Harry was in his room when he heard a banging at the door. "Harry!" yelled Uncle Vernon from the kitchen where he was eating in front of the television. "Get that!"

Harry sped downstairs. The woman at the door looked completely non-descript – average height, average weight, mousy-brown hair and dark brown eyes - until she winked. "Wotcher, Harry!"

"Tonks! I didn't recognize you."

Tonks smiled. "Did you forget I'm a half-blood? I figured after Remus, your relatives would appreciate someone inconspicuous." She looked down at herself with a slight frown. "And this is as ordinary as I can get. Works great on stakeouts in muggle areas. On the other hand, you should have seen my appearance when I was working with dwarves last week. Do I look ordinary enough?"

Before he could answer, Aunt Petunia came out from the kitchen drying her hands on a dish towel. She looked Tonks up and down and sniffed. "I don't suppose I can keep you out so best come in."

Tonks smiled at her though it didn't reach her eyes. "I didn't get a chance to actually meet you before, Mrs. Dursley. I'm Tonks."

Uncle Vernon had lumbered to his feet and entered the hallway. "At least you look normal enough. Funny name, though."

Harry winced at his rudeness but Tonk's smile finally reached her eyes. "You don't know the half of it, Mr. Dursley. She looked up the stairs where Harry's cousin was standing at the top landing. "Wotcher, Dudley."

Dudley nodded and returned to his room.

Tonks shrugged "Strange, that one, but we all have our own way of greeting people. Me, for example…" Unfortunately, her left foot caught on the edge of the hallway runner and she tumbled forward. She reached out to catch herself on the grandfather clock, but it started to tip over. Harry quickly reached out to steady it.

Tonks turned a bit pink. "Er, sorry about that!"

"Drunk at this time of the day – disgraceful!" mumbled Uncle Vernon as he turned to go back to the table.

"No, just a bit clumsy," Tonks replied cheerfully. "But no matter. I'll fix anything I break. I'm particular good at Reparo, you see. Lots of practice."

"We'll have none of that hocus-pocus in this house," sniffed Aunt Petunia.

"Right-o. Whatever you say," shrugged Tonks. "So, Harry, do you want to show me around the neighborhood?"

Tonks was surprisingly quiet on the way to the park. Harry kept looking at her, and finally spoke up. "Is anything the matter, Tonks? I know you don't want to be here, and …"

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. It's nothing to do with you or being here, it's just I have a lot on my mind." She tripped over a crack in the sidewalk but caught herself. "You see, it's a relationship problem. Maybe you can help me understand him. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Harry was startled at the question. "Well, umm …"

"Is there someone you like, but who doesn't seem to notice you?"

Harry scuffed his feet. "Things didn't go well last time I tried."

"Oh, Harry, you're still young. But me, I'm ready to settle down. Do you believe in soul mates?"

"Umm…"

"I don't, really. I know there are lots of men out there and that I shouldn't be fixated on someone who isn't interested in me, right? The problem is, I know the perfect man for me, but he's not interested. He's concerned about what society would think if we got together. Silly, right?"

"Umm…"

"So the question is, do I keep pursuing him, or give it a break and see if either someone else comes along or he finally gets his head in the right place?" Tonks paused, and then continued in a decisive voice. "Perhaps I should just drop him. There are lots of bowtruckles in the forest, you know?"

"Umm…"

"But on the other hand, I really like this guy. I'm sure I can convince him to think about us, and not worry about what others will think. And if after all that it doesn't work out, well, I'm still young." Tonks had flushed as she admitted her feelings.

"Umm…"

"Yeah, that's what I think too. I'll let him know I'm willing to wait, but not forever. I do have a lifetime ahead of me, and I'm not going to spend it pining for someone who's not interested. Thanks, Harry! You give great advice!"

Dinner that night was a quiet affair. Tonks attempted to begin conversations, but they'd peter out as the Dursleys responded in one or two words and Harry was too nervous to speak up. He held his breath every time Tonks handled a dish. Nothing happened until Aunt Petunia brought out jam roly poly for dessert. As it was being passed to her, Tonks dropped it and it bounced off the edge of the table and splattered on the floor.

At Aunt Petunia's stricken look, Tonks blushed. "Sorry about that. I'll clean it up in a trice, and..."

"No!" Aunt Petunia interrupted. "B …Harry, please grab a broom," she sighed.

Tonks looked puzzled. "Harry, you know you're to stay close to the house and the yard isn't large enough for even a quarter Quidditch pitch."

Harry winced at the thought of using his Firebolt for something as mundane as cleaning up a mess. "Not mine, a non-magi … I mean, just an ordinary broom."

"Oh, of course."

After dinner, Tonks, to Aunt Petunia's and Uncle Vernon's disgust, joined them in the sitting room. "That was a lovely dinner, Mrs. Dursley," she said. "And you have a lovely house too." She walked around the room, with three pairs of eyes watching her carefully to be sure nothing else was knocked over. Tonks spread out her arms. "And I love how you've decorated …"

Harry saw what was going to happen and rushed to her side. Unfortunately, he was too late. The floral vase was knocked to the ground from its place on the fireplace mantle and shattered into numerous pieces.

"Oops."

Aunt Petunia had gone ashen. She stared at the pieces on the floor. Her hands started to shake. "Not that vase!" Harry was startled to see tears in her eyes.

Tonks lost her normally cheerful look when she saw Aunt Petunia's face. "It's no problem. I can repair it," she offered. For once, Aunt Petunia did not object to a wand being drawn. "Reparo!"

Aunt Petunia took a hesitant step forward and then grabbed the vase. She carefully scrutinized it and shook her head. Harry was startled to see a tear drip down her cheek. "You can still see the cracks."

Tonks took the vase back and inspected it. Her face turned red and for once she looked unsure of what to do. "Yeah, sometimes, when things break into very tiny pieces they don't join together properly. Let me try something different."

"Don't bother," said Aunt Petunia in a small voice. "You can't fix it. Just … go away."

"But…"

"GO!" roared Uncle Vernon.

"I truly am sorry, Mrs. Dursley, Mr. Dursley, " Tonks said as she left the room with the vase still in her hand. Harry could hear her plodding slowly up the stairs.

Tonks did not come down for breakfast the next morning. Aunt Petunia pursed her lips. "If that woman thinks I'm going to let her get me into trouble for not feeding her in order to take the attention away from the damage she's done to my things, she's wrong. Harry, go tell her to get down here."

Harry nodded and walked upstairs. He knocked at the door of the guest bedroom. "Tonks? Breakfast is ready."

He thought he heard a moan. "It's not that bad, Tonks. I'm sure everyone will understand it was just an accident." Then he heard a thud, and he hesitantly opened the door.

Inside, Tonks was laying on the floor by the side of the bed. Her face and hands were as red as cherries. Her face was covered by a fine sheen of sweat.

"Tonks!" Harry rushed to her side. "Can you hear me?"

The answer was a soft moan, but at least she was responsive. "What do I do?" Harry asked in a panic.

"Dum'dore" Tonks managed to get out, before moaning again.

"Right, Dumbledor. Stay right there," he added as he rushed to his own room.

Fortunately, Hedwig had returned from her nightly flight. Harry hurriedly wrote a note and tied it to his owl's leg. "OK, girl, I know it's a long flight, but this is really important. I know you can do it."

Hedwig lightly bit his finger in acknowledgment and took off into the night sky.

Harry ran to the bathroom. Grabbing a towel, he moistened it with cool water and ran back to the guest bedroom. Tonks was laying as he'd left her.

Harry wiped off Tonks' face with the towel, which revived her somewhat. He then helped her back into bed. Running back to the bathroom, he poured cool water into the glass and then back to Tonks.

"Harry!" Aunt Petunia yelled upstairs. "What's all that commotion? You and your minder come downstairs NOW!"

Harry stood at the top of the stairs. "Tonks is really sick, Aunt Petunia. I don't know what she has or if it's contagious," he said in a slight panic.

"Contact your school!"

"I just sent Hedwig, but it's going to take her at least a day to get there!"

Aunt Petunia thought fast. "You said Mrs. Figg knows about your kind. Does she have any way to contact your school?"

"Of course!" Harry ran downstairs. "You're a genius, Aunt Petunia!" he said as he passed his aunt on the way to the door.

Aunt Petunia looked startled, then pleased. She returned to the table. "It looks like it will be just us three for breakfast," she announced as she sat down.

Dudley sighed and turned on the telly.

Dumbledore was putting finishing touches on his report to the Wizengamot when his fireplace flared. He heard Harry's slightly panicky voice. "Professor Dumbledore!"

Faster than would seem possible for a man of Dumbledore's age, the Headmaster was kneeling before the fire. "What happened? Death Eaters?" he asked urgently.

"No, Professor," replied Harry. Dumbledore sighed deeply and briefly closed his eyes. Harry continued. "It's Tonks!"

"What did she break now?" the Headmaster chuckled.

"She's sick, sir, really sick. She's bright red and is sweating up a storm."

Dumbledore lost the twinkle in his eye. "Is she conscious?"

"Kind of. She was able to tell me to contact you but she's moaning a lot like she's in pain."

The Headmaster stroked his beard. "It sounds like it might be Dwarf Fever. Potions will fix that in a trice, but if the person doesn't have Dwarf Fever and they swallow the potion, it will cause severe pain and muscle contractions for several days. Poppy's still with her family. I'll send Severus with the potion so he can cast the diagnostic charm before administering it. In the meantime, Harry, it can be contagious, so keep your distance. And please keep your relatives in their house."

Harry thought about how he'd just helped Tonks and sighed. "That's great, Professor. I'll be waiting."

Harry thanked Mrs. Figg and was heading out the door when a thought suddenly occurred to him that made him stop in his tracks. "Wait! Isn't Severus Professor Snape?" He raced back to the fireplace and tossed more floo powder into the fire but nothing happened. "Why did this stupid thing stop working?" he moaned, reaching for yet more powder.

Mrs. Figg had been watching. She now put her hand on Harry's arm. "The only thing that will do is waste expensive floo powder," she said. "If you can't get through on a call, it means the other end is busy."

"What did Tonks get us into?" Harry groaned to himself. He slowly got up and walked back to number 4 Privet Drive. "I'll keep watch over Tonks," he called out as he headed upstairs.

At Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore had immediately floo-called his Potions Master, who was at his home in Spinner's End for the summer. "Severus, I need your help. It should only take a couple of hours. Are you free?"

Snape looked up from the book he was reading. "What do you need, Headmaster?"

"We have an Order member who has all the symptoms of Dwarf Fever."

"And can't go to St. Mungo's, obviously, or you would not have called me."

Dumbledore shook his head. "She's already exposed a muggle family, and we can't afford to have anyone question why she's there."

"Fortunately, both the curative potion for her and the preventative potion for the muggles require a simple base I keep on hand, and I have the necessary ingredients to complete them. It will take about an hour. Where do I deliver them?"

"Thank you, Severus. I can always count on you. Nymphadora Tonks is currently with Mr. Potter at number four Privet Drive."

"Potter?" Snape growled. "I'm being interrupted during one of the few times I have to myself to help Potter? Let someone else play delivery boy."

The Headmaster sighed. "It's not that easy, Severus, and you know it. Poppy's not available, and I don't dare send someone who doesn't have the skill to conduct an actual diagnosis. If it's not Dwarf Fever…"

"Then Nymphadora would deserve what happens," Snape sniped.

"Severus!" Dumbledore scolded.

Snape rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, Headmaster. Of course, you're right."

"Thank you again, my boy."

Snape made sure the connection was ended before he snarled to himself, "But I don't have to like it!"

An hour later Harry heard the doorbell at the Dursley's ring. Dudley opened the door to find a thin man with sallow skin, dark, penetrating eyes that seemed to bore into Dudley's brain, and a large, hooked nose. His shoulder-length black hair was stringy. Dudley thought the man looked like a vampire, with a long black cape over a deep purple shirt and pants and black boots. The only white that could be seen poked out from his sleeves and collar. He gave off a faint odor of sandalwood combined with a slight earthy smell, and something vaguely unpleasant that Dudley could not identify. In one hand he held a dark green carpet bag that seemed to be decorated with snakes. His eyes opened wide. "Mum!" he cried out.

Aunt Petunia came immediately to the door, as did Harry, who had been expecting Snape's arrival ever since talking to Professor Dumbledore. Before he could make introductions, Aunt Petunia shrieked "You!"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "As observant as always, Petunia. Now, if you'll just step aside…"

"You're not welcome here," Aunt Petunia said firmly.

By this time, Uncle Vernon had come over as well. "Look here. We've welcomed your kind here all summer long, but this is the limit. We will not have any hooligans in our house."

Snape smirked. "Oh, I'm far more than a simple hooligan. However, I also happen to have made the potion that could quite possibly save your lives."

"What do you mean, save our lives?" Uncle Vernon blustered. "It's that clumsy oaf upstairs who's sick, not us."

"Clumsy oaf? I see it didn't take her long for her to show off at least one of her not so endearing traits. Now, I'll be happy to continue this discussion in the doorway, but is that what you really want, Petunia?"

Aunt Petunia hastily stepped aside so Snape could enter the house. "Are you telling us that walking disaster brought a deadly disease into the house?" she asked with a drawn face.

"Only if you don't let me treat her." He looked at Uncle Vernon, "I do suggest you not leave the house until after I've given you a prophylaxis. But then again, if you choose to risk death, far be it from me to stop you. Now, where is the patient?"

"Up here, Professor Snape!" said Harry urgently.

As Snape headed upstairs, Dudley finally found his voice. "Mum, that man knew your name. Are you really one of them?"

Uncle Vernon rounded on him. "Of course not. They just happened to, ah, bump into each other before."

Aunt Petunia sniffed. "He hung around my sister for years. Lived in a hovel on the other side of the tracks. My sister was far too good for him and eventually realized that. I'm surprised he made anything of himself."

Dudley noticed that his mum had not directly denied his question, only his dad. Could it be possible she was a witch and was keeping it secret from the family? How cool would it be to have a mother who was a magician! Granted he'd never seen her do magic, but maybe she just kept it deeply hidden. He'd just have to watch her more closely.

Upstairs, Harry led Professor Snape to the guest bedroom. "When did the symptoms start?" Severus asked.

Harry was surprised to hear no vitriol in Professor Snape's voice. He thought back. "She could have been a bit off color yesterday mid-day, but it's hard to tell with her being a Metamorphmagus. Um, did you know…?

Snape rolled his eyes as he was taking out his wand. "Yes, Potter, I know about Nymphadora's unique talent."

"Then throughout the afternoon she seemed to flush more and more, but I thought it was just from embarrassment. She's a bit klutzy at times, you know." Harry wasn't going to discuss Tonks' love life, or rather her despair over the lack of one.

Snape was leaning over Tonks, casting various diagnostic spells. "Yes, everyone knows to stay away from her if they have anything the least bit fragile. Get on with it, Potter."

"I'm trying! Then I went to get her for breakfast this morning and she was on the floor and sweating and barely coherent."

Snape looked at him. "A concise report – I'm surprised and impressed."

Harry gaped, but the Potions professor had already turned back to his patient, looking at the symbols floating above her body. "It is indeed Dwarf Fever. Fortunately, it's still in the early stages. After I dose her, I'll give you and the muggles a potion to prevent infection and then be on my way back to the experiment you interrupted and see what I can salvage."

Harry felt stung. "I didn't cause this!"

"Perhaps not, but why am I not surprised to find you present? Now shoo. I have a patient to cure."

Harry opened his mouth several times before gulping. "Do we need to worry about Mrs. Figg? I used her floo to call the Headmaster. Will she be ok?"

Snape didn't bother to turn around. "Are you the healer now? I have everything in hand, Mr. Potter."

Harry retreated, returning to the dining room where the Dursleys were gathered.

"What did he say?" Aunt Petunia asked, twisting her hands together. "Are we all going to get sick with some abnormal disease?"

Harry shook his head. "No. He said he'll give us all something that will prevent us from catching it."

A moment they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Snape appeared and set his carpet bag on the table. "Miss Tonks will be fine by tomorrow morning. Just leave her alone today." He took out a bottle with a thick, brown liquid inside. When he removed the cork a pungent odor wafted into the kitchen. He smirked as the Dursleys and Harry wrinkled their noses.

Ignoring Aunt Petunia's outraged look, he Accio'd four glasses from the kitchen. He eyed them, then poured varying amounts of the potion into the glasses before directing one in front of person. "Bottoms up," he said laconically.

"Now see here," Uncle Vernon blustered. "Why should we believe anything you say? That Tonks woman probably just has the flu or something. I've heard about wizards like you. You might just be trying to poison us with this disgusting drink."

To Snape's surprise, Harry spoke up. "Professor Snape is one of my teachers, Uncle Vernon. He's saved my life several times. I trust him." With that, Harry gulped down his glass in one go, though he was unable to refrain from wincing.

Dudley watched Harry, his eyes wide. He picked up his glass and held his nose. Aunt Petunia yelled out "No!" but she was too late; Dudley had swallowed the contents. She rushed over to him and put her arm around him. After a moment she eyed Harry, seeing what his reaction to the potion.

Snape raised an eyebrow at Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. "Your son is showing more sense than you. However, I certainly won't force the potion into your stomach. Should you start to display symptoms, though – say a growing fever and skin becoming red – I advise you to stay away from others. Not to worry, though, as you won't have to be confined for long, in a living state that is. I imagine you won't care about the size of your coffin."

Uncle Vernon turned pale. "What is this terrible disease? The plague?"

Snape snorted. "Nothing so mundane. As is typical, Mr. Potter managed to be responsible for bringing Dwarf Fever into an area where it's been eradicated for over two hundred years."

Harry started to protest, but to his surprise, Aunt Petunia spoke up. "Harry didn't infect us with anything. It was that walking disaster who brought it into the house."

"And here I thought you tarred all wizards with the same brush."

Aunt Petunia cleared her throat. "Well, some of you are decent. We've met some fine ones this summer."

Uncle Vernon nodded. "Some decent ones, indeed. The question is, are you one or are you just trying to get rid of us?"

Snape snorted. "If I wanted to get rid of you, I'd do it in a far less obvious way. However, if you don't want my help…" He aimed his wand at the two glasses in front of the older Dursleys but, before he could say anything, Aunt Petunia raised her hand to stop him.

The woman turned to her husband. "Vernon, I think it's safe to drink this medicine."

Snape smirked. "Thank you for that vote of confidence."

Uncle Vernon looked at his wife, then at Harry before looking back at Snape. "If something happens to us, I'm going to sue you and that school of yours."

Shrugging, Snape Scourgified the two used glasses before sending them back to the kitchen, then put the cork back in the bottle and put that back into his carpet bag. "I'll relay your message to the Headmaster. I'm sure he'll quake in his boots."

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon gulped down the potion in front of them, and Snape Scourgified those glasses as well. He then snapped his carpet bag shut. "I won't say it's been a pleasure." He started to head to the door.

"Stop!" said Uncle Vernon. "You haven't said how long we should stay in the house."

"Oh, you can leave right now," Snape replied. "Though personally I'd stay at home until you're over the immediate effects."

"Immediate effects?" screeched Aunt Petunia.

"Oh, nothing life threatening. Just a bit of a headache and upset stomach. It should only last twelve to fifteen hours."

Harry suddenly realized he wasn't feeling well. "Thank you for coming, Professor," he said with a strained voice.

"Let's not do it again, Potter." Snape stepped out the door and they heard a quiet pop, which the Dursleys assumed to be backfire and which Harry knew was the sign of Disapparition.

Harry and the Dursleys headed upstairs. They were fine the next morning, but it took Tonks an extra day to recover. When she did come down just before lunch two days after she collapsed, Uncle Vernon had already left for work. Tonks had the vase in her hand.

"I apologize for bringing Dwarf Fever into the house, and for breaking the vase. It obviously means a lot to you."

Aunt Petunia looked sadly at the vase. "My sister gave it to me the last Christmas before she …" Harry detected a hitch in her voice as she stopped. He stared at her. In all the times he'd dusted the thing, he'd never thought it had any connection to his mother.

Tonks blinked rapidly. "I've been thinking about what I can do, and I came up with something. It won't be like new, but …have you ever heard of kintsugi? The Japanese believe that objects can be fixed in a way that highlights the damage rather than hiding it. It celebrates the beauty of imperfections. Look." She took out her wand. "Aureum sic!"

Aunt Petunia was startled to see gold lines began to appear throughout the vase as if someone was taking a brush to it. When no more golden lines appeared, Tonks handed the vase to Aunt Petunia. "See – better than new!"

Aunt Petunia examined it carefully then slowly shook her head. "No, it's not. It will never be the same, just like me and my sister will never…" She paused as she turned the vase over and over. "I guess it is pretty in its own new way, even though it's not the same." She sighed and then looked over at Harry. "Would you like this?"

Harry gasped. "Yes, please, Aunt Petunia," he said, half expecting his aunt to tell him that the offer was a joke.

Aunt Petunia bit her lip as she handed him the vase. "Take it. I don't want to see it again."

Harry hurriedly took the vase from Aunt Petunia. It was something his mother had picked out. He'd never given it much of a thought before, other than cursing it once or twice when it wobbled as he dusted it. Now he found it beautiful.

Aunt Petunia cleared her throat and looked at Harry. "Maybe relationships can be mended too," she hesitantly said.

Harry's attention jerked from the vase to his aunt. "Aunt Petunia?"

She looked at him. "We have our differences, but you are still my nephew."

Harry swallowed. "Yeah, I'd like to try to be a family."

Tonks shuffled her feet. "I am so sorry," she repeated. "I didn't realize what it meant to you and certainly didn't mean to knock it over. Look, I'll replace it with an identical vase, and …"

"Don't bother. Just … go upstairs until lunch is on the table." Aunt Petunia stared at the empty place on the mantle.

Carefully holding the vase, Harry followed Tonks upstairs. He put the vase in his bedroom and then knocked at her door.

Tonks was just sitting on the bed. "Wotcher, Harry," she said with a small voice. "I really am sorry. I was trying so hard …"

Harry didn't know what to say. "It's OK. I'm sure that with time Aunt Petunia will forget all about it."

"Thanks, Harry, but you and I know that she won't." She looked at the floor. "Sometimes I think I can't do anything right. I obviously don't appeal to the man who I know is right for me, and I've just shown that I can't be trusted around muggles." She sighed. "I was going to stay another few days, but maybe it's better if I just leave tomorrow morning."

"Please, Tonks – you don't have to … maybe you can just Obliviate the Dursleys?" Harry asked desperately.

Tonks snorted. "I'd just be compounding one mistake with another. Obliviation should not be done casually. If as an Auror I Obliviated someone just to hide a mistake I'd be censured. But no worries – you'll be leaving the Dursleys soon. I'm not sure who will be coming next week, but Molly will be picking you up the week after. You'll be at the Weasley's for your birthday celebration."

Harry heart leapt at that. He realized, though, that he did not feel as if he was being paroled.

Lunch was a quiet affair. The normally irrepressible Tonks was quiet and moved very carefully. Aunt Petunia ignored her and Dudley kept looking between his mother and Harry before deciding to focus on his food. Tonks left after lunch without anyone except Harry saying goodbye.