The Cryptic Delphian

By the Hippy Gypsy

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns it all! I just own Tulio, who is one fine Spanish piece of A! So hands off! Anyways, short chapter, but I hope you enjoy it just the same.

Special thanks to Morrolan, eaterofdeath, and hunni07 for your reviews! They are much appreciated! Hope you keep on reading as I update…

PS…Morrolan is a Dumb Old Dork! [winks, gives big grin]

Chapter 4: Late Night Intrusion

Eventually that night, once her mind had stopped racing with thoughts of gunshots, old photographs, and Remus, Tonks fell into a very deep sleep, with her wand and two pistols by her side on top of her nightstand.

But at four a.m. she awoke from her sleep, keeping absolutely still, yet fully alert. An overwhelming feeling had over taken her. Somebody's in my room right now, she thought dangerously to herself. Someone who shouldn't be here. Making sure her hand was slow and steady, and sure not to disturb whoever it was quietly roaming her room behind her, she reached out for her wand and pistols.

Her heart sank a million miles into her chest when she found they weren't there.

"Looking for these?" came a deep voice from behind her.

Giving a sharp, audible gasp, she flipped around in her bed as the voice above her whispered, "Lumos!"

The form of Severus Snape became illuminated all around her room. He was sitting in a whicker chair that she kept in the corner by her bookcase, his legs crossed and his expression meaningless. In one hand, he held her wand, his own in the other. Her belt with the two pistols and silver bullets laid across one of the chairs arms. Tonks began to breathe heavily, half in relief, the other half in blatant frustration. She gave the former Potions Master a menacing glare.

"Why the hell are you in my room?" she quickly snapped.

"Why the hell didn't you answer my summons?" he retorted smoothly.

Not in the mood at this early in the morning, after being scared close to death, with her weapons out of reach, she sneered back, "Look, I don't know if you've heard, but the past few days have royally sucked for me. The last thing I wanted for the moment was dealing with you."

"Ah, yes," Snape went on. "You're now an EX Auror to the Ministry. Did you ever figured out why Fudge fired you?"

Wide awake and her mind going mile for mile, she automatically made the connection to his words and her blood began to over boil, instead of just simmer.

"You had something to do with that, didn't you?" she growled at him through gritted teeth.

Snape changed the subject abruptly and gave a sly smile. "What do you know about the Cryptic Delphian?"

Tonks shook her head in confusion. "W-what?"

Snape stood up from the chair, taking a couple of steps towards her bed. "I have a proposition for you. Now tell me, what do you know about the Cryptic Delphian?"

Blinking a moment in the dark, Tonks leaned over to her beside and switched on her lamp. Her expression sobered, and she eyed Severus in confusion. "You mean the myth of the Cryptic Delphian?"

"The reality of the Cryptic Delphian," he replied. He put the light out on his wand and replaced it in his pocket, instead producing a small scroll from inside his robes.

Tonks looked at him in bewilderment. "You're not getting at they're real…are you?" He eyebrows were raised as far as they would go. Severus merely tossed her the scroll in his hands. Picking it up and unrolling it, she quickly scanned it's short contents:

The Cryptic Delphian

By invitation of the Grand Delphian and the blood heirs of the Cryptic apprentices, you are invited to join in the line of the Great and Mystical Cryptic Delphian, earning thereafter, all of its rightly honors, privileges, and duties.

Tonks couldn't believe what she was reading. From all of her years at Hogwarts, paging through books and scrolls of Historical Magic, the Cryptic Delphian were only seen as myth and legend. Even ghostly Professor Binns had said so, and he was notorious for believing in only cold hard fact.

She returned her gaze to Snape. "This is some sort of sick joke, isn't it?" she asked, misgiving in her voice.

"Far from," Snape replied walking back over to the chair picking up one of her pistols from the belt. "And when have I been known to play jokes?"

She thought a slight moment. "Touché ." She looked over the scroll again. "This is totally serious? For real?"

Severus tossed her wand back on her bed and instead began to examine the pistol he was currently holding. "Come to my Manor tomorrow and find out for yourself. And to make sure you do come this time, I'm taking these. You'll get them back in the morning." He took the belt and strapped it on behind his back, placing the one gun he was holding in its place under the back of his robes.

Tonks, however, barely noticed. She had turned away from him once again. She was bent more towards the light, rereading the scroll, now she was more awake and alert about everything around her.

"Did you hear what I said, Nymphadora Tonks?"

"Yeah, yeah," she replied, mirroring his sarcasm back at him. "Grand Delphian, want me to join, see you tomorrow. Got it." She reread the scroll a good three times, wondering if there was some kind of charm she could use to see if the scroll was genuine. But since it was a very new and foreign object, she decided against it. Instead, she began to scratch the ink with her fingernail. To no avail, she began to examine the great seal that accompanied the message, that was of a grand crescent moon with a sword cutting through it's center. It certainly looked legitimate.

"Severus," she spoke softly. "You said this was a kind of job for me?"

Silence.

"Severus?"

She turned around and found he had vanished completely, silently, her pistols in tow. Instantly, she leapt from her bed and ran to her window. Noting stirred below in the streets, nor did anything look out of the common in the sky. Turning on her heel, she scrambled to the door and flung it open. Snape was nowhere to be seen. But how had he disaparated so silently?

"Where the hell did you go?" Tonks whispered to herself.

"Where the hell did who go?" Fred's voice came from down the hall. She looked up to find him wide awake and getting ready to head down the stairs. "Wotcher Tonks? You alright?"

"Ummm…stupid question," she replied to him, going kind of uneasy, "But you didn't happen to see Severus Snape leave the house about two minutes ago did you?"

Fred merely stared in her in slight bewilderment. "No…can't say I have." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you feverish? Nightmare?"

Shaking herself, she quickly replied, "You're right, it must have been a nightmare."

"Always is when you have dreams with Snape in them."

Tonks chuckles very fake-ly for the moment, knowing that what had happened had not been a dream of any kind. Instead she asked, changing the subject quickly, "Why are you up anyways?"

"Insomnia," Fred groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Bugger it all, I haven't slept in three days." He caught her eye again. "You sure you're alright? You're free to join me for tea downstairs if you want. I don't think I'll be getting back to sleep very quickly."

"No," she replied instantly. "I think I'll just head back to bed."

"Well, no more Snape nightmares now," Fred replied, and Tonks quietly shut the door. Laying back down in her bed, she picked up the scroll again. After rereading it a final time, she placed it and her wand back on her nightstand and turned her lamp off. As much as she tried, by no means was she about to fall back asleep. She would've been better off rising and drinking tea in the kitchen with Fred.

Notes from the Hippy Gypsy: Chapter 4 is complete! Bwahaha! And it's beginning to come along. But don't expect chapter 5 for a few days. Like chapter 3, it's got some big details that need to be worked out. Anyways, please read and review! Peace out home dawgs! [big smiles]