CHAPTER ONE – The Order of The Phoenix

The problem, thought Tonks, with being an adult is that you often had to act like one, and she wasn't quite sure that she had yet mastered that particular aspect of wizarding life.

She was a big fan of her life as an Auror (although she could definitely do without the paperwork) and she loved being able to zip across London in the blink of an eye. In short she loved the freedom that being an adult gave her – she just wasn't all that keen on the responsibilities that came with it.

"Maud, have you seen my wand?" Tonks shouted, as she scrambled to put on her shoes.

"I told you to stop leaving it about places!" Came the disgruntled reply from the other room.

Tonks swore as she checked the gap behind her bedside-table. "Great. Now I'm late, again."

Maud's head popped around the door. Maud was Tonks's supremely pretty and ridiculously talented roommate. A young witch her own age who had snatched up an internship at St Mungo's straight out of Durmstrang.

"Do you want me to cast a locator charm?"

Tonks smiled helplessly. "Please."

She arrived at the Ministry wand in hand and only ten minutes late. No matter how ward she tried, she was always in a rush. Which could possibly explain why she was always bumping into things – and people.

"Sorry!" She said as her shoulders knocked against another wizards'. The man turned around and looked at her appraisingly.

"Oh. It's you Kingsley."

"Nymphadora."

Tonks noted the formal use of her first name and remembered that they weren't supposed to appear too friendly with one another. She stood a little straighter.

"Awfully sorry Sir."

He nodded curtly and together they walked to the elevator in silence. Once the doors to the elevator closed and they were alone, the older wizard turned to her.

"Are you decided?" He asked, in a hushed tone. "There's still time to back out, no one will hold it against you."

Tonks gulped. She had thought about it – a lot actually. There was only ever going to be one answer.

"I'm in."

Kingsley nodded again, this time the corners of his mouth lifting into the smallest of smiles. Then, he reached into his pocket and handed her a note.

"I take it you're familiar with the House of Black?" Kingsley said.

"My mother spent a lot of time there growing up."

Kingsley grimaced, "Yes well, it's a great deal harder to find nowadays." The elevator slowed and Kingsley kept his eyes on the doors. "7:30 tonight, don't be late."

She folded the note into her pocket without looking at it. "I'll be there."

The doors to the elevator pinged open and a host of purple memos came flying in. A group of elderly wizards stood on the other side. Kingsley resumed his business-like stance.

"Good day Nymphadora." He said, leaving.

"Good day, Sir"

Tonks struggled to focus for the rest of that working day. Instead she kept thinking back to the moment that Kingsley had first approached her about the Order, it was just over a week ago and it had been after one particularly nasty attack on a family of muggles. She, Kingsley and another Auror had entered into a short duel with the Death Eaters, but they disapparated before they could capture them, or even discover who they were. Angry and frustrated, Tonks had shot red sparks out of her wand and kicked the nearest thing to her, which happened to a brick wall.

"What's wrong with us?" She had demanded angrily, ignoring the throbbing pain in her foot. "Why aren't we doing more? What's Fudge even playing at?"

The other Auror had looked at her, shocked, but Kingsley had simply taken her by the arm and said; "This is not the place."

That evening he had found her, facedown in some Firewhisky. Without announcing his intention he sat down beside her and had slid an old article across the table. The headline read DUMBLEDORE FORMS ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. The article was from years before, back when the Dark Lord was first in power. She had looked up at him, eyes wide.

"Are you interested?" He asked.

The long and the short of it was, yes.

How could she not be interested in joining a group that was solely dedicated to the fight against You-Know-Who? How could she not want to be involved in a group where she would following the direct orders of Albus Dumbledore?

She knew it would be dangerous but then, in her experience, all the best things were.

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Tonks' mother had often spoken about her childhood, and her visits to number 12 Grimmauld Place. So imagine Tonk's surprise when she arrived only to find the house missing. She found herself instead, staring at a crack in the wall that divided numbers 11 and 13.

With a jolt of realization, she pulled out the note from her robes and smiled.

"That's brilliant." She murmured under her breath, she went to unfold the tiny piece of yellow paper but found herself hesitating.

She hesitated for two reasons. The first, was that the Fidelius charm was a particularly impressive piece of magic and she wanted to see the exact moment that it took effect. The second reason, was Sirius Black.

All her life her mother had fed her stories about her family, warning her against their views and telling her horrible tales of dark magic and horrid family dinners. Sirius was often in those stories, though Andromeda spoke of him rather fondly. "It was a shame that they got to him in the end." She would say.

Only apparently they hadn't – he had been innocent all along and now…and now Tonks was going to meet him. She was willingly going against all of her mother's warnings and about to walk straight into the ancient House of Black.

She took a deep breath, and unfolded the note. In green spindly writing she read the words; The Order of the Phoenix, Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Slowly, she looked up and watched as the grand old house revealed itself to her. The crack in the wall widened and the street around her shifted, until finally it stood before her, greying and crumbling and oddly beautiful.

Grinning even wider Tonk pushed open the gate and walked up to the door. "Brilliant." She said again, and then she wrapped on the door.

That was it, she was in on the secret; she supposed that meant she was now officially a member of the Order of the Phoenix. The door swung open and she swallowed nervously. She was about to find out exactly what they meant.