Fic: "Some Hope For You After All", for gunderpants
Title: Some Hope For You After All
Author: paradise_loved
Recipient: gunderpants
Rating: PG-13ish
Character(s): Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, Minerva, mentions of Snape, Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Warnings: Some language.
Summary: Tonks finds that being a new member to the Order of the Phoenix is harder than she expected.
Author's notes: I tried my best to include a few altered quotes from Arrested Development and Veronica Mars. I hope this satisfies your request of homages, which I did my best to work in. This is definitely one of the trickier prompts I've written - but I hope you enjoy it! =)
Some Hope For You After All
Tonks dropped the trunk she was carrying in the foyer of Number 12 Grimmauld Place when she heard her name shouted. Both her hair and face turned a marvelous shade of light pink with embarrassment as she looked to her left to see Minerva McGonagall coming up to greet her.
"Professor! I - oh, shit," she stammered, glancing down at her now open trunk on the floor, "er, how have you been?"
"Oh, Tonks, already you've dropped your things everywhere?" Sirius joked, coming down from around the same corner and bending down to reorganize her luggage. "You'll have to forgive my cousin. She's been dropping things since she's been able to hold them, as I've heard."
"I do distinctly remember Nymphadora's clumsiness from my NEWT Transfiguration class," McGonagall said with a dry laugh. "It certainly was one of the most original transfigurations of a pet into a bureau."
"You were able to put my cat right in the end, Professor," Tonks replied in a near whisper, rather abashed that this was how her first five minutes with the Order of the Phoenix were going. "It wasn't - I mean - there were worse things that have happened, I'm sure."
"Oh, of course there were," McGonagall practically scoffed, "and you don't need to address me as 'Professor' any more, Nymphadora. Luckily enough for both of us, you are no longer sixteen. How did Auror training finish up?"
"Fantastic," Tonks answered with a confident nod. This was a better conversation to be having. "I was completely surprised when Kingsley pulled me aside to tell me about this whole…" She paused for a moment, motioning to both Sirius and McGonagall, "... establishment. I had no idea that - well - I'm sure most wizards and witches don't know about this. But I'm sure this is more effective than anything Fudge is trying."
With a smile, McGonagall excused herself from the foyer and went back into the house. Sirius led his cousin up the stairs and invited her to pick out a bedroom for the next few weeks. "None of them are particularly cheerful, I'm afraid," he warned her as he levitated her trunk over his head.
"Miserable, wasn't it?" Tonks asked solemnly as she picked a small bedroom with an outdoor view of the overgrown backyard. Cobwebs surrounded the small circular windows and paint peeled from the walls. The bed looked as if no one had dared to sleep in it for at least five years and the pillows looked as if someone had taken all of the feathers out of them.
"Well, this wasn't my room, but I did particularly enjoy spending summers away from here - "
"No, I was talking about what just happened downstairs," Tonks complained. "I wasn't the best student at Hogwarts when it came to behavior and the last thing I need here is to look like some stupid troublemaker who was able to pull good marks. I'm probably not worth shit around here if they've got someone as brilliant as an Auror as Kingsley."
"I can create some buzz about you, if you like," Sirius offered. "'That Tonks is some kind of something. Boy, this Tonks is all anybody's ever talking about. So sick and tired of hearing about how brilliant that Tonks is. Overrated.'"
Tonks laughed loudly. "No, that's all right. They obviously invited me for a reason, I'm sure. Who else is involved in this?"
"Well, you've met Minerva and myself, and I'm sure you know Dumbledore. Kingsley, Mundungus Fletcher, Arabella Figg - though I'm not quite sure myself who that actually is - and Severus Snape," he added with a scowl.
"No! The Potions professor? That can't - what?"
"I know! He's damn impossible and you'd think he wouldn't associate himself with this..." Sirius paused for a moment. "But he does. I still hate him. He really only speaks to Dumbledore when he comes for meetings, which, I'll admit, only began two weeks ago. That - and Remus - "
"Remus?"
"Remus Lupin. I - oh, you don't know him," he realized suddenly. "He's one of my mates from my days at Hogwarts. He's nice, just like a marshmallow, really. Remus Lupin is a marshmallow."
Tonks nodded vaguely, surprised at the analogy her cousin had made, and motioned down toward her trunk. "I should maybe get settled in or something like that."
"Of course, I'll leave you to it," he replied with a nod.
The next few days passed by uneventfully for Tonks. Snape stopped by two days after Tonks arrived, and she greeted him duly by accidentally spilling her pumpkin juice all over his cloak. It was black, anyway, Tonks reminded herself after being called a 'fool' by him. That particular cloak couldn't have meant that much anyway, could it? All of his cloaks were black.
She wasn't the only member of the Order who hadn't fought in the war the first time, but it certainly felt that way at the dinner meetings. Tonks was consistently being corrected by someone (typically Moody, but Snape had gotten yet another opportunity to call her a fool when she inquired what Harry Potter was doing living with Muggles) and the talk at the table was usually on how to get Harry Potter to the headquarters within the next month. As much as she was against Voldemort and for the cause of the Order, she found this endless talk of Harry Potter particularly boring as it went on into the early morning sometimes. When she grew restless, someone usually was quick to remind her that she had been invited on recommendation only. At one point, she tripped over the umbrella stand on her way into the kitchen, and Moody had growled, "We can write Charlie Weasley right back and tell him that he shouldn't recommend any more members, you know!" After that incident, Tonks had learned that it was best to not only watch where she was walking, but to just stop speaking.
Nearly a week after she had arrived, Tonks was still unpacking when she heard the slam of a trunk that sounded three times heavier than hers. She glanced towards the doorway of the room to see a haggard-looking man with a young face reflecting times of trouble.
"Oh - I - Sirius told me that the third bedroom on the right was available, but it would appear either he miscounted or I did," the man rasped, pushing some strands of grey hair out of his face. "Sorry."
"No, it's fine," Tonks replied after a moment, a little surprised to hear someone speak softly after night after night of meetings that typically ended with Moody getting far too worked up. "I'm Nymphadora Tonks. But everyone calls me Tonks, really."
She stood up and approached him, wiping her sweaty hands on her jeans and extending one towards him. He shook it cordially and added, "Remus Lupin."
Tonks stifled a laugh, but it quickly turned into a snort that she regretted.
"What?"
"Nothing. Sirius just told me some things about you," she admitted.
"Well, Severus Snape has told nearly everyone some things about you, and don't worry, the pumpkin juice came out eventually," Lupin replied plainly.
Tonks paused and didn't reply for a moment. A marshmallow, indeed.
Lupin stared at her for a moment, and then bent down to pick up his trunk. "That was probably rude. I'll see you around here for the next few weeks."
"No, I shouldn't have laughed at you," she admitted. "It's not my fault Sirius called you a marshmallow, though."
"That bastard," Lupin groaned. "He's probably right. So you're obviously a great deal younger than Moody; how'd you hear about the Order?"
"Charlie Weasley sent in a recommendation letter for me. We were at Hogwarts together and were - er - together for a bit. Apparently I left enough of an impression before he went to Romania to be with his dragons. He told them that I would be the kind of quick-witted individual they would need. Though I'm starting to believe that they're regretting that decision, even though I'm an Auror," Tonks added grimly.
"What made you decide to be an Auror?"
"Well… Dark magic is out there whether You-Know-Who is around or not, isn't it? And Death Eaters aren't just here to be our friends, are they?"
Lupin chuckled.
"But I think they've realized that young blood in the Order is more difficult than they expected," Tonks added. "I just completed my training in this past year."
"Young blood's excellent, I would say," Lupin exclaimed, a touch of surprise on his rough face. "You've got blokes like me and Sirius who have been around since the first time - and god knows how old Moody actually is - and it's a better idea to have those who know how it's going to work in today's world, rather than that of fifteen years ago. I was… friends with James and Lily Potter."
"I'm Sirius's cousin, if that amounts to anything, which I would guess it doesn't. I've been corrected and reprimanded nearly fifty times in the last week."
"You're Sirius's cousin?" Lupin laughed. "I would guess there's probably some hope for you after all, then. At least at winning over my vote. Anyone who spills on Severus Snape and makes it look like an accident - "
" - but it was!"
"You're not fooling anyone, but don't worry, I won't tell him. He deserved it."
With a nod, Lupin turned around and carried his trunk out of the room. Tonks grinned; maybe there was some hope for her after all.
Author: paradise_loved
Recipient: gunderpants
Rating: PG-13ish
Character(s): Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, Minerva, mentions of Snape, Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Warnings: Some language.
Summary: Tonks finds that being a new member to the Order of the Phoenix is harder than she expected.
Author's notes: I tried my best to include a few altered quotes from Arrested Development and Veronica Mars. I hope this satisfies your request of homages, which I did my best to work in. This is definitely one of the trickier prompts I've written - but I hope you enjoy it! =)
Some Hope For You After All
Tonks dropped the trunk she was carrying in the foyer of Number 12 Grimmauld Place when she heard her name shouted. Both her hair and face turned a marvelous shade of light pink with embarrassment as she looked to her left to see Minerva McGonagall coming up to greet her.
"Professor! I - oh, shit," she stammered, glancing down at her now open trunk on the floor, "er, how have you been?"
"Oh, Tonks, already you've dropped your things everywhere?" Sirius joked, coming down from around the same corner and bending down to reorganize her luggage. "You'll have to forgive my cousin. She's been dropping things since she's been able to hold them, as I've heard."
"I do distinctly remember Nymphadora's clumsiness from my NEWT Transfiguration class," McGonagall said with a dry laugh. "It certainly was one of the most original transfigurations of a pet into a bureau."
"You were able to put my cat right in the end, Professor," Tonks replied in a near whisper, rather abashed that this was how her first five minutes with the Order of the Phoenix were going. "It wasn't - I mean - there were worse things that have happened, I'm sure."
"Oh, of course there were," McGonagall practically scoffed, "and you don't need to address me as 'Professor' any more, Nymphadora. Luckily enough for both of us, you are no longer sixteen. How did Auror training finish up?"
"Fantastic," Tonks answered with a confident nod. This was a better conversation to be having. "I was completely surprised when Kingsley pulled me aside to tell me about this whole…" She paused for a moment, motioning to both Sirius and McGonagall, "... establishment. I had no idea that - well - I'm sure most wizards and witches don't know about this. But I'm sure this is more effective than anything Fudge is trying."
With a smile, McGonagall excused herself from the foyer and went back into the house. Sirius led his cousin up the stairs and invited her to pick out a bedroom for the next few weeks. "None of them are particularly cheerful, I'm afraid," he warned her as he levitated her trunk over his head.
"Miserable, wasn't it?" Tonks asked solemnly as she picked a small bedroom with an outdoor view of the overgrown backyard. Cobwebs surrounded the small circular windows and paint peeled from the walls. The bed looked as if no one had dared to sleep in it for at least five years and the pillows looked as if someone had taken all of the feathers out of them.
"Well, this wasn't my room, but I did particularly enjoy spending summers away from here - "
"No, I was talking about what just happened downstairs," Tonks complained. "I wasn't the best student at Hogwarts when it came to behavior and the last thing I need here is to look like some stupid troublemaker who was able to pull good marks. I'm probably not worth shit around here if they've got someone as brilliant as an Auror as Kingsley."
"I can create some buzz about you, if you like," Sirius offered. "'That Tonks is some kind of something. Boy, this Tonks is all anybody's ever talking about. So sick and tired of hearing about how brilliant that Tonks is. Overrated.'"
Tonks laughed loudly. "No, that's all right. They obviously invited me for a reason, I'm sure. Who else is involved in this?"
"Well, you've met Minerva and myself, and I'm sure you know Dumbledore. Kingsley, Mundungus Fletcher, Arabella Figg - though I'm not quite sure myself who that actually is - and Severus Snape," he added with a scowl.
"No! The Potions professor? That can't - what?"
"I know! He's damn impossible and you'd think he wouldn't associate himself with this..." Sirius paused for a moment. "But he does. I still hate him. He really only speaks to Dumbledore when he comes for meetings, which, I'll admit, only began two weeks ago. That - and Remus - "
"Remus?"
"Remus Lupin. I - oh, you don't know him," he realized suddenly. "He's one of my mates from my days at Hogwarts. He's nice, just like a marshmallow, really. Remus Lupin is a marshmallow."
Tonks nodded vaguely, surprised at the analogy her cousin had made, and motioned down toward her trunk. "I should maybe get settled in or something like that."
"Of course, I'll leave you to it," he replied with a nod.
The next few days passed by uneventfully for Tonks. Snape stopped by two days after Tonks arrived, and she greeted him duly by accidentally spilling her pumpkin juice all over his cloak. It was black, anyway, Tonks reminded herself after being called a 'fool' by him. That particular cloak couldn't have meant that much anyway, could it? All of his cloaks were black.
She wasn't the only member of the Order who hadn't fought in the war the first time, but it certainly felt that way at the dinner meetings. Tonks was consistently being corrected by someone (typically Moody, but Snape had gotten yet another opportunity to call her a fool when she inquired what Harry Potter was doing living with Muggles) and the talk at the table was usually on how to get Harry Potter to the headquarters within the next month. As much as she was against Voldemort and for the cause of the Order, she found this endless talk of Harry Potter particularly boring as it went on into the early morning sometimes. When she grew restless, someone usually was quick to remind her that she had been invited on recommendation only. At one point, she tripped over the umbrella stand on her way into the kitchen, and Moody had growled, "We can write Charlie Weasley right back and tell him that he shouldn't recommend any more members, you know!" After that incident, Tonks had learned that it was best to not only watch where she was walking, but to just stop speaking.
Nearly a week after she had arrived, Tonks was still unpacking when she heard the slam of a trunk that sounded three times heavier than hers. She glanced towards the doorway of the room to see a haggard-looking man with a young face reflecting times of trouble.
"Oh - I - Sirius told me that the third bedroom on the right was available, but it would appear either he miscounted or I did," the man rasped, pushing some strands of grey hair out of his face. "Sorry."
"No, it's fine," Tonks replied after a moment, a little surprised to hear someone speak softly after night after night of meetings that typically ended with Moody getting far too worked up. "I'm Nymphadora Tonks. But everyone calls me Tonks, really."
She stood up and approached him, wiping her sweaty hands on her jeans and extending one towards him. He shook it cordially and added, "Remus Lupin."
Tonks stifled a laugh, but it quickly turned into a snort that she regretted.
"What?"
"Nothing. Sirius just told me some things about you," she admitted.
"Well, Severus Snape has told nearly everyone some things about you, and don't worry, the pumpkin juice came out eventually," Lupin replied plainly.
Tonks paused and didn't reply for a moment. A marshmallow, indeed.
Lupin stared at her for a moment, and then bent down to pick up his trunk. "That was probably rude. I'll see you around here for the next few weeks."
"No, I shouldn't have laughed at you," she admitted. "It's not my fault Sirius called you a marshmallow, though."
"That bastard," Lupin groaned. "He's probably right. So you're obviously a great deal younger than Moody; how'd you hear about the Order?"
"Charlie Weasley sent in a recommendation letter for me. We were at Hogwarts together and were - er - together for a bit. Apparently I left enough of an impression before he went to Romania to be with his dragons. He told them that I would be the kind of quick-witted individual they would need. Though I'm starting to believe that they're regretting that decision, even though I'm an Auror," Tonks added grimly.
"What made you decide to be an Auror?"
"Well… Dark magic is out there whether You-Know-Who is around or not, isn't it? And Death Eaters aren't just here to be our friends, are they?"
Lupin chuckled.
"But I think they've realized that young blood in the Order is more difficult than they expected," Tonks added. "I just completed my training in this past year."
"Young blood's excellent, I would say," Lupin exclaimed, a touch of surprise on his rough face. "You've got blokes like me and Sirius who have been around since the first time - and god knows how old Moody actually is - and it's a better idea to have those who know how it's going to work in today's world, rather than that of fifteen years ago. I was… friends with James and Lily Potter."
"I'm Sirius's cousin, if that amounts to anything, which I would guess it doesn't. I've been corrected and reprimanded nearly fifty times in the last week."
"You're Sirius's cousin?" Lupin laughed. "I would guess there's probably some hope for you after all, then. At least at winning over my vote. Anyone who spills on Severus Snape and makes it look like an accident - "
" - but it was!"
"You're not fooling anyone, but don't worry, I won't tell him. He deserved it."
With a nod, Lupin turned around and carried his trunk out of the room. Tonks grinned; maybe there was some hope for her after all.