Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the characters aren't mine, much as it distresses me. –weeps a little- They belong to the wonderful JK Rowling. -

This is set just before Order of the Phoenix, and it'll have HBP spoilers likely, so watch out!

Chapter 1 The Night Owl

Nymphadora Tonks groaned and scrunched up her eyes at the tapping sound coming from her bedroom window. Within seconds, her head had disappeared underneath a huge purple and gold pillow, her hands holding it firmly over her ears.

-Tap tap tap-

-Tappity tap tap-

-Tappity tappity tap tap tap-

-TAP TAP TA-

'OK already!' The young women sat up groggily, her short lilac hair standing on end, made worse by her tired hands running through it. She brought one hand down to rub her eyes, before turning on her bedside lamp, blinking. Finally, she reached over her matching purple curtains and pulled them aside, where her suspicions were confirmed.

'Not a Night Owl…..what have I done?'

Night Owls were usually reserved for serious matters that couldn't wait until the normal daytime owl post – or, indeed to inform wizards and witches of any trouble they might be in. The Ministry of Magic had taken to using huge barn owls for this purpose, due to their excellent night vision, however their large white faces were quite a startling sight for someone who has just been woken.

Tonks, having just been woken, was naturally a bit surprised to see the large owl staring in at her from her rain lashed window. Finally, as the owl went to give the window another hard tap with its sharp beak, she shook herself a little and pulled the window open to allow the owl to enter.

It flew in silently, circled the cramped little room in a few swoops, and, seemly contented with something, settled on the bedside cabinet, teetering precariously next to the lamp. The young witch rubbed her eyes a few times and blinked, before twisting round to pull closed the window, which was by this point allowing in a rather bitter wind along with leaving damp splotches of rain on her dishevelled duvet.

Tonks turned to the owl, apprehension filling her. Why was she receiving a Night Owl? As far as she was aware, she hadn't done anything worthy of serious punishment….But no! The Vase! Tonks shuddered.

The incident with the ancient antique enchanted vase last month had been an accident; how could she have known there was a permanent sticking charm on the base? When she'd tried to move it to a new spot where she thought it would look better, her most powerful lifting spell had contrasted horribly with the sticking charm – the force of pulling it upwards with the charm keeping it down had caused the whole vase to shatter into thousands of pieces. She'd been horribly sorry, she'd been trying to help, but her boss in the Auror office, Samuel Flitchworth, didn't really see it that way.

'Nymphadora, we both know that anything remotely domestic should not be attempted by you! And that includes you trying to remodel the Auror office! If we had wanted that vase moved, we would NOT have placed a permanent sticking charm on its base, now would we? Do you have any idea what that vase was!'

Flitchworth, who was already a rather unfortunate shade of puce, had now become puce with a delightful purplish hue around his cheeks. His grey eyes bulged from his face as he waited on a response from Tonks.

'Em….no sir, I thought it was…well, really just a bit of an eyesore really….I had no idea it was something special…..'

'AN EYESORE!' At this, Flitchworth had raised at least a foot off the floor so as to be eye to eye with Tonks.

'Nymphadora, that vase…..' he took a deep breath in a feeble attempt to calm himself.

'That vase belonged to Ardena Nimblefoot, one of the first, and quite possibly one of the best, Aurors the Ministry of Magic ever had.'

At this, he raised an eyebrow at Tonks, as if expecting to see a flicker of recognition in her eyes. However, she remained static, her eyes wide and fearful as she listened to her boss. He sighed, and continued.

'She received it as a gift from the Woodland Pixies of Devon, whom she single-handedly saved in the historic Devon Wood battle between the Pixies themselves and the Marsh Sprites who, having a slight height advantage, had attempted to conquer the Pixies' sacred land with the killing of many innocents. It was a terrible time, the Devon Pixies were a peaceful kind, they did not believe in weapons or violence, why, if it hadn't been for the intervention of the Wizarding world and Ardena's courage, there may have been no Pixies in Britain today.'

'Oh…..Oh, I think I might know what you're talking about! There must have been a class in History of Magic about it…..'

'I should bloody well think so! You young Witches and Wizards just have such disregard towards your heritage; there have been so many great magical people in the past! It's disgraceful that you all know so little about it…..Anyway, the Vase! That vase was handmade by those pixies, and they put a very powerful enchantment on it.'

'Sir….Mr Flitchworth….if you don't mind me asking, what exactly was the enchantment?'

'Well Nymphadora…..' Flitchworth coughed slightly. 'The enchantment put on that vase ensured that those in its presence would always have…sufficient food and water…that they would never starve or suffer great thirst.'

Tonks looked a little confused. 'This….well, this isn't exactly a third world country is it?'

Flitchworth looked affronted. 'Back in the days of the Battle, there was a great amount of famine and drought in the area! Witches and Wizards all around were weakening due to it, why this Vase was a gift from Merlin! So many people wanted it that it had to come to this very room for safekeeping, where it has remained until now!'

Flitchworth finally floated back to the ground and looked up at Tonks, expecting to see her realisation of the extent of her actions. However, instead he saw a rather relieved expression on her face.

'What….how….why are you looking relieved?' spluttered Flitchworth.

'Well, lets be honest Sir, it's not like its enchantment is useful now, is it? I mean, London doesn't really have a famine, and as for drought, well….see for yourself.'

Flitchworth had glanced out the enchanted window which was streaming with rain, mirroring the weather outside.

'Nymphadora! It is HISTORY! A piece of living history! Ardena Nimblefoot will be turning in her grave…..'

At this, he had shook his head, and made to leave, however not before telling to Tonks to get the mess cleared up and sharp.

Naturally, Tonks had realised she had gotten off lightly. Which made her all the more sure that the Vase incident had to be the reason behind the Night Owl….he must have reported her….

Ashen faced, she turned to the white barn owl sitting patiently in front of her, suitably convinced that she was now no longer an Auror, and would have to wander about as a lost cause forever…..

She blew out the breath she'd been holding, causing a few strands of her vibrant lilac hair to fly upwards, before coming to rest again on her forehead. The owl hooted softly, reminding Tonks that he was still holding the letter, and that it was his job to ensure that she read it. Trembling slightly, the witch leaned forward and detached the piece of parchment held on the owl's left leg. She squeezed her eyes shut while unfurling the tightly curled letter, before opening her eyes to read its contents.

Dear Tonks,

(Tonks? Surely the Ministry of Magic wouldn't refer to her as Tonks?)

Sorry to send this by Night Owl, I probably had you thinking you were going to lose your job or something! No indeed, this is quite the opposite, although it is a matter of some urgency hence the late delivery.

Tonks breathed a huge sigh of relief, feeling like an enormous boulder had just been removed from her shoulders. But if it wasn't the Ministry of Magic…what was this all about? She read on.

I would like to offer you a position. Well, that's probably not the best way to put it, there's no need for you to leave your job in the Auror's office. This is perhaps more of an extracurricular activity, although one with slightly more responsibility than the Gobstones Club.

You are perhaps aware that at present there is much debate over the return of Lord Voldemort.

Tonks shuddered involuntarily at seeing that name before her.

I am more than aware that the Ministry of Magic is doing everything in its power to discredit those who claim he is back. But I can assure you this here and now: Voldemort is back. The Ministry is wrong. And this is a very dangerous situation, because it could leave us all open to his evil deeds with no defence. However, I and a selection of other like minded witches and wizards, are not about to sit around and do nothing. Therefore we have formed an Order; I cannot state the name at present for fear that this may have been intercepted; an Order consisting of those of us who believe that we are all indeed under threat and something must be done.

Tonks stopped for a moment to take in what she had just read. Voldemort was back? Of course she had heard the rumours, but most saw them as a lot of paranoid rubbish. But Nymphadora Tonks was not like most. The boy Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore himself were the two main advocates to his return, and she did not see them to be unreliable sources. Therefore it was true to say that she had had her doubts as to the Ministry's stance on this issue. The question was in this case, how did this 'Order' involve or indeed require her?

And it is here that you come in Tonks. At present, we are not a large band of witches and wizards. And we lack much of the knowledge and skills that you Aurors have. So it with this that I ask you to join us in the Order, so we can protect those under threat such as young Harry Potter (I am sure you will have seen the Daily Prophet's attempts to continually discredit him, I assure you this is rubbish) and of course the Wizarding world in general. I understand that you may have doubts, but your talents are greatly needed- I would not have written to you if I did not believe that you would want to help us. Please give your response to this owl, who will return it to me. I cannot sign off with my name as I am at present a wanted man, but I hope that if you look back in your childhood you will realise my identity.

Yours,

Padfoot

Tonks' eyes opened wide. Padfoot! Of course, it had to be…..she'd heard that he'd narrowly evaded capture at Hogwarts…but was he not, indeed a murderer? She frowned. Sirius Black may be an older cousin, but he had been sent to Azkaban for murder. And as an Auror, she did not take this conviction lightly. But she had also known Sirius, and his friendship with those he was supposed to have betrayed, before killing all those people. It had seemed so unlike him, so out of character, just something she would never have dreamed he would do. Sirius was one of the few members of the Black family who had NOT chosen to stray over to the Dark Arts, although after hearing of his arrest, she had simply assumed he had bowed to the pressure and joined the rest of his family. But there was always a part of her that wondered, that had doubts. Maybe they'd got the wrong man? Even though she knew as well as anyone that Sirius had been the Potter's secret keeper, something seemed out of place. Tonks hadn't thought about the incident, or indeed Sirius, for a long time now. But this letter, which was quite obviously from him, brought the issue back to the forefront of her mind. She frowned slightly, and stood up from her perch on the edge of her bed, stretching slowly. Her mind was a cauldron of thoughts, each swirling and spiralling in different directions, producing odd and varied results. But one concept was becoming the most obvious factor – why would Sirius be asking her to join an Order against He Who Must Not Be Named, if he was, as was the commonly held belief, one of his greatest supporters?

Tonks began to pace the small room, which was packed with piles of large, leather bound spellbooks randomly scattered about, as well as strange collections of newspaper articles in which the occupants of photographs waved, or in some cases leered out of the paper. Brushing aside a small bundle of these cuttings, Tonks took a seat at a small oak desk, and pulled out a piece of parchment and a well worn eagle feather quill. After filling it up with ink, she began to chew the tip of it, trying to come to a decision. It could be a trap, there may be no such Order, and Sirius may actually be a madman. But somehow this didn't add up in Tonks' mind. She had known Sirius, perhaps not so well once he left school, but while she did know him, she knew he hated He Who Must Not Be Named as much as everyone else.

A small hoot from the patiently waiting owl reminded Tonks that Sirius had requested a reply. She bit her lip thoughtfully, and finally decided to go with her gut feeling. She's always thought there was something not quite right about her cousin's conviction, and for some, perhaps slightly reckless reason, she chose to believe him. Maybe it was gut instinct, or maybe just a deep desire for something exciting to happen, Tonks didn't know. But somehow she found herself writing –

Yes, count me in.

and signing it with a flourish.