Not sure whether you'll like it, but give it a try... please? Oh, and I'm making this clear now... this is a ONE-SHOT. People keep asking me to write more chapters to my one-shots, but I won't be continuing this. It's fine in it's own little bubble. Gurugirl x p.s. mild dedication to leobreaker12 who apparently loves all my stories. p.p.s. there will be more Fic's coming soon, as i'm writing several different ones at the moment. Have fun with this story...

I am NOT J. K. Rowling

Button Eyed Boggart

Tonks stood in the corner of the small room, at Grimmauld Place, staring at the rattling wardrobe in front of her. Her eyes never wavered from the wardrobe once, not even to look around this strange room. Sirius had said that no-one had used this room while he had lived here, and he had no idea what was hidden in this place, for his mother was a weird woman with an evil mind. Still Tonks had been curious, and so, when Remus and Sirius had decided to make some tea, she had quietly slipped away, unlocked the door and creeped inside.

As she stepped into the room, she noted the unnatural coldness that had swept around her. The windows had no curtains, and so dim light streamed through them. There wasn't much in this room, apart from a rickety old bed and a bookshelf which housed many strange objects, none of which were books. Thinking how uninteresting the room was, she went to leave when she heard the rattling. She whipped around and saw the wardrobe for the first time. Puzzling how she hadn't seen it before, she watched it rattle and on instinct, had backed herself into the corner.

It was obviously a boggart, by the way it rattled and nothing had burst out yet. It was just a boggart, she could tackle a boggart no problem. Well, she hadn't tackled one since third year, and on that occassion... she shook her head, as if by doing so it would rid her of the memory that she had buried deep in the back of her mind, all those years ago.

I can do this, she thought. I don't need to call Sirius or Remus. I'm an Auror, I can tackle one tiny boggart, she covinced herself. She took a deep breath, and withdrew her wand, before flicking it at the wardrobe.

The wardrobe door creaked open and out stepped a girl, no taller than herself, with cropped purple hair and wearing the exact same clothes as she was. But as she looked up, she saw her face, and without thinking, she screamed. The eyes of the girl, the eyes of her, were big, shinny black buttons and her mouth was sewn up like a doll. The other Tonks held out her arms and started walking in a doll like fashion towards her.

"R-r-r-" she stuttered, finally stopping screaming, but she couldn't remember the charm. She couldn't form the words, and then the doll grabbed her arm and she screamed. The door slammed open and Remus and Sirius ran into the room, both confused as to what was going on. Remus was the first to realise what the doll Tonks was and ran infront of the real Tonks, making the boggart let go of the now sobbing Tonks's arm. The boggart changed instantly into the full moon.

"Riddikulus" he said, calmly. The boggart made a sound like the cracking of a whip, and then disappeared. Sirius was standing next to Tonks, as Remus turned around to face her. She looked up at him, and then closed her eyes. As her eyes closed, tears trickled out and her hands shook.

"Tonks-" began Sirius, but Tonks held up a trembling hand to silence him.

"Don't" she croaked. "Just don't" she repeated, before running from the room and through the house, she ran down a flight of stairs and down the hallway until she got to the door. She felt ashamed, embarassed, that she had to be helped like that. An auror, afraid of a boggart? How was she ever going to be able to face them again. She slammed the door on her way out and quickly disapparated.

Tonks lay on her bed, curled up in a ball, feeling more like a child than ever. If only she'd have stayed out of the small room, then she wouldn't have to feel embarassed the next time she saw Sirius and Remus. What would they think of her? Would they laugh at her for being scared of something so riddiculous, or would they pretend it never happened? As the thoughts swam around in her head, someone knocked on her flat door. She sat up quickly, and listened carefully, trying to determine whether or not she had in fact heard a knock. But there it went again.

She crept out of bed, and down the hallway, flicking the lights on as she went. The whole flat lit up as she reached the door, and twisited the handle. She opened it as far as the chain would allow, and looked through the gap. Remus stood there, looking back through the gap at her and smiling warmly at her. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Remus" she said, meaning to sound strong and confident, but it came out weak and shaky.

"Tonks" he replied. She shut the door and undone the chain, before opening the door again fully so she could see him better and he could see her. "Could I come in?" he asked, quietly.

"Sure" she replied, slightly nervously, before stepping back so he could pass her. "Sorry about the mess, i'm useless at household spells" she said, trying to sound casual as she shut the flat door and put the chain back on. "Do you want some tea?".

"Tea would be nice" he said, smiling. She moved into the kitchen breathing deeply as she went. It was safe to say that it had been a long time since she'd had a man in the flat. Not that it was like that, but she'd hardly ever had anyone over before. As she flicked on the kettle she sensed movement behind her, and span on her heel. Remus was leaning against the counter, watching her with curious eyes.

"I guess you want to ask me about earlier?" she ventured.

"Yes, but your well within your rights not to answer me" he explained. "But both myself and Sirius are worried. Sirius is especially worked up, fretting about his little cousin".

"I'll go and see Sirius tomorrow, to stop him worrying" she said, turning back to the newly boiled kettle, and pouring the water into two cups, which had tea bags in them.

"Good. Tonks, your boggart..." he trailed off.

"Your wandering what it was?" she asked, turning back round and passing him one of the freshly made cups of tea she'd just made. He took the cup with a smile, and nodded. "It's stupid really, it makes me weak" she whispered, bitterly.

"I don't think our fears make us weak, they make us human" he said, now unsmiling, searching her face for answers. She heaved a great sigh and put her tea back down on the side.

"When I was little, I had a stuffed doll, with big, black button eyes and a weird stitched up, smiling mouth. It was my favourite doll, but then I started having nightmares about it. I used to dream that the doll was alive and would try to smother me in my sleep. You must understand, I was a just a little girl" she implored. He nodded, and she continued, "But then it all changed, and it would creep through my dreams and grab me, and it would hold me down. I would try to scream, but it stitched up my mouth. And then it took a needle and two black buttons..." she trailed off, biting her lip. Her eyes were looking up, and glazed over as if lost in the dream. Her hands shook and she looked at Remus, who was wearing the expression of guilt on his face.

"I'm sorry Tonks, I shouldn't have brought it up" he said.

"It's been along time since i've thought about it. Back in third year, we were made to tackle a boggart, and the exact same thing happened as earlier" she whispered. "I was teased horribly for months after that. 'Tonks is afraid of the big bad dolly'. I can't believe that that is what i'm afraid of. A doll, my doll. A childhood toy" she muttered.

"They shouldn't have teased you for that, it's wrong" Remus said, leaning his arm forward and squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. She smiled weakly at him.

"I'm sorry Remus, I shouldn't be dumping all this on you".

"It's ok, I don't mind" he said. "What happened to your doll?" he asked, curiously.

"I hid it, in a box, at the back of my wardrobe" she whispered, pointing towards her bedroom. Remus screwed up his face in thought and then walked slowly towards her.

"Maybe thats the problem, maybe you should get rid of it" he suggested. She looked up at him in thought and nodded gently. She then walked around him and headed towards her bedroom, taking a deep breath as she opened the wardrobe doors and pulled out a small brown box from the back. She held the box tightly under one arm and shut the doors, before walking back into the kitchen. Silently, she passed him the box and went to sit on the kitchen side.

Remus put the box on the side and pulled off the lid. Sitting inside was a stuffed doll, with a red coat and black hair, big black button eyes and a slightly twisted stitched up mouth. Remus picked it up and held it in the light, so both he and Tonks could see it. She cringed as Remus twisted the doll slightly and the button eyes came to rest on her.

"It's the eyes that do it. Black, blank button eyes. Always seem to be staring at you, no emotion, no signs, no fear, just staring blankly. It sounds crazy but I don't trust anything if I can't see the emotion in there eyes. And I know dolls don't have emotions, and they don't plot or scheme, but when I was little, that's what I thought. And it sort of- ".

"Stayed with you?" Remus asked, understandingly.

"Yes" she replied, simply.

"Well, what to do with it..." he muttered. "It is a bit creep looking" he said, dropping it back into the box, and slipping the lid back on. She smiled to herself, glad that she'd shown him and that he had understood. She wondered whether Sirius would have been as understanding, but then again, Remus and Sirius were completely different. Remus was sweet, and intelligent and whenever he smiled, it was infectious, and she always found herself smiling aswell.

"Burn it?" he asked, suddenly, snapping her back to reality. She looked up at him and then to the box, in which the doll layed.

"Burn it" she agreed, decisively.

Remus and Tonks stood infront of the fire at Grimmauld Place, Remus with a poker, stoking the fire, and Tonks holding the doll in her left hand. Her hand was trembling, but her mind was set. With one nod from Remus, she took a steadying breath and chucked the doll into the fire. She watched as Remus poked the doll further into the flames, which began to engulf the doll and burn the material into ash.

The flames reflected in her eyes, as she watched her childhood Toy... her childhood Nightmare turn to nothing but ash. As she watched, she felt as if a great weight had been taken from her shoulders.

Just then the door opened, and Sirius stood there, staring at Tonks and Remus with an intrigued expression. Remus and Tonks turned to him, and he screwed up his face in confusion.

"Should I ask?" he asked. Tonks shook her head. Sirius nodded, "Beer?".

"Sure Padfoot" smiled Remus, turning to Tonks. "Tonks?".

"Yeah" she agreed, smiling at them both with great relief.

Sirius left the room, followed closely by Remus. As Tonks got to the door, she stopped and turned around, to stare into the fire once more. She watched closely as the last button eye began to melt in the heat, and finally disappeared. Nothing was left of her button eyed nightmare but ash.

Anyone seen the film Coraline? Well, that's where the inspiration for this rather short, silly fic came from. I know it isn't great, but it was just one of those spare of the moment things. Review x