Chapter 1
A new member of the order was being inducted tonight, apparently she was a relative of Sirius’s. Sirius seemed excited by the prospect, though to be honest Remus thought to himself, he was probably just excited to have a member of the family who wasn’t trying to kill him or thought he was a disgrace to the family. A family member who hadn’t let him down, as so many others had done.
Remus Lupin and as sitting round the table. He was in a sour mood. The previous night he'd done his transformation without Wolfsbane, as Snape was away on other business. He didn't even allow Sirius to be with him. He hadn't critically injured himself but certainly had suffered some injuries and his mood was always sour after the full moon. He only agreed to come to this meeting because Dumbledore had said he wanted to introduce someone new to the order. Apparently she was an employee at the ministry and she was related to Sirius. As members of the order filed in and sat down, he took a seat next to Sirius and waited.
There was a crash heard in the hallway, the portrait of Sirius's mother started shrieking. It was quickly silenced and Kingsley appeared, who rolled his eyes as he entered, followed by a petite, young woman. She had a heart shaped face, a haphazardly done up coat and gloves, with ripped jeans and black boots.
“So sorry…no one told me that my great aunt would be waiting for me ready with the insults” She said with a smile
“Don't mind her.” Said Sirius “Nymphodora?”
“Ha! Since when have I allowed anyone to call me that name? It’s Tonks now. Hey Cus, how's it going? I heard you took an extended leave of absence to the North Sea? You didn't even send a postcard?”
Remus looked marginally annoyed however Sirius’s expression remained fairly neutral.
“Yeah ... .wouldn't recommend it though. Terrible heating and plumbing, awfully noisy neighbours and the smell of decay…not to mention the awful food and drink. I wouldn’t rate it 1 star” He answered with a smirk “Come, here's a chair over here” He said pointing to the one next to him. She smiled before making her way over very over, only tripping over one person’s leg however ended up in Sirius's lap. She laughed and gave him a huge hug, which was happily returned by the former accused convict.
“Sorry, I'm a little clumsy” She said “But I'm solid when it counts”
She sat next to Sirius’s and smiled at everyone who was gazing at her. She pulled out a biro and paper from her bag, and placed it on the table eyes expectantly turning to Dumbledore.
“Greetings everyone” Dumbledore said as he stood at the head of the table “First order, let's welcome our latest addition, this is Nymphodora Tonks…”
“Just Tonks if you please Headmaster “ She interrupted looking at him with an impish expression
“My apologies, this is Tonks who has kindly agreed to join the order and help us. Tonks, can you tell us a bit about yourself?” Dumbledore said with a nod
“Sure, I qualified as an Auror last year. I work with the gorgeous Kingsley. I don't like to be called by my first name. I'm a little clumsy…” She said with a blush “...and I'm great at disguises and concealment. My favorite colour today is pink, though tomorrow it could change. I'm ready for whatever the order needs from me including my life and sanity…well insanity if you look at my family tree…though to be fair my folks are pretty balanced…except my mother when she named me. Who knew what she was thinking…I'm related to Sirius…that might explain a few things…” She answered looking at her cousin who smiled fondly trailing off.
“Thank you, Tonks.” Dumbledore said
A hand was raised from the man sitting on the other side of Sirius.
“Yes Remus?” Dumbledore said
Remus looked confused for a second, he didn't even recall putting his hand up.
“Does Tonks know who we are..,.?” He asked
“You are correct…” Dumbledore “Remus maybe you could start us off….”
They went around identifying themselves, it seemed odd to Tonks to call McGonagall by her Minerva, and even weirder to call Snape Severus. She wasn't quite ready to call Dumbledore Albus yet.
“ Thank you, next order of business….” Dumbledore continued
Remus watched Tonks as she ‘doodled’ on the pad in front of her. She looked up every so often to what was being said, but let her eyes wander back to the paper to do another ‘doodle’.
“Nymphadora…” Mad-eye called from the other side of the table. Causing Tonks to look up, glare and roll her eyes at him startling Remus with the attitude.
“Yes, Mad Eye?” She asked innocently
“We need to get the Dursleys away from their house, your job over the next week is to think of a way to do it and bring it to the next meeting. You can do some recon if you have to, just don't be seen.” He asked her
“Gotcha” She said with a smile and nod, turning back to her pictures.
“That concludes today's meeting. Molly has some snacks for anyone who wants to stay” Dumbledore said with a small smile before leaving the meeting. No doubt having important matters to attend to.
Tonks got up from the table, stuffing her pen and paper in her bag before walking over to Molly to give her a hug.
“Oh my dear, it's so good to see you. Wait till I tell Charlie you're here! He was asking after you the other week, do you still contact each other at all?”
“To be honest I haven't had time, the last year has been exhausting and whenever I do try and contact him I can, but he is with his true love and I simply can’t compete with their size or scales.“ She said with a smile
“He was so proud when you qualified” Molly Said “You, my dear were his first love”
“I know, then Hagrid introduced him to Dragons…” She sighed dramatically but a smile graced her lips . She remembered their innocent relationship. Hand holding. Smile, Giggles They were each other's first kisses but not each others first heartbreaks, finding out quickly they were better as friends than Boyfriend and Girlfriend.
“He sent me a gorgeous Dragon Pendant” she said, showing it to Molly hidden from under her top “Which brings the wearer good luck and good fortune. I never take it off so I hope its doing some of the work..”
Remus chose that moment to tune out and stalk away. Molly continued her questioning with interest.
“So tell me more, how's your first year been?” Molly answered worriedly, “Are you keeping safe?”
“I've pretty much done lots of paperwork being a junior Auror and all, there's so much information to remember and the cases have to be incredibly accurate in case anything else comes of them. Kingsley is the only one who takes me out with him but he has been focused on finding Sirius these days so his not been out much and he doesn't go out much because he is looking for Sirius. Today we saw something terrible, that will no doubt have the ministry denying the work of Death Eaters but other than that I'm behind a desk most days.The others are a bit old and set in their ways and to be honest, kind of sexist. I wish more women wanted to be Aurors. We had a few male’s who were in my class, but only one graduated with me and after 6 months decided it wasn’t for him. I’m the last one standing which is quite an impressive feat for me. Moody was happy. His gamble paid off. Besides, I'd never go out with another Auror.”
“Why?” Molly asked
“Well most of them have families, or the ones that don't…our personalities wouldn't work. Age isn't a factor for me as most of them are above 40 so that wouldn’t stop me but there is this need for competition in the Aurors and I feel that a male would try to compete with me…or they’d get over protective. Plus I’m not sure people trust me, with my skill set people are never sure if I am real with them, you know?…”
Just then Remus returned and set about to make a cup of tea, trying to ignore the conversation.
“Your skills are extraordinary. If a man is unable to accept you for your skills, then they are not the right one for you. Don’t ever change my dear. The right person will love you, for who you are. Did I tell you…Bill’s single ... .I mean Charlie might come home soon…” Molly began again
“I doubt he'd want to go out with me and while your boys are amazing Molly, and Bill is a very handsome man, Charlie will forever love those Dragons first…I’m not sure we’d be a good fit.”
“I know he misses you, told me himself” Molly tried again.
“Well I do miss having a partner in crime, I bet you didn’t hear half the things we did at school and I mean, I know we are not school age children, but we are all being forced to ‘grow up’ quicker…myself included. I mean, I know we have a tough time ahead, but if we don’t lighten up, and have some fun we are going to drown when it comes to whatever battle we are facing. We need some happy memories…to maybe lighten up a little when we can…” Tonks finished.
Molly looked at Tonks steadily. She was one of the few people who knew about the mental health problems Tonks had been through, especially when she had the summer breaks away from school. Being able to change your appearance at will came with a few more complicated problems than usual. She’d often spent time with Charlie and would constantly be doing things. She loved the beginning of the school term. Her need for fun and energy with her friends fed her more than food and water ever could, otherwise she’d get depressed again. As long as she had a cause, a reason, she was fine. She was able to distract herself and keep busy. Empty time wasn’t her friend. It was one of the reasons she’d opted to join the Order. She knew she’d be exhausted and busy, but at least she wouldn’t be left alone with her own thoughts and she always found ways to have fun while working.
Remus had been listening to the conversation with vague interest. Did she really think this was going to a fun time? There wasn’t any time for fun. This was serious.