It was the beginning of the school year. The Hogwarts express was hoping. Tonks sat silently in her usual cabin alone. Occasionally she took out a book and started reading, or took out her knitting needles and practiced making scarves or hats, or what ever tickled her fancy. It was the usual way she spent the trip. She kind of enjoyed the silent time to herself, it was a relief to get away from all the first years and the obnoxious boys, which she wouldn't be able to avoid once set up in the dorms.
She was just starting to dose off for a nice mid trip nap when she got that strange feeling that some one was watching her. Tonks blew it off for a minute, figuring some first year was walking by and looking at her hair. She expected it to go away after a few seconds, but she could still feel the eyes on her. She slowly rolled over to see her mysterious watcher and was surprised to see a canine sitting at her door, looking in with its head cocked to the side. She walked over and as she got closer she could tell it was more of a wolf-dog, than a domestic dog. Tonks wasn't aware of students being allowed to bring a dog as their pet. She decided to open the door and pet the dog, but as soon as she reached for the door the dog ran away to the next cart. While the incident seemed strange, she just let it slip her mind and tried to go back to sleep.
The rest of the trip went as usual. The candy trolley did its usual rounds, Tonks stopping it only once to buy a couple chocolate frogs. She liked watching them jump around the cabin. Then she would enjoy a bout of trying to catch them, and then eat her well earned chocolaty goodness. She decided to be ambitious and work on knitting a sweater, then after a half hour her hands got tired so she went back to reading. She'd read about two chapters in her most recent book when she felt something looking at her again. She turned around quickly this time, but there was just a group of fifth years, all of which she knew from around school. Not knew like a friend, but knew their names. They were something of a group of trouble makers, nothing really bad, just mischief makers. Three girls and one guy; 'Interesting group,' Tonks thought.
As the train continued on, closer and closer to school, she took to looking out the window. It was a beautiful trip, and she had memorized all most all of it, after all this was her fourth year at Hogwarts. There were many parts of the wilderness she wanted to get a chance to sit and paint. The train was always too fast to actually do any sketches. Boredom eventually set in, but soon after she heard the train's brakes start working. Any minute now she would be back on the grounds she knew as home.