Tonks POV
Yelling at the office is never a good idea. At least not when you've barely qualified as an Auror and you've been called a loudmouth at every performance review. But my goals of self-control flew out the window the second Starla Crawley opened her big fat mouth.
"You think he made something like that up?!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs. We'd been arguing for over five minutes, and my voice kept getting louder and louder until it reached a crescendo.
As always, Starla was her smug self. She qualified as an Auror two years before I did. Her younger brother David was in my year. He applied for an Auror position and was not even accepted to the training programme. Starla felt that I'd stolen David's position and had done her best to make my life miserable from my first day of training. It drove her mad that I had the highest qualifying scores of any Auror candidate in twenty years. Well, except for Stealth. But really, what difference did it make if I was a klutz if I could stun anything that moved?
"Of course not, Nymphadora," Starla said with an overly sweet, condescending voice. She always called me by my first name since she knew how much it annoyed me. "I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, just like you do. The Diggory boy's death was a horrible accident. Terribly tragic for poor Potter to witness. He hit his head pretty hard. He probably had some hallucinations or nightmares when he was knocked out and believed them to be true. He was in shock. That's what the files say and I think it makes perfect sense."
"The files are wrong!" I shouted. Dawlish and Marley turned to stare at me from the other side of the break room. I took a deep breath and spoke in a lower voice, "Dumbledore has complete faith in Harry's story. Does that mean nothing to you?"
"Not really," she shrugged. She smirked when my expression grew even more outraged. "He's a thousand years old, Nymphadora," she laughed derisively. "He's losing it. And what's more? He's dangerous. Sending us on a wild goose chase for a dead psychopath when there's actual, living dark wizards on the loose. Like your dear cousin. Or would you rather we forget about poor Sirius so he can come over for Sunday dinner at your mum's house?"
I will not respond. I will not take the bait. I will pretend she didn't mention his name.
"What about the World Cup? What about Moody?" I asked.
"Both of those were Crouch's kid. The dementors took care of him. Problem solved. Move on. As for Moody, there's a reason he retired. He was a great Auror twenty years ago, but now he's completely off his rocker."
That was the last straw. "You shut up about Moody!" I hissed. "He's ten times the wizard you or I will ever be! You know what, Crawley? I think you're scared. You're terrified that I'm right and you're wrong. That You-Know-Who is back, which means you're going to have to risk your neck to fight him instead of just sitting back and soaking in the glory of being an Auror for the next forty years. Fine with me. You just run back and cower under your desk. I'll be outside, actually helping!"
I stalked away from the break room back to my cube, sitting - but not cowering - at my desk. As much as Starla infuriated me, she wasn't actually a coward. And she was right. If we turned all our attention over to Lord Voldemort, other things would start to slip. Especially the search for Sirius Black.
I always referred to Sirius Black by his full name. I refused to think of him as my cousin. Sirius Black was an amorphous, evil person. Sirius, the boy who'd dared me to divebomb the dog on my broom when I was seven, who'd let me dress him up in my mother's jewelry and makeup when I was five didn't exist. Maybe he'd never existed.
I was taking deep breaths, trying to calm my pounding heart so I could actually get some work done when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kingsley Shacklebolt walking down the aisle towards my cube. I snatched the nearest piece of parchment off my desk and pretended to read it. The sound of his footsteps stopped right behind me.
"A vampire, a werewolf, and a centaur walk into a bar?" Kingsley said. "I've heard that one." I turned and looked at him puzzled and then glanced back at the parchment. It was a list of jokes that my friend Todd sent me this morning. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I opened my mouth to explain, but he waved a dismissive hand toward me. "I really don't care. Walk with me. I want a quick word." I had a sinking feeling that I was in for another lecture. I followed him into a small room at the end of the hall. He glanced around and shut the door. All the Aurors except for the head of the department worked at open cubicles which supposedly facilitated discussion and teamwork, but there were several offices we could use for confidential conversations.
The room was purely utilitarian. The walls were blank, and it was decorated only with a large round table and four chairs. There was a sound charm placed upon it preventing eavesdropping, so there was a slight buzzing noise as I walked in the door. I sat down on one of the hard chairs and immediately jumped up. Someone had left an unusually sharp quill and several pieces of parchment on the chair where I'd just sat. Why this kind of thing always seemed to happen to me I never understood. Feeling like flames were going to erupt from my face, I set the quill and parchment on the ground and sat back in the chair. I peered at Kingsley trying to steady my breath.
He usually had a very calming presence. The type of person who, if the world was falling apart around him, would carefully analyze the situation and come up with a solution, as though it was no more troubling than a challenging Arithmancy problem. Today, though, he looked very serious. Even a little nervous.
My mouth started to dry up. I could feel my hands sweating in my pockets. I wasn't sure why he'd been assigned to scold me. He wasn't my reporting superior. I'd only worked with him a few times. He was in charge of the search for Sirius Black. This couldn't be about Black, could it?
"I heard you had a row with Crawley a few minutes ago," he said.
I bit my lip and stared at the table. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I need to - "
"Control your temper? Yes, you do. But you're better than you were last year. At least only half the building could hear you." I nodded slightly, not sure whether that was meant to be a compliment or a scolding.
"I was wondering...What are you doing tonight?" Kingsley asked.
I looked up at him. "I'm sorry?"
"After work. This evening. Do you have plans?"
This conversation was definitely not going in the direction I expected. He couldn't possibly be asking me out. At least I really hoped not. Wasn't he married? He wasn't wearing a ring, but I could have sworn. And he had to be twenty years older than me.
"No," I answered slowly. "Why do you ask?"
"Mad-Eye wanted me to ask you to meet at his house at 7 PM. He needs help making sure that Crouch didn't leave any traps behind him. He's gone through everything already, but he wants your help making a final check."
"Oh. Okay." I didn't know what else to say. I didn't even realize that Kingsley and Mad-Eye were still in contact. They'd never appeared to be anything more than work colleagues. But at least he wasn't asking me out on a date.
"Good. Also, he wants you to consider this advanced training. Don't tell anyone where you're going and make sure no one's following you when you leave the office. Do you understand?" I nodded, smiling slightly. So like Mad-Eye to turn a simple meeting into a practice opportunity. "Get back to your desk. If anyone asks, I was asking you for an update on the Miller file."
The rest of the afternoon flew by in a mixture of confusion and anticipation. I walked out of the office just before 6 PM. I took the lift up to the fourth floor and then walked down a set of stairs to the third floor. I entered the stairwell with my typical five and a half foot, spiky pink hair look. I left four inches taller with long, straight ginger hair. I stood against the wall until everyone waiting for the lifts had left and caught a different lift to the main floor. I apparated to the front door of my flat and checked to make sure that no one was in the hall or on the stairs before walking inside. I quickly changed into a different set of robes, morphed into a five foot tall, curly black haired middle aged woman, and then apparated out of my flat from my bathroom, the only room without windows. I landed at my favorite beach in Dover, which thankfully was abandoned at the moment, and promptly tripped over a large rock. Lying on the ground coughing sand out of my mouth, I checked my watch. It was five minutes to 7. I brushed myself off as best I could, switched back into my normal appearance, and apparated to Mad-Eye's back gate.
He was standing at the gate waiting for me. Both of us had our wands raised. Three years of Auror training with Mad-Eye taught me to always be on my guard around him.
"When did Tonks manage to stun me in her Practical Defence course?" he demanded with a fierce glare.
"The twelfth day. Half past eleven in the morning."
Mad-Eye nodded proudly. "Earliest any trainee stunned me in twenty years."
I grinned, but didn't move my wand an inch. Dropping my smile, I quizzed him, "And what did Mad-Eye get me for my twentieth birthday?"
"Twenty bezoars, bloody useful things they are." That they were. At least I hadn't had to swallow one yet.
He opened the back gate and beckoned me inside. I threw my arms around him. I'd only seen him once since he'd returned from Hogwarts. He spent three hours telling me about his ordeal with Crouch in excruciating detail. He thought it was a prime example of the need for "constant vigilance." I'd been having nightmares about it ever since. Seeing him now made me feel a bit sick. He was still thin and looked ill.
"That's enough now," he said in a gruff but kind voice. He pulled away and started walking toward the house. "Nobody followed you?"
"I don't see how they could. I went to four different places and had three different looks. I haven't seen anyone since I left work."
"Good. Get inside and we'll go." Mad-Eye opened the back door to the house and stepped inside. I followed him, struggling to get the sand out of my hair as I walked. He looked bemused when a large clump of sand fell out of the hood of my cloak onto the kitchen floor.
"Go? I thought we were checking your house." I flicked my wand toward the sand clump and it disappeared.
"Nope. Kingsley just said that in case anyone was listening. We're going to a meeting. Here, put this on." He handed me a heavy bundle of silky fabric.
"An invisibility cloak? Why?" I wrapped the fabric around me and watched my arms and legs disappear.
"We don't want anyone to see you tonight. Now, no more questions. Don't talk at all until I tell you to. Grab my arm and we'll go."
We Apparated as soon as I touched his elbow. Mad-Eye's stealth game was strange, even for him. And he'd always said the more questions I asked, the better I'd know what I was walking into.
I was even more surprised when we Apparated just outside the gates of Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall was standing on the other side and opened the gates as soon as we touched ground. "Good evening, Alastor. Is she with you?" she asked quietly. I pushed my lips together so tightly that I could feel my teeth digging into my bottom lip to force myself to keep silent. Mad-Eye merely nodded and we walked quickly towards the castle.
The summer sun was still shining strong in the late evening. A few dozen kids were outside on the grounds enjoying the lazy last few days of term. Mad-Eye and McGonagall were careful not to speak to me or act as if I was there at all. McGonagall did however warn me to watch my step as we walked into the castle in a slight whisper. She apparently remembered me well.
McGonagall led Mad-Eye and me to a portion of the castle to which I'd never been. We stopped in front of a solid wall guarded by a large gargoyle. McGonagall whispered something at it and a hidden door opened to a winding staircase. Mad-Eye told me to take off the cloak and walk upstairs.
The first thing I saw when I reached the top of the stairs was Professor Dumbledore sitting in a large chair behind a desk. We must be in his office. It was hard to believe that after seven years of school, I'd never realized where it was. I looked around the sizable room covered with magical devices with open mouthed wonder. Tonight was already one of the strangest nights of my life and I was almost positive it was about to get even stranger.
"Hello, Nymphadora. It's been far too long," Dumbledore said, smiling broadly. "I hear you graduated Auror training last year. I offer my congratulations."
For the second time today, I was speechless. It seemed impossible that I was sitting in my cube a few hours earlier and I was now at my old school with my mentor, my transfiguration teacher, and my headmaster. Dumbledore watched me still calmly, not looking at all surprised that I was staring at him as if Confunded.
"Thank you, sir," I said finally in a shaky voice.
"You must be wondering why Alastor brought you here tonight." I nodded slowly. Dumbledore leaned forwards and looked me straight in the eye. "Alastor says that you've been defending my version of the event two weeks ago quite vociferously."
I wasn't sure how Mad-Eye knew that, but then again he seemed to know everything. I glanced at Mad-Eye and he ticked his head up, urging me to speak.
"Well, yes. Yes, sir. Mad-Eye told me everything that happened that night. It makes sense to me. The reconnaissance files from past several years indicate an increasing uptick in dark magic starting with Quirrell's attack on Harry Potter, to Sirius Black's escape two years ago-" I paused to clear my throat. "To Bertha Jorkins' disappearance last summer, up to Mad-Eye..." My voice petered out. I looked again at Mad-Eye. He was glaring at the ceiling with such fury that I wouldn't be surprised if bolts of lightning burst out of his eyes.
Continuing, I said, "It felt like something was getting ready to happen. But more important than what the files say, I trust Mad-Eye. And I trust you, sir."
Dumbledore smiled once again, but I noticed he was still watching me very carefully. I wondered whether he was employing legilimency. The idea made me slightly uncomfortable, but there was nothing that I wanted to hide from him. I also had a feeling that if I asked him about it, he'd admit freely to using legilimency.
As though he noticed my discomfort, Dumbledore broke eye contact, stood up, and walked casually to the front of his desk where he stopped and leaned against it a few feet in front of me. "Nymphadora, have you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix?" It didn't sound familiar at all. I tried to sift through the accumulated knowledge in my head of all my school and training in ten seconds. Nothing at all came to mind. Feeling like I'd failed a test, I scowled and shook my head no.
"Not to worry. I assumed not." He chuckled at my audible sigh of relief. "I organized the Order of the Phoenix over twenty years ago as Lord Voldemort was gaining more and more power. Members of the Order worked to defeat Voldemort without the constraints and prejudices of the Ministry, of which I think you are becoming increasingly aware." He raised his eyebrows and looked at me with a brief twinkle in his eyes. "It was made up of a large number of people. A few grey-haired doddering biddies like me as well as many young men and women barely out of school, like your cousin Sirius." I blanched instinctively at his name and the reference to our relation. I noticed Dumbledore once again scrutinizing me closely.
"I reformed the Order two weeks ago when Harry Potter witnessed Lord Voldemort's return. The Minister has outdone even himself with his obstinate refusal to believe the truth right before his eyes. This means the Order is more important than ever before.
"As you might be gathering from my long winded introduction, Alastor brought you here tonight because he, as well as I, think that you would be a great asset to the Order. You are an intelligent, outgoing, energetic young woman, as well as an impressive dueler, so I'm told. As an Auror, you would be able to help the Order stay informed of the intelligence gathered by your department and you've been trained in reconnaissance missions. What say you, Miss Tonks? Will you help us defeat Lord Voldemort?"
I didn't even take a breath before bursting out, "Yes, absolutely. Whatever I can do. How do I join? Can I do it now?" I spoke so quickly that even I could barely understand myself. Dumbledore, Moody, and McGonagall all chuckled lightly.
Dumbledore quickly composed himself, retaining his familiar pleasant smile. "I appreciate the enthusiasm of your response. But before you sign on the proverbial dotted line, I want you to consider the gravity of your actions." His smile disappeared. For once, he actually looked his age.
He spoke again in a low, weary, almost regretful tone. "You are, correct me if I'm wrong, twenty two years old?" I nodded.
"That is..." He paused and looked down at the floor briefly. "Very young. By choosing to become an Auror, I already know you are willing to put yourself in harms way to protect the rest of us. But in all reality, if you do not join the Order and remain only an Auror, you will most likely have a long, satisfactory career and in eighty years dance the jitterbug at your great-grandson's wedding. If, however, you join the Order - " He hesitated and took a deep breath.
"Of those who joined the Order last time, nearly fifty percent lost their lives. And those of us who remain...none of us were left unscathed." My eyes glanced up at Mad-Eye's deeply scarred face. "It is very possible that if you join the Order, you will never marry, you will never have children, you may not even see twenty five years of age.
"I tell you this, Nymphadora, not to discourage you from joining. The work that we do is indescribably valuable. I think you'll also find it to be more challenging and satisfying than what you're doing in the auror office. But I cannot in good conscience ask you to make such a large commitment without considering the consequences.
"In fact, as your first assignment as a potential Order member, I'd like you to spend the rest of the night considering my request. You understand, I'm sure, that we cannot allow you to leave us with the highly sensitive information I've given you until you've made a decision. Fortunately, Minerva has kindly offered to let you sleep at her flat here at Hogwarts tonight. I will meet you there in the morning. If you choose not to join the Order, I will modify your memory so you have no recollection of this meeting. If you do choose to join, then we'll get to work.
"Will you promise me that you will think seriously about everything I've said tonight?"
My heart felt like it was in my throat after listening to Dumbledore's dire predictions. I swallowed deeply and started to speak, but my voice came out only in a squeak. Instead I simply nodded.
Dumbledore smiled, his face looking once again reassuring, and stood, holding out his hand for me to shake. "Then I bid you good night. I shall see you bright and early tomorrow morning."
