Standing Beside the Fallen

Chapter Nine - When Worlds Collide

It was early Sunday afternoon, and Harry found himself lying upside down in an armchair in Tonks's bedroom, watching the woman holding up new clothes she had bought for herself in the mirror. Tonks had turned the WWN on to a station that was called, "Classic Muggle Rock," and blasted rock songs from the eighties. Harry couldn't complain with Tonks's taste in music, because he found that he liked it himself, even if it was stuff that came out when he was two or three years old.

Harry sighed, and fixed his glasses for the fifth time, which were falling over his eyes and towards his eyebrows from his upside-down state. Tonks was currently holding up a skin tight ACDC shirt to her and twisting her body from side to side.

"How do you think this would look on me?" Tonks asked over the music, still looking in the mirror.

"You're asking me?" Harry said, attempting to raise an eyebrow but it was hardly noticed given his position. "Would it matter consider you're going to have robes on over them?"

"Yes it will matter," Tonks snapped, rolling her eyes at him. "Open robes, Harry! Jeez! You're lucky I've becoming your surrogate sister or else you would have no sense of style at all. That's why you're here right now, to learn style."

"Must I?"

"To be related to me, yes you do!" She said and threw the shirt on her bed and rummaged through another bag.

Tonks had just come back from shopping in London that morning and had come home with so many bags, it was a wonder she could carry them all. True, she had shrunk them all down to fit into her pocket for easier carry, but her pockets had been bulging so badly, the seams on her jeans had been ripping and she looked pretty funny. Harry wondered why woman needed so much clothing, since from experience with Aunt Petunia and Hermione, they never wore half of what they actually bought.

"What about these jeans?" She asked holding up a pair of jeans that were cut on the knees. Harry repressed a groan.

"Can I go downstairs and see what Sirius is up to?" Harry asked. Tonks shot him a glare.

"No, you may not," She answered. She stared into the mirror for a minute, eying her purple spiky hair that she had been wearing for a week. Sirius had told him that this was a record, but it seemed it was about to be broken. Tonks scrunched up her face and a second later her hair was longer, but still considered short. It was ebony black, just like Harry's and was just long enough to creep into her eyes. "I like it better shorter, less hassle."

Nevertheless she kept it the way it was.

"Now," Tonks said as she threw the new pair of jeans on the bed. "When I went shopping, I found this great little shop that had these really wonderful clothes. Of course they weren't for me, oh no. It was a men's store."

Harry's eyes widened. He flipped off the chair and landed awkwardly on the floor before straightening up and fixing his glasses. Tonks grinned at him.

"You didn't,"

Tonks rolled her eyes. "You really know me that little?" She said exasperatedly. "Here," She went over to the side of the bed and lifted five large packages on her bedspread. "Now, considering you wear clothes that are seven sizes too big for you and you are way to small and skinny for your age it was difficult to find your size but I'm sure I got it right,"

She looked inside a bag for a minute before pulling out a white sweater with a collar and zipper halfway down the front. Though Harry would never admit it to Tonks, he quite liked it, but since he had always been considered stubborn, he wasn't going to come right out and say it.

"I'm not wearing that!" He said indignantly. "I like my clothes baggy, thank you very much. They're comfortable,"

Tonks snorted. "Uh-huh," She said, it was clear that she didn't believe him. She reached back inside and pulled out a pair of blue faded jeans. "Go into the bathroom and try these on and then come and show me."

"I am not modeling for you!" He said folding his arms over his chest. "I refuse!"

"I told you I was going to give you a new image!" Tonks said. "My goal was to make you look fashionable and I'm doing it so chop-chop!"

"You're not going to let me leave until I do this, huh?" Harry sighed, looking longingly at the door behind her. Tonks smiled sweetly at him and Harry grabbed the clothes from Tonks and grumbled as he headed out of the room and into the bathroom, purposely closing the door with a snap behind him. She smiled in satisfaction and grabbed another shirt from the bed and held it up to her in the mirror.

Harry came out of the bathroom ten minutes later, blushing like mad as he showed Tonks how he looked in his new clothes. Tonks had literally squealed in excitement at seeing him, happy that the clothes she bought seemed to fit well, even if they were a bit baggy, though Tonks seemed to think this wouldn't be so once they fattened him up a bit.

"You look so good!" She said, as she folded his collar and fiddled with his zipper. "I like the white on you, and I have the same sweater in black too that should look good. I bought you a few more pairs of jeans that you should try on . . ."

"I'm not doing a bloody fashion show for you!" Harry said sounding horror-stricken. "I draw the line at one outfit. No more. And how many clothes did you buy me anyway!"

"Not much," She said heading over to the bag. "Just five pairs of jeans, five t-shirts, three sweaters, two sweatshirts a few pairs of pajamas and some underclothes. Oh and two pairs of shoes too."

Harry's jaw dropped. "You're nuts!" He said. "How much did all of this cost?"

"Don't worry about the costs, you are not paying me back this is a gift," She said and thrust several bags into his hand. "She then took another one and took out a pair of white shoes and thrust the bag into his already filled arms, "Consider it an early birthday gift. Go put those in your room and tonight you and I can have a little bon-fire with your old clothes after dinner."

Harry thanked Tonks for her generosity and headed out of the room and downstairs to his own bedroom. Once he dumped everything on his bed he sorted through it all, looking through all of the clothes she had bought him. Granted some of it were things he would never have thought of wearing, but he couldn't admit it was a bad sense of fashion. He sighed and put on his new shoes before heading down into the kitchen.

When he entered he found Sirius holding Kreacher the house-elf by the back of the loin cloth and shouting in his face. Harry quickly scrambled away from the door as Sirius headed towards it. He headed over to the table where Remus was sitting, along with Kingsley and Mrs. Weasley.

"Get out!" Sirius yelled and literally threw the elf into the hall before slamming the door. Sirius snarled in a very Snape like fashion and furiously ran his fingers through his hair.

"Why are you so mean to him?" Harry asked. "You didn't have to actually throw him out of the kitchen did you?"

Sirius sighed. "Kreacher is a little bugger who deserved it," Sirius grumbled morbidly. He then turned and stared at Harry seriously. "Stay away from him. I know I've told you before but just remember to keep away from that son of a -"

"Sirius!" Mrs. Weasley scolded. She gave him a dark look.

"I tell him to get out all the time and I throw him plenty enough times so that you'd think he'd get the picture by now," Sirius grumbled.

Mrs. Weasley scowled at him before turning and smiling at Harry, giving him a tight hug. "Harry dear, how are you?"

"Good, thank you," Harry said with a small smile, trying not to wince at the touch and managed just a small grimace.

This was the first time he had seen Mrs. Weasley all summer, and he knew that she wasn't aware of his abuse. If she was, she would have already burst into tears and would have refused to let go. Thankfully she let go after several moments and looked him up and down.

"You're too skinny for your own good," She said. "You need a good proper meal in you."

"Oh come on Molly, it's not like we starve him," Sirius said. "He could eat an entire hippogriff and chips and still not gain one ounce. Too blame us for his overactive metabolism."

"But still . . ."The woman muttered, "Anyway Harry, I talked to Professor Dumbledore and he agreed to allow the children to come for a visit on Saturday."

"That's great!" Harry said happily, looking at the calendar and seeing that it was only three days away.

Harry felt like for the past few days that he was going stir crazy without anybody his own age in the house. Sure, Sirius and Tonks both acted like they were fifteen, but technically it wasn't the same. He was lonely during Order meetings, or whenever people liked to get together and talk about him, which was something he actively chose not to participate in. He missed Ron and Hermione dearly, and was jealous of thought that they were spending so much time together and he was being left out.

And yet on the other hand, he was glad for the seclusion. He still didn't think he was ready to tell his friends yet about his uncle, or even with his connection with Voldemort. No matter how much he missed his friends, he was convinced that the two weeks he had spent with Tonks Sirius Remus and even Kingsley in the house had helped him heal. They had become like family to him, and they had become the adults that he so desperately needed to rely on.

"So Harry, I see you found your new wardrobe," Remus said smirking into his mug of tea. Harry glared at him.

"For your information she wouldn't leave me alone until I put it on," He said. "And then she tried to get me to try everything on! Woman," He added with a grumble under her breath. "She kept insisting on asking me how she looked in this shirt or those pants when it doesn't matter because she wears robes over them,"

Sirius threw his head back and laughed but Molly gave his arm a slap.

"Sirius, don't be so mean," She scolded. "All women do that, Harry. She probably wants to look nice for somebody special,"

"Tonks? Somebody special, eh?" Sirius grinned and looked at Kingsley. "Better get some new clothes yourself there Kingsley."

Kingsley looked up at Sirius with a raised eyebrow. "You honestly believe that Tonks likes me?" He said. A smile appeared on his face. "Honestly, Sirius that woman and I fight more than if you locked Dumbledore and You-Know-Who in a room together."

"Really?" Harry asked. In the entire time he had been here he had never seen Tonks and Kingsley fighting with each other. Considering that they were both Aurors and had a lot of the same work, Harry figured that they must have gotten along really well.

"Oh yes, mainly on work related terms however," He added. "Tonks is just too bigheaded for her own good."

"Tonks isn't bigheaded," Remus said quietly, shaking his head. "She has strong opinions and is as stubborn as they come. But she is also compassionate and caring as well and can be very level headed."

"Maybe to you she is," Sirius muttered bitterly. "But if you think she's level headed just remember this. Never tell her that her hair makes her look like a guy, especially when she has her period. You'll come out of it sporting some very colorful bruises."

"Er, Sirius, you're speaking from experience aren't you?" Harry said slowly. Sirius grinned.

"And you wonder why I was limping around for three days last week . . ."

Mrs. Weasley stayed long enough to help Remus and Harry with dinner before she had to head home and prepare supper for her own family. Harry was grateful that she had stopped by, and was literally bouncing on the balls of his feet at the thought of seeing his friends again. Not only that, but he was currently helping to cook his favorite meal, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

Harry sat down across from Remus and listened as Tonks and Kingsley got into an argument about Tonks's hair. Kingsley had asked Tonks to show him her original hair color and Tonks had refused, which led to Kingsley and Sirius making fun of her and calling her chicken. It was really funny to see Tonks face getting so red with a mix of anger and embarrassment.

"So Harry," Remus said once Tonks had 'accidentally' spilled her mug of butterbeer on Sirius's lap and was grinning smugly. "How do you like your new look?"

Harry looked sheepish. "Don't tell Tonks, but I actually like it a lot. I'm grateful for what she did but I can never admit it to her face."

"I like it on you too, it makes you look older," Harry's eyes lit up and Remus laughed. "Wanting to impress somebody special?"

"Are you trying to ask me if I have a crush on somebody?" Harry asked. Remus merely grinned. "Well I don't. So I'm certainly not trying to impress anybody."

"You sure," Remus asked with a suspiciously knowing look on his face. Harry nodded. His mind was wandering back to Cho Chang, who had been Cedric's girlfriend, but now after everything that happened, he didn't feel the same tight knot in his stomach every time he thought about her. "If you say so,"

"Do you have a crush Remus?" Harry said with a sly grin.

Remus looked up at Harry with a very cool look on his face as though he where suggesting to Harry that this was a very easy subject to discuss. Only somebody who had been around him constantly for the past two weeks and was very close to him could see past the mask. Remus was looking panicked, and Harry was grinning madly because of it.

"No, I do not have anybody in mind," He said and suddenly he looked saddened. "And besides, who would want a werewolf for a boyfriend or a husband anyways?"

"You'd be surprised, Remus, to see how many people are past such prejudices," Harry said with his head leaning on his elbows. His dinner had suddenly become abandoned in front of him as he stared at Remus seriously. "Just because you're a werewolf doesn't mean you're not a human being. You have the same likes and dislikes, personality traits and appeal as any other person here."

Remus shook his head. "You don't understand, Harry. You haven't been -"

"What?" Harry said, straightening up. "Not in your situation? Not different? I know how it's like to be different Remus. Just because you change once a month doesn't mean I see any less of you. Woman change once a month too, and its not like people de-humanize them."

They both stared at each other for a second before bursting out laughing. Everyone looked around at them curiously wondering what was so funny, but Remus brushed them back to their conversation and a minute later the attention was away from them again. Harry brushed the stray tears of laughter out from his eyes.

"Don't let Tonks hear you say that," Remus said quietly. "And I think a woman's cycle and being a werewolf is a little different from each other. Even if women are like unbearable monsters."

Harry snorted.

"Don't worry about anything Remus," Harry said as he went back to his dinner. "I'm sure when you meet the right person for you they won't think twice about you being a werewolf."

"I wouldn't be so sure,"

"Oh come on," Harry said. "I'll bet you ten galleons when you meet the perfect girl for you, they won't care,"

"Harry, I'm not going to bet -"

Harry merely held out his hand for a shake and Remus sighed. Sometimes Harry was just too stubborn for his own good. Remus took Harry's hand into his own and they shook.

"Ten galleons it is." Remus said smiling.

'Now if you could only be more confident in yourself Harry rather than others, then we wouldn't have so many problems,'

After dinner, the group had retired into the living room and where playing a muggle game that Tonks had bought while shopping earlier that morning in muggle London. It was called Scrabble and they had divided themselves into four teams of two. Sirius and Harry were together, along with Remus and Tonks, Kingsley and Mad-Eye and Emmaline and Mundungus. So far Mundungus and Emmaline were winning, but that was only because Mundungus was cheating and kept insisting that nonexistent words were those used by muggles.

"Dung 'flexdug' is not a word!" Sirius growled. "You can't use that!"

"It is a word!" Dung said bag, his basset hound eyes narrowing angrily. "I've 'eard people in Australia usin' it all the time!"

"When did you go to Australia?" Emmaline asked.

"Well . . . I didn't actually. But I've talked to 'em before! And they use that word!"

"You are such a cheater, dung!" Tonks said. "From now on you have to use normal words that we are all familiar with. Besides, I don't feel like looking up 'flexdug' in the dictionary right now."

Eventually, Dung had changed his word to flex and just taking off the ending. The game only ended when Tonks had gotten up to get another drink and had toppled the board to the floor. At that point Remus and Tonks had had the highest score so they had been declared the winner by default, even though Mad-Eye had grumbled that Tonks should have been disqualified for ruining the game in the first place.

"How do we know that wasn't deliberate?" He growled bitterly from his seat.

"Because it's Tonks," Sirius said in her aid. "She's always knocking things on the floor. She can't help it and it was an accident. She and Remus had the highest score so she won."

"If that hadn't been on my behalf than I would have hurt you," Tonks said giving the man an evil eye before turning to Mad-Eye and doing the same.

"I think Tonk's evil eyes are worse than Mad-Eyes fake one," Harry whispered into Sirius ear and he snorted.

"Too true, kiddo," He said quietly back and both started to grin like mad.

Harry went to bed a little while later, after being forced by Sirius and Remus. Both men had noticed over the past days that Harry had been very tired and practically falling asleep on his feet add odd periods of the day. They both tried to make it their job to make Harry go to bed early, even though they all knew there was a really good change he was going to have a nightmare. He hadn't had one last night but he did the night before, which had been a pretty violent one.

True enough, Harry woke up at around three in the morning, but for some odd reason he wasn't sure if it was a nightmare that had woken him or not. He had opened his eyes in a panic and felt the familiar sense of fear and dread in his stomach that he did when he woke up from every nightmare, but this time was different. He couldn't remember one detail of his nightmare, not an voices, sounds, colors or anything of the sort. The feeling of dread in his stomach didn't cease however and he was starting to become unnerved.

There was a tingling sensation on the back of his neck, like when you got when somebody was watching you. Harry quickly stumbled on the table for his glasses and slipped them on his face before taking hold of his wand. He knew like a sixth sense that he needed to wake up Sirius or somebody. Something was wrong, really wrong. But he couldn't place his finger on what exactly it was.

Slowly, Harry got up from bed and put on his shoes. Even before he had been wary of walking barefooted around the house, thinking he would step on something that he shouldn't. It was a likely scenario.

He headed to the door and slipped outside, his wand grasped in his hand. He quickly headed over to the staircase but saw nothing but darkness. The house was too silent for his liking. He couldn't hear the gurgling of pipes, the sounds of any grandfather clocks, Kreacher, or any person's snores. He turned back and placed his foot on the staircase, and suddenly felt rather than saw something behind him. He quickly turned and the next second he found himself ducked on the floor, a stunning spell grazing the tips of his hair. And worst of all, his wand had slipped his fingers and had rolled somewhere in the darkness.

"SIRIUS!" He screamed as a large black mass plunged from the darkness hurled towards him.

"Silencio!" He heard a rough voice hiss and the spell hit him in the small of the back.

"Stupefy!" They hissed again but Harry managed to roll away. He scrambled to his feet, but a hand caught his arm and Harry whirled around so fast it sent both of them to the floor and Harry saw the man's wand roll to the staircase and fall down the stairs. Harry scrambled to his feet as he heard people hurrying down the stairs and tried to dive away from his attacker but was caught around the ankle and he found himself sliding head first down several stairs while his attacker held his ankle firmly.

"Harry!" Somebody called from the stairs and the next second there where two stunning curses that Harry saw in the corners of his eyes. His attacker seemed very quick, because the next second he was on his feet and dragging a struggling Harry down the rest of his stairs. Harry tried to bite, kick and scratch his attacker, but it wasn't working well and the man was resisting any bodily harm Harry placed on him.

The person had found his wand on the floor and Harry found himself dragged down to the kitchen, with several running footsteps following them from behind, and several lights that Harry guessed were spells. When they reached the bottom of the kitchen stairs, Harry stomped on the attacker's foot and wriggled from the grasp and fell on his behind. He looked up to see a wand in his face and he caught a glimpse of his attacker before a stunning spell was sent right at him.

It was Professor Snape.

Authors Note: And the monotony is gone! The redundant use is gone as well (which was all significant by the way) and its starting to pick up pace so we can get past that ugly wall and into the even uglier one of Harry's capture. He's in a lot of trouble now, huh? Anyway, yes, no? Like it, don't like it? If you love me review. If you don't . . . well I hope you review anyway. My writers block is gone and muse came back from vacation so we're all fine now. I'm going to watch Harry Potter 4 Now for the third time today.

Thanks to Lucy for her beta'ness. And also to Vicki (again) for last week as well!

Yours,

BlondxCrayon