(AN: this chapter contains material from HB6, but not all dialogue is verbatim. As always I own nothing. I'm just filling in the blanks)
Tonks stood alone on the windy platform in Hogsmeade, just after dusk, the September air whipping by as the grand Hogwart Express pulled into the station.
The huge steam engine came to a stop before Tonks, and she watched as all the students disembarked from the train.
Tonks kept a lookout for Harry and his friends in the large crowd of students. She saw Hermione and Ron pass by her headed towards the castle, but she hadn't seen the one person she had been waiting for.
But, he hadn't got off the train. And, if he had, Tonks was sure she would have seen him.
Harry Potter appeared to be missing from the crowd if students all together.
She briefly considered that perhaps he had just worn his invisibility cloak, but Ron and Hermione had appeared to also be looking for him. If he was concealed in the cloak, that didn't make too much sense.
Immediately, Tonks became concerned that something was wrong. In a flash, she ran up the platform and darted onto the huge steamer.
She quickly made her way down the length of the train, looking for anything out of place or unusual.
She did know that Harry had an invisibility cloak, as Dumbledore had warned her, but she couldn't figure out why he'd be purposely hiding. His friends had gotten off the train just fine it seemed. And, they had definitely been looking for him.
'He must be here.' She thought to herself, looking around.
So, where was he? She checked every compartment as she passed it.
Each one just as empty as the last. Perhaps that's what she was now she thought bitterly. Empty.
Just then, she noticed a compartment up ahead that had the curtains drawn. She sped up, and pulled the shades and swung open the compartment door.
Nothing looked amiss. But, she figured she should check anyway. And, with a vigorous swish of her wand she revealed a bloodied Harry Potter.
Tonks gasped, and released him from the full body bind he was in.
"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks exclaimed, extremely surprised.
Helping him to his feet. She realized that the train was now starting to move.
"We've better get out of here quickly. C'mon we'll have to jump." She told Harry, as the steam engine started to leave the station.
Together, they leaped off the train, onto the platform below.
Tonks helped Harry get to his feet. He looked alright except for the nose.
"So, who did it?" Tonks asked.
"Draco Malfoy." Harry sneered.
"I can fix it for you, if you like?" Tonks offered.
"Uh, okay." He said, hesitantly.
With a wave of her wand, his nose was mended.
"C'mon let's go. I've got to get you up to the castle or they will start to worry." Tonks told him plainly. Just Before handing him his invisibility cloak.
"How'd you find me, by the way?" Harry asked, covered in blood.
"I saw that the curtains were down on that compartment, and I knew you had that cloak, I thought maybe you might have been hiding for some reason." Tonks explained, concerned.
"Best put that on." She instructed, pointing at the cloak. She didn't want to take any risks with someone so important.
Harry immediately obliged. Throwing the large shimmery cloak over himself. Hiding him completely from the view of anyone in the village.
Tonks waved her wand, and with a flourish a large wolf popped out. She figured she should send word to the castle that she had Harry with her and that he was safe. She hadn't really wanted to send messages like that since her potronous had changed but she had no choice. She just hoped the right person would see it.
"Was that a potronous?" Harry Asked, interested.
"Mmhm, Yes" she murmured. Feeling grateful that Harry didn't say anything else about it.
Together they walked in mostly silence up towards the castle. They exchanged a few pleasantries but Tonks hadn't been able to focus on the conversation very much. She kept thinking about Remus. He had been popping up in her head at the worst times.
When they approached the wrought iron gates, they were locked shut. As no one had come down to fetch Harry yet, they would have to wait beyond the walls.
"Oh, it's locked?" Harry mused?
"Yes." Tonks told him, plainly.
"Should we try to climb over the gate then?" Harry asked.
"No you couldn't do that, even if you tried. There's enchantments preventing that. A lot more security measures have been put in place" Tonks told him plainly.
"I guess I'll just have to stay out here till the morning then." Harry said, out of ideas.
"Someone's coming down to get you." Tonks told him.
"Look, here they come now." Tonks said, pointing towards a figure that was shuffling down the lawn towards them.
But it was soon clear that it wasn't Hagrid who was coming to pick Harry up.
It was Severus Snape.
Tonks swallowed hard, not wanting to have to interact with him at the moment.
With a flourish of his long wand, Snape had opened the grand gates before them.
Snape sneered at both of them in turn. Giving Harry a particularly dirty look.
" well, finally decided to show up did you. He glared at Harry.
"and apparently you thought wearing school robes was optional Potter. You can go, Potter is quite safe with me. He motioned to her dismissively.
"I Uh. I had meant Hagrid to get my message." Tonks said, hesitantly. Unsure if he'd say anything about it.
" Ah, Nymphadora..Hagrid was also late to the feast" Snape jeered at her.
"Incidentally, I was surprised to see your new Potronous. But, I have to say. I think you were much better off with old one... The new one seems weak." He sneered at her, putting an emphasis on the word weak.
Tonks froze, she had no idea what to say to that, She wanted to scream and shout at Snape for what he had said. But, she didn't.
"Well, bye Harry." She mumbled before walking off into the darkness.
"Bye." Harry called back in an uneasy voice.
She hoped he'd be okay with Snape. She knew they didn't get along very well at all.
Tonks stumbled over to a large rock nearby. She put her face into her hands and cried. She was happy no one was around to see it. She hated that she missed Remus so badly. It felt like he had died or something.
But, Snape's words still incited anger in her, Remus wasn't weak. She couldn't help but feel that It was her that was weak. Remus had surely not lost half of his powers after they broke up.
After Tonks had forced herself into composure. She went immediately and wrote to Dumbledore. She felt that it was important for him to know about the altercation between Harry and Draco on the train.
The next two months went by in a flash, and before Tonks knew it, it was the first week of November. It was uncommonly cold out, and wind and sleet pounded down on passerby's of Hogsmeade.
Dumbledore had asked her to keep an eye on the students while they were in Hogsmeade for their first weekend visit. She of course had said yes. But the horrible weather was making her curse her good nature.
For most of the morning nothing odd or bizarre happened, and Tonks thought it seemed as though all would be quiet that day.
By lunchtime, Tonks had taken temporary refuge inside the hogsheads. She shuddered, shuffling close to the roaring fire. After warming up for 20 minutes or so she went back outside to do another stroll around just to make sure everything was quiet.
As she walked in solitude, Remus came to her mind unwittingly. She kept thinking about what Remus was doing hundreds of miles from there. She hoped he was doing alright. But, she really wished that she would stop thinking about Remus. But for some reason she was just stuck on him. She felt like she had lost her focus, and that bothered her.
Suddenly, she heard shouting coming from a nearby ally, and she felt like she knew that voice. She had certainly had it recently.
It was Harry Potter. She was almost certain. She ran around the corner, wand drawn and she saw Harry pinning Mundungus to the cement wall.
But, just as soon as she had seen them, just as she was about to act. Mundungus disapperated before their eyes.
"Bastard!" Harry yelled, along with a few choice swear words.
"There's no use yelling, Harry. He's probably in London already." Tonks said to him.
"He's nicked stuff from Sirius' house!!" Harry yelled.
"Yes, but still." Tonks replied sensibly.
Harry looked livid.
After that she dismissed the three of them. She'd have to tell Dumbledore what happened between them.
Harry Potter was turning into quite a trouble maker.
"Ah, the woes of Harry Potter." She thought, as she strode back to the pub to write to Dumbledore.