Term 1 of Second Year, breakfast in the Great Hall.
"Um ... what the hell do you think you're doing ?"
Tonks looked up at, Ariadne, the irate Ravenclaw girl standing uncomfortably close to her.
"You're wearing my face !" she shrieked, pointing at Tonks accusingly.
"I'm not. I wasn't. At least, I didn't mean to ..." she scrambled to try and find an appropriate response, fumbling with her fingers at her own pointed chin and jaunty nose which to her chagrin did rather resemble the Ravenclaw's. Flustered she tweaked her nose in an effort to remove the similarity but only succeeded in accentuating the slight upturn of the nose, resulting in a somewhat snouty appearance.
"Ha, ha. Very witty, Nymphadora," said Ariadne contemptuously, turning and stalking from the room, shadowed by her pair of Ravenclaw friends who cast withering looks over Tonks as they left.
Tonks laid her head on her arms and groaned in embarrassment. Bill awkwardly patted her shoulder, uncertain what to say and exchanged a grim look with Tonks' dorm mate, Eilidh Goldstein.
"I don't mean to do that, you know. I can only make myself look a way I can imagine. No matter how I change, I always end up looking a bit like someone here. Half the time they think I'm taking the piss and the rest of the time they think I'm up to something sinister. When I was ginger, they all whispered that I was trying to be a Weasley. When I try to look a bit like mum, people think I'm trying to be like the Blacks and playing up my pureblood side. Every way I look, people think I must MEAN something by it. They don't understand that I can't avoid resembling someone."
"Maybe you should try looking like no-one else in the school," suggested Eilidh ruminatively.
"Huh ?" Tonks replied, utterly confused, waiting for her to explain whatever theory she was concocting.
"Well, what's the first thing people notice when they look at you across the room ?"
"Whether I'm a boy or girl ?" suggested Tonks.
"Probably not, actually. And anyway, fixing yourself as one gender isn't going to separate you from anyone else. I was thinking of your hair as it happens. When it changes, it's pretty dramatic. Maybe if you chose to keep it the same colour, then that'd be something that was consistently 'you', if you catch my drift ? Make it something that's distinct from everyone else at school and then no matter what your face does when you're not paying attention, you'll still not look exactly like anyone else. So, something different; not blond, brown, black or ginger." Eilidh replied, tilting her head and pondering.
"Would that work ? I mean, I know I could definitely turn it something unusual ... I suppose it would stop people thinking I was trying to disguise myself. It would maybe shut up some of those prefects who said I ought to wear a name badge or a big 'M' for metamorph sewn to my robes so they don't mistake me for another student."
"Wait ... seriously ? They said that ? That's ... that's unbelievable!" Eilidh shuddered.
"Well, they suggested that I could assume the face of someone from a different house and deliberately get in trouble so that their House would lose points. Apparently, I could 'subvert the entire House system'. Hmmph, as if the Hat wouldn't have sorted me into Slytherin if I was as devious as that!" Tonks huffed. Smoothing out the snouty nose and shaking off the residual resemblance to Ariadne, he assumed the look of a rather stocky boy with a beetle-brow, all the better for scowling.
"Well, whatever you do with the hair, don't turn it green. Way too Slytherin. Purple maybe ?" suggested Bill, smiling.
"I'll think it over. I probably need to spend some time practicing and see what colours I can express without trying too hard. Worth a try though, I suppose."
Bill and Eilidh both smiled and nodded encouragingly.