Part One: Scratching the Surface
Title: Scratching the Surface
Author: gijane7702
Rating & Warnings: PG/cursing
Prompts: "You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."
Word Count: 1502
Summary: Tonks recalls her schooldays.
Author’s Notes: I *love* this particular quote of Dumbledore’s.
I’m taking liberty with Professor Sprout’s character, forgive me. I also don’t believe that she is an ‘official’ member of the Order of the Phoenix, but I can she her as one. Tonks the Hufflepuff…*squee*
My entries are going to run as a sequential series, but they each could be read alone. This is #1. Set post GOF/very early OotP. Thanks to miss_elisa for the betas and to my girls for all their encouragement.
“Nymphadora-” Remus Lupin began.
Nymphadora Tonks shot him a dark look before saying, “Please don’t call me that!”
“I couldn’t help but notice tonight at the meeting that you and Professor Sprout seemed a bit…reserved with one another,” he continued as if she had never spoken.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tonks saw her cousin, Sirius Black, set his chair down. He had been tipping his chair back onto just two legs and drinking directly out of the Firewhisky bottle. “Yeah, I noticed that too! Weren’t you a Hufflepuff, Tonks? On the House Quidditch team too the year you won the Cup?”
Tonks sighed. She had tried her best to be polite and courteous to her former Head of House, but she should have known that these two Order members in particular would have noticed otherwise. In the short time that they had known each other they had become extremely close.
Sirius was like the brother she had never had. They had clicked as if they had known each other their entire lives, not just met. He delighted in taking the mickey at any given chance possible and was extremely protective of her because, as he so bluntly put it, “You’re the only other family member I’d claim to be related to besides your mother.” She felt the same way.
Remus, on the other hand, was a whole different story.
Tonks was frankly sceptical when she had heard that he was a member of the Order. From her limited knowledge of him, all she knew was that he was the big bad werewolf professor that had gotten loose on Hogwarts grounds last year. However, when she had actually met him, she had been surprised by him. And when she actually began know him, she had been shocked.
Simply put, the man was brilliant.
And Tonks was starting to suspect that she was beginning to fancy him.
Dragging her thoughts back to the present conversation, she turned to Sirius and said, “Yes, I was a Hufflepuff, just like Dad. And, yes, I was a Beater on the House Quidditch team the year we won the Cup.” Wanting to avoid answering Remus’ too keen observation, she asked him, “You mind if I crash here tonight with you two? I’m too knackered to Apparate and I just have to be back here bright and early tomorrow morning so we can move into Grimmauld Place.” She smiled slightly as Sirius scrunched up his nose in repulsion.
Remus stood and headed to the stove for some more coffee. “You’re most absolutely welcome to crash here with our two sorry arses-”
“Speak for yourself!” Sirius cried. Tonks giggled at his clear indignation.
Remus ignored him and continued, “I have all the bedrooms made up just in case someone needed to crash. You can have the one next to mine.”
“Cheers, Remus.”
“I’m not a sorry arse,” Sirius told him as Remus sat back down at the kitchen table.
Remus took a sip of coffee, grimacing that it was still too hot, before replying, “Yes…you are.”
Tonks grinned, knowing that a verbal sparring match was about to begin.
“No, Moony, I am not.”
“Are too.”
“Not.”
“Too."
Tonks distinctly felt as if she was in the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory with a pair of first years.
“I,” Sirius said a serious tone that was belied by the grin on his face, “am not. Now you on the other hand-”
“Are a middle aged, unemployed and flat-broke, dangerous werewolf,” Remus supplied.
Tonks came crashing back to reality.
“Oi, Moony, just be a wet blanket why don’t you?”
“Any time you need one, Padfoot,” Remus told him, but he covertly grinned at her. His blue eyes were sparkling and Tonks knew he had done it on purpose.
“Fine. Now that the party’s been ruined by the wet blanket,” Sirius said, standing, “I’m going upstairs to bed. Good night.”
“Good night, Sirius,” Tonks told him. He mussed her pink spikes as he walked by, his way of saying goodnight.
“Good night, Padfoot,” Remus said.
“Good night, wet blanket,” Sirius shot at him before the kitchen door swung shut.
Tonks laughed and Remus grinned. They could hear Sirius’ chuckles as he wound his way through the living room and upstairs.
“So…” she began.
“Don’t know how to follow that, huh?” Remus said.
“What are you, a Legilimens?” Tonks had been thinking that exact thought. When Remus blushed slightly, her eyes went wide, “Oh my goodness, you are!
“I didn’t just then though, Nymphadora. I promise.”
Tonks sighed. “Why do you insist on calling me that?”
Remus took another sip of coffee before answering, “Because it’s your name…” He said it as if it was a completely logical statement.
Tonks knew, logically, it was. “I despise it!” she said vehemently.
“It’s a beautiful name. Why would you despise it?”
“Stupid Black name…” She took a sip of her tea, then muttered, “I introduce myself and people just know…then they judge you.”
Remus looked at her, and then said, “I think we’re going to need something a bit more than just coffee and tea.” He raised his wand and Summoned two bottles of Butterbeer from the pantry. At her questioning eyebrow, he said, “I said a ‘bit more’…unless you want the Firewhisky from the bottle Sirius drank from.”
“No thanks,” Tonks said hastily.
He smiled at her, and then asked, “People can tell from your given name?”
“Well, both names actually. Nymphadora is a very Black name and my parents did make quite a scandal when they eloped.”
“Ah yes…I remember that.”
“See! I use Tonks since it’s the lesser of the two evils…I suppose.”
“Who’s judged you?” Remus asked, and then stopped. Tonks knew he had figured it out when he quietly said, “Professor Sprout did.”
She nodded.
“Pomona…judging an eleven year old girl?” He looked perplexed.
“How well do you know her?” Tonks asked, then remember, “Ah yes…you worked with her for a year.”
“Yes. She was a bit…concerned with Dumbledore’s hiring of me, which, you know, was understandable.” Remus paused as she scowled. “Not many people are as open-minded as you are, Nymph…um, Tonks…but I can’t seeing her judging a young girl.”
Tonks felt a loss at his using her surname instead of her given one. “It’s not that she judged me, I just felt she was never as…friendly to me as the others.”
“Because of your name though?”
“Don’t forget the Metamorphmagus bit as well,” she reminded him.
“Ah yes…” Remus paused for a few moments to ponder that. “But you couldn’t help that, you were born a Metamorphmagus. It’s a genetic mutation of the magical gene that you had absolutely no control over, like Squibs, but on the other end of the magical spectrum…” He trailed off as he realised she was staring at him. “Um…”
“A bit too professor-y,” she told him.
“Yeah, right. Sorry about that.”
Tonks grinned. “Well, she was quite impressed with me tonight when I told her that I was an Auror. I felt some vindication.”
“Once she got to know me better, she was quite a lovely person. Even gave Severus help with brewing me the Wolfsbane Potion.”
“Ew…Snape.” Tonks wrinkled her nose in distaste. “It must have been horrid working with him as well. He was a horrid teacher.” When Remus made a non-committal noise she said, “You, on the other hand, I would have loved to have as a teacher.”
“Cheers, Miss Tonks,” he told her with a grimace.
Realising how what she had said sounded, she blushed. “I’m sorry!”
“Quite all right. I am a fair few years older than you.”
Doing some quick maths in her head, she told him, “Fourteen. Not bad. Young enough that I could fancy you.”
He blushed, and then said, “Fourteen…double sevens…a very magical number.”
“Arithmancy, blah! I took one look at a third year’s book and said no bloody way.”
“I loved it!”
“You would.”
“Funny…that’s what James and Sirius said as well.”
“I can’t see Sirius taking Arithmancy,” Tonks said sceptically.
“He didn’t. Neither did James. They thought they would be funny and take Care of Magical Creatures.” He paused as she spit out a mouthful of Butterbeer. “Yes, that was my reaction as well.”
“They didn’t!” she whispered in a horrified voice.
“Oh…they did,” he told her, flicking his wand to clean her off. “But I was okay with it. In their way it was showing that they cared.”
Tonks thought for a moment, and then said, “Yes, I can see that.”
“They saw past what I was to who I was. You did as well. I just want to thank you for that, Nymphadora. Oh! I’m sorry…”
“It’s all right, Remus,” she told him, blushing slightly. “I understand where you’re coming from. I do believe you and I shall become very good mates.”
Remus raised his Butterbeer bottle. “To new friendships.”
“To new friendships,” she echoed, raising her bottle as well.
And hopefully more, Tonks thought as they both drank.
Author: gijane7702
Rating & Warnings: PG/cursing
Prompts: "You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."
Word Count: 1502
Summary: Tonks recalls her schooldays.
Author’s Notes: I *love* this particular quote of Dumbledore’s.
I’m taking liberty with Professor Sprout’s character, forgive me. I also don’t believe that she is an ‘official’ member of the Order of the Phoenix, but I can she her as one. Tonks the Hufflepuff…*squee*
My entries are going to run as a sequential series, but they each could be read alone. This is #1. Set post GOF/very early OotP. Thanks to miss_elisa for the betas and to my girls for all their encouragement.
“Nymphadora-” Remus Lupin began.
Nymphadora Tonks shot him a dark look before saying, “Please don’t call me that!”
“I couldn’t help but notice tonight at the meeting that you and Professor Sprout seemed a bit…reserved with one another,” he continued as if she had never spoken.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tonks saw her cousin, Sirius Black, set his chair down. He had been tipping his chair back onto just two legs and drinking directly out of the Firewhisky bottle. “Yeah, I noticed that too! Weren’t you a Hufflepuff, Tonks? On the House Quidditch team too the year you won the Cup?”
Tonks sighed. She had tried her best to be polite and courteous to her former Head of House, but she should have known that these two Order members in particular would have noticed otherwise. In the short time that they had known each other they had become extremely close.
Sirius was like the brother she had never had. They had clicked as if they had known each other their entire lives, not just met. He delighted in taking the mickey at any given chance possible and was extremely protective of her because, as he so bluntly put it, “You’re the only other family member I’d claim to be related to besides your mother.” She felt the same way.
Remus, on the other hand, was a whole different story.
Tonks was frankly sceptical when she had heard that he was a member of the Order. From her limited knowledge of him, all she knew was that he was the big bad werewolf professor that had gotten loose on Hogwarts grounds last year. However, when she had actually met him, she had been surprised by him. And when she actually began know him, she had been shocked.
Simply put, the man was brilliant.
And Tonks was starting to suspect that she was beginning to fancy him.
Dragging her thoughts back to the present conversation, she turned to Sirius and said, “Yes, I was a Hufflepuff, just like Dad. And, yes, I was a Beater on the House Quidditch team the year we won the Cup.” Wanting to avoid answering Remus’ too keen observation, she asked him, “You mind if I crash here tonight with you two? I’m too knackered to Apparate and I just have to be back here bright and early tomorrow morning so we can move into Grimmauld Place.” She smiled slightly as Sirius scrunched up his nose in repulsion.
Remus stood and headed to the stove for some more coffee. “You’re most absolutely welcome to crash here with our two sorry arses-”
“Speak for yourself!” Sirius cried. Tonks giggled at his clear indignation.
Remus ignored him and continued, “I have all the bedrooms made up just in case someone needed to crash. You can have the one next to mine.”
“Cheers, Remus.”
“I’m not a sorry arse,” Sirius told him as Remus sat back down at the kitchen table.
Remus took a sip of coffee, grimacing that it was still too hot, before replying, “Yes…you are.”
Tonks grinned, knowing that a verbal sparring match was about to begin.
“No, Moony, I am not.”
“Are too.”
“Not.”
“Too."
Tonks distinctly felt as if she was in the Gryffindor boys’ dormitory with a pair of first years.
“I,” Sirius said a serious tone that was belied by the grin on his face, “am not. Now you on the other hand-”
“Are a middle aged, unemployed and flat-broke, dangerous werewolf,” Remus supplied.
Tonks came crashing back to reality.
“Oi, Moony, just be a wet blanket why don’t you?”
“Any time you need one, Padfoot,” Remus told him, but he covertly grinned at her. His blue eyes were sparkling and Tonks knew he had done it on purpose.
“Fine. Now that the party’s been ruined by the wet blanket,” Sirius said, standing, “I’m going upstairs to bed. Good night.”
“Good night, Sirius,” Tonks told him. He mussed her pink spikes as he walked by, his way of saying goodnight.
“Good night, Padfoot,” Remus said.
“Good night, wet blanket,” Sirius shot at him before the kitchen door swung shut.
Tonks laughed and Remus grinned. They could hear Sirius’ chuckles as he wound his way through the living room and upstairs.
“So…” she began.
“Don’t know how to follow that, huh?” Remus said.
“What are you, a Legilimens?” Tonks had been thinking that exact thought. When Remus blushed slightly, her eyes went wide, “Oh my goodness, you are!
“I didn’t just then though, Nymphadora. I promise.”
Tonks sighed. “Why do you insist on calling me that?”
Remus took another sip of coffee before answering, “Because it’s your name…” He said it as if it was a completely logical statement.
Tonks knew, logically, it was. “I despise it!” she said vehemently.
“It’s a beautiful name. Why would you despise it?”
“Stupid Black name…” She took a sip of her tea, then muttered, “I introduce myself and people just know…then they judge you.”
Remus looked at her, and then said, “I think we’re going to need something a bit more than just coffee and tea.” He raised his wand and Summoned two bottles of Butterbeer from the pantry. At her questioning eyebrow, he said, “I said a ‘bit more’…unless you want the Firewhisky from the bottle Sirius drank from.”
“No thanks,” Tonks said hastily.
He smiled at her, and then asked, “People can tell from your given name?”
“Well, both names actually. Nymphadora is a very Black name and my parents did make quite a scandal when they eloped.”
“Ah yes…I remember that.”
“See! I use Tonks since it’s the lesser of the two evils…I suppose.”
“Who’s judged you?” Remus asked, and then stopped. Tonks knew he had figured it out when he quietly said, “Professor Sprout did.”
She nodded.
“Pomona…judging an eleven year old girl?” He looked perplexed.
“How well do you know her?” Tonks asked, then remember, “Ah yes…you worked with her for a year.”
“Yes. She was a bit…concerned with Dumbledore’s hiring of me, which, you know, was understandable.” Remus paused as she scowled. “Not many people are as open-minded as you are, Nymph…um, Tonks…but I can’t seeing her judging a young girl.”
Tonks felt a loss at his using her surname instead of her given one. “It’s not that she judged me, I just felt she was never as…friendly to me as the others.”
“Because of your name though?”
“Don’t forget the Metamorphmagus bit as well,” she reminded him.
“Ah yes…” Remus paused for a few moments to ponder that. “But you couldn’t help that, you were born a Metamorphmagus. It’s a genetic mutation of the magical gene that you had absolutely no control over, like Squibs, but on the other end of the magical spectrum…” He trailed off as he realised she was staring at him. “Um…”
“A bit too professor-y,” she told him.
“Yeah, right. Sorry about that.”
Tonks grinned. “Well, she was quite impressed with me tonight when I told her that I was an Auror. I felt some vindication.”
“Once she got to know me better, she was quite a lovely person. Even gave Severus help with brewing me the Wolfsbane Potion.”
“Ew…Snape.” Tonks wrinkled her nose in distaste. “It must have been horrid working with him as well. He was a horrid teacher.” When Remus made a non-committal noise she said, “You, on the other hand, I would have loved to have as a teacher.”
“Cheers, Miss Tonks,” he told her with a grimace.
Realising how what she had said sounded, she blushed. “I’m sorry!”
“Quite all right. I am a fair few years older than you.”
Doing some quick maths in her head, she told him, “Fourteen. Not bad. Young enough that I could fancy you.”
He blushed, and then said, “Fourteen…double sevens…a very magical number.”
“Arithmancy, blah! I took one look at a third year’s book and said no bloody way.”
“I loved it!”
“You would.”
“Funny…that’s what James and Sirius said as well.”
“I can’t see Sirius taking Arithmancy,” Tonks said sceptically.
“He didn’t. Neither did James. They thought they would be funny and take Care of Magical Creatures.” He paused as she spit out a mouthful of Butterbeer. “Yes, that was my reaction as well.”
“They didn’t!” she whispered in a horrified voice.
“Oh…they did,” he told her, flicking his wand to clean her off. “But I was okay with it. In their way it was showing that they cared.”
Tonks thought for a moment, and then said, “Yes, I can see that.”
“They saw past what I was to who I was. You did as well. I just want to thank you for that, Nymphadora. Oh! I’m sorry…”
“It’s all right, Remus,” she told him, blushing slightly. “I understand where you’re coming from. I do believe you and I shall become very good mates.”
Remus raised his Butterbeer bottle. “To new friendships.”
“To new friendships,” she echoed, raising her bottle as well.
And hopefully more, Tonks thought as they both drank.