Tonks lay in bed, wishing life was different. Wishing it had not changed as it had before she turned eight. She wished her parents had not disappeared, that Voldemort had not taken over the ministry and crushed the order of the phoenix, and that her crazed aunt Bellatrix had not taken her in.
Turning her head, she recoiled from the body lying beside her. Another of her aunt's horrid suitors. Anthony Nott was an evil, gruesome pig, and had been ever since school. How her aunt thought anything could happen between them bewildered Tonks, no matter how enthusiastic Nott had been. However, she had made it quite clear that nothing was going to happen, and nothing he did would change that. Sighing, she slid her legs out from under the blankets, sitting on the edge of her bed. Standing, she quickly dressed, glancing at the clock. It was nearly dawn, when the hunts went out…
When Voldemort had taken over, he had declared that all werewolves, vampires and the like were to be hunted out, driven to extinction. As her Aunt and uncle were among the most loyal, their estate was used as a holding ground, where the hunting parties departed at dawn, and returned with their captives to be put in the dungeons. Tonks despised the actual hunting, but she lived to leave the walls, and so often accompanied them on the ride. Her aunt had forbidden her to hunt, so she yearned to leave with them even more. Defying her aunt was sometimes the only way she gained any freedom, however slight. Pulling on her long, leather jacket, she opened the window, and climbed down the stones, jumping when she was close enough to the ground. Smiling to herself, she ran to the gate, where the others were waiting. Sirius stood by her horse, Hazel grinning.
"You made it out alive, then?"
She rolled her eyes. "Nott was very persistent that I stay all night, but I got it through early that I wasn't interested."
Sirius chuckled, handing her the reins. When the order had been over thrown, many of its members had been forced to be servants, when bans were put in place restricting apparition and travel out of Britain. Most of them had been brought to the Lestrange estate, as it was the main holding area, and was where many of the higher members of society stayed, including, sometimes, Voldemort himself. Sirius and the others lived in the servant block, but he was one of her best friends. The servants had been allowed to keep their wands, with the knowledge that they would be tortured if they misused them. Sirius had talked about it many times, but Tonks was often the one who made him see sense. It went both ways, quite a lot.
"You be careful out there," Sirius cautioned as she jumped into the saddle. "They're getting smarter. Sooner or later they're going to kill someone."
Tonks nodded, her jacket blowing out behind her as she turned her horse out the gate. "I'll watch out. See you later, then." She dug her heels in, galloping out with the other hunters.
"Your aunt ordered you to stay behind." Yaxley called, bringing his horse in next to hers.
"That's too bad, isn't it?" Tonks replied, smirking at him. He shrugged
"Do what you will. But I wont' be taking her wrath for you."
"Good. I don't need you to." She urged Hazel forward, as the hunting party headed for the large forest on the borders of the property.
"Alright, everybody spread out!" Yaxley called, and they stationed themselves in a stretched line across the edge of the trees. "Meet back at mid day at the gates! Hyah!" Yaxley spurred his horse into the trees, and Tonks watched the others do the same. Sighing, she nudged Hazel forward, shivering as they passed into the dark undergrowth.
The forest soon brightened, and the birds began to sing. Tonks hummed quietly to herself as she rode along, not looking for anything in particular. A brown jacket hung over a branch caught her attention, and she reined Hazel in. she really had been hoping she wouldn't find anyone…
There was a yell from her side, and Hazel started, rearing back on her hind legs in fright. Tonks was knocked off her horse, and rolled down into a ditch, cringing as she landed on a large rock. She was hauled to her feet, hands grasped tightly around her waist and neck.
"Gotcha!" a voice whispered in her ear.
"Argh!" Tonks wacked her elbow back, feeling it make contact. The arm around her waist loosened, and the man groaned. Whipping around she sent a well aimed kick with her knee, and the man doubled over before her. Breathing heavily, her heart hammering in her chest, she straightened up, pulling her wand out of her jacket. Another man advanced from the cover of the trees. He raised his wand, sending poorly aimed stunners in her direction. She ducked, sending her own back
"Stop!" A man ran out, grabbing her attackers arm. The man turned, outraged. "Go. The new comer muttered. Leave her."
"She'll go tell all her friends if I don't-"
"You were going to kill her?" the newcomer looked at his friend in disgust. "Go, now. I'll deal with it."
Scowling, the man ran back through the trees.
"Sorry about that." The new comer said pleasantly, walking towards her. "They panic when they get pushed in a tight corner."
Tonks raised an eyebrow, gripping her wand tightly. "And you don't?"
"Someone has to keep a cool head." He shrugged, stopping in front of her.
"You don't seem like all the others." She said slowly.
He looked away. "That's because I'm not. This is ll they've ever known…I had friends who knew… I had a life…before he took over." He looked up and sighed. "What can you do, though? Nothing to do but run and hide, now…"
Tonks stared at the man. He seemed older than the others. He was dressed in brown trousers and a cardigan, and had graying brown hair blowing lightly around his chin. Three long scars ran across his face.
"I'm not going to turn you in, if that's what you're worried about." Tonks said eventually. "I just come along to get out."
"Thanks. I really do appreciate it." He smiled.
"Dora! " She heard Yaxley calling through the trees. "Dora?"
"Crap. He must have found your horse…"
Tonks turned in the direction Yaxley was calling from. She lowered her voice. "Go to the cliffs on the other side of the forest. There's a cave about half way up, with a hidden entrance. You should be able to find it if you know what you're looking for." The man stood, dumbstruck. Yaxley called out again, closer this time.
"Go!" she urged.
He took her face in his hands. "Thank you." He kissed her on the forehead then turned, and ran off into the trees.
Tonks stood still, watching him go. "Dora! There you are! I found Hazel back there, what…"
"She saw a fox, and she freaked. Im fine, just a few bruises."
"Good." He handed her the reins. "Lets get back then."
They rode in silence through the trees and back to the manor house to meet the others. a few of the other hunters joined them on the way, leading lines of drab men and women shackled together in chains. Tonks shuddered.
As they drew closed to the gate, Tonks heart sunk. Her aunt was standing there, her black hair and cloak flying in the breeze, her face murderous. Tonks pulled Hazel in as they entered. Sirius quickly ran up as she dismounted, taking Hazel off her.
"Good luck." He muttered, glancing at Bellatrix. She was livid as Tonks dragged her feet towards her.
"In." she pointed to the open door of the house. "Now." Tonks quickened her step and almost ran inside. Bellatrix closed the door behind them. Taking a deep breath, Tonks turned to face her.
Bellatrix slapped her.
"You directly disobeyed me! I told you to stay inside these walls, where it is safest! And yet you defy me! I hope you enjoyed your little morning ride-"
"I was hunting!"
Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "Really? And yet you bring nothing back! Again! You risk too much! You know the dark lord wishes you to become a loyal follower, and yet when you put yourself in danger like this, you lower your chances! You do not want to fall out of favor with him, Nymphadora! You must be careful!"
"I was! I returned safely, did I not?" Tonks shot back.
Bellatrix pursed her lips. "Speaking of Nott… he was most unimpressed to wake up and find you gone."
"I was most unimpressed to find him in my room. He'll survive. But I'm not marrying him."
Bellatrix sighed. "Nymphadora, you are well though of in The Dark lords circle. But it will not always remain so, especially if you do not wed a pure blood!"
"I'm 19! I shouldn't even be thinking about marriage yet!"
Her aunt shook her head, her hand resting on the door. "You need to learn what is expected of you. And you need to learn not to defy my orders. I shall not be so kind next time."
Tonks was left alone, scowling. She pulled her long jacket closer. "I'll do whatever the hell I want to." She muttered darkly. Leaving the room, she ran down the stairs to the kitchen, he mind made up. She grabbed the leftovers from the chicken they'd had the night before, along with some bread, and a bottle of butter beer. Wrapping them all up, she put them in her rucksack, with a spare jersey folded neatly on top. Then she headed over to the stables.
"Sirius, wait!" she caught him just as he was unsaddling Hazel.
"What?"
"Can you put it back on? I'm going out again?"
Sirius placed the saddle back on the horse. "She letting you do this?"
Tonks shrugged. "No, but there's some stupid meeting this afternoon, and id really rather not be there. Chances are there'll be a heap of mangy Slytherins for her to introduce me to, and ill spend the whole night surrounded by hormonal gits with nothing better to do than try and get me drunk. So I think I'll just leave."
"Fair enough." Sirius grinned, as she jumped back on the horse. Smiling, she trotted out of the stable, stopping only to open the gates.
Once she was out of sight of the manor house, she broke into a canter, flying along to the secret path she had found, years ago. Tying Hazel at the bottom, she ran up the rocky cliff path, tripping as she went. Finally, she saw the jagged, worn rock she was looking for. She squeezed in behind it, tripping over the hem of her jacket as she fell into the cave.
There was a wand pointed at her head. She glanced up.
"Oh, sorry!" The man helped her to her feet. "I didn't think youd come visit."
Tonks shrugged. "I thought you might be hungry." She pulled out the wrapped parcel. Grinning, he took it, tearing the loaf of bread into pieces.
"Thanks a lot." He said between mouthfuls. "You have no idea the kind of crap ive been eating…"
Tonks grinned. "I'm sure I can imagine." They sat in silence for a while as he ate, and she twisted her fingers round a lock of dark violet hair. "What's your name?" she asked suddenly.
He looked up. "Oh. I'm Remus. Remus Lupin. And yourself?"
"Tonks. Well, Nymphadora Tonks, but no one calls me Nymphadora, 'cept my aunt and uncle when they're mad. Which is quite often…" She mused.
Remus grinned. "You live down at the Lestrange place, then?"
"Yea." She sighed. "Mad old Bellatrix is my aunt."
Remus let out a low whistle. "You're in pretty deep, then."
Tonks scowled. "It's not like I chose to be. Its not my fault my parents disappeared, is it? I didn't ask for any of this!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that- I just meant… well, you know-"
"Yea. Don't worry about it." She leaned back against the wall, looking around the familiar cave, where she'd often come when she was angry, or upset. "I'm not like them, you know. I don't want to be, either."
"I can see that." Remus said quietly. "Not many people would let a werewolf off scott free."
Tonks shrugged. "Its not like you asked for it. Its not fair to hunt you for something you didn't do on purpose."
Remus smiled shyly. "You don't know how much that means, to hear someone say that nowdays."
Tonks blushed, looking away. The light filtering through the small crack was getting dimmer.
She sighed. "I should probably go." She stood, brushing dust off her jeans. Remus stood.
"Well, thanks for coming. And for the food."
"No problem. You'll probably be safe to stay here for a while, they never check up here. Ill come see you as soon as I can get out again."
"Id like that." Swiftly, as she was about to leave, Remus grabbed her hand, and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. "I really can't thank you enough."
She blushed again. "ahh… well, bye." She squeezed back out, and ran down the steep path, smiling to herself. She couldn't think straight, as she rode back in the growing darkness. He had kissed her. And she had liked it. But had it actually meant anything? She was determined to find out.
As she came into view of the house, she saw a single torch waiting for her at the gate. Crap. She was in for it this time.
A/N: this is more of an introductory chapter, but please, tell me what you think! This idea just popped into my head while watching Underworld 3. Its probably going to get a bit more heated from now on, but im thinking it'll only be around 5 chapters, something like that. Please review!!! and ive made a banner for this story, you can see it here: .