EDIT JULY 14

"So we need to move as soon as possible, APSA" James declared.

"ASAP," Remus corrected without a blink.

"Yes," James agreed whole heartedly, not realizing his mistake. "So we need to plan before we head out."

"We need to do more than plan," Tonks said from her desk in her office. She was hunched over and tired, though she refused to admit it. "You guys still don't understand the danger of all of this."

"Oh god, not this again," Sirius moaned.

Tonks shot her cousin a glare. She was still unhappy about their decision to interject themselves into her business, they may have good reasons to and she may need the help, but she still didn't agree. "I don't know how much you guys know, but a war is starting. This war is much more serious than you all realize and shouldn't be taken lightly. Everything that's happening here is connected to that war, you guys will graduate soon and then this war will be yours to handle." Tonks abruptly stopped talking, choking up a little. Yes this war will be theirs to handle, and they won't handle it well unfortunately.

"So how are we starting?" Remus asked.

"What?"

"If this war is ours to take care of, then how are we going to handle it?"

Tonks was at a loss for words, "Erm…"

"Teach us," Remus prodded. "You're an Auror, teach us."

XXX

It was nearly time for dinner and Tonks was almost to the Great Hall when Dumbledore intercepted her. "Miss Tank, good to see you out of bed."

"Oh, yes. Thank god Pomfrey let me out." Tonks honestly replied. She had been a bit afraid that the nurse would make her stay another night.

"Yes, yes," the Professor nodded, "while I have you here, do you mind if we speak in my office?"

Tonks had a feeling that's why he'd wanted to talk to her, but agreed anyhow. After they'd made their way to his office and the door had shut behind her, Dumbledore began. "I'm sure you remember Shannon's parents, they came in to see her not too long ago."

Tonk's mind jumped to the crying couple that threatened them, "yes."

"They've taken Shannon's condition to the Ministry."

"No," Tonks said in disbelief.

Dumbledore nodded as he leaned back against his desk, "at the moment the Ministry can't do anything because the sole cause of Shannon's condition is from another student. In the eyes of the Ministry the school can deal with unruly behavior, so they can't do anything, but if they can prove that Shannon was hurt by an outside source or by magic that a student is unable to create then we have a full blown investigation on our school."

"Meaning?" Tonks asked.

"When they are able to cure Eddy and Shannon, and they find that the magic that put them in their current state is more advanced magic that is taught at the school then it's possible the school will be closed." Dumbledore solemnly elaborated.

"No if, ands, or buts?" Tonks asked a bit shocked.

"If the culprit it found then there may be an exception."

Tonks ran her fingers threw her short hair as she began to pace. An entire school, closed. That was hard to believe, had these events happened before she'd been transported to this time? What if she'd never shown up, would all this still have happened? Or was her being her what really messed up the time line? Oh god, when did this all become so complex? All she wanted to do was help.

"How long do you think we have?"

Dumbledore watched her pacing, his head moved from side to side following her movement. "Before Christmas." Dumbledore was quiet for a moment, "A cure will be found soon, and by the time Christmas comes the school will most likely be closed."

"Great, wonderful." Tonks muttered sarcastically. "Have you contacted the rest of the Order?"

"Yes, we have a meeting tonight."

"Great." Tonks nodded.

Dumbledore studied her a while and the two fell silent.

"I hear that the Marauders have taken a liking to you."

"Oh, yeah. They have."

"Have they been helping you?" Dumbledore asked out of curiosity.

"Yes, against my wishes."

Dumbledore nodded and the two were quiet again.

"Well, I should go then." Tonks stated and began heading for the door.

She had opened the door and was about the walk out when the Professor spoke again, "Invite the four tonight." Tonks bit back a groan and nodded before shutting the door behind her.

Reluctantly Tonks followed through on Dumbledore's wishes and stopped by the Marauders on her way through the Great Hall. All four looked up at her questioningly when she came to a stop at their table.

"Did you find something or are you here to snog Remus, because we all know the latter is bound to happen," Sirius asked.

Tonks ignored the comment and Remus choking on his food, "meet me here at 9 tonight."

"Why?" Peter asked timidly.

"Are you going to teach us?" Remus gasped, whipping tears out of his eyes.

"You'll see." Tonks shrugged off the questions.

"May I come?" Lily asked from beside James. "I am President of Muggleborns United." She added.

"Er…" Should she invite Lily? Would Dumbledore be mad? "Y-yeah?"

Lily nodded happily before turning back to her dinner.

Tonks muttered a goodbye before leaving, she wasn't looking forward to tonight.

XXX

James laid on his bed tossing a quaffle up as his friends focused on their own things. Peter was busy looking over his potions notes, occasionally letting out an agitated squeak. Sirius was playing with a deck of muggle cards, he had spent the last hour trying to learn how to shuffle but had so far only been able to send cards flying around the room. And Remus was organizing his side of the room, so far he'd folded his robes, made his bed, and was finally going through the pile of papers that has been stuffed into his bag from his various classes.

James paused in his quaffle throws to glance at the time. 7:47, time only seemed to be inching past, he wished it would finally be 9 so they could meet up with Tank and learn why she had invited them to be out of bed on a Thursday night.

"Stop looking at the clock, it'll only make the wait longer," Remus called out.

James sighed, "So you've been looking too?"

Remus didn't respond at first, but finally admitted the same.

"While we have time we should talk about something important," Sirius suggested and paused in his card shuffling, mainly because he didn't have any more and they were scattered around the room.

"What?" Peter asked, thankful for the distraction from his homework.

"Well, Moony and a certain time traveler." Sirius smirked.

"Arggg," Remus moaned and went back to organizing his bag.

"Oh no, I think this a great topic," James too smirked as he flopped over to his stomach at the bottom of his bed. He used the quaffle as a pillow and rested his chin against it.

"I don't agree," Remus muttered.

"Well we do," Sirius waved Remus' muttering away, "so tell us about her."

"I don't know any more than you do…"

"Yeah, but what you do know you like. Am I right?" Sirius prodded.

"I don't know," Remus muttered a bit flustered.

"Her hair is pretty good, a bit loud." James added.

"Unique," Peter agreed with a nod.

"Yeah, it's cool." Remus shrugged. "But that doesn't mean anything. I don't like her, she's not even our age guys, and she's practically a teacher."

"That must be it," Sirius decided.

"Yep," James chimed in.

"What?" Remus demanded. "What now? What did I say?"

Sirius smirked, "You got it right Peter?"

"Er… y-yeah." The small boy stuttered.

"What?" Remus said a bit louder.

Sirius continued to smirk and looked back at his partner in crime. James too was smirking and when the two made eye contact he nodded. Sirius then turned back to their lanky and confused friend. Standing, Sirius began towards Remus, "You." He started saying as he picked up a handful of cards. "And older women."

Remus stared at the shaggy boy not sure what to say. "Uh, no?"

"Don't deny this," Sirius chided. He tossed the cards into the air and watched with satisfaction as they fell onto a confused Remus. "You're into older women, the 'teacher'."

"Okay?" Remus asked. Tank wasn't that old and he wasn't sure why Sirius had picked that fact to pester him with.

Sirius' smirk faded, he was unhappy that his teasing seemed to be failing. Remus wasn't supposed to take this with confusion or acceptance, he was supposed to deny everything. Sirius stood over his friend fuming for a moment. "Why aren't you arguing with me?"

Remus looked up at his friend and shrugged, "maybe I'm just used to your taunts by now."

"No," James called. He sat up and slid off the bed. "You agree, you already accepted it. It's not just Sirius' taunts is it?"

Remus frowned, "no."

"Yes," Peter added, simply trying to stay in the conversation.

Remus looked at his friends quickly before checking the clock, "oh look! It's almost time to go, let's get ready. I'll go find Lily." Remus moved fast, he grabbed his wand and a cloak before scurrying out of the dorm room.

James and Sirius frowned at each other before both looking at the clock. It was only 8. With one look at Peter the three silently agreed, Remus had a crush. In fact it was more than a crush, he was so far in that he had already come to terms with everything, and he knew what he had taken to.

XXX

In the light of everything that had happened, Tonks was feeling angry. She was angry at herself, angry at this student that was attacking their classmates, angry at the parents that wanted to close the school. Her anger toward the parents was unjustified, but it didn't stop the anger. She knew that she too would be upset if her daughter had been sent off to a foreign school and had been put in a comatose like state. But still, their actions upset her. If she was unable to solve this attack the school would be closed and investigated. If the Ministry learned that she was working here when in fact she did not even exist, she could be imprisoned, or worse. If the school closed before she found a way home then she would forever be stuck here.

It was a stressful thought.

With a groan Tonks buried her face in her hands and leaned back on the stone wall beside the doors to the Great Hall. Her short pink hair fell over her hands as she groaned.

"Hey hot stuff," called a voice from down the hall.

Dropping her hands from her face, Tonks looked up to see the gang plus Lily walking towards her. Sirius, her cousin, was the cocky one that had called out to her.

"Wish I could say the same," Tonks remarked as she crossed her arms.

Sirius placed a hand over his heart as if in hurt. "What about Moony? Huh, huh?" He asked once he had finished his act.

Tonks ignored his comment, an action that she seemed to be doing a lot lately, and waved them on. "Let's go, we can't be late."

"Where are we going?" Peter asked.

"A meeting," Tonks said over her shoulder as she led the group of teens. "Dumbledore will explain."

"But-" James started but Tonks gave him a quick look over her shoulder before continuing on. Although it may be a good idea to get these group of kids on their side, Tonks didn't want that to happen. This was dangerous work and she didn't want them to face so much danger, yet it seemed that all her warnings where falling on deaf ears lately. Explaining the danger to this group was like beating a dead horse, there was no point.

All too soon Tonks was standing in Dumbledore's office beside the usually bitter McGonagall as Dumbledore explained the Order of the Phoenix. "You are all welcome to join, but you must be 17."

Remus sighed, "James and I don't turn 17 until after Christmas."

"You can't be directly connected to the Order then, but I'm sure we can figure something out." Dumbledore comforted the teen.

It was then at this point that McGonagall leaned over and whispered to Tonks, "Do you think this is a good idea?"

Tonks was momentarily shocked that the women herself had started a conversation with her, but quickly recovered. "Yes and no." She replied. "They're good students, they can do a lot for us, but… they are just students."

"Yes," McGonagall nodded. "You seem very close to them." She noted.

"Er, yeah." Tonks stuttered. "They've taken a liking to me."

McGonagall turned to look at Tonks. She looked heartbroken, and a bit teary eyed. "That's good, they'll listen to you. Please protect them, keep them safe." The Professor choked up a bit, her words becoming thick. "They're just kids and this is a war."

Tonks was shocked at the sudden emotion that was being shown by the older woman, but was glad. At least someone in this school agreed with her, understood the danger. "Of course, that's my number one priority. Keep them safe."

XXX

After the rest of the Order showed up the meeting started. It was a quick meeting and it was full of a lot a blame, particularly towards Tonks. This was because if she failed at her job the entire school would close. Just as she predicted everything was on her shoulders.

Dumbledore had of course thought of this and had developed a plan. He formed a team that would try to determine the cause of the curse that had been placed on Shannon and Eddy, and another team that would attempt to find leads for Tonks to follow. Tonks was overall doubtful that these teams would be able to help at all, but that may have just been the stress talking.

Other than that Tonks didn't pay much attention to anything being said. She knew she should, but she couldn't pull mind towards the people in front of her. She was exhausted, the effects of the concussion hitting her.

After the meeting Tonks was feeling tense which only added to her tiredness, but Dumbledore still wanted to talk to the group of teens so she forced herself to pull it together.

"May I suggest that you further your skills outside of the classroom? DADA is a good class but a little extra practice can be vital in the times we live in."

"Oh yeah, Nova mentioned that." Sirius said.

Tonks raised her eyebrow at the shaggy boy, she hadn't expected them to remember her saying that, or to even want it.

"Good, you should meet often. A lesson is always worthwhile." Dumbledore nodded. "Well that is all for now, until the next meeting, which I hope is not soon."

And with that said, Tonks led the gang from the room still feeling uneasy.