LbN: Shout out to Raid Addict CM for being the first reviewer! Thanks mate! The story will start to pick up after this. Here's Tonks's intro chapter!
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven.
~JOHN MILTON, Paradise Lost
Tonks walked into the meeting room and voiced what everyone else was thinking. "Bloody hell, they've got us at the round table again."
The round table was only used for the team of super-elite Aurors. True, whenever she sat at it, Tonks had a feeling of smug satisfaction at being one of the best. However, this feeling always went away quickly once their invariably life-threatening mission was spelled out for them.
"This should be interesting," one of the other Aurors, Macbeth, said. He took a seat beside her.
Kingsley came in a moment later and passed around some folders. "Here is your assignment. There are five profiles in your folders, each one showing a Death Eater who is currently at large. We did our best to round them up in the last two years, but these five have eluded us. The first," he said, opening his folder and waiting for the others to do the same. "Rhydian Swanson. A low-ranking Death Eater, but he was in charge of recruitment. Since the fall, he's stayed off our radar except for a few murders. We've come close to catching him once. Currently, our sources say he's on the run in Wales."
Tonks looked down at the picture. The man's hood was up, but she could see bright blue eyes staring from under it. A shock of brown hair was also sticking out. The picture pulled its hood down and a burly man scowled up at her. She turned to the next page and flinched. She remembered this one….
"Magnus Koch. Some of you had firsthand experience with this one," Kingsley said, looking pointedly at Tonks and Macbeth. "Higher up than Swanson, but never in the ranks of Lestrange and Carrow. He was a potions smuggler. We have no leads on him at this time, but he was last spotted in Manchester. The next two, Haley and Emmett Barlow. Twin boys recruited just out of Durmstrang to steal children who'd displayed signs of magic if they had Muggle parents. They're English, but their parents lived in Bulgaria. They've been spotted in various spots around Scotland, but our recon groups traced them to Spain last week. We don't know if the move is permanent yet. And last but not least, everyone's favorite psychopath, Fenrir Greyback. Currently making appearances all over the place, just to screw with us."
Tonks scowled down at the smirking picture. Greyback's case was definitely the most frustrating, since there was no reason he shouldn't be locked up in Azkaban. He'd been knocked out during the battle, but due to the general chaos of that night, he'd been left under the stairs where he'd fallen. No one was sure as to whether he'd woken up, realized his side was losing, and fled, or if he'd woken, been too sick to fight, and skulked off to some hidden corner of Hogwarts until he was able to leave. Either way, he'd gotten away.
"In his time since the Fall," Kingsley continued, "he's killed four families, two of which were Muggles. He's also orchestrated a few more kidnappings for the purebloods who are keeping a low profile, but still support the ways of the Death Eaters. Now, all of these miscreants are the most pressing cases. The murders and kidnappings have to stop. I picked you seven because you've dealt with things like this before, and I know you can handle it. These aren't going to be "Home-in-time-for-supper" cases. You'll be gone for days, weeks, possibly months for some of them. So what I need from you now is your commitment to this. I want you to go to your offices, or home if you prefer, and look over the profiles. All of them have some more information about the Death Eaters. I want you to think about this, whether or not you can handle it, and for Merlin's sake, talk it over with your spouses. I don't want Howlers filling my office when you lot disappear for weeks at a time."
There was a bit of nervous chuckling at this.
"I want your answers on my desk by tomorrow morning at eight. Questions?"
"Why isn't Potter coming with us?" Macbeth asked.
"Harry has…limited experience. I know, I know," Kingsley said when he got a room full of incredulous looks. "Yes, he's seen the worst. But you all have seen the full spectrum, and that's what I need. Harry's still a bit…er…impulsive, because he's used to only dealing with life or death situations. I need a team for this one. He understands."
"Is this assignment going to be sealed?" Tonks asked. "Sealed" assignments were generally top secret. No press under any circumstances.
"Yes. I'm allowing you to tell your families about it because of the time consuming and strenuous nature of the mission. They won't, however, know where you are at any time. And none of the other Aurors are privy to the details."
Tonks nodded, still looking down at Greyback's sneer.
"Any other questions?" When Kingsley was met with seven shaking heads, he nodded. "Fine. You're dismissed."
By the time Tonks made it home that evening, her mind was spinning with all of the information she'd read. Going over the profiles had been a lot more demanding than she'd thought. Quietly, she slipped into the apartment and tossed her bag on the sofa.
"Hey."
"Hey Ginny," she said, smiling. She practically melted into Ginny's arms when she went to hug her, a fact that was not lost on the redhead.
"Bad day?" Ginny asked.
"Er…challenging day. Challenging day that's going to lead to a lot more challenging days."
"What's going on?"
"Let's get dinner started and I'll explain."
"I'm glad you're on board, Tonks," Kingsley said the next morning. "The team needs you."
"Glad I can help, Kingsley. When are we leaving?"
"Once I have everyone's answer, we'll start planning. I'll call everyone in this afternoon."
Tonks nodded, ready to get to work.
LbN: Hope you liked the chapter, & that I have you hooked :). Reviews are always welcome and appreciated! Poll's still up, if you want to vote.