So, I haven't updated this story for a little under a year. I have been working on this since my freshman year of high school, I believe, and although I stopped writing, I've always had this story in my mind, and can't shake it. So, I've decided to continue on with this story. I saw "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," and seeing Remus and Tonks made me want to finish my story, to do them justice in my own form. Anyway, I hope that anyone who used to read this picks it up again, and some more people come and read from the beginning. I hope my writing continuously improves, so please review.
Chapter 12
Muggle Attire
The chill of November was setting in around Number 12 Grimmauld Place. The sky was consistently misty and damp, and the atmosphere inside of number 12 wasn't much of a relief. The house was so dreary, dark, and cold it was a wonder Sirius didn't drive himself mad. "First he's locked up in Azkaban for 12 years and now this," Tonks thought to herself as she walked through the long hallway to the kitchen, "not much of an improvement." Tonks quietly made her way through the kitchen door, and took her place at the long wooden table where the Order members were already seated. Although Tonks was certain she was not late, she didn't want to give Mad-Eye any reason to reprimand her; he hadn't scolded her for anything in almost two weeks, and Tonks was in no hurry to break this streak. She took her seat silently and waited for the meeting to begin. A few minutes later, after surveying the room, Mad-Eye rose from the table, his wooden leg creaking on the floor. "Good evening, all," he barked. "Dumbledore's not here, can't leave Hogwarts at the moment, not with that Umbridge woman around, so I'll be conducting the meeting today. We all know that aside from taking turns on guard duty, we've all been taking turns tailing Death Eaters that have been cited. We've had Remus and Nymphadora on Jugson," Tonks flinched at the sound of her name. "Hestia and Emmaline on Gibbon, and Arthur and Kingsley on Avery," Arthur and Kingsley nodded in unison. "Nothing much has turned up from these trackings. We know the Jugson's afraid of being tailed by the Ministry, so he's going through Diagon Alley to get to Knockturn Alley, Avery apparates to and from the same place each morning, but we can't pinpoint where he's going, and nothing's turned up on Gibbon. Besides this, we do have some more information from Emmaline," Mad-Eye nodded to her. "She's going to explain." Emmaline stood up, wrapping her crimson shawl more tightly around her shoulders. "Right," she began. I was doing some shopping by my flat, near Downing Street, and I noticed someone that I thought looked familiar and I realized that it was Avery; I guess we know where he's been apparating to. He walked into a muggle diner, and he met Crabbe and Goyle, and Nott. I didn't go inside, I only saw them through the window, so I couldn't hear them, but I did go to the same place for three days and saw them there every day. What worries me is that Downing Street is where the muggle Prime Minister is. I'm afraid I don't think it's coincidental that they are meeting so close."
"Thanks Emmaline," Mad-Eye said, as he stood up again. "Obviously this isn't a coincidence; I doubt our death Eaters are just meeting for breakfast. We need to find out what they are discussing. We need to find out where they are going after. We can't have them that close to the Prime Minister!"
Remus spoke up, "The last time Voldemort was in power he executed mass muggle killings. If he gets a hold of the Minister, tons of muggles will be in danger." Arthur then added, "They'd have no way of knowing anything was wrong. None of them know anything about You-Know-Who" Arthur still didn't want to used Voldemort's name, "they may suspect something's wrong, but they'll never figure it out."
"Right," Mad-Eye stated. "We need to follow them. Saturday morning. We'll be traveling in large group, we can't look suspicious. So dress is muggle attire, and make sure you have some place to store your wand. Emmaline has given me the coordinates of the diner, and we'll be able to walk there." All of the Order members nodded, ready for the next part of the directions. Right," Mad-Eye continued. The team will be myself, Arthur, Remus, Kingsley, and Tonks", Tonks was delighted he had remembered to use her surname. "Emmaline, you can't come because if something goes wrong we still need you to be able to tail them without getting noticed."
"Of course, Mad-Eye," Emmaline responded complacently.
"Be here Saturday morning at 6:30, we're leaving at 7:00 sharp, and we're not waiting for anyone," he glared at Tonks. Now, remember dress in muggle clothes. We can't stand out." Tonks wondered how exactly a group comprised of a tall black man, a man with flaming red hair, a man with scars on his face, a lone girl with changing hair colors, and a man with a magical eye and wooden leg had any hope of blending in. "So that means, no cloaks and no wands," he barked. "And remember about your wand…a secure place to put it, none of this back pocket business, no one remembers elementary wand safety," he glared at Tonks again. "And Nymphadora," he shouted down to her, "make sure your hair cooperates, none of this blue business," he was obviously referring to the blue streaks mixed into her dark brown hair. The meeting's over for tonight. Remember be here by 6:30 on Saturday," he turned to leave the table.
"Hey Mad-Eye," Tonks called, she had enough with his scolding her, "does your magical eye count as muggle attire? Don't think that's going to attract any attention do you?" Mad-Eye didn't even bother to give Tonks an answer. He muttered something about disrespect, and headed straight out the door. This was one of the only times that Molly hadn't made dinner after a meeting, and Tonks was rather gloomy about it. She enjoyed having dinner with the Order. She enjoyed the conversation, especially the one that often followed dinner with Remus and Sirius, and Molly's cooking was far superior to her own. As all the order members stood up and spoke to each other, Tonks watched Sirius head into the living room. He had a rather sullen look about him; Tonks knew it had to be the discussion of following the death Eaters. She knew how badly Sirius wanted to go, but it was far too dangerous. She followed him into the living room and caught him just as he was headed up the stairs to his room. "Heading in early?" She called.
"I need to feed Buckbeak," he replied gloomily.
"Well, I just thought I'd say goodbye."
"Goodnight," he gave a small wave.
"I suppose I'll see you Saturday morning, if you're awake when we leave." As soon as she spoke, Tonks realized what she said had been a mistake. Sirius was so sensitive about not being able to help the order more.
"Yeah," he responded coldly, "I'll be awake to watch you all leave." He turned to leave.
"Sirius," Tonks called again, walking toward him, "It's not going to be anything. It's not like we're fighting them. Honestly, I don't even think we're going to find out much. How are they not going to notice a ruddy group like us? I've got enough problems with muggles staring because of my hair, and now I've got a guy with a wooden leg and a magical eye walking around with me." This brought a slight smile to Sirius' face. "I don't know," he said, "Mad-Eye will probably have a whole story behind his eye. Always on his toes," he joked.
"Constant vigilance," Tonks responded as she headed out of the living room to the front door.
Saturday had come dreadfully slowly for Tonks, as Order things always did when she had to trudge through work. The only positive thing was that Scrimgeour and Fudge were so brainwashed into thinking that Voldemort wasn't back, that they were trying to avoid all confrontations that could point otherwise; they didn't want to have any arguments going on in the auror office since they should be the ones dealing with Voldemort's return. Tonks ran through the front door of Number 12 at 6:29. She had slept right through her alarm, and didn't wake up until her clock was blaring loudly enough to burst her eardrums. She stumbled through the hallway and was met with three pairs of eyes staring at her. She breathed a sigh of relief. Arthur hadn't arrived yet, she wasn't the last one. Her hopes were quickly dashed as Arthur entered the hallway through the kitchen closely followed by Mrs. Weasley.
"Good luck dear, and be careful," Mrs. Weasley said to her husband as she pulled his jacket closed and kissed him quickly.
"Well, since we're all here," Mad-Eye glared at Tonks, "we'll be setting off."
"I thought we weren't leaving until 7:00?" Tonks questioned.
"Being early isn't going to hurt Nymphadora, not that you would know." Tonks felt a twinge of anger. She composed herself quickly as she saw Sirius walking down the hallway. "Well," he stated glancing over all of them, "you lot have gotten on well with dressing like muggles, although," he started at Mad-Eye, "I'm not sure that eye of yours fits in too well."
"I've got that figured out, never you mind," Mad-Eye scolded.
Tonks hadn't even noticed what the others were wearing; she'd been too busy hoping they weren't angry with her for being the last one there. Arthur was wearing a very bright orange t-shirt that clashed horribly with his hair, with a light brown wool jacket over top, jeans, and large boots. Kingsley was dressed in a black pullover jacket and jeans with dress shoes; Remus was by far the most convincing, dressed in a light black sweater with a worn brown jacket over top, slacks, and dress shoes. Even Mad-Eye managed to make himself resemble a muggle, his wooden leg was cleverly hidden underneath black slacks, his large jacket definitely held room for his wand (and for lots of other non-muggle things Tonks was sure), his scarred face shadowed by a hat, and his magical eye covered with an eye patch, which Tonks knew perfectly well it could see right through. Tonks herself donned her normal t-shirt and ripped jeans. She did, however; opt for a plain purple t-shirt rather than her normal weird Sisters one; her hair was dark brown. They all looked suitable separately, but Tonks was unsure that they would look alright together.
Tonks's thoughts were interrupted by Mad-Eye's announcing their departure. She followed the four men outside where she met the freezing November air. As she stood there trembling, a thought struck her—she'd forgotten a jacket. She was going to have to traipse through London on a frigid November morning, which was only going to get colder as the day went on, in just her t-shirt. How could she have been so stupid? She was in such a rush that she ran out the door without one. She apparated to Grimmauld Square, so she didn't even notice how cold it was. Tonks knew that she would have to brave the cold. Mad-Eye would never allow her to return to her flat to get a jacket, and she was sure Sirius didn't have any in the house. She just told herself to hold it together and she would get scolding hot chocolate when she got home.
Mad-Eye led the group as they began their walk through London. The four men were talking, switching from the weather, to the muggle government, to a popular football team, and back to the weather again, all on Mad-Eye's orders, while Tonks walked slightly behind them. She tried to keep focused, but the cold was very inhibiting. She didn't know how much longer she could take it when Mad-Eye stopped to enter a convenience store; he wanted to make sure that they weren't being tailed. He encouraged that they all split off and wait a bit. Tonks wanted to go inside, but Mad-Eye didn't want them all in the same place. He and Kingsley walked in, Arthur was very interested in an electronics store two doors down with various sized TVs glowing in the windows. Tonks made her way to the curb and sat gloomily hugging her shoulders. She prayed to herself that the diner was close, but doubted it since Mad-Eye was going to so much trouble to check for people following them. He would never wait to check close to a destination. Tonks looked up as she saw a shadow on the ground looming over her.
"Are you alright?" Remus asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tonks chattered, as she tried to rub the goose bumps off or her arms.
"You look frozen," he remarked.
"No, I'm fine," Tonks stated.
"Ridiculous," he responded, "Look at your teeth chattering. Here take my jacket," he began to pull his worn jacket off of his shoulders.
"No, no," Tonks stuttered, "I'm fine."
"Tonks, don't be ridiculous, take it."
"No, really I'm er…I'm fine."
"Tonks, Molly will have our heads if we bring you back the house frozen, now please take it." He handed the old brown jacket over to her.
"I er… I really don't need it, you'll freeze!" She demanded.
"Ready to go." Mad-Eye stated rather than asked, as he and Kingsley exited the store. Tonks stood, and tried to hand the jacket back to Remus.
"I'll be fine, I don't get cold easily," he assured her. "It's almost like I have fur," he smiled and turned to walk behind Mad-Eye. Tonks smiled in return. She was glad the Remus could almost joke about his condition, it hadn't been that long ago when Tonks had discovered Remus' secret, and it had gone very badly.
Around twenty more minutes had passed and the group had finally reached the top of the street where the diner was located. Mad-Eye walked quickly down the street, passed the diner, and around the next street back to where the group was standing, looking through the diner's window with his magical eye, concealed by the patch. He reported that the Death Eaters were already seated a table inside the diner. "We have to go in," he reported. The group moved forward. "Stop," he yelled. "We can't all go in together. They'll notice. We don't exactly blend in together. No. Tonks you need to go in. You're too young for them to remember you. And," he scanned the group, "Remus you go in with her. None of them are aware of your…false allegiances," obviously he was referring to Remus' interacting with werewolves when he transformed to spy for the Order. "Are you sure you don't want to come, Mad-Eye?" Tonks questioned. She'd rather have Mad-Eye with her than scolding her for messing up later. "Of course not," Mad-Eye declared. "I've tracked them, and sent Avery to trial. They'd notice me in a second. Kingsley and Arthur are too well known in the ministry. You both go in. Keep a safe distance, and try your best to listen. And Remus" he added, "sit with your back facing them. They'd be more likely to recognize you than Tonks."
"Right," Tonks agreed starting toward the door, Remus behind her.
Tonks and Remus sat together at the bar near to the table where the Death Eaters were sitting in a corner. Tonks heart began to pound as she walked past them. She longed to just stun them all right then and there, to put an end to it, but she knew that wasn't an option. A stout, grumpy waitress with frizzy dirty blonde hair greeted them dismally and took their orders, blueberry pancakes for both of them. Tonks and Remus were too far away to hear anything the group was saying, and they couldn't risk moving any closer. "I don't know what to do," Tonks stated. "We can't move any closer, but we can't hear them. I'd like to just get them all right now. Maybe I could…er," she thought, "maybe I could walk past, pretend to lose my way to the bathroom."
"Here, we can try this," Remus said, pulling a flesh colored string out from him pocket. Tonks looked at it questioningly. "It's one of Fred and George's extendable ears," he responded to her puzzled expression. "They left a few lying about in their room at headquarters. Judging by some things they found out about the Order, I'd say if there's no protective magic, we should be able to hear." Remus carefully threaded the string down, and as close to the Death Eater's table as she could make it. Tonks leaned in to listen; she could only make out bits of the conversation. "How come we can only hear some of it?" She asked, moving her head away from the string, coming dangerously close to smacking Remus in the chin.
"I'd say it's a poorly performed imperturbable charm," he responded. "It's supposed to block out everything, but it's not fully functioning, performed by Crabbe or Goyle I'd expect." When their pancakes arrived they took turns eating and listening to what bits they could hear of the conversation.
Around a half hour later, the group of Death Eaters was leaving. Tonks and Remus had managed to understand that they were working on-ways to further torment muggles. They were also trying to figure out whom to get a hold of, but Tonks couldn't make out the name. Remus simply stated that the Order would have to keep a special watch on the muggle Prime Minister and his employees in case any of them were put under the imperius curse.
"We need to wait here," Remus stated, taking a sip of his orange juice. "I can't see how far down the street they've gone, and we can't let them see us following them. I expect Mad-Eye is hidden somewhere, along with Arthur and Kingsley."
"Right," Tonks stated, taking the last bite of her pancakes. "Well, at least we have some information to share with the Order. I just wish we could have heard the name."
"Well, like Emmaline said, it's no accident they're meeting this close to the Prime Minister. My bet is they are going to try and get someone in his office. He'd be able to find out everything about the muggles, but he wouldn't be directly in the spotlight."
"It's just going to be difficult to watch out for it without being caught," Tonks said. "I suppose we should keep up with the muggle news. If Fudge would just listen we could get a ministry official on the inside, maybe someone in the muggle relations office."
"It certainly would make things a lot easier, but unfortunately, for right now we're going to have to keep it to ourselves. If Fudge finds out what we think, he's going to end up accusing Dumbledore of conspiring with the muggles."
"That's mad, makes no sense at all. Dumbledore would never endanger the muggles."
"Fudge is going mad…with fear," Remus said. He knows Dumbledore's the better wizard, and he can't stand the thought of losing his position to him. If people find out You-Know-Who's," Remus whispered this as he glanced around the diner, "back, they'll want Dumbledore in office straight away. He's the only one You-Know-Who has ever feared." Tonks nodded in agreement. She knew Fudge was desperate to keep his position, but she couldn't believe that people were trusting someone who was putting his own desire for power ahead of their safety.
"Well," Remus said, "I suppose it's alright to leave now. It's been about ten minutes, they should have gone." Tonks leaned forward to pick up the check, but Remus pulled it away from her. "No," he said, "I'll get it. Remember, you got it last time?"
"Oh yeah," Tonks said, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's fine." He handed the money to waitress, and they headed out the door to meet Mad-Eye, Arthur, and Kingsley.
"We need to split up," Mad-Eye barked as Tonks and Remus came out of the diner. "Tonks, Remus, Arthur, you head down this street and back the way we came. Kingsley and I will go the opposite way and cross back over a few streets down from here. If anyone gets attacked, keep moving!"
On the way back to Grimmauld Square Tonks, Remus, and Arthur talked about Quidditch. Arthur was telling Tonks all about the Quidditch world cup the previous summer. She hadn't been able to get tickets. After Quidditch, their discussion went to Hogwarts. "Well, my favorite class was muggle studies," Arthur continued, "but I also had a knack for charms. I used er…I used to help Molly study before our charms tests," he smiled as he reminisced. "Remus, I fancy Defense Against the Dark Arts was a favorite of yours."
"Yes," Remus responded. "I did have a knack for Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"A knack?" Arthur replied. "From what I've heard from the boys and Ginny, you were the best Defense teacher they've had."
"Well thank you," Remus tried to suppress his crooked smile as his cheeks gained the slightest tinge of red.
The group had finally reach Grimmauld Square. They were ushered into the kitchen of Number 12 for hot chocolate by Molly as soon as they entered the front door. Arthur left a few minutes afterward, he had to head to the office to check in on some regurgitating toilets. "Tonks," Molly asked as she handed her a mug of hot chocolate, "were you wearing that the whole time?"
"No," Sirius responded stepping into the kitchen with a bowl in his hands. "It's Remus'. I think he's had it since before we left school." He walked to the sink, "I'm just getting some water for Buckbeak," he walked back out of the kitchen with the filled bowl in his hands.
"Remus!" Molly screamed. "You've been outside in this weather without a jacket! I'll have to make sure yours is extra hot," she waved her wand over his mug. Tonks and Remus forcibly sat at the kitchen table drinking their hot chocolate. "So," Tonks said between sips, "what sort of creatures did you teach about at Hogwarts?"
"Well, with Harry's class we began with a boggart and we also worked on grindylows and red caps. And then of course I was absent one day and Severus took it upon himself to have them study werewolves. Amazingly only one of the students, Hermione Granger, Harry's friend, figured it out."
"From what I've heard, she's the smartest in her year," Tonks said.
"I would say so, although with all the information Severus gave to them, I'm quite shocked she was the only one." The was silence as the two sipped their hot chocolate.
"Why…why did you resign?"
"The night I found Sirius, I was rushing to the Shrieking Shack. I had the Marauder's Map, and I saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione were there with him. I knew I had to find them before someone got hurt, and in my haste I forgot to take my Wolfsbane potion. I transformed, and it was only a matter of time before the owls started pouring in for my resignation. I couldn't do that to Dumbledore. He'd done so much for me."
"I'm sure Dumbledore would have spoken to them, convinced them you were alright."
"Oh, there is no doubt to me that he would have, but I couldn't put him through all that. He helped me, and gave me a job; I couldn't put him through more trouble."
"Well, I'm sorry you had to stop teaching. You seemed to be a wonderful teacher."
"Well, thank you. I did rather enjoy it." Remus had a slight sadness to his face. "I never thought much about a career path. When I finished school Voldemort was rising to power, and people were ostracizing creatures like me." Tonks couldn't believe that he called himself a creature. She wanted to argue with him, but she didn't want to upset him. She knew it must have been very difficult for him to discuss.
"Well," she said, "maybe when Fudge decides to listen to the truth, and they realize that they need a teacher who knows what he's doing, they'll come back to you."
"I very much doubt that with the High Inquisitor present," he laughed. "I have heard she is the best thing that has happened to Hogwarts." Tonks didn't really know how to respond. She knew that the chance of Remus ever getting a job teaching again was very slim, but she wanted to give him some hope. After taking a final sip of his tea, Remus stood and took his cup to the sink. "Well," he said. "I think I'll be heading upstairs. I have some things to look over for Dumbledore."
"See you later," Tonks responded.
A few minutes later, Tonks realized that she was still wearing Remus' jacket. She pulled it off and she walked upstairs to his room. She stopped short of his room because she heard him and Remus talking.
"So, how'd you make it all that way without your jacket, Moony?" Sirius questioned.
"I wasn't that cold."
"Wasn't that cold. Moony, you're cold during the summer. I don't think I've ever seen you without long sleeves."
"Well, I hardly think that telling her I would freeze without it would have persuaded her to take it, Padfoot."
"Oh Moony, forever the golden boy. The nice little gentleman."
"Knock, knock," Tonks interrupted, knocking on Remus' door and letting herself inside. "I forgot to give this back to you, thanks so much for letting me use it," as she handed Remus his jacket her hand brushed his. It was frozen.
Well, that was it. I'm getting back into the swing of the story, trying to get Remus and Tonks' relationship in full swing. Please review, thanks! :]
