A/N : There were some things that weren't very clear in the first chapter so I thought I'd clear out some things here. This story is a pairing between Harry and Fleur. Though Tonks is very present for now, Harry and her will not get together. This chapter might or might not clear things out a bit and define Harry's relationship with Tonks a bit better. I DO NOT own anything, every recognisable character, event, action, incantation belong to J.K. Rowling. Updates may be irregular because of school, among other things. My first language is not English, so to you expert English writers and speakers, expect some mistakes here and there. I will do my best to correct them, though.

This chapter is a bit messy, not my best and I can't exactly say I like it. I will look into it during Easter and maybe edit some things. It's the shortest chapter I've written for now out of the three others I have written. Those three are written (almost ready to publish) and two fo them are double the size of this one. It's just something you can look forward to, I guess. I'll start to correct those and edit them in a week's time (very vague approximation).

This story is rated M for a reason. You may be your own judge but there will be themes in the upcoming future chapters that are not suited for every audience. Consider this a warning.

Chapter 2 - A Happy Birthday

He was running, his breath laboured from exhaustion. A mocking laugh rang out behind him, echoing down the dark stone corridor.

"Do you honestly think you can outrun it?!" the voice taunted mockingly.

Harry gritted his teeth, his jaw clenched from rage. A loud, high-pitched hiss resounded from behind him. He could hear the sounds of friction caused by the enormous mass that was slithering at his chase. The fear that had initially gripped his guts had long since been drowned by his will to survive. Still, he ran. For what purpose, he knew not. The giant 60 feet long Basilisk was way faster than him and he was very well aware of that fact. Running would've only delayed his certain demise.

"Kill him!" the semi-translucent shade of Tom Riddle hissed out in Parseltongue.

The giant snake acted upon the command, rising high in the air before forcefully dashing its upper body forward, in an attempt to impale Harry with its titanic head. The onrush of air however, alerted Harry of the snake's strike and, whilst never interrupting his flee, twisted to the side, dodging the Basilisk's incoming head.

However, in his acrobatic manoeuvre, Harry failed to notice the pool of water that was at his feet. He stepped directly onto the slippery wet stone. Harry's feet slipped, and he fell, almost hitting his head first if not for his admirable reflexes. His elbow took the shock and it amounted to no small amount of pain.

The impact of his whole body weight onto the rough stone flooring of the Chamber of Secrets sent a sharp pain through the nerves of his left elbow. Harry gasped in pain. Unbeknownst to him, a truly gigantic green skinned tail was already half-way lifted into the air.

In an arc shaped swinging motion, the Basilisk's tail came soaring towards him through the cold air of the Chamber. With a deafening crack, the snake's end slapped against his side. The force of the swing almost cut Harry in half at the torso. Miraculously, that did not happen. But his ribs did take considerable damage from the strike.

Harry could feel the pain that came from his thoracic cage. He was more than certain that half if not all his rib bones from his left side were broken. Black spots began to cloud his vision from the pain, though he could not lift his eyes to clear his vision. Not unless he wanted to kill himself by staring into the burning yellowish gaze of the gigantic snake.

His Occlumency automatically slammed shut, cutting off any painful signals coming from his nervous system from ever reaching his brain. Harry spat out blood.

"Halt," Tom commanded the Basilisk who instantly stilled. "Look at you!" He crooned to Harry in a ridiculing baby voice. "Look at you, lying there, half dead from a single strike of Salazar's monster. It is a shame, really, such great potential bestowed upon nothing more than an excuse of a wizard. Such… weakness… Kill him!" The last part was hissed out in Parseltongue.

The Basilisk prepared for another strike, keen on delivering the killing blow to the human in front of him.

A deafening screech.

A blindingly bright orange beam of light.

A whoosh of wind.

An incredible amount of heat.

Harry turned towards the sound of the screech, as did the snake and the shade of Tom. An enormous bird of fire was hovering high in the open space of the Chamber of Secrets, its wings spread out wide. Harry, in his adrenaline fuelled state, estimated that the bird must've reached something around a 4 metres wide wingspan.

The Basilisk, though, had lost all its momentarily given attention to the bird. Its sole focus was back onto Harry, who was still downed on the cold floor. Everything seemed to happen in a split second.

The flaming bird soared through the air, gliding at an impossible speed towards the Basilisk. The snake was already dashing forward, its jaw was wide open, revealing several rows of 6 inch long death fangs. Harry raised his right arm instinctively, his mind raising its last defence against imminent danger.

Harry averted his gaze to the side. His fate was already sealed, of that much he was certain. Death was incoming. He couldn't stop it now.

The air around Harry's hand shimmered. A silvery handle began materialising into his grip. As the gargantuan snake's jaw was about to snap shut, biting his body in half, the rest of the silver sword materialised into existence. The Basilisk bit down, but it stopped, stilling very suddenly in its hasty motion. It emitted a long, loud, painful hiss, as the silver sword lodged itself into its skull, up to the guard, piercing the snake's brain and skull.

"NO!" A shout echoed from Tom from across the room.

The 60 feet long body contracted and bucked wildly, wiggling savagely in all directions. A hot, dark green liquid began dripping from the sword to Harry's still outstretched arm. The burning bird landed at the now very still Basilisk's side.

With a great grunt of effort, Harry pulled the sword out from the Basilisk's palate. A small, leather bound tome was laid open on the floor, a few metres from the fallen beast's corpse. Next to the small pocket book, an unconscious boy was lying on the cold stone floor. The boy was first year, probably, with shattered round glasses, a black mop of morning hair and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

Burning hatred coursed through Harry's veins as his eyes scanned over the unconscious boy.

"What are you doing?" The question came from Tom's now paler form. It was almost like he looked apprehensive, scarred almost.

With an animalistic snarl of rage, Harry swung the sword of his head, the blade clattered sharply against the stone of the floor of the Chamber of Secrets, slicing straight through the leather book on the floor.

A long, high-pitched scream came from the tome. As black ink poured out of the pages, a black mist floated out of the yellowed pages of the book. Tom's rage filled image vanished into thin air next to Harry's panting form. The black mist that was now floating in the air was pulsing and gurgling, almost as if it was some sort of living liquid.

The thing pulsed thrice before it gave an agonising, pain-filled shriek and faded out of existence, vanished, gone.

Harry let out a breath. And his eyes widened considerably. His pupils grew dark, the emerald of his iris almost disappearing. His body went slack, and he dropped to the ground, his chest no longer raising. His breathing stopped. So did his heart.

Harry Potter was dead, in his last moments, he had never noticed the small puncture on his forearm. The Basilisk, in the end, had been victorious, accomplishing its master's last command.

The firebird had been watching, this entire time, his previously aflame wings were now no longer burning, replaced by red streaked orange feathers. Seeing the young wizard in front of him drop slack to the ground, dead, its wings lit up again, burning. With a melodic trill, it pounced into the air, its wings spreading out, flapping once, twice, thrice. It flew high into the air, before diving, its beak pointed directly at Harry's dead body.

With a final parting screech, the entire bird lit up. The avian creature that was diving for Harry was now replaced by a bird shaped fireball. As the flaming shape was about to come into contact with Harry's chest, it burned brighter than ever.

The beak entered Harry's chest first, followed by the rest of the bird's body. But Harry never started to burn. It was as if the bird was absorbed by Harry's body. Well it was, at least magically speaking.

Harry's chest gave a jump. A loud thump rang through the sombre hall of the Chamber of Secrets. Harry sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes regained focus and he almost reared back in shock. Alive once more!

Well that certainly was a delightful feeling. Certainly the best he had felt in the last few hours. But something was bugging him. Something that felt different. Something that resided within his very own body. Power. Fire. Air. Wings. Light.

The bird that had flown into the Chamber while he was getting beaten down by the Basilisk was nowhere to be seen. And then, it clicked. It made sense. Phoenix. The phoenix had saved his life, sacrificing its own never ending circle of life for his own.

Harry never saw it coming. A bright green mist shot from the Basilisk's carcass. It hit Harry square in the chest, the impact making him kneel. Hissing. Power. Reflex. Hearing. Darkness. Harry could feel his own magical core. His own, and two more entities. One cold, deadly, the other hot, lethal. And then he felt a shockwave coming from his body's centre, as if the two other magical cores collided with one another with great force.

Harry felt the two fighting for dominance. The two forces pushed against each other, but as soon as one gained the upper hand, it was immediately repressed by the other. Harry was beginning to panic. His whole body had started trembling, partly from exhaustion, but mostly from confusion. A small part of his trembling was also due to pain. It felt as if blood no longer coursed through his veins. Instead, just as he felt the phoenix's magical essence give a phenomenally greater push, his whole vascular system was flooded by burning hot pain.

The poison. The firebird's magic was fighting against the giant snake's death serum. Harry felt like he had liquid fire flowing inside his veins, neutralising the Basilisk's venom. Just as he was about to reach his breaking point, just as he was edging to the last millimetre of the cliff before he fell into the ravine of insanity, the pain stopped.

In fact, the battle between the two other magical entities residing inside him had also died out. But now, the darkness from the supposed Basilisk's presence was all but gone. He could still feel the snake's power within him, but the most prominent magic he could feel other than his own was the one of the phoenix's.

Harry pushed himself back up to his feet from his kneeling position and looked around. Massive chunks of stone were scattered across the whole chamber. A bright light came from the heavy steel door that sealed the Chamber of Secrets. The light kept getting brighter and brighter, shining blindingly. A ringing sound echoed through the Chamber. Harry could hear a voice. Multiple voices. One distinct voice he knew oh so well was laughing.

Harry shot up straight, awake in almost an instance. Except he fell. The sheets and blanket followed him and on their way to the floor. They dragged the circular nightstand down with them as well. The small wooden table fell to the floor with a loud bang. Harry himself was tangled up with his blanket in an eccentric twisting of tissue and human limbs.

He could hear snickers and chuckling from his doorframe. Much to his embarrassment, when he looked up, he saw Dora holding a camera and Andi standing right behind her daughter. The snickers had come from Dora, obviously. Andromeda was laughing too, an amused gleam in her eyes.

"That was a really nice dive, Harry," Tonks teased. "What kind of dream's got you so excited to the point of jumping out of your bed huh?"

Dora creased her eyebrows momentarily, thinking. Not half a second later, her smirk widened considerably and her eyes gained an evil shine. "Was it a dream about a girl, Harry? You know, the hot, steamy type of dream?"

Andromeda spluttered incoherently before glaring at her daughter, who in turn, seemed completely oblivious to the look her mother was giving her.

Harry, still handcuffed by his blanket, simply stared at Dora, though his cheeks did get a slight pink tint. "I'll have you know, Miss Nymphadora, that I am still single, thank you very much."

Tonks pouted. "You're no fun, Harry. And who said you couldn't have steamy dreams because you were single? Surely someone must've at least caught your eye?"

Harry knew Dora too well to fall for her trick. He was well aware of the fact that Tonks and Hestia Jones would meet up on weekends to trade gossip.

"You'll be the first to know, if my bachelor status ever changes. Happy?"

At Dora's nod and eager smile, Harry huffed, annoyed. "Yeah great, let's torment Harry and give Mum a free comedy show. Do you mind helping me out, Dora?"

Giggling, Dora made her way towards Harry and helped him untangle himself from his covers. "So, what're we doing today, Harry?" Tonks asked brightly.

Her temporary summer leave from the Auror Corps had only just started and now she had until the start of Harry's final year at Hogwarts to do whatever she wanted. Dora loved her job dearly, the sense of adventure always appealed to her. But if she could get away from the dreaded paperwork, then she would gladly take time away from her squad.

"As a matter of fact, I'm going shopping today, you can tag along if you'd like," Harry told her. She frowned but refrained from commenting. Harry was never one big fan of shopping. She, however, loved rummaging through the endless shelves of different stores. Not many people knew, because everyone simply thought her to be an Auror with a bubbly personality; except Harry because she always told Harry everything, and even if she didn't tell him, he probably would've figured it out somehow.

Well that was that, her confusion rapidly cleared out, replaced by eagerness and excitement. "When are we going?" she asked. Her excitement was boiling and she was having trouble holding herself back from simply running out of the house and barging into the first store she saw.

"As soon as I'm ready. I'll meet you downstairs in 20. We'll go get breakfast on the way."

Andromeda perked up, remembering something. She flicked her wand in a vague direction behind her and a moment later, a small paper list shot into her hand. "Would you two mind grabbing some groceries at the local supermarket while you're at it?"

Harry shrugged while slipping a shirt on. "Sure, Mum. Hey maybe you should give Miss Nymphadora here a Calming Draught. She's two seconds away from jumping around, methinks."

Andi smirked at the outraged look on her daughter's face. Nevertheless, she still summoned a small bottle with a clear liquid inside it. "Drink this, Nymphadora," she commanded in a no-nonsense tone.

The Metamorph pouted but relented and drank the potion nonetheless.

"Alright, c'mon."

"What are we doing at the Magical Carpenter's shop?"

"Why, buying wood of course! What? You don't see them selling any orange juice anywhere do you?"

That last comment earned him a smack on the head from Tonks. "You know what I meant, you big idiot! What's the wood for?" Dora demanded.

Harry simply snickered at her. "That's classified information."

Tonks huffed at him before an idea began to form in her head. "Fine, go and be mean. I'm deciding on the next store we're going to go to."

"Sure," Harry replied casually. Tonks smirked internally. Harry simply had no idea what was going to hit him.

Harry meanwhile, was discussing with the carpenter about the magical properties of two different wood types. The very recently developed Firebolt prototype broom used an ebony body with birch twigs and an ash handle. The Nimbus designers however favoured a full mahogany broom with golden trims.

The darker shade of the ebony wood certainly did attract the eye. Harry made his decision and what was left was to pray that Tonks liked the result. Harry bought four hundred ebony twigs of the highest quality the carpenter had to offer. He also bought a single block of rowan wood.

Normally, rowan was used for wand-crafting. It is said that rowan is most happily placed with the clear-headed and the pure-hearted. In Harry's opinion, that description certainly fitted Tonks appropriately. Harry did have to pay quite the sum for the twigs and the rowan wood block but hey, if he got to make Dora happy, then any sum in the world was worth it.

Harry stashed his purchases quickly inside a magically extended bag. It wouldn't do for Tonks to catch onto what he planned, lest he ruin her surprise for her birthday. The two exited the shop and emerged back into the main street of Diagon Alley.

"Let's go Harry, you promised I could choose the next store."

At Harry's nod of agreement, Tonks grabbed his arm and Disapparated both of them to a secluded Muggle alley. They both stepped out into the heart of Muggle London. That was until Harry looked ahead and saw where Tonks had brought them too. He shuddered at the simple thought of having to … help… Tonks with her shopping.

"I really don't think it is appropriate for me to go there with you, Nym," Harry tried to reason with her. He simply couldn't help her inside a lingerie shop!

Tonks was cackling besides Harry, relishing herself in Harry's embarrassment. "No backing out now, mister. I had to stand inside a wood shop for close to an hour while you were talking about Merlin knows what with the shopkeeper. Now shush, c'mon."

Harry steeled himself and strengthened his mental shields. It wouldn't do for his bloodstream to go south, especially not in the presence of one such as his own sister… well kind of sister.

After what was probably the most embarrassing hour of Harry's entire life, he and Tonks stepped out of the wrenched women's clothing shop. Whatever Tonks said, Harry certainly knew he had no business being in that shop.

"Where to next?" Tonks asked, still as lively as she had been when they had stepped into the supermarket, almost 4 hours ago.

"Quality Quidditch Supplies," Harry told her. "I've got some business to attend to, nothing too long. After that, we're headed home."

Dora gave a small jumping cheer. Quality Quidditch Supplies was certainly one of, if not, her favourite shop.

As they entered the shop, Harry went directly towards the receptionist whilst Tonks made a beeline for the new products on display. Harry and the receptionist both chuckled at the sight of her.

"So, what brings you here today, Mr…?"

"Tonks sir, Harry Tonks," Harry lied smoothly to the man. There were complications he had no patience in dealing with attached to his real name.

"So, Mr. Tonks, what can I do for you?" the man prompted.

"I need a Firebolt commissioned."

At Harry's words, the middle-aged man raised a sceptical eyebrow. "And you yourself have got the funds to afford such a prestigious broom, at your age?"

Harry resisted the urge to sneer. People questioning his monetary status annoyed him to no end. "Money is not a problem for me. As a matter of fact, I want the broom completely customised."

Harry handed the man a note scribble on a scrap of parchment. Harry watched as the shopkeeper's eyes quickly roamed over the piece of paper before his jaw dropped. Harry smirked.

"T-this… will c-c-cost… too much… over 2,3 million," the man managed to stutter out.

Harry passed a signed Gringotts funds transferring document to the man for 2,3 million Galleons. The price was certainly high, probably what half of his vault currently held, but the sales of the Horntail's carcass were still ongoing. And he still had more than 4 phials of Basilisk venom safely stored inside his vault. A single one of those 4 phials could probably serve to buy four fully customised Firebolts without problems.

Harry handed the man the bag he was carrying the woods in.

"I have already selected all the woods required for the craft. I will stop by tomorrow to pick it up. I expect it to be ready by then, are we clear?"

The shopkeeper nodded fervently. This was an excellent business deal for him and his other commissions could certainly wait. The time period he was allowed was short but with a few hours less of sleep and a few letters with his contacts, he could make the deadline.

Harry turned around to find Dora still engrossed within the shelves of the shop. "C'mon Dora, we're all set, we can leave."

When the two had left the shop, the shopkeeper pulled out the note Harry Tonks had given him. On it, there were a few lines specifying the details of the craft.

Classic ebony Firebolt body,

Classic enchantments,

Modified ebony rear end twigs,

Modified rowan handle,

Classic serial number on the handle,

Personalised name on each side of the broom's body: Nymphadora Tonks.

It certainly was a demanding craft but he would manage.

Harry and Nymphadora stepped into the Tonks residence and after a small masterfully cooked dinner by Andromeda Tonks, both settled on the couch. "You said you wanted to learn that last spell I used in our duel, did you not?" Harry asked.

Tonks nodded, keen on learning something to add to her spell arsenal. Harry sighed softly before straightening up. It was going to be complicated, but at least Tonks would be better protected.

"Alright. So. The first thing you have to know and understand is the nature of the spell. It is first of all a shield and secondly a shape shifter. And since you are casting something that is undefined, there is no wand movement, nor is there an incantation. You have to make it happen, somehow."

Tonks nodded, it made sense to her, but not exactly at the same time. She could understand the shape shifting part somewhat, being a Metamorphmagus herself. But the 'making it happen' part didn't really make any sense.

"I know what you might be thinking, Dora. How can you just make something happen without instruction or movement whatsoever? I'll try to help you out when we are going to go test the spell but for now, the boring part. I gotta tell you the theory."

Harry smirked a little at Dora's all business-like look. She had that all serious look on her face that was just so much drastically different from her normally lively expressions that it almost looked alien.

"So, the first step is the shield. Mine is black and that colour is quite useful, especially in fights with no lights. So for the shield, what I do is, well actually, it's the same feeling as if you were casting an overpowered Protego Charm. Oh and before I forget, when you first use the spell, always use it as a last resort. Just the shield alone will drain you almost completely if you do not use it enough times to accustom your core to it. Even now, I myself can barely manage to keep up with a fight after using that shield. With me so far?"

Tonks was frowning thoughtfully. After a minute, she nodded her understanding once more. Harry carried on.

"The shield will also not block anything physical. Consider it as a sort of… absorber. No matter how much power you pour into it once it is conjured, it cannot stop anything physical like rocks. The shield powers itself up from the incoming spells it intercepts. And since it is your opponent's magic that is powering it up once you summoned the shield, it will not break. As long as you are conscious and that you have put enough power into making the shield appear at first, it will never falter once the first spell connects with it. There is also an invaluable advantage to this shield, something never seen before. I trust you will keep this knowledge to yourself, alright Tonksie?"

Tonks smacked Harry playfully on the head. "Don't call me that! How many times do I have to tell you?! Now, stay serious and tell me what that knowledge I must keep to myself was?"

"This shield can stop the Unforgivables," Harry stated bluntly.

Harry watched as Tonks' eyes widened comically before she shouted, "WHAT!?"

"It is true," he said. And it was. He had studied those three forbidden spells long and hard, trying to determine what made them almost unstoppable, bar from actual physical objects. The answer he had found was quite interesting. The Killing Curse, the Torture Curse and the Imperius were highly lethal and harmful spells that necessitated highly negative intent with the use of extremely concentrated magic. The energy that the trio of spells radiated was off the chart and the quantity of magical energy residing in them was simply too great for any magically conceived shield to stop them.

Those energy barriers were in fact, just that, barriers. If the pressure rose too high, it would burst. Like a dam that contained too much water would burst. Harry's shield, however, had more of a net consistency. Much more elastic than the standard Protego Charm, his shield could stretch at a magical level that was unseen by the eye. Tonks listened on with rapt attention to what Harry was explaining to her.

"Think of it as a gigantic trampoline on which a giant cannon ball was dropped from 20 feet up high. Now imagine that same cannon ball dropped onto a suspended sheet of paper. That trampoline would make the cannon ball bounce up and down until it lost all its momentum, right? Now compare it to the paper that would simply rip from the incoming cannon ball. That is an approximate visualisation of what my shield does."

Once again, Tonks nodded. She felt like that was all she was doing but it was, quite frankly, all she could do. What Harry was telling her was truly amazing. And if she could manage to learn that shield, Andi and Ted would be way less worried about her at work. And said job would be way easier for her, since she would have something sure up her sleeve to defend herself from the three most deadly of spells.

"There, however, downsides to this shield. For one, you can't release it. The only way to get rid of it is to do the second part of the spell which I'll explain to you in a moment. Secondly, you can't throw any other spells while the shield it up because it works both ways. It absorbs anything that is a spell coming towards it, whether from the front or the back. And since the thing is pretty big, you basically can't do anything while it is up."

Dora shook her head, but not disappointedly. Nothing was freely given and everything had its cost. Even an all-powerful shield that could basically stop the Killing Curse had its own downsides.

"Which now brings me to the second part of the spell: releasing it. Now, you remember that I told you that the spell isn't defined until the very last moment and that it is somewhat of a shape shifter, right Dora?"

"You did say that, yes," Dora replied.

"Good. The spell will become whatever was the last spell that hit it. For example, if it absorbs a stunner, a disarming hex and a bone-breaker, the spell it will become is the bone-breaker. Now, for the delicate part. When you are releasing the shield, you have to remember that you are transitioning from a shield to an active spell. You have to instantly switch from protective to offensive. Believe me, there is a big difference between the two and if you don't instantly go on the offensive, the shield will be there."

"And how do I switch between the two states?" Tonks asked.

"Magic," Harry replied simply. "You force your own magic to make it happen. Well forcing it is a big word. You have to really want to make the shield shift into an offensive spell. You have to really want to send whatever spell came to you back to your opponent."

Tonks took a few moments to go back over all of what Harry had just said. It was almost fifteen minutes before she gave Harry a nod and her most pleading look. "Can we go practice right now, Harry?"

"But I'm tired…" Harry whined, though Tonks could detect the slightly teasing tone behind his words.

"None of that now, mister, you're coming to help me out, tired or not," she huffed at him before standing up from the couch and pulling Harry to his feet.

Harry glared playfully at her, poking her sides. "You're such a slave-driver Tonksie," he teased before sprinting away from the incensed Metamorph.

"Alright, that's it, c'mere!" she yelled at him as she saw her brother running away. "Stop running away from me you git!"

All she heard was Harry's laughter echoing through the halls. She followed Harry's laughter to the house's duelling platform in the basement, where he was already setting up the protection wards. Tonks walked up calming to him before smacking his shoulder, hard.

"Ow!" Harry protested. "What was that for?"

"As if you didn't know," Tonks scowled at him.

Harry just smiled charmingly at her. Calling her Tonksie on purpose just to watch her get mad was quite funny. Harry found hilarious the way her hair would turn the same neon red as her cheeks when she got mad.

"C'mon Dora, quit sulking. You gotta practise that new spell, remember? Unless you'd rather just stand there and be mad at me?"

"You forgot the magic words, Harry."

"Fine, I'm sorry."

Tonks smiled satisfactorily. It wasn't every day that she got the last word with Harry. Focusing on the task at hand, Dora concentrated. Shield. Protego. Safety. The incantation was never said, but a barrier appeared. Not the one she was expecting though. It was the opaque light blue colour of the Protego shield. Tonks knew that Harry's spell was some really advanced piece of magic and that no one was likely to perform it on their first try, but she still felt a pang of disappointment at her 'normal' shield. She cancelled the shield and tried again, once more imagining a protection barrier.

Harry was standing in the background, watching Tonks try summoning the shield, to no avail. Harry could easily see the mistake she was making; it was that same mistake he had made for almost 2 weeks when he was creating the spell. That one mistake had hindered his progress quite a bit.

"Hey Nym!" Harry called out. "Stop thinking about the Protego Charm, think about a shield of your very own."

"I'm… trying…" the Metamorphmagus growled. "What does that even mean, a shield of your own?"

She was frustrated, understandably. She had conjured shield after shield, and all of them were regular Protego shields. Not a single one had even a slight shimmer indicating they were somewhat different. They were all blue, whilst Harry's one had been black!

"Don't think about Protego, try going beyond that. Think of something of absolute protection. Something impenetrable. Something that no matter what hit it, no matter what was shot at it, it would not break."

"Anything can break, nothing holds forever," she retorted, somewhat heatedly, her own frustration at the infuriating spell getting the better of her emotions. Harry, however, was undeterred by her tone. He understood very well what frustration could do to someone's emotions, even if it was temporary.

"Which is why, instead of something solid, you should think of an elastic, just like I told you on the couch. Think of a gigantic trampoline that can absorb the incoming impact."

Dora did as she was told, even in her rapidly tiring state. The overpowered Shielding Charms she had tried previously had drained her quite quickly. She tried following Harry's instructions. No Protego. Elastic. Absorbing. Impenetrable. With her last bit of strength, Tonks poured all the magic she had left into what was likely her last try for the day.

A feeling of profound ecstasy shot through her. Realisation quickly settled in her mind as a feeble, shimmering pink barrier materialised in front of her. Dora let a proud smile stretch across her lips at her accomplishment. The pink tinted barrier started to darken. A dark vertical curtain started to drop from what appeared to be the ceiling. Her eyelids.

Harry's hand shot out, and with a small swipe, Dora's body was summoned into his awaiting arms, just before she could fall head first to the ground. Harry settled her slim frame in his arms and carried her back up to the sitting room of the Tonks household.

Carrying Tonks up another flight of stairs, Harry settled her on her bed, before pulling the covers over her. Harry ran a small diagnostic spell over her sleeping form; she was magically exhausted. It was nothing he did not expect. The spell was really draining and getting it right at the start with overpowered Protego Charms used up magical stamina crazily. Dora was likely not going to be fully recovered until the next morning.

Well now, he could go see if the Firebolt was ready. On his way out of the house, Harry thought back to Dora's practise session. If he was being honest with himself, he was more than proud of her progress. A single afternoon and she had already managed the first part of the spell. Harry cracked a smile at the special colour of Dora's shield. At this point, Harry basically associated anything that was pink with Tonks. The vibrancy of the colour, its liveliness, were the reflection of the soul of one Nymphadora Tonks. Her persona had coined the colour as hers and hers alone, making it her trademark hair colour for instance.

Without a sound, Harry appeared in Diagon Alley. The sun was rapidly setting in the horizon, illuminating the sky with a reddish orange shade. Harry sighed. It was a beautiful evening indeed. Making his way towards Quality Quidditch Supplies, Harry entered the shop, his entrance announced by a chime's ringing. The shop was completely empty, with reason. It was 5 minutes until closure hour. The shopkeeper, upon seeing who his client was, quickly rushed over.

"Mr. Tonks!" he exclaimed in his most pleasant voice. "I have your order just about ready. Just the final touches, and it will be done."

Harry smiled genuinely. Someone was going to have quite the pleasant surprise tomorrow.

"If you could package it up as a gift after I see it, it would be most convenient," Harry said.

The shopkeeper nodded his agreement. Harry watched his retreating back into what he assumed was the workshop of the store. Harry peered outside the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. The sky had darkened considerably since he had entered the shop. He could make out a few stripes of pink at the edge of the furthest horizon he could see. Apart from those thin pink lines, the rest of the sky was a deep purplish colour, not a single dark cloud in view.

Harry was pulled out from his sky-watching by the shopkeeper who came back into the main part of the store. He was wearing gloves and carried a brand new Firebolt in both his hands. The man deposited the broom on a counter specifically designed to hold brooms. Harry examined the broom closely but he made sure that he seldom touched it. No, that honour would be for Nymphadora. It was her broom after all.

Harry eyed the dark ebony body of the broom, appreciating its design. The tail of the broom, made from the ebony twigs he had picked out, were elegantly shaped in an aerodynamic form, making the broom end in a sharp tip. The dark brown of the rowan handle of the broom caught Harry's eye, not because of the material nor the colour, but because of the golden letters carved on it. The elegant script of Nymphadora Tonks was etched in golden letters on each side of the handle. Under it was imprinted the serial number of the broom; 008.

"She's one of a kind, Mr. Tonks, one out of the 8 currently built Firebolts, and soon to be one of the 125 ever made."

Harry nodded his thanks and approval to the man. With his examination done, Harry let the man wrap the broom inside a carton box. The box had the Firebolt logo drawn on it, with the brand name next to it, both drawn in fiery orange colours. Harry tossed 10 Galleons on the counter.

"For a job well done. Good day sir, or rather night."

Harry grabbed the long package and exited the shop, fading back home as soon as he stepped outside the door. Appearing inside the house, he found both Ted and Andi sitting at the dinner table, a bottle of wine in between the two of them. They turned towards him as he appeared. Andi, ever the curious woman, immediately peered at the package he was carrying.

"What's that you're holding, Harry?" she asked him curiously.

"Oh this? Dora's birthday gift." he answered, grinning from ear to ear.

"And how m… Oh my! Merlin help me…" Andi whispered when she saw the word tattooed on the box.

Harry's smirk widened even more at her words, if that was possible.

"Is that a Firebolt?!" she almost squealed.

"Yep," Harry stated proudly. "Only the best for my precious sister."

Ted was watching the scene unfold somewhat confusedly. He was never one very invested in brooms, even though he was a frantic Quidditch fan. He only appreciated the fierce and rapid gameplay and paid little attention to what brooms the players were using.

"What's the matter?" he asked confusedly. To his knowledge, yes brooms were expensive, but not enough to make his almost always composed and cool headed wife to scream!

"Harry essentially bought a mansion for Nymphadora for her birthday," Andi deadpanned. That only served to confuse Ted further.

"I thought we were talking about brooms? What's that gotta do with a mansion?"

"It was a comparison, dear. What I meant is that Harry bought a world class broom, worth a few hundred thousand Galleons for Nymphadora's birthday!"

"Well actually it was two millions but yeah," Harry muttered amusedly.

"WHAT?!" Ted yelled.

"You see what I mean?"

"I do, dear wife. Dora is about to break the Statue of Secrecy, flying around London."

The three of them chuckled at that, before Andromeda turned serious once more.

"You're sure about this Harry? 2 million Galleons is quite the big sum and I'm sure Dora wouldn't mind if you used that money elsewhere."

"I am sure about this, Mum," Harry answered confidently. "What's done is done, and I don't regret a single penny I spent. All I want is for Dora to be happy and if it costs me a few millions, then so be it. And after all, I have more than enough money, so no worries."

"If you're sure, Harry," Andromeda shrugged. "But do try and help us, will you? Try and keep Dora from trying that broom out in a Muggle neighbourhood."

"Will do, Mum," Harry grinned at her.

The toast tasted great. He could make out the thinnest hints of salt, just enough to flavour the bread but not enough to make it too salty. Harry sipped his coffee, looking around the dining room aimlessly. The sun was already up, high in the sky, illuminating the neighbourhood of its golden rays. It was not too hot for a summer day. A small breeze blew outside, making the trees' leaves rustle and aerating the house nicely through the open windows.

"Must you wound the English culture like you do, Harry?" Andi asked, lifting her eyes from the morning paper. "How can you even enjoy that horrible bitter taste of coffee?"

Harry settled his cup on the table before scoffing. "If I wanted to drink leaves soaked in water, I would plunge inside a river and eat the vegetation from its bed, Mum."

Harry ignored her offended glare and continued, "And it's not even that bitter, really. You just add a little bit of milk and voilà, it tastes as sweet as ever, with just a hint of the initial bitterness."

Andromeda huffed stubbornly. "I'm still unconvinced. Coffee is undrinkable."

"And here I thought mothers were supposed to be the mature ones," Harry muttered just loudly enough so that Andromeda would hear him. Her outraged look made him chuckle. She had most definitely heard him. She opened her mouth to retort but any words she was going to say were interrupted by a loud crash from the staircase.

Tonks swore under her breath as she scrambled back up to her feet, only to find her brother and Mum laughing at her. "What?" she grunted irritably.

"That is certainly one way to start the day, Nymphadora." Andromeda laughed.

Tonks levelled a glare at her mother.

"Wassgoingon' downstairs?" a groggy voice called from the top of the stairs. Dora adopted a sheepish look. Her falling downstairs was apparently loud enough to wake her normally imperturbable father. "Did my daughter trip down the stairs again?"

"Yep!"

"Well that is certainly one way to start the day," Ted repeated Andi's words. His daughter exhaled loudly, making her annoyance at her parents' ribbing clear. She turned pleadingly to Harry, hoping he would direct the conversation elsewhere but all she was met by was Harry's amused smile. She pouted sadly, a dejected look on her face.

"Cheer up, Dora. It's your birthday, c'mon, surely that's something to be excited for!"

"It is! Before Mum and Dad started to make fun of poor old me! Honestly!" the Metamorphmagus cried out indignantly, her hair cycling through an array of annoyed yellow shades.

Harry snickered at her affronted look. He stood from the table, setting his cup down. "I got something that should cheer you up, Dora."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, let me just go grab it."

Instead of simply summoning the package, Harry thought it would be a much more genuine gesture if he actually went to fetch it himself. With the long, thin package tucked under his arm, he walked back into the dining room, where the whole family was now sitting in their unofficially assigned seats.

"Happy twenty-second, Dora!"

The young woman's face blossomed into a beautiful smile. She shot up from her seat, and, without even sparing a glance at the box Harry was carrying, she flung herself into Harry's arms. It was an awkward half-hug, with Harry having to hold Tonks upright and not drop her gift.

"Don't we get hugs too?" Ted asked his daughter teasingly. Tonks hugged her parents too, each of them whispered their birthday wishes in her ear whilst hugging her close.

"Here's your gift, Tonks, I got it specifically made for you," Harry told her, handing her the package.

Dora detached herself from Andromeda's embrace and carefully took the package from Harry's hands. Her curiosity was piqued now, with what Harry had told her moments ago. 'What could he have gotten me that could be specifically made for me?' she mused. 'Jewellery? Could be, but normally jewellery isn't put into boxes this long.' And then, her eyes found the one word on the package, written in fierce orange letters; Firebolt.

"THERE'S NO WAY!" she squealed like a schoolgirl would do after finding out her best friend was dating someone.

She quickly opened the package, careful not to rip up any part of the cardboard. Inside, there was the single most magnificent broom she had ever set her eyes on. With shaky hands, she lifted the broom up, holding it like it was some national treasure. Well technically, it was, for her anyways. A real, live, Firebolt! She examined the thing, from the dark, wooden body, to the brighter coloured handle. Her eyes settled on the small, neat golden letters that spelled out her name. Nymphadora Tonks. She caressed the tip of the broom's handle, where she could read, in the same small golden letters as her name, Firebolt. And under it, 008 was inscribed.

And then it dawned on her.

"I can't accept this, Harry," she said, depositing the broom gently back into its package. "It must've cost a fortune," she added sadly.

Harry only smiled warmly at her. "You will accept this gift, Nymphadora. There is no other option for you. It is either you accept, or you accept."

"But how can I accept this? You essentially bought a house for me! Not a house, a mansion even! How am I supposed to ever pay you back for this?!"

"Well that's the marvellous thing about gifts, isn't it? You don't have to pay me back. Not now, not ever. All I want is for my sister to be happy, and if I have to buy the entire world for you to be happy, I'd find a way to do it. If I had to burn down the whole world for you, I'd do it in an instant."

Tonks actually broke down crying. The already volatile emotions of Metamorphmagi only served to fuel her own emotions. She flung herself again into Harry's arms, knocking her chair over in the process, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed. She couldn't stop herself from crying, no matter what she did. She tried thinking of some happy moments from her past, but that only poured gas into the fire even more. Harry's shirt now had some very visible wet spots on them, but he didn't care. He simply held Dora there and allowed her to let her emotions out freely.

It had happened before, moments where Harry, or really anyone currently in the Tonks household, had told her how much they valued her. It was rare, but sometimes, the young woman would simply cry her heart out. Harry thought that some of her more pronounced reactions were due to her Metamorph heritage. Perhaps her emotions were closely linked to whatever form she took, and vice-versa. It would've made sense.

Whenever Tonks changed her hair to a darker colour, she would tend to act in a more subdued manner, sometimes borderline melancholic. In her more happy and vivid days, her hair usually tinted to a more vibrant shade. Sometimes, in her ever sudden mood swings, her hair would change colour accordingly to whatever she felt at that moment precisely.

Half an hour later, Dora's sobbing had quieted down considerably. She only sniffed occasionally. Harry used a clean handkerchief he had in his pocket to wipe her face. Sometime during the whole drama, he had sat both of them down on a single couch, in the sitting room. Ted and Andi knew that in these moments, whoever Tonks flung herself at when she was crying was the one responsible for her until she recovered. Most of the time, that person was Harry.

Harry hugged his sister close to him. Dora had calmed down considerably in the last few minutes. Harry kissed the top of her head. "Will you keep the broom now?"

He got a small nod in response, but it was enough for him. "You owe me a shirt," he joked. Harry felt Tonks crack a half-smile.

"That's enough sadness for a birthday, c'mon, get up. You can go test the broom now, or I can help you further with that shield spell, if you'd like."

Tonks weighed her options. On one hand, she would get to fly the broom of her dreams, the broom that she never thought she'd be able to ever touch. And now she had one, named after her too! But on the other hand, she would get to practise spells with Harry, which was her favourite activity, like, ever. Her choice was made pretty easily. The broom, even if it was a Firebolt, could wait for later.

She jumped up, her previously crying episode from a few moments ago completely forgotten. "Let's go practise spells!"

Harry watched Dora 'fly' down the basement stairs with a fond smile. Harry waved a hand over his shirt, returning it to its original state, as if brand new. Twisting on the spot, Harry reappeared inside the basement's duelling platform, startling Tonks, who was setting up the wards this time.

"Bloody show off," he heard her mutter, making Harry chuckle.

"Alright then, show me what you got," he commanded.

Tonks turned back towards Harry, her wand shooting upwards. Harry watched her close her eyes, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. The air around the tip of her wand shimmered. Harry was undeterred when the blue coloured shield of the Protego Shield appeared. He had certainly expected it. Dora, however, was fairly disappointed in herself.

"Dang it," she whispered to herself. "I thought I had it…"

Harry said nothing, content with just watching for now. Dora was already on the right track. She had managed to produce the shield somewhat in her first few hours of practise, and it could only get better from thereon.

Once, twice, thrice more times did the disappointing blue tint of the Protego Spell appear. But on her fourth attempt, Tonks had kept her eyes open, glaring at her wand, as if daring it to produce a Protego shield.

Tonks concentrated again, reaching deep within herself, searching for something that rhymed with absolute protection. Something unbreakable. But nothing in the world was realistically resistant to anything and everything. What dam could hold against the strongest of waves? What shield could hold against the sharpest of swords? The answer was easy. None. Except for one thing. Harry.

Tonks knew that Harry could be broken, but she didn't believe in it. She knew, but she didn't think it real. There was a big difference between what is actually real and what you believed to be real. In her heart, she believed Harry was her rock, her sole protection against the world, but mostly herself. He could protect her from anything.

And so she thought of Harry. She thought of how much power he could fathom. His strength and skill. She concentrated on the thought of Harry, her brother in all but name and blood. She pushed her magic and the thought of Harry together, deep within herself, merging them into a single thing. She felt something warm course through her wand arm. The feeling reached the tip of her wand and blossomed into a semi-transparent pink barrier.

She saw and heard Harry clapping in front of her.

"That's great Dora! In fact, that's incredible!"

She smiled largely at her own success and at Harry's words. The shield never faltered, even if she momentarily lost focus. She desperately wanted to try something, but she knew not if Harry would agree to it, or even if her shield could do it. Oh well, Harry would have to agree with her, training was training.

"Stun me, Harry," she called out. Harry never reached for his wand, but a ball of red energy appeared in his right palm. The sphere was pulsing angrily in his hand, as if eager to be released. Tonks stood there, wide eyed, as she saw Harry bend his arm, before he flung the ball of red energy at her. 'What the hell was that!' she thought to herself.

Thankfully for her, the ball of energy crashed harmlessly against her bright pink shield. The shield went from its semi-transparent state to an almost opaque pink almost instantly. Tonks recalled what Harry had explained to her. Whatever it was that he threw at her was absorbed by the shield, charging it up. She felt herself stagger, holding the shield up after it absorbed Harry's energy ball was surprisingly tiring, considering the fact that she didn't even need to pour any more magic into it. Instead, it was containing that volatile magical power that was draining her.

"Harry? How do I release the shield? I remember you saying that the only way of cancelling the shield was to fling it to someone. Well I don't exactly know how to right now so could you help me out?"

Harry rushed over, clearly knowing how draining the spell could be to contain at first. He positioned himself behind Tonks, his own wand hand coming up to cover her own. He guided her wrist into an eccentric flicking motion, and the pink barrier instantly turned to the same shade as the ball Harry had thrown at her moments earlier. The whole thing seemed to collapse on itself before it shot out, expanding at a dizzying rate, almost instantly stretching from one side of the platform to the other. The red wall of magic crashed harmlessly against the wards set up around the arena before fading out of existence.

"That was some real good progress for your second practice session, Dora!" Harry cheered.

The Metamorph seemed to glow under the praise. She was indeed very proud of herself and she knew Harry was too.

"We do have to cut this session short, however. It would do us no well for you to exhaust yourself again like yesterday. Tomorrow, or maybe some other time, I will teach you the final step of the spell, which is flinging it back to your attacker. That sounds alright?"

Tonks nodded, though one request popped to the back of her mind. "Could you show it to me one more time? I can try to disarm you."

Harry shrugged. One more demonstration could do no harm. "Sure, send it."

Harry positioned himself upright, his arms limp at his side, his body sideways so that Tonks had less area to hit, should her aim be true. The pale red beam of light of the Disarming Hex shot from Dora's wand towards Harry. His wand was pulled out in a flash, the emerald if the handle glowed brightly, before the deep voidling dark colour of his black shield materialised in his wake.

The red spell connected with his barrier and was instantly absorbed. Harry flicked his wand in the same motion he had guided Nym into doing earlier and his black shield transitioned to the red colour of the Disarming Hex. It expanded and sped towards its caster. Tonks saw the giant red wall of energy coming towards her before it encased her and her wand was ripped out from her grasp. She committed the sight of Harry performing the spell to her mind. She would review it later and try to understand how he did it, so that she could maybe practise her casting on her own.

None of the two noticed, but when Harry had pulled out his wand, another discharge of energy had radiated off from him, this one just as powerful as the one he had radiated when he had first touched the wand.

"Say Harry?" Tonks started.

"What's up?"

"What was that red energy ball thingy you threw at me earlier?" Dora asked.

Harry laughed. "Oh that? It's just simple wandless magic."

Dora looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "You find wandless magic simple?!" she said the last part with an incredulous look. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised, but she still was. And what Harry said still didn't explain the energy ball he had held.

"I mean, for someone that has what I have, it is fairly easy." Dora already knew what Harry had, she was one of three that knew, apart from Harry. Her Mum and Dad also knew. The story of Harry inside the Chamber of Secrets.

"What about the red ball then?"

"The Stunning Spell I threw at you? It's like I said, wandless magic. Except what I did was for show. It makes things more fun."

"Oh really?" Tonks asked sarcastically, with no real heat though.

"Yeah, that one comes from a book, I didn't invent it, sadly. Basically, when you have sufficient a sufficient grasp of wandless magic, and enough power, you can make a spell existent while not being casted directly. I simply shape the spell into a sphere to contain it. It does reduce the power of the spell considerably though. For example, if you casted a Levitation Charm at full power, with a wand, you could probably lift a fully grown blue whale with a bit of effort. Wandlessly, though, at maximal power, I could probably only lift a fully grown elephant."

Tonks nodded thoughtfully, wondering if she could also perform wandless magic. As a Metamorphmagus, she had a slightly more powerful magical core than the normal witch and wizard, but wandless magic, from what she had read, took a lot of power.

"Come, Tonksie, let the magic go for a while. Go test your Firebolt!"

Harry didn't need to say anymore as his sister bolted straight up the stairs and went to grab her new broom.

A/N : As I said, not a great feat of writing. It is probably the worst chapter of the five I've written for now. As for most of the magical stuff that is happening, those will be explained in future chapters, just accept and understand what you can for now and let the story flow. There are many things that I purposefully omit and that i purposefully make vague. Those things will be featured in more details in later chapters. I hope. Pointers are appreciated.