A/N: Just a quick note - Hogwarts year one finishes at chapter 27, which is where I will pause this story until I'm ready to publish the entire of second year. Just want to set expectations!

Thanks for all of your comments and reviews so far. It's been amazing to see how many people have enjoyed this story.

Andromeda Tonks sat alone at her kitchen table, a cup of tea next to her and that day's edition of The Daily Prophet held loosely in her hand as she gazed out of the window of her family home. The bright mid-morning sunlight was shining down on a good-sized, well-kept garden surrounded by high hedges, perfect for hiding any magical displays from passing muggles. The house was quiet. Her husband Ted had left for work early in the morning and wasn't expecting to be home until much later that evening - being a successful practitioner of Magical Law was very demanding of his time – and her daughter, Nymphadora, was spending the day, and then the night, at a friend's house.

Andromeda sighed. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, but it did put her in somewhat of a melancholy mood. Following complications during the birth of her daughter, they'd been unable to conceive again and, especially when Nymphadora was at school, she missed the noise and bustle that came naturally as a part of having a child around the house. She missed the family she'd grown up with – not the hate and insanity-filled witch that Bella had become, or the haughty, obsessive blood purist that Cissy developed into following her marriage to Lucius Malfoy, but the girls she'd spent time playing and laughing with at the Black Manor House, nestled in the beautiful Cotswolds countryside, before she'd been unceremoniously disowned after her wedding to Ted Tonks. Most of all she missed her favourite cousin Sirius – locked away in Azkaban for almost 8 years after allegedly betraying his best friends and murdering poor Peter Pettigrew.

In her mind, Andromeda always tagged the description of Sirius as a murderer with the word allegedly. Knowing how the Potters had taken Sirius in after he ran away from home, and how he'd considered James to be just like a brother to him, she had never been able to correlate those facts with someone capable of such a level of betrayal – but Sirius must have been guilty to have been sent to Azkaban mustn't he? Something had clearly come out at his trial for him to have been sentenced to life in that hellhole in the North Sea. What that was though, she had never been able to discover as, despite repeated requests, she'd never been able to view a copy of the transcript from his trial.

A flicker of movement at the far end of the garden drew Andromeda out of her thoughts and she caught sight of two figures beginning to walk up the garden path towards the house. One was a tall man with greasy-looking hair that she immediately identified as Severus Snape – what on earth was he doing here? The other was a small boy with round glasses, messy black hair and a face that looked like…

Andromeda stood suddenly, her breath catching as a young James Potter appeared to be walking toward her home. She knew at once that this was Harry, a boy she'd not seen since he was a baby and before Lily and James were forced into hiding. Their footsteps crunched up the gravel pathway and came to a stop outside the front door. A knock. Then another. Finally, Andromeda managed to gain enough control of her legs again to hurry to the door and welcome her visitors into the house.

She pulled the door open quickly and stared down at the child in the doorway. Now she was closer she could see that, while the face was indeed the spitting image of James in photos she'd seen of his childhood, the piercing green eyes had absolutely been inherited from Lily.

"Harry?" she said finally as he grinned up at her.

"Mrs Tonks. May we come in?" Severus enquired smoothly.

"Of course!" Andromeda tore her eyes away from Harry and ushered them into the house. "My apologies Professor Snape – good morning. Please, call me Andromeda. I just…"

"Severus, please. I'd imagine this is a bit of a shock," he gave her a wry smile, something that was completely out of place on the face of the Severus Snape she knew of. "Can we sit?"

Andromeda led them into a comfortable living room and offered them refreshments before they all took seats. She couldn't stop staring at Harry – she'd often wondered what had become of him following the death of James and Lily but whenever she had queried as to his whereabouts or tried to arrange to see him, Albus Dumbledore had asserted he was well protected but being kept away from the Wizarding world to keep him safe from any 'disciples' of You-Know-Who, and that his guardians had insisted on minimal contact from outside of their family. She'd even tried sending him letters, offering to speak with him about his parents if he wanted to know more – she'd already left Hogwarts by the time James and Lily had attended but had got to know them through Sirius and had been quite close to Lily before her death – but she had never received a response.

Severus cleared his throat and attempted to regain her attention. "Andromeda – what Mr Potter here is about to tell you is going to sound like the ravings of a babbling idiot, but I assure you it is the truth. He has provided me with enough evidence to convince me of it, to the point that I've made a vow to assist him in any way I can. Please just keep an open mind…"

Andromeda shifted her focus back to Harry, wondering what this eight-year-old boy had to say and how he had managed to convince Severus Snape of all people to help him.

"Andi," Harry said warmly, a wide smile on his face. "It's good to see you again." He chuckled at her confused expression and then began to tell her about the future.

It was early evening when Harry finished speaking. His voice had taken on a hoarse quality as, apart from a few short comfort breaks, he had spoken almost continuously since beginning his story that morning. Before he'd managed to get into too many details Andromeda had stopped him and floo-called Ted, insisting he come home immediately. Ted was surprised by the identities of their visitors but upon hearing Harry's tale both he and Andi had conjured parchment and quills and taken extensive notes. As he had done with Severus, Harry excluded his meeting with Death from his tale. That he was the fabled 'Master of Death' wasn't something he wanted to share.

Andromeda slumped back in her chair and gazed around at the occupants of the room disbelievingly. "This is crazy – you just can't be from the future. It's not possible…"

Harry sighed. He knew his story would sound far-fetched, but he needed Andromeda and Ted to believe him. "Andromeda Tonks. The second daughter of Cygnus and Druella Black, sister of Bellatrix and Narcissa, wife of Ted Tonks, mother of Nymphadora Tonks and future grandmother of Teddy Lupin. A member of Slytherin house, you were disowned by your family for marrying Ted after leaving Hogwarts and burned off the Black family tapestry that resides at number 12 Grimmauld Place…"

Andromeda's mouth fell open in surprise. "How do you know that?"

"For a long time after the second war, you were one of the only people I could open up to. We spent a lot of time together looking after Teddy and we became friends… no, we were more than that… we were family. I know this stuff because you told me. As for the tapestry, I've seen it with my own eyes."

"But the only way you could have seen it…"

"Is if I've been to the Black Townhouse. I swear I'm telling you the truth, Andi. I need your help."

Andromeda looked over at Severus who had ensconced himself in a squishy armchair in the corner of the room. He hadn't spoken since Harry had begun his account but now cleared his throat and sat forward. "Andromeda, I'd remind you of the vow I've taken. I would not have done so if I did not believe what Mr Potter here has told you." She glanced at Ted who inclined his head slightly.

"OK," she said. "I believe you."

Harry grinned.

After a wonderful dinner, they returned to the living room where Harry answered as many of Andi and Ted's questions as he could. He stressed the importance of Dumbledore not discovering his whereabouts under the fear that they would all be obliviated and Harry simply returned to his abusers and was delighted when both of the Tonks' immediately and categorically stated they would not allow that to happen under any circumstances.

"First things first," Ted said as he scanned over his notes "we need to legally get you away from those muggles and out from under Dumbledore's control. In the morning you and I are going to head to Gringotts and meet with the Potter account manager. From what you've said it sounds like Sirius made you his heir before being sent to Azkaban – I can't see him allowing a Malfoy to remain the beneficiary of the Black estate if he were to die suddenly. We can request a full review of your status to bring that to light and, whilst you can't take on your head-of-house responsibilities until you are of age, it will give you more than a measure of protection in the Wizengamot and make our task that much easier moving forward."

"How so?" Harry asked.

"When it gets out - and it will get out - that the heir to two prominent Houses with seats on the Wizengamot was placed into an abusive home and forced to remain there by the Chief Warlock, without any justification other than because he 'knew best', there's going to be outrage in the court. Throw onto that the whole 'Boy-Who-Lived' angle and the average Witch and Wizard in the street are going to be screaming for something to be done about it."

Ted paused and looked at Andromeda who nodded briefly. Turning back to Harry he continued. "Once we've got you away from Dumbledore's grasp, you'll need a new magical guardian until you reach your majority. I hope I'm not being too forward in suggesting this, but Andi and I would be happy to take on the role if you would like?"

Harry smiled at Ted, "That would be great – thank you. I'd like to keep it quiet for as long as possible though if we can. The less Albus Dumbledore knows, the less he can interfere." He paused, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair and frowned as he recognised a possible complication in their plan. "There's a squib living in Privet Drive - Mrs Figg. I know she reports to Dumbledore; she was a member of the Order the second time around. I think I'm going to need to put in the occasional appearance in the area just so she can tell Dumbledore I'm still there, even if it's just to say hello to her." Both Andi and Ted nodded at this and offered to transport Harry to the local park once a week so he could show his face, something he accepted with thanks. "The Dursleys will also need to be convinced to keep up the appearance that I'm still living with them though." he continued. Seeing the look of confusion on the faces around him he expanded on this. "They used to leave me with Mrs Figg regularly when they took my cousin out somewhere. I'm hoping simply telling them 'Unless you do this, Harry will have to return to live with you', will do the trick." Receiving agreement once more, he focused his attention on Ted. "How do you suggest we deal with the muggle guardianship?"

"For now? We could threaten the Dursleys with exposing their treatment of you, but I'd like to save that card to play down the line to ensure they get what is coming to them. From what you've said they place great stock in material things. We could buy them off in return for them signing over your guardianship – with a new car perhaps? That should see them falling over themselves to sign the proper paperwork required for us to become your legal guardians. We need to make sure this is done as quickly and as quietly as possible through the muggle courts – I don't want Albus to be able to find any reason to object to the change."

Andi took over "Once your status is confirmed we can start preparing you for everything you'll need to know as an heir. Eventually, we'll introduce you to some of the friendlier families as long as they agree to keep their knowledge of you to themselves. That way you can start to make connections and build the alliances you'll need in the future."

Harry brightened at this. He was looking forward to getting to know some of his old classmates at an earlier age, particularly Neville who had turned out to be a loyal and dependable friend once he'd gained a bit of confidence. Perhaps he could nudge that process along without affecting future matters too much…

Severus now interjected. "There is one other matter we need to discuss." He turned and made sure he had Harry's full attention. "You need to be careful. We all know your secret, but most others will not. In your mind you are an Auror, approaching your fortieth birthday…"

"Thirty-eighth," complained Harry, pretending to be disgruntled by the extra couple of years Severus had thrown on.

"…BUT" Severus continued regardless, "to the world, you are eight going on nine years old. You need to make sure you act your perceived age. You'll get away with some things under the explanation of being mature for your age and preparing to take on your role as head of house Potter, but it is imperative that you appear 'normal' in society."

Harry had already pondered this and knew the wisdom of Severus' words. Before he could respond, however, Andromeda cut in. "Well, that shouldn't be too hard," she said with a laugh. "With Nymphadora as a 'big sister' he won't be allowed to be too mature – I can guarantee that."

Severus winced, having taught the youngest Tonks at Hogwarts he knew all about her clumsiness and sense of humour, then smirked as a sudden realisation hit. "On an amusing note - for us anyway -, he'll get to enjoy the wonders of puberty all over again. I'm sure he'll look forward to that." He nodded in satisfaction at the horrified expression on Harry's face but froze when that expression suddenly changed to a grin, accompanied by a snort of laughter.

"That's literally the last thing Sirius said to me before I returned. Perhaps you're more alike than you think."

Severus rose from his seat, a faux scowl now on his face. "Unless we have anything else to discuss I'll be on my way."

"Thank you, Severus. We'll do our best to help Harry."

Severus now stepped in front of Harry who had also risen from his chair. "I've got to head to Hogwarts now. You can reach me by owl if you need me."

Harry nodded and held out his hand. "Thank you again."

Severus looked down, then took Harry's hand and gave it a brief shake. "You're welcome. If nothing else I'm looking forward to the Headmaster's expression when he realises what's going on. It should be very entertaining." He smirked, then strode from the room with Ted escorting him to the front door.

Harry heard the door close and focused on Andromeda as Ted walked back into the room. "I want to thank you too. I know how crazy this all sounds but I'm so appreciative that you're willing to help. Both of you".

"It's OK Harry – I'd like to think that if your parents were still here, you'd have met us much sooner. Of course we'll do what we can to help Lily and James' son." Andi hesitated. "I know for you it's been decades but for us, they died much more recently… and for you to lose your family too… Harry – we're so sorry for your loss." Andromeda opened her arms, inviting Harry for a hug if he wanted one. He gratefully took the opportunity and when he backed away, his eyes were wet with unshed tears.

"Thank you," he said huskily, wiping the wetness from his eyes.

Glancing up at the clock above the fireplace, Andi was surprised to see how late into the evening it was. "Now then, I think it's time to head to bed. There's lots to do tomorrow." Her voice was uneven as well and the emotion was evident on her face. "This way." She led him out of the living room and up the stairs, opening a door to a good-sized bedroom. "This is normally a guest room, but it will be yours moving forward if you're happy to stay."

"It's brilliant," Harry said "Thank you. Once I've got access to my vault, I can pay you…" Andi cut him off.

"Don't be silly. It doesn't matter whether you're eight or almost forty - " "Thirty-eight" Harry muttered quietly, but Andi continued as if she hadn't heard him with only a small twitch of her lips giving away that she was teasing him. "- if we're going to be your guardians, I won't hear of it. Now, the bathroom is down the hall and I've left a pair of Nymphadora's old pyjamas on your pillow. Ignore the colour for tonight, I'll pick you up some of your own tomorrow while you're out with Ted."

Giving him one last hug, she turned to leave the room. "Good night, Harry." she said.

"Good night, Andi.".

Harry awoke early the next morning as the sun rose, casting warm copper hues through a crack in the curtains and slowly illuminating his surroundings. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he sat up and looked around, confused for a moment by the comfortable room he'd slept in, before remembering he was now a resident in the Tonks home. The clock on the wall indicated that he really should still be asleep, but he knew there was little chance of drifting off again. The day held so much potential and he hoped that, by the time he lay down to rest that evening, he would be free of at least one of the chains that currently shackled him.

Harry climbed out of bed and threw on some clothes. He ghosted downstairs being careful not to wake Andi and Ted. He was well-practised at moving silently, a skill he'd developed initially from a desire to avoid the Dursleys but had perfected during his time as an Auror. Noiselessly, he slipped out of the back door and out into the dawn.

He stretched, then left the garden and broke into a slow jog. There was a calmness to daybreak he appreciated, before the bustle of commuters and parents on school runs, before the blaring of car horns and the cacophony of voices raised sometimes in joy, sometimes in anger, and before life began its winding journey through another day. He picked up the pace a little, listening to a solitary bird tweeting and the clink of bottles as the milkman left his wares on the doorsteps of his customers. He turned his thoughts to those in the homes he ran past, not knowing or caring whether their occupants were muggle or magical, but appreciating, believing, that each of those people deserved the chance to live their own lives free of the terror Lord Voldemort could bring down on them if he so chose, and hoping beyond hope that he could enact the changes needed to stop the catastrophe he'd been told lurked in the not-too-distant future.

He thought of the people he knew in his previous life. His colleagues and acquaintances. Those few he trusted enough to call friends. His loved ones and family. All those lost along the way.

He didn't notice the tears falling on his cheeks as he ran. He just focused on the pounding of his feet on the pavement.

Eventually, he made his way back to the house. Stealing in through the unlocked door he stealthily made his way back upstairs to prepare for the day ahead.

The smell of bacon permeated the house and roused Andi and Ted from their dreams. They threw on their dressing gowns and together, made their way downstairs. Upon entering the kitchen, they found Harry positioned in front of the cooker, finishing off a large pan of scrambled eggs and with a plate of freshly grilled bacon to the side.

"Morning," Harry said, looking over his shoulder. "Eggs are almost ready. Can you grab the toast please?" He gestured toward the toaster on the kitchen counter which had just popped up with two more fresh slices, ready to be added to a small pile nearby.

"Harry! You didn't have to do this –" Andi began.

"I wanted to. Cooking was one of the few chores I actually enjoyed doing for the Dursleys and when I left Hogwarts it was something I spent a lot of time getting good at, if I do say so myself."

"Well then… thank you," Andi said, "but please be careful – I don't want you to burn yourself."

Harry nodded, touched by her concern and remembering how unfamiliar that sentiment was to him growing up, but he was grateful, nonetheless. He'd learnt quickly how to handle himself in the kitchen – two small scars, one on each wrist where he'd misjudged the height of the oven shelf when he was five - were a permanent reminder. That and the whipping he'd received for dropping the beef joint he had been roasting on the floor and ruining the Dursley's Sunday lunch – something that clearly hadn't triggered the monitors Dumbledore had set as he still remembered it.

Harry dished up the remaining food and the three of them sat in companionable silence at the table and ate their breakfast.

"That was delicious Harry, thank you." Ted sat back in his chair with a contented grin on his face.

"You're welcome." Harry returned the smile and stood to begin clearing the plates but a look from Andi quelled his movement and he sat back in his chair. Andi rose and tidied the table and set the dishes to wash themselves, before taking her seat again.

"We'll head off to Gringotts in about an hour" Ted groaned slightly as he began to stand, feeling comfortably full.

"Actually, there's one other thing we need to talk about before heading out. What are we going to tell Dora? I'm not sure she's ready to know the whole truth but she needs to know enough to ensure she doesn't accidentally let slip to Dumbledore that I'm here and not with my relatives." Harry looked quizzically at the elder Tonks' and awaited their suggestions.

"I don't like hiding things from her, but I understand where you're coming from," Ted said, retaking his seat. He thought for a moment. "How about we tell her we've taken you in to get you away from your abusive relatives but we need to keep it a secret so you can't be forced back there? Close enough to the truth without telling her everything. It's easier to stick to a story like that than an elaborate lie – I've prosecuted enough cases, and seen enough defendants fall into that trap, to know that."

Harry considered this, then turned to Andromeda who nodded in agreement. "Sounds good."

"Now, I'm going to go and get cleaned up then we'll head to Diagon." Ted stood, without the groan this time, and headed upstairs.

Harry and Andi remained at the table, nursing their respective mugs of tea. "I meant what I said last night Harry – I don't want you to feel like you have to repay us for taking you into our home, and I don't want you to labour under the impression you need to do things like cook our meals for us. We want to help you, not just because of what you've told us, but because your parents would have done the same for Nymphadora if our positions had been reversed."

Harry bowed his head in acquiescence. "I know, but I want to contribute in some way. I'm going to be relying on you for so much and I don't want you to think I don't appreciate it."

"I understand, we understand, but we're going to be treating you as a member of the family, so you'll just have to get used to it." Andi smiled gently at Harry from across the table. "Now go and finish getting ready."

"Yes Ma'am" Harry stood and gave a mock salute, his green eyes twinkling, before leaving the room.

My recommendation this time is "Back? Not Really" by grumpywolf. It's a completed Harry/Fleur time/dimension travel story that clocks in at around 223,000 words.