Chaser 3

Appleby Arrows

Round 10, Season 9

Prompts: One half of your OTP has broken the other's trust

(Word) Topsy-turvy

(Object) Hourglass

(Setting) A park

Word Count: 1,167

A/N This story is based sometime during the third book. Thank you so much to DaughteroftheOneTrueKing, ScarlettWriter91, and Ikuni Hattori, without whom I would have had no motivation to write this story.

Tonks sat down at her kitchen table with a loud huff. It had been three weeks since Sirius Black had escaped, and it felt like her workload doubled with each passing day- not to mention the fact that, in addition to her Ministry duties, her mother was breathing down Tonks's neck to catch her traitorous cousin. Needless to say, Tonks was exhausted and ready for a break.

Remus came bustling into the kitchen a moment later. He kissed his girlfriend's forehead, then began massaging her shoulders. "Another rough day at work?"

"Yeah. You know, you're the only person not hounding me to find Sirius. Thanks for that."

Remus chuckled. "I'm not so sure what I'd say to him after all these years."

Tonks chuckled as well. Remus always knew exactly what to say to make her feel better.

"Is Scrimgeour still after you because of your relationship to Sirius?" Remus asked, growing serious.

"Unfortunately. He seems to think I'm helping him. But let me tell you, if I ever find my lovely cousin, I will kill him with my bare hands for all of the grief he's caused me."

Remus merely hummed in response.

The last thing Tonks wanted to do on her day off was to clean, but adulting was difficult, so that's what she ended up doing.

Tonks was dusting off her desk when she noticed a worn picture. In the picture, Sirius was smiling and holding a very young, giggling Tonks. Watching it play over and over made her stomach churn. She had placed it there years ago when she still believed Sirius to be innocent, back when she had first started training to become an Auror. She must have forgotten about it. Seeing the picture made her nostalgic. She wished to go back to those days, before her life had gone topsy-turvy.

When Tonks had first learned about the true nature of Sirius's crimes, she had been furious with the man she had once loved with all her heart. So in a fit of anger and grief, she had destroyed all of the pictures she had of him and set fire to everything he had ever given to her.

Except for the picture left on her desk.

Though Tonks was still angry with her cousin, she felt more sad than anything as she watched the photo of Sirius tickling her and making her laugh. Sirius had been her best friend. He had always been there for her as a child. He would buy her treats and toys, make her laugh when she felt like crying, and taught her everything she knew about pranking people.

Tonks hadn't had it in her to destroy the picture like she had the others. Instead, she left it dusty and placed an hourglass beside it to remind herself that the passage of time was a cruel thing.

Late one evening, Scrimgeour got an anonymous tip about two men lurking in a park near Bath. He didn't think it was too dangerous, so he sent Tonks to investigate.

Tonks Apparated to a spot just outside of the park where the two men supposedly were, grumbling about being sent on these types of missions because she was the newest Auror on the team. However, she stopped when she caught something moving in the corner of her eye.

It was pitch dark out, so she was able to hide behind a tree without being spotted.

What she saw scared her more than anything else in her life ever had.

Standing in the middle of the park was Remus, but he wasn't alone. There was another man with him, and just seeing him made her blood run cold.

Sirius Black, who was looking worse for wear, was standing next to Remus.

Tonks nearly broke her cover to try to help Remus, to fight the mass murderer together, but she stopped herself when she noticed that they appeared to be having a serious, friendly conversation. She wordlessly cast an Eavesdropping Spell to listen in.

"-Scrimgeour is blaming Tonks for this mess," Remus said.

This seemed to annoy Sirius, for he growled. "But she doesn't know anything about how I escaped or where I am. Right?"

Remus nodded. "I've been careful to keep everything I know away from our conversations, which has proved difficult. It seems as though her life now revolves around you."

Sirius laughed heartily, and Remus quickly shushed him. "Well, that's nothing new. She's always been rather fond of me."

"I'm not so sure that's the case these days. Just the other day, she was telling me just how much she wanted to kill you."

Sirius continued to chuckle. "There's a very long line for that honor."

"I'm being serious, Padfoot. Tonks is under immense pressure from the Ministry and Andromeda to find you. Not to mention the fact that if she were to find out I helped you escape-"

Tonks couldn't bear to hear anymore, so she Disapparated. Had she stayed any longer, she would have discovered that Sirius was truly innocent of his crimes.

Tonks was sitting in her favorite chair in the living room, an empty glass of firewhiskey in her hand, when Remus returned home. He flashed her a smile, but it faltered when he saw the expression on her face.

"Is everything alright, my love?"

Tonks resisted the urge to scowl. "I don't know. I was just wondering if your meeting with Sirius went well this evening?"

All of the blood drained from Remus's face. "It's not what you think, Dora. If you just let me explain-"

"Explain what?! Like how you used me to get Sirius out of Azkaban, to keep the Ministry from hiding him? Lord knows what else you've used me for to keep that traitor safe."

Remus stepped closer to Tonks and tried to place his hand on her shoulder, but she flinched away. "I didn't use you, Dora."

Tonks snorted. "Like hell, you didn't."

"I'm telling the truth."

When Tonks didn't respond, Remus sighed and went into their room, packed his things, and came back out a few minutes later.

Remus stopped just before he left and turned to look at Tonks. "I love you, Dora."

Tonks stared determinedly at a spot on the wall in front of her.

The door closing behind Remus brought tears to Tonks's eyes. She went to her study to try to get some clarity, but none came.

The picture of her and Sirius suddenly caught her eye. She wished more than anything that she could talk to him. She longed to talk to the love of her life. But more than anything, she yearned to have someone in whom she could confide.

Then she saw the hourglass beside the picture and was filled with such overwhelming anger. Time had taken everyone she had ever loved away from her. She picked up the hourglass and threw it at the wall, shattering it.

Tonks fell to her knees and shattered, just like the hourglass had a moment before.