Hi everyone! Sorry for the late and somewhat short update. It was the best place to break the chapter. Also, thanks to everyone who has stayed with the story thus far, and thank you for all your reviews! Feel free to comment and tell me what you'd like to see. I may not take your ideas, but any feedback is welcome! But on to the chapter!

I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 7: Progress

The next day the little cottage was tense with tangible anxiety. The reason was obvious but no one wanted to mention it—the rapidly approaching full moon. Tonks was pretending it wasn't happening and Remus was simply resigned. Harry was afraid for the older man and wished he could help. Very little was accomplished throughout the day, other than an unusually intense clean sweep done by Tonks, whose blue-grey hair did nothing to hide her apprehension. Harry wished he could say or do something to make the atmosphere lighter, but words escaped him. Finally, as the sky turned orange behind the dismal clouds, everything broke out at once.

"Are you sure we can't just set up a place here?"

"No, Dora. I already told you. It's too dangerous and it's too late anyway." Remus's voice was tight.

"He's dealt with this his whole life, Tonks. He can handle himself," Harry butted in.

"Thank you, Har—"

"But what if something happens? How—"

"Careful, your hair is giving you away." Harry smirked.

"Shut up, Harry. It is not. Are you sure, Remus?"

"Yes, Dora. I'm sure. And if you don't let me go you'll have a feral werewolf on your hands."

"Go, Moony. I'll deal with her. Just…be careful, okay?"

Remus smiled, though his face was tense. "I will, cub. Thank you."

"Wait! You need—" The door shut behind Remus, effectively cutting off her protest. Tonks fell into a kitchen chair, her hair flashing four different shades of blue and fuchsia.

"Well, if he didn't already know before, he knows now." Harry observed calmly, sitting beside her.

"Know what? What are you talking about?"

"That you fancy him," Harry said plainly.

"I—what? How—? No, I don't!" Tonks exclaimed, her entire head turning tomato red.

"You're red," Harry pointed out, still calm. While Tonks frantically tried to control her morphing, he continued. "It's obvious to anyone paying attention. And unfortunately for you, I notice little details. I just don't usually say anything."

Tonks sighed but didn't bother to deny it any longer. "How are you so calm? He's like an uncle to you."

Harry didn't bother telling her that Remus was more a father than an uncle. "I'm not. I'm terrified for him. I just know there's nothing I can do about it." Yet, he added mentally. "And like I said, he knows how to handle it. You're just angry because this is the first time it's been real to you."

"He's rubbing off on you," Tonks observed with a fond smile. Harry shrugged. "There's still time before bed. Are you going to study any more?"

"Probably just Occlumency. What are you going to do?"

Tonks faked a huge yawn. "I'm going to head to bed," she answered, stretching dramatically.

Harry didn't believe her for a second, but it wasn't worth mentioning. He shrugged and headed to the sitting room. He sat on the floor against the window seat, his favorite place for meditation, and slipped into the trance to sort through his memories. He'd finished fifth year, so he started fourth year, from before the third task—he'd tackle that one, and the summer, later. Once Harry had made it through the months between the second and third tasks he decided to call it a night. He stood and stretched, then headed to bed.

Just as he was drifting off, an earsplitting, anguished howl shattered the night. Harry sat bolt-upright in bed, every hair standing on end. His heart was suddenly beating a thousand times a second and he found his wand in his hand. Then memory returned and Harry realized it was Remus, realized that he was a werewolf at that moment, that this was Moony's first full moon alone and without wolfsbane for a very long time. The agonized, painfully lonely howl was now forever etched in Harry's memory. No matter what Occlumency tricks he applied Harry would not be getting any more sleep that night.

Harry went down the hall to make a cup of cocoa and figure out what to do the rest of the night. He found Tonks seated at the kitchen table, now wearing pajamas but otherwise was exactly the same from when he'd left her earlier that evening. She wasn't even trying to hide the anxious grey of her hair.

"Can't you sleep?" he asked, abandoning his designs for cocoa and joining her at the table.

Tonks shook her head. "Especially not after that." She shuddered. "I'm scared for him."

"Me, too," Harry murmured, glancing at the door through which his surrogate father had left just hours before. "Don't you have any ideas for distraction? You're good at that."

Tonks forced a laugh. "Usually, yes. Now?" She shook her head. "I've got nothing."

"Well, we might as well be comfortable while we stay up all night," Harry said and rose to go to the sitting room. He sensed Tonks a few steps behind him. He also heard her whispered, "accio," before a rush of air was followed by a dull thump. When she entered the sitting room, Harry saw that she'd Summoned her pillows.

"Sleepover?" she suggested with a small smile, holding up the pillow. Harry nodded and Summoned his own bedclothes. Unfortunately, he wasn't as good at Summoning multiple things at once, so while the pillow reached his hands the comforter he missed. It collided with Tonks, burying her under thick cloth. Tonks emerged from the tangle of blanket with an evil glint in her eye and Harry had no time to react before a pillow hit him full in the face. He took a moment to be glad for permanent contacts and immediately retaliated.

Quickly a pillow fight ensued, escalating quickly into a duel of trick spells. Magically multiplied pillows were propelled across the room by wands rather than hands. Harry's seeker skills helped him avoid the most humiliating of spells, but Tonks's auror training gave her the upper hand. Eventually Harry found himself at the mercy of her wider repertoire of spells and greater experience and finally surrendered. Then they both lay panting on the piles of blankets for several minutes.

A time passed in silence, broken by an occasional chuckle as they relived particularly entertaining moments, then Harry remembered something and spoke. "Is the Animagus potion ready?"

"Oh! Yeah—I finished it this morning, actually. Luckily it doesn't need to brew for very long."

"Can I take it now?" Harry asked. Tonks gave him a quizzical look so Harry explained. "I don't want to ever watch Moony go through one more night alone if I can help it," he said quietly.

Tonks smiled sympathetically. "All right. Let's get it, and I'll try it again, too." Harry nodded followed Tonks to the potions lab. They filled two goblets of the murky liquid, which was exactly as much as she had prepared, and carried them back out to the sitting room.

"All right," Tonks began once they'd sat down again. "This potion will put you into a trance, in which you will discover your animagus form. The time varies from person to person, and since it's already so late it's likely we'll both 'sleep' until morning. Pay close attention to all your senses while in the trance, because that's how you'll discover what you are and give you a starting point for the actual transformation. If you can't get it this time, you'll have to wait at least two weeks before you can try again."

"I understand. I'm ready," Harry said determinedly.

"Are you sure?" Tonks asked.

"I'm sure," Harry said firmly.

"All right, then." Tonks handed him a goblet. "Cheers," she said. Harry raised his glass slightly, then downed the bitter potion in one go, trying not to gag. It had a distinctly earthy taste. An instant later Harry was somewhere very different.

He was running along the forest floor, nose to the ground, tracking the fleeing hare. It was just for sport; he felt no need to hunt. A thousand scents filled his nose but he recognized every one of them. His eyesight was sharp in detail but dull in color. The dirt gave beneath his paws, wind from his run ruffling his fur. His ears were pricked for any odd sound, but all he heard was his own passage through the trees, interrupted by the occasional chirp from a bird or insect. A faint trickle of water grew louder with every step. Before long he came to a pond, fed by a tiny stream tripping over rocks at one end. Winded and panting, Harry paused for a drink. In the water he saw the reflection of a russet-black snout and round eyes of a piercing emerald. A patch of lighter fur on his brow vaguely resembled a lightning bolt. Trees rippled in the reflection and a bird of prey soared overhead in the cloudless sky.

Suddenly Harry was soaring high above, sharp eyesight picking out the form of a russet-black wolf drinking from a pond and a brown rabbit scampering on ahead. Harry wheeled for a better angle, then plunged down in a high-speed dive toward the hare. Just inches before he caught it in his curved talons, everything went black.

Harry blinked rapidly, disorientedly coming out of the potion-induced trance. For a brief moment he still felt airborne, then he heard a loud yawn. Mentally crashing back to earth, Harry sat up and shook his head, readjusting to the indoor setting. He looked to his left and saw Tonks sitting up and stretching.

"So, how did it go?" Tonks asked, grinning. Harry couldn't help but laugh at her appearance. Her hair was tangled and the color of dirty snow with brown streaks in it. It looked quite ridiculous. She looked very affronted.

"You seem to have managed a partial transformation. It looks like you spent the night rolling around in the dirt," Harry explained, smirking. Tonks slapped his arm, making him yelp. Harry quickly changed the subject before she retaliated further. "W-what time is it?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

Tonks narrowed her eyes at him but answered with a quick tempus spell. "It's just after four in the morning." Her expression turned thoughtful. "That was a long one. Maybe I made the potion a bit too strong."

"Definitely," Harry answered, unable to stop himself from teasing her. "So where did the potion take you?"

Tonks smirked and wagged her finger at him. "Ah-ah. I asked first. You were cheeky. This is your punishment."

"You hit me. And you're older. You go first," Harry responded. Tonks narrowed her eyes again, but gave up the fight. For the time being.

"Fine. Apparently I'm not a chameleon anymore."

"Can that happen?" Harry asked, confused.

"Once you become an animagus, actually make the transformation, your form won't ever change. But if you delay the process too long, like I did, it can change based on personality. It's like a Patronus in that way."

Harry nodded absently, wondering just how unusual it was for him to have seen two animals rather than one. "If you're not a chameleon anymore, then what are you?"

Tonks smirked again. "You first. You're the student."

Harry pouted but complied. "It's a little complicated. I'll just explain," he said, and related the details he could remember from his experience, being sure to make it clear he'd seen and been two separate animals. Tonks had been nodding, as though he was confirming a guess of hers, as he told about the wolf, but when he began to explain about the bird her eyebrows raised significantly.

When Harry finished there was a long moment of silence while Tonks absorbed the information. Harry sat impatiently, waiting for her to tell him he was either completely crazy or just a lot stranger than he was already. When Tonks finally spoke, Harry listened intently.

"Well, it's certainly unusual for someone to have multiple animgus forms, but it isn't unheard of either. Basically it just means your personality is too complicated, and multi-faceted enough, that it can't be represented by just one form. And knowing you like I do…that isn't a surprise," she said wryly.

"Well, it's a relief to know I'm not completely off my rocker. Just so complicated that even magic itself doesn't know what to do with me," Harry replied dryly. Tonks laughed.

"That's my baby brother—a conundrum even to magic itself. No wonder no one understands you," she teased. Harry made a face at her, but couldn't squash the feeling of warmth that rose in him when Tonks directly called him her brother.

"Can I know what your form is now?" Harry asked.

"I suppose I can allow that now. I'm a lynx," she said mischievously.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I should have known. So what comes next?"

"First, we both need to get some sleep. Tomorrow we start researching. For you I'd suggest choosing one form to focus on first and master it before moving on to the next. The thing about animagi is that you have to understand literally everything about your form before you can even begin the transformation process—anatomy, behaviors, everything. It's a lot of work."

"No wonder you quit," Harry teased, and dodged the pillow she swung at him. A much-shortened pillow fight ensued. It ended with Tonks pinning Harry to the floor with a pillow across his chest, but after a few minutes he'd given up struggling. It being so late, he quickly fell asleep. Tonks followed shortly after, tangled in the blankets they had used as weapons.