A/N: When I started writing this story, I would never have guessed that this little piece will one day gain more than 500 reviews and 140K+ views. To all the readers out there, who does or doesn't review, I thank you. You are truly great.

And fatemaskgets the virtual candies for the 500th review. Enjoy!

23. New Beginning

Ex Head of DMLE Killed

Bartemius Crouch Sr., recently fired Head of International Relations and former Head of DMLE, was found dead yesterday at his residence. Mediwizard Thomas Road confirmed the Daily Prophet that Crouch was hit by a Killing Curse. His distraught elf, Winky, claims that she was working when the murder took place, and was hence unable to see who did it. Amos Diggory, from the Department of Magical Creatures, appealed to Wizengamot for the permission of using Truth Potion on the elf. However, the court denied the appeal, stating that there was no firm ground on which the elf could be accused. The Chief Warlock also pointed out that Truth Potions are designed for humans, and might not work similarly on House Elves.

Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, stated that the murder of a former ministry employee would be investigated carefully and the culprits would be punished according to the law. A member of the DMLE, who wishes to be anonymous, hinted that Peter Pettigrew was a strong suspect of this murder.

To read more about Barty Crouch, turn to page 4.

"Blimey, I didn't like the man, but why would Wormtail kill him?" Sirius wondered loudly as Andromeda tipped a few sausages on his plate.

"Maybe he didn't." Ted suggested thoughtfully. "I don't know what he would gain by killing Crouch."

A plate of bacon gracefully landed on the table by a wave of Andromeda's wand, and both men helped themselves enthusiastically.

"Good morning Sirius, Andromeda, Ted." Harry greeted them cheerfully. A sleepy Tonks followed, mumbling incoherently.

The adults greeted them back and Andromeda added two more plates at the table, depositing eggs on them.

"Breakfast smells good, doesn't it Dora?" he poked her below the ribs and she yelped in surprise.

"Whass gotchya so cheery this early?" she asked indignantly.

"It's your result day." He said with a wide grin, which grew wider as he saw her expression change from irritated to shock and to panic.

"Holy mother of Merlin! Today's result? Could've reminded me yesterday!" she wailed and everyone chuckled at her reaction.

"And miss the fun today? No thanks." Harry replied cheekily. Tonks glared at him, but it made him smile even more, so she gave up and grabbed a chair to sit down. Harry did the same, and started on his plate. Tonks, however, just nibbled away at a piece of bacon, and chewed her lips. Harry watched in amusement as her eyes would twitch randomly and how she shook her legs nervously and how she gulped at least once every minute. For some strange reason, the whole thing looked absolutely adorable to him.

"There's an owl." Sirius pointed at a speck in the sky that was steadily becoming larger. Harry looked at Tonks to make sure she was okay. Apart from all the teasing, he felt a bit nervous for her. She wanted so bad to be an Auror, and though Harry knew she would do alright, he couldn't shake off the little cloud of fear. He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it as a show of support. Her face was pale and even her hair was white.

They were quite disappointed when the owl ignored her outstretched hand and went for Sirius. He looked at her apologetically, but she looked quite relieved.

"The goblins have news." Sirius told Andromeda after he finished reading. Andromeda raised an eyebrow and he continued. "Grimmauld Place would take a few months to be rebuilt and most of the wards made sure that the whole thing can't be taken down at once. They suggested we just change the interior and break down and build up a few walls here and there. I think that will be good enough, what do you say?"

"Sounds fine to me. Just make sure to remove some particular portraits." Andromeda replied.

"My mum put a permanent sticking charm on hers, or she would've been the first to go."

"Then break down the wall and rebuild it."

"Good idea. I'll write a reply to them." Sirius said before going inside for a parchment. The owl that brought the letter went to sit beside Hedwig and gave a hoot, but Hedwig ignored it pointedly.

My owl's got attitude. Harry thought proudly.

"If Sirius gets his home done, am I going to live with him?" Harry asked tentatively. He loved the Tonks family and they were practically his own family, but Sirius was his godfather, and sometimes he felt a bit bad for imposing on the Tonks' like this. He knew neither Andromeda nor Ted minded him being here, but the Dursleys gave him enough lecture about being a burden to stick the thought permanently.

"If you want to, you can. He is your legal guardian, after all. But nothing will make us happier if you choose to stay here." Andromeda replied with a kind smile.

That put him in a dilemma. If he chose to live with Sirius, they might think he didn't like them much, which was totally untrue. But if he chose to stay with them, Sirius would think the same and it wasn't true either.

"Can I live half of the time here and the other half with Sirius?" he asked hopefully and Andromeda smiled.

"Of course you can, now finish your breakfast before it-"

"THAT'S AN OWL!" Tonks yelled, pointing at the window, where a barn owl was getting in.

This time it was a letter with the Hogwarts seal on it. Tonks' hair was changing colours very quickly as she opened the seal with trembling fingers.

"Here goes nothing." She muttered before opening the official looking piece of parchment.

Harry watched as her eyes scanned the letter quickly, and from the panicked expression, it changed at first to relief, then to happiness.

"I PASSED! WOOHOOOOO!"

Everyone had to cover their ears.

...

After hugging Harry for the eleventh time, a hyper Tonks went to hug her mother one last time, which she gladly returned and then she burst into tears. Fortunately for everyone, they were tears of joy, so she was happy to be patted on the back by everyone and occasional hugs every now and then. Harry was quite bemused as he was her favourite target for really tight hugs, and it didn't help that his new hormones reacted with his chest pressed against quite a nice pair of breasts. If not for the tears, he would suspect she was doing it intentionally. However, Sirius came to his rescue as he told everyone about tickets to the World Cup he managed from someone.

"Really? How many do you have?" Tonks asked with interest, wiping the leftover tears from her cheek.

"For all of us, of course." Sirius said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Does all of us include Jennifer?" Harry teased and Sirius blushed a tiny bit.

"Erm... yeah, it does. You don't mind, do you?"

"As long as you're not doing... ah... inappropriate things, it's cool." Tonks replied cheerfully.

"Great, let me call her." He went for the floo and before throwing the powder to the fireplace, he grinned evilly and added, "Or maybe I'll just go and finish the inappropriate things now."

"SIRIUS!" four voices yelled in disgust as he disappeared through the fireplace.

"I was eating here!" Tonks complained to the fireplace, and as if on cue, it roared again and Amelia spun out of it.

"Do I smell bad?" she asked, seeing the grimaces in everyone's face.

"No, Sirius fooling around as usual. Sit down Amy." Andromeda waved at the empty chair.

"When do I apply for Auror Academy?" Tonks asked the woman.

"Got your results?"

"Yep. Nailed 'em." She replied with a grin and her parents looked at her proudly.

"Congrats! This deserves a toast." Amelia said with a smile.

"Did that three times so far." Harry said in a pained voice. Tonks smirked.

"Oh, good, then. You can apply right away. They will start training after two weeks, I think. And Fudge changed the programme. You will be ready to be an Auror by one year with the new close packed courses, but that means you will get no holidays in this one year."

"NO HOLIDAYS?" Tonks shouted and Harry's spirits dropped. He was hoping to see her in Christmas, at least.

"Nothing at all. You will only be excused if you have an immediate family funeral to attend. Apparently, Fudge had sense to build back the Auror force, but he wants all of them fresh."

"Why is that?" Ted asked with irritation. He hardly got to spend time with his daughter, and a total year without seeing her wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"Partly because it will cost less to hire fresh Aurors than take back old ones, and partly because the best of the old ones wouldn't come back. He tried to hire Moody as an instructor, but he said he was busy for the next year."

"You mean Mad-Eye Moody?" Ted asked and Amelia nodded. "Good, I didn't fancy my girl to be trained by him. Merlin knows he can push things hard." He muttered.

"I would've been happy." Andromeda told her husband, who looked at her questioningly. "If she is going to be an Auror, she should be prepared for the worst. And Mad-Eye was one of the few people who knew when to use force instead of dancing around."

"Who is this Moody? And why is he called Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked with interest.

"That's a really long story." Amelia sighed.

...

Tonks was determined to enjoy her last two weeks at home as much as possible. Every morning, she visited one friend or another, came back home for lunch with family (including Sirius and Jennifer) and then took Harry out for movies (Harry made sure she stayed clear of romantic ones), or football at Edward's place (Harry was a surprisingly good midfielder), or at a muggle restaurant or simply to their common friends' place. Their favourite was the Burrow, where they could play three on three quidditch and Mrs. Weasley would feed them until they couldn't move. Susan's summer house was another spot both liked to go. Neville and Hannah would often join and even Hermione came over once. Tonks managed to smuggle in a television with CD player (shrunk in her pocket) and they stayed awake at night after watching horror movies. They were all amused when they found Hannah practically curled up on Neville's lap after a particularly gruesome movie. Tonks, who found this very cute, teased them mercilessly for the next few days, with occasional help from Susan and Harry. Hermione smiled at their antics, but didn't participate.

One day, however, things deviated from their fun routine. Harry was peacefully sleeping at his room at the Tonks' residence, when he had a dream about Wormtail, Voldemort and a muggle. He wasn't totally sure, but he thought there was a giant snake involved in the scene. Unlike normal dreams, this one had no inconsistency or randomness. It was almost like witnessing the event himself. To make it stranger, his trademark lightning bolt shaped scar hurt for the first time since he defeated Quirrel. He remembered Dumbledore telling him that his scar might hurt if Voldemort was close or feeling strong emotions, so he tried to pick up any unusual sounds. Fortunately, everything appeared normal, so he waited till morning to tell Andromeda and Sirius about it. Both of them looked worried and thoughtful.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Dumbledore is the one who could shed some light on this." Andromeda said gravely. Sirius nodded and went to Floo the Headmaster.

For a change, Dumbledore was being honest. He clearly told them what he understood and suspected.

"It might very well be a real vision. When Pettigrew escaped, I was afraid that he would go to find Lord Voldemort, who was, according to my sources, at Albania. I think my fears have become true. However, since dreams cannot be viewed as a memory, nothing can be done except for hoping that Lord Voldemort will not return in the near future." He said gravely, sipping the tea served by Andromeda. She agreed to his words. There really wasn't anything that could be done.

"Sir, what about my scar? Why did it hurt? I mean it isn't the pain that bothers me, but you said that the scar was a connection between me and Voldemort." Harry asked the old man.

"Indeed, my boy. The night Voldemort tried to kill you, he unknowingly created a bond with you. The nature of this bond is not totally clear to me, seeing that you are the first person with this kind of scar, but I daresay it is more mental than physical and if this becomes a regular happening, I can appoint Professor Snape to teach you Occlumency, which might help you to block out the visions and the pain."

"Wait, Snape is going to teach me this occlu- thingy?" Harry exclaimed.

"Professor Snape, Harry. And yes, he is the best Occlumens that I happen to know apart from myself; forgive my lack of modesty. Despite the less than friendly relation between you two, I think he will be the best person to-"

"I will teach him." Andromeda interrupted and Dumbledore looked taken aback.

"Pardon me, but are you an Occlumens too?" Andromeda rolled her eyes.

"Of course I am. All Black family members are taught Occlumency and Legilimency when they are fourteen or fifteen. Sirius ran away before his turn, so I don't know if he knows it."

Sirius shook his head. Dumbledore looked quite relieved.

"That is fantastic. You can start on your lessons whenever you feel it necessary. It might take some time to master."

"You aren't going to insist on making Snape teach him?" Andromeda asked with mild surprise and Dumbledore looked pained.

"I know you don't regard me as the most thoughtful or caring person, but believe me, I only have Harry's best interests at heart. I do not wish to cause him more pain than I already did, and I really feel sorry for what you had to endure at your relatives' home. Though I still think you would be better protected if the wards were recharged in time, but you seem happy here and that matters a lot to me, Harry. I wish you would forgive this old man for his mistakes. I clearly underestimated Petunia's jealousy."

"What jealousy?" Harry asked with a frown. She was resentful, yes. But jealous?

"Yes. She was jealous of Lily. In her eyes, Lily had something she did not. Not to mention Lily was liked by almost everyone and she was not. I think she could let her jealousy go if Lily hated her back. The fact that Lily always tried to talk to her and be nice to her despite all the hurtful things she said her, it showed that Lily was a better person than her and she could never forgive herself for being so bitter and cruel towards the possibly only person who loved her all the way through. You remind her of Lily and you serve to her as a reminder of the sister she lost for her own pettiness."

Silence followed Dumbledore's explanation as everyone pondered over what they heard. After a while, Harry spoke.

"She still loved my mother, didn't she?" he asked in a whisper and Dumbledore smiled sadly.

"I believe she did. Despite her attitude towards her, she still felt strongly for her sister and seeing you around reminded her of what she threw away."

Andromeda, unnoticed by everyone, blinked rapidly and looked away. Hearing of sisters reminded her of Cissy and Bella. She wrote to them, once after she got married. Narcissa replied that she has ashamed mother and father, and Bella... she said almost the same thing, but in the end, she added a line that broke Andromeda's heart.

I hope we never meet, Andi, because if I do, I'll probably kill you. Because you did something I'll never have the courage to do. Don't write to me again.

Andromeda kept her sister's wish, and never wrote to either of them again.

...

The atmosphere was incredibly sad and happy at the same time. Tonks was finally going to the place she dreamt of going since she was thirteen. But it also meant that she would be cut off from her family until she finished her course. Amelia informed that trainee Aurors were allowed to write to home once a month only. It was supposed to be practise for later because Aurors often went to places for missions where owls couldn't reach, or was dangerous to communicate with anyone.

Andromeda was having a hard time reining back the tears that threatened to escape her. She was incredibly proud of her daughter, who was finally on her way to becoming an Auror. There was a lot left to actually becoming an Auror, and Andromeda knew that her daughter would have to endure taunts and prejudices for her talent, but she knew Nymphadora was strong enough to handle it all. She missed the little pink haired girl who just learned to talk and wouldn't stop talking since. She missed the girl who would fall down often, and get up again with a smile that could light up a room. She wanted to protect her baby girl form the evil of the world, but she knew it was time for her to live her own life and learn to live on her own. She knew it was the time when she wasn't her little Nymphadora anymore. She was a grown up woman and soon she would bring some guy home, claiming to be in love, and then, apart from the occasional owl and floo visits, she would slowly fade away from her daughter's life. Maybe one day her daughter would become a mother too, and she would turn to Andromeda for help, which she would gladly give. Maybe one day everyone would recognise her as the mother of Senior Auror Nymphadora Tonks, or whatever her surname would be at that point, who would be the best Auror there was. And she would proudly tell everyone how she always knew that her daughter was the best.

After giving a last, long hug to her father, Tonks pulled Harry to the landing. Everyone else knew that these two had a special bond and decided to give them some privacy, saying their last goodbyes and heading back inside.

To her immense surprise, it was Harry who pulled her to a really tight hug, and when he let go, he placed a kiss on her cheek and murmured, "Take care, Dora."

It broke her heart to see the sadness in his eyes. She knew she would miss him the most. He always knew how to handle her, what to say to make her feel better. She knew no one would wrap their arms around her and rub her back when she would cry like he did. No one could make her smile as easily as him when she was down. She looked straight to the emerald eyes that fascinated her from their childhood.

Slowly, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. For a moment that seems like forever, she kissed him. Then she pulled back.

"Don't forget me, sweetheart." She whispered in his ears.

Then, with a quick, last hug, she turned and disappeared.

A/N: Reviews please?