Author's note: message me if you think you've cracked the Death Eater Potions Club mystery!
Chapter 9 - Trouble Brewing
"My favourite food?" Remus asked, a neatly arched eyebrow raised in amusement.
"Yeah that's what I asked, Remus," chuckled Tonks.
"Oh. Er. Well, what about you?" Remus replied, flushing slightly.
Tonks found his embarrassment over the merest personal question to be rather adorable. He's such an awkward bookworm, she thought fondly.
"Nope, you first," said Tonks. "Come on, what's the shortlist?"
"Very rare meat," said Remus quietly. "For reasons that you can probably understand."
"What about salmon?" Tonks asked, unperturbed. "Apparently wolves hunt salmon in shallow rivers."
Remus was staring at her oddly.
"I didn't meant to offend you - anyway, I like a nice, bloody steak, too," said Tonks quickly. "Though my favourite is probably some sort of spicy Indian. Or carbonara."
He smiled disarmingly, and she felt much relieved. She felt something entirely unlike relief when she noticed that his eyes were shining and his head was inclined, as if he were on a date.
"Alright Tonks, favourite dessert?" Remus asked, finally getting into the spirit of things.
"Chocolate cheesecake," said Tonks. "Yours?"
"Just chocolate."
"Favourite drink?"
"Merlot."
"Same! Favourite sexual position?"
"Tonks," said Remus reproachfully, face and neck flushing.
"I'm your favourite sexual position? Oh - Yaxley," said Tonks, voice quietening hastily as she saw their target enter the pub. She fished some sickles out of her pocket and slapped them down on the table.
"Yaxley's your preferred angle?" Remus asked, his eyebrows kicked up in the manner which Tonks had come to like.
****break*****
When they made it back to Grimmauld Place, Tonks suggested they go through their notes on all of the Death Eaters' trips to Diagon and Knockturn Alley.
"We know they're almost definitely involved in a big portion-brewing project. We've got so many ingredients now that we should be able to work out what it is!" Tonks said cheerfully.
He agreed, but suggested they move to the library upstairs, which was warmer. For the first time, Tonks properly registered just how threadbare his jumper was.
In the library at Grimmauld Place, Tonks stoked the fire, removed her jacket and made herself comfortable on a low, squashy red sofa. She shrugged her cardigan off, so she was wearing only a thin, pale pink, silky camisole. The air in the library was cold on her flushed skin, but her bare arm was hot where it caught the fire's radiant heat. A few minutes later, Remus returned. She looked up from her notes to see a flustered expression on his face.
"Everything alright?" Tonks asked.
Remus blinked a few times, smoothing out his frown, then nodded and made his way toward the armchair next to her sofa. As Remus settled his hands on the chair's armrests, Tonks snuck a peak at him. He had big hands; too big for his wrists. Rather than giving an impression of solid, muscular power, his broad shoulders were like a coat hanger in his jumper - he was a large-framed man undernourished.
"Alright then, Remus, get your notes out," Tonks raised her left eyebrow suggestively, leaning across the sofa in order to see his journal.
He blushed slightly, withdrawing his neatly-kept journal. Hers was a mess - pages folded down in the top right corner, numerous arrows and corrections, the odd coffee stain and cramped writing up the margins. She admired the way his hands appeared to cup the front and back covers of the book, thinking she would very much like to give him something else to cup. Men's hands - with their long fingers, big knuckles and prominent veins - always got her going, she reflected. Staring at a male index finger and imagining it curling inside her was not exactly unfamiliar to her - even though the offending hands belonged to a thirty-something werewolf and friend of her newfound cousin.
She snapped out of it.
"Oh perfect, I knew yours would be neater than mine," said Tonks, peering at the page to confirm that both of them had listed the same items:
2 July 1995
Yaxley: Antidote to uncommon poisons, dragon's liver, stewed mandrake, bubotuber puss, syrup of Hellebore, anti-tick tonic.
Inquired about, but did not buy: anthelmintic, powdered moonstone.
9 July 1995
Carrow: Flobberworm mucus, horklump juice, unicorn horn.
Sold Borgin and Burkes a string of shrunken heads.
As Tonks leaned over, Remus moved his hand from the armrest to his thigh. However, Tonks's rapidly-turning-indecent thoughts were interrupted by the door banging open and Sirius striding into the library.
"Moony! Tonks! This looks cozy," said Sirius, throwing himself down on the sofa next to Tonks as she moved to put distance between herself and Remus.
"Hi, Sirius. Erm, we're just doing some Order stuff," said Tonks.
"Excellent! What have you got and what are you puzzling over?" Sirius responded cheerfully.
Tonks glanced warily at Remus. Sirius was in the mood that Tonks had come to recognise as 'Black Family Mania'. He was excited, happy, enthusiastic - and more vulnerable than usual to a fit of morose fury. If Sirius tipped over the edge of enthusiasm, only Remus - with his delightfully mild, low voice and slow, calm movements - would be able to contain the damage. Tonks idly mused that their roles were perfectly reversed one day in every twenty eight, when it fell to Sirius to soothe the beast and manage the fallout of its actions.
"Sirius, it really would be best if you left us to it," said Remus. "We can join you later - assuming Tonks has time."
"Moony, you're sitting in the library, not following Death Eaters through Diagon Alley" said Sirius. "Three heads are better than two, surely?"
"We're just listing potion ingredients," said Tonks. "You aren't missing much."
"Well then," said Sirius, his voice now steely. "I can help. I was a damn sight better at potions than Moony here."
"Sirius, I don't think that's a good idea," said Remus.
"What, you think even sitting in a LIBRARY listing potion ingredients is "TOO DANGEROUS" for me, do you?!" Sirius exploded. "Am I not even fit to look through bookshelves?"
Remus tried to soothe him: "it's not a question of fitness, Sirius-"
"-then what?" Sirius demanded.
"Sirius, please let us do this. We'll keep you company later," said Tonks.
"Fine! If you two are going to gang up on me, that's FUCKING FINE!" Sirius shouted, storming from the room and banging the door ferociously.
"Sorry about that," said Remus, once Sirius had left. "I worried that if he was allowed to become involved in our work, he would be further motivated to defy Dumbledore's orders and leave the house."
"Yeah, I reckon I can see him running around in dog form, chasing down leads," said Tonks.
Tonks got up to throw another piece of wood on the fire and Remus returned his attention to their task, informing her that Yaxley had sold rather than bought in Borgin and Burke's and asking her about the Death Eater's purchases in Mulpepper's.
"Yaxley bought Galanthus Nivalis, which is latin for snowdrops - and it's bad news, by the way, but we'll come to that later. He also got sloth brain mucus, moondew, Wiggentree bark and he inquired about a discount on a large quantity of powdered moonstone. Mulpepper agreed to that, but he didn't seem happy about it," said Tonks, who had been the one to follow Yaxley into Mulpepper's Apothecary. "Would you like to add the info I got when I was with Hestia?"
The question was a formality, because she did not want to seem bossy. She knew he'd say yes - it was his job, after all.
Remus answered as predicted and Tonks decided to dictate from her notes, instead of leaving Remus to decipher them.
"Macnair: restorative draughts, chizpurfle fangs, small quantity of readymade Wiggenweld potion. Flesh eating slug repellent and a jar of honeywater (from the sweet shop)."
"Avery: Porcupine quills, lionfish spines and salamander blood. Unidentified book."
Tonks settled back down on the sofa, and basked in the glow of the fire. She adored the smell and heat of an open fire. Firelight also suited Remus, she noticed - the lines in his face appeared less stark and his colour was warmer and healthier.
"The Black family have quite the library," said Remus. "There are bound to be some potion texts in here - and given Walburga's proclivities, they won't shy away from potions with nefarious uses."
"How about you look for potions books, and I'll write down what I know about the uses of each ingredient?" Tonks suggested, barely finishing the sentence before she let out a huge yawn.
He smiled indulgently at her tiredness, increased the room's brightness with a wave of his wand and began sorting through the bookshelves lining the walls.
Tonks's task took her less than five minutes, perhaps partly because she resisted the urge to draw brewing diagrams in the margins. She leant back to admire her neatest writing, but realised that it looked childish because she hadn't tried to write neatly in almost five years:
Death Eater Potions Club
Dragon's liver - doxycide and healing potion
Stewed mandrake - mandrake restorative draught (for someone petrified by basilisk), Wiggenweld (healing) potion, Oculus (eyesight restoration) potion, memory potion
Bubotuber puss - acne removal, fake protective potions, healing potion.
Syrup of Hellebore - draught of peace, volublis potion (changes drinker's voice), potion no 86 (experimental poison).
Flobberworm Mucus - herbicide, cure for boils, wiggenweld, sleeping draught
Horklump Juice - herbicide, wiggenweld
Unicorn Horn - antidote to common poisions, wiggenweld, occulus, draught of peace
Chizpurfle Fangs - wiggenweld
Porcupine Quills - cure for boils, euphoria elixir, hair raising potion and the draught of peace
Lionfish Spines - herbicide, wiggenweld
Salamander Blood - strengthening solution, fire protection potion, wiggenweld
Snowdrops - Exstimulo Potion (enhances the power of a spell), memory potion
Sloth brain mucus - living death, wiggenweld
Moondew - living death, common poisons, wiggenweld
Powdered Moonstone - amortentia (love potion) and draught of peace (anti-anxiety potion)
Wiggentree Bark - wiggenweld
She magically copied the list and placed a copy on the side table next to Remus's armchair. Remus, however, did not appear to be having much luck in finding potion brewing texts. He had removed only two books from the shelves.
"Well, the Tonks Encyclopaedia of Potioneering is on the table!" Tonks announced.
"I'm relieved to hear that, because I don't think these will be very useful," said Remus, looking intently at her ingredients note.
"Hard to escape the conclusion that they're brewing Wiggenweld," said Tonks lightly. "They bought a test quantity, and most of those ingredients are used for Wiggenweld, In fact, some aren't used for anything else."
"I cannot help but wonder why," said Remus. "Voldemort has never shown his supporters great compassion. It would be most unlike him to set up a quasi-infirmary prior to ordering an attack."
"He doesn't have many supporters left, does he?" Tonks reasoned. "He might not have a choice, if he wants to keep an army."
"Yes, some of his best are in Azkaban. It may be in Voldemort's interest to preserve the few henchmen that he does have," said Remus doubtfully.
"You don't think that's it?" Tonks asked, slightly impatient. "Only Remus, they're almost definitely brewing Wiggenweld."
"What about the ingredients that aren't used for Wiggenweld?" Remus asked.
"Snowdrops have me a bit worried - they're used in a potion that magnifies the power of a spell. Voldemort's had trouble killing Harry, hasn't he? What if he wants to take this before casting the avada kedavra?" Tonks shivered.
Remus seemed to be considering this option.
"And the remaining ingredients?" He asked.
"Dragon's liver isn't used for Wiggenweld - but it is used for a healing potion and doxycide," Tonks said briskly. "Bubotuber puss is used for healing potion - and hoax potions and acne treatments. Syrup of Hellebore is mainly used in poisons but it's also used in a potion which changes someone's voice - kind of like polyjuice, but for voices - and in the draught of peace, which is used to treat anxiety and panic. Powdered moonstone is also used in the draught of peace and in love potion. Remus, I don't think the death eaters want to treat anxiety or get rid of pimples or doxies."
"If indeed they are making Wiggenweld, it stands to reason they may also make another another type of healing potion," said Remus. "I would not be at all surprised to discover that they want a voice-changing potion to complement polyjuice. A big flaw of polyjuice potion is that it doesn't change the drinker's voice. The potion you mentioned would be a game-changer. They could imitate anyone, without spending time covertly observing that person and learning to copy their voice."
"And the love potion?" Tonks asked. "Because as far as I know, powdered moonstone is only used in love and anti-anxiety potions."
"I'm not sure," Remus replied. "It is a dangerous tool in the wrong hands, but its use is very situational and I have no idea why they would want it."
Tonks privately felt that the voice-changing potion was a likely candidate. With that and polyjuice, any Death Eater could passably imitate Dumbledore or Cornelius Fudge tomorrow. However, if they assumed the ingredients were being used for Wiggenweld, generic healing potion and a voice-changing potion, that still left porcupine quills and powdered moonstone.
"As far as I know, porcupine quills are only used in boil cures, euphoria elixir, hair-raising potion and the draught of peace," said Tonks. "I can't see Death Eaters wanting to brew any of those."
"Perhaps we should talk to Snape," said Remus, grimacing. "He really is an expert in this field. I don't think you're incompetent, but you are primarily an auror, whereas Snape is primarily a potioneer and he-"
"It's ok, Remus," said Tonks, slightly amused. "No one's better at brewing - or knows more about rare dark potions - than our greasy git. Shall I ask, or will you?"
"Er…probably best if I do," Remus said. "Snape and I have a difficult relationship, but we were at school together. However, you were his student."
"And I did brilliant impressions of him - yeah, I know," grinned Tonks. "Though I had to study him for years before I managed to perfect that drawl. Could have used a voice-changing potion!"
****break****
Wednesday night's order meeting was scheduled mercifully late, and Tonks was able to leave the Ministry at half past eight - a respectable time for a junior auror to knock off. After that one promising omen, everything went wrong.
Sirius showed up fairly trollied, and studiously ignored everyone (Tonks and Remus included). Dumbledore was uncharacteristically grumpy and Snape was given pride of place in the seat to the old man's right.
"Severus has embarked upon a very sensitive mission," announced Dumbledore. "As most of you know, Severus is our spy and an extremely accomplished occlumens. Severus depends upon that skill for his survival, and we depend upon it for our success. Voldemort has taken to delving quite thoroughly into Severus's mind; so far, he has been able to show Voldemort only the memories he wishes the dark wizard to see, but he is only human and a small slip-up is not unlikely. Therefore, I wish to limit the flow of information from the rest of the Order to Severus, for all of our sakes."
Tonks and Remus glanced at each other, and then whispered their agreement that they should intercept Dumbledore on his way out.
Dumbledore regarded them from behind flashing little spectacles, his voice cooler and more clipped than usual.
"Have you mentioned anything about this task to Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
"Nothing," Remus said quickly.
"I am most relieved to hear that," said Dumbledore. "Your task, more than almost any other that the Order is presently undertaking, must be concealed from Severus."
Remus and Tonks exchanged confused looks.
"Er, Dumbledore," began Tonks. "I don't want to be rude, but how could following Death Eaters through Diagon Alley be that important? I mean, anyone could get this information just by tracking them."
Dumbledore frowned.
"Miss Tonks, are you suggesting that the task which I have assigned to you is beneath you?"
"No," Tonks said quickly.
Dumbledore shot her a piercing look.
"Was that an honest answer?" Dumbledore asked.
"No," admitted Tonks. "Or…it's not that I think it's beneath me, it's that I'm worried that you think I'm too useless for anything more difficult or dangerous."
"Anyone could not do this task," said Dumbledore, a fraction more gently. "You will have noticed that you have been sent on every single shopping trip of which Mundungus has advised us? But your partner has changed, from time to time?"
"I thought that was because you couldn't spare Remus or Hestia every time," Tonks admitted.
"Not at all," said Dumbledore, rather coolly. "You are uniquely placed to handle this task. You can assume limitless disguises, so as to pass through Diagon Alley unrecognised. If Remus had accompanied you on all of your outings, he would have been recognised and the Death Eaters would quickly have stopped their shopping trips.
"You also have the fourth-highest NEWT Potions mark of any member of the Order. You are behind only Severus, as you may have anticipated, Minerva and myself. I am counting on you to understand the significance of each ingredient."
"I'm sorry," said Tonks. "I should have known you would't have someone in the Order if you thought they were useless."
"Indeed not," said Dumbledore curtly. "Was there anything else?"
"Why must it be kept secret from Sna- er…Severus?" Tonks asked.
"I am quite certain that Severus is entirely ignorant of any plan surrounding potion brewing," said Dumbledore. "Voldemort has no better potion brewer than Severus. That Voldemort did not put Severus in charge of this entire project, but instead concealed its existence from him, suggests that he mistrusts Severus. Voldemort has combed - and will continue to comb - Severus's mind, searching for evidence of betrayal. There is already much that Severus must hide - I do not wish to add to that. It is better if Severus is entirely innocent of the knowledge."
"D'you reckon I could borrow a book or two of his?" Tonks asked. "If I lied to him and said it was for Auror work?"
"That is a question which you must ask Severus," said Dumbledore primly. "Though I advise you to make the lie convincing. Now, if there's nothing else?"
Remus shook his head, and their leader swept from the room in a flurry of sparkling silver robes.
*****break*****
Remus spent Thursday trying to stay out of Sirius's way. This was not a difficult mission - Sirius did not stir until midday (Remus strongly suspected that the man had a monumental hangover), and then he seemed similarly eager to avoid an encounter. Remus heard the other man's bedroom door bang open shortly after he closed his own, and Sirius never went near the library.
By midday on Friday, Remus had decided that he and his oldest, best friend were behaving ridiculously. Usually, one of them would fix a reasonably pleasant, nutritionally complete dinner for two. Remus decided that tonight he would make a gourmet meal, as a peace offering. And for that, he would need to make a trip to Diagon Alley.
Remus felt that a cheap but labour-intensive recipe was the order of the day - something special that Sirius would never make for himself, but which wouldn't weigh too heavily on his friend's charity. For a fleeting second, he felt like a child using his parent's money to buy their birthday gift, but he metaphorically shook himself. No point dwelling on his poverty, nor on the life that he felt he was rightly owed.
He went first to Blackwood's Culinary Herbs and Spices, near the Diagon Alley entrance to Mulpepper's. Cumin, black mustard, fennel, dried chillies, curry leaves and smoked paprika went in the bag. He'd use them throughout his stay at Grimmauld place, and experiment with a few more dishes. They were an investment and would cover many dinners, he reminded himself as he handed over a few galleons in exchange for some tiny jars and paper bags.
At the grocer's, he assuaged his financial anxiety by purchasing brown onions, tinned tomatoes and the cheapest sacks of yellow lentils and rice that he could find. However, this moment of thrift may have been negated by the next items on his list: garlic, large aubergines, fresh spinach, coconut milk and ghee. He wrapped a hand around a particularly bell-like, plump aubergine and picked it up to feel its weight and firmness.
As he was admiring the taut flesh, a woman appeared over the baskets of phallic produce. She was tall, lean and scantily clad, with a spectacular cascade of dark, twisting ringlets. She also had, he noticed entirely too quickly, pin-up tits. Her breasts were held in a kind of bra-cup structure - he took a minute to realise that she was wearing a corset as a top, having had precious little firsthand experience of lingerie - which thrust them out and forward. Unhelpfully, it was dark aubergine in colour. He could imagine substituting the curve of the purple-black vegetable in his hand for one of her breasts. Between those ridiculous tits glinted a cruel-looking silver needle pendant, tipped with a ruby. She was also wearing skin-tight black trousers, which showed off the sharp curve from her waist to her hip. He couldn't see it, but he imagined she had an arse to match.
And she was smirking wickedly at the manner in which he was holding the aubergine.
"Wotcher, Remus!"
Tonks.
Fuck.
He had no idea why she was here in the grocer's, morphed into a delicious, dark temptress and wearing head to toe leather. After a second of innocent puzzlement, it dawned on Remus that he had just fantasised about palming one of her (admittedly morphed) breasts. He was shocked and horrified, and a prickle of dread spread through his veins. His cock continued to twinge. The knowledge that the woman was Tonks had not dimmed his arousal at all; though his shame increased tenfold, he could not truthfully have said that he was surprised.
That afternoon in the library had been the start. She'd got him hot and bothered while they were following Death Eaters in Diagon Alley - unintentionally, of course. He'd watched her throat convulse with laughter and put his sewer-tier thoughts down to general sexual frustration. He was handling this unfortunate situation perfectly fine, until the library. The library where she'd removed her outer layers, right down to a deliciously slinky camisole (through which her nipples were visible - perhaps the permanent chill in Grimmauld place was deliberate) that would feel silky and cool beneath his palms as he groped her breasts, against his lips as he wet her nipples through the fabric, against his balls as he hovered over her chest with the head of his cock in her eager, wet mouth. He'd been appalled, but still needed to cast a quick instant-impotence charm on himself.
And then she'd looked up quite innocently, and asked him if he was alright. If she only knew.
Well, perhaps she knew now. Perhaps some horrendously lecherous expression had flitted across his face, because Tonks suddenly wheeled around and strode away from the aubergines.