Tonks expected to wake up in Severus' arms the next morning. But she found herself in an empty bed. She got up, dressed and marched down to the dungeons, where she knew she'd find him.
She knocked on the door and heard him cry, "Just a minute!" Ten minutes later the door opened, and Tonks let herself in.
"Have you lost interest in me?" she asked, suddenly feeling very vulnerable.
"Dora…hold on a second," Severus said quietly, finishing cutting up what looked to be some kind of heart. Tonks rested her head on her hands and waited.
Severus walked over to her. "What are you talking about?" he asked worriedly.
"I'm not sure. It just seems like you don't have any time for me. That this potion is more important than me, somehow. That's all," Tonks said, not being able to look him in the eye.
Severus took off one glove, sat down and took her hand. "Dora, this potion will help the Order when it's finished. The sooner the better. I have to make this work. And if I have to sacrifice a few nights with you to finish this potion, I will." He lifted chin with his ungloved hand so that she would look at him. "Please don't make me feel guilty."
Tonks looked into his eyes and felt ashamed. "You're right, I'm sorry," she said softly.
"I'm sorry too, Dora. We'll celebrate when this is done, okay?" he said.
Tonks nodded. "I'd give you a kiss, but you're covered in slime," she joked.
"You're wearing one of my shirts, so what's the problem?" Severus asked, taking Tonks into his arms.
"You're slimy!" Tonks giggled. But then the talking stopped for a bit.
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"Harry, Harry, Harry. What are we going to do on this beautiful day?" Tonks asked brightly. Tonks had guard duty for Harry today. She liked to take him out if she was guarding him.
"I dunno," Harry said softly.
"Shall we get a Weasley or two? We could go to Diagon Alley," Tonks suggested.
"Not today," Harry said.
"No Weasleys? That's fine. It'll be just you and me today then," Tonks said. "Where to?"
"Diagon Alley?" Harry said as more of a question than a statement.
"That's fine," Tonks said, taking out her wallet from her back pocket. Tonks didn't believe in purses. "Oh look, the invisible man. I must make an emergency portkey to save my life," Tonks said.
Harry looked at her and started laughing, which Tonks took as a good sign. She pointed her wand at her wallet and said "Portus." Harry put his hand on the wallet, and Tonks felt the tug that would take her to Diagon Alley.
When they got there, she asked, "Isn't it your birthday soon, mate? When can you start apparating?"
"My birthday is in three days," Harry said, "I'll be of age then."
"Of age! Good for you!" Tonks said happily. "I remember when I turned of age. It was so long ago. Eight whole years, if I remember correctly."
Tonks felt her hair get sticky on her back. To get Harry out of the house, she morphed in Victoria, a teenage girl that had showed interest in Harry last summer. Victoria had long blonde hair, which was annoying Tonks. She quickly morphed her hair to lilac spikes.
Automatically, they stopped in front of the quidditch store. Harry and she both put their hands on the glass, looking at the display. Through the glass, Tonks saw Harry discreetly move his eyes and look at her chest. This made Tonks a bit uncomfortable, but she reminded herself that he was a hormonal teenage boy. These things happen.
"Let's go inside!" she said eagerly. Together, they walked into the store to check out the new brooms. Last year, Tonks had started a saving program for a new broom for herself. Since she no longer paid rent, the saving was going very well. She'd never afford a Firebolt, but a new Nimbus 2003 wasn't that out of the question.
After a good half hour, they left the store. Tonks noticed that Harry wasn't very talkative today. She wanted to ask if anything was wrong, but she wasn't willing to force any confidences on him.
They went to store to store, finally ending up the Weasley Twin's joke shop. Ron was behind the counter when they went inside. "Harry!" Ron said excitedly, "How are you, mate?"
Harry smiled the first smile Tonks had seen today. "I'm okay," Harry answered.
"Hermione's in back. Would you believe, she's actually helping them with research!" Ron said, shaking his head.
"Harry, would you like to hang out here for a while?" Tonks asked.
"Could I?" he asked hopefully.
"Sure thing. I'm going to go out and buy a few things. I'll be back in an hour," Tonks said.
"Thanks, Tonks," Harry said.
"Not a problem," Tonks said over her shoulder, and went outside. The first stop was to the candy store, to buy some Chocolate Frogs. When that was done, her eyes settled on Majestic Max's Menwears. She thought about the dressing gown Draco had worn, her father's. She decided that if her parents wanted to make an effort for family, then so could she. She walked right in and bought him a dark green cotton dressing robe, feeling very pleased with herself.
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That evening Tonks returned to Headquarters just in time for the Order meeting. She slipped in next to Severus just as Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"Let's get started. We have lots to discuss today," he announced to the room. Tonks looked at him and was worried. Albus did not look well at all. He was always thin, but now he looked like he was wasting away. She reminded herself to talk to him briefly after the meeting, to see how he was.
"Hagrid," Albus said, looking at the half-giant, "Why don't you begin?"
Tonks gave a little jump. How she managed to miss that he was there, she didn't know. "I jus go' heard from a contact in France," he told the group, sitting down. Tonks realized that his head would touch the ceiling if he stood up.
"There are some Giants on the move," he said forcefully. "I 'aven't been able to make contact in a bit. I'm 'oping that they're not moving on his command."
"How many Giants, Hagrid?" Remus asked.
"A good twenty to twenty-five. That many could do a lot o' damage," Hagrid answered.
"Should we try to talk to them again?" Kingsley asked the group. The murmur of the crowd seemed to agree.
"I'm willin' to find 'em," Hagrid said.
"If you are willing, Hagrid, I must ask you to go," Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "We can not afford to lose this opportunity."
Hagrid nodded. "I'll leave tomorrow."
The Order meeting went smoothly. Severus talked a bit about the Death Eater plans. They had been quiet lately, trying to regroup after the losses from the Battle at the Ministry of Magic.
After the meeting, Tonks ran up to Hagrid. "Will you come upstairs for a minute?" she asked him.
"O' course," Hagrid said, smiling. Hagrid stood up carefully, as not to hit his head on the ceiling. Tonks brought him into Buckbeak's room. Hagrid hadn't seen him in over a year.
"Bucky!" Hagrid cried, throwing his arms around the Hippogriff.
Tonks smiled at the pair. "Remus and I want to set him free, Hagrid," she told him.
"Set him free?" Hagrid asked.
"He's been in this room for two years. It's no kind of life for him," Tonks said.
"You're right," Hagrid said loudly. "Ain't no kind o' life for him."
"I think he'll be better off," Tonks said gently, stroking his feathers. Over the past year, Tonks had grown quite fond of Buckbeak. He had been a good companion.
"Tell you what," Hagrid said beaming, "I'll fly 'im back to Hogwarts. 'E can live in the Forbidden Forest. I know he'll like it there."
"Won't that be dangerous?" Tonks asked, "What if you're seen?"
"You got him 'ere, didn't ya?" Hagrid boomed.
"True enough. Let me grab Remus. He'll want to say good-bye too," Tonks said, running down the stairs to tell Remus the news.
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There was a loud knock on Tonks' door the next morning.
"Tonks?" she heard Remus yell through the door. Ever since last year, when Remus walked in on Severus and Tonks half-dressed, he never opened her door. He always waited for her to open it.
"One minute!" Tonks shouted lazily from her bed. Standing up, she walked over to her door, half asleep and opened it.
"How soon can you be ready to leave?" Remus asked.
"Where are we going?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Doesn't matter. How soon?" Remus asked, smiling at her tiredness.
"Three minutes?" Tonks guessed.
"I'll be timing you," Remus laughed, walking down the stairs.
Four minutes and thirty seconds later, Tonks slid down the banister, and then tripped over the hallway rug. Everyone in the hall closed their eyes, knowing what was about to happen. But the screaming never started.
"Maybe she's talking a day off," Tonks whispered, referring to the portrait of Sirius' Mum.
"Let's not risk it, and go into the kitchen," Remus said. Kingsley and Arthur Weasley all followed Remus down the stairs.
"Allright, we're going to be bringing Draco Malfoy to Headquarters," Remus started.
"What?" Tonks yelled.
"We're bringing him here. He'll be safest here until the school term starts," Remus continued.
"Your parents did a noble thing, Tonks," Arthur said.
Tonks reminded herself that she promised to make an effort. "My mum wants to save him. How can she save him if he's living here?" she asked, trying to remain calm.
"It's not about saving him, Tonks. It's about keeping him alive," Remus answered. "We're worried that the Death Eaters will be curious why there are more Aurors around their house. It's not a secret that Draco was released from Azkaban."
"Fine," Tonks said.
"He's going to have the same wards here that he did at your parents house. He'll have to ask permission to leave the room before he can," Remus said.
"I said 'fine,' didn't I?" Tonks said shortly.
The three men in the kitchen looked warily at Tonks. "How are we bringing him her?" she asked.
"Floo powder," Remus answered. "It'll be safe. Since the house is unplotable, even if a Death Eater saw Draco, he wouldn't be able to see where he was going."
"Then let's go," Tonks said, trying to sound cheerful.
A few minutes later, the quartet was in the Tonks' kitchen. Draco was wearing a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Even though it had only been a few days since she had seen him, he didn't look as thin as he had before.
Both her mother and father seemed disappointed that Draco was leaving.
"We're going to visit you soon Draco," her mother said, giving him a hug. Tonks noticed that Draco winced slightly.
It was good having you stay here with us, son. Her father beamed at Draco. Draco held out his hand, and his father shook it vigorously.
"We should go," Remus said. "Here's the order. Arthur, you go first. Then Draco, Tonks and I will go together. Then Kingsley will follow up."
Everyone in the room nodded at the same time, which caused Tonks to giggle. They lined up at the fireplace.
"Draco, I'm going to put a temporary deaf charm on you," Kingsley said.
"Sure," Draco said, shrugging his shoulders, and Kingsley cast the charm.
Arthur went through the fire quickly. "Let's put our arms around him, Tonks," Remus said.
Tonks stood in front of Draco, and wrapped her arms around him. It was the first time she had hugged her cousin. She felt Remus' arms lock with hers and they slowly moved into the fire. Then they were back at Headquarters.
Kingsley then came through the fire and lifted the charm.
"Welcome to your new home," Remus said brightly.
Draco looked around the kitchen, clearly unimpressed. "Thanks," he said softly.
"Let me show you to your room."