Remus was tired.

This of course was nothing unusual, he was always tired. But he felt a new kind of weariness as he walked through the glares of the Ministry employees milling about the Atrium. He supposed he should have gotten used to it by now, but he was ostracized so much more since the incident at Hogwarts. Everyone seemed to know what he was now. Everyone.

Remus sighed, lifting his head up a little higher as he made his way through the golden gates to the lifts. Prejudice had been around since the beginning of humanity, in one form or another; he was no different and should not let this affect him. He just had to focus on why he was here.

As a result of Voldemort's return, Dumbledore had been contacting the old members of the Order of the Phoenix, the ones who were still alive, still willing. But obviously there wouldn't be enough resistance members to successfully oppose the Death Eaters. There weren't even enough members during the first war. So Dumbledore was recruiting. Recruiting anyone who opposed the Ministry's stupidity, anyone who would side with the truth.

That's why he had sent Remus to the Ministry today. The Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt had owled Dumbledore after Fudge's outcry against his claims of Voldemort's return. He believed Dumbledore and had great respect for him, and offered to be of any assistance to him if the need arose. Dumbledore had sent Remus to the Ministry to invite Kingsley to the next Order meeting. Remus had protested going into the Ministry, but Dumbledore couldn't risk owls being intercepted, and this was much more important than Remus's mild qualms about prejudice.

Remus reached the lifts, avoiding the crowd around the lift that had just descended, and waited for the next empty one. When it arrived, he got on quickly and moved to a back corner, where he leaned his head against the wall. He really hadn't gotten much sleep that week. Molly was threatening to lock him into an empty bedroom at Headquarters until the bags under his eyes disappeared he couldn't say that he blamed her. He did look like hell; even Dumbledore–

"Hold it!" a woman's voice shouted. Remus's eyes sprang open and he shot out an arm to stop the closing grille. The owner of the voice, a young woman with short, violet hair and lime green robes (that were decidedly not Ministry regulation) sped into the lift, balancing what seemed like a hundred scrolls and files in her arms. She moved to the opposite corner of the lift as the grille closed.

There was a huge rustle as the witch rearranged her workload, and Remus couldn't help but watch her. She managed to get things moved to a more manageable hold, only dropping three sheets of parchment in the process. She caught him staring and looked over, a dazzling smile on her heart-shaped face.

"Wotcher," she said. Remus nodded in reply.

They were silent for a few more moments, the witch grinning all the while.

Finally she leaned over again. "Thanks for holding the lift for me. Most blokes would've just made me wait. I'm Tonks."

"Remus Lupin."

The elevator's female voice rang out. "Level seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports."

The witch, Tonks, eyed Remus. "You getting off?"

He shook his head. She smirked.

"I didn't think so. You don't look like a sports type."

He didn't reply. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She didn't really seem to fit in the Ministry. She looked more like a Weird Sisters groupie than a desk worker, with her strange hair, black choker, combat boots and–was she wearing ripped Muggle jeans under her robes?

"Despite what my appearance and the opinions of my coworkers may suggest, I do work here," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. Remus quickly looked away, embarrassed.

"Forgive me," he said as the voice announced Level Six.

"No problem. Merlin, I always manage to get the slowest lift," she sighed, shifting to lean against the wall. Remus made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat.

"I see I've made you uncomfortable. Let's lighten things up here. What's your favorite color, Remus?"

He let out a surprised laugh. "Do you always chat with the other people in the lift this way?"

"Stop stalling. Answer the question."

"Level Five, Department of International Magical Cooperation."

She didn't look like she was getting off the lift anytime soon, so Remus decided to indulge her. "Fine. Um…blue."

Tonks didn't reply, so Remus turned to look at her. Her hair was now a deep shade of royal blue.

Realizing that she wasn't holding a wand, Remus actually took a step back. "Are you a Metamorphmagus?"

Tonks nodded, still beaming.

"That's incredible. Extremely rare," he said, then internally kicked himself. Of all the dumb comments to make…

"Thanks. I don't use it well. I mostly use it to annoy my mum."

Remus chuckled.

"Level Four."

Tonks leaned her head against the wall. "So what about you? Got any secrets up your sleeve?"

"Not particularly."

"Oh come on, there's got to be something."

"Not particularly."

"Are you good at Quidditch?"

"No."

"Can you sing?"

"No."

"Ever gotten a detention?"

"Yes."

"Finally!" Tonks grinned. "Just once or several times?"

Remus smirked. "More than I care to admit. And I was a prefect."

Tonks gaped. "Wow, Lupin. I never picked you out for a troublemaker. I didn't give you enough credit."

"Were you a troublemaker?" Remus was getting pulled into this conversation, and he didn't know how. This punk witch was getting him, a stuffy old teacher, to chat in a lift. About detentions, of all things.

Tonks laughed lightly. "Of course. I just didn't know how to behave."

"Level Three."

"So what house were you?" she asked.

"Gryffindor."

"Ah, Gryffindor. House of the brave and the reckless."

"What was your house?"

"Hufflepuff." Ah, that explained the smiling and the chatter. "I was Professor Sprout's biggest thorn in her side. House of the sweet and innocent, my butt."

Lupin chuckled.

"Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Remus held the door open for Tonks as she exited. They walked in silence down the hallway to the Auror offices.

They reached a cubicle with a crooked placard reading, "N. Tonks, Auror."

Tonks shot him one last grin. "See you around, Remus."

A/N

I'm planning this to be a full-length, as-canon-as-possible fic. I'm taking my information directly from the books and from the Harry Potter Wikia. Of course, I can't write the characters like JK can, and I'm sure a bit of me will seep into them.

I'm also planning for my writing to get better as the story goes on, so bear with me. I apologize in advance.

If you see any typos or grammatical errors, please tell me. I do my editing myself, but sometimes even my obsessive self misses one or two.

Thanks to anyone who reads. I really appreciate it.