Warrior Mage Chapter 6: Back Again, a harry potter fanfic

Warrior Mage – Chapter 6

Back Again

Ok Guys, you know the drill by now, surely. No? Ah well, here goes:

NONE OF THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS FROM HARRY POTTER BELONG TO ME!!! If only they did. sigh Well, enjoy the chapter…

Tonks and Remus stood in Harry's bedroom at Number 4 Privet drive. Tonks was fidgeting endlessly, while Remus looked on in amusement. "What's taking so long?" Tonks demanded every few minutes.

"Sorry, got caught in traffic." Came an amused voice from behind them. A tall, green-eyed man with long jet-black hair appeared from nowhere, sniggering as Tonks' eyes widened to resemble dinner plates.

"Harry?" She ventured, still gaping openly at him.

"That would be me." The man agreed. Remus scrutinised him, guessing him to be about six foot six.

"You've grown a little then?" He said with a smile.

"Just a little. It's good to see you both – I've missed you." He hugged both Remus and Tonks in turn, waving a hand in front of Tonks' eyes. Remus saw the scars running down the centres of his palms and breathed a sigh of relief – it was definitely Harry. Harry smiled wistfully as he looked around his room. "I didn't miss this place." He muttered, removing his cloak. "So what have I missed?"

"Well, we had a rather interesting conversation with your Uncle." Tonks said pointedly, having regained her senses. Harry raised an eyebrow, though his eyes betrayed the fact that he was slightly wary.

"How much damage did he do to you?"

"Enough." Harry replied shortly. "Lee, don't even think about it."

"Huh?" Tonks looked around the room, not seeing Harry's trainer anywhere. She followed Harry's gaze to the door, where Leona materialised before their eyes.

"Spoilsport." She complained.

"You thought you'd prank the Dursleys without my help?" Harry cocked an eyebrow again, grinning slightly.

"But you said-"

"I changed my mind. Hey, how long did it take them to realise I was gone?"

"Four days." Tonks spat angrily. "And only then because you weren't doing your chores."

"Calm down, Tonks. Now, how about we go to my surprise party? The Dursleys can wait. I'm in too good a mood to deal with them just now." Tonks and Remus stared at Harry in shock while Leona giggled.

"Here's a tip – never try to keep a secret from Harry. It's impossible."

"Why?" Tonks asked, looking wary.

"Heightened senses. Lee, remember."

"I know, I know." Leona said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, well just remember. Hey, you guys should meet Simba."

"Simba?"

"He's my cousin – the new Warrior Mage."

"Oh yes, the one that Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Danielle were talking about. Apparently he's cute." Remus said, rolling his eyes. Harry sniggered a little and exchanged looks with Leona. "Has he said anything to you about…..Voldemort?"

"He's been kind of busy just now – the Warriors seem to want him to be in several thousand places at once." A small scowl crossed Harry's face briefly before disappearing.

"Do you think he'll choose Voldemort's side over ours? Or stay neutral?"

"I can't see him choosing Voldemort's side – staying neutral is a possibility, especially with Fudge as a Minister."

"Right."

"Come on, you two can talk about the Mage later – we have a party to be at."

"Hey Moony, want to bet on how many people will recognise me?"

"You don't look that different – well – erm…Ron and Hermione will recognise you for sure."

"A Galleon says they don't." Harry grinned.

"You're on."

"Good – let me get changed first, though. Back in a sec." Harry disappeared from sight.

"What were you feeding him?" Tonks asked in awe.

"Tonks, I'm still here." Harry said.

"Oops. Oh well – what have you been eating? Skele-grow?"

"Ugh. No way. Have you ever tasted that stuff – it's disgusting!"

"When did you have to take Skele-grow?"

"Quidditch match – Dobby tampered with the bludger to make it follow me – ended up smashing into my arm as I caught the Snitch – not pleasant."

"Why Skele-grow then?"

"Lockhart kindly removed all of the bones in my arm."

"Ooh. Not nice."

"I didn't think so." Harry appeared back, wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that actually fitted for once. It just accentuated how different he looked.

"Ok, I think Harry's right on no one being able to recognise him."

"I didn't say no one – Molly will and…Ginny."

"No one else?"

"Nope."

"Now this will be fun." Tonks grinned.

"Won't it?" Harry replied, with just as much of a grin. Remus and Leona shared an anxious look.

"This is going to be bad." They murmured in unison.

***

Harry and Tonks were first to appear at the Burrow, having apparated (Harry would tell everyone that he had used a Portkey, for now, at least). Remus appeared just after them, drawing the attention of everyone in the garden of the Burrow.

"Where's Harry?" Ron asked. Harry smirked at Remus.

"Who's your friend, Tonks?" Hermione asked. Harry's smirk grew as Remus tossed him a Galleon.

"Never mind Moony, you can keep it." He laughed, tossing it back. Molly came up to him and wrapped him in a motherly hug.

"Harry dear, how are you?" She murmured

"I'm better." Harry told her.

"Good." Molly nodded. Ron and Hermione were looking confused, while Ginny was grinning widely.

"Good to see you again – you look…kinda different."

"Yeah. Couldn't be the fact that I've sprouted about a foot and a half in two weeks."

"Might be." Ginny conceded mock-thoughtfully.

"Ginny, do you know him?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"Let me introduce myself – Harry Potter, pleased to meet you." Harry grinned. Ron and Hermione, and everyone else in the room, including Dumbledore, looked completely shocked. Harry and Tonks burst out laughing at the looks of pure shock on many faces, before Ron recovered from his stupor.

"Malfoy is gonna have a heart attack!" He announced gleefully.

"Talking about Hogwarts, I have a small announcement to make." Dumbledore said, "I have hired the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher."

"Who?" Ginny asked immediately. It was Harry that answered.

"Tonks." He grinned. "Congratulations."

"Damn, Leona was right – it's impossible to keep a secret from you." Tonks huffed. Harry pulled her into a hug, grinning madly.

"Too right."

"How did you know that, Harry?"

"I have my ways." Harry said mysteriously.

"Well, this is going to be one very interesting year." Hermione said.

***

Harry spent the night at the Burrow, sharing a room with Ron. Molly had insisted that he needed his rest, something that, to him and Leona, seemed a little bizarre. He hadn't argued with the woman because she had his best interests at heart.

"Umm…I'm sorry about…the whole thing at the Muggles'." Ron said. Harry watched him carefully, gauging his reaction to his new best friend.

"It hurt a lot." Harry said truthfully, "That my two best friends would so easily think that I'd forget so soon."

"I know, but…"

"But that was then. This is now. Just don't do it again?"

"I won't. Oh, and by the way, you are so going to pay for making me do research in the summer holidays!"

"I'll bet it was nothing compared to what Leona had me doing – the woman is a slave-driver!"

"What is Lesea like?"

"It's nice. Some of the Warriors are less than friendly, but there you go."

"Why?"

"There's an awful lot of prejudice about humans in the Warrior world – not to mention the fact that I'm doing my usual – never do anything by halves. Most Warriors don't start training until they're twenty or so. Coming from a human background and being only sixteen marks me out as a target for bigots – I found the Warrior equivalent of Malfoy on my first day."

"Sounds awful." Ron said, sounding surprised. He had guessed that Lesea was as near to perfection as it was possible to get, yet the way Harry described it, it was just like any other world.

"Not really awful – just normal. Good and bad points. There are a lot of good Warriors too."

"Have you met the new Mage?"

"How did you know about Simba?"

"Hermione found a self-updating book in the library, and we all chipped in and bought it – after the clerk found out that we were your friends, he dropped the price."

"Right. Well yeah, I have met him. He's Lee's cousin."

"'Mione's going to be ecstatic."

"I know. I might take you along to Lesea."

"Could you? I thought only Warriors could go there?"

"Nope. Wizards that have been allowed entry by two Warriors can get in – Lee would back me up, I daresay. Probably Simba too, come to think of it."

"Cool!"

"No problem. I guess you guys told Ginny about this?"

"Yeah – you don't mind, do you?"

"Nah. I'll be telling the rest of the DA at the start of term, I see no need to hide it."

"What about Voldemort?"

"He'll find out no matter what I do – might as well not bother hiding it. After all, I need something to explain the whole new me."

"Yeah, I suppose. You're as tall as me."

"I'm still not finished growing – got another four or five inches to grow yet."

"How do you know?"

"Instinct. I'm six foot six just now, and I'll be fully grown at six foot ten."

"How long will that take?"

"Probably two weeks or so. Remember that I've been away for a year to grow to this height."

"Well, you're going to be a nightmare this year, aren't you?"

"Oh you have no idea. I'd guess that the DA will shrink rapidly when they discover what we're doing."

"What are we doing?"

"Sword fighting, Muggle fighting, duelling, defence without a wand."

"Uh…well…that sounds…"

"Difficult?"

"I was guessing more impossible."

"Oh ye of little faith. It's not impossible. Just…difficult."

***

The next morning, when Ron awoke, he found that Harry was already up. He heard voices outside and looked out to see Harry and Leona sparring. It looked as if Leona was losing rather badly. He quickly dressed and went outside to watch, meeting Hermione and Ginny out there.

"How long has he been out here?" He asked in an undertone.

"Since five."

"You've been watching him since five? Why were you awake at five?" Ron asked incredulously.

"We haven't been to sleep yet. He went running first, then swimming, now he's fighting Leona with a sword."

"And winning, by the looks of it." Ron nodded.

"Yeah." As they watched, Harry's sword sliced into Leona's stomach, making Hermione and Ginny scream. A small smiled played at Harry's mouth as he knelt down beside Leona.

"Sorry 'bout that Lee." He grinned, putting his hands over the wound.

"Hmm. It's a good job you don't have my woeful lack of healing skills."

"Isn't it?" Harry laughed, holding out his hand. Leona took it, and pulled him down. The only problem was that instead of coming to ground with a thud, Harry did a small somersault in the air, landing on his feet with a massive grin.

"Come on, we're not finished yet." He said. Leona sighed heavily, and stood up.

"Can't I concede defeat before we start?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Anyway, it's two on one."

"Oh really? Who are you roping in then?"

"Hey Tonks! Lee would like you to come and help her kick my ass at duelling!"

"Gladly." Tonks grinned, appearing from nowhere.

"Oh yeah – I forgot that you could see through invisibility cloaks." Leona smiled.

"You mean you hadn't bothered to look around, and so you didn't see her."

"I did so look around!"

"When!"

"Well…before…"

"That's what I thought." Harry smirked. He bowed to the two women, not bothering to pull his wand from the holder strapped on his left arm.

"You three are the judges." Tonks called. Leona groaned as Harry's eyes lit up as they always did before a particularly bad thrashing.

"Begin." Hermione called. All hell broke loose.

Harry jumped in the air to avoid a curse from Tonks, ducking quickly to avoid the one that Leona shot off. He landed softly on the ground, crouching low as he assessed the situation. He took a few steps backwards before launching himself into the air, transforming into a large lion. He knocked Tonks over before turning to Leona, who transformed into a panther. Roaring loudly, they collided together, with Harry, the larger of the two cats, bowling over Leona. The lion roared as a hex hit its backside. He whirled around and turned into a human again, a smirk growing on his face.

"That was sneaky." He said, his voice still resembling a growl. Tonks smirked right back, having never duelled with Harry.

"Why thank you."

"My pleasure." Harry grinned, fading fast into thin air. Tonks' smile disappeared.

"Hey, not fair!"

"He's behind you." Leona said, and indeed Harry was. He blew on the back of her neck, making her shiver.

"Come get me." He whispered, running away and slowly turning visible again. By this point, all three of the referees were stunned by the display of magic, and were quite speechless. Tonks set off in pursuit of Harry, as did Leona. Suddenly Harry stopped dead in his tracks, his face suddenly serious. Tonks skidded to a halt next to him.

"Deatheaters." He said quietly, pulling his wand. Tonks' face grew sombre too.

"How many?" She whispered.

"Twenty at the least. You up for it?"

"Naturally."

"Lee, you?"

"Of course."

"Good. Oh, look, he sent Bella." Tonks gulped and glanced down at Harry's hands, which she knew would be in a bad state.

"Let's go." Deatheaters began appearing from nowhere, swarming around the two Warriors and one witch. They obviously didn't recognise Harry, as a few of the Deatheaters tried to break away and 'grab Potter'. Harry smirked and froze them in place, flicking some hair from his forehead.

"Looking for me?"

"P…Po…Potter?" One Deatheater stammered. Harry grinned wolfishly, his green eyes flashing.

"That would be me."

"But you…you're supposed to be a midget!" Harry laughed at this, before stunning the Deatheater and binding him tightly.

"I may have been a midget, but at least I was the midget who licked no ones boots." He retorted.

"Ah, Potter. How nice to see you again." Harry's eyes narrowed as he looked at the Deatheater standing in front of him, surrounded by others. It seemed to be at least seven-on-one.

"Bellatrix." He ground out, hatred leaking into his voice.

"The one and only." Bellatrix threw down her mask, smirking at him.

"Indeed." Harry said, blood pumping in his ears as he remembered the events in the Department of Mysteries.

"I haven't seen you since Sirius fell into the veil." She purred. "But you were so small and scrawny then. You've changed." She ran a finger down his chest, making him shudder in revulsion.

"Get off me Bellatrix – and don't even think about turning the charm on. It won't work."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bellatrix said with a small smile.

"I think you do. Let me clarify – Veela charms won't work."

"I'm sure they won't." Apparently she tried anyway, and Harry rolled his eyes as she attempted to lure him to her.

"Wouldn't take my word for it?" Harry smirked. Bellatrix roared in rage, throwing hex after hex at him. Harry dodged each one, and at least three of her spells took out Deatheaters. "What a waste of time." Harry muttered, waving his hand in the general direction of Bellatrix, who shrieked as she fell to the ground, frozen and bound.

"Goodnight Bellatrix." Harry said, stunning her for good measure.

"Nice – what are you going to do with her?"

"One way ticket to the Ministry – as long as she goes nowhere near Azkaban."

"The Aurors have orders to bind the magic of anyone they suspect of serving Voldemort."

"Fair enough – better than killing them, at any rate."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Or maybe not. At this point, I really couldn't care less."

"Ok then." Silence reigned as the Deatheaters fell, mostly either by Harry's or Leona's hands.

***

A frightened looking Hermione was holding Ron and Ginny back.

"Harry and the others can handle it – he'll blow if we go after him. He's got it covered." She said shakily.

"But there are so many of them!"

"Yeah, but look – Harry and Leona are more than capable of dealing with them alone. And Tonks is there too – she's a fully trained Auror remember."

"Yeah, but it just feels…..wrong to leave him to do it all by himself."

"I know." Hermione sighed. Harry seemed to be having no problems handling the Deatheaters, but she still felt as if she should be helping him.

***

Harry had just stunned the last of the Deatheaters when the Aurors arrived. They took one look at the stunned Deatheaters and stopped dead in their tracks.

"Tonks, what's going on?" Someone asked.

"You lot took your time! We were doing your job for you!"

"Who are you?" One of the head Aurors asked Harry and Leona.

"Leona Tide. I'm a Warrior." Leona said. A murmur went around the crowd of Aurors, and many drew their wands once again.

"Enough." Harry barked. "For pities sake, look around you – if she was a deatheater, you think they'd be scattered around like rag dolls?"

"What are rag dolls?" Harry put his hands to his temples, ignoring the blood on them.

"Never mind. The point I was making was that she's obviously on our side."

"And who are you anyway? How do we know that you aren't one of them?"

"A Warrior? I am. I'm also Harry Potter."

"Impossible."

"I assure you, it's quite possible."

"Harry Potter is nowhere near as tall as you though – and he's only fifteen."

"Wow. You know, Lee, they have more in common with Warriors than we thought – though at least this lot know my age."

"At least the Warriors didn't hold wands to your chest."

"Warriors don't have wands – otherwise they probably would have."

"Hmm. Good point."

"Thank you." Harry glanced back at the Aurors, who were glancing uncertainly at each other.

"Oh for the love of God! Would you prefer us to wake them up so that you can stun them yourselves?" He cried in exasperation.

"If you are Harry Potter, show us your scar, Warrior." Harry shook his head in blatant disbelief. The head Auror smirked nastily. "Arrest the Warriors."

"Yeah, right. Like hell you will." Harry said, getting angry again. "Look, see, I have the bloody scar." He pulled back his hair from his face and showed the scar on his forehead.

"Uh…right. Umm…my apologies, Mr Potter." The head Auror said sheepishly.

"I take it you don't want to arrest us then?"

"N…n…no, Mr Potter." The Auror said, getting nervous.

"That's good because I think you have more important things to be worrying about." Harry nodded to the Deatheaters, who were still out cold.

"Yes. We'll just be…going, now. Enjoy the rest of your summer Mr Potter."

"Oh I will." Harry said. The Aurors glanced at him nervously before gathering up the Deatheaters and apparating away quickly.

***

Harry turned to find Leona stifling a grin and Tonks staring at him, completely wide-eyed.

"What?" He asked.

"Forget me guarding you, you'll be guarding me!" Tonks said.

"Uhh, Harry, what were those Aurors saying? You looked pretty annoyed." Hermione ventured.

"Oh, they wanted to arrest me and Lee for being Warriors. Seemed to think we were part of the attack." Harry said in a rather off-hand manner, pulling a sword from nowhere and looking at it carefully. There was a dangerous spark in his eyes as he darted it at the ground, pressing one fat, ugly grey rat to tree.

"Harry…" Ron began in a shaky voice. Harry ignored him, bending down to pick the rat up by its tail.

"Peter." He said pleasantly – almost too pleasantly, the other's thought – "It's been a while." The rat was shaking in fear under the furious gaze of emerald green eyes.

"I suggest," he said, "That you transform. Now, Peter, we don't have all day."

"Harry, you're talking to a rat." Leona muttered quietly.

"He's not a rat. Use your sense Lee – you tell me what he is." Leona took a closer look at the rat, assessing him.

"He's a human – a Deatheater." Peter chose that moment to transform, still shaking with fear as he looked up at Harry.

"Lee, I'd like you to meet the scum that betrayed my parents."

"Ohh." Leona said, suddenly understanding. Harry picked up his sword and held it to Pettigrew's neck.

"Give me one good reason not to slit you from neck to navel." He snarled.

"H…Harry…please. Your…parents…wouldn't want their son…..to be a murderer!" He pleaded. Harry's sword pressed harder against his neck, and he whimpered pitifully.

"Peter, I'm a Warrior – do you know what that means?" Harry said in low growl. Peter shook his head, still plainly terrified. "It means that I'll have no regrets about killing you – after all, justice must be upheld. I should have let Sirius kill you in third year." He said in disgust. "It is lucky for you that you are so utterly worthless. It's not worth my time, killing you. Besides, if anyone has the right to kill you, it's Remus."

"Did someone say my name?" Remus said, pleasantly oblivious to the situation – until he saw Pettigrew that was. "Ah."

"Remus, I was just saying how worthless this little bit of trash is – don't you think?"

"Couldn't agree more." Remus growled.

"Re…Remus…Moony…he's mad! He's going to kill me!"

"Oh don't be pathetic, you traitorous little rodent. You are not worth my time – Remus, it's up to you. Kill him and be done with it, or hand him in." Remus looked from Harry to Peter, who was completely unrecognisable from the boy he had been as a Marauder.

"You make the call Harry – I'll go along with you."

"He already owes me one life debt, what's another?" Harry shrugged. "But don't think you'll get away as easily this time, rat. Just because the Dementors swore allegiance to your Master, doesn't mean that they'll refuse a free meal."

"You…no. Not the Dementors." He snivelled.

"You. Are. Pathetic. It's almost worth letting you escape to see what blunder you will make."

"Please…please."

"But I don't think so – at the very least, Sirius can rest in peace knowing that his name has been cleared." Harry withdrew the blade, running it along Pettigrew's cheek and cutting it. He snapped his fingers and ropes bound him tightly, making sure that he couldn't move, and that he couldn't use any magic. Without another word to anyone, Harry and Remus took one end of the rope each and disapparated.

***

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Tonks and Leona were left standing in the garden. Four of the five were stunned, while the other was on the verge of screaming.

"The IDIOT!" She growled, stomping her foot angrily.

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Harry." Leona said, kneeling down and touching the ground lightly. When she lifted her fingers, they were crimson with fresh blood.

"Not again." Ginny murmured.

"Yes again." Leona sighed deeply and muttered something that made all the blood on the grass disappear. "Can't have anyone getting hold of Harry's blood now, can we?"

"Merlin no!" Tonks shuddered.

"Where did he get that sword? It was different from the one he used when he was fighting you." Ron asked.

"Of course it was – you didn't think he only had one sword, did you?"

"Uh…I…"

"Actually, I did." Tonks said. "Well, I assumed…"

"Never assume." Leona smiled. "Harry has…six swords, I think. On last count. Then again, he may have gotten more."

"Six! Why does he need six?"

"In case he loses the first five? I'm not sure." Leona smiled. "I guess that's his favourite weapon – except perhaps the bow."

"Harry can use a bow?" Hermione asked.

"Of course he can. He's a Warrior." Leona said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world – which it might have been, to someone who had grown up around Warriors and their traditions.

"Is there anything he can't do?"

"Yeah, sure there is – like accepting that he was not responsible for Sirius' death, among other things."

"What about magic? We saw him – he was using very advanced spells earlier."

"Warrior's don't have the same limitations as ordinary wizards – we grow up learning that wands aren't necessary and that any magic can be achieved with enough will. Then again, there are spells that even Warriors can't learn. We're all very different, you see. Some Warriors are better at magic than they are at combat – some are adept at healing. Some are best working with others. Some Warriors are naturals with animals, or with weapons. You get the idea. Just like Wizards, we have our strengths and weaknesses – I'm abysmal at healing. Luckily for Harry, he's pretty good at it. I like Potions brewing. Harry is all right at it, but he has little patience for it – although he can brew a really good potion when he's in a good mood. I enjoy teaching people – Harry does too, hence one of the most important factors in his return to Hogwarts – the DA. Harry and I both share a short temper, which made a lot of our training sessions rather…explosive." She smiled as she remembered the numerous times either she or Harry had blown something up in a burst of anger or frustration. "Harry is really very good at lighting fires by just glaring at something – as my mother found out when I introduced them."

"Why, what happened?" Hermione asked.

"Well, before she knew Harry, she wasn't…well…she was probably one of the toughest hurdles he would have come up against. I introduced them and she started judging him…" Leona trailed off as Harry and Remus returned.

"Oh yes – apparently I was going nowhere, and if anyone touched me I would break in half." Harry cut in dryly.

"Sounds like Snape." Tonks muttered.

"You don't like her then." Ron stated.

"Actually, we get along great." Harry smiled, making Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Tonks stare at him in disbelief. Remus chuckled while Leona rolled her eyes.

"Right."

"So." Harry grinned. "I believe we were in the middle of something?" Leona groaned loudly.

"Damn, and there I was hoping you'd had enough of training today."

"Only because you don't like duelling me." Harry smirked.

"Come on Leona, it'll be fun – and Remus can help too!"

"Er…I'd rather not." Remus said, having an inkling that he was likely to get thrashed. Harry grinned at him, his green eyes twinkling with mirth.

"You can join the judges bench then. Hey Ron, are any of your brothers about?"

"Yeah – Bill and the Twins, why?"

"Will they be up for a little competition?" Harry smirked. "Strictly to help my training, of course."

"You have a death wish." Ginny pronounced proudly. Tonks snickered.

"Oh Harry, be careful." Hermione said, worried despite the fact that she had seen Harry take on large numbers of Deatheaters not long previously.

"Always." Harry replied. He looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling sheepishly. "Well, most of the time, anyway."

"I wish we could join in." Ron said wistfully.

"All you had to do was ask." Harry whispered something unintelligible, before nodding to each of the underage wizard and the two underage witches. Each of them frowned as a tingling sensation ran through their body.

"You're magical signature is temporarily disguised. It should last for about a week."

"Cool! You mean we can do magic out of school?"

"Yep. Just remember that it only lasts a week at a time."

"Right. So we can join in this duel?"

"Sure – you're all on their side. For now, at least."

"Huh? I wanted to be on your side." Ron frowned. Harry shrugged and set off towards the house at a jog.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is not going to be a good thing?" Hermione muttered.

"I know it's not a good thing." Leona replied helpfully.

"Ummm…how good did you say he was at magical duelling?"

"I didn't. It's his strongest area – it's what he's best at. Not to mention the fact that he enjoys it."

"Uh oh."

"Well, I'm certainly glad I'm remaining neutral." Remus grinned.

"Shut it Moony." Tonks replied. "Can I back out?"

"Harry says – and I quote – 'hell no!'"

"Harry says?"

"We have a mind link. Really quite bizarre. He decided to create one between us so that I could get him out of a trance."

"Oh. So you two can like – talk to each other in your heads?"

"Yeah. And see through each others eyes."

"Cool." Ginny and Ron chorused. Hermione shuddered at the mayhem that could cause.

"Yeah." Harry appeared back moments later, with the Twins and Bill beside him.

"Right, rules. There are no rules. Anything goes. No unforgivables, obviously, but apart from that, nothing."

"Anything goes? Are you sure?" Fred asked, a dangerous glint in his eyes. Harry more than matched it with a wolfish grin.

"Perfectly sure." He told them. For once, they looked slightly nervous.

"By anything, does that mean other methods of duelling as well?"

"Naturally." Harry said, pulling out a couple of swords. He looked them both over before handing one to Tonks.

"Be careful with it." He warned. He handed the other to Bill, before pulling out another few and handing them to the twins.

"They can't be enchanted, messed with, broken or blunted. Don't even think about trying to tamper with them." He warned sternly. He pulled out a sword for himself and conjured a bow from thin air.

"Let the fun begin." He announced. "Remus, you're the ref."

"Fine." For the second time that day, all hell broke loose.

***

Harry spun around and kicked out at the sword that Fred was holding, knocking it from his hands and catching it deftly.

"Thanks." He grinned, before ducking a curse aimed from behind. It hit Fred square on the nose, causing him to stumble backwards, cursing loudly.

"See ya." Harry smirked, disappearing in order to regroup.

"Hey! He's gone!" Bill shouted in confusion.

"No he's not – he's invisible. Right behind you, in fact." Leona disagreed, raising her bow and firing an arrow. Harry appeared where she had said he was, an arrow in his shoulder.

"Damn, nice shot." He said, yanking the arrow out with a grimace. Ron and the others flinched at the blood that stained his robes. "Pity it's kinda useless – and did you have to use the poisonous ones?"

"Oops." Leona said. She had meant to use the ordinary arrows, but had pulled out the poisonous ones instead. Luckily, the effect they had on Harry was minimal, and he countered the poison quickly and easily.

"Yeah, oops." Harry grouched, healing his shoulder. When he looked up again, he was surrounded by his opponents, their wands raised at him. He grinned at them all in turn. "Game on." He pronounced, leaping into the air. He vanished above their heads, coming to land softly behind them. Hidden behind the backs of the others, not even Leona could find him – not until she used her Warrior senses, anyway. While he had the advantage, he quietly muttered a few spells. Ron, Bill, Hermione and Ginny froze where they were, allowing Harry to disarm them with a muttered incantation. He banished them further away, allowing him more space. They would only be frozen for a few minutes, Harry knew, but a few minutes was enough to give him a little breathing space. Tonks turned to him, wand raised, and fired off a dozen or more spells in rapid succession. Harry raised his sword, making each and every spell glance off the blade and return to Tonks more powerful than before. Her eyes widened and she ducked quickly, escaping her own hexes.

From where he was standing, Remus gaped. He had never seen anyone doing what Harry was doing – it was as if he had been training all his life. The sword blade moved so quickly that it was barely visible. He did spells without a wand, and never even broke into a sweat.

Back in the middle of the fray, Harry knew the others were getting tired. He was lucky in that he had been building his stamina since he had been a small kid – he needed to be able to keep running long enough that Dudley would lose patience and go in search of some other kid to terrorise. Leona seemed to be the only other one who didn't seem to be tiring easily. Fred and George exchanged a look as Harry approached them. "Hi guys." He said casually, apparently not noticing the two wands that slowly rose.

"Hi Harry." They chorused, smirking at each other. They stopped as soon as Harry smiled too – a mischievous, I've-just-tricked-you sort of smile. Another look passed between them. "Forge?" George muttered.

"Yes Gred?"

"How do we get ourselves into these situations?"

"No idea, Gred." Fred answered. Harry was now grinning like the proverbial cat that got the cream, his eyes dancing with humour. Both Twins eyed him nervously. Harry suddenly closed his eyes. Milliseconds later, instead of Fred and George standing before him, there were two identical ginger kittens. He picked them up and handed them to Ginny, smirking at the horror-filled looks on the kittens faces.

"Gred and Forge." He murmured. Ginny forgot all about him freezing her, as a grin swept over her face.

"Gred and Forge." She murmured, turning to grin at Harry. "This will be fun." Both kittens were struggling to get away from her, but she had a tight grip on them. "Payback time." She told them, flashing Harry a brilliant smile. Harry laughed as he walked over to where Leona and Tonks were waiting for him.

Ron, Bill and Hermione slipped silently behind Harry, nodding to Tonks and Leona as Harry battled both of them. Harry never turned around once, or showed any inkling of them being there. He shot a stunning spell at Tonks, making her fly backwards several feet and land on the grass, out for the count. Leona sighed in frustration – Harry had already gotten rid of three of his opponents, leaving just four. The three behind him summoned their wands as quietly as they could, hoping that Harry wouldn't notice. Unbeknownst to them, he had been aware of them from the start, and couldn't help but smirk as they summoned their wands – they were underestimating him again. But he would let them have their wands, if only because he wanted a decent duel, and not a walkover. Not that Leona was a walkover, as such, but she didn't like magical duelling as much as she did fighting with swords and other weapons. Harry, on the other hand, loved magical duelling. It was perhaps what he was best at, even surpassing his sword skills. He had spent hours upon hours reading almost every book he could get his hands on in Lesea until he had built up his repertoire of spells to an almost unimaginable size. Leona knew he had done this, having been the one to suggest it. Never had she imagined that he would take her suggestion to the point where he had read almost every single book in Lesea.

***

Half an hour later, Bill, Ron and Hermione were all stunned. It was one on one now, and Leona might have conceded defeat, had she not been too proud to do so. There was always the smallest chance that she would beat him, as she had done in the first week of his training. That day, however, was not her day. Harry won spectacularly, ending with Leona fifty foot in the air, dancing around swords while Harry almost split his sides laughing. Once he and Remus had enervated everyone, they all laughed along, pleased to see Harry acting like himself again. When he let her down, Leona scowled playfully at him.

"I hope that poisoned arrow hurt." She said, mock-seriously.

"Absolutely excruciating. You need to sharpen them by the way."

"Yeah. I might do that later. Are you going to save Fred and George at any point in the near future?"

"Nah, not yet. I'm guessing Ginny has a lot to get revenge for – I just hope that she has the sense to take pictures.

"Oh she will." Ron grimaced. "Ginny is every bit as bad as the twins when she gets going. She has a scrapbook of every one of her pranks, though."

"Hmm – now that sounds like it's worth a look."

"I don't think so, mate." Ron said.

"You wouldn't. I bet you've been pranked loads of times."

"I haven't!" Ron protested loudly, flushing the infamous Weasley red. Hermione and Harry glanced at each other.

"We have to get a hold of that book." They said in unison. Ron groaned.

"HARRY POTTER!!!!" Came Molly Weasley's scream, making Harry and Leona shudder and wince.

"Uh…I think I'm going to visit mum and dad." Leona said hastily, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Harry growled at the spot where she had stood, swearing that she would pay for that little act of desertion.

"Good luck, mate, I haven't seen mum in this much of a rage since…well…ever."

"Gee thanks." Harry muttered. He muttered something indistinct, creating a pale blue glow around his body. Hermione noticed that it seemed brighter around his ears, before the entire thing flickered out of vision.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Protection." Harry answered simply, walking away without another word.

***

Had anyone been visiting the Burrow – or even happened to come within about a mile of the Burrow at that point – they would have immediately assumed that something was very, very wrong. Molly Weasley's irate voice bellowed from the house, making everything within range shrink in terror. An angry Molly Weasley was no picnic at the best of times, but after spending the morning training, fighting Deatheaters, running into Auror idiots and having a competition with 4 Wizards, 3 Witches and a Warrior, it was nothing short of hellish.

"Mrs Weasley!" Harry barked after letting her scream for ten minutes non-stop. "MRS WEASLEY!" The woman immediately stopped talking, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Now, can I explain what was going on?"

"This had better be good, Harry. You would do well to think about things before putting yourself and others in danger." Harry unconsciously ran his fingers along the scars on his palms. His eyes flashed angrily as he felt the pain of the scars splitting. He clenched his fists, muttering a healing charm – now was not the time to dwell on past mistakes.

"You think I would willingly put my friends in danger?" He asked, his voice low.

"Of course you wouldn't do it on purpose – but sometimes you don't think before heading into these things." Molly said kindly, reaching out to touch Harry's shoulder. He flinched under her touch and raised his chin defiantly.

"Actually, contrary to popular belief, I do think before acting. You are angry because I went after a group of Deatheaters that came to kill me and my friends, and you are angry because any or all of us might have been killed. If I hadn't acted, we might all have been dead. Ron, Hermione and Ginny weren't even involved! It was me, Tonks and Leona. All three of us are more than capable of dealing with Deatheaters. Yes, I did think before heading off to fight them – I thought of the consequences of what would happen if I didn't. I thought of what they had done already. So when you accuse me of not thinking, you couldn't be more wrong. I've made mistakes before – I have rushed into things without thinking before. And I swear never again. I lost everything when I did that – I lost Sirius. Now tell me that I don't think enough." Harry stormed off angrily, absently putting out small fires that leapt up before him. It was a very guilty Molly Weasley that watched him leave.

***

Up in his room, Harry let his anger free. He watched as flames licked up the walls, consuming everything around him. Several things exploded under his gaze, while others melted. When nothing was left, Harry sat in the middle of the carnage and began to meditate. He had loosed his anger in destroying the room, and now felt perfectly peaceful. His temper, always close to the surface, was both calmed and made worse by his transformation into a Warrior – on the one hand, his powers acted as a sort of an anchor, but on the other hand, his already legendary temper, mixed with his desire to prove himself, meant that when he was riled, he quite literally blew up. His friends would learn to recognise his moods, and when he needed time alone. This was why Leona didn't appear back in the human world for a good long while. Ron, however, stood at the door to his friend's room and stared at the devastation. The walls were blackened and the paint was peeling. The floor was scattered with ashes, and there was no sign of any of the furniture that had been in the room previously. He went downstairs in search of his mother and some answers.

***

Harry opened his eyes eventually and surveyed the damage to the room – it was totally annihilated. He winced, remembering his temper tantrum. He needed to learn that people did care about him and that they were only looking out for what they deemed to be his best interests. Sighing, he stretched out his long limbs and lay back on the floor, deciding that if he was fixing up the room, he may as well make some improvements while he was there.

***

When Ron walked back up the room, he was stunned to find Harry laying spread out on the floor, watching the ceiling as he gestured wildly with his hands. Even as he watched, the room began to change – the walls were cleared of the blackened mess, and turned a sparkling white, with dark blue trim. The ceiling, in contrast, was a deep, inky-blue and was covered in stars and constellations, twinkling as if they were real. The floor beneath Harry changed to a warm wooden floor, while furniture sprung up around the room. With a final gesture, Harry sealed the changes so that only he would be able to alter them. "D'you like it?" He asked, not looking at Ron, who had jumped almost a foot in the air, having not realised that Harry knew he was there.

"It's great. I never realised you could do all of this."

"I've read more books than 'Mione could ever dream of – plus I've had over a year to polish all of this stuff."

"I doubt that you've read anywhere near as much as I have." Hermione smiled. "Nice work."

"Thanks – had to fix my little temper tantrum. And I have read more than you probably ever will."

"Oh? How many?"

"I didn't count. About nine libraries worth." He replied in an off-handed manner.

"No way. You were only gone for a year." Hermione stated.

"I had a lot of free time – well – enough, at any rate. I am now an expert on every single law in Lesea – and believe me, there are millions of the goddamned things. Oh, and there is the small matter of the fact that I can read at approximately the speed of sound."

"Wow. Now that is a handy little talent – can you teach me?" Hermione asked eagerly. Ron groaned and put his head in his hands as Harry smirked.

"As much as I would love to, I can't. It's another of those Warrior things. Although I can teach you how to take in information more quickly."

"Great." Hermione grinned.

"Can you teach me too? Sounds like it would be helpful for schoolwork."

"I daresay it would be. Never really thought about it."

"It's not illegal or anything, is it?"

"No. It doesn't effect your intelligence or anything like that – just means that you take things in the first time, rather than having to struggle to remember things. So Ron, it still means that you have to do the work."

"Right. But it cuts down on revision time?"

"Absolutely not, Ronald Weasley! You cannot take these things for granted!" Hermione said sternly. Harry grinned slightly.

"I'll teach you it before we go back to school. I might be hauled into the Ministry at some point, as well."

"Why?"

"The Deatheater escapade, the fact that I did magic, and the fact that I'm a Warrior. I wonder how long it will take for Fudge to try and get me locked up."

"He wouldn't dare – not now that he's actually admitted that Voldemort's back."

"Speaking of, I guess I won't be getting much sleep tonight."

"Haven't you learnt Occlumency?"

"Yeah, of course I have. But sometimes it works in my favour to forget that." Harry smirked wickedly. "Besides, I can't wait to see Tommy's face when he finds out that I'm a Warrior."

"Won't he know what to expect then?"

"Not if I project some – er, false – feelings while he's busy believing that he's in control."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah. Anyway, I think I'll have a nap before dinner. I'm beat."

"Right – we'll leave you to it then."

"Thanks guys." Harry murmured, climbing into his new, rather larger bed.

***

Harry remained fast asleep for a good two hours before waking up to the smells of a delicious dinner. His stomach protested loudly as he realised he hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours. Tonks appeared at the door, grinning at him. "Molly has cooked dinner – are you ready to stop sulking?"

"Who said I was sulking?" Harry grinned, stretching his muscles.

"I just figured. You know that you're not staying here, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I redecorated more out necessity than out of desire."

"Why?"

"Well, I'm not sulking because I set this room ablaze instead – very satisfying."

"You set it alight? While you were in here?"

"Yeah – I was sort of shielded." Harry shrugged. He got out of the bed and stretched once more, heading over to where Tonks stood.

"Well are we going? I'm ravenous."

"I'm sure you are." Tonks muttered. Harry just laughed. Apparently she was still sore about being beaten in the duel.

***

Before long, Harry and Tonks were getting ready to leave for her flat, while Remus was getting ready to leave for the headquarters. He was leaving on a mission for Dumbledore the next day, and fully intended on getting a good nights sleep beforehand. Harry and Tonks had slipped back into their old habit of flirting with a vengeance, surprising everyone that had witnessed it. Leona, who had stopped hiding, teased them mercilessly, though she stopped when Harry threatened to turn her into something decidedly unsavoury. Ron, Hermione and Ginny spent some time being taught a few new spells by Harry, and finally, he spent an hour or two putting up more wards with Tonks, while everyone was preoccupied with other things. It had been a long night, and everyone was tired. Harry said goodbye to the Weasley's, promising to visit them whenever time permitted, and he and Tonks disappeared with two small pops. "Did Harry just apparate?" Ron asked.

"Seems like it." Bill replied, more than a little stunned himself.

"It was likely Tripping." Hermione informed them.

"Huh?"

"The Warrior form of apparating – Harry must have learnt it while he was away."

"Cool." Ron said enviously.

***

In Privet Drive, nothing had changed in Harry's absence. The Dursleys, it seemed, hadn't even noticed that he had been back briefly before disappearing again. The plan was to collect all of his things before heading to Tonks' flat – he would never have to visit the Dursleys again. He couldn't have been happier. Knocking on the door sharply, Harry waiting for Vernon to shuffle forwards and answer. He was once again reminded of his growth spurt as his head reached the top of the doorframe. A small, wicked smile curved at his mouth, making his eyes sparkle wildly. The Dursleys would never forget the small raven-haired, emerald-eyed boy that they had been forced to take in – more importantly, they would never forget the man that he had become.

***

Vernon Dursley was in a good mood that night – the Boy had been gone for ages, and it certainly looked as if he wouldn't be returning. "Maybe he's finally gone and got himself killed." He told Petunia eagerly. His wife's reply was cut off by a sharp knock on the door. "Ah, that might be Reid." He said, referring to his newest customer. He waddled quickly to the door – as quickly as his bulk would allow him to – and pulled it open with flourish, a great welcoming smile plastered across his face. He found, much to his dismay, that it wasn't Reid at all, but rather a tall, strong and intimidating man with long black hair and bright green eyes.

"Good evening, may we come in?" He asked politely. From behind him came a woman that Vernon recognised – it was the woman that had been in the Boy's room – the Witch with the odd hair. He gasped and tried to slam the door in his face, curiously unable to do so. The man was holding it open with a hand, looking as if it was no bother at all.

"Get. Away. From. Here. You hear me? I'll call the police." Vernon stuttered. One silky black eyebrow rose in challenge.

"One can hardly be accused of breaking into one's own home, Uncle." He said seriously, fighting the grin that so badly wanted to spread over his face as Vernon did a double and triple take.

"Impossible. The Boy has gone." He said stoutly. Harry chuckled.

"Indeed. I believe the Man has taken his place. Now, Uncle Vernon, the quicker you let me in, the quicker I will be out of your hair – forever. On the other hand, I could use magic right out here in the open to get my things – dear me, what would your neighbours think?"

"All right. Get in here." Vernon barked irritably, his good mood long gone. Harry smirked and swept in, waving cheerfully to his Aunt.

"Good evening, Aunt Petunia – I assure both you and your – husband – that I am not dead. As much as a disappointment that may be to you both. However, I am moving out. I've only come to collect my things – along with the things that rightfully belong to me that you have hidden. Either you let me do this, and stay out of my way, or I'll use magic to make sure that you don't interfere – your choice."

"We'll stay out of your way." Petunia stuttered, craning her neck to see her nephews face – she immediately wished she hadn't as he looked so much more scary now that he had grown into a man.

"Thank you." Harry said, walking out of the room. "Tonks, don't even think about cursing them." They heard him say as he exited. "That," He proclaimed, "Is my honour."

"Can I help?" Tonks whined. "At least with that Great Bullying Git?"

"I'll think about it."

***

Harry scoured the house, via a spell, to find anything and everything that rightfully belonged to him. Unsurprisingly, everything was piled up in a dark and dusty corner of the attic, marked 'DANGEROUS'. Tonks raised her eyebrows at this, but Harry just chuckled and shook his head. The ironic thing was that they were perfectly right – anyone apart from Harry that opened the boxes and bags would be on the receiving end of some very nasty curses, as he warned Tonks. He gathered everything up and packed it into a bag that he had created – a bottomless bag that remained at a constant weight. He slid down the ladder and went into his own room, packing up his meagre possessions and mumbling a spell on the wall that led to his hidden room.

"What are you doing?" Tonks asked interestedly.

"Transferring the room to a locket – much easier than having it anywhere else. Also means that it goes wherever I go. I'll charm the locket so that only I can open it, and only I can take it from my neck, and only of my own free will."

"Good idea." Tonks agreed. Harry opened his hand to reveal a small golden locket, engraved with the initials H.P. It was attached to a leather thong, which he tied around his neck.

"Ready to go?" He asked her moments later.

"Whenever you are." Tonks replied.

"Right – just one more stop." Harry leapt lightly down the stairs, landing soundlessly at the bottom. He stood in front of the cupboard door, contemplating leaving whatever was in there where it was. He shook his head decisively, opening the door to his old room. Tonks was at his shoulder, peering in. Harry moved into the small cupboard, crouching down low. He sat down on his old cot bed, pulling out several aged pieces of paper from under there. Paper that he had stolen from Dudley when he was young. Carefully hidden from his nosy Aunt, he had written letters to his parents at the lowest points. He also pulled out a small blue blanket, grubby with age and use. The only thing he ever remembered being his. He folded it carefully and packed it, along with the letters, into his bag. Finally looking up at Tonks, he nodded firmly.

"Let's get out of here."

"Right. Come on then. You'll have to hold onto my hand – you don't know where we're going."

"Where are we going?"

"That would be telling. Anyway, shall we finish off the rest of your business now, or later?"

"Now, I think." Harry smirked, the Dursleys would regret treating him badly.

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, that all depends. A few creative curses to begin with, I think. And something for them to remember me by."

"Like?"

"I'm not sure – I was thinking of a mural of wizarding things with an animation charm on it. In the living room."

"Ooh – I like the sound of that – you could do a house-elf, a dragon and a hippogriff."

"Yeah – not forgetting a werewolf, a stag, and a big black dog, that looks somewhat like the grim."

"The Marauders. Anything else?"

"Maybe." Harry smirked, wondering whether to do a portrait of him and his friends and certain members of the Order.

"Right – well let's get to it then."

***

Harry and Tonks didn't do too much damage while hexing the Dursleys – just enough to scare them a bit. The real revenge was the fact that they were always going to have to face the mural that Harry was about to paint. While the Dursleys looked on in horror, he began enchanting the wall in front of him. He put Hogwarts castle in the background, with a Quidditch match going on in the foreground. Dumbledore, Tonks and Moody could clearly be seen in the crowd. From the forest, clearly visible, was a werewolf, accompanied by a big black dog and a stag, as well as a centaur, and a unicorn. A house-elf was scurrying backwards and forwards. Finally, a ferocious-looking dragon resembling a Hungarian Horntail resided in the distance. Harry stepped back and viewed his creation critically. "What d'you think, Tonks?" He asked, glancing at her stunned expression.

"It's…wow." Tonks managed. "I never knew you could draw."

"Neither did I." Harry replied with a grin. "Anyway, I'm ready when you are." With a final wave of his wand, the mural was set – no paint would paint over it, and wallpaper wouldn't stick to it. He very much doubted that any other wizard would be able to remove it either – at least, not without extreme difficulty. Not that the Dursleys would ever ask a wizard to help them. Tonks shook her head in silent mirth at the faces of all three Dursleys, before holding out her hand.

"Let's go then. See ya." She waved mocking at the Dursleys as she pulled her wand, and they both disapparated.

***

Harry took one look around him and grinned wildly. "Cool – I always wanted to go abroad." He said.

"How did you know that we're abroad?" Harry just gave her a pointed look, and Tonks grinned sheepishly. "Right – so do you know exactly where we are?"

"We're in Australia – Sydney, right?"

"Yup."

"Does the Order know that your flat is on the other side of the world?"

"Not exactly – but that's the beauty of it. Quick, hide in here just now – we'll need to change our looks."

"Right." Harry nodded, following her into a small side-alley. "Uh Tonks – someone's coming." He muttered.

"Damn." Tonks said, moving very close to Harry and putting her face close to his.

"Play along." She murmured, pressing her lips to his. Harry's eyes widened considerably, before he did as he was told. The person that had come into their alley quickly walked back out again, probably highly embarrassed. Harry and Tonks separated awkwardly, the tension only being broken when Tonks' stomach rumbled – loudly. Harry laughed and shook his head while Tonks blushed a little. "I think we'd better get back to yours before you waste away." He teased, earning a smack on the arm from Tonks as she changed her hair to mid-length blonde, and her eyes to a soft grey-green. Harry smirked and shrunk his hair to shorter than it had been before his trip to Lesea, changed it to a dark red-brown colour and changed his eyes to a bizarre gold colour, while his skin also took on a slightly darker tan. He looked completely different after hiding his scar, and Tonks was confident that no one would recognise either of them, which was a good thing as there were rumours of Narcissa and Draco Malfoy holidaying nearby.

***

"This is a big flat for someone to live alone in." Harry said as she showed him her flat.

"I don't live alone – I have a flat mate. Carmen, her name is. I'm sure you two will get along great – she is a Muggle though."

"Does she know anything about the magical world?"

"Yeah, she knows a little. Bare minimum, really. She caught me summoning something once – took quite a bit of explaining."

"I'll bet. So won't she mind me being here?"

"She'd better not." Tonks snorted. "After all, she's brought her boyfriend to stay a few times."

"Yeah, but that's different."

"Yeah – you're going to be the chef."

"How did I know that was coming?" Harry said sarcastically.

"You've got to pay your way somehow."

"I am so glad I actually enjoy cooking."

"Me too 'cos that's your first stop – dump your things in the room at the end of the hall and then get into the kitchen."

"Yes mother." Harry saluted, marching off into the hall.

***

Harry found one of the best things about living with Tonks later that day – the fact that he could have a bath in relative peace without the Dursleys screaming at him, or without one member or another of the Weasleys banging on the door and telling him to hurry up – and relaxing was never an option when Leona was around. So he was quite content to lay back in the bath and relax, at least until he got bored of the inactivity (after only ten or fifteen minutes). He was making his way to his room when the door banged shut. "He dumped me!" He heard a female wail.

"Harry, come here." Tonks called from the living room. Harry rolled his eyes and transfigured the towel into a pair of baggy jeans and walked to where Tonks was consoling a weeping woman, who looked to be not very much older than Harry himself.

"I can't believe it – he dumped me – said he was married!"

"The no-good, low-life…forget him, honey, all men are either liars or cheaters or too full of their own importance. They should all be castrated." Tonks replied venomously. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, we're not all the scum of the Earth, you know." He disagreed. "And I am definitely sleeping with one eye open from now on."

"Ok, so everyone apart from Harry – can't castrate him 'cos he has an awful temper and he's quite handy with a sword."

"I think I'll take that as a compliment." Harry grumbled as the girl, obviously Carmen, gurgled.

"Who are you?" She asked, turning to him with puffy, red eyes.

"Harry Tide." Harry said promptly. "I guess I'm your new flat-mate."

"Oh – you rented out the third room?"

"Yeah – well – sort of. Harry's one hell of a cook, so he's on chef duties all summer – until we both head back to Britain for school."

"Oh, are you a teacher too?"

"No. I'm still a student. Tonks is going to be my teacher."

"So you're a wizard then?"

"Yeah." Harry said.

"How old are you?"

"Almost sixteen."

"What? You look nineteen at least!"

"That would be Leona's fault." Harry smirked. "See, now there's your proof that it's not just males that are evil."

"Huh? Is she your girlfriend?" Harry was about to answer when there was a flash of light, and Leona appeared, looking ever so mildly miffed – actually, downright raging was probably a more accurate description.

"HARRY! You IDIOT! You left the country without even telling me! And you hexed the Dursleys when I wasn't there!" Leona screamed. Both Tonks and Carmen looked rather scared. Harry just smirked.

"That, my dearest, evillest one, would be payback. Revenge is sweet."

"Payback for what?"

"Leaving me alone with Molly Weasley's wrath, that incident back in Lesea at breakfast – when Eilidh was there, plus a dozen other things I could mention. Take your pick."

"Dora, I think they be the most bizarre couple I've ever met." Carmen said in an undertone.

"We're not a couple." Harry and Leona replied in perfect unison, despite the fact that Carmen had barely whispered.

"Oh."

"So just what did you think you were doing? I had no way to contact you – I used the link but you oh-so-cleverly switched the damn thing off!"
"Lee, calm down. This is where I'll be staying for the rest of the summer – and I think I may regret it. Tonks, sweetie, remember that my swords are always nearby."

"All right, all right. Geez, I told you I wouldn't castrate you, what more do you want?"

"That in writing would be nice. And Lee, don't even think it – remember I still have to pay you back for using poison arrow – I still have the damn hole in my shoulder." He pointed to the small round hole in his shoulder, making all three women realise just how little clothing he was wearing.

"Harry! Go and put some clothes on!" Leona barked, going into 'Big Sister' mode. Carmen shook her head.

"No, he's fine as he is." She insisted, while Tonks groaned.

"Harry, please put some clothes on. You're not old enough to be tormenting my friends."

"I think I might resent that statement." Harry said, summoning a robe.

"That's better." Tonks said approvingly.

"So who are you, then?" Leona asked Carmen.

"I'm Dora's flatmate."

"Oh no. I'm leaving an adolescent Warrior with two females on his own?"

"Hey! Hello, does nobody trust me here? Besides, Tonks will be my teacher and Carmen's just been dumped."

"Oh! The jerk!" Leona said sympathetically. "Men are evil, honey. You're better off without him."

"Is that instinct, or something? Are you all trained at birth to hate men?"

"Only when they act like jerks." Tonks assured him.

"I'm sure." Harry said dryly. "Look, even I agree that the guy who Carmen was going out with was a git, but that doesn't mean we're all gits."

"Fine, just most of you."

"You know, one of these days, me, Simba and Arian are going to gang up on you, Lee."

"That's reassuring. But you know how busy he is all the time – being a Mage is no picnic, you know."

"No kidding." Harry replied sardonically.

"And as for Arian, my brother is an angel, and he wouldn't dream of ganging up on his baby sister."

"Maybe, but then again, I'm sure he'd object to his 'baby sister' hating every male on the face of the planet."

"Fine, only human males." Leona huffed. Harry's eyebrows rose dangerously.

"I used to be human – my father was human. Sirius was human." He said softly. His eyes glowed green, making Carmen gasp.

"Oh! I didn't mean…" Leona's eyes widened as she realised just what she had said. She immediately deflated and sank down next to him on the sofa.

"I know." Harry said, running a hand wearily over his eyes. They turned back to the golden colour that he had adopted. "It's been a long day. I think I'll turn in."

"Right. Goodnight. And I'm sorry if I upset you – I didn't think."

"I know." Harry said, smiling slightly. "When do you ever?" He gave her a quick hug before heading out of the room, slowly fading from sight as he went.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn." Leona murmured as she watched him leave, despite his invisibility.

"What was all that about? He said he was human? As in, like, past tense?"

"Yes, he's not human – nor am I. We're Warriors."

"What's that – is it like Wizards?"

"In a way, I suppose. Harry just has a lot more on his shoulders than most Warriors do."

"Who is this Simba that you were talking about?"

"That would be the Warrior Mage – like an extremely powerful Warrior, who basically governs the Warrior City."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I still haven't met this guy – although everyone who has seems to think that he's very good looking."

"Yeah, he caused quite a stir with almost every female in Lesea – not to mention the fact that he's one of those people who can put anybody at ease or terrify the living daylights out of them with a glance."

"Sounds like someone worth meeting – and are you absolutely sure that the boy's only fifteen?"

"Yeah – well, it all depends. He's somewhere between fifteen and seventeen."

"Huh?"

"Time passes differently in Lesea – a year in Lesea equates to fifteen or so days here."

"Oh. Well this is confusing."

"Isn't it? Anyway, Harry's not exactly average by anyone's estimation."

"Nope."

***

Harry slumped into his bed, suddenly feeling weary – it had been a long day. It seemed forever since the Deatheater attack, and the capture of the rat. It was all so unreal – the amount of things that had happened in just one day. Still, at least now that the rat was soulless, Sirius could rest in peace, knowing that justice had prevailed at last.