Tonks Residence, Reading, 8/5/1995, 17:38

Harry finished the final line on a rather nasty potions essay and took out the bag of pounce before sprinkling a pinch over the wet ink.

Sighing happily, Harry put the quill back in his ink pot and stood up from the desk. Harry groaned in relief as he stretched his kinked muscles from where he had been sitting hunched over for the past hour and a half.

With the completion of this essay, his summer homework was officially done. For the past few days, he had been focusing all of his efforts on completing mountains of homework before the new term started.

The vacation to Black Island had been wonderful and Harry was still lamenting the fact they had to leave. The adults (minus Sirius) had to return to their jobs and Harry had schoolwork to finish.

In a way, he was glad to be back because he planned on visiting his friends tomorrow afternoon. He hadn't seen them since the visit to Grimmauld Place last month and was very much looking forward to seeing them both. Usually, during the summer he saw Ron and Hermione more often, but so far he had only seen them once and only for a couple of hours.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the front door open. He knew by now that Andi and Ted always came into the house through the door in the kitchen, so this put him on his guard.

Drawing his wand, Harry walked quietly into the hallway trying to sneak up on whoever had just entered the house. Stepping into the hallway with his wand at the ready, Harry was surprised to find Tonks slipping off her auror robes by the front door.

Tonks looked over her shoulder as she hung her robes on the hook by the door and quirked an eyebrow when she saw the wand in his hand.

"Wotcher Harry? You're not planning on attacking, me are you?" Tonks grinned as she turned to face him.

"No, I am just getting a bit paranoid," Harry shrugged as he slipped the wand back into his forearm holster.

"That's a good trait to have. Though if you're not careful, you'll turn into Alastor Moody," Tonks warned.

"The eye would be cool but I could do without the pegleg," Harry grinned.

"Yeah, imagine what you could do with an eye that could see through walls," Tonks snorted.

"And clothes," Harry added said with a far-off look in his eye as he pondered the possibilities.

"That would be a double-edged sword, you know," Tonks pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Well imagine you were watching say.. the Weasley girl. You're trying to see what colour her knickers are, then suddenly her mother walks in front of you," Tonks suggested.

"Ugh, You make a good point," Harry said, horrified at the mental image.

"Exactly. Can you imagine seeing McGonagall in her underwear by accident?" Tonks giggled.

"Alright enough. Though for the record, McGonagall looks pretty good for an older woman," Harry said, causing Tonks to laugh even louder.

"Ah teenage hormones," Tonks sighed wistfully as she led Harry into the kitchen.

"Whatever, how was work?" Harry asked, hoping to get off of the current topic.

"Same old same old. We've mostly been out searching for fugitives," Tonks shrugged.

"Any luck finding them yet?" Harry asked hopefully.

"No. They are all at Malfoy Manor, according to Snape. Amelia just wants us out there showing the flag, so to speak," Tonks explained as they stepped into the kitchen.

Harry glanced out of the kitchen window as the took a seat at the table. He could see Andromeda walking up the garden path looking exhausted. Harry watched her getting closer to the door as he processed what Tonks had just said.

"Fudge's head is wedged so tightly up Lucius Malfoy's ass, you lot will never get clearance to search Malfoy Manor," Harry muttered as he looked over at Tonks.

Before Tonks could comment, the door opened and Andi stepped inside looking happily between the two of them.

"Nymphadora how are you?" Andi asked after setting her briefcase down on the sideboard.

"Alright, I guess. Work has been murder this week," Tonks sighed dramatically.

"I've told you for years that you should have picked a safer job," Andi said before pulling her daughter into a gentle hug.

"Where's dad?" Tonks asked when her mom released her.

"Picking up dinner," Andi answered.

"What have you been up to today, Harry?" Andi asked as Harry got to his feet and allowed her to wrap him in a motherly hug.

"I finished my summer assignments and fed the ducks for a bit," Harry answered, causing Andi to smile in approval.

"I suppose you won't be here tomorrow when I get home?" Andi asked as she took a seat at the table.

"Probably not. I won't be home too late though," Harry assured her.

"I'll have him home by eight," Tonks promised.

Before any more could be said, Ted stepped through the open doorway with a cardboard box full of Chinese takeout containers in his arms.

"It's good I got extra. The bottomless pit is here, I see," Ted said good-naturedly as he set the food down on the counter.

"Did you get chicken fried rice?" Tonks asked hopefully.

"Of course, I did," Ted said, looking mildly offended at the question.

"Well go ahead and dig in before it gets cold," Andromeda encouraged them both.

"But stay out of my eggrolls," Ted said, shooting Tonks a pointed look

Tonks didn't have to be told twice and practically dragged Harry over to the food before she began fixing herself a plate.

Pretty soon everyone had a plate and was seated around the table enjoying their food. Harry had never had much exposure to foreign food so he was enjoying this new cuisine tremendously.

Harry was really starting to feel comfortable with the Tonks family and almost regretted that he would soon be returning to Hogwarts.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 8/6/1995, 14:29

Harry stepped into the hallway of Grimmauld Place and took in his surroundings. Looking around, Harry noticed that the house looked marginally cleaner than it had on his last visit. The cobwebs on the chandelier were gone and the horrible display of severed elf heads had been taken down from the wall.

There was even a brand new curtain over that painting of Sirius' mother. Harry wondered why they hadn't just cut that section of the wall out and removed it painting and all, perhaps he would suggest this to Sirius later today.

Harry barely had a chance to take this in before Tonks stepped in behind him and shut the door.

"They sure have done a lot of cleaning," Tonks muttered as the door to the dining room opened and Missus Weasley stepped into the entrance hall.

"Harry dear, it's so good to see you again," Missus Weasley beamed before she pulled him into a warm hug.

"Hello Missus Weasley, how are you?" Harry asked when she released him.

"At my wit's end, dear. Between those infernal twins waving their wands for the simplest things and Ron becoming lazier by the second, I am fed up," Molly Weasley said, only half-jokingly.

"The twins are embracing their newfound freedom to use magic, then?" Harry asked curiously, trying not to laugh at her last statement.

"Yes, before long they won't even wipe themselves without a wand and I will tell you this right now, I am not cleaning up after that magic goes sideways," Molly exclaimed before shooting an annoyed look at the ceiling.

"Wotcher Molly?" Tonks said, looking highly entertained by the older woman's rant.

"Ah Tonks, I didn't see you there. The meeting starts in ten minutes," Molly said looking over at the pink-haired auror.

"Excellent, I'll catch you after the meeting, Harry," Tonks said before making her way to the basement kitchen.

"Ron and Hermione are in the drawing room. We'll have a spot of tea after the meeting is over," Molly said as she gestured up the stairs.

"Okay, thank you, Missus Weasley," Harry nodded as he turned to leave.

"Oh and Harry?" Molly called before Harry could take two steps toward the staircase.

"Yes?" Harry asked curiously.

"Don't touch any magical objects that you find. You gave us quite the scare last time," Molly said before she followed Tonks into the kitchen.

Chuckling to himself, Harry began climbing the stairs, retracing the path he'd taken on his last visit

When he made it to the drawing room he found the door was ajar, allowing him to slip inside without the room's occupants noticing.

The first thing that caught his attention when he looked around the room was Hermione seated on the couch reading a book.

'No surprise there,' Harry thought to himself as he stood in the doorway watching her for a moment.

Hermione seemed to be engrossed in the book and her face was scrunched up in conversation as she jiggled her foot absentmindedly, completely oblivious to his presence.

Deciding he had stood there long enough, Harry stepped into the room and gently shut the door behind him.

Once inside the room, he noticed Ron and Ginny on the floor in front of the large windows. They were playing a game of chess and like Hermione, they had yet to notice his presence.

"You lot need to practice constant vigilance," Harry said a bit louder than necessary making all three of them jump in surprise.

"Harry mate, when did you get here?" Ron beamed at him.

"About five minutes ago. Tonks brought me along," Harry grinned as he took a seat on the couch beside Hermione.

"You look like you got a lot of sun," Hermione said as she shut her book and turned to face him.

"Thanks. I got a right nasty sunburn the first day there but after that, my skin just got darker and darker," Harry admitted.

"Doesn't surprise me much, you were pale as a ghost," Ron sniggered.

"You could use some sun yourself," Harry quipped.

"We all could but Mum won't let us leave the house. This is the worst summer holiday ever," Ginny huffed as Ron's queen checked her king.

"Yeah, at least at home we could go outside. We've been stuck inside this house since the first week of July, and it's driving me bonkers," Ron muttered glumly.

"As much as I hate to agree with Ronald, this has been an awful holiday," Hermione admitted, sounding just as glum as Ron and Ginny.

"Alright I apologise for my earlier comment," Harry said, feeling bad for his friends.

"Let's just talk about something else," Ginny suggested.

"Sure. Have you three finished your summer homework?" Harry asked, knowing Hermione would have something to say on the matter.

"Checkmate," Ron said looking victoriously at his sister.

"I finished my homework last week," Ginny said as she hopped off the floor and sat down on the other side of Harry.

"I finished my charms and defence homework but that's about it," Ron said as he began boxing up his chess pieces.

"I finished mine before we left Hogwarts, that essay for potions was diabolical," Hermione admitted.

"I know, I just finished it yesterday," Harry agreed.

"Do you know anything about the Azkaban escape?" Hermione asked looking at Harry hopefully.

"Yeah, they're all hidden at Malfoy Manor," Harry snorted.

"How do you know that?!" Ron demanded.

"Tonks said that's Voldemort's base of operations, it's just common sense," Harry said, trying to ignore Ginny's leg rubbing against his own.

"Bet that means Malfoy is having a bad summer too," Ron guffawed.

"Yeah, can you imagine entertaining Voldemort during the summer holidays?" Harry sniggered.

"I would rather not imagine living with him for the summer," Ginny shuddered and gently elbowed Harry in the ribs.

"Can we please talk about something else, I am tired of thinking about that monster," Hermione asked tiredly.

"Okay. Have you guys got your Hogwarts letters yet?" Harry asked.

"No. Professor Dumbledore is having a really hard time finding a defence professor," Hermione answered sounding concerned.

"Can't blame people, can you? Defence professors at Hogwarts have a high mortality rate," Ginny pointed out.

"Dumbledore will find a professor, he always does," Harry assured his friend as Ron sat down in a high-backed armchair.

"I hope whoever he picks is better than Lockhart," Ron said, shooting Hermione a knowing smirk.

"Lockhart was an imbecile but at least he was easy on the eyes," Ginny pointed out.

"Maybe for you lot, but he wasn't my type," Harry shot back.

"Maybe the French champion could teach the class," Ron suggested.

"Now that's more like it. As long as she wears those blue robes... and the hat," Harry agreed.

"Not you too," Ginny exclaimed, shooting Harry an annoyed look.

"Don't listen to her, you might be on to something mate. Care for a game of chess?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Sure, maybe this is the day I finally school you," Harry nodded as he got down on the floor while Ron set the board on the coffee table.

"Dare to dream mate," Ron smirked.

The next few hours passed uneventfully, Harry was thrilled to see his friends again though being stuck in the house limited what they could do. Harry ended up playing chess with the Weasley siblings and chatted about school and what the upcoming school year would be like.

'I just hope it's better than last year,' Harry thought to himself as they were called down after the meeting was over.

Tonks Residence, Reading, 8/12/1995, 03:38

A loud explosion erupted outside jarring Harry awake from a recurring dream, Harry felt the house shake and heard the windows rattle in their panes and sat bolt upright in his bed.

'BOOOOOOOOOM!'

Harry scrambled out of his bed and ran to the window in time to see a bright flash of red light that briefly illuminated his room seconds before another thunderous explosion rocked the neighbourhood, setting off a car alarm at a house nearby.

'BOOOOOOOOOM!'

In the flash of light from the second explosion, Harry could see the muggle street below. Gathered out in front of the Tonks' driveway were six people, five of them wearing bone-white masks and jet-black hooded robes.

However, It was the sixth person in their group that immediately caught Harry's attention. Even from this distance and the limited light cast on the group from the streetlights, Harry easily recognized the sixth figure.

Harry jumped in surprise when his bedroom door was flung open and Andromeda came rushing into his room still dressed in her night clothes, her wand clutched in her right hand and a deadly calm expression etched on her features

"Harry, get your wand out and get away from the window," Andromeda instructed, her voice devoid of any emotion.

Harry rushed over to his nightstand and grabbed his wand holster fastening it around his forearm before drawing his wand, his hand shaking slightly.

"There are d-death eaters outside," Harry said stumbling a bit over his words as the reality of what he saw sank in.

"I know, my sister is leading them from the looks of it. Hurry up and put some clothes on," Andromeda instructed in a calm tone though Harry thought he detected a cold edge to her voice when she mentioned her sister.

Harry nodded shakily and pulled on his jeans over his pajama bottoms and fumbled around in the dimly lit room for his trainers.

"I sent word to Nymphadora but the wards won't hold much longer," Andromeda said as Harry slipped on his trainers.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

Harry jumped again as an explosion sounded outside, the house vibrating the windows so badly that a few of the panes shattered.

Harry scrambled to pull on a tee shirt and noticed Andi waving her wand, causing all of Harry's possessions to pack themselves in his trunk before she tapped the trunk with her wand and shrank it to the size of a matchbox.

Harry had just accepted his shrunken trunk from Andi when Ted rushed into the room looking very upset.

"Dora sent word that the order should be here in five min-

BOOOOOOOOOM!

"I don't think we have five minutes," Andromeda said looking at her husband, her face showing how scared she was for the first time.

Andromeda snuck a peek out the window before she waved her wand over herself transfiguring her nightgown and slippers into robes and a pair of sturdy boots.

"We might as well prepare ourselves, the wards are just about overloaded," Ted said in a tone of resignation as he transfigured his own night clothes into black robes.

"Harry, what is the most damaging spell you know?" Andromeda asked, turning to look at him.

"Reducto," Harry said thinking of the blasting curse he had learned prior to the third task.

"Perfect, I want you to use that on anyone wearing a mask, do you understand?" Andromeda asked as her grey eyes focused on him.

"O-okay but won't that kill them?" Harry asked, not as appalled by the idea as he thought he would be.

"Yes, most likely," Andromeda said unconcernedly.

"But-

BOOOOOOOOOM!

"No buts. It's either them or us right now, Harry," Andromeda said firmly after another spell slammed into the wards.

"O-okay," Harry mumbled deciding now was not the time to argue about this.

The sound of shattering glass filled the air as the wards crashed having finally overloaded.

Andi took Harry's hand and tried to apparate only for nothing to happen.

"They put up transportation wards," Andi sighed not looking surprised.

"They always do before they attack the wards," Ted nodded looking very nervous now.

All three of them tensed as another bang was heard from downstairs, from the sound of it the front door had been blown off its hinges.

"Get ready," Andi whispered as the sound of many footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs.

They heard more crashing before the door was thrown open and a pair of men who were both donning bone-white masks charged into the room.

Harry aimed his wand and cast the reducto curse at the man on the right. The red spell crossed the room in a millisecond before it slammed into the death eater's torso and blasted him into the hallway.

Before Harry's spell had even hit its target, a purple spell had left Andromeda's wand and slammed into the other death eater. The force of the spell blasted a ragged hole the size of Harry's fist through the man's chest and flung his lifeless body out of the open doorway.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

All three of them were caught off guard when the wall behind them exploded inwards, throwing the three defenders across the room as shards of glass and splinters of wood tore into their bodies.

Harry saw it as if in slow motion as he was hurled across the room, shrapnel from the blast digging into his back before he slammed painfully into the nightstand, his head bouncing off the headboard of his bed before he landed on the floor in a heap.

Harry groaned as he tried to draw breath, his chest was in agony from where he had slammed into the nightstand and Harry was almost certain that he had broken something. His whole body hurt as he sat up, he could feel unbelievable pain in his back as he reached to the nightstand to pull himself to his feet. His shirt was sticking to his back, he could tell he was bleeding heavily, most likely from the debris he was hit with during the initial explosion. Harry groaned as he struggled to stand up, his vision was blurry from the knock he had taken to the head but By some miracle, he still had his wand clutched tightly in his hand.

"Ha-Harry, are you okay?" Andromeda groaned from the other side of the room, a pained edge to her voice.

Before he could answer, two more death eaters came in through the garage-door-sized hole that was created in the wall from the earlier explosion. Harry was forced to drop to the floor and roll out of the way of a twisting red spell as he heard one of the death eaters bellow, "CRUCIO!"

Harry fired another reducto spell from where he lay on the floor. Taking aim at the intruders who were preparing to cast another curse, Harry cast the only spell he could think of.

"REDUCTO!" Harry screamed, his spell missing them entirely and hitting the ceiling above them, blasting a hole in the ceiling and raining chunks of drywall down on their heads.

Harry was surprised when he saw both death eaters blasted back through the hole in the side of the house blood trailing behind them.

Harry turned in time to see Andi staggering over to Ted's prone form, blood running down her forehead. Quickly scrambling back to his feet, Harry hurried to join her feeling pain shoot through his body with every step he took.

"Ted! Ted," Can you hear me?!" Andromeda asked frantically as she leaned over her husband and began casting diagnostic spells.

"Ah is Andi's little mudblood hurt?" A grating voice called from the doorway causing both of the room's conscious occupants to turn towards the door, wands pointed at the intruder.

"Bellatrix, can't say I'm glad to see you," Andromeda said in a dangerously quiet voice as she straightened up and took a few steps away from Ted.

"I wanted to visit my blood-traitor sister now that I got an early release," Bella giggled stepping further into the room and taking in her surroundings.

"Take care of the boy, Antonin. I'll deal with my sister," Bellatrix instructed as she looked towards the gaping hole in the wall.

Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and reacted on pure instinct, dropping to the floor. Not a second later a twisting purple spell flew through the air where he had just been standing and burnt a black hole into the wall behind him, destroying one of Tonks Weird Sister's posters in the process.

Harry rolled over and fired another reducto curse, the man stepping through the hole in the wall and easily redirecting the spell to his right, blowing a four-foot hole in the wall near the bedroom door.

Meanwhile, less than ten feet away from where Harry stood, Andromeda was locked in a fierce battle with her sister. Their spells creating bright flashes of light that illuminated the room looking like a multicoloured light show.

The two sisters were evenly matched in terms of skill, though Andromeda definitely had the advantage in stamina. They both easily avoided each other's spells as they tried their best to kill the other, but neither of them managing to land a spell.

"I didn't realize you had another child," Bella cooed as she parried a nasty yellow spell Andromeda had sent her way, the spell hitting the bed and reducing it to a pile of rotten wood and cloth with rusted springs sticking out of it.

"Ooh, are you trying to kill Bella?" Bellatrix cackled before sending a swirling dark-purple curse that Andromeda easily sidestepped.

"It would certainly do the world a favour," Andromeda shot back as she cast a disembowelling hex at Bellatrix.

Andi saw a purple curse just barely miss Harry out of the corner of her eye before she was forced to shield herself against a blood-boiling curse sent her way, courtesy of her older sister. As much as Andi wanted to help Harry, she had her hands full at the moment.

Harry scrambled to his feet just barely dodging a killing curse as he returned fire, his reducto going wide and sailing out the gaping hole in the wall.

"To slow, kid," the death eater chuckled his voice having a gravelly tone to it.

Harry barely avoided another purple spell having no choice but to run at the man catching, him off guard as he slammed into him in a rugby tackle, taking them both out of the gaping hole in the wall.

It felt like they fell for an eternity though it was only a fraction of a second before they both slammed hard into the front lawn near the front door. They landed halfway on the paving stone pathway, the death eater's head smacking the walkway with a sickening 'crack' while Harry landed on top of him, cushioning his fall somewhat.

Even so, Harry's injured chest flared in agony from the landing, taking his breath away for a few seconds. Harry wheezily crawled off of the man who seemed to be out cold much to his relief. Harry shakily pried the death eater's wand out of his hand and pocketed it before struggling to get to his feet. Harry's breathing was coming in pained gasps from the exertion of standing up.

Harry looked back at the house and could see flashes of light from the hole he had just come out of interspersed with maniacal laughter and loud crashes as the sisters continued to do battle.

Harry was just starting to stumble towards the door so he could go back and help Andi when he heard a series of 'pops' near the street. His heart sank at the thought that more death eaters had arrived and spun to face the street, realizing that this was probably the end if more death eaters had arrived.

Another explosion was heard in the house but he couldn't process that as a voice called out to him from the street causing him to let out a sigh of relief.

"Harry! Harry, are you okay?!" Sirius' voice called to him, his form coming into focus as he got closer, half a dozen people running behind him towards the house.

"Andi needs help, Bellatrix is here," Harry exclaimed frantically, his voice coming out strained from the effort it was taking him to breathe.

"I'm on it," Tonks said before sprinting the short distance to the house and running through the open front door.

Harry watched her disappear into the house before turning to Sirius, "You have to help them, Sirius."

"As soon as we get you out of here," Sirius said as he handed Harry an empty ink bottle.

As soon as Harry had taken the bottle, Sirius said, "safety."

Harry had already guessed that the ink bottle was a portkey but he was still surprised when he felt a tug behind his navel before he was pulled into the familiar blue vortex he associated with portkey travel.

Five Minutes Earlier

Bellatrix cackled madly as she sent three cruciatus curses at Andromeda which the other woman avoided with ease.

"Still as insane as ever, I see," Andromeda hissed as she waved her wand at her sister, sending a disembowelling curse at her that was barely stopped by a shield Bellatrix conjured.

I'm not mad, I'm eccentric," Bella giggled firing a spell at Ted's downed form.

Andi was forced to banish the nightstand to intercept the spell and blasting the nightstand to pieces in the process.

Andromeda hissed angrily and cast a spell that caused the floor underneath Bellatrix to collapse, sending the dark witch plummeting to the sitting room below.

Andromeda dropped through the hole after her, casting a spell to soften her landing before hitting Bellatrix with a banishing charm that slammed her bodily into the entertainment centre.

Andromeda was shocked when Bellatrix returned fire with a cruciatus curse, missing her head by inches.

"That hurt, Andi," Bellatrix pouted after she had gotten to her feet, though she was favouring her left leg.

Andi could see a long jagged piece of glass embedded in Bellatrix's thigh and wondered how she was even standing upright before pushing the thought from her mind.

"It was supposed to. You tried to curse my husband," Andromeda hissed angrily.

"If I kill the filthy mudblood and your mongrel children, we can be a family again," Bellatrix giggled in a child-like voice

"I will not let you harm my family," Andromeda hissed, cold fury etched into every feature of her face.

"Dolohov has probably dealt with your son by now," Bellatrix taunted before casting a chain of piercing hexes at her younger sister and blowing chunks out of the wall as Andromeda gracefully sidestepped them.

"I wouldn't say that," another female voice said from the doorway.

"Oooh, goodie a family reunion," Bellatrix cackled before sending a killing curse at Nymphadora.

Bellatrix never saw the spell sent her way but must have sensed it because she shifted her body to the side so the dark cutting curse only sliced into her right shoulder barely missing her throat.

Bellatrix shrieked in fury as her blood began gushing out of the gash. The eldest Black sister began throwing hexes at the mother and daughter cackling maniacally as her wand waved through the air, slinging large droplets of her blood at the pair and forcing them to bring up a shield.

Bella's concentration was broken when a stunning spell flew by her ear from the other doorway leading into the dining room.

"Hello cousin," Sirius said before casting more spells at Bellatrix.

This arrival of a third opponent forcing her to go on the defensive as Andi and Tonks joined in hammering her hastily conjured shield with a continuous barrage of spells.

"I think it's time for Bella to leave," Bella said looking like a child that hadn't gotten the toy she wanted.

The three could barely hear her over the spells striking the walls and windows as Bellatrix easily parried their spells. Andromeda could see from the pallor of Bella's face that the blood loss was starting to affect her.

"Family reunion!" Bellatrix shrieked before she disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The three watched Bellatrix disappear before Andromeda let out a breath seconds before her knees gave out and she slid down the wall panting heavily.

"Ted needs help. He was knocked out from the blast that hit the house," Andromeda panted, looking at Sirius imploringly.

"I'm on it," Sirius said before calling out to one of the order members through the front door and then heading up the stairs.

"Is Harry okay?" Andi asked worriedly as she looked into her daughter's eyes.

"He was standing over a death eater when we arrived, though he looked pretty banged up. I think Sirius sent him to headquarters," Tonks answered as she waved her wand over her mother.

"Good," Andromeda sighed before leaning her head against the wall and closing her eyes.

"You need a healer, mum. You have three broken bones and over a dozen puncture wounds," Tonks exclaimed looking at her mother in alarm.

"Trust me, Nymphadora, I can feel every injury on my body," Andromeda groaned as her eyes started feeling very heavy.

"Don't go to sleep on me, Mum, you could have a concussion," Tonks said sharply, shaking Andromeda to keep her from drifting into unconsciousness.

Andi looked up as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and watched as Sirius levitated a stretcher with Ted down the stairs and Hestia Jones following behind them.

"I need to get him to Poppy Pomfrey," Hestia said as she fished a quill out of her pocket.

"I'll come with you," Andromeda said as she struggled to her feet, Nymphadora having to help her as the pain in her body was much more intense now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

"Okay, this portkey will take you directly to the infirmary at Hogwarts," Hestia said as Sirius lowered Ted to the floor and Andi collapsed to her knees beside him.

Andromeda took hold, wincing slightly when she leaned over to take hold of the quill. Hestia grabbed hold as well and whispered, "matron," activating the portkey.

"How many did we capture shack?" Sirius asked when the auror came through the front door a moment after the Tonks family had been portkeyed away.

"The two on the lawn," Kingsley said as Sturgis Podmore came down the stairs.

"The two upstairs are dead," Sturgis answered when Sirius looked at him questioningly.

"And that one we saw Harry standing over?" Tonks asked from Sirius' right.

"Dead, he snapped his neck somehow," The voice of Arthur Weasley said as he came into the room.

"I have to call this in," Kingsley sighed as he drew his wand and touched his badge.

"This will make the papers, that bloke Harry was standing over was Antonin Dolohov," Arthur said looking quite pleased about the man's passing.

"Good riddance," Sirius muttered before he looked over at Arthur and Sturgis, " we had better clear out before Bones gets here."

"Yes, I don't want to be here for that," Sturgis agreed before walking out the door, Arthur and Sirius soon catching him up.

Tonks watched them leave knowing that she would be here for hours to come as this would no doubt be considered a high-profile crime scene. With the presence of two of the Azkaban escapees involved, the ministry would use the death of Dolohov to bolster their image after the black eye they received from the mass prison break weeks ago.

As she heard the sounds of incoming apparition from the yard and saw dozens of red-robed aurors appear being led towards the house by Ruffus Scrimgeour and Amelia Bones, Tonks wondered if she shouldn't have followed her mother's advice and pursued a different career path.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 8/12/1995, 04:04

Harry appeared in the hallway of the headquarters of the order and collapsed to the floor crying out in agony when his elbow dug into his chest on his landing.

Harry felt himself drifting into unconsciousness and was only barely aware of the sound of footsteps approaching him and a feminine voice calling his name before everything went black. The occupants of Grimmauld place were soon swarming the entrance hall trying to find out how badly Harry was hurt and debating on whether or not to call Poppy.

After about ten minutes, he was brought to an empty bedroom on the first floor and Molly Weasley began the process of healing the cuts and bruises on his body. It took over an hour to heal his back having to remove shards of glass and splinters of wood that were embedded in his back before applying antiseptic balm to the wounds and sealing them shut, since they were non-magical injuries the wound was completely healed with a simple skin knitting charm.

Unfortunately, scrapes and bruises were the extent of Molly's healing knowledge and had to wait for Dedalus Diggle to arrive. Dedalus had been a healer at Saint Mungo's before he retired in eighty-five. He was now filling the role of healer for the Order of the Phoenix. There hadn't been much need for this skill so far and Molly desperately hoped there wasn't in the future either.

"How is he, Molly?" Sirius asked softly as he stepped into the room.

"I healed what I could but he has some broken ribs so I sent for Dedalus. I can fix a broken wrist but ribs are beyond what I can heal," Molly admitted looking worried.

"Diggle should be up in the next few minutes, he's gathering up supplies downstairs," Sirius assured her.

"What happened at the Tonks' house," Molly asked curiously as she capped the bottle of salve.

"My cousin Bella led a group of death eaters there, Andi put up a hell of a fight. She sent three of them to the morgue and two to Azkaban," Sirius said with a note of pride in his voice.

"Are Andi and Ted okay?" Molly asked looking anxious.

"They're fine, Hestia just returned from Hogwarts. Andromeda has a concussion and several broken bones. Ted was in a similar state though he suffered a major concussion. Poppy healed them both, they should be up and about in a few hours," Sirius explained as the door opened and Dedalus Diggle entered the room.

"I'll leave this in your hands, Diggle," Sirius said leading Molly out of the room to let the man work.

'I suppose I'll get breakfast started seeing as everyone is already up,' Molly thought to herself as she made her way to the kitchen, hoping it would take her mind off of worrying about Harry and how lucky he was tonight.

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, 8/12/1995, 04:06

Bellatrix appeared in the entrance hall of her sister's home. Much like Harry, she collapsed as her injuries finally took their toll on her frail body. She was trying to get back on her feet when she heard hurried footsteps approaching her.

"Bella, what on earth happened to you?" Her sister demanded as she drew her wand and began running medical scans over her badly injured sister.

"I paid a visit to Andi, she was better than I thought she would be," Bellatrix said before hissing in pain as Narcissa removed the six-inch shard of glass buried in her thigh.

"Where are the rest of your team at?" Lucius asked from the doorway to the drawing room.

"No idea, though Cromwell and Higgs are dead," Bellatrix said, sounding more lucid than usual as the pain she was suffering was drawing most of her focus.

"The dark lord will not be pleased," Lucius drawled.

"I'm aware, Lucius. Is master here?" Bellatrix asked looking coldly at her brother-in-law.

"No, he had business to attend to at Gringotts," Lucius replied before sweeping from the entrance hall looking bored with the conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me Andi had a son," Bellatrix asked looking at Narcissa who was in the process of healing the gash on her shoulder.

"She doesn't have a son, just a daughter," Narcissa said, looking at Bellatrix in confusion.

"There was a teenage boy there, he was Hogwarts age fourteen or fifteen," Bellatrix said as she watched her sister pour dittany on the gash on her shoulder.

"What did he look like?" Narcissa asked curiously as she stood up and helped Bella stand as well.

"Dark messy hair, green eyes, about average height," Bellatrix listed off trying to remember the boy's features.

"You can ask Draco later but for now, I need you to take some potions. You lost a lot of blood," Narcissa said as she led Bellatrix to the room she had been staying in since she had escaped from Azkaban.

"Bella hates potions," Bellatrix whined as they entered her room, which was thankfully on the ground floor.

"You only have to take two, Narcissa soothed as she went into the ensuite and collected the necessary potions from the cabinet.

"Which ones?" Bellatrix asked as Narcissa offered her the potion's vials.

"Blood replenisher and an antiseptic potion," Narcissa replied soothingly.

"Fine," Bellatrix pouted as she drank the potions Narcissa handed her, scowling at the iron taste of the blood replenisher.

"You need to stay awake for a bit. You have a slight concussion," Narcissa said when she took the empty vials and set them on the nightstand.

"Could you get me a magazine?" Bella asked hopefully.

"If I must, I still can't believe you want to read Witch Weekly," Narcissa said in an exasperated tone as she dug out the stack of back issues of the magazine Bella had asked her to collect for her.

"I like to look at the pictures," Bella shrugged

"Which one do you want?" Narcissa asked a fond smile playing on her lips.

"March issue," Bellatrix said as she waved her wand over her robes switching them for her nightgown and then kicked off her high-heeled boots.

"Ah, that one is a very good one, Draco loved it," Narcissa said as she found the issue and brought it over to her sister as she was climbing under her covers.

"Why?" Bellatrix asked as she took the magazine.

The cover had some curly-haired bint pointing her wand at a delicious cake with a toothy smile on her lips as she winked in the moving photo.

After opening the magazine and scanning the table of contents It didn't take her long to find the reason her nephew liked this issue.

Harry Potter's Secret Heartache... p48

Bella turned to the page and saw the moving colour photos of three different teenagers. There were two boys with black hair and one plain-looking girl with a mane of bushy brown hair. The first boy was bulky and had thick eyebrows and a hook-like nose.

'He's just lucky that he's famous or he would never find a girlfriend,' Bella chuckled to herself.

Bella looked at the smaller boy, he was walking out of an enclosure with a large dragon in the background. There was a nasty gash on his left shoulder and he seemed to be walking toward the camera. Bellatrix gasped in recognition when he looked directly at the camera and grimaced in pain, his hand coming up to pull his robes away from his wounds before the picture cycled back to him approaching the camera again. Under the photo was a small caption which read.

Harry Potter, age fourteen after completing the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, 22/11/1994

This boy looked so very similar to the boy she had seen earlier tonight, though the boy in the picture looked weedy and underfed compared to the boy she had seen tonight. She didn't think it was possible that this was Harry Potter that she saw earlier tonight. According to her brother-in-law, Potter had been killed by the dark lord himself.

Still, if there was even a chance that it was Harry Potter that she had seen tonight then her master needed to be made aware immediately.

'I just hope master doesn't kill the messenger,' Bellatrix thought somewhat apprehensively before she began reading the article oblivious to Narcissa exiting the room.