A/N: Hello, all! This is my first attempt at a Remus/Tonks romance fic. I'm sorry if this chapter's boring, but hopefully, it'll get better later on. If you hate this story, please leave me some constructive criticism and tell me what's wrong with it. But be gentle about it and don't leave me any of those brainless reviews that go "u suck n ur story sux 2 u must die!" or something like that. If you leave a review like that, I'll just disregard it and consider you a rude jerk.
Lupy
Chapter 1-Nymphadora Tonks was excited. She was so happy to learn from Kingsley Shacklebolt that she can actually do something about the return of Voldemort! She had always believed Harry Potter's side of the story for some reason, instead of the Daily Prophet, which only talked about Harry Potter losing his marbles, along with Albus Dumbledore.
That morning, Tonks was sitting in her cubicle, reading the Daily Prophet. There have been about five articles in it that were talking about Harry as if he was some kind of a joke, and Tonks was so sick of it that she exclaimed to no one in particular: "Bloody hell! That Daily Prophet should really wake up and smell the coffee! How could they just close their eyes to the return of You-Know-Who like that? They'll probably be in denial until You-Know-Who will murder them in their sleep! I just wish I could—"
"Tonks?" a voice suddenly interrupted her angry tirade. Tonks immediately stopped talking and blushed deeply. She looked up and saw Kingsley Shacklebolt, a fellow Auror, standing outside her cubicle. Tonks regretted her loss of control, even though she had a sort of a hunch that he didn't like the Daily Prophet much. Still, one could never be completely sure these days.
"Wotcher, Kingsley," Tonks grinned, trying to act normal, "What's up?"
"I brought you some paperwork from Scrimgeour," Kingsley said in his deep, calming voice. Tonks really liked his voice; listening to him almost made her worries melt away magically. He handed her a particularly thick folder, full of papers.
Tonks groaned. "Do I have to finish it all today?" she asked.
"Not today, but Scrimgeour would like to have it done by the end of the week."
"Ugh. I'm so sick of doing paperwork all day!" Tonks cried out in frustration. "Sorry, I-I'm not in the best of moods today," she explained apologetically.
"No problem," Kingsley smiled, "I heard your little, er, diatribe just now."
"I'd be surprised if the whole Ministry wouldn't have heard it," Tonks laughed.
Kingsley chucked. "Well, sometimes lack of self-control can be a good thing."
"What do you mean?"
Kingsley stepped into Tonks' cubicle, looking solemn. "Listen, Tonks," he lowered his voice, "Did you really mean all that stuff that you said? I mean, do you really believe You-Know-Who is back?"
"Of course I do," Tonks whispered, "I've believed it ever since Harry Potter first said it. I-I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the poor kid."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"You are?" Tonks asked in surprise.
Kingsley nodded. "Would you like to do something to help Dumbledore fight against You-Know-Who?"
"Of course I would! That's why I became an Auror: to face danger, not to do paperwork all day!" Tonks laughed, gesturing to the folder overflowing with papers.
"Great," Kingsley grinned, "I'll let Dumbledore know, then. Can you meet me in the lobby at five o'clock tonight?"
"Sure, Kingsley."
"Remember, this is a secret. Nobody must know about it- well, nobody who's not involved, that is."
"Sure," said Tonks with a small smile, "My lips are sealed, Kingsley."
"Good. I'll meet you at five sharp in the main lobby." Kingsley gave her a clap on the shoulder and left.
That whole day passed by slower than ever. Tonks could not concentrate; she kept looking at the clock, as if that would make time go by faster. Every minute seemed to last a year, every hour a lifetime. Finally, at exactly 4:55 PM, Tonks grabbed her things and mustered all her willpower not to bolt out the door and into the elevator.
When Tonks got to the lobby, Kingsley was not there yet. Her palms sweating, her knees buckling, and her heart pounding like a bongo, she looked at her watch. 4:58 PM. "Merlin, when is he going to be here?" she thought nervously, pacing back and forth.
"Tonks, are you all right?" Tonks turned to see who was talking to her and came face to face with Amelia Bones.
"I'm fine, Madam Bones," she said, trying to not make her voice shake so much, "Just a little stressed out."
Amelia Bones nodded and turned to leave. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Have a good night," Tonks called after her. She looked at her watch again. 4:59 and Kingsley was still not there. She watched the second hand go around and at exactly 5:00, she looked up and there was Kingsley, coming out of the elevator and walking towards her. "He's just like the Count of Monte Cristo," thought Tonks, remembering the punctual count from the Muggle novel she read recently.
"Good evening, Tonks," said Kingsley, giving her a warm smile.
"Wotcher," said Tonks, grinning back at him, "This has been the longest day of my life so far."
"Well, you've made it. Come on, let's go."
They walked in silence for a little while, Tonks' mind bursting with questions which she really hoped would soon be answered. Finally, Kingsley stopped in the middle of some completely deserted street and turned to face Tonks.
"All right, Tonks," he said, "What I'm about to tell you will come as a shock, but don't scream or run away or anything, okay?"
"Uh, all right, Kingsley," Tonks said apprehensively, "What could be so bad that I'd scream or run away?"
"Tonks," Kingsley said solemnly, lowering his voice, "Sirius Black is innocent."
"Are you kidding!" Tonks exclaimed, "Oh, sorry," she added, lowering her voice as well, "I said I wouldn't scream."
"Calm down and let me tell you everything," Kingsley said urgently, putting a hand on her shoulder. Tonks just stared at him in disbelief, but didn't say anything. Kingsley went on, telling her about how Lily and James Potter switched Secret Keepers and how the real traitor was not Sirius Black but Peter Pettigrew. How Peter was the one who killed the thirteen Muggles and then framed Sirius for it by turning into a rat and running away, faking his own death by cutting off his finger. How Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban as an innocent man and then escaped as an Animagus dog.
"A few weeks ago, Harry Potter saw You-Know-Who come back. Cornelius Fudge and the Ministry refused to believe him, but Dumbledore took Harry's word for it and wasn't afraid to face the truth. So, Dumbledore recruited those wizards and witches who wanted to fight against You-Know-Who into the Order of the Phoenix. That's the name of the society that fought against him during the first war. And today I informed Dumbledore that you'll be coming to tonight's meeting, so that's where we'll be going right now," Kingsley finished.
Tonks didn't know what to say. For the first time in her talkative life, she was speechless. Sirius was innocent! Her mother's cousin who had always come to visit and never forgot to bring something for Tonks; who entertained Tonks with stories about Hogwarts until it was way past her bedtime; who always found time to listen to whatever Tonks wanted to tell him, no matter how busy he was- he was innocent! She felt a wonderful sense of relief spread over her together with the excitement that she would soon see Sirius again and talk to him.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" she exclaimed, "Let's go! I can't wait to see Sirius again!"
Kingsley laughed. "You knew him?" he asked in surprise.
"He was my mother's cousin," Tonks explained, "I've always thought of him as a cool uncle and was crushed when I found out he went to Azkaban. But I still never lost hope that he was innocent because him being a murderer just seemed so absurd, you know?"
"I see," Kingsley nodded, "All right, let's go. It's only a few blocks from here."
They set off briskly and in a matter of minutes, they stood in the middle of a Muggle street. There were two houses in front of them, numbers eleven and thirteen.
Kingsley handed Tonks a scrap of parchment. "Read this quickly and memorize it," he said.
Tonks looked down at the piece of parchment and read the words that were written in a slender, narrow handwriting:
The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.
A/N: Well, this is it, folks. The first chapter. Review please and if you have any suggestions on writing style or the amount of detail I'm using, feel free to tell me. And also tell me if you have a better title for this story.