A/N: Hello, dear readers… read this please, it's urgent. This is concerning what I said in the Author's Note in the first chapter about this fic being fluffy and light…. I've had a sudden change of heart (last minute, mind) and decided to add a bit of hurt and angst-- in this chapter at least. For those who were expecting something cute to happen between Remus and Tonks… well, I think I'll save those for later (if you'll care to hang on to this fic for a long time) because I'm feeling a bit angst-y at the moment. I just wanted to inform you, so you wouldn't think I wasn't being true to my word, ha ha.

Oh, and by the way, to hell with Chemistry.

When Time-Turners Go Haywire

An RLNT fanfic, AU

2: Make A Sound

XxX

Tonks seemed to be floating for her feet weren't touching the ground-- but there was no ground, to begin with. She had closed her eyes the moment she felt herself disappear from Grimmauld Place's drawing room, for a sudden flash of white light had emanated from the Time-Turner, blinding her, and it had been because of this that she hadn't been able to witness what had transpired (and was transpiring) around her.

A whirlwind of colours and blurred images seemed to be swimming around Tonks, the wind coming from nowhere whipping through her hair. She was being pulled away, away from the present, and she seemed to be gravitating towards the past-- or rather, gravitating back to the past. Tonks didn't dare open an eyelid as the cold air blew at her or as she felt movement in her midst, just in case she felt a sudden urge to vomit, and just clutched the hourglass and the dusty golden chain, swearing. But just as she thought that the trip was never going to end and that she was most unlikely to get back home, a force so strong (and it seemed to come from the Time-Turner itself) steadied her and Tonks felt solid ground support her weight once again; the mixture of pictures and colours surrounding her had disappeared at the same moment too.

All pressure and relentless floating gone, Tonks fell helplessly on the ground, her face hitting the soft grass.

"Oh, damn… this is not good…." Tonks muttered as she sat up groggily in the dimly lit area she had landed upon, wiping her face with the back of her hand. And looking around to observe this new environment, Tonks saw that she had landed on someone's neatly-mowed lawn, just a few feet from a tall, large tree; there had been a tree house built on the sturdy branches of the said tree, Tonks noticed. Ten feet from Tonks stood was a two-story home, with all its lights lit (making it have an inviting feel), and a black banner displayed on the front porch with neon orange words painted on it: Happy Halloween!

Tonks tried to look beyond the thin curtains draped on the windows, but saw no one, not even a shadow. Apparently the people who lived here had no nearby neighbours for no other house was around until the next six blocks. There were distant voices on the street, and it seemed that they were having a celebration, a party; it could be the reason why no one was in the house, thought Tonks.

The sky was pitch-dark except for the full moon shining directly above Tonks's head, and the only light came from the empty house. Though nothing she had noticed gave her the idea of what time she was in, Tonks figured she'd take a quick look around the house for a while, just for her to know what year she was in. But when she made to stand up, some voices from down the street where a celebration was taking place started to grow louder, and Tonks's instinct told her to go and hide up in the tree house.

"Blimey, Ryan, your pumpkin basket's heavy!" said a small voice, as Tonks clambered up the ladder against the trunk of the tree. "But I bet mine's heavier!"

"Oh yeah, well I think not," said another small voice defiantly. "Mr. and Mrs. Lewis gave us equal amounts of candy didn't they? Everyone gave us equal amounts of candy, Tim, you're being unreasonable…" The two boys continued arguing as they drew closer to the house, and when they were near enough for Tonks to see through the tree house's small window, she was surprised to see three, not two boys, heading for the house. The boy named Ryan was wearing a Muggle superhero's costume, which Tonks recognized as Superman and the boy called Tim wore ragged clothes and his skin and face had been deliberately put with a green and black kind of make-up, making him look like a miniature zombie. The third boy (the one who'd been silent the whole time) had-- in Tonks's opinion-- the costume that stood out the most: sparkling blue wizard's robes and a starry hat slightly huge to fit the boy's head perfectly; he even held a wand in his hand and a pumpkin basket in the other ….

"Oy, Remus, say something!" said Tim to the silent boy, as they reached the gate of the house. "Will you try weighing our baskets for us-- I really think mine's a bit heavier--"

"Whatever," Ryan snapped. Then he turned to face Remus. "Are you okay?"

At this, the silent boy named Remus cracked a smile. "Yeah… I just have a bit of stomach ache right now; I must've eaten too much candy…"

"Oh okay," said Ryan. "Well, here's your house now--"

"You haven't weighed our baskets yet!" said Tim angrily.

"I'll weigh it tomorrow," said Remus. "If you really want to, I mean." Remus and Ryan laughed, watching Tim, who looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well… I think we'll just see who's got the heavier basket next year then. I'm dying to eat these sweets!" The three boys laughed before saying their goodbyes to each other. Tim and Ryan set off back to where they came from, and disappeared again down the street. Remus pushed open the gate and went in, looking pleased with himself and all the candies he had managed to collect.

If Tonks wasn't mistaken, she was watching Remus-- Remus John Lupin as a boy, an innocent boy who would grow up as someone who'd make her fall in love with him. She couldn't believe that Remus had been a boy too, a boy who didn't think of anything too analytical and deep and mysterious; in the present, everything they seemed to talk about was about the war, and all the other problems in their lives, whereas tonight, it was merely all about having stomach aches from eating too much candy. She beamed from inside the dark tree house, gazing as Remus, who was handsome even from a distance, made his way to the house.

But a rustle in a bush both made Tonks and Remus jump; Tonks had risen and hit her head on the tree house ceiling, while Remus stiffened and looked warily around him.

"H-hello? Anyone t-there?" Tonks heard Remus say as she rubbed her head soothingly, too busy cursing the ceiling to look back out of the window. There was silence, and just when Tonks had thought that young Remus had already gone inside the house--

"AAAAAAAH!" It was a terrified yell from Remus, something Tonks had never heard before. It was eerie and it sent shivers down her skin, and as she scrambled to kneel and look out of the window again, she heard it again, but this time it was accompanied by a ferocious growl and a howl.

It was too late to back out now-- with Tonks's head sticking out the tree house window, she watched in horror as the enormous werewolf advanced upon Remus, his sparkling robes soaked in red and in pieces now. Remus had shielded his face with his arms, but he was helpless--

"MUM! DAD!" Remus's yells were desperate now, and there was an obvious note of fear in his strangled voice. Tonks couldn't look away and her mind was filled with nothing but horror, her eyes filling with tears as she watched the bloody scene. "N-n-no… Remus, no…."

Just as suddenly as Remus had called, a shadow appeared from inside the house, and a moment later, Tonks saw a tall woman with light brown hair hurry outside on the porch, and upon seeing the scene, screamed, "J-John! H-he's here! He's got Remus, John!" The woman, who turned out to be Remus's mother, clearly had left her wand (that is, if she owned a wand) inside the house, and she could only watch the scene through tear-stained eyes, not wanting to get near the werewolf ripping at her son; the savage beast ignored the woman, only glancing once at her before turning back to claw at Remus's thin frame.

A second later the front door burst open and John Lupin emerged beside his wife, panting. "You get away from my son!" he yelled. "PROTEGO!" The great force issued from John's wand and a great cloudy barrier materialized between the werewolf and Remus, who was barely recognizable as he was covered in tattered robes and drenched in his blood. The werewolf scrambled away from the house, growling, and disappeared. At this, John Lupin and his wife ran to their son; both of them were crying as they carried the lifeless body of Remus into the house.

Rooted to the spot, Tonks was still staring at the place where Remus had been attacked but barely seeing anything but the tears that fell from her eyes. Somehow she felt responsible for the tragedy that had befallen the Lupins, and as she sat back down onto the floor of the tree house (for she could not stand to look at anything that would remind her of it), she felt everything crashing down around her, as though she were one of them… the strong foundation of the Lupin family, the bright disposition of Remus, the normal life-- it was all gone now.

There was silence. The party down the street seemed to have ended now; not even the rustling leaves dared to make a sound. Tonks hugged her knees together and buried her face beneath it. She was sobbing, but even as she tried to restrain the tears, it only made her breathing difficult. Somehow, although no one knew she had been here tonight, she knew it was her fault. Tonks had nothing to back her theory up, but being the stubborn woman that she is, she knew that she was to blame herself for everything.

If only she hadn't been too busy swearing at the bloody ceiling, she could've seen the monster approaching… she could've done a Shield Charm as soon as the werewolf had tried to attack…. If only she wasn't overcome by shock… surely she could've saved him….

But in the back of Tonks's mind, she knew that she wouldn't do anything… She knew, that if she took part in anything that might change anyone else's future, that hers would change too… And imagining her future without Remus was just so hard for her to bear….

With sweating and shaking hands and tears streaming down her pale cheeks, Tonks took the Time-Turner in her hands and whispered, "I wanna disappear now… please…."

She spun the hourglass and let it twirl around in her palm, until slowly, she vanished.

To Be Continued…

XxX

A/N: Please review, guys! Let us do unto others what we want others to do unto us. So… yup, exactly, REVIEW! It's not that hard to do, is it?

Well anyway, how did you like it? Basically Tonks ended up in the year 1966, when Remus was six years old, and unfortunately, she had to witness the night when he was attacked by a werewolf, therefore becoming a werewolf himself in the future. I already have an idea where Tonks might end up next, and it's bound to be much lighter and less hurtful than this chapter (poor Remus!)….

Again, I cannot promise a quick update for the next chapter (although this one was pretty quick for me), due to insanely wacky things going on at school lately; hopefully you'll stick out with this fic, and review (just at least tell me whether my writing sucks or not).

Thanks a million, people.