How to Save A Life

Do You Enjoy Having a Spleen?

Tonks had paced her room all night, and finally came up with a plan. Not being able to sleep, she said on her bed, and decided that she could wait until her mom woke up. She got bored about three minutes later and started training up her metamorphmagus abilities. She recently started studying full body transformation, and tried it, turning into her mother, Dumbledore, and had just gotten Harry when she saw her mom walking by.

Forgetting she looked like Harry, Tonks walked up to her mom. Andromeda heard footsteps coming from behind her, and looked over her shoulder. The elder Tonks jumped as she saw Harry standing there.

'Harry, when did you get here?' She asked catching her breath. Tonks sniggered, and turned back into herself.

'Sorry mum, was changing into people and forgot that I wasn't me. Anyway, I know how we can bust Harry out of there. Tonks explained her plan and her mother's face became an uninterpretable expression.

'I'm sorry, but we can't do it. It's not our right to pull him from his home.' She said sadly.

'Mum! His uncle beat the crap out of him for screaming! Harry was screaming because I think he pushed a joint in place! There was a sick crack and screaming like someone had...had...' Her mom cut her off.

'Snapped a joint in place?' She said, trying not to laugh at the look on the child's face as she realized her mother was making fun of her.

''s not funny.' She muttered back.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Harry came to a few hours later. He groaned as his muscles all shrieked in protest as he pushed himself off his bed, the mattress groaning with him. He noticed the mirror no longer showed Tonks' face, so he assumed that she had closed the connection somehow. He reached over and picked it up muttering 'Nymphadora Tonks.' Her face showed up.

'Hey Harry! Get your lazy ass out of bed and get dressed. We have a late birthday present for you. And yes, we knew it was your birthday yesterday, we just didn't think you'd want to do anything about it cuz we just met and all.' He nodded and pushed himself off his bed, but fell back on with a groan.

'That rib never healed and I think I lost another one.' He muttered more to himself then Tonks.

'We'll fix it up later.' Came Andromeda's voice. 'Just hurry and get dressed.' Harry nodded and watched as the two-way mirror's connection closed. He finally pulled himself up and pulled a pair of Dudley's old jeans and a shirt. As Harry was headed down stairs, he heard someone knock on the door five times, then ring the doorbell. He instantly knew who it was, and pulled it open.

'Excuse me sir, is the head of the house here?'

'Yeah, right here, but I'll go get the walrus anyway.' He muttered, seeing Mrs. Tonks again. 'Uncle Vernon, there's someone at the door looking for the head of the house!' He heard loud footsteps coming to the door. Harry stepped out of the way as his uncle walked up.

'I'm the head of the house.' He said stupidly.

'Yes, we're here to pick up a Mr. Harry Potter.' Today, Harry noticed, Tonks had spiky turquoise hair, with eyes to match.

'Why do you want to pick him up?'

'To get him out of this hell hole. Now, Harry, have you packed your things?' He shook his head no, and Tonks stepped in.

'I'll help.' They both ran upstairs and heard his Uncle yelling.

'P-P-PETUNIA!' They heard. Tonks cackled evilly.

'Mum just pulled her wand out on him. Come on let's go.'

'Lovely people. Really.' The heard Andromeda mutter. She looked up. 'Come on, let's not watch the grass grow.'

'We're busting you out of here by the way, Harry' Tonks added.

'Uhm, ok Nymphadora.' He said, walking out of the dreaded house, taking extra care to slam the door as hard as he could..

'Do you enjoy having a spleen?'

'Sorta. If it's keeps me alive, then yes.'

'Then I would suggest you stop calling me that horrid name.'

They heard stomping coming from around the corner of a house, Harry looked up, fear in his eyes.

'Here comes the bull.' He muttered. Tonks looked behind her to see that he was infact correct. Vernon Dursley came around around the corner of the house. He grabbed Harry by the back of the collar, and dragged him out of view behind a series of tall bushes.

'MUM!' Tonks yelled, but she had already turned and was jogged over behind the bushes. She jerked out her wand and pointed it at the man.

'VOLATILIS VIRUS!' She yelled. Tonks winced, knowing the bat-bogey hex. She saw Harry come running out from around the corner.

'What happened?' She asked, noticing he wasn't bleeding for once.

'Big green balls with that looked like bat wings, attacking my uncle. She laughed, and started to walk off when Harry gasped.

'I forgot my Hogwarts letter! It's in that horrid place!' And without further notice, he set off after the house. Tonks made an annoyed sound in her throat before following. She saw the door had be slammed open, due to the dent in the wall. She ran up the stairs, to his room, and around the corner, she found him throwing stuff about haphazardly.

'Looking for this?' His fat cousin said grinning. At least, Tonks had assumed it was his cousin. Harry frowned.

'Give it.' He said, holding out his hand.

'Make me.' Harry made a quick grab for it, and felt his fingers start to close around the object before he felt it slip from his light grasp. Harry kicked Dudley in the stomach, his temper gone, and tried to grab it, but again it slipped from his grasp, and now, they had a mad fat kid to deal with. He reared his fist back, and slammed it directly into Harry's temple. Harry should have been sent sprawling, but as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, Tonks knew he was unconscious.

'Cute trick freak. Now come a get the rest of your knots.' He advanced on Harry and started to swing when his hand suddenly hit an invisible barrier. Somehow, Harry was able to cast magic while unconscious. That's when Tonks felt it. There was a sudden pulse of energy radiating from Harry. Tonks felt it hit her and lift her about an inch before dropping her again. She noticed a smile played the corners of his lips, but it fell when Dudley suddenly shot up about three feet from the ground, his fat legs running, but to no avail as he was facing up towards the ceiling, his back towards the ground. The letter was ripped from his stubby fingers and floated over, stopping infront of Tonks until she took it. She noticed an evil grin split his face in two.

His cousin squealed like a pig as he was floated to and unceremoniously dropped in the hallway. He leaped up off the ground and ran off. Tonks walked over and felt the barrier press against her, trying to force her away at first, and suddenly caught the falling Harry.

'Did you feel it?' Andromeda nodded and they both, set at a run, got to the Dursley's house. The saw the sight of a half conscious Harry with his arm around Tonks' neck, and her arm around his waist.

'Can one of you get his trunk? I couldn't get it.' Tonks said simply, and they staggered over to Andromeda.

xXxXxXxXxXx

They sat Harry on the sofa, not being able to use magic, as there were too many muggles around. Dumbledore turned to Andromeda and her daughter.

'I have a few questions, and I'll start with this one. Why were you at his house? I remember asking you to stay away from him.' At this Harry muttered, 'Thank god they did come near me.' Albus looked at him and nodded, seeming to take this as a sufficient answer.

'Harry, do you know anything about our world?'

Harry nodded and murmured again, 'Yeah, I'm part of it, aren't I? Can't wait to get to Hogwarts..'s gonna be fun...' As the shadow of a smile showed on his face, he fell asleep.

'Do you really want to take that away from the boy? Look at him! I think that's the first time I've ever seen him smile! Nymphadora gave him a two way mirror and heard the boy screaming in pain as what we assumed was popping a joint back in place!' Harry was aroused from sleep by her voice raising in pitch.

'Uncle Vernon ripped me off the ground by my arm to take me back up and throw me in my room. It pulled my shoulder out of place. Had to relocate it, and I did. Got beat again for screaming.' He continued to mutter, going in and out of sleep.

'Has this happened before, Harry?' He nodded and picked up his left arm.

'My arm broke, right above the elbow. When I fell, pushed through.' Was all he got out before he promptly fell to sleep again. Dumbledore sighed and shook his head.

'There's not much I can do, I'm afraid.' He said, no emotion in his voice.

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO? LET HIM LIVE WITH US, AT LEAST FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER! IF HE GOES BACK AFTER THROWING HIS COUSIN OUT LIKE THAT, HARRY'S GONNA DIE! YOU HEAR ME? DIE! AND IT WILL BE TOTALLY YOUR FAULT,' She shrieked poking him in the stomach. 'FOR FORCING HIM TO LIVE THERE!' The younger of the two Tonks screamed. Andromeda looked startled, but did nothing to stop her. Dumbledore slowly nodded. He hated to admit it, but the young girl was right. This was getting out of hand though. Control on keeping Harry safety was slipping.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Harry awoke to find himself in a strange bed. He jumped up, then fell back as his head pounded. This wasn't good. He'd probably dreamed all of this, and was really in his room, with his eyes playing tricks on him. He heard loud footsteps coming by his room.

'It was a dream.' He thought sadly to himself. What a great dream. He was going to get away from the Dursley's. He heard a loud banging in his door. 'There's Aunt Petunia.'

'I'm coming!' He said loudly, trying to get up.

'Oh no you aren't!' Tonks said brightly throwing the door open. 'You're not to get up for a hella time.' Harry's day instantly brightened. It wasn't a dream! He glanced over and saw a blurry shape leaning against the door.

'HEY MUM! HE'S AWAKE!' She screamed.

'Oww, Nymphadora, please. don't. yell.' He ground out from clenched teeth, as he heard the same thing come from down stairs, but without the pained sound.

'Oops, sorry Harry. And don't call me that! I thought we went over this!' She whispered. At that time, Andromeda walked in with a small vial.

'Here drink this.' She tipped the liquid into his mouth as he swallowed. 'It's actually for hang overs, but it should help all the same.' His head instantly felt better. He saw the larger blurry shape walk out as the smaller one walked in.

'How ya feeling?' She said, going back to being perky. She then tripped and fell flat on her face. Harry laughed as she scowled at him.

'Shut up. I've been doing this over the last few days and I don't know why. Really a pain.'

'Last few days? How long was I out?'

'A little under a week.' She said bluntly. 'Not surprising. You drained three-fourths of your magical reserves. Magical Exhaustion will do that to you.'

'A WEEK!' He sat up, this time without the head pain, and put his glasses on. His shocked expression turn down into a sad one.

'I guess this means I'm going back to the hell-hole.' At this, Tonks started laughing.

'It's too bad you were out. You missed a great show. After you conked out, Dumbledore came back and said he had changed his mind, and that you had to go back. Mum blew up on him, and started screaming about how you were too exhausted, and wouldn't make it. About three glasses in the house exploded as she went on and basically told him to bugger off. Haven't heard from him since. But we have two weeks before we go back to school. We're going to go to Diagon Ally later and get our stuff for school. Then we'll hang out here until start of term.'

Harry nodded his head with everything she said, and stood up.

'What time is it?'

''Round noon.'

'Let's go somewhere. What time are we leaving?'

'Uhhm...MUM WHAT TIME ARE WE LEAVING?'

'YOU HAVE AN HOUR TO DO WHAT EVER!' She yelled back.

'We're leaving at one.' She said grinning.

xXxXxXxXxXx

They walked out of the house and went to the park. They had played basically just played around, laughing and jabbing at each other as Tonks would trip occasionally, then tackle Harry when he laughed at her.

'Well, Freak, see you've got a girlfriend.' Came a voice. They looked up to see Dudley and his gang.

'Good to see you too Duddikins.' He said grinning.

"Hey fatso, melted any cars from your piggish smell lately?' She said, brightly as ever. Dudley swung his fist at her, but missed by a mile.

'Crap. You're slow aren't you? And I don't just mean in the head.' She said grinning, before slamming her knee between Dudley's legs. He squealed like a pig and fell over. His friends looked up at Tonks, all of them balling up their fists. Tonks turned and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him back towards her house.

'That, right there, was priceless.' He said, swiping tears of laughter from his eyes. They had reached her house.

'Ready to go? Good.' The elder Tonks said, not waiting for a response. They walked over to the fireplace, and, after an explanation from Tonks, yelled 'Diagon Ally!' and disappeared. As things flew by, he had to shut his eyes to keep from vomiting. As he came to a stop, Harry was lurched forward out of the fireplace and face first into the floor. Tonks came after him, looked around, then down, and burst out laughing. Andromeda came next and, trying to hide her laughter, helped him stand up, and fix his glasses.

'Ok, Let's go then.' Andromeda said, pushing them towards a back room. Tonks giggled at the confused look on his face as he stared at the brick wall. He thought Andromeda had gone insane as she started tapping bricks with her wand. Harry's jaw dropped in shock as the bricks rearranged themselves to create an archway.

'Welcome to Diagon Ally!' The purple headed girl said brightly. Harry thought he was going to hurt his neck, looking around at everything as they walked. He wished he could sprout more eyes just so he could see everything.

'We'll need to stop by the bank and get some money to buy your stuff.' At this, Harry winced.

'Uhm, Mrs. Tonks. I don't have any money. The Dursley's never gave me the least amount of money.' He said frowning.

'You're parent's didn't leave you with nothing! They had a pretty good financial life, if the rumors were true.' She said grinning. Tonks looked at him in awe.

'You're rich? Don't wimp out on the birthday present if you're rich!' She said frowning. He laughed solemnly.

'Hope the Dursley's don't find out. They'll rob me blind.' He muttered. They walked into Gringotts. Harry was a bit startled.

'What are these things, Nymp?' He said, enjoying the fact that she was going to lose her temper. She swiftly punched him in the arm.

'Don't call my any version of my first name. And they're goblins. You'd be insane to try to rob this place. Goblins are smart, and they have a bit of force behind they're tiny bodies.' She whispered. 'Last break-in was a few decades ago. The barely had enough of a body to figure out the culprit.' Harry gulped loudly at the thought.

'There're supposed to be dragons, spells, wards, locks, and all this other stuff guarding them. I'd love to see a dragon. Tough skin mixed with ancient magic, nearly impossible to hurt them. Don't want to get within a hundred feet, mind you, but it'd be neat to see one.' She said with a grin, her mind somewhere else. They nearly ran into Mrs. Tonks as she stopped at a teller's desk.

'We need to get to vaults 192, and 687.' She said. The goblin seemed to think for a second.

'Vault 687 is a Potter vault. Without a Potter present, we can't grand entrance, due to the last Potter's will.' He said simply. Harry looked up.

'I'm a Potter.' He said hesitantly. The goblin sat up a little bit higher in his chair to get a better look.

'Very well. GRIPHOOK!' He called suddenly, making all three of them jump. A squat little creature walked up, and Harry realized what Tonk's meant in, 'tiny bodies'.

'Mr. Potter!' The teller called him. The boy in question turned around to see him holding a key.

'This is the key to your vault. Lose it and we'll have to take a blood sample as proof that you are who you say. If you wish for a copy, owl a request, with a vial filled with three drops of blood from you. We will send a key back. And for god's sake, don't owl your key anywhere! We have to replace more keys over that!' He said, then turned his attention to the next person who walked up. Harry assumed he was dismissed and ran to catch up with his friend. When he reached them, Andromeda was in a conversation with a large man. The man saw Harry and grinned. At least, that's what it looked like. It was a bit hard to tell through the beard.

'Good ter' see yeh again Harry!' He said in a booming voice. 'Las' time I saw , yeh was only a baby.' The large man wrung Harry's hand, his smile never faltering.

'Well, I'd better be goin'. Professor Dumbledore'll be want'n'...well...he'll be want'n' ter see me.' He said, stepping into a cart and speeding off.

'Oooookaaaay. Who was that?' He asked in shock. He had just had his arm wrung off by an overly large man, who sped off after mentioning something about Dumbledore. Andromeda seemed to be losing her patients.

'He's the grounds keeper at Hogwarts.' She said simply as a card screeched to a stop in front of them. 'What ever you do, don't lean over the sides. Don't wanna lose you.' She said to be both of them as they all stepped in. They shot off at a breakneck speed. Tonks seemed to be having fun until they started hitting the turns. Then she turned a slight green color.

'Don't barf on me.' He said, scooting away from her. She stuck her tongue out at him and slid down in her seat a little. About that time, they screeched to a halt.

'Vault 192.' He said simply. Andromeda stepped out, and opened the door. Harry could see a lot of shiny things, but couldn't make out much. She scooped some into a bag, then got back into the cart as the door closed itself. She had barely sat down before they shot off again. This time, they went deeper in. At every turn, Harry thought they would tip over, and Tonks and Harry both swore that they saw a dragon as they rounded one corner. This time, Harry tried to keep track, but found it nearly impossible. About a minute later, the screeched to a stop.

'Vault 687.' The goblin said. Harry hesitantly stepped out. After examining the door for a second, he found the key hole. Putting the key in the hole and turning it, he heard a series of loud clicks as the door slid into the wall. In front of him Harry saw the larges amount of these different metals then he had ever seen in his life. Mounts of gold, silver, and bronze were in his wake.

'Wow, you really are loaded aren't cha, Harry?' Tonks said. Harry yelped in surprise. He had forgotten that anyone else was around, and didn't hear her sneak up behind him. She laughed and helped him put a few hand fulls of the coins in his bag.

'So what does each different coin mean?' He asked as they sped back, he messaging his neck.

'The gold one are Galleons, silver ones are Sickles, and the bronze ones are Knuts. Seventeen Sickles to a Galleon, twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle.' Andromeda explained.

'And four hundred and ninety three Knuts to a Galleon.' Tonks added beaming. After some neck wrenching turns, they screeched again to a halt and stepped out of the cart. Tonks had to sit down for a second and let her stomach settle. Harry had to admit that she did look a bit green. After that, they walked out, and Andromeda directed them to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. They walked in and where directed to a stool. Next to Harry was a blond boy, who looked like he'd never been in the sun a day in his life. Harry had a large piece of black fabric slipped over his head, that was like a robe, except entirely too big. Harry noticed that needles started to fix it to fit Harry, and out of the corner of his eye, noticed the same thing was happening to the vampire-like boy, and Tonks.

'Are you going to Hogwarts too?' He suddenly asked. Harry immediately hated the sound of his voice. The way it drawled was annoying like nobody's business. Harry and Tonks both nodded.

'I am too. Which house do you think you're going to be in? I know I'm going to be in Slytherin. All of my family has been.' He said, smiling slightly. 'I think I'd change schools if I were in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. My parents would be ashamed if I were in Gryffindor, but it's as bad as the other two.' He said, his voice becoming more and more annoying.

'Actually,' Tonks said, her anger obvious. Had her mother not been off getting their books, she probably would have kept her anger better in check. 'My mother was in Ravenclaw, and some of my relatives were in Hufflepuff. I know his parents were both in Gryffindor.' She said, jerking her head towards Harry.

'I feel sorry for your family then.' He said simply, his voice clearly declaring he couldn't care less. Next thing Harry knew, the boy let out a high pitched scream as Tonks dug her knee into his crotch.

'Insult my mother again. I dare you.' She growled.

'I'll get you for that! You hear me!' Harry tried not to laugh at his voice. It sounded like he had inhaled a tank of helium. After that, a woman, who Harry assumed was Madam Malkin, and told him he could leave, while handing him an arm load of robes. The boy glared at Tonks and Harry again, and went out the door, with a funny walk. The woman then told the two of them that they could leave also, handing them a armload of cloaks each, as the pulled the ones they had off of them. They thanked her, paid, and left. After taking about two steps from the shop, Tonks cracked up.

'That was priceless!' She said between laughs.

'Remind me to never get on your bad side.' He said, helping her get to a store, which he noticed had a large sign over it that said Florish and Blott's Bookstore. He saw Tonks' mother walking out, as they walked up. She gave her daughter a strange look, before dragging them off to a store called Ollivanders. Harry pushed Tonks ahead of himself, which the man, whom Harry assumed was Mr. Ollivander, started with first. He noticed a tape measure start to measure Tonks in every way possible, while the man was talking about finding a wand and pulling many of different shelves, before it rolled itself up and landed neatly on the desk nearby. Mr. Ollivander started handing her wand after wand, sometimes letting her wave it, and watch for a second or two, before snatching it out of her hand and running of to get another, and the rest of the time, she had barely picked it up before it was snatched off and replaced with another. He seemed to get more excited with every wand that didn't agree with her.

'I've yet to have had someone without a wand! We'll find you one!' He would repeat occasionally.

Finally, after what seemed like half the store, a tired Tonks picked up a wand, and he grinned, as a small wind went through the store.

'Congratulations, Mrs. Tonks.' He said, before turning to Harry, and noticed the tape measure starting to measure himself. At this, Mr. Ollivander started to pull wands off and he went through the same routine as Tonks, however, he noticed that his stack of tried wands was getting larger then hers had been, had all of her wands not been in Harry's stack, having had tried them. Andromeda had conjured a chair for both her and her daughter, and they sat down watching him go through the entire store. Or, at least, that's what it seemed like to Harry.

Finally, the man, who, after seeing his eyes, decided was creepy, because they were milky white, but not as that of a blind. They had more of a haunted look to them. After a loud crash, and laughter, the man came back with a long dusty box.

'Sorry about that. Finally got rid of a horrid family heirloom. Of course by accident. Real shame.' He said, and Harry got the impression that it wasn't an accident at all, and that this man felt no shame over losing it at all. Harry grasped the wand handed to him, and immediately felt strange. Suddenly, a pulse came from the wand, that went off for miles and miles.

Tonks jumped out of the chair, having been successfully awoken from her nap, and looked around, and Andromeda had a strange look.

Far away, Dumbledore felt the pulse, and summoned up a small silver trinket. After prodding it with his wand a few time, his face turned to a grimace. It seemed as though they should all expect a lot from a certain boy. This magical pulse was incredible. The trinkets clicks and whirring noise seemed to make since to him, and he poked it with his wand again, and banished it away with a sweep of his wand.

Back in Diagon Ally, the man looked surprised. Harry sighed. By the look on everyone's face, that wasn't normal. Another thing that wasn't normal about him.

'Amazing.' Mr. Ollivander muttered.

'Excuse me, but...what's amazing?'

'You see, Mr. Potter, in this wand, is a tail feather, from a phoenix, who happened to give two feathers. The unusual thing is, there has never been a record of a phoenix giving more then one feather, if that much. The tail feather resides in the wand that gave you that scar.' He said mysteriously. At that Andromeda thanked the man, payed for their wands, and pushed them out the door. After collecting the rest of their supplies, they floo'ed home.

xXxXxXxXxXx

'So, who gave me my scar?' Harry asked later, idly stroking the snowy white owl he had gotten at the pet store, whom he had dubbed Hedwig.

'Uhm, let me think, mum told me once. Oh yeah!' Tonks was cut off by a loud crack from downstairs. They stood up from Tonks' bedroom floor and, after putting the owl in her cage, walked downstairs. They saw Dumbledore at the bottom of the stairs.

'Ah, Harry. Just the boy I wanted to see.' He said, his voice quiet as always. Or at least, the few times Harry had heard him. He walked up the stairs and met them at the top.

'May I borrow Harry for a moment.' He said looking at Tonks. It wasn't a question. She nodded and he swept Harry off to a guest bedroom he was staying in.

'Sorry to arrive without warning Harry, but I must talk with you. You see, the reason I've had you live at your relatives house for so long is that there is a ward protecting you from an evil man.' He then told Harry of Voldemort, and how his parents fought him. Of how they died, disproving the story of Harry's parents dying in a car crash.

'Sir, what have I done to make the Dursley's hate me so much?' He asked sadly, recounting some of the things the Dursley's did to him, while Dumbledore's face remained impassive.

'Nothing Harry. Some people seem to have a fear of what they don't understand, and they sometimes react violently. It was nothing you've done, and don't blame it on yourself.' He said. At that time, Andromeda knocked and opened the door.

'Harry, please, I want to ask you a question. Just from curiosity, what were you doing that night when Nymphadora contacted you through the mirror? She said she heard a crack and a scream.' Andromeda said this slowly and sadly, as though she knew the answer. ' I wasn't eavesdropping by the way. I was coming to check and make sure you two weren't trying to kill each other.' She said, grinning slightly.

'Well, I had fallen, and was half conscious when Uncle Vernon jerked by off the ground by the arm. It popped my shoulder out of place, and I had to push it back in.' He said sadly. Andromeda's eyes had tears in them, as the image entered her mind.

'I see. I shall have a talk with them, and see if you can return.' Harry eye widened.

'You want me to go back?' Dumbledore nodded. 'I'm sorry, Sir, but I'm not going back,' Harry said quiety. 'I can't go back there. I'll never go back there. I'll just run away if I have to, but I'm never going back.'

'I'm sorry also Harry, but you must go back. There are wards there are blood related, and you must be with your aunt for them to recharge and protect you from Voldemort.' Mrs. Tonks, over next to the door flinched at the mention of his name.

'Come now Mrs. Tonks. Not speaking the name only increase fear of the thing itself.' She nodded, but didn't do anything. Tonks walked in apparently looking for Harry.

'Come on Harry, let's go to the park!' His face broke into a grin and they both ran out without a moments notice.

xXxXxXxXxXx

A little while later, they came back, Harry sporting a scrape from Tonk's tackling him.

'Thanks a lot Tonks.' He said with a mock-glare. Tonks hadn't noticed this and had been apologizing for the last five minutes.

'I'm really sorry Harry! I didn't know you'd land that hard! I didn't mean to!' Harry finally lost it and started laughing. She looked at him with a confused look until she realized he'd been messing with her, and swatting him in the arm.

'That's not funny!' Harry was about to retort when they came to her house, where a voice was coming loud and clear.

'Mum's mad.' Was all Tonks said as they walked in and went upstairs.

'YOU'RE INSANE IF YOU'RE GOING TO TRY AND TELL THE BOY NOT TO GO TO HOGWARTS!'

'My dear lady, I'm only trying to watch out for his safety! I had to go against the wishes of his mother's will! Harry had to go live with them!' They heard Dumbledore say with emphasis on the last sentence. 'I couldn't allow him to go any where else! Voldemort or one of the Death Eaters would have hunted him down and killed him! You must understand that if I hadn't done this, we would have no hope should Voldemort return!' Dumbledore said, his voice raising also.

'SO YOU SEND HIM THERE TO BE A HUMAN PUNCHING BAG! WHEN HE TELLS YOU WHAT'S HAPPENING, YOU SAY YOU'RE GOING TO TALK TO THEM? THEY WON'T CARE! THOSE HORRID PEOPLE WILL KILL HIM FOR TELLING US WHAT GOES ON IN THAT DREADED HOUSE!' Andromeda shrieked.

'I will do as I said and talk to them. Surely they can see reason and let the boy be.' He said simply, before disappearing with a crack. Andromeda walked out to find a young boy with a shocked expression, and her daughter worrying over him.

'I'm sorry you had to hear that you two.' She said, a bit out of breath. 'Don't worry Harry. We'll figure a way to keep you out of there.'

Harry nodded slowly and turned, walking towards the guest room. Tonks looked up at her mom, her facing asking the question, though she asked anyway.

'Should I go make sure he's ok?' She asked. Andromeda nodded, and Tonks hurried after him.

Tonks walked in the room to find Harry looking at something on his bed, his brow furrowed in a look of confusion. Harry looked up at her, then looked back down at the card in his hand.

'What is it, Harry?' He looked at her again and handed her the card.

Your father left me this before he died.

Do a few good pranks with it for him.

Make the Marauders proud.

Do prank the Slytherin house please?

Padfoot and Moony

'Padfoot and Moony? Who's that?' Tonks asked. Harry shook his head and picked up the thing on his bed. It seemed to be half liquid by the way it moved when he picked it up.

'How are we supposed to pull pranks with a cloak? Well, let's see how it looks anyway. Try it on!' She said, sounding half disappointed. Harry wrapped it around himself and all of him except his head disappeared. Tonks' eyes widened.

'I know what that is! It's an Invisibility Cloak! They're really rare!' She said in awe. 'You get all the cool stuff!' She added frowning. 'First, you're loaded, second, you get an invisibility cloak. Lucky little...' She muttered under her breath.

'Should we tell your mum?' Tonks grinned.

'Nah. Let's keep it a secret. Between you and me!' Harry grinned and nodded. They heard loud steps coming up the stairs and Harry quickly shoved the cloak under his bed. Andromeda poked her head in and announced that dinner was ready. They grinned to each other over the thought of an eating contest and ran downstairs.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The next thing Harry knew, he was being poked away by Mrs. Tonks.

'Harry! HARRY! Get up, you have to go today!' She said, then turned around and left, headed to take up the task of waking her daughter. Harry quickly pulled some clothes on, gave a failed attempt at fixing his hair, and walked out. He sat down at the table reaching for some toast, as a half asleep tonks plopped down in the chair next to him, today with her hair waist long and a normal purple color. She reached over to grab a box of cereal, missed, missed again, and finally got it.

'Cereal.' She muttered with a sleepy smile. She then promptly fell asleep using her bowl as a pillow. Harry burst out laughing, falling out of his chair in the process, while also waking Tonks up. She frowned and threw her spoon, successfully stopping Harry's laughter and turned it into a groan as it connected with is head. She poured some more cereal in her bowl and then realized she was missing a spoon. So, she stole Harry's, and continued to eat while Harry sighed and tipped his bowl. She stared at him as he practically drank his food. He then set it down, stood up, and carried it over to the sink, completely empty.

'That's just freaky, you know that right?' Tonks said stills staring.

'Trust me. After living with the Dursleys, you learn how to eat fast and without stuff.' He said, then turned and went up the stairs. Andromeda walked in at that moment, and saw her daughter's face.

'What's wrong? Fall asleep with your eyes open again?' She said, sniggering at the first time she did it. It was in the middle of a speech by Dumbledore. They had to use eye drops before she could blink.

'Not funny.' She muttered, staring at her mother out of the corner of her eye. 'Plus, that was just plain freaky. Harry turned his bowl up and drank the whole thing, cereal and all.' She said, still half asleep. Andromeda grinned.

'Puberty sets in earlier for wizards then it does muggles. Quite interesting isn't it?' She said, watching her daughter out of the corner of her eye.

'EEEWWW, Muuuuuuuuuuuum!' She said with a face of disgust. 'That's gross!' Andromeda laughed at the look of Nymphadora's face.

'Come on, you have to get ready, go.' She said, levitating her out of the kitchen. 'MUM!' She yelled from around the corner. About half an hour later, both Harry and Tonks were in the kitchen, with their trunks ready to go.

'Ok, it's a half hour to eleven.' She stopped to think for a second. 'Ok, driving will take at least that long, and there's no fire, we'll have to do side-along apparition.' She said finally, seeming to be talking to herself more than them. 'Ok Nymph, grab an my arm, Harry grab her arm.' She said commandingly. Harry did as he was told, and felt a strange tingling sensation. Andromeda seemed the be concentrating, as her forehead started to sweat a little. At that time, Harry suddenly felt as though he were being squeezed though a tube that was entirely too small. He felt as thought he couldn't breathe. As though the life was being squeezed out of him. Harry was just starting to panic when the sensation disappeared as fast as it came. He gasped for air as he looked around. They were suddenly staring at a large red train.

'Everybody check to make sure you have all your body parts.' Andromeda said. Harry thought she was joking until she started checking herself. 'You all there Harry?' He nodded.

'What was that?' He asked.

'Apparition. Going from one spot to another in an instant.' She explained. Harry nodded his head.

'I hate magical travel.' He muttered. Tonks laughed, and they pulled their trunks towards the train. Harry pushed his up into the rack while Tonks muttered trying to get hers up. Harry walked over and got a hand under it, and shoved it up for her.

'Thanks Harry.' She said grinning. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then walked out to go tell her mum bye. Harry froze for a second, then walked out also. He saw Tonks and her mother in the middle of saying good bye, so he decided to just stand by the side and wait. Tonks finally nodded at something Andromeda said, and walked towards the train, passing him.

'Your turn.' Harry walked over to her.

'Thanks for letting me stay for that little while.' She nodded and pulled him into a hug.

'I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told Nymph. Stay out of trouble, Slytherin, and if my memory serves well, Severus Snape should be there with a job doing something. I suggest that you don't even breathe the wrong way around him.' She said grimacing. Harry nodded, thanked her again for the help. He started to turn, when he was caught in a hug from Mrs. Tonks.

'I'm serious Harry, stay out of trouble.' Harry nodded, then turned and walked into the train. Walking down through a cabin, and found Tonks. Knocking on the glass door, she looked up and opened it letting him in.

'Ready to go?' He asked grinning, realizing this would be the first time he actually got on a train. She nodded with unshed tears in her eyes.

'Aww don't get all mushy on my now Nymph!' Tonks swatted him on the arm.

'Shut up, I'm not getting mushy.' She said, her voice cracking. He stuck his head out the window and waved as the train started to move, then, just as they saw the corner coming, they stuck their heads back in. Just as the two sat down, a young red headed boy stuck his head in.

'Do you two mind? Everywhere else is full.' He said. They both nodded as he turned around and looked behind him. 'Now will you quit fussing at me? I found us a seat!' He said, sounding annoyed. Grumbling, he walked in and would've thrown his trunk onto the over head cage, had it not taken him, Tonks, and Harry to get it up. Another girl walked in, flicked her wand, and the trunk floated up, landing softly in the compartment.

'Nice. How'd you do that?' Harry asked.

'I've already read through our books, and learned a few spells on my own.' She looked at him and gasped. 'You're Harry Potter!'

'I was last time I checked.' He couldn't help but grin at his own joke. He looked over at the brown haired girl. He had about two inches on her, and noticed one distinct thing about her. The hair. Busiest hair Harry could say he ever saw, not that that was saying much, due to the fact that the Dursleys kept him hidden.

'I'm Ron Weasley.' He said, holding out his hand. Harry shook it.

'Nymphadora Tonks. Call me by my first name and see what happens.' She said grimacing.

'I'm Hermione Granger.' Harry and Tonks nodded towards her in greeting and watched as Tonks moved over and set next to him, and Hermione and Ron sat next to each other. About 15 minutes later a plump boy walked by looking for a toad. They all said they hadn't seen it, and he ran off yelling Trevor!. A few minutes later, two twins walked by, asking if they had seen a toad. Everyone answered no again, but they found out their names were Parvati and Padma Patil. They laughed, and joked, got bored with that and each became lost in their own thoughts until a lady walked by their compartment.

'Anything off the trolley, dears?' She said smiling. Ron held up a sandwich, looking offended by the food.

'No thanks. I'm all set.'

'We'll take it. All of it.' He said grinning. She listed off a price, and he just gave her a handful of galleons asking if it was enough. She nodded, seeming to be in a bit of shock, and he told her to keep the change, each of the four of them walked back in with an armful of food. They were just starting to dare each other to eat different Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, when the vampire boy, as Harry had dubbed him, showed up.

'Rumor has it that Harry Potter's in this compartment. Oh is that you? I thought you'd be in a better crowd then a bunch of blood traitors.' He said, his annoying voice pulling all of his nerves.

'Oh and this is Crabbe and Goyle. And I"m Draco Malfoy. You will learn that some wizarding families are better then others. I can help you there.' He said holding out a hand. Harry slapped it away, ignoring the goons next to him cracking their knuckles.

'You just up and insult my friends, then want me to come join you and be best buds huh?' Harry said losing his temper quickly. 'First the crazy old bat wants to control my life, then you want to come in and disrupt what was a great day. Had gone a whole week without having to pop a joint back into place or resetting a bone, and here you come. Go to hell. Get out! NOW!' Harry growled the last two sentences, his temper long gone.

'Watch what you say because you might just end up like your parents.' That would be the last thing he would remember saying. The last thing he would see before a screen of black would be Harry drawing back fist, and a crunch from his nose. First thing that will take us away from out story is what is happening between Draco's nose and Harry's fist as they connect.

Harry's fist: 'Well, it seems that I'm going to have to hurt you!'

Draco's nose: 'LEAVE MY BRAIN ALONE!'

'I wasn't going to hurt your brain, just you. Now, kindly, what is you're name?'

'I'm Draco's nose, the only part that isn't drenched in wanting to be in Slytherin and join the Dark Load.'

'Ah. Nice to meetcha! I'm Harry's fist, the only part that wants to become evil, and thus, take over the world, but I don't get a say in the matter sadly.' They would have gone on, had there not been an instance of Harry's fist slamming into Draco's nose.

As his two goons were dragging the boy back to a compartment, with a bleeding nose, we will have a second trip away from our story, although, this time it's shorter. Draco had a dream of his father, skipping through a field of flowers wearing a pink dress, pickling the flowers as he went along. St. Mungo's would blame a minor concussion from the straight on nose injury.

But that's not important at the moment. Back to the compartment on the train, they all laughed, except Hermione, who said that they could've gotten in a lot of trouble. The boy who was looking for the toad, Ron and Harry found out that he was named Neville Longbottom, came by, and was thrown out along with the other two boys as the girls decided they needed to change into their robes.

Harry was bodily thrown in by Tonks and the other boys followed as Hermione said they needed to change into their robes that instant. They opened the compartment door and let the girls back in after they had all changed. Tonks and Harry started poking each other in the head as a fight over her throwing him in.

'How'd you do that anyway Tonks?' Neville asked.

'Mum made me take a fighting class one time, in case I was ever attacked without a wand.' She said. ' Also learned what a pressure point was.' Tonks grinned at the memory. 'One I used on that pig boy at the park. Who was that anyway, Harry?'

'My cousin.' Tonks scowled.

'Should have hit him harder then.'

'So, what is a pressure point anyway?'

'I'll show you.' She put her middle and index finger together and poked Harry at a downwards angle, using the top of his collarbone as a guide to keep her fingers from missing the point. Harry started coughing as she started laughing.

'That never gets old.' She said, wiping a tear out of her eye. A few minutes later of idle conversation, the train started to slow down. Once they stopped, a voice came from somewhere telling them to leave their belongings where they were, and to exit without injuring each other. Now, Harry started to get nervous. He didn't know why really. Maybe it was that he had been friendless at all of his schools thanks to Dudley. Everyone in their compartment threw some junk food into their trunks, before getting into the crowd of students working their way out. Harry kept close behind Tonks who kept stopping without warning trying to 'Keep you on your toes.' as she put it.

Everyone 'oohed' and 'ahh'ed' as the first years took a trip to Hogwarts by boat, and saw the large castle. They walked in and were told to wait in front of large oak doors, that which nobody really knew what they led to. Although, they were smaller then the ones that lead to the castle itself. A strict-looking woman walked up, and addressed them all, talking about the four different houses, and something about points. At this point, Harry hardly cared.

'Buck up, Harry. Mum said there was some sort of thing they have you do to get sorted. Supposed to be easy.' Tonks said, punching him lightly in the arm. Harry gave a half-hearted grin, and was going to respond, but they were all led in to a stool bearing an old beat up hat. It suddenly came to life and sang a song, which scared Harry half to death. Tonks must have noticed because she leaned over and whispered, 'Need a change of pants?'

'I'm used to hats not talking or singing.' He muttered back. The hat finished it's song, and everyone started clapping. People then went and put on the hat, and it called out a house name. Some people, the hat was barely on their head before it called out a name. Others took for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Professor McGonagall called Hermione Granger, who was sorted into Gryffindor. The table cheered as she walked over and sat down. After a few more names, she called Neville Longbottom, who was declared to be a Gryffindor.

She then called Padma Patil who was sorted into Ravenclaw, followed by her sister.

Finally, she called his name. Harry heard mutters go all around the Great Hall, and people stretched their necks to get a look at him. Feeling himself turn red, he put on the hat. A small voice in his ear started talking.

'Difficult, very difficult. It would almost seem best to put you in Slytherin. There's not doubt that you wouldn't excel there.' Harry felt a rising panic. Him in Slytherin? No no no! Not an option!

'Please, no don't put me there. Anywhere, just not there. I'll kill Malfoy, and don't exactly want to be expelled.' Harry thought. The hat let out a laugh and made the mental equivalent of a sigh.

'Fine. I guess the best place would be GRYFFINDOR!' The hat suddenly yelled. Two twins that looked a lot like Ron, with their flaming red hair, started yelling, "WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!' In an almost mocking voice. After a couple more names, Tonks was up. After what seemed like an eternity, if hollered, 'GRYFFINDOR!" Harry cheered as Tonks sat down next to him, and Ron Weasley was sent up, which only after about three seconds was also declared a Gryffindor. Harry was glad that some people he knew would be in his house, but a twang of guilt came as he realized two people he had met would not be around for him to get to know.

Dumbledore stood up and said a few words about a corridor and a forest. Tonks laughed at this later, commenting that Harry was scowling the entire time. Suddenly, food appeared in front of them, and to say it was a generous amount of food would be an understatement. Ron and Harry started an eating contest a few minutes into the meal, nearly making themselves sick.

That was followed by a desert, which also became an eating contest that Ron, Harry, and Tonks competed in. Ron won both times.

'You know, today's been a good day. Got away from my relatives, and the crazy old bat...sort of. Get punch the worlds biggest idiot in the face, eat until I was almost sick. I think they drugged this food.' Harry added as an after thought, feeling his eye lids get heavy. Everyone else in the Great Hall seemed to be going along this lines of action also, as they were led out by the Head Boy and Girl. They were told a password to use to get in and out of the common room to their dormitories. Harry and Tonks separated, going up different stair cases to get to their dormitories. The next day was a Saturday, which Harry and Tonks had decided on the way to Hogwarts, they were going to use to explore the castle.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The next day, Harry decided to go up and give Tonks a surprise visit and scare the crap out of her for revenge in poking him in the throat. In their travels last night, after finding a few secret passages, and a wall that wouldn't become a door unless you told it a joke, Harry had forgotten to get revenge. He snuck up the to the first year girls dormitories and was about to knock when he came face to face with Tonks.

'How did you get there?' She asked, her face one of shock.

'Walked. Why?'

'Guys can't get up here. So unless you're not a guy, in which I would be very afraid, then you shouldn't be up here.' Harry sighed and shook his head.

'Something else to add to my abnormalities. Come on, they're supposed to have a great breakfast.' He said, motioning for them to go downstairs.

After eating, they left to go look around the grounds. Then, they went back in to explore the castle.

'Harry that door wasn't there a minute ago was it?' Harry shook his head. They had been exploring the ninth floor and had gotten lost. Walking in circle, Harry realized he had gone by this spot three times. Harry reached out and opened it, to see a large black screen. After looking at it for a second, he closed the door, and they found the exit after going in circles for a few more minutes. They then found the library after going up a floor.

'HARRY! Look I found the library!' Tonks said loudly. The librarian magicked a book to chase them out of the library, whacking them on the head.

'Ok, don't anger the librarian. Bad idea.' Harry muttered glaring at Tonks. The book had chased them until they had left the floor and only then did it float back to the library. They then went exploring downwards, finding themselves in the dungeons. After getting creeped out, Harry and Tonks went back to normal surroundings.

'This castle is a mad house!' Harry muttered as they went back onto the grounds. After a little while, they went back to the castle, hoping to find lunch, which they did without getting attacked by books. The two twins that Harry thought were related to Ron showed up behind Harry.

'Hi Harry.' Said one. 'I'm Fred.'

'I'm George.' Said the other.

'We're that guy's,' Fred pointed to Ron. 'Brother.'

'And if asked, we were here the whole time, before we went off to study.' George said, running off, as a loud explosion came from somewhere in the castle. A few minutes later, a frustrated looking Professor McGonagall walked by handing out schedules.

'On Monday, we've got Charms, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and double potions. Actually, we have that all week, except the times change. Oh wait, there's a double charms. And a double Transfiguration. Mum said DADA was the best class, so we don't get a double hour of those.' Tonks muttered in an annoyed voice. Harry noticed today that her hair was a short spiky blue color, and her eyes matched it. After eating eating, they went to the common room and found Ron, deciding to do a test.

'Hey Ron!'

'What?'

'We need you to do a little test for us.' Tonks said grinning. She pulled a protesting Ron towards the girls stairs. 'Go up it.' She said, giving him a little shove. Ron grunted and started to walk up. About the fourth step, they turned into a slide, making him go sliding down.

'Well isn't that interesting?' Harry nodded in agreement.

'What? That the stairs do this? Everyone knows that guys can't go up them.'

'Well Harry can. Watch. Harry go up the stairs.' She said, as the slide turned back into stairs. Harry walked up without trouble.

'Maybe he's not a guy.' Ron stated bluntly.

'Only one way to find out.' Tonks said grinning. 'Payback for laughing at me falling asleep in my cereal yesterday.' Tonks said walking up the stairs. Ron winced and walked off, knowing what was going to happen. After a loud scream, and Tonks yelling, "DEFINATLY A GUY!' Did he know that it was safe to go back.

AN: I realized that this chapter went a little overboard in length. I started writing, and didn't stop. But if you people want more chapters this long, say so in a review or something.

To: Rock On. Rock Out., DLC, Rainbow Phoenix, Bandgsecurtiyaw, Random6234, and Musings-of-Apathy . Thanks a lot for reviewing. Really does mean a lot.

To: gregthezombie, I'm not going to copy his story. I have the main idea for the next two chapters planned out, I just have to fix them up a bit. Or a lot. When I first started working on the plot, I wanted to start the fic at the end of his fourth year. But the problem was, I'd be a lot of work to fill in loose bits of information like Tonks living next to Harry and all the stuff that happened. Plus, I've been wanting to write a redo-of-canon story anyway. But I wanted to start working from the fourth book's end. That's the part people should be looking forward to. I'll have Sorcerer's Stone done by chapter five. Actually, that's when it'll be done, then I'll have COS in this one. I"m starting a sequel that will go through three and four, then five and six, and seven will be one on it's own. Or maybe I"ll redo the next few chapters and make it longer. I don't know.