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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

4. Training

                      Tonks tried to move while asleep, but the resistance she met caused her to wake up. She immediately felt a sense of safety wash over her as her eyes opened and her brain started functioning. ‘Oh this is heaven. What a way to wake up in the morning.’ She looked down and found, yet again, Harry’s arms wrapped around her tightly. Her left breast was completely covered by Harry’s long-fingered hand. She took a deep breath and sighed slowly enjoying the sensation.

‘Anyone else would have been at my pants from the first second, but Harry just holds me and gets embarrassed when he finds himself in personal situations. I love his naivety; it is so endearing.’ Tonks closed her eyes and let herself be swept up in the moment. ‘He is so rare a person. I have never met someone like him before. He is as clueless as they come concerning intimacy, but there I am, completely in over my head. I tried to tease him just for fun and he kicked my arse. I tried to kiss him a little just to frustrate the poor boy and I lose all control over myself. And that thing he does, wow that is amazing. No one could withstand that. No matter how skilled they are in Occlumency, they would crumble.’

Tonks reveled in her memories of the last two days and the feeling of warmth Harry gave off as he held her. She only stopped when she started getting too excited by her thoughts. ‘I am sure he wouldn’t mind being woken up that way, but I would probably scare the hell out of him by doing it.’ Her thoughts threaten to shift back to more pleasant memories, but she forced them down.

‘You are the adult here whether you act like it or not. Think of what people would say; think of what the papers would do to you. "Twenty-something auror seduces The-Boy-Who-Lived." That would be a wonderful headline for mum to read over morning tea. She would be shocked at first and looking to yell at me, but she would be happy for me in the end. Dad would read it, too. He would probably yell at me and congratulate Harry. Men. Stop it! This is Harry you are thinking about and he is years younger than you. Up until now it has all been for fun. Be the adult you are supposed to be and distance yourself.’

Tonks’ train of thought lasted until Harry shifted slightly and pulled her close to him. ‘Oh I am fucked. A simple hug and I fall apart. I have to be strong; I have to fight it. But he is so cute and sexy and…yep, I am so fucked.’

Tonks sighed again and didn’t know what to do about Harry. She was going to spend a lot of time with him this summer guarding and training him but this was something she didn’t expect. ‘Why do I have to be such a flirt? Why did I have to flirt with him? It was just supposed to be fun and games. And now, now I look forward to the teasing as much as he does because it makes me feel good. Is it me or is it him?’ A very clear voice in her mind told her it was him. He was the difference.

Tonks kept arguing with herself as she tried to figure out what to do. The only options she could think of were to let things happen as they may or to completely close herself off to Harry. ‘Maybe I can just see what happens. He is young and I am nothing terribly amazing so he is likely to move on to some other young hottie when he sees her.’

Harry opened his eyes slowly and realized he was holding Tonks again. She was firmly in the grasp of both of his arms. Without moving, Harry tried to figure out where his hands were. ‘Left hand is on her right hip, which is okay I guess. Right hand is…shite. Why do they always end up there? Because it is fun for some reason. Okay, is Tonks awake and will she be mad this time?’

Harry waited a few minutes until he decided that Tonks was awake and just lying in his arms. ‘Tonks’ is a flirt. She told me that the first or second day she was here. Why is she still flirting with me? I am no one special. I couldn’t even keep Cho around, but that wasn’t entirely my fault. Some things aren’t my fault. Should I ask Tonks what is going on? And say what? I like kissing you so can we do it some more? Yeah right, that would be a stupid thing to say and she would probably curse you for it too.’

Harry didn’t know what to do. He had never known what to do about the girls at school and this was no different. ‘She is the adult. She knows what she is doing. I should let her make the decisions here. It is not like I have any clue what I am doing anyway. That is what I will do. I will follow Tonks’ lead. She knows what she is doing and that is more than I know. Besides, I am having a lot of fun with her right now.’

The two stayed in Harry’s bed until a vibration from Tonks’ wand ended the comfortable silence. Tonks stopped her wand from vibrating and took a breath. In doing so she felt Harry’s hand move with her breast.

"Harry, you need to get up. We have to be at the office in forty minutes."

"I have been awake for awhile. What are the plans for today? More tests?"

Tonks flipped over not hesitating as Harry’s hand was pushed across her chest simulating her a little bit. After a deep breath, she said, "You will be tested in your knowledge, speed, and power. It will be more like a test at school though so there shouldn’t be any simulations like yesterday. I will warn you that other members might be around and some of them will not like the fact that you have such high levels already. You might have to prove yourself to some of them before they start giving you the respect you deserve. I know I had to beat a few of them up before they left me alone."

"Alright, anything else I should know?"

"I had a question from yesterday. When you are casting spells with your wand, how strong is the feeling of magic?"

"I am not sure what you mean?"

"When you cast a spell you feel the magic rush out of you. What does it feel like?"

"Yesterday was the first time I had ever felt a pushing sensation or anything for that matter when using my wand. Aside from when I first got it of course."

Tonks just stared at Harry eyes. "You don’t feel your magic when using it? Never? Not even when you cast your Patronus?"

Harry didn’t know what to say about this comment so he went with the truth. "No, I never feel my magic when casting spells. The only time I have was when I started learning wandless magic. The only way I could get it to work right was to push the magic out of me. Yesterday, I felt the magic while using my wand because I was using the same techniques. I was forcing my intent and will into many of my spells, because I knew that I couldn’t beat Horace with my limited knowledge of spells. I tried to overwhelm him with the number and strength of them and by moving a lot."

"This is another one of those times when you don’t know the basic rules of magic, Harry. This is so unusual I am not sure what to do. Almost everyone feels their magic when using it. You feel it move out of you when you cast a spell. You feel yourself getting weaker when you use a lot of powerful spells. I watched your entire test, Harry. They have the ability to monitor everyone in the room. The number of spells you cast and the power you put into them would have drained most people. Your Cruciatus Curse, alone, would have drained most wizards.

"As we get older, our capability to perform magic increases a little. We get more powerful to a point, but we are able to do more spells. A student starting out might be able to cast an easy spell many times, but they will not be very powerful. A strong spell would drain the kid very quickly. Have you ever gotten tired from using magic?"

"I am not sure? I have been tired after a fight before, but I have always been injured so I don’t know what caused it. When I learned the Patronus, I was tired, but I was fighting a Dementor. Really it was a Boggart but it had the same effect."

"How about during the D.A. last year? Did you ever get tired demonstrating the spells?"

"No, I only did them a few times then I walked around and helped the others."

"I am sorry, but how about one of the fights with You-Know-Who?"

"Voldemort." Harry watched Tonks flinch. "His name is Voldemort or Tom or any insulting variation thereof. Please work on saying his name."

"I will try, but it is something we are trained not to say."

"Fine. The fight in the cemetery wore me out, but the Cruciatus Curse had a lot to do with that. The Imperius Curse and the Priori Incantatem made me tired too. I had a broken leg at the time so I don’t know if that mattered at all or not. The Ministry fight was nasty, but I don’t remember being that tired afterwards. I was thinking about other things at the time."

"So you don’t remember becoming tired from using magic? I have to tell Marcus that since he wants to know anything that you can do that others can’t. This would be one of those things. I am sure Horace will want to test your magical endurance today then."

Tonks saw Harry scowl and didn’t want him mad at her. "Today should be you casting spells at things or at the target drones. I doubt Horace is ready for another test like yesterday. You really surprised them, Harry. You are starting off really well. I am very proud of you."

Tonks leaned forward and kissed Harry lightly on the lips. ‘Why did I do that? I just wanted to see what would happen and here I am kissing him. Oh I am so weak.’

Harry accepted the kiss and returned it as long as Tonks maintained contact. He realized his right hand had settled on Tonks hip and was holding her steady. He looked into her eyes when she opened them. They had a dark, hungry glint to them and Harry found them entrancing. He smiled at her and waited to see what she would do. He was slightly disappointed to see her close her eyes for a few minutes. When they opened again, the entrancing look was gone and the playful Tonks look had returned.

"I should shower before we leave, Harry. You should be fine since you will probably just get sweaty today. I shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. Get yourself ready and don’t worry about food. We can eat when we get there and I can show you the kitchen." Tonks got out of the bed and started gathering her things.

Harry watched Tonks very closely because she wasn’t wearing any pants, again, and her t-shirt was shorter than the one the other day. Harry was mesmerized by the light purple, lace panties Tonks was parading around his room. He could only think that light purple was as nice a color as the blue she wore before. He watched her grab her cloak and a few things from a bag that she had under his bed.  She left the room and closed his door.

Seconds later, a slight squeal made Harry grab his wand and toss on his nearest item of clothing which was his new cloak. Harry opened his door quickly and found Tonks defiantly standing in front of Petunia who was glaring daggers. Harry wasn’t sure what had happened but it was his family so he would handle it.

"Tonks, I will handle this. Why don’t you get ready so we can leave. Aunt Petunia, if you have something to say, say it to me."

Tonks pushed past Petunia and entered the loo closing and locking the door. Petunia stood in her place for a few seconds before she looked directly at Harry. She marched straight past him and into his room. Harry turned and followed her in. He found her standing in the corner staring at his messy bed. He waited to see if she would say anything, but after a few minutes he spoke first.

"Tonks charmed the bed larger so she had a place to sleep the first night. We left it since she is my guard. Now, what is the problem?"

Petunia looked up from the bed to Harry. She seemed to be thinking something over in her mind before opening her mouth. "I checked on you last night for the first time in years, Harry. To say the least, I was shocked by what I saw."

"And what did you see, Aunt Petunia?" Harry held his ground. According to the Ministry, he was emancipated and he could handle his own life. According to him, Petunia had given up the right to have any say in how he lived his life the day she locked him in his cupboard.

"I saw you and ‘her’ in your bed together. That is bad enough, but then I find her in our hallway wearing nothing but an old t-shirt and her knickers. What did you get up to last night, young man?"

Harry was astonished at the nerve of his aunt. She had never given a damn about him until now when he started living his own life. "I got up to what ever I got up to, Petunia. You have no say in it anymore. Actually, you never had any say in it. You have to act like a parent before you can be one. You have never shown me that you care in the slightest about me. Why are you starting now?"

"This is our house, Harry. You are here so you will not do things you shouldn’t. Consider yourself lucky Vernon didn’t find you like that. He would have been irate."

"And if he touched either one of us I would have hurt him as promised. I can use my magic now without any worries or concerns. We took care of that yesterday and now I have a job to go to as well."

"A job, you? You are too young to have a job."

"Well, I have one and there is nothing you can say about it. I am making my own choices and no one can prevent that anymore. If you wish to stop me, go ahead and try. I will do everything I can to control my own life and no one is going to stop me either."

Harry was beginning to glow again, and Petunia had moved back as far as she could into the corner. Harry was mad. He was getting worked up and his magic was starting to bleed through and become visible. ‘I will not let her or these people control my life. I may just be starting out, but I am an Unspeakable, damn it. For the first time in my life, I am Harry-Fucking-Potter.’

Petunia cowered in the corner and watched Harry’s aura ripple and twist around itself. She was completely overwhelmed by the anger she saw and felt. Her nephew was everything the book had said. She realized that every bit of it was accurate. Every lethal situation she read about was true. Her sister’s scrawny son had lived through so much and he was not going to stop now. For the first time in her life, she felt ashamed of herself. ‘He could kill me right now. I can feel it. I can see it in his eyes. He really will do whatever he has to right now. I am sorry Lily, I failed you.’

"I, she, Harry, she is older than you. It isn’t proper for you and her to share a bed."

"You have no say in what I do or don’t do in case you missed what I said earlier. To me, you are just a person who lives here. You are no one special to me. Tonks is someone special. She is helping me when no one could or would. She has done so much for me in the last three days I can’t even begin to explain it. I may survive this war because of her help. I know that, because of her, I will at least have a chance at living through this. No one else can say that and I know of no one I will say that about."

Harry was glowing as his anger was still running high. He felt someone behind him, but before he did anything aggressive he heard the familiar sound of Tonks voice.

"Harry, please calm down. You are glowing again and you could hurt someone accidentally. Everything is fine. Calm down, please."

Harry took a deep breath and used what little Occlumency he had to calm down. He closed his eyes and found his magic swelling inside of him. Harry had never felt this before, but it was invigorating. He opened his eyes and saw Petunia still cowering in the corner. He turned his head and saw Tonks standing in the doorway haphazardly dressed with water running down her face. She was smiling at him, but she was hesitant nonetheless.

"What is wrong? Can’t I get mad at someone?"

"Harry," Tonks tried to stay neutral but found it very hard to do so. "You are still glowing even though it is less than when you were raging at Petunia. Have you ever seen someone’s aura before?" Harry shook his head. "Your aunt is completely beside herself from seeing one. I have seen them a few times in my life, but yours, just now, was more impressive and unnerving than any of the others. On that, can you feel your magic now?"

"Yes, I can. It is like a wave on Hogwarts’ lake only bigger. I can feel it moving around and swirling. I have never felt like this before."

"That sounds like how most magical people describe their magic. The only difference," Harry scowled at the word difference, but Tonks forged on. "The only difference is that we liken it to a stream or a ripple. I can feel my magic all the time. Being a metamorphmagus I am constantly in touch with my magic. I know you have at least a little of the ability, but the most intense I have felt my magic was during my final practical after auror training. I would say it felt like a stream running steadily. You call yours a wave. Think about that if you find the time, Harry."

"Now, what did you say to make Harry this mad?" Tonks asked Petunia.

Petunia stayed in her corner and stared at Harry. Tonks looked to Harry and he was almost back to normal.

"Harry, what did she say?"

"Basically, she said that you were too old for me," Harry said fuming.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Petunia?" Tonks directed her question at the woman still backed into the corner.

"You are too old for a fifteen-year-old. How old are you anyway? Twenty-five?"

"I am twenty-two-years-old thank you very much," Tonks said. "As Harry has said, it is none of your business what he does since you have never been a parent to him. I believe we should go, Harry, since we are supposed to be there at seven."

Tonks pulled her wand and dried her hair, quickly, right in the doorway. Petunia watched her but said nothing about it. Harry stared down his aunt. He wanted to do something, but he didn’t know what exactly.

"Make the portkey, Tonks. I want to leave as soon as possible. I told you things wouldn’t change. Petunia, get out of my room." Harry was stern in his command and he left no argument on the subject.

Petunia moved out of the corner, past Harry and Tonks, and into the hallway near her room. Harry made sure he had his things and walked out of his room. He closed the door loudly and cast a locking charm on the door using his wand. Petunia squeaked but fought it. Harry stared at her as Tonks tapped the box again turning it into a portkey.

With a tap on his shoulder, Harry held his hand out and Tonks put the box in his hand while she held onto it as well. They both flipped their hoods up and waited for the pull on their navels taking them to the Ministry. Harry stared at his aunt and felt his anger returning. He didn’t care about why, he just wanted to be mad at something and she was a perfect person for it.

The tug came and Harry found himself in the atrium of the Ministry again. He let Tonks take the box away before he stormed on his way to the lift. He didn’t even pause at the guard station completely ignoring the young guard who had backed away as he approached. He hit the call button with his fist and stood waiting for the lift to arrive. Tonks caught up to him and stood right next to him in case he lost control of his magic.

The lift arrived and Tonks followed Harry onto it. The lift shuddered to life and whisked them to their destination. Harry reached the doorway first and tapped out the sequence giving his password. Once inside the department, Harry made his way to the training room.

"Didn’t you want to eat first?" Tonks asked but wasn’t sure it was a wise thing to do. She received no response and decided to watch how Harry handled things. She was beginning to worry because he was so mad. He had repressed a lot of anger over the years and it looked like it was coming to the surface. ‘He is taking control of his life. He took control from his aunt this morning and that must have been the cause of this. I hope he doesn’t get into any fights today. He will draw the others’ attention enough being the new guy.’

Harry walked to the training room and opened the door giving his password again upon request. There were a few people inside, but he wanted to get started and knew that Horace was the man to see first. He found Horace talking to another hooded man near the center of the room which was different than the day before.

On the right side, there was a firing range of sorts with dummies setup in a row. They were levitated off the ground a little and they moved from side to side in erratic patterns. Harry saw two others at the range shooting spells at the dummies. Above the heads of the two shooters, there were two black boxes for each station. When a spell hit the two boxes would display numbers. Harry was too preoccupied to pay attention to the numbers that flashed with each spell. He walked over to Horace and waited for him to finish talking to the other Unspeakable.

Harry found his anger subsiding as he waited. He figured it was best to calm down before talking with Horace who would no doubt want to get even for the other day. Horace sending the other off to begin range practice let Harry know he was next up.

"Well, I see our Recruit is ready to begin his first day," Horace said loud enough that the others in the room turned to watch. "Think you can get lucky again, Recruit?"

"Where do I begin, Horace?" Harry wasn’t going to step into that question. Horace was trying to bait him just like Snape would; only Horace would really hurt him with spells if he got the chance.

"Wise answer, Recruit. First, let’s see how much you know. I will have you fire off all the curses you know and then I will see if you should know any others."

Part of the room changed into a grassy field and there were boulders in front of Harry. Horace stood next to him and instructed Harry to begin firing. Harry started off with the first curses he learned at Hogwarts. His shots were pretty accurate for where he was aiming. Horace never said a word during the demonstration. Harry cycled through all the common curses and finished with a powerful Stunner.

Harry then started working on the new spells he had read about before the D.A. and the first day he had returned for the summer. When Harry cast the bone spells, he heard Horace make a sound, but he didn’t stop firing. Harry ended his demonstration with the Cruciatus Curse. He turned and looked into Horace’s face waiting for the next command.

"Not bad, for a new guy, I guess," Horace was looking down his nose at Harry very similar to how his aunt would. "That is barely acceptable, but you have a lot to learn. Now let’s go over to the range and see what your numbers are there."

Harry could feel the anger returning from what happened at Privet Drive. The look Horace was using was driving it. Harry wanted to show him not to treat him like she did. Harry was going to prove to this man that he was good enough to be here whether he liked it or not.

The others at the range saw Horace coming over with Harry and stopped firing. They knew the drill and gave up the range to the trainee. Horace stepped in front of the range line and waited for Harry to take up a position on the line. A flash of a silver spell fell across the room and hit Horace in the head. He paused then smiled widely. The other Unspeakables noticed this and stepped back quickly conjuring chairs a good distance away from Harry and the range. Once Harry’s feet hit the line, Horace began his instructions.

"Think you are something special, don’t you? Think you got what it takes? That first test was just the admittance test. I can still boot you out if I think you are a worthless git. You have to prove to me that you have what it takes to be here every single day. Are you up for that kind of challenge?"

"Yes." Harry wasn’t going to give Horace any reason to kick him out. He was going to do this and he was going to learn how to survive. He was going to learn how to keep others alive too.

"I will be the judge of that." Horace was sounding more like Snape every time he opened his mouth. Harry was getting more annoyed as time went on. "Since this is your first time, I will take it easy on you." Six targets appeared at the end of the range twenty-five yards away. Harry never saw the spectators lean back in surprise.

"This range is designed to measure your spell’s power and accuracy. The further you are away from the center, the lower your score, and the more powerful your spell, the higher your score. The accuracy measurement is a simple one to figure out. It is based on distance from the core and spell selection. An area spell will score differently than a specific-target spell. Make sense, good." Horace didn’t wait for Harry to respond.

"The power score is something altogether different. It is a logarithmic measure. The jump from ten to twenty is exponential and so on. Need a better explanation than that, visit a library. Normal people would score around thirty to fifty. I expect our operatives to be in the sixties and seventies. More than that, well, I doubt it will happen so I will move on."

Harry glanced up but couldn’t see the score boxes at all. When he brought his eyes back to Horace, he saw a wand pointing at him and a spell forming. Harry followed his instincts and snatched his wand from the air as he released it. The spell was flying at him now and he threw up a quick shield deflecting the attack. Harry responded by returning a Stunner.

Horace still had a smile on his face as he ducked the Stunner and watched it fly past him. Harry’s spell struck a target with a slight tone echoing in the room he hadn’t noticed before. The audience and Horace saw the numbers register, but Harry didn’t. Horace kept his face blank, but the others made a sound when 40/72 appeared on the board. Horace barely concealed his scowl as he threw up a Silencing Dome preventing any sounds from reaching the range area.

"Pathetic, Potter, and never take your eyes off your enemy no matter what." At Harry’s startled look. Horace explained. "They can’t hear us and we can’t hear them. The last thing I need is you being distracted by them. You are hopeless enough as it is without more things getting in your way." Horace got what he was looking for, a death glare from his trainee. ‘Excellent. Let’s see what you got, Boy.’

"Well, what are you waiting for an invitation? I would rather find out, quickly, how helpless you are and move on to another. So get started." The glare only intensified and Horace saw defiance.

‘Fuck him. I will prove to this arse that I belong here. He wants spells, I will give him spells.’ Harry started firing spells at the targets. He was casting them as fast as he could too. After about a half hour, Horace stopped him.

"If that is the best you have to offer me, then leave, Boy." Horace put extra emphasis on the word ‘Boy.’ He waited until Harry was visibly angry. Horace saw a sparkle in Harry’s eyes and it was of pure hate. ‘That is what I saw yesterday before you leveled me. Use it, damn it, use it.’

"You going to use that wand or just wave it around? I am right here, Potter. You want to hurt me, then hurt me." Horace sneered at Harry hoping to aggravate him further. He got his wish.

Harry fired at Bone Shattering spell at Horace followed by the Breaking one. Horace had been slowly moving back towards the targets to give him enough distance to escape getting hit should Harry actually attack him. The targets were struck and the scores registered, 45/78, 51/81.

"Weak, Boy, weak." Horace enjoyed his job. He was paid to annoy people and teach them to use their magic to their fullest extent. He watched as Harry continued to fire curses. Horace could only spare a split second to look at the scores or he risked getting hit by a nasty curse that had quite a bit of power behind it. He saw a twisting red curse flying his way and he dove to the floor knowing how bad that one would have hurt.

The audience watched Horace antagonize the Recruit. They had all been through it and knew that he would use anything he could to get the best out of them. They watched as the Recruit lowered his body into a fighting stance and one comment started the assault. They were all prepared to joke and ridicule the new guy for being pathetic. Everyone started off low in the beginning. They had figured the 72 was a fluke, but as the spells started flying and Horace started moving quickly they knew this was new guy was not a fluke. The high 60’s and low 70’s gave way to low 80’s within a few spells.

They could see Horace still egging on the new guy and he wasn’t tiring. The first guy said, "How the hell is he keeping up? He has been tossing spells for forty minutes straight." Another commented, "Not sure, but Horace is getting a workout. I know I could barely get him to move my first day."

‘That was close,’ Horace thought as he picked himself up from a dive. ‘This kid’s a natural, and I will make him better. Time for the clincher. I may have to duck out and let him go at the sim for my own safety.’ "So, you have a little bit of fight in you, eh? Is this the same kind of fight your father put up when he was slaughtered like a sick animal?"

Horace watched as the fading look of hate intensified and Harry started giving off a dangerous feel. "Did you hear your mother scream, Potter?" Horace almost dove out of the way when Harry twitched. ‘I am stabbing a dragon in the eye while I am standing in front of it.’

Harry heard the words Horace was saying to him. Harry could only stand there and get angrier. He had heard similar things over the years from various people so this wasn’t that bad. The only difference was that Harry had felt his magic now, and he wanted to feel it again. He wanted the feeling and getting mad was one way to get there. He was searching for the swirling sensation when Horace said something that caused Harry to snap.

"Got your own Godfather killed by your own stupidity. Maybe Tonks will be next. You think?"

Harry could feel his magic and it wanted out. It wanted to hurt someone and it wanted it badly. ‘Sirius, was not my fault. I am not going to let Tonks get hurt. No one else close to me will be hurt.’ Harry heard his mother dying and saw Ginny lying in the Chamber. He saw Hermione getting hit by that spell in the Department. The magic swelled up and needed an outlet. Harry gave it one, Horace.

Harry fired spell after spell at Horace. He dove and moved a few times, but soon a barrier grew up from the ground and Horace dove behind it. He popped up and moved around the range area with renewed vigor. Harry followed him with his wand trying to bring him down with every spell. He poured every ounce of magic he could into every spell he fired. He wanted him to hurt. The Reductor Curses struck the targets leaving scorch marks.

Harry didn’t stay at the firing line for more than a few curses before he started advancing on Horace’s position. Horace moved away and things kept appearing from the floor as cover. ‘Bastard is using the room to protect himself.’ Harry continued to move after Horace and destroy anything that got in his way.

The audience watched as Horace kept talking and the Recruit seemed to get angrier. They knew it was Horace’s way. He forced you to wear yourself out the first day. You would be completely exhausted by lunch and then he would start teaching you spells and techniques.

They were waiting for that moment when Horace would get the Recruit to lose it. They always did in the end. Horace and Marcus did their research learning every bit of information they could on someone. They needed to know which buttons to push to get the most out of their people. A good leader knows the limits of the people under him so they know whether or not a goal is achievable.

The smiles grew as Horace continued his verbal assault until the Recruit hit his limit. The visible aura appeared and they all leaned back in their chairs. "Mother fucker," said one. "Have you seen one that bright before?" asked another. All three watched for a moment as the spells starting flying again. The scores were popping up so quickly that one of the Unspeakables activated the memory function creating an ever growing list of scores; 55/84, 44/86, 72/83, 75/88, 67/86, 66/89, 50/91.

"Merlin, a 90. Who the hell is that guy?" Asked the first. "Ten galleons that he collapses after five minutes. You can’t keep a visible aura up that long," said the third. "Six minutes," replied the first. "Seven," said the second.  

"I will take that bet, but he will keep firing spells and have the aura for at least ten minutes. My guess is that he can make it until lunch without burning out, too," voiced a newcomer to the group.

"You that confident, Chamel?" Questioned the third.

"Yes I am, Miguel."

"Bets are placed, any others?" Announced Miguel.

"I will say eight minutes." Horace made his presence known. He looked very tired and disheveled.

"Using the sim on the first day? Sure you aren’t getting too old for this, Horace?" Asked the first guy.

"If you want to jump in there, Bitton, go right ahead," Horace said watching the numbers scroll up. "I thought you were joking about the aura, Chamel, but I see that you weren’t. Every time he gets really mad?"

"Every time since he started working on wandless magic. He said that he had never felt his magic before that." Tonks was watching with a big smile on her face.

"Wandless, huh? I knew he had used a few things during the first test, but it wasn’t that extensive. How many spells is he proficient in?" Horace asked.

"He told me he had learned eight so far, and he learned with no props. He just did it and there you go," she said waving her arm at Harry who was still firing spells at the sim that was moving around the range.

"Good, how long has he been working on them?" Horace asked generally interested.

"It took him one day to learn those and he had never thought of doing wandless magic before that," Tonks said simply ignoring how the others turned to stare at her.

"You picked a good one in him, Chamel. I have counted five spells that broke 90 so far and he is still going strong. I have the sim taunting him to keep him motivated. I want to see how long he can go. I think you only lasted five minutes during this exercise."

"He will last far longer than I did," Chamel said calmly. "I have felt his magic when he was working on his wandless skills. It was, overwhelming. He has never tried to do these things with his magic before. The aura, wandless magic, working himself to his full potential; none of it has ever occurred to him. He has always done what needed done and his magic has let him do that without much thought. If I really make him mad in the future, I am getting away fast."

At that moment, Harry fired a Cruciatus Curse at the sim and it hit. A score of 98/87 appeared on the board. "Fuck. Well that ends that exercise since ‘I’ am now a pathetic, quivering mass of meat. Kid is good, but I can’t tell him that yet." Horace strode to the range area and slipped behind a barrier that had appeared.

Harry had been firing spells forever and Horace was always avoiding them at the last second. ‘Why can’t I hit him? I will make you pay you bastard.’ Harry tried to increase his firing rate and his aim, but no matter what he did, Horace was able to out maneuver him. Harry cast back to back Crucio’s and the second one landed and Horace went down hard.

Harry held him under the curse until he saw movement to his left. He released the spell, spun, and fired the Bone Shattering curse. He had gotten quite good at that one today since it was one he knew Horace had felt and didn’t like. The new target dodged and held his hands up. Harry then realized that it was Horace, another one. Harry looked where his Horace had been and there was nothing left.

"Settle yourself, Recruit. That was the second test and I wanted to see what you have got and where I could take you. You aren’t too bad, but you could use a lot of work. Your aim is basic and your power is variable. You need to work on consistency in both areas. Your spell selection is limited so you need to learn many more. Also, expand your wandless abilities for Merlin’s sake. Learn some defensive spells first since they are great for wandless casting. Offensive spells should be next followed by the helper spells like concealment and manipulation ones."

Harry was still mad, but he was kind of weary. "So you weren’t even in here?"

"I was for a while, but when you started glowing and trying to kill me; I took my leave. A smart man will fight the fights he can win. He will leave the losing battles leaving the fools to die. Only fight if you have something to gain. Fighting to fight is a waste of time and risking yourself just to do so is inane. Think, choose your battles, choose your enemies, choose your location; always be in control of the fight. Never let another control it. Never let another have an advantage over you if you can remove it.

"We are the smart fighters. We do not go blindly into a situation and just wing it. That is how people get killed who we want to live. I know you can improvise and survive but not everyone has that ability. Our operatives must think of the big picture and remember the objectives at all times. We do not settle debts here unless that is the mission. You achieve the goals and get out. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Harry choked out. He was still calming down from his fury, but the words made sense to him. ‘The disaster happened here because I wasn’t thinking about my friends. I was only thinking about Sirius. I lost him because there was no plan. Hermione tried to tell me that but I wouldn’t listen. I have so much to learn.’

"Now that you have calmed down, I am going to draw my wand and adjust your badge." Horace drew his wand and tapped Harry’s chest revealing the badge. When it appeared, Horace mumbled a few words and started moving his wand around on it. Harry waited until he was done and looked at it.

He saw five red bars, four blue, six green, no yellows still, two purple, and four blacks. Harry felt happy for the first time since the very early morning. He must have shown something during this test to get the added bars. He still remembered what Horace had said to him, but the more he thought about it the more sense it made. ‘He knows that getting me mad improves my magic. That must have been his goal the whole time. He just wanted to see what I could do and he did that.’

"You work on your knowledge, accuracy, and shields and I can guarantee you will get more bars. If you can keep using that much power with every spell you cast, I might leave you alone about being so pathetically weak. I might even say you are acceptable, but we ain’t there yet, Boy." Horace watched as Harry’s smile dropped from his face and look of grim determination replaced it. ‘That is what I want. Determination is the key to our job. Oh, you will be fun to teach.’

"I think you should go to lunch and take Chamel with you. I don’t want you passing out on me later today from exhaustion."

Harry nodded curtly and walked off the range which had returned to normal. He walked up to Tonks, who was collecting galleons by the handful from the other Unspeakables. He waited until she looked at him. He could see her smile under the mask of her hood. She was beaming. She pulled out her wand slowly and tapped his badge.

"Four more bars, Merlin, not bad for your first day. My guess is you are hungry after all that." Tonks resumed dropping galleons into her money pouch.

"Yes, I am hungry. Where do we go to eat?" Harry wanted a break from the training room atmosphere.

"We have two choices, our own kitchen, or the Ministry cafeteria. You choose."

"I would like a break from here, so let’s go to the Ministry one."

"Alright, follow me." They walked out of the training room and into the hallway leading out of the Department. Harry followed Tonks and kept trying to relax his mind from the morning’s activities. She called the lift and it arrived quickly for once. They boarded the lift and Tonks pressed the button for the Atrium. Harry managed to settle himself as the lift doors opened up to the bustling Atrium. People in all sorts of clothing were running back and forth from the lifts and through the guard station.

A few groups of wizards were moving as one through the hordes of people. Harry saw one or two people he had seen before but couldn’t name. He moved out of the lift following Tonks and they turned walking to the far back wall from the lifts. Harry saw a set of doors standing closed and wondered what was behind them. He found out when Tonks pushed the doors open and entered the large room behind them.

Harry saw tables lined up with numerous chairs surrounding them. He could only compare it to the Great Hall in its appearance minus the beautiful ceiling. People were moving about from the tables to the sides of the room. Harry saw many pots and serving dishes along the left wall. Every now and then a dish would disappear only to be replaced by another reappearing in its place. Harry watched the witches and wizards move in a line down the length of the wall to a few stations at the end. He could hear money changing hands in the distance.

Tonks tapped him on the shoulder and he followed her to the end of the line. A couple people who had been trying to get into the line readily moved aside for the two cloaked Unspeakables. Harry watched as they hesitantly took places behind them. Harry wasn’t sure he liked the way people reacted to him, but it was far better than everyone gawking and pointing at him and his scar.

He said nothing and kept close to Tonks since he didn’t know what to do. Tonks grabbed a tray from the pile and added a bowl and plate along with utensils and a goblet. Harry copied the actions and proceeded down the row of awaiting food. He selected a piece of steak and kidney pie, rolls, a spot of potatoes, treacle tart, and pumpkin juice.

When he reached the end of the line, Harry followed Tonks past the pay-stand and into the general populace. Harry heard someone behind him say that they hadn’t paid, but another voice told him to shut up and that Unspeakables didn’t pay for food in the Ministry.

They found a table in the corner that was mostly empty and they sat down on the same side keeping their backs to the wall so they could watch the room. Tonks started in on her food and gave Harry odd smiles now and then. He began eating as fast as he could because his stomach was growling loudly. The minutes ticked by and Harry was finishing his dessert. Tonks had picked out less food so she had finished earlier and sat watching the room and the people including Harry.

"Having fun so far?" She asked cheekily.

"Right, and would you be having fun trying to kill your teacher?"

"Depends on the teacher, actually. You weren’t really trying to kill him were you?"

"Not exactly, but I am not sure what I was trying to do. I wanted to hurt him that is for sure."

"Every single one of us has wanted to hurt Horace at some point or another. That is his training style. He gets you good and mad and then he starts being mean. He usually activates the sim before the Killing Curse starts flying though. He is a good judge of people and what they are going to do. If you ever surprise him during training, you will win points with him. He likes to be surprised because it means you are better than he expected and he gets that much better at reading people."

"How did he know what to say to get me so mad?"

"They study every single person they accept. They know everything they can find out. They interview people about you and learn who you are."

"You mean they have asked people about me?"

"Of course, that is just the right way to do things. Don’t worry though, they Obliviate who they interview. No one remembers them asking any questions about you."

"Who would they ask?"

"Friends, relatives, common acquaintances, those kinds of people."

"Hermione, Ron, the other Weasleys?"

"Those would be the ones. They asked me too, but since I am your sponsor I wasn’t Obliviated. Don’t worry, it is standard procedure and they keep all their other memories. We are professionals you know. We do this kind of thing all the time. Now you should relax more before we go back. I am not sure what he has planned for the rest of the day."

Harry slouched in his chair and watched the people move about their lunch hour. He saw Mr. Weasley getting up from a seat and walking to the exit with his partner, Perkins. Harry saw a few aurors that he recognized from various encounters. He saw a few Wizengamot members speaking with other witches and wizards.

He closed his eyes for a few minutes assessing the day thus far. He had shown what spells he could cast and he tried to kill his teacher. ‘Not a bad day, considering. Maybe the afternoon will be better since it couldn’t be much worse than the morning. I am taking control of my life. Information will come as people realize I need it or I make them tell me. I am staying alive, but I need to learn more and how to keep others safe as well as protect my mind. I can not fail. I can not lose. If I am the only one who can do this, then I am the only who can. I have the opportunity to do it and I must.’

Harry felt Tonks shift in her seat so he opened his eyes seeing a group of five approaching them. Tonks smoothly drew her wand from her cloak. So following her lead, Harry did the same. The group consisted of aurors and the leader was a large, burly man with a wiry mustache and bushy hair. Harry would describe him as a mountain man if asked to. The others were normal looking men and women with few distinguishable characteristics.

Tonks stared the man down as he approached their table. "What have we got here, a few lost ‘mutes’ from the basement? Lose your way or just slumming it with the common folk?" He boomed loudly drawing the attention of many people in the room.

Not missing a beat, Tonks answered in a loud voice. "Now that you are here, we have the slums and common folk all rolled into one. You never were a smart one, Brack, so why don’t you take your group and leave before we cause a scene."

"Feisty aren’t ‘cha," Brack announced. "Maybe you would like a turn with Brack before you crawl back into your hole."

Tonks scoffed, but Harry answered the challenge first. "Leave and take your lackeys with you." Harry kept his eyes on Brack waiting for him to do something.

"Keep your dog on its leash, bitch, or it might get hit," Brack replied.

"You will apologize to her or I will make you," Harry said standing up moving his chair backwards with his foot. He kept his wand hidden but prepared to strike.

Brack watched the slim Unspeakable stand and make his threat. "Am I supposed to be scared? You are a titchy fucker aren’t you? Why don’t you run along before you get hurt."

"I won’t be the one getting hurt," Harry stated plainly. "Apologize or I will make you."

Tonks stood as well and revealed her wand to the group. "Julian, Bree, Michaels, and, Morris is it? Why don’t you all leave. This isn’t a place for moderately intelligent people right now." By using their names, Tonks had captured their attention and a few looked to be seriously considering leaving Brack on his own. "Brack, I suggest you do as asked and leave. I have seen him do things you could only hope to achieve."

"Fucking you couldn’t be that hard to…"

Brack never finished his sentence. Harry struck him with a Bone Breaking spell. Brack’s right leg snapped and he fell to the ground making a lot of noise and scattering a few chairs in the process. The other aurors went for their wands, but Harry had already Summoned them into a nice little pile on his table.

Harry moved around the table and waved the friends away who complied instantly. Harry lowered himself to eye level with Brack who was trying to stop himself from screaming out. Harry stared him down watching his face. "Apologize."

Brack looked to Tonks and back to Harry. Chokingly, he said, "I’m sorry."

Harry watched him for a bit before standing up and turning for the door. Tonks came up along side him but said nothing. They left through the double doors being watched by everyone in the room. Harry continued to the lift and rapped the button. They entered the lift and descended to their level.

Harry broke the silence first. "Is that the kind of thing you have had to deal with here? Is that what you meant by having to work hard to get respect? Are they all like that?"

"No, just a few here and there. It is the same everywhere you go. There are always a few pillocks in every bunch. No worries. Yet again, you are my hero." Tonks said taking the mickey out of Harry.

"Very funny, Chamel. What else could I have done, honestly?"

"Let me handle it and be done with it. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I have dealt with that idiot a few times already. But, to be honest, I have never dropped him like you did. That was really funny to watch. I’ll have to be careful where I take you. There are some places that you would be cursing every person who talked to me and that would make for a noisy evening."

"I did what I felt I had to. I take care of my friends." Harry remained quiet the rest of the way back to the Department and into the training room.

Tonks entered the training room followed by Harry. They settled over near the range. Bitton and Miguel were with the other Unspeakable that had been present earlier. Another person had arrived while they were gone and he greeted Tonks in a friendly way.

"Chamel, I heard you had brought someone in. Is this him?"

"Yes, Cal, this is my Recruit," Tonks answered. "This is Cal, my teammate. We have been on team together for almost two years now."

"Hello, Cal," Harry said. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Why thank you, new guy," Cal said happily. "You need a name and fast. New guy and Recruit suck for names. Now, let me just see where you are on your first day, if you don’t mind of course." Cal drew his wand slowly and tapped Harry’s badge. He stared and said nothing for a few minutes. He seemed to be thinking about something before he continued. "Well, that explains that then doesn’t it?"

"Explains what?" Harry asked truly confused. He saw the other people looking at his badge and they weren’t saying anything. "What is going on?"

Tonks moved forward and put her hand on Harry’s shoulder. "They are just getting ahead of themselves is all. Don’t worry about it. Cal is the healer for my team and he has a few other specialties making him useful on a mission."

Cal tapped his badge and Harry saw he had three red, four blue, three green, six yellow, four purple, and two black. "He is a support person. Mostly he stays back and observes the mission. He gives us intel and obviously he has the healing thing down. He makes a fair sharpshooter too, but he needs time to get into it. In a fast moving fight, he mostly just keeps their heads down don’t cha’ Cal." Tonks finished with a big smile and a twist to her words.

"Yes, Chamel, that about sums up my role for the team. Yours would be the not so quiet person who can fight and defend and fool everyone. Sound about right?" Cal returned.

"Fair summation, if you are into things like that," Tonks replied waving off the backhanded insult.

Harry watched their interactions and knew they had worked together for awhile. He, Ron, and Hermione could probably have played off each other like that if they were asked similar questions. Harry spent the next few minutes watching all of the veteran members trade insults. Harry saw a lot of familiar qualities from the Gryffindor Quidditch Team in these people. They each had their own specific areas they were good at, but they were a team first and foremost.

Up in the observation booth, two people were having a very private meeting obscured amongst the shadows being cast by the lighting from the training room.

"Well, how did it go?" Asked Marcus.

"What part?" Queried Horace.

"The lunchroom first."

"As you expected, he dropped the fool with one spell. I owe you another bottle now. This kid is going to bankrupt me, you know that?" Horace whined.

"I learned from others mistakes, Horace. I will never bet against him. That should be the lesson we learn from him. He will always come out ahead when he has too. I don’t think he even knows how to lose to be honest. Did Brack receive proper medical treatment?"

"More or less, but that is why we sent him wasn’t it?" Horace offered. "He has been an arse of an auror for years always looking for a fight with one of us. You knew he would find them and start something. You also knew he had little respect for women. Did you hope Chamel would handle him or was it Potter you were testing?"

"Horace, I had to test something before went with my gut instinct. I was right to do so. Harry will defend Chamel without hesitation. We know from our interviews with his friends that he will do what he must to protect others especially his friends. He led five others into our own department trying to save Black. He knew Voldemort would be there and yet he went anyway. Could you say that about any of our people? How many would follow our orders if Voldemort was the target? I can think of none. Even going after the inner circle would be a massive undertaking in terms of training and planning.

"He brought five school kids into this Ministry, such as it is, against twelve Death Eaters, the highest ranking members of Voldemort’s inner circle, and with a little help captured all but one of them. He dueled with Bellatrix and Voldemort. Our teams don’t plan, they do. I think there is only one place for him and you know where that is."

"Yes, but he is new and it will be hard for him to gain the respect he needs for the position."

"Ah, Horace, there isn’t a more accommodating team than Three. He already has Chamel’s respect that is obvious by her words and actions. You know Cal is as easy-going as can be."

Over the speaker, they heard Cal’s comment saying, "That explains that."

"See what I mean, he already knows what is going on and he would have been the only problem we would have." Marcus said.

"So that issue is settled, but he has a long way to go before he will be ready," Horace pointed out.

"Just how long a way does he have to go?" Marcus asked. "I have never seen you duck out of a second test so early. The numbers he was putting up were impressive to say the least. I spent my lunch hour reviewing them."

"As did I, but you saw his effing aura. I would have been a fool to stay in there and cross wands with him. One of his Bone Shatterers to the head and I would have been a goner. No magic can unscramble your brains from that. I saved myself as anyone should. He knows so few spells, so he is just too limited to use right now. Besides, he knows no healing spells, his Stealth is limited to a silencing spell albeit wandless, and he knows so few shield spells that an experienced dueler could figure him out in a few spells. We need to work on his Unforgivables too. He is too good with the Cruciatus not to know the others."

"So, your plan for the rest of the week is what?"

"Shields first so I can sleep better at night. Then transportation since he knows none at all. Maybe a few common healing spells for kicks and a little work on stealth. I want to perfect his Unforgivables before I send him out though. He has too much promise with those. He needs to be quicker with his motivation though. You have to rile him up so much to get it to be effective. You saw his first spells, 60s, 70s, and a few 80s. Then he gets really mad and they are 80s and 90s. I need to teach him to harness that power and not let it go to waste being a nightlight. Like he needs more attention brought on him in a fight by glowing."

"You know how to do this, Horace, you will not fail."

"I will be perfectly candid, Marcus, off the record of course. He has more potential than I have ever seen before. I can teach him to rival Dumbledore in a few years, if he is willing and has the inner strength to persevere. I love a challenge, but this one could blow up in our faces if I make a mistake. Are we willing to risk that? Is Potter strong enough to handle everything we could give him?"

"I have no firm answer but something tells me that there is more to Harry than even we know."

"I hope you are right, Marcus, I really do. I should get out there and teach that boy how to protect himself using more than Protego and running around. Think of him taking spell after spell from those idiots and tossing them back at them. A teacher’s dream."

Horace turned and left the room heading back to the training room. Marcus settled in for a good show.

Harry stayed quiet as the others bantered back and forth extolling the virtues of their teams and dogging the others. Horace walked up and sent everyone but Chamel and Harry away.

"Well, now that you have eaten and released a little ‘tension’, I think I should teach you some shield spells. Protego is basic and quite weak as far shields go. So we will start there and move on. I want you to get them down wanded as well as wandlessly since you have a gift for the skill. Get your book out and note the words and so on as I tell you."

The right corner of the room, on the same wall as the door and behind the range, altered to a classroom setting with a chalkboard, desk, and chair. Harry followed Horace over to the area and sat down at the desk. He pulled out his shrunken trunk, enlarged it, took out his journal and quill, and returned the trunk to its proper location and size.

"Protego, simple shield that some can’t cast. Got that? Good. Fortis Aegis, more difficult to cast and harder to maintain. This one works on all the same spells as Protego and more. Motion is as such," Horace pointed to the downward spiral motion of the diagram. "Next is a favorite of mine, Absolvo Ancile. I love this spell because it is very effective and it covers the entire body. This one is perfect for an ambush or a fire fight that got out of control. The wand motion matters little as the mind mostly casts this spell. And lastly is Imprimis Patrocinor. Very sturdy shield, but it is localized to a certain area on the person. I believe you saw this in the Atrium towards the end of the fighting. The caster lends a color to all but the Protego and Fortis Aegis shields. Those are gold and silver in color by nature. Got that down so we can get to the real work?"

Harry scribbled down everything that was written on the board and said by Horace. When he finished, he looked up at Horace who was watching him expectantly. Horace let out a grunt of disapproval and started walking over to the range. Harry followed him while he reviewed his notes.

"Now I get to see if you can learn anything instead of just using what you already have down. Well, let’s get to it." Horace scowled at Harry waiting to be impressed.

Harry focused on the words and wand action mimicking what he had written down. He said the words, "Fortis Aegis," and copied the wand movements. A slight silver shield snapped into being. Harry stared at it pleased with himself that he had cast the shield on the first try. The silver had very small ripples in it moving very slowly over the surface.

"If you are quite done gawking," Horace grated as he drew his wand and threw a Stunner at Harry’s shield causing it to collapse instantly. "I might get you to create a real Fortis shield, but that was a pathetic effort all around." Horace smiled as his insult caused all wonder to fade from Harry’s face. "You do the magic and I will let you know if you have cause to wonder at it. Again and make it good!"

Harry felt the anger rising in him. He wanted to attack, not shield, so he wasn’t sure what to do. He was feeling his magic more today since his fight with Horace or whatever it was on the range. He tried to redirect that feeling, that being, in him to create a shield. Harry said the words and did the wand motion again. This time he only stared at Horace when the silver shield appeared.

Horace wore a vacant expression on his face as the shield appeared and remained. He examined it closely and found the ripples were very small and moving rapidly over the surface. ‘Second time and he gets it. This kid is lucky, good, or both. Now to see what he can really do.’

"Respectable, but do it wandless and wordless now. That will be the key in battle, bringing this up with a thought while you fire a curse at the stupid bastard who attacked you. Get a move on, Recruit."

Horace watched Harry make a few attempts at creating the shield. Each one was better than the last, but after four attempts none were stable enough to stop more than one spell.

"Are you damaged in the head, Recruit? You have two more of these to learn today and then I have a few more things for you before I release you. Get this right, now, or I will start cursing you until you do."

He saw Harry’s eyes narrow and a fire erupted in them. ‘There we go, now get it right this time and we can move on.’ Harry made two more attempts each was an improvement over the last. Horace scowled at Harry as he began his seventh attempt. ‘I will have to back up what I said if he fails this time. He can go longer than I can in a fight. Get it right, damn it.’

Horace watched as the shield sprang into existence. He felt a wash of magic as it appeared. ‘Holy, Merlin! He just forces the spells to work. Oh, he will be a force to be reckoned with once he learns to control all that.’

Horace examined the shield closely before commenting, "Passable, I guess. Work on that one tonight. I want it up on the first try or you and I will have words tomorrow." He saw the comment raise Harry’s ire that much more. ‘He is so easy to work up. At least he can use it when he needs to otherwise he would be hopeless.’

"Now we move onto Absolvo Ancile. Same as before but try and get it faster we are running out of time here." Harry cast the shield properly on the third try with his wand, creating a whitish dome around his body that was mostly transparent, and moved on to the wandless attempts at Horace’s unforgiving direction. He felt as much as watched Harry pull up the shield a few times. On the third time Harry had the shield correct, but Horace wasn’t letting him off that easily. With a scowl, Harry tried again and Horace realized, first hand, what Chamel had meant by Harry’s magic being overwhelming. His senses were flooded by the effort Harry was putting forth.

Harry held the Absolvo Shield after his fourth try. He watched Horace examine it with another scowl. ‘It is the same as last time you great git. What are you doing here other than yelling at me? You are getting closer and closer to Snape in my book, arse. This is good enough so let’s move on, eh.’

"I guess that passes, Recruit, but work on that one as well. Will you ever get this right on the first try?"

‘Fuck you very much.’ Harry was beginning to lose all the patience he had managed to build up over lunch which was a long time ago as far as he was concerned.

"Now you get to try the Imprimis Patrocinor shield if you can mange it. Judging by your last attempts, I would say that you have about a twenty percent chance of getting this in the next ten minutes. I am keeping track of the time, go!"

Harry reached out and seized his magic as he was slowly learning to do. All the magical exercises had allowed him to feel his magic with a greater intensity and precision. He wasn’t sure how to do it consistently, but he knew it was there and he could usually find it when he had to. Now was one of those times he had to find it and use it.

Focusing on his will and intent, just like when practicing wandless magic, Harry grabbed a little of his magic and pushed it out of himself and willed it to form the Imprimis Shield. A ghost of a cloud appeared on his left arm made up of a swirling metallic-blue mist. The mist held its form, but it wasn’t right according to Horace. ‘Go figure.’

Harry tried again only he forced more of his magic out. The shield was larger, but the mist was the same consistency. ‘Bugger this is hard. Let’s try thinking something different. Remember Tom’s shield, now create one just like it.’

Harry willed himself to picture the shield on his arm as it was supposed to be. He focused and pushed with all his might to create the shield. He was very happy and relieved when the metallic-blue shield appeared on his arm and was solid to the touch. Harry found that creating the shield was a lot harder than keeping it up. Of all the shields he learned today, this one was the easy to maintain and use in a fight. Harry moved his arm around testing how it moved with him and what it would do to his fighting technique of which he had none.

With a sigh, Horace made his inevitable comment. "Fine, fine, now can you do it wandlessly? There is nothing more frustrating than your opponent putting up a high level shield around his body and another one on his arm at the same time. You still have four minutes to get this done properly."

With a grin and a smirk of determination, Harry put his wand away yet again. He followed the same steps as before focusing and pushing and grabbing and willing everything to happen. After the first failed attempt, Harry noticed Horace moving away. Harry kept working on the shield because he had a feeling he would need it shortly. On the second failed attempt, Harry noticed Horace draw his wand while trying to hide his hands.

The third attempt didn’t happen like the others. Horace waited for Harry to shift his focus before he attacked. Harry had the feeling of danger and he looked for Horace who he found off to his right. Without thinking, Harry pushed the shield up deflecting the Cutting Curse and throwing a Reductor Curse at Horace forcing him to the floor. The whole exchange took less than a second and the other members who had been sort of watching Harry’s lesson stared dumbfounded at the exchange of magic.

"Bloody hell, he is fast. Where is his wand? Did you guys see his wand at all?" Bitton asked.

"Oh, I like him already," Cal said smiling. "My new team member, he is. You watch."

"Not bad, but you should be able to do that without being attacked," Horace scolded. "You will never get seven greens until you can do this consistently. And work on your accuracy too." Horace looked at his watch and laughed. "You would have had it in the allotted time, but I had to help you so it doesn’t count."

‘Help, my arse you bastard. Now what torture do you have in mind, you psychopath.’

"I need you to know some form of transportation that you can do on your own. Without that, you would have to depend on someone or something else to move about. What forms of travel are you familiar with?"

"Knight Bus, portkeys, floo, apparating, broom, carpet, Goblin cart. Those what you looking for?"

"Getting tired, Recruit? You are getting a little curt with your words."

"I am fine. What spells am I going to learn next?" Harry did his best to calm himself before saying something else potentially aggravating to Horace.

"Not so sure on the learning part, but we will give it a shot. Let’s start with a favorite of the Ministry, the portkey. Simple to learn and cast but harder to aim your destination accurately. The spell has multiple parts; the incantation itself, the destination, the activation method, and whether or not it will be a return portkey. Any wards between you and the destination cause…well let’s not worry about that until it becomes a problem."

Horace pulled a metal ring out of his pocket and tossed it to Harry. "Notes are thus. You point your wand at the item to be enchanted. You say ‘Portus’ while focusing on the exact location of where you want the portkey to take the traveler. It is the same process as apparating only you are using an item to move the person. Once you have the destination in your mind, you must select an activation method such as touch, timed, or number of occupants. The last thing you focus on is the return trip. Basically, you set another destination after all the rest.

"Most people focus on the mechanics first then say the spell, but what ever works for you, if it does. You ever Apparate before?"

"No, never."

"Always climbing uphill you are," Horace said while shaking his head. "No matter, if you get this down, Apparation will be easy. So, here is the process for creating a portkey. You must focus on the destination using either coordinates or specific landmarks. Everyone is a little different in how they direct their portkeys, but the principle is the same. The key is being exact and precise. If you stuff this up, the person will end up somewhere other than the one you want. You better hope they don’t end up in a wall or tree or another person for that matter.

"After you have chosen the exact location, you mentally focus on the activation type. You must keep the destination in your mind as well or it all falls apart. Finally if you want it to be a two-way portkey, you must focus on the return coordinates or location. If you can cast these shields wandlessly, then you can handle creating a portkey. Practice with that ring while I go do something constructive. Oh, and don’t worry about appearing inside the walls here. This room is charmed to keep you in one piece. It can redirect portkeys to a specific location if they are out of bounds. I turned that on for you since you have yet to prove yourself right out of the gate. Let me know if or when you get it right."

Horace walked off without looking back at all. He went up to the observation booth and found Marcus and Chamel sitting together and talking quietly. Chamel didn’t look very happy, but she was putting up a fight about something. Marcus finished his point and turned to Horace.

"Well, I see you aren’t sparing the rod on this one. Do you have a particular reason for that, Horace?"

"Course I do. His entire life he has had constant verbal abuse and look where it got him. Tell him he can’t do something in an infuriating way and he will do it just to prove you wrong. He has lived with confrontation since he can remember and that is where he shines. If you have any doubts, I suggest you challenge him to a fight only duck when he fires those bone spells at you. Fucking hurt they do. He has had enough broken bones to know how to make those spells really nasty.

"He succeeds where others fail because that has been the only way he has known. It is a way of life for him. Look where he is with those shields and tell me he can’t do something if properly motivated."

"My, my, Horace," Marcus chided. "I do say that you are getting rather attached to the new recruit. I haven’t seen you this worked up in years."

"Oh shut up you tosser. I am only doing my job and he makes it worthwhile. I know that great arse of a potion’s teacher was mean to him, but the boy’s temperament isn’t conducive to making stew. He is a fighter, plain and simple. His anger can drive his magic to limits others could only hope for. I need to get him to a point where he can protect himself and move around. Then, I can teach him to control his anger so it isn’t controlling him.

"Right now, he could blast a hole through you and keep going. Problem is he will be blinded to everything but his enemies. He has tunnel vision when relying on his anger. I need to get him to balance himself more. Also, he is not efficient with his magic at all. He was putting so much force into his spells I wonder how he can stay on his feet at the end of the day."

"You see what I meant by it being overwhelming?" Tonks interjected. "It is amazing."

"And on that subject," Marcus began. "I must question your intentions, Chamel."

"My intentions are no concern of yours, Marcus." Tonks crossed her arms staring down the head of her department.

"They are not specifically, but the results could be," Marcus posed. "He has protected you a few times so far, am I correct? He has come to your defense?"

"Yes, but that is who he is. He doesn’t think about it; he just does it." Tonks was trying to control her anger about being talked to like a little girl.

Marcus lowered his head and sighed. "My concern is not about the age difference, Chamel. It is about the effect it could have on Harry, you, and the team once he is brought in. I do not trifle in other people’s private lives unless I have a distinct interest in results that could come from it. Do you understand my meaning?"

"I hear your words, but they mean little at this point," Tonks snapped. "He is sixteen and you know they have short attention spans. Whatever happens, I will just be a passing interest, but I know that and I am okay with it. My eyes are open and I know what I am doing. Neither of you understand me enough to see where I am coming from. This is no concern of yours to begin with, and you said so yourselves that he is a fighter and always comes out on top in the end. Do you really want to get in his way? Besides if there are any problems, I will handle them."

The three people went quiet as they watched Harry tapping the ring, turning it blue for a second, and then disappearing and reappearing across the room. They watched Harry fail a few times, and he tried even harder as a result. After thirty minutes, Harry was moving about the room quickly and it seemed that he was going where he wanted to.

"Guess I should get down there then. He needs to work on destinations outside of the room and to places he can’t see. Then there are the complications from wards and such."

"Horace," Tonks stopped him. "Don’t mention anything about wards. Just see what happens."

"Fine, I can leave that for when he buries himself in the side of a building then. No harm to me." Horace said laughing lightly.

‘The more I do this the easier it gets and the less I expect to see Cedric when I get there. At least I don’t fall down anymore when I land. That is so embarrassing; Harry Potter can’t travel by magic without ending up on his bum.’

Harry felt the tug and appeared exactly where he meant to appear. He waited for the return trip which was scheduled for five seconds. ‘Four, three, two, one, tug.’ Harry appeared where he started off from standing tall. ‘I think I have this down. Just picture the place clearly and do it. Oh, what now?’ Harry watched Horace move towards him with a grim look on his face.

"Well, I guess you should have this one down by now. Let’s move to a real application of the spell. I want you to give me a location somewhere in Britain and then take your portkey there. We don’t use portkeys to move about rooms. We use them to move about countries and continents. We use them when Apparation isn’t advised. Tell me your location and I will put a Tracking Charm on you so I can find you when you stuff it."

Horace tapped Harry on the shoulder and a faint, grey shimmer appeared where the wand touched him. Harry looked at Horace as he waited impatiently for an answer. ‘What place do I know well enough that I can make a portkey to? Nowhere there are muggles that is for sure. That pretty much leaves the Weasleys.’

"The back field of the Weasleys. Do you know of where I am talking about?"

"I know the Weasley home. I can find you if you make it there," Horace dismissed Harry with a look.

Harry focused on the ring and pictured the location clearly using the same process he had before. He chose a three second timer and a return destination of his exact spot. He tapped the portkey with his wand and it vibrated glowing blue for a second. Harry looked straight into Horace’s eyes until the portkey pulled him to the Weasley’s back field.

Harry felt a strange sensation wash over him when the world came clearly into view. He stumbled a little from the lightheaded feeling but recovered quickly. He looked around and saw the familiar trees and grass. He turned and saw the oddly shaped house that was the Burrow. He stared at it dreaming of what it would have been like to grow up with a family who loved and cared about each other. Standing amongst the tall grass, he closed his eyes and absorbed the warmth of the sunshine. He heard the birds chirping in the trees and the wind blowing across the field.

He heard human noises and opened his eyes looking in the direction of the Burrow. He saw Ginny in the distance moving around the back garden. She was throwing something but it was too far away to tell what it was. He saw a tall redhead stand up and throw something else.

‘Looks like Ron and Ginny are de-gnoming the garden today. I wish I could be down there with them worrying about getting bit or something equally mundane.’ Harry sighed and starting slipping into a funk. He could hear a noise from inside the house and Ron and Ginny started moving inside quickly.

‘What is wrong? Why are they running inside?’ Harry started moving towards the house to see if he could help, but a muffled crack of Apparation stopped him. Harry spun on his heels throwing up an Absolvo Shield and pulling his wand on the newcomer. Harry was preparing a Reductor Curse when he saw the face of Tonks appear from under her hood.

"Harry, we need to leave," Tonks said her voice showing some concern.

"Why, what is going on? Everyone ran inside a few minutes ago. Are the Weasleys in trouble? Tonks tell me."

"Calm down, Harry. No one is in danger but us. I promise they are fine, but you have to come back with me now or we won’t be."

"You promise?" Harry wasn’t going to let things happen to his friends if he could stop it. Tonks was nodding her head quickly and moving towards him. "Fine, but you will tell me everything when we get there. If I am not satisfied with your answers, I am coming back and finding out for myself."

Harry held out the ring and Tonks grabbed on tightly. Harry tapped the ring activating the return action. As they were leaving, Harry heard the pops of multiple Apparations. When he landed in the training room, he grabbed Tonks by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. "What was going on and who were those people Apparating in?"

"Everything is fine, but let’s go somewhere more private to discuss things. The Training room isn’t the best place for this." Tonks waited for Harry to agree with her, but he wasn’t moving. "If you trust me at all, trust me on this one." She saw him think it over and he nodded finally.

Tonks led him out of the Training room and down the hall to a room labeled Twelve. She opened the door, giving her password, and entered it. Harry saw an average sized room with a couple couches, an overstuffed chair, a work table and chairs, and lockers. On the back wall was a moving mural depicting witches and wizards doing very magical things with wands and swords. It was titled "Team 3". Tonks closed the door and pulled him over to the couch pushing him down and sitting next to him.

"Harry, we can talk here," Tonks began while facing Harry directly. "You took your portkey to the Burrow. Horace followed the Tracking Charm to the coordinates you were at, but he was stopped by the wards guarding the Burrow. He came back here, immediately, and told me you were on warded property and where it was. In short, by you portkeying onto the Weasley’s property, you only triggered the Intrusion ward, since you are keyed to access their home. Horace triggered not only the Intrusion ward, but the Apparation ward and other wards the Order put on the Weasley’s home.

"They ran inside the Burrow, because the alarms were going off telling them someone had tried and succeeded in gaining access to their land. I know a meeting will be called tonight because both Apparation and a portkey were used."

"And the pops were?"

"The Order members arriving to protect the Weasleys from a perceived attack. If we had stayed, they would have attacked us thinking we were Death Eaters or something. You didn’t do anything wrong, but I needed to get you out of there before we were caught. Now, we need to get back to Privet Drive before they do a check on everyone they are watching. If they find you and I missing, Albus will sound the alarm and every member will begin combing the country looking for you. We can talk more when we get you home."

"Fine, let’s go." Harry wasn’t sure what to do, but he would worry about it when he got home. The last thing he wanted to do was scare the Weasleys.

They exited the room and returned to the Training room. Tonks spoke with Horace quickly and he nodded once at Harry wearing a scowl. She ran back over to Harry and grabbed his arm and told him to create a portkey home. Harry focused on his sad little room and his magically altered bed and cast the spell on the ring. They both grabbed it and Harry gave it a tap with his wand transporting him ‘home.’

As soon as they landed in the room, Harry sunk onto his bed feeling responsible for everything that had happened. Tonks sat down on the bed as well and gave Harry a friendly smile.

"What is wrong, Harry? You did great today."

"I triggered the wards at the Burrow?"

"You tripped the portkey ward, but you are authorized to be there so it wasn’t a big deal. Horace trying to follow you was what set the world on its ear. An unauthorized attempted Apparation tends to do that. As soon as he told me where you were and what happened, I knew that I had to get you out of there before everyone showed up all hot and bothered."

"How do you know about the wards at the Burrow?"

"Because, Harry, I helped put them up. I am not all smiles and purple hair you know." Tonks pulled her hair down a little and saw that it was purple right now. She nodded once, more to herself than anyone. "I can weave a ward fairly well. Not like Albus, Filius, or Bill Weasley, but I do okay." She gave Harry a cheeky smile trying to lighten his mood.

"So you managed all the shields he taught you. That was an awesome show you put on when I Apparated to you. What spell were you going to use on me by-the-way?"

"Reductor Curse. I tend to go to that one since it is quick and can cause some damage even if you have a shield up."

Tonks made a nasty face, then shifted it to one of serene innocence before shifting quickly back into her playful mode. "You wouldn’t have Reductored little old me would you?" Tonks batted her eyes a few times earning a laugh and smile from Harry. "You did amazingly today, Harry, you really did. It is so much fun to watch you." Tonks’ voice grew quieter as she spoke.

Harry looked in her dark, twinkling eyes for a minute. ‘She told me everything I needed to know. She was honest with me. She could have kept things from me, but she didn’t.’

"Thank you for telling me the truth when I asked for it, Tonks. It really means a lot to me."

"No problem, Harry," Tonks said quietly. She smiled her impish smile and couldn’t stop herself from moving closer to Harry.

"Thank you for helping me. I need every bit of it I can get." Harry watched Tonks smile change slightly as he spoke. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew what he wanted to do. "The only thing I won’t thank you for is Horace. You could have gotten Snape for a lot less than him, I am sure."

"You hate him now, but soon you will be thankful you had him as a teacher. Horace knows how to get the most out of his people. I think it is safe to say that he is getting the most out of you, right?"

"He gets me so mad most times that I just do the spell without thinking about it."

"His gift is doing just that, Harry. He gets you to do things you never thought you could."

"Yeah, like killing him." Harry joked even though the thought had crossed his mind a few times during the day.

Tonks laughed and put her hand on Harry’s side. "I am sure that man has been on the receiving end of more than a few curses intended to end his life, but he sticks around. I think he is too much of a bastard to die when we want him to."

"I thought the same thing today." Harry’s eyes never left Tonks’ face. She was leaning forward more than before, and her face wasn’t more than six inches away. Harry looked at her lips and back up to her face. He swallowed and felt himself leaning in too. ‘What am I doing? I am not doing this, am I?’

Tonks closed the distance and planted her lips on Harry’s in a warm but needy kiss. She held it for a few seconds before allowing her mouth to open slightly and her tongue out to ask for entrance to his mouth. She explored the various ways of kissing Harry as they slowly fell over onto the bed. She had her hands tangled up in his hair within seconds of pulling his hood off. She kept kissing him when she could as she pulled his cloak up over his head.

She managed to remove her cloak, too, while never removing more than one hand from Harry’s head. Once freed of the protective clothing, she let herself become a little wild. Always in a lip lock, she moved one hand to Harry’s shirt and gave a tug pulling it out of his waistband. She repeated the motion on the other side as well receiving no resistance from Harry.

‘I have no idea what I am doing, but I love every minute of it. I hope she never sees how pathetic I am at this. Was that her hand or something else?’

Tonks moved her hands around Harry’s chest after sliding them under his untucked shirt. ‘What are you doing? Why did you have to try and tease him again. Was I even trying to tease? You have talked about this with yourself. You had a conversation with Marcus about this. You…to hell with all of them. This is the best I have felt in years. Harry makes me feel good about myself. He expects nothing from me but friendship. Besides, I can’t stop myself. I don’t see how anyone could. The best and worst thing I have ever done was to tease Harry Potter.’

Tonks worked her left hand behind Harry’s head and held him firmly to her lips while her right hand was running up and down his chest. She was distracted by a rather deep kiss and her hand got away from her rubbing a little lower than she had intended.

‘Oops, that wasn’t what I had planned. How did he take it? Just a minor pause and he is back at it. What a guy. Oh, this is a joyous feeling. I could do this for hours.’ Tonks continued kissing and rubbing until she felt a Message Spell hit her. ‘Always when I am enjoying myself they interrupt.’ Tonks ignored the message for now and continued snogging Harry. She was starting to feel that warm sensation all over so she opened her eyes and watched Harry do the same.

He looked at her with an eager smile and desire clouding his eyes. He stared a little longer and she waited. ‘Do it, Harry. Please do what ever that is again.’ She didn’t have to wait for long before she felt a presence enter her mind and her senses were completely overtaken. She felt her urges increase by at least double and new feelings arise in places she had never felt before. ‘Who needs an orgasm when I have this?’

Tonks couldn’t stop herself from completely letting go. She had limited control over her hands which spent most of their time clenching and unclenching in Harry’s hair, rubbing his chest, or just being somewhere else. She was completely focused on Harry and what he did to her. She took the opportunity to breathe when Harry started kissing her neck and throat. She twitched when he kissed behind her ears so he spent some time on that nearly causing Tonks to lose it.

She was able to move onto Harry a little bit and started moving her body in sync with her wave of desire that was completely in control of her. She was tingling all over but it was worse on her breasts, in her mouth, and in another private place. She had no ability to think anymore. She could only feel and it felt wonderful. Her shallow breaths were slowly turning into muffled moans as she rocked to her own beat.

Harry kept doing what he was doing. His hands found their way to Tonks back and down to her butt. One hand held her in place, sort of, and the other moved slowly up and down her back opposite her rocking motions.

Tonks was nearing a place of wondrous joy when a second Message Spell hit her. ‘God dammit all to bloody hell,’ Tonks screamed to herself. ‘I am so unsatisfied right now I can’t even begin describe it.’ Knowing that the messages would only come more often if she didn’t answer, Tonks slowly began to extract herself from her intimacy with Harry. She had trouble ending the kisses, but with a lot of effort she managed.

Her breathing still wildly out of control, Tonks slowly moved off of Harry. ‘Oh, I was so close, too. I am so frustrated I could hurt someone.’ She moved to lie beside Harry and looked into his eyes which were studying her intently.

"You are way too good at that, Harry. I have no idea what you do, but that is truly an amazing thing you do. I didn’t stop because I wanted to, trust me I would have went right to the end with it, but the Order are sending me Message Spells and they are kind of annoying. I need to respond and go to Grimmauld Place for the meeting really soon or else they will show up here and cause all sorts of trouble. I will be back tonight after the meeting and I will tell you everything I can. If I can’t say anything, please believe me that Albus is using the Secrecy Agreement to prevent me from saying it."

Tonks slowly lifted herself off the bed, righting her clothes, and gathering her cloak. She shot off a reply to the Order. She turned to the bureau and used the mirror to make sure she didn’t look like she had done what she had just done. After adjustments had been made, Tonks turned and found Harry sitting up on the bed looking slightly confused.

"What is it, Harry?"

"What are we doing? Us I mean?"

"You are doing what someone your age is supposed to do. You are kissing a pretty girl who lets you kiss her. What is wrong with that?"

"That is great," Harry said with a crooked smile. "I mean I really like doing that, but what about you? What are you doing?"

"Me?" Tonks pondered what she could say at this point to make things sound better than others would describe them. "I am…I have always done things that others told me not to. I am very much like you in that sense if you think about it. People have always seen me a certain way the minute I meet them. You never did that. That makes you special in my book, as if you need more things for that. I am enjoying our time together and I hope you are as well."

"I am enjoying it. But what are we doing?"

"We are enjoying each other, having fun, and ignoring what others think we should and should not do. How does that sound to you?"

"Are we going to keep doing what we were doing?" Harry asked with worry hanging off every word.

"I can think of no reason to stop now. Can you?" Harry shook his head quickly. "I didn’t think so, stud."

"Then I think it sounds good to me, Nymphadora." Harry flashed a smile at Tonks when she tried to lower her eyes and look menacing.

Tonks took a deep breath trying to prevent herself from tackling Harry playfully. She walked up to him, gave him a passionate kiss showing that she was serious about what she had said, then stepped back pulling out her wand.

"Not sure how long this will take, but I will be back as soon as I can, Harry. Get something to eat while your relatives aren’t home."

Harry nodded at her and Tonks Apparated to the park near Grimmauld Place.

Tonks appeared in an empty park filled with scattered rubbish. Tonks tapped her cloak saying "Color: Blue" and started walking quickly to Number Twelve. ‘I want to be in and out of this meeting fast. I have somewhere better to be for once in my life. And I am still frustrated to no end.’ Tonks reached the plot that contained Number Twelve and thought of the address. The dingy house appeared in front of her and she climbed the steps stumbling on two of them.

She knocked on the door and saw Molly open it for her. "At least you remembered not to ring the bell, unlike my darling sons over there." Molly stabbed a finger in the direction of Fred and George who were sitting in a corner annoying Ron with small, brightly colored items. "We have an emergency and all they can do is make pests of themselves. If I didn’t see them born with my own eyes, I would swear there had been a mistake at St. Mungo’s."

"Oh, you love your children more than you can describe, Molly. And you love those two more than any of the others. I heard the stories about you from school. I know the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with them. Don’t bother denying it."

"Hush, Tonks, the last thing those two need is more justification for causing mischief. If they knew that, there would be no stopping them from declaring an all out prank war on anyone foolish enough to get within twenty feet of them. Now, hold your tongue before they hear you."

"I was in the middle of that before I got called here, thank you very much?" Tonks mumbled.

"What was that dear? You seem a bit agitated today? Everything alright? Man troubles?"

"Things were going very well before I got called here, Molly. I just want to get out of here so I can get back to what I was doing."

"You were watching Harry, right? You weren’t off somewhere else pulling a Dung and leaving Harry unprotected?"

"Molly, calm down. I am nothing like that drunk. I was watching Harry as I am supposed to. Just because you are on guard duty doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time as well."

"You aren’t bringing men to the Dursley’s to keep you company on your watch are you?" Molly was starting to get all protective of Harry and Tonks needed to stop her before she attracted attention.

"Molly, I am doing my job the best way I know how. Have no worries about Harry’s wellbeing although right now he is alone since we are all here, but he can take care of himself."

"Oh, yes, he is alone. We should get this over with so you can get back there. You still have an hour before Dung is supposed to come on." Molly hurried away directing everyone into the kitchen that was supposed to be in there. Ron and Ginny had to stay out of the meetings. The twins passed their mother ignoring her disappointed, angry, and scared looks.

Tonks waved to Ron and Ginny as she stumbled into the kitchen. The room was full of every Order member. People were squished into every available spot leaving the entryway to Tonks. She leaned up against a counter and made herself as comfortable as possible while standing up.

"About time the little girl showed up," came a biting comment from the only person who would trouble himself to insult her from across the room.

"Why, Snapey, I never knew you cared?" Tonks replied letting her annoyance shine.

"Couldn’t be troubled to arrive any earlier? Too busy watching Boy-Wonder sulk in his misery?" Snape jibed.

"You might be surprised, Git. When is this shindig going to start?" Tonks queried.

"Right now, Nymphadora," answered Albus twinkling away.

Tonks held her anger at the use of her name not wanting to prolong the meeting any more than it was. She heard the story from Molly about the wards being triggered getting the kids inside. She heard from Moody and Remus who were the first on-scene at the Burrow after the wards went off. They reported that they saw two people in grey cloaks disappear as they arrived. A scan of the area revealed nothing out of the ordinary and the wards were still intact. Snape blamed the ‘obvious’ hole in the wards on Tonks since she helped put them up.

Tonks thanked Snape for his opinion by flipping him off and looking bored. She wanted to leave and there was nothing they could say that she didn’t already know. Her thoughts were interrupted by Albus asking her a question.

"Nymphadora, how is Harry doing so far?"

"Other than what I mentioned to you, he is fine. He is doing pretty well considering everything." Tonks didn’t elaborate when the others asked what she meant. Albus did his best to stop the questions too, but it was obvious that Molly was going to corner Albus after the meeting and pick his brain. Tonks stared at the floor and waited for the meeting to end which it finally did after thirty minutes. She walked out of the kitchen and headed for the door.

‘Finally I can leave.’ Tonks was walking down the hallway and getting closer to the door with every step. "Tonks, is Harry doing okay?" Asked Ginny from the side of the hallway. Ron was standing next to her and looked as eager for an answer as Ginny.

"Harry is doing pretty well. He has his moments, but for the most part he is dealing. How are you guys?" Tonks looked at each of them.

"Had a little start today, but everything is fine. All healed up from our adventure at least. Mum was going spare for the first few days. Today was the first time she let us out and look what happens." Ron shrugged and played off his mother’s concern.

"Don’t worry about today," Tonks said. "Nothing happened and no one knows who it was. The wards worked like they were supposed to. I really need to get back so I should get moving. You both know that Harry can’t be left to himself for more than thirty minutes without finding something to get into. He is so like a two-year-old in that respect. See ya."

Tonks moved to the door and left the foreboding house. She Apparated from the front step directly to Harry’s room. When she appeared, she found a plate with a few crumbs sitting on his desk and Harry spread out eagle on his bed. His glasses were on his desk as well and his clothes were hung up. Harry was covered by a sheet and wasn’t wearing a shirt. Tonks smiled at the sight.

She pulled a vial of brown potion out of her cloak and downed it quickly. ‘There’s dinner and now to get some sleep too.’ Tonks pulled off her cloak and draped it over the rickety chair next to the desk. She unbuttoned her pants and slid them off setting them on the chair along with her shirt. Tonks unhooked her bra and dropped that onto the ever-growing pile on the chair. She pulled out her bag from under bed and found a t-shirt to wear. She slipped it over her head but didn’t finish putting it on.

She looked at Harry and then at the mirror. She closed her eyes and changed into her normal self. She opened her eyes finding her larger breasts where they belonged and sighed. She looked at herself a little longer and then put her arms through the holes and pulled the shirt the rest of the way on. She waved her wand over her mouth and cleaned her teeth.

Tonks pulled the sheet back and slipped under it trying not to disturb Harry. She covered herself with the sheet and slowly moved back against Harry. She relaxed as Harry shifted and his arms snaked around her. ‘Oh, I so love this.’ She felt his warmth envelope her and the safe feeling returned as strong as ever. Tonks couldn’t help but think about their snog session earlier. She was reliving it, moment for moment in her mind, when she realized that she was breathing heavy again.

She moved a hand lower and found that she had most definitely ‘relived’ the experience to a certain degree. ‘I stand no chance with him. If remembering things can get me going, I have no hope of stopping things if they get hot and heavy between us. Maybe I should distance myself from him…Not a chance of that happening if I have anything to say about it. And thankfully, I do.’

Tonks fell asleep in Harry’s arms, again, and she slept very comfortably through the night. Dung was out in the garden planning his next ‘business deal’ under the cover of an invisibility cloak. A person under his own invisibility cloak stood across the street from Number Four and was looking through an eyepiece. The man studied the house for a few minutes before sighing. He put the eyepiece away in a hidden pocket on his cloak. He shook his head as he tapped a portkey and disappeared from the very muggle street. Marcus appeared in his own home, seconds later, in deep thought wondering what he should do.

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