DISCLAIMER: Don't own it blah blah blah J.K.Rowling blah blah blah don't sue me blah blah etc.
Mirror, Mirror
Chapter One: Facades
Tonks dropped her towel and examined herself in the mirror like she did every morning after her shower. She surveyed her appearance, her curves, her face, her hair. On the whole, she was average. Average height, not thin, but not noticeably chubby either. Her hair was still lime green and shoulder length from yesterday, and still wet too. She wondered how to have it today, she was starting to run out of ideas and when that happened, she might actually have to remember what she really looked like. This was easier said than done. Photographs were useless, she looked different in every one, she wished her face had a memory like plastic.
Tonks, the bubbly, energetic, eccentric one, was having an identity crisis. Every morning she looked in the mirror and decided who she would be today, never really knowing who she was underneath.
Her unusual appearance and extrovert nature was merely a facade, hiding who she really was. It worked so well she even hid it from herself. She was a stranger in her own body. No wonder nobody took an interest in her, and she so longed to be with someone, to sense the warmth of another's touch, to feel like she could be truly herself at last. But how could someone love her for who she was if she didn't know herself?
She glanced at the clock and hurriedly picked up some clothes that lay strewn on the floor. How she wished they had gotten there from a longed-for night of passion, but the last time she'd felt anything but lethargy and pain was the night Sirius had died. Tonks threw on her clothes, glancing at the clock again. She definitely wasn't a morning person, whoever she was. She imagined the others' reaction when she finally made it downstairs, Molly's frustration, Remus' smile, disapproving yet jovial, George and Fred's usual greetings, if they were even up yet themselves (though she felt sure Molly would see to that). They were a wonderful bunch on the whole. The Weasleys, while they didn't share her sentiment, seemed to her be the perfect family. Hermione was always seeking knowledge and putting 200 into everything she did. Harry, who took his godfather's death very badly, took some solace in his friends, and in flying, it seemed to almost have a cathartic affect on him. Even Snape was a nice guy when you got down to it, he just didn't like t show it.
It was Remus Lupin; werewolf, that really intrigued her. In many ways he reminded Tonks of herself, hiding his true nature from the world, not letting his real emotions peep through. The difference there, she thought, was that you could always tell when he was hiding something. Whereas with Tonks, everyone took her at face value, she was just a very down to earth, positive, unique young lady, but no-one ever thought that unique often meant complicated.
So who was she really? She was Nymphadora Tonks, the junior auror and metamorphmagus, valued member of The Order of the Phoenix, sworn enemy of furniture and staircases.
She reached the door of her room and hesitated for a moment. She screwed her face up in concentration, turning her hair jet black and down to her knees, and her face altered slightly to more resemble the pureblood, wizarding side of her family.
She turned the handle slowly. She didn't know who she was yet, but for now at least, she would be a dead man's cousin.