Title - The Trouble with Masks.

Chapter – 3 - Potions or Poison.

Pairing – Tonks/Remus, Tonks/Oc,

Rating – M – Just to be safe.

Warnings – Romance and angst.

Quick Intro – Tonks was a metamorph, an Auror, this is the tale of her past, her fight for her innocent cousin locked up in Azkaban and her tale of love, loss and possible acceptance.

Disclaimer – I don't own any of the character from Harry Potter alas they belong to JK Rowling, there is no financial gain here just a love of fanfiction.

Chapter Three

It was a sat afternoon and Tonks was currently serving 'detention' with Professor Snape, this was the way they had come to disguise her frequent potion tasting sessions with him, he had berated her slightly about not telling him about her dreams as information as trivial as this may indicate different reactions from different ingredients. Tonks had stopped listening half way through and was surprised when she looked up from her position sat on one of the table to find Snape leaning over her.

"I take it from your blank expression you did not hear my question! Do you really think you can handle Azkaban?"

"What?"

"Professor Dumbledore told me of his decision to let you see your cousin, he asked if I thought you could handle it, I told him..."

Tonks cut him off in shocked surprise.

"He is going to let me see him!"

Angry at her for interrupting him he stalked away and poured a potion from a bubbling concoction that had purple smoke erupting from it and she swore she could hear it fizzing slightly.

"Obviously, however I told him I think it is a mistake, Azkaban is no place for a child no matter how stubborn they are."

He handed her the potion to drink ignoring her disgusted face.

"This will make you feel dizzy I suggest sitting on the chair."

After so long coming to Snapes office to be tested on had lost the excitement appeal, not only had she known that he saw her as more of a project, a case study he had to solve, although he didn't seem any nearer finding out what she was hit with then he did on the night she was hit with it. She had given up hope of a cure and just preyed all these potions didn't make it worse or affect her in another way, she however had also learnt that Snapes warning were usually good ones so she sat down carefully before drinking the bubbling liquid.

The dizziness hit her almost instantly and was followed by a nauseous feeling that made her put her head in her hands blocking the light out, this was a mistake as Snape lifted her head up and seemed to study her for a moment before letting it go.

"How bad is the dizziness?"

"Not as bad and the sick feeling, actually I think I am going to …"

As she lifted her head up to throw up she noticed that Snape had brought over a bucket for her to throw up in, when she was finished she was on her hands and knees on the cold floor still feeling sick and dizzy, she slowly crawled to the wall and sat with her back against it. Snape cleaned the bucket and put it next to her. He motioned with his hand to another vial of potion he had, she took it and looked him as if he was mad, he stood and went to sit back at his desk.

"The strength I gave you was too strong, you will continue to throw up unless you drink the second potion."

No sooner as he had finished she was throwing up again, this time however the dizzy feeling made her eyes water and she closed them while pulling the stopped out of the bottle and downing it, Snape took the bucket and cleaned it before placing it back in the corner, he seemed to take no other notice of her but was writing in his book as he always did when they had their 'detentions', Tonks managed to clean her mouth with a simple spell but did not move off the floor, she did feel a bit better after the second vial but was not going to let Snape give her anymore this session.

"What exactly did that achieve, Professor?"

Sneering at being interrupted while writing he finished and put the book away before walking over and pulling her to a standing position, he looked her over again then turned and sat down to mark papers.

"It means you are too weak to have anything more tried today, I will see you next time."

Taking her cue to leave Tonks felt like hell and all she wanted to do was go to her bed and sleep for an eternity but as she looked past the window down to the lake she could see the clearing and felt the urge to go down, she had kept her word and not been out of the castle at night, she had been up to the owlery and down to the kitchens but she had not actually left the castle. Although it was dusk the light was still bright enough and there were other people around so Tonks decided she could quickly pop down to see if Firenze was around.

Not knowing she was being watched from the castle she missed the look Snape gave Dumbledore or the comment about disobedient students, she also did not see Dumbledore follow her down to the clearing.

As she approached the water she was disappointed that the Sid the Squid was not around and neither was Firenze, deciding to stay a few minutes to think about the possibility of seeing Sirius, absently she skimmed stones over the lake and watched them as they sank into the deep depths where she knew the squid must be sleeping.

Tonks had a thousand and one questions running through her head, was she really going to be able to see Sirius, when was she going, how long would she have, would she be able to go again, did this mean Dumbledore thought he could be innocent, would she be able to face Sirius after all this time. A small cough alerted her to the Headmaster presence and as she turned around he entered the clearing and motioned for her to follow him back to the castle.

"I was not planning on staying long Professor; I just wanted to visit again."

"I understand my dear I am not here to tell you off, I have had heard from the house elves that you have been staying in the castle and I thank you for keeping your word. I am here to inform you I have decided to let you go to Azkaban, I was informed by Professor Snape you have been told of this I just wanted to confirm my decision. I am not sure how long it will take to get permission from the ministry but I will back your request."

"Thank you Professor."

Unable to think of any of the questions that a moment ago had been running through her head she decided to settle on silence.

"May I ask if you have informed you parents of your request to visit your cousin?"

"I have not, the subject of Sirius seems to upset my mum and has not been the topic of polite conversation for a long time, to be honest over the years I have found it best to stick to simple topics of conversation, the weather for example, my father doesn't really understand about my mothers history or her family and she seems perfectly capable of forgetting it herself sometimes."

Dumbledore could tell this was a difficult subject for her to talk about and he had heard many account of the troubled relationship between her and her mum, it was a shame and he did feel for Nymphadora, in one night she had lost her friend who was hidden in the muggle world, her cousin whom she adored and had witnessed a horror that no child should have to see. She was strong he was thankful for that but she was also stubborn and this meant alienation from others her age, for that he was sorry.

"She would have to be informed of any decision, I think it would be better if you told her yourself rather then a letter from the ministry or myself."

She seemed to think about not telling her mother then sighed in acceptance, Dumbledore once again was reminded of the Black family pride and he did not envy her task of explaining to her mother that she wanted to visit Azkaban.

"I will write to her tonight and if she wants to meet with me to talk about it I can arrange to go to Hogsmede at the weekend."

"That seems all in order, now I will leave you, however if you have any questions I am available to listen and I will let you know as soon as the ministry makes a decision, goodnight Miss Tonks."

"Night Professor."

To say that her mother had taken the news badly would have been an understatement, the only reply she had gotten from her letter which explained carefully what she wanted to do, was a one line letter telling her to be in Hogsmede that Saturday morning, this didn't bode well, a howler would have been better then the calm before the storm.

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