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 3

The next morning, Tonks woke up first and she smiled at the sight of Harry, sleeping with a smile in her lap. It was nice to see him that relaxed, especially if you thought about his last two days. After a few minutes watching him sleep, she looked up and saw the two plates of food on her desk and saw that there was a note lying next to it. She quietly acciod the note and read it.

I brought these two plates for the two of you if you two wake up and are hungry.

Harry hasn't eaten anything today, so if he wakes up, please make sure he eats it all please.

Molly

Tonks smiled at the kind gesture from Mrs. Weasley and was suddenly very glad she had left her door open the day before. She wouldn't want Mrs. Weasley or anybody else thinking something wrong about the situation.

She gently shook his shoulder, waking him up. When he looked at her in confusion she told him "You fell asleep here yesterday, but we should get up. I can smell breakfast"

When Harry figured out he had slept the entire night in her lap, he bolted upright and he looked horrified and said "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep like that"

"Relax, I didn't wake you up before now, did I? Would I do that if I had minded?" Tonks asked him.

Harry shook his head and then looked at her with a quizzical look "It's the first night I've slept without a dream"

Tonks smiled "Well, I must be you lucky charm then, now we should get up and go and get some breakfast. Especially since you haven't eaten in over a day..."

When Harry got down for breakfast, everybody looked at him, Mrs. Weasley and Sirius smiling, the others a bit confused or worried. Harry ignored this and took place next to Ron.

"How's your dad" Harry asked after a few bites of breakfast.

"He's better" Ron answered "We were able to see him yesterday. We wanted to take you with us, but we couldn't find you"

"Sorry about that, I needed some time to think" Harry told him, which was a half-truth after all.

Ron nodded, but Ginny asked "Are you alright Harry?"

"I'm better than yesterday. I just wished I never had to witness the attack on you father" Harry answered truthfully.

"We are grateful you did though mate, dad might not have made it otherwise" Ron said and clapped him on the back.

Harry just nodded and sneaked a peek to where Tonks was sitting at the other side of the table. He was still surprised that he hadn't had a nightmare that night, but then he thought about the Occlumency Tonks had taught him and shoved it off as a result of that.

After dinner, they went towards St. Mungo's to visit Mr. Weasley, but the moment they were back at Grimmaulds Place, he excused himself and made his way upstairs again.

Tonks, seeing that he would brood again if he was on his own, followed him and when he came on the third floor, she smiled when she saw him entering her room again.

When she entered her room a few moments later, she saw him sitting on the couch.

"You alright?" she asked.

Harry shrugged "I'm not sure. I know it wasn't my fault, but seeing Mr. Weasley made me think back to that vision again, making me relive it again"

Tonks went to sit next to him and took his hands in hers "So then we should make sure that doesn't happen again. I'll give you a good book on Occlumency and one about simple wards, they will help you put up the defenses. You should read them if I'm not around. The other moments, I'll help you with your Occlumency"

"Thank you Tonks, you have no idea what that means to me"

Tonks smiled "I suggest we work on the general defenses a bit more before we start to make it complicated"

Harry nodded before he got a pensive look "Do you think we could find the connection I have with Voldemort in my mind?"

Tonks though for a moment before she answered "Theoretically it should be possible I guess, do you want to try that first?"

"Yes, maybe if we can find it, we can seal it off the best we can or make sure it can't be opened or something like that. Maybe that will prevent the visions" Harry suggested.

"That's a good idea, do you want my help?" Tonks questioned.

Harry just nodded, so Tonks entered his mind again and together they went over every place in Harry's mind until they came to a place that felt colder, even evil. A bit like the effect a dementor had, came upon them. They cautiously walked closer until they saw a black door or better said a portal. Everything that surrounded it felt evil and they decided not to go closer to it.

Tonks left Harry's mind and when she looked at him again, sitting in front of her she saw that he was as white as a sheet.

"That was definitely the connection" Harry told her and started to tremble.

Tonks put her arms around him and comforted him. When he was calm again she told him "We'll make sure it is as shut off as possible from your mind and I promise you I'll look for some way to remove it"

"Why are you helping me this much" Harry asked her. A question he had been thinking of since the day before and couldn't help but posing.

"Because you're my friend and one of the only people who sees me for who I am and not for what I can do"

"Those other people are idiots" Harry murmured, making Tonks laugh out loud.

When she had finally stopped laughing, she said "Come on, we should put up some more defenses before we head for lunch"

Over the next two weeks of the Christmas holiday, Harry spent some of his time with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins, but a lot of his time, he used reading the books Tonks provided him. He had read the two she had given him in a record speed and when he had told Tonks about it, she told him it was since his mind was more organized, it was easier to process and remember information. She had given him more advanced books about Occlumency and Warding and he read them all. They worked on his defenses and by the time that the vacation was almost over, Tonks couldn't enter his mind anymore if Harry tried to stop her.

Those at Grimmaulds Place had seen the change in Harry. He had become more calm and at ease and he looked less troubled. This was all because of the Occlumency he had learned from Tonks. It helped him control his emotions better and the fact they had warded off the connection with Voldemort the best they could also helped reduce the anger he had felt before. On the last days of the vacation, he had even managed something that Tonks had never heard of before. He had made a training room inside his head like the room of requirement. There he was able to practice magic without getting into trouble with the ministry. He had shown Tonks how to do it and she had been able to recreate the room in her head. If Tonks entered with him in his head, she was even able to train in his room and duel with them. Sadly, there hadn't been much time to try this, since the vacation was running on its end and Tonks still had to go to work a lot.

The Saturday before they would go back to Hogwarts, he was called into the kitchen by Sirius. Upon entering, he saw professor Snape sitting at the kitchen table, with Sirius at the other end of the table.

"Good evening professor Snape" Harry said politely and he got an arched eyebrow of his professor back as a reply.

"I'm merely here to inform you that the headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency" Snape told him.

"That won't be necessary professor" Harry calmly replied.

"You aren't the judge if something is necessary or not, you arrogant little brat" Snape spat out.

"I'm sorry professor, I should have phrased myself better. It won't be necessary to teach me Occlumency, since I already did"

Snape looked at him in shock and said scornful "Then let's see if you're correct" and before Sirius was able to respond, Snape had pulled his wand and said "Legilimens"

To Snape's surprise, the moment he tried to enter Harry's mind, he was forcefully ejected. Not wanting to give up, Snape again tried to enter Harry's mind, but this time with more force. This time, he grinned because he thought he had succeeded, until he walked in a trap and started falling and falling without an end. Eventually Harry just ejected him from his mind again.

"You see professor, I have been busy during this holiday, since I didn't want my mind to be vulnerable for Voldemort. The second time I only let you enter my mind to guide you into my trap" Harry told Snape.

Snape just snarled, got up and disappeared in the fireplace.

Sirius just sat there, shell shocked about what he had seen just moments before. Harry smiled when he saw his godfather sitting there. Clapping him on the back he enquired "Are you alright Padfoot?"

"How did you learn Occlumency?" Sirius asked.

"You would think you could figure that one out" Harry said "What person in this house knows Occlumency and has been spending a lot of time with me?"

Sirius smacked himself on the head "Tonks, I should have known. She taught you?"

"We started the day after Mr. Weasley got attacked. I've been reading books about it and I should thank you and your library, since it also has a few interesting books that I was able to use" Harry told him.

"I really should thank that cousin of mine" Sirius muttered.

"Why do you need to thank me?" Tonks asked, just arriving or better said falling through the floo.

"For teaching my godson Occlumency, he just managed to block two attacks from Snivellus" Sirius answered.

Tonks engulfed Harry in a hug "Good job, I wished I could have seen his face"

"You just have to ask if you want to see" Harry told her.

Tonks nodded and a second later, she was in Harry's mind again, where he led her to the memory. A few minutes later, Tonks had left his mind again and was having trouble to stay upright from laughing so hard.

"What just happened?" Sirius asked.

"I just showed her my memory" Harry told him, but when he saw his godfather still looking confused "She performed Legilimency on me, since she helped me training, she has improved quite a lot with it and doesn't need her wand anymore to enter my mind"

Sirius could have slapped himself on the head again "Sorry, I think I'm still shocked from what happened with Snivellus. You know that he's one of the best Legilimens and Occlumens, except Voldemort and Albus"

"I was trained by the best and was very motivated, now if you will excuse me, I was in the middle of a conversation when I had to come down here for Snape" he said towards Sirius "And I'll see you later" towards Tonks.

When Harry had left to kitchen, Sirius motioned Tonks to sit down and said "Thank you, I don't think Snape would have been able to teach him Occlumency with his grudge for Harry, so I'm really grateful you took the time to teach him"

"It was my pleasure Sirius, I like spending time with Harry, so it wasn't really a task for me" Tonks answered with a smile.

"You've become close to Harry I've noticed"

"He's a good person, I can talk to him, he can talk to me. He's the first person like that" she defended herself.

"I know you mean well Tonks, so don't think I'm attacking you" He told her earnestly. "But I can't help myself from asking how you feel about my godson?"

Tonks looked at Sirius and sighted "Honestly, I don't know. I feel safe and good around him. He can calm me down and make me laugh. He's not a boy, but I also realize that he's not a man yet either. I trust him, which is saying a lot…"

"I don't think Harry knows either Tonks, but it is clear that there is something between you two more than friendship" Sirius pointed out.

"That's one thing I had realized already, but I don't know what I should do…"

"Just continue like you are doing, be his friend and see where it leads you to. Just promise me to be careful until he is sixteen, if something would happen between you two, I don't want any of you two seen hurt" Sirius told her and a memory from Azkaban crept back into his mind.

"Thanks Siri, I just wished everything would be easier" Tonks admitted "And that I would know how I felt, but I think I'm guarding myself until he's older"

"I think that isn't a bad idea and a good friend is also something Harry can use and I think you too" he told her with a smile.

When Tonks had left the kitchen, Sirius thought 'That was the easy conversation, now I just have to have a conversation with Harry'

A bit reluctant, he got up and went upstairs to retrieve Harry. Harry looked at him strangely, but followed his godfather anyway. They went to the sitting room and Sirius cast some wards so nobody would interrupt them, since he knew it would just embarrass them both.

"You probably have no idea what I want to talk to you about? Do you?"

"Not really Sirius, but it must be important if you've put up wards" Harry deduced. "And you seem rather serious, something I haven't seen that often with you"

"It's definitely important, but it's mostly so we won't be disturbed. I want to ask you something first" Sirius said with a grin "How has Hogwarts been this semester?"

Harry smiled and told his godfather everything about the DA, but also some parts about Umbridge.

"So nobody that you're interested in?" Sirius fished.

Harry shrugged "There's a girl, Cho Chang that's been trying to get me alone. I know she's interested in me, but I'm not and she was Cedric's girlfriend, so that would just be wrong"

"So there is nobody that attracts your attention?"

Harry hesitated a moment before he answered "No"

"Alright, even though you're not interested in someone, doesn't mean you will get out of this talk" Sirius started "I want to talk to you about relationships and everything that comes with it"

Harry immediately started blushing when he realized what kind of talk it would be. The next hour and a half, Sirius explained him everything and answered the questions Harry had. In the end, Harry was still blushing, but he thanked his godfather for the information.

When Harry stood up to leave the sitting room, Sirius said "I'm proud of you Harry, for everything you've done so far. It shows that you're already very mature. Your parents would be proud too"

Harry smiled and hugged his godfather "Thank you Sirius"

Before Harry could go to sleep that evening, Tonks called him into her room.

"I wanted to say goodbye, since I'm leaving on a mission tomorrow, I won't be able to see you off" Tonks told him after they were seated in the sofa.

Harry smiled "Thank you for all your help this vacation, I would have been submitted to Snape's Occlumency lessons if it hadn't been for you"

"I'm glad you won't get those… There's also another reason I called you in here. I've managed to get my hands on a sort of spying devise. It's so we can catch Umbridge if the time poses itself. You would just have to carry it with you during one of those awful detentions" and she handed him a little object.

"Thank you. I hope I don't have to use it, but I'm afraid I'll have too" Harry sighted.

Tonks didn't want that more than Harry "I wished there was more I could do for you"

"You're already doing more than I could expect of you Tonks. We have to catch her with proof, otherwise, she will just deny everything and the treatment wouldn't improve" Harry said. "I also have the bad luck the ministry isn't really on my side"

"I know... I have a bad feeling about you going back to Hogwarts Harry" Tonks confessed.

Harry sighted, but pointed out "So do I, but I have to, I don't have any other choice"

Tonks thought for a moment before she went to her drawer and got out a pendant. She duplicated it and then put some spells on them. "I've charmed them, if something is wrong, you have to hold it with both of your hands, I'll know something is wrong and try to come"

Harry nodded "Does the same apply for your pendant"

"Yes, I'll let you know with it if something happens, but don't come, I'll try to contact you as fast as I can" Tonks instructed him.

Harry wanted to disagree but couldn't "I promise Tonks"

"Thank you, I don't want you to get into trouble for me, or into more trouble"

"I would, if that could help you" Harry admitted.

"I know, that's why I'm insisting you don't" Tonks smiled "I know how you are Harry"

"That's not hard, you know more about me than anybody else" Harry pointed out.

"That's true. I have one last gift before you leave for Hogwarts, but you must take good care of them" Tonks told him, while she went to the bookshelves and got out some books "These are my auror books, I normally can't lend or give them to somebody else, so don't show them to anybody else, I've charmed them so they look like normal textbooks from Hogwarts"

"Don't you need them?" Harry questioned.

"No, I've had my tests, so I shouldn't need them anymore. I think you can learn a lot from them. So promise me you'll try to read them?"

"I will, I was planning on focusing even more on my classes and studying than I had the previous semester" Harry told her.

"And training a bunch of students under the eye of an evil witch, literally and figurative speaking"

"Alright, I'll admit to that. But I'm planning on using my time at Hogwarts to learn as much as I can. Definitely since it's easier now to study and learn, thanks to you"

"You've always had a lot of potential Harry. Don't hold back anymore and try to live up to it and don't let yourself being set back by others"

Harry nodded "I will miss you at Hogwarts"

"I'll miss you too Harry" and she engulfed him in a hug. Before Harry turned to leave her room, she kissed his cheek "Good night Harry"

"Good night Tonks" Harry replied and left her room, his arms full with books, but with a soft smile on his face.