Harry Potter and the Key to Summer

Chapter Thirteen

Traveling is not just seeing the new; it is also leaving behind. Not just opening doors; also closing them behind you, never to return. But the place you have left forever is always there for you to see whenever you shut your eyes.
– Jan Myrdal

Standing before Grimmauld after what felt like ages made Harry check his wands and the key around his neck again. Though it was late, and he was tired from his work that day, the meeting wasn't something he could ignore.

Moody had left word that something big was going on, and that Harry should, if he intended to confront the man at all, do so tonight. Although his reasoning wasn't so much to confront, as to say his peace with Tonks and hopefully either bury the hatchet with Dumbledore and the Order for good, or sever ties, Harry took the former Auror's words for what they were. Rather than recoup back in the flat, Tonks took him to Grimmauld, and Harry in turn led them to the Order's headquarters. Though Tonks could still remember things from the day she was Obliviated, thanks to her timely use of a Pensieve, the Fidelius wasn't so easy to trick. Besides, she figured, it wasn't like she needed to come back here, after tonight.

Harry fidgeted with his robes again, and Tonks shoved him forward. "C'mon, we need to get it over with. We were ready when we left the flat."

"I know, it's just nerve wracking. I don't know if the key will get us through a transport ward. I don't know what they'll do."

Tonks simply nodded, but grinned regardless of Harry's worry, "Well, that's why we left notices with Rufus, Amelia and Narcissa, even a few of your opponents, isn't it? In case something does go wrong, enough people will know to do something about it. I don't think he'll go that far though."

"Hope you're right," Harry mumbled, repressing the urge to check his wands again. Letting Tonks take hold of his arm, he strode up to the doorway, waiting for the buildings to shove themselves around and let number fourteen have it's room. Reaching up, Harry knocked soundly on the door, hoping desperately that his letter had been received before he arrived.

Amber-flecked gray eyes peered back, from the slide on the door. "Oh good you're early." The door opened, revealing an even shabbier, even more weary looking Remus Lupin than he remembered. "Come in, come in. I'd get you tea, but we need to secret you away quickly. Cloak?"

Harry nodded and pulled the garment from his belt, tossing it over himself and Tonks. Remus nodded smartly and led the way back to the sitting room. "Good, he can see through those, but only if you can be seen. There's a hide behind that bookcase, pull out the book In Sheep's Clothing, and it should swing out. Good, now before you shut it, your signal will be a loud bang, followed by the portrait waking up. See you then."

The rushed conversation had taken barely a minute, and then Harry found himself, under a cloak, stuffed into a tiny nook with a very amused metamorph. "Well. I hope he's planning on signaling us sooner, as opposed to later," Harry ventured, only to get an elbow in the ribs. "Ou, what was that for."

"For implying I'm not good company," Tonks replied archly, but again started giggling. "Sorry, always had to take a calming draught before a stakeout, to keep the giggles down."

"Yeah," raising a brow, Harry filed that tidbit away, but focused on another line of thought, he'd not allowed himself till recently. "Tonks, could I ask you a serious question? I don't know how this meeting is going to go, and I'd like... well to know, before. If it's alright."

Nodding, the young witch stilled, recognizing the unsure and somewhat hesitant manner in which Harry was acting. Through the last week, they'd plotted, planned and practiced, all with a solid confidence of determination that would make Hermione and Moody proud, but here, now Harry was practically shaking like a leaf. "What is it," she asked simply, Harry's nervousness rubbing off on her as well.

Taking a breath, Harry closed his eyes and let his words spill forth, "I wondered why it is, you have been so supportive of me. Why you're still with me, despite the things that happened, and all that you've lost, over this."

Oh he would ask the hard ones right before leaping in the lion's den, she cursed silently. "I... well."

"I really don't mind, don't take it like that. I mean, it's been great having this time to be with you. Work with you. I mean," shaking his head, Harry would have loved to be able to knock his forehead into a wall, if not for needing to be relatively quiet. "I like being around you. I like-"

"Harry?"

"-mean it's like, I've got my best mates, my friends and the people in the DA, but I worry about getting them involved. I mean I worry about you too! But I guess it really helps that you were an Auror and have more real-world-"

"Harry."
"I'm sorry," hanging his head a bit, the Boy-Who-Lived, took a deep breath and looked back up at the witch, smiling wryly at him. "Sorry."

"Shut. Up." Leaning forward, the young woman paused, barely brushing her lips across his before leaning back and regarding him, her eyes catching what little light there was in the nook. "I would try to explain better, but I don't trust myself yet. For now... can we let it go there? I want to be a part of this. Can that be enough, for now?"

Mouth working silently for a moment, Harry just nodded dumbly and tried to let his mind catch up to the moment that had just happened. She kissed him? It was barely a kiss, but... it was a kiss! Blinking rapidly, Harry's mind sped back over the last few months, putting new angles, trying to see different lights on their time. Remembering the night he'd come back in late, in the Department of Mysteries with their hosts, he blushed madly and could only close his eyes, remembering all he'd seen. "Yeah. It's enough. Thank you, for being here."

"No where else I'd rather be," she replied quietly, mind doing a quiet mirror to Harry's own. Tonks hoped he'd not take it the wrong way, considering their somewhat awkward moments, but she really did like him. He was comfortable, bright, didn't ask too much of her, and was grateful of what she did give. There wasn't much she could ask for otherwise, in a friend, but that was the problem, really.

She's never thought of him, in the same way as her friends. Sure, there were parallels in thinking, and for a while she hid her own motivations behind a wall of maternal instinct, and a sense of moral right, but... lies, even to oneself are lies. Deep down, she knew this was a stupid time to spring such a thing on him, but he did ask.

And, to be honest, she did want to tell him.

An uneasy silence slid down around them, as the minutes dragged on. It was all Harry could do not to let his brain kick into some odd direction, as the only noise he could hear was her breathing, and the only thing he could feel, other than the wall to his right, was her side pressed up against his own. "Ah, do you remember what we planned?" Trying to break the silence, he recalled the real reason, other than the pleasant aside in a dark nook, that they were there.

Voicing her agreement, Tonks nodded, "Yeah, I do. You'll say your peace, I'll keep an eye for any weirdness, using the blood bond to the home as an anchor, and when it's my turn, you do the same. We use the key in an emergency, if I get separated, use the blood bond to Apparate, in case they use some anti-transport spells. Hope that I don't get splinched since we haven't tried that yet."

"Considering, I think it would work alright. If anything, just get to the door, inside the house. It'll confuse them enough to give you time to cross the main wards." Running a hand through his hair nervously, Harry grinned, "It's a lot different than planning, being here. I hope it goes well."

"Me too. I hear people, shh."

It seemed that the meeting that Dumbledore had called was beginning to happen, or at least those invited were making their way about. More than once Harry heard the Floo flare up and the clomping steps of someone exiting it. A few muted hellos, some broken conversation reached them as well.

"...not sure why... Doge? ...he doing you think?" Molly's voice, somewhat high and easy to place, sounded easiest to pick up.

A lower, harder to hear voice, probably one of the male members of the Order answered, but other than the neutral tone, little could be heard.

More shuffling of footsteps and then silence let the conspirators know that likely the meeting was in order. "Soon you think?"

"Probably," his companion answered quietly. Making a mental note, Tonks smiled. Perhaps if they did something like this again, they should both take calming draughts.

A score of minutes after the meeting may have begun, a loud bang, followed by the insensate scream of annoyance from the portrait of Mrs. Black let them know that it was time. As quickly as they could, Harry and Tonks slid out of the nook, and he folded his cloak back into this belt. Smoothing each other's clothing, they shared a nod when they were ready, and marched into the kitchen side by side.

The initial confusion as to what had awoken the portrait turned to mild shock when from the other doorway, a grim-faced Harry and Tonks seemed to simply materialize. "Good afternoon everyone."

Playing out their roles well, Remus and Moody stood quickly as if to launch spells at the two, and were set back down by body-binds, from Harry and Tonks. Eyeing the rest of the room, the two made it clear they weren't going to deal with more of the same. "That well out of everyone's system?" Harry's question met an equally confused and shocked room, as what had just happened registered.

"I believe so, Harry. Will you join us tonight, peacefully? Professor Snape had some urgent news to pass along." Dumbledore's words carried equal parts question and order, but it didn't seem to phase the two who stood, wands still drawn on the room. "Can we put you at ease?"

"Oh, yes that would be simple. Place your wands on the table." When no one seemed intent on complying, Harry shrugged and kept his own trained on the room. "Your choice, then."

Looking about the room, Dumbledore didn't let show the annoyance and frustration that this week, and Harry himself were causing. "Please, Harry, Ms. Tonks, You are among friends here-"

Snorting, Harry chuckled darkly. "Really. Explain Doge."

Eyes narrowing a moment, Albus made to reply but Harry cut him off with a wave of his wand. "Not you. Arthur. What were your orders?"

Looking to the Headmaster briefly, Arthur turned to regard Harry sadly. "We were to incapacitate and bring you back to Grimmauld if you were found."

Tonks spoke up this time, her eyes narrowing angrily, "Why? What possible justification could you have for that?"

"You can't be serious, Nympha-"

"I suggest you rethink that, Molly." Her tone reminded Harry of the icy calm that she'd affected in her Unspeakable disguise, and the memory almost made him smile. It was an effort not to, as the Weasley matriarch's eyes widened, when Tonks' wand snapped toward her. Though he thought of Molly as the most likened to a mother he could know, the woman had a very faint grasp on the world, beyond her apron strings. It was far too dangerous a time, for that kind of short-sightedness.

Huffing, the older woman's lips drew into a fine line. "Very well. You should know, Tonks, that Harry would never behave this way, on his own. Practically throwing his inheritance back at Voldemort! He hates the Malfoys!"

"Actually I really dislike Draco, but only because he's an immature git. Lucius... yeah I hated him," shrugging, Harry conceded the point but didn't lower his wand from Dumbledore. "Funny thing about that, not that I'm sure anyone has verified it, but Narcissa wasn't terribly fond of the bootlicking fop either. Lucius I mean." Tonks couldn't keep a straight face at that one, and snickered quietly.

This it seemed, was the queue Snape had been looking for to voice his own concerns. "Indeed. Though, I wonder how long it will take for the Dark Lord to pressure her back into place."

"Well that depends, Severus, how much pressure are you going to put on your godson to take his mark?"

The result he wanted was easy to get, as everyone's eyes turned to regard the lank-haired man. "I will not press another to that end. The Headmaster knows-"

"Exactly what you want him to," Harry retorted angrily. "Narcissa, though not a model citizen, is a very, very devoted mother. Do you know why I can trust her?" Waiting a moment, Harry snapped the answer to his own question at them, "Because she loves her son. She will do anything, anything in her power to keep him from the same path as his father. What about you, Snivellus? What will you do, when faced with the choice of your godson's life and your own?"

Lip quivering in rage, the man stood slowly and stared, piercingly at the young wizard. "Do not pretend to know me so well as to predict my actions, boy."

"What I do know is you lie to your Lord, and you lie to us. So far, Narcissa's loyalty has been ironclad. So, given the choice of betrayal and selfishness, and a mother's love," Harry purposefully swept his eyes from Molly to Dumbledore, letting them draw their own conclusions for his meaning, "I choose her. Seemed simple, really."

Holding up his hands, Dumbledore seemed to be trying to ease not just Harry but the others at the table as well. "Lets be civil, everyone. I would like to proceed with the meeting if our friends think they would be able to be kind enough to treat us as peers and not hostages."

"Peers? Civil?" Tonks practically spat the words at the man. "How is Obliviating me, Obliviating Moody and having him do the same to those in the Ministry, forcing me out of a job-" her own wand swiveled with Harry's dangerously as the man dipped his hand toward his robe. "Ah ah... So. Tell us again about civility and respect, Albus. I would love to hear it."

Sighing heavily, Dumbledore cursed the day he ever took the young woman into the Order, thinking her talents would be valuable. "I did what I need to, to ensure events played out properly. If you had continued as an Auror, it would be a conflict with the Order and eventually someone, either you or us would slip up. It was necessary to ensure not just your own, but our safety."

"Remus, if I unbind you, do you swear on your magic to do what I ask, as long as no one comes to harm?"

Looking about himself warily, the Werewolf replied his compliance. Harry pulled a small vial from his robes, and canceled his body-bind on the former teacher. "Take this. Three drops on Moody's tongue."

"I cannot allow-"

"Shut up," cutting off the Headmaster quietly, Harry glared at the man, and none present would have stepped between at the intensity of Harry's glare. "If I have to dose you as well, to get the truth of things, by Merlin I'll do it!" A collective gasp rose at the table at that, and Harry held his glare, as Tonks observed Lupin and Moody warily.

Arthur sighed, shaking his head in resignation. "Harry, why don't you trust him?"

"Because, he's given me no reason to."

The simple answer quieted the room, as Lupin did his duty and sat back at the table, warily watching the proceedings.

Moody's face took on a somewhat odd look, and Harry realized the man was smiling slightly. It looked off on his face. "Please state your name."

"Alastor Moody."

Nodding, Harry settled his back to the wall and continued, "How long have you known Dumbledore?"

The veteran Auror seemed to consider that a moment. "Since I was attending Hogwarts."

Looking back to the Headmaster, he asked his first pointed query, "Why did you Obliviate the people in the Ministry who had knowledge of Tonks' arrest?"

Albus looked to speak, but Harry jabbed his wand out and wordlessly cast a silence charm on the man, replacing his calm facade with mild shock. "Dumbledore ordered it, to cover the failed arrest that would have been in the Wizengamot the next day."

The reaction to that single statement would have been worth all the work, on it's own. But Harry was far from done. "Quiet, quiet!" Slamming his fist into the wall, the angry young wizard finally calmed the outraged room, and knowing the charm would not hold more than a moment more with Dumbledore working to counter it, released his silencing charm. "So. What do you say to this, Dumbledore?"

"I cannot say anything. I have no idea what Moody's speaking of."

Tonks took this moment to pull out her compact, smirking and tossing it onto the table. "Moody, what is this, and what have you done with it?"

"It's a small, limited use Pensieve. You let me use it in case Dumbledore Obliviated me, after I failed at the Ministry. He did, and I recovered my memory with it. "

Albus seemed to deflate here, and shook his head sadly. "What, old man? What do you have to say to that? What excuse?" The venom in Harry's words was obvious, and even he had to admit, his anger was getting the better of him. Tonks' hand on his arm calmed him, reminded him what their goal was tonight.

"How do we know you've not changed his memory, Harry? You're so angry with me, so unpredictable, so unlike yourself. How do you think this looks?"

Snarling quietly, Harry swapped his wand to the other hand and raised his right, "I swear on my magic that neither I, nor anyone I know other than Albus Dumbledore has altered Alastor Moody's memory," a bright flare of magic snapped over him, and Harry placed his wand back in his right hand, willing a small spray of sparks. It complied, as he narrowed his eyes at the Headmaster. "Care to try that oath as well, Albus?"

His silence was all the answer anyone needed. "How can you justify treating people like this? How? Should I ask Moody about the other things, that obviously you don't want to come to light? Should I ask about Ginny?"

That was the breaking point, and with a surge of magic, Albus stood tall and nearly flared with contained rage. "Enough!"

The damage was done though. Molly and Arthur had their wands out, as did Kingsley and the few others from the Ministry. All told, the only people not pointing a wand at the man, were Moody due to his body-bind, and Severus who was woefully surprised at the turn of events. "No, it's not Dumbledore," Harry said softly, shrugging off the reaction to the magic in the room. "You could have done a lot, with us, to make us loyal, to keep us with you, with your goals. If they were as noble as we were to believe. But you chose to deceive, to manipulate, to force people into your plans. Why? What is it you can't let us know that would endanger you?"

Glaring at Harry, the man seemed to calm but only slightly. "I do what I must, for the light. I know what has to be done. I know what evil is, what must happen to counter it."

"So you hold a monopoly on good?" Rolling his eyes, Harry didn't bother to hold his wand on the man anymore. "God damnit, will you just reason with us!" And to Harry's surprise, others in the room were nodding as well. "People believe in you, Dumbledore. They believe in the man that saved them from Grindelwald. Why won't you work with us, rather than trying to play us like a game?"

Moody's voice split the silence, and their questions. He had still been under the serum, and was aware of the questions Harry would ask. Hell, he wanted the old bastard to come clean too. Dumbledore was a great wizard, a real champion for good and the rights of those who deserved it, back in his day. Time and his own guilt, something Moody knew too well, had taken their toll on him. So, figuring he owed everyone here, not just himself, the truth, Moody decided to lay all the cards on the table. Let the Devil have his Due. "Because he didn't defeat Grindelwald. Tom Riddle did."

-

-

Silence can be a dangerous thing. Sometimes it's the breaking point before a storm. Sometimes it's the herald of a mind going undone. Sometimes, it's just a pause, while the universe sighs.

"I..." Shaking his head, the old man at the head of the table sat heavily, looking at his hands. His eyes were wet, as tears streaked down from them to his beard, a veritable river. "I couldn't. I just couldn't."

"Albus..." crossing to the man's side, Minerva McGonagall wrapped an arm around the man's shoulders, the suddenly very frail, very old looking Headmaster shuddering where he sat.

Tonks and Harry shared horrified looks, Harry only still standing due to the wall behind him. What had they done? This was far and beyond anything they'd thought to do. They wanted Dumbledore to admit his trespasses, and reforge a real bond with the Order. Wanted it to be based on honesty, from the future on. Wanted him to respect people, for being individuals and not chess pieces. This... this wasn't part of the plan.

"He... he was my..." choking a moment, the Headmaster laughed, but it was the sound of a heart breaking. "He was part of me, then. I swore to protect him. To do nothing to harm him, it was a vow we both made." A fresh well of tears etched at the man's face, and Harry felt shame greater than anything he had ever known, at this. Though the shock and uncertainty of Dumbledore's honesty was still rocking the room, it was Harry that felt responsible.

Minerva was making small hushing noises, as the man they'd all looked up to, relied on, believed in, crumpled. "We met, we were so young... he was so brilliant. Like the sun. The brilliance distracted me from what he was," Sniffling mightily, Albus laughed, a mirthless shaking of his body. "Before I had known it, I was bound by a vow to never act against him. But my hand, my influence could still try and right him.

"The most promising student in my care, was Tom. Oh he was brilliant, and powerful, so powerful. And so eager to prove it, after the hardships of his youth," eyes closing and mouth working silently, the man sobbed, and no one tried to press him. A minute passed, with the only sound in the room being Minerva's soothing voice, and Albus' labored breathing. "I had no idea, no idea of his own darkness. He took my Gellert and broke him... tore the knowledge from him. And then became something wholly worse."

Then it finally made sense. "You vowed the same thing to Tom, didn't you?"

Nodding, the broken man only curled in on himself more. "He made me, or he would not move to stop Gellert, but would simply kill him. To save his life, I had to swear never to act directly against Tom. I could only defend. Only protect, but never directly try to stop him.

"I ended up in the same place, again. I swore I'd not make those mistakes... that I would find a way to finally end this cycle of horror."

"Why me. Why did you force me to be in that place? What could it have..." blinking rapidly, Harry just shook his head. "Hardships of his youth. No..."

"Tom was an orphan. He grew up in a horrible place. Once he marked you, I let the prophecy play out-"

"Shut up." Shaking his head, Harry stumbled, but his legs wouldn't listen.

"-I left you to them, and it was the only thing I could do. He marked you as an equal, Harry." Dumbledore's eyes, peering over and rimmed in red, seemed to beg forgiveness. Harry had little in him. "I tried to make you an equal-"

"SHUT UP!" Roaring at the man, Harry clenched at his head after and groaned, as his magic begged for release. The hate, utter and blinding at knowing, knowing for certain now that his childhood could have been something other than a nightmare, but for this man's manipulations. "I don't need anymore truth. I've had enough," he croaked, backing from the room unsteadily.

His feet barely seemed attached, as he stumbled to the sitting room. Harry didn't even know if he made it to the chair, before his mind simply failed to deal with the strain. Blissful blackness swept over him, and he let it, welcomed it.

Tonks stood by the table, and tried, tried hard to feel pity, sympathy, anything other than disgust and hatred for the man at the head of the table. She didn't know what depths of feeling he could have drawn on to justify his actions. Obviously the man loved Grindelwald, and the bargains he'd made had told on him heavily. That he'd have to bargain away even more of his soul to Voldemort just to have the young wizard not kill him... Shaking her head, Tonks leaned on the table and stole someone's water. Taking a long drink, she tried to shake the feeling of disgust at what they'd done from her mind.

"This... this cannot leave this room," Kingsley murmured quietly.

Small bursts of argument kicked up, but Tonks knew well what the man meant. How would the wizarding world react, when it came to light that the one man Voldemort supposedly feared, didn't? That the same man was literally powerless to do more than defend himself from the Dark Lord? Britain would fall into chaos. "He's right."

Heads turned, and the room quieted, but did not go still at her soft words. "He's right," she said again, rising tiredly to her feet. "People can't know. We can't tell them. Everyone would loose hope, and we're on a crux, here. Voldemort's forces took a heavy loss, on two fronts. He's lost the power Malfoy had in his money, and the literal power of many of his Death Eaters. He will react, and violently."

"What do you mean," A woman Tonks didn't know well, asked.

"What she means," Snape said quietly, his eyes hooded, "is that the Dark Lord refuses to lose. He will escalate this war. Already he speaks to Fenrir about the packs, and how to spread them. If those wizards he confronts won't join his cause willingly, they'll be forced to join, within a month at the full moon," shaking his head, the man looked up and they all saw the strain this put on him. "He's begun speaking with heads of Vampire covens. Giants. There is even talk that he has begun to muster forces from overseas. Something I have no doubt in."

"He can't possibly think to take this war to the continent," Arthur barked, his face a mask of indignation. "What support could he gain there?"
"Durmstrang," Snape intoned quietly. "Even some of the Veela listen to him. Fudge's idiocy and the intolerance of the Ministry to those it calls dark creatures has alienated us from them. Many fled, while they could, and now speak for him of a new order, one with power on their side. On the continent, people still resent the ruin Grindelwald left the world they lived in, but fear for what little peace they have to be taken away again. Fear, you will find, can do much to motivate one."

Arthur still seemed unconvinced. "Still. What point would it make? We routed Grindelwald-"

"We?" Snorting, Snape gestured to the still incoherent Dumbledore. "Riddle, as he was known then, must have learned much from Grindelwald. He stirs the same loyalties, speaks the same speeches. He saw how the man worked, how his charisma motivated those who had little else, but fear and uncertainty. And please, Arthur, don't be so naïve as to think that the Ministry and Britain are the center of the world.

"He has allies abroad, already. This is a war, we're ill equipped to fight, and cannot lose." Going silent after his uncharacteristic tirade, Snape simply withdrew into his own corner, pensive. Those present knew why. Only Albus protected the man from Voldemort's mercies, and Snape had been lead to believe that the man could in fact do so. Now, it felt like he too was being played, but in a much more dangerous game. Voldemort knew that Albus couldn't protect him. Was he being used by the Dark Lord, more subtly than he imagined? How much of his efforts to spy on Voldemort had simply been planned losses? The thought made his blood go cold.

Pushing herself to standing, Tonks looked over the assembled with a worried eye. "I don't want this to leave room. We'll do what we must, but it has to end here. We're already at a disadvantage with things as they stand, and what we thought were winning battles now seem more like tactical losses to lull us into a false hope." Gathering her cloak about her, Tonks stilled her breathing, and made to leave the room.

As she crossed the door, Molly yelled after her, "Where are you going?"

"I have to speak to the Minister," she called back, hoping that the damage Fudge had done to the Ministry's reputation and connections on the continent wouldn't be irreparable.

Crossing into the main sitting room, she paused at the picture painted there. Harry lay, sprawled haphazardly on the couch, his head cradled in the lap of one Ginny Weasley. The girl's eyes were red and she looked as if she'd been crying a long time, but worse, she looked drawn, tired and wasted. Always thin, Tonks was shocked at the hollowness that seemed to accentuate her, where before it was a spry sense of mischief. "Ginny..."

"I heard. The ears the twins make are getting better," the young woman replied, taking a shuddering breath. "Will you tell me?"

Tonks swallowed a rather harsh knot in her throat. "Tell you what, Ginny?"
"I've not felt... well." Smiling slightly, the young witch looked away, her eyes blank. "Not for a while. Not since this summer began."

"I think it would be good for you to visit St. Mungo's soon," Tonks replied, seeing the fear in the young woman. "I... think maybe we can go tonight, if you want."

Shaking her head, the youngest Weasley parted some of Harry's hair, idly, as she looked about the room. "What good would it do? Everything is a lie. What... what if I'm just a lie? How much of me is a lie? How much!" Her voice had risen, and by the end she was screaming at the ceiling and Tonks could hear people reacting in the other room.

"Ginny, I... I don't know," moving to the girl's side, Tonks made to lay a hand on Ginny's shoulder, but the thin girl moved savagely away. "Ginny..."

"I know something is wrong with me. It's all about Harry, isn't it? How... is it normal? He's all I can think about. Yet here he is, and there's... nothing."

Closing her eyes, Tonks did the only thing that came to mind. She'd no doubt that drawing her wand would make the young woman react, possibly endangering Harry, but there wasn't time for this. Summoning what reserves she had, she cast a wandless body-bind at Ginny, and groaned at the immediate flare of ache that lit behind her eyes.

Surprise and betrayal lit Ginny's eyes, as the young witch tried to undo the binding, only to slip closed as Tonks drew her wand and followed with a stunning curse. "Molly."

"I'm here." The subdued response told Tonks all she needed. It seemed that the Weasley matron was also concerned about not only her own child, but the one she considered her adopted one as well. "What should we do?"

Closing her eyes, Tonks slipped down to the chair opposite the two unconscious teens. "Ginny desperately needs a healer. I think she's been kept on Amortentia this summer... I found traces on Harry as well, but he's been out of reach."

"Amor... Oh Merlin."

"Molly, look at me. Look at me," Waving at the woman till she met Tonks' eyes, the metamorph felt bile rise in her throat. "You can't tell them."

Confusion lit on her face for just a moment, till a stubborn anger took it's place. "What can I do then? What can I tell them happened to my child!?"

Resting an arm over her eyes, Tonks shook her head. "I don't know, but it cannot, absolutely cannot involve Dumbledore. Do you understand?" When the woman made to bluster and retort, Tonks focused her glare solidly at the woman. "Do you want to open this entire country up to Voldemort? Then go ahead. Tell them that Dumbledore poisoned your child, to manipulate Harry. Tell them why he had to, because trust me, it'll take going that deep to get them from laughing and dismissing you! Tell them! So they can tell the world, that the one thing that people believe is keeping them safe, is a lie!"

Mortified, Molly simply shook her head and gathered the limp form of her daughter and fled from the room. When she wasn't in earshot, Tonks snarled and kicked the chair savagely, that she'd just risen from. "She's your child! Did you not see?!" Falling to the floor beside Harry, she simply stared at her own feet, unsure.

Tonight, she sadly thought, they'd lost a battle, and didn't even realize they were fighting.

-

-

Harry woke to a splitting headache, and the none-too-gentle shaking of his recent flatmate. "Alright, alright! I'm awake."

"About time," Tonks snapped waspishly, before sighing. "Sorry. It's just..."

Laying his arm across her shoulders, Harry rose and pulled Tonks to him. "S'ok. I'm sorry to have dragged you into-"

Tonks stopped glaring, when he stopped talking, surprise at her shifting moods quieting him. "This war isn't about just you. Stop apologizing for every fucking thing. If you had died that night he came for you, we'd still be fighting, or dead, or maybe someone would have risen up and done what Dumbledore wouldn't," she snarled, shaking his arm from her shoulder. "This isn't your war. This isn't just you versus him. Other people suffer, other people die, other people fight. So stop it. Alright? Just... get over yourself." Rising angrily, Tonks paused by the doorway. "I'm sorry. I really am, and for what it's worth, I'm glad you want to protect me. But I became an Auror to fight, not be coddled and told 'good job' as my entire life's focus is made a mockery of by a prophecy. You can't win this war alone." As she stalked away from the stunned young man, she let the last of her words trail after her. "It would be nice if you realized that before you drive the rest of us away."

Staring at the place she'd been just a moment before, Harry blinked as the words she'd said sank in. Then hissed out a breath and stood himself. "What the hell?!" Stalking after the metamorph, Harry half ran up the stairs. "Hey, just wait a second!"

Catching up to her on the landing, he stopped, seeing how the last hours were telling on them. "Tonks."

"I'm sorry. I'm angry, and I don't know who to be angry at anymore. You're trying to be noble, and sometimes it's so... stupid and pig-headed it makes me want to just hit you." Leaning back on the door to one of the bedrooms, she banged her head into it slowly. "And it's infuriating because you're trying to protect us, after all the bullshit our world has given you."

Standing across from her, his anger drained out as fast as it had come. "Listen, you aren't the whole of Britain, alright? You helped me. When I didn't have anyone else," sighing, Harry ran a hand through his hair, trying to sort his thoughts. "I just... it feels like everything is on me. That damn prophecy, Dumbledore... what else can I think? If I could end this, tonight, don't you think I'd jump at the chance? I want to be free of this madness."

Reaching out, Tonks laid a hand on his cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"You were right though," Harry replied, closing his eyes. "I've been treating this, regardless of anyone else, as my war. I can't hold all the guilt and... I can't," voice going quiet, he realized though that what she'd accused him of, was precisely what he'd been doing. Ever since he'd learned the prophecy, he'd felt responsible for every death. Every casualty, and wrong that Voldemort had committed. Never mind he wasn't even out of school yet, never mind he wasn't trained to fight, and would only die or at best, briefly stall the madman in his path. He hoarded the blame.

He was tired, of being that Harry Potter. "I need... help."

"I know you do. We all do, sometimes. No one is an island, Harry." Smiling slightly, Tonks moved forward and wrapped him in a hug. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. I just... when I came out, Ginny was there, then Molly... that woman."

"You two don't get along well."

Shaking her head, Tonks sighed. "No, not really."

Harry nodded against her shoulder. "How was Ginny?"

Pulling back, Tonks shook her head slowly. "Not good. Molly's taking her to St. Mungo's. The woman... that girl has been wasting away since June, and she just... sat by. I'm sure she had some stupid romanticized ideal that the girl was just sick with love, but this wasn't what she thought, I'm sure."

The way Tonks phrased it, made Harry wince. "So she's just been wasting away."

Punctuating each word very carefully, Tonks stared back at Harry. "It. Is. Not. Your. Fault."

"I know... I do. It just... takes a while to not just assume it is."

Letting her hand fall to Harry's, Tonks twined her fingers into his own. "C'mon. We need to call the Minister. Need to see what we can do about the continent and Voldemort's allies there."

Nodding, Harry moved with her back to the main floor, and the Floo there. "I take it that was Snape's serious matter that needed attention?" Tonks simply nodded, as Harry rubbed at his temple. "A spy you know... I worry about that. I'll need to talk to Narcissa. Draco. I'm not fond of him, but this," trailing off, Harry sighed. "Who knows. Hopefully she can pull him out of whatever madness Tom has planned."

The call to the Minister was short, as Rufus took in their faces. Without preamble, he invited the two to his offices. Begging a moment to settle their current affairs, Harry broke from the flames and headed to the kitchens, to let Lupin and Moody know what he was up to.

A somber room greeted him, as he strode in. McGonagall and Dumbledore were gone, but all others save Molly were there. Faces turned to him, and what worried him more than the lack of expression on some, was the lack of hope on them all. Tonight's revelations had broken the spirit of the Order. "Remus, I'm heading to the Ministry with Tonks. We're going to speak with Scrimgeour about Snape's news. We need to let them know what to expect."

"Alright, Harry," nodding, the Werewolf closed his eyes again, and like most there sank back into a contemplative silence.

Uncomfortable with the silence, Harry made a quick retreat, meeting Tonks and speeding to the Ministry.

-

-

Scourgifying the burnt egg from the pan, Harry tried to pull his focus back into the time at hand. Last night's long meeting at the Ministry with Rufus had left him weary and worn, where he'd already been exhausted. "Are we all packed?" Nodding to her question, Harry had to stifle a spike of irritation at the timing of everything. He'd just found his family's homes, just rediscovered his heritage. And now he was leaving it all behind.

"The trunks are packed I think. You can go recheck them, may be a good idea," he called behind him, focusing on getting the cooking finished so they could start the long journey ahead. "Oh, and I need to stop by Grimmauld one last time today. Last night... I never got a chance to speak to everyone."

Sticking her head out of the bedroom, Tonks made to catch his eye. Sharing a look, she nodded and flashed him a weak smile. "Alright. Just don't get down on yourself. You know why we're doing this."

"I know. It still feels like I'm abandoning them though."

Coming out of the room with the still-enlarged trunks, Tonks smiled gently at him, her eyes sad. "Harry, you can't constantly be doing what's best for everyone else, and still do what's best for you as well. At some point, they will conflict."

Laughing quietly, Harry set their plates, then scourgified the pans again, before banishing them to the trunks. "I feel very conflicted today." Sitting down to the modest table, Harry listlessly ate, his mind elsewhere.

Tonks was in a similar state. "Harry, while you're at Grimmauld, I'm going to visit my family... let them know what's going on. Maybe see if Andy and Cissy will start talking again." It had been far too long, since she'd mailed or contacted them. She hoped, since her last post about needing to go into hiding, that they'd understand. Or in the least, forgive her.

"I do hope so. It'd be nice if something good came of all this."

Staring at Harry sadly, Tonks tried not to let those words hurt her.

Breakfast finished quieter than it had begun, and the two said short goodbyes as they Floo'd off to separate locations.

Coming out of the hearth into her family's home, Tonks settled at the dining room table and waited. She knew her mother would come down shortly, having heard and felt the Floo flare up. Nervousness got the better of the young metamorph, and she stood to begin some tea, knowing she'd need some soon anyway.

"Nym?" Peeking around the corner, her mother's face split into a smile as she saw her daughter fidgeting about. "Where have you been...?"

"Uhh, around?" And for the next few minutes, Tonks relaxed, as her mother wrapped her arms around her and just held her. "I'm OK, mum. Really."

Pulling back a bit, Andromeda Tonks looked her only child up and down slowly. "What have you been doing? You look thin."

"Mum, I look the same I always do," Tonks complained, rolling her eyes. "But... it has been rough. Harry and I haven't had much time to relax, since my last letter. But without the Aurors and the Order taking up all my time, I've had a chance to catch up on my self. Sleep and food and all. So no, I'm not too thin."

Sniffing, Andromeda swept her hair back off her shoulder and spared her daughter an arch glance. "You still look thin."

"Mum," Tonks just shook her head and sat at the table, as her mother went about finishing the tea. "I need to talk to you about some things."

"Serious, I would think, as you've been hiding for some time." Tonks sighed, realizing that no, her mother did not understand why she wasn't able to stay in touch. "So tell me, what it is that's brought you back to us."

Glancing back up, she took the tea that was offered and grinned sheepishly. "Well, it all started when I was set to guard Harry Potter..." An hour later, and many of the more embarrassing details glossed over, and Tonks had brought her mother up to speed on her summer. "Last night was the worst. Things just went way too far, and now with our plans-"

"He feels like he's running away." Shaking her head, Andromeda took another sip of her cooling tea. "Your young man has quite the issue with guilt. You did always like the more melancholy ones."

Banging her head on the kitchen table, Tonks groaned and held up her hand, counting off points. "One, he's not my young man. Two, I've never dated anyone who was melancholy." She emphasized this point by making quote gestures as she said the word 'melancholy'. "And three, what makes you think I'm interested in Harry?"

Smirking, the former Black sister just eyed her daughter fondly. "So, who else is going with you, on this adventure?"

"Lupin will be going as well, I think he has-"

"Remus? Nymphadora, you're not planning on stringing one of these young men along are you?"

Eyes going wide, Tonks' blush threatened to make her hair look bland. "Mother, how can you say that?"

Her turn to roll her eyes, Andromeda simply sighed and patted her only child's hand. "Don't be cruel to them, Nym. Not in these dark times especially."

"Why is it I always feel like we're having different conversations?"

Andromeda laughed, the sound pealed across the room. "Because you refuse to admit what you're actually saying."

Huffing, Tonks just crossed her arms and glared at her mother. "Can we be serious a moment?"

"Matters of the heart often are, but I will listen. What is it you want to say, Nym?"

Resisting the urge to let her forehead bang into the table again, Nymphadora just shook her head slowly. "I'm a little scared of being so far away. Of being something so... vital to this, now. Before it was different, being an Auror. That felt like I was doing the right thing, since I worked for the right people, you know? But it was empty. We didn't do anything to stop Voldemort. Then I found the Order, and it seemed to be just what I was looking for. I could fight him alongside other people like me... but again, it was the same thing. We watched, and waited, and while it seemed like we were more active than the Ministry, well. We did very little."

Stirring her tea slowly, Andromeda regarded her daughter intently. "I see. And the difference now?"

"Harry is more in the middle of this, than we were. I ever was," thinking of how to word things, Tonks sighed. "I suppose I'm just torn. I want to do my part, but it feels like I've gotten in over my head."

"Nymphadora." Wincing, the metamorph looked up to her mother and waited for what she was sure to come. "I'm proud of you, for what you've done to get a young man who was being treated unfairly, back on his feet. I'm proud of your own achievements, how you've worked hard and tried to get where you are, on your own merits." Pausing, the woman smiled wryly at her only daughter. "You have goals and habits that make a mother worry themselves into gray hair. Just be careful with yourself. You're my only Nym. Don't make me lose her."

Biting her lip, Tonks nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I'll be careful."

"Be good," Andromeda corrected. Smirking a bit, the woman across from her lifted her tea to take a sip. "And barring that, don't get caught."

"What?"

Grinning at her daughter over the rim of her cup, Andromeda lifted a brow. "The son and godson of the Marauders? With you and Remus along as guardians?" Snorting, the woman just reached out and patted her daughter's hand. "I pity those who have the misfortune to live near where you're going."

Banging her head into the table, Tonks just rested there, remembering why she dreaded these reunions. "Mum..."

Harry catapulted from the Floo into Grimmauld and windmilled his arms about, steadying himself. "Hello?" Calling to see who else was there, figuring that since Ginny was around there was a good chance the others would be too, Harry decided to check here first. Still cursing himself for the way things went the night before, the house felt hostile, an illusion he knew, but it mattered little. Too many illusions were shattered here, for it to ever feel comfortable again.

"Is that you, Harry?" Ron's voice seemed to come from upstairs, so he followed it. The first floor showed signs of being lived in, as he peeked into the open door where Hermione and Ginny once stayed. Trunks were at the foot of the beds, so he assumed the girls again were staying there. Seeing no one in the drawing room, he moved up a flight to the second floor and the room he and Ron had stayed in. The door was shut, but he could hear some motion, so he knocked and waited. A faint "come in" sounded, so he did so.

Peering around the doorway, he grinned, seeing his two friends sitting, if a bit flushed, on the edge of the bed. "Interrupting some studying?"

"Quiet you," Hermione chided, but laughed after. "Just spending some time, as we can. Things seem to be getting a bit odd, and none of the professors or anyone else was around today."

Nodding, and looking away, Harry closed the door again and leaned against it. "Yeah, I figure they have things to worry on." When Ron and Hermione looked at one another and back to him, he waved off their question before they could begin. "It's not my story to tell."

Shrugging, Ron moved aside somewhat and pulled a few things off a chair, giving Harry somewhere to sit. "Take a load off, been a while since we've seen you. Not going to disappear again so soon are you?"

"Actually that's what I'm here to talk about," glancing at Hermione, he saw mixed relief and anxiety on her face. Harry knew why, of course. He'd discussed the plan Moody had made with her, while at the Ministry. Though he knew she could be trusted, he didn't want to leave such a massive secret on her head too long. "I'm not going to be going to Hogwarts this fall."

"What!?" Ron bolted upright, and looked at Harry as if he'd grown another head. "What do you mean? You're the Gryffindor seeker! Who's going to be leading the DA, for that matter? You can't just not go back, mate."

Laughing sadly, Harry motioned Ron back down. "I can't, Ron. Really I can't," sighing, Harry looked around the room and was surprised to see that what he'd taken to be someone else's things to actually be Hermione's. When he looked back from the trunk to the girl, she looked away with a blush. "Ah. Well, let me explain.

"This summer I had to get away from Privet. Call me paranoid, but I wasn't sure the wards would keep anything more than a mouse out."

Hermione's brow knit at this. "But Harry, why would Dumbledore send you back then? I'm sure he had good reason."

Wincing at the man's name, Harry nodded slowly. "I know. I think they would work on just about any normal wizard, but Voldemort was rebirthed with my blood as part of the ceremony. Remember Quirell? He was trying to defeat that. The problem is, once he'd used my blood as part of the ritual-"

Eyes going wide, Hermione raised a hand to her mouth masking her gasp. "Oh. Oh no, they'd be useless."

"Right," Harry continued. "Also, wards are... well wizards are silly sometimes. Wards are usually not set to keep out things other than wizards. Which is how Dobby found me that one year. I figure if I were at home, then when I was attacked by Dementors..."

Ron shook his head, face having gone pale, "Oh man."

Chuckling, Harry leaned back in the chair and ran a hand through his hair, trying to settle it out of his eyes. "Pretty much. Maybe they'd hold, maybe not. I don't know, so I couldn't trust them anymore. I was going to just leave on my own, but Tonks showed up, and... well we ended up moving around a bit, evading the Order, the Ministry, and Voldemort for a while. Till the will reading, where I'm sure Hermione and you have heard what happened."

Hermione's eyes had narrowed when his vague description of the time after Privet had been recounted, but didn't say anything immediately. Ron on the other hand, grinned and reached out to shake his knee, "Mum was in a state after that! That part with the knife... wow. How did you know it wouldn't... well you know. Kill you?"

Harry smirked slightly. "I didn't."

Blinking, Ron sat back and seemed to consider this. "Wow."

"How did that work, Harry?"

He'd expected Hermione to ask, so had prepared what he hoped was a good enough explanation. "Sirius had made arrangements, for what I can only imagine is a kind of blood-adoption ceremony. It's a way to anchor a bloodline so it won't end. I figure it used to be used more, to ensure pureblood lines stayed that way." Shrugging at their confused looks, Harry went on, "it made me literally part of the Black family. So when the knife thing was presented, I figured the only way to keep the will reading going as it was, was to accept the challenge."

"So you stabbed an enchanted dagger into your chest." Hermione's droll tone told him volumes about what she thought of such an action. "Honestly."

"It worked out alright."

"You are an idiot," she huffed, with a glare. "And lucky."

Rubbing the back of his head, Harry grimaced. "So I've been told. Well, after all that, there was some confusion with Tonks. Seems she'd been implicated in kidnapping me, rather than what really happened. That was a mess..." deciding for the moment to just gloss that night over, Harry sped on to the next topic, even though it was likely going to be harder to explain than why they'd let Lupin loose on London during his change.

"Things have gotten too dangerous. I can't risk going back to Hogwarts, with the war so close, and me being one of Tom's main targets. It's be like painting a target on the school." Which was true, he had to admit. But more than that, he worried on his safety, under Dumbledore and how well he could concentrate on training, classes, and Voldemort while also possibly dodging the Order. He also didn't think that he'd be able to focus on the kind of training he intended to, with so many loyal to Dumbledore's ideals around. Never mind that the man seemed to have broken last night... Harry didn't know what the result of all that would be, but too much had gone on to turn back now.

It didn't hurt that being somewhere else would keep him from feeling that ache of guilt every time he looked at McGonagall or Dumbledore.

"But Harry, surely you don't think they'd attack a school? I mean even the Death Eaters have kids there."

Nodding, Harry sighed, wishing again that he'd had the sense to listen, and not react like Hermione had cautioned. "And kids put those Death Eaters in prison. And later, they ended up being Veiled. So, what do you think they'll do, Ron?"

Swallowing nervously, Ron nodded. "I see what you mean."

"Harry," Hermione's voice was low, worried as she looked between the two. "What about the DA though? The Death Eaters know it was us. What's going to happen, if they come for us somehow?"

Closing his eyes, Harry loosed an unsteady breath. "Close the DA."

"What?" Both Hermione and Ron were on their feet now, looking at Harry as if he'd gone mad. "You can't be serious," Hermione continued hotly. "I mean, they need to learn. We need to learn, and for the most part, the only real defense teachers we've had were you, the fake Moody, and Lupin. And even then, you've improved on their material!"

"Listen," the two continued to point of things, while Harry shook his head till he raised his voice over them, "Listen! I didn't say stop. I said close the DA. Make it official and let it go. I have something else in the works, but it's up to the Minister to green light it." Sighing, Harry sat back down as his friends quieted. "Don't make yourselves larger targets. Make it official that the DA is closing, and that there will be no more meetings. Hell make it look like you're afraid of exactly what you are."
Shaking her head slowly, Hermione looked to Ron sadly. "What can we do then?"

"Like I said, there's another option I'm working on. One more official, more useful and better organized. So just wait a bit." Sighing, Harry pulled his glasses off and rubbed at his temple. "I'm not happy about this. But the new program would be a lot better than what I could teach, and more secure. Just trust me here. The kids in Hogwarts with Death Eater parents will embellish things enough to make it seem like you're shaking in your boots. That'll stall anything long enough."

Cocking her head to the side, Hermione regarded him carefully, "You seem to have had a lot of contact with the new Minister."

"Yeah, you could say he owes me a favor," Harry replied, chuckling. "Anyway. So, did you guys have any other questions?"

Ron seemed to consider that a moment and Harry knew this wasn't going to be pleasant. "What's up with you and Ginny?"

Harry stood and moved to one of the windows, looking down at the street, empty and full of litter and odd debris. "That... Between me and her." Looking back to his long-time friend, all he could do was shake his head. "I haven't spoken to her since before this all started. I'm not sure there is a me and her, Ron. We're just friends."

Snorting, Ron waved that off, "Friends don't get like that, Harry. She's been lost, this summer. Couldn't you have mailed? Or visited? If it weren't for Mum making me promise, I was planning on have a word about this."

"Let it go, Ron," Harry's voice, though quiet, had an edge to it. As much as he wanted to just tell Ron what happened, Tonks had reminded him how little could actually be said about last night's events. He felt sick, knowing for all Ron knew, he was just abandoning Ginny, leading her on or worse. That Molly had spoken to him first couldn't have helped. Knowing soon it would be out that Ginny was in St. Mungo's would be even harder to reconcile. "Things got strange Ron. I don't know how to explain it, but we aren't what we were. I think it best for Molly to explain this one."

"Why can't you, Harry?" Ron had stood, and Harry was too preoccupied to have noted it. Now, the other young man was just a few feet away and visibly restraining what Harry could only figure was his protective instincts. "What's gone on, that you won't tell me?"

"Not won't, Ron. Can't."

Screwing his face up in irritation, Ron stomped away and slammed the door behind him. "That could have gone better...."

Hermione just nodded but looked to where Ron had gone. "I... Harry?" Having kneeled down beside her, Harry wrapped his arms around the young witch and hugged her. "Harry?"

"Make sure he's OK. I won't be around for a while to help." Fighting the weakness in his own voice, Harry took a steadying breath. "Just... be yourselves. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I always am."

Sniffling, Hermione easily saw where this was going and nodded, "That's a lie and you know it," she accused, blinking back her tears. Wrapping her arms around him, she sighed and thumped him once on the back. "Take care of yourself."

"I'll do my best. I have a stack of letters... Hedwig is still with Luna. Can you get them off? Most are to the DA, so..."

Nodding, Hermione tried to smile but her facade broke. "I'll get them out. I should see to Ron."

"Yeah," turning so he didn't have to see her, or worry on Hermione seeing his state, Harry looked back out the window. "Take care of each other."

"You too," she added with a sniffle, and the door closed quietly behind her.

Harry Floo'd back to the flat to see a morose Tonks sitting by the table, sipping hot cocoa. Blinking, he crossed and sat beside the former Auror and just let the quiet stretch out between them. Eventually, she offered him the cup, with a half-hearted smile. "Helps when I'm down. Used to drink this after the odd fill-in shift at Azkaban."

"I can see where it would help there," he replied, sighing and taking a sip. It helped, but he couldn't decided whether it was the cocoa or Tonks, in truth. "How did things with you family go?"

Wrinkling her nose, Tonks sat her feet up on the table lightly. "Mum is alright. Dad wasn't home, but she'll talk with him. He won't like it, but he'll understand." Leaning back, she regarded her feet intently for a moment. "You?"

"I think Ron is really mad about Ginny. Can't say I blame him. They're worried about the DA, and how they'd be able to learn proper defense."

Nodding, Tonks' lips curled up slightly. "I see why you opened up that can of worms with the Minister, then."

Harry chuckled but didn't smile. "Yeah. I don't want them left without options. Hopefully he can get enough support with the proxies I set up, and Narcissa's to go ahead with it. I'll still be running it, considering the funds are coming out of my vault, but we'll see how well it works."

"I can't see how an Auror supervised youth defense training center would be a bad thing, Harry. How'd you come up with that, anyway?"

"I didn't," he replied with a slight laugh. "I stole the idea from all the karate clubs, and the YMCA."

Blinking at him, Tonks suddenly burst into laughter. "I see. You think Hogsmeade will be alright to house it?"

Nodding, Harry took another sip of the cocoa. "I think so. It'll only help with the economy, with people out on the grounds more. The hard part is getting Hogwarts to make that step to allow people to go after classes, but the Minister said he'd find a way. "

"Then I suggest, Mr. Potter that you relax and not worry about your DA then."

"It's Lord Potter, thank you."

Rolling her eyes, Tonks transfigured the rest of Harry's cocoa into ice water then vanished the cup. "Prat."

"So we're still going then. You didn't tell them where?" Tonks shook her head, and raised her brow. "No, I didn't tell Ron or Hermione either. So it's just you, me, Lupin, Moody and Scrimgeour that know."

Tonks cast a drying charm on Harry, as he brushed at the water pointlessly, forgetting he could do the same. "I guess it's all done but the doing then, isn't it?"

Nodding, Harry felt the edge of excitement creeping up, and pushed it back down. Time enough for that later. "We should get going. The plane leaves in a few hours, and we still need to meet up with Lupin, and get our appearances right."

Summoning the trunks they'd packed and stowing them in her new purse, more a concession to needing a place to put them nearby than any desire on her part, Tonks looked over the flat once more and grinned. "I think the Twins will like it here."

"I think so. It's a nice flat." Thinking of their brief, but pleasant time there, Harry recalled a similar property, near King's Cross. "Maybe when we get back, we can see if the one we checked out the other day, from the properties I inherited is as comfortable."

Snickering, Tonks nudged his shoulder. "Assuming I'd want to live with a git like you."

"Someone has to teach you how to not burn water," he replied, fighting the rise of color at his cheek. It didn't help, when Tonks just grinned back at him, over her shoulder.

TO BE CONTINUED in "Fall of Innocence", before "Edge of Winter"

-

-

AN: Not much left once I got back to things, but I realized quickly I was nearing the end of the Britain arc of the story. Why so much going on? Two reasons. Fall will be split between a few things going on in Harry's Britain, with McGonagall acting as Headmistress, while Dumbledore recovers, and I wanted to set that up. With her as the lead of Hogwarts, I can enact more... lets say sensible measures. My 'magical YMCA' for one. Additionally, I don't feel like penning up the reasons behind Dumbledore and his methods anymore. Got sick of feeling like I was making him out to be more of a jerk than he was, and frankly, under the context I placed him... I treated him mildly. Yes that entire situation is far from resolved. It's not, though, Harry's to resolve, now is it? We'll see more on it. In time.

Where's Harry going? Well, since people like throwing the word cliché at me as if it had an edge, lets go with that. Salem work for you? Cool. Expect a bit of fun there. Did I mention this was AU? Good. I think it's in the summary, and prologue chapter. Any complaints about that will simply be ignored. Don't waste your, or my time.

The Girl In Gray will be back. Don't worry. An no, I've not told anyone who she is. You're not left out.

Now on to things that need addressing!

Dobby & Winky: House elves... other than the obvious use of them, that being for the care and upkeep of things in the wizarding world, are not going to be a major point here. They are far too easily made into Deus Machina, or plot hole fillers. I like Harry being kind to them. I don't like him having a servile demigod, were he to think of what an house elf capable of.

Bloodlaw: Narcissa calls it simply Law, while Harry and Tonks have come to think of it as bloodlaw, as they keep running into instances of how it runs in families, and follows bloodlines. As they don't have any real reference to it outside of Narcissa, they could be calling it Snorlak Rule.

Dumbledore... what?: I ran with the vagueness in the books. One logical reason for why he ended up the way he was, and never acted against Tom.