Okay, for apologies, explanations etc. see the end.
Back at the Tonks' house all were working desperately to get Nymphadora back. Lily was on the floor, maps and lists strewn everywhere, Minerva and Albus were quietly muttering plans and theories to each other in the far corner of the room whilst Remus and James tried to calm down Sirius who was apparently the most enraged person in the room at this moment in time.
Ted kissed Andromeda's head. The mother of the missing child was still laid upon the couch quietly sobbing; her husband knelt down beside her.
"I want our baby back Ted..." Dromeda looked to her husband, tears streaming down her face.
"I know, baby, so do I." Ted was trying to be strong for the sake of his wife, but inside he was torn apart, though he couldn't show that, he needed to be strong.
"She's m-my sister, Ted! She's her aunt!" Dromeda now shook un-controllably with tears.
"Shh… calm down, Drommie..." Ted Tonks wrapped his arms around his wife, kissing her head again.
"I want her back, Ted!" Dromeda cried, clutching onto her husband.
"I know, baby, I know." Ted sighed, closing his eyes to fight back his own tears.
Sirius Black was now pacing the room furiously.
"Surely you know where she lives?" Sirius couldn't keep the slight frustration out of his voice as he asked his cousin Andromeda the same question for what seemed like the hundredth time that night.
"For the millionth time, why on Earth would I know where she lives?!" Andromeda snapped, looking up from her husband and to her younger cousin, getting tired of his repetitive questions.
"Sirius..." James walked over to his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder "Come on, let's go outside for a bit so you can calm down."
"I don't need to calm down!" Snapped Sirius, the typical Black temper showing in him as he shrugged his best friend's hand off of his shoulder.
The whole room turned silent.
"I-..." Sirius looked around the room, finally realising that he was letting his temper get out of hand, "I'm going to go get some fresh air."
And with that Sirius ran out of the room. Remus and James looked at each other for a moment then James nodded, understanding their silent conversation and walked out.
Remus turned to the rest of the room. "I'm sorry about this, I'll be right back." Remus left, leaving the rest of the room in a state of confusion.
"Why's he so angry...? I know Nymphadora's his second cousin and that he hates Bellatrix and everything but he's not usually like this..." Ted asked the room in general, standing up.
Lily bit her lip, standing up from her pile of papers and looking to the two Tonks', "I think I know why..."
Minerva looked at Lily with a confused look on her face "Go on..."
Lily sighed. "Well, for nearly a year now… Sirius has been dating someone. He's crazy about her, but he didn't want to tell anyone about their relationship in case she was taken or something to try and get information... Of course he told James and Remus though and I found out from James. But a few months ago, she went missing... He's been searching like crazy for her ever since the day she disappeared, but no matter where he looks, no matter who asks, he can't find her. He's convinced Bellatrix took her, though."
It was Dumbledore's turn to speak now "Why is he convinced Mrs Lestrange has her? Who is this woman he's seeing?"
Lily turned to address the head master "Her name's Mairead Julia Thurston. She's one of the top Aurors, a woman from a very rich pure blood family in Ireland... Her family aren't like the Blacks, but they're still well known in Ireland and very well off. Mairead's family were targeted by the Death Eaters to get them to try and join their cause a while ago but they refused."
"Surely if they refused to join the Death Eaters they would have been... killed?" Andromeda looked up at the younger woman.
Lily shook her head. "No. Apparently they were told that they'd 'find out exactly what happens to someone who refuses the Dark Lord', and merely tortured. They thought that was it, but Sirius thinks Mairead was taken because of it too."
Andromeda silently thought as the rest of the room asked more questions about Sirius' girlfriend. At least if Bellatrix did have Mairead then Nymphadora wouldn't be alone... but who was to say this woman was even still alive? It was two lives that needed saving now.
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Nymphadora Tonks cried, screamed and tried as hard as she could to wriggle away from the unknown person now holding onto her. "Get off!!!!" Cried Nymphadora.
"Shh! I'm sorry!" The voice was that of a woman, a woman with a definite Irish accent.
Nymphadora continued to cry and struggle. "I want my mummy!! Let go of me!!"
"Darling shush or they'll come back..." The woman loosened her grip on the girl, turning her around to hug her, moving into a sitting position so the young girl could sit on the older woman's lap.
Nymphadora shook with a mixture of violent crying and the bitter cold of the room getting to her. She sat in the Irish woman's arms for a few moments, letting her stroke her hair and try to whisper comforting words to her until she suddenly remembered what had happened the last time she trusted someone not to hurt her and she leapt from the woman as fast as she could and ran to the other side of the room.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" The Irish woman asked, a confused yet kind look upon her face.
Nymphadora stood with her back against the wall, staring at the woman. She had multi-coloured, short, spiky hair, multiple piercings in her ears and she had bright blue eyes. She was wearing knee-length black boots with netted tights, a short ruffled black skirt, a bright red vest top and a leather jacket. All of her clothes were ripped and dirty, her hair in a mess and her eye-make-up slightly smudged, presumably from crying.
The woman kneeled up, trying not to scare the girl any further. "What's your name sweetie? ... My name's Mairead ... Mairead Julia Thurston. But you can call me Marie if you like, I prefer the sound of it, far better than stupid old Mairead." The woman laughed slightly "What's your name?"
Nymphadora relaxed a little, standing up slightly straighter and forcing a small polite smile at Mairead "N-Nymphadora . . . Nymphadora Tonks . . . "
Mairead couldn't help but laugh slightly "Do you like your name, Nymphadora? Or do you have a nickname?"
"I-I used to..." The small girl looked down, wiping her tears away with her sleeve, her hair turning an even duller shade and hanging more limp around her face.
It took a few moments for Mairead to get over the girl's obvious talent to change her appearance, realising what it was and sighed, frowning at the poor girl "Well how about I call you Dora... though that is very common and you're such a pretty, unique girl... how about I call you Tonks, that's pretty cool name?"
Nymphadora smiled slightly, walking back over to the woman and sitting her lap once again, nodding. "I like that name... Tonks."
Mairead giggled for the first time since she'd been put in this place. "Okay, you call me Marie and I'll call you Tonks."
Tonks nodded, smiling, her hair turning a dull shade of pink "Okay, Marie."
Marie smiled back, hugging the young girl.
After a few minutes, Marie looked back down at the girl in her lap. "How did you get here, Tonks? What happened?"
Tonks sniffed "A-a woman came to our house a-a-and she was mean to my mummy and daddy a-and-and-and…" Tonks burst out into tears again. "I want my mummy and daddy, Marie!"
"Shh... shh it's okay. They'll come for you, poppet." Mairead kissed Nymphadora's head.
Eventually Tonks calmed down, but now she was shivering from the cold. Only moments after the young girl started to show that the cold of the dungeon was getting to her Marie had taken her leather jacket off and put it on the young child.
Marie giggled at the look of the small girl in her own little dress having an old leather jacket that was clearly too big for her on, then shuffled over to the corner with her, laying back to let Tonks lay on her.
"Sleep, Tonks." Marie said in her comforting Irish accent.
Tonks shook her head "W-what if the l-lady comes back? Or-or one of the others?" She started to cry slightly again.
"Shh..." Marie held the girl close, "I won't let them get you, Tonks. Sleep now, you need your rest."
Tonks snuggled into Mairead "Thank you..." And after a few moments she drifted off into a deeply needed sleep.
Sorry for the delay of this chapter.
Now I never personaly liked Original Charactors and I never intended to put Mairead into this story. BUT sometimes you need to make someone up to be able to fill the role you need. You will be learning more about Mairead when I get my arse into gear and finish a story in the works. For the record, she's NOT a metamorphagus, she just dyes her hair a lot.
Mairead was named after my Beta Ellie, who's middle name is Mairead, an AMAZING girl who draws pictures of my fics, Julia and I stole the last name off of a friend of mine, Hannah, who is my little fountain of knowledge and help (as well as Ellie) and is responsible (again along with other people) for naming most of the chapters, I rarely manage to come up for a chapter name myself. XD
Review please! You'll ACTUALY get a reward if you do! I'll send you the link to a picture Julia drew of the previous chapter to this story! I'd post a link here but doesn't like me much.
And Harry Potter and everything from the Harry Potter universe belongs to Miss Rowling. Mairead is mine! XD