"That's really weird, the trace is really not supposed to work that way," Nym mused, reading through Harry's warning from the Ministry again. "It's only supposed to react to your wand. Why is it picking up my magic as if it's yours? And a second warning? Someone's been a bad boy," she turned to smile at Harry, but found him ashen pale and sitting on the bed.

"Harry, listen to me! This is some kind of mistake, I'll fix it!" Nym hugged him, smothering his face in her ample chest. Fortunately this worked – Harry stopped struggling and hyper ventilating, and seemed to calm down.

"Listen Harry, we're going to take care of this right now."

"But... but Professor Dumbledore said I was to stay here and not have contact with anyone, it was for my own safety?"

"Pish posh that, making sure you're not expelled is more important. I'm an Auror Harry so I know the law. You, mister, are going to sit right there, calm down, and tell me about this first warning while I send off an owl to my boss, understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Harry said in a small voice, and after a bit of thought told Nym about how Dobby had gotten him a warning before his second year at Hogwarts.

Nym meanwhile was writing a letter on some parchment she had with her.

"Okay, got it. Harry, may I use your owl?"

"Sure... her name is Hedwig by the way."

Nym looked at the beautiful owl, who had flown to the footrest of the bed while Harry was talking.

"Oh you are a pretty bird aren't you," she praised the owl. Hedwig preened under the attention.

"Can you take this letter to the Ministry, to Madam Bones right now Hedwig? It's important," Nym asked her.

Hedwig looked over at Harry, who nodded. With a bark, she accepted the letter, and flew off.

"Now what?" Harry asked, still sounding a bit worried.

"I don't know about you, but I can use a shower. Here, I got a letter for you from Ginny," Nym took it from her pocket. "Why don't you read it while I get lathered up?"

Harry blushed again, accepting the letter.

"If Hedwig comes back, or any other owl, just call for me okay? I'll not be long," Tonks smiled at the boy, and got off the bed. 'I am not going to let some filing error ruin my plans for the day,' she promised herself. 'The shower trick never fails, and it'll help him get his mind on other things... Tonks, you're a genius!'

–--

Walton Fitzroy had been a guard at the Ministry for Magic for close to ten years, and thought he was used to everything by now, but the sight of an owl flying down the elevator shaft unattended was new to him. He was even more surprised when the owl flew up to him, and landed on his desk.

"What's this then? How did you get down here?" Walter reached for the letter attached to the owl's leg, but the owl nipped his hand with her beak.

"Bloody bird," Walter mumbled, but he could make out the addressee. "For Madam Bones is it? You want to deliver it yourself?"

'Prek' , the owl answered him.

Walter scratched behind his ear. There was no protocol for this, not that he knew anyway... Ministry post was usually collected elsewhere, and was delivered by low ranking employees throughout the day. "Fine with me I suppose, err... you know the way?"

The owl looked at him as if he was a mouse, and Walter cowered a bit in his chair. "Lift's back there, have a nice day?"

The owl flew off, and Walter stared after it.

Reginald Cattermole was a clerk in the Magical Maintenance Department, or in other words, a janitor. As such he was pretty used to weird sights in the Ministry, but having an owl fly into the open lift and settling on his shoulder was a new one.

"Err... what floor?" He asked the bird, for loss of another question. The bird inspected the plaque with the floors, then barked twice.

"DMLE it is," Reginald shrugged, pressing the button. The owl looked pleased, and barked a friendly sounding prek .

Amelia Bones was drumming her fingers on her desk slowly, waiting for the clock to go faster. Business was slow, too slow, all thanks to her useless boss. It was not as if there weren't crimes to solve or criminals to arrest, but she was absolutely forbidden from going after any suspected Death Eaters, and no matter how much she hated this, the Law was the Law, and the Minister wrote said Laws.

She looked up in surprise as a snow-white owl landed on her desk.

"Hello, how did you get down here?" She reached for the owl's leg, and took off the letter, addressed to her.

"Hmm, written by Auror Tonks I see. Err... did you want to wait?" she asked the owl, getting a nod in reply.

"Dawlish!" Amelia called one of her subordinates, "go fetch some owl treats and some water." As the Auror rushed off to comply, Amelia read the letter, a frown appearing on her face and deepening as she read on.

"What the devil is going on with the I.U.M.? Err... wait here please," she instructed the owl, feeling a little silly as she did so, but the owl apparently understood her.

'Must be someone's familiar... Potter's I bet. No normal owl is that intelligent,' Amelia thought as she rushed to the lifts to go up one floor.

Hedwig patiently waited, preening herself and enjoying the water and owl treats a nervous Auror placed in front of her. A while later Amelia Bones came back to her desk, still looking angry, and she began writing a letter.

"Thanks for waiting," she spoke to Hedwig after completing it. "Please take this to Auror Tonks."

Hedwig allowed the letter to be tied to her leg, and flew towards the lifts, leaving staring Aurors behind.

–--

Harry had a small smile on his face as he read Ginny's letter. In it, she apologized for not sending one by owl – apparently Professor Dumbledore had cast a spell on the place she was in that only allowed Hedwig through, and he intercepted all her letters first –, and she also told him a bit about how the summer had went so far. Harry was not happy to learn that Hermione was also at the same place – weird how Ginny never mentioned a name or address – since Hermione hadn't mentioned anything about it. He could understand Ron not saying anything, following the past year he had been reassessing just how good of a 'best mate' the ginger was anyway, but he hadn't expected Hermione to clam down like that.

He also didn't like that Ginny mentioned the Daily Prophet had apparently started a libel campaign against him. Nothing in the papers he had read had even indicated something like that, leading him to the conclusion that not just his mail, but also his news papers were being censored by someone. A certain bearded individual was at the top of Harry's suspect list.

Ginny made up for the bad news though, telling him about the little trivia of the place, how Molly kept them busy cleaning, and that she was looking forward to seeing him soon.

Just as he neared the end of the letter, he hear Tonks' voice call: " Harry! I need your help!"

In no time, the door to the Dursley's bathroom was pulled open, and Harry stood in the door frame, wand in hand... staring directly at a perfectly nude Nymphadora Tonks, with her eyes shut, standing in the shower cabin with the water turned off, and only the shower curtain to hide her body from view... except for a good half of her chest, which 'accidentally' was revealed.

" Oh thank you Harry," Nym said, pretending not to realise what view she was giving him. "Please, I need a towel, I have soap in my eyes and don't want to open them yet. Can you get me one?"

Harry was lost for words, and turning red in the face as he could not look away. Nym got a small smirk on her face, watching through very slightly opened eye lids, as Harry obviously responded to her.

"I... I'll be right back," Harry's voice cracked, as he was finally raised from his stupor and rushed to the cabinet where Petunia stored the towels. Taking one, he tried to hand it to Nym while looking away.

"H... here," he stammered, holding it out with stretched arms and near the Auror's reach.

"Thank you Harry, you're my hero," Nym said, taking it from his hands, and 'accidentally' brushing her hands over his. "I'll be right out. Close the door please?"

"Err... yes... of course," Harry stepped back, and closed the door... leaving it ajar, Nym realised much to her amusement, as she spotted his face peaking through the gap. A wide smile on her face, she decided to reward her audience, and opened the curtain, stepping out. Ever so slowly she towelled off, stretching far more than was necessary. Then she wrapped the towel around her, and made it clear she was going for the door.

The footsteps made it clear Harry was rushing towards his room, trying not to get caught. Nym smirked mischievously, as she entered Harry's bedroom, clad only in a slightly too small towel wrapped around her, and sat down on the bed. Harry sat in his desk chair, gaping at her with open mouth.

"Sorry Harry, I didn't realise I had the shower curtain open a bit," Nym said in a sweet tone. "Hope you didn't accidentally see something?"

"Ack... no... that's fine," Harry was heavily flushed, his eyes fixed on Mia's décolleté, that was only partially covered by the towel.

"Err... how... how was the shower?"

"Wet and hot, and oh so comfortable," Nym shot him a wink, causing Harry to fluster even more, and press his legs together hard to hide his reaction from her. Fortunately for him the torture stopped before it began, as Hedwig flew back in the window.

"Letter for me?" Nym asked, and getting a nod in reply, she took it.

"Oh Harry, this is wonderful!" She got up, and pulled Harry into a hug. Forced to rise, Harry couldn't prevent her from pushing his body against hers.

"Madam Bones has frozen your suspension, and is willing to take your testimony in person tomorrow!"

Nym released Harry from the hug, and to his immense relief she sat down on the bed again instead of on his lap. He couldn't help but notice she had her legs spread slightly apart though, and he could just... see...

"Tomorrow!? She's coming here?" Harry tried to focus on anything other than the nearly naked woman in his room. 'Focus Potter... she is an Auror, not interested in you even a little...'

"No silly, I'm taking you over there. I'm here to take care... of.. you, remember?" Nym shot him a smile. A genuine one, she realised exactly where Harry was looking when he thought she didn't notice. 'Hook, line, and sinker, score one more for the shower trick,' Nym beamed.

Harry felt like he was being tortured... but it was almost the exact opposite of the Cruciatus. "Oh... that's all right then," he answered, not really paying attention to Nym's words. It took all his willpower not to let out a moan of disappointment as she shifted her position a little, closing her legs.

"I'm wet," Nym suddenly declared. Harry's eyes went wide as saucers. "Whaa?"

"The towel, silly," Nym said with a laugh. "Don't go anywhere. I'm going to see if my clothes are dry, then you can cook me dinner."

Teasing him with by rising ever so slowly, Nym seductively walked to the door. She didn't need to look over her shoulder to know Harry's eyes were fixed on her form as she stepped out.

–--

Harry's heart was trying to escape his chest as he served up the simple chicken dinner he had prepared for the two of them.

"So Harry, I was meaning to ask... just what were you doing, lying on your bed in your underwear when I came in? Naughty dreams about girls?" Nym sat down to his left at the Dursley dinner table, and her arm brushed against his as she reached for her fork.

"Err... no... I was, erm, sleeping," Harry admitted. Nym had dressed, but he could easily see the outline of her breasts through the thin fabric of the summer shirt she was wearing.

"Sleeping late eh? Man I'm jealous, my mum never let me," Nym laughed. "Breast Harry?"

"Whaa?" Harry flustered again, then looked at where Tonks was pointing, her plate. "Errr... yes... chicken breast. And... I'vebeenhavingbaddreamsokay," he mumbled.

"Sorry Harry, didn't quite catch that," Nym scooted her chair closer, and their hips were now touching. Harry desperately tried to focus on his plate.

"Haaa reee..." Nym waved a hand in front of his eyes, and Harry looked up sharply.

"I've been having bad dreams okay?! I was in the middle of a bloody nightmare when you knocked on my door, for a minute I thought you were him!"

"Him? Oh Harry..." Nym paled a bit, as she realised Harry meant Voldemort. Dropping her fork on her plate, she embraced him with both her arms.

"I'm so sorry for not realising. But I'm here for you now. Nothing bad can happen to you, Nym is here for you..."

"You... you mean it?" Harry looked up at her face... and Nym lowered her face to his, until their lips met.

–--

His teachers at Hogwarts, except for one greasy haired vampire wannabe, would all agree that Harry was a quick learner, if he set his mind to it. Had Nym been able to sit in on one of the teacher meetings she would agree, and tell them Harry deserved extra credit.

Of course he was a lousy kisser at first – it was painfully obvious she was his first kiss. But Harry needed only a little instruction before he figured out he could breathe to his nose, and if he froze up when her tongue licked his lips while they were kissing, she definitely could not complain on the speed at which he had learned to not only allow her tongue to enter his mouth, but use his own to almost wrestle hers for dominance.

And the way his arms had wrapped around her, proved to her that Harry could easily have been a chaser, the way he handled her Quaffles...

"Chicken's cold," Harry mentioned calmly as he swallowed. They had been snogging... no, making out for what seemed to be forever. His lips still tingled, and he swore never to was his left hand again... in the last ten minutes of their make out session, it had somehow made its way inside Nym's tight jeans.

"Let me hero," Nym smiled at him, and cast a warming charm on their food. "Tastes really good."

"Glad you like it. I've been cooking dinner since I was six," Harry answered.

"The food is good as well yes," Nym grinned. "I meant your kisses, hero." Harry blushed again.

"Nym..." Harry trailed off.

"I like it when you call me that... but only you, Harry. Everyone else has to call me Tonks," Nym took his right hand in her left. "I don't know how you did it Mr. Potter, but you have me falling for you hard."

H arry blushed again. "Nym... what are we going to do now?"

"I could do for some more making out," Nym suggested. "Then we need to have a little chat I think. Sound good?"

"Very! Very good," Harry nodded as if he were Dobby.

"Easy there lover boy, I'm not going anywhere," Nym grinned. She waved her wand, and the dirty plates hovered over to the sink. Another wave, and the dishes and pots were getting magically scrubbed clean.

"Are you sure I won't get into any trouble for that?"

"Positive. Bonesy, I mean Madam Bones, my boss, has made that Hopkirk woman shut your sensor down. It's obvious your trace is malfunctioning somehow, it should not be possible for it to pick up my magic as yours. Let alone a House Elf's. Tomorrow we're looking into that, and we're getting your earlier warning removed at the same time."

Nym stretched, acutely aware of how Harry's eyes were fixed on her chest again.

"Soooo... where do you want me?" She winked, and let her chest expand just a little.

Harry stood there open-mouthed, as Tonks' shirt began to bulge a bit more. "Urhg?"

"What was that Harry? Bedroom? My you are a fast one," Nym stepped closer to the boy. "Very well then, shall we?"

"Cooch! I mean couch! I want you on the couch!" Harry yelped out.

"You want me? Naughty boy," Nym teased him further. Giggling, she walked to the living room, and took in the décor. "Modern English Lack of Taste, I see," she sniffed disapprovingly. "We can do better than that," a swish of her wand, and the pink-and-cream sofa changed colours to a deep brown and gold, and expanded in size. Alluringly she sat down on the expanded sofa, and beckoned Harry over.

"Come hero, don't be afraid... I don't bite... hard..."

To his credit, Harry didn't hesitate long before sitting down next to her, and the next thing he knew he was lying half over her, kissing deeply.

–--

Nym was lying half on her back on the sofa, her legs over Harry's lap as he sat next to her. Both their clothes were rumpled, Harry's shirt was pulled up to his arm pit almost on one side, and Nym's pants were unbuttoned, revealing just the top of her panties if one were to look. She had a wide smile on her face as she twirled her wand around. Harry seemed to be stunned again, but had an equally wide smile.

The clock chimed nine times, and Nym sat up. "You with me hero?" She snuggled close to Harry, pulling his right arm around her. Harry's hand automatically found its way to her breast, she noticed with pleasure.

"Wow... that was... bloody amazing," Harry slowly spoke. Who knew making out could feel so good?

"For me as well hero," Nym kissed his cheek. "We should talk a bit now."

"What about?" Harry ever so gently rubbed Nym's right tit through her shirt, enjoying her slight gasp as he started.

"Later, lover boy," Nym said with a small laugh. "Talk now, play later." She took the sting out of it by kissing him on the mouth briefly.

"I'm apparating you to the Ministry tomorrow morning, for our talk with Bonesie. Something is seriously wrong with your trace, and we need that taken care of. We don't need to give Fudgy any excuse to get you in trouble."

"Ginny mentioned something like that in her letter," Harry recalled. "What is going on with the Ministry?"

"Fudge is..." A naughty hand squeezed her breast again. "Stop that Harry, or I'm retaliating," she grinned. "Fudge doesn't want to accept You-Know-Who is back. He's been slandering you in the press, well you and Dumbledore both, but you most of all."

"Slander? Why?" Harry sounded confused.

"I think he's afraid," Nym speculated. "By painting you as deranged, they're making sure nobody will take your words seriously. What I don't get, is why Dumbledore doesn't simply use the pensieve evidence to convince the Wizengamot."

"A pensieve? You mean that bowl thing Dumbledore has in his office?" Harry asked.

"Yup, it could show your memories of that night to the entire Wizengamot, proving You-Know-Who is back... or at least demanding an investigation. I suppose you could use a fake memory instead," Nym stared off a bit.

"I'm not lying!" Harry shouted out.

"I know hero, but they don't know that necessarily," Nym soothed him. "That's another reason we're talking with Bonesie tomorrow. You can give her your memory and she can confirm it is a genuine, unaltered memory."

"But... then she has to read my mind?" Harry shuddered... "I... I don't want that."

"No honey, she only needs to get that single memory," Nym kissed him again briefly. "No-one is going to read your mind unless you allow them to, I promise."

Thinking back on what she had seen through the wall when she first arrived, Nym carefully asked: "Harry... you're not really happy here, are you?" Harry stiffened.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Nym quickly added. "But just know that I don't really see why you're staying here... it's not as if you have nowhere to go."

"I suppose..." Harry started. "I suppose I could go the Burrow."

"Ya goof," Nym softly punched him. "What about my place?"

"Your place?" Harry looked at her quizzically. "Nym... what are we exactly?"

"Hot and beautiful, and strong and handsome, respectively?" Nym's grin was spread ear-to-ear.

"Not what I meant, you minx," Harry grinned back, and squeezed a bit with his right hand.

"That's it mister! Payback time!" Nym twisted in his arms, and began tickling him. Soon, hysterical laughter sounded in the Dursley living room, probably for the first time since the house had been built.

–--

The clock chimed eleven times, and Nym disentangled herself from Harry's arms. Following the tickle match, which she swore she'd won and that wasn't just because she could move her nerves away from the skin surface if she focused, they'd ended up curled in each other's arms again, and began kissing once more.

The only interruption other than bathroom breaks had been when she had sent a Patronus message to Mundungus Fletcher, telling him she'd be taking his shift. She knew from experience Dung was unlikely to show up in the first place, but Sod's law declared that if she would not send a message, chances were he'd disturb her fun around midnight and cause problems if she was not outside waiting for him.

"Bed time hero, we should make it an early day tomorrow, just in case."

"Oh... gotcha," Harry yawned a bit. "So, will I see you tomorrow then? It's been fun today, more fun than I've ever had in the summer."

"Ya goof," Nym softly punched him. "I told you, I'm here for you. Let's go upstairs."

"But where will you sleep?" Harry rushed after her, and found her entering his bedroom. "Nym?"

"Yes Harry?" Nym raised her shirt over her head, thankful for the momentary obscuring of her face, as even her metamorphmagic ability could not prevent a blush.

Harry looked on wide-eyed as Nym took off her shirt and threw it on the desk chair, then began wiggling out of her pants. He held his breath as she stripped down until she was only wearing her knickers, and climbed under the cover of his new bed.

"Harry? You coming?"

Harry gulped deeply, and faced away from the bed. Nym watched him strip down to his boxers, and frowned again at the many scars on his back. Then Harry in a practi s ed move hit the light switch, and ducked under the covers.

"N... Night Nym," he mumbled, facing away from her as he lay on his side.

"Night hero," Nym answered back. She placed her wand on the night stand next to her, and lay still, watching his back and shoulder slightly move as he breathed. For over half an hour she just listened to his breathing, until Harry finally fell asleep.