"Harry! Nymmy! Hurry up or we'll be late!"

"Where's my wand holster?!"

"On your dresser!"

"Is Hedwig down there?!"

"Yes!"

"It isn't THERE! I meant my shoulder holster!"

"That's in your trunk!"

Tonks appeared at the top of the staircase, blinking. "That's right, I stuck it in there last night before I went to bed. Oi, c'mon, Harry!"

"Coming!" Harry replied, bolting from the guest bedroom while tugging on his favorite shirt (black with green trim).

Andromeda shrunk their trunks down and stuck them into her pocket, grabbing Hedwig's cage and ushering the children out of the house.

"We'll be going by car." Andromeda said, nodding toward a rather rickety-looking auto. "It's not much, but it gets me where I need to go when I have to travel into Muggle-heavy areas. Into the back with the two of you - come on!"

Once situated in the back, Harry was given his owl's cage, which he set between himself and his friend. Andromeda hopped into the front seat and, after a few attempts, got the car started.

"Too bad we couldn't have lunch first, eh, Harry?" Tonks asked as her stomach growled.

Harry nodded, his own following suit.

"Don't worry - there's a witch with a food cart that travels the length of the train a few times during the trip - you can get something from her." Andromeda said as she pulled the car out onto the road. "Just don't fill up too much or you won't have any room left for the start-of-term feast!"

"Feast?" Tonks said, perking up quite a bit.

"Oh yes. After the first years get sorted into their houses, the house tables fill up with all sorts of wonderful things. There's a good feast at the start and end of each term." Andromeda said with a fond smile of remembrance. "So, do you two have any idea of what house you'd like to be sorted into?"

"If I said anything other than Ravenclaw, what would YOU say?" Tonks asked, eyeballing her mother carefully.

"Oh, Nymmy, I don't care what house you get sorted into. As long as you keep your marks up and don't get into too much trouble, I'll be happy. And that goes for you too, Harry." Andromeda said. Then, under her breath, she muttered, "But I really hope the hat has more sense than to stick you lot into Slytherin."

"Hat?" Harry asked, catching the last bit.

"What hat?" Tonks followed.

"Hm? Oh, nothing, nothing. Was just talking to myself." Andromeda said, airily. For the next twenty minutes, Tonks tried to pry the information out of her mother about this hat - but to no avail. The best she got was a wink and a promise that it would be better if it wasn't spoiled.

For the rest of the ride, Harry asked Tonks about her Metamorphmagus powers. He soon learned that, once she got a full grasp of her ability, Tonks would probably become the best prankster that the school would see. Deep down, Harry hoped that he was one, as well. The simple thought of being able to change his face to the point of getting rid of his scar made him quite eager to at least try.

They pulled into King's Cross at ten till eleven. Andromeda rushed the duo down toward the spot where the magical barrier separated the Muggle side from the Wizarding side of the station.

"Now then... this is how we're going to get to Platform Nine and Three Quarters." Andromeda said, nodding toward the magical barrier. "A long while back, wizards devised a way for us to get the Express here without scaring the Muggles out of their wits. And this barrier is the key to it all. Take a run at it, full tilt, and you'll do fine. Don't worry about running INTO it or else you will. Concentrate on running PAST it - or through it. Whichever does the job. You two take a go at it. I'll be right behind you."

Harry and Tonks looked at each other, then looked around the Station. Muggles were coming and going as they pleased, not paying any attention at all to two children and one adult standing in the middle of the area. They nodded to one another and started running, Harry clutching Hedwig's cage close. Both shut their eyes right as they were about
to collide with solid matter...

And were quite surprised at the sight in front of them when they opened their eyes once again. They turned and looked up to see a wrought iron sign that read 'Platform Nine and Three Quarters.' A moment later, Andromeda popped through the barrier, smiling at them. "You both did wonderfully! Wasn't hard at all, was it? Now then, let's get your trunks enlarged and onto the train." She said, pulling their trunks out of her pocket and walking toward the Express.

After enlarging them again, she turned and surveyed the two. With an almost-sad smile, she tugged Tonks into a hug and said, "I don't know what I'm going to do in my spare time with you out of the house. It's going to be awfully quiet..."

"Muum!" Tonks said, whining. "Stoppit! Don't get all mushy on me in the middle of the Platform!"

Though, Harry noticed, she WAS hugging her mother back.

Andromeda gave a great, melodramatic sniffle, then turned to Harry and smiled. "And as for you, young man... you be sure to help keep Nymmy in line, alright? And, if you can, try and keep her from commandeering a Hogwarts toilet seat..."

Harry laughed, then blushed slightly as he, too, was swept up into a hug. After a moment, he hugged the woman back and whispered, "Thank you... for everything."

Andromeda smiled at him as the two let go of one another. "No thanks necessary. I'm just glad we've managed to help put you back together again!"

Just then, the whistle on the giant, red locomotive sounded, startling the trio out of their own little world. Looking around, Andromeda nearly jumped out of her robes. "Oh, what am I DOING?" She said, flailing slightly. "Get onto the train, you two! Go on! Drag your trunks up and leave them off to one side - they'll get to where they need to go!"

Tonks got onto the Hogwarts Express first, followed by Harry, who took a brief moment to gaze at the train - the first he had ever seen up-close before.

"Should I leave Hedwig here, as well?" Harry asked Tonks as they boarded properly.

Tonks looked at where the other students had dropped their trunks. Seeing a few other cages, she shrugged and nodded. "Don't see why not."

"I'll see you a bit later, girl." Harry said to Hedwig, reaching into the cage with a finger to stroke the owl's feathers. Hedwig responded with an almost sleepy-sounding hoot. Harry set her cage on top of his trunk and the two set off to find themselves a compartment.

As they walked, passing other students by, Harry messed with his bangs, hiding his scar as best as he could. Tonks frowned at him and asked, "You really don't want people fawning over you, huh?"

"Let's put it this way - the first thing I'm going to try and do if I AM a Metamorphmagus is to get rid of the stupid thing. All it does is remind me that I don't have any parents and that I'm famous for something I don't even remember." Harry said, voice quiet so as not to attract attention.

Tonks frowned again. "That bad, huh? I thought it looked kinda nice on ya, but..."

Harry blinked at her, but was distracted when a toad nearly collided with his face. A moment later, a loud whine came from somewhere a few compartments down. Exchanging a confused look with Tonks, Harry shrugged. "Hey, this one's empty! We might actually be able to have it to ourselves for the whole of the trip."

The two entered and promptly looked out the window. Finding her mother, Tonks called out to her a few times to get her attention. Once she had, she and Harry spent the next minute waving and saying their goodbyes.

The train sputtered to life with a jolt, sending Harry keeling over onto one of the seats. He popped back up just as quickly to join Tonks in waving goodbye to Andromeda as the train pulled out of the station. Once she was out of sight, Tonks flopped down and sighed.

Sitting opposite her, Harry asked, "Going to miss her, huh?"

"Of course I am! Who's gonna keep her on her toes while I'm at school, huh? Maybe I SHOULD try sending her a Hogwarts toilet seat...y'know, jus' to see what she does." Tonks said, staring down at the floor. Harry smirked. He knew how Tonks must have felt. After all, Andromeda had become almost like family to him in the time he had spent at their house.

But they were off on their own now. Off to a place that Harry could only have dreamed of in the past. And, if Tonks was right about him having the possibility of being a Metamorphmagus...

The two spent the first half hour of the train ride talking excitedly about what the school would look like and what kind of classes that they'd be taking. As they were starting to ponder what kind of teachers the school would have, the door to their compartment slid open and a round-faced boy looked at them and asked, "Have either of you seen a toad?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well, one nearly leapt onto my face around the time the train was about to pull out. It yours?"

"Yeah." The boy said in a dejected voice. "But I don't think he likes me much. Keeps getting away... if you find him, I'm in the last compartment in this section of the train... my name's Neville... Neville Longbottom."

"Harry Potter." Harry said.

"...Are you really?" Neville said, awe in his voice.

"Uh...yeah..." Harry said, nervously glancing to Tonks.

"...Well, it's nice to meet you. I'd better get back to looking for Trevor..." Neville said.

"Good luck finding him." Tonks offered.

The boy nodded and, with a sigh, he slid the door shut and took off down the corridor. Once he was gone, Harry looked at Tonks and asked, "Why would anyone bring a toad in the first place? Kind of useless, aren't they?"

"Mostly." Tonks said, nodding. "Cats and owls are much more useful. Less slimy, too. Now then, what were we talking about?"

"Staff."

"Ah, right! Mum used to tell me stories about the awful Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher she had. Went by the name of Dolchett, I think she said it was. Mean as an angry bee, apparently. Said that he deducted house points almost daily from all four houses..." Tonks said, stretching her legs out on her side of the compartment. Since no one else was beside him, Harry decided to do the same.

"I hope we don't get stuck with any screaming, angry bees for teachers." Harry said, making a face.

"On the plus side, we'd get to see that prat Malfoy get dressed down, too." Tonks said, shrugging.

"True. But just the same..."

The compartment door slid open again. This time, a slender boy with a slightly tired expression on his face stood there. "Oi, anyone else sitting here? Got booted out of the compartment I WAS in...bloody sixth year wanted some girl he fancied to sit there, instead..."

Harry shrugged and swung his legs back down, motioning to the spot beside him. "It's just the two of us." He said.

The boy smiled and entered the compartment, closing the door and flopping down with a groan. "I've been up and down the whole of the train, looking for a free spot. Thanks, by the way. Name's Dean Thomas."

"Harry Potter." Harry said, tentatively.

Dean Thomas raised his eyebrows and surveyed Harry once. "Really? Huh... No offense, but you don't look anything like what I'd imagined..."

"None taken." Harry replied. "Oi, Tonks...you gonna introduce yourself?"

"I was getting to it!" Tonks said, sticking her tongue out at Harry. Turning to Dean, she opened her mouth...closed it...then opened it again and muttered, "Nymphadora Tonks. But just call me 'Tonks'...I hate my first name."

"Don't blame you." Dean said, grinning crookedly. "Well, it's nice to meet you both, in any case. You're lifesavers. I don't think I could have walked another step."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Me an' Harry were jus' shootin' the breeze, anyway. Not like you interrupted anything." Tonks said, looking at Harry and taunting him with how much more legroom she had.

Harry scowled.

Harry and Tonks filled Dean in on what they had been talking about, effectively bringing him into the conversation. The newly-formed trio spent the better part of the afternoon speaking like this until yet another person slid open the compartment door. Tonks took one look and let out a whoop - it was the witch with the food cart.

Harry chuckled and asked for a little bit of everything. After all the talk Tonks had spent going over the massive amounts of strange sweets in the Wizarding world, Harry was dying to try some. And so it came to be that a small mountain of various treats came to rest on the seat beside Tonks.

"Hey, try a chocolate frog - just be quick about biting the thing's legs off first. I had one leap all over the house before I finally caught it." Tonks said, making a face as she recalled the event. She grabbed an unopened chocolate frog and tossed it to Harry, who opened it.

He had just reached for the frog when it leap up and onto his face. It quickly bounded over to (and out) the window. Harry scowled again. "What is it with me and frogs today?" He asked, bitterly.

"What card didja get?" Tonks asked after nearly choking on what she claimed to be an armpit-flavored Every Flavor Bean. When Dean had questioned how Tonks would even know what an armpit tasted like, he received a sharp glare.

"It's Dumbledore!" Harry said, looking down at the picture of the old wizard, who smiled up at him.

"Ah, I have about a half dozen of him. Was kinda hoping to finally get a Hesper Starkey..." Tonks said, pouting.

Harry read over the card. "'Famous for defeating the dark wizard Grindlewald'... what kinda name is 'Grindlewald'? Sounds like something your mum would name a son, Tonks."

"Oh, go soak your head."

"Let's see...'discovered the twelve uses of dragon's blood'... and for 'his work on alchemy with his friend Nicholas Flamel'... not a bad bit of information, that." Harry said. "But what's alchemy?"

"Oh, I know that." Dean piped in. "Had an uncle who tried that once. It's pretty complicated stuff... my uncle just wanted to try turning stuff into gold, though. Ended up getting a month in Azkaban for it... it's illegal to turn things to gold via alchemy..."

"Azkaban?" Harry asked.

"Wizard's pr--" Tonks began, popping a gray bean into her mouth... and immediately spitting it back out. "Prison... bloody hell, did they have to include toilet-flavored beans?"

"Now how do you know what a toilet tastes l--" Harry began. But he, like Dean before him, fell victim to Tonks' death glare.

Harry turned to Dean, leaned in close, and whispered, "I think we should stop asking. I don't want to be hexed before I learn how to defend myself."

Dean raised an eyebrow, but nodded and whispered back, "Agreed. Does she always use such colorful language?"

"First time I've heard her say that." Harry said, shrugging.

"Oi, what're you two so quiet about, eh?" Tonks asked.

"Nothing!" The boys replied in unison.

Tonks was about to open her mouth when, yet again, the compartment door slid open. This time, however, no whoops of joy were made. Tonks made another face, but it wasn't from a badly-flavored bean.

"They're saying all along the train that Harry Potter is on board." Came the drawling voice of one Draco Malfoy. He was flanked by a pair of rather beefy-looking boys. Then, noticing Tonks for the first time, the blonde sneered. "Oh, it's you."

"Nice to see you, too, Malfoy. Who're your goons?" Tonks replied casually.

"Not that it's any of your concern, but this is Crabbe... and this is Goyle." Draco said, nodding over his shoulder at each of his muscle squad in turn. He turned his gaze to Harry, who narrowed his eyes in reply.

"So...you're the great Harry Potter, are you?" Drawled the blonde.

"That's right." Harry answered curtly.

"Not much to show for yourself. I was expecting someone with at least a BIT of class." Draco said, smirking.

"Shove off, Malfoy. Or do you want to be knocked on your butt again?" Tonks taunted, smirking as well.

Draco Malfoy went scarlet. His eyes narrowed to slits and he hissed, "You keep your bloody mouth shut!"

"I take it we don't like this guy?" Dean dryly asked Harry.

"That's a bit of an understatement." Harry replied, just as dryly.

"And who's THIS?" Malfoy said, looking at Dean for the first time.

"Name's Dean Thomas." Dean said shortly.

"Thomas... now where have I heard that name before? Oh, that's right. My father says that YOUR father up and got himself killed." Malfoy said, smiling viciously at the boy.

Anger flickered past Dean's face briefly, but it was gone just as quick. With a careless shrug, he replied, "Dunno. Dad left mum back when I was in diapers. Mum never told me anything about him, though. Far as I know, he's still alive and well."

"Yes, you keep telling yourself that. Listen, Potter..." Draco said, turning back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some Wizarding families are much better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there. I'm even willing to overlook the fact that you sucker-punched me in Madam Malkin's."

With this, the blonde extended a pale hand towards Harry, who looked at it as if it were covered in something foul.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." Harry said, crossing his arms firmly across his chest.

Draco had a mixture of fury, embarrassment, and shock written on his face. Slowly withdrawing his hand, he glared at Harry and growled, "You'll regret that decision, Potter. Mark my words...you WILL regret that. Come on. We're leaving."

Draco slammed the door shut once more, turning and storming off down the corridor with his cronies in check. When he was gone, Harry looked to Dean and asked, "You alright? Looked like he hit a nerve there."

Dean sighed, shrugging. "It's just... well, I'm sure my dad IS dead. Mum got really depressed the one time I asked about him... and there haven't been any letters or anything from him. Even if he's alive, I...I'm not sure I'd want to meet him. I've got a great stepfather now, anyway...so it's not like it really matters... he's been more of a father to me than my real father was."

"Sounds rough." Tonks said around a bean that apparently wasn't horribly-flavored. "Well, now that we ALL hate Malfoy, what's say we introduce our new friend to The List, Harry?"

Harry blinked, then grinned. "You have it with you?!"

"Always." Tonks said, reaching into the pocket of her jeans and pulling out a folded-up piece of parchment - the same one that they had written down ideas on what to do to Draco Malfoy over the course of the year. Tonks handed it over to Harry, who in turn handed it over to Dean.

"We've been working on it ever since we met the ponce in Diagon Alley." Tonks explained.

"Wow...fifty ideas so far? Let's see..." Dean began, skimming over the extensive list. "...'Pink Bits'?!"

Harry snorted. Tonks scowled and blushed.

"...Right. Pink bits. What else... turning his hair rainbow-colored, hitting him with an itching hex... ...Hit him with a curse that removes all of his clothes?!" Dean asked, shuddering at the mental image.

Harry shuddered as well, pointing at Tonks. "Blame her for that one. Though I do have to agree - it WOULD shut him up."

"Yes, but would it be worth making the whole of the school vomit?" Dean asked.

"Good point."

The rest of the trip was spent going over the list, adding to it, and removing certain things that, in retrospect, were really, really bizarre. And, just as they were about to pull into Hogsmeade Station, Dean finally got Tonks to explain just where on earth the term 'Pink Bits' had come from.

He, like Harry, spent the next few minutes in giggles.