A/N – Sorry about the A/N at the start of the chapter, because I know how annoying they can be, but I decided to tell you all something! Not necessarily relevant, and you can skip this if you want. I was proof-reading the last chapter last night, and saw what the date was I had put. So now there's a Halloween dance. Don't ask where it came from, because I've got less than no idea. Enjoy!
Tonks woke up the next morning feeling unnaturally happy. Even though her head was throbbing, she was excited, hyper even. The weird thing was that she didn't know why… Her mood was reflected in her hair, which right now was dazzlingly yellow.
"You're awake…" Remus whispered, smiling softly at his new friend. She nodded and returned his smile, propping herself up on her elbows.
"Thanks for staying last night. You really didn't have to… It means a lot. Anyway, let's go to the headmaster's office, shall we?" Tonks replied chirpily, jumping to her feet and holding out her hand. Remus took it in his own and stood up, leading her through several hallways and up a few staircases. They eventually made it up to the spiral staircase at the other end of the school. "Inconveniently placed, much?" Tonks thought to herself as they arrived. The golden gargoyle guarding the stairs asked for a password, to which Remus replied "Pygmy Puff". It stepped aside and the two went up the stairs. Remus knocked on the mahogany door and said "Professor Dumbledore? Are you there?" and got a soft reply. The two entered together and sat down, Professor Dumbledore looking at the two as though he were waiting for some form of an explanation.
"Sir, this is Nymphadora Tonks," Remus began, noticing Tonks wince at the unnecessary usage of her first name. "I found her last night at the bottom of a staircase, and she says she got here from the future. I took her to the hospital wing last night, and she didn't have a concussion or anything, but she still insists she's not from this time period. I was wondering if you could tell me what's wrong with her."
"Ah. Hello there, Miss Tonks. Do you, by any chance, have a time-turner?" Dumbledore asked, sitting back slightly in the chair behind his desk.
"A what? I've got this necklace-y thing I found the other day while looking for my friend's ink, but I don't know what it does…" Tonks replied, pulling the necklace out from under her shirt. She took it off over her head and handed it to Dumbledore, who took it in his hand and looked at it.
"Ah. Yes, this is a time-turner. By the look on your face, I'd say you aren't familiar with what it does. I shall enlighten you. When one has the time-turner around his or her neck, and turns it like so," Dumbledore demonstrated how it worked, "It has the power to take him/her back or forward in time, depending on which way it has been turned. It would appear that, Mr Lupin, Miss Tonks here is perfectly sane. She must have unknowingly used the time-turner and ended up… Well. Here," the old wizard finished. Remus blushed lightly and threw Tonks an apologetic smile. She gave him a wink back, with a smile that said "Eh, no problem."
"Sir, what am I going to do while I'm here? One of the rings snapped. I don't think it works anymore, because it didn't when you turned it. How long do you think I'll be here for?" she asked, reaching under the desk to hold Remus' hand. He accepted, and entwined his fingers in hers. He smiled softly to himself.
"Well, it would appear you are correct. It is indeed broken. I should be able to get you one before the students break-up for Easter, at the very latest. Christmas would be the earliest, but I cannot be sure… You'll need a new one, that's for sure, but when I will be able to acquire one, I'm not certain. You'll be staying in the Gryffindor tower, for now. There is a spare bed in one of the Gryffindor girl's dormitories. Although, I am afraid, the girls you will be with are a year older than you. Miss Marlene McKinnon and Miss Lily Evans. Will that be a problem? Clothes and books will be provided for you while you are here, and you will attend fifth year classes. It would raise suspicions if you were to attend fourth year classes. Will that be a problem?" Dumbledore informed her. Tonks gulped at the sound of Lily's name. She knew what Lily's fate was to be in a few years' time, and it made her sad, yet happy, to know she would be spending the year with her.
"No, it should be fine. I was told that I was always doing well in my classes, about average for an exceedingly bright fifth year. So I think I should be fine. Thank you for helping me out, sir. If I have any questions, I'll come to you or go to Remus. Thanks again, sir," she smiled at Dumbledore and unhooked her hand from Remus'. She got up and shook the Professor's hand, before turning and walking towards the door.
"One last thing, Miss Tonks. You may need to produce a false name, an alias if you will. When you have thought one up, please inform me so I can tell it to the other teachers here. I will need it as soon as possible, because your next round of classes will start Tuesday," Dumbledore said, smiling at her. She turned around, nodded and resumed her departure from the room. She was followed by Remus and the two walked around together for a bit.
"Sorry for yesterday. I thought it was a bit…Strange that you could have arrived via time travel. Turns out, I was wrong… Wow. I don't like this feeling, being wrong… Not used to it," Remus chuckled, holding Tonks' hand again. Tonks giggled, but what came out was a nervous, high-pitched giggle that she herself was unfamiliar with. The two walked around in near-silence for a good few hours, missing dinner. Neither minded much, they seemed to have lost their appetites anyway. It eventually got cold, so Remus walked Tonks back to the Gryffindor tower. Lily and Marlene appeared to have been told to expect a new room-mate.
"Are you that new girl?" Lily asked, practically jumping up and down with excitement. The girls had charged over to her and pulled her to a big, squishy armchair.
"Uh, yeah. You're Lily, aren't you? And I'm guessing your friend's Marlene? Yeah. I'm… Andora. Andora Tonks," Tonks said brightly. The girls nodded and soon bombarded her with all sorts of questions.
"Woah! Cool name. Wish mine was as cool as that! So, how come you've just joined? How long're you gonna be here for? Are you out with Remus? He's pretty cute, but you've just got here, right? I'm into Sirius anyway. He's so… So…" Marlene began. She scrunched her face up in deep thought, as though thinking for the right word to describe him. "Amazing? Hot? No, words don't even begin to describe him. Why weren't you at dinner?"
"Woah! Uh… Right. It's a long story, but it involved a time-turner, a Slytherin and homework… At least until Christmas, probably longer. No, I'm not. Yes, I have. Sirius? Black? Remus told me. He sounds like a bit of a prick, if you ask me… Remus and I went for a walk. No, nothing happened. We were just… Talking." Tonks said, looking over at where Remus had gone to. He was sat with three other boys. One had black scruffy hair and glasses, another had longer, black hair, tall and wore a mischievous grin on his face, and the third a smaller boy, with a mousy face and brown hair.
"They're the Marauders. Remus, the one you were with. James, the Quidditch NUT and the one who's madly in love with Lily. Peter, the smaller one. He kinda just tags along with them, pulling a few pranks here and there. Sirius, the tall one. He's the main prankster, really. But they're all just as bad as each other, always up to something or another. Which one d'you reckons the fittest? Gotta be Sirius for me," Marlene said, gazing lovingly at the tallest boy and checking him out.
"Marlene! You can't just ask her that! She doesn't even know them that well!" Lily said loudly, snapping her friend out of her trance. Tonks laughed and her hair changed to her signature bubble gum pink, much to the other girls' surprise.
"Did you just… How… THAT WAS SO COOL!" Lily exclaimed, a little bit louder than she had anticipated. A few people turned their heads and Lily's face turned a brighter shade of red than her hair. She sprinted up a staircase and Marlene followed, who was followed instinctively by Tonks. Lily threw open a door and ran inside, falling down on the bed nearest the window. The other girls followed her in.
"That was so HUMILIATING!" Lily screamed into her pillow. Marlene sat down on the edge of Lily's bed and stroked her friend's fiery hair. Clearly, Lily was NOT one to have all eyes on her…
After several hours of talking, questions, giggling, a brief game of "Snog Marry Stupefy" and some sweets, Tonks headed over the only bed not occupied by clothes or books. She found a trunk at the end of it with several robes, dresses, pyjamas, shoes, muggle clothes and books, and took out a pair of bright yellow pyjamas. Muttering "vestimenta verta" under her breath, the clothes she was wearing were immediately swapped with the pyjamas, and she smiled at her handiwork. She climbed into bed, turned over to face away from the other girls, but didn't try to sleep. Instead, she thought of Remus, his friends, her new friends, the strange world she was in where you could go up to someone and become their friend in the time it took to wave a wand. In her time, if you dare tried to talk to someone like they had to her, someone would've ended up in the hospital wing…
"Woah! Look at her hair, Lils! It's changing! I swear down, right! It's changing colour!" Marlene whispered excitedly.
"Go. To. SLEEP!" Lily groaned back, throwing her pillow and hitting her friend in the face with it.
"Oomf!" was the last sound Tonks heard before she finally drifted off, into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning, Tonks woke up early and pulled some muggle clothes on. She settled for a pink jumper and blue jeans, making her hair pale blonde, almost white. The colours set her apart from everyone else. But that's what made it cool. No-one else could look that way if they tried.
Tonks sat in the Gryffindor common room next to the fire, staring at the dancing, golden flames. She was alone, and that's precisely what she wanted. She sat there, not moving, for half an hour or so, before someone walked down the stairs. She turned her head round sleepily, and seeing it was only Remus, she beckoned him over. He smiled and sat down in the armchair opposite her, also staring into the fire.
"What're you doing up this early, eh?" she asked, yawning.
"I could ask you the same question. I always come down here early, get away from Sirius' snoring. Didn't expect you to be up this early," Remus answered.
"Well. You can only take so many questions from two teenage girls before it starts to drive you insane. So yeah, that's why I'm here. We're in the same boat, I see?" Tonks laughed, looking into the amber set of eyes sat across from her. Remus smiled again. He did that a lot, Tonks noticed. Then his face turned serious, as if he was thinking or worried. They sat in comfortable silence for nearly five minutes before Remus spoke.
"So, uh… Dora… Andora, should I say? There's this Halloween dance tonight. And I was uh… Wondering. Maybe if you hadn't been asked yet, if you wanted to go with me? It doesn't have to be like… A date or anything. Well, maybe if you… If you wanted it to be a date, well great. But if you wanted to just go as a friend, that's cool too. Oh Merlin... I go around acting cocky and amazing, but I can't even ask a girl out…" Remus said shakily, wringing his hands and blushing furiously.
"Remus, I'd love to go with you! Of course I will. But I have the small problem of the fact that I don't have anything to wear…" Tonks replied, beaming, but then frowning slightly as she said the last sentence.
"Oh, I'm sure Lily and Marlene will help you out. It's a Hogsmeade day anyway, so you'll be able to buy something, I'm sure. And that's great. Thanks for going with me… Sirius and James both have dates; I'd never live it down if I didn't have one. And well. The prettiest, funniest and probably the smartest girl in our house is sat before me, so who better to ask. Until then, Andora?" Remus said poshly, holding out a hand for her. She took it and he brushed his lips against the back of her hand. It made her blush and a warm tingling sensation flooded down her spine, making her shiver slightly. He dropped her hand gently and walked away, feeling rather proud of himself. Her eyes followed him out of the portrait hole and he disappeared, but Tonks remained still, shocked.
"Andora! Doraaaa? ANDORA? Oh, there you are! Why're you up so early? You coming to Hogsmeade? Lily and I need to get costumes for the Halloween bash. C'mon, let's go get breakfast," Marlene said as she walked down the narrow staircase. Tonks nodded and got up, still slightly flustered from before. Her hair had reddened somewhat, so now it was a very pale shade of pink. The three girls walked down to the great hall together and sat on one of the long benches at the Gryffindor table. Remus, Sirius and James were all sat together, probably discussing their latest scheme to explode the Slytherin common-room.
"Hey Lily. Lookin' forward to the bash tonight? I sure as heck am! Pick you up at half six? Wear something pretty. Bet you're gonna look as hot, if not hotter than usual!" James called over, winking and ruffling his hair. Lily's face, once again, turned a shade of red darker than her hair and her eyes lit up, before she slammed her head into the table.
"YOU'RE GOING TO THE BASH WITH… WITH… JAMES POTTER?" Marlene screamed, a little louder than intended. Everyone turned to look at the three of them, which caused Lily's face to redden even further, something Tonks thought near impossible.
"I'm going to kill you one day, McKinnon… And you James… You're so dead," Lily grimaced, grabbing Tonks' and Marlene's hands and running as fast as she could from the Great Hall.
"Lily, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to say it that loud. But SERIOUSLY? Potter? I thought you hated him?" Marlene said, looking highly embarrassed.
"I… I… I do! Did... Ugh. James is alright. Ish… Plus, I was NOT gonna go date-less was I? And he asked me in a really sweet way. He kinda came up to me in the library, had my favourite book in his hand and slipped an invitation inside! Plus, he went really red and quiet when he gave it to me, so I felt bad for the guy…" Lily admitted, going slightly quieter towards the end of the sentence.
"Aw, Lily! That's adorable! It'll be alright, don't worry! How bad can he be, really? Anyway, don't we have a place to go? I'm not staying here all day, I'll get bored!" Tonks said brightly, desperately trying to change the subject. The other two girls smiled and the three skipped off down the corridor.
After several hours of wandering around Hogsmeade, Tonks, Marlene and Lily decided on three matching devil outfits with the words "You're going to hell for looking at this" plastered on the butts, and headed off to the leaky cauldron for some drinks.
Lily ordered the respective amount of Butterbeer's and they went to sit down at a small table in the corner.
"So, Marlene. We never did find out who you're going with. Do tell," Lily said eagerly, leaning forward and resting her head on the palm of her hands.
"Oh… Well, um. Kinda, maybe, sorta… Srs..." Marlene mumbled, blushing furiously and looking down at her hands.
"What was that, Marli?" Tonks asked, even though she knew full well who Marlene had said.
"I said… Sirius, okay?" Marlene said louder, suddenly finding her hands extremely interesting and letting her hair fall down to cover her face.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What? How? Explain, please?" Lily said, seemingly more intrigued on the subject. Marlene's face was a deeper red than the sheets on her bed back at the castle. Much to her relief, the waitress came over with their drinks.
"Uh, thanks," Lily said, smiling and relieving the young lady of the tray. The waitress hurried off and left them to their rather interesting conversation.
"Dora! Can I call you that? Great. So. Who're you going with? We haven't heard from you, yet!" Marlene shrieked, turning to face her newest friend.
"Remus. See, he asked me this morning. When you two were upstairs, we chatted and he asked me. So. We're all going with Marauders, eh? That'll be interesting, I bet," Tonks chuckled, wrapping her fingers around the cup in front of her. The other two girls looked at her, amazed at how quickly she'd got the boy.
"Woah. Well done, Dora. We should probably start heading back to the castle soon. It's… Merlin! Half past three? How did that go so quickly?" Lily exclaimed, looking down at the watch on her wrist.
"Ah, time flies when you're having fun, right?" Tonks said, jumping to her feet. However, just as she was stood up, she fell back down again. "Ah, crap. Should've seen that one coming, right?" Tonks sighed and stood back up, brushing the fall off as if nothing had happened.
"Uh… Are you alright? That was a fair fall you had there…" Marlene asked, slightly confused how she had fallen when there was nothing to have fallen over.
"Yeah, happens all the time. Not very good on my feet, I guess. Doesn't matter, really. I'm not the most graceful girl on the planet, I'll admit!" Tonks giggled, forcing the concerned looks off of her friend's faces.
The three girls were just adding the finishing touches to their makeup when someone knocked on the door. It was such a surprise that Lily ended up smudging mascara down her face and Marlene ended up with a line of liquid eyeliner down her cheek. Tonks, wanting to become an Auror, seemed unfazed by the sudden noise, and nothing ended up in random parts of her face.
"What?" Lily screamed, clearly angry at the black mark under her left eye.
"Uh, Lily? Is that you? It's just, well. Nearly six, and was wondering when you were gonna be done?" James said softly. There was a soft thump on the door, which was James slumping his back against it. Lily sighed and marched over to the door, wiping away the mascara and opening said door. James stumbled backwards into the room and very nearly fell over, but he caught himself on Lily's nightstand and steadied himself.
"You said half past. I will be ready by then. If you don't mind, we all have stuff to do, bye!" Lily said, pushing James towards the hallway.
"Oh, hey Andora! Remus told me about you! The new chick right? Well. Have fun later!" James said, waving in Tonks' direction, but then had the door slammed in his face by an annoyed Lily.
"Guys, answer me this. What've I got myself into?"
Thanks for the read. Please review. Always. Review. I won't write another chapter unless I get reviews! Muahahahaha! Thanks. :3
Im not kidding, BTW. I won't post another chapter unless I receive reviews. And I wanna post another chapter, so pleasepleasepleaaase review? Tyvm.