Dora and Remus
Chapter 3 - Dora and Remus
The rest of the Order started arriving in the late afternoon, the Weasleys arrived first, with Hermione in tow. Hermione gave both Sirius and Remus hugs when she saw them. Although a small gesture, they were nonetheless pleased to be seen as regular human beings for once, instead of the usual werewolf, or mass-murderer branding the rest of the Wizarding World seemed to adopt. Mundungus arrived later, and was thoroughly interested in all the Black family heirlooms. Molly didn’t thoroughly approve of Mundungus, but she tried her level best to remain civil at all times. Arabella Figg was expected to arrive with Minerva McGonagall, since she was a squib and couldn't apparate. Although a squib, she was useful as she could keep an eye on Harry, and make sure he didn’t get himself into trouble.
At half past six, Dumbledore arrived with the one person Sirius, and Remus were most “eager” to see, the one and only elusive Severus Snape. Although Remus never approved of James, and Sirius bullying when they were younger, he never outright stopped them either, and to this day, he never stopped regretting his behavior as a teenager. Maybe if he had at least tried to stop them, Severus wouldn’t have outed him as a werewolf to the entire school, and then the entire wizarding world. Maybe then he would have gotten a chance at decent work. But at least Severus had always brewed Wolfsbane for Remus during his time at Hogwarts, which allowed him to keep his mind, although it was a sight to behold, looking in the mirror and finding a wolf instead of your usual human face. A small part of Remus preferred forgetting himself completely during the full moon, he hated the madness within him.
Dumbledore mentioned they were waiting for Kingsley, Mad-Eye, and their new recruit. The news of a new recruit brought hope to the entire Order as it meant there were others out there who believed Dumbledore, and were willing to put up a fight. At five past 7, there was a knock on the front door. As it was Sirius' house, he made his way to the front door to welcome the new additions. Remus decided to tag along, a few paces behind, he was looking forward to seeing Mad-Eye after so long. And he wasn’t too comfortable with so many new faces, he only knew the younger Weasley children, but they were all upstairs, that left their parents, and eldest brother, Bill. Although they were nothing short of pleasant, Remus always needed time to warm up to strangers.
Remus made his way to the front door where he saw Mad-Eye and Kingsley who were accompanied by a beautiful young witch with short, spiky hair. She looked vaguely familiar, and the purple hair certainly rang a bell. As soon as she saw Sirius, she pulled out her wand, and pointed it straight at his chest. And then it clicked.
‘YOU! Don’t you try anything, I could kill you right this instant if I wanted to’ the beautiful witch snarled.
‘Put that away before you take someone’s eye out Tonks, besides, that's no way to treat your host.’ said Kingsley half-amused.
‘Relax lass, he’s innocent, and one of us, so you’d better not start attacking one of our own,’ said Mad-Eye almost lazily.
She lowered her wand, although Remus noticed she remained sceptical.
‘It was Peter Pettigrew who was responsible for all those muggle deaths Nymphadora, as well as delivering the Potters to You-Know-Who. He then faked his own death, making it seem like Sirius was behind it.’ continued Mad-Eye.
With that, her expression softened, in fact Remus noticed she looked slightly abashed.
‘Well, well, well, if it isn’t little Dora, I see you maintained the crazy hair colour, what’s the matter, ashamed of the Black crowning glory?’ said Sirius half laughing.
Remus’ mind was transported back in time, he remembered seeing Sirius’ cousin and her family at the Leaky Cauldron all those years ago. He found it hard to believe that the little witch who tried to climb his leg was now the fierce woman in front of him.
‘I’m sure you would too if you could Sirius, d’you know mum still gets funny looks from strangers thinking she’s actually her nutcase sister’, replied Nymphadora. ‘And um, I’m sorry about earlier, up until now I thought Kingsley was leading the search for your capture’, she said addressing the floor.
‘Oh well bring it in, it’s nice to have family who’s not deranged, and it feels like only yesterday you were asking me for a piggy back.’ replied Sirius with a smile.
Blushing slightly, Dora hugged Sirius. Good looks certainly ran in this family, thought Remus to himself.
‘Alright that’s enough of the family reunion, you’ll have plenty of time to have your Sunday dinners one this war is won.’ said Mad-Eye with a hint of impatience.
‘Come on in, everyone else is already in the kitchen.’ said Sirius gesturing to them to head downstairs.
Mad-eye, and Kingsley headed downstairs, followed by Sirius. Dora was momentarily distracted by the portraits along the hallway before following them. Remus watched her as she made her way down the hall, heading towards the stairs. She didn’t notice him yet, until she tripped on the troll-leg umbrella he was standing next to, and he caught her in his arms.
Their eyes met for the first time, hers were a shade of violet, slightly darker than her hair. He took in her scent of vanilla. Remus supposed it was her shampoo, or her lotion, it didn’t matter, but it smelt divine. Dora was so mesmerised by the tall stranger’s blue eyes, his brown hair falling into them only made them more beautiful. His stubble framing his lips were flecked with grey, and she noticed the scars on his face and hands. He looked so familiar.
‘Hello Nymphadora, remember me? I’m Remus, Sirius’ friend. It must have been at least 15 years.’
‘Oh, no wonder you looked so familiar, please call me Tonks, I absolutely hate being called Nymphadora. By the way, thank you for...not letting me fall on my arse,’ she said, turning slightly red, ‘I’m dead clumsy, I still wonder why Mad-Eye and Kingsley haven’t given me the sack yet.’
Remus laughed, his smile reached his eyes, and Dora felt a jolt in the pit of her stomach.
‘I’m sure they must have their reasons. Well, the meeting’s downstairs, shall we?’
They headed downstairs to the kitchen, where Dora was introduced to the rest of the Order. She felt like a child again, partly because she almost fell on her arse in front of Remus, and the fact that everyone else here seemed much more mature than she was. Even Bill Weasley, who was only two years older than her, seemed so serious, and mature. But when you’re in an underground society fighting against Voldemort it did not come as a surprise. The rest of the Order warmed up to her at once, it was nice to truly belong to something, thought Dora. Sure she liked her job as an auror, but she never really had a sense of purpose, and a passion burning inside her, until now. This was where she wanted to be.
Dora was thankful that Remus was sitting beside her. She had so many questions to ask throughout the meeting, and he never seemed tired of answering them, even the ones which may have sounded silly. Dora liked how his beard tickled her when he whispered in her ears, she could feel goose-pimples erupting on her skin as she felt his breath fill her ears. Even Remus was having a pleasurable time sitting next to Dora, he liked how their knees brushed against each other, and how her fingers grazed his arm whenever she had a question. She was highly intelligent, and picked up on things quickly. But seeing as she was Mad-Eye Moody’s protégé, it came as no surprise. It was no mean feat becoming an auror, but even a bigger feat to be deemed worthy by both Mad-Eye, and Kingsley.