Hey all, I'm back! Oh, and I just realized that the day I posted chappie 1, it was Harry's birthday! So before you read anymore, sing happy birthday to Harry to make him feel all nice and appreciated. Now, On with story!

Chapter Two:

Questions and the Minister

Tonks appeared out of the pressing darkness in the atrium of the ministry of magic as she did everyday of work, but as she had been a bit shaky on her start her clumsiness came into action and Tonks slipped on the shiny floor. Reaching out to balance herself she grabbed the nearest thing she could and pulled a person down with her. Blushing very red, though hiding it with her metamorphagus powers, Tonks helped the man up. He was tall, red-haired, but balding, and wore glasses.

"Look, really sorry about that, I tripped before I apparated and I slipped and-" Arthur Weasley cut her off.

"Perfectly understandable, no worries. I'm Arthur Weasley, what is your name?" Tonks recognized Arthur to be the head of the very large, but well-known wizarding clan.

"Tonks, well my first name's Nymphadora, but I don't really like it so I use my last name," Arthur Weasley smiled.

"Well then, pleasure to meet you, Tonks, and now we had probably head to work." He began to walk with the rest of the huge crowd towards the lifts.

"Nice to meet you too!" She called out, then gathering her bag headed off herself. Getting onto a lift was rather difficult in the morning rush. But Tonks usually managed without a fuss. Unfortunately for her, as soon as she walked in, Dawlish, another Auror, came in right behind and stood right in front with his back to her, so that Tonks was pressed against the wall of the lift and Dawlish.

"Um, Dawlish," Tonks said. "Could you please stop squishing me?" Dawlish gave a start, turned around and seemed to notice Tonks.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "Must not have seen you there. Terribly sorry," and he moved aside so that Tonks could have some breathing space. Boy this was turning into a long day.

OoO

Rufus Scrimgour was just ending his meeting with the Aurors who were all sat around a long rectangular table, Tonks toward the end farther from Scrimgour as she waited patiently for news of Voldemort, even though she had thought it would've been the first thing on his mind.

"…And now this concludes our meeting. Any questions?" Tonks couldn't believe what she had just heard! Her hand shot up into the air although she wished it hadn't as no one else had raised their hands and they were all looking at her oddly. Scrimgour sighed.

"Yes, Tonks?" He didn't appear to be particularly happy that she did have a question to ask. Tonks took a breath and asked the question that was top priority at the moment in time.

"Well, you see sir, I thought that we were going to, er, talk about some tactics for fighting You-Know-Who, since we are protecting the people." She glanced around and saw that her co-workers were all staring at her in shock. Kingsley Shacklebolt, a very respected Auror and sitting to Scrimgour's right raised his eyebrows in interest. Scrimgour had an exasperated look on his face.

"Tonks, take this note to the minister of magic, you know where his office is, correct?" Tonks nodded, biting her lip. She knew that tone. It was the one when you were in trouble and likely to get a detention. She stood up and took the note in her trembling hands and solemnly walked out of the Auror department and down the hall, into the lift, and down the hall to the door that read,

Cornelius Fudge

Minister of Magic

Up until this point, everything had seemed to Tonks to be going in slow motion, but now it was moving too fast. Why had she opened her big mouth? Tonks knocked on the door and it was opened a few seconds later by a familiar teenage redhead. Tonks gave a grin.

"Hey, Percy! Haven't seen you since seventh year, how you been?" The attempt atfriendly conversation was not going both was and Percy gave a little hello and showed her the chair in front of the minister's desk, where Fudge was writing on a scroll of parchment. Tonks sat down in the chair looking around she saw two other desks, one was Percy's, a large woman with mousy brown hair dressed all in pink, in fact everything around her was pink except for her brown desk, and frankly she looked like a toad. The nameplate, which was pink with pictures of kittens on it of course, on her desk read

Dolores Umbridge

Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic

Tonks merely stared, until Umbridge gave a small cough, and the minister looked up from his paperwork. He smiled a little at Tonks and she timidly handed him the note.

"Nymphadora Tonks, am I right?" she nodded. Fudge read over the note and his smile faltered a bit, then it was placed back on. He looked up again at her.

"Nymphadora," He said. Tonks couldn't take it anymore.

"Just Tonks sir, I don't really like my first name. Fudge just shook his head.

"Nonsense! Now Nymphadora, it says here that you expressed the opinion that a dark wizard by the name of You-Know-Who is alive and well. Did you read the Daily Prophet this morning?" Percy was writing this all down and Umbridge was looking on at the scene. Tonks nodded again.

"Well then," Umbridge cut in and her voice was very high and light. "You should then know that there is nothing to worry about! It was front page news so that everyone would read it and be relieved to know that You-Know-Who has not returned." She ended this statement with a smile making her look like a very evil toad indeed.

"Yeah, but Harry Potter says so, and Dumbledore believes him!" Tonks blurted out, not sure why she was arguing with the minister and his undersecretary. Percy was still scribbling down the conversation.

"Um, could you not write this down?" She pointedly asked him. Percy wrote that down and then looked up at her as well.

"It's my job, Ms. Tonks," he replied, and then wrote that down too. Tonks shifted in her seat.

"Yeah. But it makes me nervous." Umbridge gave a little laugh.

"How do you know if Dumbledore is telling the truth?" Tonks was startled by this comment.

"Why would he want to do that?" Fudge sighed.

"Nymphadora, how well do you know Dumbledore?" Tonks had an easy answer to this one.

"Well, he was my headmaster," she pointed out. "And he taught me occulmency."

"What?" the three nearly yelped. Tonks was so surprised by the sudden outburst she fell out of her chair.

"He taught me occulmency. My mum and dad didn't know it so he taught me for Auror training." She said all this while getting back into her chair. Fudge gave a look to Umbridge.

"What about your cousin, Sirius Black, he could've taught you," he was mocking her and Tonks knew it. Tonks blushed a deep red.

"I only knew him as a little kid, sir." Umbridge smiled and added her own ridiculing comment.

"And what about your aunt and uncle, Bellatrix and Rodolfus Lestrange?" Umbridge gave a small laugh as Tonks blushed and muttered to her toes, "I never knew them m'am." Fudge cleared his throat and spoke.

"But, there was a more logical candidate. What of your aunt and uncle, Narcissa and Luicus Malfoy?" Tonks looked up. Her mum had told her that they were a pair of aristocratic jerks.

"I don't know them either, sir." Fudge shook his head.

"Really! Well, we'll have to fix that. They have a son named Draco, a little young I suppose, but I'm sure that they would all be pleased to meet you. Why don't you come to tea at my house on Sunday at 1:00 pm? It was just going to be the Malfoys, Dolores, Percy, and I, but why don't you come as well?" Tonks was sitting there speechless. "Excellent. Now, you may return to your work, Nymphadora. I'm looking forward to seeing you again." Tonks walked out of the office in horror. Tea with the minister, evil fat toad-lady, 'pushover' Percy, and the 'we're better than everyone else' Malfoys? This was much, much worse than detention. It was so much worse that she didn't know how she was going to survive. Why had cruel fate done this to her? Was it a crime to believe that Voldemort was back? Well, apparently, yes.

Hey guys, how do you like? Haha, I just had to do this to Tonks, tea with the evil people of the world! Review!