Ok, I know Tonks is supposed to be in Hufflepuff and I know that MWPP would hardly be in school during the same year as Tonks, but for the purpose of this fic, I call the shots (my apologies to JKR...)
"Oh for God's sake, Nymphadora, how many times have I told you not to do that with your hair? And after all that time I spent fixing it up for you!"
A hand reached out to smooth the layered red locks of hair framing my face. Instead it sent them into total disarray.
"I suppose you'll need to change it back on your own, then," said my mother with a sigh. "You'll want to look nice an pretty on your first day, now won' t you?" I hardly had a choice in the matter.
"Ah, that's must better, isn't it?" said my mother at once, speaking to me as if I were four or five years old. I felt at the blonde ringlets plastered to my head and gave a weak smile. I could've thrown up.
"Everything packed?" I gestured to the little-girl suitcase at my feet, nodding. She then held me close, apparated, and tried to smile again, though her eyes were over bright.
"Now, don't forget to write me every week," she rambled, dabbing at her eyes with a lacy handkerchief. I don't w-want you starting any little fights while I'm not there...n-no...just be g-good, and...and..."
She immediately burst into tears, noisy tears that drew in many passersby. A little way off, my neighbor Andrea Finch caught sight of my curls, exactly the same size and shape as my mothers, and she burst into silent giggles. i felt my face go red.
"Andromeda!"
My mother and I both whipped around. Coming towards us, tall, smiling, handsome as ever, was my mother's favorite cousin, Sirius.
The two of them hugged as though they'd been apart for years. When they finally broke apart, mother had stopped crying and was beaming more brightly than ever.
"Sirius! How wonderful!" she gasped, taking in his full height. "You're so much taller since last time..."
"Hey To--, uh, Nymphadora!" Sirius smiled. "Just starting?"
I nodded, still self-consciously patting my curls as though I could hide them. From the look he gave me, i could tell that Sirius understood at once. "You know how she can get sometimes," Sirius whispered wisely with a small wink. "Don't think any less of her for it..." He turned back to my mother and began to talk.
Sirius, who was my mother's favorite cousin, was also one of my favorite relatives. He was more like a brother to me: I had no siblings of my own. It had been me, my overprotective mother, and my workaholic father for as long as I could remember.
A train whistle sounded somewhere close by, and the Hogwarts Express began to chug impatiently.
"Oh, you'd better get yourself a seat dear!" my mother shouted over the noise.
(Sirius was entering his final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as i was entering my first.)
"And keep an eye on Nymphadora, would you?"
After assuring my mother that he would indeed keep her precious little girl save from harm, Sirius steered me into a compartment near the back of the train with two other boys and an owl, all of whom eyes my curls with curiosity.
My mother had once again started up with her tears. "I'll s-see you for Christmas, I suppose, N-Nymphadora..." She began to wail for a second time. She didn't see me roll my eyes, and the other boys snickered quietly.
I hung out the window, trying to put on a sympathetic face as I waved one last time to my mother, who was in hysterics.
As the train rolled around the corner, I screwed up my face, concentrating. In an instant my choppy red hairstyle was back.
I pulled myself back into the compartment, and it was with a more relaxed expression that I faced the strangers before me. i raised my eyebrows at Sirius, waiting for an introduction. "Oh, guys, this is my cousin Tonks. That's Peter," he gestured towards a shorter boy, who nodded and gave half a wave.
"And that's James." The other boy was pouring over books and hastily filling out papers; evidently, he had left his summer homework until now. He looked up and nodded.
Sirius had a seat, and i settled into the one next to him. He and James began a casual conversation while Peter listened in. As Andrea passed by the compartment, I pretended like I was in on the talk. She, who had been in the school long enough to know that this was a rather popular group, gasped, and shot me a look of pure envy.
I smirked in her direction.
"So where's Moony gone of to then? He left his owl..."
I looked up, without the slightest clue as to who or what Sirius was talking about. perhaps another friend.
"Well, he's Head Boy now, isn't he?" James said, his hand flying rapidly across a piece of parchment. From my spot i could count three spelling errors.
"Oh. Right." Sirius spoke as if being Head Boy was like having some sort of disease. "I just don't see why he'd go throw everything away like that."
I sat back, and, for the first time in a while, I smiled. A real smile. i was on my way to school, free from my mother, free to do whatever I pleased, free to be myself; someone with whom I'd never found the time to get aquatinted with.
I am extremely proud to say that i might actually finish this entire fic! (not counting oneshots) probably because I LOVE THIS PAIRING more that anything, and becaus i'vve been working on it all year...