A Note! A Note!: YAY new chapter time! :) One of these days I'll finish posting all the chapters I have written for this fic...

Chapter 7: The Godfather

June 4, 2003: "TONKS!"

Dora jolted up from her desk, her bright green curls morphing into ginger spikes as she did so. "Wotcher!" she called sheepishly, looking up to see Kingsley Shacklebolt staring angrily at her.

"Tonks," the large black auror said irritably, "I've been calling you for the last five minutes!"

"Sorry, King," she said, stifling a yawn. "I was out late last night."

"Again?" said Kingsley, raising his eyebrow at the young auror. "What have you been up to lately?"

"Well," said Tonks, unable to suppress her grin, "let's just say I ran into an old friend and we've been busy catching up."

Kingsley heaved a sigh. "Tonks," he said, "if you continue to let your personal life affect your performance at work, I'll have to report you to Scrimgeour. Now, I don't want to have to do that, but if you can't shape up I may very well have no choice but to do so."

"I understand, sir," said Tonks tonelessly.

Kingsley, who secretly had a soft spot for the young auror who reminded him a bit of himself at that age, sighed and sat down opposite her. "Look, Tonks, I know you hate all this paperwork, but its part of the job."

Tonks sighed, frustrated. "It's just, this isn't what I expected when I decided to become an auror," she confessed. "And I thought things might be different now, but with Fudge being an idiot about You-Know-Who—oh shit, sorry sir," she said suddenly, realizing what she had been saying. "I didn't mean to say that, it's just—"

Kingsley waved her off and quickly cast a silencing charm around her cubicle. "I take it you're not too pleased with Fudge right now?" he said, his dark face impassive.

Tonks looked him in the eye, deciding it was worth the risk to speak her mind. "I think Fudge is being a bloody prat, Kingsley," she said frankly. "If Dumbledore is willing to stand up and say that You-Know-Who is back, then I for one am quite inclined to believe him."

Kingsley then did the last thing that Tonks expected; he smiled warmly at her. "I had a feeling that's how you felt, Tonks. In fact, I told Dumbledore just the other day that it wouldn't be long before you blew."

"Wha—"

"Tonks, what would you say if I told you that there exists a secret organization of witches and wizards dedicated to the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"I'd say, where do I sign up," she said without hesitation.

"Atta girl," he said smiling. "I thought you'd say that. If you don't change your mind about all this, meet me at the visitor's entrance after work this evening—I promise you won't regret it." Without another word, Kingsley lifted the silencing charm and stood up and headed out of her cubicle. "Oh, and Tonks?" he said, pausing for a moment.

"Yes?"

"I expect that paperwork on my desk by the end of the day."

XXXX

Tonks made her way to the muggle entrance of the Ministry at the end of the day, as per Kingsley's instructions. She was walking through the Atrium when she suddenly felt someone behind her. Whirling around quickly, wand at the ready, she was met with a familiar grinning face. "Merlin, Xander!" she yelped. "You nearly gave me a heart attack there, you bloody wanker!"

"Sorry sis," Xander said, smiling even wider. "Thought I'd surprise you, that's all."

Dora chuckled and rolled her honey brown eyes. "You're a great big prat, Xander Tonks, you know that."

"It's what I live for," said Xander, mockingly giving a flourishing bow.

Dora laughed. "How do you always know what to say?"

Xander shrugged. "It's a gift, I guess."

Dora smiled brightly. "So, any particular reason you're here?" she asked.

"What? I have to have an excuse to visit my baby sister?" Tonks glared at him; ever since their parents had told them that Xander was older by about twenty minutes, she hadn't heard the end of it. Seeing the look on her face, Xander relented. "Okay, okay," he said, holding out his hands in a gesture of peace. "I wanted to show you this," he said, whipping out his brand new wand.

Dora shrieked in delight, clapping her hands. "That's bloody brilliant, Xan! Congrats!"

Xander grinned. "Thanks. Andy—Mum took me to get it this afternoon. Thirteen inches, willow, with a…" he suddenly trailed off sadly.

"Whazzamatter, Xand?" Tonks asked, concerned.

His jaw set, Xander said, "I told you about Anya, right?"

Dora screwed up her face in thought. "Your ex-vengeance demon ex-fiancée who didn't make it out of Sunnydale, right?"

Xander nodded his head. "The core is her hair."

Dora started. "What?"

"You heard me. The guy—Ollivander, was it?—said that the core was a hair from the vengeance demon Anyanka—Anya."

"Are you okay with that?" Tonks asked softly.

Xander shrugged moodily. "I'm not sure, honestly. I think it might be kinda nice to have a piece of her with me, but…"

"…it just makes the pain that much more real," finished Dora knowingly.

Xander nodded. "Yeah." He shook himself, burying his bad mood, plastered a smile on his face, and said, "So you gonna teach me some magic now, or what, lil' sis?"

Tonks laughed. "Later, Xan, I promise. How 'bout we go out and celebrate with a drink down at the pub instead?"

"Lead on, fair lady!" said Xander playfully, grabbing hold of Tonks's arm and letting her lead him over to the muggle entrance.

XXXX

It wasn't until they had arrived out on the street that Tonks remembered what she had discussed with Kingsley earlier. "Oh shit," she swore suddenly.

"Wazzamatter, Dora?" asked Xander.

"I forgot that I told Kingsley I'd meet him after work."

Xander's eyebrow rose playfully. "Oh, is this your boyfriend? Cause, you know, as your brother I get the privilege of threatening him for you—I got a good one involving getting beaten to death by a shovel that I'm just dying to use."

Tonks whacked Xander on the arm playfully. "Shut up, Xan. He's not my boyfriend, he's my boss. He wanted to talk to me about something. I wonder where he—oh, wotcher Kingsley!" Xander looked up to find himself staring into the eyes of a large, rather intimidating black man. Xander wondered why he hadn't noticed the guy before, then realized that he must have come up on his blind side.

"Hello Tonks," said Kingsley impassively. "Did you forget about our meeting?"

"What? Oh, him. Right. Well, see, the thing is…"

"Xander," said Xander, sticking out his hand. "I'm her brother."

Kingsley raised his eyebrow warily. "I wasn't aware you had a brother, Tonks."

Tonks blushed a bit. "Well, neither did I till about a week ago."

Kingsley gave the younger man a questioning look. Xander shrugged it off. "Apparently I was kidnapped by my dad's crazy, permanently drunk cousin as a baby and then raised on the Hellmouth."

The bald auror started. "You're from Sunnydale?" he asked curiously. Xander nodded. "So, were you there when—"

"Yeah, and I'd rather not talk about it right now, thanks. It's all still a little too fresh," Xander said shortly.

Dora patted her brother's arm comfortingly. "Not everyone made it out, King," she said softly.

Kingsley gave Xander a look of understanding. "Right. Sorry about that." He then turned back to Tonks. "So, about our meeting…"

"Yeah, about that," said Tonks, "you wanna tell me what this is all about?"

Kingsley looked uncomfortably at Xander. "Can we discuss this in private?"

Tonks stuck out her chin stubbornly. "Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Xander. He's my twin and I trust him completely."

Kingsley frowned. "But does he know about You-Know-Who?"

"What? The big bad that no one believes is actually back?" piped in Xander.

"That's the one," said Tonks cheerfully.

"Pshaw," scoffed Xander. "The big bads don't necessarily just lie down and die nicely. If someone—especially some all-powerful wizard guy—says he's back then people should take that seriously. Besides, if the government is denying he back, then he probably is." Tonks looked at him quizzically. "Bad experience with a government organization, I'll tell you later," he said, waving it off.

Dora shrugged. "Fine by me. Anyway, King, you gonna tell me what the bloody hell this is all about or what?"

Kingsley sighed in defeat. "Alright then," he said. "But if he ends up betraying us—"

"He won't," said Tonks confidently.

"But if he does, then there won't be a single place on this earth he can hide, got it?"

"Clear as crystal, Mace," said Xander with a salute.

Kingsley couldn't' help but smile; being well versed in all things muggle he got the pop culture reference all too well. "Alright," he said. "It's like this: you believe Dumbledore, right?"

"Abso-bloody-lutely," replied Tonks without hesitation.

Kingsley nodded. "Well, then I'd like to offer you an invitation to join The Order."

"The what?" said Xander.

"The Order of the Phoenix," said Kingsley quietly. "We're a secret group led by Dumbledore dedicated to fighting against You-Know-Who."

Xander and Dora looked at each other, communicating silently with one another. Coming to their answer, they nodded to each other and Dora spoke. "I'll join," she said, "provided Xander can too." Before Kingsley could protest, she added, "I know you don't know him and I know he doesn't know much magic yet, but he's been through a hell of a lot more than most people these past seven years. He'd make a great asset, King. Besides," she added with a lopsided grin that was quite Xanderish in nature, "he's the one who convinced me to listen to my instincts about this whole mess in the first place."

Kingsley grudgingly agreed. "Very well then," he said reluctantly. He quickly handed them a slip of paper. "Memorize this—don't say it out loud—then burn it. Meet you there!" With a CRACK Kingsley disapparated and left the twins staring at the paper that read The Headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London.

"Incendio," said Dora, pointing her wand at the paper and setting it on fire. Then she turned to her brother. "You ready big brother?" she asked.

"Lead the way, little sis," he said grabbing hold of Dora's arm. The last thing he said before they disapparated was, "Does this mean I don't get my celebratory drink?" accompanied by Tonks's peals of laughter.

XXXX

Dora and Xander arrived at Grimmauld Place to find Kingsley waiting for them. "You remember what you read?" he said shortly. The twins nodded. "Good. Now think about it. Don't say anything, just think."

Tonks and Xander looked at each other bemused, then shrugged. Both thought about what the paper had said and suddenly they could see a house appearing between numbers eleven and thirteen. "Holy sun-dried Moses on dry white toast!" exclaimed Xander, jumping slightly.

Tonks laughed and Kingsley cracked a bemused smile. "Don't worry," Tonks whispered to her boss, "you get used to him after a while."

"Hey!" exclaimed Xander playfully. "I'm missing an eye not an ear you know! I can hear you just fine!"

Tonks rolled her eyes playfully and pulled him up the front steps. "C'mon, pirate man," she teased, "let's follow the nice auror and get the scoop on this Order deal." Tonks stopped quickly. "Bloody hell," she moaned. "I'm starting to sound just like you."

Xander grinned. "I fail to see how that's a bad thing, sister dear," he teased.

Kingsley smiled, trying his best not to laugh at the siblings' antics. "Alright you two, quiet now. Try not to make any loud noises as you enter."

"Why—"

"Just trust me," said Kingsley, pulling out his wand and tapping the door three times. The door swung open quietly and Kingsley motioned the twins in. "Quickly and quietly now," he whispered.

Xander and Tonks were through the door and had started following Kingsley down the hall when suddenly Tonks tripped over something, falling over with a loud THUNK and causing Xander to trip over her and land on the floor beside her. Kingsley sighed and plugged his ears and not a minute too soon either.

"MUDBLOODS! FREAKS! BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS! HOW DARE YOU SET FOOT IN THE NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK! BE GONE! BLOOD-TRAITORS AND MUGGLE LOVERS! FILTH—"

"Oh shut up, you old hag!" came a hoarse yell. Xander and Dora pulled each other up off the floor just in time to see a haggard-looking man with long, black hair wrestling the curtains closed over the portrait of a screaming woman.

"So that's what Mum meant when she said pictures move and talk in our world," muttered Xander.

"Yeah," Dora muttered back. "But they're normally not that bad."

"Sorry about that," said the man, turning around to face them. "Feel free to ignore my mum—I always have." Xander instantly liked this man. He kind of reminded him of, well, himself, actually. Xander couldn't help but grin back at the man. What really surprised him, though, was Dora's reaction.

"Sirius Black!" she screeched, pulling out her wand faster than lightning and pointing it right at the gaunt-looking man. "Kingsley, why aren't you arresting him?" she whispered fiercely, not wanting to re-awaken Sirius's mother.

Kingsley grinned and forced Tonks's arm down. "Tonks," he said quietly, "he's innocent."

"Really?" said Tonks, raising her bright red eyebrow disbelievingly. Xander was more than a bit confused at this point.

"Whoa, whoa, stop right there," he said, holding up his hands. "To quote my bestest buddy, what the frilly heck is going on here? And who is this guy?"

"Sirius Black," said the man, turning his haunted grey eyes on Xander. "And I'm innocent," he added turning to Tonks. "I was framed by Peter Pettigrew."

Dora turned to look quizzically at Kingsley, who nodded. "It's true," he said. "Dumbledore'll vouch for him."

Dora settled down. "Well, if Dumbledore trusts him, then I just have one thing I'd like to do," she said stonily.

"What's that?" said Sirius, sounding a bit nervous.

"This," said Tonks and without any warning she threw herself at him and hugged him tight.

Without a second thought Sirius hugged him back. "Missed you too, Dora," he said happily.

She pulled away reluctantly, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. "You know," she said, "Mum always did say she couldn't believe you would go and do something so psychotically stupid as that."

Sirius's face broke into a grin. "How is Andy anyway?"

Dora smiled widely. "She's over the moon lately," she said happily.

"And why's that?" asked Sirius.

Dora pulled Xander forward. "He's why," she replied. "Sirius, meet Xander. Xander, Sirius."

"Hey," said Xander. "Am I the only one who's in the dark here?" he asked, shaking the older man's hand.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm not quite sure what you mean, but not to be rude—who the bloody hell are you?"

"Sirius," said Tonks happily, "Xander's my twin brother."

Sirius's eyes went wide. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, suddenly pulling the one-eyed man into a big bear hug. "I haven't seen you since the day you were born!"

Xander patted Sirius's back awkwardly. "Uh, not that I'm not loving the whole reunion thing, but I still don't know who you are and I'm kinda having trouble breathing at the moment."

"Oh, sorry about that," said Sirius sheepishly, letting go of Xander. "I'm your mum's cousin," he said with a smile, "the good one."

"He's also our godfather," added Tonks with a happy smile.

"Mum didn't mention anything about cousins," said Xander thoughtfully. "Dad did—said Jessica was his cousin—but Mum didn't."

Sirius's face darkened. "That's because just about everyone from our side is an evil git or married to one," he said with a frown. "Or both."

Xander looked to Tonks. "I think I need some explanations, please."

Tonks sighed. "I figured."

Kingsley suddenly cleared his throat. "Not to break up this little family reunion, but we do have a meeting to attend," he said, motioning toward the dining room.

"Right," said Sirius, suddenly sobering up a bit. "Everyone's in the dining room—follow me." With a shrug of her shoulders, Tonks grabbed Xander's arm and dragged him off after Sirius, leaving Kingsley to tag along behind them.

XXXX

The meeting itself didn't take very long. Nymphadora and Alexander were introduced and Xander told an abbreviated version of his life story and how he'd been "fighting the good fight" since he was fifteen. It took a bit of convincing, but finally both Tonks and Xander were inducted into The Order, the only one outright opposing the both of them being one Severus Snape (the greasy git).

As soon as the meeting was over most of the members took off, leaving behind only Xander, Tonks, Sirius, and Sirius's friend Remus Lupin. The four adults were sitting at the table in silence, each one wanting to start a conversation, but none quite knowing how to do so. Xander sat fiddling with his eye patch while Tonks was morphing her fingernails into various colors and patterns, Sirius was nearly bouncing in his seat, and Remus was staring stoically at the wall.

Finally Xander couldn't take it any more. "I don't suppose you've got any alcohol," he said evenly. Three sets of eyes looked at him. He shrugged and explained, "Dora owes me a drink."

Tonks cracked a smile. "That's right!" she said happily. "Big brother got his first wand today! Sirius, do you have any Firewhisky?"

Sirius smiled mischievously. "Of course, Nymphadora."

"Don't call me Nymphadora," she said tightly, her hair turning from violet to bright red. "It's Tonks."

"He gets to call you Dora," Sirius grumbled as he got up to fetch the Firewhisky.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Is he always such a baby?" she asked Remus teasingly.

Remus smiled, his shaggy, graying, sandy colored hair flopping into his amber eyes, causing Tonks heart to inadvertently beat just a little faster and her belly to do flips. "I'm afraid he's never really grown up," he replied, his voice low and hoarse.

"Something we have in common then," piped in Xander happily. "Now, about this Firewhisky…it doesn't actually set things on fire, does it? Cause, you know, I like fire as much as the next pyromaniac, but what with the missing eye and all I'd probably miss it coming and end up setting the whole house on fire—not to mention myself and all of you too."

Tonks laughed and swatted his arm playfully. "No, you prat," she said happily. "It just feels like your throat's burning when you drink it."

"Oh, if that's all," said Xander sarcastically. Tonks burst into laughter and soon had her brother joining her.

As Sirius stepped back into the room with the promised drink, he found his young cousins practically rolling on the floor with laughter and his old friend watching them bemusedly. "What'd I miss?" he asked, sitting down next to his school friend and pouring out four glasses of Firewhisky.

"Oh, Xan here was just amusing us with his amazing sarcasm," quipped Tonks.

"I live to serve," said Xander, flashing the metamorphmagus a smile and taking a glass of the Firewhisky.

"In that case, I'd like a grilled cheese sandwich on wheat bread with a cup of tea please," said Remus, his face impassive. "Oh, and don't forget the chocolate either."

Xander burst into laughter. "You're good," he said smiling. "What with the stoic face and the sarcasm… you know, you kinda remind me of Oz."

"Who's Oz?" asked Tonks curiously.

"Old friend," said Xander, eyeing his drink warily. "He used to date my best friend, but I haven't seen him in years. Well, bottoms up!" Xander tipped his glass and downed the Firewhisky in one go.

Tonks, Sirius, and Remus all stared him expectantly. When he didn't react, Tonks had to ask, "So? Whaddya think?"

Xander shrugged. "Not bad stuff. How much of this do you think it'd take to get completely wasted?"

Tonks sighed heavily. "Again, Xander?" asked softly. "How long are you going to keep this up?"

He shrugged. "Till the pain goes away, I guess," he said quietly, pouring himself another glass and downing it. "So," he said as he poured himself a third glass, "what was the deal in the hallway earlier? You looked like you were about to kill Sirius there, Dora."

Tonks rolled her eyes, knowing she wasn't going to get any further with him tonight, so she complied. "Sirius escaped from prison," she said simply.

Xander rolled his eye. "I know there's a lot more to it that just that. What were you in for?" he asked.

Sirius smiled at the youth who reminded him a lot of himself at that age. "Got framed for murder," he said. "I was my friend James and Lily Potter's secret keeper—"

"You were who's what now?"

"James and Lily," said Remus. "James was one of our best friends and Lily was his wife."

"A secret keeper, well, that's a bit more complicated to explain," said Tonks.

"It's part of the Fidelius charm," said Remus. "A secret is entrusted to a single living person and no one can find out the secret unless they are told directly by the secret keeper. It's what this house is under—that's why you had to read the paper before you could see it."

"What he said," said Sirius. "So, basically I was their secret keeper, but I convinced them to change to our ex-friend Peter at the last minute. I figured I'd be the obvious choice—Voldemort would never think of going after Peter. Turns out Peter was the spy," he snarled. "He betrayed his friends and Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow, killing first James then Lily, but when he tried to kill their twins, Mary and Harry, the spell backfired and he was reduced to nothing more that a spirit of sorts. When I went to check on Peter and couldn't find him, I knew something was wrong, so I went to Godric's Hollow only to find my friends dead. Dumbledore—you do know about Dumbledore, right?—had ordered Hagrid to take Mary and Harry to safety, along with my daughter Cassi, so I decided to go after Peter."

"That really was quite stupid of you, Padfoot, you insufferable git," said Remus mildly.

"Yes, I know that now, Moony, thank you," said Sirius, smiling sadly at his old friend. "Unfortunately, at the time I wasn't really thinking straight. I went after Peter, planning to confront him, but for once he was smarter than any of us could have thought. He screamed to a street full of muggles that I had betrayed Lily and James then he blew up the street and cut off his own finger as he transformed."

"Transformed?" asked Xander, now on his fifth glass.

"Into a rat," growled Remus. "He, Sirius, James, and the girls were all illegal animagi—they learned how to turn into animals."

"Neat," said Xander. "Amy was a rat once," he said, "but it took Willow nearly three years to figure out how to fix her. So what happened next?"

"Well, in the process of blowing up the street, Peter killed twelve muggles, making it look like I had killed them and him. When the aurors came, I was laughing my head off—not one of my finer moments, to be sure—and they sent me to Azkaban with no trial."

"Azkaban's the wizard prison," explained Tonks. "It's guarded by dementors."

"Which are…?"

"Creatures that suck every happy thought out of you and make you relive all of your worst memories," explained Remus calmly.

Xander flinched. "Ouch. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy—okay, maybe on Snyder, but he was a mini-Nazi with a bug up his butt."

Tonks laughed. "Aren't you the eloquent one, Xander."

"Big words for a little girl," said Xander smiling cheekily at her.

"How many glasses have you had, Xand?"

"Six or seven," he replied calmly. "So what happened next?"

"I spent the next twelve years there," said Sirius, his eyes haunted by the memories of his imprisonment. "I finally escaped by turning into a dog. You see, the dementors only sense human emotions, so as a dog I could slip past them unnoticed. I was the first—and only—person to escape," he added, sounding a bit proud. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Congrats," said Xander, raising his glass to Sirius and downing it in one shot.

"Thanks," said Sirius with a smile. "Anyway, I had seen a newspaper article and Pettigrew—Peter—was in the picture—in his rat form, obviously. His owner—a Weasley boy—is a student at Hogwarts, so I headed that way."

"Everyone thought he had escaped to kill Mary and Harry—possibly Cassi too," said Remus sadly. "Myself included, I regret to say."

Sirius nodded. "I made it to Hogwarts and tried to get at Wormtail, er, Pettigrew, several times. I finally succeeded and in the process I revealed myself to Mary, Harry, Cassi, and their friends. Then Moony here shows up and I told the whole story that I just told you," he explained.

"After that—and a, em, complication—Padfoot and I revealed Wormtail for who he really was," said Remus slowly. "We were on our way up to the castle when, well…it was a full moon and—"

"You're a werewolf," said Xander simply.

Remus started. "How'd you know?" he asked curiously, a hint of fear creeping into his voice.

Xander shrugged and downed another glass ("I swear to Merlin, Xander, I'm going to cut you off!"). "I told you, you remind me of Oz. He's a werewolf too. Didn't I mention that part?"

"Nope, pretty sure you left that out, Xan," said Tonks cheerfully.

"Oh, well he is," said Xander. "None of us really cared. We'd even take turns Oz-sitting during the full moon."

"What do you mean?" asked Remus sharply. "How were you able to be with him when he was a werewolf?"

"There was a cage in the library—still not sure why, I guess Giles is just weird like that—and we'd lock Oz in during the full moon then take shifts keeping an eye on him, to make sure he didn't get out."

"What if he had?" asked Remus.

"Tranq gun," he said. "Came in handy a couple of time—Willow's a dead shot with it."

Remus raised his eyebrow. "I take it there's a story behind that."

Xander laughed. "Yeah. Crazy jealous boyfriend made a potion that made him go all Jekyll/Hyde and he was convinced that Oz was hitting on his girlfriend—he wasn't by the way; the guy's was hopelessly devoted to Wills. Still is, actually, even though they've been ex for about three years now. Anyway, it so happened that this crazy jealous guy decided to go after Oz on a full moon, right before moonrise."

"So he-he killed him, then," said Remus hoarsely.

"Nah," said Xander nonchalantly. "Willow took Oz out with a tranq before he did any real harm. The guy got away, though, but he showed up dead the next day. Not sure exactly how the guy died—Buffy was a bit vague on the details, but I think it had something to do with Angel."

"Who?" asked Tonks. "I don't think you've mentioned her before."

"Him, and I haven't," said Xander pouring himself yet another glass of Firewhisky. "I don't like him much, but he's Buffy's ex and he does still help us out on occasion." Xander snorted into his glass. "Still don't like him, though. Well, cheers!" he said, downing yet another glass.

Tonks decided it was time to step in. Sure all four of them had been drinking, but Xander was reaching alcohol poisoning level here. "I'm cutting you off, Xander," she said as sternly as she could in her slightly inebriated state.

"Mine!" whined Xander and Tonks took away his current glass. "Do-ra," he whined, "I drink I'm not swear, really!"

Tonks scoffed. "Right. And I'm the bloody Minister of Magic."

"Really? I didn't know that. Since when?" threw in Sirius stupidly.

"That, my friend, is what we like to call sarcasm," said Remus, easily the most sober of the four, dryly.

"Let's drink to sarcasm then!" said Sirius cheerfully, raising his glass in a toast.

"D-Dora took mine," complained Xander, trying to take the nearly empty bottle from the middle of the table. "Hey! I jus' want one more, please, Dora, with a cherry on top?"

"No," said Tonks, glaring and sticking her tongue out at her brother. "I'm cutting it off! I mean, you off! I'm cutting you off!"

Xander leaned back in his chair and sulked moodily. "You're a meanie, Dora," he huffed. "I don't like you no more."

"And you're being a complete arse, Xan," she snapped at him.

Xander pouted. "Will'd let me have more," he complained.

"Yes, well, I have a feeling she'd cut you off about now too," snapped Tonks.

"Pleeease, Dora?" he begged giving her his best puppy dog eyes (which didn't go very well considering he only had one eye and that kind of ruined the effect).

"No!" she snapped at him. "That's it. You've gotten completely smashed every night these past couple weeks, Xander! You keep this up you're going to end up in the hospital or dead!"

"Good for me!" he retorted. "Cause then at least I'd actually feel something other than numb!" he snapped, standing abruptly and knocking over his chair before storming out of the room.

"Now that was entertainment," said Sirius happily. "Ooo! Can I storm out next? Pleeeeeeeease?" he pleaded, already well on his way to matching Xander's alcohol intake.

Remus looked from Sirius to Tonks. "It appears we are the only ones not joining in the 'who's going to need a healer first' contest, Nymphadora," he commented lightly.

"It's Tonks," she snapped. "I hate that bloody name!"

Remus raised his eyebrow at her. "I think it's quite lovely," he said softly, smiling at the now red-headed witch.

Tonks was slightly taken aback. Blushing a bit (she had to admit that Remus was kinda cute) as her hair morphed into her favorite bubblegum pink spikes, she muttered, "Yeah, well, you and my mother are the only ones."

Sirius snorted loudly. "You two're soooo weird," he slurred, grabbing the almost empty bottle of Firewhisky and standing up, knocking over his chair in the process. "I'm gonna storm out now too." And with that, Sirius turned around and skipped (yes, skipped) out of the dining room to join Xander…wherever the hell he was.

XXXX

"Here, Xandy, Xandy, Xandy! Heeere, Xandy, Xandy, Xandy!"

"For the love of Twinkies, please shut up," Xander slurred from his seat on the couch in the small front parlor of Number Twelve.

Grinning maniacally, Sirius waltzed over and plopped himself down on the couch next to his eldest godson. "Aw, does poor ickle Xandykins want some more Firewhisky?" he said playfully, dangling the near empty bottle in front of Xander's face.

Xander groaned. "You're evil, Sir," he said. "Jus' gimmie." He reached out to grab the bottle from his black-haired cousin.

"Ah-ah-ah," said Sirius, waving his finger at the younger man. "You only get some if you decide to play."

"Play?" said Xander, completely confused. "Play what? And why?"

"A game," said Sirius. "An' 'cause it's no fun getting drunk if you don't play stupid games while you do it."

Xander pondered this for a moment. Then he nodded. "Makes sense," he said. "So, what's this game of yours?"

Sirius grinned widely. "It's called 'ask a bloody question and whoever has the most embarrassing story has to drink a shot'—I think we were all completely smashed when we came up with the name."

Xander grinned. "I'm in." He glanced at the bottle Sirius was holding and said, "Hope that's not all you got."

Sirius gave a bark-like laugh. "Course not. Now, have a drink and let's get this party started…"

XXXX

Tonks and Remus sat in silence at the table after Sirius "stormed out," the only sound being the faint cries of Sirius calling for "Xandy" echoing from the hallway. Tonks shifted restlessly in her chair, glancing at Remus as she did so. Remus was staring blankly into his glass, his thoughts clearly elsewhere.

Tonks finally decided that she couldn't take the silence any longer. "So," she said bluntly, "you're a werewolf, eh?"

Remus blinked his amber eyes and looked across the table at the chipper now blue-haired witch. "Yes," he replied flatly.

Tonks nodded thoughtfully. "When'd that happen?"

Remus stared at her strangely. "A long time ago," he finally replied.

"More specifically."

Remus arched his eyebrow. "Why do you want to know, Nymphadora?"

"Tonks, it's Tonks," she gritted out from between her clenched teeth.

Remus's lips twitched in what could have been a smile. "Why, Nymphadora?" he asked again.

Tonks huffed in exasperation. "I'm curious, okay?"

Remus took a sip of his Firewhisky and said calmly, "Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

Tonks huffed again and rolled her eyes. "If you haven't noticed, Lupin, I am not a bloody cat nor am I cat-like in any way, shape, or form—I trip over my own bloody feet for Merlin's sake!"

Remus's lips twitched into a smile. "No, you are certainly not cat-like," he said simply.

"So are you going to tell me?" Tonks persisted.

Remus cocked his head at her in a very canine way, regarding the young metamorphmagus thoughtfully. Tonks couldn't help but squirm under the scrutiny of his intense amber gaze. Finally after what seemed like ages to her, Remus finally spoke. "Someday, Nymphadora, I may tell you, but that day is not today."

Tonks huffed and sulked down into her chair, muttering profanities to herself. Remus and Tonks sat in silence for a while longer before the silence was eventually broken by Tonks, who jumped up from her chair quite suddenly and proclaimed that she had to call Xander's friend Willow and let her know that Xander was alive. She then proceeded to rush out of the dining room as quickly as she could, leaving behind Remus, still sipping his drink calmly and smirking slightly. Oh yes, it was well past time for the Marauders to have a comeback. He'd have to speak to Sirius and Jessi about that in the morning…

Please Review! It's like candy; a nice treat. But no flames please. That's like potatoes; nasty and evil. ;)