It was three months of absolute hell as she and Sirius tried to fight off not only the wild and savage beasts getting in their way, along with the thousands of lethal curses. They also had to fight the forest itself that was alive and was adamant to kill them. It made Tonks wonder whether it would be all too late by the time they got to Charlie. But in the end, they finally found him. Tonks felt like she couldn't breathe when she heard Sirius sent his Patronus to her one day when he was out looking for something edible, saying that he'd found Charlie. Tonks spared no time and went out for Sirius, who hadn't gone that far off from their camp. Her heart stopped in her chest as her eyes landed on the crouched figure of the older Auror, kneeling beside someone who Tonks knew so well. There he was, the man she'd risked her life for, lying on the ground like some forgotten luggage. He was stripped naked and was curling into himself like a cat, not moving an inch even as Sirius carefully poked him in the shoulder. His back was whipped raw, and his limbs were twisted in a painful angle. Tonks herself was sporting a terrible limp and she just got bashed in the head the other day after fighting some nasty manticores. But when she saw Charlie, she forgot everything and sprinted toward him, the pain she felt had gone into a dull ache. She took her position across Sirius, kneeling on the ground as she carefully moved Charlie's head onto her lap, making sure that she wasn't injuring him any further. The redheaded Gryffindor was so still and his skin was so pale he looked almost transluscent. He felt cold and lifeless under her fingers. For a moment, she thought that was it; that Charlie had died and everything was for nothing. It felt like someone had stabbed her right in her heart at the thought of losing the man she loved. But then, Charlie let out a small moan, even though it was barely audible. Hope filled Tonks once again as she took off her boots, turned it into a Portkey, and rushed off to St Mungo's, not even bothering to tell Sirius where she had gone.

("I'll come back to you. I promise.")

That was for months ago.

Four months, to be precise.

("You better be, you prat.")

It had been four months since they rescued Charlie Weasley, and so far, the dragonologist hadn't shown any sign of waking up.

And Tonks was starting to get really desperate.

When she popped in the lobby of St Mungo's with Charlie in her lap, still kneeling, she didn't have to explain things to the Healers because it seemed that Sirius had beat her to it and was already there, waiting with Dorcas Lupin and a group of the best Healers he could find. Together, they transferred the horribly injured man onto a bed, and sent them into a ward where the Healers didn't waste a single second and immediately tried to save Charlie's life. At first, Tonks demanded that she had to come in with them because she couldn't bear the thought of losing Charlie when she wasn't there for him. But Sirius convinced her that it was best for her to wait outside with him, and because she always knew that it was useless to argue with Sirius, she obeyed. She waited for ten long hours with the older Auror, and staring blankly at her feet as she held Sirius' hand, who barely flinched despite the strong hold Tonks had around his fingers. When the Weasleys came with Marlene about half an hour after Tonks' arrival, she barely acknowledged them. She was thankful for Sirius' presence, who calmly explained everything even as he let Tonks to continue crushing his fingers in her grip. She would have pitied the family, especially Molly who looked like she was on the verge of going hysterical. But Tonks herself was struggling to school her emotions. She vaguely noticed that everyone was quiet as they waited for news on Charlie. Tonks even considered on praying to that old deity her father used to worship, but when she noticed that her clothes were drenched in blood (Charlie's blood), she decided against it, believing that God would prefer her in a cleaner condition. It felt like hours until Dorcas came out of the room, looking tired as hell but a small smile was decorating her pretty face, telling Tonks all the good news she needed to hear.

("He's going to be okay," Sirius whispered again and again as Tonks finally let herself cry her eyes out, face buried against Sirius' chest. "He's going to be okay, kid.")

"You should get some sleep," a voice said, catching Tonks off her guard. In her shock, she whipped around toward the door, wand at the ready. Bill Weasley was standing there, calmly staring back at her, hands in his pockets.

"Oh, it's you," Tonks sighed. She turned her back to Bill and focused again on her unconscious lover. Feeling a little self-conscious about the fact that she was holding Charlie's hand in front of his older brother, Tonks rather briskly added, "You know, you shouldn't sneaked up on an Auror like that. If it were Moody, he would have killed you on the spot."

"I believe that. You've got great reflexes," Bill said to the younger girl, tilting his head slightly as he took a seat beside the young Auror. "No wonder Auror Black trusted you to go with him."

"I think we both know the real reason why Sirius asked me to come with him," Tonks scoffed lightly.

"Ah yes," Bill said, smiling. Tonks felt him staring at her closely as he leaned back into his seat, and she tried hard not to fidget. Minutes passed until Bill spoke again. "You know, I've always liked you better than Charlie's other girls. Since the first time he mentioned you to me in his first year, I knew that you had my brother wrapped around your finger. And it took me only two weeks to realise that my brother fell for you almost immediately the moment he laid his eyes on you."

"What?" Tonks nearly yelped, looking at Bill in disbelief. The curse-breaker gave a cheeky smile, and for a moment, his similarities with his brother were uncanny.

"He always talked about you, you know. Even after your break-up, whenever he wrote to me or Flooed me, Charlie would always talk about you. His whole life revolves around you, Tonks. It ruined him when you guys broke up."

"Well, he was the one who suggested it!" Tonks retorted. "I told him that I'd be willing to try distance-relationship with him. I told him that I'd wait for him, forever if I have to. But no, your brother said that it wouldn't work. Now, you're telling me that he was ruined?"

"No one ever said Charlie was smart," Bill chuckled, rolling his eyes affectionately as he turned his eyes toward his brother. "He may be a genius, but he is dumb when it comes to feelings. Even though he's the only playboy between the both of us and Percy, when it comes to you, my brother is practically an idiot. He probably thought that by letting you go, he was playing the hero."

"You knew this and you didn't reprimand him that he was being stupid?"

"Of course, I did. But, we both know how Charlie is, right? Bloody moron is too stubborn for his own good. The reason I'm here, however, is not to talk about my idiotic brother and his wonderful, stubborn tendencies. No, Tonks, that's not why I'm here."

"I know why you're here, Bill. And I thought you'd know by now what my answer is. I mean, I risked my life to save the idiot. Figured that was quite self-explanatory."

The older Weasley brother chuckled again, and Tonks noticed it was like a huge burden had been lifted from Bill's shoulders when he heard her answer. Crossing his arms on the back of his head, Bill winked at her and said, "That's a relief. Now, all we need is for Charlie to – "

Bill froze about the same time Tonks did, his eyes landed on the hand that had gripped Tonks. With wide eyes, the young Auror and the curse-breaker realised that Charlie had woken up. The redheaded dragonologist let out a soft moan, followed by a whimper when he failed to move his bandaged arm. In his unconscious mind, Tonks realised that Charlie probably thought the bandages were restrains, and he was probably brought back to the memories of his days being tortured. The Auror hastily told Bill to get Dorcas or other senior Healers as she herself tried to calm Charlie. She leaned toward him, using her free-hand to stroke his hair as gently as she could, lest she'd hurt him. However, the moment her palm touched him, Charlie began to jerk wildly, trying all his might to free himself off the bandages. He began to scream and yell, twisting and turning against his bandages, and Tonks feared that he'd only injure himself further. She could already see blood seeping out of the bandages, tainting the whites and turning them into red. Panic began to consume her, and she yelled for Bill to hurry the bloody up, you idiot! Desperate, Tonks came up with the only thing she hoped would calm Charlie down. Wishing to every powerful being that was responsible for her life, Tonks carefully straddled her lover, narrowly dodging Charlie's fist toward her nose. Pinning the dragonologist's hands to his sides, Tonks gently pressed her lips on Charlie, the whole time she whispered assurances between kisses. When she felt him calming down slightly, she dared herself to let go one hand so she could touch Charlie's face. The redhead let out a small sigh as he pressed his face into Tonks hand, the whole time never stopping the kiss. Tonks was reluctant to stop the kiss, but she heard Bill was coming with the Healers, so she pulled back.

And found Charlie's blue eyes staring right into her purple ones.

"Charlie?" she whispered, barely acknowledging the fact that Bill and Dorcas had come into the room, along with three other Healers. "Charlie, can you hear me?"

Those blue eyes blinked once before Charlie nodded slowly. A small smile was about to appear on Tonks' face when she saw Charlie swallowed heavily and opened his mouth to speak for the first time in four months.

"I- I'm sorry but…" Charlie swallowed one more time, the effort he took to talk seemed painful. Taking a deep breath, he continued the next three words that would change Tonks' life forever. "Who are you?"

And her world ended.

Harry watched a glum Malfoy from where he was lying in his bed, cringing a bit when he felt the Skele-Gro he drank started to work on growing his bones again. He felt bad for winning, which was something he never felt before. Regulus had told him to go easy on the Slytherin, telling him that originally, Malfoy auditioned for Chaser, not Seeker. He was a great flyer, but because he was a Chaser, no matter how hard he tried to practise, Malfoy could never beat Harry. It was actually a great feat for the blond for winning against other teams, catching the Snitch before other Seekers who were actually pretty good themselves. It was spectacular how Malfoy managed to do that. But if he had to go against Harry, he would lose. Harry would probably deal with the same problem if he was the one who had to go for the Chaser position. The Gryffindor saw the look on Malfoy's face when he fell because he failed to catch the Snitch, the utmost disappointment and huge embarrassment he felt upon losing and falling. Yes, Harry was still angry at him for calling Hermione the M-word that day when the whole Gryffindor team and Hermione teased him about getting into the team through bribery. But Harry knew that Malfoy could be a good person if he was given the chance. If only Malfoy had better control on both his mouth and emotion, Harry was pretty sure that they'd be real friends by then.

"Hey, Malfoy," Harry called. The blond, who was about to leave the Hospital Wing, turned his attention toward him.

"Yeah?" Malfoy replied, tilting his head to the side.

"You uh… You were great today. Like, really great."

Harry swore that for a moment, he thought he saw the Slytherin smiled. But, as always, he schooled his features, even as he flatly said, "You don't have to say that, Potter. You win, I lose. No need to make excuses for me."

"Regulus told me about everything, you know," Harry said carefully, watching as Malfoy's pale-complexion turned darker when he blushed. "He told me that you were actually a Chaser. So, I perfectly understand it."

"Well, you're the only one," Malfoy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "No one would believe me if I told them I originally tried out for the Chaser position. They'd think I was lying."

"But if you win the next game against Ravenclaw, which I bet you will, you'll have another chance against me, if I win against Hufflepuff." By that point, Harry noticed that Malfoy was quite comfortable enough to take a seat on the chair beside Harry's bed.

"Of course you'll win against Hufflepuff," Malfoy snorted, rolling his eyes. "Diggory may be a fair flyer, but even I win against him. Obviously, you'll beat him by a thousand points."

"Whoa, take that down a few notches, Malfoy. You're being too nice now. People might start to think you secretly have feelings for me," Harry joked. He laughed when the blond glared at him, glad that he'd managed to make a small grin to appear on Malfoy's face. After all, they were on their way to becoming friends.

"In your dreams, Potter," Malfoy spat, cheekily lifting his feet off the ground before slamming not so gently on Harry's own feet. Crossing his arms together, the young Pureblood continued, rather sadly. "Besides, you should know by now who exactly holds my affections."

Malfoy's words sobered Harry up, and it made the Gryffindor sighed heavily. "She cried when you called her that, you know. Cried for the whole day, she did."

"I know… I mean, if she cried for over an hour when Weasel called her a know-it-all, I could only imagine what she did after I called her that word."

"Believe it or not, I sort of understand why you lashed out that day. But it doesn't mean I forgave you for what you did to her. Hermione's already like a sister to me, and seeing that you just had one yourself, you must understand how angry I actually am at you. You hurt her, Malfoy. I should be downright ballistic."

Whatever reply Malfoy said was lost to Harry's ears because at that moment, he heard the voices again. The same voices in the walls he heard before Mrs Norris and Justin were Petrified. He vaguely heard Malfoy called his name, but Harry waved his hand to silent the other boy, this time determined to find out the source of the voice. The look on his face must have alerted Malfoy because he started to stiffen in his seat as he too looked around the room, probably sort of expecting whatever monster that had unleashed the horrors at school would made an appearance into the room. Both boys jumped about a foot in the air, letting out an identical scream when Dobby the House Elf suddenly popped out of the blue. Trying not to scowl lest it'd urge the Elf to start hurting himself again because he thought he'd upset Harry, the Gryffindor took deep breaths to calm his racing heart beat. This was the second time he saw Dobby, the first time was the last day of his summer, warning him that he better stayed at home because something would try to hurt him if he went for his second year. Harry was about to kindly reprimand Dobby when the Elf noticed Malfoy for the first time, and his huge eyes widened in proportion as he cowered under the bed.

"Young Master Draco!" the Elf squeaked, trembling from top to toe even as he made an awkward boy toward the Slytherin.

"Dobby?" Malfoy uttered, frowning. "What are you doing here? I thought you should be at home."

"Hang on," Harry interrupted before Dobby could answer. "You belong to Malfoy?"

"Well, not exactly," Malfoy explained without looking at Harry, his grey eyes, almost similar to Sirius' and Payne's, squinted at Dobby's cowering figure. "Dobby is my father's personal Elf."

"Dobby is sorry, Master Draco," Dobby said. "Dobby mean no disobedience to the Malfoy family. And Dobby mean no harm to Harry Potter, sir."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, at the same time Malfoy said, "What have you done, Dobby?"

Glancing between both boys, Dobby finally said, "It is Dobby who seal the portal so Mr Potter cannot come through. Dobby hear Master Lucius talk about the Chamber and – "

"And you figure you should warn him because you fear my father is going to do something evil," Malfoy finished in a drawl. Frowning until his eyes turned into slit, the Slytherin said, "Tell me, Dobby; was that you who jinxed the Bludger?"

"Dobby mean no harm," the Elf repeated. "It is better for Mr Potter to leave school when he can."

"Are you crazy?" Harry hissed, losing his patience. "You almost killed me, and you almost got me and Ron expelled!"

"Dobby is sorry! I only want Mister Potter to be safe." As if to prove his point, Dobby reached for Harry's hand and patted it gently. If he hadn't injured his arm, Harry would probably snap Dobby's neck into two. He was that angry.

"Potter, calm down," Malfoy said, eyeing Harry closely, obviously knowing what had crossed the Gryffindor's mind. "The Elf is a bit dumb, but he only means well. If he said that he was trying to help you, then that's exactly what he meant."

"Fine," Harry huffed, rolling his eyes. "But I want you to deal with him, Malfoy."

"Alright… Dobby, promise Potter you'll never try to help him again, okay? If you disobey, I'll tell Father what you've done."

"Thank you, Master Draco," Dobby said with teary eyes, bowing until his nose touched the floor. "Young Master is so kind. Dobby promise Dobby will be a good Elf. Dobby promise Dobby will – "

"Sshh!" Harry and Malfoy hushed in unison, both apparently heard the commotion outside. Voices of their professors were heard and the both of them glanced at each other worriedly. Harry was supposed to be asleep already while Malfoy was supposed to be in his common room.

And Dobby wasn't supposed to be there.

"Malfoy, tell Dobby to go away," Harry said quickly, panicking slightly.

"Dobby," Malfoy said curtly, nodding his head.

"Sir!" the Elf squeaked for the last time, snapping his fingers and disappeared. Harry had already started on pulling the curtains around the bed when Malfoy turned to help him.

"Thanks," Harry grunted, the extra movement he did caused quite the pain to his healing arm. "Now, get on the bed so no one will see your feet."

"I'm not getting onto the bed with you, Potter!"

"Just do it, Malfoy!"

If looks could kill, Harry was sure he'd be dead by the glare the blond set on him. But, thankfully, Malfoy obliged, even if he muttered curses under his breath. He was right on time because just when both boys crossed their feet together, the door to the Hospital Wing slammed opened and the voices they heard entered the room. With wide eyes, they shared a look when they heard that Colin Creevey and Nearly-Headless Nick were Petrified. They both flinched at the sound of the small explosion Colin's camera made when they heard Dumbledore tried to examine it. Both boys listened to the conversation their professors made, Harry's heart stopping slightly at the possibility of the school closing because of all the attacks. It felt like hours when the professors finally left, leaving Harry and Malfoy still remarkably shocked at what they just heard.

"They're going to close the school," Harry muttered. "That's bad. Like, really bad."

"I know," Malfoy said darkly. He looked to be in thought about something before a determined look flashed in his grey eyes, apparently making up his mind about something. "Hey, Potter? Come meet me in that empty room of the three-headed dog was last year, yeah? I'll tell you everything I know about the Chamber of Secrets. But you cannot tell anyone that you know about it from me."

"Okay," Harry agreed. "I'll meet you there during lunch break – where are you going?"

Malfoy had jumped off the bed and was pushing the curtains off his way. Turning around, he actually looked genuinely amused at Harry's question. "I'm going back to my common room, Potter. Pretty sure people would ask all the wrong question if they found me here with you in the morning."

Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Stop joking around, you stupid prat. I asked because I actually worried about your safety if you go alone all the way to the dungeon."

For the first time ever, Malfoy smiled at him. It was a real smile, not a smirk or even a grin. The bloody git really smiled at Harry. Letting out a soft chuckle, he said, "It's really sweet that you're worried about me, Potter. But trust me, I'll be okay."

As Malfoy gave a mock-salute toward him before he exited the room, Harry thought that he nearly believed the blond's words. Nearly was the key word.

If only Harry hadn't watched the prat nearly died last year because of a troll.

Quite contrary to what most would believe, the young Malfoy was surprisingly much to self-sacrificing for his own good.