Author's Note:

Hey everybody, this is my first time writing a Lupin/Tonks fan fic...well actually first time writing a fan fic on here in general, so please do support! ^_^

Reviews and constructive criticism is much appreciated, thanks!

Oh and I think my chapters are too long, please review and tell me what you think.

By the way, the first chapter is kinda eh to me, please tell me what you think.

Thank you so much!

Chapter 01 – Number 12, Grimmauld Place

Outside in the darkness of the summer night, the black sky was raining hard with the full moon high in the sky. The rain pounded down in a calm and settling beat but the cooling thunder broke the tranquility. Under the rain stood two people, Aurors. One was a battle-torn man, a tall and bulky veteran with a mad mechanical eye. The other Auror was a young witch with vivid pink hair and a pale, heart-shaped face. Her colorful hair and long swaying robes were drenched.

Great, wet and cold. She thought to herself.

The man handed her a small piece of parchment. She raised an eyebrow in confusion.

The location of the Order of the Phoenix is Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London.

"Mad-Eye," she began, calling the famous Auror Mad-Eye Moody. "What does this…?"

"Don't speak, just think about it," the man growled in a low, scratchy voice.

Another house soon appeared, squeezing itself between two buildings. It had an uninviting glow to it, with odd angles and a gloomy presence. The two Aurors stepped quickly up the stone steps, knocking loudly on the creaking black door.

"I want you to be in constant vigilance in there. Don't make unnecessary noises."

"Paranoid as always Mad-Eye," the pink haired witch sighed. "What could possible happen?" She asked him, rolling her eyes at her mentor.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," he snapped.

The door suddenly opened, revealing a narrow hallway dark and black that wreaked with something close to death. She saw odd decorations on the shelves, mostly of elf heads, and covered paintings. The wallpaper was peeling and the house itself looked like that of a horror movie. In the doorway stood a red-headed woman with gentle eyes and a motherly aura to her. Along with her warm and pleasant smile, she was a complete contradiction to the house. The aged woman beckoned them in and slammed the creaking door shut behind them. When she turned to them, she had a look of surprise, shaking her head and with a flick of her wand, cleaned and dried them both from the rain.

"Always so nurturing," Mad-Eye grumbled but warmer. "Molly Weasley, meet the newest member of the Order of the Phoenix, Nymphadora Tonks."

"Oh nice to meet you Nymphadora," she smiled in such a soothing and warm voice.

Molly's gentleness made it hard for Tonks to get mad, even at the mentioning of her first name she hated so much. "It's just Tonks," she reminded amiable. "Wotcher," she smiled.

"Oh Tonks dear, welcome to Grimmauld Place," Molly smiled as she led them down the hall. "We're having dinner in the kitchen, please join us. Arthur's still at a meeting with the Ministry and so the table is a little empty right now. Meeting's not till tomorrow evening so to make it easier for you you're welcome to stay the night and please do make yourself at home."

Tonks liked that woman. She was bustling, welcoming, and kind. She followed Mad-Eye and Molly into the kitchen down the narrow and rather creepy hallway, reaching a long dining table that seemed to already be seating several others. She was immediately greeted warmly by a group of red-headed children, an uncaring boy in his mid-teens seated next to a girl with fluffy brown hair who smiled at her kindly. There was a girl who strongly resembled Molly with flaming red hair, and two twins sitting side by side with wide smirks on their faces. If that was what Molly called an empty table, Tonks wondered what a full table looked like to her. The teen red-haired girl gleamed at her, grinning at the sight of her much preferred bubblegum pink hair. Tonks had the sense to make her hair even brighter and almost glowing, almost.

"Nice hair!" the red-haired girl smiled excitedly. "Love the color! I'm Ginny Weasley."

"Wotcher Ginny, I'm Tonks and thanks!" she smiled, taking a seat beside her.

"You're a metamorphmagus?" the brown haired girl asked politely. "I'm Hermione Granger by the way. Your purple hair gave it away," she smiled as Tonks raised an eyebrow.

"A what now?" the uncaring boy beside her asked.

"Yeah, I am." Tonks smiled a bit awkwardly.

I guess getting this conversation out of the way is a good idea.

"Oh does that mean you can morph into whatever? Please show us!" Ginny grinned.

One morph doesn't hurt does it? Not until they start making requests though.

Tonks wrinkled her nose and closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment. Duck beak. She tried to think of the most obnoxious morph at the moment and when she opened her eyes, her nose and mouth had shifted into that of a duck, bright yellow and completely obnoxious. When the kids, along with Molly had their eyes widened in excitement and shock, she changed back and smiled. Success.

"Oh that's so cool!" Ginny and Hermione spoke all together.

"Thanks. Thank Merlin you're not like Umbridge who tends to sneer at my ability," Tonks smiled, feeling more comfortable with every passing second.

Mad-Eye stood behind her and gave a low grumble, or maybe a sigh? It was hard to tell.

"Time for a proper introduction," Mad-Eye grumbled. "Everyone, this is my student and newest member of the Order, Nymphadora Tonks. Tonks, this is Ron Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, Hermione, Ginny, and…"

"Tonks, Mad-Eye you forgetful coot," she corrected him. Her little smile fell when her eyes landed on the lanky man sitting in the far corner of the table. He had on a small, unreadable smile. His black, shaggy hair was down to his shoulders and though his face had some color to it, he looked hallow and haunted. His face had become famous from all the wanted posters, though the man in real life looked a lot less insane than in the posters.

"Sirius Black," Tonks mumbled in an underlying tone.

"That would be me," he nodded casually. "Long time no see cousin Tonks," he smiled.

Despite her Auror instincts screaming at her to be weary of the Azkaban escapee, a more mischievous and rebellious side of her wanted to start conversations and catch up with him, wishing him well. She felt awkward at first around him, but that feeling quickly vanished when dinner started and conversation after conversations followed. The way he treated everybody and acted like a troublemaking teenager too young for his years made her laugh. It was like magic, but after the dinner long conversations, she quickly felt comfortable around a cousin she had lost touch with since forever, in a house she still thought was rather creepy.

"Alright dears, it's getting late. We need to let Tonks rest. You can talk more tomorrow," Molly smiled, knowingly cutting short the animated conversation between Tonks and all the Weasley children, along with Sirius.

I love this woman. I'm getting so tired!

"Alright," Ginny sighed. "Good night Tonks," she smiled and left the kitchen reluctantly.

"Thank you Molly," Tonks smiled.

"Oh it's alright Tonks. On the third floor there are a few empty rooms, take your pick."

The others filed out of the kitchen and off to bed. Tonks gave Sirius a warm nod as she stumbled out of the kitchen suddenly finding herself inches from the floor, nearly tripping over a troll's leg, which she later made out to be an umbrella stand. She could hear Sirius' drunken, howling laugh as he teased her behind his glass of fire whiskey. Getting up, she made sure he could see her mock glare and continued up each step, praying not to trip and make a fool of herself again. When Tonks arrived on the third floor where Molly had directed, she suddenly felt a weird feeling consume her. It wasn't bad but it wasn't exactly a good feeling either. She followed the hallway down to a set of doors. Passing the first two, she suddenly felt a mysterious urge inside of her to peek in the third one.

Well, Molly did say to find an empty room. If someone's in here I could just apologize.

Without much hesitation, Tonks simply turned the unlocked doorknob and pushed it open. Inside, it had been something never would she ever expect. Her eyes widened in a mixture of emotions when she stood face to face with the unmoving creature. It had supernatural pupils with a long snout and tufted tail. It's coat was a light brown and on parts of its head she could see the fur flecked with grey. The creature didn't move but it looked at her closely, wearily. She had seen a glimpse of fear and deep thought in its eyes, wondering if she'd finally gone mad.

Merlin's balls it's a werewolf.

Fear crept into her mind as she placed her hand on her wand, ready in case it attacked. Much to her surprise, the wolf didn't attack. Instead it crouched a little lower, turning its head and let out a soft growl that seemed more like a warning rather than a threat.

An Azkaban escapee, no offense there Sirius, and now a werewolf? For Merlin's sake, what else should I know about this place? Oh, there's that grumpy house elf that calls me insulting names, can't forget him.

Tonks didn't really understand why, but the rebellious and reckless nature of hers brought her other hand up, reaching slowly and cautiously. When the werewolf didn't pose as a menacing threat, she placed her hand on the side of its face, petting it. The wolf then had confusion in its eyes but also a sense of gentleness as well as it looked her back in the eyes.

Blimey, now I'm petting a werewolf! Why was I petting a werewolf?

"Tonks be careful," came Sirius' loud voice, only that time, he seemed completely serious and worried. He had pushed himself in between her and the werewolf, leaving his back open to the creature as he faced her with a grim look on his face. He didn't look like the drunk he had been earlier anymore. Instead Sirius now looked protective and completely, dead serious. "Did he hurt you?" he asked quickly.

Tonks shook her head. When she finally found her voice again, she asked, "You keep a werewolf in the house?"

"No, well…sort of…yes," Sirius replied uneasily. "Just don't go near him and don't hurt him either. He means no harm. You know how werewolves are on the full moon."

"If he means no harm then I won't do anything," Tonks sighed, looking behind Sirius.

"There's a room ready for you down that hall," Sirius pointed. "Please try not to go into this room," he asked her softly.

That night Tonks laid wide awake in her bed, her eyes staring up at the dark ceiling of Grimmauld Place and her hands behind her head. She thought hard and deep, her mind constantly flashing back to the evanescent image of the werewolf earlier. She wondered why it didn't attack, why she suddenly saw so much by looking into its eyes. There were so many things she wanted to know. First why there was a werewolf locked up in a room anyways, and second of all, why she was suddenly so swept up by an unexpected encounter with it.

Back in the room third door down from the stairs on the third floor, the window had been opened, allowing a breath of warm summer wind to sweep the room and carry a new, lingering presence all throughout. Inside the room, there sat a lanky man with shaggy black hair, a hallow and haunted face, with half a bottle of fire whiskey in his hand. Beside him was a friend, during one of his furry-little-problem days. He was the large dog, werewolf with light brown hair and quiet nature that laid beside the leather armchair.

Sirius stifled a laugh after taking a drink from his fire whiskey. "I've got to hand it to you Moony. Only you would wound up in a situation like that," he spoke, pulling his thoughts back to the conversation earlier.

The wolf gave him a soft growl as he seemed to understand what it was saying.

"She's my cousin Tonks and an Auror. She knows how to handle herself against you. You don't have to worry."

Another soft growl came out from the bottom of the wolf's throat.

"The pink hair? She's a metamorphmagus too. She's Nymphadora Tonks, Andromeda's daughter, remember? You've met once or twice actually, back in the days."

Then an abrupt growl slipped out.

"Ah remember now right?" Sirius smiled. "Moony what are you doing questioning me about her for? Tomorrow morning go on and introduce yourself to her!"

Next came a louder growl, a reminding growl.

"So what if you're a werewolf? Besides, she petted you," Sirius laughed, bending over in his chair. "Fearless little Auror that one. I can't believe she actually petted you.

It seemed as if the wolf had rolled its eyes as it turned elsewhere with another soft growl.

"But picking on you is fun Moony," Sirius replied childishly.

Early next morning, Tonks had awoken in a strange house, one she didn't recognize too well, but was suddenly energized by a good night of sleep. She hadn't had one like that in such a long time and was debating whether to just stay in bed a little longer or go downstairs and try out more of the delicious cooking the motherly Molly Weasley had prepared for them. After minutes of loafing around in a bed she wasn't familiar with, Tonks had finally pushed herself off. She passed by the mirror and looked in, realizing her hair had changed to a cute shade of turquoise over the night. She made a face in wonder.

Should I keep it blue or change it pink? Change it pink, adds color to the house.

Upon exiting the bathroom, Tonks had quickly apparated back to her apartment for a change of clothes and was fresh and ready for the day. She headed down the stairs carefully and was close to reaching the first floor. Her eyes closed tight and her nose crinkled up as in her mind she thought of the color bubblegum pink. Her hair shifted smoothly from turquoise blue to the bubblegum pink she loved so much. Before reaching the last step, her klutz extraordinaire side had kicked in and soon she found herself toppling over, landing face first to the ground.

Suddenly, a stable and gentle arm caught her by her waist, breaking her fall and the possibly painful outcome of it. The arm pulled her up as if she was weightless and soon she found herself staring deeply into the eyes of a man. She didn't recognize this man. She only knew she had seen his deep, thoughtful blue eyes somewhere before, a familiar feeling. His light brown hair flecked with grey also seemed very familiar, but she just couldn't connect two to two together that that time. Instead she stood awkwardly close to him, staring back at his surprised face that was merely inches away from hers.

"A little clumsy there," the man laughed in a gentle, teasing tone as if they had been friends for ages. Neither of them realized it, but they were still ridiculously close.