Disclaimer : I do not own anything of the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JK Rowling, I just love writing about the fantastic universe she presented us.

This story is/was posted on my other account, since I had trouble posting a new story on this account. Now that it is all worked out, I'm moving that story here, since that will be easier to manage all of my stories. The story is mostly the same as before, minus some mistakes or typos.

If there are still grammer or spelling mistakes, please let me know. English isn't my native language (plus I have dyslexia), so it is possible that there are still a few mistakes in my stories even though I edit them before I post them. I hope you'll enjoy the story.

The Change - chapter 2

Harry's first semester of his fifth year resembled a lot like hell for him. He didn't have that much trouble controlling his anger, thanks to his writing with Tonks, but Umbridge had singled him out from the first lesson. Even though she couldn't tempt him to say what she wanted to hear, she used every little infraction to give him detention with her.

She made him write 'I must not tell lies' over and over with a blood quill and she kept on saying to him that he was a liar, for telling the world that Voldemort was back.

Harry went through those detentions with his head held high, not wanting to give in with that awful woman and Tonks had given him a spell that would help heal the wounds on his hand.

When Tonks had first heard about the blood quill, she had wanted to go and tell her boss about it, since it is illegal, but Harry made her promise him she wouldn't and she had held her word. He had managed to convince her, by telling her that it wouldn't do anything good, that it might even make the situation worse than it was at that moment. She had made him promise though that if she tried to do anything else, he would tell her so she could take action towards that vile woman.

Thanks to the help and urging from Hermione, he had formed the DA and learned the members everything he could, as often as he could. He knew what was waiting for them and he wanted them to be prepared.

During the nights he couldn't sleep, he would slip out of Gryffindor Tower and go towards the room of requirement, to train himself, to keep the nightmares away. Keeping the nightmares away was however only one reason why he went to train there as often as he could. He was well aware that Voldemort had it out for him, so he tried to make sure he wouldn't be completely defenseless.

He read a lot of books in his free time, which was a lot more since Umbridge had banned him from Quidditch. A lot of those books were about Defense Against the Dark Arts, but also about other topics. His schoolwork had vastly improved and the professors were surprised to see Harry so focused on his essays and in class itself too. Even more so since they all knew very well that Umbridge was terrorizing him, which they sadly couldn't do anything about it.

The night of the last DA meeting, he left the room of requirements with Ron and Hermione and made way to his bed, exhausted, but also very proud of the work he had accomplished with his peers. Even Neville had been able to successfully stun someone. It made him feel a bit better, knowing that his friends and fellow students would be able to protect themselves a bit during the holidays, if the situation would arise.

That night however, after seeing Cedric die in his dreams again, the dream shifted to the often recurring dream of the hallways, but this time the dream continued and he saw how he was attacking Mr. Weasley. After he woke up, completely covered in sweat, he was herded to the headmasters office, where he recounted what he had seen. Once they had found Mr. Weasley, he was whisked away with the portkey towards Grimmaulds Place, together with the other Weasleys. After hearing the somewhat comforting words that Mr. Weasley would be alright, he locked himself up in Tonks' room, since she wasn't there at that moment. He had hoped to speak to her, but since he didn't found her, he just locked the door and took the blanket he had used the first night there and placed himself on the ground again.

When Tonks wanted to enter her room after a night shift. Surprised that it was locked, she carefully entered and saw Harry, sleeping on the ground. Not knowing what to do, she decided the wake him up, since there must have been a good reason for him being in her room.

"Harry" Tonks said while she shook his shoulder.

Harry bolted upright immediately, with his wand drawn in his hand, but when he saw Tonks, all the energy left him and he slumped against the wall sobbing uncontrollably.

Tonks took him in a hug, rubbing over his back, trying to calm him down. It took her a long time, but when he had finally stopped sobbing, she asked "What happened?"

"I was sleeping, seeing Cedric die again in my dreams, when the scenery changed again, to one more familiar. It's a scene I have been dreaming of for months, but this time, I was moving through the corridor I had been dreaming off until I saw Mr. Weasley. Next thing I knew, I was attacking him, biting him multiple time. I didn't want to do it, you have to believe me, but I couldn't stop it. I woke up and told the headmaster. They found Mr. Weasley and he's in St. Mungo's now"

Tonks started to rub his back again, since he had started crying again "You didn't attack Mr. Weasley Harry, you couldn't have done anything to stop it. They know it was a snake who attacked him and they guess it was Nagini, Voldemort's pet snake"

"But I saw with my own eyes how I attacked him" Harry muttered.

"And where were you when you saw that, where were you physically?"

"In my bed" Harry had to admit.

"Exactly, you couldn't have attacked him, you were just observing it" Tonks explained.

Harry nodded but said "In Dumbledore's office afterwards, there was a moment that I was so angry at him, that I wanted to lash out, but it was like it wasn't my own feelings"

"I'm not sure what could have brought that on Harry, but like the dream, it was most likely not you... Are there any other things that have happened that seemed odd or strange that you didn't tell me about?"

Harry was thoughtful for a moment before he casted his eyes downwards. "Yes, I have been having similar dreams like the one Mr. Weasley was attacked. One where Voldemort killed a muggle. Then others where I'm in the same house, but just seeing the corridors and stairs"

"Is it just that dream that keeps recurring?" Tonks inquired.

"No" and he shook his head. "I've been dreaming about a corridor, just a corridor and a door. But every time I come close to the door, I wake up, panting and covered in sweat"

"Since when did the dreams start?" Tonks asked "Those of that corridor you keep dreaming off, or the others?"

"Voldemort's resurrection" Harry reluctantly answered.

Tonks huffed "Why haven't you told me before… Never mind. I believe you're seeing those things because you must have a connection with Voldemort. You're going to need to learn to close of your mind." She told him, while she was thinking everything through what she had just learned. "If Voldemort learns of this connection, which may be after last night, he might try and sort through your memories or even worse, try and mislead you or possess you"

"How do you know this for sure?" Harry inquired, surprised about the serious face that Tonks had and the fact that she seemed so certain.

"My time at Hogwarts was lonely in my last year Harry, I was often to be found in the library with my nose into books. I quite liked reading about Occlumency, which is protecting your mind"

Harry nodded "Can you teach me?" he asked her almost desperately. "Will it keep the dreams away?"

"I will and I hope those dreams will stop after you have mastered it. just give me a second" and she stood up and went to her desk, she took out a vial and poured it in her mouth. Then she used her wand to conjure a sofa for the both of them and went to sit down.

When Harry didn't move she said "Come and sit down, you need to be calm to do this and preferably as relaxed as possible"

Harry did as she had told him and also took place in the couch. "What do I need to do?"

Tonks smiled "Remember that first evening we talked?" Harry nodded so she continued "Since you can already project yourself to you own mind, something normally only some Occlumens can do, it should be easier to build you defenses"

Tonks first told him more about Occlumency and the possibilities and advantages, before she explained to him that he had to try and order his mind as much as he could, storing everything of importance behind different doors. She helped him by entering his mind and giving him suggestions, but also just being there from him while he went through his memories. It took them almost nine hours non-stop work to do so and it was an emotionally and physically draining process. On multiple occasions, they had to stop so one of them or the both of them could reign in their emotions again before they could continue with the process. When they were eventually done doing organizing his memories, Tonks helped harry to apply the most basic and general defenses, before they couldn't continue anymore.

Once they had done so, Tonks left his mind again and Harry almost slumped against her in exhaustion. She transferred his head to her lap and conjured a blanket to place it over him. She wasn't surprised that he was that exhausted. The first time she had begun organizing her mind, she had to stop after an hour because of the exhaustion. Harry had just worked on it for nine hours, followed by two hours putting up basic defenses. She was really amazed by his strength and perseverance.

She went with her hand through his hair and was glad to see him sleeping that relaxed. With a motion of her wand, she lifted the wards and spells she had placed and opened the door so it was half-open.

After that, Tonks shifted a little, making sure she didn't do too much so Harry wouldn't wake up, so she was comfortable. It only took her a few minutes to fall asleep.

An hour later, when it was time for dinner, Mrs. Weasley went to fetch everybody. When she entered Tonks' room and saw how both Harry and Tonks were sleeping, she smiled. After everybody was downstairs, she first took two plates aside, put a warming spell on them so she could bring it to them later.

Once dinner was done, she went to bring the plates to Tonks' room and placed them on her desk, not wanting to wake them up, she quietly left the room.

When she crossed Sirius on her way down, she motioned him to follow her to the kitchen.

"Have you seen Harry, Molly? I haven't seen him the entire day" Sirius asked, a frown visible on his face.

Molly nodded "He's with Tonks"

"Do you think he talked to her?" Sirius questioned "I'm worried about him, the state he was in when he arrived"

"I believe so, he looked calm. He was asleep and so was Tonks" Molly explained.

Sirius frowned a bit "How comes you're saying that so calm, that my godson is in a girls room, sleeping? I would have expected a different reaction from you Molly"

"When I looked in Tonks' room, she had left the door half-open. Harry was laying in her lap, sleeping, covered with a blanket, while Tonks was asleep too. They were both fully clothed, so I didn't see a problem. I think she's good for him, he talks to her about things that I don't think he tells Ron or Hermione"

Sirius tried to process that information calmly before he nodded and smiled "Even if there would be something between them, I would trust Tonks with him. She's a good person. She's been helping me keep sane here. She could choose to live at her apartment, but still she stays here"

"Don't you think she's too old for him?" Molly asked, a bit shocked that he had said that, not really having thought about the possibility of Harry and Tonks becoming a couple.

Sirius had a sad look in his face when he answered "She may be physically older, but with everything he has gone through, I believe he might be mentally older than her"

Molly sighted "I'm afraid you're right… That boy has gone through too much already. Do you really think there is something between the two of them?"

"No, not yet anyway. But if you look at the trust they show in each other, I would say it will happen one day, sooner or later. Although I hope they will wait a bit longer before they figure it out, I'm not going to stop them if it happens" Sirius said.

"You surprise me Sirius Black, I had never thought you could have such a serious conversation" Molly told him.

Sirius had to bite back a joke when he answered "I want the best for Harry, even though I can't offer him much because of the situation"

"So what do we do if we notice that something is happening between them?" Molly asked.

"We talk to them, if Harry is still younger than sixteen, we make sure they know the dangers it involves, especially for Tonks. I might have to have the Talk with Harry, since I don't think his uncle gave him one" Sirius said scratching his head.

Molly chuckled "Good luck with that, I still remember every time Arthur came out of his shed with one of our boys, looking even redder than his son after he had given him the talk". She sighted "I hope he'll be alright, even though he's stabilized for the moment"

"Arthur will pull through, you told me the healers said so" Sirius reassured her.

Molly gave him a weak smile "You're right, now come with me, you should really see your godson and cousin, it's really cute"

Silently, they ascended the stairs to the third floor, where Tonks had her room and they peaked in. They both smiled at seeing the two of them so relaxed and carefree. When they were back in the kitchen Sirius said "I think that image is proof enough that they are good for each other, I've never seen Harry so peacefully sleeping in the weeks he's been at Grimmaulds Place"

Molly nodded and the two of them talked some more about Harry and Tonks, but also about Arthur and the rest of the kids. When the evening ended, Molly and Sirius were closer because of their shared love for Harry.