The Untold Stories of the Order of the Phoenix
This is a collection of the stories we never got to read about the Order of the Phoenix. Focuses around the stories of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin. Special appearances by Sirius Black, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the Weasleys. All chapters are inspired by a quote from the Harry Potter books.
They had almost unloaded Moody's luggage cart when Fred, George, and Ginny turned up with Lupin.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; page 182
In Which The Werewolf Learns About The Metamorphmagus
Remus woke up early on the morning of September first. He and other various Order members volunteered to accompany the Hogwarts students to Kings Cross station, all of which were seated around the kitchen table when Remus had walked in.
Sirius was scowling at the wall; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both yawning; Mad-Eye's magical eye was whirling around like usual; Sturgis Podmore held his head in his hand, dark bags under his eyes; Tonks's head was in her arms on the table. They all attempted to murmur a 'hello' when Remus walked into the room, but he could tell that none of them were used to waking up this early, let alone for a last minute Order meeting.
Remus sat down in the open seat between Sirius and Tonks, even though neither of them seemed to acknowledge his presence. Remus thought it best not to say anything to his best friend, seeing as Sirius had been in his tetchy mood for the past week.
Within five minutes the kitchen door swung open, with Dumbledore stood in the doorway. Everyone looked up, except from Sirius, who still kept his gaze fixed on the wall ahead of him.
"Let's go over the final plan, shall we?" Dumbledore said in his normal speaking voice. Remus heard a garbled murmur from Tonks, who had gone back to her earlier position, head on the table, apparently on the verge of sleep.
"Arthur, Molly, Nymphadora, and Sturgis will be taking care of Harry," Dumbledore said. Remus watched Sirius angrily drum his fingers on the table.
"And Ron, and Hermione," Mrs. Weasley declared, not letting her son go forgotten.
"Quite right," Dumbledore acknowledged, nodding slightly to Mrs. Weasley. "And Remus will be in charge of the twins and Ginny."
"Don't let Fred and George---"
"Don't worry Molly, I'll be able to handle them," Remus assured, smiling slightly at Mrs. Weasley, who looked relieved.
"Very well. Be on time, keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and I believe that is all," said Dumbledore, to which Sirius made an angry grunt. "Is there something you wish to add, Sirius?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"As a matter of fact there is!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Let it go, Padfoot," Remus muttered, but Sirius didn't seem to be paying attention.
"Harry is my godson, and I should be the one taking him to school!" Sirius said, his voice rising. "If Molly and Arthur get to go with their children then aren't I entitled to accompany my godson?"
The air in the kitchen went tense, as it usually did when Sirius had an outburst, which was beginning to happen more and more frequently lately. Even Tonks rose her head at the commotion.
"Molly and Arthur aren't hiding from the Ministry," Dumbledore said calmly. "We've discussed these matters before, Sirius—"
"I don't care what we have discussed before," Sirius said angrily. "You're acting like I'm going to be parading myself around, shouting out my name!"
"You're not known to be the most careful person in the room," Dumbledore said quietly.
"Are you saying I'm an irresponsible godfather?" Sirius asked heatedly, pushing back his chair and standing up.
"I'm simply saying that you aren't very cautious, Sirius," stated Dumbledore.
"THEN WHY BOTHER HAVING ME IN THE ORDER AT ALL?" Sirius shouted, slamming his fist on the table, kicking over his chair, and preceding to walk out of the room, accentuating every step he took. Remus wearily shook his head in his hands. How many time has Sirius done this now? Five times? Remus seemed to have stopped counting after the third.
"What was that—the fifth time?" Tonks asked, yawning loudly. Remus mentally thanked Tonks for breaking the eerie silence in the room. Dumbledore smiled slightly.
"I believe that there is nothing left to say after that," said Dumbledore. "Meeting adjourned." Dumbledore disappeared from the kitchen, leaving only the Weasley's, Sturgis, Moody, Tonks, and Remus, himself, in the room.
"Well, I better get breakfast ready," Mrs. Weasley announced, getting out of her chair.
"And I got to get to the Ministry, for a brief amount of time," Sturgis said, and disapparated out of the room. Remus figured that there would be nothing else to do, and decided that a morning in the drawing room was the exact thing he needed.
The drawing room was the only place where Remus was able to find silence, and with the room stacked with books, it easily became Remus's favorite room in Grimmauld place. Remus ran his finger along the book spines, in order to find a book worth reading.
His finger landed on a spine that didn't have a title, so Remus decided that this was the best bet for the morning. But, as soon as Remus relaxed into the oversized armchair, the silence of the room was vanquished. The doors opened to reveal Tonks standing in the doorway.
"Wotcher," mumbled Tonks, as she staggered into the room with her eyes half closed. "This whole 'get up at five' thing is madness."
"Why don't you sleep, then?" Remus suggested while turning a page in his book. "We aren't leaving for," he checked his watch, "another hour or so."
Tonks sighed, before saying, "But, now my mind is up, and even if my body wants to go to sleep, it can't if my mind is awake."
"Well, then I suppose you got yourself into quite the predicament." Tonks moved over to stand behind the chair Remus was sitting in.
"Whatcha reading?" Tonks asked, looking over Remus's shoulder and onto the pages in front of him.
"No idea," he replied, flipping back to the blank cover. "It seemed to be the safest book in that bookshelf."
"Well, what's it about?"
"I wouldn't know, considering that I opened it only a second before you came into the room."
"I can leave, if you want me to," Tonks muttered, sitting herself on a nearby sofa.
"That's not necessary," Remus answered, setting the book down in his lap. "I'd much rather have company, then read this book that will probably fill my head with pure-blood rubbish."
"Good, because I probably wouldn't have left anyway," she laughed. Remus watched as Tonks yawned, and stretched herself out on the sofa.
Tonks. She wasn't exactly the most normal of the witches in the Order, but she was certainly the brightest. And, although Remus had only had a single in depth conversation with her, Tonks still managed to make him smile, despite the minuscule amount of time they've spent together. But, the one thing that Remus had realized after their midnight conversation, was that they shared something that no one else in the Order could relate to. They were both different, and even if Tonks's metamorphmagus powers were considered extremely positive, and his lycanthropy wasn't, it still ignited a bond that Remus could never have with Sirius, or anyone else in the Order aside from her.
"Why'd you become a Professor?" Tonks inquired suddenly. She leaned her head over the side of the sofa to look at him.
"Because it was offered to me," Remus answered, simply.
"Not because you wanted to become a Professor?"
"Well, yes, I wanted to be a teacher, but that wasn't the reason I took the job," Remus replied. " I would've taken any paying job that was offered to me."
"Any job?" Tonks raised her eyebrows.
"Almost any job," he corrected, afraid of what Tonks could think up. He turned to look at her upside down face. "Why did you become an Auror?"
"A number of reasons," she began. Tonks lifted her head, and rested it on the sofa arm. "The biggest one was probably because of men."
"Men?"
Tonks sighed, and turned to look at him again. "I wanted to show all those men out there that I can be more then their perfect woman. Just because I can change my appearance, doesn't mean I can't do something productive with my life instead of being the ultimate trophy wife."
"And, I like the thrill," she added, with a sparkle in her eye. Remus smiled.
"You certainly are something else, Tonks," Remus laughed.
"That's what I'm told," Tonks responded, glancing at him with a smile.
The next half an hour went about the same, with Tonks asking random questions that probably had no significance, but made the conversation interesting. For instance, Remus learned that Tonks's favorite color was not pink, but blue, despite her usual hair color, and that her father was actually the one who named her that "horrible, disgusting, grotesque" name, as she so delicately put it.
"I don't believe you," Tonks gasped. "You. A rule breaker?"
"On special occasions," Remus smirked. "Nothing like Sirius, though. He got in detention at least once a week, twice, most of the time."
"What did you do?" Tonks breathed.
"Me? Not much. Just the occasional prank with James, Sirius, and Peter." Tonks looked at him in shock.
"I want to hear one."
"One, what?"
"A story, about your time at Hogwarts," Tonks elaborated. "I want to know what you did." Remus laughed, and checked his watch.
"I would, Tonks, but we're leaving in five minutes, and I don't think I would have time."
"Oh, well, then, I suppose you'll just have to tell me after we do this escorting business," said Tonks.
"Okay, when we get back," Remus agreed, giving her a little smile, which she returned.
"TONKS! REMUS! LET'S GO!" Mrs. Weasley's voice rang throughout the house, setting off Sirius's mother, which began to screech along with Mrs. Weasley. A look of horror dawned on Tonks's face.
"Merlin, I've been so wrapped up in our conversation, I forgot to get in disguise," cried Tonks, as she shot off the sofa. "Do me a favor, Remus, tell Molly I'll meet her up the road."
"I will, you get going," Remus instructed. Tonks gave him a look of thanks, and apparated out of Grimmauld Place.
Remus quickly walked down into the kitchen, to find a frazzled looking Mrs. Weasley, looking around frantically.
"Remus, where did Tonks go?" Mrs. Weasley asked quickly.
"She wanted me to inform you that she'll meet you up the road," Remus replied calmly. "Molly, everything is going to be fine, stop stressing." Mrs. Weasley collapsed in a chair with her head in her hands.
"It's just, Sturgis is no where to be found now, and Sirius has been sulking like mad, and–and."
"Molly, don't worry, things will turn out okay, they always do," Remus assured, sitting next to her and hugging her around the shoulders. "Here—" Remus took out a slab of chocolate from inside his cloak and broke off a piece. "Eat this, it'll make you feel better."
"Thank you, Remus," Mrs. Weasley said, taking the chocolate. "Having to say goodbye—if only for a few months—takes a lot out of me. And then with this war, and Per–"
"Molly," Remus said firmly. "You can't let this get the better of you."
"I know, you're right, like usual," Mrs. Weasley gave him a soft smile. "Just me being silly."
"Molly, we need to go," announced Moody who had just walked into the kitchen. "We'll just have to leave without Sturgis, but when I do find him, I'm going to—"
"I'm coming Mad-Eye," Mrs. Weasley interrupted before Moody finished his sentence. "Fred, George, and Ginny are upstairs and ready to go."
"Okay, I'll see you there then," said Remus. Mrs. Weasley gave a little sigh, before following Moody up the stairs and out of the kitchen.
Remus helped himself to a piece of toast that was one of many, in the middle of the table. He heard Mrs. Weasley arguing with Sirius about who knows what, and finally her heard the door to Grimmauld Place slam.
The kitchen had become unusually quiet. Eerie, actually. Remus looked around the kitchen. There were dirty dishes everywhere, along with crumbs from this morning's breakfast. A solo Daily Prophet was spread out on the opposite side of the table and empty mugs were leaving their marks on the wood.
"Maybe you should give it back, George," Remus heard Ginny's muffled voice on the floor above.
"Come on, Ginny, you like to see him upset just as much as we do," came Fred's reply. Remus, scooted back his chair, and stood up. Toast in hand, he walked up the stairs to find George dangling a photograph, apparently of Bellatrix Lastrange over the head of Kreacher, who was shouting things that would have given Mrs. Weasley a heart attack.
"I'm afraid, I must agree with Ginny," Remus voiced. Fred and George whipped their heads around and their faces fell. "I believe Sirius has taunted Kreacher enough for all of us."
George sighed, gave Kreacher a foul look, and reluctantly gave the photo back. Kreacher snatched it, and cradled it in his arms as he stomped away.
"Have any of you seen Sirius this morning?" Remus asked, seeing as he hadn't heard from Sirius since he had his explosion a few hours ago.
"He left," Fred replied. "Went with the others to Kings Cross, didn't he?"
"He what?" Remus asked in shock.
"Left. I'm guessing mum got tired of arguing and just let him go," George shrugged. "I'm surprised he hadn't left sooner."
"Well, in that case we ought to get going," Remus decided. "The sooner Sirius gets back here, the better. Mad-Eye took your luggage?" They nodded. "Right, well, because Ginny isn't old enough to apparate, we better get walking." A chorus of groans erupted from the Weasley twins.
"Thanks Ginny," Fred said sarcastically, shooting his younger sister a scowl.
"It's only a five minute walk," said Remus reasonably. "And the sooner we get going, the sooner we get there."
A/N: Odd way to end, but that's that. Well, that was a long one. If so inclined, please review.