Harry was wracked with a worry that had him waking up every two hours. Presently it was 5:17 on a Monday morning in a gray room that he haunted with his vigil.

Ron was in the next bed sound asleep but almost fully clothed. His legs were still hanging off the side and he looked as though he had just flopped down from exhaustion. Harry figured that he himself probably looked worse for wear.

But it wasn't Voldemort who had everyone at Grimmauld Place in such a fretful state this seemingly endless night. It was Nyphadora Tonks, or rather the lack there of. She had gone missing five days ago.

Shacklebolt was leaving him out of the loop. All he could do was reassure Harry that it was Ministry business which had nothing to do with Voldemort. "It's not fair." He thought.

Harry rubbed his face and decided it was no use trying to sleep again so he got out of bed and pulled on an undershirt. "Maybe I can just walk around the yard and watch the sun come up."

He was very much aware of his feelings for Tonks. Until now he was able to enjoy the infatuation for what it was. It wasn't complicated. It wasn't the passionate epic of our time. It was a boy admiring a woman who was smart and skilled but easy to know. Harry didn't mind that it made him look like a young pup following her around. On the contrary, it was nice. For once he was just a boy. Just a boy with a crush.

Tonight he was back to being a world weary old man with far too much guilt on his narrow shoulders. After all he's seen and done he couldn't just go to bed and let 'the folks' worry about it. He wanted to be out there with the search party.

He knew it couldn't be easy, even for the most highly trained aurors, to be searching for a shape-shifter. "Umm she might have brown or blue eyes with short blonde hair that could have also been long and black, oh or red. Anyway have you seen her?" The situation was beginning to seem hopeless.

Harry padded down the stairs in a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and made his way to the fridge. Reflexively, he looked around to be sure Mrs. Weasley wasn't looking before drinking milk straight from the bottle. With the bottle still in hand He rummaged through the pantry for a quick bite.

That's when he heard someone come in slowly through the back door. The anti-intruder charms were in place. "Must be Lupin or Moody coming back from their shift." The footsteps, which were keeping a quick-slow rhythm, shuffled around in the next room then proceeded to come down a short hall leading to the kitchen. A bloody, scorched, and soot ridden figure stood swaying in the doorway.

For a moment Harry didn't even recognize this form as being the normal image of Tonks. There were cuts and bruises all over her face and her clothing was torn in various places giving glimpses of yet more cuts and bruises. Strips of her cloak were used as a makeshift sling for her left arm as well as bandages for her head, ribs, and leg.

She appeared to be disorientated and didn't seem to notice him there as she limped over to the fridge. "Tonks?" He stepped closer. She froze for a moment then looked in his general direction through the corner of her half lidded eyes.

"Harry?" He could see now that her eyes were not only half lidded but puffy and blood shot as well. A sly smile tugged at her lips and her eyes went back to gazing aimlessly. "You're not, Harry." She said as if she knew better and wouldn't be fooled. "You..." Tonks pointed a wavering finger at him and spoke in a slow slurred manner. "...are – a dragon."

"Tonks, where have you been? What's-What's happened to you?" There was no point in asking a dumb question like, "Are you okay?" when she very obviously was not.

Tonks turned slowly on her heal to face him. Doing so she tilted back and stumbled a little but didn't fall. "I um..." She closed her eyes and cocked her head. When she answered her speach was slow and halting. "You know that - trick where you - you toss a uh a piece of popcorn – in the air and you – you catch it - in your mouth?"

"What?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't practice that with bricks, turns out." She chortled at her own joke then opened the freezer and grabbed a bag of vegetables to put on her head.

"Tonks," He made a move to grab her by the arm, "You should just get some sleep now..."

"SLEEP?!" She whipped the frozen bag right into his face. "Oh you'd like that wouldn't you? If you think I'm sleeping, just forget it! If that's what you're counting, forget it! I'M not sleeping." Her arm began to flail about and she didn't seem to be addressing Harry any more. "I'm stronger than you! I'm stronger and better then any of you! You can't wear me down." She started thumping her finger on her chest "I am Nymphadora Tonks, daughter of Andromeda and Ted Tonks, and I don't sleep. I don't need to eat either. I can go at this for days."

Harry tried again to still her. His sudden aggressive movement was a mistake. She pulled out a dagger-like flint stone from under her blue denim jacket. "Just back off! Leave me alone!"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Harry put up the palms of his hands in what he hoped was a disarming gesture. "Alright. It's alright."

"No. No. No." She said in a more passive tone. "I can't believe that. I shouldn't. I can't. No it's not alright is it?" She leaned her back against the kitchen isle and began to slide down all the while rubbing her head with the fist that was holding the dagger. Suddenly she jumped up again and started pacing. "I have to keep moving, keep... alert, keep... keep fighting."

"Who, Tonks? Who are you fighting?" She put back the dagger and braced her arm against the isle with her head hanging so low between her shoulders she might have passed for Nearly Headless Nick.

"The world, Harry. Did you know the world is one big dragon just stalking you, waiting?"

There was a moment of silence when Harry didn't know what to try next. He had to get her to lie down. Had he been thinking clearly he would have thought to call Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the search team. They had been sleeping in shifts down at the Ministry. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the twins had been ordered to stay behind incase she showed up here but he knew that was only an excuse to keep them safe and out of the way.

"Harry," Her elbow collapsed and folded flat on the cutting board with her head on top. "Would you please get me - a glass of water?" He quickly did as he was asked. Hardly moving from her position she took the glass and lifted her head slightly to peer into it. "Is it good?" She asked with a skeptical pout.

"Yes it's very... cool and very... good." He wasn't sure what she typically looked for in a glass of water.

"It's not moving."

"No. I suppose it's not." Not moving? Is that a wizarding thing? "I could run the tap." He offered

"That would be good. Thanks." Harry wasn't sure why but he turned on the tap as promised. "Always look for running water." Tonks explained as she got up and went for the sink. Then she proceeded to cup her hands under the water and drink from them wantonly. She splashed some water on her face and neck before sticking her whole head under the faucet. "Oh that's better. Much better. AAhhhh Ohh. Harry, you won't believe how my weekend's been."

Not wanting to upset her again, Harry listened to her tale as he tried casually moving her to the living room where there was a nice soft couch.

(A/N: Show of hands, kids, who would like to hear the incredible tale Tonks has for us?)