I've had this idea for quite a while. It's kind of lame, but why not?
It was like following a ghost. Dawlish exchanged a look with Savage as they caught a glimpse of the woman who had been prompting strange calls for the Muggle police. She was extremely pale, very thin. She was wearing the dress Dawlish recognised from the open-casket at Tonks' funeral, the light blue material fluttering around her knees as she walked, her footsteps making quiet clicking sounds from the light blue heels she was wearing.
The dark curls were slightly tangled, clumps of mud stuck to the ends. Her dress and skin were also covered in dirt, and Dawlish was sure if she turned to look at them, her face would be dirt covered as well.
"Tonks!" Dawlish called, and Savage frowned at him.
"Just going to yell at her?" He demanded. "What kind of plan is that?"
But she had stopped walking.
"Tonks, we can help you." Dawlish continued, taking a few steps closer.
She turned to look at them, and both men took a step back- her eyes were colourless.
"Tonks?" Dawlish asked, but she simply stood there.
"Tonks, come with us to the Ministry." Savage said.
She gave them a slow smile, and then turned and continued walking.
It took a moment for either man to move- Dawlish felt ill. Finally, they continued to follow her, until she turned down an alleyway that they knew had no other exit.
When they turned as well, she was gone.
"Homenum Revelio." Dawlish muttered, waving his wand, but nothing happened.
"You can't reveal a presence that isn't human." Savage hissed, and Dawlish glared at him. They walked to the fence that blocked the other end of the alley, but she was nowhere.
She had simply vanished.
Harry froze, his hand on the bars of the cell. There was no denying the man appeared to be Remus, with minor differences. His hair was darker, he looked younger- almost the Lupin that Harry had met in the forest. But the shocking difference that Harry almost couldn't look at, or look away from, were his eyes. Where there had once been a very light green, was white. No iris, no pupil- just white.
"Harry?" Hermione asked. "Are you alright?"
Harry went to speak but a loud voice interrupted them. "Potter!" Dawlish yelled, and when they turned, Harry gaped. Being dragged between Savage and Williamson was a younger looking Sirius Black- with the same eyes as Remus. Sirius looked up- and Harry wasn't sure if he made eye contact, but he must have seen Harry because he began fighting against Savage and Williamson.
"Potter!" Sirius yelled, his voice surprisingly harsh, finally shoving Savage and Williamson off and heading for Harry. Harry wasn't sure what to expect, but didn't time to draw his wand before Sirius' hand closed around his throat, shoving him against the bars of the cell behind him. An arm wrapped around one of Harry's from behind, and Harry spotted Savage with Dawlish and Williamson, trying to drag Sirius away from Harry.
Just as they pried Sirius' hand off of Harry's neck, he blacked out, barely aware of hitting his head as he fell.
Ginny was tired. Lily Luna was only a few months old, plus she had two and a half year old Albus and almost-five year old James. The plus side was that she had eleven year old Teddy with her, and he was keeping the boys busy in the sitting room. She looked up as the fireplace flared green, startled to see Harry home so early.
"Harry, I wasn't expecting you yet-" Ginny began but stopped when she saw Hermione at Harry's side."What happened?"
"Harry fainted." Hermione said smoothly, leading him to the table. "We were down by the holding cells, and when he fainted, he hit his head on the bars of one of the cells."
"Fainted?" Ginny asked. "Harry, are you feeling alright?"
"Other than a headache, I'm fine." Harry said, sinking into a chair.
"But are you sick?" Ginny asked, as Hermione took Lily Luna from her. "Why would you faint?"
"You're probably going to want to sit down." Hermione said to Ginny. Ginny looked at Hermione, but listened.
"What are you doing at the Ministry anyway, Hermione? I thought you were-"
"On leave?" Hermione asked. "Yes, I was supposed to be on leave for another week, but this is important. Molly took the kids this morning." Hermione added as Ginny went to speak again.
"Ginny." Harry said, bringing Ginny's attention back to him. "We might need to prepare Teddy for this."
Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Prepare him for what?"
"We were supposed to go to Hogwarts, together, tonight before the Quidditch game." Harry explained. "He likes to visit his parents."
"And?" Ginny asked.
"His parents won't be there."
Ginny looked between Harry and Hermione, narrowing her eyes. "And where would they have gone?"
"Well." Hermione said slowly. "Remus is currently at the Ministry, and-"
"Remus? As in Remus Lupin, is at the Ministry?" Ginny asked, in disbelief. She thought for a minute. "You mean someone took their bodies, and you've found at least one?" She asked, feeling almost nauseous at the thought.
"Not exactly." Harry said.
"Then what do you mean?" Ginny asked. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, but before they could answer, the fireplace flared up again and Dawlish appeared.
"We've got Black under control, I don't know what he was doing, but he's been separated from Lupin- together, they kept trying to get by us, and it was getting a little violent." Dawlish said in a quick breath.
"Wait, wait, wait." Ginny said loudly. "What on Earth is he talking about?"
"Well." Harry said this time. "The dead have returned. So far, we've detained two of them but Tonks was sighted earlier near the Leaky Cauldron."
Ginny felt sick. "And- what are Muggles saying about this?"
"Well, I don't know." Harry said.
"They're not saying much about corpses walking the streets?" Ginny asked. Dawlish looked at the floor. "What?" She demanded from him.
"Gin, Ron's gone too." Harry said. "And they don't exactly look like corpses. That's why we're trying to find them, and find out why they've come back-"
"What do you mean, they don't look like corpses?" Ginny demanded. "What do they look like?"
"Well, themselves." Hermione said. "A few differences-"
"And you actually think that it's them." Ginny said. "Not worried about impostors, or anything."
"You wouldn't be able to take Polyjuice if the person you took from has died." Hermione said. "Especially if they've been dead so long. And it wouldn't explain Sirius' return, there's no body to take hair from."
"Hermione." Ginny said, sighing. "Human transfiguration. Did you guys not think about that? We learned it in sixth and seventh year. What if it's a group of Death Eaters who are doing this?"
"It would explain why they both tried to attack me." Harry said slowly.
"They attacked you? Sirius and Remus?" Ginny asked.
"It's why he fainted, or I supposed he was- well, knocked unconscious." Hermione said quietly. "But why? Why would they become the dead? Why not become one of us, we'd be far more useful- and we'd be able to get closer to you."
Dawlish, Harry and Ginny gave Hermione an odd look.
"I'm sorry, but it's true." Hermione responded. "Think about it. Why would a Death Eater become someone who has been dead eleven years? Or thirteen? Or even twenty seven?"
"Twenty seven?" Ginny asked.
Harry sighed. "My parents' graves are empty too."
It felt right, standing in front of Grimmauld Place. She could see it, of course she could, Harry wouldn't have kept the protection after the war. If anything, the only protection left was the charm keeping it hidden from Muggles.
"Miss, are you alright?" An elderly man asked, pausing behind her. She figured he had noticed she was covered in dirt, her dark curls hanging limply against her pale face and shoulders. She turned to him, and his eyes widened as he stared at her colourless eyes. She could almost feel his fear as he took a few steps backward, turned, and walked off quickly. She knew that two of the others had been caught already- but that didn't matter. They had been tasked with a mission- and here she was, facing Harry Potter's house.
She would feel bad, if she had the ability to feel any emotions, that she was waiting for The Boy Who Lived to step out of the house. For his wife, and possibly his children, to witness his death would have had the living-Tonks retreating from the task. She saw a curtain on the second floor flutter, and a boy with blue hair looked out of the window, vanishing a second later. She stared at the window, and one word entered her mind: Teddy.
"Aunt Gin?" Teddy's shaky voice called as he went stomping down the kitchen stairs. He threw open the kitchen door and froze at the sight of all four adults sitting there.
"Are you alright, Teddy?" Ginny asked, her eyes wandering to his pale hair.
"There's someone outside." Teddy said, gesturing up the stairs. "I looked out the window from the sitting room, and-" He broke off, his bottom lip trembling a bit.
"And?" Harry asked, already on his feet.
"It looked like a young Gran, and Mum looked like Gran in all the pictures-" Teddy said, looking at the floor.
"What?" Harry demanded, racing up the stairs. Ginny and Dawlish followed just as fast, as Hermione carried Lily Luna over to Teddy and took his hand, walking up the stairs with him.
"Everything's alright, Teddy." Hermione promised. They reached the sitting room, and Harry was staring out the window.
"That's her." Harry said. "Dawlish, we're going to detain her. Hermione, Ginny, take the kids upstairs. Teddy, go with them."
"What do you mean, it's her?" Teddy demanded, walking to the window to stand next to Harry. "That can't be Mum, you said Mum was-"
"She was, Teddy, she was. Go with Gin and Hermione." Harry commanded. Teddy rolled his eyes but went with Hermione and Ginny and the younger kids.
Harry stared out of the window. She wasn't moving, and she seemed to be looking exactly where he was standing. Unless the Death Eaters were able to mimic every detail, down to their burial clothes, this wasn't a case of Death Eaters impersonating anyone.
She seemed to be waiting for something, and Harry had a suspicion that it wasn't anyone else but him.