Chapter 03 – You Don't Know Me
In no time at all, a week back at Hogwarts had passed them by with ease. So far, it seemed that nothing dangerous was lurking in the castle, yet. Mad-Eye still wanted them to be there, at least until they caught Black and could assure Mr. Potter his safety. Tonks still had to pose as the third year Gryffindor girl, but was allowed to morph back to normal when there are no students around. She'd attend classes, try not to sleep through them, and would occasionally follow Mr. Potter and friends on their mischievous acts which she quite enjoyed. It was as if school was entirely back in session for Tonks and she had fallen three years into the past.
That evening they were sitting huddled together at dinner, Harry telling Tonks about how terrible his muggle relatives were while Hermione and Ron argued over her pet cat and his pet rat. Fred and George were scheming something that involved fireworks while Ginny was busy teasing Lexi about how close she and Marrick were getting. Tonks too saw how close Lexi and Marrick were getting as Lexi no longer shot death glares at him anymore. They simmered down to just simple glares that Tonks usually get herself.
"Harry you've got to be joking! They made you live under the stairs?" Tonks asked.
Harry nodded too many times. "Yeah and when I did get a bedroom last year, they caged my window! Ron, Fred and George had to rescue me!"
"That's just cruel! You know they could be arrested for that?"
"I know! But I don't think Dumbledore will like it if I call the police on them," he sighed.
Tonks laughed, trying hard not to laugh too hard like Lexi always pointed out.
"You have detention again tonight Tonks? So you can't join us?" Ginny asked.
Tonks made a face and nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. I should've never followed Fred and George into filling the girl's bathroom with dung bombs."
"Hey it's not that bad," one of the twins spoke. Tonks still couldn't tell the difference between them, and it didn't help when they would purposely confuse her. "We heard from Charlie that two girls in his year placed a dung bomb in every book in the library and managed to blow the whole place up."
"That was a legend. They're like the Marauders, but in a different sort of way," another twin spoke. "And Moaning Myrtle said they nearly burnt down the Whomping Willow!"
Tonks and Lexi turned to each other and grinned, fist pumping under the table. Marrick shook his head and sighed, remembering when he had to chase after them during that incident.
"They're creative," Ginny smiled, causing Lexi to laugh.
"Tonks you're lucky. You have detention with Lupin," the twins spoke together.
She scoffed. "I'd trade him for Snape any day."
"Really? Trade me!" one twin spoke. "I have Snape! I hate Snape!"
Tonks shook her head and smiled. "I already tried asking for a trade," she sighed. "Lexi how come you don't ever get in trouble?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's kinda hard to do anything with this bloke breathing down my neck," Lexi stressed.
"We have other things to worry about," Marrick reminded her in more of a friendly tone.
"Oh yes, you guys have to worry about all your classes and the N.E.W.T. exams next year," Hermione nodded, turning to Lexi and Marrick who were slapping each others' hands under the table, Lexi meaning it more than Marrick as he just teased her.
"Yeah," Lexi nodded and smiled.
"When did you start getting friendly with Marrick?" Tonks asked quietly.
Lexi shrugged. "I'm not friendly with him. Even if I am it's just an act. Ginny is convinced that there is something going on between us. It's bugging the hell out of me!"
Tonks stifled a laugh as Lexi squirmed when Marrick tickled her side. "Don't be a heartbreaker," she reminded her cousin in a teasing tone and winked, causing Ginny to notice.
"You were a heartbreaker?" Ginny asked, interested. "This love story is so good!"
"Love story?" Lexi asked, quirking an eyebrow. "We have no love. It's more like hate."
"We have a love hate relationship," Marrick nodded, continuing to tickle her as she laughed and held his hands away. Tonks couldn't help but laugh at them, getting back into the school spirit with a teenage boy likes girl story.
Again she was stuck serving detention with Remus Lupin. Tonks thought that the headmaster was really out to get her because all the detentions she had that week and later on in the month had been scheduled with Professor Lupin. Before entering his classroom, Tonks grumbled and scowled at the door. She didn't want to see the man. And she definitely wasn't in the mood to help him sort through papers again. Tonks was actually beginning to miss hectic Auror training with Mad-Eye. At least it was more fun.
"Ah Auror Tonks, how nice of you to join me on this lovely evening," the professor spoke, bent over from behind his desk.
Tonks scowled at him. He'd chosen to greet her that way since the third day, giving off the impression that he was the cool and carefree professor. She still saw him as a judgmental hypocrite. Tonks let her morph slip back to her natural state, keeping her pink hair. She looked at Remus Lupin for a moment, wondering why he acted so weird towards her and Sirius Black. Even people at the Ministry didn't tense every time Black was mentioned.
"What do I have to do tonight?" she asked him in a yawn.
"I seem to have found a Boggart hiding in my classroom somewhere and am trying to catch it for tomorrow's class. Can you please help me?"
Looking for a Boggart seemed more interesting than sitting beside him and filing papers in dead silence for two hours. Tonks' Auror instincts finally had a chance to surface as she kept still in one place, her eyes analyzing the room in search of anything that stood out. The professor however, chose the more hands-on approach and was walking around the room.
From the corner of her eyes, she spotted something ghost like, ethereal almost, lurking in the darkness of a large gap created by two bookshelves of the professor's. Tonks swallowed hard. Through training, she knew exactly what her Boggart would turn to and mentally prepared herself for the image, just like Mad-Eye had taught.
"Professor, where do you want to store the Boggart?" Tonks asked, raising her wand.
Remus turned around, surprised with the sudden chilling voice that Tonks had used. He spotted her approaching a gap between two bookshelves, wand raised, and knew she'd spotted the Boggart. He was surprised at how fast she was and rushed over in silent steps to stand beside her. Remus waved his wand lightly towards a large empty wardrobe, opening it and waited.
"In there if you will please," he replied in a calm voice.
Tonks glanced at him for one second, finding his calm voice soothing. Her eyes returned to the Boggart and widened when from the darkness suddenly appeared the image of her Boggart, the thing she feared most. Remus was curious to see what form Tonks' Boggart would take, but he found himself in shock when the Boggart took the form of Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman, Death Eater, he recognized from the First Wizarding War. Before Tonks could cast the spell to banish a Boggart, Remus found himself unexpectedly in front of her, pushing himself in between Tonks and Bellatrix, his heartbeat rising.
Her path was blocked by Remus' body as he held his arms wide open as if protecting her from the Boggart form of Bellatrix Lestrange. Tonks felt a chill run up her back but a warm feeling enveloped her body when the professor pushed himself between her and the thing she feared most. Her eyes were bemused, but her lips quivered up into a faint smile as the Boggart began shifting into what Remus feared most and turning away from Bellatrix.
It confused her when the Boggart suddenly shifted into a round glowing orb, hiding behind a shroud of grey smoke like thing. Without a second's hesitation, Remus flicked his wand at the Boggart, casting the spell he was about to teach tomorrow.
"Riddikulus," he spoke. Tonks watched as the silver glowing orb, looking kind of like the moon, shifted into a deflating balloon and whirled around the room as Remus chuckled. Tonks couldn't manage to laugh after being so confused. With his wand, Remus guided the Boggart into the wardrobe and once inside he immediately locked it. "Well that was a bit unexpected," he sighed and turned to her. "Nymphadora…err…Tonks, sorry," he corrected once her bemused glare turned icy. "I'm sorry for asking but why does your Boggart take the form of Bellatrix Lestrange?" he asked.
Tonks huffed. "There's nothing odd about fearing your deranged aunt," she replied. "Why did yours take the form of a silver glowing orb then?" Tonks asked. She was beginning to think it looked more like the full moon which confused her even more.
"Fair enough," he nodded. "I was just curious because…"
"Because Bellatrix Lestrange is a Death Eater famous for her fetish use of the Cruciatus Curse?" Tonks laughed bitterly. "There's another criminal for you to relate me with and judge me from." She sounded hurt, which drove Remus insane. "How do you even know so much about my messed up family anyways? I can see through your act, Professor Lupin," she spoke tersely, drawing out his name in an attempt to be sneering like Snape. "You're expecting me to fail at my job and turn bad, is that it? You're wary of me because I'm related to the house of Black, and no matter how tenuous my connection is you just can't seem to get pass it."
"Nymphadora…" Remus muttered, surprised and confused but feeling guilty as well.
"Don't. Call me. Nymphadora!" she spoke a bit louder, her voice strained. Without looking back, she suddenly turned from him and stormed out of the room. It wasn't the detention or the mission she was worrying about anymore. She just wanted to get away from him. Remus watched her leave and stood there helplessly for a moment. He did feel guilty because the first time he saw her, he immediately judged her. Even if he tried to make it up to her, it didn't seem to be working. A moment later, Remus dropped the book in his hand and chased after her, following in the direction he just saw her turn.
The hallway was nearly empty, except for a few students sneaking around either up to mischief or simply looking for a tryst with their respective other. Marrick and Lexi had been through that stage before and was all too used to seeing it. Marrick found himself wanting to tell them to get back to their dorms like his prefect background told him to do, but being under the Ghost Necklace, even if he screamed at them they wouldn't be able to hear him. When they passed by a large mirror in the hallway and he didn't see his reflection, it surprised him a bit. He wasn't going to get used to the necklace so easily. Marrick turned to the petite, pixie girl beside him, pretty with raven black silky hair and wandering eyes.
"You're awfully quiet," he commented.
She turned to him, and he took the chance to look into her eyes. Lost in her deep, dark brown almost black eyes, he saw so many things he hadn't seen ever before and suddenly he felt an urge to get closer to her.
"Well I don't know what to talk about with you. And I can't talk to anyone else, so I figured I'll just be quiet," she shrugged, smirking.
He revealed a lopsided grin as he saw her lips turn into her signature smirk. "Why do you smirk all the time? Even when it's a bad situation, I notice you just smirk."
"There's more to it than you can see," she replied as the continued walking.
"It helps you mask your feelings?" he asked out of curiosity but with an interest to know.
She was quiet for a moment as they kept walking on and on down the familiar hallway. "I guess you could say that. I mean smirking is better than losing my head and freaking out. And I tend to be put in situations that would normally cause someone to freak out a lot, so I'm quite used to just mask and hide everything behind a smirk," she explained in an airy smooth voice.
"Kind of like whenever people associate you with Sirius Black or other members of your family that you don't like?"
She nodded. "Pretty much. I don't mind when people associate me with them because well, whether I like it or not, they are related to me and I can't stop people's opinions. It just bugs me a bit like it does Tonks, whenever people judge us because of it."
"You keep your cool a lot better than Tonks does though. Like with Remus Lupin."
"I have fewer reasons to freak out about it than she does," Lexi replied.
"So why does Tonks freak out so easily when people judge her as opposed to you?"
"Well…Tonks had seen the horrors of the Black family first hand as opposed to me, so that's why she doesn't like it when people right off the bat think that she'll be bad. My parents eloped, so I never met anyone from the Black family till I was five. But when I met them, I had met Tonks' family first, so it wasn't all that bad and scary for me. Tonks on the other hand, her mother was disowned but she still stayed in the country. She tends to run into her family a lot. Tonks told me she'd seen Bellatrix Lestrange torture her mum first hand and she heard all the hurtful insults that the other members threw at them. Tonks was more exposed to the evil than I ever was. Also, she works so much harder than anyone else. Going through Auror training and everything, she puts in a lot of effort to it, whether you believe it or not," she chuckled. "So I'd understand…if you work so hard and yet people don't seem to see it, it gets frustrating."
"Yeah I do see her put a lot of effort in her work. It's hard to spot at first because she's so carefree and jubilant, but luckily she takes her work seriously. That's why Mad-Eye likes her."
Lexi nodded. "Actually, I've never seen Tonks be so troubled by it before now. She usually just shrugs it off in a day or two. I guess Professor Lupin is just unlucky."
Marrick nodded as he walked beside her. For a while, they walked in companionable silence until he decided that he wanted to probe further to learn more about Alexis Black. There was something about her that screamed out to him there was more than meets the eye.
"Your parents…you said they eloped," he began softly. "Do you see them often?"
Lexi smirked again, but behind that smirk Marrick thought he saw sadness and grief. She suddenly shook her head, her smirk masking her feelings. "I haven't seen them in sixteen years."
"Don't you miss them though? Sixteen years is very long."
"Of course I miss them. I really want to see them, but it's not like I could."
"Why don't you go see them then?" Marrick asked. "My parents, they live in another city and if I don't see them for let's say a month, I'll miss them like crazy."
Lexi nodded and continued walking. "Yeah, I miss mine like crazy too." Marrick was about to speak when she suddenly continued in a sullen but calm voice. "I can't see them because they're on the other side of the life and death line."
And with her final words, he decided it was best not to probe any further for the night. Behind her smirk, he finally saw what she was hiding. She was hiding the hurt and confusion, and he couldn't blame her for it. Marrick learned how to see through Alexis' smirk from then on, deciding that she wasn't the brat he'd thought she was before.
Remus didn't know where exactly he was going. He just knew to follow his instincts, making sharp turns and wandering through the castle walls in search of a pink haired Auror who had allowed her morph to shift back to her normal, twenty year old self. He could feel that he was getting closer to her. He didn't know how, he could just feel her close by. Remus continued rushing down the hall, smiling briefly to students who passed him by. He should nag them to get back to their dorms, but Nymphadora Tonks, the pink haired Auror who was undeniably beautiful was more important to him at the moment. Not only did he feel guilty that he had upset her, he felt it unfair the way he looked at her when they first met. She'd mentioned it. The judgmental and skeptical look in his eyes when they first met bothered her. Remus had been trying to make it up to her, but he doesn't seem to know what the right thing to do was.
When he finally stopped, Remus found himself standing in an empty courtyard on the far side of the school where a large oak tree with low hanging branches sat in one corner. The tree covered a large space and its trunk looked awfully inviting that he felt the temptation to lie down and relax for a little while. There by the tree trunk, lying on her back with one hand behind her head and her legs crossed was Nymphadora Tonks, the pink haired Auror Remus had been chasing for the past ten minutes. She lied peacefully under the tree, her eyes up at the sky where the waxing moon was reaching its first quarter. Remus shoved his hands into his pockets and slowly made his way over to her, his foot stepping on the crunchy leaves that scattered the ground. Tonks heard him and her eyes turned to look at him but she didn't move.
"Why are you here?" Tonks asked in an icy voice.
"I came to apologize," Remus spoke sincerely. "Nymphadora, I am sorry."
Tonks turned away from him, not having the heart to yell at him for using her first name. Her gaze returned to the night sky and for a brief moment, she was reminded of when she used to do the same thing during her school years. She'd go to the same oak tree called The Family Tree that sat in the far-east courtyard, and would just lie under there to get rid of all her worries.
"Can I sit down?" Remus asked.
"Sadly this tree doesn't belong to me, so do whatever you want."
Remus sat himself down next to her, accidentally sitting too close as his robes brushed against hers. Tonks didn't seem to pay any attention to him as her eyes continued to gaze at the moon and the stars in the sky. He sat silently beside her for a while, waiting for her to speak. But after a long while when Tonks didn't speak and the moon rose higher in the sky, he decided that he had to say something rather than be a coward and keep silent.
"Listen," he began in a soft voice that appealed to her. "I'm sorry what happened between us the first time I saw you. I didn't know that the look in my eyes hurt you. I didn't mean to be so skeptical or judgmental of you then. I feel awfully guilty because of it. I know I shouldn't judge you and it was wrong of me to immediately relate you to Sirius Black. You are two very different people. I'm sorry," Remus finished. He bit his lip waiting for her.
Tonks took a deep breath and then pulled herself up to sit beside him, not caring how close they were to each other. "I guess I was being really childish wasn't I?" she asked him in a less icy voice than before. "I shouldn't have been so openly rude to you because of one bad first impression that we had."
"I completely deserved it," Remus smiled slightly. He watched her intently, the way she seemed to relax while sitting under the tree made him wonder and smile. She was so interesting. He was amazed at the gentle way she'd gaze up at the moon and wished he could be like that.
"I shouldn't have acted so childishly about it either," she spoke in a softer voice.
"You're young," he shrugged. "And like I said, I deserved you being mad at me."
"You're still young too you know," she reminded him and he smiled.
"Does being judged…really bother you so badly?" Remus asked her in a very gentle voice. His voice was soft like velvet and somehow, it reassured Tonks and quelled her woes. The man that sat beside her, that Remus Lupin, seemed more like how she thought he would be, instead of the man who looked at her with skeptical eyes when he was showing them to where they would be staying. She liked the Remus Lupin beside her better than the one that had imprinted her memories that night a week ago.
"You don't understand," Tonks began. She was beginning to feel comfortable talking to Remus Lupin, or maybe it was just because she was sitting under the oak tree, The Family Tree that always seemed to somehow calm her. "When you work so hard, when you put your all into something and yet people don't seem to notice, it frustrates you. But when people don't see how hard you're willing to work and instead jumps to a bad conclusion of you, judge you because of some previous belief of theirs, it hurts. I've worked so hard to become an Auror, to be of some use and to do something good, but when people don't even care to look at that and instead related me to the rest of my family and say that I'm bad, it just hurts," she sighed. Tonks didn't know why she was telling him all that. She'd only told one other person that, and it had been Lexi. Even her mother didn't know she thought that way, so what made Remus Lupin so special?
"Believe it or not, I know exactly how you feel," Remus smiled.
Tonks turned to him in surprise. There was great sincerity in his clear blue eyes that drew her deeper and deeper into him. She wanted to hear him talk more, to explain how he knew how she felt. She wanted to hear his calm and gentle voice as he explained.
Remus chuckled but it was a bitter chuckle as he shifted slightly in his place and turned his body to face her. "For most of my life, people have judged me because of what I am. It's the reason for these shabby clothes," he smiled. "I work hard, I think I work pretty hard," he nodded. "But often, people don't seem to see that. Instead, they shun me because of what I am, because of what they think I would do. They don't know me at all, and yet they judge me. So I completely understand how you feel about being judged, about the prejudice of society. I've been discriminated all my life. I know I'm in no position to judge you and I shouldn't have given you that look when we first met."
"Why would people discriminate you? You're the cool professor as all the kids say," she unknowingly smiled which caused Remus to beam unexpectedly.
"They think that I am dangerous…which I guess I am…but…it's very complicated."
"If you don't feel comfortable talking about it, it's alright. I was just surprised that you understand how I feel. Not many people do."
"Trust me. I understand exactly how you feel. I was surprised you felt that way too actually because like you said, not many people understand that feeling of being judged."
"So what caused it?" Tonks asked him as Remus raised a gentle eyebrow. "What caused you to think…what you thought when you first saw me and my cousin? Did Sirius Black do something terrible to you?"
Remus was quiet and tense for a moment but he relaxed soon after. He let out a long sigh and then looked up at her, stunned when he was lost in her spell binding eyes, hazel brown, and found the gentlest feeling and the warmest sensation in them. "Sirius and I were friends," he admitted solemnly. "He, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew were my closest friends. We were the Marauders," he smiled, his eyes drifting into hers as he felt strong enough to reminisce the times.
Tonks' mouth dropped slightly. "You were the Marauders?" she asked in disbelief.
He nodded and smiled a gentle smile that was different from all the other ones. "Yes, we were troublemakers as we've been known for, but we were also the best of friends. I'm sure you know the story…when Sirius betrayed the Potters, he also killed Peter Pettigrew. Because of Sirius they're dead and in one night, I lost all my friends, the closest people to me."
Unsure of what to say or how to comfort a man who had been through something like that, Tonks placed her hand over his and squeezed his hand gently. She left it there, feeling his warmth radiate off his calloused but soft and gentle skin as the heat travelled through her body in a soothing wave of motion. Remus was surprised by her reaction. He rarely ever told that truth to anyone, and when he did he expected to hear apologies and words, lots of words insulting Sirius and words of comfort. What he never expected was contact. Her hand simply lying over his gave him more comfort than any amount of words ever could.
"I recognized you and your cousin Alexis when I first saw you two girls and when I heard your name, my memories were confirmed. When you two were born, Sirius was so happy he showed us all pictures of you. Realizing you were his cousin…I apologize…but I allowed my thoughts and disappointment in Sirius to travel over to my impression of you."
Tonks gave him a warm and yet unreadable smile. "You don't know me," she shook.
"I don't. But…I'd like to get to know you. Can we perhaps, start over again…this time without any clouded judgments or terrible first impressions?" he asked gently. Remus felt himself lost in this girl, this woman who was so much younger than he but was so comforting and understanding. He couldn't help but smile every time her lips did too.
"Alright," she nodded and showed him a heart-warming genuine smile. Tonks' smile widened when she saw him beam. He was practically glowing as his eyes shyly locked with hers. "Wotcher, I'm Nymphadora Tonks. Please call me Tonks instead of Nymphadora, the dreadful name my fool of a mother decided to torture me with."
Remus chuckled. "Hello Dora…err…Tonks. I'm Remus Lupin," he smiled.
"What did you call me?" she asked him in a soft voice.
"Uh…I accidentally called you Dora. I hope you don't mind, it accidentally slipped."
She smiled and shook her head. "That's what my dad calls me. I guess…you can call me Dora when we're alone. It's better than Nymphadora," she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Besides, it looks like you don't particularly enjoy just calling me Tonks."
Remus shook his head immediately. "Tonks is too abrupt. I personally think Nymphadora is a beautiful name. Calling you Dora is just the same. At least you won't hiss at me anymore."
Tonks laughed. Her laughter was very unladylike but Remus found that he liked it. He found himself laughing along with her, and Tonks paused when she realized she liked the sound and the sight when this man was laughing and smiling. Their laughter blended together, fitting and complementing each others' in perfect harmony as if it was a duet.
"We are friends then?" Remus asked and beamed once again when she nodded.
After a while, Tonks shifted to lying back down on the truck of the tree again, both her hands behind her head as she laid there gazing up at the moon. He didn't exactly know why, but Remus suddenly wanted to try to look at the moon while under that big oak tree. He quietly slipped down beside her, waiting to see if Tonks would disapprove. She didn't care and shifted over to give him more room as he lied down. Under the big oak tree, The Family Tree, he gazed up at the moon. A few silhouettes of the dark branches framed his vision of the sky, but he found the sight to be awfully relaxing and soothing. He felt at peace when he laid there in silence.
It was a little bit past midnight. Tonks walked back to her shared living space with Marrick and Lexi, Remus guiding her way. She no longer felt annoyed whenever she looked or thought of him. Maybe just sitting down and having a conversation with someone really can do miracles. Tonks never believed in that before. She always thought that to solve a problem there had to be some action, some cause and effect, never just a simple conversation. That night she had been proven wrong. After her conversation with Remus, she felt like everything had blown past them as a misunderstanding. Remus Lupin, in her eyes, wasn't a hypocritical git anymore. He was the man she initially thought of him as, the shy professor with a funny side in shabby robes with entrancing blue eyes and an attractiveness that wasn't overbearing.
"Why are you back so late?" Lexi asked her, her voice muffled through her pillow.
"I was lying under The Family Tree," Tonks replied, a smile still dancing on her lips.
Alexis looked up from her pillow, her straight hair wild as she pushed herself up. Tonks chuckled at her cousin's pajamas, a pair of ducky trousers and a spaghetti strap camisole in the most brilliant shade of blue there was. Then she realized those must have been hers, because Lexi's clothes only consisted of neutral, sophisticated colors. "Are those mine?"
Alexis nodded and grinned. "I forgot to give them back a few weeks ago and they happened to be on the top of my bag so I just wore them," she smiled.
Tonks went over to her bed, kicking off her shoes and getting out of her robes. "Sorry I left you alone with Marrick all night. You have the right to curse at me," Tonks teased.
"Oh it's alright. He's becoming a lot more bearable now after we started talking."
"Wow. I never knew just simply having a settled conversation with someone could do so much wonders," Tonks thought aloud. "Lexi talked with Marrick, and I talked with Remus Lupin," she smiled, thinking of how some things could change so easily. "You know, Professor Lupin actually had a reason to be a bit skeptical of us in the beginning. He was a part of the Marauders and Sirius directly affected him."
"Really? Did you know which one he was? I knew Sirius was Padfoot that's all."
"I don't know which one he was. Perhaps he's the one Sirius called dear old bookworm Moony, he seems like the type. He can't be Prongs though, Prongs seemed like a troublemaker."
"So you're all patched up with the man now?" Alexis asked, smirking as she yawned.
"Normally I wouldn't forgive someone so easily, you know me. But…if he's a Marauder, then you can't really blame him you know? I mean, to him, he lost all his friends in one night. It can't really be helped," Tonks shrugged, contemplating. "I guess I forgave him then."
"That's good, no more growling at the professor," Alexis yawned. "That would also explains why right off the bat he knew that you're related to Sirius. Normally people don't."
Tonks nodded and crawled under her blanket. "Besides, now that I tried seeing it from his view, it is pretty weird to have us, Sirius' cousins, put on a case to capture him."
"That's why I wasn't freaking out," Alexis smirked and half groaned.
"What? If you thought that why didn't you tell me? Then I probably wouldn't have overreacted," Tonks replied quickly, pushing her cousin's leg.
"You know when you're pissed you never listen to anyone. Now go away I need sleep!"
"Fine," Tonks laughed. "Go back to bed Lexi." Tonks watched Lexi fall easily back asleep, being the heavy and easy sleeper that she was. She remembered when they went to school together, whenever one of them was feeling down or troubled, they would always be found lying under the tree. Tonks remembered how they used to talk so much under that tree, talking about the most random things but incidentally feeling better once they get up again. That was how Tonks felt that night, lying under the tree and just talking. The twist however, was that Tonks didn't talk to Lexi. Tonks found herself talking to Remus Lupin, and resolving her misunderstandings with him.
Hey I hope this chapter isn't too bad ^_^ I know my grammar's a bit off...but spell/grammar check on word isn't the best and I absolutely am terrible at grammar =.= Anyways, thanks for reading. Oh btw check out my other story "Save the Last Dance for Me" if u hav time, it's also strongly AU like this, I'm experimenting with two completely different plot lines however ^_^