'You're kidding.'
'No, Nymphie... look...'
'Let me put this straight. I am supposed to engage in a romantic relationship with one of the Order's members to regain their trust.'
Tonks stands frozen in front of her two Aunts.
Both Narcissa and Bellatrix look embarrassed and apologetic.
'Nymphie.' Narcissa starts awkwardly. 'It's an only certain way to fix your cover within the Order.'
'Don't get us wrong, you were brilliant down there, in the Department of Mysteries.' Bella adds. 'You were the one to restore the Prophecy and nobody takes your credit from you. However, you've told us yourself, that after this battle, the Order's members don't trust you anymore the way they used to.'
'Auntie, I was being very careful not to blow my cover up down there!' Tonks replies, irritated.
'Nobody implies that you weren't trying.' Bella explains softly. 'But... Nymphie, you've hexed Harry Potter. Twice.'
'I was shielding you, and Uncle Lucius!' Tonks answers.
'I know.' Bella says quietly.
'Moreover, I've made disarming Potter look like an accident!' the girl adds.
'Yes, you have, and Potter fell for it.' Bella replies. 'However, you know how paranoid and suspicious Moody is. He must have planted a seed of doubtfulness towards you within the other Order's members.'
'The Dark Lord wants you to regain an unconditional trust from the Order's side.' Narcissa adds quietly. 'He is concerned by the fact, that- unlike the others- you were not relocated to Hogsmeade to protect the school.'
Tonks thinks upon Narcissa's words. Her Aunt has a point. The majority of Order's members, including Moody, Lupin, Shacklebolt, Diggle, Dawlish, Savage and Hestia Jones have been offered an accommodation in Hogsmeade and asked to move there for a time being.
Their priority is now to ensure the "safety" of Hogwarts' students.
Tonks has not been included in this advance.
'Nymphie, you know how hard this following year is going to be for Draco.' Narcissa says in a pleading tone. 'I would be less anxious, knowing that you are around, knowing that you can shield him in case of a danger.'
Tonks hangs her head. She know how uptight Narcissa is about Draco's new assingment.
'Auntie Cissy, I would die to protect Draco.' she says silently. 'If only I could...'
'But you cannot, Nymphie.' Narcissa cuts her off. 'The Dark Lord himself emphasizes, that Draco must not be aided during his mission. He must act alone. The only thing you can do for him, Nymphie, is to watch over him from afar, and be around in case of a... worst scenario.'
Narcissa's voice breaks.
'Oh, Cissy, Draco is a smart, talented boy, and he will be alright.' Bella says. 'Besides, you should be proud, that the Dark Lord puts so much trust in him.'
'I am proud, Bella, but until you become a Mother, you won't understand what it's like to worry for your child.' Narcissa answers and turns towards her niece. 'Please, Nymphie, you owe this to Lucius...'
An ice-cold cramp grabs Tonks' bowels, as she recalls Uncle's last words to her before being taken away by a Ministry official.
'I... I know, Auntie, but a... romantic relationship? Really? It's just not my cup of tea, that's not gonna work!' She says. Merely thinking about this idea makes her cringe in disgust. 'When you two called me for a serious talk, I thought that something concerning the case of freeing Uncle and the others from Azkaban had finally been established. I thought this is now our priority, not a ridiculous quest to regain the Order's trust...'
'Freeing Lucius is a priority, Nymphie.' Narcissa says in a sad voice.
Tonks looks at her Aunt. Narcissa over the last few weeks of Lucius' absence, has clearly lost a good amount of weight, and her skin became grayish. Without her husband, she is clearly suffering.
'Arranging and performing a Raid on Azkaban is not an easy task, Nymphie.' Bella says. 'You must be aware of that, because you have taken part in one. The Dark Lord does his best to have Lucius come back home as soon as possible, but your assingment is a completely separate endeavor.'
'My assingment!' Tonks repeats helplessly. 'Auntie Bella, my assingment is nothing more than finding myself a fake boyfriend, and hoping that this will fix my position within the Order! What kind of assingment is that?!'
'An important one.' Narcissa explains patiently. 'You are too valuable of a spy to lose your trustworthiness amongst the Order. Apart from you, only one spy is on our service. Severus, and his... er...'
'His alliegances are unclear.' Bella finishes firmly.
'Exactly. That is why you are priceless, Nymphie. Without you spying for us on the Order, things will get much more complicated. '
'Maybe I try to regain their trust without getting close...that way...to any of them?' Tonks moans desperately.
'And do you have any other effective way on your mind?' Narcissa asks.
'No.' Tonks sighs.
'Nymphie, you're a Metamorphomagus. It'd be easy for you to attract somebody, because you can efortlessly adjust your physical appearance to the other person's tastes. Is there anyone in the Order's ranks who doesn't repel you totally? Is there someone you are able to spend some time around without getting sick?'
Tonks hesitates.
'Well, there is this timid, shy guy, Lupin.' she says reluctantly. 'He used to best friend with cousin Sirius, although, he is not as loud or as obnoxious as Sirius was.'
'Lupin?' Narcissa asks and her eyes widen. 'Well, I think in this case, I think I can make things easier for you. Bella, would you be so kind to summon Greyback?'
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fenrir Greyback is taller even than Uncle Lucius. He is broad-shouldered and intimidating, his eyes are ice-blue and his fangs are unnaturally long and sharp.
He listens to Narcissa and Bella explaining comprehensively Tonks' new assingment. Listening, he shots quick glances at the girl once in a while.
Tonks still doesn't understand how this huge guy could help her in "befriending" Lupin.
'Nymphie.' Bella turns towards her niece 'Greyback is the one, who had infected Lupin with Lycantrophy over thirty years ago.'
Tonks gasps. She has obviously been aware of Lupin being a Werewolf, but she had always thought about it as about his in-born condition.
'You need to seduce him, don't you?' Greyback asks, turning his light-blue eyes at Tonks.
Tonks anticipated his voice to be low and hoarse. Surprisingly, it's soft and pleasant.
'N-not seriously, though!' she answers quickly. 'Only for appearance's sake. I need to make myself look trustworthy in the eyes of Order of the Phoenix.'
'I get it.' Greyback replies, apparently thinking upon this. 'Well, girlie, first of all do you know how infecting with Lycanthropy works?'
'No, sir.' Tonks answers, slightly intimidated.
'When I bite into my prey, it is bound to be infected, but only a selected few manage to survive.' Greyback explains. 'A lot of Wizards, Witches and Muggles die from a wound left by Werewolf's teeth. Especially if a Werewolf wants its pray to be killed. Remus Lupin is... a special case. Thirty years ago, I didn't mean to infect him. I meant to kill him.'
Tonks stares at him in shock.
'It was not about the brat.' Fenrir goes on. 'It was about his pathetic excuse for a Father. Old Lyall Lupin had made a huge mistake, offending my entire species straight into my face. He said, that we Werewolves are soulless, evil and deserving nothing, but death.'
Tonks frowns in outrage.
'Why would he say such things?' she asks.
'Ignorant fool, like plenty of others.' he spat in disgust, at a mere thought of Remus' Father. 'Anyways, now, back to the the brat. It was a couple of days before full moon, so my senses were sharpest they could be, and my reflexes faster than ever. I chased the brat. I caught the brat. I held the brat with my fangs by his neck, and I sank my teeth in his soft flesh. Brat screamed. Brat bled. But brat wouldn't die. Many fully grown-up people would have died from such a severe wound, but not him. Not Remus Lupin.'
'Do you know how did he manage to survive?' Tonks asks curiously. 'Did Remus have some kind of... extraordinary power?'
Fenrir chuckles at her words.
'Yeah, the most extraordinary power known to mankind: aggregation pheromones. I wasn't able to bite him severely enough, even though I wished to, because subconsciously I had labeled him as a potential mate.'
Tonks gasps in disbelief.
'It's a natural mechanism known to many species, and Werewolves are one of them.' Greyback explains. 'I can sense a plausible mate, which of course doesn't mean I have to act on it. However, I'm not able to harm that person, either. Remus Lupin has been marked by me as my mate; I've turned him into a Werewolf and I've passed part of my abilities on to him. If he had any form of contact with me at the moment, he would instantly, subconsciously recognize me as his mate.'
'Makes sense, sir.' Tonks says apprehensively. 'If only you were the one working as a spy instead of me. However, in our case, I must be the one to... for a lack of better word, seduce Remus.'
'That'd be pretty easy. You must smell like me, and this is possible to do.'
'Smell like you...?'
'That is undoubtedly going to attract him to you. And by undoubtedly, I mean it. Pheromones are way more effective than any love potion.'
'Does that mean, that you will be able to help my niece, Fenrir?' Bella asks with a hope in her voice.
'Certainly.' Werewolf shrugs his shoulders. 'Why not?'
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tonks and Greyback stand together on the top of a skyscraper, facing Millennium Bridge in London.
Tonks is under a guise of a ginger-haired girl. Strong wind rushes through her long hair.
She toys with a small glass vial, filled with a transparent liquid.
'What exactly is in the vial, sir?' she asks the Werewolf timidly. She isn't sure, where his species have their highest concentration of pheromones.
'Bodily fluids.' Greyback answers bluntly.
Tonks turns crimson. She feels her cheeks burning.
The Werewolf turns towards her, amused with her embarrassment.
'Only sweat and saliva.' he says in a reassuring voice. 'Nothing apart from that.'
'Oh.' Tonks mutters with a relief. 'That's... plausible.'
'I know it's still gross, but if you use it, Remus will follow you to hell and back.' Fenrir notices.
'Am I supposed to... pour it over myself, or...?'
'You can grease yourself with it, like with an ointment.' Werewolf explains. 'Your neck, face and hair, that's gonna do. And it's not that easy to wash off; it is going to stay on your body even after taking a shower. It wears off approximately after two weeks, and then I can provide you with a new sample.'
Tonks apprehensively uncorks the vial and sniffs the fluid.
She anticipates a disgusting odor, likely strong enough to make her feel sick.
However, she is pleasantly surprised. The liquid with Greyback's pheromones smells unbelievably nice. Nice, and... intoxicating.
Tonks pours the liquid on her open palm and slowly rubs it into her neck, cheeks, forehead and hair.
'Not so bad, huh?' Fenrir asks, watching the girl in amusement.
'Like wearing some expensive perfume.' Tonks admits.
The Werewolf turns back towards the Millennium Bridge.
'By the way, why did you insist on meeting in this place?' Tonks asks curiously.
'Because I have a job to do here.' Fenrir explains.
'What kind of job?' The girl frowns.
Greyback exposes his sharp teeth in a smile.
'You'll see in a second.'
As soon as he utters those words, two plumes of black smoke appear in the sky above the bridge.
They float forwards, causing an incredible commotion amongst the Muggles. Tonks can hear their screams from afar. Dozens of their cars get off track and fall down to the Thames River.
'Rookwood and Macnair.' Greyback explains, smiling at the mayhem in front of them.
The two Death Eaters concealed by the dark smoke, keep getting through along the bridge, knocking off more and more Muggles and their vehicles into the water.
Fenrir frowns.
'They like to play with them, but our task was not to throw the Muggles into the river... We were supposed to smash this entire fucking bridge into pieces. Watch that.'
Fenrir waits until Macnair and Rookwood cross the bridge and find themselves on the other side. He pulls his wand out and extends it.
'INCENDIO!' he yells.
Tonks watches in amazement his spell hitting the bridge right in the middle. The fragile construction stands on fire, which quickly spreads throughout the entire bridge...
'Hey, what are you two doing here?!'
Tonks and Greyback turn back instantly. A terrified Muggle policeman stands in front of them, with his eyes wide from shock.
'Avada Kedavra.' Fenrir mutters almost lazily, and a flash of green light hits the man in the chest. 'Not worthy of the blessing of Lycantrophy.' he explains to Tonks, when the cop falls dead.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Just like Bella and Fenrir had assumed, Tonks feels Remus' admiring eyes on herself all the time throughout the next Order's meeting.
Well, that was a part of the plan.
However, now... she just doesn't feel strong enough to handle it.
She cannot take the image of Fenrir's light-blue eyes and broad shoulders off her head.
What is more, she is positive, that the physical attraction to Greyback is not caused only by the effect of the pheromones.
Tonks finds herself admiring Fenrir. His passion, his determination, his wildness, his disregarding of all the rules...
She sighs internally. How can this all be so complicated...? Before Auntie Bella had came up her brilliant idea, Tonks had never had any love interests. During her time at Hogwarts, she used to be a tomboy and a prankster. Dating was not in her style. Later, during her apprenticeship with Moody, Tonks has been more interested in exploring Dark Arts with Uncle Lucius, than in finding herself a boyfriend.
And yet now, all of a sudden, she is supposed to seduce Remus, who she has no feelings for whatsoever. At the same time, she starts feeling something for Fenrir, which makes things even more messed up...
The girl is torn from her thoughts, when Lupin suddenly stands up and turns towards Moody, interrupting the meeting.
'Alastor, why isn't Tonks being relocated to Hogsmeade, like the rest of us? According to you, as much skilled Aurors as possible are needed to protect Hogwarts' students.' he asks.
Tonks flinches. The physical attraction Lupin feels for her brings instant and desirable results!
Moody glances at the girl hesitantly.
'Tonks' performance during the battle in the Department of Mysteries was less than impressive.' he drawls finally.
'Mad-Eye, it was a battle. Everybody can get distracted in such circumstances. Besides, Tonks was the one to prevent the Death Eaters from getting a hold of the Prophecy!' Lupin defenses her.
'By smashing it on the stairs.' Moody snaps.
'So what!' Lupin replies. 'The point was to not let the Death Eaters have it. We don't need this Prophecy!'
Moody rolls his eye.
'Alright already. Tonks, you're lucky that Hestia Jones has been injured. You can take her place and move to Hogsmeade.'
Lupin beams at the girl.
Tonks doesn't believe in her own luck. The power of Werewolf's pheromones is indeed incredible.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tonks' eyes widen, as she sees an immobilized, blood covered boy lying on the floor in one of the Hogwarts Express compartments.
Deciding to check the train after the students' unboarding, she hadn't actually expect to find anyone inside. Yet alone somebody under an invisibility cloak and apparently after some kind of a fight.
Hogwarts' extra protection program is a drag.
'Wotcher, Harry.' she says aloud and casts a counter-spell, allowing the boy to move his limbs again. He sits up.
Instead of explaining what had happened, Potter stares at Tonks like a retard. That means, like usually.
The train budges, ready for departure. Tonks picks the boy up from the floor.
'We'd better get out of here, quickly.' she says and drags him to the corridor. She pulls one of the doors open. 'Come on, we'll jump.'
They land safely on the platform before the train picks up speed. Tonks hands the invisibility cloak back to Potter.
'Who did it?' she asks.
'Draco Malfoy.'
Tonks smirks internally. Narcissa wants her to look after on Draco- which is apparently unnecessary, judging by how Draco manages to look after himself.
The girl watches Potter's broken nose. Draco apparently fought fiercely. Tonks is curious, how did Potter provoke him.
'I can fix your nose if you stand still.' she says aloud.
Not surprisingly, Potter stares at her dumbly instead of giving an answer.
'Episkey.' Tonks mutters, mending the boy's nose anyway.
'Thanks a lot!' Potter says.
Well, finally he decided to thank me.
'You'd better put that cloak back on, and we can walk up to school. Expecto Patronum!'
Much to Tonks' amazement, the silvery creature she conjures is not the expected jack rabbit.
Her Patronus is now a wolf.
Fenrir...
'Was that a Patronus?' Potter asks.
No, it was a huge, silver Pigmy Puff, Tonks thinks.
'Yes, I'm sending a word to the castle that I've got you, or they'll worry. Come on, we'd better not dawdle.' she says aloud.
Potter nods.
'What did you do to him?' Tonks asks.
'Excuse me?' Potter asks in confusion.
'I ask what did you do to Draco Malfoy. I don't think he would start a fight unprovoked.' she explains calmly.
'Oh, that... Well, I've kinda... sneaked into his compartment and eavesdropped.'
Tonks clenches her teeth.
She would gladly curse Potter into oblivion right now.
She instantly regrets fixing his nose.
'Why did you decide to eavesdrop on him?' she asks coldly.
'Oh, you know... Well, I think, he is, you know, up to something...'
Tonks looks at Potter in disbelief. She makes a mental note to get in touch with Draco as soon as possible and convince him to contact her each time Potter would try to interfere in his assingment.
Draco is courageous and independent. He is able defense himself. However, to think that such vermin as Potter could cause him even more problems with his complex assingment than he already has...
'But what are you doing here, anyway?' Potter tears her off her thoughts with his question.
'I'm stationed in Hogsmeade now, to give the school extra protection.' she replies.
'Is it just you who's stationed up here, or...' he inquires.
'No, there're others. Proudfoot, Savage, Dawlish...'
Lupin, who will cause me some trouble with his obtrusiveness... she adds in her mind.
They proceed up the hill, following carriage tracks. Potter- luckily- decides to spend rest of the walk with his mouth shut.
Finally, they reach the iron gate leading to Hogwarts' school grounds.
'Alohomora!' Potter yells, waving his wand.
Tonks' eyes widen. Is it possible that the future savior of the Light is actually that stupid...?
'That won't work on these.' she says in a bored tone. 'Dumbledore bewitched them himself. '
'I could climb a wall.' he replies.
By the Dark Lord, what a moron...
'No, you couldn't.' she answers flatly. 'Anti-intruder jinxes on all of them. Security's been tightened a hundredfold this summer.'
'Well then, I suppose I'll just have to sleep out here and wait for morning.' Potter snaps, annoyed.
'You do that.' Tonks answers plainly. Ungrateful brat, she adds internally. 'Look, someone's coming down for you.' she says after a second, noticing a dark silhouette approaching them from up the hill.
'Well, well, well.' she hears Severus' voice. 'Nice of you to turn up, Potter, although you have evidently decided that the wearing of school robes would detract from your appearance.'
Tonks chuckles internally. At least, Potter gets what he deserved for spying on Draco.
Snape opens the gate, as the boy starts whining, giving his his ridiculous excuses for his lack of school robes.
'There is no need to wait, Nymphadora, Potter is quite–ah–safe in my hands.' Severus says to Tonks.
She nods.
'I meant Hagrid to get the message.' she notices, before leaving. That is the truth; she didn't mean to burden anyone from the faculty with leaving the Welcoming Feast and picking Potter up. It was the oaf's job to do.
'Hagrid was late for the start-of-term feast, just like Potter here, so I took it instead. And incidentally I was interested to see your new Patronus.' Snape replies.
Tonks eyes widen. She looks at the Potions Master, stunned. She doesn't to know what to think about this, because she doesn't know how to handle Snape.
Everybody around emphasize his unclear alliegances, although Tonks personally doesn't want to believe it. She hopes deep inside that Snape is on the Dark Lord's side.
'I think you were better off with the old one. The new one looks weak.' Snape goes on.
Something clicks in Tonks' mind. Her Patronus is a wolf in honor of Fenrir, but...
Lupin. Snape refers to him. Snape thinks, that her Patronus has altered because of Lupin.
Tonks' blood freezes in her veins. She doesn't want Snape to think that.
Snape may be suspicious, but he and Tonks are still bonded with identical tattoos on their left forearms. Tonks is supposed to trust him. She decides to take a risk.
She lifts her head up and finds his narrow, black eyes.
'My shields are down, Severus.' She says quietly and lets Snape inside of her mind.
Snape dives briefly into her thoughts; when he retreats, both surprise and comprehension are written on his pale face.
'Keep the new one.' he says shortly and grabs Potter by the neck, leading him to the castle.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tonks lies in a bed surrounded by soft animal furs.
Fenrir is by her side.
'So, do the pheromones work on Lupin?' the Werewolf asks softly.
Tonks nods.
'And you are absolutely sure that they don't take too much of an impact on you as well? I don't want you to regret your decision, later...' he adds almost timidly.
That is so... cute, if this word is even applicable in Fenrir's context.
The Werewolf asks her for a thousandth time already, if she hadn't fell for him because of the invisible power of pheromones.
'No, silly.' Tonks answers gently. 'The fluid has worn off once, remember? Before I took the second dose. My feelings for you were the same during the time I haven't been influenced by pheromones.'
'Don't get me wrong, Tonks.' he says. ' I'm happy, but also a bit... confused. I mean, nobody had ever fallen for me like that. Not even under an influence of pheromones. I can obviously have whoever I want... I choose a prey and infect it, or kill it, or fuck it, I do as I please. I can choose a person I find interesting and do literally anything with them. But to have somebody, who actually has a feeling for me? That's the first. And I don't want to hurt you, Tonks.'
Tonks chuckles.
'That's the best in you. You treat me with such a respect. Surely, you could kill me or bite me, or fuck me, but you decide to help me and have an actual conversation with me instead.'
'Well, small talks are the other think I suck at, Tonks...' he says hesitantly.
'I think otherwise.'
'Tonks...'
The girl cuddles softly his hairy chest.
'You are not the one to be insecure in this relationship, Fenrir.'
Greyback strokes Tonks' hair, clearly touched.
His hairy chest under her cheek feel very soft, like fur on a wolf's underbelly.
'Fenrir.' Tonks whispers curiously. 'I've noticed, that you've got more wolf-like features than the majority of Werewolves. Constantly, not only during the full moon. The others don't have sharp teeth, horizontal pupils, and fur all over their bodies outside of the full moon nights.'
Fenrir smiles.
'It's the case of your choice. You can either reject or accept Lycotrophy. Rejecting it, you fight against your nature, you fit into the human society and survive full moons, taking Wolfsbane potion or locking yourself up. However, accepting it, you act in accordance with your instincts and your nature. It's not as bad as you people describe it, Tonks... Your senses are way sharper than humans' senses. Especially your olfaction and hearing, no other species can compare... My claws and fangs are a deadly weapon, so I could defend myself even without my wand. The fur... You see for yourself the benefits of it.'
He looks down at the girl still hugging his furry chest. Tonks smiles.
'If that's the case, why so many people fear the Lycantrophy?' she asks.
'The transmutation into a Werewolf is extremely painful.' Greyback admits. 'Well, not in my case anymore; you have noticed yourself that the boundaries between a human and a wolf are blurry within me. It is painful for those who reject their nature. Moreover, being a Werewolf, you are more... blood-thirsty. Hunting and killing becomes a part of your nature. People think we cannot control ourselves, but it's a lie. Of course we can control. We only are way better hunters and killers than humans and other species.'
'Fenrir, what about the magical performance? I mean, comparing to a human Wizard or human Witch?' she asks curiously.
'Comparable.' Fenrir smiles. 'I'm quite a skilled Wizard, as you have seen on the bridge...'
Tonks nods.
'...but it's not always the case. The same as with humans, there are magically powerful Werewolves and Squib-Werewolves. There's no rule. Nevertheless, all of us are extraordinary warriors in the non-magical field. We excel in the short distance combat.'
'Fenrir, it's so good to have you by our side...' the girls mutters softly and cuddles him even tighter. 'You probably are aware of that, but... Lupin's stupid Father couldn't have been more wrong, you know.'
Greyback gently embraces her back, humming quietly.
Tonks has his strong arms just beneath her chin, and suddenly realizes something. She focuses her eyes on his left forearm.
'Weren't you marked, Fenrir?' she asks in surprise.
'I couldn't be.' the Werewolf explains. 'My body is not compatible with a Dark Mark. I mean, I could shave my forearm and the dark Lord could probably burn it into my skin, but it wouldn't work like it should. It's just somehow being rejected by the system of my species. The Protean charm doesn't work on us the way it works on you. I could have a Dark Mark, but I couldn't be summoned via it, nor could I summon anybody. The Dark Lord gave me this instead.'
He extends his arm, showing Tonks a leather wristband with a small Dark Mark burned into it.
'Bewitched with the Protean Charm.' he explains. 'When I feel it burning, I know I'm being summoned.'
'Nice.' Tonks admits.
'Tonks.' Fenrir says, almost anxiously. 'Please, think over your decision one more time. I care about you. I don't want you to suffer because of me.'
Tonks lifts her hand and touches his face. He looks into his light-blue eyes with small horizontal pupils.
'Don't be silly, Fenrir.' she whispers. 'I want you to be my mate.'