This chapter is pretty much basically what was in the book. Sorry if it's boring but it was necessary.

Dear Reviwers You are brilliant : )

Tonks watched gloomily as the students filed off the train. She wished she were going back to Hogwarts, young and carefree where all she needed to worry about was getting her work in and not getting in too much troubled from teachers. Gone were those days.

She watched people file out, seeing Hermione and Ron get off with two other kids she remembered vaguely from the Ministry. She saw Ginny get off with a boy she didn't recognise. There was no Harry.

Most of the students had cleared away from the train, she saw a haughty looking blonde kid stride off the train. Somehow that didn't seem right. He had an enourmous smirk of his face as she approached his friends who were waiting for him.

There was a blind drawn on one of the compartments. Tonks jumped onto the carriage to check it out. The train had started it's engine again. She opened the door and saw nothing. Tonks was about to leave when her foot pressed against something solid on the floor. Something solid and invisible. She whipped the Invisibility Cloak off him.

"Wotcher, Harry."

She looked down at him and was shocked to see him covered in blood, broken nosed. She unbinded him and pulled him to his feet.

"We'd better get out of here, quickly," she said, noticing the steam. "Come on, we'll jump."

Tonks hurried out into the corridor, wrenched open the train door and leapt onto the platform, hearing Harry land after her. She watched the train pick up speed and disappear out of sight. Tonks turned back to Harry, looking at the blood all over his face. She handed him back his Cloak.

"Who did it?" she asked, though guessing she most likely knew the answer anyway.

Harry's voice was bitter. "Draco Malfoy," he said, adding in a more grateful tone, "thanks for... well..."

"No problem," Tonks replied, probably sounding a little gloomy. "I can fix your nose if you stand still," she added, trying to sound a little nicer. "Episkey."

Harry felt his nose. "Thanks alot!" he said.

"You'd better put that Cloak back on, and we can walk up to the school," said Tonks, returning to a gloomy voice. Tonks thought she'd better send a word to Hagrid that she had found Harry. It would be hard trying to conjur a Patronus...

She saw Remus's lips touching hers...

Tonks waved her wand and what came out of it was something she didn't expect. No, it wasn't her usual scampering ferret. This creature was big and hairy... and wolf - like.

"Remus," said a small voice in her head.

"What that a Patronus?" asked Harry.

Tonks was relieved he hadn't commented on the actual form of the Patronus. "Yes," she said, "I'm sending word to the castle that I've got you, or they'll worry. Come on, we'd better not dawdle."

She began to walk up the lane that led to the school. Quiet footsteps beside her told her that Harry was keeping up.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

"I noticed you hadn't left the train and I knew you had that cloak. I thought you might be hiding for some reason. When I saw the blinds drawn on that compartment I thought I'd check."

"But what are you doing here anyway?" asked Harry.

"I'm stationed at Hogsmeade now, to give the school extra protection."

"Is it just you who's station up here, or - ?"

"No," Tonks cut through, "Proudfoot, Savage and Dawlish are here too."

"Dawlish, that Auror who Dumbledore attacked last year?"

"That's right."

Tonks could feel Harry looking at her. She knew she looked awful, she felt it too, but she really didn't feel like talking with him. Instead she focussed on the path ahead, her long cloak whispering on the ground behind them.

Once they'd reached the gates Tonks saw Harry pull out his wand after unsuccessfully trying to push them open.

"Alohomora!" he said, sounding confident it would work.

'As if it would work,' thought Tonks, 'no one would make it that easy to get in but using such an elementary charm.'

"That won't work on these," Tonks said, a little impatiently. "Dumbledore's bewitched them himself."

"I could climd a wall," Harry suggested.

"No you couldn't," Tonks replied flatly. "Anti-intruder jinxes on all of them. Security's been tightened a hundredfold this summer."

"Well then," said Harry, a twang of annoyance in his voice. "I suppose I'll just had to sleep out here and wait for the morning."

"Someone's coming for you. Look," said Tonks almost snappishly.

There was a glowing yellow lantern bobbing at the front of the catle. Tonks was hoping it was Hagrid, but who she saw she didn't like.

Harry had pulled off his Cloak, grinning slightly (probably glad to get away from Tonks), the Tonks saw his face drop into a deep scowl just as hers had done. Severus Snape stood at the gates, his hooked nose and greasy, black hair lit up by the lantern.

"Well, well, well," sneered Snape, taking out his want and tapping the padlock once so that the chains snaked backwards and the gates creaked open. "Nice of you to turn up, Potter, although you have evidentaly decided that the wearing of school robs would detract from your appearance."

Snape was looking at Tonks, his eyes laughing horribly.

"I couldn't change, I didn't have my - " Harry began, but Snape cut across.

"There is no need to wait, Nymphadora," he said, his lips curling. "Potter is quite - ah - " he glanced at Harry, "safe in my hands."

"I meant Hagrid to get the message," said Tonks with a frown.

"Hagrid was late for the start-of-term feast, just like Potter here, so I took it instead. And incidentally," said Snape, letting Harry pass him into the grounds, "I was interested to see your new Patronus."

Tonks thought she heard him laugh softly as he shut the gates in her face with a loud clang and locked them again.

"I think you were better off with the old one," said Snape, obviously referring to the ferret, his voice full of unmistakeable malice. "The new one looks weak."

Snape emphasized the word 'weak' as he looked her straight in the eye. Tonks glared at him furiously before Snape swung the lamp out of her face and she was swallowed by darkness.

"Goodnight. Thanks for... everything," she heard Harry called after her.

"See you, Harry," she said sadly.

Tonks watched the yellow light of the lantern bob back up the the castle. Snape had seen her Patronus, he knew. Snape knew she was in love with Remus. Tonks kicked the dirt as she set off back down the lane. She couldn't stop thinking of her new Patronus. Had it really just changed like that? She didn't know they could. She thought of her and Remus again, kissing, and Tonks waved her wand and the same great, hairy creature burst out of it. It trotted about for a few moments before returning to Tonks. Tonks crouched so she could look at the Patronus closely.

It definately had a longer snout than a normal wolf, and the pupils in the shining silver eyes were more human than animal. The silver werewolf circled her protectively.

"Wotcher, Remus," said Tonks quitely as she smiled softly at her new Patronus. It paused and looked up at her and it slowly faded away, leaving Tonks surrounded by darkness once more.