From the Ashes

by skyemarie

After the final battle Nymphadora Tonks is left to rebuild her fractured life with the help of an unexpected friend.

Title: From the Ashes

Author: Skyemarie

Pairings: implied Remus/Tonks, possible Bill/Tonks (later chapters)

Rating: PG (overall)

Summary: After the final battle Nymphadora Tonks is left to rebuild her fractured life with the help of an unexpected friend.

Chapter One

Nymphadora Tonks stood uncertainly before the once grand home at number 12 Grimmauld Place. So much has changed, she thought sadly as the late summer breeze ruffled her curly hair. The past five years of her life had centered on the habitants and goings-on within the humbled home. They were times of struggle and pain but she also remembered moments of great joy. But those memories, both good and ill, now seemed so very far away.

Five years ago she had been an Auror, fresh out of training and eager to prove herself. She quickly attracted attention from her superiors for her willingness to face danger as well as her innate clumsiness. Somehow, she had managed to also attract the interest of one of the greatest wizards she had ever known, Albus Dumbledore. He had been her Headmaster when she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry but she had rarely had the pleasure, fortunate or otherwise, of really knowing him while in school. She had never been a stellar student. She had always had to work hard for her good grades. She'd barely received enough OWLS and NEWTS to qualify for Auror training. So to say she was surprised when Dumbledore owled her one day to request a meeting would be an understatement.

She remembers that afternoon well. She'd agreed to meet him at The Leaky Cauldron for a late lunch and when she arrived the proprietor, Tom, had quickly escorted her to a private room in the back. There she came face to face with her old Headmaster for the first time. He looked less than awe-inspiring in his fading robes, his tattered beard flowing fully past his chest. But it was his eyes that earned her attention. Despite his age and somewhat haggard appearance, Dumbledore's eyes were a startling, vivid blue, full of intelligence. That day she learned that the fabled Order of the Phoenix had regrouped. That the murmurings she heard in the halls of the Ministry were not rumors. You-Know-Who, Lord Voldemort, was back. Dumbledore asked her, young, clumsy, Tonks, to join the Order in the fight against evil.

Though she felt honored, shocked that he had chosen her, Tonks remained reluctant. She was already much of a target; an Auror, a metamorphmagus, and an outcast member of one of the most notorious Dark families in the wizarding world. Dumbledore quickly read the uncertainty in her eyes and requested that she consider his request for a few days and then owl him her response. She'd nodded distractedly, turned down the offer of dessert, and quickly apparated home. Three days later she sent Dumbledore a letter, it had simply read, yes.

That decision had changed the course of her life. From that day on she was a member of the Order. She had had to keep her involvement secret from almost everyone, only her parents knowing the truth. Tonks had continued her position at the Ministry but on her days off and sometimes even after shifts as an Auror she was in the service of Dumbledore and the Order. Within the year it had become so difficult to balance the Order, her job, and maintain her own flat that she had abandoned her independence and moved into Grimmauld Place. She remembers how awkward it had felt at first but quickly, the Black family house had become her home.

Realizing that she was accomplishing nothing by gawking, Tonks strode up the steps and pushed open the door. The difference within the home compared to outside was immediately obvious. The air smelled old, like aged parchment and was several degrees cooler than that outside. She felt the tingle of magic against her skin as old security wards confirmed her identity and allowed her to remain in the house. She took a deep breath, trying to let the quite of the house sooth her nerves. How silly to be wary of a house, she thought. But in all honesty, it was so much more than a house to her.

It was within these walls; just one floor up that she had been reunited with her cousin Sirius Black, whom she had not seen since she was a child. The reunion had been bittersweet for them both. Her mother had always been fond of Sirius and often he had visited their home instead of his on breaks from school. It was no secret that Sirius and his parents harbored no love for each other, but Andromeda had always been more than willing to offer the teenaged wizard the love he'd never received at home. When he had been accused of plotting the death of James and Lily Potter and of murdering Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles in cold blood, her mother had urged her to never believe a word of it. Andromeda never doubted the innocence of her beloved cousin and therefore, neither had Tonks.

Nearly 13 years in Azkaban had changed Sirius and Tonks had barely recognized him. Gone was the laughing, overconfident youth she remembered chasing her around her dad's rose garden. In his place stood a man aged by life, the smile long gone from his eyes, though the lines of it remained on his face. She could see glimpses of tattoos on his skin, marks left by his time in confinement but she remembers thinking they looked oddly attractive on his pale skin. He'd questioned her appearance, telling her she looked nothing like the child he once knew, a child who had had hazel eyes and hair as black as her mother's. She had laughed then, realizing he had no idea that she was a metamorphmagus. Once she had explained her gift and cautiously allowed her true features to surface the tension in Sirius' thin body had vanished and he'd embraced her warmly.

Tonks sighed and looked around her. There was hardly any evidence within the house that Sirius had once been there. There were no signs of his mischievous smile, his glinting dark eyes. No trace of the small pranks he'd occasionally play and she and Remus when the boredom and helplessness had been too much. It was as if he had never existed. As if they had never existed. Tonks felt the anguish of her loses rising within her, threatening to overwhelm her like they had for the past year. Her body began to tremble as she fought off the emotions raging against her, at last she remained quiet and standing, though tears shimmered in her violet eyes.

Barely one year ago had the Battle at last ended. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had faced Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and they had won. But the price of victory had been great. The Order suffered huge loses at the hands of those who did not hesitate in using unforgivable curses. The sky had been alight with magic, the air crackling with spent energies. The village of Hogsmead had been their battleground, smoke from burning buildings choking their senses. In the end Tonks had lost nearly all she had fought for. Hestia, Charlie, Flitwick, Mad-Eye, Remus, her mother…all lost that horrible day.

With a choked sob, Tonks allowed herself to submit to her growing pain and slid to the floor. Her body wracked with grief, her muscles ached from it, lungs burning with every breath. It used to scare her, the strength of emotion that overcame her in these periods of despair but they'd long since become normal to her. She knew coming back to this house would be hard but she had never been one to run from her fears.

As she lay on the floor gasping for air, desperate to calm herself, she makes herself a promise. She vows that she will reclaim this house and her life and finally heal.