Title:A Voice from Above
Author: rohwyn
Rating & Warnings: G
Prompts: Day of Uncertainty, Action/Adventure, Picture No. 23
Word Count: 1218
Summary: Remus hears a strange voice from above, and is reminded that things are never quite as they seem at first.
Author's Notes: In case you're wondering why anyone would use a Halloween icon in February,this fic was originally written for the MetamorficMoon All Hallows' Moon Jumble, which I missed by, oh, about 3.5 months! I was never very satisfied with it, and a few rewrites have not really improved it. Nevertheless, here it is. I used three of the four prompts, although I think this isn't so much action/adventure as crackfic.

He followed quietly behind Tonks, keeping a watchful eye on her and their surroundings, wand at the ready in case of an ambush. It was an unusually cold night, and he found himself wishing that his gloves and shoes were less threadbare. They were patrolling an older neighborhood for the Order, specifically an old house that seemed suspicious to Mad-Eye. As they approached the house, something about the place set Remus on edge, filling him with a strange sense of foreboding.

Or perhaps not so strange, under the circumstances. So far, it had been a day of uncertainty, as all the days seemed to be now, with Sirius gone. Things between Tonks and himself were uncertain in their own way. For his part, he had avoided being alone with her as much as possible, but Mad-Eye had put them together for this assignment, and he did not have a good argument against it this time.

Tonks stopped abruptly up ahead, at the door to the old and darkened house, and he pulled up short behind her. She put a finger to her lips, and tilted her head, as if listening intently. Remus followed her example, and because his sense of hearing was far keener than hers, he picked up immediately on a very strange sound coming from the house. Tonks whispered an Alohomora, and as the door swung open, the sound became louder. It was a low, keening wail, and somewhere within the eerie sound, he heard what sounded vaguely like words. . . plaintive words. Help me, help me! I'm trapped!

He started towards the stairs, the Gryffindor in him lurching forward to make the rescue, but Tonks pulled him back. "I'll go, Remus."

"Tonks, you can't . . ."

"No. You wait here. Back me up if I need help, if we need to call the others. I'll signal you."

He was about to protest, but she silenced him with a determined look and set off inside the house. Remus leaned against the door jamb, feeling a mix of exasperation and apprehension, as he watched Tonks walk up the stairs in the direction of the sound.

The house was old, and smelled dank and deadly. Remus walked into the darkened hallway, scuffing the floor with his feet absently. The floorboards creaked loudly as he moved forward, and with each step, he turned to see if someone else—or something else—had joined him.

Only a pale sliver of moonlight made its way through the house's windows, and it was a while before Remus's eyes adjusted to the near-complete darkness and the odd shadows cast by various things in the room. He wondered if anything here was really worth exploring, especially considering it looked like nobody had been in the house in years.

He made his way into a small room adjoining the hallway. It was bare except for a wooden chair by the room's lone window. Thin curtains hung in the window, making the already ghostly moonlit room seem even more eerie. On the wooden floor, Remus could just make out dust tracks. They were still sort of fresh, suggesting the chair had been dragged to the window only recently. So I was wrong, someone has been here. The thought filled him with trepidation. The situation was much more dangerous than he had anticipated.

He was still debating his next move when his thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash, like a body falling onto a wooden floor. Tonks! That sound was immediately followed by the same voice from above. Help me, help me! I'm trapped.

Remus froze at the sound. His first instinct was to go after the voice, to find Tonks and save her from whatever it was that lurked in the house. But even as the thoughts formed in his mind, he found himself surprised by them. He had spent so much time in the past year pushing Tonks away from him, thinking he was protecting her. It had never struck him before that she might not be in his life in some way, that he might lose her altogether, to something that he could not protect her from. I couldn't bear not having her in my life. I couldn't bear it, if something happened to her.

He shook his head, realizing how much time he had wasted, and now, Remus lost no time in going after Tonks. He raced out of the little room and towards the stairs, only slowing down when he came to the first step and considered that too much noise might alert anyone or anything else who might be in the house. Wordlessly, he lit the tip of his wand and then muffled the light with his gloved hand as he took his first steps up the staircase.

The stairs were as old as the rest of the house, and as he climbed each step, the wood groaned ominously under his weight. He had only managed a few steps when he heard another crashing sound, this one more like a door slamming shut in the wind. The sound was accompanied by another plaintive wail. Help me! I'm trapped!

Suddenly not caring if his feet aroused a whole house of Death Eaters, Remus bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time. All that mattered was getting to Tonks before she came to any harm. The breath burned in his chest at the sudden exertion, but he made the landing at the top of the stairs in record time . . . only to have something pink and fuzzy crash right into his chest.

The impact knocked Remus right off his feet and onto the floor. A moment passed before he was able to stand and collect himself. That was when he finally noticed Tonks.

She was making strange noises that sounded like whimpering. Worried, he pulled her close and cupped her face in his hands.

"Tonks! Are you all right?"

There were tears in her eyes, and she was barely coherent, taking in huge gulps of air as she spoke. "I . . . yes, I'm . . . okay. It's just . . . there was . . ." She stopped talking and pointed at a large door at the end of the hallway. "In there."

So that was where the wailing had come from! He wondered what Tonks had seen that had made her behave so strangely.

"Wait here."

He headed to the door, wand held out in preparation for attack. Behind him, he could sense Tonks following him. He could still hear the strange sounds she was making, and he suspected she was crying. He put a hand to the door handle, and pushed it open, just a little at first, and then all the way, readying himself for a blow from the unknown foe.

It never came. All that he could see was a bare room, empty except for a birdcage in one corner. In the cage was a brightly colored bird, squawking. The bird must have been charmed, because its squawking sounded almost exactly like the wailing he had heard before. Help me! I'm trapped!

Remus was stunned, and turned around to face Tonks with a question, but the words died on his lips as he saw her, doubled over with laughter.