Theater of the Mind
Tonks opened her eyes to see Ginny sitting next to her. "Where am I?"
"St. Mungo's. How are you feeling?"
"God awful."
"Just relax, you're safe."
"Kingsley tell you what happened?"
"Most of it. He's the one who came to get me. Said you'd been hurt."
"How long have I been out?"
"You got here on Saturday night," Ginny explained. "It's Monday afternoon now."
Tonks rubbed her eyes and tried sitting up. The room spun and her stomach swam.
Ginny gently pushed her back into the pillows.
"What happened?" Tonks asked, closing her eyes again.
"When you fell—"
"I fell?"
Ginny nodded, not meeting Tonks's eyes. "Maddox shot a spell to get you out of the way of the poison. When you fell, you bounced inside the cage. You broke all of your ribs, an arm, both legs, a lung collapsed, and you punctured your appendix. Blakely had to take that out herself, or else you wouldn't have made it."
"Where is she?" Tonks asked, eyes darting around.
"With her family in the next room. She's fine. The Healers aren't allowing visitors right now—just immediate family and spouses."
"What about the rest of the team? Kent?"
"Fine."
"Price? Macbeth? Tippin?"
"They're fine too, but Tonks…."
"Where's Maddox?" Tonks asked quietly. She saw her wife's expression change—Ginny was mustering her courage to tell her something. "Please, Ginny."
"The cauldron was rigged so that it would flood the maze, Tonks," she explained. "After he knocked you out of the way, Maddox fell off of the wall. He only had time to warn the others before the cauldron fell."
"He'll be okay though, right?" Tonks asked, panic coloring her voice.
Ginny shook her head, clearly fighting tears. "He fell into it, and inhaled it. It burned his lungs. Kent…Kent brought his body back."
Tonks turned her head and looked out of the window, tears stinging her eyes. "He was only 25."
"Tonks," Ginny said, sitting on the bed. "Please, I know this is hard, but you can't get stressed. The Healers said you can't exert yourself."
Tonks nodded, wiping the tears away, but did not turn to look at her wife. "And Swanson? What happened to him?"
"Tippin's a hero. Killed the bastard. When Blakely was performing your emergency appendectomy, he climbed back onto the wall and kept fighting. Got him in the end."
"Ah, our Auror is awake," a Healer said, coming through the door. "My name is Healer Maddison. How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts," Tonks moaned.
"I'm sure," Maddison said. "You fell from thirty feet in the air, in a steel cage. I'm surprised you're doing so well. We'll be keeping you here for another day or two, just to monitor you. You should be just fine in a day."
"Thanks," Tonks said in a hollow voice. She took Ginny's hand and closed her eyes again.
Tonks shook her head, ridding herself of the memory—at least for the moment. She stepped onto the scale and waited for the numbers to stop floating about. "106," she told Ginny with a smiled. She stepped off the scale and walked over to where her wife was recording her weight. "How am I doing?" she asked, wrapping her arms around the younger witch.
"Very well! You're eating again, and you've gained some weight back. I'm sure Healer Maddison will be ecstatic at your checkup."
Tonks smiled and snuggled into the pillows with her. She remembered the first time she'd seen herself in the mirror after she'd woken up in the hospital. She hadn't recognized herself. Her eyes had been sunken, her face gaunt, and she'd been skinny. When the Healers had finally allowed her to go home, she'd leveled out at 100 pounds. They'd given her strict instructions to keep a food and weight journal over the next week, to make sure she was gaining the weight back. Ginny had been wonderful, cooking all of Tonks's favorite things—Cornish pasties, shephard's pie, every type of pasta imaginable…. Slowly, but surely, Tonks was gaining her weight back. Hugging Ginny closer, she asked, "What's on the schedule for tomorrow, besides the…the funeral?"
"After that we're going to my parents' house for dinner. According to Dad, it's only going to be us, them and Harry. Luna's in Germany visiting her father for the weekend."
Tonks nodded and yawned.
"Tired? You should get some sleep."
"It's only eight o'clock."
"You aren't allowed to over exert yourself," Ginny said, giving her a Look. "We can read for a while, if you want."
Tonks smiled and got under the covers as Ginny went to grab a book.
A wall of purple from the Auror department, friends, family—rows of people—with tears coming down at all different volumes, sat as the casket was lowered into the ground.
Mr. Maddox stood up and addressed them. "Many of you didn't know this, but my son, Alexis Ilya Maddox, was an extraordinary cook." He paused, giving the crowd a sad smile. "Since the age of seven, you could find him tailing after his mother in the kitchen. Some made fun of him for it…including me from time to time…but he didn't care. He'd found something he wanted to do, and he did it. When he got to Hogwarts, I regularly received owls, letting me know that someone had found my son in the kitchens, experimenting while the house elves were otherwise occupied. He never let anything stand in the way of his passion. His seventh year, he got very sick. We thought…we thought we were going to lose him. But he turned the corner, fighting back as only Alexis could. As we were leaving St. Mungo's, he took a deep breath and said, 'Da? Mam? I want to be an Auror when I get through with Hogwarts.' We objected, of course. How could our son have picked such a dangerous career? Didn't he know how much we'd worry? But, just like with his cooking, Alexis had found his passion. And he wouldn't let go of it. He passed his exam, and became a great Auror very quickly—which is why he, and we, had to go into hiding when the war broke into the open. He hated that we had to do it, but he never once regretted his decision. And he knew, somehow, that the good side would win. Even so, my wife and I were always afraid of the one day, the one mission, where he wouldn't make it out." Mr. Maddox stopped, struggling to continue. "That day came last Saturday," he said tremulously. "And do you know something? I finally understood my son. Completely, and utterly, understood. The day we'd been dreading was the day he'd wanted. Death, certainly, is a part of life which no one among us can escape. My son knew this at the age of 17, and he dedicated his life to keeping others safe. You see, my boy knew that if he was going to die, he was going to do so making a difference. And I truly believe, with all of my soul, that he did."
Tonks choked back a sob with difficulty. She felt Ginny slip her hand into hers as the Maddox parents thanked everyone for coming, and invited them back into the house for refreshments.
"You doing okay?" Ginny asked quietly as they walked up the front drive to the Weasley home.
Tonks nodded. "Yeah. As much as can be expected."
The door swung open, but it wasn't Molly or Arthur who ran to greet them. It was Harry. He rushed towards them and grabbed them both in a hug. When he finally pulled away, he said, "Sorry. I had to get that out of my system."
With a smile, both witches followed him into the house.