Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Tonks arrived Grimmauld Place, letting herself in, without falling over the troll leg and walked to the kitchen area. As she walked down the stairs, she found the kitchen empty apart from Sirius who was sitting at the table, a bottle in his hands and a scowl on his face.
“Hey Cuz” She said with a smile
He looked up at her and attempted to smile, though it was forced.
“What’s happened?”
“It’s Harry, Dumbledore is keeping him with his aunt and uncle until further notice. I’ve heard bits from people who have been charged with watching him, and it doesn’t sound good at all. I hate that he has to live there”
“It’s safe though isn’t it?” Tonks said remembering what Dumbledore had said when she had asked the same question about where Harry was staying.
“His mother’s protection will keep him safe if he stays with family.” Sirius confirmed
“When he does come here, no doubt you can find plenty of things to do with him. I can’t wait to meet him. He sounds like a blast. Are the Weasley’s moving in soon?”
“Yes, in a few weeks” Sirius said moodily “I can’t even tell him anything about what’s happening!”
Tonks nodded her head in understanding.
“Heard about your run in with Remus by the way, did you find out who attacked you?”
“No, the man we have didn’t have any answers, and the other refused to speak. Unfortunately at the present time we can’t do anything. We are no longer allowed to use Veritaserum without explicit permission from the court, which we have to wait for and it’s unlikely they will grant us permission anyway. It was only myself and my partner who were attacked. Junior Aurors. Nothing to lose sleep over” She answered
Sirius looked at her concerned
“We are both the most junior, though I am the most junior apparently by a year, even though my more senior partner didn’t manage to apprehend the prisoner and managed to get hit by a spell because he wasn’t concentrating. I got into trouble for not yelling a warning and protecting my prisoner over my partner”
“Seriously?” Said Sirius
“Yeah, the prisoner was a Werewolf, I mean, would anyone really care if anything happened to him within the ministry? His expendable!” Tonks said “It’s no wonder Remus hates me”
“You don’t share their views?”
“No. It's something they can’t help. It affects them at the full moon. Leave them alone at other times. Make allowances so they can work and support themselves. Saying all Werewolves is bad is like saying all Slytherines' will turn to the dark side. It depends on the personality. If we keep pushing our limitations on Werewolves, Giants, Vampires even and other magical creatures, they will turn to the dark side because they don’t feel we can help them.” She said passionately
“Remus doesn’t hate you” Said Sirius “I don’t think Remus hates many people”
“Well he certainly isn’t a fan of me. Does he know about my ability?” She questioned
“Unless he has worked it out himself, then doubtful. He can be very smart but also very stupid. Just don’t give up on him.”
At that moment the door opened and Lupin walked through the door, walking down the stairs
“Hi Sirius, Hi Tonks” He greeted
They both answered and he set his things down on the table
“Sorry, am I disturbing you?” He asked
“No” Said Tonks with a small smile “I should get going, thanks for the chat Sirius, and here”
She said handing over a package. He looked at her quizzically before opening the paper and finding a picture in it
“I found it when Mum and I were going through the attic, and made a copy of it.” She said with a smile
Remus looked over the shoulder and saw a young Sirius with a woman who looked frighteningly like Lestrange. Arms around each other, smiling for the camera on a big swing, The picture didn’t move, but it didn’t have to for you to see the youth and freedom on their faces.
“My Mum, she was speaking about you the other day and she had this really far away look when she saw the photo. I thought you might like to have a copy”
Sirius gently ran his hand over the picture
“Thank you” He said with a small smile “When your Mum left the family, she contacted me you know, then when she was pregnant with you she came to me and told me. I saw you a few summers after that, always in secret to keep you safe. She was the only one who really understood what I was going through.”
“She still has those fond memories, If I am honest I don’t know if she ever truly thought you were guilty…she never said anyway.” Tonks said sadly
“When this is over, I plan to make it up to her” Sirius said
“I’m sure you will. Bye guys” She said walking to the door.
Remus watched her walk away, before getting up to follow her
“Tonks, do you..um..have a minute” He asked nervously
“Sure” She said “But only a few, I promised to meet Bill for dinner tonight”
“Are you OK after everything? Did they find out what was going on with Wesley?”
“No, we still don’t know what happened.” She answered “Is there anything else?”
“No” He said quietly “Well actually there is one more thing”
“Yes” She said, grey/blue eyes looked at him
“Thank you, for you know saving Wesley. Most Aurors wouldn’t have been as understanding as you.”
“He was given poor information, they want to make an example of him…there’s nothing I can do. Showing him a little kindness for something he can’t control was the only thing I can do. I’m just a junior Auror.”
“From what I saw, you are not ‘just’ a junior Auror, you are a skilled Auror who just happens to be the most junior member of the team.” Lupin said with a small smile hoping she would take the peace offering.
She stood a moment and smiled at him,
“Thank you” She said before pulling her hood up and leaving the house.
Lupin watched the door shut and smiled to himself. Well it was a little step but it was progress. Maybe next time they’d have a conversation.
Next Chapter up at the end of the week. Both Sirius and Lupin are in a bad mood and unfortunately Tonks doesn't think before she talks, she's just so eager to talk about things with people and share everything she has.
A snippet to grab your interest...
"Oh, one more thing you two, especially you Remus, give Tonks a break. I know she’s young but I trained her, I vouch for her, she’s tough on the surface, puts on a good act…but there's more to her than that.”