Tonks stared grumpily in the mirror. Screwing up her face for what seemed like the hundredth time, she concentrated as hard as she could on her hair.
Opening her eyes, she sighed.
Still brown. Boring, mousy brown.
She used to be able to change it as easily as blinking. But not now. She didn't understand.
She could fathom well enough though. It had something to do with Remus.
"Still no luck?" Tonks' flat mate Steph came into her bedroom and sat on her bed. Tonks shook her head.
"So what are you going to do?"
"I have no idea," Tonks shrugged, spinning round in her desk chair. Nothing I do works!"
"You could always dye it?" Steph suggested, taking a swig from a bottle of butterbeer.
"Dye it?" Tonks repeated, confused.
"Yeah. Muggles do it all the time. My cousin dyed her hair blonde, then black, and then got blue and pink streaks."
"Hmm. Could work. How do you do it?"
"No idea. There'll be instructions in the box, I guess. You can get do it yourself kits from pretty much any supermarket."
"Might as well give it a go. It can't go any worse, can it?"
They were at the supermarket, starring at the huge shelf of hair dye. Tonks had no idea what she was looking for. Neither, by the looks of it, did Steph. There were rows upon rows of different brands, all with different shades of different colours- 'Natural burgundy,' 'Honey Blonde,' 'Violet Vision'… and then there were the bright shades of electric blue, pink, and green.
"So… what colour do you think?" Steph asked.
"Erm…"
"Blonde?"
Tonks shook her head. She had never really been a fan of having blonde hair. It made her face look washed out.
"You could go ginger?" Steph suggested. Tonks snorted. "Pink?"
Once again she shook her head.
"Hey, what do you think of this one?" Tonks pulled out a box. The picture on the front showed a woman with dark red hair.
"It's nice," Steph said. "Very you." Tonks grinned.
"Alright. Let's do this then."
Back at their apartment, Tonks started pulling out towels and hand mirrors, unsure of what she would need.
"Will this be enough, do you think?" She showed her armful to Steph and her boyfriend, David, who had just arrived. He raised an eyebrow.
"Are you moving out or something?" he asked.
"No." she frowned. "I'm dying my hair."
He made a face. "Why in the world would you do that?!"
She didn't reply. "Well, Steph? I have no idea what I'm doing."
Steph shrugged. "Ask him. His mum's a hairdresser."
David was looking worried. "You've never dyed your hair before?" Tonks shook her head. "I don't really think this is a good idea… look, I'll ring my mum, she can do it for you, and she can cut it too, I you want."
Tonks looked at her long, straggly ends. She hadn't cut it in years- she hadn't needed to. "Fine." She sighed.
"How's it look?" Steph called through the door.
"I dunno! Good, I s'pose. Michelle's just finishing cutting it all."
"Do you like the cut?" Michelle, Davids mother, asked. Tonks looked in the mirror, running a hand through it. It was different, that was for sure.
It was curly now, sitting just past her shoulders. She had a thick, straight fringe that covered her eyebrows. She'd never had a fringe before.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I do."
When she entered the burrow for the order meeting that night, the room was silent. She raised an eyebrow, not that anyone could see it now with this fringe. Even Snape seemed gobsmacked. Remus was the only one not gawping at her. He had regained his composure and was suddenly very interested in a chip on his mug.
"Is there something on my face?" she asked, pretending she didn't know what they were all staring at. "Or is there a really hot French guy standing behind me?"
"Your hair…" Charlie stammered.
"Oh yes, I got it cut…" she said absentmindedly, taking the only spare seat- between Remus and Fleur.
"But I thought you couldn't-" Snape started saying snidely, but Molly interrupted.
"I think it looks lovely dear. Shall we carry on now?"
"What the hell did you do?" Remus muttered to her.
Tonks glared at him. "Why are you under the impression I've done anything?" she whispered.
"We both know perfectly well you've been having trouble metamophing!" he hissed.
"So how do you know I haven't gotten better?" she hissed back. He raised an eyebrow.
"I dyed it." She mumbled.
Remus looked horrified. "Why in the world would you do that?!"
She rolled her eyes. "That appears to be the general concern, doesn't it. Well, I'm sick of looking plain and boring and ugly."
"You're not ugly." He whispered, blushing.
She nodded. "I am."
"Then the rest of the world must be made of hags and crones," Remus muttered. Tonks sniggered.
"Something funny, Nymphadora?" Snape asked. She shook her head, smiling at Remus. He was smiling too. It was nice to be able to share a laugh with him again.