#she's a boy-crazy suck-up and he's a shallow pretty boy who's used to being praised

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

Calling it now: Putrice/The Prince endgame.

[afaithy]

A Crinkle of Fate; Ch. 9: Paroles under the moon

“Sometimes it's the crazy people that bring out the best in us” ― Aishabella Sheikh

Christmas and New year went by in a blink and spring came by soon after. The snow in the school grounds melted away and the plants started growing once more, bringing cheer and life to the cold scenery. Little by little Hogwarts was coming back to life once more after a brief period of ice and loneliness.

“Very well done, Ms. Tonks…” Professor McGonagall nodded in approvement when Tonks switched herself back to her original form. The girl smiled. With McGonagall’s careful tutoring, metamorphosing herself was becoming easier each day. She could hold her body changes for longer periods of time, but even though morphing her hair was becoming easier, the change was still unstable and at the minimal change of mood her hair but switch into another color or length which clearly frustrated the young Metamorphmagus. “Patience, Ms. Tonks. Your improvements are already very satisfactory. There’s no need to rush, we have time to work. You’re still young, for a child your age, separating feelings from your powers can be really difficult, but I’m content with your improvement. You should be proud…” the stern teacher said pushing a cup of steaming tea in front of her. Professor McGonagall was a very strict witch, so receiving a praise for her was a whole achievement. Tonks nodded and smiled in gratitude as she picked up the teacup and sipped the amber liquid. Suddenly, there a was aloud knock on the door and McGonagall pushed herself up from her desk and opened the door. Tonks couldn’t help but feel curious about who had been knocking the door so insistently, so the girl peeped from over the chair and looked over McGonagall’s shoulder. Filch was standing at the door dragging some familiar faces on his rear and Tonks had to bite her lip to contain her laughter. Filch’s head was covered by what seemed to be a mane of bright yellow feathers that reminded her of a canary. Sirius and James waved enthusiastically at her, while Peter tried to hide behind them and she saw Lupin covering his face with his hand. “Professor McGonagall…” Filch growled. “Mr. Filch...Do I want to ask?” “Caught this pair trying to hex Tavis Boreas…” “Ah...and I reckon the hex got diverted…” McGonagall said with a frown, but Tonks was sure that the older woman was hiding a smile“Reparifarge…” With a wave of her wand, McGonagall undid Filch’s hideous hairdo and stared sternly at the four boys with a raised eyebrow. “You can leave now, Mr. Filch. I will handle this…” Filch let out an angry growl as he walked away glaring at the four Gryffindors and mumbling something about nasty students and their nasty spells and Tonks just wondered how someone who disliked kids as much could be a school’s caretaker. “Ms. Tonks, I think we can call it a day. It seems I have some business to take care with my...students. I’ll see you next week…” “Yes, professor McGonagall.” Tonks jumped out of her seat and it was then that she realized that she had forgotten to put on her hood and she rushed pull it up before any of the boys could notice her hair turning brightly magenta. She smiled at them and rushed out of the office before any of the boys could say something. McGonagall closed the door behind her and turned to the four boys with a stern frown that would have terrified the bravest man, but Sirius and James were already too used to it by now. The pair gave the teacher one of their most charming smiles and Lupin had to shake his head to not laugh. “Well, I expected this from Potter, Black and Pettigrew; but Lupin?” “Well, can’t help it…”Sirius shrugged “Considering what they were saying, professor?” “I see. Was Mr. Boreas saying something about you, then. I’d expect you to know better than to listen…” “It wasn’t about me…” Lupin shrugged. “Yeah, not us…” Black nodded “I can take the hit. I couldn’t care less about what that miserable git has to say...but...he was going and going about my cousin and that I couldn’t tolerate it. Muggles or not, they were her family and we weren’t going to let him talk so disgustingly about the death...” And Lupin had agreed. Usually, he was the voice of reason in the quartet trying to stop his friends from taking things a little too far, but when he had heard Boreas talking about the murder of the Tonks with such pleasure, he had gotten pretty mad. Perhaps it was because of the upcoming full moon, but he was a little less tolerant of the Slytherin’s sick sense of humor. When Sirius had said he’d hex him, Lupin didn’t try to persuade him otherwise. McGonagall’s face seemed to soften when she heard their explanation. The Gryffindor teacher seemed to quite sympathetic to Tonks, despite not being a student from her house. “I just regret that the hex got Filch instead of Boreas…” Sirius pouted “But I don’t regret the original target…” James hadn’t said a word, but he was nodding in agreement. “We just didn’t want him talking about it when Tonks is around…”Lupin sighed “She says she’s better, but...it’s still a sensitive topic.” “Boreas is an ar….bad person. So the only way to shut him was to teach him a lesson…” James threw in matter of factly. McGonagall’s brow was raised. The woman pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a soft sigh. She could see the noble intention in the four Gryffindor’s actions, but rules were rules; and there wasn’t a reasonable excuse to hex another student. “You will serve detention for three weeks I will owl you when the time comes. For now,10 points less for Gryffindor...I do hope you will refrain yourselves from acting like this in the future…” she said firmly “You may leave now…” The four boys nodded and thanked the professor before leaving the office discreetly. Sirius was particularly annoyed about the unfairness of the situation, but Lupin reasoned that McGonagall had actually gone easy on them. When the quartet turned around the corner and found Tonks sitting at the stairs with her chin resting on her hand and playing with a furry cat. “Waiting for us, cous?” Sirius said with a grin. “Nope...just got distracted with him…” Tonks replied pointing at the cat “Of course I was waiting for you. So...how did it go?” “We have detention for the next three weeks…” James answered “I think this is the first official detention that Remus gets...haha...how does it feel, mate?” “Should I be feeling something?” Lupin replied. “Well, you’re the good boy. I expected you to feel all disappointed and all..” “I honestly don’t regret what I did…” Lupin replied “so if I was feeling like that it’d be hypocritical..” “And what exactly did you do?” Tonks asked tilting her head. “Hah...Remus, is a genius. While we distracted everyone with the canary head hex, Remus used the Furuncle Hex on Boreas. He’s going to be in a hell of a pain, he’d never know why…” Sirius smirked. “And this is the first time that Remus takes initiative to hex someone. Usually he’s just trying to persuade us not to do it…” “ I think we should celebrate that…” Peter said with a smirk “I can go pick up some snacks in the kitchens.” “I might have been a little...annoyed. “ Lupin smiled. “He...was...brilliant…” Sirius said putting his arm around Lupin’s shoulders “By the way cous, I just saw you without your hoodie back in McGonagall’s. You have a pretty nice head, why hide it?” “Well, that’s none of your business….ha….” she said sticking her tongue at him “Hoodie’s are my style, leave me alone…” “I just say it is a pity to hide it …” Sirius chuckled “What were you doing at McGonagall’s anyway?” “Oh,..I have special transfigurations tutoring with her…” Tonks replied. “What? Why…?” “Because I’m a talented girl” Tonks replied winking at them. “I never got special classes in first year...and I was top in Transfigurations!” James said indignant. “Actually, Remus was top. You were second…” Peter snorted. “Irrelevant…” Tonks seemed a little conflicted and Lupin guessed that she was probably worried about what explanation she should give them, so he was quick to come in her aid. “Well, James. I don’t see why you care. It’s not like you’d have liked to have extra classes…” he said with a smile. “Good point. I’m alright with quidditch training instead.” “So...what are you doing now, cous?” “Well, I have got ingredient gathering with Slughorn. I’m going to pester Severus while he collects tubeworms, of course…” “Aren’t you a little too clingy at him?” Sirius frowned “Don’t tell me you fancy Snivellus…” “What? Of course not. THe thing is, the more he’s annoyed the more fun is too pester him…” she laughed “You can tag along if you have nothing else to do. I doubt Slughorn is going to complain…” “Well, we can do that…” Sirius shrugged “Lead the way, Tonksie…” ***

“Ah...more students I see…” Slughorn smiled when Tonks arrived with the boys and she saw Snape roll his eyes. The boy had taken off his robes and rolled the end of his pants many times as he prepared to step into the shallow pond. Tubeworms were aquatic, so it made sense that they’d have to get a little wet to get them. “I reckon there’s little chance that there are leeches in there, right?” Tonks said looking at the swampy water with apprehension. “Scared of leeches, Nymphadora?” At the use of her name, she rolled her eyes and splashed Snape in annoyance. “Excuse me if I dislike the idea of worms sucking my blood…” “Ah don’t worry, Ms. Tonks. There are no leeches in this pond, a few tadpoles perhaps….but no leeches.” Slughorn said cheerfully. “Ah, well...I can deal with tadpoles…” she replied removing her shoes and socks. The water felt cold around her legs and she shuddered. The rest of the group had gotten into the pond as well and she saw Sirius and James kicking water at each other between laughs. She could hear Snape’s annoying sighe a few feet from her and she snickered. Peter seemed slightly dubious about getting into the water and -always caring- Lupin was coaxing him to get in. “All right, children…” Slughorn said clapping his hands to get their attention “Tubeworms aren’t difficult to find, but the trick is in catching them. They are quite slippy so make sure to hold them right. We need the red ones, so if it isn’t red you can release it!” Catching a tubeworms was much easier said than done; at least for Tonks who had to struggle not to lose her footing every two minutes. Slughorn hadn’t been joking when he said that Tubeworms were hard to hold, she thought as she lost the grip of the one she’d been trying to catch for the past 5 minutes. Tonks let out an annoyed sigh and looked around her. Snape was in full focus mode, she could have been dying and the boy would probably not even notice it; James and Sirius were enjoying themselves chasing after the worms and splashing anything on their way; Peter seemed to be having fun on his own, too, even when he was evidently not fond of getting splashed by the other two...and Lupin… Tonks suddenly realized that she couldn’t see him. He was nowhere to be seen, but she was sure that he’d been there just a minute ago. Lost in her thoughts about Lupin’s whereabouts, Tonks feet got stuck between a couple rocks and with a lot of noise -and splashing- she fell into the water dragging Snape along with her, when she grabbed his shirt, or at least she thought it was Snape. “I was wondering when that would happen…” someone laughed by her side. Lupin’s shoulder were shaking in laughter. His brown hair was covered in plants and his clothes were completely drenched. “Remus! Where did you come out from?” “What are you talking about? I was behind you the whole time haha…” “Why in Merlin’s beard where you behind me?” Tonks said wide eyed. Well that, at least, explained why she hadn’t seen him “Do you have a death wish? Now you’re all drenched because of me…” “Haha...it’s not a big thing. Just some water...it’s not going to….” Tonks would never know what it wouldn’t do since his words were interrupted when hundreds of Tubeworms began jumping around them. She wasn’t scared of bugs, but the sudden appearance of hundred of worms ready to hit her was a sight that could scare anyone and she wasn’t the only one panicking. “Children ...children…!” Slughorn voice cried loudly above the sound of screams, laughter and splashing “Children, please calm down! It’s alright, tubeworms aren’t dangerous. This is their normal reaction to stress...!” After the whole panicking part had passed, the situation was actually rather amusing and after a few minutes, all of them -Snape included- were chuckling at the absurdness of the situation. By the end of the afternoon, the red tubeworms had been collected and the six students were soaked and exhausted, but very amused. None of them would ever look at tubeworms the same way anymore.

*** Full moon arrived a couple days after their misadventure with the tubeworms, and like other nights, Tonks was anxious and restless. She rounded the edge of the forest with her hands tucked inside her pockets until she reached her usual sport. She had sneaked some meatballs from dinner with the intention of feeding Mr. Wolfie when she saw him that night; at least, she hoped she’d see him. She rested her back against the large rock that she usually used as seat and stared at the sky. The moon was particularly big tonight: round and shiny. It was a breathtaking sight, but to her it was just sad. There was no reason in particular, the moon just made her feel like that. The sound of a broken branch made her turn her head. “Mr.Wolfie...is that you?” she said. Two amber eyes stared at her from the shadows and Tonks smiled pushing herself up, but the moment the wolf stepped out from the shadows, her heart froze. It wasn't Mr. Wolfie. This wolf was bigger, with a thick coat of black fur; its eyes were threatening and it’s mouth showed some sharp teeth leaking on saliva. Tonks didn’t need to look twice to know that, unlike Mr. Wolfie, this wolf was ready to attack her without mercy and she took a step back. The unknown wolf was growling as he got closer and closer and Tonks was mentally debating whether to run or not. If you face a wild animal, don’t run...Nym. Sudden movements can scare them and trigger their aggressiveness...you must move slow and quiet… Her grandfather’s words echoed in her head as she took another step back: slow and silently. The wolf was staring at her threatening as it moved closer and closer; then suddenly it jumped over her. Forgetting about been quiet and careful, Tonks let out a screech and managed to dodge the wolf barely by a few centimeters. The wolf turned around in a quick spin and jumped at her once more. Tonks threw herself aside to avoid the animal; this time she wasn’t as lucky and the wolf managed to scratch her leg leaving a long deep cut. She moaned in pain and tried to get back on her feet before it attacked her again, but the pain in her leg wasn’t letting her move. The wolf seemed to understand her situation and Tonks could almost swear that it was smirking. The wolf readied itself to attack and the girl closed her eyes awaiting the impac; but it never came. When she opened her eyes she saw Mr. Wolfie standing between her and the wolf. The difference in sizes was evident, but Mr. Wolfie didn’t seem to care. He was showing his fangs and growling angrily. What happened next was so fast that Tonks could barely understand it. Mr. Wolfie had jumped over the wolf sinking its fangs on a spot on its neck. The wolf had let out a groan and shook Mr. Wolfie off from himself. The two wolves struggle against each other and Tonks was terrified for Mr. Wolf’s safety. She had brought out her wand, but as the two canines were now too close to each other, she was afraid that if she tried a spell, she would hit Mr. Wolfie by mistake. A few minutes of despair passed, and finally the wolf seemed to give up. It growled at Mr. Wolfie one last time before running off into the forest with its tail tucked between its legs. Tonks let out a sigh of relief. Mr. Wolfie had won the fight, but to her horror, he hadn’t made it unscathed. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her leg, Tonks rushed to the limping wolf. He seemed startled by her sudden presence, but after sneezing the air he seemed to recognize her and the wolf relaxed. “Oh, no...Mr. Wolfie….” she cried “You’re injured!” Mr. Wolf was limping, his right front paw had a nasty gash that was bleeding; the rest of the injuries were minor scratches, much to Tonks relief. However the injury on his paw was worrying; it was bleeding to much and if it got infected, Mr. Wolfie could get very sick. She had to do something, but she wasn’t a healer and she knew nothing of healing spells unlike her dad. Tonks looked around desperately trying to think of something when she noticed a bush a few meters from them. She recognized it immediately. “Wait here...I’ll be right back…” Snape’s christmas gift was doing honor to its name, she thought as she limped to the small patch of plants. The plants had a soft, woolly covering of white-grey hair on its stems and round green leaves with tiny rose-pink flowers surrounded by brighter purple-pink bracts: Dittany. The book had said that the plant had very powerful healing properties even in its raw state. Tonks pulled out a few of the plants and hurried back to where Mr. Wolfie was licking his injury. “All right...let’s see…” she said to herself “What did the book said….” Tonks did a great effort to remember the entry on Snape’s book: macerate the plant and apply directly over the wound. Secure it with bandage making sure to apply pressure. “Ok...Macerate first…” she said picking a couple rocks and starting smash the plants between them “then...apply on the injury….I’m sorry Mr. Wolfie...this might sting a little…” A little was probably overrated, considering the growl that Mr. Wolfie had made when she had put the green paste on his paw. Tonks waited for the wolf to calm down before proceeding. “Apply pressure with a bandage….but I don’t have bandages!” she cried in panic “Ok...no, Tonks...you gotta calm down and think. There has to be something you can use instead…” The girl began poking into her pockets searching for anything useful until she stumbled with her white handkerchief. It had been her grandmother’s. Tonks stared at the piece of cloth; it was a memento from her beloved grandmother and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t reluctant to let it go, but Mr. Wolfie had gotten injured because of her; he had saved her. Her grandmother would have prompt her to do it. Tonks shook her head and used the handkerchief to bandage Mr. Wolfie’s paw making sure that it was tight enough to ensure contact with the plant, but not too tight to harm him more. “There...this...should do, I think…” she said looking at the wolf. His amber eyes were stuck on here “I’m so sorry...you got hurt because of me…” Mr. Wolfie nudged her hand in a gesture that tried to tell her it was alright. The wolf then turned to look at her bleeding leg and turned back to her with stern eyes. “It’s nothing...it’s a scratch…” she replied understanding the meaning behind those stern eyes “I will put the rest of the dittany on it and it should heal without problems…” The wolf was staring at her with something that Tonks could only interpret as concern. Why was he so worried, she wouldn’t know. After a few minutes she looked at her leg and the gash was gone leaving only a faint mark. “See? It’s gone. I’m alright. It wasn’t that deep…” she said scratching his head “it could have been worse, but...you saved me…” The wolf closed his eyes enjoying the girl’s touch;he leaned his head on her lap and letting it rest there. The fight with the other werewolf had left him exhausted and he could sense the worry, panic and terror from his human side, but there was nothing that he could do until tomorrow. For now, all he wanted was sleep.

Lupin woke up back in the Shrieking Shack the next morning. His muscles were stiff and in pain making him groan in discomfort as he pushed himself up from the ground. As he looked around himself to assess the damage done by his misadventures he noticed Tonks’s white handkerchief was still tied on his arm as a friendly reminder.. Tonks! She’d been attacked by a werewolf last night. Why and how it was there, he had no idea; but he didn’t want to think what could have happened if he hadn’t made it on time to interfere. His memories were fuzzy, but he could remember the important parts. Tonks had been injured, but it had been a scratch and not a bite and besides that and the evident panic in her, she’d been unharmed. For the first time in his life, he was grateful to his wolf for protecting her. Lupin stared at the handkerchief. The white cloth was soaked in his dried blood and putting aside his worries, he was amazed by Tonks actions. She had just been attacked by one of his kind, and yet there she was, panicking and almost crying because he’d been hurt. Lupin smiled faintly; the boy waved his wand and the blood in the fabric vanished, leaving the item clean. Lupin folded the piece of fabric carefully and put it inside the inner pocket of his robe. He would figure out a way to give it back to her. Madam Pomfrey wasn’t too thrilled with his scratches, but as usual, the nurse didn’t ask how he had gotten hurt and devoted herself to heal them as best as she could and force feed him a pain easing potion. Almost two hours later, the woman had been satisfied enough to release him. Lupin wanted to check on Tonks and make sure that his memories hadn’t fooled him and that the girl was indeed okay, but he needed to speak to professor Dumbledore first. The boy gave to gargoyle the password hoping that it hadn’t been changed and was relieved when the statue moved aside and let him pass. Dumbledore was pacing around his office when he knocked. The old wizard a smiled at him from behind his half moon spectacles with a welcoming look. “Ah, Mr. Lupin. What an unexpected surprise. I would have expected you to be in bed after a rough night of full moon…” Snuggling in bed was definitely something that Lupin wanted, but priorities had to be addressed before he could spoil himself. “Yes, professor. It was a rough night…” Lupin answered “but...there was something I needed to tell you and...well, it was important…” “Then please take seat, Mr. Lupin. I am sure you’re barely able to stay on your feet…” Lupin accepted Dumbledore’s offer and sat down in front of the headmaster’s desk. Dumbledore paced around the room for moment before coming back and sitting down. Soon a cup of tea had been poured in front of Lupin and some chocolate biscuits appeared magically in a plate. “Please, I don’t reckon you have had breakfast yet…” Dumbledore smiled “So...what’s this important thing you need to tell me about?” Lupin took a bite of the biscuit as he tried to think how to phrase it. He didn’t want to get Tonks into troubles for walking around during forbidden hours. “Yesterday…” he began “There was another werewolf in the school grounds…” Dumbledore looked at him silently. He was waiting for the boy to continue. “It attacked a student; I …” “You don’t need to worry about it. Ms. Tonks wasn’t bitten…” Lupin was frozen. His green eyes looked at Dumbledore with a mix of confusion and horror. “Hagrid found her asleep in the pumpkin orchard with some scratches and a partially healed laceration on her leg this morning. Naturally, we had to address the situation…” “Is she…?” “Her leg will heal properly as long as she doesn’t trip in the next few hours…” Dumbledore smiled at him. There was a small glint of amusement in his blue eyes “I don’t remember her parents to be so clumsy and accident pron. Makes you wonder where she might have taken that from, don’t you think, Mr. Lupin?” Lupin didn’t answer…. “Her story was quite...interesting. She was quite concerned about a certain...wolf that had gotten himself injured trying to protect her from another one.. I believe she called him...Mr. Wolfie?” Lupin chuckled weakly. Why she had come with such a silly name, he had no idea, but somehow he found it cute from her. “Am I right to assume you are Mr. Wolfie, Mr. Lupin?” Dumbledore asked. His smile had gotten bigger. “I know I shouldn’t have...I’m dangerous to her and…” “Well, Mr. Lupin...judging by the events from last night. I am actually glad that you did. If it hadn’t been for you, I’m afraid that Ms. Tonks would have more than a injured leg…” And he knew Dumbledore was right. If his wolf hadn’t had the instinct….no, the necessity to make sure Tonks safe, she could have been killed. Wasn’t it the whole reason why the wolf had made a habit of accompanying the girl during her Full Moon strolls? And then, the unanswered question that kept popping in his head after every full moon came once more: why? “I don’t understand it professor…” Lupin said “Werewolves...we are dangerous creatures. We live to kill and hurt people, it doesn’t matter who...but...with her...it’s different. It’s like ...I still know her, even if I’m a wolf…” Dumbledore stared at him with his usual inquisitive look that made Lupin feel as he was being carefully examined. “Some things in this world are too complex to be explained…” Dumbledore finally said “It is, indeed, unheard of a werewolf that could recognize his friends and family in his transformed form, however… Mr. Lupin, unheard doesn’t mean it is impossible…” “I just...don’t understand it. Why her? I can’t even recognize my parents…” “Yes, but perhaps because Ms. Tonks seems to be a very special case…” “Special...case?” “Yes, she might have something that no one that has seen you in your transformed form ever did…” “I don’t know what, sir.” “Think of it, Mr. Lupin. What’s the first thing anyone who sees you as a wolf think? Feel?” Lupin stared at the amber liquid in his cup. What would anyone feel? Hatred? Disgust? ….Fear? “Fear…” he finally said “Tonks wasn’t scared of me….even when she saw I was a wolf.” Dumbledore smiled in approval. “Yes, Ms. Tonks is quite a special young lady in more ways than one. I was warned beforehand, by her parents, about her difficulties to stay put during the Full Moons; so I was keeping an eye on her during her night strolls…” Lupin was now staring at the professor with confusion. “I must admit I was a little worried the first time you two met…” “You….saw that, sir?” “Oh, I did. I originally intended to interfere, but I am now happy that I didn’t. It’s been rather interesting to see how the relationship between her and her werewolf friend evolved.” Lupin thought Dumbledore was crazy. Hadn’t he thought about the dangers? But then again, a part of him was thankful that he’d allowed Tonks to stay with him in those horrid nights. “Tonks...is a strange girl…”he sighed “ people would say she’s crazy for some of the things she says…” “And yet...sometimes the crazy ones are the wisest ones. Ms. Tonks certainly can be quite wise for her age, wouldn’t you say so Mr. Lupin?” He didn’t answer, but hadn’t he thought the same thing a few times before? “From what I’ve heard from Professor McGonagall. You and your friends have become quite protective of hear, so I wouldn’t say that it is only the wolf who seems rather attracted, and she seems fond of you as well…” “She doesn’t know what I am, professor.” “And do you think that would make a difference?” Of course it’d make a difference. People was different when they knew, but somewhere in his head a little voice told him that she wouldn’t care, and he wanted to believe it. Dumbledore chuckled. “I reckon that only time will tell. Thank you for telling me about the werewolf. I shall look into this matter to prevent any future incidents. In the meantime, Mr. Lupin...perhaps you will want to take a well deserved rest…”