The next morning was definitly what Tonks would call interesting. It all started with a hard shake by Brittany, one of her roomates. It came at the worst time, she had been dreaming of the most wonderful dream. Though of course, as all good dreams go, she didn't remember a scrap of it once she was awake.
"Umhmompum," Tonks mumbled, finally awakening and turning over to face her waker. Brittany was crouched on top of her, thin pale hands shaking the down quilt. The others were around in a semi circle, their gazes intense.
"Good morning," Taryn smiled. The others echoed the greeting.
"I don't usually count my mornings as good when I wake up with my entire dorm staring at me," Tonks mumbled, tried to sit up. She whacked her head on the headboard and stifled a small cry of pain. Had to work on the clumsiness for sure. "Could you stop the staring thing? Kind of freaks me out."
It seemed as if her words snapped the girls out of their trance.
"Right," Brittany said, "so sorry." And with that they dispersed. But as Tonks dressed and brushed her teeth and hair (which was still pink) she could feel their subtle glances. She remembered why she'd hidden it. As she walked down to breakfast with Willy, the other students, many of which she didn't even know, watched with the kind of fascination children had at a zoo. It was like they expected her to keep on changing. Of course Willy had found out of Tonks' revealing; both through Taryn's announcements and Tonks herself and he wasn't happy.
"They're treating you different," he said, "just what you didn't want."
"It'll fade," Tonks replied, "it always does with stuff like this. Before long there'll be new gossip about some kid in Gryffindor getting expelled." Willy hadn't replied, he just sighed and kept on walking. At breakfast Tonks and Willy sat at the Hufflepuff table, a ways down from Danica and the others and directly across from the Ravenclaw group.
"Really?" Joey had said before they even sat down, "really? Pink is my colour. You can't go stealing that. She had laughed and immediatly Tonks' mood brightened.
"But seriously," Leanne said, "Danica and them...they're right?" Tonks and Willy nodded simultaneously.
"You know Danica isn't really that ba-" Tonks started but was cut off as Corny spoke.
"That is so cool!" he said, "what you do I mean."
"Totally," Jerry agreed and Joey nuzzled closer to him.
"So Tongs," Air started.
"Tonks."
"Right, sorry. So Tonks," Air giggled, "you can really do that whole thing? That's so neat. I wish I could, there's so much of my appearance I'd change. I mean my eyes are weird and there's this little patch in the right one shaped like Greenland which is a little weird. But just a little." She giggled again.
"Do it," Steven said suddenly and rather frighteningly, speaking for the second time Tonks had heard, "show us."
"I-uh, can't," Tonks stammered, "I mean there's so much talk and everyone would see, not that they already know. No thanks to Taryn."
"Don't you mean Danica?" Melissa said, "oh wait, that makes sense. She must have known and- ohhhhh. I get it now."
"Danica and I are on good terms," Tonks said, "for now. You know she isn't that bad."
"But she freaked out," Corny protested.
"Totally irrational," Leanne added.
"And she's annoying," Joey said, "with her whining and grumbling and so on."
"She also tried to reveal a secret that you didn't want shared," Willy spoke up, "not cool." The others nodded in agreement. Tonks sighed, the battle had begun.
"I'm not taking sides," Tonks put her hands up defensively,
"I'm just saying give her a chance. She's only human. And what if she's willing to be the bigger person? Will you still be mad after that?" The group grew silent for a moment.
"Dallas!" Joey suddenly exclaimed, standing up and away from Jerry to embrace a hulking figure in Slytherin robes. He was big, both height-wise and width-wise, with shortish dark hair and an eyebrow piercing. Dark eyes were shaded by heavy brows and glasses. They murmered for a few moments, causing Tonks and she was sure the people around her to feel very uncomfortable, then sat down together. Tonks knew the conversation about her was over, and that was a relief.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, or at least uneventfully compared to the day prior. McGonagall gave Tonks' fluorescent locks a questioning, then understanding look in transfiguration. The teacher almost seemed pleased that she'd "come out" so to speak, though her tight-lipped frown dared not venture into the realms of a smile. Danica tried to talk casually to Joey during Defense Against The Dark Arts while Professor Cai was attempting to explain what a vampire was. Joey seemed both confused and suspicious, so Tonks tried to flash her a knowing glance which might have been received, but who knows with Joey. It was a pleasant surprise to see Danica making an effort and Tonks kind of wished that the Ravenclaws would do the same. Potions passed with little discussion between peers as the sallow professor watched them like a hawk. And before Tonks realized it it was 6:55 and she was headed to McGonagall's office for her first private lesson. It both excited and worried her, and these emotions grew as she reached up on closed fist to rap on the door when it suddenly opened from beneath her. McGonagall was seated at her ornately carved desk reading a book, her wand resting on the desk beside her. She must have magicked the door open.
"Good evening Nymphadora," McGonagall welcomed.
"Um hi Professor," was the best Tonks could do in return.
"I notice you're much less secretive today," the teacher commented after an awkard pause.
Tonks nodded in return, repeating the answer she'd said countless times since last night. "It wasn't worth hiding anymore." She took a few casual steps intot he room, closing the door behind her.
"I'm glad you came around. The most important lesson we can learn is to be ourselves no matter what. Anyways,on with the lesson at hand. What exactly can you do?"
Over the next half hour Tonks demonstrated almost everything she knew. She turned her hair into shade after shade. From blue to blond to black to beige. Lengthened it, shortened it, spiked it, curled it. Then came the eyes, blue to brown to grey to even violet. Big, small, slanted, straight. Happy eyes, sad eyes, angry eyes. She made her feet grow two sizes then shrink four. She grew half a foot then shrank to four inches less than she'd started. It was by far the most changing Tonks had done in such a short period of time and by the time she had exhausted her know-how her breathing was heavy.
"Is that all?" McGonagall asked once Tonks had returned to her original appearance. Tonks felt the need to protest at her elder's apparent lack of awe. Is that all? She had just changed her appearance countless times over without even reaching for a wand.
"Yea," Tonks replied, catching her breath, "that's all."
"Well it appears you have rather good control when it comes to what you intend to be," McGonagall commented, "and an impeccably superb ability to focus the power into a single feature, but this comes at a price."
"What do you mean?"
"Though you can change hair color or eye shape, you cannot change everything at once. Say, for example, change all of your features to resemble a single person." Tonks had never thought of that idea. Of the concept that this power could let her literally put on the facade of a completely different person. Really her whole life she'd used it only for trivial things; looking how she wanted, standing out in her own spunky way. But the idea of turning into a completely different person, that had been beyond her. Tonks remembered the girl in Diagon Alley she'd taken inspiration for her eyes from. It was like that on a larger scale.
"How could I learn to do that?" Tonks asked eagerly.
"Well it would be easiest with a photograph of someone, something you can focus on. Then you'd just try to match it."
It sounded so simple, too simple.
"And what good would this do me in life?" Tonks could already imagine dozens of not-so-good things that being able to turn into someone else could result in, what sort of benefits would possibly motivate a teacher of all people to tell her how?
"There are plenty of reasons. You have to learn proper control before you go getting yourself into trouble. You should at least learn the extent of your abilities sometime soon. Also it may help with your career in the future. The auror office is always looking for the right sort of people and that may be a career you might want to pursue upon graduation, your little stunt with that Danica girl showed a loyal heart, defiant spirit, and quick thinking. All the traits of a good auror. Your abilities are merely a side bonus which most certainly assist in concealment. But first you must learn to use them to their full extent."
"What's an auror?" Tonks had heard the term before, but she wasn't quite sure where.
"Dark wizard catcher," McGonagall said simply. Inside Tonks beamed at the prospect. Her a dark wizard catcher? And McGonagall thought she'd make a good one? Though the stern professor wasn't her head of house Tonks already felt a sense of loyalty and respect towards her. If McGonagall thought she'd make a great auror than Tonks thought so too.
Nymphadora Tonks. Auror. The words, no matter how awful the first name, sounded beautiful together. And at that moment Tonks knew her ambition. To be a dark wizard catcher. To be one of the good guys. It was almost too good to be true, almost but not quite.
Tonks left her first private lesson a half hour later with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. Maybe this wasn't all bad; Danica was being nice and Tonks had a feeling that might last, her private lessons were going great and best of all she'd found a career goal for the future. The future did seem a long ways away though, and Tonks had to survive Taryn's apparent "out to get her" attitude first.
((So I wrote this chapter over the summer, then revised it just now slightly to suit what's happening. Tell me what you think, and anyone out there reading this from my life (*cough* Jassmin *cough* Chaunie) Is it ok? If not please tell me ASAP, the last thing I want to do is hurt anybody with my writing.))
