Tonks and Harry found themselves standing in front of the Leaky Cauldron again. Tonks quickly leaned down to Harry and whispered, "I'm going to warn you now, half of the bar is going to be quite inebriated by now. Just walk through quickly and ignore any remarks or whatever."

"If they say anything it's going to be to you." Harry stated. "They would never want to hassle me. I don't think my butt is cute enough."

"I don't know about that… You are pretty cute." Tonks winked and pushed open the door. She stopped dead in her tracks something was wrong. The bar was empty and the tables were still covered with partially drunk alcoholic beverages. "Harry wand out, now." Tonks kept her eyes moving at all times searching the room for any hidden dangers. "Were going to enter Diagon Alley. If there is any threat I'm going to grab you and apparate. Whatever you do don't let go of me if that happens." Tonks grabbed Harry's arm and slowly crept forward to the entrance of Diagon Alley. She pushed Harry flat against the wall and motioned for him to stay there as she tapped the bricks to open the entrance. She quickly stepped back next to Harry so she wasn't standing in the open incase there was an immediate threat behind the wall. She heard Harry beside her gasp as they were greeted by the view of smoke billowing from a building in the distance, both Tonks and Harry immediately recognized the building as Fred and George's joke shop. Harry surged away from the wall ready to run to the building but Tonks held him back, "Damn Gryffindor courage." She pulled the coin from her pocket and tapped it with her wand and mumbled a few words. Harry felt the coin in his pocket begin to warm. Tonks then pull him close in a tight embrace, "Hold on tight. I hold no responsibilities if you let go and get splinched."

Harry felt his body lift up off the ground and the world swirl around him. While Tonks had a firm grip on him he still held on for dear life. The feeling only lasted several seconds, but came to an abrupt halt as he felt his body smack hard onto the cold pavement of a darkened room. "Ow, where are we?"

"Shut up and stay there." scolded Tonks. She lit the end of her wand and slowly approached a door. She started muttering spells Harry had never heard before. He assumed she was taking down wards of some type. After a long stream of mutterings she reached for the door and opened it and peaked her head into a corridor. She then motioned for Harry to follow her out of the room. "Harry take your wand out and follow me. Stun anything that moves." Once Harry was out she shut the door and muttered several more spells leaving the wall with no trace of a hidden room. Harry looked as though he were about to speak up but he was quickly shushed.

Tonks grabbed Harry by the arm and led him down a hall that looked rather familiar. He gasped and blurted out, "We're at Hogwarts! You can't apparate at Hogwarts!"

Tonks abruptly stopped and turned to face the boy. "Hush! I don't want you getting us killed" she harshly whispered.

Harry whimpered at her cold voice and followed her through the familiar corridors. He began to recognize as a route he took everyday. She was soon leading him up the staircase that would bring them to the entrance of the Gryffindor Tower. Tonks finally stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady. The Fat Lady's eyes widened as they approached. Tonks spoke up, "This is just like the drills. Is anyone in the tower?"

"Nope all is secure" The portrait gained a dignified look. "Password?"

"Parsley" the door swung open and Tonks pushed Harry into the room and continued to talk to the Fat Lady. "Remember don't let him leave for any reason at all and the only people allowed into the common room are Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape."

Harry who was standing in the entryway looked confused. "Why only them and what happens if I'm left here for days? I'll starve!"

Tonks turned to Harry and glared at him. "Dumbledore, Minerva, and Severus are the only ones who can totally fight off the Imperius Curse and possession, and you won't starve." Harry's facial expression quickly turned from one of confusion to that of fear. Tonks knew she was being harsh but it was all apart of the aurors duty. Emotionally detach and allow nothing to interrupt so the task at hand could get efficiently completed. She couldn't be grinning and goofing around when there was immediate danger. "Harry, I'm just trying to keep us alive." She then snapped her fingers "Dobby".

The house elf appeared in front of her in a soft pop. "Dobby was summoned?" he asked in his formal house elf mannerism. The little elf then squeaked in excitement when he saw Harry standing in the entrance of the Gryffindor common room. "Harry Potter has come to see Dobby!"

"Dobby." Tonks spoke up. "You remember the drill we went through concerning the protection of Harry?" The elf nodded. "Well tonight is not a drill. I need you to keep guard of the Gryffindor Tower and do whatever you have to do to prevent anyone but Dumbledore, McGonagall, or Snape from entering. This may mean you may have to come up against Lucius Malfoy."

The elf nodded, "Dobby no longer serves the bad wizards the Malfoys. Dobby is free and Dobby would never ever let anyone hurt Harry Potter!"

"Now Dobby I also need you to make sure Harry is comfortable and make sure he doesn't starve or anything." Tonks smirked at Harry and quickly winked letting her normal goofy self come through her auror demeanor. She pushed the portrait shut leaving the house elf and Harry alone in the common room and made her way through the dim hallways back to the hidden apperation room of Hogwarts.

Harry flopped onto one of the Common room couches and buried his head in his hands, "Oh Gods." he muttered in exasperation

Dobby danced about the room in his hyper active excitement "What shall Harry Potter need for his stay? Fire? Of coarse the Gryffindor common room is always chilled" Dobby lifted his arm towards the fireplace and with nothing more than a wave of his hand there was a roaring fire in the fireplace. "Now Dobby promised Miss Tonks that he wouldn't let Harry Potter starve so we must get Harry Potter food." He again waved his hand towards the table and several large platters appeared containing a small feast. Dobby grinned, "Now if there is anything Dobby can get Harry Potter, Harry Potter just needs to snap his fingers and say Dobby. For now Dobby will be outside keeping watch." with his last statement Dobby disappeared with a soft pop.

Harry lost himself in the flickering of the fireplace. The flames slowly licked against the wood slowly consuming it. He sighed and looked about the room gold and red. Everything contained these colors. Gold-- a color obviously representing the sun and wealth. The world revolved around these two things. The sun was essential to maintain life. Wealth on the other hand wasn't basic biological necessity but on a social level it was very important. Wealth sets your standing, without it you are a nobody and often considered less than human by those who have financial security. Red-- A color of anger, of blood, of force, and of aggression; but it was also a color of passion and leadership. These colors while being very powerful also carried many negative characteristics. Harry's mind wondered if this vile color combination was there to represent what the ideal Gryffindor should be. Everyone has heard of Gryffindor bravery which would fit in with the ideas of the sun, leadership and passion. But, what about the anger and desire for a higher social standing. The more Harry thought about it the more he realized the snobbery in the Gryffindor household. Gryffindors believe they were better than everyone else. The only other house that seemed to have this belief were the Slytherins. The similar beliefs is what led to their house rivalry.

Harry shook his head trying to bring himself out of deep thought. Thinking only made him feel worse, and the idea that Gryffindors and Slytherins were so similar was quite disturbing. He could only imagine Ron's reaction if he told him that he should get along with his Slytherin counterparts because they really had so much in common. A giggle escaped Harry's lips at the image of Ron using every profanity he'd ever heard in order to describe his excitement of creating an alliance with Draco Malfoy.

Harry got up from his spot and paced the common room. He made several trips around the room until he found himself in front a bookshelf he never paid much attention to in the past five years. He scanned the titles most of the books looked to be old school books that were discarded by their previous owners. He scanned through the countless numbers of transfiguration and potions textbooks until a book caught his eye. It was rather beaten up and said nothing on the spine of the book so Harry pulled it off the shelf and there was no labeling on the cover either. Interested he opened the book and was met with the neatly handwritten title, "Interesting Facts About Hogwarts Professors; The Things You REALLY Didn't Want to Know" and underneath the title it was dated 1990. Harry grabbed the book and headed over to Dobby's platters of food and poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice and grabbed an apple to munch on. He then went over to the fire and began to flip through the pages. Most of the things written inside were either not believable or nothing of extreme interest. There were several stories of interest though, including a comprehensive analysis trying to prove that Snape was a vampire. Harry didn't believe it, but was amazed by the work someone had put into it.

Harry found himself indulging in a rather graphic account of one of Professor McGonagall's exploits in animagus form with Mrs. Norris. He was deeply embedded in the chase scene through the transfiguration hall when he heard the painting covering the entrance softly creak open. Harry reached out towards his wand in a precautionary measure and looked up expecting to see Dumbledore, McGonagall, or Snape. Harry's heart stopped and his wand rolled onto the floor. Standing in front of him was a tall figure in black robes and a white mask. Harry let his first instinct take control and he hid behind the couch groping the floor for his wand. Above him he heard a harsh voice, "Mr. Potter, is there a reason why your crawling about the floor like a common rodent?"

Harry looked up to see his potions master removing the white mask from his face, "Professor Snape?"

"Yes, it's me." the man snapped. "Now to your feet."

Harry stood staring at his professor wearing the Death Eater uniform. "What are you doing here?"

"Depends on who you ask." Exhaustion was evident in the professors eyes, "If you ask Albus I am here to check on you and if you ask the Dark Lord I am here to see if your in the building and if you are, to bring you to him."

Harry looked frightened, "So which are you here to do?"

"You're a fool Potter. My allegiance lies with Dumbledore. Once in my life I was naive, but I have surpassed that portion of my existence." Snape tried to snarl but it was rather ineffective, meeting with the Dark Lord always drained him emotionally and physically.

Harry stared at his Professor unsure what to say without looking like a fool. Instead of speaking he decided that staring would be in his best interest. Harry stared at Snape and then the hideously carpeted red floor until Snape spoke up again. "I must be going. Someone will come to get your shortly."

Snape placed the mask back over his face and turned from Harry. In his graceful stride he went through the portrait hole and back to Voldemort.

Harry found himself back on the chair near the fire bored. The common room wasn't the same without the noise of his fellow Gryffindors. The book he had been reading had lost his interest and he wasn't to sure if there was much else to do. He stood and paced the room again before climbing the winding stairs to the boys dormitory. Walking down the hall of doors he chose the door he knew to be his own dormitory. Inside things were different. The room was bare and the beds were stripped. There was none of the lived in warmth that the room usually had. Harry sighed and sat on the bed he had slept in for the five years he had been in Hogwarts. Harry's mind began to drift back to the memories he had from the past years of Hogwarts which eventually led him to drifting off to sleep. He wasn't sure as to how long he had been laying on the old bare mattress when the voice of Professor McGonagall woke him.

"Mr. Potter," her brisk voice interrupted his dreams, "you must awaken. We need to get back to Grimmauld place."

Harry yawned and stretched before he sat. "How?"

"I shall be taking you down to the apperation room and we will apperate together. I must remind you it is of most importance you hold on tight."

Harry followed Professor McGonagall to the apperation room where he found himself uncomfortably clinging to his transfiguration professor as they disappeared with a pop.

Harry hit the floor of the entrance of Grimmauld Place rather hard, fortunately he was able to stay on his feet this time. Although it was well into the night the house was well lighten with candles hanging about the walls and the house wasn't filled with the creaking sounds of night but with harsh voices and sobbing from the kitchen. Harry followed McGongall into the kitchen unsure what else to do. Inside he found Mrs. Weasley sitting at the table crying with Mr. Weasley standing above her with his hand on her shoulder. They were surrounded by several other Order members including Dumbledore. Dumbledore was looking down at Mrs. Weasley with a rarely seen look of anger. "Can you tell me Molly why you didn't notice that the twins has disconnected the floo network? There should have been an alarm sounding. Was that ineffective?"

Mrs. Weasley tried to talk through her sobs, "It worked. I just got so scared. My babies were in trouble!"

"Mrs. Weasley you realize that you put their lives and the lives of others in danger by not alerting the Order immediately? Unfortunately Nymphandora took Harry into Diagon Alley. The most dangerous place for him at the time and sadly it was her, not the first person who knew of the problem that alerted the Order!"

The sobs of Mrs. Weasley increased, "I'm sorry! I am so sorry!"

"Enough Molly, you should go to bed. You have two injured children to take care of tomorrow." Dumbledore snapped.

All eyes were on Mrs. Weasley as she made her way out of the kitchen door with the physical support of Mr. Weasley. Dumbledore shook his head as they left, "Sometimes a Mother's love is a curse." he then took notice of Harry being in the room. "Harry! Come over and have a seat! I am sure you have a few questions."

Harry went over to the table and took a seat. Dumbledore set a cup of tea in front of him and Harry took a sip and let the warmth of the tea calm him. Harry looked up from his tea, "Thank you. How are Fred and George?" The idea finally crossed his mind that they could have been easily killed in the nights occurrences. Harry swallowed hard, "They survived right?"

"Yes, yes they are fine. Several nasty hexes and curses but St. Mungos will have them fine in no time. They were able to disconnect the floo network before apperatting to safety."

Harry nodded, "Why attack them though?"

"Well that's my fault." Again Professor Dumbledore was taking fault for something that seemed beyond his control. "It was noted that we entered their residence the night before last and that we never left. Later you were seen exploring Diagon Alley and London without ever leaving their shop. It was assumed there were clues to getting to you and the Order within their shop so the Death Eaters attacked." Dumbledore let a slight twinkle into his eyes. "I do hope the shopping trip went well though."

Harry nodded to the bags he had left near the doorway, "It was nice, thank you. Somehow I remembered to actually bring the bags here."

"Good, good!" Dumbledore grinned meaning to go on but was interrupted with a pop and Severus Snape landing on the kitchen floor in a heap. Dumbledore jumped to his feet and rushed to the man. "Severus!"

A groan from the floor was heard and Snape sat up. "Voldemort decided to test my allegiance." Snape's face looked as though someone had beaten him. His eye was swelling and turning purple and his lip was busted and bleeding.

Dumbledore helped the man to a chair with great care and conjured up an icepack to place on the eye that was darkening in color. "What do you need Severus?"

"Just some rest. He's done worse. The Cruciatus was short this time."

Dumbledore pulled his wand out intending to heal Severus to the best of his ability and looked up to Harry, "Harry I think it's time you got some rest."

Harry nodded and quickly made his way out the door remembering to pick up his bags from the days earlier shopping trip and headed up the staircase to his room.