Author's Note:
I feel like I may be dragging it a little, if you think I am please tell me so that I can improve, thank you ^_^ BTW, the full moon happens next chapter o.o
Thank you for reading and reviewing and thank you for your support. Please leave a review thanks so much ^_^
Chapter 05 – Something More Than This
Late in the afternoon and the sun was beginning to set, grazing upon the darkening skyline as Tonks sat comfortably in an overstuffed armchair in the middle of Remus Lupin's inner office. They had been waiting for her cousin, Alexis Black, to finish tinkering with the supposedly broken locator for about an hour. Remus and Tonks were easily drawn into various conversations of their own talking about books to the many interests they share but never have time to dwell in to. Marrick was watching Alexis intently as he perched his head up on his hands and made small talk with her, teasing her while she worked.
It felt like a very long time until Alexis finally shot both hands up and yawned, mumbling something through the yawn that sounded like, "I'm finally done."
Tonks and Remus immediately got up from where they sat and stood beside Marrick across Remus' messy desk where Alexis had taken the time turner apart and put it back together again. "Is it broken? I didn't drop it or anything though," Tonks spoke quickly.
"Relax it's not broken," Alexis laughed. "It's just confused."
"Confused? What do you mean confused?" Marrick questioned.
"The locator is made to look for humans," Alexis began. She looked at the three people facing hers and found that Remus' expression seemed the most interesting. "If it starts spinning, it means you're very close to whomever it is you want to find, my guess is a twenty feet radius. But the blue waves of light that emitted from yours, was the locator being confused. When Fudge made us put it to use, we never had enough time to dwell upon a situation like this one. But if let's say the person you're looking for suddenly changes form, such as when a werewolf transforms during a full moon or when a person turns into an animagus, the locator would be confused because the human would then be an animal. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"So the locator found the person it's looking for, but in animal form so it's confused and doesn't know how to guide you?" Tonks questioned. She too had noticed Remus' face paling significantly when Alexis mentioned animagus and werewolves.
"Exactly," Alexis nodded and snapped her fingers. "So if my guesses are correct, Sirius has to be an animagus because the moon isn't even up yet so the possibility of him being a werewolf is automatically dropped."
"What about a metamorphmagus?" Tonks questioned.
Alexis shook her head. "Metamorphmagi transforms, but you still retain a human form where as werewolves turn into animals on the full moon and animagi can just turn into animals."
"If he's an animagus, he'd be able to slip past the dementors with ease," Marrick suddenly pointed out. "Animal emotions aren't as complex as human emotions and so the dementors don't feed on the happy thoughts of animals."
"That's probably how Sirius got out of Azkaban," Alexis nodded and leaned back in the chair, folding her arms across her chest, an action too similar to Sirius'.
"Remus, are you ok?" Tonks suddenly questioned. "You're white as a sheet."
"I'm fine thank you," he replied gently, shaking his head. "Alexis, so you're certain that Sirius is an animagus?" he questioned, turning from Tonks to Alexis.
"Fairly certain yes," she nodded. "There is a possibility I may have overlooked a minor detail and messed this up somehow, but I'm quite certain I didn't mess anything up this time."
Remus nodded and walked slowly over to his bookshelf, turning away from the three Ministry officials as he pondered about the fact that Sirius was an unregistered animagus. "Perhaps…you should tell Albus this," he finally spoke after a while facing away from them.
"I'll go," Marrick told them. "It wouldn't seem normal for the three of us, still dressed in student robes to suddenly pay a visit to Professor Dumbledore in the eyes of the students. I'll ask him to spread the news to the other Aurors and Unspeakables. Maybe Rookwood and Bode can confirm your theory Alexis," he spoke and nodded politely before leaving Remus' office.
"Remus, are you sure you're alright?" Tonks asked and spoke quietly with him while Alexis sat back at his desk, her face holding a look that said she was deep in thought.
As Tonks spoke with him, Lexi didn't care to hear what they were saying. She was busy pondering why Remus had paled considerably at the mentioning of werewolves and animagi. She thought about his relations to Sirius, being a part of the Marauders together. Then her memories allowed her to remember that Sirius often referred to himself as Padfoot, cousin Padfoot, and to some of his friends as Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs. She played around with the wording for a while and finally saw it. She finally saw the connection between the Marauders.
"Moony," Alexis suddenly called. She surprised Remus a bit as he had been sure she didn't know which Marauder he had been. Remus and Tonks turned to her, waiting to hear what she had to say. "You are Moony right?" she asked. "You seemed like you'd be the one Sirius referred to as dear old bookworm Moony."
Remus nodded and admitted Alexis Black was exceptionally clever. "Yes, I'm Moony."
Tonks remembered she hadn't even told Lexi that Remus was Moony the Marauder yet, but she remembered her cousin's hidden clever nature and decided that Lexi had already put all the pieces together and no explanations of the Marauders was needed to be given to her.
"Did the Marauders happen to all be animagi?" she asked, stirring a surprised expression from Remus' face. "Sirius often referred to himself as Padfoot, cousin Padfoot," she added, turning to Tonks. "And the others were Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs. They're all related to animals, kind of like wordplay."
"Blimey Alexis," Remus sighed and smirked. Tonks saw it again in his smile, that wolfish grin, for lack of better word. "You really are quite witty and clever. Yes…the Marauders were all animagi, relating to our given nicknames."
"So Sirius' animagus form is that of a dog, am I correct?"
Remus nodded again. "Yes…how did you figure it out?"
"If you guys were unregistered animagi with nicknames for each other, the nicknames would have to somehow represent what you turn in to, knowing Sirius' personality he wouldn't like the nicknames to be any more complicated than that. If you think about it, only a few animals have padded feet. The most common ones are dogs."
"Lexi you're brilliant. But…should we tell them this bit of information as well?"
"I think that would be Moony's choice," Lexi replied, peering up at Remus who was still pale but not as noticeable as before. "If the Marauders became unregistered animagi, there has to be a reason behind why they were unregistered. Professor we'll leave this decision to you."
"Don't you girls still have to catch Padfoot…I mean Sirius though?"
Tonks smirked when she saw Lexi's lips quiver up into a smirk as well. Both girls shrugged their shoulders, effectively sending Remus the message that since he had known that fact for obviously a long time and had kept quiet about it even after Sirius went to prison and escaped, there has to be a reason behind it. The decision, in the end, lies with him and Remus hoped to simply forget about having to make the decision entirely.
Wednesday of the following week came by quickly as every day soon fell into a sort of routine for the team of Aurors and Unspeakables stationed at Hogwarts. That evening they had been told to meet in an empty classroom of the school, discussing how far they had gotten on the investigation and if anything new had been spotted. Ever since it was discovered that Sirius Black was an animagus, the Aurors have been keeping closer watch over all the animals near the school but they still found nothing out of the ordinary.
"If the locators went off like that and we've confirmed that Sirius Black is an animagus, that would mean we've spotted him in Hogsmeade," Mad-Eye Moody spoke in a low, hoarse voice as he and his electric blue mechanical eye circled the small classroom. "Kingsley, your team will have to head down to Hogsmeade and patrol there. If he's an animagus, the dementors will be of no help. Silvia, you'll still keep your History of Magic position but be more alert with the pets and familiars of the students. Rookwood and I will patrol the grounds. Marrick, you and Alexis will now have to cover the entire inside of the castle. While Tonks, you'll be the closest source of protection for Harry Potter so keep constant vigilance!"
Most of the group began to leave when Mad-Eye finished his closing statements. Like the no-nonsense Auror that he was, Mad-Eye was also one of the first to leave after he had finished, returning to his shift at patrolling the grounds. After two minutes, the only ones left in the room were Tonks, Alexis, Marrick, and Silvia. They all lazily leaned back on the dusty desks, having small conversations while catching up on the school life of each others.
"Mad-Eye's been really edgy lately because of the Hogsmeade trip that's coming up," Silvia pointed out after Tonks told her how Tonks had aided in catching a grindylow at a lake near Hogsmeade. "You kids are lucky you aren't stuck with him most of the day."
"Kids?" Alexis scoffed. "You make it sound like you're ancient while we're babies."
"Tonks is playing the role of my daughter," Silvia pointed out. Tonks stuck her tongue out at the pretty faced mid-thirty woman. "Are you heading to Hogsmeade this weekend?"
"If nothing comes up then definitely," Alexis grinned and nodded.
"Lexi you seem excited," Tonks commented. "Who are you going with?"
"This bloke," Lexi laughed, pointing to Marrick as he suddenly blushed and shied.
Tonks' jaw nearly dropped an entire foot, along with Silvia's who had been informed on Alexis and Marrick's long time hatred of each other. Obviously they were all shocked that Lexi no longer shot death glares at the by-the-book Auror and in fact was accompanying him to Hogsmeade together. Tonks knew something good was forming between them, but she didn't expect it to be so quick. In fact she never really took it seriously until then.
"What?" Alexis smirked. "I figured Tonks would be busy with a certain professor and if I didn't find anyone to go with, I'd be left all alone."
"A certain professor?" Tonks countered, knowing right away Lexi was making reference to Remus Lupin. "I don't even think he's going to Hogsmeade."
"You never know," Lexi teased, causing Marrick to laugh even though he was still red.
"Wait," Silvia suddenly interrupted. "If your whole group is going to Hogsmeade, who is watching Harry Potter? You were informed that he's not allowed to go right?"
"Bugger I forgot! Harry told me once during breakfast and I completely forgot," Tonks sighed. "Blimey, what do we do now? Mad-Eye and Rookwood are patrolling the grounds. You're patrolling the school inside," she spoke pointing to Silvia. "Who will be directly watching Harry?" she questioned.
"Since you forgot…you are," Alexis smirked.
"What?" Tonks sighed. "Oh fine, but I'm definitely going next weekend during the Full Moon Festival," Tonks added. "And you better bring me back something."
"I know, I know," Lexi brushed her off. "Who knows, maybe by staying at the castle you'll see more action than we do while we're at Hogsmeade," she joked. Tonks shook her head and rolled her eyes at her cousin. Sure Lexi was brilliant, but like anyone else she can be an idiot as well. Tonks continued to listen as Silvia and Alexis exchanged various words back and forth.
A few days later, the east courtyard which held an entrance and exit to the school was bustling with students as they all formed into a large group, wearing their casual wear with eager faces and permission slips to head to Hogsmeade for the first time. The weather was getting colder outside so as Tonks ran out to retrieve the necklace Alexis had forgotten to given her when they woke up that morning, she pulled her thin jacket tighter around her thin, pale frame. Tonks tripped once and stumbled upon three students, knocking over Harry Potter and Ron Weasley while the brilliant Hermione luckily was spared of the fall.
"Bloody hell Tonks," Ron laughed, pulling the pretty faced girl with brilliant pink hair up on her feet. "You gave us quite a heart attack," he sighed.
"Tonks you seem really eager for this trip to Hogsmeade," Hermione smiled.
"Actually I'm not going to Hogsmeade this weekend," Tonks replied in a cheerful voice, surprising Harry who had been uncharacteristically quiet all morning. "I was rushing down here to get something from Lexi she forgot to give me this morning."
"You're not going to Hogsmeade?" Harry asked. "Did you not get your permission slip signed too?" he asked, beginning to not feel so abandoned.
Tonks didn't really know what other excuse to give them so she nodded and attempted to make a sort of disappointed look. "Hopefully I'll get it signed by next week though. In no way am I missing the Full Moon Festival," she smiled, knowing she'd need an excuse for suddenly being there the following week during one of her most favorite festivals of her school career. "Harry I'm really sorry about your aunt and uncle," she spoke apologetically.
"It's alright. I've already established that they hate me. I'm just seeing Ron and Hermione off and hoping to see if Professor McGonagall will make an exception for me."
"Good luck then," Tonks tried to smile at his sad expression. She soon rushed off again, searching through the crowd of kids as she looked for her cousin who blended in so well with the students it nearly became an impossible task. When she did find her, Tonks smirked and wasn't surprised to see Alexis and Marrick chatting closely with Fred and George Weasley.
"Tonks, aren't you going to Hogsmeade?" Fred asked. She finally could tell the difference now. According to Alexis Black, George had a bit of sharper features than Fred did.
She shook her head. "No, my fool of a mother forgot to sign my permission slip," she replied, going on with her lie from earlier. "Lexi, we need to talk," she added quickly.
"What?" Alexis asked, pulling away from the boys. "I'll remember your butterbeer."
"No, not that. Well yes, remember to get me some butterbeer but where's the necklace?" Tonks asked, pulling her thin jacket tighter around her small, almost boney frame.
"Oh yeah I nearly forgot," Lexi sighed and smiled guiltily. "Here you go. Just put it around your neck and you know the rest. Oh one only fits two people though, we've never tried three but I don't think it'll be very comfortable," Lexi explained as she pulled out the metal necklace from within her messenger bag. "And don't lose this. Unlike the locator, I wasn't able to nick myself a second one just yet."
Tonks rolled her eyes and sighed. "Whatever. Don't get lost," she teased. "And remember to get me some chocolate at Honeyduke's as well Lexi," she reminded as Alexis followed the group and began leaving, glancing back at the pink haired girl and the raven haired boy with round spectacles standing a few feet away from each other.
"Guess you're stuck here as well huh Tonks?" Harry asked, turning to her.
"I guess so," Tonks replied, making her way over to him in the now empty courtyard. "What do you plan on doing for the rest of the day?"
"I don't know, maybe practice a little Quidditch and take a walk," he shrugged. "You?"
"I still have loads of homework to finish. I haven't even started on Snape's report yet!"
Somehow, Harry managed to smile a bit and teased her. "You better get to it before he threatens to poison you again," he smiled slightly, remembering that one class where Snape had called Tonks by her dreaded first name and she threatened to hex him while he threatened to poison her in response, causing a lot of giggles to ripple through the classroom.
"Like he could," she scoffed. "That greasy haired git is all talk no action."
"Greasy haired git?" Harry finally laughed as he walked with her inside. "You're the first to ever call him that yet it seems so appropriate," he smiled, causing Tonks to smile as well seeing Harry at least not feeling as lost and alone.
After leaving Harry as he returned to his common room, Tonks felt bored with nothing to do. She could follow Harry and keep a closer eye on him, something her old mentor Moody would have wanted. But Tonks felt like she'd be too invading if she did so. She then decided to keep the Ghost Necklace Alexis had given her in her pocket for the time being until she is required to use it. With nothing else to do, Tonks wandered up to Professor Remus Lupin's office, hoping he'd be in and wouldn't mind her company. She walked through the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and then up the stone spiral stairs that led to his private office. Standing at the door, Tonks knocked a few times on the wood before he opened the door.
"Tonks, hello," Remus smiled as he opened the door. "I'm sorry I was about to go out, I didn't expect to see you today thinking you were at Hogsmeade," he still smiled.
"Wotcher, it's alright then," she replied. "I was just bored with nothing to do."
"Well I was just going to speak with Albus about something. It will be quick. If you'd like you can wait around in my office until I come back. I won't be long."
Tonks grinned a little bit brighter. "Thanks Remus. Oh by the way, if you see Harry, I'd talk to him a bit. He's feeling pretty down not being able to go to Hogsmeade," she added as Remus opened the door wider, allowing her into his private office.
"I probably should talk to Harry then shouldn't I?" Remus nodded. "Stay here and I'll be back as fast as I can," he smiled. Remus didn't want to pass up an opportunity to talk to Tonks and though he felt bad having to make her wait, he really needed to speak with Dumbledore about what to do on the upcoming full moon for safety measures.
They've been to Hogsmeade village many times before, but none of them like that night's visit. She had never gone to the village with him and he had never gone with her. And for a few years, they hadn't gone to the village while posing as students and acting young all over again. Marrick had just successfully captured a photograph of Hogwarts during the beautiful sunset and was grinning broadly, happy with himself. He had also managed to sneak a photograph of the beautiful raven haired girl who accompanied him that night, taking the picture while she was busy admiring the setting sun. He was more than proud of himself. Alexis was also grinning as she walked down the familiar streets, a new feeling present in the back of her chest as she would sometimes accidentally brush against Marrick.
"The sunset would make a nice present once placed in a frame," Marrick smiled. "Do you think my mum would like it? I don't really know what to get her for Christmas."
Alexis laughed softly. "I'm sure your mother would love anything you give her."
He walked beside her and noticed that at the accidental mentioning of his family, he realized Alexis grew sad. Then he remembered what she had told him once about her parents being dead and suddenly wanted to slap himself. Unfortunately, whenever he was around her these days, Marrick could never keep his mouth shut. Before he could stop himself, he asked, "You're parents, how did they die?" he asked softly but regretted it afterwards.
She was quiet for what felt like a long time and he sudden wanted to slap himself for being so stupid and treading on her layer of thin ice. "They died rebelling against the Black family," she replied softly and then sighed as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her robes. "My mum, Michelle, was a pureblood and so was my dad, Marcus Black. They would have gotten by fine if they didn't openly rebel against my psychotic mess of a family. When Andromeda and Sirius got blasted off the family tree, my father defended them and got himself hated by a few of the members, one in particular, Bellatrix Lestrange. When they saw her again, I wasn't too sure what was going on but there was an argument involving the Dark Mark and Voldemort." Marrick flinched slightly when Alexis openly and uncaringly mentioned his name. "The next thing I knew, Lestrange killed my parents," she laughed bitterly. "I would've been dead too if it hadn't been for Andromeda's interference and Sirius carrying me out of that hell hole of a house. That's all I really remember. I was five, not many details came up."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tread on something so sensitive to you," Marrick apologized.
Alexis smiled and shook her head. "It's fine. At least I'm happy now right?" she laughed, giving him a smirk that promised she'll be happy again soon. "Sirius was a good man…Tonks and I both knew that. That's why till now, we're still hesitant about his capture, but unfortunately we're stuck with this case so we've got to do our job. I swear Fudge set us both up."
"I don't think Fudge is that cunning of a man. Maybe it's just fate that you're put on this case," Marrick suggested. "Maybe fate wants you to at least meet him again for one last time."
"Well fate can be a pretty big git sometimes," Alexis nodded. "I don't really feel comfortable talking about this anymore. Can we talk about something else?" She began to smile.
"Of course. Let's go into Honeyduke's. I need to buy some food," Marrick smiled too.
The two who had once been enemies now turned friends paid a much needed visit to Honeyduke's Sweet Shop. They both refilled their stash of sweets, filling up bags with candy and grinning like a child after they had paid for their goods and could call it theirs.
"Now that you've got your year supply of candy, what do you want to do next?" Alexis asked as they got out of Honeyduke's Sweet Shop, each with a large bag in their hand.
"Visit the Three Broomsticks?" Marrick suggested. "I still want to see just exactly how good of a drinker you are," he grinned foolishly.
"That sounds like a challenge," Alexis smirked, struggling to hold her bags but Marrick had taken them from her gentleman like. "But what are we going to do about Madam Rosemerta?" she suddenly asked as they got into the inn.
"Alexis!" Madam Rosemerta's sugary voice suddenly sounded as she pulled the skinny, boney girl into a tight hug. Marrick watched with amusement as Alexis attempted to get out of the tight squeeze the land lady was giving her. He didn't know she had been friends with her.
"Hey," Alexis smiled. "You're killing me," she struggled to shake free.
"Oh I just love it when you drop by! You're always so full of news and gossips."
Alexis suddenly shushed the happy woman. "I'm on a mission, sorry, no gossip today."
"Why I'm honored then. You're on a mission and you had the time to drop by."
"Well I'm posing as a student, so please don't give me away," she whispered when she caught sight of Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George sitting over at a large table in the middle of the pub. "I'll give you gossip when I'm done with this job."
Marrick smiled and shook his head as he watched her. "Come on let's grab a seat."
"Two bottles of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey please," Alexis smiled to Rosemerta.
"Should I add it onto your tab?" the woman asked as she began getting the drinks.
"Yes please," the young girl smiled.
"Why don't you get butterbeer? If they see us they'll question how we're able to purchase firewhiskey in the first place. Technically, to them, we're not of age yet."
"Marrick honestly are you daft?" Alexis smiled as he set their stuff down and took a seat. "There's loads more alcohol in firewhiskey than butterbeer. If we try to get drunk off butterbeer you'd be visiting the bathroom at least fifty times before we're done."
"You got a point there. Alright, we won't leave until one of us admits defeat," he smiled. They drank and laughed together the rest of the time there, both grinning foolishly when they were forced to sneak and hide behind the bar counter as some of the students from Hogwarts were leaving, afraid that they'd be recognized and questioned about purchasing firewhiskey.
While waiting for Remus to return, Tonks couldn't help but wander around his office a bit and look around. Remus office was like a small library, filled with many books and papers that lined the shelves and walls. They were all organized however, everything having its place. Tonks made her way from his large, overfilled bookshelf over to a counter sitting at the window side where a cauldron sat with its lid partially open leaked a faint, familiar smell. She only stumbled once on the overstuffed armchair, but luckily Tonks never fell on her face in Remus' office. When she got over to the cauldron, Tonks carefully lifted the lid up. The scent of the potion inside suddenly overwhelmed her and after being trained by Mad-Eye Moody through Auror training, the first word that came to her mind from the smell of the potion was wolfsbane.
"What would Remus be doing with wolfsbane?" Tonks questioned but she suddenly found her answer. Remus was a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher after all. Perhaps he was brewing it for a lesson about werewolves to his students.
"Sorry did I make you wait long?" Remus asked in a gentle voice as he came inside.
Tonks turned around, placing the lid back on to cover the overwhelming stench of the potion. "No not long," she smiled. "How did it go with Harry?"
"I revealed to him that I knew his parents and how close we were. I didn't tell him about Sirius though. I don't think the boy would be too pleased to learn about that," Remus laughed gently but greatly lacking humor in his voice.
"It must be hard," Tonks spoke, leaning on his desk beside him. "Being in your shoes."
"I've gotten used to it over the years," he shrugged. "After a while, you begin to accept things the way they are, even if you don't like them," he sighed, crossing his arms.
"Things won't always be like this you know," she comforted him. "The light will come."
Remus smiled genuinely as he looked into her eyes and found a vast and endless sea of warmth and comfort he never found anywhere else. It had been the first time he heard something so optimistic said to the likes of him. Normally, people would just apologize and try to sympathize with him. No one ever tried to be optimistic with him. Tonks had been the first, and he found that he liked optimism a lot better than sympathy, especially from Nymphadora Tonks.
Tonks smiled and tilted her head slightly as she watched him. After a while, once she imprinted the look of his gentle blue eyes clearly inside her mind, she finally pushed herself off his desk and swung her arms back and forth. "I probably should patrol the halls otherwise Mad-Eye's going to have my head for not doing my job right," she smiled.
"If you don't mind, I'll join you," Remus offered shyly, scratching the back of his neck.
"That'd be great," she smiled. "I'd love to have some company."
"You're morphing again." It wasn't a question, it was simply a statement. Remus watched as Tonks smirked and changed her hair from bubblegum pink to a sort of mousy brown with a lot of blonde highlights in it. Her facial features only changed slightly, becoming softer and more mature as she shed her school girl façade. Tonks was suddenly slightly taller as well, but still a fair head shorter than he was.
"Is that your natural look?" he asked her in a soft and polite way. He was entranced by how beautiful she naturally was as well with her dark green eyes piercing through him. Remus had to remind himself that Tonks was so much younger than himself and not to think of anything more with her. They wouldn't fit together and he needed to stop looking.
"Mainly," Tonks nodded. "My natural hair color is mousy brown, so boring," she smiled.
"You're very beautiful," he slipped and sincerely told her, a compliment he meant to keep to himself.
She smiled genuinely. "If anyone asks, I'm a seventh year prefect," she smiled. "I never got to be a prefect when I was in school. I guess pretending to be one can still count."
Remus chuckled as they walked out of his office and classroom. "I got to be a prefect."
"See that's not fair. How come you got to be a part of the troublemaking Marauders, and a prefect at the same time?" Tonks teased. "Lexi and I didn't even cause that much trouble."
Remus laughed as he walked alongside her. "I guess the teachers just like me more," he teased, earning himself a playful push from Tonks that instead of tripping him up caused her to stumble a bit and nearly fall. He quickly caught her in time and they laughed together, the sound of their laughter blending in perfect harmony. "You are so clumsy," he teased.
"I know, I swear it will be the death of me," she laughed.
"Did you hear that?" Remus asked once he suddenly heard footsteps trotting through the hall. There was a distinction however. They didn't sound like they were coming from shoes. "You heard it too right?" he asked and Tonks nodded. "But they don't sound like shoes though."
Tonks turned to face him with wide eyes. She could see it forming in his as well as they both thought of whose footsteps it could have been. They took softer, cautious steps towards the end of that hallway, sneaking to catch a glimpse of who it could be. Tonks turned her head around the corner. When she saw who it had been, she pulled Remus up and smiled, sighing and shaking her head. They both sat a large ginger cat looking up at them beside an empty frame a few feet from where they stood.
"False alarm," Tonks sighed. "That's just Crookshanks, Hermione's cat."
"That's a cat?" Remus almost laughed when he realized it had been a cat that alerted him. "It looks like a small tiger," he commented, taking a closer look at Crookshanks.
Tonks laughed and they both went up to the cat, petting it. Tonks was playing around with Hermione's clever cat while Remus eyed the empty frame with a skeptical look. He scratched his chin in thought and tried moving the frame a bit but nothing happened. Tonks turned to him and wondered what was worrying him.
"Sirius may have remembered some secret entrances to the castle," he pointed out.
"How?" Tonks questioned as she set Crookshanks down and the cat ran away.
"The Marauder's Map," Remus replied. "The four of us made it and Sirius may have memorized some of it up until this day. It seems unlikely, but it's still a possibility."
"Well where is the Marauder's Map?" Tonks asked, recalling the infamous map that had been rumored to exist amongst the students and confirmed when Remus just mentioned it. "If we have it, we might be able to find Sirius."
"Unfortunately, Filch confiscated it from us before we graduated."
"Can't we go to Filch to get it back?"
Remus smirked. "I've tried that. Apparently, some students have taken it from his office before I got there," he replied. "I guess we're out of luck."
Tonks sighed and slumped her shoulders, causing the professor to laugh at her childish behavior. She smiled when she made him laugh and straightened up. They continued to walk for a long while in companionable silence. Tonks was thinking about the upcoming festival at Hogsmeade next week and wondered if Remus could go with her. She would've asked Alexis, but her silly cousin seemed too wrapped up over an old enemy turned friend at the moment.
"Remus, have to ever gone to the Full Moon Festival at Hogsmeade every year?"
She noticed that Remus tensed considerably and wondered if she had said something wrong. Tonks thought over her words again and was certain she didn't say anything that might insult him, did she? "Actually I've never gone to the festival once in my entire life," Remus replied after a few moments. His body eased up a bit but his voice still showed stiffness.
"Really?" Tonks replied, surprised. "Are you planning on going next week?"
"No, unfortunately I'll be a little tied up next week," Remus replied in a softer voice but didn't look at her. "Are you attending?" he added a bit more casually.
"I guess I am," she nodded sincerely. "I've never missed one while I was in school."
"What's the festival like?" he asked, feeling at a loss for never even being able to have one look at the famous festival that happened every year.
"Very fun," Tonks smiled, knowing she could go on and on. "There are so many lights and colors. There are a lot of games you can play and plenty of muggle rides that I rather enjoy. There're lots and lots of food as well and so many people go there. If you don't know Hogsmeade well, you could end up getting lost. It's also rumored that during the festival, the Shrieking Shack gets the most active. I can't wait to go this year."
Remus tensed once again but tried to smile as Tonks continued to describe all the fun festivities he never knew. When she had mentioned the Shrieking Shack, Remus began fearing that what if some students decided to pay it a visit during the full moon? He would need to find a new place to transform then. But unfortunately, he'd already arranged it with Professor Dumbledore that he would be utilizing the Shrieking Shack again. He could only hope that no one would be brave enough to pay the shack a visit on that one night.
In the evening after all the students have returned from their visit to Hogsmeade, the teachers and staff, along with the headmaster were suddenly called to the Gryffindor common room after The Fat Lady had been forced to flee from her portrait with claims of Sirius Black paying her a visit. Remus and Tonks stood together, watching as Albus Dumbledore easily calmed his students down while giving out orders for the teachers to secure the castle. Most of the Aurors were already inside the common room checking it for any trace of Black while the Unspeakables were concealed with their locators in hand, searching for him.
"Maybe we really did hear his footsteps earlier today," Remus whispered to Tonks.
"So he must have used a secret passage way he remembered then," she replied.
Remus nodded. "At least Harry's safe and I don't think he got into the common room, that's why he shredded The Fat Lady's portrait." He looked around in his old common room and found that there seemed to be no traces of the man who had once been his best friend.
"We really have to catch Sirius now don't we?" Tonks asked. She didn't want to have her cousin's freedom stripped away from him so soon, but he was beginning to pose as a greater threat to the students. As an Auror she could give him no more leniencies. "We have to catch him before he ends up hurting somebody."
Remus nodded and was about to voice more of his opinions until suddenly, Mad-Eye Moody clonked down the stairs, his mechanical eye whirling madly in its socket. "Where's Alexis and Marrick?" he grunted, not happy with letting a criminal slip in right under his nose.
"They're puking in the bathroom," Tonks replied casually, unfazed by the intimidation of her old mentor. "It doesn't look like he's been in here. I think it's better to check the castle."
"That's what I think too. Come on then. Remus, if you'd like please help out too. We're now an Auror and an Unspeakable short," he grunted and clonked away, grumbling something about Alexis and Marrick being so irresponsible.
"Are Alexis and Marrick ok?" Remus asked as he and Tonks exited the common room.
"Of course they are," Tonks replied, trying to smile even after what had just happened. "They just had a little too much alcohol in their system, absolutely nothing to worry about. But for us, we should find the Marauder's Map soon. I think it will be of great help."
Remus nodded in agreement and continued to accompany her as he ended up patrolling the inside of the castle in a lookout for the man who had once been his closest friend. They walked in companionable silence at first, Tonks pondering about what Sirius wanted with Harry. According to the Wizarding World, he'd already killed the boy's parents. Remus though had a million thoughts in his mind as they walked. He was trying to remember as many of the secret passageways as he can but only a few obvious ones came to mind. His thoughts were also distracted by a very unique metamorphmagus Auror that walked so closely beside him.