A/N: Delayed, but never abandoned. I'm sorry for the long wait. You know how college is. You have to put off writing to study and the next thing you know, four months have passed.

The good news is, I'm off for three weeks, so I have as much time as I need, to write.

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The Rise and Fall of Harry Potter and the Wizards From Mars

Chapter V: It Ain't Easy

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Harry woke up disoriented and with two questions burning on his mind. First, he want to know where he was. He was pretty sure his room was light blue, not white. More importantly, he wanted to who was on top off him.

He could tell by the feel that she was a women. He glanced down and saw a mass of brown hair resting on his chest. Her hair was covering face, so all he could do was try and remember all the girls he knew with brown hair.

Then, last night's memories came flooding back into his mind. It was Tonks who was on top of him.

He didn't want to wake her, so he just lay there thinking about the night before. She had been as good as her word. He could still feel where she had bit his neck. He was sure that she had cut him, scratching her nails down his back.

Without a clock to look at it, he couldn't know whether it was five minutes or one hour before the body of the metamorphamagus began to stir.

"Mmm. Morning Harry."

"M-morning Tonks," he answered, sitting up.

Definitely not the shy type, Harry thought as he watched Tonks walk, naked as the day she was born, over to he dresser and start putting on clothes.

"A gentleman would look away," she teased.

"A gentlemen wouldn't sleep with a lady on the first date either."

"Touche."

Now fully dressed, Tonks walked over to Harry, pushed him back down and kissed him.

"You don't regret last night, do you hot stuff?"

"No. Do you?"

"Mmm. Not if we do it again."

"I think that can be arranged. Just give me some time to recover."

"Good. Now get dressed and get out of here. You're just about threw a fit when she saw me last night and I'll bet my last sickle she has lecture waiting for you."

"Oh joy," Harry said dryly.

"Ah, but it was worth it, wasn't it," she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Maybe."

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By the time Harry had moved in with Tonks, he was used to waking up with her laying on top of him. The problem was, today he couldn't wait for her to wake up. He needed to leave early.

"Tonks, honey? It's time to wake up."

"Mmm. Five more minutes."

"Up. I need to go to Hogwarts. Dumbledore, remember?"

Groaning, Tonks rolled over. She had been the one who had talked Harry into seeing Dumbledore.

"Tell the "Starman' I said 'hi.'"

"I will."

"Don't be too long, the Wizards are coming over to work on your new songs."

"I'll be back in time. Love you."

"Love you, too."

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Harry apparated to Hogmeade, the wizarding village just outside the school grounds, then walked to the school. When he got to the doors, he wondered, as he often had, why they were always unlocked, when the rest of the school had such extensive wards on it.

He made his away to the Headmasters office, but stopped when he heard someone call his name. He turned around and saw one of his best friends.

"Hermione! What are you doing here?

"I've been working with Dumbledore to find out what Voldemort did. Oh, Harry, we heard about your concert. You're taking a terrible risk. You-"

"Breathe, Hermione. I'm only doing what Dumbledore told me to do."

But Hermione wasn't listening anymore. She was staring at his hand.

"Harry, what is that?

"That's a hand, Hermione."

"I mean, what is that on it?"

"That's a finger, Hermione."

"Harry James Potter-"

"Only joking. That's a ring. I'm engaged."

"Who-"

"To Tonks."

This was part of why he had been avoiding his friends. While he wasn't embarrassed by Tonks, he didn't want to have to deal with there reactions. Particularly of his " mother", Molly Weasley.

To his surprise, she didn't lecture or even question him. She just said, "congratulations."

"You, too. You and Ron set a date yet?"

"July. Didn't he tell you?"

"Probably slipped his mind. Anyway, is Dumbledore still in his office? I need to talk to him."

"No, we've been in the Room of Requirement."

"Doing what?"

"Researching old magic. We think me may have found the book Voldemort used to kill the earth."

"I'll see you later, then. Dumbledore'll want to compare notes."

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"Ah, hello Harry," the portrait greeted when Harry walked in. "I wondered when I would be seeing you. I understand you've been hard to find."

"Yes, professor. I thought it would be easier if I didn't have people dropping by unexpectedly."

"Probably. We have much to discuss, but first you must tell me who you're going to marry?"

"Tonks."

"Young Nymphadora?"

"No, actually, it's Tonks. She's changed her name to Tonks Nymphadora. When we get married, she said she wants to get rid of her first name, not her maiden name."

"That sounds like her."

"I'm sorry but could we make this quick? The band and I have to work on some songs for our next concert."

"I'm afraid that's what we need to talk about."

"What's the problem? Have you heard anything about? We've got the world on our side now! I think we can really do it."

"Do you really think deception can foster true love?"

The excitement Harry had felt just a moment before died.

"Ok, so our version of the truth is a little...creative. But the essentials are true. We're powerful people who are using music to save the world. Does it really matter if the Starman is a really a magical painting?"

The painting chose to ignore this for the moment."

"There is another problem. Harry, I think you misunderstood my meaning when I said Love could save us."

"Well, if I did, it's because you never say what you mean!"

The portrait of Dumbledore didn't respond. He just looked said.

"We've found the spell that Voldemort cast. And we've found a way to monitor the life force of the earth. It hasn't gotten any better."

"It just needs more time. We only started this week."

"Harry listen-"

"No, you listen! For once in my life, I know exactly what I'm doing. And all of the sudden, you decide not to leave me to my own devices like you usually do. Make up your mind!"

There was an uneasy silence before one of them spoke again.

"Harry, you need to hear this."

Harry sighed.

"You have five minutes."

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Harry had never been angrier in his entire life, when he got to the flat, but he hid his emotions when he saw that Ron, Seamus and Neville were already there.

"Hey, guys. Ron, you bugger, why didn't you tell you're wedding's in July?"

Ron looked sheepish while the rest of them laughed..

"Hey, Harry," said Neville brightly. "Check out this new song we've been working on."

The Wizard From Mars launched into a slow, somewhat somber tune.

"Nice. What are the lyrics?"

"There aren't any yet. We wanted you the hear the song first."

"Can I hear it again?"

Sipping one of Seamus' milk floats, Harry closed his eyes and allowed the music to engulf him.

It ain't easy, Harry sang out loud to the music, it ain't easy. It ain't easy to get to Heaven when you're going down.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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