AN: More revision of previous chapters to come, but we are moving along. One or two more chapters, and we'll be back at Hogwarts.

They barely pause on the Tonks' front stoop before they're off again. Harry, not expecting the second trip, doesn't hold his breath. The air is crushed out of him in the dark swirling void. His lungs burn as he feels squeezed tighter and tighter until he feels like a grape just about to pop and-

Harry's knees hit the dirt and he throwing up into the bushes.

"Damn it. Sorry Harry, I knew the second jump was a bad idea." Tonks comforts, rubbing his back as Harry's stomach convulses and he shivers.

"I'm alright." He wheezes, fighting the swirling in his head.

"Don't try and move too fast." Tonks warns, "Your first apparition sickness is never pretty. Just let it ride itself out. Your body will adjust to it eventually."

Harry groans and she chuckles, "Part of Auror training is forcing our bodies to make that adjustment. Imagine doing this with an audience and for a grade. Once you stop feeling like your brain is going to ooze out from your ears, we'll go to my apartment."

Tonk's apartment is on the third floor, and as she opens the door Harry gets a view of the mess.

"Yeah," She chuckles, ears pink, "I've been busy for the past few, um, years. Anyway," she says, dancing around a pile of clothes sliding off the couch, "Bathroom is back here. You wash whatever it is you're carrying from that house off and then I owe you a talk."

Harry pretends not to see anything in Tonk's bedroom, even when she opens the door to her bathroom and turns on the light, hair turning bright fire engine red and she shoves him out. He hears her moving things around and shoving the drawers before she opens the door again.

"Safe now?" Harry teases.

"I think you won't be scarred for life." Tonks says, her voice hitching in the middle. Harry steps in once she's no longer blocking the door and looks around. There's a towel hanging on a bar bolted to the wall and shampoo on the lip of the shower.

"Anything I need to know?" Harry asks.

"Shouldn't be." Tonks frowns, "I'll leave you a change of clothes. Feel free to use whatever. Um, if you need help figuring out the spouts just holler."

"Alright." Harry says, and for a moment no one moves.

He coughs and Tonks jumps, "Oh, right! Sorry." She pulls the door closed and Harry starts the water. He goes looking for a wash cloth and opens one of the cabinet drawers only to slam it closed, red faced. Not in there. When he steps into the spray, he sees one hanging from a shower rack. The water feels great on his bruised body, and for the first few minutes it runs black. Some pinks streaks fill it as he opens some of the cuts or scrapes, but nothing Harry is worried about. He washes his hair out, hands grimy with the dust and bits of wall coming off his scalp. Once he feels clean, he wraps the towel around his waist and steps out of the shower, cutting the water. Sitting on the sink on a dinner plate is a change of clothes.

Tonks is trying to determine what in her fridge is still on the right side of edible when she hears footsteps coming down the hall and smells strawberries.

"Hey Harry," She calls with her head in the refrigerator, "have a seat somewhere. I swear something here must be edible." The strawberry smell gets stronger as harry squats next to her and looks at the contents of the door.

"Nothing in here." He says after a moment, borrowing her shoulder as he stands and starts poking in her cabinets, "You've got some crackers that seem alright. Might be a but stale, but who cares." And then, he digs a jar out from the back and wipes some dust off of it, "Peanut butter." He says, checking her drawers for her cutlery.

"Tonks? Peanut butter crackers, okay?" Harry asks.

"Yeah." She says, closing the fridge door. "Ice with your water?"

"Please."

Tonks looks at him for the first time since he emerged from her bathroom and decides she didn't do half bad. She dug out an old pair of jeans that looked close enough to his size and added an old quidditch jersey. It was big on him, they both were, which made her frown, but he looked alright. Actually, with his hair damp, bare feet on the wood floor, shirt too big hanging off of him- he looked soft and warm.

"So, the dinner plate?" Harry asks once they've sat at the kitchen table and she shoved most of the junk aside.

'It's been a while since I cleaned those counters. I knew the plate was clean. The last thing the wizarding world needs it the boy-who-lived to have a strange stain on his pants." she teases.

"Thanks." Harry scoffs, "So where'd you get the jersey?"

Tonks sighs, "I, uh, I dated Charlie for a while. He gave me it after they won the cup his sixth year. It, we didn't work out. I kept it and-" she runs a hand through her hair, the color sliding from the pink to a darker brown as she goes.

"Look, Harry, I brought you here because you deserve for someone to be honest and up front with you. I'm not- I'm not a great person. Or, I haven't always been. My parents, they're good, but they're not great. I- Part of growing up is realizing that the people you've always looked up to aren't angels. I dragged you into this mess, so it's only fair I be the one to explain. Just, don't hate me too much, okay? And don't, just think about the good." Nymphadora waves her wand and summons a glass bottle, taking a swig straight from it.

"I dated Charlie Weasley the start of my fifth year and into my sixth. We were a thing for about 15 months, right through the summer. He- When my powers developed everything changed. Suddenly I had classes I couldn't be in. And I had control problems in the beginning. Days when I'd wake up limbs misaligned, or missing parts of myself. I spent a lot of time with Pomphrey and McGonagall. Sprout tried her best, but she was out of her depth. Still let me play in the greenhouses whenever I needed to get away, but that's not the point. Point was, my dad sent me a letter when he got the news. He was happy for me, was convinced that this meant I could truly be whoever I wanted to be. After all, I could reshape my person however I wanted. How could I not love myself?

Mom was supportive, of course, but then over Winter Hols, I heard her talking with a friend. "If only she had been in Slytherin.' My mom said. 'Then I could have her rule the house. So much potential.' Mom's always been that way. She loves people, cares for them, but she wants what's best for them. And she doesn't really care about the rules. She tutored me, lectured me, helped me choose my friends and classes. At the time it was really nice and felt so supportive, but once I graduated and looked back- It might have been nice to make some choices on my own, you know? Instead of her deciding everything.

Charlie was nice to me when a lot of the others weren't. He'd talk to me, bring me food if I skipped a meal. He was kind, and he was curious. Other boys wanted me to use my powers to look like their fantasies, but not Charlie. Or at least not the same way."

Tonks looks over and wriggles her pig snout at him, then closes her eyes and sprouts antennae.

"Charlie wanted to push my gift, to see how crazy I could go. He never asked me to be a different person for him, only try and be more than human. Us dating was kind of inevitable. But it wasn't in mom's plans." Her face darkens.

"I still don't know if she did anything, but Charlie and I broke up messily. It was in the great hall, middle of finals, and we both were shouting. Things got heated, and I fell back on Mom's teachings. Charlie had been popular at the time. He was strong and smart, cute, and a good seeker. Everything was great before I stepped in." She takes another drink, "When you can look like anyone you want, making a rumor isn't hard. I could be one person and tell someone something, then confirm it ten minutes later as someone completely different. I don't even remember what I said anymore either, but I'm almost certain I'm why he took the posting in Romania. Anything to escape the scorn of everyone he knew outside his family." She looks up with eyes glistening, "he wanted to be a quidditch star, you know? He wanted to fly. And I-" Tonks blinks hard and looks away, "Anyway, that was his jersey."

"Are you okay?" Harry asks softly.

"No," She hiccups, "but I will be one day. I just really don't want to be my mother. It's why I became an Auror, you know? I mean, you heard some of her exploits with the Ministry. My mother the rebel." Tonks scoffs again, "Everything she does it calculated. It's just who she is. Most of the people she got between the Ministry for ended up having my dad's firm help them. She built his business for him, organized his clients and staff, intimidated or bribed his competitors. Andromeda Tonks nee Black is a witch of devious design and little care aside from those she calls dear. The only thing I think she's done that wasn't calculated was falling in love with Dad. Ted Tonks had to be something special to capture her and convince her to leave the Black's behind."

"I joined at Aurors to serve the people. To do my best to create an environment where I couldn't be detached and calculating, where I had to act and step in and do what was right no matter the consequences. Mom, she can lie to someone's face or deceive them. If you're an obstacle she'll find a way to remove you or have you minimized to the sidelines. My Boss, Amelia, you heard the history. Well, Mom whispered and bargained and talked to get together the votes to have her tied to her desk. There she was, no seat on the wizengamot, and still she got my boss tied into a knot. 'The Director must be available for coordination with other departments or international requests. They are too valuable to be on the streets working cases themselves.' Hogwash." Tonks mutters. "It's part of why I'm treated so badly by the corps. Not that half-bloods are treated very well to begin with, but they single me out because of her. I get pulled into the worst of cases, log the most unpaid overtime. The crap details, like escorting the minister or ensuring the wizengamot meetings are sealed. Checking records and patrolling Diagon. It is what it is."

"What do the other Aurors do?" Harry asks quietly, nibbing on some crackers.

"They work cases. Crimes get reported and they are assigned to the various teams. Track down smugglers or counterfeiters. Drive off dark creatures. We work mostly with Misuse of Muggle artifacts and international sports. Catch the people breaking the law and threatening the statute.' She shrugs, "It's not all that glamorous. A lot of running, a spell or two, and then the lead takes the credit for the whole case. But don't worry, Harry, if you join, you'll be one of those leads."

If it was supposed to be comforting, it isn't.

"But enough about me. How are you feeling Harry? You've had quite the summer so far." Tonks asks, carrying the bottle and flopping onto the mostly covered couch.

"Um, I'm alright." Harry says.

"Nope!" Tonks says with false cheer, "you're going to actually talk about what's gone on."

"Really?" Harry asks.

"Yeah. In case you somehow missed it, I signed up to be your big sister. So, spill." She commands.

"I was adopted by a bunch of crazy people, apparently."

"Give how crazy you are, you fit right in."

"I made good strides into relearning what I glossed over my previous years at Hogwarts, and I was tutored about the wizarding world as a whole. I discovered some things left behind by my parents, including a set of wards that defy explanation as to their origin, but apparently protect me from Voldemort. I took up my lordship of house Potter and house Black."

'Who are you going to appoint Potter rep while you're at Hogwarts?" Tonks asks.

"I don't know." Harry tells her, "I was thinking Andy. She's already my one for house Black."

"Continue."

"I met some interesting people."

"Oh?"

"Luna Lovegood, she's a year younger than me. Junior reporter for the quibbler. She was interesting." His face is red, remembering their adventure at the QWC, "I also met Fleur Delacour. She goes to Beauxbatons, and broom races. We chatted for most of the match before everything fell apart. Oh, and I'm apparently immune to Veela allure."

Tonks falls off the couch, popping back up and ignoring the spreading stain on her rug, "You're what?"

"Immune to Veela allure. Yeah, apparently Fleur's mom is a Veela and no matter how much she tried to ensnare me I couldn't be affected."

"Only you, Harry." She shakes her head, waving her wand to summon the alcohol back out of her rug.

"Are you really going to drink that?" Harry asks, "It was in your rug. When did you last clean it?" Tonks shrugs and takes a swig.

"Doesn't taste any different. And alcohol is sterilizing." On her next swig she spits out rug fibers and tries to ignore Harry's smug look. She pouts and banishes it to the trash.

"Anything else?"

Harry sighs, "Hermione and I had a fight. We spent a lot of time together for a while. I think, I think I liked her. Liked her, liked her. But then she got so mad at me. We argued and it got bad."

"Who was in the wrong?" Tonks asks.

"She broke my trust. She told someone something she knew I wouldn't want shared. It was supposed to be for my own good, but nothing has happened. So maybe I blew up over nothing."

"Or maybe she shouldn't have said anything."

"She also wanted me to give up some of what my parents left me." Harry admits.

"House stuff, or just things your parent's had?" Tonks asks.

"Stuff of theirs." Harry explains.

"If it was house stuff, it would have been a crime. Personal stuff is just personal." Tonks says, "From what I've heard, it's on her to come to you and apologize. She broke your trust and tried to take your things. Her reasoning may be good, but it wasn't her decision to make."

"Thanks Tonks." Harry says softly.

"Hey, what can I do? You're my little brother. Annoying and problematic, but I love you all the same." Tonks laughs.

"You love me?" Harry asks awestruck.

"Yeah?" Tonks says. "You're family. Why wouldn't I?" She barely sits up before she's hit by a small missile as Harry lunges into her and wraps her in a hug. She smiles and rubs his back as he breathes in her shoulder. No tears, no shaking, just mostly steady breathing as she holds him tight and lets him rest.

A yawn forces its way out of her, and Tonks groans. "So, when I picked you up, I was coming off a shift. I need a nap, which means you have to let go of me."

"No." Harry says, muffled by her robes.

"No?" She asks.

"I'm not moving." Harry insists. "You nap here."

"No. I'm not sleeping on this couch. This thing in uncomfortable as hell." She argues.

Harry doesn't bother responding, he just tightens his arms a little.

"Fine." Tonks says, rolling her eyes. She concentrates and Harry feels her body shift under him, muscles and bones sliding around to make room for whatever changes she wanted. She taps his head with her wand and stands up, carrying him to her bedroom and dumping him onto the bed.

"If you insist on staying here, then fine. I'm changing into pajamas and sleeping." Tonks says firmly, expecting him to give up. Instead, Harry is still on her bed when she returns, the clothes and junk that once covered her comforter folded and organized on her floor.

"Brat." She accuses fondly, lying down and letting him cuddle into her side.

There is more she has to tell him, in the future. More he needs to know and have explained, but this is enough for now.

On Harry's part, he knows he has more to do at Grimmauld Place. He hadn't cleared any of the upstairs. Sirius' room was still up there. But once he had scoured the place, Harry resolved to burn it down. It was infested with dark magic, the taint literally soaked into the walls and floors. After that, his summer was almost over. He had to go shopping for fourth year, and then catch the train. Another year at the castle of death, and his first since the new resolution to be a better student and try to live up to his parents. Nothing would be easy going forward, but that was alright. Nothing had been all that easy for Harry previously either.