Disclaimer: Anything you recognise doesn't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Overall, the view wasn't dissimilar to a depressing painting. A small shed, just about held together with a few rusted nails sat forlornly in the centre of a field that was more mud than anything else. The evening summer sky was hidden under a thick blanket of dark grey clouds and tumultuous wind.

Dark magic had taken root here. The weather was decidedly not natural, it was likely the building wasn't either.

Aside from the roar of the wind, all was silent. Silent, until there was a splash, quickly followed by a rather crude squelch and a string of obscenities.

"Auror Tonks!" Kingsley shushed her, frozen against the wall of the shed.

Tonks felt a deep red blush grow all the way from her chin to the tips of her hair. "Sorry!" she mouthed at her boss, who was clearly trying to fight the amusement on his face. But really, how was it her fault that she'd just happened to Apparate into a waist deep puddle that was so cold it had sent her flailing backwards into the mud.

"May I remind you," Kingsley whispered, barely moving his lips. "That if we fail to carry this out smoothly we stand to lose a lot more than our dignity."

She grabbed his outstretched hand and with effort, managed to pull herself upwards. Typical, she thought ashamedly. Her first important assignment for the Order and she'd almost messed it up before they'd started.

Bracing herself against the flimsy wooden wall, Tonks grabbed her wand, still miraculously dry inside her coat pocket, and twitched her nose to turn her hair a shade dark enough to blend in with their surroundings.

The Auror section of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had received a tip off that an unknown group were using the area, a deserted corner of Norfolk, as a base to practice some really nasty stuff; raising Inferi and the like. The powers that be had suspected nothing more than a gang of unruly teenagers and disregarded it, until Kingsley, using persuasive powers that even Mad-Eye would have been impressed with, had convinced their superiors to let himself and Tonks have a go at it. Neither of them had any doubts about who this "unknown group" actually were.

She gripped her wand, half nervous, half really nervous. She didn't doubt her abilities, she knew she was a talented Auror, and damn good in a fight. No, she wanted to prove herself loyal to the Order. Technically, she'd been a member for almost two months, been to every meeting, met everyone else. But this was the first chance she'd been given to really do some good and show how valuable she could be to the group. She knew how she presented herself to others; funny, but not to be trusted with anything remotely dangerous. Molly Weasley still wouldn't let her pour her own tea. Here, now, she would show what she was made of.

Kingsley signalled her to approach the front door from the right while he approached from the left. She nodded, and fervently hoping that her heavy leather boots would be silent for once in their life, began to edge forward, pausing every few seconds to listen. The whole thing sent shivers up Tonks' spine. It was too quiet. As Kingsley reappeared around the side of the shed and prepared to break down the front door, Tonks grit her teeth.

It's now or never, Dora.

With a loud bang from the end of his wand, the wizard sent the old door flying off its hinges and the pair rushed into the darkness inside.

In the four seconds it took her eyes to adjust to the darkness, the Auror noted two things. One, they were the only living things in the shed. Two, the air was filled with the smell of blood and the unmistakable tang of evil magic.

"Lumos maxima." Tonks performed the spell wordlessly, and a bright beam of white light erupted from the end of her wand. Next to her, Kingsley did the same, and began cautiously exploring the room.

It was much larger than it had appeared from the outside, unnaturally so. It was also completely bare, and spotless. Not one dust particle rested on the floor, or on the wall. The wood floor was a heavily varnished black, and gleamed dully in the darkness. The hair on the back of her neck prickled. Something was very, very wrong.

"Kingsley I don't like this."

At the sound of a voice, a noise echoed around the room, almost like a sigh. Tonks blinked once, twice, three times. Something had appeared. A small pillar that reached to perhaps the top of her hip, carved from the smoothest white marble, atop which sat an urn. An urn made out of black ivory.

Tonks swallowed. She was now more than ready to turn and runaway with her tail between her legs. Fighting for the Order was all well and good, but this had just into something much bigger and potentially much more dangerous than a simple Death Eater disposal trip. Talented as they were, she and Kingsley were still only two.

"We need to get out of here." Kingsley said quietly, staring at the urn. Tonks nodded, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the gleaming vase. It was…transfixing. She couldn't tear her eyes from it, any more than Kingsley could. Before she had registered what she was doing, she had raised her arm and ever so lightly, brushed a finger against one of the ivory handles.

The effect was instant. The urn exploded in a shower of green light and magic. The two Aurors were lifted into the air as though they weighed no more than feathers, then were thrown violently away in the explosion. Tonks felt the shed wall break and splinter against her back and head, and the air leave her lungs as she was slammed into the mud and cracked her head against a hidden rock. As she drifted out of consciousness, she thought she saw several cloaked figures twist into existence around her, wands raised and ready to attack.

I love Remus and Tonks as a pairing and always wanted to know more about how they met, what their interactions were like, everything. I'm a massive nerd basically. So this is the result of that. I hope you enjoy, reviews are of course much loved, appreciated and adored.

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