"Giving Tonks this mission- Headmaster, are you sure this is the best idea?"
"Now, now, Molly, don't worry so. I'm sure Miss Tonks will prove herself impressively – I would not ask this of her if I thought it beyond her abilities."
Privately, Tonks agreed with Molly. What Dumbledore was asking her to do – not only did it need to be handled with the utmost care if she had to make sure no one outside the Order learned the truth, it would also involve a fair bit of secrecy and lies, definitely not her strong suits unless the person opposite her was a Death Eater.
But when the Headmaster had his heart set on a course of action, there was little anyone could do to change it – so there was nothing else for her to do but nod, flash Molly what she hoped was a reassuring smile, and agree with Dumbledore's words.
Thankfully, Grimmauld Place had enough alcohol to stock most bars – she was definitely going to need a drink after the meeting was over.
"Auror Tonks! This is a surprise! As far as I'm aware, the Improper Use of Magic office isn't scheduled to be inspected for the next month."
Tonks could barely hold back a wince at the obvious surprise in the woman's tone. This was why she disagreed with Dumbledore's choice for the mission – had anyone else been running it, they would have already orchestrated things in a way that a visit didn't seem out of place.
Unfortunately, orders were orders, and she planned on completing the ones she had been given to the best of her ability.
"You're right, of course, Miss Hopkirk. I'm not here to check up on the department – I needed to talk to you," she said, surreptitiously morphing her expression so that the smile on her face didn't look fixed.
Mafalda Hopkirk raised a curious eyebrow at her words. "Me?" she asked Tonks, slightly shocked. "How can I help the Auror Office when the department can't?"
Tonks gestured to the chair in front of her, and Mafalda seemed to shake herself out of a stupor. "Please, do take a seat," she said, a faint blush blooming on her cheeks.
After sitting down, Tonks continued, leaning forward slightly before speaking in a low voice. "Well, you must understand Miss Hopkirk – what I'm about to tell you is top secret. No one, not even your immediate bosses can hear about this. Do you still want to know?"
She had started to nod even before had completed her warning. "I'm certain," she said quietly. "If the Auror Office needs my help, then I'm willing to do everything I can to help."
Tonks didn't need to morph to look relieved. It was this part that she had been most afraid of – getting a foot in enough for her to actually make a request. It seemed she was lucky; everything was going much smoother than she had expected it to.
"There have been rumours of increased underage magic among Hogwarts students. We can, of course, track the wands and magic of Muggleborns and those half-bloods who live among Muggles," she stated, feigning pride. Unlike most other Ministry works, she had never been one to propagate the Trace. As far as she was concerned, it was just another of furthering the cause of the pureblood extremist.
To her surprise, she noted a brief moment of discomfort on Mafalda's face. It was gone within a moment, but she was sure she had seen it. Tonks had always thought of Mafalda Hopkirk as the consummate conservative – she made it a point to throw her lot in behind people like Fudge and Umbridge; ones that Tonks would be thrilled never to encounter in her life. But it seemed that that was as much as a sham as her own purported loyalty to the current Ministry – at the very least, it signified that some part of her disagreed with Fudge's policies too.
"I'm not sure what help you need from me, Auror. As you said, you can track magic being performed in areas populated by Muggles easily enough."
She leaned in closer, casting an eye around to make sure there was no one listening in. "And yet, there is a whole part of the Hogwarts population who we cannot trace. With the unrest that is happening, this is especially worrying. We know that your office can trace underage magic cast by purebloods and other underage magic users who spend most of their time in the wizarding world, even though action rarely needs to be taken, and I was wondering if you could perhaps allow me access to those files?"
"What you're asking from me, Auror Tonks…" Mafalda muttered nervously.
Tonks immediately tried a new line of argument. "Mafalda, please," she murmured, dropping all formal titles. "We went to Hogwarts together, and even though you were a couple of years older than me, I know you knew me. Would I ask this if it wasn't necessary?"
The most convincing part about her words was that she wasn't lying. Everyone had known who she was at Hogwarts; a legacy of her legendary clumsiness. And getting hold of those records was necessary – only not to the Ministry. She might not have completely understood why Dumbledore had deemed them important, but she knew they were.
She still looked reluctant, but it was obvious that Tonks' words had had some effect on her. "Very well," she said, revealing a hidden drawer in her desk with a quick wave of her wand. Another, more complicated movement opened it, from where she removed a thin file. "This is a copy of the details you've requested. Please make sure to get them back to me as soon as possible, Auror – if you want this to stay as secret as you say it is, I need them back before my superiors notice they're gone."
Of course, that wasn't the end of it.
She had what she needed from Mafalda, true, but she couldn't just disappear from the Improper Use of Magic Office. Even after she had returned the files to her, Tonks was well aware that if she never returned, it would be suspicious.
There was an implicit agreement in deals of this nature – if things were kept quiet from Ministry higher ups, Aurors were expected to keep their informants apprised of what was happening with the information they supplied. If that didn't happen, there was every chance that Mafalda would approach her superior, who would in turn approach Scrimgeour or even Amelia Bones. And that was the last thing that Tonks needed.
So she kept returning.
Mafalda looked confused. "I'm still not sure why the Aurors need information on underage magic done in magical homes," she said.
"We're keeping an eye out for plots against the Ministry," Tonks replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "There are worries that there might be students involved – or, at the very least, parents may be using the help of their children to evade suspicion."
She had Fudge to thank for the fact that such a ridiculous story was easily accepted by the brunette – his paranoia had affected almost everyone in the Ministry, whether they believed that Dumbledore was plotting against him and building a student army or not. The idea that the Aurors might be carrying out such an investigation was extremely plausible – the Auror Office might not have been in the business of investigating something as unbelievable as students scheming against the Ministry, but it was easy enough for people to think that Fudge had asked them to do exactly that.
For some reason, even after a reasonable amount of time had passed, she still continued to go to meet Mafalda. If asked, she wouldn't have been able to explain why – there was absolutely nothing that the two of them had in common. They couldn't even agree on whether tea or coffee was the better drink!
But she still returned, and more often than not, she brought along a cup of coffee from a Muggle place right outside the Ministry for the other woman. She might not have been able to understand its appeal, but she did know that Mafalda liked it.
"So, did the records help at all?" she asked curiously, papers flying and sorting themselves out all over her desk as she directed them with her wand.
"The investigation itself didn't really amount to anything," Tonks replied wryly. "Though I'm sure they would have helped if it had."
Mafalda laughed, a pretty sound, like light bells in the wind. "I expected as much, considering how-" Immediately, she stopped herself from saying more, though Tonks could guess what the next words out of her mouth would have been.
"Don't worry," she reassured her, "We didn't think much of it either. But we had our orders, so…"
"Indeed," she replied, a smile blooming on her face at Tonks' words.
Somehow, in the month since Dumbledore had given her the assignment, she had become friends with Mafalda Hopkirk. She had originally seemed to be nothing more than another Ministry drone, but it was clear to anyone who knew her well that she was anything but that.
No, she was smart – smarter than most of the people who worked in the Ministry of Magic. She obviously disapproved of most of the Ministry policies under Fudge, but she was also aware of just how uncertain most people's positions were in the Ministry. Going all wit Fudge and Umbridge was the best possible way to safeguard her job, and that was exactly what she was doing.
It came as no surprise whatsoever when she learned that Mafalda had been a Slytherin during her time at Hogwarts.
"So, Auror Tonks," Mafalda teased, "You never did tell me why you keep on visiting me even though the investigation was abandoned two weeks ago."
"Well, Miss Hopkirk, I thought you enjoyed my company. It's obvious I was mistaken, so I guess I'll just take my leave now," Tonks replied, feigning hurt.
Their friendship was neither conventional nor expected, but it was moments like this that reminded her why it existed at all. Mafalda did not know the full truth about her, and maybe it was because of that that it was possible for them to have these light-hearted moments. With anyone else, there was rarely anything on her mind apart from the Order and the war.
"While I would normally argue with that, I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with the sentiment," Mafalda agreed, looking suspiciously cheerful. "You Aurors may be content to lounge around and wait for the next madman to pop up, but I do have actual work to do, you know."
"Don't mind me!" Tonks laughed, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I'm more than capable of doing my lounging here while you earn your bread and butter."
"Out, out!" Mafalda exclaimed, chuckling despite herself.
However, as soon as Tonks had taken her first steps out of the threshold of the Improper Use of Magic office, Mafalda's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"I'll take that to mean that you've changed your mind, then?" she asked, smirking at her.
"Not at all," Mafalda replied primly. "I was just wondering-" and here she blushed a deep red- "I was simply wondering whether you'd like to go out for a coffee with me after work today."
Tonks gave her a considering look. "As a couple of friends, or-?"
Her blush deepened, the colour reminiscent of the shade of a Weasley's hair as she muttered, "Well – that is – I was hoping that it could be a date."
She didn't reply for a few moments. She wouldn't cheapen what they had by replying immediately when she wasn't sure of the answer – but when she thought of it, it was impossible for her not to think of the way that Mafalda was one of the few people left who could make her laugh, and the sheer joy she felt in the other woman's company.
She wasn't in love her – she couldn't even conclusively say she had any feels save for friendship for her yet – but there was a seed, and she found that she was willing to see if it could grow to something significant. There were few chances for happiness to be found in wartime, and she wasn't about to let this one slip through her fingers.
"I'll meet you at five?"
The smile on Mafalda's face was all she needed to see to know that she had made the right decision.
an:all anyone knows about mafalda's age is that she was at least 17 during book 7, so i've chosen to make her a couple of years older than tonks, but still young enough that they spent at least one year at hogwarts together :)
i hope you guys liked it! as always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)