A/N: I have a confession... I've gotten so used to only posting on AO3 that I have three chapters of this one to post in one go because I forgot to post here. Sorry!

Also, all dialogue in this chapter from when Tonks finds Harry onward is from HBP.

Tonks shivered as students flooded off the train. It was bizarre watching the scene from a different perspective. The students looked smaller than she remembered her and her classmates being when they were at school. She caught sight of a student who she thought must be a first year student because of their height, but then she saw someone even shorter.

The students eyed her distrustfully as they passed. She didn't blame them. Returning to Hogwarts had always been an exciting time when she was their age, but they were having to do it under the watchful eye of an Auror team.

She hated assignments like this despite knowing the importance of protecting "the next generation," as Robards had put it. There was so much going on up and down the platform that it was difficult to notice if anything was amiss or the teenagers were just being teenagers. She also didn't expect any Death Eater activity at the station. Voldemort wouldn't dare try something so close to Dumbledore's watchful eye, but she was handling it with as much seriousness as she could muster.

The crowd of students began to slow down as more and more of the carriages left. Several minutes after the last passenger had gone, Tonks spotted Ron and Hermione leave the train, their heads swiveling back and forth as if they were searching for something. Tonks hurried across the almost deserted platform without checking to see if one of the other members of her team was handling it. Ron and Hermione would talk to her more easily anyway.

"What's wrong?" Tonks asked, not bothering with niceties. The fact that Harry wasn't with them couldn't be a good sign.

Sure enough, the first word out of Hermione's mouth was, "Harry. He got this invitation from Slughorn on the train to go see him in his carriage, and then he never came back. We can't find him."

"He wouldn't have just gone on to the carriages by himself, would he?" Ron asked. Despite his attempt to sound upbeat, he glanced back at the train like he knew Harry was there.

Tonks jumped into action mode. "Go up to the castle," she said. "I'll handle it."

They didn't fight her on it. Tonks had to admit that she was surprised when they headed straight for the carriages. Considering their track record, she'd expected some pushback, but maybe not having Harry around tempered their rule-breaking tendencies.

Tonks stayed just long enough to make sure they were safely in a carriage before she jumped onto the train. There were only a few minutes before it would leave the station regardless of who was still on it, and Tonks wouldn't be able to Apparate off thanks to the extra protections Dumbledore and her own office had put on the train.

She held her wand in front of her as she walked to sense any signs of magic. The train began to vibrate, and Tonks picked up speed. She almost missed her wand sending sparks to alert her to a spell. She threw the compartment door open, but she couldn't see anything, even as the reaction from her wand grew stronger over a spot on the floor.

Reaching down, she felt cloth. She tugged on it to reveal Harry lying there, motionless from what had to have been a Stunner.

"Wotcher, Harry," she muttered before performing the counter-spell.

There was a bolt of red light, and Harry's body went limp for a split second before he sat up. Tonks stood there with the cloak in her hand as she waited for him to reorient himself, but the train was beginning to move, leaving them with very little time. The station had grown obscured by steam outside the window.

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

She didn't glance back at Harry as she hurried down the corridor to the nearest door. Tugging it open, she jumped, trusting that Harry would follow without hesitation. She braced herself as she hit the hard stone of the platform. Luckily, if there was still anyone around to ask questions, the other Aurors on her team were handling it.

Turning back to Harry, she finally took the time to note the state he was in. His nose had been broken. Most of the blood had already dried. She was also still holding his invisibility cloak. She handed it back, and he took it, balling it up in his hands.

"Who did it?" she asked, motioning at his nose.

"Draco Malfoy," Harry muttered, still looking down at the cloak. "Thanks for… well…"

She took pity on him. "No problem. I can fix your nose if you stand still."

The unsureness on his face kind of stung. She might have failed at housekeeping spells the first time they met, but she wasn't like that with all kinds of spells. Healing spells were a necessity in Auror training. As a particularly clumsy Auror, Tonks had become especially proficient at them. A broken nose was nothing she couldn't handle. Harry didn't protest though; he closed his eyes, which Tonks took as a sign to proceed.

Raising her wand, she muttered, "Episkey."

Harry's nose straightened out, though it remained just as coated in blood as before. That could wait until later. They needed to get up to the castle.

"Thanks a lot!" Harry exclaimed, and Tonks did her best to ignore how surprised he sounded that it had worked.

Tonks motioned at the cloak in his hands. "You'd better put that cloak back on, and we can walk up to the school."

Harry didn't argue as he slipped the cloak over his head. Tonks watched him disappear and then waved her wand again. A silver werewolf appeared, and Tonks tried not to cringe. She didn't glance at Harry until the Patronus had disappeared.

"Was that a Patronus?" he asked.

Tonks swallowed. "Yes, I'm sending word to the castle that I've got you or they'll worry." She began walking towards the path up to the castle. "Come on, we'd better not dawdle."

He asked questions as they went, and Tonks answered them, merely thankful that none of them were about her Patronus. She didn't like the sympathetic way he kept looking at her, but she tried not to focus on it. As they walked, she cursed the fact that there wasn't a carriage left. The other Aurors were back at the station, meaning it would be Tonks' responsibility alone if something happened.

As soon as they reached the gates, Harry tried to unlock them with Alohomora.

"That won't work on these," Tonks told him. "Dumbledore bewitched them himself."

He mentioned trying to climb the wall, and Tonks almost wanted to roll her eyes as she explained that wasn't possible either. There was a war after all. A second later, she caught sight of a lantern as someone left the castle, and she pointed the figure out. Her stomach sank when the person got closer, and she realized it was Snape.

He was the last person in that castle who Tonks had wanted to see. Her face burned as she realized that he must have seen her Patronus. He sneered as he approached, making it very clear that he'd recognized exactly what—or whose—form it had taken.

"Well, well, well," he said once he reached the gate and began to unlock it. "Nice of you to turn up, Potter, although you have evidently decided that the wearing of school robes would detract from your appearance."

Tonks glanced at Harry's attire. She hadn't even noticed that he didn't have his school robes on.

He jumped to defend himself before Tonks had caught up. "I couldn't change, I didn't have my—"