In Nymphadora Tonks's life there were exactly five moments where she felt more excited than she would ever in the rest of her life. Two had already happened: her sorting into Hufflepuff and her first day as an auror in the Ministry. Two were yet to come: a marriage and the birth of her son. But one was just about to happen.

In a few minutes Tonks would undergo a very special ritual. A life defining one for sure, in many ways as she would realize weeks, months, even years later.

Her hair was of vivid pink colour as she confidently walked down the narrow dark hallway. It was an odd formation of six. Albus Dumbledore, founder of the Order of the Phoenix, leading, followed by her mentor Alastor Moody and her colleague Kingsley Shacklebolt. Tonks herself was followed by her cousin second degree, Sirius Black. To come in last was Sirius's mate from school, a tall, slim man with honey coloured eyes and a scarred place face - Remus Lupin.

They all followed Dumbledore's lead. The old man headed upstairs. Tonks sped up, eager to get on. On the fifth step, she glanced downstairs to the landing. She met honey eyes, looking up at her in both interest and curiosity.

"In here," Dumbledore said silently when they had reached the first floor. They entered a small room with wooden floor and walls. There was no window, just a round marble pillar that was used as some sort of table. A candle was standing on top of it.

Tonks stood still at the door, watching the others walk past her and rallying round the marble pillar.

"Excited?" a faint whisper sounded at her left ear. Remus was standing next to her. He was holding a small blue fire in the palm of his right hand.

"A little," she admitted, shooting him a nervous glance.

"No need to," he said and gave her shoulder a small squeeze as he walked past her. The fire in his hand went out just as Dumbledore lit the candle. He gave her a slight nod to indicate her to come closer.

Remus, Sirius and Kingsley had withdrawn a bit. She faced Dumbledore and Mad-Eye at the pillar now. Both of Mad-Eye's eyes, the sane one and the glass eye, peered at her.

"We have summoned here tonight to introduce Nymphadora Tonks to the Order of the Phoenix. Nymphadora, when midnight strikes in a few moments, you'll have to make a vow. Once you did so there's no way back. Are you aware of that?"

"Yes," she replied instantly.

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes watching her carefully. Then, he took a golden pocket watch from the inside of his robes and studied it carefully. A few minutes passed and Tonks felt as though her heart could be heard pounding against her chest. Without wanting to, her hair had changed to a shade of auburn matching the atmosphere.

A soft tick sounded and Dumbledore looked up at her, his light blue eyes seemingly scanning every detail of her face. "Midnight," he said.

"Are you, Nymphadora Vulpecula Tonks, born an Aries on April 20th, 1973, content to make this vow?"

"I am."

The candle flickered.

"Are you ready to join the second Order of the Phoenix of your own accord and your own free will?"

"I am."

The candle flickered a second time.

"Are you aware of the risk you are taking by joining our ranks? Are you keenly aware that, by joining the Order, you might put your family, your friends, all the people surrounding you in mortal danger?"

"I am," she said, her voice sounding a little husky.

The candle flickered once more.

Dumbledore was still looking at her intensely. "Do you believe yourself to be skilled enough to fight against the dark side?"

"I do," she said without hesitation, glancing at Mad-Eye who looked content.

The candle flickered.

"Can you say, without hesitation but with all truth, that you have chosen your side? That you will fight for the light side in this war?"

"Yes."

The candle flickered a fifth time.

It seemed as though Dumbledore's crystal eyes pierced right into her mind. "Are you prepared to, if necessary, die for your beliefs, die for the Order? Are you ready to suffer until your last breath, to die young, to die a wretched death?"

Tonks felt her heart skip a beat.

She had never really thought about all this like that. She knew that people died in war, of course, but she'd not one really thought about what were to happen if she died. What about her mother and her father? They didn't even know she joined the Order this very second.

Suddenly, she felt a feeling of anxiety that she'd never felt before, not like this.

Tonks looked up and met Remus's honey coloured eyes. His face was lit by the light of the candle, making his scars glow golden. His golden-speckled eyes flickered at her kindly.

"Yes," she said, "I am willing to die for the Order."

The flame flickered and... went out.

Tonks held back a gasp. Had she not made it, had she failed? Maybe she'd been thinking about the last vow for too long. Was it the bit of anxiety she'd felt that would stop her now?

Then, with a soft hiss, a copper red spark emerged from the already spent candle. It rose into the air and, with another hiss, took the form a phoenix. The fire bird spread its wings, glew bright golden for a moment and then faded away, leaving copper ashes behind.

"Nymphadora Vulpecula Tonks, from this day onwards you are a full member of the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore announced. He walked past her and winked. "Well done."

Mad-Eye limped over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, almost knocking her down by doing so. "Proud of you, lass."

Tonks grinned. That was indeed a compliment coming from Mad-Eye. Kingsley was the next to congratulate her. He bowed his head, smiling broadly. "Kudos! Mad-Eye never said he was proud of me."

"Well, you're not his favourite trainee ever, are you?" she joked.

Kingsley laughed. "This is true enough. Well done, Tonks."

Sirius's congratulations were a great deal less composed than Kingsley's. He engulfed her in a strangling bear hug first, then patted her on the shoulder. "Brilliant to have you here, cousin! Splendid I daresay! You'll make an awesome fighter if you're only half as good as I was at your age. Well, I still am."

"You wish, old man," she grinned.

Sirius gave a barking laugh. "Anyways, I'm glad the good bit of the family is reunited once more, Nymph-"

"No reason to call me Nymphadora, Sirius," Tonks hissed playfully.

"Is that a threat?"

"It is whatever you want to make of it. Just know I could turn you into a dung beetle in your sleep."

"I'll better be off and check whether Molly's left a midnight snack, eh?" he smirked and left, audibly hopping down the stairs to annoy his ancient and noble ancestors.

Tonks turned to follow him but was held back by the slight pressure of a warm hand on her shoulder. Remus, of course... she'd almost forgotten about him.

The young auror turned to smile at him, finding him returning her smile already. He removed his hand from her shoulder. "Welcome in the Order, Nymphadora," he said softly, "I didn't know your second name was Vulpecula."

"And I didn't know Dumbledore knew. Horrible name, really. Maybe even worse than Nymphadora," she muttered.

"I think your name is beautiful," Remus said in return. He managed to hit the golden line between putting too or much too little meaning in what he was saying. "Vulpecula is a rather magnificent constellation consisting of five stars if I remember correctly."

Tonks couldn't deny that she was surprised. "Uh yeah... that's true."

"The name is fitting then."

"Why so?"

"Your eyes have a beautiful glow, not to say a glimmer... star-like, in my opinion. Rather enchanting if I may say that," Remus said, a coy smile curving his lips.

"You may," she grinned. "By the way, thank you."

"What for?"

Tonks shifted on her feet, biting her lip to hold back a sheepish grin. She was sure she was blushing though. "You know..." How could she tell him that his sheer eye contact had strengthened her?

"Oh, that," he said, much to her delight. So he'd meant it, hadn't he? He must've, she thought, otherwise he wouldn't know what she was talking about. "I didn't think you'd notice..."

"I've never really been one for details But this moment tonight was special and I intend to remember it for as long as I can," she said softly, the images of a candle, a copper read phoenix and golden scars crossing her mind.

"So do I," said Remus and reached out to tuck a loose strand of auburn hair behind Tonks's ear. His fingers lingered at her temple for a second and he smiled. He had found another golden scar right there, but it wasn't his own this time.

I hope you enjoyed reading this ficlet as much as I enjoyed writing it. This idea of an introducing ritual has been ghosting around in my mind for a while and I finally managed to write it, additionally adding some platonic Remadora to it.By the way, Tonks's birthday isn't known - it's just my headcanon that she's born on April 20th, which makes her an Aries with strong tendency to a Taurus. Her second name isn't invented though.Leave a review if you enjoyed. x