... And found herself face-to-face with Lucius Malfoy, wearing the infamous Malfoy smirk.
Chapter Eight - Estranged
'Hello dear niece,' he said placidly, wand directed firmly at her heart. 'Stop gaping, Avery you fool - this is my Metamorphmagus niece Nymphadora Tonks.'
'Don't be such a dunderhead, Avery, this is Nymphadora Tonks. I would have thought that was obvious.' Tonks said automatically, thanking God for her reflex speech. 'Now hurry up and take her wand before she screams the place down and brings Dumbledore on our heels,'
'Uh...' Avery/Snape now looked very upset; he wasn't the brightest fellow in the world and if he made the wrong decision Lucius Malfoy was likely to get very annoyed with him.
'Now, you fool!' Tonks barked, making the man jump again. Apparently deciding that the silent, glaring one must be the hidden niece, he darted forward and went to grab Lucius' wand; an action which ended in him flying across the Owlery and landing with a sickening crack on the floor. 'Attacking your own men, Uncle?'
'Oh, we're very proud of ourselves today aren't we?' Lucius smirked, not lowering his wand. 'And tell me; how is your mother doing after dear Bellatrix' attack? Claws, Nymphadora... always watch her claws. I do.'
'What, you mean when you're screwing around behind your spouse's backs? Very nice, Uncle, but I really didn't need to know.' Tonks snapped, narrowing her eyes.
'You needn't call me Uncle, either. I hardly consider us related, you filthy blood-traitor.' Malfoy snarled, his cool exterior vanishing into thin air. 'There's nothing you can do about any of this; you're too late. By the time you get back to the Gryffindor dormitory, young Potter will be dead and gone. Such a shame...'
'Oh don't tell me you're about to reveal how amazingly cunning your plan was? Typical evil genius; loves the sound of his own voice. How do you know your son didn't cooperate?'
Lucius gave a small laugh. 'Don't flatter yourself Nymphadora - your presence at this school is not threatening to us in the least.'
'Maybe he just doesn't like you.'
'Now you're just stalling... but sorry Nymphadora, time's up. Avada-'
Shrieking, Tonks dove to the floor and winced as the white-hot spell breezed above her head and melted a hold in the Owlery wall. The owls took off into the air, screeching and filling the room with flapping wings and feathers; something Tonks would have used to escape, had Lucius not been standing directly in front of the only door.
The room began to clear as the birds exited via the window and she realised her time was waning. She could hear Lucius angrily blasting the frightened owls out of his way, accompanied by the soft thudding of bodies onto the feather-strewn floor. So, acting purely on impulse and ignoring her mind (which was screaming at her to stop), Tonks scrambled to her feet and ran with the remaining owls toward the window; hands over her head to protect her eyes from talons.
Before she could figure out what the hell she was doing she was on the window ledge. Then before she could even register that she was two hundred feet above a churning lake, housing God-along knows what in its black depths, she had jumped.
Time seemed to stop as she hung in mid-air for what seemed like an eternity, wide eyes staring down at the abyss below. Then, the buzz-kill that gravity is, she began to fall.
Her robes streamed up in the wind and she clamped her stinging eyes closed; her mind not even bothering to think that she was still morphed as Lucius - it was too busy cooking up all the horrible deaths imaginable. Drowning; being eaten; drowning; splatting all-out onto the lake surface; drowning...
But being 'splatted all-out onto the surface' looked most probable at the moment as the lake (looking ominously like a solid black marble wall) came up to meet her at an alarming rate. The last thing she spotted, and didn't even register until she was under, was several hundred yelling students and teachers watching her fall in her peripheral vision.
The lake hit her like a wall of solid ice, knocking the sense out of her for several long seconds. Her brain vaguely registered the fact that she could no-longer inhale the vital oxygen her body needed, but her lungs didn't start to scream and ache for a good few minutes.
She felt herself slowly sinking; looking up at the bubbles she had caused upon crashing into the placid surface. It was very serene down here, she managed to think; it was quite a wonder why people didn't come down here all the time. Oh yeah. Because people need air.
Her lungs were now on the verge of collapsing and every inch of her body could feel it. Using the last of her draining energy, Tonks heaved her arms out of their stupor and pushed herself toward the surface. God she ached... diving brainlessly out of Owlery windows was not a sport she was considering taking up, especially without a parachute or bathing costume. The stupid robes were stopping her legs moving properly, and had she not known hundreds of students were waiting for her at the surface - speaking of which, where were the unhelpful buggers! - she would have pulled them off.
She broke the surface and gasped in air. Her extremities - all of them; still a man - were numb and Lucius' stupid hair was hanging in front of her eyes and preventing full vision.
'Petrificus Totalus!' A voice yelled. Tonks couldn't even graphically curse before she was frozen, suspended waist-deep in water and dripping back onto the glassy surface.
'Lucius Malfoy... what are you doing in Hogwarts?' It was McGonagall, the stupid idiot. How the hell should Tonks know what Lucius was doing...?
Oh crap. Harry.
Fighting the spell was impossible, and McGonagall didn't look like she was going to unfreeze her any time soon. Tonks could only pray that Dumbledore would appear and-
'Bring him in, Minerva,' well thank Merlin.
The white-haired wizard appeared through the students, ashen faced and serious. 'Back to your dormitories... no wait. Unfreeze him, Minerva... we need to know whether there are more.'
It was even a relief to fall with an agonizing thump to the grass, and Tonks didn't even give them chance to start questioning her.
'Sir, they've poisoned Harry you need to get him to Snape, he's locked in his store cupboard!' She yelled, spitting out water.
The Headmaster looked at her disbelievingly. 'And how do we know that you aren't lying to get us preoccupied?'
Ready to scream her lungs dry that she had not just jumped out of the Owlery window and plunged two hundred feet into the sodding lake for no reason, Tonks morphed back into herself.
'Oh my lord...' Dumbledore turned in a whip of his blue robes and had vanished into the castle, leaving Tonks at the mercy of the onlooking students and McGonagall.
'Taking a dip, Nymphadora?' One of the twins grinned as the two of them each took one of her arms and heaved her upright. 'Little nippy for that, isn't it?'
'Shut your pie hole, Weasley,' she snapped, shivering. 'McGonagall, Lucius was in the Owlery!' She yelled over her shoulder at the awaiting Transfiguration teacher.
The twins were under orders to escort her directly to the infirmary with no stops, no Gryffindor common room, no passing Go and no collecting two hundred pounds, but there was no way in hell she was about to allow that. A little hypothermia was easily cured by a mug of coff... hot chocolate. She steered them in the direction of the dungeons and told them that they were quite welcome to return to their peers and leave her to free Snape - who was undoubtedly going to be a little miffed by now.
'You sure you're alright?' Fred asked seriously.
'Fine, fine, thanks boys,' Tonks nodded, stumbling down the steps and approaching the Potions classroom door. She pushed it open and crossed the room to the store cupboard, aware that she was dripping icy water all over the floor and was probably going to slip on it later on.
The small room was dark and cramped, but she could just make out a hunched figure in one corner, bound and gagged with his face covered by a sack. She sniffed ironically and crouched down in front of him, working with trembling and numb fingers at the ropes until Severus Snape (the real one this time) threw the sack off.
'Tonks... what happened? Where's Avery?' He asked, looking at her and frowning. 'Why are you soaked?'
'Long story, I'll tell you when you cure Potter.' She said, gesturing to the door. 'He's been poisoned and I think Dumbledore's bringing him here now.'
'On the contrary, Nymphadora...'
'Oh bugger,' Tonks muttered, standing with Snape and turning to glare at her Uncle; standing in the doorway with both his and Snape's wands (how the hell he got that Tonks had no idea) in his hand.
'Quite the little adventure, Nymphadora here has had today, Severus...' Lucius smirked between them both. 'She managed to trick Avery into thinking she was me, and then she evaded my expunging her by jumping out of the Owlery window and falling what must have been two hundred feet into the lake.'
'Really?' Snape said, both his face and voice expressionless.
'Yes, really... now come on out of there the two of you. And you, dear niece, had better not try anything either stupid or heroic, or I shall have to hurt you.' He stepped back out and waited for them to re-enter the classroom before shoving them against one of the desks, holding them at wand point. 'Quite the surprise awaiting Dumbledore when he arrives, wouldn't you think... aah, that would be him now...'
The door was thrown open and the Headmaster entered in a whirl of robes and magic, an unconscious Potter in his arms and Ron and Hermione following. They were also accompanied, to Tonks' surprise, by the Parkinson sisters.
'Aah, we've been waiting for you Dumbledore,' Lucius smiled insanely. 'Put Potter down on the desk and drop your wand.'
'This achieves nothing, Lucius.' Dumbledore said slowly. 'Severus, you know what-'
'Severus, if you move I'll kill the both of you.'
'I know, Headmaster,' Snape said, ignoring Lucius and reaching into various robe pockets. 'I had the anti-serum on my person anyway... how is he still alive?'
'A good question, Dumbledore...' Lucius sneered.
'Miss Granger found him dying and ran out to find help. She fortunately ran into Miss Parkinson, who, along with her sister, were already out and about, and by some miracle had her own remedy in her bag. They both had the initiative to give it Potter... hence the reason he is now comatose and not dead.'
'Of course, Headmaster.'
'Stupefy!'
Evidently Lucius had had enough of being ignored. Snape's body collapsed onto the floor, and the only reason his miraculous remedy hadn't shattered onto the tiles was that he had anticipated Lucius' actions and slipped it into Tonks' hand a second before.
'Now, Dumbledore,' Lucius snarled in a very slow voice, 'put Potter down on the desk, or I will kill you all.'
Tonks watched as the Headmaster met Malfoy's eyes for a long second, before gently laying the unconscious teenager on the nearest desk and straightening up again.
'And now what, Lucius? I hate to break this to you, but your situation isn't promising,' he said calmly, keeping both eyes on the infuriated Death Eater.
'Keep your mouth shut, old man. I hate to break it to you, but right at this moment my son is letting Merlin-alone knows how many of the Dark Lord's followers into your school, and there's nothing you can do about it.'
The room fell silent, Lucius' words echoing off the stone walls and making the truth a thousand times worse. Tonks could do nothing but stare and pray that he was bluffing; pray that Draco wouldn't have the guts to betray the school and Dumbledore. But a scream sounded somewhere above them and it seemed the prayer went unanswered. Tough strappleberries for living as an atheist.
Dumbledore seemed as wordless as she, although he looked considerably more composed than she at the sounds of Death Eaters rampaging through his school and (possibly) murdering students.
'And what now, Lucius? Are you to kill me?' He asked quietly.
'No, I am going to wait for my son to arrive; then he will kill you,' the Death Eater shrugged, his proud smile widening considerably upon Malfoy-juniors entrance to the room. 'Aah Draco... am I to trust from the noises coming from upstairs that you have let them in?'
'Yes father.' Draco smirked, passing in a wide arc around Dumbledore and stopping beside Lucius.
'Good, good... and you are ready to complete your task?'
'Yes father.'
Lucius lowered his wand and stepped back, allowing his son the floor. Tonks stared at the boy, willing him to be the snivelling coward she always thought he was and back down so that they could deal with the screams above them (getting ominously louder).
He didn't.
Cool as a cucumber (oh my god that is so inappropriate for this), he raised his wand and aimed it directly at the Headmaster's heart, face set.
'Avada-'
'No!'
That did it.
Tonks had been threatened.
She had almost been killed.
She had fallen into owl secretion twice and dove headfirst out of a bloody Owlery window, two hundred feet into the bloody lake.
She had been mistaken for a Malfoy.
For the love of God she had not just done all of that to stand and watch her spotty, adolescent cousin slaughter Dumbledore right in front of her bloody eyes!
It was another action done without first notifying the thinking-parts of her brain what she was about to do, but she was too wet, cold and tired to give a french chimpanzee.
Her wand was in the water-soaked depths of her robes somewhere so she didn't bother with it. She instead launched herself at Draco, hands wrapping around his scrawny throat before the second word of the incantation could even escape his lips.
The two tumbled to the floor, his wand clattering across the tiles uselessly. She could vaguely hear Dumbledore cursing Lucius into oblivion and yelling instructions for her to revive Snape and cure Potter, but she was a little too busy concentrating on strangling her bloody cousin at the time. Plus she had forgotten that he had the Malfoy strength.
He threw her off and scrabbled to reach his wand.
'Revivius!' (A/N: Sorry I had to make that up...)
Her spell hit Snape in the chest, but she didn't wait for him to wake up. Malfoy's fingers had closed around the handle of his wand and she only just managed to lunge forward and pin both his arms to the floor.
'Oh hell... stupefy.' Snape snarled from somewhere behind her.
For half a second she thought he was going to turn Death Eater on her and curse her, but the beam of scolding red light shot under one of her arms and hit Draco. Snape then hurried over and heaved her up.
'Dumbledore wants you to cure Potter...' she panted, sliding down the wall beside the unconscious Lucius and kicking his wand viciously across the room.
'Oh yes... of course,' Snape's eyes sought out the unconscious boy and he went to him, taking the vial from Tonks' outstretched fingers beforehand. 'Let us pray we aren't too late.'
A/N: Bam bam baaaaaaam... another cliff-hanger.
Thanks for all the reviews, give me more! I love you reviewers!
