I am back! Well kinda, I'm just updating this story because my discord wouldn't stop bugging me about it. And also I just wanna get to the prank already, but we got a long way to go before that point. Anyway, this chapter is short and mostly set-up, but I hope you enjoy it!
KING OF CUPS
Upright: compassion, control, balance
Reversed: coldness, moodiness, bad advice
The first months back from break were an endless blur of classes, Quidditch matches, and study sessions in the library, Cressida doing everything she could to block out the kiss that had ruined her New Year's.
It wasn't that it was bad, it was just...not what she expected. Not that she expected Remus to be some god of romance, but she'd had better from Xenophilius Lovegood, which was saying something.
She sighed and brushed her hair away from her face, tying it back with a colorful hair tie, one that Andromeda had given to her that Christmas along with several self-care kits that contained sweet-smelling bath salts and shampoo and conditioner with long lasting sleakeazy hair potions, to help tame some of her wild curls. Cress smiled at the memory, Andromeda's eyes lighting up when she'd opened the gift and immediately hugged her sister in law.
Cress remembered the first time Andromeda had shown up on their doorstep, just a couple months after Ted's graduation, soaking wet with a small suitcase by her side. She'd been the one to open the door and greet the poor girl, engulfing her in a hug and running to get Ted to comfort her.
It was the first time Cress realized how cruel families could be, and it was the first time Cress had realized how dirty her blood seemed to people like the Blacks.
She and Ted had soiled Andromeda's pristine reputation just because she'd asked her sisters to be her bridesmaids in a wedding to a muggleborn wizard.
"We have no choice Andy," Narcissa Black had said when she'd shown up on the Tonks' doorstep only a few weeks later, "You will always be my sister, but this is something Mama and Papa do not want for you. Come back, we'll find you a nice pureblood boy to marry. Maybe Lucius knows someone."
"I don't want a pureblood," Andromeda had spat out, "I want Teddy. And I want my sisters to support me in my choice. But if you can't…"
Cress hadn't heard the rest of the conversation cause Ted had told her to go back to bed. "You don't need to hear this," He explained before heading down the stairs to comfort Andromeda and face Narcissa.
The slamming of a book pulled Cressida out of the memory and she blinked at the sight of James Potter sitting down across the table from her. "Alright Tonks, I'm about to show you something no one else at this school has seen."
She cocked an eyebrow and chewed on the back of her pen, trying to decipher the fifth year's motivations. "Why?"
James's hazel eyes stared into hers, almost pleading, "Because as much as I hate to admit it, you're the smartest in our year, and I need your help."
That did nothing to curb her suspicions, but she shut her potions book and folded her hands, cocking her head at the boy.
A smirk spread across Potter's face as he pulled out a blank piece of folded parchment and shot a wary look over his shoulder. Leaning in close, he pressed his wand to the center of the parchment and his smirk widened into a smile, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Cressida stared skeptically at the parchment, wanting to chuckle at the phrase that was clearly meant to trigger some sort of charm the boys had placed on it. Her eyes began to widen as she watched black ink spread across the yellowed pages like spilled tea, creating rivers and borders and pathways she'd never seen before.
"Holy shit," She whispered, snatching the parchment from his hands to get a better look at it. Little names denoted places she recognized. The library, the Quidditch Pitch, even the Ravenclaw Common room.
But some she didn't know. Like a passageway only referred to as 'the one eyed witch' or 'hidden staircase'.
A laugh escaped her lips involuntarily. It was fantastic. James Potter and his band of misfits had managed to map the entirety of Hogwarts, every nook and cranny jammed onto a tiny piece of parchment they'd enchanted.
James leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his hair with a proud smirk on his face. Cressida couldn't blame him. "Brilliant eh?"
"Bloody brilliant," She responded, her cheeks aching from the wide smile she wore. "How did you do this? It would take years to remember every part of the castle, not to mention the magic involved in concealing it all."
James simply shrugged, "We kept track of our progress throughout the years, purely for prank purposes I assure you."
There was a twinkle behind his hazel eyes that begged to differ, but Cressida couldn't find it in herself to care. She was too busy unpacking the sheer magical power of such a tiny object.
Remembering why he'd showed it to her, she creased her brows together, handing it back to him. "I don't understand, why do you need my help?"
James pushed it back over to her side of the table, "Because we need a way to track those in the castle. And who better than the brightest witch of our year?"
Cress arched an eyebrow his direction, "Flattery will get you nowhere Potter," She lied, secretly relishing in his praise. She blew out a sigh, "It's going to be difficult, I don't think such a charm exists."
"Cress," He grabbed her hand, a pleading look in his gaze. That was when she knew. There was more to this map than pranks. Something else was behind it. Something else was motivating its creation, "Please."
It was only out of curiosity that she agreed. Or at least, that's what she told herself.
The dreams were getting worse. To the point where even Professor Dodonna had given up on trying to decipher what exactly they meant.
It wasn't exactly encouraging. Divination was all about dreams, and even her professor was stumped. Even with her sleeping pills, Cressida was waking up screaming, Dorcas and Emmeline on either side of her, Sara Crouch bringing her a glass of water and cleaning up the mess of tarot cards that always littered her bed.
However, there was one consistent card that always made an appearance. Cressida stared up at the inky night sky, the silver orb matching the one on the card in her hand.
The Astronomy tower was one of the only places she could go to be alone nowadays. Dorcas and Emmeline had fallen asleep in the common room, poring over their charms essays in order to raise their grades before OWLs at the end of the year.
So Cressida was alone, twirling the moon in her hands as she stared up at the celestial body that had haunted her every sleeping moment.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" A bitter voice she recognized made her blood boil, and she whirled around to meet the stormy grey eyes of Sirius Black, his curls wild and loose, like he'd just woken up.
She turned her gaze back up to the sky, letting out a frustrated sigh, "Sorry I didn't realize you owned the Astronomy tower." She sent him a saccharine smile, "Do I have to be this tall to ride?"
Black stared at her hovering hand, blinking as if not understanding her reference. Of course he didn't. Her gaze dropped to the card in her hand, shoving it in the pocket of her cardigan as she continued to huddle on the bench near the telescopes.
Black didn't say anything to her comment, not even a witty remark about how perfect she was. He just sighed and sat down beside her, a large space between the two of them. It was big enough for another person to sit between them.
Perhaps Black was wishing for that instead. They sat in uncomfortable silence, Cressida's hands growing sweaty as more time passed.
Rolling her eyes, she stood up and tugged her cardigan closer to her. The quiet moment to herself had been ruined with Black's presence, and she wasn't about to make him feel better by pretending to care about him.
"He misses you, you know?" Black's voice caught her off guard, freezing her in place.
Cressida gulped down the lump in her throat and slowly turned around to face him, "What?"
Black didn't face her, "Remus," He sighed, as if giving up on his previous attempts to annoy her, "He keeps studying in the library, hoping he'll run into you someday."
Cressida straightened her posture, crossing her arms across her chest, "Yeah, well, Trelawney's got me working extra hours so…"
The lie tasted like metal in her mouth. It was true that Trelawney had increased her workload, but Cressida had gone out of her way to avoid the library on days Remus would be there. She didn't want to see him.
Not now anyway.
Not after the party.
Especially cause he'd want to talk about the kiss and she didn't. She wasn't ready to admit that it wasn't good. That it didn't really mean anything when it did.
Black chucked mirthlessly and stood up, grey eyes staring into her own, "You really are a bitch you know that?"
Cressida pushed her anger down into her gut, determined not to give into the bait he was dangling in front of her. "Why? Cause I haven't forgiven him for standing me up? Because I don't want to talk about a kiss when I'm not even sure what it means?"
"For stringing him along," Black's jaw clenched, his stance mirroring hers. "Remus has enough on his plate without you leaving him on the hook."
Cressida chuckled mirthlessly, sticking her tongue into her cheek. "I'm the one stringing him along?" She shook her head in disbelief, unable to process the warped worldview that Sirius Black held whenever it came to her. "I'm trying to move on. That's what one does when their crush doesn't pan out. But everytime I pull away, Remus tries to reel me back in. So ask yourself this Black, who's stringing who along?"
She meant for that to be the last word. She wanted that to be the last word, but once again, Sirius Black had to open his big fat mouth.
"Diffindo!"
The curtain that acted at the entrance to the tower split in two, severed by the beam of magic Black had launched over her shoulder. Her blood boiled, face turning red as she whirled around, eyes blazing.
"What the hell, Black?"
Sirius looked as smug as ever, crossing his arms again, wand leaning against his shoulder, "That was your warning, Tonks. Leave Remus alone."
Her scoff was guttural, shaking her head. "He's not gonna fuck you Black," She snarled, malice coating her every word, "You have a better chance with the Bloody fucking Baron than you do with him."
Sirius's face crumbled, grey eyes widening in shock as Cressida disappeared down the stairs, clutching the tarot card so tightly she could feel the creases beginning to form.
Valentine's Day came and went with little fanfare. Dorcas and Emmeline had spent the whole day together, trading cards and chocolates and kisses whenever they could. She was surprised none of the Slytherins had tried to hex them, but she supposed even they must have girlfriends.
Cress shivered at the thought and sat down to eat her lunch, trying not to think about the fact that she was spending the day alone. Again.
"Excuse me?" A small voice quivered behind her, and Cressida turned to see a first year with Gryffindor robes standing just a few inches behind her, "Are you Cressida Tonks?"
The brunette nodded, eyeing the kid warily. This had to be some sort of prank.
Revenge for her words against Sirius a few weeks ago.
Instead, the boy pulled out a small box, handing it to her. "I was instructed to give you this at lunch time, along with these," from behind his back, the first year pulled out a bouquet of flowers, beautiful red carnations littered with forget-me-nots and lilacs.
This had to be a joke.
No one had ever sent her anything for Valentine's day seriously before. But the entire Great Hall was looking at her, and Potter's group of friends were all sitting down at the Gryffindor table, eyes just as wide as hers.
Gulping down her nerves, she thanked the first year and took the gifts. "Thank you."
Hair prickled on the back of her neck as the student body continued to look at her, Dorcas and Emmeline's mouths wide open.
Chatter emerged across the Great Hall only a few minutes after Cress had gotten the gift, and pretty soon the stares had stopped.
With the exception of her dorm mates.
"Well?" Dorcas asked, an expectant look on her face, "Open it!"
Cressida still stared at the gifts warily, unsure if some sort of magical potion would spurt out and cover her for the rest of the day if she opened the box. "What if-"
"What if nothing?" Emmeline cut her off, a wide smile on her face, "Just open it!"
She couldn't deny she was excited. Five whole years without a Valentine's day gift and now she had gotten two.
Cressida examined the flowers first, the sweet smell calming any sense of anxiety within her, realizing they came from the shop in Hogsmeade, where certain arrangements offered different effects based on the type of flowers used.
The card tied around the stalks read in curled cursive STRESS RELIEF, denoting the type of arrangement that had been ordered. Cressida chuckled. Whoever they were knew what they were doing.
She turned it over and creased her brow at the message on the back.
I'm Sorry.
"How cryptic," Dorcas spoke with a piece of chocolate in her mouth, "Whoever sent those isn't giving anything away with that."
Cressida nodded, unable to find the words to agree with her friend. Her mind was racing, trying to put the pieces together as she moved toward the dark velvet box.
It was some sort of jewelry box, that much was clear.
She flipped the lid open and gasped.
A beautiful silver necklace shone in the winter sunlight pouring through the windows, sparkling as she dangled it for her friends to see.
A small charm swung back and forth, the shape of the crescent moon only adding to the mystery.
"Merlin's beard," Emmeline choked out, mouth dropping wide open, "That's-"
"I know," Cressida responded.
"But who-"
"I have no idea," Her gaze drifted toward the group of friends goofing around at the Gryffindor table, locking onto a tall boy with sandy brown hair and bright green eyes.
As if feeling her gaze, Remus looked up and met it, an apologetic smile on his face.
Cressida gulped.
Ooooh, Cressida has a secret admirer. Do you think she's right about who it is? Or do you think it's someone else? Let me know!
