Harry Potter 1. As a Member of the Order

**As a Member of the Order**

Grimmauld Place, London was a dismal place; weeds grew up over the cracked sidewalk, and overflowing garbage bins lined the streets in front of closely packed apartment buildings. It was also a Muggle residence, just to add to the dimness of it all.

All was quiet. Suddenly, a woman appeared out of thin air with a slight pop. She staggered a bit, as she had landed on the very tip of the curb. Regaining her balance, she fished in her pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. She stared at the paper for a minute or two, then crumpled it up and threw it in the nearest garbage bin, being careful to push it into the depths of the trash a little ways, then pulled out a curious stick of wood, with which she ignited the pile of garbage, let the fire sink deep, then just as quickly as she lit it all up, she put it out.

The young woman swept the bangs of her otherwise short, spiky, pink hair out of her eyes and began to briskly walk along the sidewalk. She stopped between apartments 11 and 13, closed her eyes, and waited. A moment later she made a movement as if she were opening a door, and disappeared.

Nymphadora Tonks closed the door quietly behind her, looking around in disgust at her surroundings. A long black corridor led to a pair of descending stairs, while all along the wall, there were massive moth-eaten curtains, stretching from the ceiling all the way to the floor, and lanterns hanging in between, emitting a weird, bluish light. Nymphadora shuddered at the un-welcoming feeling of the hall. She began to proceed down the corridor, pausing only to run her fingers across the wall, picking up nearly an inch of dust. This lack of household keeping did not help her sense of foreboding with every step she took.

She reached the stairs, not meeting a single soul along the way. Her brow furrowed, she entered a dingy kitchen, equally dark and dusty, again not finding anyone. Tonks seriously wondered whether she had stepped into a house of the deceased, and that only ghosts would answer her call. Nevertheless, she drew in a deep breath, and in her frustration, cried at the ceiling, "Hello? Why isn't anyone waiting to see me?!"

"Nymphadora!" said a surprised voice right behind her. She whirled around to find her cousin, Sirius Black, standing in the doorway, grinning, "No need to wake the entire neighborhood."

Tonks stiffened, and glared at Sirius, "_Don't_ call me by that name. Just because this is about the second time I've ever seen you in my life, doesn't mean you can call me by Nymphadora," her bright blue eyes flashed in his direction, but Sirius just let out his usual bark-like laugh, and gestured for her to sit down.

"Well, we shouldn't start off on bad terms like that already," he said briskly, and plopped into a chair across from a still fuming Tonks. "I see you're here to join the Order?"

Tonks nodded, crossing her arms, "Technically, I'm already joined. I became a member when I went to see Dumbledore. I'm just here to meet everybody."

"Ah," said Sirius, "So Kingsley let you in on it?"

"Yeah. He knew I never liked Umbridge or Voldemort, and hated writing about the whereabouts on you, of course, so he dropped by my cubicle the other day to tell me about it," Tonks heaved a great sigh, "I can't believe he's really back."

They sat in silence for a little while, each wishing silently that what Dumbledore had said about Harry Potter seeing Voldemort come back was all a well rehearsed lie. But the reason that the Order of the Phoenix was meeting again was because the Minister was refusing to believe Voldemort was back, so she couldn't disbelieve or she had better leave right now.

Tonks stiffened, realization pouring over her. They were alone, the Order, there was no might of the Ministry behind them, only Dumbledore's perseverance. Would that be enough? Will they all make it through? She shuddered, and looked at Sirius, who was eyeing her with concern.

Averting her eyes from his, she blocked out the disturbing images popping into her head of dead bodies of the Order, being flung carelessly into a pile by a laughing Lord Voldemort, and hastily struck up a conversation.

"So…are there any Order members already here that I could meet?" she asked Sirius. He nodded.

"Yeah…Hestia Jones and Remus Lupin are both upstairs. Here…" Sirius got up and left the room, leaving Tonks quite alone again. As she summoned up a butterbeer from the kitchen, she began to think of Harry Potter. Poor guy, she thought. All this weight on his shoulders; the boy who lived, the 15 year old who is destined to defeat the greatest wizard of all time. It sounded impossible. But, she was on his side. She'd help as much as possible. And it'll all start when selected Order members get to rescue him from the house of the Dursley's.

"Dunno where Hestia is, but…" came Sirius's voice in the doorway. Tonks turned in her seat to see Sirius come in with a middle-aged man at his heels. She supposed this was Remus Lupin. She jumped up to greet him.

"Hey, I'm Nymphadora Tonks! You must be Remus." she said, extending a hand. Remus took it and said politely, "Why, yes I am. Pleased to meet you, Nymphadora."

Tonks grimaced. "Oh, yeah. I hate the name Nymphadora, so you can call me Tonks instead." Remus nodded, smiling. She released his hand, just to snatch it again looking horrified.

"What did you do to your hand?" she asked. His hand bore deep scratches all along the back. Most of them were healed, and were only scars. Remus shied away from her, looking ashamed. This odd action made Tonks very curious. Taking a closer look at his face, she noticed streaks of gray hair taking place of the light brown, and scars crossing over the bridge of his nose, and along his left cheek.

"I'm sorry, but it looks like you've been mauled or something," she said, her eyes filled with worry and sympathy. Sirius was looking very uncomfortable.

"No…actually—" he began, but Remus Lupin looked at him, mortified, and he fell back into silence. Remus turned to Tonks, who was standing there with her hands on her hips, and cleared his throat.

"It's nothing. I'm okay," he muttered, and without another word, he left the room. Tonks stared after him, her left eyebrow creeping up her forehead.

"Fine, leave me in the shadows," she said to herself, but decided to push the matter from her head. But before she could start up a new conversation with a still restless Sirius, the clanking of chains could be heard, and a lock clicked open. The front door opened gently, and three cloaked men slipped inside, talking amongst themselves quietly. As they moved into the light, Tonks saw Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Auror who told her about the Order at the Ministry, talking hurriedly to the most curious looking man. He stooped over as he limped on a wooden leg with a claw for a foot. Tonks recoiled slightly, seeing that his face bore worse scrapes, cuts, and scars than Remus Lupin had. A chunk of his nose seemed to be missing, and while one of his eyes was small and black, the other was large and electric blue, and kept whizzing in its socket sickeningly.

The third man walked silently behind them, wearing dark blue robes and wearing horn-rimmed glasses. His receding red hair told Tonks that this was none other than the father of the largest blood traitor family in the country, Arthur Weasley.

Kingsley noticed Tonks watching them as they made their way down the hall, and smiled widely.

"I see you took my invitation, Tonks," he said in his deep voice, "Welcome to the Order."

The man he had been talking to looked at Tonks, his great magical eye taking in her appearance, suspicious. No doubt he thought she was out of the ordinary, with a heart-shaped face, bright blue eyes, and shocking pink hair. _Not that he should be talking._ Thought Tonks, smirking.

Kingsley turned to the man and said, "Alastor, this is Nymphadora Tonks, an Auror. She qualified a year ago." Alastor nodded appreciatively.

"Good evening, Nymphadora," he said, not bothering to hold out a hand in greeting.

"And Tonks, this is Alastor Moody, or Mad-Eye, as most of us call him," said Kingsley, chuckling slightly. Tonks jumped. _This_ was Alastor Moody; the Auror most appreciated and remembered amongst the Auror trainers? He had retired nearly 10 years ago, but still came to the Ministry to help, although Tonks had never seen him. Kingsley turned to Mr. Weasley.

"I'm guessing you know Tonks?" he asked him. Mr. Weasley smiled.

"Of course," he said, shaking Tonks's hand, "I'm pleased to see you will be able to help us."

The men and Tonks filed into the kitchen. Sirius was still sitting at the table, and they all sat down around him.

"The meeting should start in about 15 minutes," said Kingsley, checking his Muggle watch. "Sirius, Elphias Doge will not be coming tonight, the Minister is requiring his services for a couple hours, and obviously Hagrid will not be coming either—"

Sirius nodded, looking concerned, "Do you know where Hestia is? I only just saw her this morning, then I lost sight of her."

Kingsley glanced at Moody, who answered straightaway, "Urgent message from her boss in the department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, apparently."

"Oh, she works in that area?" asked Tonks interestedly. Mr. Weasley shook his head.

"No, it's only a temporary job. They're needing more people on the job, obviously, with the Death Eaters screwing up everything in their reach, so she volunteered to help."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for the other Order members to arrive. Sirius had left again to get Remus, so all Tonks did to amuse herself was absentmindedly scarring her hands up to look like Remus's.

The front door opened and closed again and Hestia Jones ran into the kitchen, windswept and out of breath. She plopped down next to Sirius, apologizing for leaving without a word about where she had gone.

"Who are you?" she asked pointedly to Tonks, who hastened to introduce herself to the woman.

"I'm new here; Nymphadora Tonks. Or Tonks. I don't like my first name, so don't use it. Please," she said, quickly fading her scars on her hand before shaking Hestia's.

Just minutes later, two men and one woman entered the kitchen, all with flaming red hair and Professor Dumbledore right behind them. Tonks was introduced to Bill Weasley, a handsome young man with long red hair tied up in a ponytail, Charlie Weasley, a burly man whose occupation was rounding up dragons, and Mrs. Weasley, the mother of Bill and Charlie, with a strict glance but a nice smile.

Remus and Sirius reappeared and sat down quickly when they saw that Dumbledore had arrived. Tonks could tell that Remus was avoiding looking her way, although it was hard, as Dumbledore had decided to sit right next to her.

Finally, twelve members had arrived, the newest one consisting of Dedalus Diggle, and the meeting started.

Dumbledore stood up, gesturing for silence. "Good evening," he said calmly, "In a few days time, we shall be rescuing Harry from his prison in the Dursley's home. We need to plan this attempt accordingly, so that it will run smoothly, and without risk of siege from Death Eaters."

Dumbledore paused, and addressed Tonks, "As our most recently joined Order member, we will make sure you have a task in this plan, so to keep you on your feet, and in the action."

Tonks grinned, and sat up straighter in her chair. "I'd love to see Harry, Professor, if I could be one of the rescuers—"

"You must not realize the danger we'll be in keeping Potter safe, Nymphadora," Mad-Eye Moody replied gruffly, "Putting you in such a position immediately after you've joined, to me, deems—"

Tonks' hair turned a furious flaming orange, to the surprise of many of the onlookers, as her temper rose. "_I'm _in danger, you say? In case you'd forgotten, I'm a qualified Auror, and have been _trained_ to do stuff like this!"

She fumed at Moody, who had not so much as raised an eyebrow at her nasty attitude. Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly.

"Alastor, bringing Harry here to Grimmauld Place will be quite a bit less dangerous than most of the things we shall do. If Tonks is up to this task, then she shall do it."

Tonks sat back into her chair, content, and her hair changed back to spiky pink.

"So you're a Metamorphmagus?" a voice asked to her right. Remus Lupin was looking at her, impressed. Tonks nodded brightly, "Yeah, I can literally change anything on my body, but it's been sort of hard changing genders when you don't know what—"

"So, with her being a Metamorphmagus," Remus continued, cutting across Tonks, "she'd be very good undercover. And that's what we need."

Dumbledore nodded, "Not at the moment; soon, yes, but we must remember that she has be able to attend work without sudden suspicious disappearances. That goes for most of you," he indicated Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Kingsley, and Hestia, "you shall remember that all of you took an oath not to give away the Order to anyone, unless my acceptance permits you. Now that the Ministry is giving false senses of security to people all over the country, it is our job to keep them safe from the real danger. It will surely be the end of the Order if the Ministry found out. You will keep us safe, will you not?"

He looked inquiringly at the members sitting around him. Every single person watched him silently, determinedly. Finally, Remus spoke,

"Of course. Harry needs us, and we him," and Hestia Jones, from the end the table, shook a fist earnestly, "Hear, hear."

"That brings us back to the beginning issue," said Bill suddenly, leaning forward in his chair, "how are going to rescue Harry? We can never be sure where Voldemort puts his spies…"

The Order members began to mutter among themselves, figuring out different ways of how to keep undercover while rescuing Harry from the Dursleys. Tonks set her mind to work, but it stubbornly kept blank, no matter how hard she thought of an idea. Unless…

"Hey," she said, and everyone looked up at her, "Maybe we should think about getting the Dursley's out of the house, so it will be quicker and easier to get Harry, then having to stand their confusion."

Sirius nodded a bit impatiently, "Well, yes, that's an obvious thought. But have you got any ideas how?"

"Of course," said Tonks, "Or I wouldn't have said anything would I have? I think I should probably write a letter to the Dursleys, by Muggle post obviously, telling them…oh, I dunno, that they've won some All England Grand Prize or other…to get them out of the house, and far enough away, so that we're gone when they realize that the Grand Prize thing doesn't exist."

The heads of the members bobbed appreciatively at her idea. Mad-Eye gave her an apathetic glance from his normal eye.

"If Nymphadora's plan is accepted," he said, "then we should act as quickly as possible. When the Dursley's leave the house…let's say at noon…then a group of us should bodyguard Harry as we travel back here. We'll use brooms as the best way to stay undercover. And yes, I think we should take him straight here," he added, " there is no point taking him to the Burrow. No one will be there. This is the safest place for him so far."

Dumbledore inclined his head towards Tonks. "Will you do the honors as to mail the letter of invitation to the Dursley's? After all, it was your idea."

Tonks nodded vigorously, "I'd be delighted! When should I start?"


	2. The Werewolf

Yeah! Chapter 2!! Thank you, reviewers, I probably wouldn't have gone on without you!! I'm glad you noticed that Tonks already likes Remus.

Disclaimer: If I owned these amazing characters, the books wouldn't be a quarter as good as J.K. Rowling's. And, as this is strictly canon, there are parts in this chapter, and later chapters, that are taken right from the book. So it may get a bit boring, but hopefully Tonks' reactions will lighten it up!

**2. As the Friend of a Shapeshifter**

Tonks steadied herself on her Comet Two-Sixty, wild with excitement. In a couple of minutes she'll have met the most famous boy in the world, Harry Potter. Wind whipped at her hair and cloak as the small group of Order members flew towards Little Whinging.

She swooped delightedly and nearly unseated herself, narrowly missing the corner of a tall building. The reproachful remark from Moody about her behavior just floated right through her ears; nothing would dampen her spirits.

"Begin descent!" Came Kingsley's voice from somewhere to her left. Seconds later Tonks pulled from a steep dive, her hair a tangled mess of shocking purple, positively skipping with happiness. They were in the backyard of a small house, encircled by neat rows of flowers and a low fence. Remus' hand weighed down on her shoulder, in an effort to stop her skips. He looked very amused.

"Tonks, try not to die of ecstasy here," he said, "Harry's just a boy."

"A freakin' awesome boy," murmured Tonks, as the group of rescuers filed into a strikingly clean kitchen. Tonks looked admiringly at all the neat appliances lining the counter, arranged in perfect order. Large plates hung in rows on the walls, each with a different painted picture. Moody began to stump toward the stairs, looking for Harry. Hestia nodded appreciatively in Tonks' direction.

"Looks like they believed your letter, Tonks. Well done, for your first job."

Tonks grinned proudly, and jumped up on the counter. Unfortunately for her, her elbow hit one of the plates on the wall, and a resounding crash, it hit the marble and broke into hundreds of pieces.

Tonks stared down at the mess, but before she could even say 'Oops," it had repaired itself and flew back to the wall. Remus sighed deeply as he stowed his wand back in his pocket.

"Always on the lookout for me, eh?" she said to her recently aquired friend, who just smiled resignedly in her direction.

A movement on the stairs suddenly caught everyone's attention. There he was on the landing, his wand held out in front of him, silent and still in the darkness.

Tonks hair rapidly changed colors as she stared at Harry Potter's silhouette. This was the boy, the Boy Who Lived, and is still living nearly 14 years later. Her heart thumped uncontrollably with excitement, and she restrained the urge to hug him.

"Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out," advised Moody, staring up the stairs suspiciously. The silhouette of Harry didn't move. Instead, he said, uncertainly,

"Professor Moody?"

Tonks frowned. When had Mad-eye ever been a professor?

"I don't know about 'Professor,'" Moody replied, "never got round to much teaching, did I? Get down here, we want to see you properly."

Harry still didn't move. Tonks was beginning to get a little impatient. What was wrong with him?

Remus, realizing Moody's inability to budge Harry, moved up to the foot of the stairs, saying, "It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away."

"P-professor Lupin? Is that you?" came Harry's reply, again, it seemed to Tonks, using the word professor incorrectly. Determined to let Harry see that they were not Death Eaters, and a chance for her to see him, she raised her wand.

"Why are we all standing in the dark? _Lumos._"

Harry's face was lit up by her wand light; a spitting image of his father, James Potter. He gazed, shocked, at them crowded below him, his bright green eyes wide under his untidy jet-black hair.

"Oooh," Tonks said, still feasting her eyes on him, "he looks just like I thought he would. Wotcher, Harry!"

Harry merely stared at her obnoxious shade of hair. Kingsley, who had never seen Harry before either, but evidently had seen his father before, said, "Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus. He looks exactly like James.

"Except the eyes," added Elphias Doge, "Lily's eyes."

For some strange reason, Harry still had not moved one inch. Moody was taking this as very suspicious.

"Are you quite sure it's him, Lupin? It'll be a nice lookout if we bring some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum?"

_Of course!_ Thought Tonks, _I have a whole pint of that stuff in my pocket. _

Remus contemplated for a moment, then looked back up at the still motionless Harry.

"Harry, what form does you Patronus take?" he asked. Still clearly shaken, Harry replied, "A stag."

"That's him Mad-Eye."

Tonks heart jumped, for Harry had decided they were safe to approach. He was introduced to the group of Order Members by Remus, Tonks shuddering at the mention of her first name, and shooting icy retorts to no one in particular that her mother was an idiot to call her that.

Mad-Eye was keen to get going, but Harry really needed to be tuned into what all was going on. Even Tonks herself wasn't too sure how exactly they had planned the trip, because that part of the meeting didn't include her. Hestia had forced Mad-Eye to let her go with the advance guard, for she knew how keen Tonks was to see the Potter boy.

Brightly, Tonks strode upstairs with Harry to help pack his things and get ready for the journey. Her eyes were transfixed on his back as they walked up the stairs, hardly believing. Words couldn't describe just how much she felt for this tall, thin boy. Again, she restrained herself from jumping onto his back, and squeezing him, putting thoughts into that hug; I'll be with you 'till the end, or, keep fighting, you're doing a superb job, or even, oh, my gosh, Potter, you _saw_ the Dark Lord rise again?

They entered his room, and she paused to stare at her reflection in the door mirror. Her face looked unnaturally white beneath her dark shade of purple hair.

"You know, I don't think purple's really my color," she said, tucking at a spike near her ear, "D'you think it makes me look a bit peaky?"

"Er—" said Harry, looking at her full in the face for the first time. He didn't look as though he really cared that purple made her peaky.

"Yeah, it does," Tonks said, and careful to let Harry see what she was doing, she screwed up her face, thought of a pink bubble gum color and her hair, and seconds later, her hair became that exact shade.

His shocked expression was exactly what she wanted. Finding his voice, he croaked, "How did you do that?"

Tonks, satisfied, resumed tugging at her now pink locks of hair. "I'm a metamorphmagus. I can change my appearance at will. I was born one," she smirked, "I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great."

"You're an Auror?" asked Harry, sounding very impressed. Tonks felt proud of herself, as she turned to look into his awestruck face.

"Yeah. Kingsley's as well; he's a bit higher up than I am, though. I only qualified a year ago. Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking, I'm dead clumsy, did you hear me break that plate when we arrived downstairs?"

Harry didn't answer, but instead changed the subject back to Metamorphmagi.

"Can you learn how to be Metamorphmagus?"

Tonks chuckled sadly. "Bet you wouldn't mind hiding that scar sometimes, eh?"

Her eyes sidled up his face to fall on the lightening shaped scar in the middle of his forehead. It was dark red; a scar that hadn't quite healed.

"No, I wouldn't mind," mumbled Harry, turning his head away. Tonks felt troubled the rest of the time she remained alone with Harry, although she did a good job covering up, and nearly forgot those troubles when she was shown Harry's Firebolt, one of the fastest brooms ever made.

In no time at all, the group of wizards, with Harry in the midst of them were flying over the countryside, heading for Grimmauld Place. Harry really was a good flyer; Remus wasn't mistaken when he told them.

"ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE?" Tonks shouted in response to Mad-Eye's theory of doubling back to make sure they weren't being followed, not realizing the weirdness of her sentence. "We're frozen to our brooms! If we keep going off course we're not going to get there until next week! We're nearly there now!"

And sure enough, a moment later they were in front of Grimmauld Place, and Harry was reading a piece of paper. Tonks reminisced the day she read that note of paper, set fire to it, and entered the house. But, it seemed so long ago.

Molly Weasley approached them, smiling broadly at the sight of Harry, as they marched through the door.

"Oh, Harry! It's lovely to see you…" she hugged Harry tightly like he was her own son, then whispered to Tonks and the others, "He's just arrived: the meeting's started."

Tonks looked inquiringly at Remus. No one told her anything about a meeting. And who was _he_? She followed the Order members into the kitchen. Mr. Weasley and Severus Snape were sitting at the table, watching them file inside. Professor Dumbledore was pacing around the room, looking somewhat troubled. But before Tonks could take a seat, Remus took hold of her arm.

"I need to tell you something," he whispered urgently in her ear. Confused but curious, Tonks let him lead her into the pantry room, not noticing everyone's gaze fixed on the pair as they left the kitchen.

Remus lit his wand and wedged the stick under a block of cheese so that it kept a steady light on the two of them, and closed the door, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Tonks…I," he began, looking at the floor. Tonks just stared at him blankly. Remus tried again.

"There's something you need to know before tomorrow night… to keep you safe," he hesitated, and glanced into her face for a fraction of a second, before resuming his stare at the ground. Tonks prompted him to go on; she had no clue as to what he was going to tell her.

"Well…I don't know whether Dumbledore warned you about this, but…" he took a deep breath, and permitted himself to gaze into her blue eyes.

"I'm a werewolf."

…………………

What will Tonks' reaction be? Shocked? Freaked? Mesmerized? Not caring? Next chapter will be her first night on the full moon! Please R&R.


	3. The Decision

Well, here you go. My version of how Tonks reacts to Remus being what he is. Story now has a plot! Can you guess what it is? (after reading chapter)

Disclaimer is unfortunately the same.

**3. As a Decision**

"I'm a werewolf."

_I'm a werewolf._ These words took a while to penetrate Tonks' thick wall of disbelief. She stared blankly at Remus in the dim light for a moment or two, then the realization suddenly dawned on her, and she completely lost her mind.

Screaming, she raced toward the door, and tugged hard on it, to find it locked. Before she could raise her wand, Remus caught her arm in a tight grip.

"Tonks, please don't take it like this…" he said urgently, and the tone of his voice caused Tonks to look into his face, taking heaving breaths. His blue-gray eyes seemed to look back at her through a haze of long-suffering agony; he had had to deal with people's reactions like hers for nearly all of his life. Tonks immediately felt angry with herself. Why had she acted wrongly? Was she afraid Remus might lash out at her at any random time, when he has never before?

Tonks relaxed her strained muscles, and let go of the doorknob. Remus quickly let go of her arm, and retreated to the back of the pantry. Tonks sat down hard on an overturned bucket, watching Remus walk slowly away from her and approach the wall. He put a shaking hand to the cold stone, his back facing Tonks. He also seemed to be taking deep calming breaths, and the sliver of face she could see seemed to be screwed up in concentration. Then, quite suddenly his hand closed into a clenched fist, and he turned around. His eyes strangely reflected the wand light for a moment, but as Remus moved closer, his eyes were quite normal.

"Tonks," he said quietly. "You see these scars on my face? Every single one was made by me," he indicated the worst ones on his features, "I took this want for human blood, and human flesh, and put the hurt upon myself, only to protect those I loved. I know I'm dangerous. You had every right to yell like you did."

Tonks shook her head. "No, it just that I've never met a werewolf in my life before, but from what I've heard, they are ferocious beasts…human or inhuman." She shuffled uncomfortably, then said quickly, "But you're not like that. You've never tried to hurt me before, so why would you now?"

Remus did not answer, but stared off into the distance, as if remembering a memory he wished he could forget. Perhaps he was going to tell her the thought, but at that moment, Mrs. Weasley burst into the pantry, looking terrified.

"I heard dreadful screaming!" she gasped in the doorway. When she saw who they were, she leaned against the frame, clutching her heart. "I'm so sorry, you two. I hadn't known she wasn't informed yet."

Mrs. Weasley looked at Tonks, who was still clutching the sides of the bucket on which she sat on. "Dear, I've known Remus for years. He's really a very nice man, and has never touched a soul."

Remus, however, looked very uncomfortable as Mrs. Weasley departed, quietly closing the door. Tonks turned back to Remus, wishing she could think of a better way to say how sorry she felt.

But she never got round to saying it. Seeing Remus standing there, looking so alone and so small, as if his life didn't matter, brought sympathetic tears into Tonks' eyes. Slowly, she got up, and, to the best of her ability, hugged him. He stiffened a bit, but she clung on to him all the harder and they stood there, together, in the little pantry, sharing the unspeakable words of strong understanding and friendship.

The two returned to the meeting, Remus a little red-faced, but Tonks found it hard to listen to Snape's drone about this and that in help for the Order. She found her gaze wandering off in Remus's direction, but then forced herself to stare in Snape's pallid face instead. What really awoke her to reality was a loud yell from upstairs. Harry sounded very frustrated, but Mrs. Weasley said he was bound to be edgy for not being treated fairly over the summer.

"…and that should conclude our meeting." said Snape, after an hour or so, giving a small nod to the group of listeners. Tonks' stomach gave a loud rumble, cueing Mrs. Weasley into bustling into the kitchen and warming up the stew. As Tonks helped Remus lock the front door after the retreating Snape, and the few other members, she stole a look at Remus' form. He definitely did look paler than before, and unnaturally thin. Did this happen every full moon? Or was the weight of the Order bringing him down? Still, somewhere deep inside her, she felt strangely attracted to this man.

_Crash._

Tonks found herself lying flat on the floor; the troll's leg she frequently tripped over was on its side next to her. She hadn't looked where she was going; her mind had been fixed on Remus.

"Sorry!" she apologized over and over, to an exasperated Mrs. Weasley, while Remus helped her up. Harry ran down the rest of the stairs with his friends as the curtains flew open on every side of the walls, and Mrs. Black screamed her fury upon them. Tonks tripped again in haste to leave the corridor, and Sirius leapt over her to silence the giant portrait. A second later, her mind was attached to Remus again.

However, being able to ponder over the upcoming full moon, and how she was going to manage it knowing Remus was in pain, was nearly impossible. The next day, she had taken to working up to her neck in Auror business. As she was a new Auror, most of her work was paperwork. Not until six years study could she finally go out and fight, like Kingsley did. No, she was stuck in a puny little office with a muggle typewriter that was missing keys and the view of a tornado given by Magical Maintenance outside the fake window. Sighing, she pulled out a sheet given to her by a fellow Auror, thinking, _only one more year._ Only a few words down, her mouth dropped in horror.

"…_must further receive speculation on the whereabouts of Fenrir Greyback, a full werewolf supposedly in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We have been notified that twelve attacks in the last six months (given to us by St. Mungo's Hospital) may have been by Greyback. Ten of those were children, ten have disappeared…However, proof that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is really back has not been verified. These attacks may be unrelated…"_

A werewolf? Another one? But, of course, there have to be more out there. Speculation, information, helping to bring those innocent children back home…Tonks was at a momentary loss of how to answer this bidding…then the answer came to her like someone had spilled an entire vanilla perfume bottle on her…

Tonks raced through the crowded streets of London, anxious to get back the Black house. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts, as she sprang up the front steps. Obviously Greyback was recruiting more members to his group, once he realized Voldemort was back and would need him. But _ten_ children, whisked away from their parents in a heartbeat and starting a new life full of hardship and agony? She wouldn't let this happen, even if it wasn't her job to rescue, but would the Werewolf Registry unit feel it important enough? Surely, they would…

"Remus?!" Tonks called loudly once out of earshot of Mrs. Black. She could hear dull thumping noises coming from upstairs, and for one heart-stopping moment she thought he was transforming, than remembered the full moon only rose when the sun set. The sun was currently shining in her face.

She found him, Harry, Ron, and Hermione battling viciously with an old grandfather clock that was shooting heavy bolts in their direction, hence the clangs and bangs she heard downstairs. Sweaty-faced, the four of them continued to wage war on the clock. Totally forgetting all about why she was so anxious to see him, she watched, amused, until the old clock finally gave out, and exploded with a deafening _CLANG._ Exhausted yet thoroughly enjoying themselves, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left to get something to drink. Tonks flung out her arm to stop Remus from following them, as she remembered why she was there.

"I need your help, Reme," she said quietly, and thrust the paper she got during work into his dirty hands. Ignoring his new names, he read the parchment, eyebrows furrowing slowly as he read. When he'd finished, he turned to see her watching him expectantly.

"So he's decided to marshal the werewolves together again," Remus said bitterly to himself, "and started after new ones."

"But why children?" cried Tonks desperately, "why innocent children?"

"Oh, he never thought they were so innocent," Remus replied, "He only goes after those whose parents deny Lord Voldemort's request for their service. It's either death to the family, or suffering for a portion."

Tonks stared at him, aghast. "We can't let him do this, Remus! If one of those were our child…" Tonks stumbled over her words, suddenly quite red in the face. Remus acted as if he hadn't heard.

"Fenrir's constantly on the move. He's always looking for prey, some of whom he will train to be loyal to Voldemort, some merely as food for the werewolves…I'm not sure we can do anything about this, Tonks."

Fuming, Tonks ripped the page from his grasp, and stormed out of the hallway, shouting over her shoulder, "If no one's going to help me, so be it! There's no way Greyback's getting away with this!"

A/N: Oh, dear. What has gotten into Tonks? As she leaves, Remus mutters under his breath, "Thank you for your determinism, Tonks, but Greyback's far more bloodthirsty than me." Next chapter: Remus transforms! How will Tonks deal with it? Any suggestions? R&R.


	4. The First Moon

Yeah! Another one! Oh, I was proofreading my last chapter, and in the letter to Tonks, it should be, "…ten of those where children, ten have _now_ disappeared…" because how would they know there were ten if all had disappeared? They mysteriously disappeared during their first full moon, to put it better.

**Chapter 4: The First Moon**

"I'm so tired…" 

"So go to bed, dear!"

"I can't, Molly…I…you don't understand."

"Tonks, don't worry about it, everything will go perfectly…"

"It's not that." Tonks muttered, slumped forward on the table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, "I don't think I can stand…knowing…"

Mrs. Weasley thrust a mug of coffee into Tonks' hands, then put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. Tonks drew in a shaky breath.

"Just tell me, one thing," she began, staring at the swirling smoke rising from the drink, "why must the most innocent man be condemned to a fate so evil that he will never be trusted? Why must the best person who deserves peace and prosperity be given hell? Because it's unfair, all of it. I just can't bear the fact…"

She broke off, a tear trickling down her face. Mrs. Weasley drew closer, squeezing her shoulders lightly. "Dear, it is only because of fear that werewolves like Remus are not trusted. It all comes down to whether or not we trust the person; because werewolves have the tendency to lash out at others, we naturally will feel very uncomfortable around them, knowing our lives may very well be in danger. I trust Remus very well, and Sirius has always trusted him. Things like what you said just…happen."

Before Tonks could respond, a great black dog bounded into the kitchen, and a second later Sirius stood at the door, panting heavily.

"I did it, Molly," he said, "Goodness, he was tough today. I swear his 'other' side has gotten stronger in the last month. Oh, hello, Tonks," he added, only just spotting her. He plunked into a chair next to her, and ran his hand through his hair wearily. Only then did it register that Tonks' face was panic stricken as she stared at him.

"Tonks?" he asked, bewildered, "What's up?" But she only shook her head, and turned away. Mrs. Weasley, looking worried, asked Sirius, "Is everything alright, then?"

"Yup," said Sirius, still looking curiously at Tonks. "Well, I guess I'll retire. And if you ask me, you need some sleep too, Nymph."

Tonks didn't even have the strength to go and kick him in the shins. She let the name slid past her, her mind elsewhere. Instead, she gave a great shuddering yawn, and drained her coffee cup, ignoring the hot fluid scorching her throat.

"Yeah," she murmured, and made to follow Sirius. Mrs. Weasley patted her arm as she got up. "Remus will be perfectly all right, Tonks. Trust me."

Tonks only half-nodded, and left the room as quickly as possible. As she climbed the stairs, it seemed unnaturally quiet. _Don't worry about him_. She thought sternly to herself. _He can take care of himself._ And with that thought in her mind, although not remotely comforting, she drifted off to sleep.

A soft whining woke Tonks up with a start. She stared around her dark bedroom, looking for the source of the noise. After a few moments the whining stopped, but Tonks sat erect in her bed nevertheless. Her years in Auror training had taught her not to relax in the silence, for something much worse was expected to come. Her had clenched her wand, which was stowed under her pillow as she waited.

As she had predicted, a low howl replaced the silence. Gradually it increased volume and pitch. A sudden calm stole over Tonks as she listened to the music, the music of the wild. Yet the song was eerie, quite unnatural, and it appeared to be coming from above her.

Next minute, her heart had shot up into her throat. A wild scream filled her room, and she leapt up, wincing horribly at the painful sound, her hand shaking slightly as she pointed her wand at the ceiling.

But her wand rendered useless to her. As the cries sliced through the peaceful night, the wand fell from her slackened grip. Horrified she stared above her, the moonlight of a full moon gleaming on her face.

And then she remembered. Screaming just as loudly as Remus now was, she bolted for the door, and stumbled into the hall. The werewolf stopped screaming abruptly. Dazed and confused, Tonks leaned against the wall, noticing, as she did, that the door to the attic was triple-bolted shut, and the faint outline of a protective charm crossed over the opening. Tonks stepped back into her room.

Remus suddenly continued to yell, although the shouts sounded so much more human than before. Tonks could only guess that he was transforming back into himself. Her face was covered in cold sweat, as she attempted to block out the sound of her friend, but it was nearly impossible. She moved back into the hallway.

And Remus stopped again. Someone must have put a silencing charm on the hallway, but the silencing charm in her room had quickly expired. She had heard of them doing that sometimes. Tonks slumped down to the floor, shaking.

_Those children. Those innocent children, _she thought desperately. _Are they suffering just like Remus?_ A dark shadow crossed over her blue eyes as she remembered the report she was to finish for the "higher up" Aurors. She will have to find Fenrir's hideout. She will have to do this, alone.

Remus had finished his transformation when Tonks felt it safe to enter her room again. In fact, he was being very unnaturally silent. Hiccuping slightly, Tonks wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and fell into bed.

Minutes past slowly as Tonks stared at the ceiling, whispering Remus' name over and over to herself. Was he okay? Why was he so quiet? For once in her life, silence disturbed her. Finally she could take it no longer. She jumped out of bed and back into the dark hall, this time carrying her wand with her.

As quietly as possible she undid the charms on the attic door, and revealed a wooden staircase. Nothing stirred. She climbed up.

"Remus?" she said softly, her heart battering against her ribs. There was no response. She moved deeper into the attic. "Remus? Are you okay?"

She had reached the end of the attic, and faced a bare stretch of wall. She stared at it for a few seconds, and then something stirred to her right.

It was Remus. He was huddled in the corner, a ripped and dirty blanket the only thing covering him. He was unconscious; she had just seen his head slip down the wall a couple inches as he lay in a most uncomfortable position. Rushing towards him, she put an arm around his shoulders, and wrapped the cloth more securely around him, taking deep calming breaths as she took a look at the deep bleeding cuts on his neck and face.

"_Rennervate_," she whispered. Remus' eyelids fluttered for a moment, but he did not awaken. She repeated the spell, a little more confidently. This time Remus groaned weakly and struggled for a better sitting position.

"Don't move," she said quietly, and began to move her wand over his cuts and bruises, stopping the flow of blood. It was the best she could do for him then. She stepped back.

"Well," she attempted a smile. "looks like you had a rough night. Isn't there a way to stop you from hurting yourself?" Even as she said these words, she remembered Remus telling her way back when in the closet, how he hurt himself to protect others. She elapsed into silence. Remus' face was very white as he slowly lifted his head to look at Tonks. It did not seem to register to him that he was completely naked but for a threadbare blanket and being looked upon by a woman.

Tonks was at a loss of what to do. He looked too weak to stand; ought she to have just let him sleep? She looked at the floor below through the ceiling door. Maybe it would be better if she called Sirius, and ask him to fix Remus up. He must have done that quite a lot of times back at school.

She began to move toward the ladder, but suddenly heard a low growl from behind her.

Whirling around, she saw Remus staring at her, pure hatred and anger etched on his face. His blue-gray eyes were flecked with gold, and baring his teeth. Terrified, Tonks turned from his intense glare, and flew down the ladder.

"Sirius!" she cried moments later, banging on his door. It sprung open almost immediately. Sirius stood there, his wand aloft. Seeing it was only Tonks, he retorted with a nasty swear word and made to close the door. Tonks flitted into his room before he could shut her out.

"Sirius, something's wrong with Remus," she began. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Of course, he told you he was a werewolf…"

"No, it's not that," she said, perching herself on his bed, "he's out of order. I went to check how he was doing because he was being unnaturally quiet, it disturbed me…"

"You went into the attic?" asked Sirius incredulously, "You're such a moron, Tonks. No one's supposed to go up there until eight hours are up!"

"Eight?" said Tonks, bewildered, "it's four! The full moon last four hours!"

"Well, yeah," said Sirius, "but for Remus to calm down, it takes about eight. I expect he attempted to bite you in human form?'

"Well, yes." Tonks felt embarrassed at her stupidity, "Actually, he just stared at me and growled," she added defensively. Sirius shook his head wearily.

"You really are a moron, Tonks. Did you at least close the door behind you?"

This brought Tonks up short. No, she did nothing of the sort. "Er—" she replied. Sirius' head snapped up.

"You didn't? Oh my gosh, Tonks! You just put us all in mortal danger!"

He ran to the door and wrenched it open, dashing up the stairs, Tonks at his heels.

"Sirius, he could barely move! I'm sure he hasn't gone anywhere!" she said hurriedly. Sirius turned to face her in the hall.

"Haven't you ever heard?" he said, "A regular wolf can run up to three whole days nonstop, without water or food. A werewolf…well they'll run six on a scent for food. I doubt very much he's still in the attic."

Tonks eyes widened with fear, as they approached the attic door. Very much open, it swung to and fro eerily, occasionally bumping into the ladder that was very much still on the ground. Sirius put his foot on the rung.

"You stay here. I'll go check." Swiftly he moved up into the attic. Tonks, shivering, pulled her wand out and began to search her room for Remus. Many times she thought she could see eyes shining through the darkness, staring at her, but it was only her imagination.

"Well, he's nowhere to be seen," a voice said behind her. Sirius had returned. He was looking at her, clearly very irritated. Tonks looked away, angry with herself.

"Now what?" she asked, still not looking at him.

Sirius sighed, "We go looking for him. I'll take off the silencing charms. Then we'll be able to hear when he has met his prey."

Tonks flicked a half-smile his direction and raised her wand, ready to face the risk.

A/N: So Remus is on the loose. And just for those sick-minded people out there, yes, he's naked. Next chapter in a few weeks (or days if I get round to it) will be the turn out on chasing Remus, and Tonks will have a little talk with Kingsley about Fenrir and his adopted wolf pups.


End file.

Harry Potter, Adventure