T is for Tonks

Chapter 1 - The Dog and The Wolf.

The house that had appeared before her should have been familiar, but it wasn't. 

Tonks was incredibly grateful for that. The townhouse itself stood tall and narrow. It was an identical copy of the other houses on the street, except for the fact that it was in an incredulous state of disrepair. The windows had a thick layer of grime which suggested that there was no need for curtains. The bronze numbers on the door were tinged blue with rust, and looked as though eyes were rarely laid upon them. 12. It was a far cry from the house that Tonks had just left. The embroidered pillows and the warm fireplace felt like it belonged to an entirely different planet. 

The Black family home could have been familiar to Tonks, had her mother not eloped with a muggle and got herself cast out from the rest of the family. But Tonks was glad to have grown up far away from the Black Dynasty and their bigoted Pureblood ways. Of course Sirius, the only other member of the Black family that had also renounced his heritage, hadn't been as fortunate. Tonks hadn't yet met her second cousin, but she was about to.

Since the reincarnation of the Dark Lord, which The Ministry had denied profusely, the Order of the Phoenix had been reassembled and those who believed the news were forced into hiding.  These included Andromeda and Ted Tonks. It was Tonks' boss at The Ministry, Mad-eye Moody, who had organised the hiding of her parents and who had suggested she relocate to live with Sirius, in order to remove suspicion. Tonks had no doubt about the return of Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore had always been kind to her. Dumbledore believed in her. 

As she walked up to the front door, nerves niggled in her stomach. Mad-eye had told her nothing of Sirius, and all Tonks knew was that he was an escaped convict from Azkaban. She had been to Azkaban, it was the worst experience of her life. The prisoners were empty, hollow and cold. Many would rather have been sentenced to death than face the company of the dementors for the rest of eternity. Tonks hoped Sirius' time spent in Azkaban hadn't turned him mad, like many others.

Once inside, Tonks was met with a narrow hallway in which the air was thick and heavy with must. The wall paper was barely clinging onto the walls, which were decorated with great portraits of long-dead relatives, displayed in tired-looking frames. One of the paintings had a sheet over it which was secured by chains, and Tonks could swear that it kept mumbling. Too busy fixating on the paintings, Tonks walked straight into an elaborate claw-footed umbrella stand, causing it to smash on the floor. "Nymphadora!" Moody growled from a doorway, his eye whizzing in this socket.

"Don't call me Nymphadora." She spat back, rolling her eyes like a teenager.

There was laughing that didn't come from Tonks nor Moody. It came from a man who was standing behind Mad-eye, wearing robes that hung off of him, like he hadn't yet gained the weight he had lost from prison. The years spent in Azkaban had stained the man's face, causing him to appear older than he was. "Are you sure you got the right one Mad-eye? She doesn't look like a Black." He chided, raising an eyebrow.

Tonks looked Sirius dead in the eye. It could only be Sirius.  He shared her mother's intense eyes and the squareness of her chin. "I suppose you're exactly what a Black should look like. Vain, arrogant, poor fashion sense." She scowled. Tonks was mildly concerned that she had overstepped until Sirius pushed past Mad-Eye and pulled her into a hug.

"Come here." He said, easing the troubled look on Tonks's face. "Dear old mum was always making an example of how i'd end up like cousin Andromeda if I wasn't careful. I've always wanted to see just how far you strayed from her ghastly ways." Sirius released her from the bear hug and used his forefinger to twirl a lock of Tonks's pink hair. "I confess myself impressed." A small giggle erupted from Tonks's chest and spilled out of her lips.

Mad-eye cleared his throat. "If you wouldn't mind, we have an Order meeting to prepare for. You two can get acquainted later." He pushed down the narrow hallway and disappeared through a door.

Tonks looked at Sirius who was smirking. "After you." He indicated for her to follow after Moody.

The door lead to a set of stairs that descended into a basement kitchen. It was filled to the brim with warmth, light and fantastic smells, making Tonks's anxiety dissipate. There was a long wooden table with cutlery and plates, and two jugs accompanied by a dozen or so glasses. 

"Everybody" Mad-Eye grunted, once Tonks had reached the threshold. "This is Nymphadora Tonks, she works with me at The Ministry." He then proceeded to introduce her to everyone in the room.

Arthur Weasley and his wife Molly (they had briefly met before). Tonks had been in the same year as their son Charlie at Hogwarts, who had an older brother Bill. Arthur had told Tonks that they had 5 more children who would be joining them at Grimmauld Place towards the end of the summer. Molly was currently red faced and hard at work at the stove. There was Dedulus Diggle, a small portly wizard with a beard that would rival that of Dumbledore. He had previously been in the Order. Also, Emmeline Vance, an older witch with dark hair who looked shyly at Tonks and didn't say much.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He was the Head of the Auror Department and was known to be close to Cornelius Fudge. Of course Tonks had met Shacklebolt, but she had never seen him out of work. It made her feel uneasy.

Tonks was invited to sit down, which she did, at the farthest end of the table where she picked at a loose thread on her gloves. She was the youngest person in the room by far, and felt very out of place. She had never been good at making friends at Hogwarts because of her ability to metamorphose. When she was in her first year, she constantly received requests to change her appearance at will, and she obliged much to the joy of her classmates. However, the novelty soon wore off and she was later renowned for being remarkably clumsy. Interrupting the worry that her reputation may have preceded her, the door opened and two men stepped in.

The first, she recognized. Severus Snape. He had been a Death Eater and was known for his ability to torture prisoners, rising through the ranks to become the right hand man to the Dark Lord himself. After his downfall, Snape was pardoned by Dumbledore and given a role in The Order of the Phoenix.

The second man looked rougher, his clothes were not pressed as carefully as the other mans, nor his hair kept as tidily. There were scars across the man's face and his neck, which Tonks had only ever seen before on the victims of a werewolf attack. She looked at this man with a high level of curiosity, allowing her eyes to follow him as he slumped tiredly into the chair across from her.

Upon feeling her gaze, the man looked up at her and smiled. "I don't believe we have met." He said curtly. "Remus Lupin." Extending his hand.

She shook it. "Nymphadora Tonks." She cringed. "But I prefer Tonks." She smiled at the confusion on his face but was glad to see that he was too polite to ask. She went on - because her mouth tended to forego her brain when she was nervous. "I'm an auror. I only passed my training a year ago so I'm still getting used to it. I'm quite clumsy you see."

Remus smiled weakly. "I'm afraid I'm unemployed. Not many people want... someone like me to work for them. My only use now is in The Order." He pulled the the neck of his shirt up as if to conceal his scars. He looked nervous too. 

Mad-eye rather loudly cleared his throat. "Once again. You can all get acquainted after the meeting." He looked annoyed by this point, a look that Tonks was highly familiar with. She caught Sirius's eye, who apparently had been watching the situation between Tonks and Remus with a smirk on his face. He winked and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"We are here to discuss the movement of Harry Potter, from his current location at Privet Drive to the safe house here at Grimmauld Place." Moody began, and Tonks let her head rest on her hand, feeling her eyes get heavy. "First things first..."