Disclaimer – Harry Potter and his chums aren't mine but this wee story is. Et c'est tout.

Mara 152 – Thanks for reviewing! It's always kinda scary to do your first real fanfic so it makes such a difference to get some feedback! -

Anyway, It's a dark and dismal night outside so I've got nothing to do. Good time to write chapter 2! Enjoy! And please review; it makes me a happy little camper. No flames cause I'll cry. Mwahaha.

Chapter 2 - Don't cry over spilt ink!

Tonks put down her quill, and bit her lip again, she was beginning to feel a groove forming there from the amount of times she'd bitten it in the last hour. But this time it wasn't from fear or apprehension, it was a sense of excitement. She'd put her name on the paper, and as far as she was concerned, there was no turning back now. As she carefully rolled up the parchment and attached it to the owl's leg, she absentmindedly pondered her reasons for agreeing to this, something she knew so little about. Her mind was still wandering when she accidentally knocked the little vial of ink off her desk and onto her pale lilac carpet.

'Bollocks….' she muttered to herself while bending over to inspect the damage. The ink was now dispersing itself in what would have been an almost attractive pattern had it not been soaking into her carpet.

'Not to worry!' she said brightly, to noone in particular, although the owl gave a soft hoot in response. Tonks leaned over to her bedside cabinet and opened the drawer, where her wand sat on top of a pile of old pieces of parchment and a few spare quills.

'Scourgify!' she whispered, pointing her wand at the unfortunate mess on her floor. No sooner had she finished saying the charm than the stain disappeared. Carefully placing her wand back inside the drawer, she looked up brightly.

'Where was I again? Ah! The reply! Sorry owl…..'

The poor owl had been standing patiently on one leg while waiting for the rather clumsy young witch to attach her response to his leg. She finished tying the knot and looked at the owl gravely.

'This had better not be some kind of trap, owl. I'd hope you were smart enough not to take part in such things!'

The owl cocked his head to one side as if in understanding, and gave another soft hoot. Seemingly contented with this, Tonks hopped up onto her bed and reached across to the window, pulling it open. Instantly, she was lashed with the bitter cold wind and rain, and took one hand away from the latch to wipe the drops of rain from her bright blue eyes.

'On you go then, come on! It's freezing with this window open!'

As if in agreement, her body gave an involuntary shiver, and she noticed her bare arms were covered in goosebumps. At that, the owl hopped onto the bed, ruffled his feathers and soared out of the open window.

Tonks watched the owl as it disappeared into the night, her eyes blurring over as she realised she hadn't blinked since the owl left. Opening and shutting her eyes a few times to clear them, she pulled the window shut and dove straight back underneath the duvet, pulling it tight around her to generate some extra heat. Only once she was happily warmed up, did she return to her previous question – why exactly was she doing this? It was risky, what if it interfered with her job as an Auror? But then again, wasn't that was being an Auror was all about? Saving people's lives and fighting against evil. She certainly hadn't had the chance to do much of that recently, all that she seemed to do in the Auror office these days was paperwork, perhaps that was some kind of punishment for the vase incident.

She sighed inwardly. One of the only things that was going on in the Auror office these days was the search for Sirius, which was headed by Kingsley Shacklebolt, and to be quite honest, noone seemed to be making any headway. It was obvious why Flitchworth hadn't put her on that case, she'd overheard him talking to his boss, Rufus Scrimgeour, about her, and both had obviously felt it was best that she didn't work on a case involving a relative. And as the Ministry of Magic wasn't taking Dumbledore and Harry Potter's claims of You Know Who's return seriously, there really wasn't much to be done at the moment.

Maybe that was why she'd said yes to that letter. Maybe she just needed to feel like she was DOING something for once, actually physically DOING something, rather than just whiling away the hours at work reading memo after memo, signing page after –

Tonks didn't get a chance to finish that thought, because at that very moment, there was a loud POP and two figures appeared in her room, one of whom almost fell flat on his (if indeed it was a he) face after apparating onto her spilt ink vial. This brief distraction gave the rather terrified young witch a chance to throw open her drawer and grab her wand. By the time the two men (it had become apparent by this point that this was what they were) had steadied themselves, she was sitting bolt upright, wand pointed at the two intruders, her expression steeled.

However, neither of the two men seemed to have noticed her defiant stance. In fact, they both seemed to be shaking. Shaking quite uncontrollably. Tonks frowned a little. Had she put a hex on them without even knowing it? She peered forward to see if she recognised the effects only to realise that they weren't cursed at all. In fact, almost the complete opposite. The two men were bent double, shaking in peals of laughter.

'Ok, now this just takes the biscuit! I don't know who you are, but what in Merlin's name gives you the right to apparate into my room, frighten me half to death, and then just stand there laughing your ruddy heads off? Eh?'

Tonks was now kneeling on her bed, one hand on her hip with her other hand still firmly on her wand, a rather indignant look on her youthful face. As the two men began to straighten up, she realised that neither of them had a wand in their hand, in fact, apart from the fact that they were two random strangers apparating in out of nowhere, they didn't seem particularly threatening.

Finally, one of them gasped and managed to speak –

'Obviously haven't apparated in a while Moony old mate!'

'Well, no, it's not really my preferred form of transport – but that's got nothing to do with it! There's a bloody ink vial on the floor! Nearly killed me!'

At that, the two men burst into peals of laughter again.

'Ok, that's it.' Tonks turned on the bedside lamp. 'Who are you, and what do you……Sirius!'

The first man had looked over at her, his rather gaunt face illuminated by the lamplight.

'Tonks!'

He seemed for a second almost surprised to see her, before finally coming to his senses and straightening up. He cleared his throat, and nudged his friend, obviously encouraging him to sort himself out too.

'Well, Tonks, sorry about this! We didn't intend to be quite so….well, hysterical. But you will leave ink vials lying on the floor!'

'I didn't exactly expect anyone to be APPARATING onto it, did I?' muttered Tonks, too quietly for them to hear.

'And also, I think we sort of assumed you'd still be up and about, what after such an exciting preposition.'

'I WAS awake, actually, but you certainly didn't waste any time getting here, I only sent that owl back about 10 minutes ago.'

'Well, you see our Headquarters isn't far from here, so we didn't see the point in wasting any precious time – Merlin's Beard! I haven't even told you who my clumsy associate is yet!'

Tonks' vivid blue eyes moved from Sirius to his companion who she could now see more clearly in the light. He was older than her, perhaps around 35. He was also quite good looking; although his light brown hair was flecked with premature grey and he looked like he needed to sleep for a month. He was wearing a rather shabby looking travelling cloak, and looked like he needed a good meal. She felt a flicker of recognition as she looked at him, hadn't he been one of Sirius' mad friends from when he was at Hogwarts? But she couldn't for the life of her remember his name.

'Tonks, this is Remus Lupin. ('Of course…' she thought.) Remus, this is Nymphadora Tonks.'

'And I'll put a very unpleasant hex on you if you EVER call me Nymphadora.'

She smiled sweetly.

'It's Tonks. Just Tonks.'

The other man just nodded, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Yep, she remembered him. Not quite as loud as the others, but just as cheeky.

Tonks brought her gaze back to rest on Sirius. She had, by this point, put her wand down, and was now sitting on the edge of her bed, suddenly very aware of the fact that she was wearing her ancient and rather faded Weird Sisters t-shirt, which was quite possibly 14 sizes too big, but as it had been the only size left in the shop (and she didn't dare try to put a shrinking charm on a precious Weird Sisters t-shirt) she had decided it would do as pyjamas. She flushed slightly and stared at the carpet, before reminding herself that she, Tonks, was an Auror, and had no need to be embarrassed about her attire. She straightened up defiantly.

'So…..what exactly brings you here at this time of night that couldn't wait until the morning?'

'Tonks, just in case you hadn't noticed, I happen to be a highly wanted criminal right now. It's not exactly practical for me to go wandering the streets of London during the day. Besides, it's important that we get you to the Headquarters ASAP.'

'WHAT? Now! But it's the middle of the night! I'm in…..well, you know!' she gestured towards her attire.

'Night is the best time to take you there. There won't be any muggles out and about likely to see us, and you'll need to find your way there yourself next time. And as for your clothes….'

Tonks noticed Remus, out of the corner of her eye, stifling a laugh into a cough. She shot him a glare that could kill and he steadied his face instantly, although she was sure she could still see laughter in his eyes.

'Look Tonks, we'll turn around while you get changed, and make it quick please, because there's a lot we have to tell you.'

'You're telling me….' she muttered under her breath.

She sighed in defeat and pulled one arm out from her t-shirt. However, she stopped halfway through on realising that neither man had turned around.

'Hey! I'm getting changed! I would like to think I have a shred of decency left, at least give me that! And don't even THINK about peeking!'

'Tonks….' Sirius sounded disgusted as he turned around. 'You're family! How could I?'

'Yeah, but Remus isn't. Just don't.'

And with that, the two men suitably chastised, Tonks went to the wardrobe at the end of her bed and grabbed the first things she could lay her hands on; a pair of dark blue jeans and a huge crimson woolly jumper, one of the comfiest and warmest things she owned.

'Are you ready yet?'

'Yes….well, I'm decent if that's what you mean.'

Tonks glanced at herself in the mirror which was attached to the wardrobe door. She liked the outfit, she personally thought she looked lovely and snugly, but her hair….well, the lilac didn't really go with the crimson. She concentrated hard, and pictured herself with longer blonde hair (blonde went with everything when you were in a rush) and when she opened her eyes, she indeed had long blonde hair, which she instantly tied back into a messy ponytail. The young witch suddenly became aware of the fact that Remus was staring at her like she…..well, like she'd just changed her hair in a second. She whirled round to face him.

'I'm a metamorphmagus, in case you were wondering. I can change my appearance at will. It's quite a useful gift you know, don't have to worry about anything when it comes to disguising myself, plus well, you know, it makes life a little more interesting to be able to change what you look like now and again, doncha think? And the lilac and crimson….well, it just wasn't working.'

She smiled at him, and his confused expression turned into a smile to mirror hers. She felt herself flush unnecessarily – she was rambling. She often did that when she got nervous; she just opened her mouth and let her belly rumble. What did Remus care about whether lilac and crimson matched? Idiot. Having given herself a mental slap on the back of the hand, she walked over to the bedside cabinet and picked up her wand again.

'Right then Sirius, let's go.'

'Ok then! We'll need to apparate out of here, so you know the drill, we're going to Grimmauld Place-'

'Um…Sirius?'

'Yes Tonks?'

'I've never been to Grimmauld Place.'

'Yes, and?'

'Well, if I've never been, how can I imagine it as my destination?'

'Valid point. Ok, well you'll need to apparate with Remus- lets just hope he can do it without falling this time...' he sniggered and Remus shot him a look.

'Just grab his arm and stay close, it isn't far anyway. And then…well, I'll explain everything. Including why I'm not actually a criminal.'

'Well, I'd guessed you weren't after the letter….but yes, some extra information backing that claim up would be nice.'

Tonks raised an eyebrow at her second cousin before walking over to Remus Lupin, who, up until now had been rather quiet. She went to grab onto his arm, but for some reason felt herself stop just short of catching hold.

'Don't worry Tonks, I don't bite!' he said, and both he and Sirius burst out laughing. Tonks looked from one to the other, completely lost.

'What's so funny?'

Remus managed to catch his breath.

'Nothing, nothing, never mind us idiots. Anyway, grab my arm, we'll need to be going.'

He grinned at her, laughter still evident in his smile, a smile which lit up his whole face, making him look years younger. Tonks was captivated by this effect, and only after a second too long did she realised that she'd been staring at him. Amazing the effect laughter and smiling can have on someone…she thought, her face reddening at being caught staring. But before she had any time to dwell on it, she felt Remus' hand grab her other arm, and then she felt that all too familiar sensation of apparating, feeling like she was being squashed so much that she would surely burst, and then, always, at the point where it almost became too much, she was standing on a dimly lit street, looking at a row of houses directly in front of her.

It was a few moment before she realised she hadn't released poor Remus from her grip; she'd never been a huge fan of apparating, and having had something to hold onto, she'd been rather reluctant to let go. However, she now did so, and proceeded to wander over closer to the houses in front of her. Well, these weren't really houses, more like mansions; although they seemed a little run-down, and poorly kept.

'Which one is it then?' she asked the two men in front of her.

'Here. You'll need to use this.' Remus passed Tonks a small piece of parchment which held the following words:

'The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.'

Tonks peered at the piece of parchment, and then glanced up to look back at the houses in front of her.

'But there is no-'

Remus cut her off.

'Yes, there is no number twelve. At least at the moment. It's had a very powerful spell placed on it, where noone can see it unless they are told where it is by the person who put the spell on it. And that it who the parchment is from.'

He took the parchment out of her hands and set it alight with his wand.

'Now just think about what you just read.'

Tonks did as she was asked, and almost instantly, she saw another mansion appearing from in between numbers 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place. It seemed to appear from nowhere, squeezing itself in and pushing the other two houses aside to make room for it, before coming to a halt as a fully formed building.

'You see? There it is Tonks. Number twelve Grimmauld Place, home to the Order of the Phoenix.'

And that's chapter 2! Hope you like it, I had a bit of a larf writing it! Please review, it makes me a happy wee person! –jumps about-