AN: I just wanted to thank everyone quickly for reviewing and adding me to your alerts and favorites lists. It really does mean a lot to a lonely college student. I'm skipping forward in time a bit with the understanding that Tonks was working a lot and Harry was alone a lot.

The Saltwater Room

The following Monday Harry was with Tonks walking over to the elevators in the ministry lobby. He wasn't happy about seeing this place again but the thought of Sirius back to his pre-Azkaban self kept his mind from wavering. They had developed a quiet ease of being around each other with silences only broken when necessary.

Neither one of them felt uncomfortable during these times since Harry was reading through various spell books from the Black library at the house and Tonks was sorting through various pieces of paperwork for her job it was always a, "I'm really busy but let's sit together " sort of mood.

Now as they entered the elevator the various other workers felt out of place standing next to the tall young man and the auror everyone recognized by the bright pink hair. Sighing Harry realized that he had been out of society for a good while now and it was going to take him time to reintegrate himself.

Stopping at the floor before the Department of Mysteries a younger and slightly balding version of Mr. Weasly got on the lift and nodded towards Harry without realizing who was standing in front of him. Though he and Tonks had practiced disguising his scar with regular muggle makeup he was surprised it had worked so well.

Mischievously Harry decided to take it a step further and stepped forward next to Percy. "Hows it going then Weasly?" Harry asked, trying to imitate the Malfoy sneer.

Judging by the look on Percy's face he had done a damn good job at the tone of voice as well since all he got for a reply was a nod before Ron's older brother turned his face towards the wall opposite Harry and ignored him until the lift stopped and it was time for Harry and Tonks to depart.

"I'll be seeing you around then, eh red?" Harry spat at him before leaving the lift.

"Harry you're going to get him killed, he already isn't liked around here and another person picking on him could very well push him over the edge." Tonks said, peering over her shoulder at the disappearing lift.

"He deserves it for abandoning his family" Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders, all tones of voice gone from his encounter with Percy.

"Yea but Harry, he did what he believed in and I promise you he is already paying for it. He gets more howlers in a day than the minister does." Tonks said, still trying to argue though knowing by now she wouldn't win.

Harry was a loyalist if nothing else. He believed in absolute and supreme loyalty no matter how you felt personally about one matter you should always be with your family and friends, supporting them and giving them the help necessary to succeed.

They walked through the door to the department together, not looking around but straight forward and Harry was surprised to see that not much had changed. They were still in a room that had doors all around it but this time he was with someone who knew where they were going.

"Director's office," Tonks called out in a clear voice.

The appropriate door lit up with a faint white glow and Harry wanted to smack himself on the head for not thinking asking the room for the correct door the night of the battle. Some things were always clearer with hindsight but even then he didn't think it would have mattered now. Everyone was fine and Sirius would be normal soon.

Tonks turned and smiled at him, brilliantly. It was one of those few things that really stunned him about her, when she really smiled he literally lost his breath looking at her and all he could do was stare. She looked at him for a second longer and Harry found himself wondering what could make her look at him like that.

Sitting down in the bare office that he found himself in Harry tried to keep his guard up, constant vigilance as an old friend had once told him.

"Mr. Potter, I'm exceptionally glad you could join our department," A very clipped and sharp female voice said.

He finally saw the person speaking, coming out of a door at the back of the office, from behind the desk somewhere. She sat down and from the way she was holding herself Harry could tell that this wasn't just the director's secretary. He was speaking to someone fully acquainted with power and used to having people under them.

"My name is Adyna Woulfe and I am the Director of the Department of Mysteries. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by your recovery of your godfather from the veil since no one we have sent through has ever come back for reasons now apparent." Adyna said.

Noting that in his mind Harry nodded before the woman continued on with what he was gathering could be a modified welcome speech since the next part had that practiced and rehearsed air to it.

"We are similar to the muggle secret service or police you could say. We get the jobs the aurors don't want and they get the trash we feel we're too good to handle. The only difference is that now you are actually in our department and beginning training you will have to take an unbreakable vow of secrecy and be paired with an older operative for training who will eventually become your partner in the field." Adyna finished and went to stand in front of Harry.

A shadowy figure appeared from behind the door that looked familiar to Harry. It was Clifton from the other day. For a brief second Harry didn't realize what was going on or why everyone was suddenly looking at him as if he were expected to do something before he realized that this was the part where he stuck out his hand for the unbreakable vow.

Harry stuck his hand out and Adyna grasped it firmly, her hand on his forearm and his own hand closing around her forearm. Clifton took his wand out and settled in between the two his wand sitting on the exact middle of their clasp.

"Harry Potter, do you agree to keep all secrets, names and practices held within this Department within this department?" The director intoned seriously.

"I do" Harry said, not knowing what else to say really.

"And do you Harry Potter; agree to bind your magic to this Unbreakable Vow?" Adyna said finishing the incantation.

"I do" Harry repeated just as strands of deep red crawled up their arms and embedded into their skin.

He could feel the vow, the compulsion not to write to Hermione and Ron about this and to keep everything from Sirius and Remus even though he had formerly told Sirius everything. The only person he knew for certain he could talk to were the very people in this room. The ones who he knew for certain were Unspeakables, like himself.

Adyna smiled at him then got up and walked back around her desk while Clifton backed up slightly. Tonks hadn't moved throughout the whole exchange but she scooted her chair minutely closer to Harry at this point. He was glad for the support he had from her, this was a big decision, a change in his life he would never be able to take back.

"Now you are as you know, famous in the wizarding world and we don't want detracting from your training. Tonks has already assured me that you want your fame even less than we want you famous so it occurs to me to ask if you would like to change your surname permanently or just within this department?" Adyna asked, shifting some paperwork along her desk.

"Well if I changed it permanently it would become public wouldn't it? So everyone would just talk about the famous Harry whatever instead of the famous Harry Potter." Harry said, already deciding what his new surname would be.

"Correct you are Harry, so a departmental change then. Suits me just fine do you have anything in mind so we can get it put on your training robes and I.D. Badge?" She responded, still trying to find something apparently.

"Of course, I think James Black would be a good cover and since James is my middle name and Black is the surname of my godfather it's easy to remember and answer to."

The director only nodded her head before Tonks took him out of the room and another door glowed white. Harry, now James, was still wondering what was left of the day. It seemed he had spent forever in the office working out the tricky details that came with a government job.

"I like the name James, it's very…. you. We're headed to the locker room, your robes and boots are already in your locker there." Tonks said enthusiastically.

Her energy was still amazing Harry as he walked into the locker room, unmistakable because of the large lockers lining the walls of the room. He was pulled around to the left wall of the room by Tonks, who had picked up his hand while trying to guide him around and didn't look ready to let go, and then they stopped in front of two lockers, one labeled Nymphadora Tonks the other labeled James Black.

"Go on then Harry pull on your robes," Tonks said over her shoulder, already opening her locker which snicked open with a touch of her right index finger.

He complied, putting his finger against the locker and feeling the catch release. It opened revealing a set of deep red robes and a set of dark grey robes. A pair of dragon hide boots sat at the bottom, still in the box.

"Ahhh Tonks, which set of robes am I supposed to be wearing?" Harry asked her, watching her pull on the grey ones.

"Your training Harry so the red ones it us though when I get done with you you'll turn those in and get another set of grays." She responded, lacing up her boots already.

He pulled the red robes out and shrugged them on, glad he had one some cargo pants and a simple black t-shirt. He had wondered this morning why Tonks hadn't protested more; she usually had a very specific idea of what Harry was supposed to look like when they went out but then, the robes covered him completely and molded to his body in some places while flowing over others.

He sat down on a bench in front of the lockers and began pulling his boots on, the fit his feet almost perfectly and the smooth comfortable dragon hide made him wonder why he even bothered with sneakers or anything else for that matter. The look on his face must have given his thoughts away because Tonks spoke up then.

"I know, most of us start wearing them outside of work and the ministry provides new ones whenever these wear out so if you feel like it, just keep those with you." She said starting out of the room.

Harry followed her, he was starting to feel more and more like a puppy but really she was his only anchor in the new world he was entering. They walked out into the room of doors and she called out 'training' the same way she had done the last two rooms and Harry decided then that it would benefit him to learn the commands of the room so if she happened to be occupied otherwise he wouldn't be stuck trying doors.

They walked into what appeared to be a range, there were dummies set up at varying distances up and down a long horizontal line and a man standing in front of them all. He was tall though not as tall as Harry and had short blonde hair cut extremely short though still visible. He was well muscled and carried himself like a large cat, ready to pounce. Harry instinctively walked forward to meet him, holding out his hand which the man took appreciatively before Harry stepped back to take orders.

"I assume you are the new recruit James Black?" The man asked, eyes going to Tonks for confirmation though Harry had already nodded his agreement to the statement.

"I'm your trainer, my name is Hael, that's all you need to know, that's all you'll ever know. I don't use monikers or any other forms of address if you want to speak to me then you call me Hael. Got it?" Hael finished, arms crossed over his burly chest.

Harry nodded, and kept his eyes on the man. Tonks went to go stand beside the door, she wasn't needed for the assessment though if he was going to get any better he would have to have a dueling partner and that was where she would come in. Teams of Unspeakables generally started with one person being trained and partnering with an older person and then when they retired, as her partner Moody had, they pulled in someone younger to train.

As close as they were in age now Tonks new that Harry would be her partner for as long as they were in the department together. She listened closely; Harry was a professional at handling people with different personality styles, trained up in the muggle world as a peasant he had never gotten his way much and that showed off in his actions.

He started doing some drills, shooting first at the closer dummies and then going further and further away. Hael was impressed, she could tell although he wasn't showing any outward signs of approval to Harry, his aim was already well above most other recruits brought in. His power was decent to, judging by the markers going up at the end of the room he was already in the middle range of power. Not exerting himself for training of course that would bring him a level up on the field but he could be trained to extreme force if needed, and he would be.

After the assessment Harry said goodbye to Hael and met Tonks at the doorway. He was tired, he hadn't done that much continuous spell casting since the fight and he had honestly not been thinking about his exhaustion that night when he had lay down next to Tonks.

"He says we're done for today and training starts at 11 tomorrow, he had someone scheduled before us." Harry said; sweat pouring off of his brow and soaking the front and back of his robes.

"Sounds good Harry, means we can sleep a bit more, let's get you changed and then home shall we? It's already 10pm and I'm quite tired." She responded, both of them already on the way to the locker room.

"Just hang your robes back in there; the elves get them after we leave." She added, changing her own.

They grabbed dinner at home, both of them just heating up some stew left on the stove by Remus and then heading up to bed. It started out a normal night, Harry climbing into bed and falling asleep swiftly while Tonks was reading.

Instead of the normal night however Tonks woke up, magazine on her chest as Harry convulsed in bed. He looked like he was having a nightmare and she didn't know what to do. She leaned over and shook him gently, trying to get him to wake up without swinging at her. Harry looked violent with his face contorted in rage and eyes closed.

When she finally got him awake he sat straight up in bed, looking around himself as if he didn't quite know where he was supposed to be before finally catching site of her. His face calmed down but she could see the beads of sweat forming and the tautness of his muscles under the muscle shirt he wore to bed.

"I'm alright, sorry I woke you," Harry said, sounding slightly out of breath.

Tonks only nodded before shutting off the light, hoping it would help him sleep better but she could hear him tossing restlessly. She was finally drifting off to sleep when she heard a deeper creak in Harry's bed and felt her own dip down slightly. He didn't try to talk to her he only lay down beside her and rested a hand on her own.

Chills went up her spine about what Harry would dream that could make him crawl in bed with her when the skimpy nightclothes she had been wearing hadn't done it yet. Then she felt him breathing, deeply and slowly it was relaxing and slightly calmed her mind which tended to run in different directions when she tried to sleep. She could hear his chest rising and falling beside her and as she rolled to her side her hand rested on that rhythmic soothing person lying next to her and she slept.

AN: So do you like it? Do you hate it? I was originally going to have Harry comfort her after a bad break up but then I figured he always had dreams when exhausted and he was definitely exhausted now… Anyways I was thinking about trying to work Bella into this fic… because I'm in love with her. What do you think?