"I'm quite impressed that nobody at school seemed to bring up Sirius," Remus commented, nodding at the man in question.
"I'm insulted," Sirius gave his opinion on the matter. "I'm supposed to be a household name."
I had to snort at that. Sirius was one of those things that all the grown-ups knew about and maybe some of the kids. It certainly wasn't common knowledge for anyone younger than me. Same age? Maybe you knew something about him. But just a little.
Then again, her knowledge of him wasn't exactly normal.
"Oh, they brought him up," I assured them.
It felt a bit odd to be referring to the man who was right in front of me in the third person. Then again, he may as well be a different person.
"Oh dear, what happened?"
"Well, apparently my very existence insulted Pauline..."
Tonks didn't know what was wrong with Pauline but there was definitely something wrong with the girl. There had to be with the way she kept seeking Tonks out like this. They didn't like each other so no one expected them to be around each other. Which meant that you didn't keep trying to seek the other person out. Pauline seemed to have lost that memo.
Like now. Pauline was currently standing in front of Tonks (having stomped her way across the Common Room) with her hands on her hips. She hadn't said anything to Tonks, just stomped over to stare apparently.
Tonks tried to sidestep her but Pauline just mirrored her movements and glared at her. It was definitely not more attractive when they were nose to nose so Tonks took a very quick step back to her original position.
"Did you want something?" Tonks asked when it became apparent that Pauline was going to say absolutely nothing.
Stupid idiot.
Still nothing from the other girl. What was up with that? Did she know how annoying she was? Scratch that, it was Pauline. Of course, she knew how annoying she was being. That's what she existed for.
"No?" Tonks put her hands on her hips as well. "Well, let me past!"
She tried to push past her again but this time Pauline pushed her back. This time, she didn't keep her balance and fell on her butt.
"Hey!"
"You think your something Nymphadora Tonks," Pauline sneered.
"It's Tonks. T-O-N-K-S. Tonks."
You would have thought that people would have got this by now. It had actually caught on quite quickly. Of course, traditional British Boarding School etiquette of using surnames played a big part in that. That and the fact that Nymphadora was seriously a mouthful and people were grateful not to have to try and get their mouths around it.
"You'd think someone with such a unique name would always be using it," Pauline said slyly.
That nearly made Tonks snort. Unique? Yeah, it was that. Uniquely hideous. But what did Pauline care? It wasn't like they were friends.
"Tonks. It's Tonks."
Was she a broken record or something? Or was Pauline just deaf? And what was all this rubbish about a unique name? It wasn't any of her business why she didn't like using her first name.
Tonks looked around her and noticed that they had attracted quite the little crowd around them. Even Hufflepuffs liked a bit of drama every now and then.
Pauline didn't look the least bit ruffled by Tonks' annoyance. Which was annoying because Tonks was usually good at winding her up. In fact, there was an unnerving smirk on the other girl's face that Tonks did not like.
"I wouldn't go yelling your surname about the place," she said in an odd tone.
Tonks gave her a confused look. Pauline really didn't make any sense. And she still didn't know what her problem was with her.
"What are you talking about?" Tonks demanded.
Pauline just gave her a smug look. Tonks narrowed her eyes. What was wrong with her surname? It was miles better than her first. She hated all of this pussy-footing around. If you were going to say something just come straight out and say it.
Pauline just smiled and then replied in a louder voice than was strictly necessary, "Well, I don't know about you but I would be pretty embarrassed if my name was attached to such a scandal."
Tonks could feel the blood draining from her face but she stood strong regardless.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you don't," Pauline said sceptically.
"It's none of your business."
"Thought you didn't know?"
Argh, this was annoying.
"Anything to do with my family is none of your business."
Tonks even added a good, strong poke to Pauline's chest for good measure. It was very satisfying.
"I think it's everyone's business that your mother was the run-away Black sister."
Pauline stood back and let that bombshell sink in, an infuriatingly smug smile on her face. Tonks just wanted to slap it off. Everyone around them was gasping and muttering.
Of course, a lot of them knew the story of a Black sister escaping the family to marry a muggle (though they always got that bit wrong, dad was a muggleborn). But it had become sort of like a legend, no one really thinking that Andromeda Black was a real person- as stupid as that sounded.
"I heard she bewitched him."
"No, she was always the outcast."
"-supposed to be married to a Lestrange-"
"That's why she ran-"
"My mother did not run away," Tonks told her opponent.
Because that's what Pauline was now. Her opponent. Because they were fighting. Tonks would fight anyone who talked badly of her family. Even people bigger and stronger than her. No one would get away with it.
"Of course, she did," Pauline said with a matter-of-fact toss of her braid. "She ran away from her duties."
"She fell in love!" Tonks retorted hotly.
"So romantic," she heard someone sigh from behind her.
At least someone was on her side. Maybe.
"You don't fall in love with someone of a lower status," Pauline scoffed. "Don't be stupid."
"You're stupid."
Not the most eloquent of insults but she wasn't mum and it had the same effect. A bright red face and a scowl. Pauline retaliated by insinuating nasty things about her dad.
That made Tonks snap and finally lose her temper. Before she realised it, both girls were rolling about on floor shouting and grabbing at each other. Tonks made sure to bang Pauline's head on the floor even though her fingers were tangled in Tonks' hair. She could hear a mixture of cheers and shouts for the Prefects and Professor Sprout above her but she didn't care. All she cared about was ripping Stupid Pauline to shreds...
"We got yanked apart eventually, punished and then the good-old Hogwarts gossip train and rumour mill kicked in," I finished dully. "Everyone knew who my mother was by the following breakfast."
Sirius winced in sympathy.
"At least your mother was one of the good Blacks," Remus offered, obviously trying to see a good side to the story.
I couldn't help but scoff at that.
"Not that that matters when her surname used to be Black."
AN: Remember if you want to see Tonks do something in particular while she's in Hogwarts just drop me a review!
