Chapter 3

Chez Tonks

The next thing he knew his feet hit the ground and he fell over, his legs collapsing underneath him. Struggling to regain his feet Harry looked around and noticed they were no longer in the street, but in a small flat.

"Merlin, that was close," came a voice from the ground beside him. Looking down Harry saw Tonks laying on her back, one hand over her eyes, trying to catch her breath. Her face broke into a grin, "Never a dull moment, eh Harry?"

"I don't know what you're smiling about," he responded looking down at her in disbelief and shaking his head, "We were about three seconds from being killed."

"Oh come on Harry," she said, taking her hand off her eyes and looking up at him, "fighting Death Eaters, running from You-Know-Who, what's life without a little excitement?"

He couldn't help but smile at her. Trust Tonks to make light of anything, she was almost as bad as the twins. 'Well,' he thought to himself, 'maybe she's right. We both made it out in one piece, I suppose I should be thankful.' He reached down and grabbed her hand pulling her to her feet. She came up easily but immediately overbalanced, tripping over her own feet and knocked them both over, landing on top of him. She looked at him before picking herself off of him. "Merlin Harry, you must not know your own strength," she said laughing before reaching down and offering her own hand to help pull him up.

"Either that or you have the coordination of a three year old," he shot back, proving his point by pulling her down beside him breaking into his own laughter.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that Potter," she said, mock glaring at him, before the smile returned to her face. Quickly grabbing her wand from the floor, she pointed it at him. "Rictusempra."

Harry collapsed halfway to his feet in giggles, "Not fair," he managed in between bouts of laughter, "Stop Tonks, please, I give up, you win," he gasped, finally catching his breath as she released the spell, he sat up and looked around the room. They were in the kitchen of what seemed to be a small flat. There didn't seem to be much there, only a few cabinets, a small icebox, a stove and a small table in the corner. On the other side of the flat was the living room, which consisted of a coffee table, an old lumpy looking sofa, a few uncomfortable looking chairs and a fireplace in the corner. On the far wall were two doors, probably for the bedroom and bathroom. "Where are we?" he asked.

Tonks jumped to her feet, pulling him up with her and this time both managing to stay standing. "It's my flat in London. I know it isn't much to look at, but at least it should be safe. I just moved in, so no one else knows where it is, we should be safe for now." Tonks' smile dropped from her face. "We need to tell Dumbledore and the Order that you're okay. They're probably worried sick right now."

"Is your Floo set up yet? Let's just Floo to Grimmauld Place, everyone will be gathering there, won't they?" Harry asked, heading towards the fireplace along the wall.

"It is, but we can't go to headquarters yet, it's been on lockdown since Sirius died," Tonks said, hesitantly.

"Oh," replied Harry, his previous levity gone now, "well then what do we do?"

"I'll Floo Dumbledore, let him know what happened. He'll probably want to talk to you." Harry grimaced at her words, having no urge to speak to the headmaster. Tonks appearing not to notice, headed towards the fireplace, and grabbed a handful of powder of the mantel, before throwing it in and bending over to stick her head into it. Harry stared at her for a minute, before looking away feeling guilty. 'She just saved my life, I really shouldn't be staring at her bum,' he thought to himself. He waited, occasionally glancing over at her, as she stood like that for a few minutes before pulling her head out, followed shortly by the headmaster. He had a grim look on his face that eased slightly when he saw Harry standing unharmed in front of him. Once the headmaster had entered the flat Tonks turned back to the fireplace, "I'd better go check in, make yourselves at home," and throwing another handful of powder into the fireplace, Flooed to Auror headquarters.

"Harry, I'm glad you made it out. I was worried when the wards over your Aunt's house fell, I thought the worst had happened."

"I took a walk to clear my head, I was at the park with Tonks when he attacked. I had a vision of him torturing the Dursleys' just before we were about to go back, then we saw the Dark Mark. They were already dead, so we ran for it."

Dumbledore nodded at him, "That was smart Harry, I know it must have been hard for you to run knowing others were in danger, but it would have just given Voldemort exactly what he wanted."

Harry didn't respond, only looking at his feet feeling guilty. It hadn't been difficult for him to run at all. He had made a couple steps to return to the Dursleys' after his vision, but all it had taken was a hand on his shoulder and a couple words from Tonks for him to turn the other way. He hadn't even gave it a second thought until now.

Seeing the obvious look of guilt, Dumbledore tried to clear his conscious, "Look at me Harry. This wasn't your fault. Voldemort is the one that is responsible for this attack and I was responsible for keeping you and your relatives safe. This is not your burden to bear, but mine and I hope you will allow me to do so."

"Professor, what happened, how did Voldemort get into the house?" Harry asked looking at him.

"I'm not certain Harry, the blood wards should have kept out anyone that meant to harm you or your relatives," Dumbledore replied, stroking his beard in thought.

"Were the blood wards the only protections?" he asked, curious as to how Dumbledore had supposedly been protecting him for all these years.

"Yes Harry, other than Ms. Tonks, the blood wards were the only protection around Privet Drive. The power involved with maintaining the blood wards would disrupt any other wards present."

"So the only thing protecting me was a set of wards based on a protection that no longer affects him? He took my blood for his reincarnation so that my mother's sacrifice wouldn't affect him anymore. He proved it by touching my face in the graveyard, remember?"

Dumbledore's jaw dropped in shock. He had been racking his brain, trying to think of some detail he had overlooked that could have lead to the wards failing, but he had never considered that their failure wasn't even necessary for the Dark Lord to stroll in like he owned the place. If Harry hadn't left the house for a midnight walk, he would be dead right now and their only hope for defeating Voldemort with him.

Dumbledore felt his mind return to the present and looked at Harry, who stood was watching him, one eyebrow raised in a questioning expression, "I'm sorry, my boy. I didn't consider the fact that the protections over your Aunt's house would be ineffective against Voldemort. I'm just glad that you managed to escape yet again Harry and that no harm came to you."

"But what about all the Muggles? While Tonks and I were escaping we passed groups of Death Eaters destroying houses and cursing anyone that tried to leave. What about all the harm that is coming to them?"

Dumbledore sighed and slumped his shoulders, an air of defeat surrounding him, "I'm sorry Harry, there is nothing you can do for them right now. The Ministry began arriving just before I received your message, they will push the Death Eaters back and take care of any innocents they find."

"But-"

"But nothing Harry. It is too dangerous for you to return. If I had to guess I would say that nearly every Death Eater is out there right now, searching for you."

Harry nodded, reluctantly agreeing, "Speaking of Death Eaters, I ran into Crabbe Sr. tonight. Wasn't he arrested after the battle in the Department of Mysteries?" he asked.

Dumbledore rubbed his eyes, sighing deeply, "I suppose you haven't been taking the Daily Prophet? No, after the past year of course you haven't. All the Death Eaters that were captured during the battle at the ministry escaped."

"WHAT? HOW?" yelled Harry, absolutely furious.

"After the battle, Minister Fudge could not believe that his foremost adviser was a Death Eater. He assumed that Lucius Malfoy was once again under the Imperius Curse and released him from the Ministry holding cells."

"And that bumbling moron is still in power?" Harry was fuming mad. He couldn't believe how such an idiot had been put in charge of a country.

"No Harry, Mr. Fudge is no longer the Minister of Magic. Lucius murdered him as soon as he had his wand and proceeded to release the rest of his captured fellows. They murdered another three guards during their escape."

Harry mouth dropped open in shock. He was relieved, though he immediately felt guilty about feeling that way. Fudge hadn't deserved to die, but with him out of the way, at least they could replace him with someone competent.

Dumbledore looked at his watch, "Now Harry, I must be going, but first there is something I need your help with. With Sirius' passing, Grimmauld Place has been locked down and the Order is without a headquarters. Sirius has named you his heir, but until the reading of his will, we can not be sure whether or not the deed has truly passed on to you as he wished."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Well Harry, if the house has been passed to you, the house-elf will have been passed to you as well. Just call Kreacher and give him an order. If you are his master now, he will have no choice but to obey."

Harry grimaced, he didn't want to be Kreacher's master, that rat was partially responsible for Sirius' death. "Kreacher" he called out. With a pop the house elf appeared beside him, ranting and raving.

"Will not serve a no good, half blooded..."

"Shut your mouth Kreacher," he snarled, the bond forcing the elf's mouth shut, "and keep it shut. In fact you are not to speak or communicate with anyone without my direct orders. You will return to Grimmauld Place, you will open it for the Order, you will stay out of sight and not interfere with anything they do." Kreacher glared at him for a moment, obviously trying to think of a way around those orders, before disappearing with a pop. Harry looked over at the headmaster, "There that should keep him from causing any more harm. Was that all there was to it Professor?"

"Yes Harry, that will be all for now, though I think you may have been overly harsh with him. When I have reset the wards at headquarters I will return and inform you." Turning Dumbledore strode to the fireplace.

Harry scowled at the headmaster. If anything he thought he was being lenient with the house-elf. His first instinct had been to tell him to go place his head on a stick like the rest of his relatives. As he noticed Dumbledore walking away a thought occurred to him, "Hang on Headmaster," Dumbledore turned back to look at Harry, "there is a catch. For using Grimmauld Place that is."

A stern expression appeared on Dumbledore's face, "And what would that be Harry?"

Harry gathered his courage. He knew it wouldn't be easy to get Dumbledore to agree, but he needed information and this was his best chance, "If you intend to use my house as headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, I want to join."

Dumbledore shook his head, "I'm sorry Harry, but to join the Order you must be of age and finished school. Those are two requirements I will not ignore," he said, turning back to the fire.

"I wasn't asking Professor," Harry said, attempting to sound more confident than he felt. Even he wasn't sure whether or not he was bluffing, but he needed to know what was going on. He couldn't afford to have the incident at the Ministry repeat itself. "I'm a part of this war whether you like it or not. Things happen around me, whether or not I try to avoid them. Knowing might help me avoid another trap." Harry looked at Dumbledore with tears burning in his eyes, "Knowing might have saved Sirius."

Dumbledore looked thoughtfully at Harry over his shoulder and took a deep breath, "I will consider it Harry. Take care and try to get some rest." With that he stepped into the flames and vanished from sight.

Harry's shoulders slumped in relief, he had assumed Dumbledore would just ignore him, but maybe he would actually consider it. If not he could always follow through with his threat.

Harry yawned. With the headmaster gone, he suddenly realized just how tired he was. It had been an extremely long night, after a number of long days. After relieving himself in the washroom, he looked around the flat for a second time. Not wanting to steal Tonks' bed, he made his way over to the sofa and lay down, placing his glasses and wand on the coffee table. Grabbing a blanket that was draped off the back of the couch, he wiggled around, trying to find a spot with fewer lumps in it. After a few restless minutes he managed to drift off into a restless sleep.

OoOoO

Harry woke up disoriented to the sound of a large thud. He jumped for his wand, but got tangled in his blanket and ended up falling off the side of the couch. Scrambling for his wand and glasses, he stopped at the sound of a familiar laugh.

"And you say I'm the clumsy one," came the sound from the other side of the room. Finally managing to untangle himself from his blanket, Harry managed to reach up and grab his glasses from the table beside him before pushing them onto his face. The room came into focus, along with the pink-haired Auror laying on the opposite side of the room clutching her ribs.

Harry felt his face grow hot, "Yeah, well at least I'm not the only one laying on the ground right now," he mumbled pushing himself back up onto the couch.

"Ah touche Harry, it seems we make quite the pair," Tonks pushed herself off the ground, grabbing the bag in front of her. "I brought some breakfast if you're hungry. I wasn't sure whether you'd be awake, or if you'd even still be here, but I grabbed enough for two." Harry's stomach answered for him, prompting another laugh from Tonks, "Come on sleepyhead, have something to eat and then we can both go have a nap."

Harry made his way over to the little table, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he went. He looked down at his watch to check the time, forgetting like usual that it was still broken. "What time is it?" he asked, yawning widely.

"Half past seven," she replied, pulling their breakfast from the bag and placing it on some plates she levitated out of one of the cupboards, "I figured I'd stop and pick up something to eat on the way back. My kitchen doesn't exactly have much to work with."

"Big surprise there," Harry smirked, "Sirius always joked that you could burn water."

"Well Sirius told me you knew how to cook, so it's lucky I have you here then isn't it," she looked at him smiling sweetly. Harry chuckled softly before digging into his breakfast. He really had been hungry. Three days of hard work with little food could really do a number on ones appetite. When Harry had finished most of his breakfast, he looked up at Tonks. Now that he was actually paying attention he could see the circles under her eyes. She was pushing the food around her plate, uninterested in eating. He felt his appetite vanish as memories of the previous night came crashing down. "So how bad was it?" Harry asked, looking down.

Tonks stopped what she was doing, and looked at him. She could see the hurt on his face. She knew he must be blaming himself for all the people that had been hurt last night. She sighed, "Pretty bad Harry, though I suppose it could have been worse. It was only Death Eaters, no dementors or giants or anything like that, thank Merlin, but they had more than twenty minutes before the first Aurors even began showing up. Half the neighborhood was either rubble or on fire. Your relatives' house... You-Know-Who didn't leave anything standing. They're all gone, I'm so sorry."

"You should call him Voldemort," Harry whispered, noticing her flinch at the name, "you're brave enough to fight him against him, you escaped from him last night, you should be able to say his name." He was sickened by the torture Voldemort had put his relatives through, but he just couldn't be sad at their deaths. They had spent so much time and effort making his life miserable that he just couldn't help it. He did however feel terrible about all the other innocent Muggles that had been murdered last night. Murdered in a war they didn't even know existed. Harry looked back up at Tonks sitting across from him, "Thanks for telling me the truth and not hiding things from me, it means a lot to me."

"You're welcome Harry," she said picking up their plates and putting them in the sink before heading towards her bedroom, "now you look exhausted, I think we could both do with a nap." Tonks paused at the door, looking back as Harry stood up and made his way to the couch. "No Harry, come on, that couch is uncomfortable enough to sit on, you'll never get a decent sleep."

Harry looked up at Tonks before laying down and trying to get somewhat comfortable, "I'll be fine, I've dealt with worse. Besides you look even more tired then me, I'm not going to steal your bed."

"Steal my bed? There's enough room for both of us Harry, we're going to share it."

Harry bolted upright, he could feel his face heating up, "Uh, Tonks I... you know, umm..." he mumbled, trying to think up what to say. Tonks just laughed at him.

"Oh Harry, not like that," she said, a big smile now plastered back on her face, "my bed has more than enough room for both of us and it's really the only comfortable place I have."

Harry could still feel the heat rushing through his face. Unable to look Tonks in the eye, Harry looked at the floor under her feet, trying to will the embarrassment away from himself. "Uh, sure Tonks, if, uh,that's what you want," he managed to stammer out. He managed to take a quick peek at her face seeing a slightly confused grin.

"What's the problem Harry, never share a bed with a girl before?" she teased.

"Er... actually, no, I haven't," Harry replied hesitantly.

"Really?" she asked, sounding unconvinced, "I would have thought girls would have been throwing themselves at you. Hero, athlete, you're even kinda cute." Harry felt his skin grow even redder, if that were possible, "Oh, don't be embarrassed Harry, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Now come on, I promise I don't bite. Unless you're into that sort of thing." With another laugh Tonks turned and went into the bedroom. Harry followed slowly, hesitating at the door. "Come on Harry, don't worry," she said beckoning him into the room from under the covers. He approached the bed and pulled back the covers on the other side. He was about to get in when Tonks stopped him, "Do you normally sleep wearing jeans Harry?" He shook his head from side to side. "Well, I didn't think so. Now off with them and hop in, I feel like I could sleep for days." He did as she said before sliding into bed, taking off his glasses and placing them onto the table beside him. "Goodnight Harry," she said before turning over and quickly drifting off to sleep.

"Goodnight Tonks," Harry whispered quietly, unsure of himself. He lay there and looked at Tonks for a minute. He considered moving back out onto the couch now that she was asleep, but he didn't think Tonks would be very happy with him when she woke up. Besides, the bed was much softer than that couch. He yawned and felt his eyes droop down as he quickly drifted to sleep.