LbN: For 100 Days of AUs. Prompt was zombies. :)
Tonks and Hestia stood, hands behind their backs and heads bowed, in front of Cassius Berne, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Their direct supervisor was in a state of annoyance so complete that he was, for the first time in his career, utterly speechless.
Tonks broke first. "Sir, we -"
Berne held up a hand and shook his head.
The two of them returned to their "Ready to be Chastised" positions. Berne looked up finally and picked a helpful question from the queue of them stampeding through his head at the moment.
"What...in the precise hell happened?" he asked.
"Well, sir, we were out on patrol just like you said…."
The streets were bare this time of night. Not because the populace were all tucked up in bed, but because it was some sort of reunion football match, and the pubs were packed. There had been Death Eater activity in the area, but no killings yet. Mostly it was just property destruction, and thus, the Muggles were still blissfully unaware of the constant danger they were in.
"So what do you think?" Hestia asked. "Now that You-Know-Who's in the open?"
"Dunno," Tonks admitted. "It's only a matter of time before Dumbledore mobilizes us, I reckon."
"And Harry? I hear you're supposed to be stationed outside of Hogwarts this year."
"That's right. We'll probably -" but she was cut off by Hestia pulling her back. They'd walked to the outskirts of town, and had been almost out of the shelter of the terraced building. Hestia had obviously spotted something, and Tonks peeked around the corner. Out in the quiet nighttime gloom, figures were appearing in the graveyard. They didn't seem to be moving or anything, though. They'd just Apparated in, and were now standing perfectly still - wands at the ready.
"The hell are they up to?" Tonks whispered.
"Come on," Hestia said, leading the way down to the south entrance of the alley.
Tonks followed silently. This was Hestia's hometown, and she trusted that the older witch knew her way around.
They emerged from the alley, and sneaked into the line of trees that outlined the cemetery. They walked about half a mile, until the figures' masks were discernible through the fog. Close in, they could now see that the scene wasn't as still as it had appeared. The Death Eaters were swaying gently, and the ground was rumbling.
"Shit," Tonks swore. "Inferi."
Both sent messages for backup, just as the reanimated horde burst forth from the ground and began lurching toward the town.
"Well at least it's good to know that you had the sense to call for backup," Berne said. "In the two minutes it took for your teams to get there, precisely what happened for things to her this bad?" He tapped the newspaper twice.
"Well, the Death Eaters saw us when we sent our message," Hestia took over. "We were trying to move fast, and weren't exactly full concealed…."
Bright flashes of red, purple, blue, and green lit the air. Hestia conjured a ring of fire to keep the few Inferi at bay, as Tonks dueled with the small group of masked figures. The duel was halted by the sound of merriment, and then screams, as the pubs emptied and the Muggles encountered the dead.
Tonks grabbed Hestia and Apparated them into the center of the village. With all the running and screaming and general chaos, no one even noticed them arrive. The two women began fighting the reanimated corpses, heedless of the panic. To her right, Tonks noticed a bright flash. She thought it was the Death Eaters, following them for round two of dueling, but it was worse. A Muggle was taking pictures.
"So then the teams arrived and started Obliviating people," Tonks finished. "But due to two rather large Inferi that I was fighting, I couldn't chase down the man who took such detailed pictures."
Their boss held his head in his hands for a long moment. Tonks glanced down at the headline of the daily Mail, and smirked.
Scenes of Panic as Zombies Swarm Southampton.
"Glad you're amused," her boss said in a cold voice.
Tonks' head snapped up. She gave him a shrug. "At least most Muggles treat this paper the way we treat the Quibbler."
"That doesn't make me feel better, give the Quibbler's newfound status from Potter's interview," he snapped. Then he sighed. "Speaking of whom….Both of you have been requested on the team of Aurors for Hogsmeade. Get your shit in order and report there tomorrow."
"Yes sir," they said in unison.
They both waited until they were on the lift to bust out in laughter.