Three White Lights in a Family of Black Darkness

1981

Nymphadora Tonks crept along the cold dark hallways to her parents' bedroom late one night. She peeked through the door and saw her mother sobbing in her father's arms. "He didn't do it! He was framed Ted! I know he was! Siruis would never do that!" her mother wailed.

She was so confused, Sirius never did anything THAT bad and her mother NEVER cried. Sirius was her favourite cousin and one day, she wanted to grow up and be an Auror just like him.

Nymphadora's curiousity got the better of her and she fully opened the door and said "What didn't Sirius do?" Andromeda and Ted whipped around and said "I'm sorry sweetie. I'm so sorry Dora. Juts come here and look." Dora walked over to the bed slowly and hopped into her mother's lap whilst reaching for the latest issue of the Daily Prophet which had a big picture of Sirius being led away by Auorors. Tonks read the headline and she couldn't believe it.

In bold black letters, the newspaper screamed "SIRIUS BLACK MASS MURDER". Dora dropped the paper in shock, whilst her mother explained what cousin Siri had done, about how he had joined Voldemort, betrayed Lily and James, killed Peter Pettigrew and blew up a street killing 12 muggles.

She ran out of her parents' room,tears streaming down her face, ran down the stairs, out the front door and climbed into the tree house that she and Sirius had made last summer. Dora knew he didn't do it, but she didn't know who did. Her Siri wouldn't do that, not to Lily and James. He had told Dora many stories about the marauders at Hogwarts, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs' adventures had mad her so excited for Hogwarts. They were closer than anyone she had ever met and she didn't believe that Siri could ever do that to his best friends!

She wouldn't believe it! She couldn't believe it!

Siri was the best person that she knew, he was her hero, her idol. She knew that he didn't join Voldemort, he hated his family and would never in million years fulfil their wishes for him to become a Death Eater. But she couldn't help but hate Sirius for making her mother cry. Sirius had always said that Andromeda was his favourite cousin and he was proud of her for leaving the Blacks and following her heart.

Dora heard the front door close and the soft voice of her father wafted up to her tree house "Nymhadora please come down. Your mother and I would like to talk to you."

"DON'T CALL ME NYMPHADORA! IT'S TONKS NOW!" Dora yelled and started climbing down the ladder into her father's arms. The walked quietly into the house and into her parents room, where her mother was crying softly into her pillow. Dora climbed into her mothers arms and her father wrapped them all in a tight hug.

She promised that one day she would find Sirius Black and make him pay for leaving her and her mother like this! He promised her that nothing would ever happen to him and that he would always be there for her after Lily and James were targeted by Voldemort. She would find him.

1993

Sirius Black had escaped from Askaban. The entire Auror department was out looking for him. They all wanted to kill him. Tonks didn't.

She just wanted to find him and tell him what he had done to her family. Her heart ached so much at the thought of Sirius and she just wanted him to be back as he was when she was a kid.

As much as she hated him for making her mother cry and grieve for months, she was impressed at him escaping Askaban. Tonks knew that Sirius was strong and after twelve years in Askaban, he managed to escape. Tonks had only been there a couple of times on Auror duty and she couldn't stand the place, but she was proud of her cousin for getting out of there.

She knew that she was going to find would meet him again one day and tell him what he did to her family.

1995

Tonks was following her mentor to the fireplaces in the Ministry of Magic, where they would Floo to Hogwarts and she would be taken to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. She had been informed of the Order by her colleague Kingsley and asked if she wanted to join. She accepted immediately and was on her was to her very first Order meeting with Mad-Eye Moody, where she would learn everything they knew about Voldemort and hopefully Sirius Black.

Once she stepped out of the fireplace into Dumbledore's office, she immediately tripped over the poker stand which was placed next to the fireplace. After apologising and putting everything back in place, she was side-long apparrated by Mad-Eye to a dark, mangy street and a small piece of paper was roughly shoved into her hands, which read The Headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place. The address sounded very familiar somehow, but let is pass as there wasn't much of a chance that she had ever been there before.

Tonks looked up at the mail boxes, there was number 10, 11, 13, 14…..wait! Where was number 12? "Think about what you just read!" growled Moody. Think, number twelve Grimmauld Place, twelve Grimmauld Place, twelve Grimmauld Pl – "Oh!" said a surprised Tonks, as the surrounding apartments gave way to number twelve which wrestled its way up from nothingness.

They started walking up the pathway to the door and knocked three times. Arthur Weasley opened the door looking relieved, "Thanks god you've arrived, the meeting has already started and you're the last to get here. Hello Tonks, just remember to be very quiet in the hallways. Come in." Arthur ushered them inside and Tonks looked around. It was very dark and the narrow hallway looked absolutely filthy.

"Jeez, does no-one know how to clean around here?" Tonks joked as she narrowly missed falling over a troll leg umbrella stand, but she made enough noise and a portrait someway down the hall ripped open its curtains and started screaming. "MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS DARE TO DEFILE THE HOUSE OF MY GRANDFATHERS! YOU DIRTY THE FLOORS WITH YOUR FILTHY BLOOD AND TRAITORIS WAYS-'' Tonks didn't get to hear anymore however as Arthur managed to get the black curtains closed over the portrait.

Tonks stood there, frozen in shock as she recognised that person. Her mother had shown her pictures of her mother's aunt, Walburga Black.

Mad-Eye was pushing her towards the kitchen and she stumbled over her own feet as she made her way to the kitchen.

HOW could Walburga Black's portrait be here? Where was she? She knew that they were in a dark familys house, but whose? Could she be in the Black House? Nah, that was impossible. They needed a full blodded black or a half blooded black and she was sure that no-one in the order were directly descended from the Blacks.

She had been to the Black House a few times before, when she was little, after Sirius went to Askaban and after his parents had died. Andromeda had thought that she needed to say goodbye to the last of her family and thought that Tonks should see where Sirius grew up.

As soon as she stumbled through the kitchen door, she knew she was in the Black House. She had seen the kitchen before and had spent a while in both there and Sirius' bedroom whilst her mother gazed at the rest of the house.

Everyone stared at her clumsy entrance and Mad-Eye introduced her "Everyone, this is our newest member, Nymphadora Tonks. She is an Auror and works with me and Kingsley. Nymphadora, this is the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, also known as-" however Mad-Eye was cut off by Tonks saying "The Black House". She stared around glassy-eyed at all of the Order member and recognised a few of them.

They all looked at her with confusion and Moody growled "How the hell did you know that?", while another Order member said "How do you know she's not a spy?"

I looked up at the accusation and said "HOW did you lot get in here? I know that none of you here are Blacks! None of you have enough Black blood in you to get past the enchantments – you have to be a direct descendant! HOW ARE YOU HERE?" My temper was rising, how could they break in? How could they use Sirius' house? How could they be here?

"Why do you care? You're not a pureblood, do you have a predudice against muggles and muggleborns? Why did you bring her Moody?" said a man who I am fairly sure was Dedalus Diggle.

"Yes well, I guess it's a good thing that I am a direct descendant then isn't it?" came a soft voice from behind me. I froze at the sound of such a familiar voice; I would know that voice anywhere. It was the voice of the man who used to read me bedtime stories, a man who built me a tree house, the man who used to come over every Saturday and play with me. It was also the voice of the man who made my mother cry.

I then knew how they got into the Black House, through Sirius Black who was a pureblood Black.

I whipped my wand out from my sleeve and turned around so fast that no-one in the order had any time to react until I had my wand pointing at the face of the man who made my mother cry.

My wand rested about 2 inches from his nose, but he didn't flinch. His face was what broke my heart. His once handsome, cheery and sparkling face was now gaunt, sickly and pale. His once shimmering eyes were dead of emotion and his once bouncing hair was hanging limply around his face. I was horrified.

Everyone in the Order stood up at once and started to yell. They were begging me to believe them that Sirius Black was innocent. Of course she knew that he was innocent, what did they think that I was stupid?

"SHUT UP!" I screamed as loud as I could, by hair turning a violent shade of red. They all fell silent at once and one woman who I recognised as Molly Weasley stepped forward to say quietly "Sirius Black is innocent. He didn't commit murder. He was framed."

I laughed at that; I had known it all along, as had my mother. We had talked many times about what really could have happened that night, we both couldn't believe that Sirius would ever turn Dark, seeing all that he had done for the Light.

"No he isn't, you haven't been innocent since that night all those years ago" I snarled, my wand never wavering even though I was shaking inside.

"He didn't kill Lily and James. Peter told He-Who-Must -Not- Be- Na-" Hestia Jones started to explain, but I cut her off.

"I knew that! Why would he kill his best friend! Sirius would NEVER be a follower of You-Know-Who! He would rather die than live the life that Walburga wanted for him!"

Almost everyone was staring at me in shock. Arthur said "If you know he didn't rat out Lily and James to You-Know-Who, then why do you have your wand pointed at him? Why is he still guilty?"

Sirius spoke next, cautious of what to say because Dora never had much patience. "What did she do? What happened that night? Tell me what happened Dora"

I spoke next, all of the words that I wanted to say to Sirius when the moment came tumbling out "What did she do? Well I'll tell you what she did! SHE CRIED SIRIUS!" At this Sirius went pale, his voice cracked when he spoke "She did what? She never cries! Not even when she left!"

"SHE CRIED SIRI! FOR ALMOST A YEAR SHE WAS IN AN AWFUL EMOTIONAL STATE! SHE WOULDN'T STOP CRYING AND SHE KEPT TELLING ME NOT TO GIVE UP HOPE! THAT YOU WERE INNOCENT AND THAT IF WE BELIEVED IT THEN THAT WAS ALL THAT MATTERED! SHE THOUGHT THAT ALL OF THE BLACKS WERE DEATH EATERS! WHEN YOU RAN AWAY FROM HOME, SHE WAS SO PROUD THAT YOU HAD THE COURAGE TO LEAVE WHEN YOU WERE THE HEIR! SHE WASN'T THE ONLY BLOOD TRAITOR ANYMORE AND I WANTED TO FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS! YOU WERE MY IDOL, MY HERO AND YOU THREW ME AND HER AWAY FOR REVENGE! YOU PROMISED THAT YOU WOULDN'T GET HURT! YOU PROMISED THAT LILY AND JAMES WOULD BE SAFE! YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE AND YOU DID! HOW COULD YOU SIRI? How could you?"

At this point I was crying so hard that I dropped my wand and fell to my knees. But before I could hit the floor, Sirius had enveloped my in a hug and I all I could do was cry into his chest. I felt like a weight had been lifted and I had wanted to say those words for 14 years and now I felt clean. I was ready to forgive him.

The rest of the Order was quietly filing out of the room to give us some privacy and I heard many people asking the others how we knew each other, they had no idea that we had even met.

"Shh, it's ok Dora, I'm right here and believe me, landing up is Askaban for twelve years was not part of the plan."

I gave a watery chuckled into his chest and wrapped by arms around his waist.

"I missed you so much Siri. You were like my big brother! Mother missed you more though. We knew you weren't guilty, neither did dad. But no-one else would believe us! I was so excited when you escaped from Askaban, I wanted to find you and see you once more."

"Well I'll have to get you to bring Andromeda over here yeah?"

"Ohhhh, I'll go and get her now! I know that she would want to see you as soon as possible, she was heartbroken when you left. You were her favourite cousin and the best member in the Black family" I said, I knew that my mother would love nothing more than to see Sirius, they used to be so close.

"Ok then, I'll let the others know that it's safe to come in and we can explain the story to the two of you when you get back, alright?" I knew that he was incredibly excited to see mum again, so I wanted to reunite the once again.

I ran to the fireplace in the dining room which I knew was through the door on the left in the kitchen and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, yelling "Tonks Residence" and disappearing in a ball of flames.

My mother was humming in the kitchen, making cookies and I had to stop for a moment to breathe in the smell of chocolate, sugar and flour. Mum always made the best treats.

I remembered why I was there and quickly hurdled through the living room, tripping over the ottoman on the way and my mum said "Nymphadora? Is that you? Well it must be seeing as no-one else is as clumsy as you!"

When she saw me panting and looking positively gleeful, she asked "What is wrong? Why are you in such a rush all of the sudden? Shouldn't you be at work?"

I gasped for breathe and choked out "Found – Sirius – must – go – now!"

Mum put her hand over her mouth and looked at me horrified. "You can't have, your supervisor would have taken him away!"

"No time to explain mum, sorry!" I said as I reached over and grasped her arm, turning on the spot and apparating into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. I could apparate their because we both had enough Black blood to surpass the enchantments.

The Order were shuffling into their seats and pounding Sirius with questions who looked a little flustered and hadn't answered any of them yet. When we appeared in the kitchen not a moment later with a loud CRACK, Sirius and mum ran to each other's arms and tightly embraced.

Both mum and Sirius were crying and I could see them murmuring into each other's ears.

I normally didn't like family reunions, but this one was special.

When mum and Sirius let go of each other, they were both grinning from ear to ear, in the way that only a sibling can cause.

Mad-Eye and various other Order members had wands in their hands are were pointing them at my mum. I didn't understand why until I remembered the picture of Aunt Bella that mum showed me and I know that they all thought she was Bellatrix.

Various shouts of "What the hell Sirius? Are you nutters? What is she doing here? How could she get in? Are we safe here? Are there more Death Eaters coming?" were heard everywhere except from Molly and Arthur Weasley, as they realised who I was and that mum wasn't Aunt Bella.

I yelled "STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GET YOUR WANDS THE HELL AWAY FROM MY MUM!"

All of the previously shouting Order members stopped and one who I don't know came forward saying "You are Bellatrix's daughter? How could you not tell us? Why is she here Moody? She's obviously a traitor spy!"

Just as I was about to hex whoever it was when my mum pulled out her wand, pointed it at said person and said, in a very threatening voice "Don't you ever call my daughter a traitor again! She has more right to be here that anyone else in this room, except of course you and I Sirius." Mum was terrifying and she really did look like Auntie Bella at that moment.

Molly must have realised that this wasn't exactly helping and said, looking very cross "Stop is everyone! That is not Bellatrix Lestrange! That is her younger sister Andromeda Tonks! Would everyone put their wands away and calm down!"

Mad-Eye was looking confused, as was the rest of the Order but the obeyed her demanding tone.

"Ok, will someone tell us what the HELL is going on here? How do you all know each other and how did you get into this house?" said a tall redhead who I guess is Bill Weasley, I haven't seen him in years! I went to school with him and Charlie.

Sirius and mum were both sniffling and wiping away each others tears. "So hows Ted?" asked Sirius. "He's doing very well, but I suppose that we should tell everyone what's going on."

I sat next down next to Sirius who was sitting in-between me and mum. I decided to start by saiying "Ok, I am Nymphadora Tonks, this is my mum Andromeda Tonks and my Sirius is my second cousin."

"Hello, I am Andromeda Tonks, nee Black and Sirius here is my cousin" many ohhhhs and ahhhhs were heard.

"But if you're in the Black family, why do you and Sirius get along so well? Sirius said that all the Blacks were Death Eaters and evil" said Hestia Jones.

"That doesn't include Andy though. She was blasted off the family tapestry for falling in love with Ted Tonks, a muggleborn Hufflepuff. Her sisters are Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. Andy left the family and she is a pureblood, but to her that doesn't matter to her and she left the Black family for Ted. We were both cast out of the family and so she is my favourite cousin" Sirius explained, smiling at me and mum.

We answered all of the questions given to us and when Molly decided it was time for dinner, mum went to help. I got dad from home and we packed some bags, knowing that we would be staying at Grimmauld Place for a while.

Although the Blacks were a fairly dark and messed up family, it is nice to know that there are 3 white lights in a family of black darkness.