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.

The next morning, they awoke, still with a smile on their face.

"Was you asking me to marry you a dream or did it really happen" Tonks asked him after she had turned to face him.

"Take a look at your left hand" Harry told her.

Doing so, Tonks smile amplified "I'm glad it wasn't just a dream"

"Me too" and he gave her a morning kiss.

"Come on, we should start the day" Tonks said before she got out of bed and went to grab some running clothes.

While Tonks was in the bathroom, Harry already changed and only slipped into the bathroom quickly before they could leave. Walking hand in hand out of the hotel, Tonks kept playing with her engagement ring.

They started their run and quickly found their way back to the Thames. They both enjoyed the physical activity and fresh air. They tried to push themselves again, until they both couldn't run anymore and then started to walk back to the hotel.

"So what are we going to do today" Harry asked after catching his breath.

"Well first breakfast obviously, but then I will leave for a moment, but I shouldn't be gone longer than an hour, in that time you can read some more in your book about occlumency, since I want to start today with building your shields. So today will be mostly reading and practicing Occlumency, if that is alright with you?"

"Yes, but I might mix up the reading if Occlumency is starting to annoy me"

"Of course, I also have some lecture I want to go through, so I'll know how to keep busy" Tonks said.

In the hotel, they quickly both took a shower before going downstairs for breakfast. Running definitely gave them a big appetite.

"I was wondering if we should start planning our leave from England" Harry asked her after scooping up their plates at the buffet.

"I was thinking the same thing. We still have a lot of things to decide and to plan before we can do so. I thought that we should leave the moment you have enough control over your morphing or when it is mid-August, whatever comes first"

"That's fine by me, I think when we leave, we should do in a neutral appearance, which isn't dark blue hair" Harry said.

"Exactly, I can put glamors on you, but they don't hold that long, so we're going to see what happens"

"When are we going to start with practicing my morphing?" Harry asked eagerly.

"A basis of Occlumency could help you, that's why we should start with that, but the moment you have read you book about Occlumency, you can already start with the book I got about morphing" Tonks explained.

"Only gives me even more motivation to learn Occlumency" Harry said with a smile.

They finished breakfast before they went back to their rooms. There Tonks grabbed her backpack and gave Harry a kiss "I should be back in an hour"

"Alright" Harry answered before giving her another kiss.

When Tonks had left the room, he grabbed the book on Occlumency and continued reading. It surprised him how much faster he could read and how much he remembered about it, now that the block had been removed.

He only had to read three more chapters when Tonks came in the room again. Harry was so engrossed in reading that he didn't notice her doing so. It was only when she placed a kiss on his crown that he looked up.

"Hey, you're back" he said with a smile.

Tonks nodded "It seems like you have proceeded a lot in your book"

"Yeah, since that block is lifted, reading goes a lot faster and retention is a lot better" Harry answered. "Do you mind if I finished the book first, before we start practicing?"

"No, I'll just take a book for myself, let me know when you are done" Tonks assured him, so Harry continued reading.

Half an hour later, Harry was done reading, so he looked at Tonks who was sitting in the armchair next to him. Lying his hand on hers, he let her know he was done.

Tonks marked her book before she set it aside. "Alright, first of all, I've put a new book at your collection, one that you had inquired about. That being said let's start. What did the book told you about Occlumency?"

"A few things" Harry joked before he became serious "It described that an organized mind makes it easier to protect, so I've started to organize my thoughts a bit, but I'm not done with that yet. It also describes how you can build protections, magical and physical"

"Alright, that's a good start, if you are alright with it, I'll perform Legilimency on you and you have to tell me when you notice the intrusion. This is easier when you don't have memories with powerful emotions attached to it on your mind" Tonks told him.

Harry nodded "I'm ready"

The first time Tonks performed it, Harry hadn't noticed her intrusion until she started to try and search for a specific memory.

"It's not bad for a first time" Tonks encouraged him "Most people don't even notice an intrusion when they are shifting through their memories. Try to understand how you mind feels, that way you will pick up faster when there is something that doesn't belong there, which in this case would be my presence"

The next time Tonks intruded his mind, he again only noticed it when she started going through his memories, but the third time, he noticed a small change when she entered him mind and said so out loud.

"That's really good. The way Snape learned you was a forceful intrusion, while most attacks are very gentle, so they don't alarm the person they try to read. So it's really good that you managed to feel my presence"

"I really believe Snape only made me more vulnerable for Voldemort's intrusions" Harry mused.

"I think you are right, but we are changing that now, alright, now we will practice a few times more, so you become proficient in detecting an attack" Tonks said.

Harry braced himself and they started again. They practiced multiple times until Harry was able to detect Tonks' intrusions practically every time.

"I suggest we take a break, since we should get some lunch" Tonks told him "but I'm really proud on what you've accomplished. Normally it takes a lot longer to learn to detect intrusions"

Harry smiled and even more when Tonks kissed him.

"Come on, let's go downstairs" she said and pulled him out of the armchair.

While they were walking downstairs, Tonks said "From now on, I'll start to try and invade you mind in moments you don't expect, so you aren't prepared. That way you'll learn to detect them even when you aren't prepared. That will be the next step to learn to protect your mind"

"Thank you for helping me" Harry said genuinely after nodding.

"It's in both of our advantage if we are both good Occlumens, that way it will be easier to protect the fact that we are leaving England"

Harry smiled when they went to sit down with their food in front of them. He was taking a bite when he felt the gentle intrusion from Tonks.

"Nice try" Harry told her.

Tonks looked at him surprised "That was really good, I hadn't expected you to notice this intrusion"

"Now that I understand how my mind feels, it's not that hard to detect your intrusions" Harry admitted.

"We should be able to start on your defenses this afternoon since you are able to detect the intrusions"

Encouraged by this, Harry quickly ate his food and impatiently waited until Tonks was ready.

"Nice to see you this enthusiastic about this" Tonks remarked.

"I'm just glad that I'm able to do it, I'm also determined because I feel an obligation towards Sirius to be able to protect my mind"

"Well, let's continue the lesson then" Tonks said when she put down her cutlery.

After making their way upstairs again and taking place in their armchairs, Tonks said "Now it is important that you chose a way of cataloguing you memories and thoughts, after that we can start on putting up defenses"

"When I was reading the book, I was thinking about a city, where every building represents a category of memories" Harry told her.

"That's a good idea. If it is alright, I'll give you some time so you can place those memories in their respective place in your mind" Tonks said before she gave him a kiss and picked up her book again.

Harry closed his eyes and started with organizing his mind, first deciding how he wanted to divide his memories over the specific buildings. He placed his knowledge and his studying in a building that was a library, while his dueling experience ended up in a dueling room in another room. He placed all his memories in their buildings, often placing a memory in multiple places. When he thought he was done, he opened his eyes and saw that it was completely dark outside.

He looked to where Tonks sat and saw that she had fallen asleep in the armchair and a quick look on the clock, which told him it was past midnight, explained a lot. He took her book out of her hands and noticed that she already was in her pajamas. He carefully scooped her up and placed her in the bed. When he wanted to go to the bathroom to change, he saw that there was a plate with food waiting for him.

Feeling his stomach growl, he decided to eat first and then go to sleep. Taking his first bite, he was surprised that it was still warm until he deduced that Tonks must have used a warming spell. Quietly eating the plate of pasta, he watched how Tonks was sleeping. After the plate was emptied, he took his pajamas and went to change in the bathroom, also brushing his teeth.

When he was finally prepared to go to sleep, he went to lay down, organized his last memories and went to sleep.

The next morning, it was Tonks who woke up first and was a bit disorientated that she was in bed. When she noticed Harry's arm holding her, she realized that he must have carried her to the bed when he came out of his trance organizing his mind. She hadn't want to disturb him the evening before since he looked very focused and she knew out of experience that it was easy to get lost in sorting your memories and forget about what happened around you.

She decided to close her eyes a bit more and snoozed a bit in the arms of Harry. It was an hour later that Tonks noticed that Harry started moving a bit, so she stroked over his arm that was holding her.

"Awake" Harry asked.

"Yes, I have been for a while, but I didn't want to wake you since I didn't knew what time you went to sleep.

"It was 2:30am" Harry said. "I don't understand how it could have gone from 1 in the afternoon to 2:30am"

"I did the same thing when I was organizing my mind. I had started one evening after a day of auror training and when I was done, it was four in the morning and I had to get up two hour later" Tonks chuckled. "Were you able to organize all of you memories?"

"Yes, I believe so"

"Good, now we should go for a run, then get some breakfast and then we can see to make some defenses" Tonks told him.

After breakfast, they took their places again in the armchairs and Tonks described "Now we will start with making your defenses of your city. We should start making some physical ones, since those should be easier to build"

"Alright, I thought I would build some walls around the city"

"That's a good start, why don't you do so, then I'll try to break through the walls" Tonks told him and gave him some time.

A few minutes later Harry told her he was ready for her intrusion, so this time Tonks entered his mind a bit more forcefully and started to observe the wall. It only took her a few moment before she had broken through the wall by slipping through a crack

"You noticed what I did?" Tonks asked when she had left his mind again.

Harry nodded, a bit out of breath from the intrusion. "Give me a minute, I'll try to improve my walls"

Harry thought of a first wall, made of stones, with a thick plate of steel behind it that covered the entire wall, only to be sandwiched between another stone wall behind it.

"I'm ready" Harry told her when he was done.

Tonks entered his mind again and tried to break through his wall, except this time, she didn't find a way to go through the wall, so she simply tried to get over the wall by conjuring a ladder and climbing over it.

After that she left his mind again and was also a bit out of breath, just as Harry. When she had caught her breath she explained "It was a really good wall this time and you noticed that it took me a lot more strength to get to your city"

Harry thought for a moment and asked "What would happen if you placed booby traps or mines in your mind?"

"If you can let them detonate like real ones, a person should normally be evicted from your mind, except if the person is a very accomplished Occlumens, and even then they can only endure with a few of those attacks"

Harry nodded and started to enforce his city even more. This time he placed a deep ditch in front and after his wall and started to place multiple mines and traps. In his wall, he placed traps at places that looked weak, so if you would try to get in from there, it would trigger when they tried. He finished with placing some mines before the ditch, dispersed over the land in front of it.

He smirked when he was ready and asked "Care to try now?"

"I'll probably regret this, but sure" Tonks said before she entered his mind, since she was warned about the mines, she crossed the land a lot more careful than the first times and by using a detector spell, managed to pass the land until she was in front of the ditch. Thinking for a while, she used a lot of energy conjuring a stairs that went over the ditch so she could climb it to the top of the wall. She was really tired by the time she got there and was surprised to see another ditch after the wall. Eventually, she placed a cushioning charm on the land after the ditch and with a jump and a little wind spell to give her more momentum, she managed to jump off the wall, over the ditch and on the cushioned patch of ground.

Once she was there, she left his mind again and was extremely exhausted. "I almost didn't made it, that was really hard to break through and I was one of the best Legilimens of my class"

Harry smiled and suggested "We should take a break, I think the both of us could use some rest"

"Good idea, do you want me to explain the process of putting magical protection on your mind?" Tonks asked.

"Yes, why not" Harry said, but he first got up and pulled Tonks out of her armchair only to sit down again and pulling her in his lap.

"This is quite comfortable" Tonks remarked with a smile and gave him a kiss. "Now about magical protection. You should use spells that stay there permanently, so you can use wards for example. You try to cast it over what you want to protect. Since you already managed to make a strong physical protection, this will be easier, since your mind now knows how to hold this up"

Harry nodded and started to work on it. This was a lot harder to apply correctly and it took Harry a lot more time to do so. That afternoon and the next six days, Harry read books mostly about wards , and sometimes in the book that Tonks had gotten him, and started to apply them on his defenses. When he had applied another one, Tonks would test it and try to break through his defenses, but they had come through a point where he needed to give Tonks access to certain parts to she could test his newest defenses, because she couldn't break through all of them anymore.

They had also worked a little bit on Harry's morphing skills when he got tired of working on his Occlumency and they had achieved that he could let his hair grow and shorten again and he had also been able to change his hair color a couple of times.

On the seventh day they had decided that they couldn't improve his defenses anymore with all the traps, misdirections, spells and physical barriers Harry had put in his mind. Tonks had even improved her own defenses with the ideas Harry had given her and in return had told him about her defenses. So Tonks had announced that they would go out the next day, but that she would take care of everything.