Headquarters

Headquarters

Tonks looked up from her desk in the Auror headquarters to find Kingsley Shacklebolt staring at her for the fifth time that afternoon. She threw him a questioning look. When Kingsley realized she was watching him, he quickly looked back down at his desk, wrote something on a piece of parchment, then folded it up and sent it out of the room. Tonks shook her head and got back to work.

A few minutes later a memo landed on Tonks' desk. She unfolded it and read:

Tonks,

I had to send this out of the room for a few minutes so no one would know it was me writing to you. I need to talk to you privately. Can I see you after work today?

-K.S.

Kingsley didn't have a crush on her, did he? He was staring at her a lot. 'No,' Tonks thought, still staring at the memo. 'That note certainly doesn't sound like it...does it? No, it can't be. I wonder what he wants? It sounds important. I might as well find out.' Tonks looked at Kingsley and, finding him still watching her, she nodded once. He returned the nod and they both went back to work.

A few hours later as the Aurors working the night shift started to arrive and the Aurors that had worked the day shift began to leave. Tonks looked up to find Kingsley gone. Tonks walked past Kingsley's cubicle, which she tripped on the corner of, and out into the hallway.

"Tonks!" a voice whispered. "Tonks! Over here!"

As Tonks was trying to figure out where the voice came from, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her around the corner.

It was Kingsley. He put a finger to his lips, signaling for her to keep quiet, and then beckoned for her to follow him.

Tonks followed Kingsley through a set of oak doors, and down a corridor. They turned left and went down a second corridor. Tonks was starting to get nervous. She had never seen this part of the Ministry before. Why was Kingsley leading her so far if he only wanted to talk to her? Why was he being so secretive? They turned right into a third corridor and came to a dead end. Tonks was very nervous but she was determined not to show it. There were two doors. One was obviously a broom cupboard and the other had an old brass plaque that she wasn't close enough to read.

"Bloody hell, Kings -" Tonks started but Kingsley clapped a hand over her mouth. Tonks squirmed and pushed trying to get away from him but Kingsley was too strong for her. He was holding her so that she couldn't reach her wand.

"Quiet, Tonks! Wait until we're inside!" Kingsley hissed, but Tonks only struggled harder. She bit down on his finger as hard as she could. Kingsley swore and shoved her into the room behind the door with the plaque on it. Tonks barely glimpsed the words - MISUSE OF MUGGLE ARTIFACTS - before hearing the door shut behind them and Kingsley sealing it and putting a silencing charm on the room. Tonks saw a balding, red-headed man sitting in a chair staring at them before Kingsley let her go and Tonks turned around and opened her mouth to start yelling at him but he cut her off.

"Tonks, I'm really, really sorry about that but I had to get you in here without anyone noticing." He did look truly sorry. Tonks shut her mouth and Kingsley, taking relief in the fact that she hadn't cursed him into oblivion, said, "Tonks, this is Arthur Weasley. He works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. Arthur, this is Nymphadora Tonks."

Tonks shook the man's hand warily. "I prefer to be called Tonks," she said with a scathing look at Kingsley, who was nursing his bitten finger.

"Well, then, nice to meet you, Tonks. Please call me Arthur. I prefer to go by my first name," Arthur smiled, and then turning to Kingsley he said, "Really, Kingsley. You didn't need to be so rough. We want her to join us, not be scared of us!"

"You don't know how hard she fights!"

Tonks smirked, pleased that she had given Kingsley a hard time. Then her smirk turned into a frown of confusion as Arthur's words registered. "What do you want me to join?" she asked suspiciously.

"Take a seat, Tonks. This could take a while," Arthur said. Tonks sat in the chair behind the desk opposite Arthur's and Kingsley sat on the edge of Arthur's desk since there wasn't room for another chair. Tonks looked at them questioningly.

Kingsley started. "Tonks, do you believe that You-Know-Who has returned?"

"Yes, I do," she replied quietly, suddenly realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Arthur took over. "What do you know about the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Rumor has it that it's an organization fighting You-Know-Who."

"Yes, you're right. Do you want to be a member?"

"What?"

"I said, do you want to be a member?"

"I heard you fine, Arthur, but - I just - are you serious? I mean...are you both members?"

Kingsley and Arthur both nodded. "Do you want to?" Kingsley asked.

"What happens if I join?"

"We'll take you to the headquarters and explain everything else there."

"And if I don't?"

"We'll take you back to your desk, obliviate you and pretend this conversation never happened," Kingsley replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh...I'll join...but...how do I know this is for real?"

"How much do you trust Dumbledore?"

"I trust him with my life."

"Good. He'll meet us at headquarters."

"Okay, Kingsley, how do we get there?"

"Well, first," Arthur cut in. "Er...Tonks... you're a Metamorphmagus, right?"

"Yeah...and?"

"Well...how many people have seen what you really look like?"

"Just my parents and Siri- and my cousin," Tonks said hurriedly, not wanting them to know how close she had been to Sirius, who was supposed to be right in You-Know-Who's inner circle when she was joining a group fighting specifically against You-Know-Who.

"Which cousin?" asked Kingsley.

"Sirius Black," Tonks said, determinedly looking Kingsley in the eye, suddenly deciding she wasn't going to be ashamed of who she was and who she was related to until someone showed her proof that Sirius wasn't innocent. She thought she saw the faintest hint of a smile on Kingsley's face but it was gone before she could be sure.

Kingsley just nodded, which, if Tonks hadn't been so surprised by the question, she would have found odd since Kingsley was in charge of the Sirius Black case.

"It would be best if you went in your natural form. We're meeting - er - well - we're meeting some of the Order," said Arthur.

Tonks was puzzled by the request and Arthur's stuttering but she obeyed. She closed her eyes and her face relaxed instead of grimacing as she usually did when changing appearances. Tonks' pink hair grew to the middle of her back, thickened and turned a shiny black. Her nose lengthened slightly and her cheekbones became more defined. When Tonks opened her eyes the cheerful violet was gone and in its place was an icy, piercing blue. Tonks looked exactly like the rest of the Black family. Cold and detached; elegant and dignified.

"Wow. You really do look like a Black," Kingsley said quietly.

Tonks frowned, bringing life into her emotionless features. "As long as I don't turn out like them."

Arthur gave a small smile and told Tonks to Apparate to a street called Grimmauld Place. The name sounded vaguely familiar to her but Tonks pushed the thought to the back of her mind and Disapparated with a pop.

They appeared in a rundown neighborhood and before anyone could say a word Albus Dumbledore Apparated silently next to them. "Hello, Arthur, Kingsley, Miss Tonks. Pay close attention," he said, looking directly at Tonks. "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at twelve, Grimmauld Place, London." He nodded to the three of them and walked toward the row of houses and seemed to disappear between numbers eleven and thirteen.

"Wha -"

"Think about what he just said, Tonks," Kingsley interrupted her.

Tonks thought. Just when she had gotten to 'number twelve' a house appeared seeming to push the houses on either side out. Tonks gasped. "Aunt Black's house." It wasn't a question.

"You recognize it, Tonks?" Arthur asked.

"I haven't been here since Aunt Black died when I was twelve, but yes, I recognize it."

Tonks followed Arthur and Kingsley through the front door and promptly tripped over an umbrella stand. Crash!

"Are you okay, Tonks?" asked Kingsley helping her to her feet as several people came around a corner.

A red-headed woman started to speak. "We heard a crash. Is everyone -" but she was cut off by a screech. "Scum! Blood traitors! Freaks! Filthy half-breeds! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers -" Tonks went and stood in front of a pair of curtains that had flown open just before the screeching had started. The woman in the portrait behind the curtains froze with her mouth wide open at the sight of Tonks.

"Hello, Aunt Black," Tonks said calmly.

The woman began to screech louder than before. "You! Filthy half-blood! Shape-shifting abomination! Be gone from this house! How dare you come here -" She was cut off as Arthur and another man wrenched the curtains closed.

"She really doesn't like you, does she?" asked Kingsley. "I've never heard her scream that loudly."

"'Fraid she doesn't," Tonks replied grinning, seemingly pleased with the fact. She turned her attention back to the group of people in the hall. The man that had helped Arthur close the curtains caught her eye.

"Remus?"

The man stared at her a minute. "My God. Dora?"

Tonks pulled the man into a hug and then stepped back to look at him. "I haven't seen you since you baby-sat me when I was six! How are you, Remus?"

"Just fine, and you?" he replied with a smile.

"Great!" she said.

"You look exactly like your mother did when she was your age."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Good...I think."

"Oh, that's encouraging."

"Well, she did look almost identical to her sister, Bellatrix," Remus admitted.

"EWW!" Tonks started to scrunch up her face to change but Kingsley stopped her.

"Tonks, wait for a minute. There's still someone else you have to meet. Come down to the kitchen and we'll introduce you to some other members," said Kingsley, steering her down a set of stairs and into the kitchen. Once everyone was standing around the kitchen Arthur started to introduce them.

"Tonks, this is my wife, Molly," he said nodding to the red-headed woman who smiled warmly. "Hestia Jones" - the black haired witch waved at her old friend from Hogwarts - "Emmeline Vance" - a stately looking witch nodded - "Alastor Moody, otherwise known as Mad-Eye" Tonks smiled at her mentor as he grunted recognition. "And of course Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin." Dumbledore and Remus smiled at Tonks. Tonks grinned around the room.

Suddenly the door opened again and a man with shoulder length, black hair walked in. "Sorry, everybody. I was upstairs feeding Buckbeak. Have I missed anyth -" the man stopped as his eyes fell on Tonks. Tonks was frozen with her mouth part way open staring back at the man.

"Tonks! It's okay!" Kingsley started, obviously thinking Tonks was frightened. "He's innocen -" But Kingsley was cut off by Tonks' scream of "Sirius!" as she ran across the room and threw herself into the man's arms, hugging him tightly. Tonks was laughing and crying at the same time. Sirius was holding her just as tightly and, although he wasn't crying, his eyes were over bright.

When they finally pulled away Remus and Dumbledore were smiling, Arthur, Kingsley and Mad-Eye were standing there shocked and Molly, Hestia and Emmeline were all dabbing at their eyes with Kleenexes.

"Oh my God! I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" Tonks exclaimed, holding Sirius at arms length.

"I didn't think I'd see anyone again," he replied, gently brushing away her tears and offering her a Kleenex. "You still go by Dora instead of Nym -"

"Don't you dare call me that!" she said fiercely, her face now dry.

"Well, I guess so then," he laughed. "Was that you my mother was yelling at? I could hear her all the way upstairs."

"Yeah, that was me. She's still as pleasant as ever, isn't she?" Tonks said with a grin.

Sirius snorted at the though of his mother ever being pleasant and pulled Tonks over to sit at the table. Before they could started talking Dumbledore cut in. "We need to explain why Tonks is here, Sirius, and then you can catch up."

Sirius nodded as everyone else sat down and they proceeded to explain the Order of the Phoenix to Tonks.

(A/N: Like it? Hate it? Any ideas for a new title? Any ideas as to how I can make it sound more 'British'? Should I write a sequel or a companion? Want to push the little review button? Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Come on...you know you want to... Isn't it so pretty? Come on, just one little click... Oh, for Pete's sake, I give up. Just review!!)