After dealing with her hopeless subordinate, Tonks burst excitedly into the compartment, nearly smashing the door off its hinges.
Her entire body inadvertently blocked the small table, and when she moved aside, the signed autograph had mysteriously vanished.
Jane blinked to confirm she hadn't imagined it.
Tonks, completely unfazed, spun around 180 degrees and settled beside her with familiar ease, nearly stepping on Jane's foot in the process.
Her eyes held a mixture of nerves and excitement:
"Blimey, hope my agent didn't give you a fright—his Transfiguration's the worst I've ever supervised, though his tracking skills aren't half bad."
"Let me show you what a top scorer in Concealment and Disguise can actually do—"
She gave Jane a cheeky wink from behind her burly disguise, then her head began to transform—
Her hair shifted to bubblegum pink, her square jaw softened into a heart-shaped face, and her tanned skin lightened to porcelain white.
Jane applauded enthusiastically.
This seemed to delight Tonks even more, and she immediately launched into rapid-fire chatter:
"I've been dying to meet you—finally got my chance!"
"The moment I heard the Minister mention student protection duty for term start, I practically trampled people to volunteer."
After Jane returned her greeting, Tonks looked positively radiant:
"You know, you're absolutely legendary at the Ministry! Everyone knows your heroic exploits—I had to fight tooth and nail for this assignment!"
"Plus Remus was desperate for me to meet you—"
At this, she suddenly flushed crimson, her nose morphing into a beak-like shape as she asked tentatively:
"You do know about Remus and me...?"
Jane nodded with a warm smile:
"He told me over the holidays—congratulations to you both!"
Tonks's hair exploded into a rainbow of colors, her eyes sparkling like stars, skin flushing sunset red.
"Oh, Merlin's beard, that's just—just—brilliant!" She seemed momentarily speechless. "He actually talked about me to you! You've no idea how sensitive he used to be about his lycanthropy, how terrified he was that our relationship becoming public would hurt me... Thank goodness he finally opened up!"
Tonks suddenly leaped to her feet, spinning like a prima ballerina, laughing with pure joy:
"Remus mentions you constantly. After his condition became public knowledge, he had to resign from Hogwarts. He would've ended up wandering aimlessly, but you gave him meaningful work—without prejudice and with proper wages! You even provide expensive Wolfsbane Potion every month! You've made him feel accepted, respected, genuinely valued!"
She performed a theatrical shift in tone:
"Though I hear he made a right mess of things—missed several shifts this month, lost his perfect attendance and Outstanding Employee bonuses. Poor bloke worked so hard to outperform those house-elves and other werewolves, only to lose his prizes before they'd even cooled in his hands. Had him properly miserable for days..."
Jane astutely sensed that Tonks might be here specifically to sing Remus's praises in hopes of securing his bonus and promotion prospects.
But she believed in maintaining professional standards and treating all employees equally.
After all, nepotism was a cardinal sin in personnel management.
"Hard work will always create new opportunities—everyone competes on merit alone," she replied diplomatically.
Tonks caught the subtext but wasn't deterred by this initial rebuff.
She seized Jane's hands, her smile growing even brighter as she deployed her second strategy for winning over the boss:
"Absolutely right! He'll definitely keep pushing himself! He's genuinely trying to build a proper life now, full of ambition. Honestly, I don't know how to thank you enough! Even though we've only just met, I feel like we've known each other for lifetimes!"
"When we marry, will you attend our wedding? It'd be absolutely magical if you could officiate!"
Attending a wedding wasn't particularly challenging territory.
When employees sent invitations, Jane felt she should offer her congratulations and support.
"Of course—I'll bring you a generous wedding gift. Though for officiating, Professor Dumbledore would be far more appropriate," she responded.
Tonks's heart leaped—though Jane had declined half her request, she still had a third gambit waiting:
"In that case, perhaps you'd consider being our child's godmother? If you agreed, we'd be absolutely over the moon!"
Jane was so stunned her hands went rigid.
She couldn't fathom how the conversation had catapulted straight to godparenthood.
Her employee's romantic timeline seemed to be moving at warp speed!
Tonks carefully read her expression, realizing she'd been overeager. She coughed awkwardly to recover:
"Well, naturally, there's no rush—we'd need to wait until someone develops a potion to block werewolf bloodlines. Hopefully not until we're both ancient... I do adore children, though. I'd love to use my mother Andromeda's name or my father Ted's as a nickname..."
Jane was thunderstruck.
The potion didn't even exist in theory, the wedding hadn't happened, yet they'd already jumped to naming hypothetical children?
She was once again awed by this lightning-fast romantic progression.
Fortunately, Tonks soon emerged from her parental fantasies, shrugging:
"Though I'm prepared for the possibility of remaining childless—especially in these dangerous times."
"Sometimes I get so excited I want to take a gamble—maybe a child would inherit my Metamorphmagus abilities... But Remus is usually the sensible one... though even he has his impulsive moments..."
Jane shivered, realizing their conversation was veering toward distinctly inappropriate territory.
She decided to terminate this wildly galloping fantasy immediately.
So she offered a sincere suggestion:
"Actually, regarding children, perhaps your immediate priority should be mending fences with Professor Snape."
"However unlikely it seems, it's still more feasible than waiting indefinitely for a potion that might never be developed."
Tonks froze, sinking into deep contemplation.
Jane watched as her pink hair faded to pale red, then to an ominous grayish-white.
Her expression gradually contorted into something resembling constipated agony, every facial muscle straining with effort.
"Merlin's saggy left—!" She clawed frantically at her hair, radiating pure anguish. "Yu, you're absolutely right! Among current Potions Masters, Damocles Belby made his fortune with Wolfsbane then stopped innovating entirely, Slughorn's obsessed with career networking for his students... Only Snape might actually manage it..."
But the more she spoke, the more her face crumpled. Finally, she collapsed onto the compartment seat in despair, her features twisting grotesquely:
"We're completely doomed! Even Merlin couldn't pull this off—Remus... Remus never imagined he'd be reduced to begging for the chance at children! This isn't something money can buy—why would Snape ever agree to research something like this for him?"
Jane thought the situation might still be salvageable.
"Perhaps he won't—but what about you? You and Professor Snape are acquainted, aren't you?"
Tonks's expression grew even more desperate, her Metamorphmagus features contorting into bizarre configurations:
"We are acquainted... but perhaps you don't realize, Yu—my mother Andromeda was born a Black!"
"So by family connections, I'm Sirius's niece. Under those circumstances, my relationship with Snape is hardly cordial—!"
She took two steadying breaths before continuing:
"Even though Dumbledore constantly emphasizes Snape's trustworthiness, Sirius disagrees... and their grudges run far too deep."
Hearing this, Jane realized that with both Lupin and Sirius in the equation, hoping for Snape's cooperation was essentially zero—even her own influence might only raise the odds from 0.0001% to 0.001%.
"What does Remus think?" she continued probing. "I remember during my third year, he expressed regret to Snape."
A bittersweet expression crossed Tonks's anguished features:
"He's told me he's deeply grateful Snape brewed Wolfsbane for him, and he genuinely regrets standing by while the others tormented him back then. But he's terrified that approaching Snape now—given all the bad blood between Sirius, Potter, and him—would constitute betraying his friendship with Sirius."
She pinched her nose, morphing it from beak-shape back to normal, then steeled her resolve:
"But as you said, even the slightest possibility demands pursuit! I think Remus can still be saved!"
Her face blazed with determination, confidence practically radiating from her being:
"I need to have a proper talk with Remus. He's always paralyzed by fear of losing Sirius's friendship, unable to express his true feelings. He needs to be braver, more honest—even for my sake, for our future together."
"And Sirius too—if he truly cares about us, surely he'll understand! This is all for his niece and his best mate to have healthy children! This is about our next generation!"
Though Jane felt their conversation had drifted increasingly off-course—
She still offered genuine encouragement, expressing her understanding and support for this couple who hadn't even married yet but were already navigating the treacherous waters of family planning.
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