Chaptered fic; No challenge
Title: Masquerade
Summary: Tonks has to go undercover as a 13 year old to protect harry from Sirius Black. now she has to fend off love-struck boys, nosey slytherins, remedial potions, and if she could only take her eyes off the new DADA proffessor, maybe she could do her job!
Characters/Pairings: Tonks, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Remus, Sirius.
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 4810
Tonks stared at herself in the mirror. “Kingsley, are you sure I look 13?”
Kingsley looked over his shoulder, grinning. “I suppose. You know, you look kind of cute.”
Tonks poked out her tongue. Sighing, she turned back to the mirror. Shoulder length brown hair, a sampling of freckles over her nose, hazel eyes…she certainly looked normal. Bloody ministry assignments.
“Remind me again why I’m doing this?” she muttered.
Kingsley stood, rolling his eyes. “Because Sirius Black is on the loose, and is going after Harry Potter. We need someone at Hogwarts, Tonks, in case he gets past the dementors again!” He sighed. “And you’re obviously going to manage this better than someone who has to take polyjuice every hour.”
Tonks bit her lip. “You’re right. As usual.”
Of course when Sirius Black had broken out of Azkaban, Fudge had instantly said he was going after potter. And that someone within Hogwarts would be necessary. And she was always the logical choice for this sort of thing, even though this was her first year out of training. Her metamorphing skills were handy for jobs like this. It was a good thing she’d been trained personally for the last year by Mad-eye. At least she was prepared.
Tonks looked at her 13 year old reflection again. Of course, she’d had to change more than her hair to make her look 13… she glanced at her much flatter chest, scowling. She definitely wasn’t happy about that. Kingsley stood behind her, a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He grinned seeing that she now only reached his chest. She scowled even more. She hated being short. Again.
And of course she wouldn’t be in Hufflepuff this time. No, she’d have to be a Gryffindor- all brawn and no brains, from her experience. Kingsley had complained when she’d said this though- he was a Gryffindor. So maybe some of them had brains. But not many.
She shook her head. She thought about the small things too much. Like how she could make friends with Harry in the first place. Kingsley, acting in as her “godfather” was only worried about the fact that she swore too much, and was having trouble getting her stop. They had been arguing all morning- could she take her weird sisters t-shirts, could she still wear her Hogwarts graduation band, would she have to dumb down for class, would she have to treat the teachers like she didn’t know them. They had spent the past week fine tuning her story, and telling people who needed to know. Mainly Arthur Weasley, as he would be taking Harry to the train station, and so would hopefully introduce them. Kingsley didn’t seem to realize you actually had to have things in common to be friends. She wasn’t sure how much she would like Harry, to be honest. He sounded like a bit of an air head.
Kingsley cleared his throat, bringing her out of her thoughts. “It’s after 10. We should go now if you’re going to meet the Weasleys…”
“Right.” She pulled her trunk to the front door; sure it hadn’t been this heavy when she went to school. Sighing, Kingsley took it from her, and carried it to the car. They couldn’t apparate into Kings cross, as there were so many muggles around. Needless to say, Tonks was extremely glad Kingsley could drive her car. A 13 year old driving would raise quite a few questions…
She watched out the window as Kingsley pulled smoothly out onto the road. It was a half hour drive from her small flat to the station- plenty of time for quizzing.
“So… let’s go over your story once more. Who are you?”
Tonks twirled a strand of brown hair around her finger. “I’m Ellie Gray. I’m 13, and I was homeschooled for the last two years.”
“And why are you starting school now?”
“My parents were killed in a car crash in May. And you don’t love me enough to teach me.” She made a face.
“Remind me why my parents have to be dead again? Cant they just have better paying jobs?”
“It’s called pulling for the sympathy vote. In case they can’t stand you. Which, lets face it, is quite possible.” He grinned.
“That’s a low blow.”
“Yeah, well, you have to level with the kid some how. Fudge’s words, not mine!” He said as Tonks opened her mouth to protest.
“Well that’s going to make for a fun introduction, isn’t it? Hi Harry, I’m Ellie, and my parents are dead too! So we have to be best friends!” she rolled her eyes. “Fudge is crap at making up decent cover stories. And you expect me to be able to keep it up for the whole year?”
“You have to. Besides, you want to show Fudge you know what you’re doing. If you weren’t a metamorphmagus, he would be giving this assignment to a higher level auror.”
“Lucky me.”
“Indeed.” They drove in silence for a few blocks. Then Tonks groaned.
“Merlin, I’m fucked.”
“Tonks, please, for the love of Merlin, don’t swear like a pirate in front of the kids. They’re still innocent.”
“You reckon?”
“I know.”
“Ahh. Never such innocence, never before or since, as changed itself to past-”
“And don’t quote muggle poetry to them. A), it’s wasted on them, and B)… it’s just creepy.”
Tonks laughed. “Thanks.”
“And you’re not fucked. You’ll be fine once you get in. just be yourself. Except not.”
Tonks rolled her eyes. “helpful.” She said dryly.
They pulled up outside the station, and got out of the car.
“Right. On with the show!” Tonks said, grinning. Together with Kinglsey, she wheeled her trolley to the barrier between platform nine and ten. Casually, looking bored, she leaned against the barrier, and fell through.
The scarlet steam train stood majestically before her, and she couldn’t help but smile wider. She was excited to be going back. It felt natural as she pushed her trolley through the crowd, looking for the small crowd of red heads. Only it wasn’t Charlie she was looking for this time. It felt strange to be looking for his youngest brother, that was for sure.
“Arthur!”
Kinglsey grabbed her arm, turning her round, where she saw a tall, balding man waving them over. He winked at her.
Alright. Lets do this. Look depressed… your parents are supposed to be dead… act shy…
“Kingsley! Its great to see you! Ah, so this must be Ellie?”
Tonks smiled shyly, looking at the large group of people clustered around him.
“Well, you’re 13, aren’t you? You’ll be in Ron’s year-” he pointed to a tall, gangly redhead boy who grinned, waving.
“- with his friends Hermione and Harry.” A girl with bushy, brown hair smiled, as did a boy with dark, untidy hair and glasses, whom she recognized immediately as harry Potter.
“Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny are at Hogwarts as well.” Arthur said, pointing them out.
“Wotcher.” Tonks said, grinning.
“Do you want to find a compartment with us?” Hermione asked kindly.
“Yeah, that’d be great.” Tonks said sincerely.
“Cool.” Ron said, grabbing his trolley and falling into step beside her as the four of them walked down to the nearest door on the train.
She turned and waved at Kingsley. “Bye!”
“Good luck!” he called. She was going to need it.
“How come you didn’t come to Hogwarts before?” Harry asked.
“I was homeschooled by my parents.”
“So is Kinglsey your Dad then?” Ron asked. Tonks raised an eyebrow at him. Did they even look anything alike?
“No. he’s my godfather.”
“oh. That makes sense. So are your parents at work or something?”
Tonks looked down at her scuffed chucks, shaking her head. “They’re… dead.”
“Oh.” There was an awkward silence
“Sorry.” Hermione said quietly.
“It’s ok. You didn’t know.” She gave a small smile and glanced at the train. “Should we get on here?”
“Sure.” Harry went on first, then turned to help Tonks get hers up. “Sorry about that. Subtlety’s not Ron’s strong point.”
She grinned. “I can tell.”
He grinned back. Maybe he wasn’t such an air head after all.
Tonks had forgotten just how uncomfortable it was to sit on the hard seats for half a day.
The first hour had been filled with uncomfortable silences, made even more awkward by the fact the last free compartment had been occupied by a sleeping adult. Tonks had never seen an adult on the train before, unless they worked on it. So, trying to be nice, she had brought up Quidditch. Always a good conversation starter with guys, from her experience. When in doubt, bring up quidditch. So they had talked about that until the lady who ran the trolley came round, and they had bought some food. Now they were playing exploding snap on top of Hermione’s cat basket.
“Ha, snap!” Ron yelled, throwing his card on top of the pile, wincing in case it blew up. Grinning, he picked them all up. Then they exploded.
Tonks laughed, but they all fell silent as the adult moved. She shrugged, bursting into laughter again. Rubbing his singed eyebrows, Ron handed the cards to Harry to deal. Hermione sat back, pulling a large book out of her bag. Ron rolled his eyes. “Don’t you want to play Hermione?”
“I’d quite like to keep my eyebrows, thank you.” She said stiffly.
“Ellie still has hers.” Harry pointed out. “She’s won five rounds and hasn’t gotten blown up once!”
Tonks shrugged. “What can I say? It’s a talent.”
Harry laughed, grinning.
Tonks grinned back. She seemed to be doing a pretty good job so far.
Harry started to deal the cards, but the train jolted, and they landed all over the floor. The train jolted again, this time to a stand still.
“Bloody hell! What’s happening?” Ron asked.
Harry shrugged. “Maybe we’ve broken down.”
Hermione shook her head. “The Hogwarts express has never broken down in all the years it been transporting students to Hogwarts. I read it in-”
“Hogwarts, a History.” Ron rolled his eyes.
The lights flickered. They were plunged in darkness.
“Ouch, Ron, that was my foot!”
“Well your foot should watch where it’s going!”
The compartment door opened. “Who’s in here?”
“Neville! It’s Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ellie.”
“Oh. Who’s Ellie?” Neville made to sit down, but jumped up as a hiss sounded from beneath him. He moved over, stumbling over Tonks’ feet in the dark. “Sorry!”
“S’ok. I’m Ellie. By the way. I’m new.”
“Oh, right, well, it’s nice to meet you-”
“I’m going to see what’s going on…” Hermione muttered, opening the door again.
“Who’s that?”
“Ginny?”
“Hermione?”
“Come on in, sit down…”
“Not here! I’m here!” harry said awkwardly.
It was getting cold. Tonks could see her breath rising in smoky swirls in front of her face.
“Does anybody know what’s happening?” Ginny asked.
“No, but-”
“Quiet.” A hoarse voice came from the corner. There was a crackle, and the compartment was illuminated by a small flame, sitting in the hand of the unknown adult. He looked around at them all. “Ill go see…” he made to go open the door, but it opened before he touched it.
A giant, scabbed hand twisted its bony fingers round the door, pulling it open. The room got colder. Tonks paled. She knew what was happening… she raised her wand.
The dementor glided in to the open doorway, its sucking, rattling breath echoing throughout the compartment. Tonks suddenly couldn’t breathe- there was a deep, swirling fog, and she was falling…
“Sirius!”
“No, Dora get back!”
“What? Sirius why-”
“Peter no!”
“Reducto.”
“Ellie? Ellie, can you hear me?” she blinked, opening her eyes. The train was moving again, and she was lying across one of the seats. Slowly, she sat up. Her head was spinning. Hermione was slapping Harry, who was unconscious on the floor. The adult was sitting across from her, his face kind and concerned.
“Are you ok?” he asked, frowning as he fumbled with something in his pocket. She nodded. He pulled out a bar of chocolate, and broke a chunk off. “Here. It’ll help.”
“Thanks.” She smiled, but they both turned as a groan signaled Harry had come round.
“What happened?” He asked.
“You went all rigid… we thought you were having a fit or something!”
“What was that thing?”
Tonks opened her mouth, but the adult answered. “A dementor. It was searching the train for Sirius Black.” He broke off more chocolate, and handed it round. “Eat. It’ll help. I’m going to go have a word with the driver, excuse me…” he left.
Harry frowned at the chocolate.
“It really does help.” Tonks said, half way through hers. She could feel the warmth returning to her fingers.
“Who screamed?” Harry asked. They all stared at him.
“No one was screaming, Harry.” Hermione said.
“Yes… a woman. I heard it.” Hermione shook her head.
Tonks bit her lip, guessing what must have happened to Harry when the dementor got to close. She shuddered.
“You ok, Ellie?” Ron asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine…”
“Did anyone else… you know… fall off their seats?” Harry asked quietly.
“Yeah.” Tonks murmured.
“Ginny was shaking like mad.” Ron muttered. Hermione gave the younger girls arm a squeeze.
“But no one else…” Harry trailed off.
Neville shook his head. “Felt weird though… did you notice how cold it got? And I felt… like I’d never be happy again.” The others made sympathetic noises of agreement. Harry looked out the window.
“Don’t worry, Harry. It’s what they do. That’s why they guard Azkaban. They drive everyone crazy.” Tonks told him.
“Except one.” Harry muttered darkly. Tonks bit her lip, knowing perfectly who he was referring to. There was an awkward silence.
“Well… I might go get changed, we can’t be far off now…” Ginny spoke up, and she left, followed by Neville.
The others nodded, sighing, and pulled their trunks down. Tonks opened hers, recoiling from her plain black first year robes. Of course she hadn’t been sorted again, but she felt almost naked without that familiar yellow lining.
“I hope you get put in Gryffindor.” Ron said earnestly.
Tonks grinned, even though she knew she would be in Gryffindor. “Thanks. Me too.”
“Will you have to get sorted with the first years?” Hermione asked. Tonks shook her head.
“I have to go see someone, McGonagall, I think…”
“Yeah, she’s deputy principle, that’d make sense…”
The train slowed as it pulled into Hogsmede station.
“Come on, it’s a shame you wont be able to take the boat ride, it’s really amazing, but you can share a carriage with us. The boys haven’t been in the carriages yet, either. They pull themselves.” Hermione informed her as they got off the train and headed for a long line of carriages.
“Why didn’t you guys take them last year?” Tonks asked curiously. Ron blushed.
“Err…”
“We missed the train, so we took a flying car.” Harry told her, blushing with Ron.
“Wicked! I remember that, it was all over the prophet!” Tonks climbed into a carriage, and was greeted by the familiar smell of straw and mould. She breathed it in. it felt good to be back. They headed off, and she couldn’t help but grin as the magnificent castle rose into view.
“Brilliant, isn’t it?” Ron asked.
“It sure is.” Tonks replied.
This was going to be a good year. No boring paper work, no stupid stuck up male aurors bragging about how great they were, just her, and Hogwarts. And the other 800 or so other students, but she wasn’t being paid to look after them. She sniggered at the thought of seeing Pomona again. She almost laughed out loud when she remembered Snape- this could be quite a fun year. He’d be so impressed to see the one person who had managed to actually blow his class room up back for another round. And she was quite looking forward to it. Some pranking was definitely called for this year. She had a few ideas up her sleeves… she had packed that extra bottle of shampoo for a reason.
Tonks walked into the great hall, looking around, grinning. It felt so good to be back…
“Is Longbottom telling the truth, Potter? You actually fainted?” a cold, drawling voice called from behind her. She turned with Harry, only to see a tall boy with a pale, pointed face and sleek, blonde hair walking up the steps towards them, a gleeful expression on his face.
“Shove off, Malfoy!” Ron threatened.
Malfoy smirked. “Did the big dementor frighten you too?” he laughed with his cronies.
Tonks rolled her eyes. “Shove it up your ass, Malfoy. No one cares what you say.” He stopped laughing and glared at her, shock written all over his face.
“Who are you?”
“Ellie Gray.” She pulled Harry away. “God he’s an ass,” she muttered. Harry grinned. They headed towards the great hall. Tonks turned her head, only to see Malfoy spluttering in the entrance way, looking daggers at her. She poked out her tongue.
“Potter! Gray! Granger! I’d like to see you please!” Tonks looked over to the marble staircase, where McGonagall was waiting. She grinned. How nice it was to see Minnie again… she walked over eagerly, leaving a surprised Harry and Hermione in her wake.
“I’ll save you guy’s seats!” Ron called. “Good luck, Ellie!”
“Thanks Ron!” she called back, practically bouncing as she reached McGonagall, who raised her eyebrows.
“You look much too excited to be back…” She muttered as Harry and Hermione joined them. “It’s alright, don’t look so worried, I just want a word with you two, and of course Ellie needs sorting… so, this way, please…” she led them away from the crowd, down the familiar corridors to her office. She ushered them in, and Tonks saw the old patched hat sitting on the desk.
“Right, first things first. Ellie lets get you sorted. You know what to do.”
Tonks nodded, and sat in the chair as McGonagall put the hat on her head, and once again it slipped over her eyes. She giggled. This was ridiculous…
“What are you doing back? You should be long gone by now…” the hat whispered in her ear.
“I’m on a mission.” She thought.
“Ah… I see… to protect Potter from Sirius Black? Well, that should be interesting for you, family ties and all…”
“Just put me in Gryffindor already!” She thought, impatient.
“Oh, hit a nerve, did I? Very well then… GRYFFINDOR!!” the hat yelled the last word.
The hat was pulled off her head, and she blinked in the bright light.
“Well done!” Hermione squealed. Harry grinned at her, as the door opened, and Madam Pomfrey hustled in, accompanied by Professor Flitwick, who smiled before taking the sorting hat and leaving.
“Oh, you again, is it?” Madam Pomfrey said, pulling on Harry’s arm. “What dangerous activities were you doing this time?”
“What? Nothing, I’m fine!”
The adults ignored his complaining, muttering about having Dementors on school grounds.
“Professor, he really is fine, we’ve already had some chocolate and everything…”
Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow. “Who gave you that?”
“The adult in the compartment with us, we don’t know his name…” Hermione cut in.
“Oh, that’ll be the new defense professor. So we finally have one who knows his remedies?” Madam Pomfrey sounded impressed.
“Well, in that case, Potter, Gray, if you’d wait outside, I’ll just have a quick word with Miss Granger about her timetable, then we can go to the feast together.”
Hermione came out soon, beaming, and McGonagall led the way to the hall. The doors opened as they got there, and Flitwick left, carrying the old hat with him.
“We missed the sorting!” Hermione said softly.
Ron waved them over, grinning as Tonks joined them at their table. “Nice one!” he said, but the hall fell silent before she could answer.
Professor Dumbledore had gotten up. Tonks positively beamed- it felt so right to be sitting here once again, with him standing serenely before them.
“Welcome!” Dumbledore said, smiling at them all. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, before we become too befuddled by our excellent feast. The first and most serious…” he turned to them gravely. “As I’m sure you are aware, after their search of the Hogwarts express, Hogwarts will, for a time, be playing host to the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry business.” He paused. “They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I will ask each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. Dementors are not fooled by disguises, or even invisibility cloaks,” He added blandly, glancing in Harry’s direction. “It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving. They will not distinguish between the one they hunt, and the one who gets in their way. I look to our new head boy and girl, and to the prefects, to ensure that no student runs fowl of the Dementors.” There was a murmur around the hall as everyone contemplated this.
“It’s ‘cause of Black.” A dark boy sitting across from Tonks muttered to his friend, who nodded.
“On a happier note,” Dumbledore continued, “I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to Hogwarts this year. Firstly, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill in the post of Defence against the Dark arts.”
The adult who had been in their compartment stood up, his shabby, patched robes standing out among the other teachers best robes. There was a scattered applause, loudest from those who had been in the compartment with him.
“Look at Snape!” Ron hissed to Harry. Tonks glanced at him, surprised to see the look of utter loathing he was sending Professor Lupin. She knew that look well- she had seen it far too many times- namely each time she had blown something up in his classroom. Why would he hate this new teacher so much?
“As to our second appointment,” Dumbledore continued as the light applause died, “I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn has had to retire, in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to announce, that his place will be taken by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take the job along with his caretaker duties.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione cheered, and the applause was loudest from the Gryffindor table. Tonks, who remembered Hagrid from her time at school, cheered with them, knowing this would mean a lot to him.
“I believe that is all.” Dumbledore announced. “Let the feast begin!”
The golden plates filled with food and drink. Laughing, Tonks helped herself to food, joining in the conversation as the others told her all about Hagrid, and how they couldn’t wait to congratulate him. They ate and drank, and Tonks was introduced to the other Gryffindors in her year- Neville Longbottom, who she’d met on the train, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. They all seemed nice enough, and Tonks was glad they were being friendly to her. They were definitely making her job easier.
Only when every morsel had cleared from the golden platters did Dumbledore stand again, and send them to bed. Tonks hung behind with the other three, who were eager to congratulate Hagrid. She surveyed the hall, taking in all the cheerful students laughing and chatting, and then the staff, many of whom appeared to be in serious conversation. Tonks could easily guess the subject. Her eyes travelled along the staff table. Snape caught her eye and sneered, but she stared back defiantly, before cheekily grinning and poking out her tongue. He turned away, disgusted. Sniggering, she continued down the line, waving to Professor Sprout and winking. But her eyes stopped on Professor Lupin. His lined face was worn and scared, his brown hair thick and graying, yet he looked no older than thirty. He also looked oddly familiar… she didn’t know what it was about him, but she was sure she’d seen him somewhere before. She could almost picture a younger Lupin in her head.
“An’ who’s this?” Hagrid’s booming voice cut through her thoughts.
“Oh, this is Ellie Gray. Ellie, this is Hagrid.”
“Nice to meet you.” She smiled, and he nodded happily.
“You taking care o’ magical creatures?” she nodded. He beamed. “Great!” they would have stayed longer, but McGonagall shooed them away, so they made their way to the Gryffindor common room, Tonks lagging behind because she didn’t remember all the trick stairs, not to mention the fact she’d only ever been to Gryffindor tower a few times when she’d been dating Charlie Weasley. Fortunately, she wasn’t supposed to know her way around. Harry walked slowly with her, telling her how he’d been late all the time in his first year, and not to worry, she’d catch on soon. He always seemed so enthusiastic and happy, yet Tonks was sure he knew Black was after him. That would have put a damper on her school year, but not Harry’s. She was genuinely beginning to like him more and more.
They reached the portrait of the fat lady, told her the password (Fortuna Major) and headed into the common room, where upon they said goodbye to the boys, and Hermione led her up to the girl’s dormitories. She opened a door labeled “third years” and pointed out which bed was to be hers. Sinking into the soft mattress, Tonks smiled to herself. Home at last. Quickly changing into her pajamas, she cuddled up under the sheets, drawing the curtains closed around her. Tomorrow was a new day. Kingsley was going to owl her, and she was going to go back to school. She hoped she hadn’t forgotten everything…
But it appeared she had. Hermione had to shake her awake, because she’d forgotten to set her alarm, and had slept through everyone else’s. Running down the stairs to breakfast, still doing up her buttons and with her red lined robe sticking out of the top of her bag, Tonks marveled at the fact she was actually coherent at this hour. How did these kids do it? The answer was waiting for her at the table: caffeine.
Yawning, she poured herself a large cup of coffee as the boys fell into seats beside her, mumbling “Good morning.” She looked up, rubbing her temple, only to see Malfoy acting out an outrageous swooning fit. Harry glowered.
“Just forget it.” Hermione muttered. Harry looked down at his plate, jaw clenched.
“Hermione’s right, Harry. It’s not your fault he can’t think of anything original to be funny. It must be a Malfoy trait… at the lower end of the gene pool, humor wise…” Ron snorted into his cornflakes. Harry grinned. “Rest assured that I’ll do something even worse that he’ll mock. I’m a most horrific Klutz.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. You can’t be any worse than Neville…”
Tonks grinned, as Fred and George sat with them, handing them a stack of paper. “New third year timetables.”
“Thanks.” Tonks muttered, taking the one labeled ELLIE GRAY, and glancing at the subjects they had that day. Nothing exciting… they didn’t have Defense till the next day… no potions either… she sighed. Divination… she shuddered. Why Harry had chosen that, she’d no idea.
“We’d better get going, Divination is at the top of the north tower, it’ll take us ten minutes to get there.” Hermione interjected, bringing Tonks back to reality. Nodding, she grabbed a piece of toast, waving goodbye to the twins. Today was going to be a long day.
4810/50= 96 points for Gryffindor!
Gini//Gryffindor
Summary: Tonks has to go undercover as a 13 year old to protect harry from Sirius Black. now she has to fend off love-struck boys, nosey slytherins, remedial potions, and if she could only take her eyes off the new DADA proffessor, maybe she could do her job!
Characters/Pairings: Tonks, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Remus, Sirius.
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 4810
Tonks stared at herself in the mirror. “Kingsley, are you sure I look 13?”
Kingsley looked over his shoulder, grinning. “I suppose. You know, you look kind of cute.”
Tonks poked out her tongue. Sighing, she turned back to the mirror. Shoulder length brown hair, a sampling of freckles over her nose, hazel eyes…she certainly looked normal. Bloody ministry assignments.
“Remind me again why I’m doing this?” she muttered.
Kingsley stood, rolling his eyes. “Because Sirius Black is on the loose, and is going after Harry Potter. We need someone at Hogwarts, Tonks, in case he gets past the dementors again!” He sighed. “And you’re obviously going to manage this better than someone who has to take polyjuice every hour.”
Tonks bit her lip. “You’re right. As usual.”
Of course when Sirius Black had broken out of Azkaban, Fudge had instantly said he was going after potter. And that someone within Hogwarts would be necessary. And she was always the logical choice for this sort of thing, even though this was her first year out of training. Her metamorphing skills were handy for jobs like this. It was a good thing she’d been trained personally for the last year by Mad-eye. At least she was prepared.
Tonks looked at her 13 year old reflection again. Of course, she’d had to change more than her hair to make her look 13… she glanced at her much flatter chest, scowling. She definitely wasn’t happy about that. Kingsley stood behind her, a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He grinned seeing that she now only reached his chest. She scowled even more. She hated being short. Again.
And of course she wouldn’t be in Hufflepuff this time. No, she’d have to be a Gryffindor- all brawn and no brains, from her experience. Kingsley had complained when she’d said this though- he was a Gryffindor. So maybe some of them had brains. But not many.
She shook her head. She thought about the small things too much. Like how she could make friends with Harry in the first place. Kingsley, acting in as her “godfather” was only worried about the fact that she swore too much, and was having trouble getting her stop. They had been arguing all morning- could she take her weird sisters t-shirts, could she still wear her Hogwarts graduation band, would she have to dumb down for class, would she have to treat the teachers like she didn’t know them. They had spent the past week fine tuning her story, and telling people who needed to know. Mainly Arthur Weasley, as he would be taking Harry to the train station, and so would hopefully introduce them. Kingsley didn’t seem to realize you actually had to have things in common to be friends. She wasn’t sure how much she would like Harry, to be honest. He sounded like a bit of an air head.
Kingsley cleared his throat, bringing her out of her thoughts. “It’s after 10. We should go now if you’re going to meet the Weasleys…”
“Right.” She pulled her trunk to the front door; sure it hadn’t been this heavy when she went to school. Sighing, Kingsley took it from her, and carried it to the car. They couldn’t apparate into Kings cross, as there were so many muggles around. Needless to say, Tonks was extremely glad Kingsley could drive her car. A 13 year old driving would raise quite a few questions…
She watched out the window as Kingsley pulled smoothly out onto the road. It was a half hour drive from her small flat to the station- plenty of time for quizzing.
“So… let’s go over your story once more. Who are you?”
Tonks twirled a strand of brown hair around her finger. “I’m Ellie Gray. I’m 13, and I was homeschooled for the last two years.”
“And why are you starting school now?”
“My parents were killed in a car crash in May. And you don’t love me enough to teach me.” She made a face.
“Remind me why my parents have to be dead again? Cant they just have better paying jobs?”
“It’s called pulling for the sympathy vote. In case they can’t stand you. Which, lets face it, is quite possible.” He grinned.
“That’s a low blow.”
“Yeah, well, you have to level with the kid some how. Fudge’s words, not mine!” He said as Tonks opened her mouth to protest.
“Well that’s going to make for a fun introduction, isn’t it? Hi Harry, I’m Ellie, and my parents are dead too! So we have to be best friends!” she rolled her eyes. “Fudge is crap at making up decent cover stories. And you expect me to be able to keep it up for the whole year?”
“You have to. Besides, you want to show Fudge you know what you’re doing. If you weren’t a metamorphmagus, he would be giving this assignment to a higher level auror.”
“Lucky me.”
“Indeed.” They drove in silence for a few blocks. Then Tonks groaned.
“Merlin, I’m fucked.”
“Tonks, please, for the love of Merlin, don’t swear like a pirate in front of the kids. They’re still innocent.”
“You reckon?”
“I know.”
“Ahh. Never such innocence, never before or since, as changed itself to past-”
“And don’t quote muggle poetry to them. A), it’s wasted on them, and B)… it’s just creepy.”
Tonks laughed. “Thanks.”
“And you’re not fucked. You’ll be fine once you get in. just be yourself. Except not.”
Tonks rolled her eyes. “helpful.” She said dryly.
They pulled up outside the station, and got out of the car.
“Right. On with the show!” Tonks said, grinning. Together with Kinglsey, she wheeled her trolley to the barrier between platform nine and ten. Casually, looking bored, she leaned against the barrier, and fell through.
The scarlet steam train stood majestically before her, and she couldn’t help but smile wider. She was excited to be going back. It felt natural as she pushed her trolley through the crowd, looking for the small crowd of red heads. Only it wasn’t Charlie she was looking for this time. It felt strange to be looking for his youngest brother, that was for sure.
“Arthur!”
Kinglsey grabbed her arm, turning her round, where she saw a tall, balding man waving them over. He winked at her.
Alright. Lets do this. Look depressed… your parents are supposed to be dead… act shy…
“Kingsley! Its great to see you! Ah, so this must be Ellie?”
Tonks smiled shyly, looking at the large group of people clustered around him.
“Well, you’re 13, aren’t you? You’ll be in Ron’s year-” he pointed to a tall, gangly redhead boy who grinned, waving.
“- with his friends Hermione and Harry.” A girl with bushy, brown hair smiled, as did a boy with dark, untidy hair and glasses, whom she recognized immediately as harry Potter.
“Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny are at Hogwarts as well.” Arthur said, pointing them out.
“Wotcher.” Tonks said, grinning.
“Do you want to find a compartment with us?” Hermione asked kindly.
“Yeah, that’d be great.” Tonks said sincerely.
“Cool.” Ron said, grabbing his trolley and falling into step beside her as the four of them walked down to the nearest door on the train.
She turned and waved at Kingsley. “Bye!”
“Good luck!” he called. She was going to need it.
“How come you didn’t come to Hogwarts before?” Harry asked.
“I was homeschooled by my parents.”
“So is Kinglsey your Dad then?” Ron asked. Tonks raised an eyebrow at him. Did they even look anything alike?
“No. he’s my godfather.”
“oh. That makes sense. So are your parents at work or something?”
Tonks looked down at her scuffed chucks, shaking her head. “They’re… dead.”
“Oh.” There was an awkward silence
“Sorry.” Hermione said quietly.
“It’s ok. You didn’t know.” She gave a small smile and glanced at the train. “Should we get on here?”
“Sure.” Harry went on first, then turned to help Tonks get hers up. “Sorry about that. Subtlety’s not Ron’s strong point.”
She grinned. “I can tell.”
He grinned back. Maybe he wasn’t such an air head after all.
Tonks had forgotten just how uncomfortable it was to sit on the hard seats for half a day.
The first hour had been filled with uncomfortable silences, made even more awkward by the fact the last free compartment had been occupied by a sleeping adult. Tonks had never seen an adult on the train before, unless they worked on it. So, trying to be nice, she had brought up Quidditch. Always a good conversation starter with guys, from her experience. When in doubt, bring up quidditch. So they had talked about that until the lady who ran the trolley came round, and they had bought some food. Now they were playing exploding snap on top of Hermione’s cat basket.
“Ha, snap!” Ron yelled, throwing his card on top of the pile, wincing in case it blew up. Grinning, he picked them all up. Then they exploded.
Tonks laughed, but they all fell silent as the adult moved. She shrugged, bursting into laughter again. Rubbing his singed eyebrows, Ron handed the cards to Harry to deal. Hermione sat back, pulling a large book out of her bag. Ron rolled his eyes. “Don’t you want to play Hermione?”
“I’d quite like to keep my eyebrows, thank you.” She said stiffly.
“Ellie still has hers.” Harry pointed out. “She’s won five rounds and hasn’t gotten blown up once!”
Tonks shrugged. “What can I say? It’s a talent.”
Harry laughed, grinning.
Tonks grinned back. She seemed to be doing a pretty good job so far.
Harry started to deal the cards, but the train jolted, and they landed all over the floor. The train jolted again, this time to a stand still.
“Bloody hell! What’s happening?” Ron asked.
Harry shrugged. “Maybe we’ve broken down.”
Hermione shook her head. “The Hogwarts express has never broken down in all the years it been transporting students to Hogwarts. I read it in-”
“Hogwarts, a History.” Ron rolled his eyes.
The lights flickered. They were plunged in darkness.
“Ouch, Ron, that was my foot!”
“Well your foot should watch where it’s going!”
The compartment door opened. “Who’s in here?”
“Neville! It’s Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ellie.”
“Oh. Who’s Ellie?” Neville made to sit down, but jumped up as a hiss sounded from beneath him. He moved over, stumbling over Tonks’ feet in the dark. “Sorry!”
“S’ok. I’m Ellie. By the way. I’m new.”
“Oh, right, well, it’s nice to meet you-”
“I’m going to see what’s going on…” Hermione muttered, opening the door again.
“Who’s that?”
“Ginny?”
“Hermione?”
“Come on in, sit down…”
“Not here! I’m here!” harry said awkwardly.
It was getting cold. Tonks could see her breath rising in smoky swirls in front of her face.
“Does anybody know what’s happening?” Ginny asked.
“No, but-”
“Quiet.” A hoarse voice came from the corner. There was a crackle, and the compartment was illuminated by a small flame, sitting in the hand of the unknown adult. He looked around at them all. “Ill go see…” he made to go open the door, but it opened before he touched it.
A giant, scabbed hand twisted its bony fingers round the door, pulling it open. The room got colder. Tonks paled. She knew what was happening… she raised her wand.
The dementor glided in to the open doorway, its sucking, rattling breath echoing throughout the compartment. Tonks suddenly couldn’t breathe- there was a deep, swirling fog, and she was falling…
“Sirius!”
“No, Dora get back!”
“What? Sirius why-”
“Peter no!”
“Reducto.”
“Ellie? Ellie, can you hear me?” she blinked, opening her eyes. The train was moving again, and she was lying across one of the seats. Slowly, she sat up. Her head was spinning. Hermione was slapping Harry, who was unconscious on the floor. The adult was sitting across from her, his face kind and concerned.
“Are you ok?” he asked, frowning as he fumbled with something in his pocket. She nodded. He pulled out a bar of chocolate, and broke a chunk off. “Here. It’ll help.”
“Thanks.” She smiled, but they both turned as a groan signaled Harry had come round.
“What happened?” He asked.
“You went all rigid… we thought you were having a fit or something!”
“What was that thing?”
Tonks opened her mouth, but the adult answered. “A dementor. It was searching the train for Sirius Black.” He broke off more chocolate, and handed it round. “Eat. It’ll help. I’m going to go have a word with the driver, excuse me…” he left.
Harry frowned at the chocolate.
“It really does help.” Tonks said, half way through hers. She could feel the warmth returning to her fingers.
“Who screamed?” Harry asked. They all stared at him.
“No one was screaming, Harry.” Hermione said.
“Yes… a woman. I heard it.” Hermione shook her head.
Tonks bit her lip, guessing what must have happened to Harry when the dementor got to close. She shuddered.
“You ok, Ellie?” Ron asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine…”
“Did anyone else… you know… fall off their seats?” Harry asked quietly.
“Yeah.” Tonks murmured.
“Ginny was shaking like mad.” Ron muttered. Hermione gave the younger girls arm a squeeze.
“But no one else…” Harry trailed off.
Neville shook his head. “Felt weird though… did you notice how cold it got? And I felt… like I’d never be happy again.” The others made sympathetic noises of agreement. Harry looked out the window.
“Don’t worry, Harry. It’s what they do. That’s why they guard Azkaban. They drive everyone crazy.” Tonks told him.
“Except one.” Harry muttered darkly. Tonks bit her lip, knowing perfectly who he was referring to. There was an awkward silence.
“Well… I might go get changed, we can’t be far off now…” Ginny spoke up, and she left, followed by Neville.
The others nodded, sighing, and pulled their trunks down. Tonks opened hers, recoiling from her plain black first year robes. Of course she hadn’t been sorted again, but she felt almost naked without that familiar yellow lining.
“I hope you get put in Gryffindor.” Ron said earnestly.
Tonks grinned, even though she knew she would be in Gryffindor. “Thanks. Me too.”
“Will you have to get sorted with the first years?” Hermione asked. Tonks shook her head.
“I have to go see someone, McGonagall, I think…”
“Yeah, she’s deputy principle, that’d make sense…”
The train slowed as it pulled into Hogsmede station.
“Come on, it’s a shame you wont be able to take the boat ride, it’s really amazing, but you can share a carriage with us. The boys haven’t been in the carriages yet, either. They pull themselves.” Hermione informed her as they got off the train and headed for a long line of carriages.
“Why didn’t you guys take them last year?” Tonks asked curiously. Ron blushed.
“Err…”
“We missed the train, so we took a flying car.” Harry told her, blushing with Ron.
“Wicked! I remember that, it was all over the prophet!” Tonks climbed into a carriage, and was greeted by the familiar smell of straw and mould. She breathed it in. it felt good to be back. They headed off, and she couldn’t help but grin as the magnificent castle rose into view.
“Brilliant, isn’t it?” Ron asked.
“It sure is.” Tonks replied.
This was going to be a good year. No boring paper work, no stupid stuck up male aurors bragging about how great they were, just her, and Hogwarts. And the other 800 or so other students, but she wasn’t being paid to look after them. She sniggered at the thought of seeing Pomona again. She almost laughed out loud when she remembered Snape- this could be quite a fun year. He’d be so impressed to see the one person who had managed to actually blow his class room up back for another round. And she was quite looking forward to it. Some pranking was definitely called for this year. She had a few ideas up her sleeves… she had packed that extra bottle of shampoo for a reason.
Tonks walked into the great hall, looking around, grinning. It felt so good to be back…
“Is Longbottom telling the truth, Potter? You actually fainted?” a cold, drawling voice called from behind her. She turned with Harry, only to see a tall boy with a pale, pointed face and sleek, blonde hair walking up the steps towards them, a gleeful expression on his face.
“Shove off, Malfoy!” Ron threatened.
Malfoy smirked. “Did the big dementor frighten you too?” he laughed with his cronies.
Tonks rolled her eyes. “Shove it up your ass, Malfoy. No one cares what you say.” He stopped laughing and glared at her, shock written all over his face.
“Who are you?”
“Ellie Gray.” She pulled Harry away. “God he’s an ass,” she muttered. Harry grinned. They headed towards the great hall. Tonks turned her head, only to see Malfoy spluttering in the entrance way, looking daggers at her. She poked out her tongue.
“Potter! Gray! Granger! I’d like to see you please!” Tonks looked over to the marble staircase, where McGonagall was waiting. She grinned. How nice it was to see Minnie again… she walked over eagerly, leaving a surprised Harry and Hermione in her wake.
“I’ll save you guy’s seats!” Ron called. “Good luck, Ellie!”
“Thanks Ron!” she called back, practically bouncing as she reached McGonagall, who raised her eyebrows.
“You look much too excited to be back…” She muttered as Harry and Hermione joined them. “It’s alright, don’t look so worried, I just want a word with you two, and of course Ellie needs sorting… so, this way, please…” she led them away from the crowd, down the familiar corridors to her office. She ushered them in, and Tonks saw the old patched hat sitting on the desk.
“Right, first things first. Ellie lets get you sorted. You know what to do.”
Tonks nodded, and sat in the chair as McGonagall put the hat on her head, and once again it slipped over her eyes. She giggled. This was ridiculous…
“What are you doing back? You should be long gone by now…” the hat whispered in her ear.
“I’m on a mission.” She thought.
“Ah… I see… to protect Potter from Sirius Black? Well, that should be interesting for you, family ties and all…”
“Just put me in Gryffindor already!” She thought, impatient.
“Oh, hit a nerve, did I? Very well then… GRYFFINDOR!!” the hat yelled the last word.
The hat was pulled off her head, and she blinked in the bright light.
“Well done!” Hermione squealed. Harry grinned at her, as the door opened, and Madam Pomfrey hustled in, accompanied by Professor Flitwick, who smiled before taking the sorting hat and leaving.
“Oh, you again, is it?” Madam Pomfrey said, pulling on Harry’s arm. “What dangerous activities were you doing this time?”
“What? Nothing, I’m fine!”
The adults ignored his complaining, muttering about having Dementors on school grounds.
“Professor, he really is fine, we’ve already had some chocolate and everything…”
Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow. “Who gave you that?”
“The adult in the compartment with us, we don’t know his name…” Hermione cut in.
“Oh, that’ll be the new defense professor. So we finally have one who knows his remedies?” Madam Pomfrey sounded impressed.
“Well, in that case, Potter, Gray, if you’d wait outside, I’ll just have a quick word with Miss Granger about her timetable, then we can go to the feast together.”
Hermione came out soon, beaming, and McGonagall led the way to the hall. The doors opened as they got there, and Flitwick left, carrying the old hat with him.
“We missed the sorting!” Hermione said softly.
Ron waved them over, grinning as Tonks joined them at their table. “Nice one!” he said, but the hall fell silent before she could answer.
Professor Dumbledore had gotten up. Tonks positively beamed- it felt so right to be sitting here once again, with him standing serenely before them.
“Welcome!” Dumbledore said, smiling at them all. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, before we become too befuddled by our excellent feast. The first and most serious…” he turned to them gravely. “As I’m sure you are aware, after their search of the Hogwarts express, Hogwarts will, for a time, be playing host to the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry business.” He paused. “They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I will ask each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. Dementors are not fooled by disguises, or even invisibility cloaks,” He added blandly, glancing in Harry’s direction. “It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving. They will not distinguish between the one they hunt, and the one who gets in their way. I look to our new head boy and girl, and to the prefects, to ensure that no student runs fowl of the Dementors.” There was a murmur around the hall as everyone contemplated this.
“It’s ‘cause of Black.” A dark boy sitting across from Tonks muttered to his friend, who nodded.
“On a happier note,” Dumbledore continued, “I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to Hogwarts this year. Firstly, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill in the post of Defence against the Dark arts.”
The adult who had been in their compartment stood up, his shabby, patched robes standing out among the other teachers best robes. There was a scattered applause, loudest from those who had been in the compartment with him.
“Look at Snape!” Ron hissed to Harry. Tonks glanced at him, surprised to see the look of utter loathing he was sending Professor Lupin. She knew that look well- she had seen it far too many times- namely each time she had blown something up in his classroom. Why would he hate this new teacher so much?
“As to our second appointment,” Dumbledore continued as the light applause died, “I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn has had to retire, in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to announce, that his place will be taken by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take the job along with his caretaker duties.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione cheered, and the applause was loudest from the Gryffindor table. Tonks, who remembered Hagrid from her time at school, cheered with them, knowing this would mean a lot to him.
“I believe that is all.” Dumbledore announced. “Let the feast begin!”
The golden plates filled with food and drink. Laughing, Tonks helped herself to food, joining in the conversation as the others told her all about Hagrid, and how they couldn’t wait to congratulate him. They ate and drank, and Tonks was introduced to the other Gryffindors in her year- Neville Longbottom, who she’d met on the train, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. They all seemed nice enough, and Tonks was glad they were being friendly to her. They were definitely making her job easier.
Only when every morsel had cleared from the golden platters did Dumbledore stand again, and send them to bed. Tonks hung behind with the other three, who were eager to congratulate Hagrid. She surveyed the hall, taking in all the cheerful students laughing and chatting, and then the staff, many of whom appeared to be in serious conversation. Tonks could easily guess the subject. Her eyes travelled along the staff table. Snape caught her eye and sneered, but she stared back defiantly, before cheekily grinning and poking out her tongue. He turned away, disgusted. Sniggering, she continued down the line, waving to Professor Sprout and winking. But her eyes stopped on Professor Lupin. His lined face was worn and scared, his brown hair thick and graying, yet he looked no older than thirty. He also looked oddly familiar… she didn’t know what it was about him, but she was sure she’d seen him somewhere before. She could almost picture a younger Lupin in her head.
“An’ who’s this?” Hagrid’s booming voice cut through her thoughts.
“Oh, this is Ellie Gray. Ellie, this is Hagrid.”
“Nice to meet you.” She smiled, and he nodded happily.
“You taking care o’ magical creatures?” she nodded. He beamed. “Great!” they would have stayed longer, but McGonagall shooed them away, so they made their way to the Gryffindor common room, Tonks lagging behind because she didn’t remember all the trick stairs, not to mention the fact she’d only ever been to Gryffindor tower a few times when she’d been dating Charlie Weasley. Fortunately, she wasn’t supposed to know her way around. Harry walked slowly with her, telling her how he’d been late all the time in his first year, and not to worry, she’d catch on soon. He always seemed so enthusiastic and happy, yet Tonks was sure he knew Black was after him. That would have put a damper on her school year, but not Harry’s. She was genuinely beginning to like him more and more.
They reached the portrait of the fat lady, told her the password (Fortuna Major) and headed into the common room, where upon they said goodbye to the boys, and Hermione led her up to the girl’s dormitories. She opened a door labeled “third years” and pointed out which bed was to be hers. Sinking into the soft mattress, Tonks smiled to herself. Home at last. Quickly changing into her pajamas, she cuddled up under the sheets, drawing the curtains closed around her. Tomorrow was a new day. Kingsley was going to owl her, and she was going to go back to school. She hoped she hadn’t forgotten everything…
But it appeared she had. Hermione had to shake her awake, because she’d forgotten to set her alarm, and had slept through everyone else’s. Running down the stairs to breakfast, still doing up her buttons and with her red lined robe sticking out of the top of her bag, Tonks marveled at the fact she was actually coherent at this hour. How did these kids do it? The answer was waiting for her at the table: caffeine.
Yawning, she poured herself a large cup of coffee as the boys fell into seats beside her, mumbling “Good morning.” She looked up, rubbing her temple, only to see Malfoy acting out an outrageous swooning fit. Harry glowered.
“Just forget it.” Hermione muttered. Harry looked down at his plate, jaw clenched.
“Hermione’s right, Harry. It’s not your fault he can’t think of anything original to be funny. It must be a Malfoy trait… at the lower end of the gene pool, humor wise…” Ron snorted into his cornflakes. Harry grinned. “Rest assured that I’ll do something even worse that he’ll mock. I’m a most horrific Klutz.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. You can’t be any worse than Neville…”
Tonks grinned, as Fred and George sat with them, handing them a stack of paper. “New third year timetables.”
“Thanks.” Tonks muttered, taking the one labeled ELLIE GRAY, and glancing at the subjects they had that day. Nothing exciting… they didn’t have Defense till the next day… no potions either… she sighed. Divination… she shuddered. Why Harry had chosen that, she’d no idea.
“We’d better get going, Divination is at the top of the north tower, it’ll take us ten minutes to get there.” Hermione interjected, bringing Tonks back to reality. Nodding, she grabbed a piece of toast, waving goodbye to the twins. Today was going to be a long day.
4810/50= 96 points for Gryffindor!
Gini//Gryffindor