A/N: I just wanted to clarify that I have no plans to make this story AU. Everything will work out to fit with canon, I promise!

Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

I don't own the Harry Potter universe.

A New Beginning

"Good morning, wizarding world! We're going to kick off your day with a new one from the Weird Sisters …"

Tonks jumped in bed, reaching out to slam her hand down on her alarm clock, ending the Weird Sisters' newest song. She looked at the time, then rubbed her eyes.

"I hope this assignment is worth it," she sighed as she sat up. "I can't believe I'm getting up before six."

She tumbled out of bed and made her way to the shower. She fingers shook slightly as she turned on the water.

"It's Hogwarts," she muttered. "I know this place – I love this place. Everything will be fine. Great, even."

Yet, underneath it all, she couldn't help the nerves. This was a new mission, a mission that came with more responsibility than she had ever been given before. And, it was her first mission without Kingsley. While she prided herself on being a very independent woman who didn't need a man to take care of her, she had to admit that working without the man who had been her partner for her entire career was rather daunting.

She sighed again, and turned to face into the hot spray from the showerhead. Everything will be fine.

"Good morning," Dana smiled from her place at the table with a cup of coffee and the Daily Prophet.

Remus smiled as he came into the kitchen. He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Good morning."

"Are you hungry?" she asked. "My mother made the biggest breakfast I've seen in years. She goes a little overboard when we have company."

Remus grinned as he sat down at the table. "Where is she?"

"She went out to buy food for dinner. She's a little upset that she missed your arrival yesterday, so she wants to make up for it with a feast tonight."

Remus laughed. "Why does everyone's mother feel the need to feed me?"

"Because you're too thin," Dana laughed.

"Have you told her about moving?"

"Yes, I mentioned it to her. Better to have her know what we might do before it happens than to spring it on her at the last minute."

"And?"

She sighed. "She's not excited about it, but she understands why I want to go. She was more than willing to stay here, and to keep Laura as much as I want her to."

"I didn't think you wanted her to keep Laura?"

"I don't – not really. I just want Laura to stay here if it gets too dangerous there."

Remus nodded. "Is Laura still in bed?"

Dana laughed. "Darling, it's only eight. I don't expect to see her for hours."

"Ah, the life of a teenager."

"A teenager home for the summer," Dana amended. "I'm sure she has to get up for class when she's at school."

Remus smiled. "Have you talked to her yet about …?"

Dana shook her head. "I want to talk to Olivia first." She glanced at her watch. "She should be here in about an hour. I told her that we need to talk."

"And you'll tell Laura later?"

"I need to know that this is a done deal before involving her."

"Will she be okay with being kept out of the decision?"

"She doesn't get a say," Dana replied.

Remus raised an eyebrow.

Dana sighed. "Remus, she's only fifteen. She doesn't get to decide where we live. And, when it comes down to it, she's away at school for most of the year. Why should this bother her?"

"You think she won't mind where you live?"

She shrugged. "Did it matter to you when we were at Hogwarts? I mean, really, how much time did you spend at your parents' house then?"

"Good point, I guess."

"Remus, I love my daughter. I would never do anything to hurt her."

Remus looked at her in silence for a moment before speaking. "Dana, let me ask you a question."

"Sure."

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his folded hands. "Why are you doing this? Why are you moving back to England?"

She smiled sadly. "I keep asking myself the same thing. And every time, my answer never changes. I'm doing this to fight Voldemort."

Remus looked into her eyes. "May I play devil's advocate?"

She smiled. "I knew you would."

Remus smiled back. "You left the Order before. Why are you going back to it this time? What's changed?"

She looked away from him for a moment, then looked back. "We keep telling Laura that she's too young to join, or to understand anything that's going on right now. And I don't deny the truth in any of that. I just wish that someone had been there to tell me the same thing when we joined. Because, Remus, the truth is that I wasn't old enough. I wasn't ready to deal with what we had to do. I wasn't ready to go that far to win this. And that's why I quit. Not because I was scared for myself or for Aidan, as I'm sure I said back then. You and Laura, James and Lily, Frank and Alice, Sirius, Olivia … everyone in the Order had someone else to live for, just like I did."

"You mean you weren't ready to fight?"

"I was ready to fight," she clarified, "but I wasn't ready to kill. But, that's what we have to do. This is a real war, not some romantic story. People are going to get hurt, and people are going to die. I wasn't ready to deal with that. Well, I was ready to put them back together, to heal them, but I wasn't ready to be the one handing out the wounds and the death."

"And you are ready this time?"

She looked at him for a moment. "Remus, this man has caused so much devastation. So much pain. So much heartache. He's trying to destroy our society. How can I not fight that?

"But, it's not just global for us, is it? It's personal. Voldemort has taken my family and my friends away from me. And, maybe even more than that, he's forced my best friends' son – the baby we all were fully ready to help raise – into a position that he would never have chosen on his own, nor that his parents would have chosen for him." She paused and drew a deep breath. "Voldemort must be stopped. And I want to do anything I can to help make that happen. If that means going back to England, if that means rejoining the Order, if that means killing Death Eaters, then so be it. I'm ready to do anything it takes to make this end. I'm ready to do anything it takes to help Harry." She smiled sadly. "We couldn't save James and Lily when they needed us. I think we owe it to them to do anything we can to help Harry now."

Tonks looked up at the towering structure of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with a bit of trepidation. She drew a deep breath.

"Well, here goes nothing," she muttered.

And so began her long – yet short – walk up to the castle. She reached the front doors and pulled one open, entering into the massive entrance hall. She wasn't surprised to find it nearly empty. She was surprised, however, to see that Dumbledore was the one standing there to greet her.

"Ah, Miss Tonks!" he greeted her with a beaming smile. "Thank you for agreeing to come to our school."

She smiled, instantly feeling better. Dumbledore always managed calm her. "Good morning, Professor. I'm glad I could do something to help."

"You will be most helpful," he said. "With you and your Aurors here, I know the students, staff and parents will be far more at ease as we begin our year."

"I hope so," she said, still smiling.

"I thought we could begin with a tour of the castle," Dumbledore said. "I know that you were a student here, but I like to think that the students don't discover many of the secret passageways the school hides from view."

Tonks grinned. "Oh, I never went snooping around the castle, sir."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I had assumed as much. Come, let us begin."

Olivia arrived as Remus and Dana were putting away the breakfast dishes. They both looked up as the door opened and she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning," she said.

"Good morning," Dana said at once. "Thanks for coming over, Liv."

"Good morning, love," Remus said. He leaned down to kiss her cheek. "How are you?"

"Fine," she smiled.

Remus looked at her closely, his heart sinking to see that she didn't look any better than she had the night before. Even her smile couldn't seem to reach her deadened eyes.

"Let's sit down," Dana said, waving her wand to procure three cups of tea. "We need to talk."

"Yes, that's what your message said," Olivia said as she sat down. "What do we need to talk about? I was just here last night."

"Right," Dana said, glancing at Remus. "Well, Remus had an idea, and we wanted to run it by you before we did anything about it."

"All right," Olivia said. "Let's hear it, Remus."

He nodded. "Right. When I got here yesterday, Dana was asking me for news updates – you know, things have changed now that Voldemort is out in the open."

"Of course," Olivia said. "We all knew that would happen – we hoped it would. Now the Ministry has finally gone into action."

"Yes, that's true," Remus agreed. "And, the Order can be more active, too."

"Those are both good things," Olivia nodded. "I don't think you called me here to discuss that."

"Well, in a way, yes," Remus said. "I sort of … well, I mentioned to Dana yesterday how much I would love to have the two of you back in the UK with me."

Olivia's eyes opened wide. "You want us to move back?" she whispered.

"Yes," Remus said. "The Order can definitely use all the help it can get – and, I'm sure the Auror department would be thrilled to have you back."

"Come back to England," Olivia murmured, looking off into a distance only she could see. She looked back at Remus, her eyes siding back into focus. "And you want us to rejoin the Order?"

"Yes." He leaned forward. "I want you both to help in the fight. And, I want to know that you're safe. That will be far easier if you live down the street." He looked at Dana. "Dana is considering it, but she wanted to hear your opinion."

"My opinion," Olivia repeated. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "Let's do it."

Dana looked at her in surprise. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," Olivia nodded. "Dana, we have to be there. We were there when all this started. We have to be there to see it end. We have to help bring this to an end. We've fought this before. How can we sit it out now?"

Looking into her eyes, Remus saw the one thing he had been hoping to see in them since the day he had told her that Sirius had died: life. It was as if a fire had been lighted inside her. Her eyes gleamed with a desire to fight, to survive, to win.

Olivia was back.

"Well, I think you've seen everything I can show you. I know the castle has other secrets that I may never discover, and you may well uncover them yourself in time, but the knowledge I've given you today will have to serve for now."

Tonks looked at Dumbledore, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Sir, I won't lie to you. I did sneak out more than once to explore the castle when I was a student, and I was quite sure that I knew it like the back of my hand. But this … I had no idea half of what you've shown me even existed!"

Dumbledore smiled his calm smile. "Miss Tonks, don't feel overwhelmed. We still have quite a bit of time before the students return, and you have been given unlimited access to the castle. You have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with it before school begins."

She nodded.

"We do have a meeting with the Heads of House that begins in a few minutes, so I'd like to take you back to my office."

She nodded again.

"If I might make a suggestion?"

"Of course."

"You live in London, I believe?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore nodded. "I thought perhaps that you might like to take a flat in Hogsmeade. It will eliminate traveling to and from work, which I believe will help to make your life less stressful."

She nodded slowly. "That actually makes a lot of sense, particularly since I'll certainly be here all year."

"Precisely." They stopped in front of the gargoyle that guarded his office. "And, now, my dear, to our meeting."

"How soon can we go?" Olivia asked. She looked at Dana. "Can you ask for a transfer to St. Mungo's?"

Dana shook her head, still obviously shocked by how easily Olivia had agreed to Remus's suggestion. "No, the hospitals aren't affiliated with one another. I can apply for a position there, though."

"I'm sure you'll get it," Remus said. "They can see their need for new healers, particularly ones who were active in the war effort last time."

"I can transfer back to England," Olivia said. She grinned. "For the first time, I'll be able to use my brother for something career related. He was always telling me that he'd pull some strings for me, but then I came here…now he'll finally get to."

"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem for you," Remus grinned. He squeezed her hand. "I can't wait to have you back home with me." He reached across to take Dana's hand, holding on to both of them. "Both of you. I'm so excited that we're doing this!"

"I can't believe it," Dana said as though in a daze. "I never thought we'd go back there."

"It feels right, though, doesn't it?" Olivia asked. "I never would have thought to do it, either, but as soon as Remus suggested it, I just knew that it was what we had to do. It's where we need to be, and I'm so glad we're going."

"Going where?"

They all looked up to see Laura standing in the doorway, still in her pajamas. She reached up to brush back a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail.

"Laura, I didn't expect you to be up so early," Dana said a bit uncomfortably.

"I didn't want to sleep too long, since Uncle Remus is here," she said. "Where are you going?"

"Sit down, sweetheart," Dana said. "It's not just me – we're all going."

"You, Aunt Olivia and Uncle Remus?"

"No, darling, you're coming, too. We're going to England."

Laura's eyes lit up. "How long are we staying? Can we stay two weeks this time? One week wasn't enough to see everything I wanted to see last time."

Dana glanced at Remus and Olivia, then looked back at her daughter. "No, sweetheart, we're not going for a visit. We're going to move there."

"What?" Laura exclaimed. "What do you mean? How can we move there?"

"We're going to live closer to Uncle Remus," Dana said. "I thought that you might be excited, darling."

"Excited?" Laura cried, jumping out of her seat. "How could you think that? How could think that I'd want to leave my friends, my house, my school –"

"You're not going to leave your friends or your school," Dana interrupted. "Grandma is staying here, so you're going to keep this as your address. You can still go to Beauxbatons with your friends. I wouldn't make you switch schools like that."

"But I'll still have to leave them during the summers and holidays, won't I?" she yelled, unwilling to be placated. "You didn't think of that, did you?"

"Of course I did," Dana said, willing herself to remain calm and not shake her daughter. "It'll be fine, Laura. You'll make it through a few months without them."

"Merde, Mum! Have could you – how could –"

"Laura, enough," Dana said, her eyes glittering with anger. "You're clever enough to use better words than that, regardless of the language you choose."

"I don't understand how you can do this to me!" Laura yelled. "You've told me over and over again how we have this wonderful life here in France, and how we could never be this happy in England. Why are you making me go there?"

"Because it's the right thing for us to do," Dana said. "Aunt Olivia and I can rejoin the Order there, and we can help fight against Voldemort."

"That didn't matter to you the first time, did it?" Laura asked cruelly. "You left the Order before the war ended. You left the country before the war ended!"

"I left the Order because I was too young to know better," Dana said. "And I left the country because your father had just died, because I wanted you to be safe."

"And so now you think that I'd be safer there? Uncle Remus just told us yesterday about all the people who are dying!"

"I can take care of you all better if you're there than I can when you're here," Remus said, speaking for the first time. "The Order takes care of its own, Laura. I'm still fine, your mum and Olivia are still fine … Order members look out for one another, and I want to be able to do that for you and your family."

She shook her head violently. "You're not making sense. None of you are." She turned to glare at her mother. "How can you spend all those years telling me that we're safer here, right up until the war starts again, when you change your mind and think that we'd be safer in England?"

Dana looked at her closely. "You're making excuses. I've given you my reasons for this: I want to help the Order win the war, and I want to put us closer to Uncle Remus. And, you, Laura, have never been afraid of this before. You've spent two years trying to convince me that you should be allowed to join the Order. Why this sudden change of heart? What are your real reasons for not wanting to go?"

Laura bit her lip. "I just don't want to move," she said stubbornly.

"Well, I hope you can change your mind by the time we leave," Dana said simply. "Because, we're going, regardless of how you feel about it."

Laura gave a scream, and ran out of the room. They could hear her stomping footsteps on the stairs, then the slam of her bedroom door.

"Well," Dana said, looking at Remus and Olivia, "that went well."

Remus and Olivia looked at one another, and Olivia giggled.

"Yeah, Dana. It went great."

After the rather lengthy meeting with the Heads of House, Hagrid gave Tonks a tour of the grounds. This was followed by another meeting with Dumbledore and McGonagall. Finally, at long last, Tonks was released.

"May I use a school owl?" she asked. "I'd like to send a letter, and my owl is already off delivering a message to my mother."

"Of course," Dumbledore smiled. "I'm sure you know where the Owlery is."

She smiled. "Hopefully, I'll remember how to find it."

She made her way up to the Owlery, and took a piece of parchment and quill from her bag. She scribbled a message to Kingsley, then left the school.

Kingsley was walking down the hall in the Muggle Ministry offices when he heard a woman scream. He immediately tensed, and ran down the hall toward the sound of the scream. He reached into his pocket, wrapping his hand around his wand, fully ready to do whatever it took to defend the Prime Minister.

He ran into the office where the woman was still shrieking – his office –, searching for an intruder.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She pointed wordlessly to the owl perched on his desk.

"An owl?" he asked, slowly stepping closer.

"How would it have gotten in here?" she asked fearfully. "I'm sure it's rabid. It must be. Owls are nocturnal … I can't even imagine how …"

"I'll take care of it," Kingsley said, noticing the letter it carried.

"You should get someone from animal control in here," she argued.

"I can handle it," Kingsley said. "I grew up on a farm. I know how to handle animals."

"If you're sure …"

"I am. Go on outside, though, just in case."

She nodded and hurried from the room, shutting the door behind her. Kingsley took the letter from the bird and looked down at his name. He immediately recognized the writing.

"Tonks," he sighed. "I can't believe she would send me an owl at work …"

He grabbed the bird, and made a large display of carrying it out of the building. He considered modifying his coworker's memory, but decided against it. She would love retelling the story of the "rabid owl" over and over, and he couldn't deny her the pleasure of it.

"She'll be all right," Dana said, sitting back down with Remus and Olivia. "She just needs to scream and think that I'm an unjust task master for awhile, but she'll be fine in the end."

"I didn't think she'd be so upset about it. She adores Remus – I thought she'd be thrilled to be able to see him more," Olivia said. She smiled. "I can't wait to get back to England. I can't wait to help – really help – defeat Voldemort."

"You haven't been happy in France?" Remus asked.

"Of course I have been," Olivia replied. "But, with all that's happening …" She smiled helplessly. "I've been an Auror and an Order member since I was eighteen. Fighting Voldemort … it's what I know. It's what I want to do, but it's something I don't feel like I can do if I'm here. I want to be in the middle of the action."

"We need to consider the logistics of this," Dana said. "How soon do you think we can move?"

"Well, you both need to worry about jobs," Remus said. "And you need a place to live. I would say that you can stay at Grimmauld Place until you find your own places, but the Order has been relocated until it can be determined if it now belongs to Harry or to Bellatrix."

Olivia shook her head. "I don't want to be there, anyway. It holds far too many memories for me. I mean …"

"No, you're right," Dana said. "We don't want to go backward."

"Right," Remus said. "Well, I need to find a place to stay for the time being myself, so maybe we could take rooms at the Leaky Cauldron for now."

"That's a good idea," Olivia agreed at once. She looked at them expectantly. "When do you want to go?"

"Don't look at me," Remus said quickly. "You two are the ones who are uprooting their lives, not me."

Olivia turned to Dana.

"I'll see what I can do."

Promptly at seven, Kingsley entered the Three Broomsticks. Tonks was already there, sitting at a table in the corner. She waved to him when she saw him enter. Smiling, he crossed to join her.

"Hey," he said as he sat down. "How was your day at Hogwarts?"

"Exhausting," she smiled. "How goes the life of a Muggle secretary?"

"That would be a Muggle secretary in the Prime Minister's office," Kingsley corrected with a grin. "And, while we're talking about my job, I have to make a request."

"Do you need more paperclips?" she asked with a grin.

"Actually, fewer owls from a good friend," he replied with a wink.

Tonks's eyes opened wide. "Oh, King. I didn't even think – oh, man, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sent that to you, should I?"

He grinned. "Don't worry about it. Only one woman saw him, and I handled it myself. I told her that I had lived on a farm as a child, so I knew how to handle rabid animals."

"You told her it was rabid?"

He grinned. "Actually, she came up with that one on her own."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I was just so overwhelmed … I just wanted to talk to you, and I thought maybe you could use a drink as much as I could."

"I'm always up for being your drinking buddy," Kingsley grinned. "So, tell me all about your first day at work."

"It was tough!" Tonks exclaimed. "I was nervous going in, of course, since it's a new assignment and I'll be in charge. But, the one thing I wasn't worried about was Hogwarts. I went to school there, right? I know the building and the grounds, right?"

"One would think," Kingsley agreed.

"One would be wrong," Tonks replied. "You'd be amazed by how much you don't know about that castle."

"Really?"

"Really. There's secret passages everywhere, trick stairs, trick doors, shortcuts…. I'm just glad that I've got over a month to learn all the ins and outs of the castle before the students are back."

"When do the other Aurors join you?"

"The week before school begins," she said, relaying the information Dumbledore and McGonagall had given her at their last meeting of the day. "Dumbledore said he's going to try to keep a couple Order members stationed at the school, too."

"You've got a big operation to run." Kingsley sighed. "I sort of envy you."

She smiled. "You realize that you have one of the most important assignments, right? You're guarding the Muggle Prime Minister, for God's sake! I think the only thing bigger would be guarding the queen herself!"

He laughed. "Thanks for making me feel better."

She laughed with him. "Thanks for drinking with me."

"Ah, I can't let you drink alone. Come on, let's get good and drunk tonight."

"We both have to work tomorrow."

"All right, tipsy, then. We'll make sure you aren't nearly so worried when you go into work tomorrow."

Despite Kingsley's best efforts, Tonks was still on edge when he left her that night. He sighed as he walked into his flat, not sure of how to help her. He had tried joking, making her talk about how everything would be fine, distractions, amusing stories … All the strategies that usually left Tonks stress-free had failed. What could he be missing?

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "I can't help her, but that doesn't mean someone else can't!"

He sat down to consider what he was planning.

"She'll kill me if she finds out," he muttered. "But … I know she wants to talk to him, even if she didn't say anything to me. And, who knows? Maybe this is just the little nudge that they need."

He grinned. He had never played matchmaker before, but he was more than willing to give it a try.

Remus walked into the sitting room the next day to see Dana at her desk with an expression of shock on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said. "I've been asked to come to St. Mungo's for an interview."

Remus looked at her in surprise. "But you just sent your resume in yesterday!"

"I know," she said. "Apparently, they're looking for trauma healers now, which is what I specialize in." She looked up at him. "You know, yesterday, Olivia said that this – moving back home – feels right. She's right, of course. Even when you first proposed it, I knew what I had to do. But this job offer … it's like everything fell into alignment to make this happen, isn't it?"

Remus grinned. "I'm so glad. Now Olivia just needs to get her transfer, and we'll be set."

"She'll get it," Dana replied. "There's no chance she won't. Her brother will take care of her."

"Of course."

Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the owl that flew into the room. Remus laughed.

"I guess they really want you to come for that interview."

Dana took the letter from the bird and shook her head.

"This one's for you."

Remus frowned slightly as he opened the letter.

"Remus,

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I rather need your help. Tonks has been given a new assignment, and it has her a bit stressed. I've tried talking to her, but I can't seem to get her to calm down. I know the two of you are good friends; I thought that perhaps speaking with you would help. Would have the time to see her?

"Thanks so much for your help, Remus.

"Sincerely,

"Kingsley Shacklebolt"

"Not bad news?" Dana asked, watching his face.

"Not bad … just odd."

"Odd?"

"Yes." Remus handed her the letter.

Dana read it over, and gave it back. "So, go talk to her," she shrugged. "I agree, it's rather odd to see something like that in a letter, but you're out of the country. He probably would have spoken to you in person if he could have found you."

"You're right, of course."

She looked at him quizzically. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"

Remus sighed. "Don't worry about it. Just… When is your interview?"

"Tomorrow," she said, looking back at the parchment spread out on the desk. "Will you stay here with Laura?"

"Of course I will."

"Good," she smiled. "The sooner we can get this straightened out, the sooner we can go back home."