Chapter Seven – An Outing with Harry

"Tonks?" she heard outside her door the next morning.

Why was someone knocking on her door? It was far too early.

"Tonks?" the voice was louder now. After a minute, she recognized it as Remus.

"I'm not home!" she shouted as she put her pillow over her head.

"Tonks?" Remus repeated, opening up the door a crack.

Exasperated, she yelled, "WHAT?"

"Molly Weasley is in the fire asking for you."

"Merlin, tell her I'll be down in a moment." Tonks heard the door close and jumped out of bed. She realized that was a mistake. She was still sore below the waist. Looking at her hourglass, she saw that it was only seven in the morning. She was going on two hours of sleep because she ended up taking a total of three showers and a bath last night.

She grabbed her robe and ran down to the kitchen. "Wotcher, Molly!" she said brightly, "Dare I ask why you're starting my morning so early?" The words sounded harsh, but Tonks had a smile on her face, so Molly wouldn't be offended.

"Tonks, dear, I have a favor to ask of you," Molly started.

"I had a feeling a favor was involved," Tonks teased.

"Dear, Elphias Doge was supposed to be on Privet Drive duty tonight, but his wife is sick. I'd take the shift myself, but well, it's Arthur's birthday tonight and we have non-refundable plans."

That didn't sound so bad to Tonks. She was actually closer to Harry's age than most of the Order and she had a soft spot for him.

"That's fine, Molly. What time?"

"Three o'clock, dear. Thank you oh so much!" Molly gushed.

Just then Tonks thought of something. "Can I take him to Diagon Alley?"

"What?"

"I'm sure he'd love to get away from his relatives. And Diagon Alley has lots of Aurors posted. We'd be very safe."

Tonks heard a noise behind Mrs. Weasley. "Mum, if Harry's going to Diagon Alley, I'm going too!" she heard Ron Weasley yell. "Me three!" chimed in Ginny Weasley.

"That's fine with me, Molly. I'll pick Harry up and then go to the Burrow."

Tonks had to keep from laughing. She kept hearing, "Please, please, please," coming from the fire.

"Oh alright. I'll see you this afternoon Tonks." With that Molly's head left the fire.

Tonks looked at Remus, who had followed her into the kitchen. "Do you want to come with?" she asked.

"I better not, it's too close to the full moon. I'm going to go to Hogwarts to get some more Wolfsbane potion from Severus," he replied, "Send Harry my best."

"I certainly will. Well, I'm going back to bed," Tonks said, bouncing up upstairs, feeling much better than she did last night.

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At precisely three o'clock, Tonks rang the doorbell at the Dursley's home. She had been there once before, and she remembered it wasn't a very cheery place. Her own dad might have been a muggle, but at least he wasn't an awful muggle like Harry's relatives.

Tonks had morphed her face to look like a sixteen year old girl. She didn't want any problems. She had a feeling that if she showed up as herself, there might be some issues. The last time she saw Mr. And Mrs. Dursley she had told them off for being so awful to Harry. And Mrs. Dursley had looked at her as if she were scum.

Tonks was going all out for this, she was even wearing conservative clothing (which she planned on changing the moment she was at the Burrow) Normally, she could just morph her clothes if she had to change quickly. But morphing her whole body when she was tired and for more than a few hours at a time drained her very quickly. That's why she normally just changed the color of her hair all the time. Morphing her hair didn't take any energy from her at all.

There was sill no answer at the door. They had to be home, there was a car in the driveway. She rang again and saw what she thought was Mr. Dursley in the hallway.

"Yes," he sneered as he opened the door.

"Hello sir. My name is Victoria, my family just moved in a few blocks away," Tonks said sweetly. "I met Harry in the park and was wondering if he'd like to take a walk?"

"With Harry?" Dursely looked astounded that someone as sweet looking as Victoria would want to walk with Harry.

"Yes, please," she replied cheerfully.

"My son, Dudley, isn't home right now. I'd love to introduce you to him. He's off at a boxing match how. He's a junior heavyweight champion boxer, you know. Maybe you could come back later this evening?" Dursley asked hopefully.

Tonks could tell that cute Victoria would be his ideal girlfriend for his son, Dudley.

"Oh no, sir, I don't like violence. Is Harry home?" Tonks said with a frown.

The smile on Mister Dursley's face vanished. "One moment. POTTER!"

After a minute, Harry appeared at the top of the stairs, "What have I done now?" he grumbled.

"Wotcher Harry!" Tonks called up to him. Harry stopped suddenly, almost doing a double take. He seemed to realize who Victoria really was, but not why she was there.

"It's me, Victoria, we met in the park, remember? I though we'd go for a walk. It's a lovely day outside." Tonks giggled, knowing how confused Harry was.

"Umm…great," he stuttered. "Let me just go and change real quick. I'll be right down."

Tonks asked Mister Dursley about his occupation. Ha gladly told her he was in drills, and between the two of them, was considering expanding into bits as well. She hoped she put enough awe into her voice when she congratulated him.

Finally Harry appeared. "Bye," he said rather unenthusiastically to his uncle.

Before closing the door behind the, Mr. Dursley yelled, "Remember, Victoria, stop by any time to meet Dudley!"

Tonks waved over her shoulder and took Harry's arm.

"Tonks?" Harry whispered.

"No, I told you, I'm Victoria, we met two days ago in a park. I can't believe you don't remember!" Tonks teased, pretending to be hurt.

Turning a corner, Tonks scrunched her nose and revealed herself again, but with lime green pigtails. Harry asked, "What are you doing here? Are you my guard?"

"I'm a last minute substitute, Harry, and I decided it was time you took a field trip. We're going to go to the Burrow and then on to Diagon Alley. That alright with you?" Tonks asked casually, knowing full well that the proposed trip would be accepted.

"The Burrow? We're going to the Burrow? Now? How?" Harry's words seemed to stumble out.

"One of the advantages of being an Auror, Harry, is being able to make a portkey with out authorization. Do you see that rabid dog, on the porch?" Tonks pointed to a small poodle that was dozing in the sunlight. "I'm too tired to apparate. And now I'm scared for my life. I need a portkey." Finally, Tonks got a smile out of Harry. She took out a galleon from her pocket and tapped it with her wand, whispering, "Portus."

She felt a familiar tug on her navel and within moments they were in front of the Burrow. Tonks had been there a few times before. It had always seemed a pleasant place. Very warm, probably because there had been seven children. Tonks was an only child, often wondering what it would have been like to have a brother or sister.

"Harry, Harry!" She saw Ron and Ginny barrel towards him. Ron and Harry slapped each other on the back, and Ginny gave him a brief hug.

"Wotcher, Ginny and Ron! Time for our field trip!"

They all walked inside the house. As soon as Tonks stepped through the doorway she stopped. There were flowers, decorations and fabric everywhere. She was terrified to move, thinking she would destroy something. "What's all this?" she asked.

Molly Weasley came through a veil of tulle. "We're planning the wedding! We have less than a year, and I want it to be perfect," she said proudly.

"I'm going to be a bridesmaid," Ginny said proudly, "But Ron's not a groomsmen, though." Ron nudged her as he rolled his eyes.

"Ginny, you know that's only because your brother doesn't want five groomsmen," Molly scolded. "Thank you again, Tonks. I'm so grateful that you were able to help us out," Molly whispered to her.

"That's fine," Tonks whispered back, "What are your non-refundable plans?"

"They have tickets to see the Oscar Oblong Orchestra," Ginny yelled. Molly laughed at being overheard.

Tonks looked at Harry, he and Ron seemed to be deep in conversation. "Alright, fun's up. Time to go to Diagon Alley," Tonks told them.

Tonks apparated herself to Diagon Alley. She was going to floo as well, but she saw that the supply the Weasley's had was low. First came Harry, Ginny followed by Ron. Harry looked like a bird that finally had been freed.

"Can we go get a firewhiskey?" Ron asked. Tonks laughed. "Ron, I promise I will buy you a fire whiskey myself when you come of age."

"That's only in seven months, you're on!" Ron replied. Seeing that two teenage boys accompanied Tonks, the first thing they wanted to do was eat. She finally allowed herself to relax, knowing they were safe in Diagon Alley.