I really love the idea of this, I don't even know why.

Also I enjoy changing things from canon so

enjoy that


"Are you alright?" Sirius asked as he pushed himself off the dusty library floor. She sat up slowly, clutching her hand to her chest, but she nodded.

Remus was leaning with one hand on a table, the other clutching his chest.

"Let me see." Sirius said, taking her hand gently. There was a deep gash across the back of her hand. "Splinched, that'll be my fault." He said quietly. "I'm sorry." He helped her to her feet, and then walked over to Remus. "You alright?" He asked.

Remus nodded. "I think I've had worse." He said. He picked up the box from the table where Sirius had left it, and handed it to him. "We should leave before Bellatrix comes back."

Sirius nodded.

"I'm sorry, I thought if I said that, and if I'd gone with her- I didn't think she'd hurt you." Tonks said quietly.

"We would have come after you if you had gone with her." Sirius said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they left the library together. "Like I said last night, Dora, if you ever go with the Death Eaters, you won't survive."

"Remus, I'm so sorry.'' She said, looking at Remus.

"Like I said, I think I've had worse." Remus remarked, taking the box from Sirius. "You'll have to take us both, I might lose my concentration."

Sirius nodded, grabbing Remus' wrist and taking Tonks' uninjured hand. They disappeared with a pop.


"I'll ensure Albus gets this." Kingsley said when Sirius handed over the box the next day. Molly had healed Tonks' hand and Remus' chest, with only the slightest of comments about the situation. "Alastor should be here any time with your parents." He added to Tonks.

Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, Alastor entered the kitchen with two people. The man was tall, blonde, and was dressed like a Muggle. He was round-bellied, and looked so happy to see her. The woman was slim, not as tall as him, her hair a similar colour to Tonks'. Her curls were definitely less messy, her eyes were the same as Sirius' and Bellatrix's, and she was smiling just as widely as the man.

They stared at her for a long moment. And the man, her father, spoke first. "You look just like your mother.'' He said. "I always figured you would have."

She rushed forward, throwing an arm around each of them. She felt safe, she felt comfortable with both of their arms around her tightly.

"My baby girl!" Andromeda cried, leaning back and clutching her daughter's face. "Oh, look at you!"

Sirius was trying not to laugh at his cousin's tight grip on her daughter's face as she studied every single inch of Tonks' face. Ted had stepped back, his hands tucked into his pockets, watching his wife and grown daughter with a smile on his face. Finally, Andromeda released Tonks and turned to Ted.

"Ted, our girl! Look at her!" Andromeda said. "I thought for sure that- I just didn't think there was any-"

"We weren't sure there was any possibility that you were alive." Ted finished. "I mean, you were five months old-"

"And we weren't sure that they'd ever keep you alive, there'd be no reason-" Andromeda said. "But look at you, my baby girl, my Nymphadora!" She finally looked towards where Sirius and Remus. "And Sirius, Remus, you found her!" She said, stepping forward and grabbing both men in hugs.


"Clearly you need to be forced, a little faster, to learn how to duel." Alastor said. "And you need to control your bloody morphing!" He snapped.

She ran a hand through her short blonde hair. It was true, she had been struggling for a couple days to control it- but she had also just spent 15 years repressing the ability, and she wasn't the least surprised.

"I'm trying!" She argued. "It's not exactly an easy thing to do!"

"Well, practice." Alastor snapped. "The Ministry probably wouldn't like getting warnings about an Ex-Auror using the Unforgivables in an unplottable house in central London, so we have to improvise."

"With what, exactly?"

"Just sparks." Alastor said, waving his wand as bright green sparks flew into the air. "Green for the Killing Curse, red for the Cruciatus and purple for the Imperius. Now, the only Unforgivable that actually gives off colour will be the Killing Curse. And lass, if you see green, you might as well just close your eyes and accept it. There's little chance that you'd ever be able get out of the way."

She frowned. "But can it be blocked?"

"With objects, only. If you can levitate a large object or even conjure something solid before it hits you, all the better."

"Well, can't you teach me that?" She asked.

"Lass, that would take years." Alastor remarked. "Now, wand up."

She raised her wand.

Purple sparks flew towards her, and she tried to knock them aside with the Shield Charm Sirius had shown her. "Protego!" She cried. Unfortunately, she cast it too soon and the sparks hit her in the chest.

"If that had been a real Imperius, I'd be in complete control of you. I could make you do anything I want." Alastor said. "Try again." He demanded.

This time, red sparks managed to go right through her feeble attempt at the Shield Charm, and before she had enough time to raise her wand again, green sparks hit her.

"Would you stop for five seconds?" She demanded. "I need time to learn this!"

Alastor shook his head. "If you're in a real duel, you don't get time. You need to hold off your opponent, figure out what pattern of spells they're using."

"Pattern?" She asked.

"Opponents will have a pattern, you need to recognise them. Whether they're a chaotic dueler, in which case, they just generally go down the list of defensive charms in a particular order- or they have four or five spells they rotate through. Or you get the ones with signature spells, the same spells they use over and over, in hopes it might work." He explained impatiently. "You might better off with that last option."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Try again." Alastor said, raising his wand. This time around, she tried to both block the sparks and focus on the pattern he was using. Purple, red, green, green, red, purple- perfect!

By the time he got back around the first green, she managed to duck it and send a Stunning Spell at him. It hadn't worked on Remus, but it definitely worked on Alastor. The old Auror was knocked flat onto his back, his wand knocked from his hand.

There was a loud laugh from the doorway as Sirius appeared. While the spell didn't knock Alastor out, it did take him a minute to stand again. He pointed at Tonks after he retrieved his wand.

"That's how you do it." He said, with the tiniest hint of a smile. He reached into his robe, pulling out a small knife and holster. He handed it to her. "If that doesn't work, or you can't manage that again, stab them."