Thank you to DarylDixon'sgirl1985 and HufflepuffBanana for beta reading.
Word count: 2,007
Tonks' self-consciousness hadn't disappeared by the time she arrived for her second Order meeting a week after the first. It might have even been worse as she came by herself. Even though the house let her in with no difficulty, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was intruding in a place where she wasn't meant to be.
She stepped into the darkened entrance hall and was careful to sidestep the umbrella stand that had tripped her during her previous visit. The hall was empty, and no sounds could be heard from the other parts of the house, something she now knew was an attempt to keep Mrs Black's portrait quiet.
The fact that the hall itself was deserted shouldn't have fooled her though. She'd been sure the previous week that the kids were spying more than they'd let on to Mrs Weasley, and she gained even more evidence for it when sudden footsteps hurrying down the stairs turned out to be Ginny.
Tonks smiled instinctively when she saw Ginny's own beaming face.
"Wotcher," Tonks said. "How have things been here?"
Ginny gave a short shrug.
"The same as always," she said with a slight frown. "No one's really been here to visit since the last meeting except Lupin."
Tonks heard the slight accusation in Ginny's voice, and her smile turned sheepish.
"The Ministry may not want to admit that You-Know-Who is back," Tonks began, "but we're still swamped in the Auror Office. The Prophet doesn't reveal even half of the so-called mysterious stuff that's happening."
"Like what?" Ginny asked, taking several subconscious steps forward.
Tonks was well trained in the art of not revealing official Auror business to those who didn't need to know, and her lips snapped shut as if Ginny's words had done it themselves. Sure, Tonks was breaking many of those rules while working for the Order, but most of the Order wouldn't have wanted Ginny to know the information anymore than the Aurors did.
Ginny sensed that she wasn't getting anywhere and groaned before Tonks could give her an excuse.
"I'm always in the dark," she grumbled, kicking at the floor.
Tonks worried that her voice would grow loud enough to provoke the portrait down the hall, but Ginny seemed to have become well trained in the art of keeping Mrs Black calm. She quelled her anger, though not the fire in her eyes.
"Sorry, Gin," Tonks said with a bright smile. "I have to be careful about what I say. It's just part of the job, but I'm sure I have plenty of stories that I can share. Maybe we can talk about them at dinner?"
Ginny's smile returned at the same moment that the front door creaked open behind them. Tonks saw Ginny's scowl a split second before she set eyes on Severus Snape for herself. She kept her face impassive as he stepped forward.
Just like last time, he didn't seem to notice Tonks and her companion until the door had swung shut behind him.
His eyes focused on the pair and narrowed with thinly veiled contempt. If it were possible, he seemed to dislike Ginny even more than he disliked her, and that knowledge made Tonks feel even fonder of the girl.
"Nymphadora," Snape began, drawing out the name she already hated and making a shiver travel down her spine. "You've made an interesting choice of friends, haven't you?"
Tonks bit her tongue, determined not to even notice Snape's sneer. There were a number of choice comments that passed through her head, but talking back to Snape was something her teenage self would have loved. She knew that giving into it would only make her feel more childish in the long run.
She shifted her weight and held her head high.
"I'd like to be friends with everyone around here," she said. Before she could help herself, she added, "Or almost everyone at least."
She turned to walk away from him before he could say anything more, but she'd taken only one step before she tripped over her own feet. The embarrassment overtook her before she'd hit the ground, with her cheeks flushing a bright red. At least the last time there had been an umbrella stand; the second time around she couldn't blame anything but herself.
The sound of her hitting the floor was louder than their hushed voices had been, and the portrait began screaming, making Tonks growl in frustration. Thankfully, her back was to Snape. She could imagine the haughty smile on his face, and she might have exploded if she saw it.
Sounds of someone rushing into the entrance hall from the kitchen could be heard, but Ginny had bent over to help her stand, preventing Tonks from immediately seeing who had arrived. Ginny got her to her feet, and Tonks took her time brushing off her robes.
She glanced up just as Remus and Sirius got the curtains fastened tight over the portrait. If her blush had lessened at all, it promptly came back.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, careful to keep her voice lower than was even necessary out of her shame.
"One would think," Snape drawled before anyone else could answer, "that an ability to walk would be the first requirement in Auror training. At times, I have to question the Ministry's standards."
Tonks glared at him but was unable to think of a response quickly. Sirius, however, seemed to have been waiting to pounce on Snape, and he wasted no time in telling the professor exactly what he thought.
"Sounds like someone is a little petty that they wouldn't pass the Auror exam if they tried. Huh, Snape?"
Snape scowled. He had yet to move from his spot just inside the door. He had no interest in getting closer to the others.
"Why would I want to join the Ministry's merry band of fools? All they're good at is showing off. Competency in useful magic matters little to them, and their own requirements and beliefs are chock-full of contradictions. The entire force is a mess. An idiot could become an Auror while the most talented wizard alive was denied a place. It doesn't matter to me whether they'd deign to accept me or not. Though I'm sure it would be endless fun to lock up people such as yourself."
Years of watching Snape snap at students hadn't prepared Tonks for the fire in his eyes as he took several steps forward. Sirius didn't back down and paid little attention to the cautioning hand that Remus placed on his shoulder.
"Dumbledore will be here any minute now," Remus said, his voice quiet but authoritative. "Is now really the time to be arguing?"
Sirius shot a look at his friend over his shoulder, and for a moment, Tonks thought he would continue to fight, but something seemed to pass over him when he and Remus made eye contact. With a sigh, he took a step backwards, towards Remus' side, leaving space for Snape to pass by them to the kitchen.
"You're not worth making my mother shout again, Snape. Let alone more than that."
Snape glanced at the covered portrait himself and slunk past the group as if they had disappeared from view.
Tonks hardly noticed him leaving or Ginny still standing beside her. Her gaze was fixated on the two men. Remus gave Sirius' shoulder a squeeze and earned the closest thing to a smile that Sirius seemed capable of producing. For a split second, Tonks felt like she was intruding on a private moment, but then Remus looked at her.
The smile he gave her wasn't the same as the one he'd directed at Sirius, but it made her stomach flutter in ways that were more than embarrassing enough. She gave him a small smile of her own, keeping her eyes bright as if Snape's words had held little sway over her.
"Are you all right?" Remus asked softly, and Tonks pretended it was only for her, not the temperamental portrait several feet away. "I know Snape knows how to hit where it hurts the most."
Tonks scoffed, shaking her head.
"Nothing Snape says can bother me," she lied.
The cause of the commotion suddenly hit her again as she remembered tripping over her own feet. A blush rose to her cheeks.
"I'm sorry for that," she said, motioning to the portrait as a way of explanation.
Instead of being annoyed or belittling her for her clumsiness as so many of her fellow Aurors were wont to do, Sirius laughed, only quelling it at the last second with a furtive glance at his mother's portrait.
"Are you kidding?" he asked with a smirk. "That was some of the most excitement I've had for the past week. I'll never pass up the chance to have it out with good ol' Snivellus."
Tonks pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the old nickname that rolled easily off Sirius' lips. Remus scowled, hitting his friend lightly on the arm, but Sirius shrugged it off with little care, leaving Remus shaking his head in annoyance.
His gaze refocused on Ginny, who was still standing at Tonks' side and showed no desire to leave the scene.
"You should get back upstairs," he told her in a kind voice. "Your mother will have a fit if she comes out and sees you down here."
"The meeting hasn't even started yet," Ginny said, unable to keep the whining out of her voice.
She crossed her arms against her chest as if she were preparing to put up a fight, but it didn't provoke any frustration in Remus, whose smile remained the same as before.
"It will be soon," he said, "and you know how Molly will react if she knows you were anywhere near it. For now, I think it's best to keep the peace."
For a second, Ginny looked like she planned to argue, but she decided against it. She took several steps towards the stairs with a growl of frustration. There was no hurry in her steps as she glanced repeatedly over her shoulder at them, but the three adults watching her didn't urge her to move faster. Sirius even looked like he was about to laugh at her tenacity.
At the foot of the stairs, Ginny came to a stop all together, looking over at Tonks.
"You'll stay for dinner, right?" she asked, her face hopeful.
Tonks held in a sigh. Part of her was embarrassed at the thought of talking with Ginny throughout dinner as Snape's taunts still ran through her mind. But Ginny had faith in their friendship already, and Tonks couldn't deny that she enjoyed the girl's conversation.
"Of course," she said with a wide smile. "We'll talk then."
She wouldn't be able to tell Ginny the things she really wanted to know about the Order, but Ginny smiled at the promise anyway, and she no longer dragged out her steps as she disappeared to the first floor.
Tonks turned from her and noticed that Sirius had already disappeared, leaving only Remus behind. He smiled at Tonks and motioned to the stairs that led to the kitchen. She followed him much like she had the week before, her heart hammering faster in her chest.
"You've made a strong impression on the girls," he said softly as they walked. "Hermione and Ginny have been talking about you nonstop for the past week."
Tonks grimaced before she could stop herself, earning a small laugh from Remus. Despite the laughter, though, his smile was nothing but kind and, Tonks might have been imagining it, full of admiration.
"I know what Snape said to you, but you should ignore it. Everyone here respects you. No one gets Alastor Moody's approval easily, and both of those girls have been through more than most at their age. Earning their approval is a compliment as well."
Tonks smiled and, for the first time, didn't feel the least bit self-conscious as she followed him into the meeting.