A/N: This plotbunny bubbled up out of old chatlogs with a very lovely friend who has been my inspirational Sirius Black muse for nearly a year.


June 1992

Tonks shivered as the little group approached the towering fortress. She'd been warned that this was one of the more unpleasant aspects of the job, but nothing could really prepare her - or anyone, really - for the chill that stole over her as they landed on the island of Azkaban. The Dementors hovered nearby, watching from the shelter of the deep hoods that hid their faces. Several of her companions were already pale and seemed slightly ill, and the nineteen-year-old wasn't entirely convinced she looked much better.

Out of sheer stubbornness, and as a defiant response to the miserable grey surroundings, Tonks concentrated for a moment and turned her hair canary-yellow. A few muffled giggles came from her fellow trainees, and Mad-Eye Moody turned with a scowl to see what was going on. When his eyes landed on her, the scowl deepened slightly, and she gave him an impish smile.

"Just you behave yourself," he growled, though she could have sworn he was about to smile back for a moment before he turned and stumped off towards the doors. "Right! Split up, one trainee to each experienced Auror, and don't leave each other's side for a moment. Everyone gets a complete tour so you know what to expect if you're ever here again. Get to it. Tonks, come here, I'll mind you."

"Why me?" she asked brightly, heading over to join him anyway.

"'Cos you need the most watching," he said grumpily, and she stifled a grin. It had been blatantly obvious from the start that he had a soft spot for her - quite possibly because she was the only trainee who wasn't petrified of him - and teasing him might just help ward off the numb misery that was already beginning to seep in just from being in Azkaban.

"Well, watch away," she said brightly. "I'll pay attention, promise."

"You'd better," he grunted, and set off.

It wasn't a pleasant experience, and not even her usually sunny attitude lasted long against the bitter cold and sheer anguish that soaked the very air of the prison. After a while, she just tugged her cloak tightly around herself and tried not to listen to the quiet mutters and desperate cries coming from the cells.

Moody stopped outside a heavy set of double doors, bringing her up short. "High-security area," he said. "I won't hold it against you if you'd rather skip it."

His tone was almost sympathetic, and she knew why. A chill ran down her back that had nothing to do with the temperature. The high-security area held some of the most dangerous Dark witches and wizards ever to have been caught... including her own aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, who had more than once made it clear that she thought Tonks and her parents were an embarrassment to be wiped off the wizarding world. No doubt Mad-Eye was worried about what might happen if they saw and recognised each other.

But she wasn't scared, not really. It wasn't like Bellatrix could hurt her.

"I'll be fine," she said stubbornly. "I need to be familiar with this bit too, right?"

His lopsided mouth twitched into what might have been an appreciative smile, and he led her through the door.

It didn't seem any different from the rest of the prison, apart from more Dementors in evidence. A few voices were raised in angry insults as the two Aurors passed, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary happened for a while, and Tonks grew brave enough to look into some of the cells.

A woman with a mass of dark, unkempt hair crouched alone in one cell, her eyes the only bright thing about her. She met Tonks' eyes, and the young girl stopped dead. For one terrible second she thought it was her own mother staring back at her, and the sheer horror held her there just a moment too long.

By the time she realised who it was, the woman had sprung to her feet and all but hurled herself at the bars, and enraged screams filled the corridor as she clawed at the air, trying to reach Tonks.

"YOU COME HERE TO MOCK ME, YOU FILTH, YOU BLOOD-TRAITOR'S BRAT, YOU DARE TO LOOK ME IN THE EYE! SPAWN OF A MUDBLOOD, HUMILIATION -"

"That's quite enough!"

There was a bang, and Bellatrix was flung back to collapse on her mattress, silenced instantly. She threw her head back almost proudly, her eyes blazing with hatred, but did not attempt to say anything more. Belatedly, Tonks realised Mad-Eye had rejoined her and was glaring back at Bellatrix with open dislike, his wand levelled at her. He didn't linger, however, choosing instead to nudge Tonks down the passageway and away from the cell.

"You all right?" he said gruffly after a few moments, and she realised she was shaking. The sudden violence of the encounter had been more than she was prepared for. But there was clear concern in his face as she looked up at him, and she pulled herself together in an effort not to let him down.

"Yeah," she said after a moment, trying to sound confident. "I'm fine, honest. She was just... noisy."

"Wouldn't advise you to hang around her if you come back," he agreed. "You handled it well enough, though I didn't expect you to stop and bloody stare."

She bit her lip. "I just caught sight of her face," she admitted. "For a moment I thought she was my mum."

His magical eye rolled back in his head towards Bellatrix's cell, and he sighed. "I'd heard about that. Should've warned you, really. Still - your mother's at home where she belongs, I can promise you that."

She nodded. It was his way of offering an apology, and she appreciated it.

Falling in a step behind him, she carried on up the corridor for a little while. There was a clink from another cell, on her left, and she paused with a frown. She'd thought it was empty. Mad-Eye carried on, unaware that she'd stopped to take a look, until a hoarse cough from the room's inhabitant caught his attention and he turned back to see what was going on. The man in the cell raised his head slowly, the matted tangle of dark hair parting to reveal his face.

Tonks froze.

Thin, wasted, and apathetic though he was, she knew him. Azkaban had taken the spark from his eyes and the smile from his lips, but nothing could completely erase the face she'd known so well as a child.

Sirius.

They said that he'd handed over his best friend to You-Know-Who, that he'd personally murdered another friend and twelve innocent Muggles when he was cornered, and then laughed at what he'd done as he was arrested.

She'd never believed it. The laughing young man who'd spoiled her and teased her and always had time for her, who'd made her mother light up and smile even on the most unhappy days, and who'd never been anything but utterly devoted to his friends, just didn't match up with the image of a deranged killer that had been plastered all over the news. Andromeda hadn't believed it either, insisting that if he'd even been involved at all he couldn't have been in his right mind, and wasn't responsible for his actions. It hadn't swayed the Ministry despite her attempted campaign, but it was all the little family had to hold to.

"Tonks," said Mad-Eye quietly, but she ignored him, staring at the ragged, broken man in front of her. Did he even recognise her, or was he so far gone that he had no memory left of his family?

She crouched down to his eye level, and with a kind of vague curiosity he met her gaze. She felt like crying, but somehow - with great effort - she managed to concentrate enough to change her hair from yellow to the shade of bubblegum pink she'd favoured even as a child.

There was a flicker of - interest? - in those hollow grey eyes, and he sat up a little straighter, but still he didn't say a word. Maybe he didn't know her, and it was just the hair-changing trick that had caught his attention. It had to be one of the few bright colours he'd seen in over a decade.

"We need to carry on," Mad-Eye said firmly, and she jumped, straightening reluctantly.

"Okay," she croaked, but as she took a step she stumbled and nearly fell. "Arse - sorry - my lace's undone. Go on, I'll be there in a second."

He gave her a sceptical look, but stumped off as she hunched back down to refasten the lace. She darted a glance at the cell again. Sirius was still watching her intently, and her jaw tightened. Guilty or not, he shouldn't be kept in the cold like this!

Easing her wand out of her pocket, she checked up and down the corridor and pointed her wand at him, breathing the words of a spell one of her older colleagues had taught her. The old Gaelic charm would make its target's clothes give off warmth as though they'd been hanging in front of a fire, and the best part was it would last for hours.

Sirius's eyes widened as the spell touched him, but the warmth that surrounded him a moment later caused a startling change in his expression. He met her gaze squarely, and the light of recognition in his eyes combined with the surprised and delighted smile was like a glimpse back across eleven years to the man she'd known and adored.

He nodded to her, with a look of gratitude and even pride, and she smiled, blinking back tears. He knew her. He really did know, and he understood she did too.

"TONKS!"

Mad-Eye's bellow thoroughly shattered the moment. She yelped, scrambled up and nearly fell again. "Coming!" she squeaked, and with one last regretful look at her cousin she took off like a rocket.

Luckily her mentor refrained from asking what she'd been doing; she didn't think he'd react too well to the news that she'd been casting spells on the inmates. Then again, he'd clearly known who she was looking at; maybe it'd been his way of giving her some sort of closure.

It was going to be tricky avoiding the conversation with Mum, she decided later as they finally left, several of the trainees who hadn't been able to cope sobbing quietly. Andromeda generally asked what the day's training had been like, and as a general rule Tonks told her everything. But this wasn't something she really wanted to discuss, given how much painful history was tied up with it.

Maybe she'd just talk to Dad instead. He was good at listening, and she needed to tell someone about what she'd seen.

Full of miserable thoughts, she sat quietly and let the journey home roll by in silence.