"Can I speak to you for a moment, Harry?" Tonks asked.
Harry had stepped out of Mr. Weasley's hospital room and was at the end of the hallway, staring through a window at the buildings in the distance. He searched the sky for anything that would make him feel better or at least less like a failure.
Thus far, he hadn't found anything.
"Aren't you already speaking to me," he said, but with only a half-hearted effort. He'd dreamt about Arthur Weasley's attack and the dream became reality. Seeing his family crowded around him, Harry felt like an intruder at best. At worst, he felt responsible for it, despite everyone's reassurances.
Looking at Tonks, Harry noticed that she'd abandoned her pink hair for shoulder length brown hair. She stared back at him intently.
"I just couldn't be in there anymore," he said trying to nip this conversation in the bud. "Everyone says I'm not to blame, but..."
"It's not that, Harry." Tonks stated, putting her hand under his chin and turned his face slowly. For a horrifying second, Harry thought she was going to kiss him like Cho Chang did at the last DA meeting.
The Gryffindor was more than a bit confused.
"Do you mind telling me what you're doing?"
"Checking something. Back in the room, I saw something and wanted to see if it was the light or my mind playing tricks on me."
"What did you see?" Harry asked, feeling suddenly nervous. Her eyes were dissecting him and he had a series of flashbacks; to second year after he spoke to the snake, to the long walk across the floor of the Great Hall when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, and to virtually any day when the Daily Prophet printed another vile article about him while the inhabitants of the castle scrutinized him as if he was going to suddenly sprout a second head.
He hated that look.
"Stop it!" he said and tried to brush her hand away.
"I was right! You just did it again," she suddenly exclaimed and let him go.
"What did I do?"
"Facial tremor."
"A facial tremor? What in Merlin's name is that?"
Smiling brightly, Tonks changed the color of her hair to a bright blue and said, "It's like a nervous tic, except it's what we metamorphs do. Here watch."
The auror pointed at her cheek and Harry watched as the skin there rippled like water when a pebble had been dropped into it. Her skin smoothed out as it disappeared.
"You," she said, thumping her finger on his chest repeatedly and bouncing on her toes in glee, "are a metamorphagus."
"Like you?"
If possible, her smile got bigger and her hair went pink as she said, "Well you're nowhere near as wicked as I am, but few reach my level of utter superbness."
Harry toyed with the idea of commenting on her modesty, but held his tongue. For once, someone was tickled pink, quite literally, that he'd done something unusual.
It was a far cry from the normal reaction.
Though he cared deeply for his best female friend, Hermione would immediately begin questioning him like he was a new topic for research. He didn't relish the idea of being the "parselmouth lab rat" again. Ron would probably be okay with it after his usual bout of jealousy. Everyone else would simply look at him and question whether he was going dark or insane...again.
These days, he wasn't quite certain how to answer that question.
"So have you ever done anything like this before?"
Harry thought really hard before coming up with, "My aunt used to cut my hair and it would grow back overnight. Does that count?"
"You bet your sweet butt cheeks it does!" Tonks said while pulling him into a headlock and fussing with his hair.
"Tonks! Get off!"
"Spoilsport," she said trying to sound grumpy.
"So, how do I learn to do what you can do? Do you think you can teach me?" Harry wasn't certain how this would help him. Riddle would be able to sense his presence easily enough, like Harry did back in the first year with Quirrell, or the pain he'd felt in the graveyard, but it would certainly help Harry with the other Death Eaters.
"I can get you started, but I'm more of a doer and not a teacher. Your new Defense teacher should be able to help. He's one of us."
Harry scratched his chin, finding himself liking how quickly Tonks accepted him.
He frowned and said, "That American bloke, Fox, who couldn't come at the beginning of the term and the ministry stuck us with Umbridge."
"Eric's not American. He's originally from New Zealand, actually. Graduated from Hogwarts a year ahead of me. From what little I've heard, he's just been working in the Americas for the ICW."
"So he's one of…us?" Harry paused, uncertain.
Tonks nodded.
"And you know him?"
Harry noticed her expression change. It reminded him of Hermione whenever she ran into a problem that she couldn't immediately solve or Ron when he overslept and missed a meal.
Tonks opened her mouth and for a few seconds she paused. Her hair rustled, shifting restlessly before she said, "At one time, I thought I did."
"Oh sorry," Harry said, sensing there was much more to the story, but not wanting to pry. He despised it when everyone tried to get him to talk and had no interest whatsoever in doing that to someone else.
"S'okay. Water under the bridge and all that rot," she said and forced herself to resume her normal perky disposition. "I'll show you some of the basics over the rest of break and you can get up with him when school starts back up."
"Is he any good? I've learned not to get my hopes up when it comes to teachers, especially when it comes to defense. Umbridge makes Lockhart look good and I didn't think that was possible."
"I can't really say," she said with further hesitation. "He applied and was accepted into Auror training, but ran off to work with the ICW instead. If he's anything like he was in school, you won't be disappointed. I've heard a few rumors over the last couple of years about him that he is really good, but you of all people know how crazy rumors can get."
"That never happens," Harry said in mock indignation. "Hopefully, he won't be too useful. Otherwise the Ministry will find a way to sack him."
"Well, if he's anything like I remember," Tonks said wistfully while clapping him on the shoulders, "he's a sly one and the undersecretary might have her hands full. Alright, now it looks like you're feeling a bit better, so why don't we go back in and say goodnight to Arthur and I'll take you back."
"Okay," Harry said. "But can we keep this between the two of us...and maybe Padfoot?"
"Sure," she answered. "Take it from me, when you can be anyone, everyone wants you to be something you're not. It's not all fun and games."
"I figured as much," he replied noting her candor.
"Still," Tonks whispered with a mischievous look dancing across her rapidly changing eyes. "The fun and games part can be positively wicked."
#
Returning to the "Ancient and Noble House of Black," Tonks and Harry found a very tipsy Sirius in one of the smaller rooms and began discussing Harry's new condition.
Tonks stepped out to look at the Black family tree. When she returned, she said, "Well, it does pop up in our line more than most and there was always a rumor or two about Dorea Black-Potter, so that ability could have passed into the Potter line."
"Too bad James was never one...oh the pranks we could have pulled," Sirius said staring into the fire for a few seconds. "Then again, one thing I know about metamorphs is that they can't be animages. Isn't that right, Nymphie?"
"I've never heard of one that was both, but I know a doggie who is looking to be neutered if he ever calls me Nymphie again."
If the threat bothered Sirius Black, Harry couldn't tell. The former prisoner shrugged and tilted the bottle he'd been cradling and took another swig. "Either way Harry, look at it like this, you'll never have to swill a dose of polyjuice ever again. That alone should make it worth learning."
"When exactly did you take polyjuice?" Tonks asked, tapping the arm of her chair with her index finger.
Harry shot Sirius a dirty look and said, "It's not important. Don't worry about it."
"Oops," Sirius said and pointed at his head making the "crazy person" sign. "Don't pay any attention to the guy who spent years in prison and drooling into his food tray. He's a little off, if you know what I mean."
Tonks extended her finger to a ridiculous size and scratched the back of her ear. "Maybe more than a little, cousin. Actually it is important, Harry. Polyjuice can inhibit a metamorph's abilities. That might explain a delay in your development."
"Then again," Sirius said to no one in particular. "It could also be the phoenix tears, basilisk venom, or that killing curse mucking up the works. Oops, disregard what the crazy man is saying."
"Here I thought Mum was a chatty bird when she had a few," Tonks said, scowling at her cousin. She tried to sound amused, but Harry detected a bit of pity in her tone.
Sirius fished the bottle of firewhiskey from the end table and stared at the label as if he was trying to decipher some cryptic meaning. "Ah yes, poor man's truth serum. Funny, I thought the bottle had more in it earlier. You haven't been getting into my stash, Harry?"
"No," Harry said very quickly.
"Well, why the blazes not? Sneaking firewhiskey is a rite of passage! Here, have a taste."
He offered the bottle, but Tonks deftly reached in and took it from Sirius. "No, Harry needs a clear head for what we'll be working on. You'll have plenty of time to corrupt him later."
"Corrupt my godson, you say? It's something I've always dreamed of doing."
Tonks laughed and glanced at Harry. "Wait here, Harry. I'm going to help Sirius get to bed. When I come back, we can do a couple of basic exercises to get you started."
She stood and held her hand out to his godfather. "C'mon Sirius, I think it's time for you to get some rest."
"Is it time to go back to the cell, warden? This place is much better than my last prison...you know?"
"Easy there big fella," Tonks said while swelling in size. She suddenly looked like one of those wrestler blokes Dudders watched on the telly. "Keep this up and you're going to need a full cauldron of hangover remedy tomorrow."
Harry sat there feeling uncomfortable and waited for Tonks to return. She was back to her normal size and had straight black hair.
"Sorry you had to see that," she said sitting down next to him.
"He hates it here doesn't he?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, he does. No sense in trying to sugar coat it. But let's move onto something a little more uplifting. Give me your hand."
"Okay," she said. "Let's start with a single item. Hold my finger and watch the nail."
Harry did as she asked. Slowly the fingernail grew. "We are going to start slowly and make a single change at a time and then undo it. Focus and concentration are the key. Nails probably aren't too important to a bloke like you, but the ability to have perfect nails anytime I want them is surprisingly one of the first things witches tell me they're jealous of."
"Is your power what makes you clumsy?" Harry asked and immediately regretted his word choice.
Tonks frowned momentarily and replied, "I'm easily distracted, which is why I lose focus. If I've been using my abilities too much or my emotional state is off, my center of balance gets all wonky."
"Will that happen to me as well?"
"To some extent, but it really depends on you. When I was in school with Eric Fox, he hardly ever had accidents. Sharp as a tack, that one. Then again, from the way you were lashing out at your friends when we picked you up at the end of summer, you might need to learn something called Occlumency to help control you emotions. Well, it's really for keeping people out of your mind, but the initial steps are about mastering your mind and exerting control over yourself."
"Do you know it?" Harry asked watching the continuous extension and retraction of her nail.
"I know a little. Enough to get by. The department wants aurors to know it to fight against witches and wizards that know Legilmency. You probably don't know what that is either, do you?"
"No," Harry said feeling like he'd been left out of some class that discussed rare magical abilities and arts.
"It's the opposite of protecting your mind. It's trying to get into someone else's. Requires direct eye contact, but you and I don't have to worry about that too much."
"Why?" Naturally, this got Harry thinking about his dreams of Voldemort and whether studying this might help him.
"Look deep into my eyes," Tonks said, trying to sound menacing.
Chuckling, he complied and watched the pupils go completely away. Her eyes were solid white.
"Can you still see?"
"Of course, duelists use Legilmency in a fight to try and pick up surface thoughts, like what spell you're casting, but depriving them of the eye contact confuses them."
"If I can change my eyes, do I still need glasses?"
"See! You're already thinking!" she stated and punched him in the arm. Harry noted that Tonks didn't really care too much about people's personal space. "When you figure it out, you probably won't. I keep some in my purse for disguise purposes, I don't need them."
"What else can you do?" Harry asked, wondering what the limit to her powers might be.
"There're one or two books out there you ought to read, I'll try and find my copies. But mostly it is a trial and error thing. You can adapt your way out of most minor jinxes and curses. Watch."
Tonks took her wand out and used a basic cutter to create a four inch long nick on her right forearm. He watched her focus intensely on the wound and it started closing by itself. It took longer than it would to close it using a healing spell, but it was still pretty impressive.
"And that's just what you can do externally. Eventually, you might want to read some muggle biology books or take a class or two and learn about your internals. Before you ask, I don't know of anyone who has ever grown a second heart, but you can make your lungs bigger and get more oxygen in your system or with a little concentration, you can fake like you're swallowing something and really just hold it in your mouth."
She drank from Harry's glass and pointed to her throat. It definitely looked like it was going down. "Really, I'm just holding it in my cheek like a squirrel."
Tonks finished by spitting the water out like she was a squirt gun into the fireplace roughly ten feet away.
"Show off," Harry accused, but it got him thinking about growing up with the Dursleys and how he was able to outrun Dudley's little gang or survive for days locked up in that cupboard with no food and hardly any water.
"You know it!" she replied. "It'll take years of practice before you can do this stuff. For now, we'll start simple with nail length, eye color and what have you. Alright Mr. Harry Potter, let's see what you can do."
After a couple of intense hours and Tonks style friendly humiliation Harry could now make his nail grow an inch or two and then retract back to normal. They quit when they heard the sounds of the Weasleys returning from St. Mungos downstairs.
"Harry? Could you come down here?" Mrs. Weasley asked. In truth, she wasn't really asking.
He glanced at Tonks. "How many sandwiches do you suppose she's going to make me eat?"
"My guess is two," Tonks whispered. "The good news is, soon you'll be able to make yourself look bigger at will and she'll ease up. I won't be here tomorrow. Keep working on your nails. Try to do two at a time and when you have that down do a finger on each hand. If you're feeling bold, try doing your toenails too."
He stood and said, "Thanks Tonks. This has really helped take my mind off of...things."
"You're welcome, kiddo! Us morphers gotta stick together. If you add up all the ones in the world that are known you'd maybe have between twenty and thirty of us. It's a pretty exclusive club. Now, go get something to eat and practice, practice, practice."
#
Harry was quite eager to speak with Tonks, but he had to wait for the Order meeting to finish and endure Hermione's latest Umbridge rant now that she had arrived at headquarters. He and Ron agreed that other than the DA study group, the only good that had come out of the Toad's presence at Hogwarts was that it chipped away at Hermione's authority complex. Her faith in adults was swiftly approaching an all-time low...for her at least.
It took several more teeth gnashing minutes before he could get in there as Order members went to use the Floo or continued discussions amongst themselves. Finally, Harry managed to squeeze into the kitchen. By the counter, he saw Tonks chatting amicably with Hestia Jones as they refilled their coffee mugs. Everyone else had left the room except for Bill and Charlie.
"So Dora, have you picked out what hex you're going to use?"
"What are you talking about, Tia?"
"On Mr. 'Finally Returning to the Scene of the Crime' Fox. I'm thinking you should start with a bowel loosener and work your way up to the nastier stuff."
"Oh please," Tonks said, which only made the dark haired Hestia laugh. "I'm over him."
"Sure you are," Tia said, patting Tonks on the shoulder. "I spent a good portion of my seventh year telling myself precisely the same thing. I wonder if he's unattached these days."
"I wouldn't let Ben hear you say that, Tia. Or is the engagement off again?" Charlie Weasley said.
"Oh hush, I wasn't asking for me," Hestia stated before looking at Tonks and then dodging the auror's playful shove.
"Well, I'm looking forward to seeing him again," Bill said from the table. "I ran into him a couple of years ago in Egypt."
Everyone turned to look at Bill.
"And how come we're only hearing about this now, William?" Hestia inquired.
"Sorry Tia, it's one of those Gringott's things that I really can't talk about."
"You can't just drop a bag galleons on the table like that and expect us to leave it alone," she replied while tapping her right foot expectantly.
"Several parties would have my arse if I did, so I'm afraid I'll have to repeat myself and say that it's something I can't discuss other than our paths crossed and we had some time to catch up with each other."
Tia adopted a feral smile before saying, "Oh, I thought the only thing you couldn't talk about these days was that you've traded robbing tombs for robbing cradles, Mr. Oh La La."
Charlie's fit of laughter caused him to choke on his drink while Bill attempted a defense. "I'll have you know that Fleur is very mature for her age."
"Which is helpful because you're so bloody immature for yours," Tonks said jumping in on the needling. "How are her English lessons coming along, anyway?"
"Ladies, we have tender ears in our midst. Besides a gentleman never kisses and tells," Bill said gesturing to Harry.
"Exactly when did you become a gentleman, Bill? I must've missed that. Wotcher Potter, been staying out of trouble?" Tonks said looking away from Bill and at him.
"Hey Tonks," Harry said embarrassed at interrupting this discussion. "Uh, I was wondering if you found those books you were going to lend me?"
"Sure thing, Harry. Let's go into the other room."
"And here you were accusing me of robbing the cradle, Tonks!" Bill exclaimed as the other two joined in laughter.
Ever the adult, Tonks stuck her tongue out at them before saying, "Well, the age difference is almost the same and he did win that tournament unlike your little éclair. But I'm guessing Harry here needs to break a few hearts before he's ready for the likes of me."
At this point, Harry was looking for a place to hide or a hole to crawl into somewhere. Tonks began pulling him toward the hallway and reassuring Harry in her own special way.
"Relax. We're just having a go at each other and you got caught in the crossfire. You're not ready to go from being the boy who lived to the boy that really lived just yet!"
