Chapter 16 - Tonks to the Rescue
Author's note: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I'm having abit of problems coming up with stuff to write. The next chapter the rush for school supplies will start. This one is a bit short and a bit slow, sorry about that, the next one's will be better!
The next week came and went without a hitch. Granted, Remus and Molly Weasley were still on strained terms, and Sirius was still goading his friend about his temper, just for the fun of it. More than once the five teens had been spurd into laughter when a large black dog decided to tackle one of them to the ground.
Also in the last week Dumbledore, McGonagall, Mr. Weasley, and a very unimpressed Snape rotated in and out of the house. The tension between Sirius and Snape had, if anything, doubled. Neither was very impressed to see the other, on more than one occasion, Harry and Remus had to literally drag a fuming Sirius from the kitchen before he hexed the Potions Master. On each of these occasions, Harry couldn't help but think back to Snape's pensieve. The image of Sirius and his father treating Snape the way they had haunted him still. He'd tried to talk to his godfather and Remus about it on more than one occasion, but each time the made the attempt, there was that voice in the back of his mind that told him to just let it go, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Ron's.
A day or so after Sirius's last attack attempt, the group who was staying at Grimmauld Place were sitting silently around the kitchen table. The tension between Remus and Molly had slightly regressed after Remus had repeatedly stopped the attacks, that didn't mean it had completely dispersed. No, the tension was most certainly still there. Then there was Ron and Hermione, who had also gotten into another row (about what was anyone's guess) during that last week, which added to the tension filled room.
The silence and tension were nearly unbearable when the kitchen door flew open, allowing a bright pink head to enter. Before anyone could react, Tonks had attached her arms around her cousin's neck. "I heard you were back and I just had to come see!"
The tension subsided for a while as everyone shared a laugh. After a moment, Tonks released Sirius and made her rounds at the table giving everyone a hug or at least a handshake. When she reached Draco she tilted her head slightly before shaking his hand as well, "Glad to have you on the right side," She grinned. Draco smiled and nodded slightly.
Apparently, Tonks noticed the tension between Remus and Molly because she glanced back and forth between the two, the to Sirius and Harry. She arched an eyebrow before catching the chuckle that Sirius fought to cover. "Uh-oh...what happened now?" She asked.
"Mrs. Weasley doesn't like the way we went about rescuing Sirius," Harry muttered.
"Yeah...I think I heard about that," Tonks nodded. "I couldn't' stop laughing when I heard Sirius had begun to rub of on Remus."
Sirius smothered another laugh and avoided the glaring gaze of Molly. "I don't think that's appropriate, Tonks. Not around the chil-"
"Mrs. Weasley with all due respect, ma'am, none of us are children anymore," Draco interrupted.
Molly pursed her lips, "To make such rash and ill advised decisions as you did the other day, you are children. At least you show no responsibility for your actions. As adults should," she pronounced the last word firmly with a sharp glance at Remus, whose temper was once again at the surface.
He clenched his jaw and shot a dark look at the woman. "I'm not going into this again, Molly." He said in a low voice.
"I think you are, Remus." She said in an equally threatening voice. "I still have yet to understand how you could throw away your sense of responsibility!"
Remus's hands tightened around the arms of the chair as his eyes narrowed, "I did not throw away any of the responsibility."
Tonks's eyes widened as she glanced back to Sirius. Who gave a grim smile and nodded first towards Remus then towards the kitchen door. Tonks nodded and put her hand on Remus's shoulder. "Hey Remus, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Remus nodded curtly and rose from his chair. Tonks took a deep breath before fallowing the man out of the kitchen. Once they had left the kitchen was filled with an awkward silence. "Molly, what's done is done. You were so bent over backwards last summer about whatever Dumbledore says goes, why can't you just let this go?"
"Because, Sirius, Remus was wrong." Molly said. "He should not have taken the kids along with him."
"He didn't take us, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said. "If anyone dragged anyone along, we dragged Remus. We would have gone one way or another."
"Mrs. Weasley, we leave for Hogwarts in a few weeks," Harry started. "Can you at least put the bickering on hold until we're gone?"
Sirius bit back a chuckle as Mrs. Weasley frowned at Harry's comment, "I suppose that would be best as half of what I want to say I don't say in front of you anyway."
Harry caught Hermione's eye, both knowing what Mrs. Weasley was talking about. They shrugged then shared a small smile. Harry was definitely ready to get back to school.
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