Sirius Black was a happy man.

Perhaps it should be elaborated a bit? Yeah?

Sirius felt happy at that precise moment. He had everything he wanted; caring friends, a loving family (a part of the family actually. His parents passed away, Regulus, Cissy and Bella didn't bother to keep in touch. Not that he wanted them to or anything), a place of his own and even a flying motorbike! Not to mention his extremely good looks that made him so desirable to women. To sum it all up, Sirius was a very happy man.

Of course, with the war going on, Voldemort's forces were causing trouble on a daily basis. Familiar faces would appear in the Daily Prophet, the Dark Mark hovering ominously above their homes. Lily and James were in danger with the prophecy about their son Harry; Remus couldn't find a job and was working in a muggle company. Things were far from perfect in his life. But he decided to push those unhappy thoughts aside for now and just enjoy the time with James and Lily, who had brought little Harry with them, and Ted and Andromeda, who had brought Nymphadora.

"-and James would jump around like it was him riding his first toy broomstick." Lily was saying, amused and exasperated at the same time.

"You gotta see him Padfoot! I swear he's a natural at flying!" James exclaimed.

Everyone laughed at James' excitement, leaving him quite bemused.

Ted decided to cheer him up a bit. "I'm sure Harry will be a great quidditch player one day."

James' face brightened up and he patted Ted's arm. "At least someone understands how I feel!"

His expression, according to Lily, was 'much too cute' and she placed a big kiss on his cheek. James tried to return one on her lips.

"Get a room, you two!" Sirius grumbled, exaggerating the look of disgust on his face.

"Look who's talking! We don't remember complaining when you were dragging Mary MacDonald into that broom-"

"Ahem! Why don't we get another round of Butterbeers?" Andromeda cut off James before he could finish, looking pointedly at Nymphadora, who was giggling at James' words.

"Er… yeah…. I'll do that. Accio Butterbeer!"Sirius muttered,red in the face. Lily smirked at him.

"Aww… blushing now, are we, Sirius? You're lucky that Nymphadora is here to save you some embarras-"

"Don't call me Nymphadora, it's Tonks!" Nym- er... Tonks, who was enjoying the conversation before, now scowled, as her hair turned red.

"Oh I'm so sorry dear, it won't happen again." Lily smiled apologetically at her.

"It's fine Mrs Potter." The girl replied, her hair turning back to blue.

"Nymphie, it's your name dear-"

"Don't call me Nymphie, mum!" she cut off Andromeda's words and turned away, pouting.

Lily almost cooed at how cute she looked pouting, but not wanting to upset the young metamorphmagus, she kneeled beside her and softly said, "Look at me dear."

Tonks turned to look at the beautiful witch, who was looking lovingly at her. Behind Lily, James and Sirius shared a smile. They knew how Lily had the ability to bring out a smile from anyone within a few minutes. Lily Potter was like a patronus to the ones she loved. Of course, when she was pissed, it was a completely different story.

"Listen to me. There's nothing wrong with your name, it's beautiful! It means a gift from the fairies, and you are exactly that." Lily beamed at her. Tonks blushed at this praise and mumbled, "It sounds stupid."

"It doesn't sound stupid sweetie. But if it upsets you, how about we call you Dora for now?" Tonks (or Dora) smiled brightly at this. "It's great Mrs Potter!"

Lily's smile faded and she replied without emotion. "You're welcome."

Tonks noticed her coldness and wondered what on earth she'd said wrong. She failed to see James hiding a big smile. He knew what was coming.

"Would you like another sandwich Tonks?" Lily asked the little girl, who was now completely bewildered by the use of her last name. Didn't they just agree to call her Dora?

"Um... Mrs Potter? Why are you calling me Tonks? Aren't you supposed to call me Dora now?" she asked, a bit of hurt in her voice.

Lily stared at her for a moment and then, patting Harry, who was sleeping in her lap, she slowly said "Why I should call you Dora when you don't call me Lily?"

Tonks squealed with laughter and ran to the redhead and hugged her tightly. Lily returned the hug with one arm, the other keeping Harry safe. 'Lily is awesome!' Tonks thought happily.

"Okay Lily, I want a sandwich" Tonks held out a hand to Lily. Lily laughed and kissed her forehead before passing her a sandwich which she attacked immediately.

Andromeda smiled at the pair. She loved her daughter very much; no one dared to claim otherwise. Caught up in the joyous moment of seeing the face of her baby girl, she'd named her Nymphadora- a gift from the Nymphs. She never foresaw the dislike her daughter would show to the name. While Andromeda was too stubborn to admit that the name sounded stupid, she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. She was amazed at how Lily found such an amazing solution to her daughter's problem. How come she didn't think of that name? And despite her relief, she couldn't help but notice that Lily had an unnaturally strong ability to love others. She glanced at Harry, whose forehead was now being kissed by Lily. He was quite lucky to have a mother like that.

If only she knew.

Tonks was also staring at Harry. He was so little and so cute! She hesitated for a moment, then-

"Er... Lily?"

"Yes honey?"

"Do you mind if I hold Harry a bit? I promise I won't drop him." Tonks solemnly asked, already fearing Lily would say no. Her clumsiness wasn't a secret, thanks to Sirius.

Lily was, to be honest, a bit worried. Dora wasn't famous for her balance and more importantly, she was just a five year old. But looking at her puppy dog eyes which, incidentally, were green like Lily and Harry's, she decided to cast a cushioning charm to his blanket, kissed his cheeks lightly and handed the sleeping baby to Dora. Dora stared at the baby in her arms and her face broke into a huge smile. The change of hands, however, woke Harry up. The girl tensed up, trying to think of ways to prevent the crying that was sure to follow.

To her surprise, however, Harry didn't cry. His eyelids fluttered, his small lips forming a small 'o' and he began to look around. His eyes fell on a pair of grey eyes that were looking right back at him. He reached out a chubby hand and little fingers caught a lock of violet hair. She smiled and turned her hair pink which Harry found very entertaining and he let out a happy giggle. Dora couldn't help herself. His laughter was completely disarming. She kissed his forehead in an attempt to copy Lily; she even turned her hair red for good measure. But somehow Harry found this even more amusing and was now laughing madly. Tonks scowled at him and was going to reprimand him when he suddenly reached out again and grabbed her nose. Outraged, Tonks glared at Harry, but she couldn't stay mad at him forever and eventually joined him laughing.

"Your girl is getting awfully chummy with my godson, 'Meda. Do we see the beginning of an epic love story here?" Sirius had to duck from Andromeda's playful blow. "You never know Sirius, I happen to remember old Bertha Jorkins being quite fond of you in your first year. She was a fifth year back then, wasn't she?"

Sirius quipped, "Fourth. I'd have dated her if she had a bit of brain in her. But look at Nym... I mean Dora, she's totally smitten with the boy!"

James cut in. "That, ladies and gentlemen, is the famous Potter good looks. Girls can't resist them, y'know." Ted and Andromeda started laughing and Lily rolled her eyes, but Sirius loudly protested, claiming that his own smashing looks were unrivalled in the history of Hogwarts.

"Ah my good friend, you might flatter yourself by thinking that, but the best looking girl in Hogwarts belongs to the one and only James Potter. So you may want to transform yourself, then curl up and die with your misery, Padfoot." James wrapped his arms around Lily's waist possessively and held her tightly. Lily smiled and gave James a peck on the lips and James kissed the tip of her nose in return and held her, if possible, even closer.

"I don't know how Harry stands being near you two. People might think you got married two weeks ago instead of two years." Sirius grumbled.

"It's called love, Sirius. Try it sometimes, it's fun." Lily replied cheerfully. Sirius didn't look convinced, though. "Yeah, if being in love means I'll always have that dopey grin on my face, looking like I just had a great shag with a Veela-"

"What does shag mean?" Dora asked curiously, Harry looking comfortable in her arms.

Sirius was cowering under the murderous glares from Andromeda and Lily. Death Eaters he could handle easily, but he was absolutely frightened now. Lily Evans had a reputation in Hogwarts for her temper. No one wanted to get in the bad books of the former Head Girl, unless they knew better. On the other hand, Andromeda's temper wasn't short-fused, but when she got mad, even Bellatrix ran away from her.

Trying not to stammer, Sirius managed to find his voice after a few tense and awkward moments. "Er... you see Dora, it's... um... it's a lot like quidditch. Like... er... Lily here lends James her snitch in exchange for James' broom-"

"Lily, you don't have a broom? I can lend you mine if James doesn't!" Dora said happily.

Lily was almost as red as her hair while Sirius and James howled with laughter. Throwing a dirty look at them, she smiled at Dora. "That's nice of you honey, but don't worry. James can't live a day without the snitch. I think he polished his broom for the last eight years so that he won't miss it in our match."

After three minutes, Dora became suspicious. The adults were still laughing from Lily's comment and she suspected they were using some kind of code language in front of her. She made a mental note to find out the real meaning of "shag" from a reliable source.

Suddenly, three silver phoenixes materialized in front of them and Dumbledore's voice came out from them, each facing James, Lily and Sirius. "Report to the headquarters immediately. The McKinnons are under attack!"

The happy mood of the room vanished along with the patronuses. The three of them stood up and grabbed their cloaks and drew their wands. Lily spoke first.

"Andromeda, can you keep Harry for a few hours? I'm so sorry, I would've left him with James' mum but we don't have the time-"

"Of course we can keep him Lily. Go and take care of yourself. Pick him up when it's over." Andromeda's voice was strained. She knew about the Order of Phoenix, but didn't join partly because she didn't like Dumbledore's method (she thought he was too soft. It was war, and playing fair in war wasn't a good choice in her opinion) and partly because she didn't want to face a situation where she might be forced to duel Bella or Cissy. Despite their arguments, Andromeda still loved her younger sisters. She forced a reassuring smile at Lily and looked at Harry who was still in Dora's hands. Lily took him from her, kissed his forehead and murmured "I love you baby". Handing him back to the older woman, Lily took a deep breath and said "He'll be okay. Let's go." The three of them disappeared with a small crack.

Harry stared at where his parents were a moment ago and then shifted his eyes to the woman holding him. Andromeda smiled at the adorable boy in her arms. Dora was also looking at the emerald eyes of Harry Potter. With a smile, she started planning on how to keep Harry entertained for the next few hours.

Three weeks later, Dora was crying with her face down in the pillow. You-Know-Who killed Lily and James, Sirius was thrown into Azkaban and Harry was left with his muggle relatives. Dora asked her mother why they couldn't keep Harry instead and Andromeda replied something like "that meddling old fool". She sadly wondered when she would meet Harry again, if at all, and if he would remember her.

"He is one year old. He won't remember me next year." She told herself, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Poor Harry" she sobbed.

Indeed. Poor Harry.

A/N: review please? I know that Tonks is much older than Harry in canon, but this is my story and I decided to make her a bit younger. In addition to this, there will be things in the next chapter that will not coincide with the canon timeline, consider them AU.