A/N: Sorry for the stretch between updates. End of the semester frenzy set in and writing seemed to get lost. Anyway hope you like the chapter.


Baby Blue Girl

"Nymphadora?" Sirius called knocking on the door. There was no answer, so he knocked again and called, "Nymphadora?"

A very disgruntled looking Tonks in a short pink bathrobe and an acid green dressing gown opened the door scowling, "It's Tonks, and it's also late,"

Sirius tilted his head to the side a bit and smiled, "It's only nine o'clock, and I brought you some tea." He offered up the mug.

She took the mug and stepped aside so he could walk in. He pulled the covers of her bed up a bit and tried to smooth out a few wrinkles before sitting back against the headboard. She eyed him curiously. She could recall their last little heart to heart and wasn't in the mood for another. He patted the space next to him and she sat down compliantly.

"Tonksy, you know I care about you right?" Sirius said earnestly furrowing his brow a bit and looking down at her. Tonks nodded compliantly, but Sirius could tell she'd already checked out.

He ducked a little lower and nudged the side of her head, with his forehead. She looked at him strangely. "Did you know that I was thirteen years old when you were born? I met you on my fourteenth birthday, and you were only about four months old." She frowned imagining herself that young, "Well my mother really didn't approve of your family, being the nut case that she was, but I heard talk of an amazing color changing baby and sent your family an invitation to my birthday tea without telling my mom." Tonks couldn't help but smile at the thought of Mrs. Black when she found out. "It was not a fun birthday dinner. Dear old mum was seething, Regulus put on that pinched face like something smelled like dung -he was such an unhappy child-, and you just kept screaming and changing colors." Sirius chuckled at his own memory and Tonks joined in. He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her toward him. Tonks was physically comfortable but ill at ease in her older cousins embrace. She still hadn't forgotten there last chat, and even though he was making an effort to be friendly she couldn't help but distrust it a little.

"I suppose you get tired of it sometimes though," He said thoughtfully. She had no idea what he meant. She looked up at him questioningly. "You know what I mean, people treating you like a toy?"

Immediately Tonks' mind flashed to dinners with Hermione and Ginny.

"Do it again!" Ginny cried between fits of laughter.

She crossed her eyes to look at her nose and see if it had properly changed. She could only see a bit of her nose, and it was all blurry and doubled because of her crossed eye. Either way she was sure it was fine because Ginny and Hermione's fits of laughter doubled. Some of the other adults at the table began shooting her glares, so she changed back into a normal nose. Ginny and Hermione looked a little disappointed. They both looked at her with pleading glances trying to convince her to change it back. Molly cottoned on to what they were doing and scolded, "Nymphadora is not a toy, and I'm sure she doesn't appreciate being treated as such!"

"Yeah the novelty does where off after a bit," She answered and Sirius gave her a gentle squeeze. Tonks looked down at her lap, embarrassed that she was such a downer.

They sat in silence for a bit. Tonks leaned forward hugging her knees, and away from Sirius's embrace. She knew that he was only trying to be nice, because she kind of turned into a lunatic on him that morning in the parlor, but his sweet cousinly behavior only made her feel terrible for being so mean to him and to his best friend. The forgiving nonjudgmental way she was being treated only made her remorse more complete.

"You know, I used to babysit you right?" Sirius asked conversationally, just to break the silence. He felt a little like he she wasn't listening because he was talking to her back.

Tonks hated being asked to remember things from when she was so young, but she did distinctly remember having him around a bit when she was much younger, "I guess I can remember a few times you were there before the war got really out of hand and you went to umm-"

"Yeah," Sirius sighed saving her the trouble of saying it, "But before that I mean. I know you don't remember, but when I still went to Hogwarts I spent most of my summer holidays with you." Sirius got a really far away look on his face, "You were about two this time I babysat you. Your parents were going to a show. I was playing with you in your little daybed, tickling you. And you were such and adorable little kid all laughing and screaming. It was hilarious until you turned blue. All blue not just your skin, but your hair and your eyes too. I nearly pissed my pants. Because after you turned blue you stopped moving, I supposed because I stopped tickling you. But I thought I'd killed you or something. I was in hysterics. I can't imagine it was very becoming at all. I flooed your parents, Mrs. Potter, and Peter." Tonks snickered out loud. Her parents had told her bits of this story before. "Mrs. Potter was there in less than a minute, and Peter just told me your parents would kill me and that he was sad he'd have to find another friend. Your parents just kind of laughed at me, and I couldn't figure out why. Mrs. Potter quickly pointed out that you were smiling and breathing and that I was stupid. Your parents eventually explained that your dad had taught you a joke to scare your mom, but it really wasn't a big deal if you turned blue. Infact by the end of our conversation you'd gone back to normal colors." She was already back under his arm at that point and he could feel her shaking with laughter. Then he turned to her and said earnestly, "Even though your parents said it wasn't dangerous I never did tickle you again. I was always way too afraid you die or something."

She felt a surge of affection for Sirius followed by a surge of shame for her behavior. She hugged him hard around his middle pinning her face to his shoulder. She felt the beginnings of tears form in her eyes, but she blinked hard to keep them back. Sirius tilted her face up to his and smiled. Seeing his smile popped the little bubble of shame Tonks had been trying to keep down and tears spilled over the rims of her eyes. "I'm sorry," Tonks sobbed unable to keep her voice steady. Sirius took her in his arms rubbing slow circles over her back. "I really should be more sympathetic you know? I mean people don't even like me for shapeshifting, and I'm not even deadly or anything. I really..." Her voice trailed off as Sirius hushed her by pulling her into a tighter embrace. She sniffed a bit trying to regain her composure. She hadn't noticed herself loosing it because it happened so fast. But with another person around it seemed especially important that she regain it. She inhaled a long, quavering breath in an attempt to steady herself. She withdrew from his embrace so she could look at him. "I really like him," She confessed- opting to scrap whatever of her pride was left altogether- and tell him everything, "And it scares me."

Sirius became acutely uncomfortable. He was a bit ill-suited to these kinds of honest conversations. He sat silently. He was desperately wanting to say something but much too afraid of making it worse. "Why?" Was all he could come up with.

Tonks struggled for words. She wasn't quite sure she could put it into words. "I think he's a really nice guy. And I'd like to continue to think of him that way."

"He turns into a werewolf on full moons not after making out. Dating him won't turn him into not a nice guy." Sirius remarked light-heartedly.

"Dating me seems to turn nice guys into not nice guys." Tonks replied as the dried her face with the sleeve of her robe.

End Note: As you can see I'm still not giving up very much about Tonks. But if you stay tuned you might just get a very nice bit of her back story.

How does Sirius escape the uncomfortable situation? Why does Tonks transform men? How did she find out about her unfortunate talent? For the answers to these questions and more stay tuned!

[I will double check Sirius's age when Tonks was born, but I think thats right.]