Nymphadora Tonks nervously approached King's Cross Station, her parents tightly holding her sweaty hands. Tonks, along with trying to contain her nervousness, had to also try and stop her hair from changing colour. Muggles don't like that sort of thing, she thought, they think it's 'weird'. She was old enough to have some sort of control over her physical appearance; however she still young enough to have difficulty with controlling small things, like the colour of her hair. They were already attracting the Muggle's attention as it was with Tonks' large trunk and tawny owl. So far she had managed to keep her eye colour a very dark brown, almost black, and contain her hair to shades of brown. Ted smiled gently at her, soothing her, while her mother, Andromeda, who was usually very level-headed and calm, babbled continuously, making the already-nervous Tonks almost hysterical with panic.

"Oh, you'll love it there, Dora!" Her mother exclaimed. "Don't be nervous! I can remember my first day at Hogwarts, gosh, it just went so quickly – and I was completely fine! Of course, everyone knew that I was one of the Black sisters. They were terrified of Bella so they didn't dare cross me. Rightly so, she would have killed –"

Tonks hair began to darken gradually, until it was almost the same colour as eyes. Ted gave his wife a stern look. Although Tonks had never met her infamous aunt Bellatrix Lestrange, she had heard many terrible stories from her neighbours - that she ate children, and had a long, crooked nose with a wart on it. Her mother had cleared that rumour up, of course, but she had said the diet of children idea might be based on fact. Tonks flashed her father a grateful smile as her hair went back to its usual mousy brown.

"Here we are! Platform 9 ¾! Oh, I remember my first time through, I was completely terrified! I couldn't believe how many kids could –"

"Dromeda, please! Dora's already practically yanking my arm of here out of stress! Will you please stop babbling? I know you're excited to be here, but please remember we are here for Dora." Ted said calmly.

"Yes, sorry, dear. I suppose I am babbling." She noticed Tonks staring at the barrier, with a confused expression. "Oh, Dora, all you have to do is walk straight between platforms nine and ten, alright dear?"

Tonks nodded nervously, determined to do it right. She walked briskly straight ahead, and came out into the other side. She was followed closely by her parents.

Tonks' eyes were huge with wonder. She knew all about Hogwarts, of course, both her parents had attended, but she had no idea of its magical beauty - and she wasn't even there yet! The red train, the Hogwarts Express, was particularly amazing to her. She was a girl who noticed colours, and she simply adored red. Tonks quickly changed her hair to the exact colour of the train, relieved to finally change it. It felt good. She ducked her head, waiting for the gasps of terror to pass. Her parents had told her that they'd be thrilled to have a Metamorphmagus at Hogwarts, but she didn't think so. She imagined them shrieking, horrified at her freakishness – then one of the teachers would approach, saying that she'd made a mistake, that freaks weren't allowed in Hogwarts...

Ted crouched down to Tonks' eleven-year-old height, and put his hands on her shoulders. He had an uncanny ability to read his daughters mind, as did Andromeda. Almost too uncanny. "Dora, there's nothing wrong with you. You're not a freak, you're special. In a good way. I know you'll have a fantastic time, but please try to write occasionally. We old people like to hear from you younguns." He teased, and winked. Tonks laughed.

Andromeda did the same, bobbing down to Tonks' height, and said "Be nice to everyone, listen to the teachers - don't cross your head of house, especially if it's Snape," Tonks gulped - she had heard about Snape all right. "Don't worry dear, you mightn't be in Slytherin – Teddy was in Hufflepuff himself, weren't you, Ted? Try not to get in too much trouble, Nymphadora, and work hard, okay? Tell us which house you're in! That's why we got you the owl! Promise?" Tonks nodded. Suddenly, Andromeda hugged Tonks tightly around the waist.

"Mum!" Tonks wailed as her mother began squeezing her around the middle so hard that her hair turned blue. Her mother released her and her hair went back to the Hogwarts-Express-red colour. After one more final farewell, she grabbed her trunk and owl, and climbed onto the train.

All of the compartments were full, so she chose the safest option – one with a small red-haired boy curled up in the corner, deeply absorbed by a book, simply because she liked the colour of his hair. She entered the compartment timidly.

"Er... Can I sit here?" She asked tentatively.

"Sure," he said. He seemed friendly. "No one else has asked. I think they're all a bit scared of Bill, to be honest."

"Bill?"

"One of my brothers – third year. He's harmless, really, but people seem to think he's going to get his bloody revenge once he's Head Boy." Charlie snorted. "I mean, there's no doubt that he'll be Head Boy, really, but he's not like that." The train started moving.

"Lucky. I wish I had a brother. Or a sister," she paused, remembered that he had said Bill was one of his brothers. "How many brothers have you got?"

"Five. And a sister. Let's see... well, there's Bill, he's in third year, then there's Percy, couple of years younger than me, Fred and George, the twins, and Ron and Ginny. She's only three."

Tonks gaped at him. She was so jealous of him her hair turned emerald green.

Before she could turn it back, the boy said "Whoa! How did you do that? Awesome!" He gaped back at her.

"Oh," she grinned, pleased by his response. "I'm a Metamorphmagus. Easy, really, if you can do it." She grinned at him again, turning her hair into a variety of shades. It stayed short and spiky, just the way she liked it. "I'm Tonks, by the way."

"Tonks? What sort of name is that?"

"Tonks is my last name – first name's Nymphadora. But if you ever call me Nymphadora then poor little Ginny will only have five brothers." Tonks said, with a tone of malice. He laughed.

"I'm Charlie. Full name Charles Weasley. Call me that and... well... you haven't got any siblings, have you? Never mind."

They both laughed. Tonks was glad that she had found Charlie. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.