Chapter Five

Three days after his return to Privet Drive, Harry watched as Hedwig soared silently away from his bedroom window, exhausted, but happier than he could have expected himself to ever feel at the Dursleys.

To his disappointment, Tonks hadn't visited as she said she would do, which had pushed back his plans a bit, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed. It gave him more time to work on his books, and become more and more amazed each minute at the amount of knowledge that was at his fingertips.

In just the three days he had been given, he felt he had learnt more about magic than he had done in a whole year at Hogwarts's. He found books that not only focussed on different aspects of magic - much more useful aspects than taught in school - but also ones that focussed on magical theory, and it was these that he was finding most interesting.

Of the set of books he had found, he had worked through two, and was already finding himself able to do the basics of wandless magic. He could summon and banish his books with ease now; it took barely more than a thought. That was what he was most proud of.

He had reached other small achievements as well. He had been able to tune one hand of his watch to portkey him to his bedroom, having tested it from the bathroom. He had also been practicing with his robes, and though it still took a great deal of concentration, he was able to change them from a basic set of black robes to basic black jeans and a t-shirt in less than a minute. He had set-up the security around his trunk and had managed to summon its shield while it was in ring from, though that had taken a good many hours. The lack of curses flying at him slowed his progress he imagined.

More importantly, he was pleased with his progress with the Fidelius charm. The book he had managed to get described the charm in 13 steps, and he had managed to master the first 2 already. It was mainly very complicated wards he learnt, when drawing comparisons between books. The Fidelius charm worked by hiding a set amount of space, preventing it from discovery. The difficulty with the charm was setting up the boundary of the space, and having the raw power to complete the charm. Accounts given said it was violently draining, as it used one of the most pure forms of magic. It was almost like a patchwork quilt of pure magic, and Harry had to give that pure magic. It was pretty much physically extracted from him and fed into the 'wards' by the Fidelius charm. He wasn't particularly looking forward to that part.

The lack of being able to do anything but wandless magic was obviously slowing down his progress a great deal. He found that while he had learnt a great deal of theory behind wards, he'd yet to have chance to practice them. They were meant to be extremely complex to construct, and he was slightly aggravated that he was missing out on practicing them.

The last thing he had been meaning to start to learn was Apparition, but having covered all the theory, he couldn't practice. Through his study of wards, he'd learnt that the wards around Privet Drive were at full strength for some reason, making him worry that Tonks had tipped Dumbledore off.

As Hedwig disappeared from sight, he sighed and moved back to his trunk. He was worrying himself by the amount of books he had already covered. Six! Hermione would be proud. Six books in three days provided he hadn't done anything other than read and practice what he could. With a bit of a grin at what her reaction would be like, he opened his trunk with a few murmured words and began searching for his food satchel.

"At last! Would you care to remove me from here? I believe I've been here three days. Of course, I spent most of that time at my other portrait but..." Harry, who had jumped back in shook, carefully unveiled the lady he had spoken to in his vault. With a sheepish smile he quickly pulled her out of the trunk and propped her up against his bed frame. He sat back, watching as the lady smoothed her hair and glanced around the room before smiling at him.

"Well hello again. I see we're not in a vault any longer." Harry felt himself smiling back at her before he had thought.

"No, we're at my Muggle relatives' house." The lady nodded and looked around in interest.

"Rather...bare, isn't it?" Harry blushed.

"Oh, well most of my things are in my trunk. That way no one can pick up anything by accident..." Or not, Harry added silently. He most definitely didn't want the Dursleys sneaking through his things.

"Quite wise. Why are you here though, and not at school?" Harry blinked for a moment.

"It's the summer holidays." The lady looked confused for a moment but then shrugged gently.

"I must have misheard. You don't attend school in the summer then?" Harry frowned, wondering just how old she was. He would ask, but he knew it was very rude to ask a lady her age.

"No, this is our break. We go back in September." The women nodded before looking round again.

"You have no pictures." He was a bit taken aback at the tone behind her voice. She sounded almost condemning. He supposed she must have a particular problem with bare walls.

"Well, no. I only stay here during the holidays because I'm forced to. I don't intend to stay for any longer than absolutely necessary so I don't decorate." The woman looked him over for a moment sharply but didn't say anything else on the matter. He watched her for a few moments before his patience and curiosity got the better of him.

"Sorry, but who are you exactly?" The women looked him over for a long moment, her eyes twinkling in an annoying familiar fashion to Dumbledore.

"Rowena Ravenclaw, at your service." Harry scowled. Just what he needed - yet another thing to make him special. He now had a picture of one of the Hogwarts founders. Great learning possibilities he supposed though.

"So when your other portrait would be in your office, or private rooms?" Rowena nodded as she brushed her blond hair over her shoulder.

"Yes. No one's been in since I died." Harry sighed.

"No surprise. No one's found any rooms from the founders times...well, except the Chamber I suppose, but that's not public know..." Rowena's eyes widened as she turned a deathly pale.

"The Chamber was real?" Harry felt a small smile pull on his lips.

"Yes, I've been in it."

"It was only supposed to be a rumour; we searched the school hundreds of times..."

"Only a Parselmouth can open it." Rowena stopped short in her ramblings and looked at him very sharply.

"And how did you get in then?"

"I'm a Parselmouth." She blinked, apparently taken off balance, before backing away into the depths of the picture. He scowled.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Just because I can talk to snakes doesn't automatically make me evil you know." Rowena looked very guarded.

"You are a relation to Salazar?" Harry paused, and then slowly shook his head.

"Not that I know of. The heir of Slytherin is Voldemort...or Tom Riddle."

"Then why do you speak to snakes? I've only heard the Slytherin line capable of it." Harry glanced at his books, sighing when he realized he wasn't going to get any work done.

"When Voldemort struck me with the killing curse, it's believed that some of his...powers, transferred to me."

"You are possessed?" He would have laughed, if only it hadn't just recently happened.

"No. The Chamber was opened in my second year when a diary memory of Tom Riddle possessed my friend. He has tried possessing me, though it went rather painfully for him I believe." Rowena frowned.

"That is very advanced magic, to trap an essence...excuse me Harry. Why haven't I heard of this at the castle?" Harry shrugged noncommittally.

"Happened a while ago and there are only a very select few who know about it." Rowena looked like she was itching to leave her frame.

"Tell me; are there any frames in the Chamber?" Harry snorted.

"No, 'fraid not. It's all stone and dead Basilisk skin there."

"Basilisk...was that the monster? Good lord, that thing was let out in the school?" Harry had never seen anyone so alarmed.

"Well...it used the sewage system. There weren't any deaths this time, people were just petrified. When Tom Riddle was at school he let it out and it killed a girl in a bathroom - Moaning Myrtle? Do you know about her?" Rowena looked a bit nauseous.

"Oh yes, she spies in the prefect's bathroom. She was killed by the Basilisk? What's been done with it? Something that dangerous in a school...and so many years to mature..." He let out a quiet breath.

"Don't worry; it's dead and rotting away." Rowena seemed to deflate.

"Thank the lord. The current headmaster is said to be a great wizard, but slightly mentally unstable. I haven't caught sight of him before, but word and rumour does travel in the castle." Harry smiled a bit.

"Yeah...he's a bit...barmy." Rowena frowned a bit, most likely at his use of language, but then appeared to catch her interest.

"How was it killed? Who killed it? I can't imagine how powerful it must have been after a thousand years of growth." Harry felt his blush creeping up again.

"I...killed it, I suppose. That's why I know about the Chamber - I'm one of the only three people who have actually been in the Chamber since the founders."

"Well it looks like I have the right source then. How did you kill such a beast and not be killed yourself?" Harry was rather taken aback by the straightforwardness of her manner. It was a relief - most people stopped and stared in awe.

"I had help from the Headmaster's phoenix. Fawkes punctured both of its eyes."

"A phoenix is at the castle? I must see it, quite wonderful creatures. I had one myself; in my younger days before it left for mating...I take it that the eyes lost the power once they were destroyed?" Harry nodded.

"Yeah - just a massive snake trying to have lunch really." Rowena laughed quietly.

"And what curse did you use to kill it?" Harry blinked.

"I don't think there would be a curse powerful enough to kill it."

"Nonsense, of course there would be. If you were powerful enough, there are a number of options. A magnified killing curse should have done the job..." Harry stared at her in disbelief.

"I was 12." Rowena flushed gently.

"Oh...perhaps not then. If not by curse than how on earth did you kill it? There aren't any arts in modern times that I am aware of that could kill such a thing." He paused for a moment. Perhaps she might know something about what happened.

"Fawkes also brought me the school sorting hat." Rowena blinked.

"The hat? But why? I'm aware it's still in the school, but it must be a ragged old thing now. I was rather amazed to learn the charms are still strong after all of this time."

"Yeah...it is a bit tatty. Saved my life though."

"We didn't place anything to do that on the hat. How do you mean?" Harry watched her closely.

"I pulled a sword from the hat." Rowena looked very confused for a moment before a grin graced her face.

"Godric's? He always was sly as Salazar when he wanted to be. Funny though, I thought he took the sword with him when he left the school...actually, I'm sure of it. Perhaps he charmed it to return to the hat after an allocated time? Or maybe you called it through the hat. They were both his after all, and he did have some very powerful items. He had a necklace that allowed him to pass through any wards created at the time...I wonder what happened to that?" Harry shrugged as she turned to him questionably.

"I'm not sure. The history of the founders is rather...scratchy, since it was ages ago. I've never heard anything about a necklace." Rowena frowned.

"Strange. Godric was rather proud of it, almost as much as his sword. There were a great many magical items of the likes at Hogwarts...I myself had a device that allowed me to walk through solid matter - rather useful as you can imagine. Didn't half speed up travel."

"Is that in your room?"

"I'm not sure; I can't move about my room, it could be." Harry hid his smile. He wouldn't mind getting his hands on that device. Rowena seemed to notice his look.

"Don't think about it. Those items I speak of are very dangerous. Unless absolutely necessary, I will not reveal the location of any of them. I really shouldn't have rambled on about them. It's always the same with the men, power, power, power. Either that or its women." Harry flushed.

"I was rather thinking of using it to get out of here actually. I don't want power, just some peace." She smoothed her hair before giving him a piercing look.

"Perhaps. Could you tell me where the Chamber is? I was sure we checked everywhere." Harry smiled a bit.

"The entrance was a sink in the girl's bathroom. It leads down through the sewer system...I think it might have even been under the lake." Rowena looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Are you sure? We placed some wards up when we heard the rumours, and Salazar never went anywhere near the girls bathrooms. I think I would remember considering. He spent most of his time lurking around the dungeons."

"Well, that's the entrance both Tom Riddle and I used. I'm afraid I didn't actually spend time looking around, my friend was pretty shaken up, never mind me."

"I can imagine. Perhaps there is another entrance. I would very much like to see this Chamber. Is there a possibility of you taking me?" Harry frowned.

"Erm...I'm not really sure. Well...I'm not at school till September, and then I'll probably need Professor Dumbledore to come with me, or at least Fawkes or I wouldn't be able to get out."

"Why ever not?" Harry grimaced.

"You slide down a pipe. Fawkes had to fly us out."

"That's definitely not the entrance Salazar will have used then. He would never put himself down so much to slide anywhere."

"Sounds like Malfoy."

"Malfoy? I know that name..." She muttered to herself for a long moment.

"Ah yes, a Lucius Malfoy destroyed a number of portraits at Hogwarts. There was rather a commotion about it. I believe he was very nearly expelled." Harry felt sick.

"Sounds like something he'd do if he got angry. He's a Death Eater now, following Voldemort. His son is in my year, the mirror image of his father." Rowena scowled.

"If he destroys a painting, I shall ask you to curse him rather violently and then exempt you from the punishment. Your headmaster would respect if I made a request as such wouldn't he?" Harry nodded.

"He's a very wise man. Sticks his noise in everyone's business too much, but no doubt one of the greatest wizards of the time, if not the greatest."

"I shall have to meet him. I must say, I am glad you came along, I've been awfully bored."

"I can imagine. I..." Harry was interrupted by a loud crack. His wand was summoned to his hand before he had time to think about it, and pointing directly at a grinning Tonks, who was sported bubblegum green hair.

"Wotcha Harry. I ain't here to hurt you." Harry smiled a bit reluctantly and put his wand down beside him.

"Very quick draw. Impressive." Harry blushed as Tonks head shot up sharply. He noticed to his surprise that her gaze rested on the portrait.

"Who's this?" Harry grinned.

"Nymphadora Tonks..."

"I hate that name! Call me that one more time and I'll hex you into the..."

"Meet Rowena Ravenclaw." Tonks stopped short. Harry couldn't help but laugh at the completely shocked expression on her face.

"Ravenclaw...as in the Hogwarts founder?" Harry nodded, grinning before turning to Rowena.

"Why can she see you?" Rowena look Tonks over sharply.

"She isn't who she appears to be." Harry frowned and moved to get his wand but Tonks shook her head.

"I think she means my gift. I'm a Metamorphmagus remember? I change appearance all the time." Harry glanced at Rowena who definitely looked interested now.

"Are you? I remember Godric's mother was one, and that was rare enough as it was. The only other one that comes to mind is Merlin, though he preferred using his ability to change into animals rather than simply change his appearance."

"What? I can change into animals?" Harry glanced at Tonks in surprise, who looked very interested.

"You've never tried?" Tonks frowned.

"Of course not, I'm not an Animagus..." Rowena cleared her throat.

"I believe dear, that you if you practice, you may be able to learn how to do so, but remember, Merlin was extremely powerful. Godric's mother managed before her death to morph into a cat, but was stuck in that form until we managed to work her out of it, which took weeks. Please take to mind though she was one hundred and thirty before she managed it." Tonks paled.

"Oh...that's alright, I think I might just stick to changing human parts." Harry laughed quietly, getting both of their attention. Tonks grinned sheepishly at him before plopping herself down on his bed.

"Told you I'd come. You sent your note off?"

"Yeah, not long ago." Tonks nodded and glanced at Rowena.

"Something else you picked up at your vault." Harry grinned and nodded, noticing Rowena had disappeared, probably to snoop around after what he had told her.

"Yeah, I only just found out who she was though. Been enlightening her about the Chamber of Secrets." Tonks glanced at him in interest.

"That really happened? It's a massive rumour among the Aurors. Says you killed a thousand year old Basilisk, and a seventeen year old You-Know-Who." Harry paused, never having thought about it like that. He had actually killed Voldemort in a sense hadn't he? He was solid, and he had the wand...if only he could get away with doing that to the Voldemort of now.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Tonks eyes went massive.

"Seriously? I mean it's meant to be a joke! A real life Basilisk?" Harry sighed and nodded.

"Had very sharp teeth." Tonks stared at him before chuckling.

"I bet you've got that Fidelius charm done now that I doubted you, haven't you?" He flushed.

"Not yet, but I'm two steps on the way."

"How many steps?"

"Thirteen." Tonks groaned.

"In three days? Have you slept?" Harry shrugged, not wanting to lie.

"I've been doing other stuff as well. How come the wards are...or were at full strength?" Tonks glanced at him.

"How'd you know?"

"Read the book on wards. Pretty easy to find them. How come?" Tonks watched him for a long moment before yawning.

"You-Know-Who personally was trying to bring them down. Almost managed as well until Dumbledore got there with us. Scared him right off. Apparently he can't get into your mind through whatever protection's here so he tried taking the direct approach." Harry sighed quietly.

"No one hurt?" Tonks grinned.

"Nah. Like I said, he saw us and them said it's not over and Disapparated - typical bad guy exit."

"Sounds like Malfoy." Tonks pulled a face before glancing around the room.

"Come on then, what've you learnt? There're books all over the place!" Harry smiled and glanced out of the window, concentrating on the state of the wards. Making sure they were standing at a dormant state, he concentrated, and then grinned as Tonks shrieked. He watched her look around worriedly before tapping her shoulder, laughing as she almost jumped off of his bed.

"Harry! You little...you almost gave me a heart attack!" Harry calmed to chuckles as he sat down on his bed again.

"Told you I'd learn that first." Tonks scowled at him.

"That's illegal you know, you should be registered with the Ministry. You could have splinched yourself." Harry shrugged again.

"It's easy to learn. I read the guide four times. Not exactly scientist stuff." Tonks gave up trying to look stern and laughed.

"Alright, I suppose it's useful anyhow. Now, anything to show me that won't scare the wits out of me?" Harry paused.

"That depends if you'll keep it to yourself." Tonks thought for a moment.

"As long as it's nothing very dangerous, and Dumbledore doesn't ask me outright about it." Harry nodded and lifted his hand, summoning a book from her side. He glanced at Tonks who was watching him expectantly.

"Well?" He groaned.

"Watch." With that he banished the book into his trunk and summoned his food pouch.

"Watch what?"

"Oh god Tonks! No wand?" Tonks blinked and then grinned.

"Oh yeah, sorry, not paying attention. How'd you learn that? Nifty trick." Harry frowned.

"Another book over there." Tonks glanced around.

"Anything big and impressive?" He chewed on that one for a moment.

"Can you put up some wards around something?" Tonks blinked.

"What kind of wards?" Harry shrugged.

"One that stops solid objects?" Tonks pulled out her wand, looked around, and then after some complicated wand movements muttered something under her breath. Harry felt something erect round the book in the middle of the floor and grinned, tossing a sock at it. It bounced off an invisible wall half a metre from the book.

"Great. Now, one sec." He looked at the book and its surroundings, and then slowly and gently began feeling out the wards around it. Murmuring phrases from the book to remind himself under his breath, he screwed up his concentration on revealing the whole ward, feeling himself beginning to drain already. He frowned and let out a small gasp as he felt the shape complete. With his gasp the wards around the book suddenly became visible as a dark purple square. He grinned happily but kept his focus, carefully testing the integrity here and there, until almost four minutes later he found a weakness. With a small cry of triumph he pummelled through. There was a flash, and he saw the ward crumble to pieces. He immediately sat back, feeling his head throbbing gently, but very satisfied.

"Blimey...that...without a wand too! What'd you do? How'd you take them down? You didn't even attack them! How'd you even get them to show?" Harry grinned at her tiredly, feeling the blood in his veins beginning to throb. The aftermath definitely wasn't what he had hoped his was.

"I told you, I read the book on wards, and a few on magical theories. I basically found the weak point and...made it collapse. Like...I pulled out a support beam that made the whole building come down."

"Wow...I got top marks for my wards too!" Harry smiled at her.

"I can imagine; it took me ages to find the weak part." Tonks shook her head slowly.

"I've never heard of anyone doing that before. I've seen Dumbledore shoot this yellow charm thing that made some wards collapse in on themselves but...what book did you read?" Harry glanced at the title.

"It's just called 'Wards'. I kind of mixed it with the magical theory as well though."

"You're going to have to show Dumbledore that sometime. I wonder how long it'd take Voldemort to bring down the school wards if he can do something like that..." Harry shrugged.

"It'd take at least a few days. You'd be able to sense him doing it anyway...well, someone should be able to." Tonks shrugged.

"Can you make wards too?" Harry nodded.

"I think so, haven't had any practice though. Waiting until I get out of here to try." Tonks sighed.

"You really think you're going to be able to do this don't you?" Harry nodded.

"Of course. I'm not going to let Dumbledore tell me how to live my life after...well, now." Tonks looked at him weirdly.

"Were you in a fight with him or something?" He blushed.

"Well...yeah, I suppose so. Trashed his office." Tonks grinned for a split instant before her face went back to the stern expression, only to melt into a concerned one.

"What about?" Harry shuffled uncomfortably. He most definitely wasn't ready to tell the prophecy to Tonks.

"Just things. Are you still going to help me?" Tonks looked slightly unsure.

"I don't know Harry; doesn't what I told you happened put you off a bit? He's out for your blood. You get out of here and you're just walking straight into his hands."

"I'll cut his hands off then." Tonks snorted.

"I'd love to see that." Harry grinned a bit.

"Yeah, me too. That won't be a problem though, with the Fidelius and the fact I'm supposed to be here, and that I can now Apparate. I mean, I'm not going to pick someone like Wormtail for secret keeper...I think I might be actually be able to modify the charm to make myself the secret keeper...but don't know yet, that comes later."

"Where're you thinking of building this house? What do you know about the area? Do you know how to..." Harry cut her off.

"Yeah, I've started to look through the building books, and my vaults got tons of furniture in. Rowena might help me too, I mean, she did help build Hogwarts, can't be anywhere near as hard to build a house on foundation already there." Tonks frowned.

"Where?" Harry glanced at the floor, feeling shy.

"Godric's Hollow." He heard Tonks draw breath sharply.

"Lord Harry, you must want out of here badly." Harry nodded a bit before sighing.

"It's the best place anyway, he'll expect it, so he'll overlook it. That's what he's like." Tonks sighed.

"Harry...that wouldn't be the best place for you runaway to. There's a lot of bad memories there." He shrugged.

"It's my home."

"It's in Wales ." Harry gave her a long look.

"And?" Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Have you tried Apparating more than a metre yet? It took me almost half a year to be able to Apparate that distance." Harry paused.

"What?" Tonks smiled at him a bit.

"Try Apparating to...that Alley where you stunned Levi. I follow in a sec." Harry frowned but nodded, closing his eyes and concentrating. He felt the distinct jerk of movement, and opened his eyes to find himself in the Alley. He smiled to himself and glanced calmly around, waiting for the telltale crack from Tonks. It came a moment later, and she looked rather surprised to see him.

"Oh...hello. Surprised you made it. Alright show off, how about somewhere further? See if you can make it to the back of the Three Broomsticks, you know where I mean?" Harry nodded, pulling a face at the reminder of walking in on Parvati and some brown haired boy a few years ago there snogging their hearts out. He watched Tonks disappear with a crack and slowly began to visual the area, knowing that this was meant to be much harder than a simple trip to London . When a few minutes later he felt he had the picture in quite sharp detail, he focused on it and felt a now-becoming familiar pull.

"Flipendo!" He hissed as he skidded back from the impact of the curse, very thankful for his robes. He ducked another curse and ducked behind a crate, trying to assess the situation. He was worried about Tonks, and the fact he couldn't hear anything which meant she was either unconscious, silenced, or something he most definitely didn't want to think about. With a long breath he withdrew his wand, and then with a crack Disapparated just as the person came round to the box. He Apparated just to the right of the person and almost sent a very nasty hex of before he recognized the eyes. It was Tonks! Even if she was looking like a man. Tonks noticed him and brought up her wand again, but Harry Disapparated, trying to get time to think. Obviously this was some kind of test.

When he reappeared, he quickly transfigured the box behind her before Disapparating immediately, avoiding her curse. When he reappeared, he simply shot a Lumos spell right into her eyes, making her squeal and stumble backwards. He grinned as she tripped backwards into the chair he provided, and quickly summoned restraints, and then managed a weak anti-Apparition jinx as well. He laughed as Tonks struggled but didn't get anywhere.

"Now now Tonks, you know it's rude to attack people unawares." Tonks stopped fighting and her disguise melted away until she appeared as she had done in his bedroom.

"How'd you know it was me?" He chuckled as he freed her from the chair.

"Your eyes were the same colour. That, and the fact you wouldn't have gone down without a fight, and there was no signs of a fight. Too coincidental that there was this big burly man where you were meant to be." Tonks pulled a face and raised her wand.

"Back to your house then. You passed the test." Harry grinned cheekily at her as she suddenly reeled backwards.

"Anti-Disapparation jinx. Here." He took the jinx off of her, earning him a wallop round the head before she disappeared with a crack. Harry looked around for a moment, noticing Hogwarts twinkling in the distance, before smiling sadly and Disapparating.

"You cheated!" Harry blinked as he sat down on his bed.

"How?" Tonks pouted.

"Your robes! That Flipendo would have done you in!" Harry nodded wincing a bit.

"Yeah, I know. That was really powerful, trying to hurt me?" Tonks grinned sheepishly.

"Always been my most powerful that one." Harry rubbed his chest a bit in mock hurt.

"And there I was, being gentlemanly and giving you a chair to fall into." Tonks blushed.

"Yeah well, girls don't have to play by manners; it's the men who need to do that." Harry snorted and glanced at Rowena's frame, surprised to find it still empty. He pushed the thought aside though and turned his attention back to Tonks.

"So, why the test?" Tonks shrugged.

"Figured that if you actually managed to show up, I should give you a bit of a challenge."

"Why thank you." He said sarcastically. In fact, he was rather surprised by how easy the apparition had been, never mind how easily he had managed to beat Tonks. She grinned at him.

"Just don't get cocky. Just cause you managed to beat me twice in a row doesn't mean you'll be able to beat anyone like Mad Eye. I'm just a rookie remember." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Anymore tests to look forward to?"

"Nah, you're okay for now. Are you still thinking seriously about Godric's Hollow?" Harry nodded immediately, smiling inside as he got his chance.

"You could come with me if you wanted. Make sure I'm safe, and take a holiday or something." Tonks stared at him, the surprise evident in her face. He blushed, but in the inside he was grinning slyly. All he needed to do now was to learn the charm; a few building spells, and take a trip back to the vault. Tonks staying with him would grant him an upper hand in an argument against the Order about protection, an ear in the Order, not to mention she was good company.

"I don't know Harry; this doesn't sound like one of your better plans. Voldemort after your blood isn't a matter to not take seriously. I couldn't do a thing against him for you." Harry smiled a bit.

"I know, I don't expect you to. Dumbledore would barely be able to do a thing for me if he came. You could be protection from DE's if you really want a reason. If you want the real reason...well, it'd be nice to have someone actually helping with the house." Tonks looked appalled.

"You want me to cook for you?" Harry laughed.

"No, no. I can cook for myself thanks. I meant more like...what the house'll need and what goes where and everything." Tonks stared at him for a long moment.

"Harry, I'm not the most organized person you could have thought of." Harry sighed quietly.

"I know, but the only other person I trust in the Order not to go straight to Dumbledore or guilt me with the Weasley's is Remus...and I've always preferred the idea of having somewhere ready for him if I asked him. I'd love to have him live with me at Godric's Hollow, but first I want to make sure it's done properly." Tonks smiled calmly at him as she stretched, glancing at the time.

"That's nice. Remus deserves somewhere nice. Those werewolf restrictions are so..."

"Beg my pardon for the interruption, but would I be right in assuming you disappeared to Hogsmeade?" Both of them turned to stare at Rowena who looked slightly worried.

"Yeah actually. How'd you know?" She shuffled in her portrait.

"A small man ran past the portrait I was in shouting of a magical disturbance in Hogsmeade - a duel. I guessed that that was where you might have disappeared to so you could practice since Hogwarts provides magical screening. I would recommend you quickly go and wipe the area unseen before you are traced." Tonks swore loudly.

"I had no idea they had sensors...I'll be right back..." Harry reached over and tossed her his invisibility cloak.

"Wipe the resonance and don't stick around, Dumbledore can see straight through them, and Snape can sense you." Tonks nodded and disappeared under the cloak. There was a sharp crack that told them of her disappearance. Harry let out a small breath and turned back to Rowena.

"Thanks for the warning." Rowena nodded, her eyes twinkling in amusement.

"You're welcome, though you should be more careful in the future. Were you practicing duelling?" Harry smiled a bit.

"Of a sort. Tonks jumped me while I was practicing Apparating in a male form - a test she said. I only cast a few spells, nothing offensive." Rowena frowned.

"Then you lost?" Harry shook his head, grinning.

"Nope, won. My most offensive charm though was a Lumos."

"That is...impressive. I take it she used some more powerful curses? The man appeared to be quite worried." Harry rubbed his chest absentmindedly while nodding.

"Yeah. I didn't expect them to be able to pick up anything like that though in Hogsmeade..."

"The wards extend to include Hogsmeade...well, the sensory ones anyway. The apparition ones end at the school gate. She must have used a particularly vicious curse to set off the alarms." Harry grumbled quietly.

"She didn't go easy on me, that's for sure." Rowena simply smiled.

"And I would expect her not to. How will you ever learn anything if people hold back on their teaching abilities? I would expect that you especially have an awful lot to learn." Harry frowned.

"What'd you mean by that?" Rowena looked him over as she had done so many times before. It seemed that with each new conversation she assessed whether he was ready or not to hear the answer.

"I have heard word that Tom Riddle has returned, in full strength. Do you not think it wise to be ready to face him once again should he come to you?" Harry scowled darkly but didn't argue. Instead he moved over to his desk and began pulling out pieces of parchment, waiting for Tonks return. He was worried she'd get caught, and then not only would she get in trouble, but he could kiss whatever dreams he had of freedom goodbye. He slammed his drawer shut the same time the loud crack went off in the bedroom. He felt relief course through him as Tonks put appeared and put his cloak back in his trunk.

"How'd it go?" Tonks glanced at him and shivered a bit.

"Close call. Managed to wipe the area, but everyone's going to know it was wiped. If Dumbledore knew you could Apparate, he'd be over here faster than you could say bumblebee, I bet you."

"Well he doesn't know, so he can't suspect me can he?" Tonks gave him a sharp look before sitting on his bed after a stretch, and with a flurry of concentration, turning her hair to a slightly more comfortable looking plan brown curling mass.

"I get teenage rebellion Harry, but don't be so hard on Dumbledore. He does more for you than you'll ever know." Harry's eyes narrowed as he sat down on his desk chair rather violently.

"He should be looking out for the people who matter!" Tonks met his glare without a flinch.

"Don't you matter Harry?" Harry continued to glare. He might have lost his faith in Dumbledore, but he still wasn't ready to believe he would break something as confidential as the prophecy with the Order without first telling. If he had done then well...he had a feeling he would completely disown the fact he respected the man. He might matter for the battle, but he sure as hell wasn't going to pretend to be prepared to fight it if he lost the people that really did matter.

"No. The people who matter are the Weasley's, Hermione, you, Remus, the Order members, even Snape for god's sake! The possibility of me living till seventeen is pretty much nil, and I'm never going to make it if anything happens to any of them! Dumbledore needs to make them safe!" Tonks seemed rather taken aback by his outburst and he noticed to his anger tears forming in her eyes. He averted his eyes and directing his glare out of the window and into the expanse of the night sky. He knew his anger was growing too much. There was rarely a day passing nowadays without him feeling it take hold of him in some manner or another. He tried to channel it out of him, glaring at the darkness, letting it absorb what he held in common with Voldemort.

"What do you think would happen to them if they lost you Harry? Forget about the wizarding world and those idiots like Fudge. There are people who love you for you Harry, not the second foremost figure against the Dark." Harry felt his cheeks fill with boiling blood at that, but he managed to keep his outburst under tight control. He channelled it silently to the star he had picked out in the sky, and watched as it blinked violently back at him, almost mockingly. He narrowed his eyes for a long moment before suddenly sighing, feeling himself deflating. It did him no good to be angry - it did no one any good, except Voldemort. It was just another thing he could use against him.

"When's the next Order meeting?" Tonks stared at him for a moment, obviously taken off balance by the sudden change in his attitude.

"Why do you want to know?" Harry grunted in frustration. Need to know basis - he hated the man who had come up with the term. How was he expected to defeat the worst Dark Lord to have graced the world if he didn't even know anything?

"I am interested." He said, in punctually sharp tones. Tonks's face betrayed her hurt for a moment before she eased her face into a weak smile.

"No need to get feisty Harry. It's in a few days time, Thursday."

"Still at the same Headquarters?" Tonks nodded, sighing.

"Yeah. Kreacher topped himself, and he never managed to give away the location because no matter how much he hated it, he was bound to Sirius's orders. Narcissa knows he was the Black's house elf of course, so she knows they're at Black house, but since Dumbledore hasn't told her himself, and she hasn't seen one of his written notes, she can't find the house. She came round a bit nosing the other week, with Draco. Me and Kingsley went and confronted them, saying that there'd been Dark Magic read in the area. They left pretty much straightaway - I think they might have had something on them." Harry smiled weakly at her, silently thanking her for the little titbit of information. Not anything like he was hoping to get, he knew, but it was still something. He ran his hand through his air, glancing at his books and silently planning, wondering just how clever Dumbledore was.

"Why'd you want to know when the meeting was?" Harry paused for a split second before a reason came to mind.

"If they're a monthly event, which means for the meeting time there's no one around here." Tonks chuckled.

"Cor, you really do belong in Slytherin if you're thinking like that Harry." He scowled a bit, glanced up at where Rowena was simply watching them both, looking at him interestedly, but to his surprise without contempt. He met her stare for a moment before dragging his gaze back to where Tonks had taken the short break to make her nose smaller, and her eyes a soft brown.

"Any reason you're changing?" Tonks simply shrugged.

"Never stay looking the same too much, helps keeps enemies away." Harry watched as with what looked like almost painful concentration, she slowly grew a few inches, and filled out. He had to smile a bit when he was introduced to a fat Tonks.

"You look charming." Tonks gave him a sour look before picking up her wand from her side.

"I should get going. Anything else?" Harry paused before nodding, gesturing to his parchment strewn desk.

"I want you to deliver these for me." Tonks frowned.

"Harry...its parchment. Everyone has..."

"It's not just parchment. It's two-way charmed parchment." Tonks looked at him questionably. With a small shake of the head Harry reached over and took up his quill, feeding it with ink. After clearing it of blotch drops, he carefully wrote a greeting on one piece of parchment. He smiled to himself as Tonks gasped as it appeared on its twin next to it.

"God that's useful. No way can that get intercepted..."

"Exactly. Could you give these to some of my friends? I don't think Hedwig should take them just in case." Tonks slowly nodded, her eyes scanning over the parchment before she grinned.

"More from your vault?" He nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, told you it had some really useful stuff. This is just from the Ministry vault; I didn't go in my family one. So, will you?" Tonks nodded again as an affirmative.

"Course. Who shall I take them to?" Harry pulled out his spare wand, and began carefully cutting through the charms on the pieces of parchment to burn initials into the top corners of the parchment. Tonks watched silently as he worked for almost ten minutes, counteracting the copy process to make sure that the initials stayed and were not absorbed and copied. It was much more difficult than he had expected, but by the third pair, he felt he was beginning to get the use of it.

"Right, first of all this is yours." Tonks tentatively took the parchment from him before giving him a smile and tucking it to his embarrassment down her blouse. He glanced quickly back to the table.

"If you could take this one to Remus? Is he at headquarters?" Tonks nodded her smile slipping.

"Yeah...this'll do him good Harry. He's been really depressed, and his last transformation was awful...it took him nearly three days to wake up." Harry's lip trembling for the briefest moment was the only testament to his emotion, which he quickly covered up.

"Please make sure he gets it then. Now...these, I want to go to Neville, Luna, Ron, Hermione and Ginny respectively if that's alright?" Tonks nodded, quickly conjuring a bag for the parchments.

"Shouldn't be too hard to get a hold of if they're home." Harry nodded vaguely, wondering who to give the remaining pieces to. With a small nod to himself he began engraving again.

"If you'll give this to Moody...and this one I suppose to Dumbledore?" Tonks nodded and took the pieces without hesitation. Harry chewed on his lip on deciding who to give the others to. With a last thought he waved the parchment to a side.

"That's all I think." Tonks looked at the last piece curiously but nodded.

"Alright. You should know that Dumbledore and Mad Eye will be really wondering where and how you got these." Harry nodded.

"I know. Tell them you don't know, and I'll answer any questions they might send me within reason." Tonks frowned but nodded again, looking hesitant for a moment.

"Don't do anything stupid before I come again, will you?" Harry gave her a small smile.

"Of course not. When can you come again?" Tonks looked a bit surprised, but quickly covered up with a bright smile that looked heartfelt.

"I'll come after the day after the meeting if that's alright?" Harry nodded happily, glancing at Rowena who was watching him with more than a bit of sharpness. He had an uncanny idea she had an idea he was up to something.

"Just remember, please don't tell anyone about all of this...I don't think it's a good idea to tell them about Rowena either, I'll do that in my own time." He heard a quiet cough from the portrait and sent her an amused smile before turning back to see Tonks agreeing.

"Alright Harry, but I can't keep a secret from Dumbledore forever, if he orders me straight out...I can only go about the truth so much before he finds out I'm lying." Harry nodded understandingly.

"I know. If you have to, just tell him to ask me, and if he invades your mind, he can forget about me doing anything for the good of the wizarding world." Tonks eyes widened considerably at that.

"Harry..." Harry sighed and waved a hand.

"I'll speak to you later. Don't worry about it for now." Tonks eyed him for a long time, before suddenly pulling him into a hug to his surprise. He hadn't had chance to react though before she pulled back and disappeared with an audible crack.

"What are you planning?" Harry swam slowly through his confused thoughts before turning to Rowena.

"I have someone else to give the parchment to, but I don't want anyone knowing about him." Not waiting for a reply, he turned to the remaining parchment and engraved an X onto the top right hand corner.

"And about the meeting?" Harry glanced at her, frowning in thought.

"I'm not really sure yet. It depends what I learn beforehand." Rowena gave him a piercing look.

"I believe the meeting is meant to be private." He was reminding much too much of Hermione in that instant.

"I also believe I have more right than any in that room to know what Voldemort is up to." To his surprise he saw a sly smile show on Rowena's face.

"I must say I agree with you boy. Now, how would you like a little instruction?"

A/N: For regular story updates and notifications, please join my Yahoo Group which can be found on my profile

[#]Beta needed[#]