2 weeks later –

It was hot, extremely hot in fact. Tonks mumbled to herself as she wandered down the dusty, dry path of Grimmauld Place and waited for Number 12 to come into view. It had been a rough day at work, her first day back since she had left hospital. It still pained her to morph, so she went in looking rough, and she was coming back looking even worse. She trundled up the steps, entered the manor and headed for the kitchen where she hoped to find a glass of cold water to drink or drown in. Either sounded good. She was still talking to herself as she descended the steps into the cool basement kitchen. A voice interrupted her conversation and made her aware of others in the room.

"Er, Tonks?" It was Ron Weasley. "Are you ok?" She closed her eyes.

"Talk to you later," she said quietly to herself, reminding Ron at that moment of Luna Lovegood. She glanced around at the people in front of her; Ron, his mother Molly, his brother Bill, another ginger person who she didn't know, how many Weasley's are there?!, and two women who looked at the dishevelled Tonks in bemusement.

"Oh, wotcher Ron," she smiled at him, dazed. He frowned and looked at his mother.

"Hello Tonks, dear. Been at work?" Molly asked. Tonks nodded and sat down wearily.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked, not that she wasn't happy to see them.

"I passed my Apparation test yesterday so I thought I'd come say hi," Ron beamed. Oh, that's right, Tonks thought. She had been told, she had just forgotten. Hermione Granger was planning on taking hers too. Apparently, Harry had been forced to miss his by his Muggle uncle. Tonks made a mental note to invite Harry to stay during the autumn break and take the test.

"Congratulations Ron, never had a doubt in my mind," she replied eventually. She looked up at the strangers in the room and, due to her lack of sleep and sanity, forgot all manners.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, yes. Tonks this is my son Charlie. Bill's girlfriend Fleur and this is Lady … what was it dear?"

"Thompson," the woman finished for Molly. She offered Tonks her hand. Tonks thought that she would probably pity a woman with a name like Lady, were her own name not Nymphadora.

"Charlie tames dragons in Romania," Ron added randomly with a mouth full of cake. Tonks raised her eyebrows in interest.

"Really? That must be a pretty dangerous job." He nodded and smiled politely but said nothing. They must think I'm cuckoo, Tonks thought. She wished she didn't look so bad, especially as Charlie was rather good looking. To make matters worse, she guessed that this Fleur girl was a Veela, or had Veela-ish tendencies, meaning that she would look stunning even if someone pushed her off a 50 ft bridge into a lake of sewage. Tonks cringed at the thought.

"Lady's a werewolf," Ron supplied again, still with his mouth full. Molly turned to him and glared.

"Ronald, don't talk with your mouth full!" she snapped. Tonks looked at Lady. She didn't look like a werewolf, but she was hardly going to question it. She wondered what she was doing in Head Quarters. Realising she was staring she turned away, reaching for the kettle.

"I'll do that dear, you sit down," Molly piped. Tonks glanced at Lady who was still looking at her.

"Does it bother you?" she asked, her voice not accusing but questioning. Tonks shook her head and looked at her apologetically.

"No, no, of course not." She felt uncomfortable, as if she was the stranger.

"We have a friend who's a werewolf," Ron explained, and Tonks was thankful that he did. She didn't want to feel as if she was making excuses for her behaviour. "Don't we Tonks. Yeah, Lupin. He's nice. He's not himself at the moment though." Ron added glumly. His mother sighed at him as she handed Tonks her tea.

"I've had about enough of you commenting about other people's business, Ronald. Keep quiet or go home," his mother said firmly. Ron said nothing, and helped himself to another cake.

"How's work then Tonks?" Bill asked, "Have they missed you?" Tonks shrugged and scrunched her face up.

"You know, work's work. Fudge is Fudge. Oh yeah, before I forget, I got fired today," she said casually.

"What?!" Molly and Bill exclaim collectively.

"Bloody hell," came Ron's reply and a sharp slap around the back of his head from his mother. Tonks sighed. Better now than never. At least the Weasley's could then tell others so she wouldn't have to talk about it too much.

"When I entered the office today I was sent straight to the Director of Auror, git. Anyway, it turns out they've been carrying out an inquiry as to why I've known where Sirius Black has been forover 2 years and have failed to mention it to anyone. Apparently it has cost them a lot of money to search for him since his escape, and I have abused my position as an Auror. Good ol' Kingsley on the other hand has been given a pay rise for his dedication to the search for Sirius over the past 3 years. They didn't suspect a thing. Of course he found that highly amusing and couldn't see why I didn't."

It was funny in a way, she supposed. Sirius would have found it funny too.

"So, I'm without a job and facing a possible court hearing," Molly gasped. "Yeah it's a serious offence harbouring a fugitive. And to top it off, I look like something that a disgusting creature has regurgitated, swallowed and coughed back up again." She groaned and hit her head on the table. "So, how've you guys been?" No one dared speak for some time.

"I passed my Apperation test,"

"Ronald," Molly warned.

"You look fine Tonks, don't worry about it," Bill said with an edge of sympathy in his voice. She knew he was lying. She drained her tea and got up.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up guys, I might go visit Lupin now. Catch you later." She apparated, leaving silence in the kitchen.

"Sorry bout her, her cousin's just died."

"Ronald!"