“Didn’t land on top of someone this time,” Tonks called as Charlie appeared in front of her.
“Not going to let me forget that, are you?” Charlie said, sighing.
With a beaming smile, he strode across and enveloped her in a bear hug. Over his shoulder, Tonks saw two other figures appear, and her eyes widened slightly. It was silly of her, because she’d known he’d be here, but why did she suddenly feel like that stupid fourteen-year-old girl she’d once been, who’d nurtured such a crush on...
“Hi, Bill,” she said, trying not to squeak.
Damn, he still looked as she remembered: handsome, smiling and “ well, the only word for it was ‘cool.’ Hastily, she looked away, aware she was staring at him, and turned to Percy. He raised his hand to her and gave a tight-lipped smile, obviously not really approving of the close embrace she was sharing with Charlie.
“Tonks, good to see you again,” Bill said as he walked forward, his hand outstretched. “Charlie tells me you’re an Auror now.”
“Yes,” she replied simply, hating herself for not being able to come up with a witty reply. By her side, Charlie kept his arm about her waist.
“We need to let Dad know we’re here. Do you want to come along?” he asked. “Mum will have packed far too much food, so you’ll be very welcome to stay for lunch.”
“I would, but my dad’s expecting me,” she replied. Seeing his smile falter, she gave him a squeeze around the waist before she disentangled herself. “How about I meet you after lunch and we have a look around together?” She grinned at him. “I can show you which stalls to avoid. I caught a dodgy wizard called Mundungus Fletcher selling knock-off Omnioculars. They get stuck on slow motion.”
“You’re on duty, are you?” Bill asked, overhearing her comments.
Tonks shook her head. “I managed to wangle a few days off, but I’m on standby.” She looked around as other wizards and witches started Disapparating, and jumped when she saw Rob Avery with his family.
“Is the Auror Department expecting any trouble?” Bill asked, ignoring Percy’s comment that they should be moving.
“Mr Crouch has all that in hand, Bill,” Percy proclaimed. “He personally took charge of the security.”
Tonks stifled a snort when she saw Charlie turn his head away from his brother to hide a grin. Percy was just as she remembered from school, except now that he’d started at the Ministry he seemed even more pompous, if that were possible.
“I’ll see you at about two, then?” Charlie suggested.
Tonks nodded happily, but as he bent his head down towards her, she twisted her head around, so his kiss landed on her ear instead of her mouth. He smiled ruefully, but walked off with his brothers. As Tonks watched them go, she saw Bill turn around as if he were studying her. Seeing her looking at him, he raised a hand and smiled, but then a far more unfriendly look crossed his face as his eyes focused on someone behind her.
“He your latest?” Rob asked softly.
Tonks jumped; she’d not realised he’d seen her. Instinctively, she shivered and gripped her wand tighter.
“Charlie’s an old friend, Rob. You might remember him from school.”
“Nope, I remember his brother, though. Still an arrogant git.”
“I’m sure Bill remembers you as fondly,” she murmured, stepping away.
Rob caught her wrist but let go hastily when she whipped around, brandishing her wand. “Whoa, steady, Tonks,” he breathed. “I just wanted to ask if we could catch up later.” He smiled ruefully. “Last summer, I behaved very badly. I would like the chance to say sorry properly.”
“You left it a long time, Rob,” she said suspiciously. “And there’s really no need. Unless ....” She narrowed her eyes as she looked from him to his brother. “What are you after?”
“Nothing!” he declared vehemently, but she didn’t quite believe him.
“I’m busy,” she replied as she took a step away from him. “I’m having lunch with my dad, then I’m meeting Charlie and then I’m watching the match.”
“And you won’t meet up with me after?”
“It’s Quidditch,” she replied. “This game might go on for days, but no, I won’t meet up with you later.”
“I don’t mind you going, you know,” Remus said. “You don’t have to give up your ticket because I haven’t got one.”
He was standing outside Flourish and Blotts with Mary, who was studying a long list of books that she needed to buy for Demelza. “Hmm,” Mary said, raising her eyes to look at him. “Oh, I’m not. I mean I didn’t give up my ticket only because you weren’t going, Remus. I didn’t fancy a week of camping at the site, so when Martha said she had a spare ticket for match day ...”
“And Demelza’s fine with that, is she?” Remus asked.
Mary screwed up her nose. “I think the opportunity to attend the match with the Harpies Seeker far outweighed sharing a grotty tent with her very boring mum.”
He chuckled. “I doubt she thinks you’re boring.”
“Of course she does!” Mary scoffed. “We all thought our parents were stuffy and boring at that age, didn’t we?” She stopped suddenly. “Sorry, I didn’t think.”
Remus was silent, knowing that she was remembering his father and the relationship that had deteriorated so badly. They hadn’t been close “ not really. He’d always felt far closer to his mum. “My mum wasn’t boring,” Remus said lightly, trying to ease her embarrassment. “James and Sirius thought having a Muggle for a mum was really ‘cool’.”
She stiffened at the mention of Sirius’ name, and he wondered how long he could keep the secret of Sirius’ innocence when he was longing to proclaim it to the world.
“What did Peter think?” she asked softly.
Remus turned away from her and stared across the street. “Anything Prongs and Padfoot thought cool automatically became amazing in Wormtail’s book,” he muttered.
“You still miss them, don’t you,” she stated solemnly.
He nodded. “How could I ever replace them,” he replied truthfully. Turning back to her, he caught a glimmer of a tear in her left eye. “You miss Lily, too, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she said, and sighed. “But I didn’t lose everyone, and now I have Demelza. Children focus the mind, Remus. They’re too tangible a reminder that life really does go on.” She smiled at him and took his arm. “Come on, let’s get her books sorted out, and then we can grab lunch somewhere.”
Nodding his agreement, they entered the shop together. Considering it was the summer holidays and nearly the start of the school term, the shop was quiet; but then, as it was the day of the final match, Remus wasn’t surprised. Mary took her time searching through the books, and he smiled as she opened each one, breathing in its smell.
“It’s like being back yourself, isn’t it,” he murmured.
She smiled at him. “Mmm, shame we can’t go back. I’d love to sit around the lake again.” She tore off part of the list and handed it to him. “I will be here all day at this rate, so would you go and find her Defence book for me?”
“Sure,” he agreed, and stared at the name of the book, wondering who the new professor would be, feeling a pang inside of him that he was not the one devising the book list. Could he have broken the fabled curse? Should he have stuck it out and defied the parents and governors?
Perusing the bookshelves, he tried not to think about the new term and his lack of a job. He had some money behind him, having saved much of his year’s salary, but it wouldn’t last forever. He would have to find something else soon. His hand touched another and, withdrawing it, he muttered an apology and stepped away.
The woman by his side looked up at him and gave him a tentative smile. She was short and plump, with brown, friendly eyes. But it was her hair that gave her away. Flame red, it framed her face, highlighting her freckles but clashing alarmingly with her reddening cheeks.
“Prof ... Mr Lupin,” she said.
He inclined his head slightly, waiting for her to flinch away from him. “Mrs Weasley, I believe.”
She nodded and smiled at him, albeit nervously. “That’s right. You “ taught my children last year,” she said, and then she smiled properly. “They speak very highly of you “ even Fred and George, which is saying something.”
“Thank you,” he replied, unable to say more, grateful that she was speaking to him at all.
“Are you going back to Hogwarts?” she asked, indicating the book in his hand, and now she sounded nervous again.
“No, no, I’m looking for a book for a friend’s daughter, that’s all.” He stared at her and gave her a rueful smile. “Don’t worry, Mrs Weasley, I won’t be teaching your children again. They’re safe from me.”
“OH!” she exclaimed. “That’s not what I meant “ not at all.” But she sounded flustered, and he knew right then that he could not have held out at Hogwarts.
He picked up Demelza’s textbook and turned away; she pulled on his sleeve. “Mr Lupin, it’s not that I don’t think you’re a good teacher. My children raved about you “ so pleased to have a decent Defence teacher, at last, but ...”
He smiled wryly; there was always a ‘but’. “I’m a werewolf,” he finished for her, “and that’s not something I can change. Believe me, Mrs Weasley, I do understand.”
She looked embarrassed now, wringing her hands, yet still imploring him to listen. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. She looked away from him and dropped her hand from his sleeve. Yet as he started to walk away from her and back to Mary, she began to speak again. “When we first found out, I won’t lie, I was horrified. My husband, Arthur, was calmer. He kept saying that Professor Dumbledore must have known what he was doing. But I ....” She paused for breath and then swallowed. “I’m a mother, Mr Lupin. We have an overwhelming urge to protect our children, however old they get. But ...”
This time, the ‘but’ sounded different.
“You worked with my son Charlie, Mr Lupin. He mentioned it when he came home,” she finished.
“Yes, I did,” Remus replied, wondering where this was leading, but liking the sudden flash of warmth in her eyes.
“He said you knew my brothers. That you’d fought with them during the war.” She smiled at him. It was a sad smile, but a genuine one with no hesitancy. “Charlie’s home for the Quidditch. He arrived right in the middle of an argument I was having with my daughter “ over you. I don’t know if you remember Ginny, but she’s a stubborn girl.”
Remus smiled warmly at her. Ginny Weasley was a determined girl, just as determined as her mother was, it seemed, to get her point across.
“Charlie told me I was prejudiced. He told me he’d worked alongside you in the dragon enclosures, and you were a good worker and a good man.”
Remus swallowed, unable to speak, but as she held out her hand, he took it in his. “How is Charlie?” he asked.
She raised her eyebrows, no longer the protective mother but a woman slightly exasperated with her second son. “He’s fine but fretting over some girl, but I’m sure she only sees him as a friend.”
He heard Mary’s voice calling him and tore himself away before he could ask if the cause of Charlie’s fretting was a certain Metamorphmagus of their acquaintance.
“Who was that?” Mary asked casually as she paid for the books, several rolls of parchment and some new quills.
“Molly Weasley,” he replied, watching as Molly Weasley shuffled across to the second-hand book section. “I taught five of her children last year.”
“Oh, I’ve heard all about those twins of hers,” Mary said, and started laughing. “Demelza tells me they’re the best pranksters in the school. I told her she’d never met the Marauders.”
He joined in the laughter and soon they were reminiscing, swapping stories and ‘do you remember’ times.
“How can you be hungry?” Tonks asked Charlie in amazement. “I thought you’d had lunch.”
“That,” retorted Charlie as he selected a chocolate cauldron cake and a bag of chestnuts from a stall, “was an hour ago. I need to keep my strength up for when I get back to Romania.”
“Not persuaded to come back then?” she asked, adding slyly, “It would make your mum so happy. You could get a job at the Ministry.”
Charlie snorted and rolled his eyes. “Can you see me writing reports on cauldron bottoms?”
He bit into his cake and together they started walking slowly along the rows of stalls.
“I do miss England, you know, but I love working with dragons. There’d have to be a really good reason to return.”
He stopped walking, and held her gaze. Under such intense scrutiny, Tonks blushed and looked away. She heard Charlie sigh; then, handing her half of his cake, he linked arms with her, and they carried on walking.
The stalls were now bustling as everyone had arrived. Tonks looked around her, not sure who she was hoping to see, but interested all the same in everyone, friend or stranger.
“There’s a man over there watching you,” Charlie remarked. “Is he a friend?”
Tonks looked where Charlie was pointing and pulled a face. “No, that’s a rather annoying man called Rob Avery. He’s a journalist.”
Charlie creased his brow. “Was he the bloke who wrote the articles about you and the Auror department?” She nodded non-commitally. “So why don’t you want to speak to him? He wrote some great things about you.”
“I went out with him,” she muttered, “very briefly. He’s an arse.”
Charlie suddenly looked more cheerful. “And there was me thinking you were still pining after Remus Lupin.”
“Ha ha, not at all funny,” she snapped. “I haven’t seen Lupin for ages.”
Charlie stopped walking and opened his bag of chestnuts, offering her first pick. “Must have come as a shock, discovering he was a werewolf,” he muttered sympathetically.
She smiled wanly as she rooted around in the bag. “I knew, actually,” she admitted.
“Since when?” Charlie sounded shocked.
Tonks took a deep breath. “Since I was seventeen. Remember when I went off to see him with the Veritaserum?”
Charlie nodded slowly.
“He’d transformed the night before.”
“Merlin, Tonks, and you stayed there with him. Weren’t you scared?”
She thought back to that time, mulling over the memories in her head. “No,” she said truthfully. “I wasn’t at all scared. I knew he wasn’t James and Lily’s killer by then and he just seemed “ sad, I suppose, and lost. He had no friends left at all.”
Charlie said nothing, but she felt him draw her closer to him. He was probably thinking that she was sad again about Sirius, and the need to tell him suddenly overwhelmed her. She wanted Charlie to know that she’d been right “ that Sirius was innocent and all the risks she’d taken had been worthwhile.
“Charlie,” she began. “I need to tell you something.”
“Tonks!” Rob called as he strode towards them. “I really do need a word.” He turned towards Charlie. “You don’t mind, do you, Weasley?”
“Er...” Charlie looked blank and started to pull away, but Tonks pulled him back.
“I told you I was busy, Rob. If you need to speak to me, then call me at the Auror office,” she said, trying to inject a note of boredom in her voice.
“It’s about your cousin,” he murmured.
Tonks stared at Rob, and then slowly disentangled herself from Charlie. “What about him?” she asked warily.
“Got your attention now,” Rob breathed.
“Get on with it,” she muttered. “Say what you have to and then go.”
“A wand went missing, Jacob tells me,” Rob said, smirking at her. “And you were there at the time.”
“So was Jacob,” Tonks replied, wondering exactly what he knew. “We were both Stunned. It’s not a secret, Rob.”
“Just a bit of a coincidence that you’re in the APE room, when it went missing, especially when I discovered which wand had gone.”
“No one knows which wand was stolen,” she replied cagily. Aware that Charlie was drawing closer and listening to every word, she tried to walk away, but Rob plucked at her sleeve.
“My source tells me it was Black’s wand, Nymphadora,” he murmured menacingly. “And I remember you being quite vocal in his defence once.”
“Tonks, what is he talking about?” Charlie asked, sounding worried but also slightly angry.
“It’s nothing, Charlie,” she said blithely. “I told you that a wand went missing. Proudfoot and I got into trouble over it. I don’t know whose wand was taken” She paused and turned back to Rob; he was studying her intently, not smiling now. “And you don’t know either, do you, Avery?”
“My source told me -” he began.
“Ha! Let me guess. Your source is yourself trying to dig up another story. Won’t work, Rob. I’m clueless about this one.” She smirked at him. “Go and ask Scrimgeour or Fudge. I’m sure they’ll give you a quote.”
When he didn’t say anything else, she knew she’d won “ at least temporarily “ so she turned back to Charlie and pulled him away. But as she started to chat about the Quidditch, telling him how excited she was about seeing Krum fly, he stayed silent.
“Where did you see him play?” she asked, hoping to elicit a response.
“You stole Black’s wand, didn’t you,” he said flatly. Not questioning at all, but stating a fact.
“Erm ...” Tonks looked at all the people milling around them. “Charlie, this isn’t the time.”
“Never is, is it,” he remarked coldly. Then he slammed the palm of his hand against his forehead. “Merlin, I’ve been so stupid. I thought you’d seen sense. I thought, as you’d stopped mentioning him in every bloody letter, that you’d finally realised what the rest of the wizarding world has always known. But you helped Black, didn’t you? You helped him escape.”
“No!” she exclaimed, then lowered her voice as several people turned to look. “I did not help Sirius escape from Azkaban.”
“But you’ve helped him since, haven’t you?”
She could see desperation in Charlie’s eyes, willing her to deny his accusation, but she couldn’t.
“Yes,” she replied in a small voice. “Charlie ... look ... I was about to tell you, but then Rob butted in. Please ... listen.”
But Charlie had pulled away and was glaring furiously at her.
“He’s a mass murderer,” Charlie hissed. “I don’t care what you think. You should have turned him in.”
“That’s you all over, isn’t it, Weasley!” she spat back. “So bloody set in your ways. So bloody judgemental. You won’t even to listen to me when I try to tell you the truth.”
“Me! Set in my ways?” he yelled. “That’s rich coming from someone who’s never once considered that she could be wrong. Merlin, you’re infuriating!”
Despite the heat of the afternoon, Tonks felt a chill through her bones. She turned away from Charlie, intending to walk straight back to her dad, but he grabbed her arm.
“You need to tell the Aurors where he is,” he said bluntly. “You can make amends. Say you were Imperiused or something. It might not count against you.”
“You go and see them, Weasley,” she retorted. “Go on, tell them everything. And while you’re there, tell them all about your brother and Harry and their friend, that girl, Hermione something. They helped him too, you know.” She saw the shock in his face and laughed bitterly. “Oh, and Professor Dumbledore. Go on, Charlie. Go and find Fudge, now. I’m sure he’ll be interested.”
She heard him spluttering something, but didn’t wait to hear his reply. Instead, she stormed off across the fields where she was soon swallowed up by the multitudes.
She walked around, brooding and taking in nothing, for a good half an hour. Thirty minutes ruminating on Charlie’s words. She knew he wouldn’t go and see the Minister. There was no way he’d do anything without at least talking to his brother first. But there it was: he’d believe Ron, and had never believed her.
“Where’s Charlie?” said a voice on her right, surprising her.
As she looked up, she smiled hesitantly at Bill.
“We had a bit of a row,” she admitted. “I left him back there somewhere.”
“Oh, dear,” Bill said, and sighed. “I could see that coming.”
“Really?”
Bill put his hands in his jeans pockets and started walking alongside her. “Mmm, I suppose he asked you out again. I hope you let him down gently.”
“Uh, no and no, actually,” she replied, and annoyingly started to blush. “It was nothing to do with us.” She took a breath. “I like your brother a lot, Bill. He’s my best friend in the entire world, and I’d love it to work between us. But there’s always been something missing, you know?”
Bill shrugged. “Not really. I can’t see why you can’t hook up for a while. You liked him enough once, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I liked him enough to kiss him, but then ...” She stopped speaking, desperate to morph the blush away from her cheeks. “I kissed someone else, and that made a difference.”
“Avery?” he queried, with a note of distaste in his voice.
“Merlin, no!” she replied scornfully. “Well, I did kiss him, once, but ...” She pulled a face and mimed being sick.
Bill laughed. “So you’re with someone else, are you?”
Tonks sighed, thinking regretfully of Remus and the fact that she hadn’t seen or contacted him in over a month. “No,” she said sadly. “I’m not with him and I’m not sure I ever will be.”
“Then shouldn’t you give up and have a bit of fun,” Bill suggested. “You can’t pine away. Charlie might be just what you need.”
“Possibly,” she replied in a non-committal voice. “But Charlie knows we’re just friends now.” She looked at him, puzzled by something. “Is fun all you’re after, Bill? There’s no Egyptian witch you’re ‘pining’ for?”
“Me?” He grinned at her. “Nope. Never been that attached to anyone. I see my Mum and Dad “ match made in heaven and all that“ but no one has come close.”
“So no wife and family in your grand plan?”
He chuckled and, taking her arm, led her through the crowds towards the clearing where she’d sat earlier and waited for Charlie. “Can’t see myself ever wanting to settle down, Tonks. And she’d have to be a bloody strong woman to cope with all the flak from my mum.”
She sat next to him on the tree trunk, and accepted a toffee from his bag. She liked this, sitting with Bill and chatting about their lives. His tales about Egypt intrigued her, and he was interested in her job too, sounding genuinely fascinated about the Auror department. “I miss Mad-Eye,” she said regretfully. “Kingsley is great, but Mad-Eye used to let me off the leash a bit.”
“I know Kingsley,” Bill mused. “He was stationed in Egypt for a while. Good bloke.” He selected another toffee, and was about to pop it into his mouth when something stopped him. “Whoa, is that the Harpies’ Seeker walking this way?” His voice sounded suddenly adolescent, and not nearly as calm as before. “Bloody hell, she’s coming over.”
Tonks looked up, and waved at Martha. “She’s a friend of mine, actually. Shall I introduce you?” She smiled to herself as Bill suddenly seemed incapable of coherent speech.
“Martha, hello,” she called across the field. “When did you arrive?”
“Just now,” Martha replied. “The perk of being a current player means I get excellent tickets.” From behind her back, a girl appeared, smiling shyly. “This is my niece, Demelza, who has come to watch the match with me.” She turned to Bill, eyeing his red hair. “You must be Charlie Weasley. Tonks has mentioned you.”
“Er ... No, actually, I’m his brother,” Bill replied, his voice shaking only slightly now. He swallowed and held out his hand. “Miss Macdonald, I’m a huge fan!”
Martha smiled at him. “Thank you, but you can’t have seen that many of my matches, surely? I was abroad for a long time.”
“Oh, I saw the Cygnes play a few times when I was training in Calais, and “ I followed your career. The match against the Toulouse Tigres. Wow, that was a difficult catch. I doubt even Krum could do that.” He stopped talking, probably aware that he was babbling.
“Bill no doubt had a poster of you in his dorm,” Tonks said mischievously, and when Bill glared at her, she knew she was right and started snorting.
“Well, that is sweet,” Martha said, bestowing a wide smile on Bill. “It is always great to meet a fan, especially someone who knows about the game.”
“Are you Fred and George’s brother?” Demelza asked, staring up at him in awe.
“Uh-huh,” he replied, and smiled down at her. “You’re at Hogwarts, are you?”
She nodded. “I’m in Gryffindor, like your brothers. I can’t wait for the new term. I want to try out for the team.”
“What position?” Bill asked.
“Well, I’d really like to be Seeker, but I have no chance whilst Harry Potter’s at the school.” She pulled a gloomy face. “I couldn’t be Keeper, either “ too short “ and your brothers are the best Beaters at Hogwarts.”
“Chaser,” Tonks interrupted. “Best position on the field. You get to be in the thick of the action, and you can score lots of goals. I loved it and wouldn’t have played any other position.”
Demelza looked at Tonks as if seeing her for the first time. “My mum was a Chaser. She says the same thing. Did you play for Gryffindor, too?” Demelza asked.
Tonks shook her head. “Hufflepuff,” she replied.
Demelza smiled kindly at her. “Oh, well, never mind.”
“Er... What?”
Martha raised her eyebrows. “Demelza, that is incredibly rude, especially as you were complaining on the way over that Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor last year. Mmm, I seem to remember you were very annoyed with Cedric Diggory for catching the Snitch. And from what I’ve heard, Tonks was an amazing player!”
“Sorry,” muttered Demelza. Then she faltered and her eyes opened wide with excitement. “Oh ... Tonks! I’ve heard of you. Didn’t you set the record for the fastest one hundred?”
Tonks nodded a little stiffly, still stung by the slur on Hufflepuff, but then as Demelza continued talking, she smiled back.
“And I’ve heard you’re a Metamorphmagus . That is just so cool. Can you change your hair to any colour?”
Tonks screwed up her nose and in an instant changed her light brown hair dark like Demelza’s, then red like Bill’s, finally settling on blonde curls like Martha’s. Tonks laughed, relishing Demelza’s enjoyment, yet noting at the same time that Bill was watching her with amusement and appreciation.
“That is amazing!” Demelza breathed in awe. “Wow, I wish I could do that.”
“Agreed,” said Martha, laughing. “It would be so much easier to shake off fans who want to complain when you’ve played badly.”
“And to keep my hair tidy,” Demelza agreed, shaking her messy curls. “Mum would have to stop nagging me, then.”
“I don’t think they ever do stop nagging,” Bill mused. “Even now I’m grown up and living in Egypt, my mum manages to nag me by letter “ especially over my hair.” He ran his hand through his hair, releasing it from its ponytail. “She keeps threatening me with scissors.”
“What do you do, Bill?” asked Martha. She sat down on the grass in front of him, shaking her head when he offered her his space on the tree trunk stump.
“Curse breaker,” he replied, now sounding far more like the assured man Tonks remembered from school. “For Gringotts.”
“And your brother works with dragons, Tonks tells me,” Martha said, bringing Tonks right back into the conversation. “Where’s he today?”
“Not sure,” Tonks replied lightly; then she turned to Demelza. “Does Angelina Johnson still play? I remember her from my last match. She was very good. ”
Demelza nodded and they started talking about Quidditch. Hearing the excitement in Demelza’s voice, Tonks was transported back to the wondrous years she’d spent at Hogwarts, and felt a pang of regret that she’d not taken old Bloomsbury up on his offer of a contract at Puddlemere.
“So do you still play at all?” Demelza was asking her.
Tonks shook her head. “I fly when I can, but it’s not much fun when there’s no one else to fly with,” she said, sighing.
Cutting off her conversation with Bill, Martha leant across. “The Harpies run open training sessions, Tonks. You’re always welcome to drop in on those.”
“Really?” Tonks smiled widely at Martha. “Is that possible? That would be fantastic. Thank you so much.”
“Can I come along?” Demelza asked, but from the way her lower lip was settling into a pout, Tonks was sure she already knew the answer.
“’Fraid not, Melz,” Martha said ruefully. “You’re too young. Besides you’ll be back at Hogwarts soon, and your mum takes you flying all the time.”
Demelza pulled a face. “Well, she did,” she responded sulkily. “But now that she’s found herself a boyfriend...”
“Er, what?” This was obviously news to Martha. She grinned at Tonks and Bill. “Twelve-year-olds tend to think your love-life stops when you reach thirty. Mary’s been divorced for two years, it’s probably time she had some fun.” Purloining one of Bill’s toffees, she held it out to Demelza. “Come on, spill the beans. I want to know all about him!”
Demelza stared at her aunt witheringly. “It’s not funny, Aunt Martha.”
Martha dropped the sweet into Demelza’s hand. “Sorry, is he horrible ?” she asked sympathetically. “If he is, I can always hex him for you.”
Demelza rolled her eyes. “He’s perfectly nice. It’s just embarrassing, that’s all.”
“All that kissing. Yeuch!” agreed Tonks, and stifled a giggle as she caught Bill’s eye.
“It’s not even that,” Demelza said, and groaned. “He’s my old teacher. That’s the problem. Mum’s started seeing Professor Lupin “ that’s just so embarrassing. I daren’t tell any of my friends.”
She prattled on, complaining about her mum and bemoaning the fact that, although Professor Lupin was very kind, it was still mortifying having your teacher in the house.
Tonks stared at her in shock, not taking in a word, just feeling the colour run from her face. Mary Macdonald, Remus’ ex-girlfriend from school. Merlin, she’d been so stupid. She caught Martha staring at her, eyes full of compassion.
“I need to find my dad,” Tonks said, getting up suddenly. “He’ll be worried. Bye, Martha. See you another time, perhaps. Nice to meet you, Demelza. Hope you “ er “ enjoy the Quidditch.”
She moved away quickly but Martha grabbed her by the wrist. “I had no idea,” she murmured. “Or I’d have told you myself.”
“Told me what?” Tonks whispered. “Remus is a friend, that’s all and I’ve not spoken to him for ages. Uh, Martha, I really do have to go.” She smiled brightly, hoping she didn’t look as brittle as she suddenly felt.
“If you want to talk, drop me an owl,” Martha insisted. “And I mean it about dropping in on those Harpies sessions.”
“Thanks,” Tonks muttered.
She wanted to ask why Martha was bothering with her, why she was being kind, but Tonks thought she knew the answer. Sirius was their connection, just as he was her connection to Remus. It was a strangely sobering thought, but now Sirius was free, perhaps she should be severing the connections and start anew.
“I should go. Hope you enjoy the match,” she muttered, and raising her hand to Demelza she waved goodbye.
“Tonks, wait up,” Bill called. He strode after her, catching up quickly as she struggled to disappear in the crowd. “You okay?”
“Fine,” she replied, a shade too brightly. And to emphasize the fact she started changing her hair and nose, in an attempt to make him laugh.
He wasn’t fooled, she could see that by the sardonic lilt to his smile, but he didn’t press her for details. “I think I can see what my brother likes about you,” he said, smiling down at her. “Shall we go and find him? He’ll probably be back at the tent with the others “ and feeling horrible, I should think.”
“No,” she said with an air of finality. “Sorry, Bill, I don’t want to speak to Charlie right now.”
“Okay.” He sighed.”I’ve tried my best. Shall we go and find your dad, or would you rather grab a beer?”
She looked up at him and then around her, noticing that several young witches were eyeing Bill with admiration, their expressions changing to surprise when they saw whom he was with. Resisting the urge to morph herself some shining pre-Raphaelite curls, Tonks nodded.
“Dad’s probably in the beer tent, as it is,” she said. “But please don’t feel you have to keep me company, Bill.”
“A pretty girl on my arm isn’t exactly a chore, Tonks,” he murmured.
And despite the gloom she was feeling over the revelation that Remus was with someone else, Tonks couldn’t help feel flattered. She was with Bill Weasley, the wizard every witch at Hogwarts had nursed a short- or long-range crush on. It was presumptuous “ again “ of her, but perhaps, just for one afternoon, she could dream.