to. "That's the way to fight! Now let Aunty Bella show you some extra skills!"

Dora froze for a single instant. By the time she realized that Bellatrix was simply giving out her usual taunts and hadn't actually realized who Dora was it was too late. A nasty severing curse was shooting straight towards her and the other two were too far away to help. Dora didn't have time to block or dodge so she did the only thing she could think of.

She morphed.

A long time ago, back when she was a kid, Dora had seen a movie with a creepy alien whose legs bent the wrong way. That movie scared the heck out of her but the image of the back-bent legs on a humanoid being stayed with her. Her one attempt at trying such a feat using her powers had ended up in a three day stay at St. Mungo's.

But she was older now and more experienced – and more desperate. Dora used her ability and thrust her knees backwards shifting the muscles around to compensate and dropping her center of mass. Amazingly enough, she didn't end up screaming in pain and the shift in her center of gravity was just enough to help her move out of the way of the spell. Instead of losing an ear she was left with yet another energy burn.

Flipping her knees back the right way forward Dora flashed Bellatrix a taunting smile. "You'll have to do better than that, Aunty Bella." Even if most of the bravado was forced it didn't make a difference. It succeeded in enraging Bellatrix further. Bellatrix raised her wand, but was struck on the side by an orange jet of flame from Harry before she could issue forth any spells.

"Time to end this children! Fiendfy – "

"Expelliarmus!" a new voice shouted in the din cutting off Bellatrix's spell before it could fully form. The Death Eater scowled and jumped managing to snatch her wand back before it had flown more than a hands-span away. Dora turned a slightly gaping expression to catch Sirius running into the room from the Entrance Hall. He only had one shoe on, half his robe was cut off and bandages were wrapped around his head and chest yet his expression was one of pure determination. "Stay the hell away from my family, Cousin."

"Siri! So good to see you again! Come back to die properly this time? Or perhaps you missed your old cell? I could put in a good word with the Master and get you sent back there once we finish up here if you'd like?" Bellatrix grinned and the coy tone did nothing to mask the maliciousness underneath it.

For his part Sirius just glared and came to a stop, hemming Bellatrix in. "Lay down your wand I won't kill you, Bella. Cast a single spell and this dance doesn't end until one of us does."

"Those are my favorite dances!" Bellatrix grinned and slashed her wand down. "Ulcere sanguis!"

"Sirius, move!" Harry shouted. He needn't have bothered. Sirius raised a stone pillar to block the spell and launched a bone-breaker at Bellatrix. Dora joined in with a severing curse and Hermione and Harry each launched explosive hexes at the woman. Dora heard a quiet ding behind her as their efforts wrought fruit ahead. Bellatrix was thrown out from behind her shields and coughed out blood as she rolled to a stop on the ground back near the guard station.

"Fools." Bellatrix started to cackle setting Dora's hair on end. Four wands leveled at her, her own knocked aside and bleeding internally…and the bitch still thought she had the upper hand. Bellatrix shifted as she levered herself up enough to grin at them all, the movement knocking a locket free from the folds of the robes near her neck. "You're not the only ones who can stall you know," she said with a large grin as she met all of their eyes.

Dora felt the color drain out of her features and she wrenched her gaze up just in time to see a black clad wraith sweep into the room, red eyes blazing and his wand in the process of rising. "Harry, DUCK!" she shouted just as Voldemort loosed his Killing Curse.

The warning was close, but effective. Harry didn't question or look around, he just dropped into a crouch and the green beam passed harmless over his head. Twisting on his heel Harry shot off a blasting curse at Voldemort who just batted it aside with his wand. Voldemort nodded towards the teen and smiled. "So it seems I greatly underestimated your capabilities, Harry Potter. Considering many of my trusted lie bleeding beneath us, you must be quite proud."

"Back off, Voldemort!" Sirius shouted shifting to stand in front of Harry. "You're outnumbered."

Dora gulped. That was a horrifically weak attempt at intimidation. It would've been better if Sirius had just stayed quiet. Numbers didn't make much difference when it came to a Dark Lord. Grindelwald had supposedly faced off against nearly the entire American Auror Corps, an Obscurus and a thunderbird and walked away without a scratch. Newt Scamander had managed to help capture him for all of a week before the evil bastard was back wreaking havoc. Voldemort himself had a horrible tendency to turn 'overwhelming numbers' into 'overwhelming horror show.' After all, he was free to fire devastating wide-area attacks with impunity while the defenders were left scrambling to avoid striking their own…

"Stand aside, Black. This is for myself and the Potter boy. We have unfinished business."

Harry stepped next to Sirius and tried to shove him to the side with only minimal success. "After all the effort to get me here, why show up yourself anyway? Did we frighten you that much, Tom? Are you scared that the story of three school children beating nearly a dozen Death Eaters is going to get out before you can slaughter us all?"

Dora was close enough to hear Hermione murmur under breath at that statement. "Technically we only defeated four and a half."

"What was the prophecy, Harry?" Voldemort whispered. Somehow his voice still managed to carry throughout the entire room and the claws in Dora's back dug in a little deeper. "Tell me and I will let your friends live."

"It said that you lose. That's all. A little shawled figure popped up and said that you lose. Do not pass Go, do not collect 50 galleons. So be a good boy, Voldy, cave to prophecy and let us kill you," Dora said stepping forward to stand next to Harry, Sirius and Hermione. She heard another ding behind her, but paid it no mind as Voldemort started to laugh across from her.

"What she said," Harry stated cocking a thumb at Dora. "We're going to beat you, Tom. Maybe not here, maybe not now, but we're going to beat you."

"Very well then. I have conquered death itself, Harry Potter. You and your meager band are like naught but ants before my might. I shall simply have to destroy you all and sort through the pieces if it later becomes relevant." There was no pause between Voldemort's little speech and when he started firing spells. It almost seemed like his arm apparated by itself with how fast he started casting curses at them.

Dora raced from flick to swish to circle to jab and was barely able to hold on against the onslaught. Sirius and Hermione weren't doing much better with both of them having to leap to the side to avoid a lance of green death that seemed to reach towards the both of time simultaneously. Harry was the only one of the small group that managed to get an attack in. Not that it did much. Voldemort didn't even bother defending, he simply shot a spell at Harry's bone-breaker that launched it harmlessly off into a wall.

Panting Dora leapt to one side to avoid a spike of rock hurtling towards her and cried out as her foot slipped on a patch of water splashed out from damage to the fountain. Landing hard, Dora raised a shield in front of her to block the next few spells sent her way. The shield managed to block several without issues; unfortunately just as she finally managed to scramble and get her feet under her the next spell shattered the shield and smashed the ground in front of her. Dora was blown back, her feet knocked out again and she couldn't move fast enough to avoid yet another spell barreling down on her. She tried to roll away, but only made it halfway before a pair of arms circled her waist and hauled her to the side, leaving Voldemort's spell to sail harmlessly through the air.

"How many times do I have to save your arse today?" Tonks murmured from behind her.

Before Dora could muster up a reply a Gaelic battle cry resounded right next to her and she watched wide-eyed as McGonagall sprinted past the two metamorph's and animated the fountain decorations. The centaur and house elf immediately leapt forward, one blocking a spell heading towards Hermione and the other landing next to Harry before charging forward to engage Voldemort in melee.

"Lift's heading back down for the others. Let's keep this bastard busy shall we!"

Dora could only nod as Tonks set her down and together both charged back in to join the fray. They launched a duel bludgeoning hex at Voldemort just as McGonagall and Sirius sent ropes of fire and icy spikes towards the Dark Lord. Voldemort blasted the centaur to pieces, knocked aside most of the curses with a shield and screamed in annoyance. He barely took a moment to center himself before retaliating with a jet of black energy undulating like flames. Dora dived to the side and rolled behind a pillar of stone that Sirius had just conjured to protect Harry and himself, all three panting heavily. "How the hell did you survive against this monster three times already?" Dora muttered to Harry as a wave of flame swept past their cover.

"Luck. Lots of luck," Harry replied.

"Well it's a good thing you've still got that then, pup," Sirius commented grinning. "Reinforcements are here!"

Dora whipped her head around and couldn't help a small grin of triumph. Dozens of people were standing at the edge of the Atrium with Cornelius Fudge and Pius Thicknesse in the lead. Off to the side were at least 8 Aurors, Amelia Bones standing at their head. The Atrium fell deathly silent as the spells stopped flying. Dora risked a glance over the edge of the stone pillar and felt like laughing at the expression of rage that flitted across Voldemort's face.

"Wizards and witches of Britain," Voldemort stated regally as he stood up straight and started to walk leisurely to the side near where Bellatrix lay on the ground. "The time of change is at hand. I have conquered death itself and I will graciously lead you into the new – "

"You won't lead us anywhere, Riddle, because we're going to kill you – correctly this time!" Sirius shouted standing and holding his wand on the wizard. He seemed completely unfazed when nearly half the Aurors shifted their wands from Voldemort to him. "Lily took you down once. We'll finish the job!"

"And if you get any bright ideas about trying to come back again, we'll just kill you a third time," Tonks shouted.

"You will not infect my students with your darkness!" McGonagall snarled. "No more families will be torn apart by your hatred!"

"We're not afraid of you, Tom!" Harry stated standing tall. "You rule through fear. We're not afraid."

"You will be, Harry Potter," Voldemort said softly, his eyes narrowed until they were single pinpoint dots of red. "You will be." Without further pomp or ceremony, Voldemort reached down, grabbed Bellatrix and apparated away. Almost a dozen spells converged on the spot he had been in but a second before. The Dark Lord and his most faithful lieutenant had escaped.


"W-w-what w-w-as that?! That couldn't be…it just couldn't be…t-that's not possi-possible! He's DEAD!" Fudge's panicked ranting pulled Dora's attention from Tonk's healing administrations on her shoulder. Dora scowled over at the little man and tried to push back down the battle rage that rose up unbidden in her stomach. This cretin was still refusing to accept reality even after seeing it with his own eyes! "Dumbledore! We need Dumbledore! Dumbledore can ex-explain what just happened! He can – Dumbledore! You're HERE! Thank Merlin! Please! You have to help! We were all just confounded en masse by – "

Fudge cut off abruptly as a red stunning spell slammed into his back and caused the ex-Minister to crumple to the ground. Amelia walked over and shot a darkly amused look at the man she'd just knocked out before switching her gaze to Thicknesse. "Someone get the former Minister a calming drought before reawakening him please. There's no need to incite a panic over false facts at this junction. Wouldn't you agree, Minister?" Dora idly wondered just how long Amelia Bones had had to practice to get a single word dripping with such blatant scorn. "Perhaps now you will believe me when I say I need more forces because we have a major terrorist situation on hand. Perhaps now we can do away with some of the more imbecilic policy holdovers from the previous administration. Perhaps now we can finally discuss that little tidbit about Sirius Black not being a Death Eater!"

"I think those are all splendid ideas, Madame Bones," Dumbledore stated as he walked regally through the crowd sparing a sad glance down at Fudge before stepping towards Amelia. "Pius, please do ensure that things are cleaned up here. I must take my students back to Hogwarts before they are missed terribly by their classmates."

"Yes, of course. Of course…" Thicknesse said trailing off as he stared wide-eyed around the ruined Atrium. "We'll just touch things up before the morning rush then…Um, Mr…Lord…err…Black, we'll be in touch to discuss Director Bones' assertions…"

"Dumbledore these teenagers are witnesses to a crime and I will need to interview them. That's completely disregarding the fact that they are here to begin with! Something which I am very curious to – " Amelia started to say before Dumbledore waved a conciliatory hand and turned his twinkling gaze on her.

"I understand, Amelia. However, my students have had a long night. If you wish to speak with them you may arrange to do so at Hogwarts over the next few days. Excuse me." Amelia just scowled in response. Her hand twitched towards her wand, though she ultimately decided to stay quiet instead of starting another fight.

"Albus," McGonagall said stepping to his side as Dumbledore walked towards Dora and her friends. "Remus…he…"

"I know," Dumbledore said softly as his head hung. "He will be greatly missed. But we have other matters to take care of now. Please take Miss Kirk and Miss Granger back to Headquarters, I will accompany Mr. Potter to my office directly. We have much to discuss the two of us. I have failed rather spectacularly this evening and he deserves some answers as to how this has come to pass."

"Where were you?" Tonks hissed. "Do you have any idea how badly this almost went?"

"I have fought with Voldemort myself previously so yes, I do understand, Nymphadora," Dumbledore stated. His mouth twitched and his eyes closed. "There had been an emergency ICW session called several hours ago. Such sessions are closed doors with all magical means of communication blocked until the assembly is completed. I did not realize it had been instigated by Lucius Malfoy until it was too late. I brought the meeting to a close as soon as possible…not soon enough it seems."

"Not remotely soon enough," Harry spat out. He stood and stalked the rest of the distance between the two of them. "Let's get this over with, Headmaster. You're going to give me answers? Great. Dora, Hermione, wait for me in the Common Room when you get back."

Dumbledore grimaced and nodded. He took out two pieces of rope, a brief muttered portus saw one handed to Tonks and the second was given to Harry. Dumbledore and Harry were nearly immediately whisked away by the portkey leaving Dora to sigh at the now empty space. "Our turn now I take it?" she held out her hand and smiled slightly as she felt Hermione drape her own over it so that both could touch the portkey in Tonks' hand. Sirius quickly shook off the Ministry healer doting over him and joined them. A quick jerk behind the navel and the four saw the Atrium disappear into the ether.


Dora had barely landed in Grimmauld Place's entrance hall before freezing and gaping at the scene in front of her. There was a loud gasp beside her as Hermione also looked out on the devastated section of the house. Burn marks covered large swathes of the back wall, fist-sized holes were punched through the division near the kitchen, feathers were scattered about, small spatters of blood were evident in one corner…Dora's eyes dropped down and her mouth twisted into a slightly vindictive smirk as she caught sight of the mangled remains of her nemesis; the Troll Leg was snapped completely in half.

"I thought you were being metaphorical when you said you had to kill, Kreacher," Hermione whispered. "This is…not metaphorical."

"Nope," Tonks commented with a heavy sigh. "I didn't like the little bastard, but he was what our family made him. Wish he hadn't forced us into this, but what's done is done."

"I'm not sorry you killed him," Sirius said scowling. "Just wish I could've joined in. That Merlin-be-damned elf smashed me with a rolling pin! A rolling pin! That sort of thing only happens in Muggle movies! Bloody near gave me a concussion too!"

"What-" Dora paused to swallow down the guilt at letting Harry convince her into going to the Ministry anyway despite her foreknowledge. "What actually happened? Hermione had a theory, but…"

"That was partially bravado," Hermione murmured. "It made sense and was somewhat plausible and it was what Harry needed to hear in addition to setting the Death Eaters off balance. I can't say it was remotely accurate though."

"Well if you said I got tagged by a Death Eater trying to extract Tonks' mum and dad then got walloped over the head by a deranged, murderous house elf you'd have hit the nail on the head," Sirius commented. He pushed past them and started to head up the stairs. He stopped as he moved past Dora and slowly craned his head back around to stare at something. Stepping back behind her Sirius stopped again and lifted a hand to rub his chin. "Dora…what is that?"

"What is what?" Dora asked turned around to try and see what Sirius was staring at. She was halfway through her turn before she realized he was gazing at her back with his head cocked to the side. As she twisted slightly, Hermione and Tonks both pulled back and stared as well. "Okay seriously, what? Do I have pieces of cognivore on my back or something?" Dora grumped as she stalked forward enough to face the mostly still intact mirror on the wall. Twisting and craning her neck around Dora finally caught a glimpse of what had the others so intrigued.

Clinging to her back was a…creature. It was small enough that it only covered about a quarter of her upper back and its small protruding snout was turned around to look into the mirror. Dora's gaze met the creature's and for an instant both just stared at each other. The calm broke a second later as Dora screamed, "What the hell is that!? What's it doing on me?! When did it get on me?! Get it off, get it off, get it off!" Her scream was met by an answering screech from the ball of fur as its mouth split wide showing off a row of small perfectly flat teeth and it dug its claws into her back in terror. Icy claws digging into my back throughout the fight…oh you have got to be kidding me! "Get it off!"

"Dora, stop! Calm down!" Hermione yelled. "It's just as scared of you! You're only frightening it more by flailing!"

"Easy for you to say!" Dora shouted back doing her best to stop panicking and locking all of her muscles taunt. "You're not the one with a Merlin-be-damned hitchhiker!"

Sirius snorted as he walked over and gently reached out to Dora's back. "There, there little one. It's okay, the mean teenager didn't mean to scare you. Come to Daddy Padfoot." Dora felt a brief flash of pain as the creature's claws released and she immediately twisted around and back-stepped to the opposite side of the small hall. Frowning she leaned in slightly to get a better look at the thing. It was…almost cute in a homely sort of way. The snout was more like a hedgehog than anything else and the claws almost looked like incredibly tiny anteater claws. It had soft, short, brown fur covering its four limbs. Most intriguing of all were the tiny little horns on the top of its head which were twisted into an S-shape.

"There, see, it's calming down already," Hermione stated as she walked forward. "Do you think it latched onto you as we ran through the menagerie room?"

Dora frowned as the animal twisted to sniff at Hermione. "What, you mean when that idiot smashed the lethifold's cage and a few others? I don't know…maybe? I felt something hit me, but I thought it was just debris…"

"Any why did we only just see it?" Tonks asked. "A Notice-Me-Not variant used as a self-defense mechanism you think? Moody always used to talk about how we got some of the most useful stealth spells from copying some naturally magical creatures…"

"Makes as much sense as anything else today," Dora muttered glaring at the creature. "You know if you wanted a ride out of the madhouse you could've just asked like a polite wannabe pet." The animal turned back to her and almost flicked its nose at her before panting in a manner vaguely reminiscent of a smile. "Yeah sure, be cute now that you're not digging into my back. Little monster. What even are you?"

Hermione eyed the creature skeptically before she gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. A second later she uttered an aggravated groan, tilting her head back and shutting her eyes in denial. "I can't believe this…it's a snorkack, Dora. I recognize it from Luna's drawings. Her imaginary miniature horned mammal does exist. This day is moving so far beyond sanity it is starting to loop right back around to becoming sane again."

"Which fits perfectly well with my godson's life from what I understand," Sirius said with a small snort of laughter. "Come on. Let's get on into the study. It has wards that can seal against any and all eavesdropping spells or enchantments. We're going to need it. You can come little buddy; we won't give you back to the mean old Unspeakables that locked you up." A snuffling agreement sounded from Sirius' new friend.

The others dutifully followed him up the stairs as Dora frowned and an earlier chunk of the conversation suddenly slammed back home and took root leaving butterflies madly beating against her stomach. "Sirius, you mentioned having to extract m-Andromeda and Ted Tonks? What happened that they needed extraction?"

"Got a tip at the office that they were being targeted," Tonks said from behind Dora. A hand landed gently on her shoulder and squeezed. "They're fine by the way; they're staying with my grandparents at their beach house where no witch or wizard would think to look for them. Besides it turned out that it wasn't even anything important; just some harebrained scheme to get Sirius to panic and expose himself."

"Can't believe I let it work too," Sirius growled as he reached the third floor and waved everyone into an open door that materialized out of an empty wall between Buckbeak's room and the attic. "After the shite I pulled with Peter – twice – you'd think I'd have learned by now. At least now I'll hopefully be able to move around freely thanks to all the hoopla today. Kinda hard to keep proclaiming I'm Voldemort's right hand man while fighting against the arsehole side-by-side with Harry Potter."

Tonks leaned back against the door as she shut it and nodded with her arms crossed. "Most likely. Director Bones looked pretty bloody tired of taking orders from idiots and I think it's a fair bet that she'd going to use this to take the reins herself during the official election next month. She doesn't want the job, but if she thinks it's the only way to ensure we get things done she'll take it. That includes getting you an official apology and pardon, Cousin."

"About time," Sirius muttered. He dropped into a large elegant chair behind the desk waving for Hermione to take a seat across from him. As Dora moved to sit as well, Sirius held up his hand and shook his head. "Not you, Dora. Not yet."

Dora heaved a titanic sigh and nodded hanging her head. "Guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

"Yes," three voices echoed in near harmony. What followed was a mildly amusing glance between all parties and several snorts of almost laughter before things died down again. Tonks was the first to speak up. "Let's start with you dropping the morph fully. I saw enough in the DOM to get a pretty decent idea of what the hell is going on, but it stretches the bounds of impossibility so much that I'd almost sooner believe you're Morgana reincarnated."

Dora nodded again and let go of her mental restraints. She felt herself grow an inch and her breasts ballooned out ever so slightly. Her hair changed to a mousy brown and extended to shoulder length while her cheek bones became ever so slightly more harsh and forbidding. She frowned as the changes stopped and took stock of her body. Her default body…

"I said, drop the fucking morph!" Tonks snarled.

"I did!" Dora retorted, scowling. This wasn't right at all. She was two inches too short, her hair was too long, she didn't have enough muscle, her legs weren't remotely the right length, her face wasn't heart-shaped, her hips were too tiny…This wasn't right! "I don't understand! I don't look like this!"

"You do now," Sirius said with a sigh. "Merge your teenage look and your adult look and you get," he stopped and waved hand in Dora's general direction, "this. Neat trick that by the way. I wonder if any other metamorphs realized that you can alter your base form by tricking your magic into believing the morph is the real self."

"What?!" Dora and Tonks both said turning to stare at Sirius with wide eyes and slack jaws.

For his part he just shrugged and petted his snorkack. "Seems pretty obvious to me. You've been playing a teenager long enough that your magic accepts it and has somewhat reverted your original body into a weird hybrid of the two. A few more months and 'Dora Kirk' probably will be your baseline."

"Dora?" Hermione said slowly sounding lost and with a slight quaver present in her tone. "Are you…are you…Tonks?"

Dora shut her eyes and grimaced before slowly nodding. "Yes. I'm sorry I lied to you, Hermione. I'm sorry I lied to everyone…I just…I was so scared and it seemed like the best option at the time and it just…it ballooned out and…I'm so sorry, Hermione."

"This is all sorts of screwed up," Tonks muttered. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and frowned as she turned to Sirius. "When the bloody hell did you figure this shite out? You've had like two face-to-face interactions with her! Me! Dora! Morgana, what do I even call you?"

"Dora, please," Dora murmured kicking the ground. "I feel more like 'Dora' than 'Tonks' at this point. It's been that way for a while now."

Sirius nodded. "I can attest to that. Funnily enough, that's how I knew too. My father had a tapestry passed down to him from his father all the way back for generations. It updates itself whenever a new member of the extended Black tree is born. Mother liked to burn the 'traitors' off of it, but her efforts never actually touched the magic of the tapestry. A little while back, I was cleaning up a bit and found the most intriguing thing." He stopped and grinned at the narrowed eyes of all present and, after drawing the silence out for several moments, held out his hands in surrender. "There was a new addition to the tapestry: a little Miss Theodora Nymean Kirk; branching right off from Tonks' entry in a jagged line. I've never seen a jagged line before. Dotted, solid, straight, curved, looped, sure. Jagged? Nope. So I got to thinking and realized how unusual it was for two metamorphs to be in the same area of the same country at the same time at relatively the same age. At first I considered that Tonks had gone and gotten knocked up a few years back and her kid was some sort of prodigy or time traveler."

"I'm not sure if I should be offended by that or not," Tonks muttered.

Sirius just winked at her and continued. "Then I realized that situation wouldn't be a jagged line and even if it was, there was a far simpler explanation I was already on. Time traveler. So, Miss Dora Kirk, what time are you from?" Sirius finished up smiling at them and steepling his fingers not unlike a Hollywood movie character himself.

"This year. Now. Tonight," Hermione gasped a hand flying back to cover her mouth. "God…It was when I knocked you out of the way of that spell in the room with the Time Turners wasn't it? That's why you looked so completely dumbfounded afterwards. That's why you've been freaking out all day and losing control of your morph the longer we were down there…You knew this would all happen!"

Dora collapsed into a chair and curled her knees up into her chest. "Yeah, I did. The first time around, I knocked Harry out of the way, but slipped and got blasted into that clock. I wound up back at September 1st. I panicked a bit and decided that everything went tits up because Harry was miserable all year and no one cared enough to bother trying to do anything. I figured…"

"You figured you'd help him yourself then and try to head this battle off before it could start," Tonks said frowning. She rubbed the bridge of her nose again and let out an explosive sigh. "Why didn't you tell anyone else?"

"I didn't know who I could trust," Dora murmured. "I'd just narrowly avoiding being the Unspeakables' new plaything, I wasn't sure if you'd freak out and turn me in because I didn't know if I'd freak out and turn me in in your shoes. I couldn't go to Moody because he's too paranoid to wait long enough for me to explain. I couldn't go to Amelia because she'd feel she had to turn me in; even if only to get me medically checked out. The Weasleys are wonderful people, but you know they'd tell Dumbledore the instant I showed up on their door. Hestia would panic and probably hex me six ways to Sunday. Shack was an option, but to be perfectly honest I didn't even consider it until I was neck deep in and too far to pull back out. McGonagall again was an option, but again she'd jump right to Dumbledore. And Dumbledore himself…"

"You didn't trust him because his need for secrets is dangerous and he'd probably obliviate you or send you across the world," Tonks finished with a sigh.

Dora nodded. "Almost word for word."

"Merlin," Hermione said shaking her head. "You two really are eerily similar in thought processes."

Dora shrugged. "More or less. We're getting a lot more divergent though. I first noticed it during Christmas. Luna figured it out ages before me and has been trying to convince me for a while. I guess with my default being…this…she's more right than I wanted to admit even to myself."

"Luna knew about this?" Hermione asked her jaw dropping. She snapped her mouth closed again and scowled. "She's known for months?"

"Don't feel jilted, Hermione," Dora said with a sigh. "She's known since she first saw me on the train. That girl is…she sees things that the rest of us don't. One day I'll figure it out…probably."

Sirius nodded. "Okay, so that's one question answered. So here's a bigger one: how bad was it the first time? Did we lose that horribly?"

Dora buried her head in between her legs and let out a strangled half sob as the memories of the bodies flew back into her head. She gave a slight start as soft arms wrapped around her and Dora's head was shifted ever so slightly to cushion against a mane of brown hair. "It's okay, Dora. None of us are abandoning you and none of us are judging. When I asked earlier you said that I had died and seemed to imply that others had as well?" Twin gasps sounded from near the desk though Dora just ignored them and burrowed deeper into Hermione's chest.

"We got there too late, Hermione," Dora sobbed. "Ron had been attacked by the cognivores and was barely holding his sanity together. You had bled out at Harry and Neville's feet after they dragged you into the Death Chamber. Ginny was missing, either dead or captured and I don't even know which is worse. Hestia was taken out by their rearguard before we even got into the first room of the Department. McGonagall was laid out fighting for her life after being hit by six stunners at once the night before. Hagrid had run off into the Forbidden Forest thanks to Umbridge. Dumbledore was in hiding. Sirius fell through the Veil just like-Sirius fell through the Veil. And Harry…Harry was messed up enough that he cast the Cruciatus at Bellatrix! "

She felt Hermione stiffen for several seconds before a shudder ran through the other girl and Dora was suddenly squeezed hard enough to have difficulty breathing. "In that case you did well, Dora. You did well."

"I'll say," Sirius said with a forced laugh. "That sounds like a bloody nightmare. Sure, it sucks that you three ended up fighting in that madhouse department anyway, but everyone walked out alive and we managed to show the rest of the Wizarding community that old Voldy is still running around so I'd say we pulled this one off as a win!"

Dora and Hermione both froze. Dora pulled back enough to stare into Hermione's eyes and the brunette started biting her lip. They turned to Sirius, but before either could say anything Tonks had moved over to the desk and rested her hand over her cousin's. "Sirius…Remus didn't make it. Bellatrix hit him with something while he was fighting. He…he was dead almost as soon as it hit him. I didn't recognize the spell itself, but I saw the light go out in his eyes. We don't even have a body to bury because he fell through the Veil…I'm sorry. I…I'm sorry."

Sirius just worked his mouth for a few seconds with no sounds coming out. Eventually he gave up trying and leaned back into the chair with his eyes screwed shut and the snorkack clutched tight to his chest with one hand, the other firmly holding onto Tonks. "Right. That's…right. It's not your fault. And Dora it's not yours either. It's – "

"It is!" Dora shouted pushing forward and jumping to her feet. She slammed both hands on the desk and glared at all three. "It is my fault! I knew it was a trap! I knew it would go bad if we went there! I didn't stop it! I should've knocked Harry out and woken him up later instead of taking the stupid risk of going back to that hellhole! Remus died because I was too bloody arrogant and didn't see the house of cards falling until it was too late! Remus died because I acted exactly like Dumbledore and kept all of the best snippets to myself! Remus died because of me!"

"Remus died because he missed a block and because he was fighting against the stupidly powerful and insanely skilled Bellatrix Lestrange," Tonks stated quietly. Her words hung in the air slicing through the tension like butter. "Could you have done things differently? Sure. Could you have told a few of us so that we walked in better prepared? Yes. But you didn't. The Death Eaters would have gotten Harry there one way or the other. This way at least it was in a somewhat controlled fashion. Remus died because Bellatrix stopped playing with us and got serious. He knew who he was choosing to fight. Too many of us subscribe to Dumbledore's Thou-Shalt-Not-Kill policy and pull our punches when we really shouldn't. We walked away with a single casualty while they took at least six. This wasn't perfect. Not by a long shot. But it wasn't a loss either, Dora." She stopped and sighed heavily shifting to sit on the desk and stare at the wall. "Remember what Moody always used to tell me…you…us…Rule 0: In some battles – and most wars – you have to accept sometimes that the best possible outcome is simply not losing."


The two teens stayed at Grimmauld Place for another half hour before admitting it was time to return to Hogwarts. School was almost over and there would be time to discuss events and plans in more detail once the summer officially started.

"Dora," Sirius said as the group gathered in the kitchen for Tonks to apparate the two back. "Once Hogwarts is out I want you to know you're welcome to stay here. I don't know if you plan to tell Andi and Ted or to bunk at Tonks' place…"

"Yeah 'cause that wouldn't be weird at all," Tonks muttered.

"But," Sirius continued rolling his eyes in amusement at his cousin's antics, "As I was saying, Grimmauld is always open to you. I think we can all agree that no matter what you call yourself or who you currently think of yourself as, you are first and foremost a member of this family. The House Black welcomes you with open arms; officially too if I ever get that pardon from the Ministry."

Dora smiled softly as she felt one of the weights on her shoulders dissipate. Of all the ways for Sirius to react to hearing about her origins she'd never quite expected it to be with enthusiastic applause. "Thanks, Sirius. I think I may end up taking you up on that. Telling mum and dad would…it's a bit much. I may decide to do it eventually, but I still need to think about it. There should only be one Tonks. Two is a bit too much awesome to handle in one place."

Tonks snorted. "Eh, as long as you're not bunking in my room I think this world could use a bit more 'awesome'. Especially considering the shite that is likely to start occurring more often now with good ol' Voldy revealed to the masses. Come on you lot, let's get back to school. Sirius, do me a favor and try to stay here until I get word from Amelia? Please?"

"Promise, Cousin. Get going you three. I'll hold down the fort." A snuffle sounded around from his shoulder and the snorkack reared its head over his back. The little creature headbutted his shoulder affectionately before pushing off and jumping over to Dora who just barely managed to snatch the critter from the air.

"Jeez, you are a real handful," Dora murmured to the snorkack who chuffed at her and did its strange smile thing. "Sirius, I think your new pet wants to see the castle. Mind if I bring it with me for the last week?"

"Betrayed by my own snorkack! Ah, Moony would be so proud of the critter, already knowing who's the responsible one!" He wiped a tear from his eye. Dora wasn't sure if it was dramatics or actually real. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "We really should show him to Luna. She deserves to know she was right about his existence – as much as I hate to admit it."

"Right, the snorkack comes," Tonks said rolling her eyes. "Alright, hang onto your robes girls." Without further ado Tonks proceeded to grab both teens by the arms and twist. Dora's stomach dropped out and she was barely able to keep her feet as the three popped into existence on the path up to the Hogwarts gates. "Ugh, I hate doing that with two passengers. Side-along sucks."

"You know I could've gotten myself here," Dora muttered clutching her rolling stomach with one hand and shifting the snorkack to her shoulder with the other. "Cat's out of the bag now, there's no point in hiding that I can apparate."

"There is when you're going to be doing it near people before you're officially 17. Again, 17….again…" Tonks said. She continued in a mutter that Dora barely heard. "And I totally forgot you could. Stupid bloody time travel messing everything up."

The group turned to walk up the path in uncomfortable silence. The gates were almost in sight when Dora couldn't stand it any longer. "Tonks…thank you for, well, for helping me earlier throughout this year. It was weird, but honestly it helped a lot to get me a bit more settled into things."

Tonks sighed and nodded. "Yeah. This is going to be awkward between us now for a while I expect. Still…if you need anything, call me. I'd like to think I'm a bit more responsible than my cousin – our cousin?"

"I think 'our' is appropriate," Hermione said softly. "We should just say that Sirius is officially extending his offer of shelter under the Black banner if we are ever questioned by others as to why Dora calls him 'cousin'. This…situation…isn't something that should be widely known."

"Nooooo, really?" Dora said smirking at Hermione. "And what in the name of Merlin's saggy sack ever gave you the idea I'd be shouting out my unusual origin from the top of the Astronomy tower?"

"Language!" Hermione snapped halfheartedly. All three stopped for a moment and shared a quiet laugh at Hermione's automatic response. After calming down they walked the last few feet to the gates and Tonks pushed it open.

"You two okay from here?" Tonks asked. At their nods, she pulled the gate shut and closed her eyes for a moment. "Okay. I'll work on things at the Ministry and I'll try to keep you both posted on anything relevant to either Sirius or Voldemort. Hermione, Dora, I have no idea what Dumbledore is telling Harry, but I'm willing to bet a lot of galleons that that boy will tell you two in an instant. I'm not going to demand, but I will ask that you tell me as soon as possible what the secret is. If this night has taught us nothing else, it's how bad keeping secrets can go for all involved. So please, if there is a major revelation at least tell me and Sirius. The more eyes we have on this problem, the more chances we have of getting it right when the dust settles."

"Agreed," Dora stated. She looked at the ground before squaring her shoulders and meeting Tonks' gaze. "As long as Harry doesn't swear us to secrecy I promise I'll bring you both up to speed once I get back to the manor. Thanks for…well thanks for everything so far, Tonks."

"Be good you two. I'll see you in a week. And, Dora, you should tell Mum and Dad. They really deserve to know. Think about it." Tonks waved and turned away to begin trudging back down the path to Hogsmeade leaving Hermione and Dora to start their walk back to the Gryffindor Tower.

They had only gone a few paces when Hermione turned to Dora with a carefully guarded expression. "Why didn't you tell me anything, Dora? I thought we were friends…This is…I realize that this is not the sort of secret that you go explaining to everyone – even if they are close to you – but…besides Harry you are the closest friend I have."

Dora frowned. "What about Ron?"

"Ron is a good friend, but it's not like I can talk to him about girly things," she said with an annoyed sigh. "And apparently girly things consists of a great deal of normal everyday items according to Ron. That is in addition to it being rather hard to justify getting truly close with someone who is so diametrically opposite to your own views concerning hard work and general magical research."

"He has been getting better…" Dora tried with a small grimace. Helping Ron to mature had somewhat fallen to the wayside with all of the other stressors and items needing her attention in the last few months.

"Yes, he certainly has improved quite a bit," Hermione agreed. "But when his improvement is centered around Quidditch references it gets rather old rather fast. I don't particularly like the game and now he just keeps trying to help Neville gain confidence with tales of Martin Marcus and his Save of '82. Or he's busy attempting to convince Tracy that she's just like Larina Gibson when she crossed over from the Harpies to join the Cannons." Hermione paused and a small smile graced her lips. "Actually that metaphor was rather entertaining. Daphne and I had a good laugh over that one."

Dora chortled. "Wish I'd heard that. Hey, at least he's actively talking with the Slytherins now. But back to what you were saying, Hermione, I didn't tell you because I was scared you'd walk away. You are my best friend here. You, Harry and Luna. If you had left…I don't know what I'd have done. I was just scared, Hermione. Luna was the only one who knew and that was just because she figured it out from the jigglypuffs or hicklepinks or…hell I don't remember which critters were hanging around me back then."

Hermione remained silent until they were steps away from the doors into the castle. "Were you planning on remaining silent forever then? Even after I forced your hand when asking if you had lived these events prior to our little jaunt?"

"No," Dora murmured. "No, one way or the other I was planning on telling both you and Harry once the year was over. I just…I wanted to try and stay with you both until the Ministry battle had passed. Until I could be sure I had avoided it. Fat lot of good that did, huh?"

Dora had reached for the handle of the doors but her hand was trapped against her side as Hermione turned and wrapped her in a rib-cracking hug. "I understand, Dora. I may not like it, but I understand. You kept most of our friends out of danger with your actions while shouldering far too much of the burden onto yourself. I wish you had told me sooner so I could have helped, but at least I know now. I can't speak for Harry, but I at least am not going anywhere. I have been – and always shall be, your friend Dora Kirk."

"Did you just quote Star Trek at me, Hermione?" Dora asked as she felt her cheeks blush deep enough that her abilities were little help in damping the rosy glow.

"Perhaps just a little," Hermione said pulling back and smiling. "Now, let's go and find our wayward male friend and see just what questions he has had answered before we spring some of our own answers onto him."


They ended up having to wait less than ten minutes in the Common Room before the portrait hole swung open and their friend half walked, half stumbled inside. He cast a quick glance around the otherwise empty room before hurrying towards the couch and collapsed onto it. His head wound up against Dora's shoulder while one hand clutched for hers and his other clasped Hermione's. "You're both here."

"Of course we are, Harry," Dora murmured to him squeezing his hand and reaching over to lightly stroke his hair.

"Not sure if you're going to still be here when I'm done talking," he replied softly.

Dora's snort of amusement escaped before she could even think to try and suppress it. The irony was just too strong. "Yeah, that's kinda my line there, Wonder Boy."

Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Harry, when have I ever run off on you? Do you remember Fourth Year at all? You and me against the population of three schools? If that wasn't enough to send me to the hills I find it difficult to believe anything you say tonight will. And, Dora, if Sirius, Tonks and I are still here I am willing to place several galleons on Harry not running away either. Harry, seeing as you are obviously upset, perhaps you should start and we can finish?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "Can one of you cast a few privacy charms?" The words had barely left his mouth before Dora had finished the brief incantations leading to an amused eyebrow quirk from Hermione and a shrug of indifference from Dora. Harry for his part just sat up straight and started his story. "The prophecy was made to Dumbledore and partially overheard by a Death Eater. Dumbledore wouldn't tell me who." Dora and Hermione both growled low. That explained the second set of initials on the sphere. Considering how rare true prophecies came out for a Death Eater to happen to overhear it…it was enough for Dora to curse Fate for screwing over Harry and his parents. The Death Eater was tossed out for eavesdropping partway through and told Voldemort what he'd overheard. That's why Voldemort keeps coming after me and that's why he lured me the Ministry – so he could hear the second half. He's apparently worried that it has something earth shattering that would make this vendetta a bad idea for him."

"Did Dumbledore tell you the prophecy?" Dora asked as her eyes narrowed. Another fool apparently; one that put a ridiculous amount of stock in a jumble of idiotic phrases.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…" Harry paused. "That's where the Death Eater got kicked out. The rest is: And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…" He trailed off at the end and stared into the fire forlornly.

Dora for her part just steamed and felt her hair color itself a deep, deep red. "That's it? That's what Dumbledore has hidden from you for years? What did the old goat say to get you so upset, Harry?"

Harry was momentarily kicked out his funk by Dora's tone and he frowned turning to look at her fully. "I have to kill him, Dora…This is never going to end until one of us kills the other."

"We already knew that you idiot!" Dora hissed. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. It wouldn't due to yell at Harry when Dumbledore was the one infecting him with foreboding. "Hermione help me out here."

Hermione remained silent for several seconds with one hand clutched to her chin. Finally she said, very slowly, "You…may be right, Dora. Harry, I will grant that the prophecy seems far clearer than most tend to be, but Dora has a point in that there is nothing earth shattering in the way of revelations from it."

"But, it's fate now, Hermione," Harry said. His tone had shifted from dejected grief to incredulity. It was progress, Dora supposed.

"Perhaps, perhaps not, but even if it is, it doesn't really change anything, Harry." Hermione shrugged at his incredulous look. "We already know that you're powerful. We know that Voldemort left a mark on you. We know that for four of the past five years you have been forced to fight Voldemort in one way or another. We know that he has a personal grudge against you and would never just let you live your life and walk away from this. We also know that you personally would never just let him continue oppressing people when you thought you could do something to stop him. So, does the prophecy really add anything to any of that beyond giving the reason that he initially chose to come to your house and kill you?"

"He killed my parents because of me though," Harry said softly. He scowled. "If I hadn't been born then maybe – "

"They would have been killed another day in another way," Dora said. She huffed and shook her head. "Don't put blame where it doesn't belong. Did Voldemort get scared and seek you out personally? Sure. But Harry, your parents pissed him off all by themselves multiple times. They were marked before you were ever born. Lily Potter would never have survived that war while Voldemort had any say in the matter. James Potter might have due to his blood status if he ever threw down his wand and stopped fighting, but we all know that wasn't the type of man that James Potter was. The only thing hearing that prophecy did was cement a date for when Voldemort went after them."

"You…might have a point," Harry conceded. He let go of his grip on both of the girls and rubbed one hand on the scar. "Okay so…maybe I don't need to be cursing fate for forcing me into a corner, but…I'm still going to have to be the one to strike him down at the end."

"Again, this isn't exactly that big of a surprise, Harry." Dora sighed and turned to lightly punch his shoulder. "Like Hermione said, you've fought him First Year, Second Year, Fourth Year and now this Year. At this point I'd be more freaked out if some random Auror took him down over the summer than if you and he had some epic final battle in the rain on the front door of Westminster Palace at the end of your Seventh Year."

Harry raised his eyebrows and snorted in laughter at that. "I'd lose pretty badly if that happened, Dora. He has decades of experience over me."

Hermione groaned in exasperation and wiped a hand down her face. "And yet in every fight you have walked away without lasting injury. Harry Potter, you may not have the combat experience of Tom Marvolo Riddle, but you obviously do have several things that he lacks: friends, courage, compassion, an unholy determination to not quit...not to mention more luck than you have any right to possess. Obviously we shouldn't rely on luck, but one cannot deny that you seem to have a preternatural ability to outmaneuver one of the worst Dark Wizards of the age."

"Hey, maybe luck is the 'power he knows not'," Dora replied with a smirk. That earned her a groan from both of her friends.

"As I said," Hermione huffed crossing her arms. "We can't rely on luck. However if we are able to focus on improving Harry's combat abilities with a few core spells to the point that you can cast them without thinking or effort than Voldemort's experience won't matter. A cutting curse and a bludgeoner can kill just as well as a transfigured flying spike of rock."

"And if I can cast sixty or seventy high powered cutting curses in less than a minute at the same target even a powerful shield would fall…" Harry said softly. A small grin started to inch across his cheeks. "If I can do it silently and without the wand movement too…"

"See now you're thinking like Mad-Eye," Dora said thumping Harry on the back. "Rule Number 61: It's not always the type of spell you use, but how good you are at the spell that counts."

Harry turned to her and cocked his head to the side. "You do that a lot you know? Those rules. I thought they were from your mentor in the Coven, now they're Moody's?"

"Err, um," Dora stuttered. Shite, so much for avoiding moving onto that part of the conversation later in the evening. "I can…explain that. It's…"

"Part of your story, yeah." Harry rubbed his scar again. "Hold that thought a moment. Before we get to that point I want you both to know why I actively hate Snape now. Beyond the whole memory thing from earlier in the year I mean. Now I honest to God hate him."

Hermione nodded and reached over to pull Harry into a hug. Though it was brief Dora could almost hear his ribs creak from the force. "He was the Death Eater who heard the prophecy." It wasn't really a question.

"Dumbledore didn't officially confirm it, but yeah, it's not hard to figure out," Harry stated with a scowl. "S.S. initials on the sphere, Dumbledore knowing why Voldemort centered his attentions on the two families it pertained to, Snape switching sides right at the end of the war…Him overhearing and blabbing before having second thoughts is the only thing that makes sense. Though I don't know precisely why he had second thoughts."

"You know, I feel like we should go into detail again on why your parents were marked anyway," Dora muttered, "but I hate the man too and I feel no real need to defend him."

"Agreed," Hermione said with a sigh. "Harry, did you have anything else that Dumbledore revealed to you?"

"Well apparently he had a decent idea of just how horrible the Dursleys were going to treat me if an offhand comment about how I arrived at Hogwarts meant anything." Harry's scowl deepened. "He's also convinced that I need to keep going back there and 'calling it home' each year to recharge blood wards that protect me from Voldemort."

Dora frowned and briefly mentally ran through the handbook she'd read on blood magic during boot camp. "That…makes a small amount of sense…Small. Though without direct family present the effect is pretty minimal. An aunt really isn't enough to boost the natural state of whatever ritual your mum used on you at the beginning, it'd have to be a father, child or sibling to make a real difference."

"And it might all a moot point anyway," Hermione muttered to herself. Her hands balled into fists and she only narrowly managed to thrust them into her lap without striking the side of the couch. "Whatever extra protection was granted could have been rendered pointless after Voldemort used your blood in his resurrection." She snarled and her fists clenched tighter. "If he can touch you, he can get through the blood wards. What is Dumbledore thinking?!"

Harry snorted. "I asked the same question actually. He basically glossed over it and said that I had to trust him. 'These things are esoteric, Harry, and there are quite a lot of details that come into play. Intent being the primary factor. Your Aunt may not care for you as much as she could, but she does not want to see the child of her sister killed under her roof. This gives the wards power and it is why you must return. Love is power, Harry, never forget that.' His theme song should be the Huey Lewis cover. Feels appropriate."

"I am sooo getting you out of that house the day you get back," Dora muttered. She blew out a frustrated breath and shook her head. "Anything else?"

"Nothing more pressing than you telling me more clearly what you were trying to say earlier this afternoon," Harry stated turning to Dora.

She flinched. He was right. If she had just come right out and said that she was Tonks from the future maybe things would have been different…maybe…No. Stop thinking like that Dora. It's time to move on. You don't get to be an angsty teen. Even if your magic is making you back into a teen… Nodding Dora took another deep breath and stared into the fire. "First, you need to know that I never meant to hurt you, Harry. I…never thought things would get this far. I just wanted to do everything I could to help and support you when this all started."

"And you have," Harry assured her.

"Good. That's…good. I just, you know, wanted you to know that. Before I…before I muck it all up." She fidgeted silently for several moments before continuing on. "I've been lying to you from Day 1, Harry. I'm not from a Coven. I was born in London and I've lived between there and Devon for most of my life. Up until September 1st last year, my name wasn't 'Dora Kirk'. It was…it was, Nymphadora Tonks."

Quiet descended around their small bubble and Dora felt like a pin could fall on the carpet and shatter her eardrums. She stayed stock still afraid to do anything that would make him leave, afraid to even breathe just to make this moment last a few seconds longer. He was going to walk away and never speak to her again and he was going to be right to do so. He was –

"Well, that explains why you panicked over Christmas," Harry murmured, a small smile quirking his lips.

Dora's train of thought crashed to a halt and flew off the rails. "What?"

Harry shrugged. "You didn't seriously think I hadn't figured out you were a time traveler by the end of the end the hols did you?"

"What!?" This time Dora's shout of uncontained confusion was joined by Hermione's.

"We've been dating months…Dora? Do you still want me to call you Dora?"

"Err – Yes, please…?"

Harry nodded and continued. "We've been dating months. You slip up every now and then. Not much, but enough that a lot of little things eventually added up. Maybe if Hermione hadn't taken me on our little Time Turner trip into the past 'time traveler' wouldn't have been the first thing I jumped to to explain the issues, but she did and it was." Harry shrugged. "Plus I've heard enough from the other guys to know that you should have been way more nervous when I saw you naked. Metamorphmagus or no, you have way too much experience to not be older than you were claiming."

"Hey!" Dora shouted blushing and scowling at him in equal measure. "I'll have you know that I've only slept with two other guys before you! And – oh shite, I am not talking about this while Hermione is right there."

"Oh no, please don't stop on my account," Hermione grumbled. The emotion behind her tone and the bright red coloring her face would take far too much effort to decipher at the moment so Dora simply chose to ignore it.

"Anyway, yeah, I figured you had gone merrily skipping through time a while back. I hadn't settled on Tonks though…" Harry frowned and shook his head. "I was actually betting on her daughter and you were being weird about starting dating because you'd heard stories from her about me…guess that was stupid to assume."

Dora growled and slammed a fist onto the couch's cushion. "Why does everybody think I'm my own daughter?!"

"There is so much wrong with that statement," Hermione muttered covering her face with her hand.

"So how old are you, Dora? Is it a large enough gap that I should be weirded out or is it pretty small?" Harry asked. The nonchalance in his voice was at stark odds with the way this entire conversation had begun after he walked into the room.

"I'm only a year older than the actual Tonks you know," Dora muttered uncertainly. "So technically the gap between us is about seven years."

"Not anymore," Hermione chimed in. "You should show him your new default form. Harry, she has the memories of living an extra seven years, but physically she's been Dora's age long enough that her magic has regressed her somewhat and it is continuing to do so. Effectively she's probably about eighteen now both physically and mentally."

Harry turned to Hermione and frowned. "You're speaking a bit above my level there, Hermione. Is she Tonks' age or is she Dora's age?"

"It's…complicated," Hermione said shrugging.

"I am right here people!" Dora snapped. She stood and concentrated on relaxing the morph. A second later and she felt the weird form shift into place around her. Merlin, those proportions were going to take some getting used to.

"Huh," Harry commented. "Well, I guess we know why you were extra clumsy tonight…"

"We do?" Hermione asked.

Dora nodded before shifting back to her teenage self and resuming her seat. "Normally in combat I shift somewhat into a more agile form. Tonight I was freaking out and lost any control shifting partly into my new default. My legs aren't long enough, my tits aren't big enough, my hips are too small; my center of mass was completely off throughout the entire fight. I wasn't Tonks, I wasn't Dora, I wasn't Combat, I was just…weird."

Harry nodded, then quirked another smile at her. "Well, you're still beautiful no matter what form you're in, Dora."

"Why are you not freaking out?" Dora asked suppressing her blush and staring at him critically. "I'm a time traveling idiot who let you walk right back into an ambush I knew was coming. I've been lying to you since I met you. I'm seven years older than you instead of just one. And just to make bloody sure it sinks in: I'm a time traveling idiot!"

"I'm cursed to fight a Dark Lord that refuses to stay dead," Harry said conversationally waving his hand. "Hermione is smarter than half the teachers in our school. Ron can recite Quidditch facts from a century ago without missing a beat. Luna can see things that none of the rest of us can. I think being a 'time traveling idiot' as you call yourself, is one of the less impressive aspects of our little group." Harry paused and tapped his chin theatrically. "Also I dispute the 'idiot' portion of your statement. I'm pretty sure I'm the idiot among us."

"You-you, you are…you are freaking impossible, Harry Potter!" Dora said crossing her arms and falling back into her seat with a huff. After taking several deep breaths she turned to glare at him. "I've been worried you're going to run away or hate me for nothing? You aren't even mad?"

"Oh I'm mad," Harry replied with nod. Despite his words there was not a trace of anger in his tone at all. "I'm mad that you felt the need to hide this for so long, Dora. A few weeks, I get that. Even a few months were understandable. But you should have said something when we started dating. By the time you got my shirt off at minimum."

"Too much information, Harry," Hermione muttered.

"You should have told me, Dora," Harry continued. "And I'm not going to let you off completely Scot-free, but I'm also happy you're finally coming clean. Can you explain what happened to send you back? Was it intentional? Did things go bad enough to require it? Did I become an evil Dark Lord and – wait you said it was just a year – did I get possessed by Voldemort in the Ministry? He tried to do that during the battle, but I threw him out before he could break through my Occlumency. Did I fail the first time around?"

Dora blinked rapidly trying to process through Harry's rapid fire questions. "Err, it was an accident. You cruicioed Bellatrix in the Time room after watching Sirius die. She sent a Chest Crusher curse at you and I knocked you out the way. Got blasted into the grandfather clock by Bellatrix's curse and wound up back at September 1st."

"Oh." Harry fell silent and took to staring at the fire again. After nearly a minute he quietly asked, "So Remus died instead this time?"

"Yeah," Dora responded just as softly. "I'm sorry, Harry. I should have knocked you out and prevented you from ever going."

"I would have hated you if you had," he stated barely audibly. "It's stupid and I know that Sirius wasn't actually in danger. I know now that you already knew he probably wasn't there. But…things have obviously changed so you couldn't really have been sure. And…I'm glad you didn't knock me out. I know it all went to hell, but…thank you for letting me make the choice and supporting me despite it being the wrong one."

Hermione sighed. "She explained it a bit more earlier in the night, Harry. It wasn't just Sirius, originally. It was me and Hestia and maybe Ginny, and Ron was hurt and McGonagall was bad off and…it was bad. I am sorry we lost Remus, but this could have gone far worse than it did."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said shaking his head. "Who else knows the truth?"

"Sirius and Tonks," Dora said. "Sirius has apparently known for a while too. Looking back on Moody's reactions to me over the hols I'd say he at least suspects something also. I apparently am shite at keeping secrets…"

Harry shrugged. "Could be worse at it. Are we telling the rest of the Order?"

"Honestly I don't know," Dora said sighing. "I'll tell my Mum and Dad over the summer at some point. Probably. The rest? I don't know. It's a bit late now for Dumbledore to try obliviating me – again – since my future knowledge is now useless. I probably should tell them."

"Well…" Hermione said slowly. "You aren't really Tonks anymore. And like you said, your future knowledge is immaterial at this point. At best you would just be informing them that you have more skills and training than originally expected. It's up to you of course, but the argument can be made either way."

Dora laughed and smiled as she looked over fondly at Harry. "We really have corrupted her beyond all hope haven't we?"

"Completely," Harry agreed with a fond nod. The trio shared a quiet laugh before falling back into comfortable silence. "So…where do we all go from here?"

"We continue as we have I guess," Hermione replied with a shrug. "We keep pushing forward as best we can. We fight Voldemort where we can, how we can. We train as much as we are able to ensure that we all survive the war that is coming. We keep walking down the path to the future."

Dora smirked and patted Harry's knee. "Harry's involved. The bushes along the side of this path we're trudging through aren't just simply shrubs, or even thick hedges. They're a briar patch with inch long thorns filled with venom. And they probably try to eat humans that stop near them for too long."

"Ha. Ha. Ha," Harry commented completely deadpan. "Thank you for that vote of confidence, Dora. Thank you very much."

"You are most welcome," she said cheerfully.

The trio again fell silent and stared at the fire for several minutes. Eventually Hermione spoke up. "Does anyone actually want to head up to the dorms? I am perfectly content with staying here for the night myself."

"The charms'll hold til morning," Dora replied. "I can transfigure the couch so we can stretch out a bit more."

"Sure," Harry said nodding, "let's do that." He fell silent as the couch ballooned into the semblance of a bed and the girls rearranged themselves, each taking one of his shoulders. Harry apparently had one more item niggling at him as he closed his eyes. "Oh, final question; since when did snorkacks actually exist and why is there one snuggled up in front of the fireplace?"


AN: Much thanks to RhysThornbery for his beta assistance on this.

\/\/\/\/

Mad-Eye's Rules For Successfully Reaching Retirement:

Rule Number 0: In some battles – and most wars – you have to accept sometimes that the best possible outcome is simply not losing."

Rule Number 61: It's not always the type of spell you use, but how good you are at the spell that counts.

\/\/\/\/

Fic Recommendation: "No Competition" by Evilgoddss. This is a crack/humor fic which is hilairous. The basic premise is that Harry's aura essentially makes him a 'must protect this awesome dude!' entity to Dark creatures. The first chapter is Voldemort getting a rundown of just how utterly screwed he is because of this. Technically in progress, but it's mostly just self contained chapters.