CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Norah furrowed her brows into a light frown as she stared after the door that Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin had just disappeared behind, the witch's lavatory in the pub.
She had gotten the Patronus delivered to her at her home little less than ten minutes ago by that red-haired chap that she had met two weeks ago when she had met Mrs. Lupin in St. Mungo's, practically begging the young blonde werewolf to go after her.
The young witch had lost her job at the Ministry, Mr. Weasley had hastily explained in his message to Norah, and he had recollected meeting Norah back in St. Mungo's and helped diffused the Chocolate Frog incident between Norah and the welcome witch that manned the front receptionist desk to check-in visitors, and knowing the nature of her condition as told to him by Remus, thought she could keep an eye on the young woman and Order member, make sure she didn't do anything too rash.
Arthur had managed to find a record of her home address in official Ministry records, a fact which unnerved Norah to no end, knowing the Ministry kept tabs on her.
Norah Jameson's frown deepened as she stared at the door to the restroom, thinking Tonks had been in there an awfully long time. At first, she had chalked it up to maybe she just wanted someplace where she could allow herself to feel the pain in peace.
Or her pregnancy was acting up and she was getting sick or something, so Norah hadn't thought much of it and had taken the small round wooden table in the darkest corners of The Leaky Cauldron, remaining shrouded in the shadows until she wanted to make her presence known to Mrs. Lupin that that red-haired husband of the dumpy woman with the equally red hair, had asked of Norah to keep an eye on Tonks tonight.
Norah could not quite explain it, this sudden stab of fear that pricked at her heartstrings, that damned stubborn corded muscle that lay within the confines of her chest, but she was worried about Remus Lupin's wife. No matter how much she wanted to act like she didn't bloody care about the brand-new She-Wolf and now former Auror, she knew she couldn't honestly bring herself not to care about the vibrant young witch.
Remus and Tonks-Lupin were, like it or not, her best chance at getting her son and husband back alive and out of Fenrir Greyback's clutches, given how Lupin knew how her Alpha operated, having gone undercover not that long ago from what she remembered. She had remembered seeing the man throughout the encampments back then, six or so months ago, if her memory served her correctly, though she had not gotten a chance to talk to him, though she remembered desperately wanting to, to do so was not their way, and if she had, she would have risked Greyback finding out that she wanted to leave.
And now, he had found out, and she was forced to go on the run like some fugitive, when she had broken none of Alpha's laws, except for daring to speak out against Fenrir.
Norah scowled, biting the wall of her cheek as she stared at the restroom door to the witch's lavatory, feeling somehow uneasy, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Though she did not know Mrs. Lupin as well as she would have liked, Norah could not help but feel worried for the younger witch.
She had no idea of the true precariousness as to the nature of her new condition, the stigma that came attached to their lycanthropy.
How the rest of the wizarding world saw creatures like them, treating them like monsters like they were nothing worse than dirt at the bottom of their shoes that they couldn't quite scrape off or manage to stamp out. How they could barely look you in the eyes once they found out the truth, if they found out at all, but it was why Norah had preferred all of her life up until meeting Wes at Hogwarts, that he was like her too, a Wolf, to keep people safe at arm's length, so that they never learned what Norah really was.
Her husband had always tried to convince her otherwise. That she was simply a strong, sensitive caring young witch who happened to be more comfortable in the company of other Wolves like them, beings who could truly understand what it was like.
She's been in there an awfully long time, Norah thought, knitting her brows together as she glanced up at the clock which hung above the mantle. Fifteen minutes…
Could she be suffering from morning sickness? It was especially brutal for werewolves and tended to last well into the second and third trimester of pregnancies.
Norah frowned when she considered this, glancing down into her half-empty tankard of Butterbeer. Tonks's body was still undergoing several changes following the aftermath of her Turning, and she was probably scared, confused, and hurt, and if what Arthur Weasley had told her over his Patronus to her held any semblance of truth, the young witch was prideful and was not so quick to admit whenever she needed some help.
The young blonde werewolf let out a sigh and raked her tongue along the top wall of her teeth, wondering where that good-looking guy had gotten off to. She'd seen the guy trying (and failing miserably) to flirt up a storm with Remus Lupin's wife, seemingly not caring that she was taken, a married woman, though the dark-haired man had disappeared. She shrugged her shoulders, though her frown deepened. Maybe he left…?
Norah could only hope that the dark-haired stranger had taken the hint in that Tonks was not interested in him, and never would be, considering she already had a mate.
Sighing haggardly, she looked away from the clock on the mantle and then the witch's restroom door and back down at her drink, swirling the tankard so the ice was clinking in her glass, tracing the beads of condensation that had started to gather on the outside.
Tonks could bloody take care of herself. She was an Auror—ex-Auror, her mind unhelpfully piped up and knew how to handle her own. Tonks knew what she was doing.
Mr. Lupin's wife did not need yet another person in her life fretting over the new She-Wolf in her physical condition, and Norah knew she did not need to burden herself further by weighing her mind down by thinking what she was doing so long in the loo.
It didn't matter. She could be getting sick or having a crying spell over losing her job. Tonks was living her life, and it had bloody nothing to do with Norah quite just yet.
Though they promised they would help me find my son, Norah thought, biting the wall of her cheek as she couldn't help herself as she looked towards the loo a third time.
She should have come out by now and made to go home, Norah thought, troubled. She knew it was a bloody bad idea, one she would probably live to regret by getting involved in Tonks's life, but she had already promised Remus Lupin she would behave as a friend towards his wife for the duration of her pregnancy in exchange for Lupin's aid.
Norah could not just continue to sit here sulking in the corner like this and nursing her drink while wondering if Nymphadora-Tonks Lupin was okay, or if she was injured.
She could pop in the restroom just for a second, make sure she wasn't puking her guts out or anything like that, didn't need to go to an apothecary here in Diagon Alley or back to St. Mungo's for treatment, and then, once she was sure she was all right, Norah would go back inside The Leaky Cauldron and resume her bad habit of drinking herself into a stupor as she tried to drown out the horrible visions of her son and husband suffering at the hands of her Alpha, while she pondered just how she was going to get them both back alive and unharmed, hoping that Remus would have some suggestions.
Just to make sure nothing unsavory is happening. You'd do it for anyone else…
Norah groaned, repressing the urge to roll her eyes as she slung her purse over her shoulder and dug into her pocket for a couple of Galleons to pay Tom for her butterbeer.
The young blonde She-Wolf rose from her table in the corner and made her way towards the witch's lavatory. As soon as she shoved open the door, what was within her wretched, wolfish sight, Norah felt her mouth slacken and drop open in utter horror.
Sure enough, the handsome chap from earlier was in here with Remus Lupin's wife, as was she, and Tonks had been forced into a kneeling position on her knees in front of the tall wizard. Tonks's head was turned sharply to the right, her eyes squeezed shut.
Poor Tonks looked like she was on the verge of passing out and probably would have collapsed if the man's strong hands weren't maintaining a vice grip on both her shoulders, firmly keeping the young witch in place, and preventing her from escaping.
The guy was in the process of fumbling with his belt buckle, attempting to undo it.
"Hey!" Norah growled, the edges of her gums lifting upward as she revealed her unnaturally sharp canines as she rushed into the bathroom, her hand plunging into the interior pocket of her black leather jacket, fingers curling around her wand's handle.
The young blonde woman knew it wasn't necessarily the greatest idea to jump into this and attempt to fight the guy off right here in the witch's lavatory when she could risk hitting Tonks and doing possibly irreparable harm to either Tonks or the little wolf cub.
The stranger was definitely taller and stockier than she was and outweighed both her and Tonks by several pounds, and this could easily backfire and land her in St. Mungo's, but just the pitiful sight of seeing Remus Lupin's wife on the ground, forced to kneel on her knees on this disgusting bathroom floor, trembling, crying, she could not bear to waste any time to think this thing through, and Norah pointed her wand at him.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" she growled, bearing her canines and moving to close off the gap of space, effectively planting her feet in between the two of them, preventing the man from taking another step closer, as she pointed her wand squarely in the center of the man's burly chest. "Back away from the woman. Now."
Tonks inhaled a pained and sharp breath, feeling her ears perk up at the sound of Norah Jameson's German accent, that blonde She-Wolf from two weeks ago who'd visited her in St. Mungo's and had promised to pay her a visit when Tonks was better recovered.
Slowly swiveling her head in Norah's direction, Tonks whimpered a soft cry that Norah could only describe as the sound a wounded pup would make when its master kicked it and seemed to be trying to stand up and get her bearings back as Norah let out a growl the second the dark-haired wizard gripped onto Remus Lupin's wife's arms, pulling her back rather roughly as he took a half step back, causing her to let out a groan.
"Do you mind, bitch?" the man standing behind Tonks groaned as he cupped her chin forcefully in his strong, calloused hand, and forcefully turned her back around so that she was resuming her kneeling position on the floor in front of him. "You're kinda interrupting a private moment here, lady, so why don't you beat it?" he growled savagely.
Tonks let out a muffled whine as a look of terror and desperation flashed through her eyes as she managed to swat the guy's hand away from her face, staring at Norah.
The younger witch didn't say a word, but it was clear to Norah Jameson that Tonks was in distress as she winced, coughing and gasping for air, inhaling and exhaling frantic, shaking breaths, and was failing to hold back salty tears as they slid down her face quickly.
"Get off of her! Get out of here right now, before you really start to piss me off, man," Norah snarled, stepping closer, and allowing the shadow of the She-Wolf she knew herself to be cross her features, and she was rewarded for her actions as the man blanched.
She raised her wand at the man's chest and had been fully prepared to blow this man into oblivion with a well-deserved Cruciatus Curse or a Bat-Bogey Hex at the least, though fortunately for her, the guy from the bar did not seem to want to pick a fight.
No doubt he had seen the shadow of the She-Wolf flit across Norah's pale features, and he promptly let go of Tonks's arms, mumbling something under his breath, and shoving Lupin's wife violently forward before he turned his back on the pair of witches. Norah let out a wolfish, animalistic snarl and bared her teeth at the now-closed bathroom door, momentarily tempted to run after him and make sure that creep never laid so much as another finger on an innocent young witch again, but more than that, she needed to check on Tonks, make sure Lupin's wife was not injured in any way or form.
Letting out a shaking breath through her flared nostrils, Norah turned on the heel of her black boot and knelt down next to Tonks, who had let herself fall onto the cold bathroom floor so that she was now slumped forward and resting on the heels of her feet.
Though the moment didn't last long as the second that Norah reached out a somewhat shaking hand and laid a gentle hand on Tonks's shoulder, the woman jumped.
Tonks scrambled backward until she flung herself into the nearest stall and vomited into the toilet, slamming the door behind her. Nausea at what had almost happened to her just now clawed at her throat, and she tried to force down the bile, but it was too late, and her stomach contracted so violently that she barely made it to the toilet.
She sank to her knees and heaved, retching until only clear liquid was coming up. Her throat felt sore from the stomach acid that was layering it and her mouth tasted of vomit. There was no-one to fetch her a glass of water or offer to clean up the mess. The stomach-acid stench of vomit filled her nostrils. Tonks surveyed the mess in the toilet bowl with watery, red-rimmed eyes full of fresh tears, and her stomach dry-heaved again.
"Tonks? Tonks? Are you okay?" Norah Jameson's German accent reached her eardrums, causing Tonks to jerk her head up from where it was bent over the toilet bowl.
An acid-sweet stench invaded her nostrils, bringing back the waves of nausea. Tonks gulped and spat out a last, bitter stream of bile as Norah spoke to her yet again.
"Tonks?" A light rapping of knuckles at the bathroom door and Norah Jameson's voice came again, more urgent this time, and sounding desperate. "Talk to me. You good?"
Tonks groaned, sighing, and stood, her legs numb and shaking with the effort. "I—I'm good, Norah." Her voice was hoarse, and her vision blurry as fresh tears filled her line of sight. Tonks flushed the toilet and stumbled out of the cubicle, falling against a nearby sink.
It took a few tries for Tonks's trembling hands to manage to turn on the bloody faucet, and when it did, the damned water came splashing out too hard, splashing her face and the scars on her neck, causing the young witch to reel backward, grasping clumsily at the handle, turning the water down to a respectable manner and began to wash the bitter taste of vomit from her mouth, waving her wand and conjuring up a toothbrush.
Norah sighed as she watched the young woman brush her teeth with more force than was really necessary, contemplating her next move on how exactly to address this.
She did not seem to want her help, but nor could Norah just bring herself to walk away from what had almost happened to Remus Lupin's wife here in The Leaky Cauldron.
With a sigh, Tonks pressed her head against the mirror of the bathroom, hoping its cold surface against the burning hot skin of her forehead would quell the dull aching.
She wished Remus were here with her, all of a sudden. Her husband would know what to say to her in order to make her feel better, and would not have allowed that creep, Max, to almost assault her as he had almost gotten away with, had it not been for Norah.
Norah sighed as Tonks turned off the faucet and wiped her hands with a paper towel, exhaling shaking breaths through her nose, her shoulders heaving with silent sobs.
The young blonde watched as Tonks made a show of shifting the strap of her black purse from one arm to the other and slowly lifted her head to regard Norah Jameson.
Her sobs were now dissolving into occasional sharp breaths and sniffling, and she had moved her hands away from her face, lowering them into shaking fists at her sides.
Though as quickly as her light grey eyes met Norah's bright blue eyes, burning bright with a fathomless, smoldering rage at what that creep had almost done to Tonks, Tonks felt her face flush hotly in shame and she ducked her head in order to look away.
Tonks just stared down at the tips of her black boots and the bathroom floor, as she wrapped her arms around her middle and shivered as a violent shaking spell consumed her.
"Are you okay, Tonks?" Norah asked again now that Remus's wife seemed like she might actually understand what was being said to her now that the worst of her shock looked as though it had worn off. She'd not been in the bathroom too long, but it had been more than enough time for that monster to do unspeakable things to the young witch, and Tonks was certainly behaving as though she had been traumatized. "Did he hurt you? Do I need to take you to the apothecary here, or even to St. Mungo's, Tonks?" she questioned.
Tonks bit down hard on her bottom lip, hesitated for a fraction of a second in indecision as she slowly shook her head, as if in slow motion, but she still wouldn't look at Norah. "N—no," she whispered. "I'm fine. Thank you for coming when you did, Norah," Tonks heard herself whispering in a trembling voice that sounded incredibly meek.
"Do I need to send a Patronus to the Auror Department and report this? It's a crime, it needs to be reported. That man discriminated against you because of your—"
Though Tonks, upon seeing Norah slowly raise her wand, fully intent on sending a Patronus to Arthur Weasley to report what had happened, assuming he was still on duty, she shot out an arm and gingerly lowered Norah's arm and shot her a darkened glower.
"No!" Tonks begged, a desperate, pleading tone laced through her somewhat shy and reserved voice, and Norah could see just how much this incident had shaken Tonks.
The younger witch had unshed tears brimming at the corners of her red-rimmed eyes, and her lower lip was trembling as she struggled to maintain her emotional composure, but she was clearly trying to remain hardened and stoic in front of Norah.
"N—no Aurors. I told you I'm fine," she growled, and she seemed startled at perhaps hearing the She-Wolf within her emerge for the very first time as she blinked owlishly at Norah in shock, her gray eyes widened and a hand clamped over her mouth.
Norah frowned. She probably didn't want to talk to the Aurors considering she had just lost her job in that exact same department and Tonks didn't want any of her coworkers to know what had happened, as she imagined it was like rubbing salt into the already tender wound that was her broken heart, or maybe she figured her coworkers wouldn't take her seriously when she told them the truth about the nature of her condition.
"They'll listen to you, Mrs. Lupin," Norah urged kindly, reaching out a cautious hand and gingerly setting it on her shoulder as she carefully guided Tonks out of the women's lavatory and out towards the crisp fresh air of Diagon Alley. "I'll make sure they do. It doesn't matter that you're a werewolf now. What that man tried to do to you isn't bloody okay, Tonks. It's a crime. It needs to be reported. The Aurors are obligated to deal with it if you file charges against that creep and file an official complaint. I can call them."
But Tonks continued to shake her head no. "No." Tonks vehemently shook her head again in protest. "N—nothing happened, Norah. I—I'm okay, n—not that it's any concern of yours," she spat, shrugging her shoulder off of Norah's hand and turning to regard the young blonde werewolf as she slung the strap of her black purse over her shoulder, fixing Norah Jameson with a suspicious stare as she raised her brows at her.
Norah sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "No concern of mine, huh? Nothing happened? That was why I found you on the ground of the witches' restroom of The Leaky Cauldron?" Norah growled, a harsh bark to her voice.
Tonks merely stared back at Norah and furrowed her brows into a slight frown.
Norah bit the inside wall of her cheek and continued. Lupin's wife might not like hearing this, but she bloody needed to. "If that man hurt you, you need to let me take you to St. Mungo's and tell an Auror what happened. Let the Ministry press charges against him. Though you're a werewolf now, not everyone treats our kind like… like that," she growled, and even Norah was surprised at herself as she heard herself like out a vicious snarl. "I'll go with you if you want. You don't have to go by yourself. We can tell your husband what happened. He'll understand, Nymphadora, he's been through this before."
Tonks stared at Norah with tears brimming in her eyes, and for a brief moment, actually seemed to be contemplating her offer. Norah sighed, able to see in her eyes that something in the younger witch's mind was at the very least, convincing her to pull away from her new friend who had saved her skin from being horribly assaulted in the lavatory just now, and Norah knew she was going to say no a few seconds before she actually did.
"No, Norah." Tonks shook her head and shakily shrugged out of Norah's grasp. "He—he didn't do anything to me. I—I'm fine. Just—just leave me alone." She shrugged away from the young blonde woman and turned her back on her fellow werewolf. "I—I appreciate you coming and checking on me when you did. He—he barely did anything to me, a—and it shouldn't matter to you anyway. I—I need to go home. Please. Excuse me."
"Tonks, wait!" Norah shot out an arm and latched onto her upper-arm, gently pulling her back before the younger witch could turn on the heel of her boot and Disapparate. "Don't go…"
Tonks allowed for Norah to pull her back, but stared up at her with sadness, antagonizing hurt, and anger, and what almost looked like unbridled fear in her eyes.
Norah wasn't exactly sure how this little confrontation was going to end, and what she saw in the young newly Turned She-Wolf's eyes was a potent combination of vulnerability, anxiousness, fear, and uncertainty at what her future held for her now.
She didn't usually let herself care about another human being this much, at least not ones that weren't her husband or her son, Jax, but seeing Tonks like this was unsettling. Norah could not explain it, but she knew she liked Remus Lupin's wife.
Hopefully in time would consider her to be something like a friend. This strange feeling made Norah not want to allow Tonks to leave and go back to her home in Wales.
It made Norah feel almost protective of the young witch, who was undoubtedly shaken at what she had almost had happened to her in the witch's lavatory just now, which was a strange feeling, considering most of the time she was so concerned on protecting herself and her husband son from other witches and wizards who'd discriminate against them all, or more specifically, her and Wes.
Though as they stood outside The Leaky Cauldron, each one just staring at the other, Norah wondered what exactly she wanted to ask Tonks. She could not make her go to the Aurors and report this if she didn't want to.
She couldn't. Tonks was claiming the man in the restroom hadn't hurt her, and it seemed to Norah like Tonks just wanted to put what had happened completely behind her and go home. She had so far declined all of her offers to take her to St. Mungo's for a medical examination or to the Ministry to report the crime to her former department.
What do I want, then? Norah thought, furrowing her blonde brows into a frown. There was nothing else that Norah could do for her at this point. She'd made sure that the wizard had not hurt Remus's wife any more than he already had. Her part in this was done.
But then, why was it so hard for her to just let Tonks go home alone after all this? Norah knew she did not want her to have to go home alone to an empty cottage since her husband was away on Order duty, according to Mr. Weasley when he'd left her the Patronus message. Tonks was still very clearly upset, and in a different way than last time.
Norah huffed in minor frustration and agitation with the young witch. "What I just witnessed was in no way okay, Tonks, and you don't bloody need to pretend that it was. That wizard, that blind, bloody fool was hurting you, harming you, and I don't care what you say did or didn't happen! I just want you to take care of yourself. I'd like to…I'd like to help you through this, Tonks, this is a difficult time of transition for you, Mrs. Lupin. I…I don't have a lot of friends, there aren't many people in this world that I can trust, once they find out what we are, they don't look at me the same way again," she grumbled, raking her hands through her short blonde hair. "But…you look at me and you don't see this," Norah growled wolfishly, pointing a shaking hand the scars on her face and near the front of her collarbones. "Or these…you see only me, Norah Jameson, just as I look at your husband and you and see only Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. Let me help you. Let me be your friend, Tonks."
Tonks frowned, though Norah heard the young witch let out a reluctant little sigh and mutely nodded her head, dipping her head in acknowledgment of Norah's words.
"I—I'd like that," she whispered, biting down hard on her bottom lip. "More…more than anything. There are—there are so few here that I can trust now that I'm…like this…"
She lifted a hand and shakily gestured towards the still-healing scars on her neck, and it did not escape Norah's attention just how defeated and upset the young witch was.
Poor Tonks was looking entirely devastated, and Norah knew she could not leave her new friend and fellow Wolf out here alone in Diagon Alley after dark, where there could be more unsavory wizards or witches lurking in the shadows, itching for fresh meat.
"Tonks, I honestly don't want anything from you other than to make sure you get home safe. Your—your friend, the red-haired bloke, Weasley, asked me to come to make sure you were all right. I—I heard that you lost your job today," Norah murmured quietly.
Tonks nodded, though she offered no verbal response, merely blinking at Norah.
Norah sighed and continued. "Here." She shrugged out of her black leather jacket and handed it to Tonks. "Put that on. You can keep it; I've got two more like it at home. You're bloody freezing."
Tonks frowned, biting down on her bottom lip as she faltered in a decision, though at last, her shoulders slumped in defeat as she numbly accepted the garment, shrugging into the jacket and pulling it tighter around herself for warmth.
"I—I don't want anything from you either, Norah. I just want to go home and forget tonight ever happened. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less…" The younger witch frowned as her bottom lip trembled and she took a moment to shift her purse to her other arm to ease the ache in her shoulder.
It was unsettling for Norah and heartbreaking to watch the newly-turned werewolf feeling so down on her luck and utterly defeated. She had lost a job that she adored and had become dangerously close to becoming assaulted on the bathroom floor of The Leaky Cauldron.
If that didn't count for a crap day in Norah's book, she didn't know what did.
Norah hesitated, chewing on the inside wall of her cheek as she weighed her options, though at last, decided to speak up. "Look, Mrs. Lupin. Don't take this the wrong way," she began hesitantly. "And again, I don't want anything from you other than your friendship, and your and your husband's help in finding my husband and son, but…there are no strings attached to what I am about to offer you. But I could come back with you, just to make sure you get home okay. I don't fancy another visit from that creep you met earlier, but now that that was your first taste of what it's like for wolves like us, especially females, I don't want you to go through something like that again if I can help it, Tonks. I don't think you should be alone right now, and I don't think you're okay to Disapparate on your own. You're clearly upset and not thinking straight, and I don't want you trying to do this in a haze and wind up so far off from your destination that you Splinch yourself."
Tonks flinched at the mention of the possibility of Splinching herself, and Norah could not help but feel a bit slighted as the younger witch held a skeptical expression on her ashen features as she glowered across the way at Norah with narrowed light gray eyes.
Norah sighed and continued, sensing that Tonks was not convincing and needed some more coaxing. "Look. I just want to know that you're going to be all right," Norah told Tonks with a frown. "Just let me take you home. Side-Along Apparition. Nothing else. I promise. Just to get you to the front door of your house and I'll go. I won't tell your husband what happened to her tonight if you really don't want me to," Norah said, pained.
She couldn't stand to leave Mrs. Lupin on her own. As much as Norah wanted to believe that she didn't give a damn about the young She-Wolf, she knew that wasn't true.
Norah did not want her new friend to face any other kind of danger or pain, though the harsh reality of their current situation was that, in time, Tonks would become used to this kind of treatment over the long run and perhaps even desensitized by the prejudice.
The thought of her trying to Apparate home alone, probably crying along the way and becoming distracted so that she missed her destination completely and would wind up in Merlin only knew what part of the bloody country, injured or not, made Norah feel terrible, and it was this thought that propelled her forward and held out her hand.
"Okay," Tonks finally agreed in a low voice that was so faint, it was barely a whisper. Norah nodded; honestly, relieved Lupin's wife was finally accepting her support.
Norah just wished it hadn't taken a tragedy of this magnitude to get her to see sense. She drew in a sharp breath of cold night air as Tonks tightly gripped onto her arm.
Even though she ordinarily preferred to keep other people at arm's length, a relatively safe distance away from her and her family, Norah knew she simply couldn't bring herself to let her try to get home alone on her own right now. Not in her current state. Tonks needed a woman by her side to help her with this, and as far as she could tell, aside from the ginger bloke's wife, Mrs. Weasley, Tonks had no one else in her life to help.
As the pair of witches collectively turned on the heels of their boots to Disapparate back to Tonks and Lupin's cottage in Wales, Norah could only hope that by saving Tonks's life and befriending her, that she wasn't making the biggest bloody mistake of her life…