1I was so excited to see Tonks for the first time in 12 years I could barely contain my excitement. When I couldn't stand it any longer, I started racing around the room, in dog form of course.
When I heard the door open, I wanted to race down and hug Tonks, but Remus had warned me to stay up here as a dog, because she might get scared or something. When Tonks finally came in the library, I jumped on her and licked her face, greeting her and forgetting she didn't know who I was.
When she asked Moony if I was his dog, I wanted to burst out laughing! How could I be Remus' dog? I am not a real dog, but she didn't know that yet. Then when he asked me to turn back, I forgot she might hate me and ran to hug her. At first she looked happy, but when she realized it was me, her reaction was the one I feared most - she was afraid of me! Me her cousin!
She started backing up slowly, not watching where she was going. Suddenly, she fell backwards, I tried to warn her and catch her but it was too late. She had gotten knocked out and it was all my fault!
Sirius looked over at Tonks as she moaned. She still wasn't awake and they had done everything they could. Now all they could do was wait. Sirius and Remus had taken turns watching over Tonks, though Sirius usually did it himself. He felt so responsible for her getting her. I should have let her get used to me before acting like everything was fine!
As Tonks came back around, she listen for anyone who was in the room. She didn't want them to know she was awake... not yet. She still had to figure out what had happened and what she was going to do. She listened quietly when she heard Sirius talk to Remus.
"Its my fault! What do I do if she doesn't wake up? Then I really will be a murderer! Heck, she probably thinks I am! She doesn't even know that the truth yet! She's the only real family I have left! I only ever had her and her mother besides you and James! What am I gonna do?" Sirius muttered nervously to Remus.
"Calm down, Padfoot! She's going to wake up and your not a murderer! And yes, its partly your fault, but I should have warned her! It was too much of a shock! I don't think she believes you're a murderer and when she wakes up you will have plenty of time to tell her the truth!" Remus paused, trying to decide if he should add something.
"You should have seen her when they sent you to Azkaban! She was hysterical! If I hadn't stopped her she would've ran right to Azkaban and tried to set you free herself! We both we angry! Then slowly, she started to think maybe you might have done it but, I don't believe she truly ever thought you did! Let her come around. Its probably just shock."
Sirius didn't look up or answer but Remus knew he was listening. "It will be fine," he said then walked out, leaving Sirius alone with Tonks.
Tonks decided now would be a good time to make Sirius know she was awake. She rolled over so she could see him. He looks so sad, she thought, It must be awful to have everyone think you're a murderer. "Wotcher, Sirius," Tonks said to get his attention. Sirius's head jerked up and he looked over at Tonks.
"Tonks? Your awake?" he started to walk towards her but stopped, remembering the night before. He looked around nervously, trying to decide what to do.
Tonks sat up, sensing her cousin's nervousness. "Aren't you going to give your favorite second cousin a hug since you haven't seen her in 12 years?" she asked, teasing him.
Sirius looked at her, trying to figure out if she was serious. Finally, he decided she was and he walked over and gave her a hug. This time she returned it and didn't pull away. Not sure what to do, he pulled her closer, afraid it was a dream and she still hated him.
Suddenly, he pulled away but still held her arms, "Don't you hate me?" he asked, dreading the answer.
"No. Why should I?" she asked even though she exactly what he meant.
He hesitated, not entirely sure why she should hate him, "Because..." Tonks cut him off.
"Because, your supposed to be a murderer? Because you supposedly betrayed your best friends to Voldemort? Because you left me with no one after my mom died?" She paused, to look at Sirius.
Sirius stared at her, his mouth hanging open slightly. He couldn't believe how true the things she was saying were. He had left her after his cousin died. It hadn't been his fault but he had
"Sirius? Are you alright?" His cousin's voice snapped his thoughts back to reality. "Yes, Tonks you should hate me for all those things. Especailly the last one." he said, taking a seat on the couch.
Tonks sighed and sat down next to him. "First off, its not your fault you left me and I should have never suggested it." She took a deep breath before she continued, her voice now serious. "I don't know what happened, or how you got framed for that matter, but I do know that you didn't murder anyone! And I know more than that, that you didn't betray your best friends and godson! You're a Gryffindor, remember!" she added, looking Sirius who smiled at the last comment, or atleast she thought he did. The smile, if it was there was gone almost as fast as it was there.
"But, Tonks..." he said, still believing she hated him.
"No buts Sirius! I know you! You wouldn't have left me if you didn't have to and you would have died yourself before you betrayed Lily and James! And don't feel sorry for yourself either! Now if you don't mind, I would like to hear what really happened." she cut him off.
Sirius smiled slightly at how Tonks changed the subject and could be so convincing. He sighed and nodded. "Moony! Come in here and help me explain everything to Tonks!" he yelled.
A couple of minutes later, a tired looking Remus came in, carrying three cups of tea. After he offered a cup to Tonks and Sirius, he sat down and sighed.
"Now, how did you get blamed for this whole mess?" Tonks said impatiently, looking at Sirius.
"You know that Lily and James wanted me to be Harry's secret keeper right?" Tonks nodded. "I convinced them that Voldemort would figure it out so I told them to choose Peter. You remember Peter Pettigrew right?"
"Peter... Peter. Oh yeah! I remember, I never did trust him like I did Remus and James." Remus snorted.
"I guess you have better taste in who is on your side then we did." Remus commented.
"Ok, so Peter betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort. On Halloween, I was over at Mooney's, Peter was supposed to show up with Harry and James later that night. When they were an hour late, I started getting nervous but Mooney convinced me that they were fine. Finally, when they were two hours late, I knew something was majorly wrong so I hopped on my motorcycle and flew over to Prong's house. When I arrived, I knew something just wasn't right. I walked in and called for James or Lily but no one answered so I went upstairs to Harry's room and I found him still wrapped in Lily's arms, screaming for him mum."
"I comforted him as best I could, but I knew I had to get Harry out of that house. When I took him outside, Ha grid was there and said Dumbledore had given him strict orders to take Harry. Of course I wanted to take him with me since I was his godfather, but Hagrid insisted so I finally gave in told him to take my motorcycle. After they left, I realized that it was Peter who did this so I went in search of him. When I cornered him, he exploded the street, killing all those people and cut off a finger so everyone thought he was dead. Thats how I got blamed for their murder." Sirius finished, sighing sadly.
He looked over at Tonks, who was staring, open mouthed. Her hair started flashing fire red and her face turned red, showing her anger. She tried to talk but she was so angry she couldn't. "If I ever get my hands on the bastard I am going to beat the crap out of him and send curse so bad he won't know what happens. I can't believe he did that! UGGGGGGGGHH!" When she calmed down she couldn't find words for her anger. She looked around for something to... she didn't know what. Her eyes finally found a book that was on the stand, much to everyone's surprise, she threw is across the room, against the wall. "Dammit, Dammit, Dammit! I am going to kill him!" Sirius stared at her, she hardly ever had outbursts like that and when she did she had to be extremely mad.
Tonks looked around and suddenly looked very shocked. Abrutly, she turned and walked out of the room, tripping over something on her way. Sirius looked at his friend and sighed, "Well, I guess she took that well. I better go find her." He hurried after his cousin, who had run upstairs.
He turned the corner as he heard sobbing coming from his room. He opened the door to see Tonks sitting on his bed crying. Knocking lightly, he walked over to were she was and sat down beside her. At first she tried to scoot away but he draped his arm around her and held her. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
Sirius shook his head, "Its not your fault. Killing Peter won't help either, because then the evidence will be gone forever. All I care about is that the people I care about most know I am not really a murderer. That itself means everything to me. Please, Tonks, don't do anything stupid. Promise me that. Everything is going to be ok. " he said quietly, whispering comforting words.
"I promise, but I don't see how everything is going to be ok. You're stuck in this awful place because almost everyone in the wizarding world is looking for you. Half of the muggle world too. Who all knows you're innocent by the way?" Tonks said, sniffling.
"Um, just you and Remus right now. Oh and Peter but that doesn't count. And everything will be ok. Even this place is better than Azkaban. Maybe I'll even be able to get Harry and Dumbledore to believe I'm innocent. All I ever wanted was to be able to spend time with my godson. Now, though I have my favorite cousin in the whole world with me so that doesn't seem as important anymore. You won't tell anyone will you?"
"Only me and Remus? Wow. Of course I won't tell anyone. If there's anything I can do to help with Harry or anything, just let me know ok?"
"Definately. Now, want to go have some tea and tell me about your life for the past 13 years?" Tonks nodded and stood up dragging Sirius behind her. She was so glad that she had her cousin back, even if he was a convicted murderer.
AN: Ok, sorry it took so long to update. I have been busy and I just wasn't feeling this story. I absolutely hate this chapter, well maybe not hate but I don't like it. I just had to finish this story though. Let me know what you thought.
