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Disclaimer: J K Rowling owns the rights and likenesses of all the characters in the Harry Potter series. This story is meant to add to the world she created. Any conflicts are accidental and they yield to her reality (canon).

This is a post-OOTP story during the summer before Harry’s Sixth Year. Very few items of HBP will be used.

Harry Potter And The Summer Of Change

10. Potter Estate

                      With a soft crack, Minerva McGonagall appeared on Privet Drive. The all-business professor strode from the cover of the trees and bushes in the park towards Number Four. She had traveled this very same path years ago only in feline form. ‘Why does it feel like I am returning to the scene of the crime?’ As early as it was, Minerva kept an eye open for any muggles who might be out. She saw none on her trip to the Dursleys. ‘I should have checked up on him. I will never forgive myself. Lily has always been my favorite. I should have taken better care of her son. I can never forgive myself.’

Reaching her destination, she searched for Dung who was supposed to be on duty. She heard muffled snores from near the garden wall she had sat on when Dumbledore had arrived that fateful night. "Good-for-nothing drunk." Minerva shook her head trying to refrain from cursing the hopeless man.

She looked up at the dull-looking house. She never understood how muggles could enjoy living in such boring places. Not a single place on the block had any real character. Everything was the same. Every house had the same appearance and feel to it. ‘How can Harry Potter live here? How could I have left him here with them?’

Ignoring the self-hating thoughts, Minerva advanced towards the door. Hearing a crack behind and to the left of her, she spun around and leveled her wand at the source of the noise. Dung’s snores continued on unaffected. What, or rather who, Minerva saw nearly brought a smile to her face.

Molly Weasley stormed towards the front door. Her apron flapping in her wake and her wand already out; she looked ready to do battle. Clearing her throat, Minerva lowered her wand. Molly continued on unfettered.

"Molly," said Minerva.

Molly stopped and turned to the voice. "Professor? I didn’t see you there." Molly looked around the yard as if she knew she wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.

"Molly, after nearly seven children I believe we are on a first name basis. The twins first year should have proven to you that much."

Molly looked guiltily at the grass beneath her feet. "Minerva, yes, I remember those days. If only things were as bad as a few pranks and some stolen knickers."

"If only," Minerva offered sadly.

Changing the mood, Molly asked a tentative question. "What are you doing here, Minerva?"

Unable to stop her forceful snort, Minerva let it flow into a deep chuckle. "It would appear the same thing as you, Molly." Minerva motioned to the wand in Molly’s hand. "Coming to check up on Harry?"

Molly looked at her wand and sighed mournfully. "In a heartbeat, Minerva. I love the boy as if he was my own. I would protect him with my life if I had to." Taking a breath and speaking with grim determination, "He is my kid. That is all there is to it. He has no one else"

"He has that way about him, doesn’t he?" Minerva asked already knowing the answer. "He got that from his parents. James could infuriate you one minute and charm you the next. If Lily hadn’t captured his eye, the Wizarding world would have had a dangerous rogue on their hands. No women would have been safe. And I know I couldn’t have said no to Lily if she asked me for something. So sweet and lovely."

Minerva stopped and dabbed at her eyes with her hand. "I find myself doing that more often, Molly. Whenever I think about her or increasingly when I think about Harry. He has been through so much. How can you not?"

"I understand, Minerva." Molly moved to her and wrapped a consoling arm around the tall woman’s waist. A few tears fell from Molly’s eyes as well. "They were a family of three. We are a family of nine, well ten. How many of my babies am I going to lose? I didn’t know his parents very well, but I have never heard anything bad from anyone except Severus."

"There is someone who should steer clear of Mr. Potter for the near future," Minerva said with a slight smile. "I will deny it if asked, but Severus had better learn to chose his words more carefully around Harry. I was afraid that Harry was going to cast that spell last night."

"I think he almost did, Minerva. I have never seen Harry that cold. I thought for a minute that he was going to kill Severus."

"Did you see Tonks?" Minerva asked. "I think she half expected Harry to do it. She has become another determined friend of the boy. I think you know all about that condition, am I correct?"

"Ah, I believe I do." Molly nodded her head in affirmation laughing at the thought. "We are a rather pro-Harry household aren’t we? Bill finds him respectable and driven and his friendship with the goblins has only increased Harry’s standing with him. Charlie loves his daring and he bested a dragon no less at fourteen. Percy, well, we won’t mention his ideals. The twins love his disregard for the rules. I know that boy has something to do with their business, but I do not know exactly how much. Ron is his best friend. You know how they are. And Ginny, well, she has had a crush on him since she first heard his story when she was toddler.

"Meeting him in person, not to mention the events of her first year, only made her infatuation worse. I am afraid that she will never get over The-Boy-Who-Lived. Not an easy thing to do for a young woman. Arthur loves him like a son. All this do-to with the Ministry has only made Arthur more appreciative."

"Enough of dodging the matter at hand," Minerva redirected the conversation. "We are here to see if the treatment of Harry is as bad as he has said. What are your plans if it is?"

"I will curse them every way from Sunday and take Harry home where he belongs. What about you?"

"I plan to lecture the muggles and maybe use a little magic and help Harry move in with you. I am glad to see we are in agreement then."

"After you, Minerva."

"Thank you, Molly." Minerva walked the rest of the way to the front door. Molly raised a hand to knock, but Minerva pulled it down raising her wand instead. She unlocked the door and entered the very organized house.

"Good thinking, Minerva. I would have banged on the door until someone opened it."

"If you know what you want, go for it. I learned that from a Slytherin I dated many moons ago. Among other things…" Minerva stopped speaking and tried to regain her composure.

"Minerva?" Molly said barely able to control her own shock. "I would be very interested in hearing about that story."

"I have said too much, Molly. Now, it appears that everyone is asleep. We should go find Harry in case he wakes up from us moving around. His actions during the last two meetings tell me that he will act first then figure things out later. Let us check upstairs…" Minerva swept her arm up the stairs but drifted off when she spotted the cupboard under the stairs with a bolt on it. "Is that the cupboard?"

"I believe so," Molly offered. "The twins came and took him from here before Harry’s second year. They mentioned a cupboard."

The two women opened the cupboard and found dust and cobwebs covering a broken cot. Boxes and other things cluttered up the small space. Initials could be seen carved into the wood on the far wall.

"Those bloody people!" Molly shouted. "How could they?"

"Shush," Minerva said listening for sounds upstairs. "Harry has turned out to be who he is regardless of this. Remember that if you must."

They closed the door to the cupboard and walked up the stairs. Minerva cast Silencing spells on every step before they used it and they made their way to the top floor. Minerva stopped and pointed to the cat flap on the door. "What is this doing here?"

"I believe they used to feed him through that one summer," Molly said sadly. She looked to the usually calm teacher and found her to be far from it.

"They used a cat door to feed Harry?" Minerva looked down the hall and scowled fiercely. "It might be best if I stayed away from the muggles, Molly."

"I won’t do any better, Minerva," Molly said pointing to the row of locks on the outside of the door before them. "They lock him in. How can they do that to Harry, the poor thing? I will kill them, Minerva. I will do it and I don’t care."

"We are getting too emotional about this," Minerva said calming herself again. "Harry is fine. At least we have an idea of what it was like for him. I understand so much more about him now than I did. Shall we talk to Harry now?"

"Yes, I want to hear all about this place and those people. We can hurt them later."

By agreement, the women turned the knob and pushed the door open. They were not prepared for the sight that met them. The messy tuft of hair was easily identifiable, but the brown hair was not. The sheets covered both of the people who were wrapped up in themselves in a very friendly manner.

"Mr. Potter," "Harry," was said at the same time by two different people.

************************************

Bright green eyes shot open and searched out two familiar shapes hovering above the bed. Thoughts raced through Harry’s head, but only one vocalized.

"Fuck," Harry said as he grabbed for his glasses and placed them on his face bringing the room into sharp view. Immediately, he didn’t know which way was better; blurry or in focus. "Uh, um, morning Professor, Mrs. Weasley. How are you doing today?"

"Harry!" Molly shrieked. "What are you doing?"

"Um, I was sleeping, but now I am not," Harry offered lamely.

"Mr. Potter," Minerva stated in her professor tone. "Who is that in bed with you?"

"Um, well, I am not sure I should tell you." Harry looked through the curtain of hair and found Tonks’ eyes shining up at him. She smirked and slowly brought her hand up and brushed the hair away from her face. She smiled meekly at the two women standing over them.

"Who are you?" Molly demanded pointing her wand at Tonks.

Minerva inhaled from shock. "Nymphadora Tonks! Explain yourself!"

"Nymphadora…" Molly said trying to put everything together.

Tonks shifted back to her normal self and smiled up at them again. "Wotcher."

"Tonks!" Shrieked Molly again. "What in the bloody hell is going on here?"

"Tonks, you haven’t grown up one bit have you?" Minerva said in her teacher and authoritative voice.

"Hi Molly," Tonks said brightly. "No, Professor, I haven’t and I don’t think I ever will," she said to Minerva.

"Get out of that bed this instant young lady," Molly yelled.

"Um, well," Harry fumbled. "If you would give us a few minutes, alone, we will speak to you then."

"Why on earth would you need a few minutes?" Molly yelled again.

"Because," Minerva said blushing, pointing at the floor, desk, and Hedwig’s cage. "Their clothes are scattered around the room."

Molly looked around the room and saw all the various articles of clothing. She saw the owl cage and didn’t know what to say about the bra lying across the perch. She saw Hedwig sitting on the back of the desk chair. Hedwig hooted at Molly and gave Harry an evil look.

"Sorry, girl, but you know, things happened and…" Tonks burst into laughter forcing everyone to look at her.

"You are in so much trouble, Harry," Tonks said between laughs.

"Yes he is," Molly yelled again.

"Not from you, but from Hedwig. He is so whipped it is laughable." Hedwig hooted again and turned her gaze to Tonks shutting her up quickly.

"I am not the only one, Nymph," Harry said smirking. "You realized that she owns both of us, right?"

"Well, it could be worse," Tonks admitted looking into Harry’s eyes.

Clearing her throat, Minerva spoke up. "It could be worse?"

"It could be, I guess," Tonks relented, "But I am not sure how much worse it could be. Either way, if you could give us a few minutes to get dressed we can talk things over then."

Molly looked over the pair and saw Harry holding Tonks tightly as if protecting her. Tonks smiled up at her and winked. "You said you found a man?"

"I did," Tonks answered. "It just happens to be Harry. Now, unless you want a full view of us, you might want to leave the room."

"We will be waiting downstairs for our discussion," Minerva said efficiently. She guided a confused and shocked Molly out of the room and down the stairs.

"Well, not exactly how I wanted people to find out about us," Harry stated. "Not the people I wanted to find us either especially not like this."

"But it was funny," Tonks mumbled as she kissed Harry deeply. When they broke the kiss, they started getting dressed.

"Funny or not…" Harry began as the door burst open to reveal a fuming Vernon Dursley.

"What is all the blasted racket," he stopped speaking when he saw Tonks slipping on her shirt. "I knew it. You and your bloody whore." He grabbed Harry by the shoulders and threw him out of the room and into the hallway wall. Harry crumpled to the ground, hard, as Vernon made to grab Tonks.

The noise had caused Minerva and Molly to race back up the stairs. They saw Harry slowly getting to his feet and could hear noise from Harry’s room. Things were getting broken and grunts could be heard.

Tonks jumped out of the room and ran to stand next to Harry. "If you touch him, I will kill you!"

"Where is your stick, bitch?" Vernon roared as he emerged in the doorway wielding the leg to the desk chair. "No stick, no magic. I know that."

"You know nothing, Uncle!" Harry yelled from the floor. He got to his feet and saw Tonks had a cut on her arm. "You’re bleeding!"

"I will do more than that, Boy!" Vernon said advancing on Harry with fury on his face.

Harry’s mood darkened and he felt his hate well up inside of him. Tonks had been hurt and it was going to happen again. He waved his hand and Vernon’s leg shattered with an echoing crunch. The vicious man fell to the ground instantly screaming in pain.

"Look, Uncle, no wand," Harry said venomously as he stalked towards his uncle. Harry Summoned his and Tonks’ wands from the room. He gave Tonks hers and put his in the waist band of his pants since he never had a chance to put on his shirt. "Give me one reason not to kill you."

"Fucking, worthless, brat," Vernon shouted between his grunts of pain.

"Wrong answer," Harry shouted and kicked Vernon in the chest. "I warned you never to insult Tonks again. It goes without saying that you were never to touch her." Harry pulled his wand in a blur and leveled it at his uncle. "Avada…"

"Harry," Tonks said calmly placing her hand on his right arm. "Please do not kill him for me. If you are going to kill him, do it for you and what he has done to you all these years?"

Harry stopped the incantation. A sickly green light remained twisting on his wand waiting for the final word. "You owe your life to Tonks, Vernon. I wanted to kill you. She saved you. Never forget that." Harry took a deep breath. "We are leaving, Tonks."

Harry looked at Vernon closely. He fired a Stunner at Vernon with all the strength and magic he could. The hallway was bathed in a red glow nearly blinding those in it. "Should last a few hours."

Minerva and Molly stood at the top of the steps completely dumbfounded. In the last ten minutes, they had seen Harry in bed with Tonks, heard him thrown into the wall by his uncle, saw him cast wandless magic, nearly kill said uncle, and they felt the strength of Harry’s spells pass over them. Their wands hung limply by their sides in shock.

Turning to Petunia, Harry told her simply what was going to happen. "His leg is shattered and he will be unconscious for awhile. I wish him a very dreadful existence. I wish you goodbye; no more, no less. We are leaving as soon as we get our stuff collected. You had better hope the wards will protect you after I leave or the Death Eaters will torture you, badly, before they ultimately kill you."

Harry pointed his wand at Vernon’s body and swept it down the hall in one fluid motion tossing the man down the hall and out of his way. "Nymph, let’s pack up. We are leaving."

"Got it, Harry." Tonks gave Petunia a sharp look before reentering Harry’s room and started gathering their things. She directed all of their clothes into her work trunk and put the other items into Harry’s. His normal trunk was full of the things he never unpacked from school leaving little room for new things. Molly and Minerva looked into the room but did not enter. They watched as Harry moved about the room gathering up his belongings using magic without hesitation.

When he pulled up the lose floorboard, the women knew that he had always been a prisoner at Privet Drive. Harry carefully placed the items filling the limited room in his school trunk and scanning the room once, then twice, before gathering up Hedwig in her cage.

"We are leaving, girl. No more Dursleys to put up with anymore. You can go where you want and do what you want now. Would you like that?"

Hedwig gave a hoot in agreement. Tonks closed the trunks and shrunk them before placing them in their respective cloaks. She looked for anything that had been overlooked. She cast Summoning charms checking for any forgotten items that were important. She reversed the charm on the bed shrinking it back to its normal broken down state and laughing as the parts of the destroyed chair fell to the floor. She turned and pushed past Minerva and Molly walking down the stairs and spreading their things out in the living room.

Harry gave the room one last passing glance and turned to leave. He stopped when he saw the expressions on the women’s faces. "You are new to this, but this is how my life has been since I can remember. I knew it would come to this, but no one ever listened. Tonks and I have been prepared to leave here since the first week. Now, if you will make it the living room, we can all talk a bit before we leave."

Listening to the direct words Harry gave, Minerva and Molly walked down the stairs still in a state of shock. Harry gave Petunia one last pathetic look before turning away in disgust.

Once all magical people were in the living room, Harry sighed and stretched. Cracks could be heard from his back and neck. "And I woke up in such a good mood, too," Harry said absentmindedly. "Well, you didn’t come here for the show."

Minerva watched Tonks move through the remaining items she had laid out. Slowly, everything was disappearing into one of the trunks. "I am not sure where to start, Harry," she said confused.

"I like the beginning," Harry offered. "How about you start there."

"Well, we came to see if things were as bad as you made them out to be last night. Obviously, it is worse."

"We have our good days and our bad days," Harry said offhandedly.

"And which was this, Harry, dear?" Molly asked.

"It was the last day," Harry said firmly. "I am out of here. I will not stay. You saw what happened and almost happened."

"You are going to be expelled, Harry," Molly cried with worry.

"Nope," Harry answered her concerns. "The only people who know what happened are in this house. If you say nothing, no one else will find out."

"Harry," Minerva started, "it doesn’t work like that."

"Yes, actually, it does," Harry said evenly. "If you can’t keep it quiet, we will be forced to Memory Charm you." Harry drew his wand as did Tonks who had stopped her previous actions. Both women found themselves at the business end of friendly wands which were not so friendly at that moment.

"Harry?" Molly didn’t know what to do. "This is not you. Are you under a spell or something?"

"Imperius doesn’t work on me, Mrs. Weasley," Harry looked to both women. "I want your word, magically binding, that you will not speak of what happened here to anyone."

"If we refuse," Minerva tested.

"We wipe your memories," Harry left no room for debate. "Your choice, but I will tell you that I haven’t practiced the spell before. I might stuff it up and that would bother me since I like both of you."

"I can do it, Harry," Tonks offered without a hint of remorse.

"Tonks?" Molly pleaded. "What have you done to Harry?"

"I did nothing but treat him as an equal which is less than he deserves and more than anyone else has ever done. He is taking control of his life and we just have to accept that. If I can help him, I will. You came here because you care about him. I was here because I care about him too."

"You did more than care, Tonks," Molly accused. "You are too old for him."

"Six years or so isn’t that much," Tonks defended herself. "I am here because Harry wants me here. If he wants me to leave, then I will."

"I want Nymph here, well not here," Harry said waving his wand around the room. "But here with me. I like her and she makes me feel good. I enjoy being with her and she has helped me this summer. Above all, she has been honest with me and right now that means a lot to me. Now, your word or Tonks charms you both."

"I accept," Minerva said shocking Molly at how fast she relented to being forced into the arrangement. "I swear, with all my magic, that I will not speak of today’s events with anyone who does not already know about them." A small shimmer appeared around the firm woman as she finished her words.

"Molly," Tonks prompted.

Not sure what other option she had, she recited the same words. Harry and Tonks stored their wands away once everyone seemed to be agreed. Harry stepped forward and hugged Molly tightly. Once done, he gave Minerva a more formal hug. "Now, what questions did you have?"

"How long have you and Tonks been, intimate?" Molly asked haltingly.

"Since the beginning of summer," Harry said without hesitation. "She has helped me a lot. As you could tell upstairs, I can get a little protective of her."

"Harry," Minerva looked to Tonks and back to Harry. "What spells did you use on your uncle and how did you do it without your wand?"

"Ever efficient," Harry said to himself out loud. "I used the Bone Exploding charm and a Stunner. I seem to have a knack for wandless casting. We discovered that this summer too." Harry smiled at Tonks who returned it warmly.

"How is the Ministry not going to find out?" Minerva continued.

"Can’t answer that, sorry Professor," Harry honestly looked remorseful.

"Where are you going to go, dear?" Molly asked eager and hopeful.

"I am sorry, but not to the Burrow," Harry frowned sadly. "I don’t want you in danger like that. I would love to, but with the Death Eaters and Voldemort out there I can’t risk it."

"Where will you go then?" Molly was becoming hysterical.

"To somewhere I should have gone to years ago. I just found out about it and I can’t wait to see it. Now we must really be getting along." Harry stood up from the trunk he had sat on and helped Tonks up as well. He looked into her eyes and found acceptance and affection. He leaned forward and kissed her quickly. "Thank you, Nymph."

"My pleasure, Harry." She smiled and winked at Minerva and Molly earning her two reproachful stares. Harry fished out his portkey ring and held it out for Tonks to grab onto. He reached out to grab onto Hedwig’s cage.

"This won’t be fun, girl, but please just trust me." Hedwig gave him a questioning look but puffed out her feathers in defiance of any anything bad that could happen. "I will take that as I am ready then."

"Harry, is that a portkey?" Minerva asked.

"Yep."

"The Ministry."

"Has more important things to worry about right now than one portkey being used. I wouldn’t worry about it if I was you. I will be at the Order meetings and all of that. The only thing changing is my home address. Cheers."

Tonks smiled and grabbed onto the ring taking them and their belongings away from the Dursley’s living room.

************************************

"Your address along with your entire attitude, Mr. Potter," Minerva said the empty space in front of her.

"What just happened, Minerva?"

"Molly, we were just forced into an agreement with Harry Potter aided by Nymphadora Tonks. If this is what Harry is going to be like, I doubt the Magical world is ready for it. I know that Albus surely isn’t."

"What can we do?"

"Nothing I can think of. Harry made sure that what happened here would not be spread by us. I only hope he knows what he is doing."

"He was going to kill his uncle, wasn’t he?"

"Yes, he was." Minerva answered. "He isn’t the same frightened little boy who didn’t know the first thing about magic."

"He didn’t even know how to get to the train," Molly reminisced. "I wanted to take him home with me right then and there and teach him everything he missed out on. He was such a sweet boy. He did hug us before he left. He has never initiated hugs before."

"That would be Tonks’ influence. She is much more forward with things like that. This morning was such a flashback to her school days."

"What do you mean?"

"Tonks is not unfamiliar to being caught in someone’s bed. I had caught her a few times while she was in school."

"That hussy is with Harry?"

"Molly, Tonks had a rough time growing up. Her abilities made it nearly impossible for her to find someone who truly cared about her. That fact that she was her real self proves that she cares about Harry more than she let on. Playful as she is, I believe she really cares about him."

"She had better not hurt him or I will hunt her down, mark my words," Molly said vehemently.

Minerva thought seriously about the situation before answering Molly threat. "I think they are good for each other." She felt Molly’s eyes bore into her head. "Both want to be loved for who they are, not what they are. One acts younger than she is and the other acts older than he is. Together, they might be able to be who they really are and find acceptance."

"I accept them just fine."

"Yes, but one level of acceptance is beyond your ability to offer. They seem to have no problem with that one considering the state of his room when we walked in."

The tension slipping away for a moment, Molly laughed at the picture in her head. Clothes everywhere, even in the owl cage. "What about the nasty muggle upstairs?" Molly’s grip on her wand tightened in anger.

Minerva looked at the ceiling and sighed before answering. "He made his bed, let him lie in it."

Molly nodded and smiled. "Care for some tea? Ginny and Ron won’t be up for a few more hours."

"Excellent suggestion, Molly. After you."

They left the house and never looked back.

************************************

Harry and Tonks arrived on a single lane, dirt path. In the distance, a stone and wrought iron gate could be seen. Trees lined the path on both sides providing a very picturesque scene. The wind blew gently and the leaves in the trees rustled slightly.

"Harry," Tonks said nervously. "I have to, a, I have to go, somewhere, not here, somewhere else, now. Right now."

"Nymph," Harry yelled as he jumped towards and grabbed onto Tonks’ arm. "Nymph, it is okay. Just hold on to me. Don’t let go. There is a Repelling charm on the area surrounding the property. That is why you feel the urge to leave."

"It is more than an urge, Harry," Tonks said clearly distressed. "I feel better, but I still don’t want to be here."

"I think it will get worse before it gets better. Just hold on to my hand until I figure out how to protect you from the ward. My dad’s letter mentioned that there should be a journal on it inside the house."

"What house, Harry?" Tonks’ distress seemed to remain constant, but she was visibly weakening every minute.

"Let’s get you inside the grounds at least." Harry led the way after giving Tonks Hedwig’s cage and levitating their stuff ahead of them. They walked, or in Tonks’ case, was dragged up the lane. Reaching the gate, Harry reached out and touched the metal lock. With a shimmer, the gate opened revealing lush grounds and a worn cobblestone road.

Harry followed the road to a roundabout nestled in front of an elegant home. In the center of the roundabout was a fountain with water shooting out of a griffin’s mouth. Harry stopped walking and stood in place. He felt odd, not confused but settled. Something seemed right, but he didn’t know what it was. All he could think was that he was, home. He felt like he was home.

"I am home." Harry wore a lost look about his face as he stared in wonder. A faint smile grew to replace the lost appearance. "I am home. I don’t know how, but I am home."

The house seemed to be a collection of various pieces added on to each other over time. The dominant feature of the manor was a stone tower that stood at least five levels above the ground. The battlements atop the tower had a worn but well-kept look about them. Closer to the ground and on the left side of the structure was a slightly aged, modest, two story addition composed of stone and timber. While the tower looked to be at least nine hundred years old, the addition couldn’t be more than four hundred years old.

On the right side of the tower, a much newer addition had been added. To an untrained eye, it couldn’t have been older than a hundred years, but it matched the other pieces very well while giving the entire structure an overall updated look. Off of the newest addition, Harry saw a row of garage doors slightly hidden by a copse of bushes. The main entrance was in the newest addition and Harry started walking towards it leaving their belongings behind and dragging Tonks and Hedwig forward.

Advancing on the home, Harry could see a pair of solid oak doors with iron accents blocked entrance to the home. On either side of the doorway hung aged and blackened oil lamps. Above the doors was a magnificent timbered arch with the words, "Potter Estate" carved ornately into the wood. Harry rounded the sputtering fountain dragging Tonks behind him with an irritated Hedwig bouncing along in her cage. Harry was pulled by an unseen force to the building. He couldn’t think of anything but getting into the house.

A screech from nearby echoed across the grounds reverberating off some old-growth trees on the southern edge of the property. Harry stopped suddenly at the noise leaving Tonks to run into him and Hedwig made an unhappy sound from being knocked into the side of the cage. Harry looked in the direction the sound came from to find a massive griffin running towards them. Harry put himself between the animal and Tonks. He drew his wand and readied for an attack.

"Tonks, is that Vincent?" Harry asked nearly panicking.

"I don’t think so. Vincent is smaller isn’t he?"

The griffin ran right up to Harry and stopped right before running him over. The creature screeched again hurting Harry’s ears. He didn’t know what to do so he waited with a shield spell on his lips and another in his mind. The massive animal clawed at the ground viciously sending sod and dirt flying behind it. It sounded again and Harry could swear that the glass in the windows above him rattled.

Harry and Tonks slowly retreated from the doorway backing away from the clearly irritated creature. The main doors opened and a house elf scurried out of them. The elf wore a neatly pressed, plain dark grey dress. The elf looked well fed and very sure of itself as it advanced on the griffin which towered over it.

"What you making noises for, Jules?" Snapped the elf. "Stupid griffin yelling ‘bout everything. You lucky the funny muggles can’t…hear…you…" The elf drifted off as she turned to see Harry holding his wand at the ready and Tonks fighting both herself and Harry to escape. "Master James?" the elf asked but stopped almost as soon as the words left her hopeful lips. "Master Harry!" The elf screamed and ran to Harry almost knocking him over when she impacted his legs.

The elf began to weep and held on to Harry’s legs as tightly as she could mumbling about Master’s Harry and James and Mistress Lily. Harry would have laughed had the griffin not followed the elf and been staring him down at that very second.

"Um," Harry said not sure how to address the blubbering elf, "this is great and all, but the griffin looks like it wants to kill me. Could you, um, fix that, please?"

The elf looked up at Harry and gave a watery smile. "Master Harry is as nice as Mistress Lily always was." She turned to the griffin but didn’t let go of Harry. "Jules, be nice. This is Master Harry. You stop making noises." The elf turned back to Harry and held on to him again.

Jules looked at the elf and back up at Harry. She sniffed at Harry a few times with each time getting more forceful. After a series of sniffs, the griffin visibly relaxed and lowered to the grass. It nudged Harry with its beak seeking some attention. Harry did the only thing he could and petted it as he had done with Vincent.

"How many griffins do we have?" Harry asked under his breath.

"We is having two griffins, Master Harry," the excited elf announced loudly. "Vincent is watching the chamber and Jules is watching here. I is so happy you is returning Master Harry. I is being so lonely with only Jules and Paul to talk to. They is not very talking. Mistress Lily loved to talk."

"I don’t mean to be rude, but my friend is not keyed into the wards so she is having a terrible time. Do you think you could get me the journal on the house, please?"

Tonks still fought against the wards and Harry had a nasty bruise forming from her ever-tightening grip. Jules seemed somewhat pacified from Harry’s attention and had settled near the front door blocking entrance to the home. The elf looked up at Harry and smiled widely before letting go and snapping her fingers, disappearing from the grounds.

Harry turned to Tonks and helped her to a sitting position before she collapsed. Harry pulled her shivering body to him and held her tightly as she moaned slightly from the effects of the ward. The elf reappeared next to him bouncing on her feet holding out an old worn book. Harry grabbed it with his right hand and tipped it open. He quickly looked at each page as he flipped through them searching for the right one.

He found the necessary information about halfway through the book. He scanned the process needed and started saying the words while moving his wand over Tonks. Once he finished, Tonks stopped shaking badly and sort of drifted off to sleep in his arms. "Nymph?" Harry asked worriedly. He felt her head and shook her shoulders lightly.

"Your friend be fine in awhile, Master Harry," the elf said still jumping in place.

Harry kissed her head and stood up bringing Tonks with him. He lifted her into his arms and she snuggled into him. "Um, I don’t know your name, but could you show me a comfortable place to put her."

"Yes, Master Harry," the elf said bowing low and sweeping her arm towards the open doors behind Jules. "Jules, you move for Master Harry and his friend." Jules stood slowly as Harry approached and sniffed him and Tonks before moving out of the way allowing entry.

The elf led them through the doorway and into a granite-tiled foyer. The stone shined from the light coming in the door and from the medieval looking chandelier hanging above them. A dark wooden staircase to their right ascended to the next level opening into an ornate hallway that disappeared from view as Harry continued to follow the elf.

She led them from the foyer through tall double doors into a deep room with a few couches and a massive fireplace that would be at home in Hogwarts. Harry carefully settled Tonks onto the softest looking couch. He laid her head on a fluffy pillow the elf brought to him at just the right time. Tonks’ head slowly sunk into the pillow and as she curled up slightly.

Harry pulled a folded blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over Tonks tucking her in with it. He smoothed it over her body and brushed the hair off of her normal face. The intimate gesture led Harry to kiss her lightly on the forehead before standing and looking at the elf waiting not-so patiently for him.

"Um, hi," Harry said nervously. "I am Harry and please call me Harry. I am not fond of ‘master’ or any other formalities. Just Harry is fine."

"Harry is so much like Mistress Lily," the elf replied looking reminiscent. "Mistress wouldn’t let Tiki call her Mistress no matter how much Tiki asked to. Master James always laughed at Mistress and Tiki."

"Okay, so you are Tiki?" Harry asked trying to get all the names correct.

"I is Tiki, Harry, sir."

"No sirs, either. Just call me Harry. First off, how long will Nymph be like this?"

"Nymph will be asleep for an hour maybe more."

"Alright, now if my mum wouldn’t let you call her Mistress before, why can you call her it now?"

"Mistress Lily never ordered Tiki not to call her Mistress after she died. I choose to call her Mistress now."

Harry smiled sadly at the reverent mentioning of his mum. "I don’t remember her. Tiki, could you tell me about her, stories or really anything some time?"

"Tiki be happy to, Harry. What would Harry like to hear?"

"Right now," Harry said sitting down in front of Tonks and rubbing her shoulder. "I would like to hear about this place and who Paul is."

"Paul is First Elf. Paul served Master James’ father. Master James never took personal elf so Paul still First Elf. I Mistress Lily’s elf. I play with baby Harry when Mistress need time for things. Baby Harry like me." Tiki smiled a wide smile at Harry as she told the story. "Paul and I stay here when Master and Mistress left. Tiki never saw Mistress again until after ‘it’ happen. Tiki cry for month. Paul never been same."

Harry breathed deeply at those words. "What do you know about that night? I need to know."

"Paul and Tiki know something bad happen. We feel when happen. We get to ‘hideaway’ and Dumblydore be there with big man. Dumblydore take baby Harry and give to big man. We not allowed to visit baby Harry. Tiki cry. Paul and Tiki bring Master and Mistress here and bury Master and Mistress. Tiki never cry so bad."

"They are here?" Harry asked both hesitant and unable to contain himself. "Where did you bury them?"

"Master and Mistress bury in family grave. Grave in back near stables where Jules sleeps."

Harry closed his eyes and took in deep breaths while he thought over the idea of visiting his parents’ graves. "Thank you for doing that, Tiki." Harry patted Tiki’s arm before looking at Tonks who still slept quietly.

As the morning continued until nearly lunchtime, Tiki told Harry about his parents and what life was like at Potter Estate. Harry learned that his first birthday party was a large affair involving many people at another location they used for events where non-family members would attend. Tiki had described an intense battle with baby Harry concerning accidental magic and the cake. By the end, the cake ultimately lost the fight and Tiki had to change her dress.

Harry found out that the Potter’s left the Estate to protect it from further probing by Voldemort and the Death Eaters. The Estate had been kept secret since the Middle Ages and James did not want to be the Potter to expose it. The cottage that was destroyed that fateful night had been used as a local presence in the nearby community. The Fidelius Charm had been an idea of Dumbledore’s to hide the Potters.

Tiki told Harry about the night she brought Lily back to Potter Estate for the last time. The poor elf had to pause multiple times to regain control of herself. Harry finally stopped the retelling by giving the elf a hug. Harry didn’t know why he had to hear the story, but he couldn’t force Tiki to relive the experience since it was so traumatizing for her.

As he consoled Tiki, Harry looked around the room finding sun shining through the windows lighting the hardwood floors and the painted ceiling. The dark red drapes nearly glowed from the sunlight and faint specs of dust floating in the air were illuminated as they slowly drifted to the floor. Regardless of the circumstances, Harry felt content and at peace with himself.

A tremor in the couch caused Harry to turn to Tonks who was staring up at him with her normal, brilliant eyes. "Nymph, this is Tiki. She was my mum’s assistant."

Tonks smiled at Tiki, "My name is Tonks. Please do not call me Nymph or any other variation thereof. Only Harry gets to call me anything other than Tonks."

"Mistress Tonks, Tiki will be happy to serve you as friend of Harry."

"No Mistress, please, just Tonks." Tonks changed her appearance to her usual spiky-haired auror look.

"Oh, Tonks can be different people?" Tiki squealed bouncing in front of the couch. "This most fun. Tiki not know people who do this."

A gruff voice from the doorway broke the moment, "What you yelling about, Tiki?" An old and wrinkled elf pattered into the room. He wore a simple dark grey jacket buttoned once. When he saw Harry sitting on the couch, his eyes widened. "Master James?" The elf questioned but seemed to know that wasn’t correct.

"It Harry, Paul. Harry come back to us. Tiki so happy."

"Master Harry, sir," Paul said bowing low nearing touching his nose to the floor.

"It is just Harry, Paul, pleasure to meet you, again," Harry said respectfully.

"Not him too," Paul commented under his breath. "What does Master Harry wish of Paul?"

"It is just Harry, Paul. I am not your master. I am just Harry."

"Master Harry, Paul has been through this with Mistress Lily. If Mistress Lily could not change Paul, how can you?" Paul looked determined but quite neutral at the same time.

"What did you call my father?"

"Master James."

"Did he ask you not to call him Master?"

"Only when Mistress Lily was in room. When she leave, Master James would reverse the order."

"Master James like making Mistress Lily mad at him," Tiki added with a firm head nod.

"Sounds like something Ron and Hermione would do to get each other worked up," Harry said under his breath but Tonks heard him. "Well, I order you not to call me Master Harry. Harry is fine. Tiki has the same orders."

"And I am Tonks."

"Harry can order me to call him, Harry, but you can not, Mistress Tonks." Paul seemed very sure of himself when he informed them of his position.

"You are to call her Tonks, Paul," Harry provided the necessary authority. "Please follow her requests as you would mine. She will be staying here either way so let’s fine a way to make this work out, okay?"

"As you wish, Harry," Paul bowed in agreement.

Harry groaned quietly at the bow, but let it pass unmentioned. The older elf seemed to be much more set in his ways than Tiki. Harry watched Paul wonder around the room looking slightly lost and out of place. Harry could see similarities between Paul and Kreacher. After some small talk, Paul excused himself to return to his duties outside. Tiki explained that she took care of the house and Paul handled the grounds. Harry asked how things had been going over the years. Tiki informed him that with Paul getting older, they were at the near limit of their abilities keeping the Estate at a respectable level of cleanliness.

Harry told them he might know of another elf that could help out. Tiki was quite pleased to hear that until she noticed the dust floating in the air near the window. The last Harry saw of Tiki that morning was her running out of the newly cleaned living room yelling at the dust to go away.

Tonks pulled Harry into an embrace and kissed him deeply. "Well, you have a home now, Harry. What are you going to do with it?"

"I am going to live in it, Nymph. I am going to simply live in it. This is where I was meant to live. I was supposed to stay here if anything had happened to them. I feel…I don’t know, I feel at peace here. I belong here. It is big and old and empty, but I belong here. Maybe that is why I liked Hogwarts so much at night. It is a lot like this place. It has the same feel to it."

"I know what you mean, Harry. It has a great feel to it, but more than that, you haven’t stopped smiling since I woke up. That was a great nap I had. I never want to go through that ward again though. My bones ached from it. Now, what are the plans?"

"We should probably get the rest of your things before someone notices I am gone. Otherwise, they will stalk you until they find me. Do you know how to get back here now that you are keyed into the wards?"

"I think I know how to get back here now," Tonks thought for a few minutes. Her hair changed from pink, to red, to purple, to black as she thought. "Yeah, I know how to get here again. It isn’t easy figuring it out though. Those wards make it nearly impossible to remember the location."

"And you are permitted to know them too. I need to read the journal on them so I can figure them out before I leave. I can’t rely on a portkey to get here. I need to know the coordinates by heart so I can Apparate."

"We can explore the house when I get back then?" Tonks asked.

"Definitely, Nymph."

"Well, cheers then." Tonks kissed Harry on the lips giving him a little tongue in the process before searching for her way to the front door.

A squeal and a crack let Harry know that Jules was still outside and waiting for visitors. He grabbed the book and went outside finding Jules patiently waiting for Tonks to return. A glint in his eyes told Harry it wasn’t going to be a pleasant meeting.

"Jules, you will be nice to Tonks. Do you understand?"

Jules looked up before trotting over to Harry and sniffing. Satisfied, she laid down behind Harry and in front of the door. Seeing a good place to wait for Tonks to return, Harry sat down and used Jules as a backrest. Opening the book, Harry started to read about the Estate and the protective magic surrounding it. In minutes, Harry decided to focus on the basics and worry about the average stuff later.

"Another Hermione project I think."

************************************

Tonks appeared in her flat and quickly moved to the bedroom gathering everything she could with a wave of her wand. The corner of the room quickly filled with clothes and other small belongings she planned to take with her. She hesitated over one of her drawers before deciding it was a good idea.

Ten minutes later, Tonks had her clothes shrunken and stuffed in a bag. She left the bedroom but heard a noise come from the living room. Setting the bag down quickly, Tonks tossed a spell into the room and moved to the far wall waiting for the intruder to reveal himself. A gruff laugh told her what she needed to know.

"Moody, what in the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Keeping tabs on you since that’s the best chance I have of finding Potter," came the reply from a slowly materializing shape.

"Whatever do you mean?" Tonks asked moving to the kitchen to ensure that any food left around was disposed of.

"I know the boy isn’t at the house. Funny that I choose today to see if things are really as bad as he said and what do I find?"

"Not sure, what did you find?" Tonks noticed that Moody didn’t have his wand out so she knew that she had a chance to get away if she needed to.

"I found a rather large muggle, unconscious and with a shattered leg, another nearly hysterical muggle running around the house, and finally a really confused fat one blankly watching the telly trying to ignore everything else."

"He is always blankly watching the telly, nothing new there."

"Tonks, what did you do to the muggle? I had to revive him three times before he came around. Then, I had to Silence him to hear myself think. She was no help. I ask again, what did you do to the muggle?"

Tonks thought it over and decided it was safe to answer honestly. "I did nothing, Moody. Now, if you don’t mind, I have somewhere to be right now." Tonks gathered her bag and dropped the picture from the hallway into it before closing it up.

"Where are you going, Tonks?"

"Like I said, somewhere."

"Tonks," Moody growled drawing his wand only to be met with another. "Where is Potter."

"Harry is where he wants to be. He is where he should have been from the beginning. Now, I am invited to stay there with him and I am going to do just that one way or another."

Moody sighed and lowered his wand. "Fiery and all determination. Just like when you started at the academy. Where is he, Tonks?"

"I will not tell you, and even if I could, I wouldn’t. You know, he will come looking for me if I don’t make it back soon."

"And why would that scare me?"

"The backyard only worse," Tonks hinted with a smirk. "If you thought that was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. He is better than I am, Moody. You know I am no slouch, but compared to him, I am nothing."

Moody sighed again. "That boy is going to cause so many problems for us."

"He will only cause problems if you aren’t willing to work with him. He will not be controlled. You know as well as I do that he is not the type to be used and controlled. It isn’t his personality nor is it his way. If a side must be chosen amongst the good, I will choose his. Do not make me chose sides."

"We do not need factions fighting the Dark Lord. That will only make us weaker and easier to kill off. Where is he, Tonks? If for no other reason than to easy my mind."

"Can’t say, Moody. You are not responsible for Harry. He is responsible for himself and anything else he wishes to be. Don’t make his life harder."

Tonks stepped back and smiled sadly at Moody. "Harry is his own person, Alastor. Treat him that way and you will earn more of his respect. Don’t waste your time looking for him. Only one person has ever found a Potter when they didn’t want to be found and he had inside help. You won’t find inside help here."

Tonks nodded a goodbye and Disapparated with a soft crack reappearing near the park on Privet Drive. Tonks moved a few feet away before Disapparating again and appearing near the Shrieking Shack. She went to other side of the structure before Disapparating again to Potter Estate.

Tonks planned to appear in the front yard, but felt a solid force push her outside of the grounds depositing her in the same place where the portkey took her and Harry to earlier in the day. She didn’t feel the same level of urging to leave the area, but Tonks still felt it faintly in the back of her mind.

Hurrying along Tonks moved up the path and came to the gate. She pushed on it and found that it opened slowly for her. Once inside the gate, the urging to leave lessened before disappearing. Tonks saw Jules sitting in front of the door along with Harry. Reaching Harry, Tonks smiled at him receiving the same in return.

************************************

Harry looked up to see Tonks standing over him holding a rather full looking bag. He smiled at her and stood up patting Jules on the head. "Nymph, did you feel the wards at all?"

"It forced me outside of the grounds and I felt the Repelling ward, but it was a lot less than before."

"Good, that is how it is supposed to work according to the book. Since you don’t have Potter blood in you, you will always feel the ward outside of the property and you can’t Apparate inside the grounds. I gave up trying to figure out how they work and just tried to learn how to use them. I swear they are the most confusing things I have ever read."

"Warding is a specialty most never grasp nor even try. I know little about them other than Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey wards. I only know those from the academy. Oh, speaking of, Moody knows you are gone. He was in my flat waiting to find out where you are. I told him I couldn’t tell him and I left."

"How did he take it?"

"Better than I expected but not all that surprising. So, where do we start the tour?"

"Well, Nymph, how about the first floor and we work our way up from there?"

"Excellent, lead the way, Master Harry."

"Nymphadora," Harry said warningly. "Your cheek will only get you into trouble. I might let Jules have a go at you if you continue to be unpleasant."

Tonks smirked and on her tiptoes pulled Harry’s head down to her level. "I would rather you have a go at me, Harry. That sounds a lot more enjoyable to me." Tonks grabbed his bum before she picked up her bag and started around Jules who remained lying on the ground.

"Minx!"

"No, Tonks, but I will forgive your mistake just this once."

"Tease then," Harry called after her before catching up and twirling her around in the air. "You may get what you want if you aren’t careful."

"Threat or a promise, Harry," Tonks looked hungrily into Harry’s eyes.

"Both," Harry replied slowly knowing he was making a deal with a she-devil. He wasn’t disappointed by Tonks’ reaction to his words. She smirked and licked her lips before walking into the house swaying her bum most noticeably. "I am in trouble."

The tour revealed the living room and foyer they had already seen. The ornate dining hall, immediately off the living room, shimmered from all the crystal glassware and golden plates and goblets set about the long table. Harry counted twenty places arranged on the table which could have been expanded to hold another six people. The room was bright and overly clean compared to what Harry had come to expect from similar Hogwarts’ furnishings.

Next, they found the kitchen which looked to be a miniature version of Hogwarts’ kitchen. Tiki found them "messing about" the kitchen and quickly ushered them back into the hallway as nicely as she could. Tonks laughed as Harry tried to explain that they were just looking around, but the elf refused to believe it. She kept saying that James and Sirius always said the same things right before something exploded or a disaster occurred.

Tonks took pity on Harry and led him away from the kitchen and found a stairwell leading to the basement. They followed it down the circular stone steps and came to a wine cellar that had to have at least a couple thousand bottles of wine and other liquor. They found a storage room filled with numerous things that Harry didn’t bother to explore.

Back on the main level next to the cellar door, Harry opened a door that opened into a long garage filled with classic to newer automobiles. Harry walked down the line of autos reading and recognizing the names. Aston Martin was the label on most of the autos varying in styles and ages. Harry recognized one of the designs as something he had seen on the telly one night when the Dursleys were too busy to shoo him away.

Leaving the garage, Harry and Tonks found loo that looked rather updated. Modern fixtures and plumbing proved that the home was anything but outdated. Harry never really noticed as they moved from the old parts to the newer ones. Everything seemed put together seamlessly. Ascending the stairs, Harry looked ahead to the elegant hallway extending past several rooms and turning left into another area of the home.

The first set of doors opened into bedrooms of normal size and décor. As they reached the end of the hallway, Harry saw three rooms with much fancier doors to them. The first one led to a nursery decorated with Quidditch scenes on the walls and various Quidditch-themed items around the room. Harry sat down heavily on an ancient rocking chair next to a crib. The crib was made and awaited a baby to be laid in it.

Harry took a few deep breaths as he took in everything. He saw a few stuffed animals arranged in the crib. A black dog, a wolf, a stag, and a rat were in each corner waiting for someone to play with them. With a shaky hand, Harry pulled the stag out of the bed and held it carefully in his hands. One of the antlers had been chewed on and it looked frayed. The fur appeared to be matted in places and the tail looked to be about ready to fall off.

A comforting hand found its way to Harry’s shoulder and a warm body pressed against his side. "I think you did that, Harry. I can just see you chewing on it. Go on, give it a try." Tonks was playfully while giving Harry support as he assimilated what was very obviously his room before they left.

Harry cradled the stag in his left arm as he touched each of the other animals in turn. The rat got the least amount of time while the dog got the most second only to the stag. Under the pillow, Harry found a griffin which looked a lot like Jules and matched her coloring perfectly.

"Mistress Lily like stuffed Jules best," said Tiki from the doorway. "Mistress always try to get baby Harry to play with it most, but stuffed James always win. Mistress never give up."

"Tiki, have you kept this room as it was then?" Harry asked.

"Tiki keep baby Harry room same. Paul never come here."

Harry let a small tear slide down his cheek as he hugged the stag tightly. He picked up the griffin and held it for a bit before giving it to Tonks to hold on to. "Present to you, Nymph. Keep it please."

"Harry, this is yours. I can’t keep it." Harry met her eyes and she relented instantly. "Whenever you want it back, just ask."

They left the room closing the door softly. They shared a hug in the hallway before opening the door across the way and founding a large bedroom with a massive four poster bed. The rest of the room gave off an aura of sophistication and elegance.

"Master and Mistress Potter’s room," Tiki said. "I never meet Master and Mistress, but Paul miss Master and Mistress. Paul stay here at night in closet. He want to be close to Master and Mistress."

"I thought my dad dying caused Paul to become like he is."

"Master James make Paul more bad."

"Harry, most elves only lose one or two masters during their life," Tonks said saving Tiki from describing the situation. "Paul has lost about four so far. I doubt he knows what to do right now."

"I see Kreacher when I look at him," Harry said.

"That demented painting made Kreacher as bad as he was, but he would have been worse than Paul. At least Paul was treated well."

"Can elves retire?"

"Paul no retire," Tiki said firmly.

"Well, can he do less around here? I mean, I think I could get another elf to help out and pick up the slack. Actually, I am sure he would jump at the chance to help out knowing him."

"Paul need some help, that all," Tiki explained.

"I will see if he can help us out then, Tiki. I only want to help Paul out before he really loses it."

The last door opened into the largest room on the floor. Vibrant Gryffindor colors dominated the room. The poster bed was as large as the previous in the other room, but it appeared more subdued. The furniture complimented the décor and the lighting made everything jump out. A walk in closet could be found next to a tall dresser. Tiki began moving the clothes into a pile using magic and her hands.

"What are you doing, Tiki?"

"I is making room ready for Harry and Tonks. Harry need room for things."

Harry was cut off by Tonks hugging him. "You can’t leave everything the same, Harry. It isn’t going to make them come back. This is your place and the only way to make it truly yours is to live in it. Let Tiki do her thing. All the stuff can be moved into the other room."

Harry accepted the idea Tonks offered. Returning the hug, Harry held Tonks tightly as he watched Tiki clean out all of the clothing in the room. When she finished, Harry told her where their clothes were. Harry and Tonks continued to search the room and found the attached bathroom to be even more modern than the downstairs one. By Harry’s count, the house had at least four bathrooms and he wasn’t done yet.

A door near the closet led to the nursery which Tonks explained in graphic detail. When she finished, Harry wasn’t sure how parents survived having kids. Thoughts of the number of sleepless nights the Weasleys went through nearly caused Harry to worry about their sanity after the twins. He doubted anyone would willingly risk having another child after having twins.

Tonks broke his thoughts by dragging him into the hallway again and following the left hand turn into a wide circular room with stairs curving up the far wall. Books lined the walls and Harry thought of Hermione running around barely able to contain herself. In the center of the room a couch and a collection of chairs sat with a few tables around them.

They took the stairs up and found a room that looked like a training room of sorts. Swords decorated the walls along with suits of armor, shields, and other medieval relics. A few dragonhide cloaks hung from a rack waiting to be used. A diagram had been painted on the floor with numbers and lines.

Harry went to the next floor and saw a table with a model showing the Estate, the village, and the nearby area. Harry was intrigued and started poking at it with his wand. The model came to life and numerous dots appeared listing names. Harry could only think that it was the predecessor to the Marauder’s Map. The dots moved and Harry wanted to know how to zoom in and out. Tonks found a thin book hidden in a drawer in the table.

After a few minutes of scanning, Tonks told Harry how to zoom in and out. Very soon, Harry was looking at the Estate grounds and building. He saw Jules still sitting in front of the door and Paul moving about the grounds disappearing from one place and reappearing in another. Tiki was moving around the master bedroom obviously putting clothes away. It also showed Harry and Tonks. Harry had a title of ‘Lord’ before his name leading him to look in the book for an answer as to why.

He found his answer near the back under Labels and Identification. It said that the last Potter heir always held the title of Lord as was custom from centuries ago. There was no way to change it no matter how much Harry wanted to. Tonks only laughed at his frustration earning her a vicious glare.

"Tough, Harry, sorry, Lord Potter if you will."

"Nymphadora, I swear, do not call me that…"

"Or what?" Tonks moved in front of him and pressed her chest to his. His anger lessened as she increased her body contact with him. "What will you do, Lord Potter?"

"This," Harry said as he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder and smacked her bum. A squeal escaped her lips followed by a laugh. Harry bounced a few times before turning off the map and continuing up the stairs to the last level.

The room was empty except for a table near the far wall and a row of rather large cubby holes. Hedwig was settled in the largest spot with her head under her wing. Harry smiled at his sleeping friend before looking around the room. A ladder in the center led to the roof through a trapdoor in the ceiling. Harry kept turning around in circles taking in the view from the windows that lined the walls. He could see the entire grounds and a stream that seemed to run along one side of the property.

A tap on his bum reminded Harry that he had Tonks over his shoulder. "As much fun as this is, the turning is beginning to make me nauseous. Could you let me down and find another way to punish me please?"

Harry set Tonks on her own feet only to catch her when she teetered to the side. He held her up as she settled her stomach. "Let’s avoid that in the future if we can. I am not sure if I could stop a repeat attempt."

"Is that the spinning or the over-the-shoulder bit?"

"The spinning around the room upside-down part, the over-the-shoulder part was fun actually. I see Hedwig found her home."

Hedwig moved slightly and cracked open one eye long enough to confirm who was in the room before returning to her slumber. Harry walked over and stroked her feathers lightly looking out the nearby window. The fact that it was his home, the whole thing, completely hit him at that moment. His smile grew as he watched the sun moving closer to the horizon in the west.

Tonks wrapped her arm around his back and curled into him. "What are you thinking?"

"It is all mine. It has been all mine for years. I have a home now. Whether or not it is empty, it’s still mine. Up until now, everything that was mine could fit into a trunk with room to spare. I never had a place before. The Dursleys always made sure that I never got too comfortable in my cupboard. The room was hardly a place you would want to stay. Now, look at all this."

"It is yours, Harry. Yours to hide in, share with, or escape to."

Harry finished looking out the windows and pulled Tonks to the stairs. He led her all the way to the foyer before saying anything. "I have to pick up the bike from the Dursleys and stop by Hogwarts. Tiki and Paul need help here and I think I can get them some. Do you want to come with?"

"Of course, Harry." Tonks gave him a kiss and checked for her wand. "Ready when you are."

Harry grabbed on to Tonks’ hand and Apparated back to Privet Drive long enough to grab his bike and portkey it back to the Estate. They found themselves in Hogsmeade standing behind Honeydukes. "Follow me, Nymph."

Harry led her into Honeydukes and past an empty counter. He took her into the cellar and through the tunnel. Tonks never asked a single question, but she seemed close a few times as Harry maneuvered his way into Hogwarts and ended up in the third floor corridor.

"Harry, how many times have you done this?"

"Broke into Hogwarts? None that I can think of. Broke out of Hogwarts, a few times I guess. Some times just needed doing so I did them, like now. Come on, it is a ways to the kitchens from here."

Harry followed the familiar path to the kitchen missing all the normal hang ups and problems that would commonly catch an inexperienced student. Tonks watched Harry move about the school with practiced ease. He tickled the pear, not missing a beat, and entered the kitchen finding a few elves moving about getting ready for dinner.

Once he was seen, many more elves appeared from places all over. Soon Harry had one hand full of cookies and the other carrying a basket of assorted food. Tonks had gratefully accepted a cuppa and found herself inundated by hopeful elves wishing to feed her.

"Um, thank you, all of you, but could I speak with Dobby please?"

One elf bowed and popped away only to be replaced by a blur of an elf who tackled Harry at the knees.

"Harry Potter, sir, yous is visiting poor Dobby and during the summer like Dobby did Harry Potter, sir."

"Yes, I am Dobby, but I have a question to ask you. Would you be willing to come to my house and help the other elves who are there? They need some help with us staying there now and I thought of you." Dobby grabbed his ears and his mouth dropped opened. "I can pay you if you are worried about that and you can have days off if you want…"

"Harry Potter, sir, wants Dobby to be his house elf? Dobby accepts without any pay and no days off. Dobby will be the bestest house elf Harry Potter has."

Harry watched Dobby nod causing his ears to flap like a bird trying to take off for the first time. "First thing, though, is you can call me Harry. No sirs, or Masters, or any other title. Just Harry is fine."

Dobby beamed at him before turning around and scurrying off into the depths of the kitchen. He returned carrying a basket with needles sticking out and yarn trailing behind him as he hurried to his new master. "Dobby is ready, Harry Pot… Harry."

"Good catch, Dobby. This is Tonks. She will be living with us. Treat her as you would me."

"Oh, you can treat me with less honour than you do Harry, thanks," Tonks added quickly seeing the elf bouncing on his feet. "I am just Tonks."

"No friend of Harry deserves less than full honours, Tonksie."

"Tonks, please only Tonks."

"Dobby will try, Tonks."

************************************

The return trip home almost ended prematurely. Dobby, not being used to sneaking around Hogwarts while following others, was almost caught by a rather disgruntled Snape and nearly give away Harry and Tonks in the process. Harry thought Snape looked anxious about something and his mood seemed even darker than normal.

The greasy professor stalked down the hallway heading towards the entrance hall. Just as Snape rounded the corner, Harry thought he saw him grimace. Grabbing a nearly sobbing Dobby by the arm, Harry pulled the weepy elf along their escape path. Once they were out of ear shot of any of the castle inhabitants, Harry told Dobby not to worry about what almost happened. The constant assurances from Harry took them all the way to Honeydukes cellar.

Harry pulled out the portkey ring and directed it home. For the first time in his life, Harry could remember wanting to go somewhere other than Hogwarts and calling it home. Holding the enchanted item out, his companions grabbed on and they were deposited outside the grounds again. It took both Tonks and Harry to wrestle the poor elf onto the grounds as it seemed Dobby was more strongly affected by the wards than Tonks had been.

Once they were inside, Tiki helped hold Dobby down while Harry relieved him of the overpowering urge to flee. Within minutes, Dobby was bouncing like his old self awaiting orders from Harry. Tiki remembered that Harry hadn’t eaten since he had gotten to Potter Estate leaving Dobby in a near fit until Tonks Summoned the basket of goodies the Hogwarts’ elves had given them.

The dining room was used for a quick meal and Harry had told Tiki and Dobby to join them while they ate. Once the remains had been cleared, Tiki offered to show Dobby around the property after Tonks had spoken to her for a short time. Suspicious, Harry asked Tonks what was going on.

"What ever do you mean, Harry?"

"You are up to something and I think I deserve to know, Nymphadora."

"You do, do you? Well, I was wondering where I was going to sleep. It is quite late and we were woken up too early for my tastes."

"Um, I thought that…you know."

"I do? What exactly do I know then?" Tonks queried with a cheeky smirk not unlike Hermione’s when she knew some that the others didn’t.

"Well, I guess since there are other rooms that you can pick one of them."

"If that is what you want?"

"I," Harry paused thinking of a way out of the situation he had been led into. "I want whatever you want, Nymph."

"Let’s go up to your room then and figure it out. I know I don’t have that much stuff, but I think I might fit nicely in one of the other rooms. A girl needs her space you know."

"Okay, if you are sure?" Harry was crushed. He had hoped that things would continue as they had been now that they had a place to themselves and the Dursleys were no where to be found.

Tonks led the way to Harry’s new room. She swished her rear incitingly as she ascended the stairs with Harry following. Once in the room, Harry closed the door as his mood clouded over dramatically considering his previous joy. Tonks went into the bathroom and began making some noise by moving her things around.

Harry went into the closet and began gathering her shirts and piling them up in a chair near the door. Numbly, Harry moved back and forth between the two locations. A soft coo from behind him broke his depressed stupor. Harry turned around and dropped the collection of shirts he had been holding.

Tonks stood in the doorway to the bathroom wearing a sheer robe revealing a dull blue nightie underneath. Harry found that he couldn’t move nor could he talk. He managed only unintelligible sounds as Tonks advanced on his position seemingly unaware of her affect on him.

"Harry, what on earth are you doing? Tiki put those away for a reason. Why are you taking them out of the closet?" Tonks stared at him waiting for an answer while her hair shifted in color to match her nightie before changing back to her real color.

"Um, you wanted me to?" Harry muttered unsure of where to look as he was torn between her face and the rest of her body.

"I said no such thing," Tonks said as she approached Harry. She swayed her hips slowly as she walked up to him. She let the tie on the sheer robe slip open causing it to flare out as she sauntered towards Harry. The robe barely clung to her naked shoulders when Tonks stopped before Harry and looked up at him. "I said no such thing, Harry Potter."

Her voice softened as every word left her lips which glistened in the waning light of the evening. Harry felt himself screaming for breath as he realized that he had been holding it since her appearance. Discretely inhaling as deeply as possible, Harry smiled a crooked smile and shrugged. Tonks’ smirk became even more seductive as she read his actions.

She leaned closer to Harry and let out a breath. "Something you want to say Harry?"

Harry looked into her eyes and knew what she meant, because he had seen that look before. "I just wanted to thank you, Nymphadora. For everything."

Tonks smiled again which allowed Harry an opening to place his hands on her shoulders. Raising her eyebrows led to Harry sliding the robe from its precarious position to the floor. Harry lightly rubbed her now completely bare shoulders as she spoke very low. "You had better do more than that, Harry."

Unable to think and left with only action, Harry pulled Tonks to him and kissed her forcefully and passionately. Tonks responded by wrapping her arms around Harry and rubbing his back and anywhere else she could reach. Their kisses went from uncontrolled and wild to deliberate and focused. Harry lost his shirt as they moved to the bed. Harry quickly lost his pants as Tonks made quick work of them.

Reaching the bed, Tonks turned them around and pushed Harry backwards onto the bed. She promptly removed Harry’s remaining clothing proving she had what it took to make him happy. Tonks smiled hungrily as she slowly slid her only piece of clothing to the floor. Standing before Harry in all her glory, Tonks slid her hands down her front starting at her neck and ending on her thighs.

"We aren’t at Privet Drive any longer, Harry. I expect you to make good on your suggestions." Tonks moved forward and slid her legs along either side of Harry’s. She hovered above his eager body planting kiss after kiss moving closer to his mouth.

A series of tongue battles later, Tonks began to move her breasts up and down Harry’s chest. She teased him by hovering her mouth ever so close to him but never making contact. After he groaned for the third time, Tonks moved to kiss Harry with reckless abandon. She pressed her chest against him rubbing her erect nipples against his own.

As the minutes passed, Tonks wiggled her lower half higher and higher on Harry. An unwanted pause in the action brought Harry’s mind back into control for a few seconds.

"Harry, Summon my wand please."

Harry did so without hesitation and only minimal concentration. Tonks took her wand from Harry’s hand caressing it softly while doing so. She mumbled a few words and aimed her wand at her abdomen. Once she was finished, she tossed her wand over her head and began kissing Harry again with a renewed energy.

Harry did what anyone in the same position would do, anything he could. He touched her arms, legs, sides, breasts, neck, and even managed to venture between her legs for a few seconds before she grabbed his hands and held them at his sides.

Tonks pulled back and looked into Harry’s eyes. He saw that her previous hunger had increased and her eyes were looking nearly as wild and eager as they did after she had achieved a climax.

"Nymphadora, what?"

"Hush," Tonks said softly. "At least for now."

Her coy smile shifted to one of determination. She kissed Harry again and didn’t let up. She released his hands and they went directly to her back. He held her to him and rubbed her back slowly as he focused on the kisses. Tonks took a deep breath and moved down on Harry.

To his surprise, Tonks had taken one of her hands and grabbed him firmly at the same time as she had moved down. His world stopped before restarting at a run. He felt fire and pleasure he hadn’t experienced before. Tonks moved further down pausing every time Harry took a sharp breath. She gave him a few seconds to recover before continuing.

When he thought she would never stop, Tonks came to rest flush against his lower regions. Harry’s hands had moved to her bum and held her in place preventing her from moving more than a few centimeters in any one direction. Trying to regain control of any part of his body, Harry focused on Tonks’ half lidded eyes and the look of lust mixed with devilishness.

"Nymph?" Harry breathed out.

"From time to time, yes. Now is one of those times, Harry. Just enjoy it. I know I will."

The pieces fell into place as Tonks broke free of his hold and started moving rhythmically on him. Harry felt his control waver badly before he captured Tonks eyes once more. He forced his way into her mind willing her to feel what he felt. He knew he had succeeded when Tonks bucked wildly and screamed out before returning to her previous rhythm.

Harry couldn’t formulate a conscious thought so he concentrated on his breathing. Every breath in and out was deliberate as he tried valiantly to pace himself. His only problem was the beautiful woman determinedly trying to break his will. Harry soon realized that Tonks was going to win and that time was fast approaching.

Everything was hypersensitive as Harry matched Tonks’ pace. He met her down motion with an up motion. The meeting forced a pant out of Harry and a muffled squeal from Tonks. They continued like that until Harry felt the pressure in his body release in a burst of a wonderful feeling. With his coordination shot, Tonks went into overdrive throwing her body down on his as fast as she could. Her cries increased until she too lost control and collapsed on top of Harry.

He didn’t want her move at all. He wanted her to stay right where she was. Her breathing even caused him too much stimulation. Harry did the only thing he could think of to hold her in place. He wrapped his arms around her and tightly held her to him. He kissed her forehead and whispered nothings to her. As his sensitivity lessened, Harry permitted her more range of motion but kept her well confined in his arms.

"Are you happy, Harry?" Tonks whispered into his chest.

"That was amazing, Nymphadora. Thank you."

"I have a little secret, Harry." Tonks moved bringing her mouth closer to his ear and causing him to grip her tightly to prevent her from moving too much. "There is much, much more where that came from. I can only hope that you will let me do that again, soon."

Harry had to stop himself from choking on his tongue when he processed what Tonks had said. Thinking fast and fighting the haze of pleasure, Harry responded. "Give me a few more minutes if you could."

Tonks answered by kissing Harry and rubbing her hands slowly around his chest. As the time progressed, so too did their actions. The elves spent the rest of the evening doing any chores that caused a lot of noise out of respect for their new master and mistress even if they refused to be called that.

************************************

Many miles away and a short distance north of London near the sea coast, a man groaned apparently from a large amount of pain. Those in the room cringed and shied away from the shuddering, cloaked form. Not a word was uttered, not a sound made by a living being.

The dim fire crackled being the only other source of noise in the long hall. The air was damp and pungent from the smoke that failed to travel up the floo which was in dire need of service.

The shuddering passed and dim red slits opened piercing the dark finding scared and leery followers awaiting punishment. Some deserved that punishment; others had not been complete failures in their roles. Those who had failed the worst were not among them. The snake-like eyes sought out a victim and rested on the quivering figure before him.

Clothing torn and slightly bloody the figure of a nearly teenaged girl began whimpering from the impending doom. The grim scowl changed to one of pure joy. He fed off of fear. Terror was his weapon. Power was his goal.

"Crucio." The girl screamed and he found it to be better than the most perfect symphony. He held the curse as the screams increased and wavered and lessened, As the screams changed to failing wails, he relented and released the spell. As the skinny girl continued to whimper and shiver on the damp, stone floor, the most evil of all people casually waved his wand removing the top piece of clothing from the girl.

The clothes would only ruin the effect and an effect was what he needed. With a thought and a stab of his wand, the girl’s top half went erect as her lower half went limp. To an untrained observer, it would seem as if nothing was happening. At the first snap, it was apparent to all what the outcome would be. The second, third, and the near repetitive sounding of breaking ribs proved that terrible things were happening to the poor defenseless girl.

The snapping ended followed by a wet crunching and grinding sound. Once a small red slit appeared on her stomach, the final events happened quickly. The cut opened wide and fast as the insides erupted from within and showered outward covering the floor and those closest with bodily fluids and parts. The red slits for eyes were soon joined by a calm, toothy smile.

"Lord Voldemort has returned and all who fail me or stand between me and power will receive the same treatment." The room was silent as even the fire daren’t interrupt. "Those who need to be dealt with will be dealt with soon enough. For now, Wormtail, clean that up. I will not have mudblood dirtying my chamber."

The rat-like man scurried over and began to magic away what was left of the body. "No Wormtail, no wand. Use your hands. Use your tongue if you must." The evil smile increased as Wormtail began a nervous attempt to return the expelled parts to the gaping hole in the broken body.

"Severus, you have not been as great a help as I had hoped."

Severus Snape controlled his mind as he moved before the Dark Lord ready to see his life end in a flash of green light. The last thought through his mind before the twisting red beam struck him was of how a scrawny boy with no overly apparent skill could stand before this creature and survive not once but several times. That thought was cut short as the burning hot knives found their way into every nerve ending in the Potion Master’s body.

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