Author's Note: Hello again, I'm back! This time with a different take on Tonks' story. If you're wondering about 'Marauders', I currently have it on hold for the moment as it hasn't been getting too many reads/reviews. This newest story, "Truths", has taken up all of my attention as it has been going through my mind for months now. As you read, you may pick up on a slight similarity it has to a certain book (though I won't say which one!). Yes, it inspired my idea for Tonks and her first year at Hogwarts, and I hope you enjoy my version.
Also, yes eventually this will lead to another story I already have in my head which is Remus/Tonks. Although Remus is the main focus in this 'prologue' he won't be showing up again anytime soon, if at all (:[ I know, It's sad. I love him too). But fear not, he WILL be in sequels to 'Truths' all in good time. My last note is that since we know virtually nothing about this time period at Hogwarts there are a good amount of OCs which normally I just cannot tolerate. HOWEVER, my originals actually have decent character development and aren't Mary Sues or Gary Stus, so please give them a chance. Enjoy this little preview of my fiction and please please please review 3333
October 31
An owl swooped past a window so quickly it might have been the wind. Evening had come and overstayed its welcome, sitting upon the blackened town with a stubborn persistence. The only presence out was the rushing sighs escaping from trees on a night that should have been the most lively of all throughout the year but due to not so recent circumstances, it was quiet and alone with only the hoot of that one bird off in the distance.
A streetlight flickered as if waking up from sleep, illuminating a figure standing by the road as still as the trees surrounding them. A man no more than 22 sighed in the silence with the weariness of an old, despairing man instead of the young one he was. His silhouette began to move forward and up towards the shape that loomed ahead, the only visible sign of light for miles.
The house was normal looking enough, despite the fact it was the only one nearby, with a glow illuminating from each window and the shadow of a figure flickering in and out of sight. It gave the impression of being from another time period, one full of Victorian style but with the homey feeling of a much smaller apartment. The landscape did not seem to end in any direction with the house growing farther away with every step taken.
The owl in the neighboring tree took off suddenly, as if it had something more important to do than gaze down at the lone person now approaching the front steps to the door. Every shade had been drawn and the constant flickering suggested that the only light inside was coming from lit candles. A sharp clattering startled the silence as the shudders swung back and forth, colliding with the glass windows fueled by the restless breeze.
A fist knocking once on wood resulted in several doves escaping from the branches of a towering oak and heading off into the ebony sky. The door creaked open, yet still showed nothing more than faint embers of light.
"Has something happened?" a low voice whispered before the door widened only the slightest bit.
The young man shifted his weight to another foot, his traveling cloak sliding to the other shoulder. He seemed to be contemplating his words and the silence took over for a few moments more.
"Yes," he finally spoke and the voice was hoarse, as if it had not been used in years. A cough was next, the answer and solution to the gravelly voice before it spoke again. "I…must come in. You must know something."
"What is it?" the much higher voice hissed with obvious concern.
"I must come in," the man repeated slowly, refusing to say anymore. The grey wooden door swung inwards slowly but surely, and the figure disappeared into that glowing light kept prisoner inside the home.
Inside, the candlelight illuminated the man; His boyish face contrasted with his tall physique, which hunched over slightly as if he were cold. There was nothing particularly distinctive about him, save for a variety of scars that randomly marked his face. The lines over his forehead were deepened, giving him a constant worried look but at the moment this was only due to the news he was about to give.
The other voice was revealed to be a woman, also statuesque but older. She immediately closed and locked the door with a wave of her wand the moment the man had entered. Her light brown hair fell into her face as she inspected the lock for utmost security and as a distraction from something she obviously did not want to hear.
"All right, you are inside. Now will you tell me what this is all about? Honestly Remus, you have me quite anxious." As she looked up at him, her blue eyes were reflected in the moonlight, full of tension.
The man named Remus turned away to stare at the covered window just as another person came down the stairs directly behind the two.
"Who is it 'Dromeda?" A rumbling voice questioned above them, with each step the large man took. The last stair creaked, as it always did, when the other man at last reached the bottom. His brow was furrowed in confusion from the late night visit which was not at all customary in the presence of happy or absent news.
"Remus," she answered distractedly. "Ted, let's all go sit in the dining room and talk."
"Merlin, it's almost 4 o'clock in the morning, Remus." Ted yawned, examining his pocket watch which he had pulled from within his shirt. He ran a hand through his blonde hair before leading the others out to the kitchen.
As Remus followed the couple, he realized that the light had been coming from the dining room only, as the rest of their house was completely dark. A stray newspaper lay on the mahogany table, a few papers torn out for no apparent reason. Remus frowned, choosing to focus on what the papers had said than the two people watching him with wide eyes and curious glances.
He sank into a chair next to the table and the other two followed suit. Nothing was said as they waited for Remus to begin whenever he decided it was time to do so. His eyes wandered around the room; the huge throw rug that lay on the floor which was something he had once sat upon next to the fire laughing with his friends, a television sat against the wall forgotten and really only for conventional purposes, and at last the fireplace that always seemed to burn when he came over.
And then his gaze came to rest on the framed pictures of Ted and Andromeda's daughter that lined the walls; one of her sitting on a swing at the park he knew was ten minutes away. He had remembered taking a walk down there once when he had babysat her with…
As if to break free from the phrase that followed, his eyes turned to the next picture. It was the most recent one, showing her beaming right before she headed off to her first year at Hogwarts. Her shoulder length hair was brown, unusually common for her and she smiled broadly, startlingly resembling…
He came to look at the last picture and felt his throat close up. There he was. The last photo was taken less than a month ago, with Dora laughing with the dark haired, handsome man as they played chess on the rug that was sitting not three feet away from Remus now.
He forced himself to look back at the Tonkses who now looked positively sick with worry. He could no longer bear to scare them any longer. As much as he longed to keep the knowledge of the night's events to himself, he had always known he would be the one to report to the small family. Dumbledore had merely confirmed it when an emergency meeting had been held not more than an hour ago.
After this, Remus knew what was to come next. He would leave; travel as far away as he possibly could to any neighboring country that did not mock him with his own past. Germany, Ireland, any place that would take him---and had a good amount of thick forests he could immerse himself in when the time came.
He had just opened his mouth to tell them the truth when Andromeda could not hold it in any longer.
"It isn't Dora is it? Nothing happened at the school, right?!" Remus managed to shake his head and saw her visibly relax. Of course they would want to know if she was alright; More obviously, of course they would worry about her. She was their only child and the bulk of their concern in every situation.
"Then what--" Remus caught off Andromeda before she could finish her question.
"It's Sirius." He said finally and surprisingly sounded more sure of himself than he had all night. As he did so, he vowed that this would be the last time he would utter that name. He did not think he could bear to hear or say it without his blood boiling in anger any longer.
The two parents looked at one another, obviously not expecting what Remus had just told them. With a deep breath, he launched into everything he had found out from the Order in the last few hours each word hitting their ears with a deafening slap; the lies, the betrayal, the plot for complete superiority, and finally, the ultimate act to secure the plan. All fueled and made possible by the one person who had been given responsibility for three lives. Their friend, family and companion. Sirius Black was a murderous traitor.
And after he had done such terrible things, what came next? A last ditch attempt to escape without repercussion. He had killed a whole slew of muggles and wizards alike, including the only other friend Remus had left: Peter Pettigrew.
These truths came crashing down into the couple's ears and shock marked their faces, the betrayal reaching them as well with its outstretched hands.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Remus stood slowly composing himself not to behave irrationally as he had previously that night. He did not see the looks of anger and grief displayed on Andromeda and Ted's faces, but instead saw a vision of his, Sirius's, and Peter's flat as it had been before he'd left: every book torn from the shelves and thrown violently to the ground, a broken mirror he had thrown in anger, numerous pictures still left singed in his fireplace, and the table overturned, spilling all the contents onto the floor.
The only thing that had been left alone were two framed pictures, each of a family: The first, two serene parents with their grinning, dark haired daughter who he was now at the home of, and the second of a younger couple, the man with untidy hair and glasses, the woman with red hair and startling green eyes holding a bundle in her arms with a sleeping baby boy. Both families torn apart by one man.
Leaving the two behind, Remus made his way upstairs where he had one thing left to do before departing. As he climbed the stairs and saw the door to a bedroom slightly ajar come into view, he felt the guilt draining in his chest. When he was hurt or scared, he had a tendency to leave immediately but the person he was about to leave a message to didn't have that option. She was much younger and still had much left to face.
Minutes later, Remus reappeared to the stone-faced adults and bid them farewell before sweeping back out into the night. They would not see him anytime soon, they knew, and did not question what he had left for them and their daughter to discover upstairs nor did they blame him.
He was young and had no attachments to keep him stationary in one place especially after the events that had unfolded tonight. Looking at one another, they silently grasped for ways to explain to their youngest the truth in the gentlest way, if even possible, and dreaded it with every fiber of their being.
The fine, oak desk in Nymphadora's room sat mutely, mourning the absence of its owner. A note had been hastily scrawled on a scrap piece of parchment and left atop the workspace; the apology for another absence and a quick explanation for the girl.
Dora,
By the time you read this, I won't be here any longer. I have been given permission to travel abroad for awhile. I'm sorry you weren't here so that I could say a proper goodbye but I didn't have much time. Your parents will tell you the truth, as you are owed, since I could not. I do not know when we will meet again but I trust that you will be strong, as you have always been. Take care.
Yours, Remus
Miles away, a girl that had started her first year of school, a girl with her innocence still intact, a girl with her trust not yet broken, slept soundly without a clue of the restoration of the wizarding world and the destruction of her own.