Disclaimer: All characters remain the intellectual property of JKR, I am merely shuffling them around a little for my own amusement...

AN: For the sake of this story I have made Tonks a little older than she is in the book series; this is set primarily during Harry's third year at Hogwarts although some events from future books will be brought forward.

'Settle down at the back, Finnigan…Goyle, I really don't think Mr. Filtch would appreciate finding yet another wad of your chewing gum stuck in the keyhole again…Waddiwas!' A slight motion with his left hand sent the wad of gum flying out of Goyle's hand to neatly wrap itself neatly back into the foil wrapper. 'Come on, come on…there's room enough for everyone up here.' The slightly hoarse voice of the Professor matched his outward appearance, robes that were slightly tatty, a baggy jumper wearing thin at the elbows worn over a shirt and tie that hadn't been fashionable even when they had been new. The new Defence against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin, leant slightly on his thin cane and waved one lean hand toward a large and very ornate wooden wardrobe wobbling slightly at the end of the room. Upon taking up his new post, Remus had looked over the lesson plans drawn up by the previous years' tutor and muttered a swift fire charm over the whole lot before stalking into Albus Dumbledore's office and informing him that if he wanted him to teach the kids something useful they would have to set aside their books and start using their wands for a change. So, here he was second day on the job and dragging the two houses out of their slightly cramped classroom and up to the barely used staff room on the third floor where their voices echoed in the rafters.

'Today we're going to be looking at Boggarts…as this is a practical exercise I need you to put your bags over near the far wall and get your wands at the ready.' The sounds of thirty excited sets of feet stomping noisily across the wooden floorboards made Remus wince a little, it had only been a few days since the last full moon and his heightened sense of hearing gained during the change hadn't quite dissipated as yet. The scent of cat urine mixed in with floor polish hit his nostrils and Remus knew that Filch was approaching the attic staircase long before the school's caretaker had reached the landing. 'Yes, Mr. Filch?'

'Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office, said to tell you it couldn't wait. Peeves here will fill in…' Fitch glared uneasily at the poltergeist, who blew the unkempt caretaker a loud raspberry as he floated into the attic room.

'Peeves…don't even think about opening that wardrobe or I'll tell Nick exactly where you hide every time he wants to join the Headless Hunt.' Remus whispered to the ghost softly and saw the Poltergeist's outline waver slightly as he listened to the quiet warning. Raising his voice, Remus called out to the students. 'Pay good attention to what Mr. Peeves has to say, you may find it very beneficial in your end of year exams!' Swivelling around with the aid of his cane, Remus limped over to where Filch hovered in the doorway. 'I'm sure Peeves will be fine on his own, Mr. Filtch.'

'Think I'll stick around and make sure he doesn't tell 'em anything Dumbledore wants to keep hidden.' Filtch muttered under his breath. 'Them passages are blocked for a reason and it would be just like that ruddy spectre to point the pesky kids in the right direction.'

'Very well then, I'll come straight back after seeing the Headmaster; if our time together runs over time please ensure the children head straight to their next lesson…Herbology I believe with Professor Sprout.'

'Yessir…' Filtch acknowledged the request with a brief nod and Remus made his way slowly along Gargoyle corridor to the tower where the Headmaster's office was located, wishing that Dumbledore hadn't made apparition banned within school grounds; at the rate he was moving these days, he'd be lucky to make it back before teatime let alone before the end of lessons.

Finally reaching the massive stone Gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the office, tapping his wand against the stone and announcing his name. The Gargoyle slid to the side, revealing the spiral staircase leading up to the main office. As he climbed, Remus remembered making the very same journey when he was a student at Hogwarts himself; Dumbledore insisting that he visit every time he returned from his monthly exile to change form. Giving a brief tap on the large wooden doors at the top of the stairs, Remus pushed the doors open and made his way into the Headmaster's inner sanctum where he saw Dumbledore talking quietly with someone sitting in one of the high backed chairs in front of his desk.

'Ah, Remus…' Dumbledore paused in his conversation and looked up as Remus drew near, waving his hand over to the spare chair. 'You're looking a little peaky, won't you have a little hot chocolate? I've taken the liberty of asking Madame Pomfrey to add a restorative potion to the brew.'

'Headmaster.' Remus gave Dumbledore a brief nod of thanks as he gathered his robes together in preparation to sit down.

'How remiss of me, I forgot to introduce you to my guest.' Dumbledore's eyes twinkled a little as he waved his hand over languidly to the occupant of the other chair. 'Remus Lupin meet Nymphadora Tonks.' Remus paused in a half seated position and then rose up again to offer his hand in greeting. His eyes widened slightly as he got his first glimpse of the girl, or possibly young woman sitting with her legs curled up in the chair. He swept his gaze over the delicate heart shaped face sporting a massive grin, and watched as the ends of her hair fluttered lightly in the breeze coming through the open window; the bright pink strands of her short spiky style looking oddly out of place when paired with the Auror badge pinned to the collar of her Ministerial robes.

'Miss Tonks has been sent to keep an eye on one of our students over the next couple of months; the Ministry is worried about the safety of the boy in the light of recent events.' Something in Dumbledore's tone had Remus dropping the Auror's hand to fall back into his chair, his hand tightening around his cane until his knuckles threatened to burst through the skin.

'Headmaster…' Remus could barely speak, his words catching in the back of his throat and Dumbledore gave a quick flick of his wand and the wooden doors slammed shut at the same time as the window fastened itself into the casing.

'Sirius is back…' Dumbledore said quietly and laced his fingers together as he glanced between the two people he had chosen to take into his confidence. 'He arrived at the school just last evening and Madame Pomfrey has been working on him all night; he's very undernourished and weak but she thinks he will make a full recovery.'

'I've already placed extra wards around the tunnels and reinforced those already in place around the Whomping Willow and Shrieking Shack.' The Auror confirmed and gave Remus a sideways glance. 'We're hoping to have found a more permanent hiding place before you are likely to be needed the Shack again.' Remus nodded slowly, struggling to take in the fact that one of his closest childhood friends was in fact just a few miles away from him after being cruelly imprisoned for something he did not do; even more amazing was the fact that the young Auror had practically told him to his face that she knew all about his monthly curse and Auror's were supposed to take in any Dark Creature that they came across!

'Remus…don't look so worried, Miss Tonks has no intention of turning you over to the committee for interrogation.' Dumbledore reassured Remus, whose face was growing paler with every passing minute and the Auror let out a small cry of dismay.

'Bugger it! I knew I should have kept my big mouth shut and let Dumbledore do all the talking!' She leapt up from her chair, tripping over her robes in the process and ended up with her face buried in Remus's lap. Her hair morphed into a scarlet halo which betrayed her embarrassment even though her facial features were perfectly composed. Dumbledore let out a quiet chuckle as he saw Tonks trying to remove her feet from where they had ripped through the hem of her robes and straight through Remus's.

'Fizzing Whizzbees!' Remus could hear Tonks muttering crossly to herself as she attempted to untangle herself from her torn clothing and he smiled faintly as he waved his wand slightly, murmuring a faint 'reparo' incantation under his breath, restoring both of their robes to their natural state.

'Are you all right, Miss Tonks?' Remus asked quietly as he assisted the young Auror to her feet, she gave him a jerky nod of her head as she settled herself back into the second chair.

'Ta…always was a bit of a klutz; took me two attempts to pass the stealth exam at the Ministry…gets worse if I'm a little agitated.' Tonks turned her head to look directly at Remus and he could see that her hair had reverted back to the bright pink of earlier; he wondered whether her outward appearance was directly linked to her emotional state. 'I didn't mean to cause offence earlier…I mean, I am an Auror and all that, but I'm at a very junior level and don't actually report to the Ministry at the moment.' Remus looked very confused at her jumbled explanation and ran a finger over his thin moustache as he turned to Dumbledore.

'Albus, it was a very tiring change this month and my brain's not as sharp as it should be; could you maybe use a lot of small words so that I can understand what's going on please?

'I've resurrected the Order, Remus…it's time.' Dumbledore's quiet statement had Remus jerking in his seat and staring at the Headmaster in disbelief.

'How is that even possible, Albus? Most of the Order is either dead or stuck in St Mungo's…' Tonks didn't bat an eyelash at the informal way Remus addressed the Headmaster and now Head of the newly reformed Order of The Phoenix and Remus wondered just how much the elderly wizard had told the Auror before he had been called in…

'We have enough people to start with…Arabella Figg's been watching over Harry in Little Whinging for the whole of his life and Elphia Doge has practically been his shadow for the last three years. Then we have Emmeline Vance, Dedalus Diggle, Minerva of course and now we have Kingsley Shacklebolt and Miss Tonks from the Auror office as well as Arthur Weasley who has managed to retrieve a large number of reports from the Ministry on our behalf.' Dumbledore watched Remus settle down a little s he reeled off the names of those he had already persuaded to come back into the Order once again.

'What's our purpose?' Remus asked, plucking at a stray thread on the edge of his robe. 'I know our aim is to ultimately rid ourselves of Dark users but unless Voldemort attacks us outright we'll never know where to look.'

'Knowledge at the moment, Remus.' Dumbledore stated as he stared at the slightly rumpled looking professor. 'Our aim is to prepare ourselves the best we can for the war that I am sure is coming. I want to make sure that the children are protected at all times – we all know how important Potter is, but I want all of our students to be fully versed in every defensive charm, spell and incantation we can think of as well as being able to recognise the beginnings of a spell before it is even cast.'

'My job here is in three parts,' Tonks swivelled in her seat and leant forward slightly, completely focused on the subject matter and not a stray hair was blowing out of place. 'I was the last Auror taken into the training programme straight out of Hogwarts and not a single person has passed the initial testing stage in the last two years. I've been sent to Hogwarts to see if I can spot any potential Auror's among the students here and report back to the Ministry.'

'You said three parts, what are the others?' Remus questioned softly, and he saw Tonks exchange a quick glance with the Headmaster; whatever she saw in his face was enough to reassure her that it was safe to continue.

'Protect Harry Potter and make sure that he's strong enough to face whatever Voldemort throws at him.'

'Miss Tonks will sit in on your DADA classes for a few weeks to see what the boy knows already, after a few weeks she will 'offer' some extra classes to Harry and a few others whom you both think will benefit from learning something that they only teach in Auror training. As to the third part of our plan…' Dumbledore's voice trailed off as his fingernails tapped against his desk, Tonks saw the way the Headmaster looked at everywhere apart from Remus and knew he was trying to think of a delicate way to put the matter.

'Albus…whatever's on your mind you can just say it; we've known each other too long, I know there's something else.' Remus said wearily, running a hand over his gaunt looking face. 'It's something to do with the change, isn't it?'

'Indeed Remus, spot on as usual.' Dumbledore leant back against the cushions on his chair and turned his attention to the window behind his desk. He could just see the top of the small house where he and the other teachers created a safe haven for Remus to disappear to during his time at Hogwarts as a student so many years ago. 'It's been many years since you last took Wolfsbane on a regular basis and it is likely to be a few cycles before your system gets used to the potion. I know how hard your last transformation was on you…' Dumbledore held up his hand when Remus opened his mouth to challenge his words. 'It's no good denying it, Remus…I can see the tiredness in your eyes and the way your clothes hang tell me you've lost weight that you could ill afford to lose. Miss Tonks will take over your classes the day before your next transformation and the two days immediately following; you will use that time to take any restorative Madame Pomfrey cares to give and you will eat as much food as we can get the house elves to cook up for you.' When Dumbledore saw that Remus wasn't going to argue the claims he waved his hand toward the doors, releasing them from the silencing charm. 'I suggest the two of you head back to your second years before Peeves has them all performing the Jelly Brain jinx on each other.'

Remus and Tonks knew when they were being dismissed, so rose up from the visitors' chairs and made their way over to the exit.

'Miss Tonks, your bags have been delivered to your rooms; second floor professor's wing, you're in the suite next to Minervra. Good luck to the pair of you, I expect a progress report by half term.'

'Yes, Headmaster.' Tonks gave Dumbledore a nod, accompanied by a quick grin and walked out of the office with a swish of her robes. Remus just nodded his goodbye and followed his new assistant out into the corridor.

Nice, helpful constructive critism is always welcomed; flaming reviews will be punished with a bag of vomit flavoured jelly beans whilst positive reviewers will receive a bag of Sherbert Lemons from Dumbledore himself...