Author's Note:
I've always been under the impression that Remus shows his love for Tonks subtly so I can't imagine him constantly saying 'I love you'. What do you guys think? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for supporting!
Chapter 11 – The House of Riddle
Ever since Tonks began dating Remus, her daily morning ritual had changed significantly from what it used to be. Instead of dragging herself out of bed to wake up to an insipid day at work and a dull day at home, Tonks would wake up to Remus' smiling face and his warm, sunlit flat in the middle of Surrey.
Her eyes opened slowly, revealing twinkling emerald eyes behind those well-rested eyelids. She looked up from the small, comfortable mattress that sat in the corner and met Remus' gentle sapphire eyes. He sat in the shabby, overstuffed armchair several feet away from her, a journal in his hand and a quill in his other. Remus wore a gentle smile and it brightened when their gazes met. Naturally, Tonks smiled and shifted so that she rested her head on her hand, lying on her side as she faced him with a playful smirk.
"Good morning Nymphadora," he said softly, his voice laced with subtle morning briskness but his tone was mellow and deep.
"Good morning Remus," she replied. That playful smirk of hers continued to dance across her lips, seducing him, entrancing him, to the point where Remus replied back with a mischievous Marauder grin of his. He licked his lips and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at her. She shifted again, tossing her natural, luscious mousy brown hair. "How long have you been awake?" Tonks asked gently.
"Not long," he replied. "I decided to venture into a new hobby today," he said, smiling.
She raised an eyebrow, curious. "Oh? And what is it?" Tonks replied with an edge of seduction to her voice.
"Sketching," he said and turned the journal in his hand around to show her.
A soft laugh escaped her lips. Tonks was flattered. Her eyes carefully observed the black and white ink drawing that Remus drew of her, sleeping. The details were extremely accurate down to every tiny feature. Tonks raised her eyebrow again, wondering if that was how she looked like when she was asleep. My god, she thought, I don't mean to praise myself but Remus' drawing makes me look like an angel!
"It's lovely," she said, blushing.
He smiled again, his cheeks turning pink. "And…awkwardly, while I was sketching, I received a floo call from Sirius," he added in a sigh but his smile still remained.
Once again, Tonks chuckled. She sat up on his bed and hugged her knees to her chest as he came over and sat down beside her. "Wait, how is Sirius awake this early?"
"I don't know," Remus smiled. "But he threatened me in a very profane and disturbing way, telling me to bring you home on time."
Tonks sighed and rolled her eyes. She glanced at the clock and shook her head. "I swear he's acting worse than my mum," she said, tossing the blanket off. "I guess we have to go back now. I have work anyways," she frowned.
He lifted her chin up and placed a gentle kiss upon her lips. When Remus pulled back, he held her close and placed kisses upon her head. "Come on love, I'll see you after work."
With Remus' arms around her waist the entire time, Tonks freshened up as slow as she possibly could. Once done, she and Remus left his flat hand in hand, smiling to his curious muggle neighbors who were all trying to pry deeper as to how the shabby young man ended up with an eccentric young woman.
"I sometimes wonder how we deal with prying muggle neighbors," said Tonks as she and Remus escaped the last of his neighbors.
"They're not that bad," said Remus optimistically. "Now, instead of being worried about muggle neighbors, you should be worried about what you're doing at work today."
"What should I be worried about?" Tonks asked, feigning innocence.
Remus smiled but narrowed his gaze on her. "I remember that today you're meeting with Alastor Moody to open the Riddle House. Nymphadora, please be careful."
Tonks sighed. "I was hoping you'd forgotten about that. You tend to worry…too much."
"I can't help it. This is the Riddle House you're investigating," he said in a soft and gentle voice. Remus leaned closer to her as they walked, successfully showing her his worry without the need for words.
"Everything will be fine," she said, trying to convince him not to worry. "I'll be with Lexi and Silv…and Mad-Eye for god's sake. Nothing bad will happen."
Remus sighed. "Sirius and I have spoken about this and we both agree that there's something strange about the Riddle House. It would be best if you don't tamper with it."
"I need it to investigate Crouch Jr. Remus, it'll be fine," she said. "Trust in my ability as an auror, please."
Remus licked his lips and looked at his feet. "Dora, we feel that something bad might happen. I mean, Sirius and I are no seers, but that strange instinctive feeling can't be mistaken."
Tonks looked down. She morphed her hair from brown to blue and then from blue to pink unknowingly while deep in thought. She was quiet for a while, trying to find a way that would ease Remus of his constant worry. He already had enough to worry about—finding a new job and the upcoming full moon—he shouldn't be troubled by her problems as well.
"Perhaps," she began slowly. "Remus, would you be less worried if you came with me?"
"Pardon?" he asked, wondering if he would be allowed to do so.
"You should come with me to investigate the Riddle House," she said. "Besides, your sharp eyes could really help us search thoroughly through it," she added pensively.
Remus thought about it for a moment. He felt that he was being too protective of her, but he and Sirius had both agreed that there was something strange about all these events happening—Tonks investigating the Riddle House may just be the key to opening the series of unfortunate events they all secretly feared.
"Would it be alright?" he asked after a while.
Tonks nodded. "Of course, there won't be any officials there. Mad-Eye trusts you, and of course Silv and Lexi trust you."
"But the Minister, won't he question?"
"Fudge doesn't know, does he?" Tonks smirked. "Come on love, off we go."
Remus chuckled as she took his hand and led him down the street, heading to her flat on Long Street, London. She knew Remus was worried and protective of her, and who was she to question his care? Tonks smiled as she led him, deciding to feel flattered that he cared for her instead of questioning anything at all.
The walk back to Tonks' flat had been cut short by Remus and Tonks' side-along apparition halfway. They hid in an alley and disapparated with a soft pop once they were sure no muggles would see them. In an instant, the world around them swirled and the dimensions seemed to have briefly intertwined. The couple had apparated from an alley in Surrey over to a narrow alley in a mildly busy part of London.
When they opened the burgundy red door to Tonks' flat, Remus and Tonks were greeted by a wide awake Sirius Black who was surprisingly, getting ready for work. Sirius looked up from The Daily Prophet, smiling at them but then narrowing his eyes and stroking his chin.
"You haven't done anything when you slept over at his place, did you?" he asked with an accusing gaze as if Tonks and Remus had both committed deadly sins.
"Um…well…" Remus began, growing bright red.
"We-uh…" Tonks added, avoiding Sirius' uncomfortable stare.
"I'm joking, I don't want to know anything," said Sirius as-a-matter-of-factly. He suddenly got up and headed down the hallway, turning into Alexis' room to wake her up. Sirius emerged from the dark hallway seconds later, scratching his trimmed goatee as another thought came to his mind.
"What's wrong, Padfoot?" Remus asked, hoping it was no longer about him and Tonks.
"Lexi threw a pillow at me," Sirius replied. "You know, she'd be able to wake up a lot easier if she doesn't stay up late to talk on the floo," he added. "And she laughs very loudly! Tonks, I'm sorry. I now understand that loud noises in the middle of the night can be very annoying especially if you have work the next day."
Tonks shook her head and smiled at Sirius. "Who does Lexi talk with over the floo?"
"I don't know, Marrick?" Sirius replied, getting back to his paper.
Turning back to Remus, Tonks still found it odd how her cousin talked on the floo late at night. Marrick's flat in the middle of London didn't have a chimney. Even though she'd only been there once, it was enough for her to recall that he didn't have access to floo at all. Strange, she thought.
"Oi, Padfoot, can you wake her up again? We have work to do today," Tonks said, remembering that she should probably inform Alexis that Remus would be joining them in investigating the Riddle House that afternoon.
It was still early in the morning and already, Nymphadora Tonks wanted to throw all the papers she had in her hands up in the air and call it a day. All morning she'd been running up and down from the Auror Department on level two to The Department of Mysteries on level nine, exchanging and discussing information concerning the reappearance of Bartemius Crouch Jr. and occasionally, Remus' case that there still have been no improvements on.
Having grown tired from walking back and forth, back and forth, Tonks stopped and took a seat upon the edge of the Fountain of Magical Brethren, with a group of large, golden statues in the middle of the circular pool. The statues stood revealing a very discreet, underlying message of superiority amongst magical beings. Glittering jets of water shot from various points upon the golden statues. The tinkling hiss of falling water was added to the pops and cracks of Apparators and the clatter of footsteps scurrying back and forth in the Atrium.
She looked up at the peacock-blue ceiling, sighing to the enormous heavenly notice board inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that moved and changed continually. When Tonks looked down again, she noticed her raven-haired cousin maneuvering her way gracefully through the crowd of witches and wizards—Alexis had spotted her and was coming towards her.
"I swear I was going to be down in a few minutes, I was just taking a little rest," explained Tonks who have now become aware of her cousin's strictly business attitude after working with her for Crouch Jr.'s case—no wonder Alexis had so much respect.
"Oh no, I've finished sorting through the files. Now we're just here to take a break and wait for Silvia to meet up," Alexis said with a small smile through her tired look.
"Finished the files?" asked Tonks, surprised since she recalled seeing a good five stacks of papers upon Alexis' long desk before she left. "What'd you do with all of them?"
"Skimmed them and then chucked them away," Alexis replied casually. "They're all invalid claims of paranoid witches and wizards thinking they've seen Crouch Jr. anyways. They're of no use to us, and so why should I waste more of my desk space?"
Tonks shook her head, amazed.
Alexis sat down beside Tonks on the side of the fountain and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "So how have you been cuz? Through all the work, I haven't even gotten a chance to hold a proper conversation with my colorfully reckless cousin."
"I've been fine," Tonks sighed. "I'm done with work. I just want to go home."
"Do you mean our home, home, or Remus' home, home?" Alexis teased.
Tonks smiled and playfully pushed her cousin as they look out onto the crowd of people moving back and forth. "Why must you always tease me and Remus?" she asked.
"Well you and Moony do always spend time together. In fact, you two spend so much time together that you entire day revolves around him," Alexis replied as-a-matter-of-factly.
"You and Marrick spend a lot of time together. Why doesn't anyone ever make fun of you two? When you're alone, sweetness just got onto a whole new level!" said Tonks, shivering.
"But Marrick and I have been together for a while and we're old news," Alexis smirked. "You and Moony on the other hand, are new, interesting news, and juicy gossip," she teased.
"Alright, you want juicy gossip?" Tonks retorted with a joking tone. "Who were you floo calling all night last night and the many nights before? Don't feign innocence with me, Black."
"What?" Alexis asked, making a dramatic face of surprise while doing what Tonks told her exactly not to do—feigning innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Playfully, Tonks narrowed her eyes. "You weren't talking to Marrick, I know that. He doesn't even have a chimney. So who was it?"
"Friends," Alexis replied.
"Liar," Tonks retorted. She proceeded to playfully push her cousin once again but both girls halted midway through their teasing once their eyes spotted a familiar, suspicious man making his way through the crowd of people from the lifts to the gilded chimneys.
"That's Ian Rosier. What's he doing here?" She wondered aloud while closely observing Rosier's hurried stride. He seemed troubled and annoyed and she wondered what was going on.
"He's most likely in for questioning about the Bryce Murder Investigation," Alexis replied. "Probably to save his own skin and testify against Remus again."
"Save his own skin?" Tonks asked, bemused.
"Yes," Alexis nodded. "I don't trust him, not one bit," she said confidently.
"Why would Rosier want to harm Remus? He doesn't even know him…right?"
"It's hard to guess a man's intention when he operates with haste and privacy. Tonksie, for an auror, you're awfully trusting," Alexis said softly.
Tonks shrugged, standing up beside her cousin as they continued to watch Ian Rosier disappear into an empty chimney and vanish in a sea of emerald flames. While Tonks watched, Alexis was busy thinking about Narcissa's hint to her of the precaution she should take when dealing with Ian Rosier. Alexis couldn't help but wonder if she should trust in Narcissa's words. The icy woman was her aunt after all and could really be trying to help her and Tonks, or she could be trying to lure them into a mind trap…
"What are you two gazing at?" Silvia's voice suddenly sounded in a rich and heavy Spanish accent from behind them.
Neither of the girls had noticed her appearance and were both shocked as they turned around. They were surprised to see that Silvia looked just as troubled as Rosier had and her eyes were even swollen, tinged with a slight color of red, looking like she'd been crying just a few moments ago. It was hard to tell, but as women, they could see the tears she was trying to mask.
Tonks frowned. "Silv, what's wrong?" she asked.
Alexis on the other hand, showed her worry through a gentle look but otherwise remained quiet, observing Silvia and hoping to find an answer through the minor details.
"Nothing," Silvia replied quickly. "Sorry, it was just a little personal problem."
Tonks was about to continue questioning, but having known Silvia for so long, she knew that the auror wouldn't crack until she was about ready to explode and fortunately she wasn't ready to erupt just yet. She decided to let it go but continued to show her worry and care.
"Alright, but remember, you still have us." The Spanish beauty nodded, pretending to rub her face when in reality she was clearing her cheeks of fresh tear streaks. "Anyways," Tonks continued, turning back to Alexis while keeping an eye on Silvia, afraid that tears would spill at any given second. "What were we talking about?" Tonks asked, searching desperately for a change in conversation to turn the spotlight away from Silvia.
"Rosier," Alexis replied, her dark brown eyes quietly watching. "I'm telling you, Rosier cannot be trusted. We should warn Kingsley and tell him to keep an eye out."
"Why would Rosier want to harm Remus?" Tonks replied. "What's he got to gain?"
"You're discussing Ian Rosier?" Silvia asked in a broken voice and both Tonks and Alexis nodded. "He…I just-just saw him coming out of the School Board Office," she said.
"He has to have met with Lucius Malfoy," Alexis said suddenly as if unable to hold back.
"Why is that?" Tonks asked but Alexis shook her head, clearly not wanting to answer.
"Come on then," Silvia said softly with subtle finality in her voice, putting an end to their discussion of Rosier. "It's almost time to meet Mad-Eye and he hates it when we're late. I bet you Remus had already gotten over to Little Hangleton," she said.
The pink-haired auror and raven-haired Unspeakable exchanged glances but spoke no words to each other. "Alright, off we go to the Riddle House," Tonks sighed.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
Tonks, Alexis, and Silvia had apparated to Little Hangleton straight from the Ministry's Atrium, creating three consecutive pops with their arrival. They landed on the soft, dark brown dirt road that led into the small, sleepy town. It was late morning when they arrived and in all other parts of the country, the sun was shining brilliantly. However, in Little Hangleton, the golden sun was hidden behind a thick curtain of dreary grey clouds, casting an eerie feeling over everyone even in broad daylight.
"What a lively place," said Tonks sarcastically.
Her twinkling emerald eyes searched the town, looking for any signs of active life and people she could question. There weren't many people on the greyish roads in the dull little town—they must all be cooped up at home or gathered in The Hanged Man pub, the town's meeting place. Following Alexis and Silvia, who were already walking ahead, Tonks' eyes casted upon the tall and looming Riddle House upon the hill. It was overlooking the town and the Little Hangleton graveyard that sat decrepit and abandoned and taken over by weed.
Walking quietly with nothing but the sound of their footsteps against the dry dead grass, the three women treaded their way to the top of the hill. As they came closer to the house, the air around them grew quieter and all negative feelings seem to echo. To Tonks, it was almost like the feeling around Azkaban Prison, almost. Their walk was quiet for none of the women spoke. The silent air seemed to have sucked all the words out of them.
Halfway, Tonks was the first to spot a shabby but still young man who stood waiting on the side of the road. He wore a simple dark brown suit with a crimson red plaid collar shirt underneath. His face though slightly pallid, wore a smile once he spotted them in return.
"Remus," Tonks sighed and ran towards him, stirring small smiles from Alexis and Silvia. She jumped up to reach his neck and pulled him into a hug while Remus returned her embrace eagerly, chuckling as he did.
"Hello Nymphadora," he smiled and inhaled a deep breath of her once before pulling back to take her hand. "Hello Lexi, Silvia," Remus added. His eyes lingered on Silvia's somber expression but Tonks pressed his hand and cleverly, Remus turned away.
"Have you been waiting long, Remus?" Silvia asked softly.
"Not long," he replied. "I believe Moody had already gone up."
"Well we better hurry then," Alexis said, leading the group by several feet.
When the group reached the rusting metal gates that lined the closer outside boundaries of the Riddle House, they found Mad-Eye Moody leaning up against the metal gate, his face contorted in a mixture of boredom and impatience. His electric blue magical eye seemed to be getting stuck during its hysterical spinning inside its socket.
"Mad-Eye," Tonks smiled.
Moody grunted. "What took you so long?" he asked in a low, gruff voice. His human eye studied them while his magical eye was once again stuck in a very awkward stare.
"We walked like normal people," Tonks retorted, partially missing him but partially annoyed with her old mentor already.
Moody grunted once again and made his way up beside Alexis who was closely examining the rusting iron gates. He took out his wand and placed it on the lock, muttering a few very soft charms to counter the protection upon the house. As Moody did this, puzzled expressions appeared on both Alexis and Tonks' faces. They both had discovered that the house was sealed by blood magic. Surely Moody had to do a little more than mutter a few counter-curses. It was definitely strange as now, the house seem to never have been protected by blood magic at all. Once again, Alexis and Tonks exchanged similar, skeptical glances.
"Mad-Eye, isn't there a little more you have to do?" Tonks asked him carefully.
"Like what?" he asked with a rough chuckle.
Remus had noticed what was going through Tonks and Alexis' mind and soon even Silvia caught on. They all quietly wondered to themselves but oddly, none of them voiced their questions aloud. Why couldn't they open the house by simple counter-curses before but Moody could do it now? Surely there was more to this story behind Moody's protection of the house.
As they headed into the eerie and depressing house, Tonks' eyes couldn't stop trying to look deeper into her old mentor's oddness. She noticed that there was something different about him, something strange that she couldn't exactly pinpoint. She turned to Remus, wondering if he'd noticed too. He didn't seem to notice exactly what she saw, but the look in Remus' eyes suggested that he sensed something was peculiar and going extremely wrong.
Inside the Riddle House, the place looked as if it had been the scene for that year's award-winning horror movie. A thick layer of dust covered every inch of the decrepit living space. A suffocating stench of mold and decay filled their senses to the point where it felt almost tangible. The furniture inside the old house lay untouched, antiquated, and derelict. The walls were peeling and parts of the painted part of the house had mostly chipped off, revealing the wooden exoskeleton of the structure.
Tonks looked around, taking in the strange emptiness that filled the house. She took a deep breath, trying not to choke on the dust and mold. Alexis was already coughing and wheezing, having always been used to extremely clean surroundings and being a clean freak. Tonks wondered how much it bothered her dear cousin to be standing in that place.
"There are four landings in his house," said Moody in an even rougher and scratchier voice. "Silvia, you take the uppermost landing; Alexis, the one below her. Tonks and Remus, you cover the second landing together and I'll take the ground floor. Any questions?" he asked, his auror instincts surfacing.
"None," Alexis said, placing a hand on Silvia's shoulder as she coughed once again. The two women then carefully made their way up the termite eaten stairs, wary for anything that might happen or anything that might break under their feet.
Tonks and Remus walked together carefully up the stairs, Remus catching Tonks gracefully as she'd nearly fallen off on the sixth step, not so gracefully. Upon the second landing, they found a large corridor with doors lining left and right all the way down towards the lone window at the end of the hall. Instinctively, Remus and Tonks walked into the first several rooms to look around, splitting up for the most part.
Inside, the rooms looked like they've been abandoned for some time. Tonks noticed something odd about them however. They didn't look like typical muggle bedrooms or studies or anything in that matter. She'd spotted several broken or unused magical instruments in many of them and realized that magical folks had been there. The Riddle family was a family of muggles though, and that made her curiosity turn on.
"Remus, did you find anything strange?" Tonks asked, meeting Remus in the middle of the corridor. "The Riddles were all muggles. How come…"
"This was a Death Eater headquarters, remember?" he said gently, subconsciously taking her hand as if it'd become a natural thing.
"Alright," Tonks nodded, thinking. "I'm guessing the Death Eaters lived here then?"
"Well, it sounds very likely," Remus replied. "When Sirius and I were in the Order of the Phoenix, on many nights we'd stay at headquarters as well. It was more convenient that way."
"So if we find any solid proof in here that could point us to a person, we may be able to prove he or she a Death Eater and get information regarding Crouch Jr. from them!"
Remus thought for a moment then smiled and nodded. "Yes," he said, but then his smile fell. "Though I don't think it'd be that easy."
Tonks sighed and dropped her head into his chest, calming herself with the sound of his beating heart. He took a deep breath and she could hear his voice vibrate against his chest when he spoke. She rarely took note of this but now she finally noticed how deep and smooth of a voice Remus has. It was like she'd fallen into a bed of satin.
"Although, I guess maybe if they'd left this place in a hurry, we'd be able to find something," he added to get her hopes up.
"Then let's start looking," said Tonks, suddenly optimistic. She took his hand and danced backwards, trying to turn away from the cold and spooky feeling the place gave her. Tonks led Remus into another room in the corridor, this room right beside a set of stairs, several steps missing, and leading up to the third landing where Alexis was supposed to search.
When they entered that room, both Tonks and Remus were surprised to see Alexis inside. Her back was turned to them and she didn't move. Her gaze seemed to be fixated on something that sat upon a tall wooden drawer. The entire room had a different feel overall from the rest of the house. As Tonks stepped inside, dread and grim was no longer the feeling that overwhelmed her. The feeling had been replaced with sadness. The room looked no different from any of the others she'd seen, but something about it, as if it was unseen magic, made her feel sad.
"Lexi?" Tonks asked softly.
She gently let go of Remus' hand. He'd decided to stay back, allowing Tonks space to speak with her cousin who seemed completely entranced by something that sat upon the wooden drawer. Her small body was covering it and so Remus could only guess that it was something small which only Alexis' keen eye for details would be able to notice.
"Oi," said Tonks. "Lexi, something wrong?"
"Nothing," Alexis replied quickly as if she'd just returned to Earth. "Nothing's…wrong, exactly. But…Tonks maybe you should come look at this."
Tonks shifted so that she stood beside Alexis now and finally saw what had gotten her cousin's mind so warped. Alexis was staring at two small items that sat upon the dusty drawer, those two items removed from dust. Tonks knew but the way Alexis kept brushing her fingers against her black jeans that she'd brushed the dust off of those two items. One of the items was an old, yellowing photograph. Tonks couldn't see the image however, as Alexis had placed it facedown. The other item however, was something Tonks recognized immediately. It was a velvet red rose folded from expensive cloth in a way that origami would be folded. She'd seen those all around her home, Andromeda's home, all throughout her childhood. Andromeda Tonks was the only woman Tonks knew who could make those roses.
"Doesn't it look like Andromeda's?" Alexis asked softly.
"Yeah," Tonks nodded, picking it up and examining it. The loose end of the cloth was meticulously tucked into the bottom of the rose to hold it together in a way Tonks was sure only Andromeda knew how. "This looks exactly like the ones my mum has at home."
"This is Bellatrix Lestrange's room," said Alexis in a voice barely above a whisper.
Tonks looked at her cousin, rendered speechless.
"Look at this," Alexis said, her voice growing even softer than before.
Her slender fingers picked up the photograph and turned it around so that Tonks could see the faded black and white moving picture upon the old and yellowing piece of paper creased and folded in several places.
Inside the photograph, there were five young children smiling and laughing in an open field of tall, flowing grass that swayed with the moving wind. A young boy with black hair and a mischievous, darkly handsome face kept running around the field, provoking a girl a slight bit older than him with a wooden stick. The girl had a prominent jaw with a royal, beautiful face and long, curly hair. Running after the girl was another girl, slightly younger than her with golden blonde hair and a shy, reserved smile. She tripped over another young boy, looking significantly older and more mature than the rest of the children. The boy had neatly combed raven black hair and a clever look to him. He seemed to be screaming across the field to the last girl in the photograph, one with hair that looked mousy brown if the photograph had color, and a gentle face with significantly softer features than all of the other children.
"That's them," Tonks gasped.
Alexis nodded. "There's your mother, heading into the photograph," she said, pointing to the girl with significantly softer features. "My dad, sitting on the grass." Her slender finger gingerly trailed over the image of her father as a child, the boy with a clever look.
"That has to be Narcissa Malfoy," said Tonks. "The blonde one," she added. "And…"
"And that's Sirius, playing around with…with Bellatrix."
"Why would Bellatrix Lestrange, the insane, homicidal lunatic in Azkaban, keep this photograph after-after everything?" Tonks asked.
"I don't know," Alexis said, beginning to walk out of the room.
She placed a hand on Tonks' back, leading her as she walked behind. Tonks didn't seem to notice as Alexis discreetly slip the photograph and velvet cloth rose into the pocket of her khaki navy blue jacket. Remus, who had been watching the entire time, had been the only one to see, but he had unspoken understanding in his eyes and didn't say or gesture anything to Tonks.
"Do you think we can get Bellatrix Lestrange to give us some information about Crouch Jr.?" Tonks asked once they got back out to the middle of the corridor.
"Maybe…I wouldn't count on it," Alexis replied. She avoided Tonks' eyes, looking perplexed and deep in thought about something. "I-I think I'm going to go up to the third landing and check. You and Remus finish up this landing," she said.
Tonks nodded and watched as her cousin vanished up the stairs. "I wonder what goes on in Lexi's head," said Tonks to Remus.
"I'm sure there are too many things for her to explain to us properly," said Remus as if he could read Alexis' mind.
Tonks sighed. "Come on then, love," she said. "We have to finish searching this floor."
Another cough left her throat dry as Alexis made her way up to the fourth landing, looking for Silvia. She'd finished searching the entire third landing which obviously had fewer rooms than the second landing did. No wonder Moody put both Remus and Tonks on the second landing. She turned left and headed down the empty corridor, her dark brown almost black eyes taking immediate notice to the only door that stood ajar towards the end of the corridor.
She thought Silvia must be in there and so took patient steps towards the door, trying to make as little noise as possible on the creaky floorboards. The entire house was so quiet, it echoed with a dreadful silence and Alexis felt it out of her place to disturb the silence.
"Hey, Silv?" she called, coming closer to the door.
There was no response.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Alexis finally got to the door and noticed that she couldn't see or hear anything inside despite it being set ajar. She then realized that around the door and the room, there had been a nigh invisible barrier placed upon it. It looked like a veil of foggy glass. Someone definitely wanted their conversation private.
Alexis pressed on the barrier. "Silvia," she called.
She wondered if Silvia was in there and so pressed her ear carefully against the barrier to listen in. Alexis had her wand out and used a common charm most Unspeakables knew to enhance her hearing, enabling her to listen through even the most sophisticated of barriers and protections. She pressed her entire body against the glass like veil, listening carefully.
"…past is the past!" someone screamed. It sounded like Silvia.
"…still mattered…you owe me!" another booming voice shouted. This voice was low, gruff, and deep, belonging to a man no doubt. Alexis knew it didn't sound like Mad-Eye's however, and she wondered who else was inside the room with Silvia.
It was hard to hear when the conversation suddenly grew quiet again. Alexis continued to press closer as if trying to push the barrier down. She could only hear broken parts of conversations and random words, being unable to make out what each party was saying. She continued to listen for a long while, until there was suddenly dead silence.
Odd, she thought, and pushed even closer.
Suddenly, she heard a loud bang from inside the room. A series of loud noises followed swiftly afterwards and instinctively, Alexis knew that something was wrong. Worried for Silvia and panicking, Alexis' wand was out again and she was quickly lifting the barrier placed on the room. Whoever placed it must have been a very strong wizard for it took her longer than usual to undo it. The charm was complicated but finally, Alexis undid the charm and she kicked open the door to barge inside.
Once in, her eyes swallowed the scene and her brain took understanding instantly. Although she was an Unspeakable, she acted on instincts like an auror and right away, Alexis was shooting spells and dodging from ones being shot at her.
After Alexis had left, Remus followed Tonks into another room, the one that stood straight across from Bellatrix Lestrange's room. It took a little bit of work for Tonks to open the door. She had to use many charms to counter the protection placed upon it, taking her a while to do so. As she muttered one counter-curse after another, Tonks wondered why this room was more difficult to get into than the rest. When they went inside, they immediately noticed that the room was in fact, very different. It was spotless. There wasn't a speck of dust on any of the surfaces and the room looked as if a nice and thorough cleaning charm had swept through it not too long ago. It was strange. Remus and Tonks looked at each other, puzzled.
"This room had recently been used," said Remus.
"But that's not possible, is it?" said Tonks, looking around. "Mad-Eye had kept it sealed until now…he wouldn't have lifted it for anyone else," she added quietly.
"Nymphadora, you cannot deny the fact that this room had recently been used," Remus said, looking around, wiping a large wooden table and turning his palm upwards to show that there was not a trace of dust upon it.
"Mad-Eye can't be up to anything," said Tonks quietly, thinking to herself. She sighed and reached into the larger pocket of her auror robes to pull out a black camera. She fumbled with it for a moment before pulling back towards the doorway with Remus behind her and snapping a picture of the room. "For documentation," she said. "Now…who could have used this room? It couldn't have been any muggle as they wouldn't be able to get past even the simplest protection charm. And if it's a witch or wizard, they'd have to be very powerful to counter Moody's curse as even Alexis and I couldn't."
"Love," Remus called, holding her around her waist from behind. "You're a powerful auror. Alexis is a powerful Unspeakable. If neither of you could lift even one of Mad-Eye's protection spells, who do you think could?"
"If you're saying that Mad-Eye lifted the charms," Tonks began, her voice growing louder as she showed more frustration in her tone.
"I'm not saying anything," Remus said calmly, easing her as he became aware of how strong and stubborn Tonks' faith and loyalty in Moody was. She was a true Hufflepuff in that aspect. "Love, perhaps we should consult with the others about this."
Tonks nodded. She and Remus were just about to head back out of the room and look for Alexis, Silvia, or Moody when suddenly, they heard loud noises coming from upstairs. Remus and Tonks looked at each other, wondering what was going on. They stood to listen for a moment longer and Tonks could hear the sound of spells being shot back and forth as if a duel was taking place. Without thinking, she and Remus made haste for the stairs.
Remus helped Tonks up the steps first, catching her and stabling her when she'd tripped midway. They got to the third landing and still heard the loud noises that sounded like gunshot sounding from upstairs. Together, Remus and Tonks ran down the empty corridor and made a sharp, abrupt turn onto the wooden staircase. Tonks cursed when she'd stepped on a weak step and nearly fell through. Luckily, Remus was there to catch her and in their panic, continued on without stopping.
When the two of them finally reached the fourth landing, the noises had stopped. Tonks and Remus continued to run however, pushing open all the doors and finally arriving at the one towards the middle of the hallway with its door ajar. Tonks ran faster, pushing through and entering the room with a loud bang.
Inside the room, both Remus and Tonks were taken back by the sight they saw. Furniture lay broken and many holes were made on the floors, on the walls, and even the ceilings. The wooden window pane was hexed to pieces while the fireplace laid a blazing mess with a small fire burning upon the scattered ashes. There was a lone, antique armchair that sat untouched and unharmed several small feet away from the fireplace.
That wasn't what worried them however. Tonks and Remus were both looking at the sight in the middle of the room. Silvia was on the floor, unconscious and seeming to be bleeding from her shoulder. The coppery scent of blood became very present in the air as deep red blood flowed from Silvia's wound, dampening her white blouse. Alexis stood beside Silvia's unconscious body, her wand hand bleeding, dripping with blood. It seemed to have been cut by a stray cutting spell. Tonks was worried by the icy look in Alexis' eyes for her cousin was glaring at Tonks' old mentor, Mad-Eye Moody, with a glare that could kill. Alexis held Moody at the tip of her wand, a ruthless spell on the tip of her tongue…
Responses:
RemusTonksFan: thank you so much! xD
TheMoonIsLowTonight-funkyfish: thank you! and I got my 3/4 to format properly because I typed all my chapters up on Microsoft Word first and then uploaded it so it stayed like that I'm guessing. As you can see, this 3/4 right now is odd looking. And for the problem between confounded and confunded, I personally try not to use confunded until I'm saying the incantation confundus in the story because I'm somewhat OCD and confunded shows up on my computer as not a word -_- stupid dictionary. Anyways, thank you and I hope you'll keep supporting! xD
I try to avoid saying this but I kind of wish I had more reviews haha.