AN: Thanks very very much for reading!
I had to go back and make a couple of adjustments to chapter 5. I hope it all makes more sense now.
Of course, everything you recognise belongs to the amazing JK Rowling.
When she had arrived at the Ministry after her experiences with Muggle police, she had a much needed nice surprise. After all the paperwork and despite Scrimgeour's doubts, the file had arrived. It was a copy of the Muggle file on McGinty, and the police investigation on his disappearance. She could still not access the confiscated things, but the file on her desk, a perfect Gemino of the original inside the station - Tonks had flinched at the though... no, better not to think about it ever again -, had plenty of interesting facts about her target. He travelled a lot. He owned a boat. He had been in Poland and Finland several times, but she'd look on that later. No criminal record, only some parking tickets. A good enough citizen, apparently. And finally now she had a picture to go with the mental image of the man.
Thee was a resemblance with the picture she had copied from Demeter Clearwater. McGinty's face looked boyish, although his hair was receding, and he looked as if he had put on some more weight. Tonks checked for known acquaintances, but since he had never been, or been caught in something fishy, there was none.
And that's when the big question filled her brain again. The question she had been asking herself since he had seen him again, asking for some lost items at the police station.
Who was that man?
She had seen him twice, both in places related to McGinty. Was he a Muggle or a wizard? What exactly was he after? Was this just a very odd coincidence? Or were there two men that looked weirdly alike?
She did not think so. And even if she were wrong, she could not take the risk. Not with the threats on the Ministry Fudge kept talking about day and night. This person might just have something to do with McGinty, but it could be much more complex and his involvement on the case could be about that destabilisation of the regime. So far, Tonks had had no proof of this, other than Fudge word and considerable changes on the Aurors tasks. Maybe it was all a big mistake. Even so, if it was in her hands to prove it, she had to whatever possible to achieve that.
And if that was it, then Tonks' case had suddenly become much more serious. But how to find out? How to even know who the mysterious man was?
Her first idea had been to call Mrs. Jones, McGinty's former landlady, to ask about the name of the man coming before her. Saying that she was sure that man was an old acquaintance and that she very much liked to have his telephone proved to be convincing enough. Only, James Miller did not live in the address belonging to the telephone number Mrs. Jones gave her. Which increased the possibilities of something fishy going on.
No, she would have to track him in some other way. The only thing was that after the police station fiasco – Tonks shuddered at how close it had been and at the memory of her less-than-graceful run towards the door, her knocking over an old lady on her way out and the way she had had to hastily Disapparate, almost splinching herself – she did not feel very confident about what to do next.
The only good think she could count on was the fact that the man, whatever his name was, had not seen her for real, but in two different morphed identities. And she knew something else. They both shared a common interest.
So, for now, the best course of action seemed to go on with her main research, hoping to meet him again. The boat might be her best shot, if the unknown man had been doing his homework and had found that already.
The town was what was to be expected. A small harbour, fishermen, cobbled streets. Tonks had arrived earlier and under the protection of a Disillusionment charm, she was spending a good half an hour trying to decide her course of action. Should she ask the people in charge of the dock is somebody had recently asked about McGinty's? Should she just sneak inside and wait to see if the unknown man would also come? That could take days, or months, or maybe he would never show up. What if this had been just a very bad idea?
She watched distractedly the man who went outside one of the boats and started sweeping the dock, and not much later, a second man approaching him and engaging in conversation. Her heart stopped briefly. Was she going to be this lucky? It was him! What was she going to do now?
For a moment it seemed both men were happy just chatting, until the newcomer gave something to the man with the broom and stepped on the boat.
Tonks approached it as close as she could without making noises that would sound strange to the other man. From where she was standing, it seemed that the newcomer – her rival? – was searching cupboards and boxes. Tonks considered entering the boat and demanding to know what he was doing there... but he could have more right than she to be there to begin with. Maybe he was an old pal of McGinty's. Maybe he was an accomplice of... of what? She could, of course, use the full power of the Ministry and interrogate him as an Auror, but maybe there was no reason for that. And if he was a Muggle, the Ministry would have no power whatsoever... and she would have to deal with memory modifications and loads of paperwork afterwards.
She would just have to chat with him. Casually. No suspicions raised.
Would she be able to do that? How was she going to engage an unknown man in a would-be casual conversation, hoping for him to spill the beans on possible criminal activities?
She would have to try, at least.
Her eyes still on the boat, she suddenly saw something that made her almost gasp. Something was very faintly glowing from the inside. Throwing caution to the winds, Tonks took the few steps that separated her from it, just in time to see the man putting something in an inner pocket of his jacket.
A wand.
A wide smile spread upon Tonks' features.
Finally.
Concentrating hard to morph without losing the Disillusionment charm, she re-arranged her features and practised a couple of lines in her head. And if none of it worked, she could always show him her badge.