Wrongful Imprisonment by Thoughts and Pondering

Chapter Nine: Carpe Diem.

Eleventh of August, 1995.

"This is ridiculous," Ron said vehemently, good-naturedly up turning the chess set. "I forfeit. There's only one way out, and that's only going to lead to checkmate."

James Potter, who was sitting on the other side of the board, raised his eyebrows. "I didn't see that."

Ron contemplated this as he stared at the pile of chess pieces on his lap that were now picking themselves up. He watched as his black king dusted off its queen. "Oh, well it's a bit late now." He picked the pieces up and shoved them back into the marble board they originated from. "Those pieces kept trying to tell me what to do!"

James rubbed his glasses with the sleeve of the wooly second hand jumper he was wearing. "Well," he yawned, "I'm tired."

Sirius, who was watching the chess match in a chair a little bit off the table, leaned back on the hind legs of his chair. He swung the chair back down, landing with a thud. "Wait," Sirius said, "Didn't you say you'd talk to Harry today?"

James's hazel eyes wandered around the room, finally resting on the cobwebbed grandfather clock in the corner. The clock ticked over to six past seven. Suddenly his voice was very harsh, like two blunt rocks rubbing together. "I am very tired," he said bluntly. Before Sirius could do anything, James picked up the last remaining white pawn off the coaster and handed it to Ron.

Ron nodded and accepted the straggler. "Thank-you for the game, Mr. Potter." He folded the chessboard up. He slid it across the kitchen table to Sirius, who tucked it under his arm. He looked at James for a few moments and persisted, "Prongs, you said you'd talk to Harry."

James stared at Sirius for a few moments and stifled a yawn that Sirius highly suspected was fake. "I said I was tired."

Sirius shook his head, leaning back on his chair again. "You also said you would talk to Harry." He banged the chair again on the floor, and there was the sound of wood hitting stone.

"I—" Without any warning, James let out a huge sneeze, with no time to cover his mouth.

Slightly disgusted and not desiring to be covered in spittle, Sirius moved his chair back a few inches, and stared at James who was wiping his runny nose with the sleeve of his jumper. "Bless you," Sirius muttered, edging away a little further. After James sneezed repeatedly five times in a row, Sirius asked him, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," James declared, "I don't need your help!" he added as Sirius walked towards him. He pushed roughly past Sirius and up to the front hall. Sirius just sat down again, rubbing his shoved shoulder.

"Is there a specific reason why he's ignoring me?" someone behind him asked.

Sirius whirled around. Harry had just slinked into the room. His glasses were sliding on his nose. He pushed them up, and took the seat nearest Sirius.

Sirius sighed, looking at the door James had just exited. He then glanced at Harry, who was looking at him like he was expecting an answer. He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, kiddo. I don't think it's any specific reason, I think there's a bunch of different reasons that all make up the big reason."

"D'you have any idea what these reasons are?

Sirius shook his head. "I have as much of an idea as you, Harry. He's been ignoring me as well for the past few days. Though I think it has something to do…" he faltered, then continued, "I think it has something to do with your mother's death."

Harry wiped his glasses, and slid off the chair. "I just wish he'd talk to me."

"Apart from the first few days, he hasn't been talking to anyone much."

Harry, who was about to walk out of the room, doubled back. "Apart from Ron," he muttered.

"Well, yes, he does talk to Ron."

"But he still won't go anywhere near me without a six-foot pole," Harry said bitterly.

"Tonks is coming back today," Sirius said, abruptly changing the subject.

Harry moved back to the wooden dining chair and sat down. "Yeah," he said, pulling a face, "She's nice."

"Moony's gone to take her back here," Sirius said, trying to get Harry's mind of his father.

"Mmhmm…" Harry groaned and leapt out of his chair and ran out the door, and made his way up the staircase.

The doorbell suddenly rang, and Sirius winced. He had told the Order members not to ring the doorbell because it would…

"CREATURES OF FILTH! BEFOULING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS…"

…because it would awaken his mother's portrait.

Running up to the door to let in the person on the other side, (he had a nagging feeling it was Remus and Tonks), he shouted over the din his mother was creating, "WHO IS IT?"

"It's Remus and Tonks."

Suspicions were confirmed. It was them. Tonks was leaning on Remus's shoulder for support. It seemed like she had managed to turn her hair pink, but had not managed to turn it spiky.

"Wotcher, Sirius," Tonks said tiredly. After steadying herself, she managed to stand upright after swaying a bit. "I feel like an overcooked noodle," she said woozily.

Sirius smiled at them and ran to the moth-eaten curtains that his mother's portrait was under. He yanked them together, and oddly enough, today the curtains weren't putting up a fight. Her shrieking, frothing face disappeared behind the curtains.

"So how are you, Tonks?" He stepped backwards to let the two of them in. A single gust of cool air hit him in the face.

Tonks walked inside the house along with Remus and Sirius closed the door behind them. She smiled crookedly. "I'm feeling a little bit better than I was yesterday. Oh, and Fiona said James's next check up session with her is cancelled. Her grandfather died yesterday, I think, and she's going to his funeral."

"Wait a second," Sirius said, "Isn't Umbridge Fiona's cousin?"

"Yeah," Tonks said absently, leaning against an umbrella stand that was made out of what looked suspiciously like a troll's foot, "But Umbridge is related to Fiona on her mother's side of the family, and this was her father's father. Any reason you wanted to know?"

"No, not really," Sirius shook his head.

Remus walked towards Sirius, and asked, "Sirius, where's James?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently, he was tired and went to bed."

Tonks yawned and stood up straight again. "I'm tired too. All I want to do is sleep. Looks like I'll have to crash here for tonight, Sirius. I have to do something tomorrow," she said pointedly, making her way to one of the bedrooms.

After hearing the door close upstairs, Sirius asked Remus, "What does she want to do?" he whispered quietly.

"I think she wants to visit her parents tomorrow."

"Andromeda?"

"Yes, I think that's what her mother's name is."

"Molly made some spaghetti," Sirius said, changing the subject entirely. "There's some left in the kitchen."

"Thanks, I feel rather hungry," Remus replied.

"Why is everyone in this house either food-deprived or sleep-deprived?"

"I don't know. How about that spaghetti?"

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Tonks was already half-awake when she heard someone pull open her bedroom curtains. The effect of the morning summer sunlight streaming in the now clean window and onto her closed eyelids was immediate. Her eyes snapped open and she raised a hand to shield her eyes.

"Up and at 'em, Tonks!" Sirius shouted noisily, banging a spoon against the bowl he was carrying.

"Wotcher Sirius," Tonks muttered groggily, "What time is it?"

Tapping his spoon again against the rim of the porridge filled bowl, Sirius answered, "The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and thus has the day has begun!"

Tonks snorted, wrapped the blankets tighter around her and rolled over. "It's still too bloody early."

"I bring food!" Sirius exclaimed, tapping the bowl repeatedly.

"I hear that!" Tonks's voice was muffled under the covers. "Why can't you bring peace instead?"

"Ouch, Tonks, but seriously, I do. Didn't you want to do something today?"

Tonks sighed and pushed the blankets off her face. "I need to see my parents."

Sirius rubbed his chin, sitting on the end of Tonks's bed. They were in one of the spare rooms at Grimmauld Place. There were pink curtains that had been pulled back, a small coffee table in the corner, and not much else. There was no carpet or stone on the floor, it looked like poured concrete.

"Your mum and dad?"

"Yeah."

Sirius shifted on the bed, and it let out a loud creak. "When was the last time you saw them?"

Tonks got up and stretched her arms up high above her head, and straightened the covers quickly. The covers were pink as well. The only thing she liked pink was hair. But this room was so pink, so vividly pink it was quite a hideous sight to behold. "Christmas two years ago. Let's just say the whole thing was a fiasco. My father had a concussion after his pet owl pecked him in the head repeatedly. After that, I think he had to wear an eye-patch for a week."

"His owl's a nutter."

"Well…" Tonks muttered, "Feather Duster is not known to be the most sane of postal birds."

"Your father named his owl Feather Duster? I can now see why it is traumatised."

"Yes…rather. The funny thing is I haven't gotten any mail from them in over a year. My twenty-third birthday card, was the last post I received from them. I hope they haven't moved or anything recently. I'm using the return address on the back of the envelope. They sent it to me through the Muggle mail. Mum and Dad are trying to live a Muggle lifestyle. Never understood why. Things like cooking and cleaning are so much easier with magic."

Sirius bounded off the bed again. "True," he stated. "But think of all the trouble magic causes. Most magical people don't value patience these days, because they think magic can always provide an answer. Or they wait for more intelligent witches or wizards for answers. These answers can't come out of nowhere."

"If people ask the Ministry, they'll get their answers from anywhere. Especially with Umbridge in charge."

"You see, the unfortunate thing in the wizarding world, is that the bad guys are smarter and competent then the good guys."

"Sirius, you're making it sound like we're in some sort of children's story book. Honestly, good guys and bad guys?"

"D'you want this porridge or not?"

Tonks groaned and sat back down on the bed heavily, her feet too cold against the bare grey floor. "Yes, I need something to aim at your head."

Eyes opening wider in alarm, Sirius backed away, "Alright, alright, I get the point; I'll go and let you get your beauty sleep."

Tonks let out a loud yawn. "Why bother? I'm awake now. As you said before, the sun is singing and the birds are shining. Let's go and embrace the day ahead of us!" she exclaimed, not noticing her mistake. "Carpe diem!" With newfound energy, she bounded out of the bed. The walls were pink too. Why hadn't she noticed that?

"Sirius, this room is too pink."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno why. I think when my brother was born, they were hoping for a girl."

"Was this your brother's room?"

"No, they gave him a different room when they discovered he was a boy."

She leapt out of the bed, and said, "I think I'll Floo there, since their house is connected to the Floo network. At least it was at the time they sent me the letter."

"And you bother about return addresses when their connected to the Floo Network. Honestly. How come you haven't seen them in so long…their not like my parents, are they?"

Tonks bit her lip. "I don't know. I guess it's just that they said they'd owl me once a month, and I haven't heard from them in so long…I guess I feel…I don't know…" she sighed, feeling suddenly lethargic again.

"It's alright Tonks, if you ever want to talk about it, let me know." He dropped the bowl of porridge down on the table, which had a single dusty pink doily. "If you want to make your way downstairs, James and Kingsley are eating breakfast. And…" he added quickly, seeing Tonks edge towards the bowl, "I think I'll make my exit before I get porridge dumped on my head."

"You are a wise one, aren't you?"

Sirius had already ducked out of the pink room. Tonks stood up and lifted the bowl full of steaming porridge. She breathed in deeply. It smelled wonderful. Walking cautiously, since the bowl was filled to the rim, she made her way downstairs.

In the kitchen, she found both James and Kingsley. Kingsley had a plate of uneaten jam toast behind the copy of the Daily Prophet he was reading. James was systematically making his way through a plate of cold left over spaghetti.

Tonks seated herself next to Kingsley, and realized she had forgotten a spoon. Making her way to the battered drawers, she managed to withdraw something that sort of resembled a spoon. She plunged it into her porridge, and managed to get a full spoonful of the soggy substance. Mmm…apricot. Wonderful.

As she ate her porridge, she asked Kingsley, "What's in the paper?"

Kingsley ruffled the pages and set it down. "Nothing interesting. Here, you can look at it if you like."

Tonks declined the offer, and quickly finished off her porridge. She bounded up the staircase to brush her hair. After going through the basic morning requirements of brushing her hair and teeth, she walked to the fireplace, in one of the main bedrooms upstairs. Sirius had told her that they were connected to Floo Network, but it was one-way only. Out.

Reaching for the rarely used pot of Floo powder on the mantelpiece, she froze. Could she really do this? Her parents had possibly forgotten of her mere existence by now… no, she told herself, she was being totally ridiculous. She had to do this. She had to find out the truth. Her hand shook as she took some Floo Powder. She did not want to do this, but she didn't want to not try and fail, like nearly everything else she had done in her life. Trying was the first step to failure, but it was also the first step to success. Not try at all, and you were doomed to fail.

"Carpe diem," she whispered, as she dropped the Floo Powder in the grate and stepped in.

Unfortunately, that was not her parents Floo address, and after she went spinning, she realized it was a little too late.

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And there we are! I changed this chapter a bit too. People are getting a lil' lazy with reviewing again. Three? Let's aim for…about seven this time, I know we've done better before.

Next Chapter: Tonks meets her parents, Harry confronts James, and Snape has an argument.

Til next time,

Thoughts and Pondering.