Chapter 14 - Opening

Sleep did not come easy to Tonks that night – in fact, she doubted if she got a solid hour of it. As a result, it was no surprise that her reflection in the mirror the next morning gave her a passing resemblance to an Inferius: gaunt, pale, with huge bags under the eyes. She could metamorph the more obvious signs of her stress away, of course, but she couldn't be bothered. What would be the point? After all, her abilities were simply the result of some process called 'regeneration' gone awry…an accident, a mistake, certainly not a magical quirk like everyone thought. Was there even such a thing as a metamorphmagus?

Probably not, she thought bitterly. She'd never met one before, and had only been told that her condition was extremely rare when her parents took her to Saint Mungos when her powers started manifesting when she was eight. And, well, she knew now that her memories were all a lie. Or were they?

An idea flashed into Tonks' mind. Her parents were real – she'd talked to them only a few months ago. There was no way they were made up! Maybe this whole Romana thing was an elaborate ruse orchestrated by Professor Smith, or the Doctor, whatever he called himself.

With the faintest smile starting to show on her face, Tonks quickly got dressed, skipped breakfast, and all but ran to the disapparition point in Hogsmeade, and apparated to her parents' place.

"Mum, dad!" she called, knocking furiously at the door. "It's me! I'm home!"

The door opened.

"Dora!" her father exclaimed happily, embracing his daughter in a hug. "How are – oh."

"Yeah…" Tonks said lamely. Her appearance had answered her father's uncompleted question.

"Dora, you look terrible! Is everything all right?"

Tonks shook her head. "No, it's not," she said. "It's…I…Can I come in?"

"Of course!" Ted said, and moved aside to give her entry. Tonks walked over to the nearest sofa and immediately collapsed onto it. She glanced over at her dad, who, to her surprise, was no longer looking worried about her, but was instead staring at her with an expression of delighted disbelief, almost how she imagined Ron would look if Chudley Cannons ever won the Quidditch League.

Tonks frowned. She was barely holding it together as it was; the last thing she needed was her father going on about something she'd done to surprise him. "What?" she snapped.

"You…you didn't trip on the carpet…" her father said breathlessly. "Andromeda, Dora didn't trip on the carpet!"

Andromeda immediately appeared from the hallway. "She didn't?" She too sounded breathless, excited.

Tonks looked at them, very confused. She always tripped on that carpet – in fact, she couldn't remember a time when she hadn't. But she didn't expect her parents to make that big a deal of it. Something strange was going on.

And then:

"Romana?" Ted and Andromeda asked in unison. "Is that you?"

Tonks froze, her parents' words echoing around in her head, revealing one simple fact: her parents knew.

And just like that, Tonks' world came crashing down around her. Her façade of bravado, of confidence in the face of adversity, collapsed and was replaced by her worst fear: Romana and Professor Smith were telling the truth. Her life was indeed a lie.

She didn't cry. Not immediately. It took several long, agonising moments for her emotional response to catch up to her intellectual one. But when the tears did come, they burst forth like a geyser. "How long have you known?" she managed to say in between sobs.

Her parents looked at her sadly. "All your life," they said together. "We aren't your parents, Romana. I am your TT Capsule."

And just like that, her parents blinked from existence, as if they had silently apparated away.

"Mum. Dad?" Tonks whispered quietly. She didn't have the energy to be shocked, or even despondent. All she had left was hard, cold acceptance.

With a faint click, the living room bookcase slid to the right, revealing a whole other room hidden beyond. It gleamed white, with a central hexagonal console in the middle. Large circles were inset in the walls. Tonks recognised it immediately from the vision Romana had given her yesterday: it was the TARDIS she'd first arrived in.

Her father – or whatever her 'father' was – reappeared in front of her. "I'm sorry for distressing you," he said. "I didn't mean to divulge the truth so quickly. I thought you were Romana."

Tonks' sobs ceased, and gave way to a fierce, strong anger. "What, just because I didn't trip on the bloody carpet? Typical." she spat. "What the hell were you and mum anyway? And-and how does everyone think you exist?"

"I am a Type Two Hundred TT Capsule. After arriving here on Earth seven years ago, I created hardlight holograms to act as your parents, through which I could interact with you directly. I fabricated a backstory for you, and used my telepathic abilities to integrate you into wizarding society. I was to ensure your safety until you opened the watch."

"So you were designed to keep me happy and safe until it was time for me to die," Tonks said bitterly. "Like the fatted calf. My whole purpose is to die."

"You won't die," the hologram said. "You are Romana, but stripped of everything that makes her a Time Lord. When you open the watch, it will be as though you have woken from a very vivid dream. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"'There's nothing to be afraid of'? 'Nothing to be afraid of' – that's the best you can do?" It was Tonks' turn to stare in utter disbelief. "I thought you were my father for my entire life! I came here thinking you were the answer to my problem, but you prove me wrong after a few seconds. And all you can say is, 'there's nothing be afraid of'?"

Her 'father' remained silent as Tonks stood and walked calmly out of the house, never once looking back.

She had come home to be reassured. She had left feeling utterly hopeless.

~8~

The tears reappeared with a vengeance on the way back to Hogwarts, and though she tried to keep herself subdued so as to not draw attention, the stares and whispers begun as soon as she stepped foot in the castle. To her dismay, she found that she didn't care. The students of Hogwarts were snickering at their teacher – a young woman – who was finished. Her resolve had gone. It hadn't even been twelve hours since she was given the ultimatum, but Romana had won.

She wandered into Classroom Six, not with any real plan, but purely because she felt she should return to her office before she opened the watch. Hogwarts was her only home now that her childhood house had been revealed to be the TARDIS Romana arrived in. And so she absently sat behind her desk and took out the watch, that damned watch, and stared at it, with her thumb resting lightly against the catch. All she needed to do was to apply some pressure…

Footsteps thundered up the stairs leading to her office, and the next second Harry, Ron and Hermione appeared, panting, in her doorway.

"Tonks, no!" Hermione shouted.

Tonks instantly dropped the watch.

"Everyone was saying that they saw you crying," Ron puffed, almost collapsing on her desk. "Thought we'd come and check on you."

"What happened?" Harry asked quietly.

Tonks let out a deep, shuddering breath as the tears continued to streak down her face. "My parents…they're…they're not real. They were part of Romana's TARDIS, the ship I…she…arrived in. Holograms, they said."

"Oh, Tonks," Hermione said sadly. "Is there anything we can do?"

Tonks shook her head. "No. I'm just going to open this damn watch and be done with it."

"But we'll help you find a way to stop it, or –"

"No, Hermione. There's nothing we can do. It's all alien stuff – we can't do anything to stop it."

"We'll got to Dumbledore," Harry promised. "When he gets back, we'll go and tell him everything about Professor Smith, and the watch, and this Romana."

"Dumbledore'll be gone for ages," Tonks said miserably. "He's been going away for much longer than a couple of days all year."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"You're going to open it, aren't you?" Ron murmured.

Tonks nodded.

"Good luck," Ron said, and moved round the desk to wrap her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Tonks," Hermione said, and tears glistening on her face, she copied Ron's movements.

"So am I," Tonks said sadly. "Say goodbye to everyone for me. And let Remus know…"

"I will," Hermione promised.

"Thanks," Tonks sniffed. She turned to Harry and hugged him too. "Make sure you beat him, okay?"

"For you. And for everyone else," Harry replied. He sounded close to tears himself.

Tonks sighed, and sat back down at her desk, watch in hand. Harry, Ron and Hermione gathered around her. "Here goes," she said shakily. "Let me be brave."

She opened the watch.

Golden energy flowed out of it and coalesced around her face before streaming up her nose. Her eyes widened, and she collapsed.

By the time her body had slumped to her desk, Nymphadora Fredrica Tonks had ceased to exist.

Author Note: Well, it's been 3 years, 6 months and 7 days since I last updated the story. All I can say is that I'm very, very sorry it's been that long. It won't ever be that long again - I've actually finished the story, and will be uploading the remaining chapters weekly. So this time when I say 'not long to go now' I mean it.

Why did I completely abandon the story all those years ago? Simply put, this chapter was hard to write. As best as I can recall, I spent ages trying to figure out how it would go, and actually skipped ahead and wrote a substantial chunk of the ending of the story. Time dragged on, with the chapter still incomplete, and I gave up.

Even now, I'm not particularly happy with it...it feels too rushed for such a pivotal moment of the story, among other things. The remainder of the story was much more interesting and enjoyable to write. Ah well.

Huge shout out to the reviewer going by the name of 'The Observer'. Simply put, without their review, I probably would have never finished this story at all. Their kind words were a huge encouragement, and I'm really very thankful to them. Observer, if you're reading this, then I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and will enjoy the remaining ones as well!

Hope all the other readers have enjoyed the story as well! Looking back, it's definitely not my best work, but if someone likes it, then hey, I've done something right!