In the Shadows Chapter 9, a harry potter fanfic

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Thanks to my friend Kydra for all his help on this chapter

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DuPont and his group of Death Eaters had made their way stealthily towards the Great Hall. It seemed most of the teachers were in the two ballrooms. DuPont checked the list of pictures. Those were students he was to hurt but not kill, most were children of Death Eaters. They were to kill everyone else, if only for the demoralising and frightening effect it had.

"Okay, we need to put the teachers out of commission first, especially Dumbledore and McGonagall" DuPont instructed his followers.

"How do we do that?" one of the slower ones asked.

"Use these invisibility cloaks, sneak up behind them and stun them, bind them what ever, just make sure they cannot fight" DuPont handed out the cloaks.

"DuPont, these aren't first year hicks, this is the staff of Hogwarts, and they're some of the most powerful wizards and witches in the world. This won't be easy" Morrison pointed out.

"I know, that is why we must take this very slowly and very carefully. We have prepared this short Polyjuice potion in advance, using the children of some of the faithful who are not in the Great Hall" DuPont revealed their secret weapon.

Handing out the Polyjuice potion, each Death Eater placed their cloak over themselves and drank their potions. Keeping as quiet as possible they allowed the change to go through. After calming down, they silently entered the Great Hall.

"Okay, Morrison and I will take care of Dumbledore, well, as best we can. Mildred, you and Thomas take McGonagall. Only make your move after we have secured Dumbledore, if we fail, you must retreat" DuPont advised

"But the Dark Lord…" Mildred looked mortified.

"Will not kill you, he is far to preoccupied learning new magic spells and whatnot from those two, sorcerers that we met a while ago" DuPont pointed out.

Indeed, there had been fewer of the Death Eater's earning Voldemort's wrath lately. He'd been in closed chambers with the two Outworld magic users, learning magic well beyond that which few other than Merlin may ever have known about. The good thing was it made him less privy or willing to punish severely and minor failures.

'Then again, this is no small mission' DuPont thought as he silently opened the door.

The Death Eaters, under cover of cloaks, entered the ballroom and each quickly sought out their respective quarry. DuPont and Morrison saw Dumbledore sitting in a chair at the head of the room, watching his students.

McGonagall was also seated, a goblet of wine in her hand and swinging her head in time to the beat, some kind of ballroom song. Mildred and Thomas silently crept up behind her, having shed the cloaks and simple looking like they were dancing around lamely until they stood behind her.

These particular potions were shortened in their duration: instead of an hour they had fifteen minutes before the potion wore off. Hence, getting in a position to disarm and stun the various teachers and other assorted guards, but wands were banded from the ballroom. Only the prefects and those over the age of 18 were allowed to carry them.

'Five more minutes. Best have that door locked' DuPont sent a signal to his man by the door to use a powerful locking spell on the door.

The doors looked as normal, but if anyone tried to open them, they would send them flying backwards with a painful shock. Sensing the time was right, DuPont told his men to strike…

…And like the Blitzkrieg on London in World War II, the Death Eater struck.

"CRUCIO" Mildred fired the Curse of Pain point blank into McGonagall's back.

The pain was so sudden and sharp, that McGonagall went forward sharply, Thomas thinking quickly disarmed her with Expelliarmus, and kept the wand in his pocket. Being no slouch, Mildred followed up with Petrificus Totalus, rendering her unable to move.

"Minerva…" Dumbledore got up and moved towards her.

He didn't get far because DuPont fired a Stupefy spell. The spell did very little to Dumbledore, but Morrison followed up with Incarcerous, encasing Dumbledore in ropes.

"Accios, Dumbeldore's wand" DuPont summoned the headmaster's wand.

"And now for some old fashioned methods for keeping him quiet" Morrison said and punched Dumbledore hard across the face, knocking him out cold.

"Powerful or not, few don't fall after a punch to the face" DuPont agreed with the statement.

"Well done everyone, now, whom do we start with?" DuPont wondered as he looked around, tapping his wand on his forehead.

The other teachers were taken out in the same lightning fashion as their bosses. Severus Snape even suffering from some painful spells. Soon after the teachers were secured, the Death Eaters set about disabling the Prefects. It wasn't a hard task since the Prefects had been taught by the useless Professor Umbridge.

"Shit" Harry dived behind a table as a Death Eater fired a spell at him.

Tonks had disappeared in the fray. Harry knew better than to worry about her so he concentrated on getting himself to door and open them up for the students to escape. However, a rather powerful Reducto spell made the table to his right explode in a shower of wood chips.

"Oh cock" Harry swore.

"I dare say Mr. Potter you have more problems at the moment than sneaking towards a door" DuPont said with his teeth bared in a savage grin.

"So I gathered" Harry answered, his eyes darting all around looking for something, anything for him to hide behind.

"Hmm, you are caught with no wand, and now allies now Mr. Potter. What do you do?" Morrison asked sarcastically.

Without warning, a sudden scream diverted the attention of the Death Eaters attention long enough for Harry to bolt behind another table. Tonks was in her element, combat. Using a combination of her magic spells and the martial arts and fighting skills she'd honed and perfected over the years, Tonk was able to disarm and disable three of the Death Eaters before they all fell on her.

"Well, bring it on" she snarled.

DuPont saw the words as a personal challenge and he brought it on. An accomplished hand at Savate and Boxing he was able to go toe-to-toe with Tonks on both a magical and martial level. Harry had approached the door and tried to open it. True to the spell's promise, if flung him far across the room, right into DuPont.

'Ah ha, an opportunity!' he thought.

Moving more in a position to catch Harry, DuPont was able to make the boy land squarely on his chest, and because he prepared for it, didn't get the wind knocked out of him. Quickly moving his wand to Harry's temple, he brought the fight to a somewhat speedy standstill.

"Ah, and now the moral dimension, Auror, do you risk your life for the Famous Boy Who Lived, or do you sacrifice him to defeat me and save everyone else? Haven't enough people died because of him yet?" DuPont was unusually smart for a Death Eater, he was also quite mad.

"You harm him and you won't leave this room alive" Tonks snarled, a look in her eyes not dissimilar to the one Harry saw in the eyes of the Dragon he faced in the TriWizard tournament.

"Ah, but you aren't an Enforcer, using an Unforgivable will still land your arse in Azkaban" DuPont taunted.

"I can kill you seven times with my left hand you arrogant bastard, and I don't need a wand to do it" the timely arrival of one of the more stupid Death Eaters allowed her to prove the point.

Using a clenched finger strike, Tonks first struck hard at the throat, pushing the esophageus together and as she brought her first strike back, threw the second one in similar fashion into the solar plexus. These two strike immobilised the Death Eater and Tonk applied the killing blows. Using a palm heel strike, she pushed the nose cartlidge into the brain. As the Death Eater fell down, Tonks brought a powerful knife hand strike to his temple, rendering him dead.

"Get my point?" she asked with a very stony face.

The somewhat savage display allowed Harry to head butt DuPont in the nose, breaking it and allowing him to get away for a moment. However Tonks rushed DuPont at the same time and this caused something of a problem. Harry landed on his side and DuPont, taking advantage of Tonks' lowered body position, thrust a powerful strike with his knee into her sternum, breaking it. Tonks immediately fell to her knees in pain.

"You were a worthy opponent. But not for much longer" DuPont rose his wand and began to speak.

"Aveda Kedav-" a sudden numbing sensation had taken over his hand.

He looked down and saw no hand, merely a bloody stump and sword blade. Harry, seeing what DuPont planned for his lover and had been galvanised into action. Remembering he had hung at his waist the most powerful sword in Europe, Harry went on autopilot and drew it and attacked.

"YOU LITTLE BASTARD" DuPont screamed, again his voice lost its normal sophistication.

Morrison ran towards Harry, intending to disarm him. Fate intervened at that point and Harry turned, still holding the sword in a tight two-handed grip. Morrison had not the reflex or wit to stop himself and ended up impaling himself on the blade. So deep did he impale himself that he was nose to nose with Harry, and Harry saw the life slowly drain from the man's face.

"Ha, never thought you'd have the bottle to kill, Harry Potter, the Dark Lord won't be making that mistake again" Morrison choked these words out, coughing blood onto Harry's face.

During the entire fracas, one of the prefects who'd managed to hide crept over to McGonagall and removed the binding spell and gave the Deputy Headmistress her wand. With a look of fury on her face, McGonagall stood up.

"How dare you, come into this place" she growled.

Taking them by surprise McGonagall was able to stun Thomas and Mildred with no difficulty. With DuPont still stumbling around in shock and Morrison dead, the other two saw little choice but to rush their target: Harry Potter.

Again acting on autopilot, Harry saw them with their wands raised and preparing a spell. With little hope of it being something small or just painful, he swung Excalibur in a wide arcing slash. One of the two Death Eaters managed to slide under the blade, but his partner wasn't so lucky and the legendary blade caught her across the neck, severing her head from her body.

"Bloody hell" the other Death Eater muttered as he rolled and got up and made for the door.

"GET OVER HERE" Scorpion appeared in the Great Hall again and used his signature Harpoon technique to stop him.

At that moment the door burst open; Sub Zero, Ron, Dean and Seamus, Madam Hooch and Poppy Pomfrey came in wands at the ready. Seeing though that the fight was over, Madam Pomfrey saw to releasing the teachers from their bindings. Then she moved on to Tonks and her injured chest. A simple bone-healing spell was all that was needed to sort her out. Sheathing Excalibur, Harry ran to her side.

"Oh, I never knew Hogwarts had such a dangerous party scene" she groaned as Harry helped her up.

"Me neither, I guess they're really trying to give us full preparation for life in the outside world" Harry joked as they began walking towards the door.

The students began opening their eyes and coming out from their sparse hiding places to survey the damage. Some of them saw the bodies and became sick, other began sobbing as they realised that Hogwarts was no longer the safe haven it once was. Sub Zero was wandering around the room with a bland look on his face.

"Holy shit, they planned a double strike," Sub Zero muttered, casting an eye at the corpses and dead students.

"Voldemort is getting bolder, this can't go on" Harry muttered as he and Tonks hobbled past him.

'I agree' Sub Zero thought.

Sub Zero looked up and saw the Death Eater DuPont still stumbling around sans his wand in a form of shock. His eyes then followed the blood until he saw the headless body on the floor.

"Well, that looked like it hurt" Sub Zero said, throwing a cloak over the body before any of the younger students saw it

Dumbledore walked behind Sub Zero and looked at the covered body. His eyes went sad: he knew it was not right to see a young man of Harry's age know these things, or to commit them. Sub Zero turned around and looked at Dumbledore with a strange gaze.

"We did this Professor" Sub Zero wasn't feeling too noble at the moment.

"I'm not proud of these developments, Sub Zero, but-" Dumbledore was cut off by a soft but firm rebuke.

"This isn't fair, he's a young man, he's not a warrior and yet both of us have turned him into one. A warrior of justice or light is still a warrior and still goes to war. And so for the survival of many we must force him to kill someone. And we shall have to square with that someday" Sub Zero looked, upset.

"Yes, we shall" Dumbledore replied

"When do the Christmas holidays start?" Sub Zero asked.

"In a month and a half" Dumbledore answered after a moments thought.

"I think we should let him go to Tonks' for Christmas, he'll have to meet Ted and Andromeda at some point, and I found them to be most affable during Yuletide season" Sub Zero said, remembering his old friend with a gleam of humour.

"A good idea" Dumbledore concurred

"I best be off, the authorities will be here soon, I best make myself scarce" Sub Zero slipped off into the shadows of the Hogwarts school.

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Tonks and Harry managed to stumble to up to Gryffindor Tower. Harry muttered the password; the Fat Lady let them in but kept muttering about scandal and indecency. When she closed though, Harry kicked the back of the portrait viciously, snarled something obscene to the talking oil painting and continued up to the dorms. Tonks gently sat Harry on the bed.

"Best clean the blood off you, it can be a right bugger to get out" Tonks said trying to add some levity.

Harry said nothing as Tonks conjured a bowl of warm water and a sponge. Gently, she dipped the sponge and began wiping the blood from his face. Harry was barely moving, still looking a little vacant. Tonks stopped as she saw a little piece of white buried in Harry's cheek: skull bone.

'Best get rid of that' she thought.

"Tonks" Harry spoke.

"Yeah?" she asked, relieved that he was speaking.

"Have, have you ever killed anyone before?" Harry's voice had a slight tremble to it.

"Yes, once or twice" she answered.

"Does it ever get easier, as it happens more and more often?" Harry was shaking now, from cold or delayed shock, Tonks was unsure.

"No, and I hope it never gets easier, for either of us. Killing should never feel easy Harry, ever" she looked him in the eyes, her tone warm and comforting.

Harry collapsed into her arms, tired and spent from the energy expended to defeat his enemies, and emotionally drained for having to summon the fortitude or lack of conscience to kill them. Harry Potter was tired.

"Its okay, Harry" Tonks was crying now herself.

"I took human lives today, Tonks, even though they were evil, whose mothers and fathers did I just kill?" the boy was obviously in some kind of shock.

Tonks drew back: Harry's face was a mess. Hs eyes told her of a nearly broken spirit. So Tonks took a chance and leaned in and kissed Harry, not playfully of lustfully, but lovingly. Harry immediately went quiet and looked at Tonks, a ghost of hope lit in his eyes.

"See, that spark of feeling when I kissed you is something only someone who still knows how to feel would have, and you still know how to feel. Never forget it" Tonks hugged Harry again.

Harry rested his head on Tonks' shoulder. Soon his breathing turned rhythmic and Tonks heard him snore. Smiling, she gently lifted Harry up onto his bed and laid him down, using a spell to change him into his sleeping clothes. Then, after giving it less than a second of thought, she enlarged the bed to accommodate two and lay beside him.

"I have bad nightmares Tonks, like I have Dementors visit me in my sleep" Harry was momentarily roused.

'Then tonight, I am your Patronus, and they won't get past me" she looped an arm around his waist and held him tightly.

Unbeknown to either of them, Draco Malfoy had followed them up to the dorm using an invisibility cloak like Harry's. He was thinking what he should do: he had Potter in a perfect position for blackmail; he could easily have Tonks thrown of the Auror squad for this. Grinning, Draco raised his wand…

…Only to feel a vice like grip engulf his arm. He spun around and was confronted with Scorpion.

"So, you're Draco Malfoy" the disembodied voice of Scorpion grated on Draco's nerves.

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Back in the Great Hall, Aurors and Medi-Wizards had appeared to arrest the Death Eaters and tend to the injured and provide counselling, respectively. Albus knew this time there would be hell to pay this time. This kind of event could not be smoothed over, not by any means. He pulled McGonagall over to the side.

"I fear we may be in over our heads this time, Minerva, I do not believe Rufus Scrimgeour will allow me to stay on after this. We should prepare for a changing of the guard," he whispered.

"Speak of the devil and ye shall appear" Minerva muttered and nodded her head towards the doors as the Minister himself did indeed walk in.

"Albus, my old friend, are you okay?" the Minister asked.

"None the worse for wear, although I rather say I would be better off had I traded places with young Cormac McLaggen over there" Dumbledore said sadly.

"Albus, the best of wizards can be taken by surprise. From what I've been told by witnesses, this attack was carefully planned and executed. Though the other one in the other party was less so well planned out" Scrimgeour dropped the bomb.

"A second attack on the other ballroom, by Merlin's beard they're only children" Minerva hissed.

"Yes, but that attack was foiled by some very impressive spell work from your older students and the assistance of a mysterious third party as yet undisclosed. Rest assured we will find them" Scrimgeour said, rubbing his glasses on his robes.

"They are all good students" Dumbledore said

"Indeed, now Harry was involved in this little fracas, I also understand he had a sword. Now, the luck of its presence aside, I will need to speak to him later. For now he should rest, as should Auror Tonks. I do appreciate you letting her stay Albus"

"It is always a pleasure" Dumbledore answered cordially.

"Although that begs the question, why was she here in the first place? One of many questions the Aurors and Enforcers will get to the bottom of" the Minister said, eye Dumbledore carefully.

"Indeed, the truth will out as the Muggles say" was all the reply he got.

"There will have to be a fully public enquiry into this incident Albus, but I shouldn't worry about it. You could not have foreseen such a bold move. That's my job" Scrimgeour said, giving a small smile Dumbledore didn't trust as he walked away.

"I don't understand" McGonagall said.

"There is another Muggle saying, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, while I'm here I'm publicly accountable and scrutable, if he sacks me I can go on my merry way and do as I see fit. Here, I'm restricted" Dumbledore had to hand it to Scrimgeour: it was a clever move.

"I take this third party is Sub Zero?" McGonagall asked.

"I would think so, he was dancing with Rolanda from what I understand" Dumbledore found a small smile in that.

"I dare say you will be getting a few howlers in the next few days" she said, nodding towards parents who came to see their children.

"To say the least" Dumbldore sighed.

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Draco wondered how he managed to get into situations like this. Sure, he was planning on blackmailing Harry and his girlfriend or even hurting them. For one perverse moment he even considered killing them and making a break for it. However, the sudden appearance of Scorpion had thrown a proverbial wrench into that plan. Now he was being dangled with a rope by the ankle over the ledge of the Astronomy Tower.

"Did you give the Death Eaters the information they needed to get in here?" Scorpion asked.

"Piss off" Draco spat.

Scorpion let the rope slip down a foot, jolting Draco back into awareness of his position. It was not a position in which one is normally able to act rude or refuses any civil request. A situation that was very clear on the hierarchy. Scorpion was the boss here, and Draco had to respect that.

"How old are you Draco?" Scorpion asked.

"I'm sixteen, what bloody business of it is yours?" Draco asked.

"So can tell you that it gives you about two years to either come clean and make amends, or embark on your final tour of pleasures in this world" Scorpion leaned in very close when said that.

"And after those two years, if I don't tell you shit, what happens then?" Draco sounded far braver than he was.

"Then I will hunt you down, and I will kill you" Scorpion said.

"What?" Draco went very quiet.

"You allowed them to enter Hogwarts, their entry caused my goddaughter harm, and harm to those she cares about. You have wronged her, and by extension, you have wronged me" Scorpion then removed his mask.

Draco stopped cold. He felt as if he was looking into the face of the angel of death. The fire licked around a bleached skull, the eyes burning like volcanic rocks.

"Few people know the culmination of their life; you are now one of those few. To reiterate, use your remaining two years wisely" Scorpion

He dragged Draco in and threw him to the floor; caring little if the boy injured himself or how he may feel. Scorpion believed he'd made his point clear enough, either he would have his answers at some point or in two years time, Draco Malfoy would be dead.

'I sense the hands of Quan Chi and Shang Tsung in this dirty affair, I think it is high time I called in a marker' Scorpion made his way stealthily down the stairs and out of the school.

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Harry awoke the next day with a warm feeling all the way up his back and headache that felt like Hagrid was jumping on his exposed brain. His robes lay in a pool by the bed, leaving him dressed in a shirt and some light pants. He didn't quite remember what had happened to him last night. Then he saw the sword.

It had fallen out of its sheath a little and the rust coloured stains on its once immaculate blade told the story of what had happened last night. Feeling the bile rising in his throat, Harry leapt out of bed and bolted for the bathroom. His sudden movements shook Tonks awake.

"Harry?" she asked groggily seeing his retreating form.

'Oh hell' she thought and got up to follow him.

Harry had a good head start on his girlfriend and reached the boy's bathroom and flung his head into a toilet and began to throw up. It didn't take him long to empty his stomach and by the time Tonks reached him, he was crying and dry heaving.

"I thought it was just a nightmare" he whispered.

"It was, in a way, but it happened. I think last night you went into a form of shock, and it probably took this long to sink in" she rubbed his back as she spoke.

"I don't know if I can do this, Tonks. I don't know if I have the strength to. I know that we have the power of love, but his hatred of me! And of muggles and half-bloods! He has an army of followers, against what little forces we have..." he sobbed.

"Well, then the answer is simple; we need to get more people on our side" Tonks said.

"But how, if even put a toe out of place the Ministry will lock us all up, and then where will we be?" Harry countered, finally taking his head of the toilet and wiping his mouth with some paper.

"I dunno, but I feel there are big changes headed our way Harry. These new laws, the Enforcers and all of them! Freedom is being eroded for safety and evil is spreading. We are caught in the middle of it, and at some point we have to stand up and be known, or we'll be crushed in between, like a stick held by pincers!" Tonks laid bare what she thought was going to happen.

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that. Other than agreeing that Tonks was probably right, he was sure he had some more immediate concerns. No doubt the Aurors wanted to speak to him and to Tonks about last night's skirmish. And as for explaining the presence of his sword, that would have to be some very creative thinking.

"Harry, you in here mate?" Ron's voice echoed through the bathroom and brought the pair to Earth.

"In here Ron" Harry answered.

"Hey, uh, hi Tonks" Ron blushed a little seeing Tonks in a tank top.

"Ron, what are you doing here?" Tonks asked.

"Here, I thought perhaps you ought to see this" Ron handed them the Daily Prophet.

HOGWARTS: NO LONGER A SANCTURY?

Last night, as some unfortunate members of the public are aware, there was a planned assault on Hogwarts School by the Death Eaters.

They attacked in two groups, each targeting a room being used for a recreational dance in the school. The first group were fought off by quick thinking students and teachers.

The second group struck the older children, disarmed the teachers and began to kill random students until they found their target: Harry Potter.

Eye witness accounts say that Mr. Potter and an Auror who is not named due to reasons of security, fought them off, resulting in the death of three of the Voldemort's followers, and seriously maimed another.

Other witnesses claim there were other parties involved also, but no evidence of them has yet been found by Forensic Wizards. The investigation will continue during the week.

Peace Officer Delores Umbridge offered her comments to the Prophet on the incident: "Well, it was bound to happen eventually, however I wish it didn't have too have caused the death of innocent students. I will be discussing with the minister of magic new security steps for the school, to ensure its safety".

Some parents have called for the removal of Harry Potter from Hogwarts, as it was he the Death Eaters specifically targeted upon commencing the attack. Narcissa Malfoy, mother of Hogwarts student Draco Malfoy had this to say: "His presence at that school places all of the other students in jeopardy. I encourage all concerned parents to ask Professor Dumbledore to remove him from Hogwarts".

"Bloody hell! How did they get all this so quick?" Tonks asked.

"There must have been a leak, this is the early edition" Harry offered.

"Then we need to plug it" Tonks grimaced.

Ron, seeing the state Harry was in, decided to carefully raise the subject of what happened the previous night. So Harry told him, giving an almost minute by minute break down of how the dance had been great and then the Death Eaters arrived and it all seemed to go pear shaped from then on.

"I read here they had a go at you guys too, also says you did really well in taking care of them" Harry noticed.

"Well if Madam Hooch and Sub Zero hadn't had been there, we would have been stuffed" Ron admitted.

"It says here you were quick thinking, and I believe that sole passage if nothing else in this squalid little rag" Harry wished Ron would stop be so down on his own abilities.

"Well, that's the least of our worries. Right now our biggest problem is the Ministry who will no doubt want to speak to you and me, and you Ron about last night. Then there is the case of removing Harry from Hogwarts" Tonks let that one hang in the air.

"Would that be such a bad thing?" he asked.

"How can you say that, this place is like your home" Tonks looked at Harry, rather puzzled.

"Well, if I wasn't here then I could learn privately from HQ, nothing to stop Dumbledore from sending my school work to me. And I could train, with you and Sub Zero and Scorpion" he argued his case.

Ron and Tonks were about to reply when they truly thought about what Harry said. It did make some sense. And although neither wanted to admit it, they had actually considered asking him to do it when they'd first read the comments asking for his removal.

"I'd talk it over with Dumbledore first, Harry. You said yourself we can't do anything rash, so don't be a hypocrite" Tonks warned him.

Harry only nodded and shakily got up and rubbed his face. Slowly he padded over to a sink and began to wash his face and mouth out, wanting to get the taste of vomit out. Tonks shooed Ron away so she could have a private word with Harry before she would have to leave to undoubtedly face more than a few cradle robber jokes and stern looks from the powers that be.

"Harry, there are going to be some tough question asked in the next few days, of both of us. Now everything that's between us is good in the eyes of law, a sterile view but it's the most important weapon we have at the moment" Tonks put her arm around him as she spoke.

"I know, no matter what they say to you, what they think I've said what they'll say I've said. It's untrue"

"Trust only the horse's mouth on this one huh?" Tonks said with a smile.

"Given how I feel right now, horse's arse would be more appropriate. But yeah, I feel something for you Tonks that is just so awesome, I feel I can fly" Harry seemed to fail for words.

Tonks just smiled and ruffled his hair. Harry had ain innate ability to just speak the truth when it seemed most appropriate and in some pretty blunt terms. Moreover, given this was a sixteen year old boy who'd stared into the face of death and come back again, more or less himself, his ability to let others into his heart, especially as close as Tonks got, was more remarkable than any other thing he could do.

"Well, keep your wits about you, never answer in the heat of the moment, Auror interrogation is pretty standard, but no doubt this will be handled by the Enforcers and chin up. Think of me naked and you'll not answer a thing I reckon" the last part she whispered with a very, smoky, smile.

Tonks left the bathroom leaving Harry with a very bizarre look on his face. It was something between fear, arousal, shock and smugness. Much like watching Tonks change her nose, the fleeting emotions over his face became a source of great mirth when Ron came back in.

"Well, what now?" Ron asked.

"I best go and see Dumbledore. I am going to need his help" Harry said.