Back to Work..., Tonks & Iona McDougal (but Open)

Well, Tonks had finally returned to work. A few days were spent recovering at Grimmauld, giving what information she could to the other members of the Order, and basically relearning what it was to be human. It definitely took a bit of time to get back to near the person she was before mentally, and physically it would take even longer. But Tonks had to return to the ministry. She had told them she was taking vacation before she left, but she thought it would only be a few days. They couldn't afford at the time to fire her, so she had went. The few days turned into over two months, and last she heard there was a news report that she was missing, suspected dead.

Wouldn't it give everyone a nice shock to find her alive and mostly well? Well, that was the shock she planned to give them today. She carefully checked in at the toll booth and took the lift quickly to her Department's floor. Tonks stepped off the lift and into the cool, professional hallways she remembered so well. But still, they felt different. Everything felt different.

She didn't look the same as when she left. Her hair was longer, though she kept it the pink she preferred. Also, she'd clearly lost weight. Tonks' cheeks were now thin, not warm and soft like before, and her custom tailored Auror's robes simply didn't fit now. They looked loose and too large on her even as she walked down the hall to where her old office had been. She'd get them tailored up soon. For the moment, though, she had to find out if she still had a job...

A head jerked suddenly from the desk it had been resting on moments before, soft blue-green eyes looking unusually wild, but these were wild times, after all. Iona McDougal had, admittedly not been paying attention to her job like she should have been doing.

She could hear footsteps in the hall and that almost made her jump right off her seat, but, she had the knack of remaining calm in almost all situations, and instead mentally glued herself to the desk chair, staring avidly at the currently closed office door.

Working as an auror’s apprentice made one sit up and take stock of what was going on in the surroundings of the office, even though they were relatively ‘safe’. Then again, nothing was safe anymore, right? Even the ministry was under constant watch by dark, sinister powers.

She could feel the hairs start to rise on the back of her neck and slowly, she began to stand, raking one hand unconsciously through her unruly mass of short, flaxen curls, tugging on them so hard that she gasped and silently cussed at herself for being such a nitwit.

“…Hello?” her voice grew bolder as she approached the door, gripping onto her wand through her trouser pockets. She didn’t wear robes to work and instead favoured pinstripe pants and a tailored blouse. That way, she blended in better while in the streets of London, surrounded by non-magical folk.

Her brows drew together, her eyes burning with such intensity that the door might have exploded if she hadn’t been in good control of her powers.

Her mind wandered back to the time when she had been a child at home. She had accidentally blown her bedroom door off the hinges when she had been in a particularly violent temper tantrum. Her parents had been laid back about it, luckily for her, and accepted it as part of her ‘growing up’.

The department felt oddly abandoned. Had she come too early? Too late? Tonks frowned a bit deeper, stepping further into the hallway and pushing one hand back through her long pink hair. She heard a voice echoing down the hall. A rather familiar voice, even, and a smile immediately bloomed upon her slightly thin, paler lips. She walked a few feet further down the corridor and quietly called back, trying not to be too loud lest she disturb anyone actually -working- in their offices or cubicals.

"Wotcher, Iona! I'm back... If they'll hire me again, that is. I... was gone a bit longer than expected." It -looked- like Tonks, other than the slightly longer hair. It sounded exactly like Tonks also. Though these days, one could never been too careful, but if this was someone impersonating Nymphadora Tonks then they were doing a bloody excellent job of it.

As it is, Tonks actually was the woman standing there for the moment, so she doesn't seem shy in the least as she steps the last few feet down the low cut carpeting towards her once-assistant's office. She had been training the woman when she left. She felt more bad about that than anything, abandoning someone in the middle of their apprenticeship. But Iona was a junior member of the Order as well. Iona hopefully knew where Tonks was going, even if she wasn't expected by ANYONE to be gone as long in Dumrstrang as she had been. Still, she was back now. Hopefully she could manage to return to life as she once knew it.

Just when she thought that her heart was going to jump out of her throat, she heard a familiar, much welcomed voice. Tonks.

Wait.

She was alive? Bloody unbelievable! People at the ministry had been worried sick about the young woman, as had she. But it seemed now that all had been well and she had been delayed in returning from her little trip.

“Ach hell darlin’, you look like a waif!” Iona exclaimed, unable to stop herself, a frown creasing the corners of her mouth as she approached the pink-haired young woman cautiously.

Iona was certain that the ministry would be glad to have such a talented auror back in their midst, after all she was a metamorphmagi and as such hot property, seeing as not many people had such a talent. It was not a learned ability, one had to be born with it instead.

Flicking her wand behind her back, the kettle on her desk burst into a sudden fit of life and started to boil. Two cups appeared by said appliance along with teabags, milk and sugar.

“Tea?” she asked, grinning rather stupidly, and she knew she probably looked terribly stupid and daft. She was just glad to see the other auror again, having thought that she had been yet another victim.

The order had not told her much about Tonks’ disappearance, seeing as she wasn’t a truly ‘active’ member. She was still young and nobody really knew what to think of her, as her parents had never really been activists of either Voldemort or Dumbledore during the first uprising of Voldemort.

All the order had told her was that Tonks had been away on ‘business’ and at the start it had been good enough. Lately though, she had been worrying herself over Tonks’ supposed disappearance.

And yes, it's true, towards the end there even most of the -Order- had half given up hope on ever seeing Tonks alive again, so it was no surprise that Iona hadn't gotten better information from them. Still, everyone's fears proved unfounded. Even if she wasn't the same Tonks who left England originally -- it was still Tonks. Pink haired, mostly warm smiled and dark, sparkling eyed Tonks. She walked further into Iona's little office/cubical, giving a tired smile as she went. Her slender form leaned against the interior of the wall, folding her arms across her chest.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright. Just fine, actually." At the comment about her being a waif, Tonks just waved it off, smirking slightly.."Not a waif, Just... well, more fashionably slender you might say. I'm fine." And it's true, it was some how in vogue to not have a single trace of fat or muscle on one's body, but Tonks just did not look the same without the curves of her form and toned muscle she'd developed in Auror training.

Her dark eyes watch the tea as it's made, faint smile lingering on her still pale lips. "Tea is wonderful, thank you. I'm sorry if I scared you coming in. I thought more people would be here right about now, you know?" Tonks looked around, giving a concerned frown over her shoulder at the rest of the empty office. It was quiet... too quiet.