Updated December 15, 2004: Merry Christmas (or whatever)
The sky was only beginning to darken when, with three faint 'pop's, Nym and the Marauders Apparated in front of Malfoy Manor's twisted black gates. Sirius, at least, seemed nervous about going any farther. "It's alright for you lot," he muttered. "They aren't your family."
"Come on, Paddy," James said, trying to be cheerful. "We're all cousins to one degree or another."
"But them in there's first degree. And if I show up with Nym looking like that, I'm going to get the first degree." This was so out of character for Sirius that Nym, despite the fatigue and strain of the day that threatened to overwhelm her, could only stare at him.
Remus sighed. "I'll take her in. Don't worry about it."
"We should come…" James began. 'Don't Leave Your Mates in the Cacky Alone', that was the motto of the Marauders, it seemed. If Remus was going to take the fall for this, they all would.
But Remus was having none of it. "Get going you two. Lily will be waiting for you, Prongs, and unless I miss my guess, Paddy, you had a date with that Johnson girl. Well?" He looked at them expectantly, before sighing. "We'll be fine. Even Lucius would have a hard time doing anything to me." He grinned wolfishly, reminding them all of what he was.
Still the other boys hesitated. "It don't feel right," Sirius muttered. "Leaving you to take the fall for it."
Remus tutted, waving them away. "I'm not taking the fall for anything. Don't worry about it. Now get." With worried faces, the other two boys disappeared. Once they were gone, Remus sighed, running a hand through his tangled hair. "I love them both like brothers, but sometimes they are so trying." With Nym leaning heavily on his arm, they made their slow way down the long drive towards the manor house.
"What could Lucius do, to make Sirius so nervous?" Nym asked, not without trepidation, as they neared the enormous front doors.
"Actually, nothing. Oh, he might snarl and snap a bit, yell at us a bit maybe, but he can't actually do anything. Of course, you might be confined to your room or some such, but somehow I don't think he'll even try that." He gave Nym a small smile. "You'd probably hex him into next week."
Nym smiled tiredly. "I'm too tired. I couldn't possibly send him farther than three days along."
Lupin laughed, a short, barking laugh, then he stopped walking. "Got a present for you, Nym. The three of us decided that you were the best one to takes these, and, well, we just think it's for the best." He reached under his cloak and pulled out a thin package, which he handed to her with a shy smile. Nym smiled back, touched that her three adoptive brothers had thought of her. "We'd best go," Remus said, with a meaningful look at the huge doors. "I doubt Lucius will mind over much that you got a bit scraped up, but Heaven help us all if you're later for supper." They climbed the steps, but despite his words, Remus hesitated with his hand over the door bell.
"Oh, foo," Nym sighed, unable to think of any other word to describe her feelings. She grabbed the heavy door handle and pulled, swinging the massive slab of wood and metal wide open before marching, with only a little assistance from Remus, into the front hall.
The foyer was as it always was, vast and empty and strangely forbidding. Nym didn't give it a thought, but marched straight on towards the marble stairs, stopping only when she realized the housekeeper was waiting with fists on her hips, blocking Nym's route as squarely as her large bulk could manage.
"Just what do you think you're doing, missy?" she demanded, her voice somewhere between a hiss and a shriek. "Think you can traipse off and do whatever you like, then waltz back in here as if you own the place? Well, the master and missus may be content to let you run wild, but I'm not having it, you hear?" She reached out, though whether to slap Nym or pinch her, Nym couldn't have said.
By this point Nym was tired, and sore, and hungry. She rather thought she'd almost died earlier, and was now marching around covered in blood and fueled on pure adrenaline. Something within her snapped, and she swatted the woman's hand away coldly. "My name, Madam, is not 'missy'. It is Nymphadora Tonks." Then she smiled as sweetly as she knew how. "But don't let the name fool you. "I'm a Black and a Malfoy as well, and a dozen other things besides, including a witch. And you, Madam, are a squib. Get out of my way." The housekeeper stepped back, stunned to hear such a speech from the rather unassuming little girl that, up until that point, she had bullied unmercifully.
Nym swept by her, the effect spoiled only slightly by the way she lent on Remus's arm and the thudding of her heart that gave away her agitation. Walking up the stairs, gripping Remus and the thick stone banister for support, Nym felt lightheaded. She'd actually don't it! She'd stood up to that horrible housekeeper, and she'd got away with it. She wasn't properly sure why she'd called the woman a squib, but it had seemed right. Now that she thought of it, something within her knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Madam Pierce was indeed a squib, kept on more out of condensation than anything else. This, the message ran, is what the Malfoys are better than. This is fit only to wipe a Malfoy's boots. Nym felt herself shuddering. What a terrible place this was.
"Are you feeling alright, Nym?" Remus asked with concern.
Nym looked up at her friend, tears filling her eyes but not spilling. Her lips trembled as they tried to frame an answer. "She's such a terrible person. But, oh Remus! Am I terrible for saying that to her? It was so cruel, and I…" she sniffed miserably, "I actually meant it!"
Remus stopped her and pulled her into a hug. "Hush up, there's a girl." He looked down at her, smiling his quiet, understanding smile. "You're not a horrible person. You've had a long day, and she wasn't making it any better. Come to that, she did deserve it."
"No one deserves to be talked to like that," Nym said miserably.
Remus shrugged. "I don't know about that, Nym. At least you regret it." His smile broadened slightly. "You have no idea how much you scared me there. That sounded like something Lucius would say."
Nym sniffed, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. "Was I that bad?"
Now Remus laughed. "Well, you'd certainly never catch Lucius doing that," he said, handing her a handkerchief. "And I doubt he'd feel sorry for telling off a miserable old bag, either. Or anyone else," he added quietly. Then he smiled a little brighter. "But you certainly came across as very much the pure blood. Are you sure you shouldn't be in Slytherin?"
Nym sniffed again and rolled her eyes. "Please." She smiled hesitantly up at him. "I'm going to catch it for that, aren't I?"
Remus shrugged. "Maybe. Who can tell, with Malfoys? For all I know, they might give you a golden plaque and declare you a true member of the family."
Smiling more broadly, Nym shivered theatrically. "Anything but that."
"What's this?" a voice demanded, deeply disapproving. "You aren't planning to take this… boy… up to your room, are you?" Nym looked up, realizing that they'd arrived at the portrait of Lord Admiral Skye. She smiled tentatively at the Admiral. As a guard for her door, there was none better, but he was very rigid when it came to propriety. She always carried her robes around nowadays, after the dressing-down she'd received for wearing pants like a man or a woman who was 'no better than she ought to be'.
"No sir," she said as respectfully as she could. "Master Lupin was only ensuring that I did not collapse of fatigue enroute from the entrance."
Remus, for his part, gave the Admiral a very dignified bow, only the corners of his mouth showing his amusement. "About the awards dinner," he said, as though it had just occurred to him. "It is generally expected that you bring, if not a date, at least an escort. We'll come pick you up at quarter to seven, so make sure he's here by then. Oh," he added, just before he turned away, "it's probably better if he comes from a wizarding family. Most people won't care, of course, but your aunt and uncle might. Just a friendly caution." He gave her a hug, much to Admiral Skye's disapproval, and walked off with a "I'll see myself out. You clean up and get to bed."
"Your uncle has guests for supper," the Admiral informed Nym coolly before allowing the door to appear. Nym nodded, understanding all too well the ramifications of his words. Heaven forbid that she be allowed to eat a quiet, private supper in the kitchen, the way she might have been allowed were she younger than her now twelve years. No, she had to wear dress robes, and sit up straight, and chew with her mouth closed, and sip her watered wine delicately, and make pleasant conversation that could not possibly offend anyone for hours. It would be tedious and trying and all the things Nym had no patience for in her present state. Suppressing a sigh, she made her way up the tightly wound staircase to her room, trying to limit her yawns. Yawning, she had been told, was the height of bad manners. It implied you found the company boring, rather than that you might, possibly, be tired. From the way her uncle saw things, one would think there was no such thing as a bodily function, but rather a series of carefully calculated actions. Even eating was a social grace, rather than a necessity of life.
Nym very conscientiously put her wand on the dresser. If she left it upstairs, there could be no temptation to blast one of her uncle's guests into next week. Well, there might be the temptation, but not the means. Besides, she thought tiredly, it was proper etiquette, damn Lucius.
She showered slowly, letting the hot water ease her tired muscles. The recent scar stood out livid and white across her chest. Nym inspected it critically, noting the way the scarred tissue seemed to have spread out from the simple white line it had been before. In her experience, scars just didn't do that. But then, she hadn't seen many magical ailments. Maybe this was normal for scars caused by being mauled by large magical beasts. Perhaps there would be something in the library. She could check after… but no, she couldn't, could she? Supper would last at least three hours, at the rate it was likely to go, and longer if there were many guests, and her aunt expected her to help serve drinks. There was no help for it, then. It would have to wait until tomorrow… no, tomorrow she was going into Diagon Alley with Rick to shop for school supplies. And of course, Aunt Narcissa would want to go shopping for the baby afterwards. Drat. Well, she'd find time, one way or another.
Suppressing yet another sigh, she toweled her hair dry and hurried through dressing. She'd look tidy enough, nothing amazing, and it was better to catch trouble for having a wrinkle on the hem of her robe than for being late to supper.
Dressed to her own satisfaction and that of Lady Skye's portrait, Nym fairly flew down the stairs and hallways towards the front entrance hall, slowing to a dignified walk only when the ornate marble banister of the main staircase came into view. Running in the corridors, tut tut, she thought wryly, unconsciously echoing Evans's frequent admonitions. Well, there would be no Evans this year to stop her dashing about all she liked. There would be no James or Sirius to snatch her out of trouble's jaws at the last instant either, though. Somehow, the negative far outweighed any positive she saw in Evans leaving.
Nym made it to the drawing room a heartbeat before her frantic aunt set out in search of her. "Nymphadora! Oh thank Merlin you're here!" Narcissa cried, with unusual drama. "So many of your uncle's friends are coming tonight…" she wrung her hands. "Thank Merlin!" she cried again.
Nym smiled tiredly at her distraught aunt. Narcissa wasn't a bad woman, just generally stuck up and judgmental. Nym wouldn't expand that description to include Lucius, but she'd tolerate him, if only because he'd given her no reason to hate him, as yet. Certainly, he looked down on her family because her mother had not married into another pure blooded wizard clan, and he treated her like a stupid little savage, the way the British had the natives when they conquered India so long ago, all condensation and worldly airs, but being an insufferable git didn't make him evil, just, well, insufferable. Still, she appreciated the use of his library and quidditch pitch, if nothing else. And, she suddenly vowed to herself, she'd come back, if only to make sure her cousin did not grow up to be like their father. Better a twittering fool like Narcissa, even, than a stupid prat like Lucius. "Please calm down, Aunty," Nym said, using the closest thing to an informal address that she ever would to anyone on her mother's side of her family, except of course Sirius. "Everything will go just fine, I promise you."
Narcissa sighed, pressing her wrist to her forehead. "Oh, I do hope so, dear. But some of them… oh dear, I hate to speak ill of anyone, but they can be so trying." Her lip quivered with indecision. "Nymphadora, dear, there is something you need to know before our guests arrive. My grandfather has decided to bring along my cousin Regulus." Nym felt her blood run cold. Damn it all, why had she been such a fool as to leave her wand up in her room? She didn't bloody well trust her uncle's guests, not any of them, and it was damn foolish to leave her wand up in her room. "I know you dislike him, darling, but there was nothing I could do. He'll be seated at the opposite end of the table from you, if it is any consolation."
Nym tried to smile bravely at her aunt, but was afraid she failed miserably. "Is there anyone else coming who has a personal grudge against me?" she asked, trying to hide the tremor in her voice and keep her tone light.
"No," Narcissa said, alarmed anew. "They are all people we have had for supper here before, who have spoken highly of you to your uncle." That, Nym saw in her aunt's eyes, was not the full truth, only an interpretation of it. But it seemed to be a safeguard for her life, so she would ask no further. "Except… I don't know that you have met the Snapes or the Pettigrews." Nym's voice ran cold. Snivellus and Wormtail. Coupled with Regulus, she might be lucky to escape tonight with her life. Oh, Wormtail had no great personal grudge against her, but he seemed to think she had taken his place with his idols. Jealousy, Nym knew, could be a dangerous thing. He'd never tried anything before, only a few snide comments, but then, Sirius or James had always been around before. And Snivellus… she'd been witness to his humiliation no few times. She'd even helped it along once or twice. And 'revenge', Nym knew, was the first word in a Slytherin's personal dictionary.
"I have met a Snape and a Pettigrew," Nym said, carefully.
"Oh dear," was all Narcissa said. It did not seem a good sign to Nym. Some birthday this was turning out to be.