An hour later, a square jawed wizard by the name of Sturgis Podmore called all the adults up to one of the drawing rooms for the meeting. Tonks turned to look at the four Weasley children, who had stood and were attempting to join the group, when Mrs. Weasley started shouting.
"You four stay down here! You know you're not allowed in the meetings!" She turned on her heal and trudged up the stairs behind Sirius and Kingsley. Ginny crossed her arms and huffed, flopping back into a chair. Fred and George looked ready to kick something, mumbling under their breath about "Almost being of age." Ron merely sighed and grabbed himself a butterbeer his mother had just bought and sat next to Ginny. Tonks couldn't help but empathize with the childrens' frustrations.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you're not missing much." she lied. Ginny glanced up and gave Tonks a half smile.
"C'mon, we don't want the meeting to start without us, do we?" A voice said behind her. Tonks hadn't realized that someone else had stayed behind. She turned to see Remus smiling warmly at her. Her stomach gave a small lurch. I must be nervous about the meeting…She thought to herself. Tonks gave the four Weasley's a small wave and preceded Remus up the stairs.
When she entered the drawing room, there were quite a few more people than she had expected. She recognized one immediately, easily the most noticeable man in the room.
"Wotcher, Hagrid!" Tonks called over the crowed. The large, hairy man turned and beamed down at Tonks.
"Ah, Tonks! How are yeh?" he asked. Tonks smiled. Hagrid was one of her favorite and most missed faculty members from Hogwarts. She gave Remus a small wave before hurrying over to greet the half-giant.
"Brilliant! How's Hogwarts?" she asked. Hagrid's face dropped a bit.
"Dumbledore made me a teacher." he said with little enthusiasm. Tonks smiled, hoping his spirits would pick up.
"That's fantastic! What are you teaching?" she asked.
"Care o' Magical Creatures." was all he said.
"Right up your alley." Tonks finally decided that her friend's expression was not to be ignored. "What's the matter? You don't like it?" she asked. Hagrid shrugged.
"I like it alrigh'. I don' think the students like me much." Hagrid answered solemnly. Tonks knew Hagrid's taste in magical creatures and could only imagine what kind of "misunderstood" monster he would show a class.
"I'm sure they're just not used to the different creatures. Most of them are probably used to boring little things like Flobberworms." Her words seemed to encourage the large man because his face broke into a soft smile under his scruffy beard. Tonks grinned and patted Hagrid on the arm. The group was being called to order, so she turned and took a seat in an empty row.
Tonks' stomach began doing nervous summersaults as she became fully aware that this was her first meeting. What if someone asked her to do something? What if she suggested something stupid? Finally, just as her row was beginning to fill (a small man named Dedalus Diggle on her left and Kingsley Shacklebolt on her right) Tonks made up her mind to keep quiet during the meeting. She glanced around at rows of chairs set up in a semi circle and noticed Sirius and Remus near the end of the front row to her left. Sirius was leaning over to say something to Remus, which made him grin. Tonks didn't know why, but she liked to watch him smile. Concentrate on the meeting! What's the matter with you? She shook her thoughts back to the meeting and looked to the center of the semi circle to see another familiar face.
"Good evening, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce our newest member. Everyone give a warm welcome to Miss Nymphadora Tonks." Albus Dumbledore introduced her. Everyone turned to look at her, smiling welcomingly, waving, a few mumbled a greeting. Tonks sheepishly returned the welcome, inwardly hating Dumbledore for using her first name. As soon as everyone's attention was turned back to the Headmaster he began the Order proceedings. Tonks sat silently, taking in all the information Dumbledore was giving. Glancing around, Tonks realized that most people looked rather bored as if this information had been given several times before.
Tonks' eyes wandered to the end of the front row to find Sirius toying with a piece of string hanging off his old robes. Remus appeared to be paying attention at first glance until Tonks realized that every now and then his head would loll back, then jerk forward. Tonks grinned to herself and then turned back to Dumbledore. He had stopped speaking and was looking around at the group, his eyes twinkling over his half moon spectacles.
"I thank you all for your most astute attention." he said in a slightly louder voice than Tonks felt was really necessary. Several people jumped and straightened in there seats. At the end of the row, Remus jerked himself awake again, cleared his throat, and sat up straight. Sirius laughed and shook his head, settling further into his chair and crossing his arms. Dumbledore continued to smile at everyone. "Now, for our next mission I will need some volunteers." Tonks was surprised at how few people jumped at the chance to volunteer. In fact, no one had their hand raised at all.
"What's the mission?" A woman named Emmeline Vance spoke up.
"I need a guard to escort Harry Potter from his Aunt and Uncle's house on August the sixth." Dumbledore's information immediately evoked a call to arms as several people raised their hands at once. Tonks' hand immediately shot into the air. She looked around and saw that Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Hestia Jones, Mad-Eye Moody, Sturgis Podmore, Kinglsey Shacklebolt, Emmeline Vance, and Remus Lupin had all raised their hands to volunteer. Dumbledore nodded. "Wonderful, I think nine should be more than enough. No, Sirius, you can't go." Dumbledore added as Sirius had shot his hand into the air. Grudgingly, he lowered his hand and crossed his arms, brooding. Dumbledore looked at him apologetically before continuing. "We will need to be as discrete as possible. I believe it would be best to retrieve him when his Aunt and Uncle are not at home." There were several murmurs of agreement.
"How will we know when the Muggles are gone?" asked a little woman who reminded Tonks greatly of a crazy old cat lady.
"Excellent question, Mrs. Figg. Seeing as we cannot monitor Harry's house more so than we already are, I feel it's best if we attempt to lure his family from their home on the night of our arrival." There were several more murmurs of agreement.
"How are we going to lure them from their home?" Remus asked. Sirius snorted.
"Harry said his cousin's a bit on the pudgy side. Why don't we get him to chase a bar of chocolate down the street?" Tonks' cousin suggested more for his own amusement than for anyone else to hear. A couple people chuckled, including Tonks and Remus. Tonks found Mrs. Weasley and noticed that Molly wasn't finding Sirius' suggestion at all amusing.
"I don't doubt that would be quite amusing, Sirius, but are there any other suggestions?" Dumbledore asked the rest of the group. Tonks finally got the urge to speak up.
"What are these Muggles like? It would be easier to lure them out of the house with something they are interested in." She suggested. Her stomach twisted for a moment before someone finally spoke up.
"Mrs. Figg, what can you tell us about the Dursleys?" Arhur Weasley, Molly's husband, asked. Mrs. Figg thought for a moment before speaking.
"They're quite clean, these Muggles. Rather nosey, too. Their yard is always impeccably neat." The group fell into contemplative silence.
"We could tell them they've been selected for an award of some kind. Like a garden award. They have those, don't they?" Tonks asked. Even though her father was Muggle-born, Tonks hadn't spent much time in the Muggle community.
"Yes, a best-kept garden award. That's brilliant. If I know anything about the Dursleys, it's that they thrive at the chance to be proven the best at something. Splendid idea, Nymphadora." Said Mrs. Figg. Tonks smiled at the woman and kindly informed her to call her Tonks.
"We should put it in a letter to make it more official." Kingsley added. The group at large nodded their agreement.
"Who will write it?" Dumbledore asked for another volunteer. Tonks felt the urge to raise her hand, but was afraid of mucking up her first assignment.
"Tonks, why don' yeh write it?" Hagrid volunteered her. A low drawl of a voice answered before Tonks was able to.
"Perhaps we could find someone better suited. My memory of Miss Tonks' performance in my classroom leaves me believing she may not be the most dependable." Snape informed them. His statement stirred a determination in Tonks as she glared down her row at her greasy haired former teacher.
"I'll do it. I'll write the letter." She announced. Dumbledore's eyes sparkled as he grinned at her. She always had the feeling that Dumbledore could read her mind in these situations.
"Very well, Miss Tonks. The letter will need to be sent as soon as possible." Dumbledore informed her. Tonks nodded.
"I'll get right on it, Professor." Tonks said, feeling inwardly proud of herself for volunteering for two assignments on her first meeting. Dumbledore gave a few more topics to cover before announcing that Mrs. Weasley would be cooking dinner for whoever wished to stay and that the meeting was adjourned. Tonks agreed to stay, as well as Remus. The rest all seemed to have prior engagements and asked for a rain check for a later date. As everyone was clearing out of the drawing room, Kingsley approached Tonks, a smile on his face.
"Not bad for your first meeting, Tonks. It wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked in his deep voice. Tonks grinned and shook her head. He patted her on the shoulder and left the drawing room with the rest who weren't staying for dinner. Tonks followed Mrs. Weasley down the stairs into the front hall.
"Molly, do you need any help with dinner?" she asked, forgetting Kingsley's warning of silence when they had first arrived. Molly spun around with a look of horror on her face when Tonks heard the same shouting she had just before meeting the twins.
"SCUM! BLOOD TRAITORS! HALF-BREED FREAKS! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE THE HOUSE OF BLACK?!" Tonks spun on the spot and saw the large painting next to the front door had thrown back it's own curtains and revealed a manic looking older woman with yellowing teeth. She was shouting at the room at large, which consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, and Remus. The woman in the painting spotted someone who had just ascended the stairs in a hurry. "YOU! HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE HERE, BOY!? YOU ARE UNWORTHY OF THE NAME BLACK!" the woman shouted at Sirius. He scowled at the painting.
"You couldn't be more right, Mother." He said as he stalked over to the curtain and began tugging on it. Remus walked over and began pulling on the other side. With their combined strengths, they were able to yank the curtain shut and silence the shouting. Tonks followed the rest back down to the kitchen before speaking again.
"That's your mother?" she asked Sirius. He nodded.
"Lovely woman, isn't she? Shame she's dead." He said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. Tonks had never met her aunt and was quite glad of it now.
"So this is your home?" she asked. Sirius took a seat at the kitchen table. He shook his head.
"This was my parent's home. I left when I was sixteen. I could never call this place home." Tonks thought back on the dingy, dirty rooms she had been in and nodded. How could anyone call this dismal place home?
"It serves its purpose, Sirius." Remus said, slipping past Tonks and going over to the cauldron that was still steaming on the counter where Snape had left it. He took a dusty goblet out of a cabinet and wiped it off with his shabby looking robes. "Perhaps we should tackle the dishes tomorrow, Molly." He suggested after inspecting the cleanliness of the goblet in his hand. Molly grinned and continued with her cooking. Tonks watched Remus dip his goblet into the cauldron and bring the liquid to his lips. His face contorted with disgust. "Not the best tasting potion. Remind me to thank Severus again next meeting." He said to the room at large with a steely note to his voice as he sat down at the table across from Sirius. Tonks grinned.
"I'm glad you trust the man, Professor. Personally, I'd be afraid to drink anything he gave me." George Weasley said who came out of the pantry holding several bottles of butterbeer and a wine bottle which he set on the table. Tonks looked back over at Remus.
"Professor? You taught?" she asked. Somehow this information didn't surprise her. Remus nodded.
"Only a year." He said simply. Tonks grinned.
"Let me guess, Defense Against the Dark Arts?" she asked. Remus nodded.
"The curse never fails." He said with a grin. Tonks smiled and grabbed herself a butterbeer. She became aware of a pair of eyes staring at her from the table. She turned to Sirius who was grinning slyly at her.
"What?" she asked with a small hint of annoyance to her voice. Sirius leaned on the table.
"Well, Mum had said something about there being a Metamorphmagus in the family. Actually, I think her exact words were 'My Muggle loving niece gave birth to a morphing freak.'" Tonks laughed. In answer to his question, she screwed up her face in concentration and transformed her face into the spitting image of her Aunt Walburga and then back to her usual appearance.
"Scary." Fred Weasley said in awe.
"Bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed from the kitchen sink where he was rinsing off a few goblets at his mother's orders.
"Ron, language!" Mrs. Weasley warned. Ginny beamed up at Tonks.
"Can you do any face?" she asked. Tonks grinned and nodded.
"Maybe I'll show you a few at dinner. I should really get started on that letter, though." She said, taking a seat at the table next to Remus. Tonks pulled out her wand and conjured a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink. As she poised herself to begin writing, Remus cleared his throat next to her. Tonks looked up at him.
"Was that for me or are you ill?" she asked. Remus grinned at the snarky comment.
"I was just thinking that you might want to use something a little more...Muggle." he suggested. Tonks looked down at her very wizard method of writing and slouched in her chair.
"Bugger." Tonks sighed as she thought, then remembered something her Muggle uncle had sent her father one year. It was a Muggle contraption called a computer, and her father had managed to break it a week after he got it. There were still burn marks on the desk in his bedroom, in fact. "A computer!" she exclaimed. Everyone in the room gave Tonks very confused looks.
"Beg y'pardon?" Sirius asked. Arthur's expression changed from utter confusion to sheer delight.
"Oh yes! I've heard of those! I believe they're kept at Muggle public libraries." He said with as much enthusiasm as Tonks had.
"I'll have to go and use one. Typed letters always looked rather official when my father received them." Tonks said. Arthur adopted a slightly sheepish look.
"Nympha-er-Tonks…if it wouldn't be too much to ask, do you think I could accompany you to this library?" he asked. Tonks grinned. Ginny leaned across the table.
"Dad's obsessed with Muggles." She informed Tonks, who laughed a little.
"Of course you can, Arthur. You can help me if I get writer's block." Arthur beamed like a child who'd just been informed they were going to Disney World. A few moments later, Mrs. Weasley announced that dinner was served. Keeping true to her promise, Tonks entertained the youngest Weasley with different noses, mostly animal like, which sent Ginny into fits of giggles. About halfway through dinner, a new face descended the stairs into the kitchen. She was a young girl, around Ron's age, with very bushy brown hair, carrying a ginger cat, with equally bushy fur, in her arms.
"Hermione, dear! Here, have a seat." Mrs. Weasley motioned to a seat on Ginny's other side as she jumped up to get another place setting for the young girl. Ginny turned to Hermione.
"This is Tonks. She's new, just joined today." She leaned in and whispered loud enough for almost everyone else to hear. "She's a Metamorphmagus." Hermione looked over at Tonks.
"Oh, I've heard of those. Does it hurt to change your appearance, like using Polyjuice Potion?" she asked. Tonks smiled and shook her head.
"How would you know what Polyjuice feels like?" Sirius asked Hermione, who blushed and exchanged a furtive glance with Ron.
"I wouldn't. I've read it's painful." She said. She was thankful when George drew the attention from herself to someone else.
"I think Professor Lupin wins for painful transformations." He and Fred laughed. Sirius looked as though he were about to agree, but saw the curious look on Tonks' face. She looked at Remus, who shook his head in exasperation. Fred and George seemed to have caught on to the silence of the rest of the room and immediately joined it. Tonks was finally fed up with the secretive manner everyone was treating Remus with.
"Alright, that's it! What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" she asked Remus bluntly. Sirius cocked an eyebrow at her and then looked at Remus, who sighed.
"Thank you, boys, I was trying to keep things quiet for now." He said to Fred and George who gave Remus apologetic looks. He sighed again and looked at Tonks. "I'm afraid Hagrid isn't the only half-breed in the Order." He said. Tonks, having only known one half-breed in her life, looked even more confused.
"You're not half giant." She said. Remus laughed slightly and shook his head.
"No, I'm not." He paused for a moment. "I'm a werewolf." This was not the answer Tonks was expecting. She didn't speak for a moment, trying to comprehend that information. Tonks' insides were squirming. She had seen several werewolves at the Ministry and none of them were the type of people she wanted to be sitting next to at dinner. However, Remus didn't act like them. She fought with herself for a few moments about whether to be frightened of the man who had been so kind to her since she arrived, or to push aside the information is if it were nothing. Her thoughts were broken as one of the Weasley twins spoke up.
"Best bloody werewolf we know!" Fred's exclamation came from down the table as he raised his bottle of butterbeer in a toast. Remus half grinned, Tonks could tell her silence was unnerving him a bit.
"The best teacher we ever had!" chimed Hermione and Ginny together. Tonks could tell that the kids were very fond of Remus and were trying to ease the tension. Tonks grinned as she watched Remus swirl the wine in his glass as he stared down at it with a small grin on his face that didn't reach his amber eyes.
"A good man." She said, tapping her wine glass against his and taking a sip. He looked up at her and smiled a smile that finally reached his eyes.
"Alright! Enough! I'm getting a big head." He said with a laugh, taking a sip of his own wine.
"Oh, and modest, too." Tonks added with a laugh. Sirius snorted.
"Seems as though you have a fan club, Moony." He said. Remus laughed and shook his head.
"Nutters, the lot of them." He said teasingly at the group who laughed. The rest of the dinner went by rather pleasantly and without any tension. Tonks was determined not to care that Remus was a werewolf, though she knew that she would have to sort through her thoughts later on. For right now, however, it was time for good food and good friends.
