Tonks drifted in and out of the meeting, but paid attention near the end. Mad-Eye was asking for volunteers for patrol work near Malfoy Manor. No one volunteered.
Mad-Eye gritted his teeth, and said that he'd just have to randomly assign it.
Then, the meeting was over.
Tonks couldn't believe that she'd made it through the whole meeting. It had felt like ages, and she stretched, nearly whacking Sirius in the face. He leaned away from her, nearly falling onto the man on the other side of him.
"Really?" asked the man Sirius had fallen on.
"Sorry, Remus. It's Tonks here, who can't keep her hands to herself." Sirius pretended to be mad at Tonks who just grinned and shook her head.
"Tonks, this is Remus," said Sirius, pointing to his friend. "We were pals in school, got into a lot of trouble together. "
"Nice to meet you, Tonks," said Remus, leaning backwards so that he could see Tonks.
"Nice to meet you," said Tonks. Remus seemed tired, way tired than he should be. There were many scars on his face. Tonks suppressed a shiver, hoping that Remus wasn't some sort of crazy ax murderer.
"Oh, so you're a metamorphagus," noted Remus. He was staring at her hair. Tonks suddenly had the uncomfortable suspicion that it had turned green, the color that represented suspicion. She felt herself blush, and she forced it back to pink.
"Yeah." Tonks rubbed her arm, a habit she had when nervous. She forced herself to stop.
"That's pretty cool." Remus looked impressed.
"Yeah... just think. If we would have had that ability... think of the pranks. But no, not me, my little cousin has been blessed with this incredibly useful gift," sighed Sirius.
"Useful for everyone except me," said Tonks. Her tone had a bitter edge to it.
"Why?" Remus wanted to know.
"Everyone can read me like a book by taking one look at my hair," said Tonks.
"Yeah, about that, it's turning red," said Sirius, watching as the bright color spread from the tips of Tonks's hair to the top.
"Fantastic," sighed Tonks, despairing of ever gaining control over her ability. She yawned, trying to clear her brain, which didn't operate well without sleep.
Which meant it didn't work well, ever.
A loud crash startled Tonks, making her jump. "KREACHER!" roared Sirius. He jumped out of his chair, dived, and came up holding a small house-elf by the scruff of its neck. Tonks automatically recoiled, and Remus ducked as one of the elf's kicking feet grazed his head.
Seeing Tonks's horrified expression, he said, "Kreacher doesn't always act like this, don't worry. Usually he just keeps to himself in dark shadows. He's just throwing a tantrum right now."
"Are there really elf heads?" asked Tonks, not daring to take her eyes off Kreacher.
"Well... yes," admitted Remus. "But they're not decaying or anything..." He trailed off and looked at Tonks's repulsed expression. "I'm not helping, am I?"
"Nope. Definitely not," sighed Tonks.
Remus chuckled. "When you see the heads, you'll realize that they're not that bad at all. They look... stuffed. Are you staying for dinner?"
"Yeah, Sirius convinced me..." Tonks picked at a loose thread on her sleeve. Kreacher had stopped kicking, and was hanging limply for Sirius's hand. The house elf swiveled one of his ears dejectedly, as if he were tuning in to a radio that only he could hear. Sirius threw him to the floor, and Kreacher scampered away.
"Little brat," muttered Sirius, dropping into his chair again.
"I think he's just misunderstood," said Mrs. Weasley. Somehow, she had managed to sneak into the room without being seen, and had started on dinner. "After all, he's lived all his life here, and this isn't exactly a cheerful place."
"He was less miserable when my mother was around," said Sirius. "But now, he's turned simply unbearable."
"Your mother's still around," Tonks pointed out. "She's hanging in your hall."
Sirius gave a hollow laugh. "Yes, Kreacher takes orders from her sometimes, but it's not the same for him."
"Maybe it's time to send Kreacher the way of your dear old mum," suggested Remus. "He'd like to be hung on the wall, wouldn't he?"
"I'd love to do that, but then there's no one to clean the rooms. And I'm certainly not going to," Sirius objected. "We'll just have to put up with him until he dies of natural causes, won't we, Tonks?" Sirius seemed to have noticed that Tonks was staring off into space. "You still with us, Tonks?"
"I don't think I would've liked your mother," said Tonks.
"I didn't either, nasty woman she was," agreed Sirius.
"Can one of you help with dinner?" asked Mrs. Weasley from the corner.
"I will," volunteered Tonks.
"All right, thank you, dear." Mrs. Weasley beamed at Tonks. Tonks gave her a small smile in return.
"What're you cooking?" asked Tonks.
"Soup," sighed Mrs. Weasley. "Again. No one goes grocery shopping around here, so there isn't a wide variety of foods to choose from."
"I can drop some groceries off tomorrow if you want," volunteered Tonks.
"Oh, yes, that would be nice, dear." Mrs. Weasley smiled at Tonks. "I haven't seen you in a while, ever since you and Charlie left school."
"Oh, yeah, how's he doing?" asked Tonks. "Still training dragons?"
"Yes. He rather likes it in Romania, and he said to expect him to visit soon. You'll have to stop by and see him." Mrs. Weasley waved her wand and a potato began to slice itself.
"Of course I will," said Tonks. She thought back to the last time she'd seen her friend. The two of them had had a delightful time talking, and Tonks smiled, thinking about the time that they had teamed up with some of their other friends and caused all the beakers in Snape's room to shatter. They'd gotten in a lot of trouble, but it had still been fun.
That night, after Tonks had gone home to her lonely apartment, she thought about her day, and decided that it hadn't been bad. And, she didn't have to do her broom reports.
