Rescued

A Remus/ Tonks action/romance story. Rated R.

Chapter 1

It had been one week since Tonks was officially declared missing by the Ministry. And nearly two since she hadn't reported to Moody after an Order stake-out at Malfoy's hunting lodge.

"It was an ambush," declared Kingsley.

"We barely got out alive," added Daedalus Diggle, adjusting his top hat.

"After the commotion died down, perhaps an hour later, we were able to get back into the apartment. Of course, it had been completely cleaned out. The only thing we found was this." Kingsley placed the torn shred of purple cloth on the table.

Lupin picked it up, fingering the soft cotton of what had once been Nymphadora's favorite Weird Sisters t-shirt. And now it was their fourth clue.

"Damn it! And damn again!" Moody banged his fist on the table.

"They've left this clue on purpose, just like the other ones." Lupin's cold-as-steel eyes flickered up at the small ensemble. "They want us to know she's still alive."

Bill Weasley's face was burning red. "I'm going to kill him." He flashed out his wand, fury flaming in his eyes. "We know where his son is. We'll take him hostage, and then I'll kill that son of a bitch!"

"Hold on there, Bill. You know that's not the way we do things," Arthur said quietly as he laid a firm hand on his son's arm.

Bill's face twisted with defiance. "We should be in France right now, staking out the apartment. Following any clues before they go cold! I'm just sick and tired of our damn inaction."

Something in Lupin snapped.

"Do you think you're the only one who cares for Tonks?"

Several heads turned up at Remus' unusual chiding. His knuckles flexed and whitened against the table, his voice agitated. "Do you think you're the only who's tired of waiting! Damn it, Bill.." he finished with a whisper.

Then rubbing his temples, he regained his usual stellar control. Lips tight, eyes focused, "No one's going to France. Malfoy will tell us where he wants us to go; we must stay aware. Once we've made contact, then we can decide on what action to take."

The other men agreed, goodnights were given and Grimmauld Place was again silent as Remus padded uneasily to his bedroom. His chest ached with missing Nymphadora, pained with the unknown tortures she might be enduring that very minute.

Remus Lupin did the only thing he knew to do - brewed a fresh batch of tea and took out every piece of evidence they had collected regarding her disappearance.

A swatch of red wool from the cottage in Ireland, a tarnished badge bearing a hammer and sickle from the lodge in Germany, a crumpled photograph found in a Spanish villa and bearing the apparent image of a Victorian era nobleman. Remus pondered the last item intensely, a black and white photograph, as he sipped the scalding chamomile tea.

It had only been a few nights since his last transformation, and his bones still ached from the lunar trauma of the wolf. Even though Severus, either from kindness or from Dumbledore's orders (probably the latter) was still brewing him the wolfsbane potion, his body still throbbed from the twisting of bone and the ripping of skin. However tired and sore, it was nothing compared to the urgent concern he felt for Tonks' well-being.

After the Ministry battle last year and the loss of Sirius, Tonks and Remus began a natural friendship of support and mutual concern. Tonks worried about Remus' light eating habits, and Lupin was plagued by Tonks' risk-taking regarding her Ministry duties. She called him overprotective, he called her a "mother hen.". And yet, they desired one another's company more than either would verbally admit. Perhaps Tonks had made the first move when she moved into Grimmauld Place three months ago to allegedly "save money."

From that day on, Remus had grown used to her. "Too used to her," he mused sorrowfully to the empty room.

Head in hand, he reminisced on her smiling, heart-shaped faced perched over a black cup of morning coffee; her pink Converse trainers hastily kicked off in the foyer that he tripped over every afternoon; the wink she gave him when she was talking to other men when he knew she'd rather be talking to him.

They had only touched once, hands passing in an unintended grasp that put both their hearts aflutter. She had held on a moment too long…

"Remus, I…"

"Nymphadora…" He whispered her name with the passion of a man in love.

She laughed uneasily and dropped his hand, eyes flickering away. "Nothing, I…" A long pause, "Dinner's ready."

Lifting up the torn scrap of purple fabric, he inhaled it deeply and said a little prayer to the night.

"Don't let go..please, don't let go."

He was quiet for a long time as he rubbed the cotton between his fingers. Finally, he put the fragment aside and took up a magnifying glass to exam the crumpled photo once again.

The Muggle picture contained a very mustachioed man in a military uniform with large epaulets and several medals. He stared at the medals a very long time until he began to make out a shape in one: two face-to-face dolphins swimming with their tails up. He'd seen this before.

Remus jumped up and grabbed a heavy volume off the shelf - European Heraldry: A Chronological Collage. Hurriedly, he flipped through the text until he came to dolphins, his fingers quickly dancing down the page. Then slamming the book shut, he grabbed his coat from a corner chair and summoned a quill and parchment.

Headmaster,

I have reason to believe that Tonks is being held at or around Durmstrang outside of Bucharest, Romania. I will report my findings via owl.

Yours truly,

Remus Lupin

With a quick look back to his room, he grabbed his tattered briefcase. Taking out his wand and flicking it in the air he called out firmly, "Durmstrang Institute, Romania."

tbc