The moment Nymphadora Tonks finished speaking, she felt her heart begin to race.
She had thought that Sirius would grin and clap his hands, then say something like, "Just what you'd expect from an Auror—now that's some presence!"
But none of that happened. The smile faded from Sirius's face, replaced by a bitter expression.
"Tonks, you're incredible!" He shook his head and let out a long sigh. "I'm truly happy for Remus! To think there's someone like you who can accept him so completely, without reservation."
Hearing Sirius say that, Nymphadora Tonks asked in confusion, "Sirius, what do you mean by that?"
"Why do you make it sound like..." She raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down, "you're not his friend at all?"
Sirius sighed again. "Mad-Eye told me before that the year you officially joined the Auror Office... that was early last year, wasn't it?"
"That's right!" Nymphadora Tonks recalled what had happened then. "When Peter Pettigrew was captured, I even went to Hogwarts with Minister Fudge."
"I was supposed to relieve Dawlish on duty, but I never expected Peter Pettigrew to knock Dawlish out and escape Hogwarts! It was incredibly dangerous!"
"So you were involved too..." Sirius replied with some emotion. "Then you should know very well, shouldn't you? Why I was sent to Azkaban."
Nymphadora Tonks answered, "Harry's parents were killed by Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew was the one who leaked the secret, and you were framed by Peter Pettigrew before being sent to Azkaban."
"That sums it up quite thoroughly..." Sirius nodded. "Then you should also know how they accused me back then..."
"They said I'd gone mad—that I had directly or indirectly killed two friends, and murdered an entire street full of Muggles too, right?"
Nymphadora Tonks nodded. "Before your name was cleared, that