Disclaimer: Yes, Harry Potter and co aren't mine, but I think maybe you knew that.

Thanks for reviewing folks! It really gets me going to write the next chapter.

Slightly so – Don't worry about that, she's only trusting him so far, after all she has a wand and he doesn't! That'll be dealt with in this chapter.

Anyway, I'm just back today from a wee trip to Dundee to see my friend who has a flat there so I'm too tired to go out tonight, just gonna sit here in my dressing gown and do some writing!

Chapter 3 – Rats and Hatstands

Tonks scratched her head slightly while looking at this new house, dislodging a strand of hair from her already rather messy ponytail.

'That's one powerful spell….'

'It is,' spoke up Sirius. 'It was a very powerful wizard who put it on too….'

Tonks turned to face him, a frown on her face. A powerful wizard? Suddenly she was reminded of exactly who she was standing with, and who he was supposed to be in league with. So far she'd taken him on his word, not to mention the apparent lack of wand….but now….did she want to go in there without more proof? She had to know more.

'What kind of powerful wizard? Someone I might have heard of?'

Sirius detected the not-very-subtle trace of sarcasm in her voice, as well as the look on her face.

'Well, yes, it is actually. And no, as you may be implying, it certainly isn't You-Know-Who. I don't really think he'd be helping out a group of random witches and wizards out to stop him in his tracks.'

Tonks chewed her now slightly ragged lip and looked her second cousin over. Obviously, he had a point. But now here she was, standing in the middle of a Muggle street with two men, one of whom was an escaped criminal and the other who was….well, to be honest, not particularly threatening. The presence of Remus Lupin was a confusing one. He was by no means a criminal, she would surely have known of it through her job. She also knew him to be an old friend of both Sirius and James, surely, if Sirius had indeed done what everyone said he did, Remus would not be in his company voluntarily?

Tonks groaned inwardly. Why couldn't she have had this conversation with herself before agreeing to come here?

You're far too reckless Tonks…life may be pretty boring right now, but running off with a known killer isn't really a very good idea. Think this through first! Get the story from him!

Tonks sighed. That was exactly what she should have thought. But noooo….too late for that. But suddenly, she looked at the two men, who were both looking at her expectantly, obviously waiting for her next move.

You're an Auror! Deal with this stupid situation you've got yourself into! Neither men have wands in their hands…

At this thought, Tonks gripped the wooden wand in her pocket tightly and proceeded to look up at Sirius.

'Ok. I realise I've been a little…..too trusting here. Sirius, you've given me no proof except your word that you're not a criminal, and yes, I know that by coming this far I've taken you on your word. That's the kind of person I am. I give people a chance, a chance to show me that they are what they say they are. But I'm not about to commit myself to something, something big, without the truth. So I just can't enter Number Twelve without you telling me….what really happened that night. The night You-Know-Who was defeated. Not to mention all those people that you supposedly murdered. You may be family Sirius….but…..'

The young witch pulled herself up to her full height and looked straight into his eyes, which had not left hers the whole time.

'Remember. I may look like I wouldn't hurt a fly, but I am an Auror. I am highly trained in combat, so any funny business, and I assure you, you'll come off worse.'

At that, she stopped, and looked pointedly at Sirius. He and Remus looked at each other and nodded, before Sirius took at step towards Tonks. She instantly felt her hand tighten around her wand, but at the same time, she heard a small voice in her head-

His hands are front of him, he has no wand…

She felt her hand relax its grip, and waited for what he had to say.

First of all, he surprised her by smiling.

'I wondered when this would come. And I wouldn't worry about looking bad because you didn't ask sooner, you are a very trusting person Tonks, always have been, but only when you have reason to trust. You wouldn't have come along in the first place if you'd had major doubts. But I do agree, if I was in your position I would need more information before getting any further in.'

He looked around, aware of the fact that they were standing in a well lit street in the middle of London.

'Listen Tonks, I'll tell you now because I know that's the only way to get you to come into the Headquarters with us. But we MUST be quiet and be quick, because this isn't exactly the most private of places to talk.'

Tonks nodded her currently blonde head firmly and allowed him to step over closer to her. Sirius gave a deep sigh before beginning.

'Tonks, I did not tell Voldemort-' (a shudder from Tonks) '-about the Potter's whereabouts. Because I was not actually their Secret Keeper.'

Tonks frowned in confusion.

'How could you not have been? Everyone knew you were after what happened, in fact, is that not the reason why Peter Pettigrew stood up to-'

Sirius smiled sourly.

'A common misconception. You see, I felt that I was too obvious as the Secret Keeper. So I switched with Pettigrew.'

Tonks' eyes opened wide, soon joined by her mouth as she went to speak. But Sirius had no time for that.

'Noone knew except us. Of course, I couldn't have known that Pettigrew was in fact in league with Voldemort. So of course, he went straight to him to inform him of their location. And when I found out about this, I hunted him down. I confronted him about what had happened, not the other way around, as everyone thought. He killed all those Muggles in a bid to escape, leaving behind that bloody finger that freed him from any blame. But I knew it was him, and even as I sat in Azkaban, I swore I'd find him. Luckily for me, I came across a copy of the Daily Prophet with a very nice clear photograph of Peter staring out at me.'

Tonks went to speak again, but she was silenced by Remus this time.

'Peter Pettigrew was hiding as a rat, Tonks. He's an animagus, although only us Marauders knew.' He shot a glance at Sirius as if asking his permission for something, which was obviously granted as he continued.

'Sirius, James and Peter are….well, sadly in James' case was, animagiThis isn't really the time to explain why, but the time will come to tell you. Anyway, as I said, Peter has been hiding in his rat form all this time, living with a wizarding family who kindly and obviously unknowingly took him in as a pet. He had been living with the Weasley family. And-' he said, silencing Tonks again with an outstretched hand,

'And, Sirius broke free from Azkaban to find him. I was teaching at Hogwarts at the time this all happened, and although I, like you, needed convincing, I saw proof that Peter Pettigrew was indeed alive, and realised that Sirius had been framed. Therefore, he is an innocent man.'

Tonks stood silently for a moment, taking all of this in. She looked at Remus, and he looked straight back at her, his eyes never faltering, never leaving hers. He wasn't lying; she'd had some brief classes in Legilmency while in Auror training, but she didn't even need that here. It was plain to see from his eyes. Still, something else was bothering her.

'But what about Peter? Where is he now? Surely the fact that he's still alive would prove your innocence to the whole wizarding world?'

Sirius smiled sadly, with a glance to Remus, whose face was twisted with a mixture of anger and sadness and guilt, though for what reason Tonks couldn't begin to guess.

'Unfortunately, Pettigrew got away that night. But not before Harry Potter - my Godson – and his two friends, oh, and of course Moony here, heard the whole thing. So they alone, as well as Professor Dumbledore, know the truth, and of my innocence. Well, and now you and the rest of the Order. So that's the truth Tonks. And if you need any more proof, I'll tell you the name of the wizard who put the spell on this house. It was Professor Dumbledore himself. If that's not a testament to my innocence, I don't know what is.'

Tonks again stood still, silent. Her mind and her heart were racing, but no longer from fear. It was a mixture of emotions, excitement, nerves, but most of all, relief. Her favourite cousin was innocent. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around Sirius, and was hugging him tightly.

'I believe you, I believe you….I always wanted to….I'm so glad….'

She finally broke away, slightly embarrassed from this dramatic show of emotion. But it had been a very stressful night so far, and she never had been very good at keeping her feelings under wraps. She took a step back from the now smiling Sirius, to see Remus watching the scene with a slight smile on his face, a stark contrast from the look of pain he'd had only a few minutes earlier. His eyes met hers and he smiled a little more – Tonks felt her face grow hot.

I look like a typical overemotional female now…brilliant. This guy's totally getting the wrong impression of me...well, ok, maybe not the –wrong- impression, just a kinda one sided impression…come on Tonks! Harden up!

At that, she cleared her throat and spoke.

'Well, am I getting to see this Headquarters tonight or what?'

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Remus led the little group up to the front door of the house, before pulling out the wand which he had had no need to use until now. He tapped it lightly against the lock while whispering an incantation, casing the door to creak open slightly when he pushed it. Tonks heard Sirius whisper to her from the darkness -

'In you go Tonks, after Moony. Just stick close behind him and watch out, it's pretty dark in there. Oh, and try to keep things to a whisper!'

'Yeah, ok! No problem!' Tonks took a few steps and found herself inside a rather dark and dismal hallway, her fingers traced over an intricate serpentine carving on the nearby table. She could hardly see her feet in front of her, so she gave up looking for them and chose to focus on following the slightly old and patched travelling cloak of Remus. They obviously had to be quiet for a reason, maybe everyone was sleeping. It was almost….well, she had no idea what time it was. But it was a pretty unholy hour. Tonks focused her eyes again on Remus' cloak. Just as she was feeling her eyes glaze over a little, he turned, almost causing her to walk right into him.

'Just watch,' he whispered, while walking just slightly in front of her, his head turned to speak to her. 'There's a hatstand here that you probably won't be able to see unti-'

Until what, Tonks had just found out. She had managed to catch her foot rather unceremoniously on the offending hatstand and was now waving her arms around madly trying to regain her balance, before finally losing it completely and tumbling towards the floor, her hands flailing out of protect herself. However, Remus, having seen her trip, reached out gallantly to save the poor tumbling witch, catching her around the waist.

'Don't worry Padfoot! I got her!' called Remus, perhaps a little too loudly, as Sirius began making mad waving motions with his arms, obviously intended to warn his old friend to lower his voice. However, Remus seemed not to notice, and continued to call to his friend, if anything, his voice getting louder.

'Just as well she didn't hit the floor eh? That would definitely have woken up your bloody mother!' Remus looked down at Tonks, who was somewhat ungracefully draped over him, her arms having grabbed hold of the first thing they caught, which happened to be his neck. He grinned at her, seeing the mortification on her face.

'Don't worry, no harm done! Got you just in time, last thing we want to do is wake-'

'FILTHY MUDBLOODS! CHILDREN OF FILTH! SHAME UPON MY FAMILY! HOW DARE YOU POLLUTE THIS SACRED HOUSE WITH YOUR STENCH!'

Tonks quickly unattached herself from Remus, her face still a dazzling shade of beetroot, but now her attention couldn't help but be drawn to this hideous portrait of an old decrepit woman, who was now shouting no end of abuse at them. She was suddenly aware of both Sirius and Remus running over to the painting, both of them hurling rather unpleasant comments back at the painting while as quickly as possibly pulling over the curtain which had originally obscured it from view. Finally, after what seemed like quite a battle of wits, they succeeded in their task and returned to Tonks, Remus looking rather sheepish. Sirius turned to face him, an exasperated look on his face.

'…I was making the hand motions at you! Couldn't you see?'

'Well, no, not really. It is pretty dark in here in case you didn't notice. Besides, I was too busy being a gentleman and saving Tonks here from a painful collision with the floor!'

'But still….you know what my mum's like!'

'Your mum?' interjected Tonks. 'Of course…..I thought this place looked slightly familiar, that is from what I could see. I think I visited you here once… I felt that serpenty thing and I knew.'

'Serpernty thing? Is that a technical term?' Remus was grinning at her, even in the dark she could see the mischievous glint in his eyes.

'So what if it is?' she fired back at him, unable to hide the smile in her voice.

Well he's starting to come out of his shell she thought, smiling to herself. This whole Order thing might be fun after all. Thinking of the Order though, she grimaced. Surely that little spectacle must have woken the whole place? What a first impression to give. Sure, it hadn't been her fault entirely, but if she hadn't tripped in the first place, he wouldn't have had to catch her…. (which was nice of him, even if she had half strangled him….)

She had obviously been standing thinking about this for too long, as both Remus and Sirius were staring at her like she was mad. Sirius leaned forward and peered at her closely.

'Tonks, if you keep chewing your lip, you'll have nothing left. And we really don't want to have to send you to St Mungos on the first day you join the Order over a missing lip!'

'Exactly,' Remus agreed, 'If we're going to have to send you to St Mungos, we'd rather it was because of a much more courageous battle wound than a missing lower lip! Where's your battle pride?'

Tonks looked at both of them, as if trying to decide if they were being serious. Regardless, she just couldn't take that statement seriously, and burst into peals of laughter.

Almost as though her laughter had been a cue in a play, a door opened behind them, and a female voice called out in as loud a whisper as possible;

'You two! You didn't tell me she was here! The poor girl won't have a clue what's going on! I knew I should have gone to collect you….'

The owner of the voice; a rather plump small woman with vibrant red hair; stepped out of the door and walked briskly over to Tonks.

'I'm Molly Weasley dear. You must be Nymphadora Tonks?'

Tonks opened her mouth, but was beaten to it by the combined voices of Remus and Sirius.

'Tonks. Just Tonks.'

Tonks closed her mouth again; getting the impression she'd just been poked fun at. However, she turned towards the motherly looking women in front of her and smiled.

'Nice to meet you Mrs Weasley'

'Ah, just call me Molly, dear. Now, you must be starving, we're all sitting in the kitchen waiting to meet you, I'll get you something to eat. Ah yes dear, don't worry about Mrs Black, none of us were sleeping anyway. I really do wish we could get that thing down, but the old bat seems to have made sure there's a permanent sticking charm on it.'

Tonks smiled. She knew all about permanent sticking charms.

Well folks that's chapter 3. I'm really tired now so I'm going to go to bed….hope you like it! I'll write more soon I promise. Please review, for reviews are splendid.

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