A/N: Just a little note. Have realised that Hogwarts students usually go back on a Sunday, therefore Sirius' memorial would have been on the Saturday. My bad! And also thanks so much for the reviews! They make me all warm and tingly inside :)
Harry woke the next morning feeling slightly disorientated. He blinked several times to get used to the sunlight and reached for his glasses. Ron, who was fully dressed and emptying the contents of his trunk onto the bedroom floor, looked up and gave Harry a grin.
"Alright mate? Thought you were going to sleep all day! Ginny's just been up. Her and Hermione are going down to get some food from the kitchens. Fancy a trip?" Harry rubbed his eyes, thinking it very strange for Hermione to want to put the House-Elves out of their way.
"Yeah, ok. Give us a minute."
They went down the spiral staircase to meet the girls. They both seemed a great deal happier than they had the day before.
"Morning Harry," Ginny said brightly. She had obviously forgiven him for putting Tonks through hell the previous morning.
"Afternoon," Hermione corrected, but she smiled. The four walked slowly together through the castle. It seemed so quiet without the rest of the students there. Of course, there had been times at Christmas when Harry had seen the castle empty, but to have the sun shining so brightly made it feel weird.
"Seen Tonks at all?" Harry asked and they all shook their heads. "We should go up and visit her in her new office later," he suggested.
"She's so sly! I can't believe she kept that from us," Ron exclaimed indignantly.
"I hope she lasts longer than a year," Ginny mused. They had reached the portrait of fruit, which concealed the entrance to the kitchen. Harry tickled a pear absently and waited for the kitchen to appear.
He was greeted with a squeal.
"Harry Potter! How good it is to see you!" Dobby came pelting towards them.
"Hi Dobby," Harry muttered, trying to shake Dobby off from his waste. "Good to see you too."
"We know you're busy getting the feast ready and everything, but could we get some sandwiches?" Ron was asking a nearby elf, who scampered away to do as he was told. "Please," he added quickly, feeling Hermione's glare on him.
"Dobby heard about your loss, Harry Potter. Winky and I send our deepest conveniences." He held out a bunch of yellowy brown flowers that had seen better days. Harry took them reluctantly.
"Thanks, Dobby." Dobby beamed at him.
"Winky picked them herself!" Harry didn't doubt that.
The four spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking their trunks and lazing by the lake, making the most of the summer before the start of term brought the autumn weather. Hermione and Ginny were paddling their feet in the cool water. They gave a shriek as Ron splashed them. Ginny took it upon herself to get payback. She shot after her brother, her legs just as lanky as his, and with Hermione's help managed to drag him fully clothed into the water. Harry gave a laugh which he hid quickly as Ron turned around. He didn't particularly want to join him.
"I'm off to see Tonks," he called to them after a while. He made his way back up to the castle, hearing Ginny's shrieks of protest in the distance. He paused outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, thinking of it's many former inhabitants, and then gave a knock. There was no reply.
"Tonks?" he called. The door was unlocked. Harry crossed the empty classroom and stood at the bottom of the stone steps to the office. "Tonks? Are you up there?"
"She's not here." A voice made him spin around. Floating behind him was the translucent Nearly Headless Nick.
"Oh. Hi Sir Nicholas," Harry greeted him, and then paused. "Listen, about what happened at the end of term, I'm sorry. I just got a little over-emotional. I shouldn't have taken it out on you." The ghost's partially severed head wobbled as he shook it.
"Don't be silly, boy. It's understandable. I hope you've worked some things out over the summer." Harry nodded, feeling that he had.
"Well, I'd best be off," he said, though he didn't really have anywhere to be. "See you tonight."
Tonks didn't turn up for the rest of the day. Harry and friends had spent the rest of their free time outside, Hermione joining him by the tree while Ron and Ginny continued their water war. Professor McGonagall came out onto the grounds as the sun began to go in, and told them to get ready as the train was expected to arrive shortly.
"And watch Mr Filch doesn't catch you two dripping on the floors," she added to the Weasleys, their trademark red hair dark with water.
Ron gave a laugh as he and Harry changed into their robes.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked, curiously.
"Just wondering how Snape's gonna react to Tonks getting the Defence post. Can't wait to see the look on that creep's face!" Harry grinned in agreement.
As Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny entered the Great Hall, pupils had already started arriving. Luna Lovegood was sat at the Ravenclaw table. She watched them pass, her dazed eyes following them, and offered them a dreamy smile. As they reached their end of the Gryffindor table, Ginny broke away to sit with Dean Thomas. Ron glowered.
"Oh yeah, forgot about him."
"Him? He's your friend Ron," Hermione said impatiently, taking a seat. "Honestly, are you going to be like this with every boy Ginny sees?" Ron nodded firmly.
"Of course, she's my little sister!"
"What if she had gone out with Harry?" Hermione suggested. Harry coughed, wishing to be kept out of the conversation.
"Oh… well… that would have been ok," Ron said weakly. Hermione gave a twisted smile and turned to see the first years entering through the large wooden doors with Hagrid and Professor McGonagall.
"They are so titchy!" Ron exclaimed. Harry recalled him saying a similar thing the previous year. "I don't think I was ever that small."
The Sorting took place rather quickly, much to Harry's liking. He hadn't eaten much in the past few days. The Sorting Hat's song, though rather controversial the year before, turned out to be quite tame. Harry guessed that Dumbledore might have asked it to tone it down. The Hall fell silent as Dumbledore rose.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. First Year's are reminded that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds. I feel it necessary to emphasise this. Although it is aptly named for a reason, some students in the past have let the word Forbidden go over their heads." He gave a quick glance over to the Gryffindor table, and then continued. "As is the seeming tradition, we have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher; Professor Tonks." She crinkled her nose and shook her head as they gave her a round of applause. Snape looked seething. Harry had never seen Snape look as if he were about to throw up out of anger, or even haul the nearest heavy thing at Dumbledore in punishment for his stupidity. Dumbledore continued obliviously. "Do make her feel welcome. Now I feel I have spoken too long, please tuck in." Harry didn't need telling twice. He helped himself to a plateful of whatever was nearest. He heard Neville Longbottom, who was sat opposite him, ask a question all too loudly.
"Wasn't she with us at the Ministry?" Hermione hissed at him to keep quiet and Neville's cheeks flamed. He didn't speak for the remainder of the mealtime. Harry spared a glance over to the Slytherin table and wasn't surprised to see Malfoy sneering towards Tonks, wearing a similar look to Snape. He had also given a look of pure disappointment, when spotting Harry. Having not seen him on the train, Malfoy had probably guessed that Harry had been expelled or more hopefully killed. When all the food had gone, and the students became chatty once more, Dumbledore dismissed them to bed. In the commotion of children leaving, Harry decided to risk wandering over to the staff table.
"Alright 'Arry?" Hagrid asked as he passed, placing a heavy hand on the boy's shoulder and making his knees buckle. Harry nodded to his friend and made his way down the table to where Tonks was talking animatedly to the tiny Professor Flitwick.
"Hey there kiddo," she said, grinning at him. "What do you reckon, eh? Professor Tonks! We'll have none of that!" she decided firmly. Harry grinned back at her.
"I came to see you today, but I couldn't find you," he told her. She looked sheepish.
"Ah, well you see… I was a tad hung-over. But that's just between you and me. It's this place...brings out the worst in me. Plus it was a bad day in general." Harry nodded his understanding. "But thanks for looking me up. You can come visit me anytime you want. Not that I'm prone to favouritism," she winked at him, "but what can you do?"
Harry said goodnight to her, and made his way up to the common room. He bypassed a group of nervous First Years, who were huddled in a corner. They gave him a look of curiosity, which he was much more grateful for than that of fear which he had received in previous years. He reached his dorm, feeling more tired than he had thought. He said goodnight to his roommates and went straight to bed, actually looking forward to the start of classes the next day.
Harry was no longer looking forward to classes.
"Oh great! Double Potions on a Monday morning. Kill me now!" Harry pleaded, throwing his timetable onto the long Gryffindor table. Ron looked at him sympathetically.
"Could be worse."
"That's easy for you to say. You aren't taking Potions any more." As much as Ron had liked the idea of becoming an Auror, when receiving his OWL results (most of which were above average.) he was reluctant to take on Potions for his NEWTS. Harry had been surprised at this; Ron was much better at Potions than he, himself, was.
"Look, we have Defence Against the Dark Arts this afternoon," Hermione pointed out. Harry snatched his timetable up from off the table. Sure enough, Hermione was correct. However, he wasn't sure if even a lesson with Tonks would cure the gloom that Double Potions was bound to cause.
Potions went reasonably well. Harry had to admit that he missed Ron. Hermione was there, constantly giving him words of support and telling him to 'be careful' when addressing Snape; a habit she had picked up after all of their years in class together. Harry missed Neville too. Now he was gone, Harry was made a mockery of more than usual. It wasn't as if Harry was bad at Potions, it was his hatred of Snape that caused him to make the amount of mistakes that he did. And Draco Malfoy did not help matters at all.
Snape had entered with his usual air of importance, however he looked more put out than usual. Hermione guessed it was to do with Tonks and Harry had to agree as Snape took his frustration out on him for the entire double period.
"It will not take long for you to notice," he addressed the class in his typical drone, "that NEWT level is extremely complex. There will be no room for silly mistakes." His eyes fell briefly on Harry. "And those who fall below my standards too many times may find themselves in a different classroom, taking another subject. You have been warned."
The lesson consisted of both theory and practical. Harry successfully made a cauldron of Calming Draught, much to Snape's obvious disappointment. Harry even felt confident when Snape set an essay to be handed in for next week; Research the ways in which Calming Draught differs from Sleeping Draught; both structurally and in terms of effect. He only hoped he felt as confident in a week's time when he handed it in and made a mental note not to put off homework to the last minute this year.
As lunchtime arrived, Harry found himself highly anticipating Defence Against the Dark Arts. He had always like the subject, (apart from the previous year, but who could blame him?) and he had always done well in his end of year exams.
It came as no surprise that many Year 6 students were taking DADA at NEWT level. Word of the war was spreading, as it had been for years. However, people were beginning to believe in what they were being told; Voldemort was back, and this time he was stronger than ever.
The class gathered outside the classroom door after lunch. Most pupils were chatting eagerly with each other about their new teacher.
"I think she looks really interesting," Lavender Brown was saying.
"Interesting is right," Malfoy muttered to Crabbe. Eventually, Ron got bored of standing around and tried the door. It was unlocked and he went in, followed by his fellow classmates. They took their usual seats near the back. Moments later the door swung open and Tonks entered. She didn't acknowledge the class.
"Wands away, books out." The room was silent. Mouths hung open. Neville glanced at Ron who looked bewildered and shrugged. Tonks turned to the class and grinned.
"Ha, you should have seen the looks on your faces! I've done that with every class today and you guys have taken the lead for best reaction." She jumped up onto her desk behind her, and then folded her legs underneath her. She wore a baggy pair of old jeans and a tight black t-shirt that had the words 'Muggle Lover' written in pink across her chest. Malfoy was looking at it in obvious disgust.
"Hey," she said to them as they settled down, looks of relief fading from their faces. "My name is Tonks." She pointed at the board with her wand and the word appeared in purple chalk. "Please don't call me Professor Tonks, it makes me sound like an old man!"This caused alaughed. "I will be attempting to teach you Defence Against the Dark Arts this year, but I guess you already know that." She jumped down from the table. "Right, first thing's first, I need to know what you've already learnt. I take it you've had some… interesting teachers since you started here," The side of her mouth quirked up in amusement. "And I'm not going to disappoint you by breaking that tradition. So… who wants to share the goss?" Ron's hand shot up, much to Harry's surprise; he had been expecting Hermione's hand to rise.
"Yes, Ron?"
"Well, last year Umbridge taught us nothing." The class laughed, including Tonks.
"Thanks for that Ron. It's good to know that your lessons can only improve this year. Anyone else?"
The discussion took most of the lesson. Harry was glad to see Tonks smiling again.
"Right, well I feel I've kinda got to know you all a bit better now. But when I next see you later in the week… Thursday is it… then we'll start lessons for real, ok? I'm going to be focussing mainly on practical. Sorry for all you Umbridge fans out there. I will set homework." There was a communal groan, "But it won't be often." Hermione's face fell. "Well, get going then poodles. I'll see you all on Thursday. Read a chapter or something, I dunno. Chapter 3, there you go," she called after them. Harry did not have chance to speak to Tonks after the lesson, she merely waved from the stairs to her office.
"That was interesting," Ron said as they headed up to Gryffindor common room.
"Yeah, should be fun this year, don't you reckon?" Harry replied.
"Yes," Hermione said quietly, though she seemed unsure. Although Tonks was her friend, Harry guessed that the homework comment hadn't gone down to well.
"I might go visit her tonight. See how she's settling in." Harry added. Hermione looked up sharply.
"Be careful though Harry, it might not be wise to parade the fact that you and Tonks are close." Harry frowned at her.
"I'm not going to 'parade'!" he said indignantly.
"Hermione, you worry too much," Ron stated, supporting Harry. She huffed loudly in response and went first through the hole behind the Fat Lady, and into the common room.
There was a knock at the door. Tonks guessed who it was.
"It's open, Harry." The boy entered sheepishly and grinned at Tonks, who was sat up on the windowsill looking out over the dark school grounds
"Sneaking down to a teacher's room at night, I'm going to get myself a reputation," he joked.
"You wish," she retorted, jumping down off the ledge with relative grace. They took a seat on her bed. Harry gave a glance out of the window.
"Thinking about Professor Lupin?"
"You know, he hates it when you call him that," she replied. "What makes you think I'm thinking of him?" Harry shrugged.
"The full moon always makes me think of him too," he said simply and she nodded. "You think he's ok?"
"I'm sure he will be, he can look after himself."
"I know. Doesn't stop me worrying though." Tonks thought the same.
"He worries bout you too, so I guess it's even." She must have seen something in his expression, for she continued. "Look, I hope you didn't take offence to what he said last night. To be honest I think he's more than pleased to be your guardian. I think he's just worried he'll screw up. Like you said, you've been passed around quite a bit."
"Let's hope you and he stick around," Harry said quietly. She gave a laugh.
"Oh I plan to, don't you worry. So, Mr Potter, how'd my first lesson go? Bet I can show Professor Lupin a thing or two!"
"You were great. I knew you would be. Don't feel you have to live up to high standards 'cause you don't. Just be yourself. Anyway, if you need help I'll be glad to lend a hand. I'm quite the teacher myself." They both laughed. Harry risked another look out of the window again.
"Do you think he's lonely?"
"Probably. Grimmauld Place is too big a house for one person. It made sense that he sold his flat though. And, as my name is on the deeds for the house, I'm letting him stay there as long as he wants."
"You own Grimmauld Place now?"
"Yup, till you turn 18. That's the deal. Then I'm out on the street I guess, so I'd best be nice to you hadn't I. You should be off to bed. Go on. Don't worry bout Remus, he'll be ok. Write to him, I'm sure he would like that. And we can visit during holidays. You can go back to take your Apperation test."
"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."
"Go on, get going. Sweet dreams."
"Night Tonks. See you in the morning." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and left her alone again. Tonks took a deep breath and went back to her seat on the windowsill. Looking out at the pearly moon she began to feel, for the first time in her life, that she was going to enjoy life at Hogwarts.
A/N: Let's take a moment to think about how great Tonks is shall we? Ok, now that's done, you can review on your way out. :P I'm so cheeky. Toodles.
