Wanderings with Werewolves

Chapter 3 – Muck-ups with Meetings

Dumbledore had suggested she start her search for evidence in the Defence Against the Dark Arts office, and as Tonks made her way down to the second floor of the castle, she was pleased to learn that her feet still remembered the correct path. When she reached the door she found it was ajar, and so she stepped inside.

She was surprised to find the room a mess. Candlesticks were knocked over, a few pictures (of Lockhart himself, naturally – Tonks wasn't shocked at all on that front) were hanging crookedly on the wall and numerous other hooks were empty, and piles of boxes lay on top of and around the desk. She wandered over to them and began poking inside; one was entirely full of more pictures, with numerous versions of Lockhart gazing up at her and preening like peacocks. And speaking of, another box was stuffed full of large peacock quills, multi-coloured inks and crumpled parchment; yet another was jammed with, of all things, mirrors and makeup.

It was obvious from the clutter and the haphazard stuffing of items into boxes (which looked very much like her own sorry attempts at packing) that Lockhart had been in quite a hurry to leave. Why might that have been, Tonks wondered. This panicked packing obviously occurred before his Memory Charm backfired; but why would he have been running away? Surely the Gilderoy Lockhart that the public knew and loved would have run towards danger and, more importantly, towards another opportunity to play the hero. At least, that had been the persona he tried to portray. If there was any truth to what Ron and Harry had said then Lockhart probably would have disappeared faster than a bloke with an Invisibility Cloak, and the disarray around her seemed to support that notion.

Frowning, she looked down and opened yet another box. It was filled with copies of his books, and Tonks couldn't help but feel a slight sense of relief – she figured she would have to skim through them at some point, and this way she wouldn't have to owl her Mum and ask to borrow hers. That probably would have led to the usual reminiscences of how "charming little Gilderoy" continuously used to ask her out back in school, and frankly, Tonks didn't want to hear that story again.

She started to busy herself by rifling through the man's things, looking for anything suspicious or incriminating – but to be honest, she wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for. She doubted she would find a written confession or a ledger detailing his nefarious plot, although that certainly would have made her job easier.

Tonks was so immersed in her search that she failed to notice she was no longer alone. She jumped when the sound of a throat clearing broke the silence of the office.

"I was anticipating I would be the brunt of some pranks from my new students, but I must admit, I wasn't expecting any this early," came a hoarse, albeit warm, voice from the doorway. "You must be quite the dedicated troublemaker to start in the summer – I feel I should be impressed. And perhaps slightly cautious as well..."

She glanced up to see a lanky man leaning casually against the doorframe. Moody's training automatically kicked in, and she examined him intently. He was wearing fairly nondescript clothing (grey trousers, a navy jumper, and a lighter blue Oxford underneath), his wand was not drawn (but of course, she noted it sticking out of his back pocket), and he had a pleasant smile on his face. He wasn't any sort of immediate threat, Tonks' mind decided, before moving on to try and suss out exactly who he was.

It was only then that his words began to register in her brain – his new students, he had said. Did that make him the new DADA professor? It was the most likely option, Tonks concluded, despite his somewhat peaky appearance; but before she could ask him if that was the case, her brain began to process the rest of his statement.

He had thought she was one of his students! Suddenly her head was filled with the echoing of all those taunts about being the youngest in the Auror department, the rookie, and too green for anything other than paperwork – and she couldn't stop herself from feeling offended.

"Actually, I'm an Auror," she tersely informed him, deciding to leave out the '-in-training' part, which made the title sound considerably less impressive. "I'm not pranking anybody; I'm here conducting an investigation."

She registered how cold her voice sounded after she had spoken, and instantly regretted it – especially when the man straightened uncomfortably, losing his easy-going air. He entered the room, stepping closer, and now she could better see the small lines around his eyes and mouth that were all the more apparent when he frowned. She had offended him too, it seemed.

"Another Auror come to question me? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," he said, a strain underlying his seemingly nonchalant words.

She was in the middle of planning another indignant retort when his response threw her off. "Wait – question you?" Tonks echoed in confusion. "Why would I be here to question you?"

The man blinked, seemingly as baffled as she was. "You mean you're not here to investigate me?"

She shook her head in the negative. "No, should I be? I don't even know who you are!"

After a moment of silence, he abruptly began to laugh, and Tonks couldn't help but notice that the resulting grin took a few years off his face (which, she decided as she continued to eye him carefully, wasn't bad-looking at all). She also felt an inexplicable sense of relief that she hadn't offended him too badly, as he lightly chuckled, "It appears we have a case of mistaken identities! Why don't we end this right now with a proper introduction? My name is Remus Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."

He stepped forward and extended his hand, and she shook it firmly. "Auror Tonks. Well, Auror Trainee, technically," she admitted sheepishly, feeling the need for some honesty to make up for her earlier blunder. "I'm here investigating Gilderoy Lockhart, not you."

"Ah, that's a relief! For a moment I thought the Auror Department might have changed tactics and attempted to lower my defences by sending in a pretty girl," Lupin said with a lopsided grin.

Tonks tried valiantly not to blush, but in the end she couldn't help herself. Did he just… Had he just flirted with her? She wasn't sure what to do – Moody had certainly never covered this sort of situation in training! A part of her (that insatiable, annoyingly curious part) wanted to latch onto his words and ask why the department would be sending somebody to interrogate him in the first place… But another part of her (a decidedly more troublesome part) wanted to flirt right back!

Luckily she didn't have to make a choice, because he calmly continued on. "Let me apologize for interrupting you, then. I simply saw you going through some of my boxes, and well, I assumed."

"Your boxes? I thought these belonged to Lockhart!" Inwardly, Tonks cursed herself. This was getting more and more embarrassing for her. What a fabulous first impression she was making!

"Most of them are his, yes," Lupin smiled kindly, showing her there were no hard feelings. "But that one you have in front of you right now is one of mine. I've been moving in some of my own effects, but I hadn't finished removing all of my predecessor's things just yet."

She glanced down more carefully at the box she had begun to open. The items inside were all well-worn textbooks with long titles that didn't seem to fit in with the rest of Lockhart's personal library. "Oh, bugger," she cried, chagrined. "I'm so sorry! I should have guessed, I suppose – I mean, Lockhart probably wouldn't have any books that didn't have his picture in them!"

As soon as those words left her mouth, she winced. What was wrong with her today? Why was she suddenly so flustered? What little mental censorship she had was suddenly defective; she was blurting out everything that came to mind and making an utter fool of herself. What must Remus Lupin think of her? In her blue hair and her battered Doc Martens, she was surprised he hadn't thought her some punk ransacking his office, looking for valuables to pawn off.

Yet to her utter shock, he didn't chastise her for badmouthing a colleague like her own teachers would have. Instead he chuckled pleasantly once more; not at her, but with her (if she had actually been laughing at the moment, that was). "I have a sneaking suspicion you might be right about that, Auror Tonks," he said. "Luckily I have yet to be pictured in any books, which leaves me with considerably more options in the reading department."

What was it about this man that utterly disarmed her? Once again Tonks didn't know how to respond. "I'm not actually an Auror yet, Professor Lupin," she pointed out, trying to bring things back around to business. "Just call me Tonks."

"Well then, as I haven't actually started teaching yet, perhaps you should just call me Remus," he replied in an easily teasing tone.

"All right… Remus," she smiled back, testing the name. She liked the way it rolled off her tongue – and then realized that was a rather odd thought to have.

"Don't I get your first name?" he asked, and she couldn't keep kidding herself – he was definitely flirting with her!

Attempting to regain some control of the conversation, she reverted to a topic she was well versed in – the issue of her name. "Nobody gets my first name. If you used it, I'd have to hex you," she informed him.

It didn't exactly have the threatening effect she had been hoping for. "That sounds like a challenge," he replied with a boyish grin, and something deep in the pit of her stomach flip-flopped.

She was in the midst of an investigation, Tonks reminded herself; she had a job to do! And unfortunately that job did not include chatting up a kind, rather good-looking professor, so she summoned up her best interrogation skills (like Moody had taught her, you should never let the conversation get away from you) and tried to get back on topic.

"Well, my challenge at the moment has to do with uncovering Lockhart's secrets," she told him firmly. "Do you know him at all?"

He eyed her curiously for a moment, but seemed to go along with the shift in subject. "No, I'm afraid we've never met – although I wish we had."

"Why's that?"

"Because then I might have been of more help to you," Remus smiled disarmingly once again, as he put his hands almost bashfully in his pockets. His flirtatious admission left Tonks nearly speechless, so much so that when he then asked, "Is there anything else I could do to help your investigation?" she took a few seconds to answer.

"Oh, er… I don't think so," she stuttered, looking at the mess of boxes and scattered items around them. "I should really get these things back to headquarters and start searching through them." A part of her wished she didn't have to leave, because this meeting had gotten her heart beating faster than anything else had in a long while; but another part of her felt the need to get away before this man threw her off balance any more than he already had. And being off balance was something she definitely didn't need anybody else's help with…

"At least allow me to help you pack up?" His wand was already in his hand before she could reply, and some pieces of scattered parchment began levitating off the floor and into boxes.

"I can't say no to that," she admitted ruefully. "I'm dreadful at those sorts of householdy spells." So dreadful that she would no doubt humiliate herself even further in front of him, which was the last thing she wanted to do.

"How about I pack, and you shrink?" Remus offered, gesturing to the boxes that were already full.

She quickly agreed, beaming at him – and he beamed back, neither of them breaking eye contact until the picture Remus had been floating missed its target box completely, landing on the floor with a crash.

"Ah," he winced, and Tonks couldn't help but giggle gladly. Why should she be the only one to embarrass herself? Not to mention, this gave her an opportunity to show off a bit.

"Don't worry – this I'm an expert at!" she exclaimed in delight, before casting a quick Reparo on the shattered glass and mollifying the scowling picture of Lockhart in the frame.

"Thank you," he said. "It would appear we make a good team, don't we?"

Tonks agreed, but almost wished it were not the case, because stripping the office of the rest of Lockhart's effects was done all too quickly. They chatted easily while they worked, with Tonks filling Remus in on some of the vague details of the case and just what she was investigating; but before she knew it, all of his boxes were shrunk and stowed away in the pockets of her robes. All that was left was to say her goodbyes and be on her way.

Yet she found that she wanted to do no such thing. It had actually been the most pleasant afternoon she had spent in a long while, and despite her better judgement, some of her abundant curiosity was now being rerouted away from the Lockhart case and towards one Professor Remus Lupin. She inexplicably wanted to know more about him – but what sort of excuse could she possibly have for seeing him again?

At least it was some consolation that the expression on Remus' face seemed to be one of disappointment as well. "It's been a pleasure, Auror Tonks," he told her with a genuine smile as he once again took her small hand in his warm, worn one. "If I can be of any help whatsoever in your investigation, please let me know. I'd be happy to answer any questions at all."

Any questions at all? Well, with an offer like that, she had a feeling that even the most pathetic of excuses to come back would do. "I just might have to take you up on that," she grinned.

-x-x-x-

Later that day Tonks was back in her tiny cubicle, which was now all the more cramped with Lockhart's boxes unshrunk and stacked as neatly as they could be in the small space. They towered tall, blocking her Weird Sisters posters from view and making her feel slightly claustrophobic; however, she tried her best to ignore that feeling and proceeded to go through them.

A few hours and half a dozen boxes later, to say she was frustrated would have been an understatement. There was absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever! There were enough pictures of him to open a museum with (she briefly wondered if that had been his plan?) and enough fan mail to have killed an entire forest (although she had to admit, the ones from some particularly enthusiastic male fans were priceless), but there was nothing remotely suspicious. She had even resorted to skimming through Lockhart's autobiography, hoping for a bit more insight into the man himself, but she was now completely fed up by his flowery language and non-stop bragging. Was it too much to hope that when recounting his own life, he could have recounted his supposed crimes as well?

She threw that book down and decided to try her luck with another. Reaching into the box, she blindly grabbed one: Wanderings with Werewolves. She began flipping through it, and again, she was anything but impressed. When Moody popped into her cubicle an hour later, Tonks had lost count of the number of times she had rolled her eyes or suppressed her gag reflex.

"How are you doing, lass?" he asked, his good eye on her and his magical one skimming over the boxes. "Any leads yet?"

"No," she sighed, disheartened. "In fact, I don't even have any hard evidence Lockhart's done anything wrong at all!"

"Nothing came out of going up to Hogwarts, then?"

Well, she wouldn't say that… But Tonks doubted that meeting a certain intriguing professor was what Mad-Eye was referring to. "I brought back the contents of his office," she explained, gesturing towards the items and trying hard to keep all unrelated thoughts out of her head. "I'm sifting through them now, but so far there's nothing incriminating."

"Keep going," Moody nodded approvingly. "Everybody has something to hide – you'll find it in time."

"I know, I know," she said. "But if I have to read any more of his so-called 'epic tales', I'll go barmy! Have you actually ever read any of his books?"

"Why would I?" he snorted. "If it's not a training manual or a Dark Arts textbook, there's not much point, is there? Books are all too easy to curse, you know! Did I ever tell you about that one book hexed to liquefy the brain of anybody that so much as read a word of it?"

"This doesn't even need a curse to rot your brains," Tonks scoffed with derision. "Listen to this." She cleared her throat, picked a passage at random, and with a breathy voice began to read, "The loathsome lycanthrope had me cornered. It was merely a few metres away from me, and slowly skulking closer. Its hackles were raised, its growls floated like a sinister symphony through the silent night air, and I could smell its foul, fetid breath. Of course, I could have Apparated away in an instant, thereby saving my life – however, had I done so, the werewolf surely would have turned around and continued to stalk the village in search of a satiating meal of some poor, unsuspecting soul. Even worse, I knew that merely a few houses down there was an orphanage, full of impoverished, unfortunate, and utterly defenceless children. What sort of man would leave such innocent victims in the path of this horrifying creature? Despite my own overwhelming fear, I simply could not turn tail and run, leaving them to the jaws of this ferocious, bloodthirsty beast! And so I summoned all my courage, drew my wand, and stood my ground, praying that my spell would hit the menacing monster before me with the precision of Cupid's arrows."

"If he really did any of that, I'll eat my wooden leg," Moody grumbled, shaking his head. "Don't you give up, lass. Lockhart is no criminal mastermind. He'll have slipped up somewhere, and you'll find it eventually."

"Thanks, Mad-Eye," Tonks smiled slightly, giving him a wave as he clomped away.

Turning back to the book, she focused on her mentor's advice. He was certainly right about Lockhart by no means being a genius. Surely he had made some sort of mistake along the way (they always did), and all she had to do was find it.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

Flipping through more pages, she still failed to find anything useful. Most of the writing was merely Lockhart gushing about himself – and what did that prove except how full of himself he was? But suddenly she was struck with an idea. The florid and exaggerated narrative wouldn't be of any use to her investigation, but the details buried within it might actually be helpful! Grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill, Tonks began jotting down any places, dates and names she could find in the books. Once that was done, she could cross-reference them with any files the Ministry had; she wasn't quite sure what that would prove, but it would be a start!

And it would certainly be more productive than sitting in her cubicle, being distracted by Remus Lupin once again…

- To Be Continued… -

Next chapter – just what sorts of interesting items will Tonks find when she searches Lockhart's not-so-humble abode?

Many thanks to all those who commented on the previous chapters! There's nothing better than finding some lovely reviews in your inbox, and now that a certain werewolf has entered the picture, hopefully he might prompt you to leave a few words to let me know how things are progressing… ;)

Toodles,

– ish –