Calm before a storm
Half an hour later, Remus and Tonks were standing on the edge of a provisionally cordoned-off area where several members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, under the protection of Anti-Muggle Security, were busy restoring the battered shopping mall. Some obliviators talked to a hysterical couple who had been watching the fight from their window. Fortunately, these seemed to be the only witnesses.
Remus was just helping Tonks fix up her hand. He carefully removed the splinters and then made the small wounds disappear with a simple movement of his magic wand. "Does it still hurt?" he asked concerned.
Tonks just shrugged her shoulders. She was busy with more important things than the pain in her hand. Like how she was going to explain the whole situation to Kingsley. Or how she might avoid being charged with breaking the Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. She didn't dare to think about the embarrassment and shame this action had brought upon her name. She felt weak and exhausted. And even Remus' words of consolation could not change her current situation in the least.
The little, fat wizard who had given the speech in the morning now joined them, introduced himself as Mr. Pine from the board of directors of Harbwr Hudol, and began telling them off. With obvious indignation he shouted at Remus and Tonk's beaten five minutes about what they had been thinking disrespecting his orders and going off on their own, and what kind of charges the two of them might face. When he apparently ran out of spit and fell silent, Kingsley joined them. He smiled at Mr. Pine, who was about half his size, and assured him that Tonks' actions would have serious consequences.
"Those maniacs work for you?" Mr Pine became even more furious. "You sent them here without informing me first?"
"Then it wouldn't have been a secret mission. But obviously", Kingsley gave Tonks a bitter look, "certain people don't take classified information too seriously."
"These criminals have disobeyed my orders, they've rioted, they've violated the Statute of Secrecy in the worst possible way! And you say they work for the Ministry of magic? At the Auror Headquarters?" Mr. Pine's face, in his rage, was scarlet red.
Tonks looked down in shame. That man and Kingsley had every reason to be angry with her. She had really screwed everything up and the way things were looking right now, it was not unlikely that Kingsley had also seen through her plan to set him on the wrong track. He had probably already discovered Sirius' hiding place in Grimmauld Square and had him brought back to Azkaban. Tonks almost burst into tears at the thought. Alastor had hopelessly overestimated her. She was hardly an Auror, how could she make a good secret agent?
Remus seemed to sense her mood and put a protective arm around her.
Mr. Pine snorted contemptuously. "A pretty criminal couple they make, don't they? You should be ashamed to have people like that work in your department."
"I've never seen this man before," Kingsley calmly contradicted.
In a pitiful attempt to save at least Remus from the seemingly hopeless situation, Tonks began: "I only met him here, he has nothing to do with it! His name is..."
Remus interrupted her. He spoke loud and clear and without fear. "I am Remus Lupin, and I have accompanied Tonks here. Whatever she is being accused of, I contributed to it."
Kingsley raised his eyebrows the moment he heard Remus' name. He scrutinised him from head to toe and seemed to think hard before making a decision. Turning to Mr Pine, he said, "Would you excuse us now? You have the situation here wonderfully under control. I will escort them back to Harbwr Hudol for a thorough interrogation."
The little wizard growled a little. "Just don't go too easy on them. We can't have this sort of behavior here."
Kingsley smiled firmly and then nodded his head to order Remus and Tonks to follow him.
"How did you find us so quickly? The Squad only arrived after you."
Tonks gave Remus a warning look, but he didn't pay attention.
Kingsley didn't answer him immediately. He opened the door for them and led them into a stuffy room, where a filing cabinet and several chairs stood beside a small desk. They were in the administrative headquarters of Harbwr Hudol, which was very busy at the moment. All sorts of high-ranking officials, Aurors, members of the Squad and ministry clerks were busy running around, sending and receiving owls or disapparating. Kingsley had asked a pimply intern where he and his staff could talk undisturbed, whereupon they had been banished to this unused study.
Tonks' mentor took a seat behind the desk and wiped the sweat off his bald head before responding to Remus' words. "I've been in Cardiff for a couple of days."
Tonks made herself very small in her chair. That didn't sound good.
Kingsley's gaze was very serious as he went on. "Tonks, I want you to be honest with me. What's your connection with Sirius Black?"
With an innocent tone, Tonks began to make up excuses: "What makes you think that? I've got nothing to do with him. Nothing whatsoever ..."
"Don't lie to me," Kingsley raised his voice. "You disobey my orders, neglect your mission, obtain secret information about an escaped prisoner and are seen a week later with his alleged escape accomplice! The evidence is against you, and now you're going to talk!" Kingsley was boiling with rage and Tonks knew she deserved it.
She swallowed hard. "How long have you known? As she struggled to calm herself, her mentor leaned back. His eyes full of disappointment and resignation. "It's been a week. Figgins gave me a crucial clue."
"Figgins?" Tonks hadn't even thought about the old house-elf anymore.
Kingsley nodded. "I noticed shortly after your visit that my desk was unlocked, but I didn't really suspect anything. It was only when Figgins later pointed out to me that you had asked him for Sirius Black's file that it dawned on me. Of course, I had noticed that you had been acting very strangely over the past few days anyway, but I didn't expect..."
"I'm not crazy! Please, listen to me: Sirius Black is innocent and if the Ministry hadn't destroyed his wand, I could prove it!"
"She's telling the truth. Black was wrongfully arrested!" Remus joined in.
Kingsley raised his voice again. "It's not your turn yet! That you and the Ministry disagree on this matter is certainly no secret since last summer. I want to hear Tonks' side of the story."
Tonks reassuringly put a hand on Remus' arm and then began to tell Kingsley exactly what she had refused to believe just a few weeks ago. She tried to set everything out clearly and unambiguously, leaving out only a few details, such as that Sirius was an Animagus or that he, Dumbledore and Alastor wanted to revive the Order of the Phoenix. Kingsley listened the whole time without interrupting her or asking questions. But his face darkened more and more until it looked like a dangerous storm cloud. When Tonks had finished, he stood up and drew his magic wand. Remus tensed up next to her and Tonks jumped as well but forced herself to stay calm.
Without paying attention to either of them, Kingsley conjured up a large, silver shining Patronus in the shape of a lynx, which immediately jumped through the closed window and disappeared in the bright light of the midday sun.
Tonks threw a bewildered look at Remus. "Where did you send them?" she asked cautiously.
"Calling off the dementors who are hunting Black in London as we're speaking. Last week, I found a valuable clue to his whereabouts, which led me to Grimmauld Place. But when my staff informed me the day before yesterday that traces of Black had been discovered in Scotland, I suspected that someone was trying to make a fool of me and stepped up surveillance in London rather than pulling them off."
"How did you get approval for that?" Tonks asked incredulously.
"It took some convincing at the Ministry, but I know now my suspicions were correct."
Tonks looked at him pleading. "Do you believe us?"
Kingsley took his time with his answer. Reluctantly, the Auror finally said, "I won't arrest Black for now, but I want to speak to him personally before making any further decisions."
Tonks nodded in relief and affirmed: "I didn't want to make a fool of you. We simply saw no other way to protect Sirius."
"Who is 'we'? You mean you and Mr. Lupin?" Kingsley asked suspiciously.
When Tonks did not answer immediately, he bent over impatiently. "Don't even try lying to me. I'm going to find out the truth anyway."
Resigned, Tonks told him what he wanted to know. "Alastor Moody ins in it too, and... ...Dumbledore."
Kingsley didn't seem shocked, rather mildly surprised. "The old man won't let up, will he? I mean, even now that he's retired, Alastor still takes his calling very seriously."
"More seriously than ever," Tonks agreed with a smile. "However, his influence in the Ministry is limited since his reputation has suffered so much. And as for Dumbledore... ...I assume you read the Daily Prophet."
Kingsley nodded with a frown. "Yes, we've been reading quite a bit lately. So, you're with Dumbledore too?" He looked at Remus. "I thought after what happened at Hogwarts, he'd dissolved his relationship with you."
"On the contrary, I went voluntarily. It seemed wiser to leave the school at that moment."
"Will you be returning to Hogwarts?" Kingsley was interested.
Remus shook his head... "No, I'm afraid that's not possible, given the prejudices of some school boards ... and I've already found a new occupation." Tonks looked at him in surprise.
"Surely that's not distracting my staff and sabotaging missions?" Kingsley asked angrily.
"No, that's not true!" protested Tonks vigorously, but Kingsley didn't let her finish.
„ ... Which brings me to another point: How could such a simple assignment get so out of hand? Tonks! Your work here was flawed at best, due to the fact that you tried to coordinate two missions at once. But that doesn't justify Fenrir Greyback attacking a child out of the blue and risking turning the local pack against himself. How do you explain this?"
At the thought of the dead child, Tonks felt a big lump in her throat. Had Ruster Skoll not turned Greyback against the Cardiff werewolves by protecting Tonks from him, Greyback might not have dared to hunt in foreign territory. Tonks hadn't known he was coming to the meeting and she hadn't asked for Ruster's help, but the thought of possibly being responsible for a child's death still was terrifying. At that moment she felt an overwhelming need to tell Kingsley the truth and admit her guilt.
"We were at a pack meeting outside the city last night. Greyback and other Death Eaters were there. It's true, You-Know-Who's followers have a really strong influence on the werewolves. Greyback saw me and when it became clear he could not hunt me without consequences, he got angry. We left the meeting in a rush, so I can't say what the mood was at the end and whether our run-in may have contributed to Greyback's desire for revenge on the pack."
Both Kingsley and Remus dropped their jaws. Kingsley said, "How could you both be at the meeting?" while Remus looked at Tonks and said, with consternation, "You blame yourself!" Tonks just shrugged her shoulders, affirmative.
In Kingsley's eyes, who hadn't noticed their little exchange of words, insight was shining. He nodded understanding and pointed to Remus. "You were the door opener. With you as a partner it was possible to attend the private meetings of the pack. Which would also mean..." Once again, Kingsley looked like he had just realized something. He looked at Remus. "You've been conducting the werewolf camp investigation on your own the entire time. The pack wasn't familiar with Tonks, but they were familiar with you. What was she doing all week when she wasn't doing her job?" Kingsley kept thinking, as if Remus and Tonks weren't even there. Finally, he asked, "You planted the false leads on Black yourself? You travelled all over Britain in a week without anyone noticing?" He seemed a little impressed.
Tonks shrugged. "I flew and stayed only in Muggle towns."
"But Black has been seen in some of those places..." Kingsley looked at Tonks with approval. "It seems I've made far too little use of your shape-shifting abilities. But that's about to change."
Tonks gasped surprised. "So, I'm not fired? You won't report us?"
Sternly, Kingsley shook his head. "I'd be a fool to pass up working with two such promising partners."
There was a knock at the door as Tonks was putting the last pair of socks in her backpack.
Remus came in before she could invite him. When he saw her tear-stained face, it looked like he was about to leave the room. But then he put down his bag and set down next to her on the creaky bed. Tonks' narrow shoulders trembled from the deep sobs that wouldn't stop breaking out of it. She laid her forehead against Remus' shoulder, soaking his jacket. He didn't pay any attention to it but stroked her back reassuringly without saying a word. Only when Tonks still hadn't gotten herself together after a few minutes did he whisper: "Please, don't blame yourself for this. Tonks, really ... this is destroying you."
She tensed up. Suddenly, she was terribly embarrassed. She was acting like a child. Struggling to find her composure, she got up and wiped away the remaining tears. With a trembling voice she tried to explain how she felt. "It's... it's as if we did everything wrong... and now this child had to pay for our mistakes." She buried her face in her hands, both desperate and angry. "And I'm scared. Kingsley found out I'd been lying to him for weeks. Our fate is in his hands. And that of Sirius. What if Kingsley arrests him in spite of everything? He'll end up in Azkaban, and so will I. ...Unless I'm mauled by a vengeful werewolf first or You-know-who decides to take over the Ministry. Everything seems to be slipping away from me, and there's no point in pretending it's not my fault!
Remus put his hands on her shoulders. In his gaze lay both compassion and severity. "Do not allow such thoughts. Everyone who knows you knows your intentions are honorable and you have acted to the best of your ability. I do not want these concerns to cloud your thinking and prevent you from looking forward."
Without Tonks being able to do anything about it, a last tear rolled down her cheek. Remus offered her a clean handkerchief decisively. His gaze was resolute and would not tolerate contradiction. "We cannot afford weakness. Great tasks lie ahead of us and I need the Tonks at my side that will stand up for others. ...or who, out of the blue, will challenge me to duel..."
She smiled at him through her tears. In Remus' face lay the uncompromising honesty she so appreciated in him and, at the same time, something else that she was less able to place. Similar to worry, but in a different, more intense way...
Remus lowered his arms and looked into her eyes. "So, are you ready?"
Tonks sniffed one last time and then nodded.
Together they descended into the taproom at the Y Ddraig Goch, where Kingsley was waiting for them. Wistfully, Tonks looked around one last time. She had grown very fond of the inn, the whole magic quarter and the people who lived there. The short time she had spent here, although overshadowed by a strenuous mission and some unpleasant encounters, had felt a bit like a holiday.
A short rest before they entered the war against You-Know-Who.
Like the calm before a storm.
