Disclaimer: I thought I said this before but oh well, here we go again. I DO NOT own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. I own absolutely nothing except for the merchandise that I purchased, but that's it!
A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm glad you all enjoyed Chapter 1. Now I had a bit of a writer's block for Chapter 2 so I hope I didn't make this too boring. I wanted to establish Hermione's and Ginny's fascination and respect for Tonks and Remus getting to know her as well. Ok, enough of my rambling, on with the story!
Later that night, Remus could be found in the kitchen eating dinner along with Sirius, Hermione, Molly, Arthur and their children, Ginny, Ron and their twins; Fred and George.
"Wonderful meal dear." Arthur said, dabbing his mouth with his napkin.
"Indeed." Remus agreed.
"Why thank you boys." Molly gushed as she cleared everyone's empty plates from the table.
Just then Tonks apparated in the kitchen right in front of Molly who almost fell over.
"Oh Tonks!" Molly gasped, still managing to cling on to the plates.
"Oops! Sorry about that Molly." Tonks said. "Here, let me help with those." She grabbed some of the plates from Molly's hands.
"Oh-well…" Molly said, surprised by Tonks' offer.
Tonks stumbled, however, on her way to the sink and fell very ungraciously onto the floor, plates shattering into tiny pieces all over. Sirius, the twins and Ron started laughing very heartily while Remus, Hermione and Ginny rushed to help.
"Are you ok?" Ginny asked as she and Remus both lifted Tonks up off the floor.
"Yea, I'm fine. Sorry about that Molly." Tonks replied.
"It's alright." Molly exasperated as Hermione put the rest of the unbroken plates in the sink while Molly uttered a simple "Repairo" and the broken pieces instantly repaired themselves.
"Now you see why Nymphadora almost failed Stealth and Tracking." Sirius laughed as Fred, George and Ron howled with more laughter.
"That's enough Sirius." Molly warned darkly.
Tonks flinched a little at the sound of her first name but then laughed lightly. "It's ok Molly. I am a klutz after all." Hermione and Ginny giggled.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Remus asked concernedly.
"Oh yes, I'm fine." She brushed off easily. "I'm Tonks by the way." She added, nodding to Hermione and Ginny.
"Mum told us all about you." Ginny said in awe.
"Is it true you're a Metamorphmagus?" Hermione asked amazed.
Tonks blushed slightly but nodded. "Yes, I can change anything about my appearance at will." She said proudly.
The girls 'ooed' and 'awed'. "Could you show us?" Ginny asked, excitement gleaming in her eyes.
"Sure." Tonks said as she walked over to the table with Ginny and Hermione at her heels.
Remus couldn't help but smile. Tonks was obviously very good with children and Remus could understand why children would be impressed by her. She had a very bright and bubbly personality and she clearly didn't take herself too seriously. Remus caught himself staring at the young Auror as she concentrated hard and changed from a platinum blonde with bright blue eyes and a long, slender nose to a short-haired brunette with a short, squat nose to tremendous applause by the whole table.
Nearly two hours later, Molly made the children get up to bed. Ginny and Hermione protested; they had been having a great time getting to know young Tonks and they had even requested certain appearances which she was only too happy to do. Eventually, Molly got the two girls upstairs and Arthur left to do his guard duty for the Order (he had the night shift this evening) leaving Remus in the company of Sirius and Tonks.
"Those girls were so sweet." Tonks gushed as she screwed up her face in concentration once again so that her current waist-long black hair and brown eyes transformed into a shoulder-length bright pink hairstyle and light purple eyes.
"They really seemed to find you fascinating." Remus commented. Of course, it was no wonder. Tonks was a fascinating person all around, and not only because she could change her appearance at will. She was unlike most girls Remus had ever met whose main concern was their hair or how they looked. Tonks seemed to only care about making people laugh and having a good time, regardless of how she appeared. Perhaps that was why he was so keen on getting to know her.
"I don't see what's so fascinating about a clumsy Auror who can't get through a day without tripping over or breaking something." Sirius said, a grin on his face.
Tonks smiled at him. "Hey, I'll have you know that I went the whole day without tripping over or breaking anything before the whole incident with Molly and the plates."
"Whoa, that's gotta be a world record for you Nymphadora." Sirius replied, acting very impressed.
Remus laughed at the irritated look on Tonks' face. "Why do you insist on being called by your surname anyway? I think Nymphadora is a lovely name." He asked.
Tonks looked momentarily stunned by Remus' comment. "Well, no one's ever said they actually liked my name before." Tonks said. "But I happen to think it is quite a ridiculous name. My mother was a bit of a fool."
Sirius scoffed lightly. "Well, at least you didn't have a mom that despised you." He said.
Tonks immediately became quite, as did Remus. Sirius never talked about his family, as far as he was concerned he was no relation to the 'pure-blooded' Blacks.
"So…how was work today Nymph-I mean Tonks." Remus said, eager to change the awkward vibe in the room.
"Oh. Same old same old, nothing but pushing papers." She sighed dully. "I suppose they don't want me to do any real work since I'm so young."
"That and the Ministry doesn't think Aurors have much to do since they refuse to believe Voldemort is, in fact, back." Sirius said.
Tonks shuddered at the mention of Voldemort's name.
"Oh come on Nymphadora, don't tell me you're one of those people who refuse to call Voldemort by his real name?" Sirius asked disbelievingly.
Tonks chose to ignore this comment and instead talked directly to Remus. "So, Remus, what do you do?" She looked at him, a curious expression plastered on her pretty face.
"Me? I, well, I…am mostly a member for the Order." Remus stuttered slightly. Truth was, he didn't actually have an occupation. Thanks to Ministry officials, such as Dolores Umbridge, werewolves couldn't exactly find a steady job.
Tonks frowned slightly. "That's all? Surely, you have a regular job?"
"Well…I was a teacher at Hogwarts a few years ago." Remus said.
"Ooo, how interesting." Tonks eyes glittered. "I never really liked school that much. I suppose it would be fun to go and teach. What subject did you teach?" She asked. Remus was surprised that Tonks seemed to find him as interesting as he found her.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts." He replied.
"And he was the best damn one that Hogwarts ever had." Sirius added.
Remus flushed lightly. "I wouldn't say that-"
"Oh, hippogriff feathers!" Sirius said. "Did you know Nymphadora that it was Remus here who taught Harry the Patronus Charm?"
"Really?" Tonks' interest seemed to grow. "So you were the one who taught him that, eh? That's mighty impressive, teaching a thirteen year old such an advance spell. You must be really good." Remus blushed a little deeper shade of crimson at this compliment. "Boy, I wish I had you for a teacher when I was at school."
Remus chuckled lightly.
"I don't think Remus could've handled you." Sirius said.
Tonks scoffed, a smile upon her lips. "That's right, I forgot that you were just the little angels when you were at school."
Sirius laughed. "Ah, back in those days, when the Marauders ruled the school." He had a faraway look in his eye.
Remus felt himself be drifted away by the memories of his school years, running around, causing trouble with Sirius, James and Peter. That had easily been the happiest times of Remus' life. It saddened Remus suddenly as he came back to the present where James was dead, Peter was a traitor and Sirius was a wanted murderer.
"Well, I think I'll get on to bed." Sirius said suddenly, the familiar sadness appearing in his voice. "Good night." He said and before either Remus or Tonks could say another word, he apparated. No doubt, he was in the attic with Buckbeak.
"Oh dear, did I say something?" Tonks asked worriedly.
"No, I'm sure he's just tired." Remus tried to reassure her. But Remus knew that it was in fact Tonks' mention of Sirius' school days that he had suddenly excused himself but Remus wasn't about to tell her that.
"Well, I always seem to say the wrong thing." She said glumly. This was the first time Remus had seen her look somewhat crestfallen.
"I'm sure it has nothing to do with you." Remus told her with a smile.
She smiled back. "So, Remus, tell me a little about yourself." She sat up straighter and pierced Remus with her light purple eyes.
Remus was taken aback. Why did she want to know about him? He was nothing special, he had no special abilities, unless of course you counted him being able to turn into a bloodthirsty beast once a month. "Well…what would you like to know?" He asked.
She shrugged. "I don't know. What do you like to do for fun? How did you come to join the Order? What are your hobbies? Things like that." She finished with a smile.
Remus was speechless. No one had ever asked him these things before, except for maybe the Marauders. "Well…"
So Remus and Tonks talked. They talked about everything, from what each other's favorite food was to Voldemort's return. Remus found it extremely easy to talk to the clumsy witch. She was funny, interesting and very smart. She obviously thought the same about Remus. Finally, many hours later, Remus felt the first twinge of tiredness envelope him. He yawned.
Tonks giggled and then yawned herself. "Oh my, I'm so tired. What time is it?" She looked at her watch. "Merlin's beard! It's nearly three in the morning!"
"Really? Where did the time go?" Remus asked surprised by the early hour.
"I don't know but I better get going. I gotta be at work in a few hours." She said lightly.
"Oh, I hope I didn't keep you up." Remus said apologetically. He would feel awful if he had kept Tonks from getting a restful night's sleep because he didn't know when to shut up.
She laughed. "Oh no, I enjoyed talking with you."
Remus smiled. "Me too."
"Well, I guess I'll see you around Remus." She got up from the table, as did Remus. "I hope we can talk again."
"Same here." He said.
"Good night." She said cheerfully.
"Night." He said and he watched as she apparated, likely back to her flat.
He yawned and trudged quietly up the stairs into his room. What a lovely person Tonks was. He wished they would've gone to school together, they would have most likely been great friends. Remus couldn't get his mind off of young Tonks as he climbed sleepily into bed and fell asleep.
The past couple days past with Tonks visiting Grimmauld Place every night, much to Hermione's, Ginny's and Remus' delight. She entertained them all with various transformations. And Remus got to know her a little bit more as he talked to her late into the night.
Finally, Moody called the Advance Guard for a meeting to discuss retrieving Harry from his aunt and uncle's.
"We need a plan to get the Muggles out of the house, giving us plenty of time to go and get young Potter without confrontation." Moody was to be heard saying at the meeting.
"How about we just place a simple Memory Charm on them?" Emmeline Vance suggested.
Moody's blue eye swiveled madly and surveyed Emmeline. "No good. We want to get Harry using as little magic as possible."
"What if we just apparated into his bedroom?" Sturgis Podmore asked.
Again, Moody's blue magical eye surveyed Sturgis then swirled around madly in its socket. "That's no good either. The Ministry is most likely keeping tabs on all apparitions and all the Floo Networks."
"I've got an idea." Tonks said from beside Remus suddenly. Everyone turned around to look at her, including the magical eye, which got stuck while swirling.
"Confounded thing. It always sticks since that little puke wore it." Moody growled, popping out his eye and heading towards the sink. Remus saw Tonks give a look that suggested that she might be sick. "Well, on with it then." Moody ordered, still facing the sink.
"Right, well from what I've heard from these Muggles, they're really clean and prideful." Tonks went on.
"Your point?" Moody asked, turning around and facing the Guard, his blue eye swimming madly in a glass of water.
Tonks gave another sick look. Remus had to stifle a laugh. "Well, what if we sent them a letter through Muggle post saying they've won some sort of…I don't know…an All-England Best-Kept…Suburban Lawn Competition?" She suggested slowly.
Moody was silent for a moment while he popped his magic eye ball back in it's socket. "That's not a half bad idea Tonks. I like it." He said, a creepy smile appearing on his very scarred face.
Tonks' face slowly formed a smile. There was a murmur of agreement and nods around the room.
"Very well, it's settled. Tonks, you write the letter and send it through Muggle post. Then when the Muggles leave to accept their 'prize', we'll be free to go and retrieve Potter." Moody said. "Right. That's all for now and remember everyone: Constant Vigilance!" He growled as everyone filed out of the room or apparated.
Tonks rolled her eyes. "Constant Vigilance. Doesn't he have anything better to say?" She asked Remus.
"I saw that miss." Moody said, his back on both of them.
Tonks blushed faintly while Remus laughed.
A/N: I know it's not that long but like I said, I had a bit of a writer's block. This is my first shot at a Remus/Tonks story and I just don't want to screw it up and have you all arrive at my house with pitchforks and torches. Well, please please review! Please? gives puppy dog eyes.