"Look! There he is!"

"Is that really him?"

"He's so... so THIN!"

"Loo' a' 'is fore'ead!"

Harry let out a sigh. Ever since he and Tonks had set out from Ravenclaw Tower that morning, students had been whispering about him, pointing him out, and otherwise making him quite uncomfortable. Tonks had put a hand on her friend's shoulder as she watched these events unfold, quite aware of how much Harry disliked his popularity. But in the end, neither could do anything. And so, both decided to simply try and ignore it all.

"Down this way, right?" Tonks asked Harry to cover up the noise of a pair of third year Hufflepuffs pointing and giggling at him.

"I think so... does this bloody place HAVE to be so... so..." Harry trailed off, waving a hand vaguely.

"Confusing to navigate?" Tonks offered.

"Confusing to navigate." Harry repeated, nodding. "First we got held up at that staircase that kept vanishing and reappearing, then we took a wrong turn and wound up back at the Tower, THEN we nearly got bowled over by Peeves..."

"Not a good morning for us." Tonks agreed, shaking her head. "No offense, mate, but I think you're a right bad luck magnet."

"Gee, thanks." Harry replied.

Tonks shrugged. "S'true, isn't it? Anyway, look, that's the door that leads out into the Entrance Hall. Hopefully we aren't TOO late for breakfast."

Harry and Tonks crossed the Great Hall, pointedly ignoring as more students gasped and pointed at Harry. As the two made their way into the Great Hall, Harry let out a sigh. "This is never going to get any easier, is it?"

"Ah, sure it will!" Tonks replied, wheeling Harry towards the Ravenclaw table. "Once they get to know ya like I do, they'll see that you're just like them. Ooh, lookit, they have apple pie on the table! Mum'd have a fit."

Sitting down beside one another, the two Ravenclaw students began piling food onto their plates. In the middle of a conversation about the school's Quidditch pitch, Professor McGonagall passed by them, dropping off two slips of parchment. Raising an eyebrow, Tonks gazed at hers, scowled, and nearly choked on a bit of bacon. "Oh hell." She swore, making a face.

"What?" Harry asked, picking up his and looking it over as well. "Oh, class schedules... so what were y-- ...oh, hell."

"Double Potions with the Slytherins. Hoo-rah and joy." Tonks muttered, casting a glance back at the Slytherin table. "The great ponce isn't here yet. Probably's too used to being served breakfast in bed at home. Hope he gets here too late and has to go without."

"You'd get no complaints from me if it happened." Harry said, shaking his head. "So, let's see... we've got McGonagall first thing after breakfast tomorrow, then Quirrell in the afternoon. Day after it's Flitwick and Sprout. Then Binns. Then Snape...and his lovely Double Potions class. At least it isn't until the end of the week."

"Small comfort that is." Tonks said with a scowl.

The two finished eating quickly, deciding to have a look at the grounds. As they had been eating, both Harry and Tonks had overheard a fifth year Gryffindor mention that some kind of giant squid was out doing the backstroke in the lake. The two had promptly headed outside and started to trek down to the lake in question.

"What's a giant squid doing HERE?" Tonks wondered aloud. "They're fairly rare, I think."

"If you had the choice, wouldn't you want to live here, too?" Harry asked, hands in his pockets. "It IS nice...if you get around the fact that you're a walking display."

Tonks smiled crookedly and patted Harry on the shoulder. "Shall I chuck a rock at them, then?"

The two had noticed that, at SOME point, a pair of second-year Gryffindor girls had started trailing behind them a ways.

Harry waved a hand dismissively. "Not unless I can start to hear them giggling or talking about me. Honestly, I'm not going anywhere. They'll have the same shot at seeing me every day for the rest of the school year..."

"Yeah, but Harry, you hafta look at it from their point for a bit. I mean, you single-handedly got rid of the most powerful Dark Wizard since that Grindelbilly guy." Tonks explained.

"Grindlewald." Harry corrected.

"Whatever. The point is, you're a hero to most Wizarding families. Even I was a bit starstruck when I saw you. 'Course, you weren't in the best o' states at the time." Said Tonks, whose hair suddenly changed from short and blonde to long and black. "Whatcha think? Does it match the robes better? Or would blue hair be a better choice?"

Harry blinked. "Uh... I dunno..." He said, a bit nervously. "Hey, when are we going to start seeing about MY Metamorphmagus possibility?"

"Oh yeah... hey, tell ya what. If we don't get a load of homework by the weekend, we'll sit around somewhere quiet and practice, alright?" Tonks said, grinning.

Harry, for possibly the first time that morning, gave Tonks a smile in return. "Works for me. Oi, look - what's the squid flinging?"

The two had reached the water's edge. Peering out, they could see the giant squid chucking something vaguely blue high into the air. The thrown object would twist around in midair and splash back into the water.

"Merman." Tonks said simply. "Seen all sorts o' pictures in one o' Mum's books. I guess the squid likes 'em. Or...they like the squid. Or somethin'."

The two sat down, laying back on the cool grass and watched the little event. After a while, Harry shut his eyes as a lazy breeze passed by. Smiling, and feeling more than a bit sleepy now that his breakfast was beginning to settle, Harry murmured, "This really is nice..."

Tonks looked down at her friend, tilting her head to one side. "What is? Seeing a giant squid sling mermen into the air?"

"No, no...THIS... Hogwarts, magic... all of it. I don't think I've ever felt so relaxed... even if I AM the spectacle of the whole student body. I know I'm SAFE here, you know? Aside from maybe a few Slytherins and Malfoy...who I already know I can take down... no one here would try coming after me or hurting me..." Harry said, crossing his arms behind his head. "It's just... nice."

"It is nice." Tonks finally agreed. "Seeing you happy makes ME happy." She added with a solemn nod. "You've spent waaaay too much time in a bad situation. S'time you loosened up and had some fun!" And then, quietly, she muttered, "Not that having a Potions class with Malfoy and his Idiot Squadron is fun, but..."

Harry let out a lazy chuckle suddenly. "Been waiting to get here since I learned about it... so whatta I do when I arrive? Spend the morning out here instead of in there."

Tonks stretched out beside her friend, gazing up at the clouds as they slowly floated by. "At least out here we won't fall down a staircase if it decides to bugger off."

Harry laughed. "Is it your mum that keeps that kind of language in check, or are you just feeling a bit more free here?"

"Little o' Column A, little o' Column B." Tonks replied, grinning. "Hey, lookit, Harry! That cloud looks like Malfoy kicked in the jubblies by a gnome!"

Harry snorted, cracking an eye open and following Tonks' outstretched hand. Upon seeing the cloud in question, he grinned. "'Pink bits' indeed."

"RED bits."

The two looked at each other, paused, then dissolved into giggles.

After morning had faded and lunch had been eaten, Harry and Tonks decided to explore the castle a bit. Harry wanted to because he didn't want to be late to any of his classes - Snape's especially. Tonks wanted to because it was a chance to search for hidden passageways and secret doors.

It was in this manner that a pair of eleven year olds found themselves wandering down a very dark corridor that twisted away from the main dungeons. It was dreadfully cold and poorly lit, the only illumination coming from magical torches that were spaced too far apart to be of any real use.

Harry was also expanding his vocabulary, as Tonks had randomly let loose a quiet string of swearing that would have made a sailor blush. "COLD down here!" She grumbled darkly. "Let's go back, Harry, I'm freezing my butt off!"

Harry let out an amused whistle and shook his head. "Where on Earth did you learn THAT?" He asked, inspecting an old, metal door. He shivered when his hand came in contact with it and his handprint was left behind in the dust that seemed to be coating the whole area.

"Uncle Jack. Use ta come an' play chess with my Dad when..." Tonks trailed off slowly.

"'When...' what?" Harry asked, turning to look at the girl.

Tonks hugged herself and sighed, making a face. "...When he was still around. C'mon, Harry... I know ya hadta wonder where my old man was, didn'tcha?"

"Well... maybe once or twice, but... I didn't want to be rude or anything..." Harry admitted, tilting his head. "Feel like talking about it, or...?"

"Nah, it's okay. Left when I was nine, he did." Tonks explained. "He was always gambling, see. Bit of a habit, I guess it was. He blew a TON of money once, right before Christmas. Wasn't a very Happy Christmas THAT year, I'll tell ya right now. Mum was right mad at him for it, too. Told him that if he couldn't get his habit under control, he could shove off. S'just what he did, too. For awhile, he'd stop by every weekend to see me. Then it was every other weekend. Then once a month."

Tonks shivered again and scowled. "Let's head back, alright?"

Harry nodded and the two turned around and began walking the way they came from.

"Anyway... Dad just stopped comin' by, eventually. Mum seemed kinda sad for awhile, but then she got promoted at work...an' that took up a good chunk of her time. Was good for her, too. She seemed happier when she came home...an' the promotion raised her pay, too. We certainly weren't complainin' about THAT." Tonks continued, grinning. "We got on great after that, just the two of us. Haven't heard from Dad in about a year or so now. Dunno what I'd say or do if I saw him again, though."

Harry nodded, taking in his friend's story and thinking it over. After awhile, he began, "Still, I think you're pretty lucky. Given what kinda guardians I had, though..." Harry shook his head, then went on, "You know what I mean. You know, I don't even know what my parents LOOK like? My aunt and uncle didn't have any photographs of them around or anything..."

"S'too bad, mate." Tonks said. "Hey, maybe we can ask Dumbledore if he knows anyone that has a photo or two t'spare, huh? He's old enough, I'm sure he was headmaster back THEN, too."

Harry blinked. "Hey, yeah... Dunno why I never thought o' that..."

Tonks smirked. "Well, s'prolly 'cause you're as thick as that clam chowder that Mum tried making that one day."

"Thanks a lot." Harry replied before sticking out his tongue and shuddering. "And don't remind me o' that stuff. We really should've just said how gross it was. My stomach's still not forgiven me for eating that."

"Same here. Ah, look. We're free! Let's go back to the common room, 'kay? I wanna warm up." Tonks said, rubbing her arms to try and ward the coldness away.

"Sure, I'm k-- hell, HIDE!" Harry said, suddenly grabbing Tonks by her shoulders and tugging her into a little alcove towards the end (or was it the beginning) of the chilly corridor.

"Harry, what...?!" Tonks began, but Harry put a finger to his lips to indicate for her to keep quiet. Her brow creased, but after a moment, she understood why they were hiding. There were voices. Voices that sounded angry. Voices that were steadily approaching.

"--d-don't know what you're t-talking about!"

"Don't play dumb with me! Everyone else may fall for your act, but I shall NOT! You know NOTHING! I would be much better suited for--"

Harry and Tonks exchanged a glance.

'Snape?' Tonks mouthed. Harry nodded, then mouthed, 'Quirrell.'

"Really, S-Severus, I...I know you don't like me, but...but..."

"But nothing!" Snarled Snape. "And if you don't say anything--"

The voices trailed off as the two teachers stormed their way past the entrance to the corridor the two Ravenclaws were hiding in. After a few moments of listening to the arguing voices fade, Harry and Tonks came out of the alcove.

"That was weird." Tonks said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Nice temper, Snape. Friday's going to be just lovely." Harry said, sighing. "Come on, let's get out of here before they come back."

The two quickly left the corridor, then the dungeons entirely, making their way back towards Ravenclaw Tower. As they did, the two talked about the odd argument.

"Guess he's mad that Quirrell won't retire or somethin'." Tonks suggested.

"Quirrell does seem a bit dodgy, doesn't he?" Harry asked, frowning. "Wonder what Defense Against the Dark Arts is going to be like..."

"Wonder if he'll be able to teach us anything between stutters." Tonks said. "Guess we'll find out tomorrow, huh?"

"Yeah..." Harry said, fishing around in his robes and pulling out his schedule. "Whatcha think Flying class will be like? Looks like it's this week only..."

Tonks shrugged. "It's something to look forward to. You hear what those fourth years were saying about History of Magic this morning?"

"Yeah. Couldn't they have made our schedules so we'd have at least one interesting class in the second half of the week?" Harry asked, slipping the paper away. "The way they were going on, you'd think that you could just fall asleep in class an' still get away with good marks."

"So we're going to be put to sleep, then we get to go ride brooms. Yeah, that's not a dangerous combination in the making." Tonks said with a sigh.

"Lucidus Susceptor." Harry said as they arrived at the portrait of Walter the Wise. The ancient-looking wizard in the portrait smiled up at the two from where he was sitting, reading a rather sizable book. "Right you are." He said, his portrait swinging open. Harry and Tonks headed through and into the Ravenclaw common room.

"Mmmm, heat heat heat heat heat!" Tonks said, bouncing her way over to the semi-circular couch and flopping down on it. With a cat-like purr, the girl stretched once and promptly groaned. "Mmm, gotta stop doing that. My spine doesn't like it." She said.

Rolling his eyes, Harry sat at one end of the couch, a few spaces down from Tonks. "I don't like it, either. I've done a few of those stretches, too."

"Oi, Harry."

"Hm?"

"You notice something strange on our way back up?"

"Strange? Tonks, everything seems strange to me - remember where I came from."

"No, I mean... look, I think someone was following us!"

"What?"

Tonks sat up with a yawn, draping her arms over the back of the couch and looking over at Harry. "You didn't notice? Wasn't one of your fanclub, either. Was a guy. Looked like a Gryffindor, too."

Harry blinked. "What would another guy from Gryffindor want from me?"

Tonks shrugged. "Dunno, but he seemed real careful of keeping himself hidden. Saw him out of the corner of my eye a few times when we went around corners."

"Not good enough to know what he looked like, huh?"

"Nah. Hey, maybe we'll luck out an' he'll do it again when we go down for supper."

"Oh, huzzah."

Tonks giggled, scooting down the couch and playfully slugging Harry in the arm. "Aww, c'mon, ickle Harrykins. I'll pwotect you fwom the big, bad Gwyffindoh stalkehhhh...."

Harry scowled, swatting at Tonks' hand, sticking his tongue out at her. "Quiet, you. Or I'll..."

"You'll what? Hex me?"

"Yeah!"

"With what?! You don't know any spells yet, ya silly sod!"

Harry opened his mouth. Then he closed it. Then he opened it again. Then he closed it. He then scowled and stuck out his tongue once more. "I hate you."

Tonks grinned, slinging an arm around Harry and giving him a quick, one-armed hug. "Aww, don't pout, mate. After what you did to Malfoy, I'm perfectly sure you're capable of slugging anyone that bugs ya too much."

"Ah, the look on his face." Harry said, grinning as the memory resurfaced.

"Didn't think ya had it in ya, y'know. That punch came outta nowhere, too. I'm surprised y'didn't hurt your knuckles any more than y'did, though." Tonks said.

Harry blushed slightly, though for the life of him, he didn't know just why. "Yeah, well... he was insulting you, wasn't he? You're the first real friend I've ever had."

Tonks grinned even wider. "You're bluuuushiiiing, Harryyyy..."

"What? I am not!" Harry said, rubbing at his cheeks and frowning.

"Are so."

"Am not."

"Are so."

"Am not."

"Are so."

"Am so."

"Are not. ...Wait, damn. Don't do that!" Tonks said, slugging Harry's arm again and sticking HER tongue out. Harry smirked a triumphant smirk, gazing off towards the fire. All throughout the common room, various students were lounging around and talking, though it did seem rather empty at the moment.

"Everyone must be wanderin' around like we were." Tonks said, giving the room a once-over. "Hope they don't run across Snape and Quirrell, too."

"Oi, Tonks."

"Hm?"

"Plan on keeping your arm around me all day or somethin'?"

Tonks blinked, then shrugged and removed her arm from around Harry's shoulders. "Why? You scared someone's gonna think you're my boyfriend for REAL? I s'pose I COULD pull that act again, if ya wanted. Might help keep some of those fangirls of yours away."

"That... or they'd hunt you down as one giant lynch mob." Harry replied blandly. "S'your call. I just didn't want people to get the wrong impression. The last thing I need is to get pulled aside after classes and asked, over and over, if we're going out or something. No offense, Tonks."

"None taken."

################################

"I hate that poltergeist!"

"You hate him? You didn't get a water balloon to the face!"

"No, but he nearly made me break my ankle!"

"McGonagall's gonna be mad."

"McGonagall hasn't looked anything BUT mad since we got here!"

"That's entirely beside the point! C'mon, it's this one!"

Tonks (who was limping slightly) and Harry (who was somewhat drenched) made their way into Professor McGonagall's classroom, finding it almost filled to capacity with students who had gotten there on time. It didn't seem as if the Professor was there yet, though. Tonks let herself grin aside to Harry. "Looks like we made it, after all."

But as the two began walking towards an empty spot, a cat (who neither had noticed sitting on the Professor's desk) leapt to the ground and promptly changed forms. Harry nearly keeled over backwards. Tonks let out a surprised 'yip!' but otherwise kept herself upright.

Professor McGonagall surveyed the two tardy students slowly before asking, "And why, may I ask, are the two of you late?"

"Peeves." Tonks offered, motioning towards Harry.

After a moment of pause, McGonagall sighed and pulled out her wand, swishing it once in Harry's direction. Instantly, the raven-haired boy was dry again. He blinked, patting himself down, before offering the woman a faint smile and saying, "Thanks."

"You're quite welcome, Mr. Potter. Now sit down, both of you. And be glad it was only Peeves that made you late." McGonagall said, turning and walking back to her desk.

"Now that we're all here..." Here the Professor gave Tonks and Harry a pointed look. "We may begin. Welcome to Transfiguration...."

################################

"Hey, Tonks."

"Yeah?"

"Make a note to add a new entry into The List once we get back to the common room. I want to make Peeves trail Malfoy for a whole day or something."

Tonks grinned, shaking her head as the two exited McGonagall's classroom. Harry was in a considerably better mood now that he had actually been able to perform a bit of magic. They had spent the whole of the first class trying to change sewing needles into miniature quills. Harry hadn't quite gotten the hang of it – his needle had sprouted a handful of tiny feathers that had refused to stay attached.

Tonks, on the other hand, managed to get a writing tip onto her needle. But it had tried spitting ink at her at one point, at which she squeaked and ducked. The ink flew over where she had been, letting Terry Boot get a face full.

The two were on their way toward the Great Hall for lunch when, out of the corner of her eye, Tonks spotted something. Barely opening her mouth, she murmured, "Oi, we're being followed again. S'that Gryffindor again. No, don't look! We can see who he is after we get inna the Great Hall..."

Harry nodded slightly and the two proceeded down the main staircase. "Hope he doesn't want t'ask me a bunch of questions." Harry said quietly. "Not like I remember anything about... about that time..."

Tonks remained silent. She knew that Harry still thought back to the night his parents had died. Ever since he had been told of it, he had periodically been subject to nightmares of the event. Before, he had just dreamt of a bright, green light from time to time.

Harry and Tonks entered the Great Hall shortly thereafter, heading towards the nearest end of the Ravenclaw table. Trying to make themselves look interesting in the food in front of them, they made sure to note everyone who walked into the room. And the first Gryffindor student to enter was...

"There!" Tonks hissed from around a bite of roll.

A nervous-looking redheaded boy was entering the Great Hall. His eyes immediately went to the Ravenclaw table and, indeed, to where Harry and Tonks were sitting. Harry made a noise that sounded like an irritated grunt in his throat, muttering, "I'm gonna go see what he wants. Wanna come with?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

Harry made eye contact, making the redhead freeze up. The two stood and walked toward him, causing him to backpeddle slightly.

"Now then," Tonks began as they drew near, "You gonna tell us why you've been followin' us around since yesterday, or do we gotta smack it outta ya? Harry has a mean right hook."

The boy squeaked, looking from Tonks to Harry...then up to Harry's forehead. "Are... are you... REALLY...?" He began.

"That's right." Harry said. "I'm Harry Potter. No, I can't tell you how I did what I did. No, my life hasn't been riches and glory. And no, I don't like all of the attention. That should cover any basic questions..."

The boy blinked, eyes flickering to the Gryffindor table briefly. "I...I wasn't going to... I mean, I just wanted to know..."

"You Professor Quirrell's kid or somethin'?" Tonks asked, raising an eyebrow. At this, the boy made a face, standing up a bit straighter.

"'Course I'm not. Do I look like him? My name's Ron. Ron Weasley."

"Weasley..." Tonks repeated, frowning slightly.

"Ring a bell?" Harry asked, looking to his friend.

"Kinda. Mum's mentioned that name a time or two..." Tonks said, looking at Ron. "Oi, anyone in your family work at the Ministry?"

"My dad does." Ron said. "Misuse of Muggle Artifacts..."

"Hm... must have been in passing, then. Mum doesn't work there..." Tonks said, shrugging. "Anyway... whatcha been followin' us for?"

Ron opened his mouth, then paused. A little embarrassed, he shrugged and murmured, "Just wanted to see if it was really him, that's all. Mum was going on and on about him before we left this year. Told us to 'not ask him anything stupid'... Like I was gonna come up and ask if he knew how he beat... how he beat You-Know-Who..."

"Voldemort?" Harry asked, his mind slipping for a moment.

Ron gaped. "Y...you... you said..."

Tonks slapped her forehead, then turned to whisper into Harry's ear, "Watch it! Remember what I said about his name? No one likes hearin' it!"

Harry scowled. "Do you think I do? He did murder my parents, Tonks. But he's gone now, and I'm not going to let a memory spook me."

"Wow..." Ron breathed, blinking at Harry. "Only person I've ever heard to say his name before was Dumbledore... he had to stop by our house over the Christmas Holidays once when Fred and George practically blew up one of the prefect bathrooms..."

"Fred and George?" Harry asked.

"Older brothers. They're twins." Ron explained, turning and pointing the two pranksters out to Harry and Tonks. "Those two. Can't miss 'em. ...Don't take anything to eat that they offer you, by the way."

"Why?"

"They like messing with things. Couple o' regular jokers, those two. They keep saying that they'll put Zonko's out of business one of these days." Ron said, shaking his head. "Mental, they are."

"Oh, hey! Hi, you two. Haven't seen you in awhile!" Came a voice from behind the trio. They turned to see Dean Thomas walking into the Great Hall, grinning. "Ron, you know Harry and Tonks, too?"

"Uh...well, kinda. Just met, in fact..." Ron said, sounding nervous once more.

"Met 'em on the train." Dean said, smirking.

"Whatta you mean, 'awhile'? We've only been here two days!" Tonks exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, well. That counts as 'awhile,' doesn't it?" Dean asked.

Harry groaned. "Right, you three keep on. I'm going to go eat. I want to set off for Quirrell's class early, in case that bloody poltergeist shows up again."

Dean winced. "Met Peeves, huh?"

"You could say that." Harry said darkly. "Only I was on the receiving end of a water balloon before McGonagall's class."

Ron and Dean both winced at this. "Ouch." Said the latter. "Have fun with Quirrell, Harry. You'll spend most of his class waiting for him to spit out what he's trying to say."

"You've had him already?" Tonks asked.

Ron chimed in at this, looking to Dean, then to Tonks and Harry. "Yeah. First thing. Took five whole minutes for him to give out our first assignment at the end of class, too. Doubt he knows the first thing about Dark Arts, if you ask me."

"Lovely." Harry said with a sigh. "Well, if you two'll excuse us..."

"Right, I'm starving, too." Dean said, rubbing his stomach. "Though I think I'm gonna be avoiding anything with garlic in it for awhile. Quirrell's classroom positively stinks with the stuff."

"Paranoid about vampires, he is." Ron added.

Harry and Tonks exchanged a look before saying goodbye to the two Gryffindors and heading back to their table. "Well," Harry began, sitting down and reaching for his goblet of pumpkin juice. "That was informative."

"Yeah." Agreed Tonks. "You have a red-haired fanboy with a pair of brothers that we really need to get to know, apparently... and we should be glad we have Quirrell AFTER lunch."

Harry looked to the Gryffindor table, eyeballing the Weasley twins.

"Harry? ...Harry, I know that look. What're you thinking?"

Harry grinned aside to Tonks. "Well, Ron said his brothers are a pair of jokers, right? Said they almost blew up a bathroom, yeah? Well... what if we flagged them down sometime and asked if they had any ideas on additions to The List?"

Tonks' eyes lit up. "Hey, yeah! Four heads are better than two! We can hunt 'em down this weekend after we get in some Metamorphmagus training for ya, how 'bout?"

"Sounds like a plan." Harry said, trying not to laugh as one Draco Malfoy entered the Great Hall, swaggering as if he were more important than everyone else.

"This is gonna be FUN."

###################

Author's Notes: FFN sucks. Even with someone formatting my original .txt files, FFN still

doesn't show them with the formatting I wrote them with. Hence why things look a bit on

the strange side. Sorry about that, all. x.x Anyway, I'm astounded at the mass amount of

comments I've gotten on this already. OO; Trust me, it helps knowing that people want to

read more when you're sitting there with writer's block. 10 should be out within a week

or so.