A/N First I obviously don't own Harry Potter and never will.

To anyone wondering, I've done some fairly major re-writes to the beginning of this story, coinciding with changing the name and will therefore be re-posting the first dozen chapters. I will post each one as I finish checking it for mistakes.

Chapter 1

Midnight Wandering

Harry looked at the clock sitting beside his bed. A thin ray of light coming through a crack in the curtains from the street lamp outside threw just enough light over it make out the time, only a few minutes from midnight. Harry was exhausted, yet every time he closed his eyes he was greeted by the same scene. His godfather Sirius laughing, taunting his cousin, before being hit by a jet of red light. His eyes widening in surprise as he fell, seemingly in slow motion. His cousins' scream of triumph as he fell backwards through the Veil.

He tossed and turned, knowing he needed to sleep. He couldn't keep going the way he had been, only getting two or three hours of uneasy sleep a night, only managing to fall asleep when his exhaustion overcame him. It had only been a few days since he had returned to the Dursleys' house for the summer, but it felt like an eternity. His school supplies had been locked in the cupboard underneath the stairs as soon as he had entered the house and he had been put straight to work, doing all the chores his 'family' had neglected while he had been away at school. He had been woken up by his Aunt each day as the sun rose and given a list of chores that kept him working until the sun went down. His only breaks were for a quick breakfast and supper, before heading back to his work. He sighed, 'I suppose it could be worse,' he thought to himself. While he was worked like a house elf and was unable to so much as walk past any of his relatives without a scornful remark, they had yet to lay a finger on him, which was a definite improvement over past summers'. While his uncle and cousin had never done any real damage, he generally had at least a few bruises by this point. He supposed he should have thanked Moody for that in his letter.

Rolling over, Harry looked at Hedwigs' cage and sighed, wishing his familiar was still there. He had sent her off to report that he was still alive and well (at least relatively) and that there was no need for anyone to come by and murder his relatives' (yet). That had been close to two hours ago, right after he had come inside. After a long day of hard work and snide comments he had decided to go right to bed, so he had sent his owl off immediately with a few letters to let both the Order and his two best friends know he was alright, before crashing onto his bed and trying to fall asleep. He regretted that decision now as he stared at the ceiling, wishing for someone he could talk to or at least something to do to keep his mind occupied.

Throwing off the blankets, Harry stood quietly, deciding he needed to get out of the house for a little bit. Dressing quickly, he quietly made his way out of his room and down the stairs, carefully avoiding the creaky step. Pausing at the door to the cupboard under the stairs, he pulled out the hairpin that he had borrowed from Hermione before school had ended and set to work trying to open it. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually managed to get the lock open. 'It's a good thing I got Fred and George to teach me that,' he thought to himself, 'I don't think even Dudley could sleep through me breaking the door down.' Opening the door he quickly pulled out his trunk, careful not to make any noise as he did. Opening it up, he cautiously moved things around looking for his wand. Finding it, he quickly stuffed it into his pocket and went to close the trunk to replace it in the cupboard, when he noticed a silvery material poking out along the side. He hesitated for a moment before carefully sliding it out as well. 'Better safe than sorry' he thought to himself, before quietly replacing his trunk in the cupboard and leaving through the front door.

Harry left Privet Drive and turned onto Magnolia Crescent, heading past the alley where he had first seen his godfather. Blinking tears from his eyes and banishing the memory of the first time he had seen his godfather from his thoughts, he headed towards the nearby park. Jumping the locked gate, Harry walked past the broken swings, the last of which had apparently been broken by Dudleys' gang since his last visit, and sat on the ground, leaning back against a nearby tree.

Sitting quietly lost in his thoughts, Harry almost didn't notice the sound of someone walking slowly along the path, cautiously as if trying not to be heard. Without moving his head, he looked in front of him, scanning for something out of place when he heard it again. Casually stretching his shoulders, he managed to reach into his pocket and grasp the handle of his wand without looking suspicious. He had almost managed to draw it out of pocket when the night seemed to ripple in front of him, and the empty path was replaced with a young witch with long brown hair and a heart shaped face. Jumping up from his spot against the tree Harry aimed his wand directly at her.

"Wotcher Harry," she said, slowly putting her hands in the air, "mind aiming that someplace else?"

"Tonks? What are you doing here?" Harry started lowering his wand before quickly re-centering it on her, "How do I know you're really you?" he asked, gazing at her suspiciously.

"I'm your protection detail Harry. You didn't think we'd let you head back to your relatives' without someone watching you, did you? If you don't believe me, you can always ask me something only I would know."

"Alright then," he said thinking for a moment. He was surprised, he hadn't thought that someone from the Order would be watching him. "When we first met, what was Mad-Eye worried about me doing and why?"

"If I remember correctly, he was worried about you putting your wand in your pocket," she said, "he didn't want you to blow off one of your butt checks." Suddenly smiling, she added, "I gotta say Harry, I was pretty worried too. You have quite a nice bum, I wouldn't want you to lose it."

Harry lowered his wand, his face getting hot. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. 'How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?', he thought. At least it proved that this really was Tonks. One of her favorite games was to try to make him blush, it was a game that she happened to be very good at. Seeing the smile on her face he decided it would be better to move on and ignore it. Sitting back down on the ground against the tree, he asked, "What's up with the hair? It's so... normal."

She grimaced, looking down at him before turning and sitting beside him. "I'm just tired. You know, there's been a lot going on lately," she said, evasively. Harry looked at her skeptically. He remembered a few times last year when she had gone days at a time with little to no sleep and the only time the crazy haircolours had disappeared was when she needed to blend in. Tonks continued, "With You-Know-Who out in the open I've been working overtime, with both the Order and the Aurors. Both of them are trying to prepare for open war and catch some of his more dangerous supporters. I've been put on the task force to find my aunt."

He looked at her questioningly for a moment before remembering. Her aunt was Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' cousin. The woman that had killed him. Once again the image of Sirius falling backwards swam in front of his eyes. Shaking his head, he banished the images, fighting back the tears that came with it.

"I'm sorry Harry," she said quietly, looking at the ground between them. She had tears of her own swimming in her eyes. "It's my fault. I should have stopped her."

Harry was quiet for a second, confused, before he remembered that Tonks had been fighting Bellatrix before Sirius. He remembered seeing her fall limply down the seats in the Veil room as Sirius took up the duel with his cousin. Harry couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He had been so caught up in his own grief over Sirius that he had forgotten there were others that cared for him too. Reaching over he gripped her shoulder, "It's alright Tonks, you did everything you could. If I hadn't run off without thinking.." Harry felt a tear fall down his cheek. He had felt bad enough to begin with. It was HIS fault Sirius had died. His fault that he would never live to see his name cleared, or go out in public again. Now he also had the guilt of taking the only wizarding relative Tonks had that wasn't a bloodthirsty murderer. It was his fault that Remus had lost the last of his friends for the second time. He couldn't believe he had been so foolish. And now his godfather was dead. He felt arms snake around him, comforting him, as the first of his tears fell.

"Harry, you can't blame yourself, you were tricked by You-Know-Who. Many wizards, older and wiser than you, have fallen the same way. He knows how to get to people, who to threaten to hurt you the most. You went to help Sirius because you thought he needed you and because you cared for him."

"But if I had practiced Occlumency, like Dumbledore wanted, he wouldn't have been able to put those images in my head," Harry bowed his head to hide the tears that were running down his face, "If I had kept my curiosity to myself, Snape would have kept teaching me and maybe I would have learned to block him out."

"Dumbledore had you learning Occlumency? From Snape?" Tonks asked, a surprised look on her face, "Since when?"

"Since Christmas, when I had the vision of Voldemort's snake attacking Mr. Weasley. We started once I got back to Hogwarts. Before each lesson he would pull some thoughts out of his mind and place them into a Pensieve. One time he left early and I got curious and looked inside. He refused to teach me anymore after that," Harry wept, ashamed of himself, "If I hadn't let my curiosity get the better of me, Sirius would still be alive.

"Was he teaching you Legilimency as well?" she asked.

"No," Harry answered, unsure as to why that mattered.

"Then why was he pulling memories out and putting them in a pensieve?"

Harry shrugged, "They were things he didn't want me to see, memories of my dad bullying him while they were at school."

Tonks looked confused, "But why would he put them in a pensieve? Snape is a master Occlumens, it's why he can get away with spying. There was no reason for him to put those memories in a Pensieve, he could have easily stopped you from seeing anything he didn't want you to. I mean he can keep Dumbledore and You-Know-Who out of his head, he has no reason to hide things from a fifteen year old. It just doesn't make sense."

"I don't see why it matters, it's not like he did it to..." Harry trailed of as the puzzle pieces clicked into place, "You don't think he meant for me to see those memories, do you?"

Tonks shrugged, "I don't know Harry, but I don't see any other reason for him to leave them laying around like that."

"But why would he do that? Snape isn't exactly the type to let people see his embarrassing moments, especially not a Potter."

"I don't know Harry..." Tonks said, running her hand through hair, "The only thing I can think of is that he was trying to come up with a reason to stop teaching you."

"Maybe..." Harry trailed off before shrugging his shoulders, "It's not like I actually learned anything from the lessons he gave me anyways. He just told me to clear my mind and then attacked. If anything the visions were worse after our lessons."

"He didn't teach you how to organize and hide your thoughts or how to raise barriers?" Tonks asked, a surprised look on her face.

"No," Harry said slowly, "he basically told me what Occlumency was, told me to clear my mind and then started smashing his way in." Looking at Tonks, Harry got the impression that she hadn't expected that. "If anything I think he was just trying to weaken my mind to make it easier for Voldemort to break in."

She looked at him for a minute before she spoke, "I don't know Harry," she said, "he could just be as bad at teaching Occlumeny as he is at teaching Potions. He may have even known his teaching was weakening your mind and set up the pensieve as an excuse to stop teaching you without breaking his cover."

Harry nodded, seeing Tonks' logic. If Voldemort knew Snape's teaching was weakening him, he probably would have tortured him for stopping their lessons without cause. "And if not?" he asked.

Tonks looked at him hesitantly, "If not... The other possiblity is that he really is a Death Eater and was trying his best to weaken your mind and used the excuse to stop teaching you before you could fix the damage."

Harry looked at her in surprise. He was used to all the Order members blindly following Dumbledore's proclamation that Snape was on their side and refusing to believe the old man could be fooled. "You actually think Snape might be a Death Eater?"

Tonks bit her lip, seemingly unsure of herself, "I don't know Harry. His attitude would fit in perfectly with all of You-Know-Who's followers, but Dumbledore trusts him."

Harry grimaced, "Dumbledore isn't all knowing Tonks, he can make mistakes the same as anyone else," he said, thinking back over the past year. All it would have taken would have been a simple warning, 'Voldemort may try to use the bond to lure you to the Hall of Prophecies,' or 'Voldemort can probably send fake vision's through the bond, so don't believe everything you see,' and Sirius would still be alive.

"He's still our leader Harry," Tonks replied, prompting a snort from Harry, "Dumbledore trusts Snape and without some airtight proof, I don't think we'll change his mind. The best thing we can do for now is keep our eyes open."

"I just wish the old bastard had told me what was going on from the beginning, then maybe none of this would have happened."

"I know how you feel Harry, I've can't help thinking that if I could have beaten her, Sirius would still be here."

"Don't blame yourself for that Tonks. If it wasn't for you and the others, I wouldn't be here and neither would Ron or Hermione or any of the others that I brought with me in my ill-conceived rescue attempt. You saved my life Tonks, more importantly you saved my friends lives and I'll never be able to thank you enough for that."

She hugged him tightly, "Thank you Harry," she whispered into his ear, "you have no idea how much better that makes me feel," before she moved to his side, leaving one arm wrapped around his back and leaning into him.

They sat leaning on each other for a while, telling stories about Sirius, both from the time they knew him and those they had heard from others. During their talk Tonks began feeling better, eventually gaining enough control over her metamorphosing abilities to change her hair back to it's (ir)regular color. She looked over at Harry and saw him nodding off, half asleep, a smile coming to her face. He had definitely needed this, probably even more than she did if the dark circles under his eyes were any indication. Glancing down at her watch she noticed the time, it was half past two in the morning. Glancing at the teenager next to her she decided it was probably time to head back. A night sleeping on the ground probably wasn't the best idea for either of them.

"Come on sleepyhead," she whispered into his ear, prodding him in the side and getting up off the ground, "it's getting late and you should be in bed."

"Do I have to?" he groaned, not opening his eyes, "I'm comfy here."

"Come on, you might be comfortable now, but you won't be in the morning. To bed with you," she said reaching down and pulling on his arm. He groaned again, but opened his eyes and let her pull him up. He had only managed a couple steps before he suddenly sunk to his knees, his hand clasped to his forehead.

"Harry!" Tonks exclaimed, rushing to grab him before he could fall over onto the ground, "Harry, are you ok?" His only response was to let out a low moan. She gently lowered him onto the ground, she pulled out her wand and started waving it over top of him, casting diagnostic spells, desperately trying to figure out what was the matter with him. Finding nothing she starting speaking, "Harry please talk to me, say something," she begged, hoping he was okay. Sirius had told her about his visions, but she had never seen one before. She had crouched over him for what felt like an eternity before finally deciding it was time to go for help. She made to stand up so she could Apparate to get some help, when a hand suddenly grasped her wrist. "Harry!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a sitting position, " are you alright?"

Harry looked at her like he was going to respond, but stopped with his mouth halfway open, staring over her shoulder. Fearing what she was about to see, Tonks turned and felt her gaze drawn upwards into the clouds above Privet Drive. She couldn't help but stare, because among the clouds over Privet Drive, hung a green skull with a serpent coming from its mouth.