Disclaimer: Harry Potter, etc,belongs to JK Rowling, Warner Brothers, and maybe some other people I don't know about. Bottom line, none of those people are me.

Chapter One: Dirty Laundry

Skit, clash, BANG!

I hurried to collect the broken yoyo, and quickly wound up the tattered string. Sirius grimaced while I inspected the deep crack in the probably priceless ruby-encrusted chest.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I wailed, scurrying back to my spot on the couch cushion half way across the room. "I swear, Sirius, seriously –" I grinned wolfishly at my words, and Sirius rolled his eyes exasperatingly, "– I won't let it go this time." Sirius chewed skeptically on his lip, and widened my eyes desperately. "Please, my lovely, elegant, handsome cousin? I promise!" I pouted, and he sighed. Hah! Got him every time.

"I don't care about any of this rubbish, anyways," Sirius complained snobbishly, complete with nose up turn, and protruding upper lip. "In fact, for all I care, Mundungus can take every bit of it. God knows I don't want it."

I turned to Sirius, and laid his rough hands gently in mine. "You won't give it to Mundungus," I said confidently, boring holes into Sirius' dark eyes.

Sirius avoided my gaze, and stared at the floor. "I won't give it to Mundungus," he muttered eventually, tracing the lining of his mouth with his tongue.

I grinned. "OK! Now, for my magnificent magic trick!" I stood up, yoyo wound tightly around my forefinger. All right, concentrate, Tonks. You can do this. It's a yoyo. Just unwind, yeah, yeah, and flip up, and – OH BLOODY HELL NO!

The yoyo flipped aimlessly from my finger, and successfully hurled toward the doorway. I watched, in full-frontal shock, as it barricaded into a lean, tall man who had been just about to enter.

"Si-Oof!"

And he was down. I shrieked, and barreled over to where he was lying, incoherent apologies spilling out of my mouth.

"Waappedooheh?" he mumbled thickly.

"Great going, Tonks, you killed him," muttered Sirius from the couch.

"Shut up!" I screeched, feeling almost giddy with panic. Oh, my God, oh, my God, if only I had paid attention in those two Healer training terms I had taken…I swallowed, and poked him cautiously in the shoulder. He grunted. I guess this is why I flunked out.

"Please, please, please talk to me." I whispered, and dared to shake his shoulder a bit. I glared at Sirius. "Such a big help you are." I promptly ignored his mad roaring laughter. I turned back to the dying man on my left. "Please talk to me."

"Uhm…" he mumbled, his voice low. I felt my breath catch. Oh, my God. He's waking up. His eyes flickered, until I could easily stare into his specked, blue-grey eyes. I blinked, and tried to look away. Those eyes burned a mark in my brain…there were probably no other eyes like them in the world. And that meant I was in some serious trouble right about now. I stood up quickly, trying to avoid eye contact with the man. Damn this.

"You OK, mate?" I saw Sirius, suddenly hovering over him, hand extended. I chewed on my upper lip, trying to fight away my feelings of desperate panic. The man sighed in return, and took Sirius' hand.

"I feel like I've been hit over the head with a mallet," he said softly. I swallowed the rising lump in my throat. God, I thought I would never hear that voice again. "Rather than that, though, I'm terrific." His eyes dove past Sirius onto me, a questioning expression printed onto them. His curiosity seemed deep, but nevertheless, he said nothing. I let out a shaky breath. Thank God.

"Eh," Sirius now looked at me, as though realizing for the first time I was still in the room. "You have Tonks here to thank for that." My heart skipped a beat as I realized something. He wouldn't recognize me. Tonks. Yes! And my hair, hell, I doubt even the Weasley's would know me now.

My spirits slightly heightened, I quickly stepped forward. It was only polite.

"Yeah," I nodded at him. "I'm really, really sorry about that." I could barely contain a sheepish smile. I had felt almost complied to do that. This was not good.

He smiled, a smile that I knew could melt million of women's hearts. Mine, however, stayed completely frozen over, like it should be. My jaw tightened. "It's really nothing to worry about."

"Great!" I turned to Sirius. "And you should never let me play with a yoyo again." I shook my finger, scolding him. "You should have realized I'm too much of a klutz to do anything even slightly related to something that takes skill." Sirius huffed, and the man still standing beside me chuckled slightly. I raised an eyebrow. Really, I wasn't 'haha' funny.

The man suddenly reddened, and I almost felt bad. God, he embarrassed easily. For a moment, I considered the fact that it wasn't him. But, almost compulsively, my eyes drew up to his. No. It was him.

"Er," He looked up at me nervously, and I promptly looked down. I knew I was being stupid. I couldn't help it. "I should probably introduce myself. I'm Remus Lupin." He stuck out his hand. I watched it for a moment under my nose. He had long, elegant hands. I wondered if he played the piano.

"I'm Tonks," I said to the floor, still staring at his hand. He was probably getting embarrassed by now.

From a few feet away, I heard Sirius snort with discontent. "Sorry, Moony, our Tonks here's a bit dyslexic."

I heated up, shooting daggers at Sirius. Stupid twit. I turned back to Lupin, suddenly too annoyed at my git of a cousin to care that he was actually getting a good look at me now. "Hi," I grabbed his hand, and shook it, hard, all the time staring into his unforgettable eyes. God, I sounded cheesy.

"Hi." He shook my hand just as hard. I tried to contain my surprise. Most guys seemed to think, because of my size, that if they even tried more than touching my hand, I break into tiny little pieces. Well, at least, when a handshake was concerned. "Is your actual name Tonks?"

I froze. "Er, well, no…" I closed my eyes, and begged God to shut Sirius up, for once. "But I go by it."

For a moment, there was silence. Then, I heard it. A sharp intake of breath, on Sirius' part. Oh, dear, here ends my life…

But, instead, it was Lupin who spoke. "Ah, I see. Very original."

I sighed in relief. Lupin's eyes narrowed, if only slightly. I was making a fool of myself. "Er, yes, it's my surname, actually."

"I guessed as much. But still, pretty risky."

"Risky?" My mind was somewhere else, presumably how much I wanted to race upstairs, curl up in a warm blanket, and stare blankly at my walls – hidden away from suspicious eyes.

"I doubt many young women would prefer to be known as 'Tonks'."

I burst out laughing. I don't know why, exactly. Maybe it was the way he said it, smooth, thoughtful – like he hadn't really intended to be funny. Maybe it was because I really hadn't been paying attention. Or maybe it was because I really, really just needed something to laugh about.

However the cause, though, Sirius stared in disbelief, while Lupin looked nervously uncomfortable. Oh dear, I thought, finally settling down, I've frightened him all ready.

"Sorry," I murmured, a moment later. I should really go now. "I'm going to go now."

I left the room in an awkward silence. Sirius already knew I was insane, but Lupin…I sighed. I hadn't really planned to make a good impression on him, anyways. He was a part of my past that I didn't want to relive…and I doubted he'd like to be reminded about that. We were both out of sorts that night…well; I had been out of sorts for a bit longer than that, by then.

I rubbed my forearm tenderly, as though scrubbing away the remains of the only thing that I had kept as reminder of all that. Not that it ever really would disappear. None of it would – I could only pretend.

I lifted my robe sleeve, and looked, lost in thought, at the still sharp edges of the black rose. It had looked so beautiful back then – mysterious, romantic, and dangerous. I had loved it immediately. Now, it just seemed dead and black.

"Tonks?"

I yelped, and turned on my heel, eyes pointed at offensive party. I stiffened slightly when I saw who it was. Lupin. Just my luck. I suddenly looked down at my feet, noticing I really hadn't wondered too far from the room I had been in previously. And people say I need to spend more time focusing on my surroundings.

"Er," he looked boldly into my eyes, and I suddenly realized I was wearing my natural colour. Damn. "Are you all – whoa!"

Oh, maybe changing my eye colour right when he was looking at me hadn't been such a great idea.

He blinked. "Are you a metamorphmagus?"

"I do hope so," I chattered, practically bouncing up and down on my heels. Stop it! Stop it! I tried to tell myself. I just wasn't listening.

He chuckled. I smiled, and immediately turned it into a wonky scowl, which received an understanding look of bewilderment from Lupin. "Er, yes, well, I was just wondering if you were all right. You seemed a bit…" Lupin broke off, looking at me expectantly.

I stared blankly. Lupin coughed. Neither of us moved for a few moments, until I decided it was best if I answered. "I'm fine. Just feeling a bit sick. I'm going to lie down for a bit, I think."

"Oh." Lupin looked behind him, his eyes clouded over in thought. He turned back to me, his face set carefully. "Will tomorrow be your first Order meeting?"

I blinked. "Um, yeah," I smiled weakly, and twirled a piece of hair absently around my finger. "I hope everyone'll like me. Rather than you and Sirius, I haven't met anyone. Or, well, reunited."

Lupin smiled in return, "I'm sure everyone will love you. And when you say 'reunited' I'm guessing your referring to the Weasleys."

"Yeah," I said, ignoring the distress signals flashing in my mind, and stepping a bit closer to the man. "I've met the whole lot, but Charlie Weasley was in my year." I smirked. "We were…close."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. The two of us kept Minerva McGonagall well occupied."

"Troublemakers, I presume?"

"Troublemakers is such a harsh word. I'd rather like to refer to it as…having fun with my surroundings."

Lupin laughed, and I definitely saw myself getting used to it. It was nice, not high, not too low, and it reminded me a lot of –

Gasping suddenly, I looked quickly down at my shoes. No, no, no. Getting acquainted with Lupin was a bad idea. Very, very bad. I tried to swallow my instinctive rebellious nature, and I wearily smiled at Lupin. "I'm…going to go upstairs now. Head's really starting to kill." I glanced up at his own probably pounding head and winced internally at the large yoyo shaped bruise. "And…you might want to get some ice for that."

And before he could respond, I was gone.

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A/N: There may be a few (or a lot) of spelling errors, being as I don't have a beta, or anyone to just check it over. I try my best, but I'm sorry if there are a few.

Why not drop a line or two? R&R, if you please.