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When Remus Lupin stepped onto the lifts in the Ministry of Magic Atrium, the last thing he expected was what he found. He smiled politely at a few familiar faces in the Order that shouldn’t know him. He gave a nod to another wizard he actually didn’t know. When he stepped out of the lifts and into the Auror Office, on his way to see Arthur Weasley, he stopped dead in his tracks. There was music faintly playing out of a pair of speakers at one of the Auror’s cubicles. He glanced at the supposedly elderly white-haired witch sitting at the desk with the wireless, flinching when the woman squealed and cranked up the volume.

“I LOVE THIS SONG!” she screeched, jumping out of her chair and starting to dance like a mad woman. When she turned around he noticed that she wasn’t an old woman at all, but a woman around her early twenties. No one in the other cubicles even gave her a second glance; evidently this was a frequent occurrence. Remus forgot about his destination and stopped to watch this woman dance.

You swim like you’re on fire
Live like your last day
Drink like it’s water
There’s no tomorrow

“What, no one’s going to dance with me?” the woman (or girl?) asked with a pout. Remus was finding it more and more difficult to believe that this woman was an Auror at all, but some sort of extremely early April Fool’s Day prank on him. “What about you Kings, will you dance with me?”

“I don’t think so Tonks, I’m a bit busy,” Kingsley Shacklebolt said without batting an eyelash. He didn’t even look up from his paperwork.

“Well fine then, I’ve only got nothing to do,” the Tonks woman said with a bored voice. That was when she saw Remus. He, sensing danger, began walking again determinedly towards Arthur’s office at the end of the cubicle jungle. He slipped a note to Kingsley, letting him know there was the new recruit meeting that night, and the Tonks woman saw.

“Oh, well now I at least know why you never dance with me Kings, you’ve got yourself a boyfriend,” she teased with a playful smile.

And you think no one can hear you
Raise your hands to be called on
You know all the answers

“Nymphadora, go back to your cubicle,” Kingsley said, not even half as fazed as Remus was by the woman’s assumption. The Tonks woman’s hair and eyebrows turned bright red.

“Did you just call me Nymphadora?” she asked dangerously. “Did he just call me Nymphadora?” she turned to Remus asking. Remus just stood there, his eyebrows high on his forehead. Had she just called him gay? Did he look gay? He couldn’t even make a recognizable noise he was so astounded. It didn’t help that Nymphadora tilted her head to the side with an interested look on her face.

“What’s wrong cutie, Tonks got your tongue?” she asked sweetly. “Well, you’d best not stand there with your mouth hanging open, stray memos have been rumoured to land in any small open space.” She then had the courtesy to place a small soft hand that was slightly obstructed by a pair of black fingerless gloves on his chin and close his mouth for him.

“I…er…I have to…to go,” Remus stammered out finally, pointing toward where Arthur’s office was. Nymphadora smiled again.

“See you later Remus,” Kingsley said, returning to his paperwork as Remus walked away. Remus waved over his shoulder at his associate.

“Seeya cutie,” Nymphadora called, making him hot under the collar even from that distance. He had never been so astounded in his life until he saw that woman’s hair change colours. How was that even possible? He had heard of Metamorphmagi in stories his father told him, but had never met one before. It was exhilarating, to say the least.

By the time he made it to the office, Arthur was laughing at him.

“What?” he asked irritably as he shouldered past the older wizard. Arthur merely shook his head, shaking with suppressed laughter. “Arthur, I was once a Marauder, I know the benefit of a good joke, so feel free to take the mickey out of me.” Arthur seemed to take this as an invitation.

“Remus Lupin, welcome to the Ministry,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ve just been Tonks-ed.”

“‘Tonks-ed?’ What the hell does Tonks-ed mean?” Remus asked with a raised eyebrow. “Is that some sort of prank in which you hire an insane woman to play out?” This only seemed to make Arthur laugh harder.

“No, no, no, Remus, Tonks is an Auror, believe me. She’s one of the best I’ve seen since Mad-Eye M—”

“Mad-Eye? Mad-Eye Moody?” Remus asked incredulously. “She practically offered Kingsley a lap-dance and then accused us of being gay lovers!” There was a burst of laughter behind them. Nymphadora had followed them. “Can I help you, miss?” he asked in irritated tones.

“Actually I need something from you Arthur,” she said with an arched eyebrow, her hair now a bright luminescent pink. She and Arthur walked behind the crowded desk and began talking in low voices, Nymphadora seemingly a completely different woman. She actually seemed serious. Remus couldn’t help but give this mysteriously ever-changing woman a once-over.

You’re the most colourful thing that I’ve seen

She had piercings. Many of them. There were at least four earrings in each ear, a small silver ring going through one eyebrow, and one diamond the size of a piece of glitter on her nose.

You’re the most colourful thing that I’ve seen

It looked as if there were also a tattoo of looping intercepting vines at least around the wrist of her left arm. Remus was curious to know if there were any other tattoos he should know about.

You’re the most colourful thing that I’ve seen

“Ah, perfect, thanks Arthur,” Nymphadora said with a grateful nod. Arthur had been explaining to her a diagram of a Muggle refrigerator. She stood up straight, stretched (revealing another piercing on her navel), smiled at both men, and then left the office. “Goodbye again cutie.”

“Goodbye Nymphadora,” Remus said calmly. The next thing he knew his robes were a set made for a woman. He whipped around to see Nymphadora walking away, feigning innocence as Kingsley chuckled at him. “Arthur, could you give me a hand?” With another suppressed laugh Remus’s robes became his own again. “Thank you Arthur. Now, do you have your list of new recruits?”

“Yep, you just met her,” Arthur said brightly. Remus felt like his head was going to cave in.

“Ohh, no,” he said slowly. “No, not her!”

“Remus, did you not hear me before? She’s one of the few I’ve seen that could rival Mad-Eye Moody; she would be a great asset to the Order!” Arthur explained.

“But Arthur, did you not see what she just did to my robes?” Remus protested.

“She hates her first name,” Arthur rebutted calmly.

“So tell me, don’t turn my robes into a woman’s set!” Remus yelped, his voice a few decibels higher than in civilized conversation. Arthur grinned at him.

“Obviously you don’t know Tonks,” he said with a shake of the head. “She acts, doesn’t take the time to talk it out. Let’s just say she likes to leave an impression.” Remus looked over his shoulder again, where Tonks’s hair was now green as she chatted to the receptionist.

He really couldn’t decide whether she repulsed or fascinated him.

You dance like no one’s watching

“Please assist me in welcoming our newest and youngest member to the Order of the Phoenix, twenty-two year old Miss Nymphadora Tonks,” Dumbledore said as Tonks stood up with a nervous grin. After seeing her leave the small office in which Dumbledore had interrogated her, shaking and completely white (even her hair and eyes), he had softened toward her. Slightly. She hit her own cousin when he called her Nymphadora.

Sing ‘til the song ends

“Thanks Professor,” she said, her hair gradually fading back to hot pink.

“Now why don’t you hit him when he calls you by your first name?” Sirius asked accusingly. Tonks looked at him with wide frantic eyes. Remus respected her a bit more now, at least she knew to behave in front of Dumbledore.

That night at dinner (Dumbledore had left by then) Tonks was laughing louder than everyone else and changing her noses several times for the kids’ enjoyment. Even Molly looked less offended than when Tonks had come in for the first meeting by now.

Then you sing some more

“Nymphadora Theodore Tonks…what—the hell—are you wearing? Sirius asked loudly as Tonks entered the room they were de-doxying that day. Tonks mock-innocently looked down at her apparel.

“Well, if you would draw your attention to my clothing…” she narrated sarcastically.

“I don’t need to be told to draw my attention to your clothing; it’s so…so…”

“Clinching?” Remus offered with a dry mouth. He could now see Tonks’s tattoos quite clearly. She was wearing a pair of short, short, short-shorts, a yellow wrap-top that came to a stop just lower than the bottom of her ribcage, and a pair of bright red sneakers. The vines on her wrist actually twisted their way all the way up her left arm like some sort of tribal symbol. There was also a green star on her right upper arm, a green solar-flare around her navel, and vines working their way up both of her legs.

“Don’t call her clothes clinching, it sounds dirty!” Sirius said sharply, hitting Remus’s arm. Remus’s gaze went rapidly from cousin to cousin and back again.

“I—I was—I had—it was just a—a synonym for reveal—”

“Remus Moony Lupin don’t even finish that sentence!” warned Sirius. He then turned back to his cousin. “What the hell is that garbage all over your body?” Tonks raised a critical pierced eyebrow.

“They’re called piercings and tattoos, surely you’ve had at least one or the other before,” she said. “I have a few pictures of you with tattoos back home.”

“But—well—that’s completely—” Sirius stammered. “You’re too young!”

“You were twenty, I’m twenty two,” Tonks pointed out.

“Exactly! You’re far too old to be dressing in such a way!” Sirius turned the conversation around. Tonks let out a huff of frustration.

“Sirius, for f*ck’s sake!” she cried loudly. There was a gasp behind them all.

“NYMPHADORA THEODORE TONKS!” Molly shrieked.

And we hardly believe the
Words that flow from your mouth
Drink like it’s water

“That is it, I’ve had enough already with you!” Molly shouted, whipping out her wand. Before it was even half in the air Tonks’s was out as well and aimed. “What in Merlin’s name are you doing?”

“It’s called self-defense Molly; you were getting your wand out as well!” Tonks said loudly, the Auror in her becoming especially pronounced. They both stared at each other, completely nose-to-nose, until Molly backed away.

“This is your last warning Nymphadora. I have been intolerant with Mrs. Black’s portrait so far, but if there were one thing I could agree with it would be the way she speaks to you. You disgrace your family, your friends, the Order of the Phoenix—”

“Molly, that’s enough,” Remus cut in.

“—the other Aurors at the Ministry, you’re a disgrace to the entire Ministry of Magic! In fact, you give the word grace to disgrace, because you have none!” Molly shouted, her face turning red. Tonks’s wand had fallen to her side, and she backed toward the wall with the Black family tapestry. The kids had so far remained silent, standing with their backs against the wall.

“Molly,” Sirius said sharply.

“You’re constantly knocking down chairs, dropping plates, tripping over that goddamn umbrella stand, you’re a disaster walking! And now, you have used foul language in front of the children—my children, Nymphadora! How would you feel if they started using such vulgar language!?”

“Oh yes, because they’ve never heard that sort of language before from their peers!” Sirius argued in Tonks’s defense. Tonks seemed to be in too much shock to even move her perfect O of a mouth.

“Get out of this house, and don’t come back until you learn proper behavior and appearance around children!” Molly shrieked. Sirius finally grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room, leaving Tonks alone wither Remus and the kids.

“Tonks, are you al—?”

“Fine,” Tonks said numbly, her mouth finally closing. She looked down at her feet. The kids took a hint and fled the room as Remus approached Tonks slowly.

“You’re not fine,” he said simply. “Molly was out of order, we all know it.” Tonks wouldn’t answer him at first, her gaze locked on her shoes.

“The tattoos are fake,” she said quietly. “I can just sort of…” she screwed up her face in concentration and the vines faded away, leaving her looking small and pale.

You’re the most colourful thing that I’ve seen

She sighed quietly. “Perhaps Molly’s right, I’m not a good example for the kids. It’s just…I was on…I was on…” she faded out quickly, the rest of her sentence indecipherable.

“You were on what?” Remus asked, desperately hoping the next word from her mouth wasn’t the name of some sort of narcotic.

“I was on slag duty!” Tonks blurted out, turning bright red. “I help catch unfaithful husbands on the side to pay rent every month, my salary is bull.”

“I know how that feels,” Remus said understandingly. He attempted to reach out and touch her hand, but she was wearing silver bangles along with her fingerless gloves. His fingers met the smooth silver and burned, instantly recoiling from her. Tonks looked from her bracelet to Remus’s burnt hand and back again until realization dawned on her face.

“You’re a werewolf,” she breathed out slowly. Remus stiffened, she looked scared.

“Yes I am, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…. Now you’re afraid of me…” Remus said bleakly.

“No!” Tonks said quickly. “I just…I hurt you! I wear a lot of silver, I’m so sorry! This stuff could really hurt you, if I had known I wouldn’t have…I’m so, so sorry!” Instantly, the woman began taking out all of her silver earrings, eyebrow ring, nose ring, bangles, and even the navel ring.

“There…now you can touch me,” she said once all the jewelry was on the floor beside them.

You’re the most beautiful thing that I’ve seen

The next day Tonks struck everyone speechless as she entered Headquarters. Her hair was long, scraggly and limp, and an even more impenetrable black than Sirius’s. Her skin was paler than the moon that so tormented Remus. There was not a single tattoo or jewel on her body. Her eyes met Remus’s and she smiled back bleakly, her eyes only very slightly red enough for Remus to notice. Evidently Molly’s harsh words were still fresh in her mind. All throughout dinner Hermione and Ginny asked her to put on a few noses, but Tonks sadly brushed them off, leaving the girls looking hurt.

Instead of seeking amusement in Tonks the kids began getting restless and jittery without anything fun to do. Fred and George were caught more than once in a week trying to sneak Doxies into Order Members’ rooms. Hermione and Ron were fighting now more than ever, and they weren’t friendly fights either, they were screaming matches. Molly was absolutely running herself ragged trying to stop the twins’ from accidentally killing someone and Ron and Hermione from killing each other. By the end of the first week, Tonks’s absence of color made 12 Grimmauld Place even more dreary and bleak than it usually was.

You’re the most colourful thing that I’ve seen

Remus awoke one morning to light footsteps padding down the hall. Whoever was out there stopped for a few moments outside his door. He heard what was definitely a feminine sigh, and the footfalls continued down the rest of the hall and down the stairs. Curious as to why a woman would be sighing outside his door, Remus got up and followed whoever it was. At first he didn’t recognise the willowy raven-haired figure, but realised who she was when she tripped over the troll’s leg umbrella stand. The curtains flew open as they customarily did and glared at the young woman sprawled across the floor.

“Tonks, are you alright?” Remus asked quickly, kneeling down beside her as Mrs. Black’s portrait looked at Tonks, not really recognising her. There were sounds of talking and laughing from the kitchen.

“Tonks? You’re the Tonks girl!?” Mrs. Black screeched. She broke into hysterical bouts of laughter. “Oh, look how the high and mighty fall! You silly little child! Do you really think you’ll be accepted in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black just because you look a bit more like one of us? Well, let us get this straight immediately; you will never belong! You will never be a part of anything! You don’t fit in anywhere, ever-changing, capricious, a Dark Creature! Do you really think a Changeling like you would be allowed in my family? I would not even spit on your grave, you insufferable little half-blooded brat! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! GET OUT BEFORE I MAKE YOU GET OUT! KREACHER! KREACHER, REMOVE THIS FILTH FROM MY SIGHT! KREA—!”

By that time Sirius and Molly had managed to close the drapes around the former’s mother. They turned, panting, to Remus and Tonks to ask why they hadn’t done anything. Sirius closed his eyes and sighed when he saw that Tonks had started sobbing sometime during his mother’s rant. Remus was trying to get her out from underneath the umbrella stand that was too heavy for her to lift. Sirius quickly dismissed Molly with a wave and lifted the stand from his cousin’s back. Before he could even make a move toward her Remus was pulling her close to him.

You are an enigma walking

“Hey, don’t even listen to her Tonks, not for a minute, she’s gone mad in this house,” Sirius began to say. Tonks pushed away from Remus and staggered to her feet.

Make no excuses for the way that you carry on

“N-no, she’s right, Molly’s right, I don’t belong here. I’m not part of the Order! I’m not one of you. I’m just a kid, remember? That’s how you’ve been treating me Sirius, and maybe you’re right. All I do is cause trouble and get in the way of the professionals.” Tonks began to make for the door, wiping her eyes, until Remus reached out and took her arm in his hand.

“That isn’t true and you know it,” he said quickly. Tonks blinked slowly and looked away from him, only to have him grab her chin and make her meet his gaze. “You are smart, and really talented if Arthur wasn’t just trying to be flattering. He said that you’re the best Auror he’s seen since Mad-Eye Moody, and I believe it. When you’re being serious the colours, and the piercings, and the tattoos, they don’t matter anymore. All that matters is who you are.” He remembered Sirius’s words to him a year ago, and placed one of her hands on her own heart. “This heart…is where you truly live.” He was going to say more, but it seemed that was all Tonks needed.

And we can hardly believe it

That night Tonks showed up at Hermione and Ron’s prefect party with waist-length tomato red hair. She and Remus shared a small, almost intimate smile, before she began greeting the girls and giving herself a duck bill. Long after the kids had turned in for the night the “adults” were up joking and laughing. Around midnight Tonks and Sirius began singing an old song they had made up when Tonks was just a girl. Tonks and Sirius were only slightly drunk (Molly was asleep), so their voices were loud and absolutely toneless.

“Well your mummy’s rich and your daddy’s always working, so hush little baby we ain’t got time…FOR YOU!” Tonks and Sirius both burst out laughing, though Remus didn’t seem to think their song was very funny. Had it been based off of both Black children’s lives, they must have been severely neglected.

“That doesn’t seem very funny to me,” he said with a furrowed brow.

“It’s only f-funny…because we’re so alike!” Tonks said through teary snorts. She became serious upon seeing Remus’s face. “I’m sorry, we won’t sing it anymore.”

The words that flow from your mouth

“Remus, is everything okay?” Tonks asked after Sirius passed out on the couch. She had stopped drinking shortly after she and Sirius began singing. “Earlier this morning…you seemed…”

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” Remus quickly said. “You just seemed like you needed a hug.”

“No, I didn’t mind, it just seemed like…you had something more to say,” Tonks said with a shrug. Remus looked determinedly at his shoes, feeling his face heat up.

“Well…I was just going to…going to say…” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re really…really beautiful, and I was really sorry this week when you didn’t change your appearance, because I find your colourful side rather beautiful. Well, when I first met you I was unsure if it was nice or repulsive, but you seem to have warmed up to me quite a bit…” Tonks raised one eyebrow, unsure of what to make of it.

“Remus…are you saying…you like me?” she asked slowly, as if trying to help herself understand. Remus cleared his throat.

“Well…I’m not entirely sure, but…yes. Yes, I think I do,” Remus said finally. Tonks smiled.

“Good, because I’ve been dying to snog you as of late,” she said mischievously. She grabbed the front of Remus’s robes and the back of his head, and pulled his mouth to hers with bruising force.

Drink like it’s water girl!

Remus backed into his room, bumping into things distractedly as he was trying to snog and walk at the same time. He ran a hand up the inside of the colourful young woman’s shirt as they made their way to the bed.

Drink like it’s water girl!

Remus was the first of two to wake up, the sun shining in his eyes. He raised his head slightly to block the sunlight from waking the beautiful woman beside him. There was a small bit of drool on her chin as she snored lightly. Remus smiled softly and brushed a lock of pink hair from her eyes. With a surprised snort she opened her eyes, and gave him a brilliant, tired smile.

“Good morning beautiful,” he said softly, leaning down to kiss her.

You’re the most colourful thing that I’ve seen

“Morning handsome!” Tonks said in a squeaky voice and an over large grin on her face. She stuck her tongue out at the recipient of her morning greetings as Remus came up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, looking fondly down at the shining ring on Nymphadora’s finger.

“Let him sleep a little longer,” he said softly into his wife’s hair. She was gently rubbing the little infant’s stomach, trying to wake him and get him onto a proper sleeping schedule. She gave a small laugh as she turned to face him.

“He’s never going to have a schedule is he?” she asked turning around to face him. The morning light shone in her eyes, making her even more beautiful than before.

You’re the most beautiful thing that I’ve seen

Remus looked around the room as he held his wife close. This was everything he had ever wanted, even if he hadn’t realized it until recently. Everything was changing so quickly and drastically, that even his supposed “Changeling” wife was his only constant, stable stronghold. She and Teddy were the lights of his life.

“I love you,” he said as his wife rested her bright pink head on his chest.

You’re the most colourful thing that I’ve seen

“I love you,” she said softly. Remus kissed her and her hair began to rapidly change colours, faster than the blink of an eye.

You are so colourful

You are the most colourful thing that I have ever seen

No one quite knew what was ahead of them, but Remus knew that he would always have his wife and son, no matter what happened. He smiled down at the light illuminating her lime green hair, knowing that nothing could ever part them.