Nymphadora Tonks kicked her feet as she swung in the dark. Side to side as she hung from her wrists in the dank dark dungeon. She had no idea how long she'd been there, no idea how long she was staring in the pitch black with only the steady drip drip drip of water hit the hard floor beneath her.
That was the only way she had figured out that she wasn't just hanging over some deep pit, nothing would surprise her though if she was entirely honest. Tonks was entirely sure that the sound was faked anyway, some spell performed just to make her go that little bit more insane, because silence would be somewhat bearable. She closed her eyes, steadying her breathing. She was sure that someone was watching her and it wasn't the first time she'd thought this either.
She stopped kicking, she had long figured out that no matter how far she swung she wasn't going to hit anything she could grip onto to help her get down. Whoever had her held here knew exactly who she was, well they knew that she could morph at least. She'd tried using her abilities to get out of her current predicament, she'd made her nails stronger, shaper and longer to cut through the rope but it was simply too strong, she'd tried shrinking her wrists so she could slip out of her binds but the rope would simply shrink with her, she'd tried growing taller so she could at least reach the floor but every time she attempted it she'd suddenly fall unconscious waking up confused before she remembered what had happened again. She searched her brain for more ideas but she had clearly been here for too long. Her head hurt, her stomach ached for food, her mouth was dry and begging for water and she'd lost all feelings in her arms and wrists a long time ago.
She held back a groan, wriggling as she futilely attempted to get some sort of feeling back. She knew someone was watching her, she could bet good money on who it was as well. She groaned at the pain in her shoulder joints as she thought of how stupid she had been to be brought here in the first place . . .
It had started off as a normal night for Nymphadora Tonks. She had heard some rumours that some more notable Death Eaters had been spotted down Knockturn Alley when questioning a detainee at work and decided that even though the Ministry Clearly wanted to ignore such rumours the Order wouldn't. It had been a good couple of months since the Death Eaters attack at The Ministry of Magic and although they had finally openly admitted that Voldemort had returned it didn't mean they were any more likely to admit that these people had the potential to hide right under their noses. Tonks had to give them credit, they were starting to admit stuff and put out searches and patrols but it just wasn't enough, they were still acting like a big group of idiots in Tonks' opinion.
So after their last meeting with The Order, the only bunch of people with their heads screwed on right in her opinion, it had been decided that Tonks would go check it out. This was what had landed her in Knockturn Alley at nearly midnight on a Saturday night. She leaned back into one of the walls, a lit cigarette between her fingers. Tonks never smoked, not unless she was undercover. She found it was a great excuse to stand in one place for a considerable amount of time, because wanting to stop to enjoy a cigarette was a valid excuse whereas standing in the middle of an alleyway staring into space for no reason was unacceptable. She just wished they didn't taste so bad and smell so god damned awful. Her mother had hit the roof when she smelt the smoke on her cloak she thought she was going to curse her before she got the chance to explain herself. She couldn't help but laugh under her breath at the memory of Ted Tonks jumping in between his daughter and wife as he tried to convince her that there would be a genuine explanation for it. The Black blood in her mother never really faded even after she had left the family behind her.
With a slight sigh the currently black haired witch threw her smoked cigarette to the floor, pressing the heel of her boot into it as she followed two men who were definitely out for trouble. She'd heard them boasting as she'd watched them in Borgin and Burkes, demanding Death Eater discount. Idiots. She turned down the passageway they had gone down, being careful to keep a distance. It wasn't until she realised that they had led her down a dead end that she realised the game was up.
She quickly drew her wand, swearing inaudibly under her breath as the two men turned to point both of their wands straight at her "Now come on boys," Nymphadora sighed sarcastically "two against one hardly seems fair."
With hardly another word the three soon sent sparks and flurries of light all over the small alley. Nymphadora held her own impressively, reflecting one spell as she cast another, dodging one unforgivable before she sent a curse making one of the men fall flat on their face.
They had been going for what felt like at least five minutes before Tonks started to feel herself weaken. She was considering attempting to call for back up when one of the men dissapparated. She swore yet again as she continued fighting.
"What? Your friend get scared did he?" Nymphadora yelled as she threw a curse throwing the remaining man off of his feet. She laughed, never once letting herself internally admit that although the Black blood in her mother hadn't died out she undoubtedly had it in her too. What with her dark humour and certain personality quirks she could barely deny the remarks of her similarity to certain relatives.
"Good fight." The witch smirked as she went to advance on the man, ready to put him in cuffs and detain him at the ministry.
"You're welcome." The voice came from behind Tonks an as she spun round to face the man she thought had ran from the fight. Before she knew it a strong pain flashed through her skull and she fell to the floor. She could feel her entire body returning to her natural looks as she struggled to keep her eyes open. It was a natural reaction to losing control of her own conscious state that she had hated since she was a young girl.
"Woah." One man proclaimed as her eyes flittered to catch a quick glance of his face as he put his wand into her own face "Ava-"
"Wait!" the other Death Eater had seemingly found his feet as he scurried over to the pair "Don't . . . Who does that girl remind you of?"
Nymphadoras hands dragged themselves across the cobbled floor as she searched for her wand, fighting the impending unconscious state that was trying to take her under. Another bout of pain ripping through her as she felt her hand crush under a mans dirty old boot, she hissed in pain.
"No . . ." the other wizard laughed "You're right, it's her. Explains the morphing thing . . ."
"Fuck off . . ." Nymphadora spat, trying to regain her senses.
"Cocky enough to be related . . ." one of the men laughed.
That's when it went black the first time.
When she opened her eyes again she was being dropped on a marble floor, her head taking another blow as she instinctively yelled out. She'd been cursed, she had no way to move any bone in her body, not even her little pinky finger. The only view she had right now was of a high heeled set of boots, a floor length black dress mostly covering them. If Nymphadora Tonks could have spoken in that very moment she whole heartedly believed that she would have sworn. Instead she watched as the boot dug into her side as she was flipped onto her back. Her head lolled to the opposite side, catching sight of the two Death Eaters she'd been duelling looking like the cat that got the cream.
"We brought her straight to you." one man proclaimed.
"We figured she was your niece when she morphed-she looks a hell of a lot like you." Dora felt her own silenced scoff of laughter jolt her body as the idiot of a man was sent flying across the room, hitting the back wall.
"Got the fucking same sense of humour." He groaned under his breath.
She felt a boot stick into her side as the force landed her face first on the marble.
"At least take her to the dungeon, please." The familiar sound of Narcissa Malfoy left no comfort for her niece. She had guessed where she was going and had no doubt that the relative she reminded the two Death Eater lackeys of was not Narcissa Malfoy.
"Fine." The angry hiss was right in her ear, making Tonks hold back a shudder at the realisation the witch was so close to her.
That was the second time the world went dark that night.
Right now Tonks would have been more than happy to see a pair of boots, even if the person she suspected-no, knew- was stood in them. Being kept in the pitch black for so long was not boding well for Tonks, though that was more than obviously the point of it. Nymphadora twitched, she would have jumped back if she could have, she was startled as suddenly she felt a breeze of movement for the first time since she'd been hanging in this miserable place. That was it, she'd had enough.
"You know," Dora spoke up in the general direction she believed her voyeuristic captor to be standing in "for someone who's supposed to be such a big terrifying bitch I'm really not all that terrified . . . Not even a little scared actually."
Dora tried and failed to turn as she heard the unmistakable cold laughter behind her, she would be lying if she said that didn't send a chill down her spine. The room again fell silent but for the echo of cold laughter as Dora swung back and forth yet again, unable to steady herself. Though she decided she was more than happy to swing for a little bit when she felt a delicate hand on her hip steadying her. Nymphadora screwed her eyes shut as light suddenly filled the room. She blinked as her eyes adjusted, the dim light being too much, which worried Tonks as to how long she'd been down there to have such a bad reaction to such a small light source.
A stone walled room was slowly revealed before her. Scratch marks had managed to be engraved into the walls, there was a large stain in one corner that Nymphadora did not want to know the origin of, there was an iron door straight ahead of her with no sign of what was on the other side. Tonks tried to move herself out of the touch of the hand on her hip but soon regretted her decision as she felt a chin rest on shoulder.
"Darling . . . if I wanted to terrify you you would have pissed your pants a long time ago." Tonks could feel the womans lips practically touching her ear as the soft whisper filled the empty room.
Nymphadora stared straight ahead, determined not to give the woman the satisfaction "Wotcher, Auntie Bella."
She could practically feel the womans evil grin broaden on her shoulder "Hello Nymphadora . . ."
For once she bit back, stopping herself demanding she not be called Nymphadora, she knew the second she gave the lunatic anything to work with on continuing and prolonging her annoyance she'd work on it until it drove her mad. Dora felt the hand from her hip slowly move to her shoulder, nails digging in slightly, she wasn't expecting it as she felt a delicate kiss being placed on her cheek. At that very moment in time she couldn't give two shits as the Death Eater laughed as she visibly shivered, she would have been physically sick if she could have. To her relief at that point the woman released her grip on her.
The room was eerily silent yet again, Tonks had been right about the dripping being falsified, she almost missed it as instead she heard the click click click of her Aunts heels as she slowly walked around the younger witch to stand in front of her.
"You do look like mum, you know . . . a fucking deranged less attractive version of her but still." Dora couldn't help but feel slightly smug even as the sting of pain flashed across her face as she received the slap she had expected. It was worth it to rile up Bellatrix, she knew it wasn't wise but she couldn't help herself. "Oops, sensitive topic?" the second slap was probably worth it as well, she decided.
Nymphadora looked to the deranged woman defiantly, to her surprise instead of the look of annoyance she expected to see she was greeted with the womans evil smirk.
"You do have a fiery spirit . . . I'll enjoy breaking it." Bellatrix slowly drew her wand, eyeing up Tonks like she was the juiciest piece of steak she had ever seen in her life.
Nymphadora barely realised as the womans wand pressed into her hip, it was only the searing pain as the red hot tip burnt into her skin. She had been too busy glaring at the woman in front of her, eye to eye, she still refused to break eye contact as she bit down hard on her tongue to stop her yelping at the pain.
She refused to give the insane bitch the satisfaction as the searing pain travelled up her torso. Bellatrix Lestrange smirked as she pulled her wand away. The two women were locked in eye contact, Nymphadora Tonks refusing to be the first to give in even as she lost sight of exactly where her wand was pointed.
"Now, Nymphadora," Bellatrix smirked as she grasped hold of the young witches chin almost delicately as she taunted her, "you and me are going to have a little chat."
"As fun as that sounds, I'd rather not if it's all the same." Tonks smiled as innocently as she could as Bellatrix laughed.
"Oh that's fine, sweetie, I was hoping you'd say something along those lines."
Dora tried to pull her chin out of her Aunts grip, instead simply managing to sway side to side as she still hung from her wrists. She tried to ignore the insane womans laughter at her predicament before she let out a small scream as she suddenly hit the floor unexpectedly. The laughter grew louder as she tried to compose herself from the heap on the floor, rubbing her wrists. She cried out as the tip of Bellatrixs' heeled shoe connected with a rib, forcing her flat onto her back. Her hair burned red as the older woman sat on the floor next to her, leaning over and holding her wrists down to stop her trying to shuffle away.
"It's a shame you don't have a choice in the matter." Bellatrix taunted in her child like tormenting voice.
Tonks went to retaliate, ready to lash out or at least spit in the deranged cows face before the sudden appearance of an intricate dagger right in front of her face. She settled for greeting her sadistic smirk with her hardened glare.
"Ah ah ah . . ." Bellatrix looked like a child in a toy store as she drew the dagger along the pale, soft flesh of Tonks' face. She knew the woman had drawn blood as the dagger pulled away with the slightest gleam of red. Tonks was ashamed to say she wriggled like a cornered animal as Bellatrix leant down so closely she was lost in her tangled black locks of hair. She smirked for a moment as she licked the cut, pulling back only to spit out the blood of her niece. The wriggling was soon stopped as Bellatrix grabbed a fistful of the witches hair and slammed her head to the floor.
"Fuck you!" Nymphadora yelled.
"No thank you, dearie." Bellatrix giggled as she sat up, straddling the young witch.
"Oh sorry, forgot you prefer fucking sn-" she paused as the glowing tip of a wand appeared between her eyes.
"Finish that sentence and you'll soon regret it, girl." Bellatrix snarled.
"Oh, okay, sorry. I forgot I'd be skipping off into the sunset off to mummy at the end of our little family catch up." The sarcasm was dripping off of the Metamorphmagus as she looked into the eyes of The Dark Lords most loyal.
"Glad to know you have a grip on reality, pet."
"Unlike you." she hissed as another stinging hex coursed through her body.
"Silly girl." Bella smirked, "You have to learn to not be so rude to your betters."
"Elders I could believe but betters?" Dora scoffed. She knew she'd never make it out of here alive, it was always best to go out fighting rather than snivelling like a little girl. If she was going to die she was going to piss off Bellatrix Lestrange whilst she did it.
She winced as she felt her Aunts wand smack down onto her head. Though she suddenly became very interested in where that wand was going as she intently watched the tip trail down her face, pulling on her lip before stopping underneath her chin. She glared as she felt the tip dig into her throat.
"Naughty half-blood." An insane smirk creeped onto the womans lips as she leaned over her yet again, using one hand to steady herself as she whispered into the girls ear, still sat firmly straddling her hips "Maybe Auntie Bella has to teach you a lesson."
Dora pushed and twisted as hard as she could, trying to throw the Death Eater off of her, she would not put up with that creepy baby voice in her fucking ear. This only instigated a round of insane laughter piercing through her skull.
"Tut tut tut. Behave." Bella kissed Doras forehead as she redug her wand into the girls neck "Crucio."
Nymphadora clenched her fists, screwing her eyes shut and curling her toes. She tried to keep as still and controlled as possible as she experienced what felt like waves of razor blades flowing through her body, she knew it would only get worse the more she refused to react but what with her Auror training and her defiant nature she refused to give the lunatic the satisfaction.
She was hardly surprised as she felt the pain deepen. A gasp escaped her lips as her eyes snapped open, she pulled at her robes as it felt like the imaginary razor blades had started to bury themselves within her skin. She barely noticed as the weight of her Aunt lifted from her, her own body curling up in on itself as she truly struggled not to scream like her life depended on it.
The rough pull as fingernails dug into her shoulder almost seemed like a gentle caress as she barely registered being rolled over, her eyes rolling back as they threatened to retreat into her skull.
"Oh shhh baby . . ." the taunting voice could almost be mistaken for an earnest comfort to the un-knowing observer as the lunatic caressed the now pure white strands of hair out of the younger witches face, never faltering from performing the intense cruciatus on her niece.
Dora shuddered, her body convulsing, her hands gripping out for the fabric on her Aunts dress.
"S-S-Sick b-bitch!" she yelled as she realised that she'd been rolled onto the womans lap, laying on her back across her legs.
The laugh continued to vibrate around her skull as Nymphadora finally let out, screaming as if her life depended on it. Bellatrix smirked down at her, twisting her wand to jab the curse straight into her chest "Good girl, let it all out . . ."
She writhed in agony on the dark witches lap, her hands instinctively gripping onto the nearest thing they could-which so happened to be the skirts of Bellatrix's dress. She was humiliated as well as in agony and she didn't want to put up with it anymore.
She didn't think. She didn't know how she did it. She simply remembered the one thing she believed would throw the woman off. With a screech from the Death Eater she felt the curse release, felt her body thrown off her lap.
As she looked down at her now taller and skinnier body she knew that the morph had worked as shocked as she was that she managed to do it under the cruciatus.
"Morph back!" Bellatrix growled, now standing over with her wand pointed at the body on the floor.
Dora smirked slightly as she panted to catch her breath, knowing that it wasn't Nymphadora Tonks that Bellatrix Lestrange was seeing now. The witch had morphed into a carbon copy of her mother, more specifically her mother at exactly how she had looked at the age she had known she had married her father. The Andromeda Black that had left her sisters, abandoned them as she was sure Bellatrix and Narcissa would say.
"What's wrong, Bella, lost your nerve?" Dora smirked as shuffled back slightly to lean against the wall.
"Morph. Back. Now." Bellatrix gritted her teeth as a crazed look flashed across her eyes.
"I don't know what you mean, sis." Dora smirked, playing on the unbalanced state of the Death Eaters mind.
"Don't you dare!"
"Don't I dare, what Bella?"
"YOU ARE NOT HER!" with a crack Dora felt her head collide into the wall behind her.
She lost track of what was happening as curse after curse flew into her. She was sure the bruises were instantly forming on her now battered body as she struggled to retain the morph of her mother. She could feel the rage in each hit as she slowly succumbed to darkness for the third time that night.
It felt like hours had passed when she slowly opened her eyes again, her natural dark hair falling across her face as she lifted her head to see the powerful Bellatrix Lestrange sitting with her knees pulled into her chest on the floor on the opposite side of the room.
"Morph back . . . You look too much like her still . . ." Dora could almost be forgiven for thinking it was a polite request as she groaned at the pain in her ribs, no doubt a broken bone.
"I can't . . . This is my natural look and- . . ." Dora stopped as she didn't want to admit she was so drained of energy and in so much pain she really wasn't confident she could morph much. She knew she looked like her mother right now and she knew that meant she also looked similar to her captor, the main reason why she tried her hardest to morph away from her natural form. "I don't want to."
The room seemed to pause for a moment, each witch staring at each other across the room, expressionless.
Nymphadora made sure she'd plastered the look of defiance on her face as Bellatrix stood, marching over to the girl and grabbing her by her tangled dark hair. She winced as she was dragged to the centre of the room, gasped as she felt the womans boot slam into her chest as she was slammed back into the floor. A groan escaped her lips once her head smacked against the stone floor not for the first time that night.
She tried to wriggle away as Bellatrix grabbed her nieces hand in her own. The two withes struggled for a few moments as Bellatrix pulled her arm nearly out of its socket, the bone in the young witches wrist cracking. She cursed herself for not being able to fight back to her full potential in her weakened state.
"Get the fuck off of me!" Dora yelled in the womans face as she kicked out.
"Calm down, little girl." Bella growled as she pulled a knife out from the holster on her hip "You're going to help me send a little message."
Dora grimaced as she felt the knife dig into the bare skin of her left arm, biting down on her tongue. She knew no matter how much she struggled she'd end up with whatever the insane woman wanted carved onto her. She relaxed as much as she could as she turned her face away from what the woman was doing, instead staring at the opposite wall as if it held the most interesting story she'd ever read.
She winced as she felt the pause in the intrusion into her skin, her Aunt shuffling to stare down at her. Her lips pressed into her forehead in an almost gentle and loving way as she felt a single tear escape her eyes.
"Good little girl." Bellatrix whispered as she wiped away the tear before it travelled across her face. She stared down at the girl with a smirk on her face.
Dora knew that Bellatrix would relish in this memory. The sight of her broken body on the floor, her ripped robes, her bruised body and her now tearstained puffy face as she stared intently at the opposite with a hollow look in her eyes.
She felt the grip on her chin one last time as her face was moved to stare straight up into the Black eyes of Bellatrix Lestrange. Nymphadora stared up at the woman with the cheshire cat grin on her face.
"Such a pretty broken face you have . . ." Bella taunted for a moment, making the girl shiver yet again before she returned to the girls arm.
That was the last time everything went dark that night for Nymphadora Tonks, with the searing pain of a knife on her flesh as unknown words were carved into her skin.
She woke to the undeniable feeling of being forced into a side along aparation. Gripping onto the black robes in front of her. She could feel the breeze on her bruised and broken body as she struggled to retain her conscious state.
"Bellatrix!" she heard the curse whistle past her ear, let go of the robes as she felt her body fall backwards into a one armed grip around her torso. She got the slightest of glimpses of Andromeda Tonks as she stormed forward with a look of fury on her face, wand drawn.
Dora gritted her teeth as she felt the witch release her to the floor, falling in a heap onto the cool grass in front of the Tonks home. It was then and only then that she caught a glimpse of what was etched into her arm. Insane laughter was soon followed by the distinctive crack of apparation as after a few moments she heard hurried footsteps run to her side.
"Dora . . ." her mother struggled to keep the distress out of her voice, struggled to conceal the gasp of shock as she read the words etched into her only childs arm.
With a quick flick of her wand a bandage covered the words, no doubt an attempt of hiding the warning from anyone else before Andromeda could think of a way to remove the scars.
With a groan Dora was levitated back into the house, she shut her eyes and tried not to think of the nights events. Though the words on her arm could no longer scare her, she feared for her family instead as she was lain on the couch, all matters of healing charms and enchantments coursing through her as she listened to her mother snap at her father to get her potions kit.
Nymphadora Tonks allowed herself to lay still, entirely drained. Though as she drifted off for the final time that day she couldn't help but see the words emblazoned into her mind. The idea of being sent as such a message sickening her to her stomach . . .
You will pay for what you have done, Andromeda.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my little oneshot of Bella and Tonks. I've been writing so much of them not fighting recently I needed to get some traditional Bella and Tonks attitude out of my system. haha Please review and let me know what you think! It means a lot to me, i'll always reply and I'll make sure if you have any Harry Potter stories on your profile that interests me I'll have a looksie and review. :) Feel free to look at my profile for much, much more of all the characters in this story. :D
Thanks again!
The Purple Black
