Baby Joy - Severus Snape x Nymphadora Tonks

Chapter 3 - Sometimes you want to murder your allies!

Order of the Phoenix Headquarters, 12 Grimmauld Place, London, August 1996

Nymphadora Tonks stood with a heavy heart in front of the invisible Order of the Phoenix Headquarters. Although she still was overjoyed by the news of her twin pregnancy, she was overwhelmed with sad memories of her time spent at 12 Grimmauld Place. "Sirius is now lost in the Veil inside the Death Chamber forever. He is dead and I feel guilty about it, for my second cousin saved my life, jumped in front of me and battled my crazy aunt Bellatrix. I have realized that I wouldn't be alive without his actions today and that my twins would never have been conceived. I underwent the in-vitro fertilization with vigor after his death and my fight at the Department of Mysteries, because it showed me how fast my life could end. My injuries were severe and without the help of the Order and Harry Potter's friends, I wouldn't have made it.

"I want to honor Sirius's sacrifice and fight against the Death Eaters by naming my son Orion as a second name. And I want to defeat my sadistic bitch of an aunt and her evil goons by spying on the Death Eaters with my Metamorphogus skills and knack for Spellcrafting. But I can't feel guilty about Sirius's death forever or have some kind of a survivor complex because it would only cause me distress and stress that could harm my unborn children. I know that Sirius would be ecstatic to know that my dream of being a mum comes true. He loved children. Hence, I'm going to process my grief by parenting my twins into the happiest children on earth."

Tonks vowed in a determined voice and imagined the slip of paper with the phrase "The Orders Headquarter is at 12 Grimmauld Place, London" in front of her eyes. The old Muggle townhouse appeared, shoving number eleven and thirteen aside and greeting her with its worn set of front steps, battered front door and silver knocker in the shape of a twisted snake. "How much I loathe this gloomy Muggle deceiving house. It exudes such a dark aura because of its twisted dark magic artifacts that it is no wonder that half of the Blacks turned bat-shit crazy. But I guess that it is the ideal Headquarters for the Order because Muggles can't see it due to its unplottable status and it is put under the Fidelius Charm with Albus Dumbledore as the Secret Keeper. Nonetheless, it creeps me out and dear Aunty Walburga's screeches are driven me mad." Tonks thought in an annoyed tone and opened the door with a powerful Alohomora. She walked slowly into the dimly light long hallway, making sure to not stumble over the troll foot umbrella stand and waking up her second aunt's portrait, for she didn't want to be verbally abused by this screaming evil harpy today.

She walked on silent feet into the dining room down the hall when she heard a deep baritone chuckle beside her. "Well, Nymphadora, I hope that your spying spills are better equipped when you are on your Metamorphogus missions for the Order because the lower ranked Death Eater would surely die out of laughter if they saw you approaching like one of Lucius's flamingos, but kill you a few minutes later due to your suspicious behavior." Tonks turned around with a smile and faced the sparkling obsidian eyes of Severus Snape. Despite his amused smile, he looked tired, worn-out and unhealthily thin. His porcelain skin was ghastly pale and his black locks were greasier than ever. "Merlin, the Dark Lord and Dumbledore must tax him with work. He looks exhausted. I hope that I will be able to cheer him up and lessen his burden. I can surely help him with his Spellcrafting tasks," a worried voice mumbled inside her mind.

Severus looked in the sparkling indigo eyes of Nymphadora. Her dark red bob framed her heart-shaped face perfectly and her cheeks seemed to glow with happiness. "Merlin, she is a vision of beauty. How can she be so positive, bubbly and carefree in these dark times? Her beaming smile can certainly light every room," he thought in a dazed voice. Her smile also told him that she had taken his joke as the playful banter it was supposed to be. Naturally, Tonks' clumsiness wasn't a secret in the Order and it annoyed her when anybody mentioned it. But she could somehow take his sarcastic remarks with a smile and be kind to him.