Hello people! Time for another chapter! I'll try to update as often as I can, but I'll be going to school soon. But now, on with story!

Chapter Three:

Knight Bus Mishaps

As Tonks rode down in the empty lift from the minister's office she tried to get her thoughts through her head. How could she get out of it? Why did he want her to come? And why didn't the ministry believe Harry Potter and Dumbledore? She realized with a jolt (an actual jolt since the lift had just stopped) that those questions and answers were all related. For some reason the ministry didn't want to believe, though how they could do this was appalling, that You-Know-Who wasn't back, and so they were turning everyone against Harry Potter and Dumbledore, which was why she had gotten into this trouble for voicing her opinion, so the minister wanted her to come so he could keep a close eye on her, and there was no way that she could get out of it, because he held all the strings and could fire her, and then what would she do?

"Ah, Tonks, you're back. I've decided to move you to a different branch of the office." Rufus Scrimgour had been waiting for her to come back. Tonks's heart sank as he said the last words. He was going to de-mote her to teach her a lesson. It would be back to writing reports for her. Boring.

"You are going to work on the case of finding Sirius Black with Kingsley. You will get a raise, of course, and if there is any fighting you will also be called there first. Can you handle that?" Tonks was so happy she could've cheered and punched the air. She was going to be able to show them her skills and a raise! She could buy some more furniture or something! Tonks finally remembered that Scrimgour was still there and waiting for her answer.

"Yes! Of course I can handle it, thank you, sir!" On the last part she took the head auror's hand and shook it vigorously, then she hurried off to start work. As she walked past the many cubicles her smile faltered slightly, she quickly realized that they were probably only giving her this job so they could again keep an eye on her. Kingsley was one of the best aurors and he spoke with Scrimgour regularly. So it was with uncertainty that Tonks opened the door of the cubicle that read:

Black Search

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Nymphadora Tonks

Inside was a rather large space with two desks one littered with parchment and quills, a large map magically no doubt hung on the wall opposite her with a bunch of tacks sticking out of it at different places, and a tall wizard, with an earring in one ear, sitting at a cleaner, more organized desk and he seemed to be writing something down on a piece of parchment. Tonks, feeling nervous once again gave a small tap on the door and Kingsley Shacklebolt turned around in his chair to face his new partner.

"Good morning, Kingsley Shacklebolt, nice to meet you," his voice was deep, calm, and slow, but Tonks still felt jittery as she shook his hand and sat down in the chair at her new desk, but missed and landed on the floor flat on her butt.

"I'm fine," she hastily replied to Kingsley's half rising from his chair. Getting back into her seat she said, "Tonks, don't like the first name, and I'm a regular klutz so don't be surprised. Kingsley was looking her over, almost trying to decide something very important. Finally he spoke again.

"Do you dye it?" Tonks looked up surprised and confused. "Your hair, it's pink. Do you dye it?" She nearly laughed at this comment.

"I'm a metamorphagus. I like it pink." He nodded in understanding. They were both silent for a while until Kingsley broke the silence.

"You believe You-Know-Who has returned." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Tonks bit her lip. On one hand, she wanted to tell the truth, but on the other, he could tell Scrimgour. Something in her conscious made her choose the first.

"Yes, what about it," she added the last part somewhat defensively. He took this in and seemed to think through what he said next, choosing his words carefully.

"You would do anything to fight him and stop him from coming to total power?" Tonks could not see where the conversation was headed, but answered him again.

"Yes."

"Even join a secret organization, which would mean breaking the law?" Now Tonks had no clue what on earth he was getting at so she took a while before answering him.

"Yes, I suppose, but what kind of organization is there out there like that?" There was a silence and finally when Kingsley spoke again it was in a hurried, hushed voice.

"There is such an organization, and it is recruiting right this very minute, the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore leads it and its headquarters are under the Fidelus Charm. We need more people, and you would be very welcome there. Don't mention this to anyone else here and try to stay out of trouble with Fudge and Scrimgour. Come to the Leaky Cauldron tonight, at seven, and I'll take you to headquarters, if you like. If you do not wish to join, I'm afraid I will have to erase your memory." The words were a very fast shock to Tonks as her mind struggled what to do or say. She did want to join, but that would also mean risking everything, life, job, and then she would have nowhere to go. But she also wanted to do the right thing. That was what Aurors were supposed to do anyway.

"I'll be there." She said this firmly and with a bit more confidence than she felt, but she had made her decision. Tonks didn't know why, but she just knew this was something she had to do.

The rest of the day seemed a boring blur; she kept thinking the same thing in her head. Leaky Cauldron, Seven Tonight, Order of the Phoenix. Soon she was at home deciding what she should wear as she was probably going to meet the rest of the order then. Tonks didn't have a wide variety of clothes; aurors didn't have to get dressed up that often. She settled on a t-shirt and patched jeans, they might as well meet the real her. She looked at her watch. 6:50. Time to go. She turned quickly on the spot.

After traveling through the familiar pressing darkness, Tonks was standing in the Leaky Cauldron, the pub that led to Diagon Alley. Kingsley was sitting at a booth in the corner. As she made her way over to him she tripped over a couple chairs and he looked up.

"Hello again. Thank you for being early." He helped her up and Tonks nodded in greeting.

"So, you're not really a Death Eater in disguise, trying to lead me into ambush?" She questioned, just to be sure, though a Death Eater would say no anyway. He shook his head and they grasped hands and once again swirled into darkness. Once they were done with their traveling Tonks looked around and saw that they were in a dark, cobbled street facing a row of houses. She guessed they belonged to muggles as she could hear a television through one of the open windows.

"Here, read this, memorize it, and then burn it," Kingsley instructed quietly. Tonks looked down at the piece of parchment. The handwriting was slanted and thin. It read:

I, Albus Dumbledore, secret keeper of the Order of the Phoenix, hereby give Nymphadora Tonks the location of our headquarters: Number Twelve, Grimmuald Place.

(A/N: I enlarged it so you guys could read it better.)

Quickly, Tonks pulled her wand out of her back pocket and, after making sure she knew the words by heart, set the note written by her former headmaster on fire. Putting her wand back she looked back up at the row of houses, searching for number twelve. It should have been right in front of her, but instead she was standing in between Numbers ten and eleven. Suddenly, a door appeared from thin air, followed by brick walls and windows and finally a roof with a brick chimney on top. With a yelp of surprise Tonks backed up until she tripped backwards on the curb, throwing out her right hand to break the fall-

With another cry she rolled out of the way as a violently purple three-decker bus came trundling to a stop right where she had fallen.

"Hello, this is the Knight Bus, I Stan Shunpike, your conductor for tonight-" Kingsley cut Stan off by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"She didn't stick out her hand to call you, we don't need a ride." Tonks looked up apologetically at Stan. He seemed to take the scene in.

"Oh, hello Tonks, nice night to be seeing you! Right then, must be off," and with that he stepped back into the Knight Bus and it rocketed off down the street once more. Kingsley shook his head wearily. Tonks grinned slightly.

"That happens a lot," she explained. The pair walked up towards the house, Kingsley in front. He motioned for her to stand back and then tapped the battered door with his wand. She could hear the clinking and clanking of locks behind the door. Tonks stepped into the house first, Kingsley behind shutting the door quickly and swallowing them in darkness. She made to reach for her wand, but then many oil lamps attached to the walls lit themselves and the hall was filled with an eerie glow.

"Come," Kingsley walked past her and down the hall to a door with substantial light shining through the cracks. Wanting to get the introductions over with quickly, Tonks hurried after him, but tripped over an umbrella stand. It fell over with a loud bang.

"MUDBLOODS, HALFBLOODS, AND BLOODTRAITORS ALIKE RUNNING AMOCK IN MY HOUSE! IT'S A DISGRACE TO THE PUREBLOOD HOME OF THE NOBLEST BLACKS! I WON'T STAND FOR IT ANY-" some draperies had snapped open and a screaming red-faced lady had issued the unwelcome words and now other portraits were awakening as well, until many people streamed through the now open doorway. They were trying to shut the drapes on the woman until a bark like voice had yelled above the rest,

"WILL YOU SHUT UP!" There was a loud bang, and the drapes once more snapped shut and there was a silence. The man who now had his wand out walked down the stairs. He was thin and his face was white and sunken, the hair black and messy and long, the only thing that seemed the most normal about him were his eyes, gray, they were alive and moving over the hall. Sirius Black.

All reason told her not to do this, but her instincts took over and Tonks tackled her second cousin and the pair fell to the ground. He yelped in surprise, almost exactly as Tonks had just done ten minutes ago. She felt arms tugging her away, but she kept a strong hold. Finally, a man she didn't know wrenched her off of Sirius and, screaming that he should be captured before he escaped again, was half dragged half carried to a drawing room and Sirius came in after them. The door was shut and now Tonks stopped her struggling for a few moments to see who she was currently being held by, tightly and closely so that there was no chance of her wriggling free, and was somewhat intrigued. He had seemed to have had the strength of a man in his prime, but certainly didn't look it. His hair was gray in some places, but mostly brown, as were his eyes and his face had quite a few scars on it. The robes he wore were tattered and patched and she realized the hands that held her to him in place were scarred as well.

"Who are you?" She asked, seeming to forget that an alleged madman was also sitting there on the couch to her right. As Tonks had stopped her squirming he released her and walked over to the mantelpiece.

"I am Remus John Lupin, member of the Order of the Phoenix and currently out of other occupation. Reason being I am a werewolf- do not question," he added as Tonks made to open her mouth. Sirius seemed to be shocked that he was telling her these facts so quickly, but Remus held up a hand while continuing. "She will need to know these things if she is joining us, Padfoot. This is my friend Sirius, as you must know and he actually is innocent and was framed by a man named Peter Pettigrew, who now works for Voldemort. Now please, get to know each other, and try and get to be reasonably friendly since you'll be working together. You are family, after all," he said with a slight smile. Sirius walked over and held out his hand.

"Okay, Moony, if you say so. Sirius Black, nice to meet you. We'll probably get along well because your mom was the nice one." He was grinning. Tonks took his hand and shook it.

"Just Tonks, if you please, don't like the first name. Why do they call you Moony? Did you like, I don't know, moon people in school or something?" She directed the last part to Remus who flushed a deep red while Sirius laughed hard and long.

"It, was my nickname at school, Sirius was Padfoot, James Potter was Prongs, and Peter was Wormtail." The nickname did make sense, now she thought about it. Something suddenly stirred in her memory.

"Moo!" She cried out in realization. Sirius and Remus looked utterly perplexed. "You're Moo! You and Sirius used to baby-sit me when I was little and I called you Moo!" Now she could see Remus Lupin, as a laughing teenager along with his best friend, playing games with a small child whose hair was bubblegum pink.

"Oh, yeah!" Sirius chimed in. "And your favorite story was Goodnight Moon, but you called it Goodnight Moo. That was funny." He sighed in his remembering of memories far more happy then the present. A sneering voice broke the peaceful silence.

"If you three would be so kind as to stop your happy reminiscing, the Order would…love to meet our new member." The man was someone Tonks recognized all too well. Professor Snape had been her potions teacher, the class that Tonks had struggled the most with to scrape an O in. His attitude towards her and her fellow classmates hadn't been that much help either, but still Tonks felt nervous as she, Sirius, and Remus filed out of the room. Sirius muttered,

"Give her a break, Snivellus." And now the three men had entered a dining room and everyone looked up as the new member of the Order of the Phoenix walked in.

Yeah, soo sorry it was this long, but I really wanted to get this part done before school, which starts tomorrow. Boo. I randomly just had to add the Knight Bus thing in. Hope you liked it!