Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, but that would be cool. Not that I'm into slavery, but it would be fun. The world is JK Rowling's, strictly. I don't make any money off of this.

The bloody thief was getting away. With all her might, the pink-haired auror sprinted after the fugitive, throwing stunner after stunner at him, but sacrificing accuracy for speed. Frantically running around looking for the building's exit, he made it harder by throwing trap jinxes over his shoulder for her to dodge while in pursuit. The anti-apparation wards only held true within the building, and if he made it out he'd be able to disappear again. Tonks wasn't going to let that happen.

They were on the third floor still, so there was still a chance of catching up, even though the thief had started out with a huge lead on her. If she could have just kept her footing and not tripped...

He leaped down the stairwell onto the second floor and almost made it to the first when a flash of red light from the auror's wand hit the wall behind him and he froze, looking back. Tonks had almost caught up. She heard him shout his frustration and throw a jelly-legs jinx at her, but she dove out of the way just in time. The last thing she needed was a spell to make her even more clumsy. The filthy thief ran down the steps to the first floor and made his way across to the exit. Tonks got to the bottom to watch him near the door, where he could disapparate immediately. She had to do something.

"Mad-Eye, take down the wards!" She screamed into the receiver on the inside of her hood. Her mentor didn't respond but she had to assume he had heeded her command. Tonks turned on the spot, squishing her face in concentration, and reappeared just outside the doorway, except she wasn't Tonks. In her place stood a long-bearded old man with a navy robe, waiting for the thief to cross the threshold. As expected, he made it out into the open air and collapsed with shock as he saw Albus Dumbledore standing inches from him.

"Mundungus Fletcher. Might we be able to have a chat?" asked the old man, although he had the distinct voice of a woman. Fletcher turned over and made to get up and disapparate when a heavily scarred man appeared seemingly out of nowhere and bound him with conjured ropes. Mundungus shouted with defeat as he looked up to see Dumbledore turning back into the pink-haired auror and bending down to pick him up.

"Nice work, Tonks," the scarred man said sarcastically. "I'm guessing he got a head start from a trip or fall on your behalf?" he asked, growling as he led the two into an alley.

"I got him didn't I, Mad-Eye?" Tonks scowled in self-defense. She took down the thief like she was supposed to, not even knowing why they were bothering with such a low-life, and didn't expect snide remarks from the man she was helping.

"You should have had him from the beginning! I know he's a slippery weasel but I'd expect a fully fledged auror to have caught up to him by the second floor." Mad-Eye was digging in his pockets for something while still grumbling about his frustrations. "Anyone could have seen...not safe...traitors...constant vigilance."

"I see retirement's treating you well," Tonks said under her breath, low enough for Mad-Eye not to hear. She knew that he had spent the better part of the last year inside of his own wizard's chest while being impersonated by a Death Eater, but she still didn't like that she was being reprimanded by the man when her being there was a favor to him, so she wasn't cutting much slack. "Can you tell me what we're doing with him now? All the mysteriousness has me nervous, Mad-Eye."

"That's my girl," said Mad-Eye appreciatively, proud at her slight paranoia. He had trained her well. "But before I fill you in," he put his wand to Fletcher's face and stunned him. "Drop him on the floor for a moment." Tonks did so, glad to have her hands free of the alcohol-reeking Mundungus. She wiped them on the front of her robes as she returned her gaze to Mad-Eye.

"Okay, so what are we dealing with? Why some common thief? He owe you money or something?"

Mad-Eye chuckled darkly. "Not even close. Why'd you become an auror, Tonks?"

She was surprised by his question. She was sure she'd answered it in her acceptance interview years ago, when she was questioned by the same man standing in front of her. "You asked me that already, in my interview, Mad-Eye. Wasn't it you who told me to never answer the same question twice to the same person?"

Another dark chuckle. "You're my protege, alright. Refresh my memory."

She looked at him peculiarly. "My cousin is Sirius Black. As you know, he was training to be an auror when I was little. I remember he'd tell me all about how he'd catch the bad guys and put them away, and every time he visited I'd eat up everything he said. That was before I turned seven and he was found to be a Death Eater and sent to Azkaban. Anyway, he's as good as dead to me but I still grew up dreaming of doing that, catching the dark wizards out there, making sure people like my cousin didn't walk the streets freely."

Mad-Eye nodded silently. "So it's probably been a boring year for you as an auror, what with You-Know-Who being gone and you not being on the team looking for Black" Tonks nodded back, wondering where he was going with, and let him continue. "Well, you'll probably keep having a boring year. As I told you before, he's back. And yes, I mean he's back. But Fudge is so daft he doesn't want to admit anything's wrong, because then he'd have to deal with it. You'll be sitting around knowing that You-Know-Who's out there while the Minister orders all departments to continue business as usual. That sound like fun to you, Tonks.?"

Tonks simply shook her head, looking confused. "Where are you going with this, Mad-Eye?"

"What if I told you that you could have a chance to do something, aside from your auror work, against You-Know-Who? What if there was a way for you to really show how much you want to catch dark wizards?"

"I'd say you were daft and most likely pulling my leg."

"Not a chance, Tonks. Are you in?"

"You're not much of a thorough salesman, Mad-Eye. But yeah, I'm in. What does this scumbag have to do with it?"

Mad-Eye smiled a scarred smile and tossed her what he was digging in his pockets for, an old watch. "Grab him and hold on to it. It's a portkey. You two are the newest recruits." As Tonks firmly grasped Mundungus' collar and Mad-Eye touched the watch with her, they felt the tug and disappeared.

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The calm that lovingly blanketed Privet drive was pleasant and still. Every resident was sleeping, because staying up past ten o'clock was improper. All was quiet, until the slow purr of a car engine made its way through the neighborhood. Had anyone been awake, people would have wondered what scandalous activity their neighbors were up to at this time of night.

The car pulled into the driveway of Number 4, and out of the car marched a walrus of a man, a giraffe of a woman, and a small whale of a son. They made their way to the front door, paying no attention to the fourth member of the car, who slowly opened the boot of the car and took out his rather large trunk and owl cage.

The boy walked up to the door with his luggage and struggled to open the door. He was starving and a sandwich would have been amazing, but he hadn't hoped for as much. A half-bowl of soup and a few crumbs of bread would most likely be his meal tonight. His family didn't need to worry about food; on the way home from picking him up at King's Cross Station they had stopped for dinner, leaving him in the car while they dined on a small feast. They had preceded to boast about how delicious the dinner was, making sure to stress the fact that he was in the car not eating with them.

Walking up to the stairs and starting to ascend them to his room, the smallest in the house, Harry was stopped by his uncles' outburst. "Boy!"

He stopped and slowly looked around to where his uncle was. As sarcastically polite as he could manage, Harry simply asked, "Yes, Uncle Vernon?"

The two had a ten-second stare-down before Uncle Vernon growled, "You've got some nerve, boy."

Placing a fake look of serious thought on his face, Harry said, "Sorry, Uncle Vernon. Did I do something to offend you?"

"Offend me? Offend? My living room was destroyed, and my son's tongue was grown to longer than a tail! That happened just a year after you blew up my sister! You come back every Summer just expecting us to continue being hospitable to you! If you weren't Petunia's nephew, you'd be out on the street, but out of the good of our hearts you have a place to go every Summer, which you continue to trash, covering it with ruddy letters, terrorizing my business clients, blowing up my sister, trashing my living room with your freak friends! You're gonna show some sort of humility, boy, or you'll be out of this house. You're not going to act like we do nothing for you!"

Harry was starting to lose his temper, just a little bit. "Yes, Uncle Vernon. You've done so much for me over the years." He kept his voice calm, but it steadily rose. "For instance, I really appreciate the accommodations you made for me up until I was eleven." He pointed under the stairs. "That cupboard was where you kept me hidden from everybody, while Dudley had two rooms." His voice suddenly raised to a yell. "When you found out someone knew about where I stayed, you moved me to the smallest room here, only so you wouldn't get in trouble, because you knew that making a child sleep in the goddamn cupboard under the stairs is downright wrong. Then you go and install a cat flap and full set of locks on my door for good measure, keeping me inside like a bloody prisoner!"

He switched his glare to his aunt. He'd held all this in for too long; it was too late stop it now. "Is this what you wanted for me, Petunia? Is this how you honor your dead sister, by treating her son like garbage all his life? You two couldn't have been at odds your whole lives; there had to be some time when you were friends, when you loved her like family. Forget how the way you've treated me affects me, forget how the way you let him treat me affects me, think about how my mother would feel, how your sister would feel, how your parents would feel, if they knew what I grew up dealing with.

"And do you know what I go through away from this hell hole? Do any of you have the slightest idea what I faced just a week ago? I watched the man who murdered my parents get resurrected to full strength." Harry didn't notice his aunts tiny whimper. "I watched as he killed a friend of mine in cold blood, just like he did my parents all those years ago. He used me to come back. He cut my arm open and took my blood! Then he made me duel him, and put me under the worst pain imaginable before I was able to escape. That's why I'm not in much of a mood to have a fit over how well you've been treating me, Vernon. I'm sorry if I'm a downer this Summer but you'll just have to deal with it." Harry took a deep breath. He couldn't believe he had let that much out, but it had been bottled up for so long and he just need to explode. Then the quietest voice broke the minute-long silence in the room.

"You – you saw him? You faced him?" It was Aunt Petunia, and she had lost what little color she had in her skin. It was like she had seen a thousand ghosts.

"Yes. It was the third time that I've faced him." Aunt Petunia gasped, but Harry continued. "First time was when I was eleven, the next was a year later. Both times he tried to return, but I was lucky enough to stop him. I wasn't so lucky this time. He's back."

Vernon, who had looked at this exchange between his wife and nephew with confusion, wondering what the big deal was, narrowed his gaze on Harry and started towards him, his voice dangerously quiet as he said, "You listen, boy. I don't give a damn what you've done or who you've faced here. You are nothing to us, just a burden that we only have to deal with for a couple more years. If this killer you speak of is coming to give you the same sticky end as your parents, that's all jolly good for him, but if he comes for you when you are here, he'll have to hurry to get to you before I do. I'll not have you endangering this family. I've worked too hard to maintain a quiet, normal life for you and your freakishness to come in and screw it all up."

Harry was too tired for this. He knew blowing up on Vernon again wouldn't do anything, and he just wanted to go to sleep for the entire Summer, or at least until he could escape from Privet Drive. He turned to continue up the stairs, but was knocked off his feet by a large fist hitting him square in the jaw. He landed awkwardly on the stairs. Petunia gasped again, but didn't speak up or do anything. Dudley smirked as he continued to watch the exchange, not at all bugged by the violence unfolding.

"I've been too lenient on you, boy." Vernon aimed a kick to Harry's ribs, and Harry yelled in pain and frustration as it connected. "Perhaps a good beating will do you some good." He grabbed Harry by the back of his sweater and tossed him down the stairs, and his nephew landed on a heap at the bottom of the stairs, at Petunia's feet. Vernon walked down the stairs slowly, eying Harry with a ferociously crazed look. Harry looked up at his aunt, who was staring at Vernon wide-eyed and terrified. His uncle had reached him, and was about to stomp down on his back when a shout broke the air.

"Stop it, Vernon!" It was Petunia. She had replaced her terrified look with a disgusted one and leaned down to help Harry get up. Vernon and Dudley looked dumbfounded. Harry was just as shocked, but his face was too busy wincing in pain to show any surprise. She looked at her husband, and said calmly, "You are not going to hurt him like that anymore. I'm going to help him upstairs and bring him some food. You and Dudley should get to bed, it's been a long day for everybody. Go upstairs."

Vernon looked ready to say something, but stopped, knowing that his wife meant business. He gestured to Dudley, and the two waddled up the stairs and separated towards opposite ends of the hallway. Petunia allowed Harry to rest on her shoulder as she helped him walk up the stairs. They got to the room where she helped him to the bed and rushed out.

She made two more trips up to his room, once with his trunk and once more about twenty minutes later with a leftover meat pie, which was one of the biggest meals Harry had ever eaten at Privet. As she left him with his food, he managed a "thank you," which stopped her at the doorway. She looked back at him over her shoulder, into his green eyes, the same as her sister's and didn't have to say anything in return. She shut the door and walked down the hallway to the master bedroom.

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Still holding onto an unconscious Mundungus, Tonks crash-landed in a small neighborhood park. She cursed herself and her lack of balance and got up, dusting herself off and glaring at Mad-Eye with spiteful envy; he had landed perfectly on his feet, and was now mumbling something about finding a piece of parchment in his pocket. While barely listening to him, Tonks looked around. The neighborhood looked less than friendly, with dirty houses and junk in the front yard. Yellow lawns were more popular than green ones, and, it seemed, people around here forgot how to count, as she noted the discrepancy in one series of houses.

"What is this place, Mad-Eye, and why is it that Number 11 is next to Number 13?"

"Good eye, Tonks." He handed her the parchment that he was looking for earlier. It contained one hand-written sentence in curly writing: 'The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at Number 12, Grimmauld Place.' Tonks was extremely confused, until she looked up from the parchment and saw that, in between Numbers 11 and 13, Number 12 had appeared, as if pushing the other two houses out of the way. The house matched the others, with chipping black paint and the shabby look of a severe lack of occupancy. The only difference was a large silver doorknocker in the shape of a serpant.

"Things aren't adding up, Mad-Eye. You needed me to help catch this low life criminal, then you tell me that the two of us are new recruits of something apparently called the Order of the Phoenix, which is important enough to cast a Fidelius Charm over. What's going on?"

"You'll find out inside, let's just get in. We could have been seen out of any of those windows, and then the whole thing would be blown. Oh hell, I forgot about Mundungus." Mad-Eye pointed his wand at Fletcher and said, "Ennervate!" Suddenly the thief opened his eyes as if he had never been knocked out.

"Oi! Gimme outta these ropes! You got no reason to be capturin' me, I done nothin' wrong!" Mad-Eye moved to hold the paper in front of Mundungus' face, before he said something that Tonks assumed was only meant to get under her skin, and it worked.

"Listen, little Nymphadora, you'd best unbind me or -" but his threat never made it out of his mouth as Tonks' fist connected with his face upon his using of her first name. He was knocked out for the second time that night.

"Dammit, Tonks! He's gotta be awake to read this. Ennervate!" Mad-Eye shouted again, waking Mundungus back up. Before he could sputter anything, Mad-Eye aimed a hex at his face and growled, "Shut up, Mundungus. Read the parchment."

"And don't you dare call me Nymphadora," Tonks warned with her wand lit and inches from the man's nose.

Tonks saw him read and then look up, bored at the sudden appearance of Number 12. "What the hell is this, then? Torturin' me? Takin' me to a safe location where I can't be heard screamin'? People'll come lookin', Mad-Eye. I'll be missed and you'll be found out -" Once again, Tonk's fist found Mundungus' face, to no complaint by Moody this time. They walked towards Number 12, Tonks dragging Mundungus' limp bound body.

Mad-Eye knocked softly on the door, which surprised Tonks. Soft and gentle were grouped with words like weakness and failure in her mentor's vocabulary. The door clicked open and out peeked, to Tonks' surprise, the fire-red hair of Molly Weasley. "Hello, Mad-Eye. Tonks, dear, so glad you've decided to join." She peered disapprovingly at the captured drunk in Tonks' grasp. "I see you've found Mundungus. Well, come on in, and please try not to knock into anything, Tonks, I beg you."

As if on cue, Tonks' leg slammed into an umbrella stand on her way in, knocking it over and causing her to curse in frustration. Then, a deafening scream echoed through the home, though its source was coming from Tonks' right, where moth-eaten curtains were shaking with noise. Mrs. Weasley ran over to the curtains and tried to hold them shut, while a man in a very shabby suit with graying sandy-brown hair ran from the kitchen and sent a silencing charm at whatever was behind them. Still, the curtains were straining against Mrs. Weasley's grip.

"Molly, you can let go." said the man, and as she did so, the curtains moved aside and a horribly vivid painting of an old woman appeared and was shouting at the top of her lungs. Fortunately, none of the shouting was heard, but the woman was trying with all her might to find volume, until she was blue in the face. When she saw Tonks, she strangely glared and pointed at her, screaming silently. Tonks dropped Mundungus in fear, and he landed on the ground with a thud. After about fifteen seconds, she seemed to be too tired and the curtains closed back up.

Still in shock, Tonks apologized quietly to everyone, including the shabby-suited man, who Tonks found attractive despite his being clearly older. She replaced her apologetic look with a smile, until two new-comers came into the room. One of them was silver-haired with a very long beard and twinkling blue eyes behind half-moon glasses, and she recognized him as Albus Dumbledore, her old Headmaster and the wizard she had impersonated earlier to scare Mundungus.

The other, who had just asked the room in a whimsical tone who had awoken his bitch of a mother, had long black hair and was dressed in a suit that was nicer than the sandy-haired man's was. He had the look of someone who had just recovered from sickness or depression, which was understandable, since he had been in Azkaban for twelve years. Tonks was looking at her Death Eater cousin, Sirius Black.

Midway through a gasp, Tonks screamed, "Petrificus Totalus!" and her cousin stiffened up like a board and fell backwards, landing on the ground with a thud similar to when she had dropped Mundungus. She started forward to bind him, but was caught by Dumbledore, who held her back while she struggled. "That's him! Why are you all so calm? Sirius Black is here!" The painting had opened back up, but the familiar man in the old suit had already taken care of her with another silencer spell, a look of sadness on him as he watch the scene.

"Nymphadora, let us go into the kitchen. There are things you should know prior to joining the Order." Tonks looked up at Dumbledore, and something about his old eyes calmed her, so she let him lead her to the kitchen, though stomping on her cousin as she passed him.

With everyone except Dumbledore at the kitchen table, Tonks looked around at the variety of people present. Only Mrs. Weasley, the older man, who Tonks learned was named Remus Lupin, and Dumbledore had come to see the commotion with the painting, not counting her cousin. Also seated at the table were Arthur Weasley, Molly's husband, and Bill Weasley, her son and Tonks' teenage crush at Hogwarts. She blushed at seeing him and kept looking. She saw Minerva McGonagall, her old Transfiguration Professor, her boss in the Auror Department, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and, to her horror, her old Potions Professor Severus Snape, looking extremely unwilling to be there.

She also saw a few people that she didn't know, including a man in a tall purple top hat, an elderly wizard who looked to be Dumbledore's age, a smart-looking middle aged witch, and a familiar looking woman who might have been a few years ahead of Tonks at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore walked in with Black behind him, looking dazed. The old man gave Tonks a reassuring gaze as he took his seat at the head of the table. Black took his seat next to Remus and across from Tonks. Her grip tightened around her wand.

"Now that we have our new arrivals, we can begin the meeting," Dumbledore started. Mad-Eye pointed his wand at Mundungus and the smelly man came to, and was about to start shouting until Moody's wand was shoved into his face. Moody pointed forcefully at Dumbledore to get Mundungus to pay attention. "First things first, our recruits. Please welcome Mundungus Fletcher and Nymphadora Tonks. He gracefully waved his hand to Tonks and Mundungus.

"Tonks, please, just call me Tonks. I hate that bloody name. Anyway, hello, and, well," formalities aside, she got right into it. "Can someone please explain to me why a Death Eater is sitting at a table with Dumbledore and three aurors?"

She felt a bit rude with her question but this was too important. For four years she was told by her mother that Sirius just had to go away for a long time. She would spend almost everyday that first few months asking when he'd be coming back to visit. In her first year at Hogwarts, she finally learned the truth about what her cousin was, a murderer and Death Eater. It only strengthened her drive to be an Auror, to catch people like her cousin, and when he escaped two years ago that drive was increased ten-fold. Now the man was in front of her, and her mentor and boss, along with one of the most powerful wizards in the world, were also present and not doing anything.

"Nympha-"

"No, Minerva, please," Black said. "I'll explain. First, Nymmy," she gasped at the nickname he had given her when she was little. "I'm so sorry. You were like a little sister to me, and I regret with all of my heart that I couldn't watch you grow, but I cannot begin to express how proud I am. I've been told you've just made Auror, and you're one of the brightest since Moody."

"All the better to catch murderers like you."

"Nymmy-"

"Don't call me that!" She was beginning to tear up, but it wasn't at the cost of her volume or current rage. "You lost any family connection to me when you killed those people, when you became the very type of man that you yourself inspired me to grow up to take down!"

Her cousin sighed, and began to pull his right sleeve up, revealing clean skin. He smirked and said, "No Dark Mark." Tonks hadn't expected that one. "I was framed that night by Peter Pettigrew. He betrayed our friends, Lily and James Potter. You remember them? I brought them over to your place a few times. I went after him and he killed 13 people before escaping. The whole thing was put on me. He'd actually been living with the Weasleys this whole time, pretending to be dead but living in his rat animagus form." He said the last statement slightly whimsically, as if it was amusing. "I never would have killed those people, never would have betrayed my best friends, and never would have purposefully left you and your mum behind. I'm sorry." He looked down at the table, eyes glistening.

This was too much to take in. She had never had such a steady flow of tears as she listened to Sirius' story, and saw in his eyes that he was telling the truth. Tonks didn't care who else was there, she was so happy and yet so horrified that he was innocent. She just wanted to give her cousin a hug and tell him that she was sorry she didn't believe in him, that she had spent the last decade working hard to get revenge on him when he didn't even do anything wrong. Her simultaneous joy and sorrow were cut short however, by a cold voice from Dumbledore's end of the table.

"How touching," Snape said dryly. "Tell me, Black, when did our Order meetings become a family bonding opportunity? I was under the assumption that we adults had dangerous business to attend to, so maybe you should hold your reunion in the hall."

"That's enough Severus," Dumbledore said, trying to cool the situation as Sirius' hand was inching towards his wand. "Now that we are all clear as to Sirius' innocence, let us make things official. Nymphadora Tonks, do you accept to put your efforts towards fighting the dark wizard Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort?" Everyone around the table shuddered at Voldemort's name, especially Snape. Tonks never saw the big deal with the whole name thing. She thought it was stupid to give him that much power.

"That's the focus of the Order?" Tonks clarified.

"Yes. He's currently in the process of recruiting followers to his cause. We are trying to counter that by expanding our own number. Also, guard duty will be required at several locations, namely the house of Harry Potter's aunt and uncle where Mr. Potter is currently living, and at the Department of Mysteries. More information will be provided later."

Tonks took a moment of silence to think it over. This had to be some sort of rule-breaking, if this was all being done behind the Ministry's back. But she had really made her decision back in the alley with Mad-Eye, before Sirius and before Dumbledore.

"Yes. I'll Join," she said simply, nodded her head.

"Excellent. And you, Mundungus?"

Pleased to have the floor, Mundungus cleared his throat. Tonks thought he looked ridiculous as he sat up straight and proper, still sporting the bindings. Mad-Eye aimed his wand at the man and the ropes disappeared. "Well, Dumbledore, I don' know. I didn' get a heartfelt family reunion like Nympha- ah!" Tonks stomped her foot hard on his. "I mean, like Tonks here did. I'd like to talk payment. This business seems like I'll be puttin' me life on the line here an' there, an' I believe some salary might not be out of the question."

Dumbledore smiled. "Mundungus, we will not be paying you. Yes, your efforts and special connections would be most appreciated by the Order, but your payment, aside from the good feeling you will get from helping the good side, will be to not have your memory relieved of everything you have seen tonight, as well as the knowledge that nobody in the Order will betray you to the proper authorities, and you can bet that we do know a lot of what you have been up to."

Mundungus gulped and put his hand up to his forehead in a salute. "Pleased to be at your service, sir."

"Good!" Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together and smiling. "Now onto the next order of business, are there any newer recruits that anyone has found and believed to be of use to us?"

Bill raised his hand. "Fleur Delacour's been working with me at Gringotts ever since I switched to a desk job. She's more than willing to fight for our cause."

"Sounds good. We know Miss Delacour is league with Madam Maxime, and she is quite the skilled witch, having been a Triwizard Champion, so she would be an excellent resource to us. Anyone else?"

When nobody else spoke, Dumbledore said, "Okay next up, Severus, you have a report?"

"Yes, Albus. The Dark Lord has been recently attempting to send envoys to werewolves and is contemplating sending them to the giants as well. If there is any other news, I do not know about it."

Tonks froze. Snape was a spy Death Eater? 'That would explain the whole evil look about him. How creepy,' she thought.

"Thank you, Severus. Hagrid and Madam Maxime are currently still on their way to communicate with the giants, and they have been warned to keep an eye out for Death Eaters on their journey. About the werewolves, Remus, do you have any contacts with different clans that may be willing to listen to reason?"

"I don't have the greatest pull among werewolves, as you would imagine. I know a few that have integrated into wizard society, as I have, so I will start speaking to a some to see where their loyalties will fall, and try to build a connection to a few clans."

"Thank you Remus, and now..."

Tonks didn't hear the next few minutes. She was too shocked at the fact that the attractive man sitting at the table was a werewolf. She knew not to have prejudice about any group of people, but it was still very interesting. This man seemed nice, and all that she had heard about werewolves was negative and fearful.

"Thank you, Arthur. Well I think I will wrap the meeting up short. Any last thoughts?" With a few head shakes, Dumbledore said, "Alright. We will meet at the same time next Wednesday. Thanks again to you all, and welcome Mundungus and Nymphadora." Tonks screamed on the inside when her name was spoken but she bit her tongue. Everybody got up, except for her, Remus, and Sirius.

"Have you met Remus, Nymmy, or should I call you Tonks now?" Sirius asked, trying to break the tension. Remus wore a smirk of a smile and raised his hand to wave.

"I think I've outgrown the nickname thanks," Tonks said, laughing. "Just Tonks is fine, it's what I've gone by since my first year." She turned to Remus. "I've found out your name but we haven't been properly introduced." She held her hand out to shake his.

"It's a pleasure. I must say you are really quick with a wand. I don't think think anyone but me has knocked Sirius down like that."

More laughter. After such an emotional night, laughing felt good. "I'm sorry about that, Sirius. In my defense, I still thought you were a fugitive and I am an auror."

"You are forgiven, Tonks. Though I think my arse will be sore for a while now. How are your mum and dad?"

"They're great. Mum just retired early and Dad still runs the shop in Hogsmeade. Can I tell them about you?"

"Well, for that you may want to talk to Dumbledore. He controls every other aspect of my life, he might as well control which family I can talk to."

Remus smirked. "Now, Sirius, you know he's worried about you being captured. The things Dumbledore does may be questionable at times but he's a fantastic leader and I'm sure that everything he does is for the best."

"I'd like them to know about you, so I'll ask Dumbledore. Anyway, I'm sorry that I can't stay and catch up, but I've been awake for a day and a half now and I don't believe I'd be much use to the Order if I die of exhaustion.

"Of course. You should come to next week's meeting a little earlier, and the three of us can eat and get acquainted."

"That sounds great." Smiling, she came around the table, shaking Remus' hand and hugging her cousin for the first time in 13 years.

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Harry stared at his food, too shocked to eat. What had just happened? He'd never seen his aunt act the way that she had tonight, standing up to Vernon and helping Harry. Had his words about his mother gotten to her, or was it the knowledge that Voldemort was back?

He wondered if things would be different now. Would Petunia be able to keep Vernon and Dudley in check or would she go back to her cruel apathy towards him? Harry seriously doubted that she had undergone a complete change of heart. Even if she had, Vernon would find some way around her to terrorize Harry. He'd never been as violent with him as he was tonight, and Harry didn't think that Vernon would get just a taste of beating Harry without wanting more.

He really didn't feel safe sleeping if he knew his uncle could just wait for Petunia to fall asleep before coming to Harry's room and wailing on him. This was extremely unfair. Voldemort was back and could come after Harry at any time, and yet the more imminent threat right now was sleeping just down the hall.

Sleep was sounding better and better to Harry, but he couldn't. He wasn't going to just lay here and be a sitting duck for Vernon. If his uncle came in his room to rough him up some more tonight, Harry had be ready. He was sure the Ministry of Magic would understand his use of magic away from school if he was using it to protect himself. He sat up against his headboard, wand in hand, watching the door, sporting a feeling of paranoia. He was fighting every threatening sink of his eyelids when he suddenly opened them wide in an epiphany. Why had he not thought of it before?

Harry cleared his throat, not sure if this was going to work. He called out the house-elf's name. "Dobby?"

A crack occurred in the corner of Harry's room, and a house elf dressed in a maroon sweater with a stiched "R" on it, two mismatched socks, and a Santa-hat appeared. Dobby ran to Harry, a smile on his face. "Harry Potter is needing Dobby! Dobby is doing Harry Potter's bidding at all hours of the day if it is needed!"

Harry couldn't help laughing at his friend. "Hey, Dobby. How are things at Hogwarts?"

"Harry Potter is great! Harry Potter asks how Dobby is as if Dobby is a friend!"

"Of course you're my friend, Dobby. You've done a lot for me the past couple of years and I'm glad to have a friend like you."

Dobby's eyes teared up, but he continued on. "Hogwarts is heavenly, sir. Dobby has saved up over 50 galleons, sir! I is not know what I is buying yet, but it will be something amazing, sir!"

"Do you have to call me sir, Dobby? It sounds a little weird."

"Harry Potter deserves the title of sir, sir. Harry Potter saved Dobby from the evil Malfoy family, and Dobby is forever in Harry Potter's debt."

Harry shook his head, chuckling and not knowing what to do about Dobby's slightly annoying affection. "Look Dobby, I wanted to ask, how would you like to make more money than you do at Hogwarts? Unless you really like it there, and then you can go ahead and keep at it."

Dobby's eyes grew wide, wider than Harry had ever seen. "Harry Potter...wants Dobby to work for him?"

"Well, yeah. I started out thinking I'd just have you on guard duty at night, because my uncle apparently has a liking for violence now. But then I thought, I could use the company, and I could have you run a few errands for me, since it's pretty hard to get out of the house, let alone go to Diagon Alley. What do you say? I'll give you 20 galleons a week, or more if you want."

Dobby, who had been looking pale with shock before, almost collapsed at the idea of getting paid 20 times what he made at Hogwarts, and tried to refuse. "Dobby views it as the highest privilege to look after Harry Potter! Dobby will not accept any payment for this honor!" He saluted Harry.

"Dobby, I'll be giving you the twenty galleons a week or I'll send you back to Hogwarts. And I order you never to salute me." He tried to sound as stern as he could while still smiling. Dobby agreed, but only after refusing any vacation time for his new job.

Harry had something else he wanted to ask Dobby about, but after looking at the time and wanting to do Vernon's job and beat himself up for being up so long, he bid Dobby goodnight and passed out, while Dobby sat on Harry's trunk and watched the door intently. He felt too sleepy to let Dobby know he could read or something to occupy himself, and drifted off to sleep wondering how his family was going to react to his new house elf in the morning.

A/N: It's great finally having something up on here. Please keep reading and reviewing so that I can get better. I'm sorry I don't have a title yet, and my summary is pretty much crap; I'm surprised anyone clicked on my story with that summary and title. But I'm glad so many have read and that I already have a couple reviews. Thanks for the praise but any kind of criticism would be appreciated. Even if you're mean to me it'll make me better at writing so go crazy. Thanks for reading, everybody. Next one should be up this week. =)