An Unwanted Cinderella Situation

An Unwanted Cinderella Situation

The first thing Tonks became aware of was that her cheek seemed to be unpleasantly stuck to something sticky and smelly. In fact, this entire position started to feel incredibly uncomfortable, and it became more and more difficult for her struggling mind to stay in its dark, dizzy dream-world.

Slowly gaining consciousness, she opened her eyes blindly and tried to get used to this new, excruciatingly bright light. The first thing she noticed was that her white, fuzzy bathroom carpet wasn't so very white and fuzzy anymore. It was soaked and bore a dark shade of red.

Why am I on the floor? she thought confusedly after fully comprehending her current position. She tried to turn her head and look around but was only rewarded with a dull, aching throb from her nose. Ow, that hurts.

She then noticed that not only her bathroom carpet, but also the entire front of her favourite Muggle T-shirt seemed to be soaked in that same smelly and sticky red substance. An alarming thought appeared.

Is that blood!?

Suddenly, it all came back to her.

She uttered a groan, realising what must have caused this. Ruddy stupid coffee; ruddy idiot twins, she cursed randomly. Was this their idea of a bloody joke? She decided it was all just a bit too literal for her liking. Twits.

Slowly managing to rise to her feet, she realised she desperately needed to regain her strength or else she might just pass out again from sheer exhaustion. She slowly made her way to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Getting clean again was something she could worry about later.

A warm Butterbeer, two apples and a glorious bath later, Tonks glanced at her Chudley Cannons Quidditch clock in the living room and noticed that it was nine-thirty already. (The score was 210 to 30 in favour of the Cannons, and a little sun was descending over the miniature Quidditch pitch.) She decided it must still be Sunday, because otherwise, her Head of the Auror Office would most likely have sent her an owl by now, inquiring about her absence.

Thinking of Rufus Scrimgeour made her realise that she might want to iron her work robe after all, or he would surely comment on her unprofessional appearance again. But where did I put my... She was abruptly cut off in her thoughts when she suddenly remembered exactly where she had left the robe.

Oh, bugger.

Ah, well, she might as well Apparate back to headquarters at once, or she would regret it tomorrow. Besides, she had a thing or two she wanted to ask those twin menaces.

*

Once again standing in front of the door to number twelve, Tonks was just about to ring the doorbell when Arthur Weasley emerged from behind the door. He flinched slightly upon unexpectedly meeting someone on the doorstep, but gathered his wits quickly and smiled broadly at her.

'Tonks!' he exclaimed brightly. 'Good to see you.'

She was just about to greet him back when he continued. 'Listen, I myself need to be on my way to guard duty, but that ghastly ghoul seems to be back and has inhabited the girls' wardrobe. Molly's busy in the kitchen, and I didn't want to wake Remus, but perhaps you might consider...?' She could tell Arthur seemed to be in a hurry.

'Of course,' she said quickly, 'but where's Sirius?' Normally, he was the one considered to be the master of ghoul-hexing.

'Ah,' he said and paused to consider his words. 'I think you might find that he's locked himself in with Buckbeak again,' he explained diplomatically.

'Oh,' said Tonks in comprehension.

'Oh, my, look at the sun. I better get going,' Arthur said and then added a hasty, 'Thanks for your trouble!' over his shoulder before scurrying away.

After sealing the door behind her, she considered fetching her robe from the kitchen first, but upon recognising the sudden vague shouting of Ginny Weasley, she decided against it. Passing the stuffed heads of Kreacher's ancestors, she made her way upstairs. The scene that greeted her on the first landing was almost rib-crackingly funny.

Ginny's aggressive tone was distinctly heard from behind the closed door to her and Hermione's room. Ron and Harry were standing outside the door, seemingly in the middle of negotiating their way in. Needless to say it was a fairly pointless quest, at least judging by Ginny's stern voice. Additional loud banging and an occasional moaning from the murderous house ghoul were also heard from inside. Considering the powerful volume of these various noises, she was surprised that Mrs. Black hadn't decided to awaken and join the chaos. Still, Ginny did a pretty grand attempt in filling her place.

'NO, Ron, I've told you a gazillion times, you're NOT to come in here!' her angry voice exclaimed. 'Besides, Hermione and I have already changed for the night.' Tonks thought she might have heard a protesting sound from Hermione, but she wasn't sure due to all the banging and moaning. 'And we can HANDLE this,' Ginny continued. 'Just sod OFF!'

'Right,' muttered Ron. 'Right... like they could bloody handle that... Can't even use magic outside school, those two.'

'Um... Ron, neither can you,' Harry pointed out.

'Right,' Ron said again, his ears a tad redder than moments before.

Tonks stifled a snicker and decided to deliver the poor lad from the situation, clearing her throat loudly to announce her presence.

'Wotcher,' she said, smiling broadly. 'Ghoul bothering you again?' she asked, not waiting for them to greet her back.

'Yeah,' said Ron irritably, 'and my bloody persistent sister refuses to let us in.'

'I heard that!' came Ginny's indignant voice from inside.

'Listen, why don't you just let me take it from here, and I'll help them Vanish the thing,' Tonks suggested. 'You know, Sirius taught me a thing or two the last time,' she added with a grin.

Harry shot her a relieved glance, but Ron still didn't seem entirely content.

'I'm sure we'll manage,' she reassured him, fairly certain that the girls had good reasons for not letting them in. 'Come on, off you go,' she then said and ushered them towards the stairs. Watching them ascend to the next landing, she firmly knocked on the door.

'Ginny, Hermione, it's me, Tonks,' she said. 'Open up!'

She wasn't surprised to find a fully dressed Ginny open the door.

'Oh, thank heavens it's you,' she said, letting Tonks enter the room. 'This ruddy ghoul's been going on and on for hours now, and I'm really losing my nerves here,' explained an obviously frustrated Ginny while she gestured towards the large wardrobe at the far end of the room.

'Yeah, your dad told me,' answered Tonks and then greeted the also fully-dressed Hermione with her usual, 'Wotcher'. Hermione smiled brightly, greeting her back.

'So... what's with the not letting Harry'n Ron in?' Tonks wondered between the now less ferocious bumps from the closet.

'Oh, that,' Ginny began. 'It's just that Ron simply refuses to realise he only ever manages to aggravate these buggers further,' she explained. 'So I figured it was all for the best not to let him near the thing, since nothing but a wand'll be able to get rid of it anyway.'

'Good thinking,' said Tonks.

'And speaking of wands...' Hermione said rather urgently. 'Perhaps we could just use yours?' Hermione had never had the questionable benefit of growing up with one of these ugly noise-makers right in the attic of her home.

'Darlings,' said Tonks with a solemn sigh, 'that's why I'm here.'

After only a few futile attempts, the ghoul finally gave up its current residence, and with any luck, they wouldn't be hearing from it again anytime soon. Tonks mentally decided to thank Sirius some day for showing her this brilliant alternative way of kicking ghoul butt.

They all chatted happily for a while, and Hermione came up with an excellent suggestion on how to perform a regular Scourgify in order to have it specialised to remove blood stains. Tonks was relieved to notice they didn't demand detailed explanations from her on that specific matter, since the situation was delicate enough the way it was. By then, she suddenly remembered one of her original reasons for coming here.

'Listen, about the twins,' she began. 'They wouldn't happen to be close by, would they?' she asked, since she couldn't recall noticing them before.

'Ha!' Ginny exclaimed. 'Those two claimed they were tired and would retire for the evening... Never heard such a load of cock'n bull before in my life!'

Ginny paused abruptly. 'Not counting the recent Daily Prophet, of course,' she added grimly.

'How so?' Hermione wondered, since curiosity seemed to have overpowered her urge to join the Daily Prophet bashing.

'Oh, nothing important, really,' Tonks replied. 'Just a question I had about some funny coffee I drank earlier.'

'Don't tell me you actually drank something either of those two gave you?' Ginny demanded.

'So what if I did?' Tonks inquired lightly.

'Are you mad? Everyone knows they're nothing but disasters waiting to happen,' she said. 'Sure they're brilliant, even hilariously so, and normally, I couldn't care less, but you're actually kinda cool, you know, so it would grieve me if you suddenly sniffed it.'

Tonks cut her off with an unsettled laugh. 'Um... sniffed it?' she repeated. 'Surely you're exaggerating a tad,' she said, desperately hoping this was indeed the case, for the fierce throb in her nose was still freshly remembered.

'No, not really,' said Hermione earnestly. 'I remember this one boy who spent ages in the hospital wing after crossing paths with those two,' she explained and then added after some thought, 'I don't even want to know what that was all about.'

'Alright, that's it,' said Tonks, jumping to her feet. If even a smart girl like Hermione didn't regard them as simply harmless, she had no business sitting there, waiting for the grass to grow. 'Screw them getting their beauty sleep, I need some answers here! Where did you say their room was again?' she demanded.

Ginny decided against informing Tonks that she hadn't, and said, 'Third floor, the door to the right.'

'Right,' Tonks muttered and stormed off, leaving the girls in a slightly more puzzled state than when she'd come.

She had just closed the door behind her when she noticed that someone with a somewhat spiky-haired and sleepy appearance had just emerged from the drawing room down the hall.

'Oh, wotcher, Remus,' she said, and continued instantly, 'I'd love to stay and chat, really, but I seriously need to go smother some twin bra-ATS.' The sudden cry of surprise was uttered when she tripped over a Dungbomb that seemed to have settled itself in the middle of her path. (Kreacher's doing, no doubt.)

She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable crash to the floor, but was surprised to find it abruptly cut off by a pair of steady hands grabbing her sides, constraining her downfall.

She was just about to thank her rescuer when a powerful and unpleasantly familiar feeling of heat and ice flowed through her body, making her oblivious to anything else.

'Oh, no,' she said instead, groaning when she felt her face grow warm again. She knew what this most likely would lead to and was suddenly very anxious to get home in the hopes of preventing another blood-bath. Abruptly jumping away from Remus, she quickly bolted down the stairs and fled the house, again.

It was not until after she had reached the sweet calmness of her flat that she realised her work robe still was in the kitchen of number twelve.

Well, damn.

This had, by far, been the worst Sunday ever.

*

More than a week passed, and during that time, Tonks' confusion had only managed to increase further. She had several times already tried to seek out the twins to get some answers, but she only ever managed to run into Remus first, and before she knew it, she was back to the running off part.

What was it with him that suddenly coaxed her blood into such unpleasant behaviour? It's not like she'd had any problems with this before the coffee incident. And now I can't even stand within ten feet of him without having to bolt, she thought irritably. Besides, there would be an Order meeting tonight, and what was she to do if she started to spurt blood all over the place?

I definitely need to corner those twins.

She decided to take her chances and Apparated once again to Grimmauld Place. She rang the doorbell, realising that she didn't really know any other way to open the door. After some moments (probably spent in wrestling the curtains to Mrs. Black's painting), Sirius opened it.

Tonks had, decidedly, never felt more relieved to see him.

'Wotcher,' she said and scurried past him into the hall.

They sealed the door and spent a moment in low-voiced conversation before Tonks decided there was no point in avoiding the one subject that solely might ruin this twin quest of hers.

'Listen, Sirius,' she began. 'You wouldn't happen to know if Remus is around?' she asked anxiously.

'Moo– er... Remus?' he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. 'Why?'

Of course, he just had to make this even more difficult for her. 'I, er... would just not rather run in to him right now's all,' she said hesitantly.

'Thought that might be it,' he said, 'and I'm sorry to say that you just missed him. He'll be away for some time. Order mission, you know.' Tonks remembered, and was just about to let out a giant sigh of relief when he added, 'Actually, I've been meaning to tell you... You need to cut the poor lad some slack.'

'Pardon?' she choked, not realising she'd been that obvious.

'The man won't admit it, but I can tell he's feeling bad that you obviously can't handle him being a werewolf.'

'What?' she exclaimed, failing to see what Remus being a werewolf had to do with anything.

'I'm just saying, try to act normal. It wouldn't kill you, now would it?' said Sirius and uttered a snort of disapproval, similar to one of Molly's.

It suddenly dawned on her what he was saying.

Chuckling slightly, she was just about to explain the whole nosebleed situation when her eyes caught hold of something thin and flesh-coloured descending from a landing above.

'Aa-HA!' she cried suddenly. 'HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!'

Bad move.

'Dirt! Scum!' And the mad woman behind the moth-eaten curtains was set off again. 'BEGONE FROM THIS PLACE, YOU BLOOD TRAITORS AND FILTHY HALF-BREEDS...'

'Sorry,' Tonks mouthed to Sirius, but she didn't pause to help him.

It was time those twins coughed up some answers.

*

Next Tuesday, on the last day of the teens' school holiday, Tonks found herself anxiously pacing her office. The past week seemed to have lasted forever. Remus, she heard, had returned by now, and that did not make things any easier.

On the bright side, she had got some answers from the twins that day, and they had indeed promised to help her. (The intimation that she would tell Molly Weasley might have helped them reach this conclusion.) But as to why this was happening to her, they hadn't been certain why Remus of all people seemed to cause these strong reactions. They had ultimately admitted their guilt in having spiked her coffee with some newly upgraded Nosebleed Nougat, although, they seemed rather puzzled to hear that the effects were so selective and long termed. In the end, they assured her they would have it all sorted out before school started.

Which was tomorrow, Tonks mentally groaned for the billionth time that day. What was taking them so long?!

She was just about to completely lose her marbles when Kingsley entered the room.

'I've just spoken to Arthur, and he tells me we're invited to Molly's Prefect Party for the kids,' he said in his dark, now lowered voice. 'It'll be sometime after six. I'm also to inform you that the twins have something for you.'

Tonks felt giddy with relief. 'Okay, see you tonight then,' she said, and smiled like she hadn't done it in a thousand years.

She Apparated to Grimmauld Place an hour before the appointed time and was relieved to find that Remus was nowhere in sight. Ascending the stairs to what she remembered was the twins' room, she knocked on their door.

'It's Tonks,' she called.

They magically opened the door and she entered, taking in the untidy room and the twin brothers, who seemed to be concentrating intently on a spot a little above the floor, where a small kettle was floating in the air over an enchanted, blue fire. George looked up.

'Well,' he said, 'look who's here. Just in time.'

'Just a few more minutes, now... The last stage is the most crucial one,' muttered Fred absently.

She decided to leave them to it for a while and merely stood there, watching them silently.

'There,' said Fred triumphantly as he finally transferred the purple liquid from the kettle to a small iron goblet and handed it over to Tonks. 'Drink this, and your woes shall be no more,' he said solemnly.

'You sure you're not just pulling my leg?' she demanded, eyeing them suspiciously.

'And risk further irking the woman we call our mother?' said Fred with a shudder.

'Er... no, thanks; we choose life,' George informed her.

'If you say so,' said Tonks, still not entirely convinced they were doing this to actually help her.

'What's with that ungrateful attitude anyway?' said Fred and shook his head. 'George, is this acceptable behaviour?'

'It sure is not, brother,' said George, mimicking his twin's mock concerned facial expression. 'We even borrowed one of that Granger girl's precious books for this, didn't we?' he continued in a tone that implied this was indeed a grand achievement. 'Come to think of it, she didn't seem all too pleased when she found out it's gone missing,' he added in puzzlement.

Tonks wondered whether to actually thank them or to simply smack them silly.

'After all the trouble we've been through,' Fred sighed melodramatically.

'Oh, all right. Thank you,' said Tonks finally, resisting her urge to point out that they wouldn't have had to go through all that trouble if they'd only been able to keep their wicked ways to themselves in the first place. Thank goodness it all seemed to be coming to an end now.

She drank the potion and felt... nothing. 'Isn't it supposed to, you know, do something?' she wondered.

'No, not really,' said George, 'it's one of those antidotes that kicks in when you need it, much like Muggle vaccines,' he said, sounding well-read.

'Oh, alright then.' Tonks smiled in relief.

She had just turned turn to leave when Fred suddenly said, very smugly, 'Of course, you'd have to kiss him before midnight if you want the effects to be permanent.'

Tonks froze.

'What?' she cried incredulously.

She swore the smirks on their faces could have outdone even Sirius'.

'Oh, you're definitely taking the mickey now. I know you are,' she finally decided.

'No, no, it's right here,' said Fred, showing her a passage from the very same book she suspected Hermione had been deprived of. Tonks skimmed the part he referred to.

...In order for the bezoar to become fully activated, one must share a kiss with the other person, creature or beast involved. This part must be fulfilled before midnight on the day of consuming the potion. Else, unwanted side effects might erupt. (These include, but are not limited to: loss of memory, loss of limb, violent hiccups, additional facial hair, and the growing of tusks.)

Tonks groaned. She really regretted thanking them now.

'You don't understand,' she tried desperately. 'This is Remus we're talking about! He was even a professor once, for heaven's sake. It'd just be... wrong.'

'Come on,' George smirked. 'It can't be that bad.'

'Yeah, the man's a pretty decent looking bloke,' Fred continued, but then paused awkwardly. 'This being said in a very manly, heterosexual way, of course.'

'Of course,' the other one agreed.

The twins then exchanged a look that suggested this whole situation might not turn out to be so bad after all.

Tonks wasn't paying much attention to the twins' random rants, however. She was far too busy focusing on the whole 'before midnight' part. 'Talk about your Cinderella situation,' she muttered to herself. Although, had the choice been up to her, she'd certainly have preferred the carriage-turned-pumpkin ordeal any day. (To be honest, tusks were simply one of those things she wasn't quite ready to deal with just yet.)

'What was that?' said Fred, eyeing her closely. 'Not bailing, are you?'

'Of course not,' she said, a smile plastered to her face. 'And you didn't happen to find out why this must be done?' she asked in addition.

'The text didn't say anything specific, but it did imply that these situations rarely happen, and when they actually do, they're extremely powerful,' explained George.

'Thanks, I noticed,' muttered Tonks.

'We also found out that alternative blood might cause these unique reactions,' said Fred. Excitedly he added, 'Actually, if you're willing, it'd be bloody brilliant to find out what else might happen. You know, we've got heaps of other Skiving Snackboxes you could try.'

They honestly looked like they thought she might consider it.

'Er... no, thanks,' she said delicately.

The twins looked slightly put off, but quickly regained their smug faces when she added dejectedly, 'I've got other plans tonight.'

'Right, snogging prince charming, was it?' George said, grinning nastily.

She glared at them and exited the room without bothering to answer. The moment she closed the door, she heard them crack up in laughter. Man, those two are infuriating, she thought tiredly, before making her way to the kitchen. She decided this had better work, or she'd hex those two into oblivion.

*

If the Order meeting some weeks before had seemed endless, this evening's gathering just seemed to fly right by. Before entering the kitchen, she had morphed her hair to become tomato red and waist length for the night, thinking she'd probably miss both Ginny and the others awfully once they were gone. Deciding to make the most of this last evening with them all, she had a great time chatting, morphing and laughing, but still, every time she spared a glance at the sinister clock on the kitchen wall, she was filled with dread. She couldn't even muster enough energy to feel anxious over the fact that Bill was around (and that was saying something).

Her mind was simply fixed on other matters. The antidote seemed to be working fine, so far, but she simply wasn't mentally prepared for that 'before midnight' part just yet. She knew it must be done but couldn't muster determination enough to just do it. (She told herself there were far too many people around right now anyway.) Frustrated, she noticed that her eyes repeatedly seemed to be drawn to his presence in the room, and she had to tell herself more than once to just 'quit staring!'

If only this could be ruddy over with.

She was listening half-heartedly to Ron, who was raving about his new broom, when her eyes once again came to rest on Remus. She measured him, taking in his sickly form and patched robes, but also noticing, perhaps even for the first time, that there might be something else to him. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but she registered that he really wasn't the slightest bit repulsive or unpleasant. In fact, had he been ten years younger and not such a hopeless bookworm case, I might even have considered him, she realised with surprise. But as it was now... The man just wasn't kissable.

Remus noticed her staring and paused in his conversation with Kingsley to raise an inquiring eyebrow at her. She grinned awkwardly, hoping it would hide her flush, and then returned to face Ron, who seemed to not have noticed her mental absence.

The closer to midnight it got, the more preoccupied and restless Tonks felt. The night really seemed to have flown right on by (on an express-broom, no less), and soon, people started, one by one, to bid everybody a good night and then leave the kitchen. Molly was the first one to go, closely followed by Harry.

Come back! Tonks desperately tried to transmit, but sadly, neither of them obliged. Moments later, Mad-Eye, Remus and Sirius also left the room in a sudden haste, and by the time they got back, only she and Dung were left, the latter feasting on a newly discovered supply of Ogden's Old Firewhisky.

Tonks suddenly decided she might need something additional to drink herself.

Far too soon, both Dung (pockets filled with Molly's delicious cooking) and Mad-Eye turned to leave. Tonks was left alone in the kitchen with Remus and Sirius, and the clock showed half past eleven.

She couldn't believe she was getting so nervous about this. Get a grip, Tonks, she thought angrily, and took a deep breath to calm herself. It's just Remus.

She cursed the twins once again for putting her in this situation, and then she gathered her wits.

It was simply now or never.

* * *

A/N: Evil cliffhangers are so fun to do when you're the author. >:) Comments, please.