33

Tonks staggered backward the moment the Pensieve's chosen memory came to an end, and she would have likely stumbled back onto the couch had Remus not shot out an arm to catch her around the waist to prevent his wife from falling.

She shot him a grateful look with her eyes, silently trying to thank her husband for catching her fall. Lupin silently returned his wife's look with one of his own that said he didn't.

"Oh, Ollie," she whispered in a hoarse voice, blearily struggling to focus her still somewhat dizzy gaze more than a few feet in front of her, as she lifted her chin and met her friend's gaze. "How could you? What were you thinking, Ol? Your own wife?" she asked, the words feeling sticky in her throat as she swallowed past a lump.

Her best mate seemed to suddenly have trouble meeting her gaze as his pale cheeks were now flushed high with color and he turned his gaze towards the fireplace instead, before slowly swiveling his head towards his wife, Norah, who was in the midst of tending to one of Sirius's wounds.

"Should we call for a Healer to come to the house, love, do you think?" Norah questioned Ollie in a serious tone, either ignoring Tonks's desperate question she had just posed to her husband or having missed it completely, too engrossed in her work.

Blood was seeping out of Black's shoulder, Tonks noticed, with a sickening feeling of dread swooping in the pit of her stomach and she felt physically sick, though not at the sight of her cousin's wounds, but rather, at what he'd done.

You…you took Norah's memories?! Ollie, how could you keep something like this from her?! What were you thinking?! She yelled, communicating with the man in their impossible shared telepathy, a gift that was unique only to the two of them in this room.

Ollie's blush intensified if such a thing was at all possible, and even in his mind, his words were faint, and he sounded shamefaced to her.

I…there was no other WAY, Dora. I didn't want her to…to see that side of me. I was afraid she would leave me, Ollie answered bitterly, a muscle in his jaw twitching and his blue eyes hardening in his growing anger and annoyance.

Does your wife know the truth? Tonks posed, already feeling she had her answer, judging by the look of hurt and shame in the man's eyes. It seemed to take him an eternity, even in his own way, to find his voice, even inside his mind.

No. Ollie pursed his lips into a thin line and, not wanting to meet his best mate's gaze, flitted his attention towards that of his wife, who was still doing what she could to tend to Black's wounds, much to his chagrin, Tonks noticed.

Tonks felt her heart sink to the pit of her churning stomach as she watched the spritely little blonde do what she could to help Sirius.

A man she doesn't even remember, she thought, feeling her grey eyes widen in horror. A steady current of red crimson liquid had erupted from Sirius's shoulder, pulling her out of the tormented thoughts of her own mind for a moment, for which, Tonks guessed she was grateful for the temporary distraction to take her mind off what Ollie had done to his poor wife.

Well, girlfriend at the time.

With a frustrated huff, Norah reached over the little side table that rested to the armchair's immediate left that Black was occupying, hoping to still the blood flow, but Sirius smacked her hand away.

Tonks inwardly flinched as she witnessed a flicker of anger dart through Ollie's burning bright blue eyes as her best mate half rose from his chair, his lips parted open to speak as if he fully intended to yell at Sirius for more or less touching his wife, though upon Norah peeking back over her shoulder and shooting Ollie a pointed look and a curt shake of her head.

Tonks heard him sigh in exasperation before wearily collapsing back against his black leather armchair, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger in utter exhaustion.

She felt Remus relax beside her, with Lupin having moved to stand almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Tonks, as he'd risen from his spot on the living room sofa, the fingers of his wand curled tightly around the handle of his wand, ready to intervene if need be at the first sign of any trouble, from anyone in the room, she knew. Remus shot her a silently withering look, communicating without so many words that he greatly disapproved of Ollie's actions back then.

She returned the look with one of her own that suggested she silently agreed, before returning her attention back to Ollie. Will you tell her, Ol?

I… The man seemed to give a start at her words, slowly lifting his head from his hands and turning rather sanguinely in his chair to look at his best mate, having opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he was about to say to her in his mind was cut off by the sound of Sirius's yell.

He let out a hiss as Norah gingerly dabbed at the wound with a bloodied, old handkerchief.

"You might not be a certified Healer, Mrs. Brennan, but I'd rather have you tend this than some bumbling old fool at St. Mungo's," he said. Sitting almost perfectly still, Sirius watched with cold eyes as Norah struggled to tend to him. The flow of blood in the man's right arm had begun to slow, and Norah silently praised Merlin.

"I would say this is going to hurt like hell, Black," Norah weakly joked towards Sirius in a pitiful attempt to diffuse the mounting tension in both Tonks's cousin and her husband, "but then I think I'd be stating the obvious. Hold still."

With those words, Norah's now red-stained long, slender fingers wound themselves around a strip of fresh gauze before swiftly tying the material into a tight knot, making a makeshift tourniquet.

Tonks flinched as she watched Sirius suck in a sharp breath, but that was the only noise her handsome cousin made.

Naturally, Tonks thought darkly to herself sarcastically at the noise. Black is immune to pain, isn't he?! When the man's shoulder was finally wrapped and bandaged with fresh gauze, Norah backed away, the nervousness she'd felt when she'd started now fully disappeared when she'd begun work on the man's wound coming back in force.

Tonks could tell by the dawning look of horror in Sirius's eyes, that upon laying eyes on the young blonde, the Memory Charm Ollie had put him under must have ceased to work on the man.

He knows, Ollie, Tonks offered in her mind. Ollie, in turn, shot her a pointed look that told Tonks without the man having to say a word, that he knew that. Merlin's Beard, but did he know.

"We have to tell Norah, this isn't right, keeping this from her, Dora," Remus whispered, lowering his voice to a level that only Tonks could possibly hear, leaning forward and to the side slightly so he could whisper it into the shell of her right ear.

Ollie wrung his hands, looking anywhere but at his wife, too ashamed, Tonks guessed, to look at her, feeling unclean and unworthy of his wife, if she knew her best mate's thoughts and feelings, and by now, into their years-long friendship, she liked to think that she did, thank you very much.

We have to tell her, Ollie. You know it's best, and it's the right thing to do. She's your WIFE, Ol. Those are the memories you stole from her. She deserves to know the truth. Should you tell, or should I?

Tonks pressed the Legilimens in what she hoped was a cautious but guarded tone, fully steeling herself for another of Ollie's outbursts.

When her words did not elicit any kind of response from her best friend, who merely proceeded to let out a low moan and buried his head in his hands, carding his fingers through his thick tuft of short jet-black hair in utter agony, Tonks decided it was going to have to come from her. Oh, but Merlin, she was going to hate this! Could tonight possibly get any worse?

Apparently, it could. Renee was kidnapped, quite possibly dead, with no clue where to begin searching for her and to top it all off, her best mate had modified her friend—his wife's own memories against her will, and that of Sirius's, more to the point!

"Norah, I…" Tonks hesitated, biting down hard on her bottom lip enough to bleed, visibly wincing as the young blonde slowly lifted her head to look at Tonks, the curiousness in her bright blue eyes dimmed, and the smile slid off her face instantly.

"What's wrong, Tonks? Do you want water or something? Are you sick? You're looking pale. Can I get you something?" Norah asked, her face paling as she took a seat next to Ollie, perching herself on the right armrest of his chair.

The blonde's eyebrows knitted together with worry and concern as her gaze raked over Tonks's rapidly paling face as Tonks struggled to find her words. Tonks swallowed thickly, trying again.

"No, I…th—there's…something I need to tell you, Norah, and it's not going to be easy to hear, but you need to listen to me and hear me out," Tonks stammered, squeezing her eyes shut, feeling like a blind and bloody fool for having to be the one to do this to her, but they had no choice.

Remus was right. Norah deserved to know, and those were her memories. She had that right to know the full truth of what had happened that night.

Tonks exhaled a shaking breath through her nose as her friend and colleague at the Ministry merely stared at her from her perch on the chair's armrest, sitting, waiting, acting as a patient, polite adult while Tonks struggled to formulate an apt response to tell Norah what she had just witnessed alongside Lupin in the Pensieve, but she was having trouble finding the words.

For several long moments, there was nothing but the sound of the crackling fire in the living room fireplace.

Tonks shifted, a bit awkwardly, and fidgeted with her fingers, toying with her simple gold wedding band on her left ring finger, unable to shake off the growing feeling of great unease that had settled on her shoulders like a heavy boulder, feeling more like a weighted burden. She almost regretted speaking at all. Almost.

"Y—you were there, that night, a—at the Three Broomsticks, the night Ollie and Sirius got into a brawl," Tonks hastily explained, wanting to get this conversation over with as soon as possible. "Y—your husband, to—to save you the pain of remembering what happened, well, he…he modified your memory and erased it off that night completely. That was why you couldn't recognize Sirius earlier when he woke up…"

She winced the moment the words left her lips, realizing they hadn't been the best way to start off the confession that Ollie was too ashamed to make for himself. In truth, she was stricken with a horrible feeling of betrayal, feeling this wasn't her business at all, but here she was, caught in the middle.

Though, considering all other topics that could delicately broach such a sensitive subject, maybe it was just best to dive right in and get it out into the open.

She shook her head and chuckled humorlessly in the attempt to hope to diffuse the mounting tension in the living room.

"He loves you, with all his heart. He—he was looking out for you, a—and he did what he thought was best at the time in order to protect you," Tonks hastily explained, seeing the antagonized hurt welling within Norah's burning bright blue eyes. She clamped her mouth shut the moment she realized her words were not exactly helping.

She bit her bottom lip and had trouble meeting her dear friend's questioning, piercing gaze as tears began to flood Norah's bright blue eyes, burning with anger and hurt as she forced herself to focus on Ollie.

Norah lacked the strength to wipe them away. "H—how could you do that to me, Ol?"

The hurt look on her husband's face was alone to confirm the horrifying truth, coupled with the fact the Legilimens could barely meet her gaze and force himself to look his wife in the eyes. She then felt the blood that ran through her veins stop cold, and the blood within surged through the young blonde's veins and threatened to freeze her whole insides now.

Ollie breathed in a deep breath and blearily lifted his chin to better look his wife in the eyes.

"I—I did what I thought was best for you, love." His voice was very nearly shaking, as he knew anything he said might only anger his wife even more than she already was. "It was the only thing I could think of."

"Y—you lied to me, Ollie," Norah cried, blinking back tears, and finding it more increasingly difficult to do so as she bolted to her feet, restlessly pacing in front of the fireplace, and running her fingers through her hair. "I—I shouldn't even want to talk to you after something like this!" Norah yelled.

"You're still not hearing me, sweetheart, I—I did what I had to in order to protect you," Ollie stared over at Norah with wide blue eyes as he rose from his chair, flinching as he noticed Lupin and Tonks slowly rose from their spot as if to intervene, but they quickly sat back down upon being on the receiving end of a harsh glower from Moody.

"Stand down," Moody barked gruffly, addressing solely Lupin and Tonks. "This is their issue to hash out, you two. Don't interfere," he growled in a low warning tone.

Tonks made an odd little strangled noise at the back of her throat, though upon feeling the tempered grip of Lupin's hand rest on her shoulder, she felt the tension in her shoulders leave her wound up muscles and she reluctantly allowed herself to relax, giving her a curt nod of her head towards Mad-Eye, before turning her attention back to her two married best friends' argument.

Tonks settled her gaze on Norah and Ollie again just in time to see Ollie gingerly approach his wife, only for Norah to shove his chest just then at that particular second. Not as hard as the witch likely could have, but hard enough to catch Ollie off guard, causing the Legilimens to stumble backward a few paces.

Norah swallowed past the lump in her throat, blinking back tears. "How could you, Ollie? Why?! Did you think me to be weak, that I couldn't handle it? All these years, you didn't tell me!"

"Norah, sweetheart, please, just—just let me explain!" Ollie exclaimed, raising his hands in slight self-defense, feeling his breaths become caught in his throat after his wife had shoved him. He wasn't hurt, by any means, at least not physically, but the fact that Norah had lashed out at him physically after the truth was revealed was unsettling.

"Why should I?" Norah all but screamed as she shoved her husband, harder this time. "You won't tell me the truth!"

Ollie flinched as he stumbled back a few paces, almost colliding into the armrest of the chair in front of the fire that Sirius happened to be resting in. He was breathing even harder now as he widened his eyes to stare in shock and confusion at the smoldering, fathomless, burning pits of glacier-blue staring right back into his eyes.

"I know you're angry with me, Nor," he spoke in as calm a tone as he could manage, which even this was difficult considering how much his voice shook, 'but everything's going to be just fine, sweetheart, you'll see. I—"

But Norah interrupted her husband before he could say his piece, by shoving him again, even harder this time as he approached her.

"Everything WON'T be fine, Ollie! You—you betrayed my trust! How could you keep that from me, Ollie? You stole my memories from me, I had the right to know what happened! I—I would have forgiven you, Ol, you know that, but I can see it now, that you don't trust me enough, that you don't think me capable of handling the plain truth, Ollie! You think I'm weak, don't you, just because I'm a werewolf?! That, what, I need protecting?!" she yelled, and when she exhaled a shaking breath and continued to speak to her husband again, her voice was lower, much calmer than before, causing Tonks to flinch.

For Ollie's sake, she almost would have preferred it had Norah just shouted. But this dangerously low tone in which she spoke was almost ten times worse than that.

"You're ashamed of me," Norah whispered, her blue eyes widening in shock. "That's what this is. I see it now. Even if you don't want to admit it, I know it's true, Ollie," she growled in a low, dangerous voice. "That's why you don't trust me.

"No, Norah, that is not true, and you know that, sweetheart!" Ollie shouted, the last vestiges of his patience breaking as what little color was left in his face, to begin with now depleted as he staggered backward, the force and hurtfulness of her words hitting him square in the chest as though he'd been Stunned.

And for as still as he became, rooted to his spot, transfixed and unable to move, the man might as well have been. Norah stalked towards Ollie again, and Tonks could no longer bear the tension.

She bolted from her spot on the couch, Lupin right on her heels, and moved to stand in between Norah and Ollie, before turning to Norah to address her friend and Everett's brother in a clipped and hardened tone in response to the young blonde witch's uncharacteristically volatile behavior.

Lupin moved to stand alongside Ollie and set a firm hand on his shoulder, preventing the man from taking a step towards his wife.

"We won't let you hurt Ollie, Norah," Tonks spoke up, bringing herself to stand in front of Remus, who held steadfast onto Ollie's shoulder with gentle arms. "I know you can't understand his actions right now, but he's your husband, Norah. He loves you. You know that, and we all can see how much he does," she added, swallowing hard and looking towards Moody in the corner. Tonks couldn't be sure as she met the grizzled old Auror's gaze, but she swore she saw a flicker of admiration dart through his one good eye.

Lupin slowly nodded his agreement at his wife's words, unable to resist chiming in with his own opinion in the hopes of de-escalating the situation and getting on with Ollie helping them locate Norah by using his abilities.

"You can't throw all that away, Mrs. Brennan. Yes, Ollie made a mistake, but he has apologized, and what happens next is up to you. Will you forgive him?" he questioned.

Norah gnashed her teeth together in response and swallowed down hard as she made a move towards Lupin and Tonks, who was still standing guard in defense of Ollie.

It wasn't until Tonks took a cautious half-step forward and raised her wand partially that Norah ceased her efforts to reach Ollie.

"I…I think I need to leave, I—I can't be around you right now, Ollie, it hurts too much," she managed to gasp out in a hoarse little whisper, blinking back her tears as she swallowed a lump in her throat. "Don't try to follow me, either one of you," Norah whispered. "I'll find him myself, without your help. He's my brother, and I can do this on my own," she hissed through gritted teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut as a stray tear escaped her lids as she shoved past Ollie, jostling his shoulder in the process of vacating their living room, causing everyone to flinch in discomfort as the front door slammed shut, leaving a ringing in their ears.

"You all right, Ollie?" Tonks asked as she turned towards the distressed Legilimens, looking as though he very much wanted nothing more than to follow his wife out the front door, but recognizing to honor her wishes and not follow her, to give her space.

A heavy, awkward silence lingered in the living room parlor, and for a moment, no one spoke. As Tonks gingerly approached Ollie where he stood, still seemingly frozen, rooted to his spot, Tonks looked into her best friend's eyes and saw a sight she never hoped to see. Ollie's face had drained of color and his expression had become unreadable.

He kept his gaze fixated on the hallway that Norah had just left from, towards the door, seemingly torn between his desires to go after her and bring her back and at the same time, wanting to help Tonks and the others try to locate Renee by tapping into her mind.

It was disturbing, to see his face, usually so jovial and happy to see her, now unreadable.

"Ollie?" Tonks repeated, speaking to her best mate in a quiet and cautious voice as she continued to approach the man cautiously, not sure what to expect since Norah had verbally attacked him and physically as well once she knew the truth.

His head was bowed, staring at the floor beneath his boots, not looking at Tonks. Tears pricked and marred the edges of her vision and Tonks found she had to fight back a half-choked sob that threatened to escape her lips.

Tonks took a deep breath, steeling herself.

She had to keep herself together, to be Ollie's pillar of strength, and then, they would try to find Renee with his help, and then they would try to find both Norah and Renee before Everett could get at either one.

Apparently, Tonks wasn't the only one who thought so, as the faint sound of something rustling and what sounded like shuffling footsteps reached her eardrums, causing her ears to perk up at the noise as she whirled around on her heels to see what made the noise.

Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach as Sirius hobbled his way towards the front door, making to copy Norah's movements.

"We have to go," he growled. Startled by the sound of Sirius's voice, which sounded rough and coarse, and more at the sight of her cousin up on his feet so soon, considering the extent of his injuries.

Tonks twisted at the waist slightly to see Sirius quite literally limping his way towards the front door, though he'd paused just in the entryway that separated the threshold of the living room of the Brennan's home and that of the entryway towards the front door.

He was clutching onto the edge of a small rectangular wooden side table for support, the poor man's bruised knuckles practically bone white with the effort to steady himself.

Color had returned to his face since Norah had made Sirius sit by the fire and had forced the man to eat something, and he appeared well enough to walk and hold his wand, Tonks was relieved to see, but in her past experience, looks could deceive you.

Still remaining standing where she was, feeling Remus move to stand almost so their shoulders were touching, Tonks shook her head no at her cousin in disagreement, silently shooting a pleading look towards Moody, still sitting on the stool in the corner.

They might need Mad-Eye's help in calming Sirius down, judging from the looks of him.

"You're still wounded, Sirius. You're in no condition to be coming with us, mate, you're a liability with your condition. I'm sorry, Sirius, but we need you to stay put," she murmured, a light pink blush speckling on her cheeks as she looked to Lupin for help.

If anyone could talk down Sirius from his currently agitated state, it was Remus. Sirius seethed, gnashing his teeth together as he proceeded to shoot both Lupin and Tonks looks of incredulous disbelief and ire.

"Do you really think I'm going to let some stupid arm injury get in my way?" He spat the word 'injury' as though it were poison in his mouth. His expression became hardened, morphing into one of despair intermingled with a fierce set determination, the likes of which Tonks had not seen in her cousin before. "I'm going to find Renee one way or another. And Norah too. Do either of you mean to stop me?" Sirius growled angrily, his posture stiffening and his hackles raised.

Sirius left the question hanging in the air as a threat and Tonks knew he meant every Merlin-damned bloody word of it. There was no changing Black's mind once it was made up.

He was, like it or not, truly, and hopelessly smitten, perhaps even in love with Renee Elizabeth Barreau, that girl, that Muggle woman, and would go to any lengths necessary to try to get her away from Everett.

Tonks let out a haggard sigh as she pinched at the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger.

If what Sirius felt for Renee was real, like she suspected it to be, then who the hell was she to stand in the way of love?

"Fine," she relented exasperatedly, glancing towards Remus out of the corner of her eye, who quickly nodded his agreement, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "I suppose it wouldn't really matter if we all said 'no' in the first place. You'd follow us anyway," she sighed, looking back to Ollie.

The poor man still hadn't come out of his petrified state, still staring transfixed at the front door of his home as though paralyzed.

"Come on, Ollie," she encouraged, placing a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "We'll find Norah. She can't have gone far, mate."

That did it. Her words were enough to inspire a response from her best friend. Ollie's head jerked up so fast that Tonks withdrew her hand as though she'd been burnt. She swallowed down hard as she looked into the man's piercing eyes of blue, now narrowed and darkened, almost cerulean in color, and they'd lost their typical warmth she usually found within.

His eyes were now ablaze with some raw, untamed emotion Tonks could not identify, and his facial expression was hurt and grim.

"I…I hurt her, Tonks," he croaked in a hushed whisper, his voice betraying the regret Ollie felt when he spoke to her as he finally lifted his gaze and picked it off the floor, forcing himself to meet her gaze at last.

Tonks nodded slowly. There was no point in trying to deny that.

"It's done, Ol, it happened, there's no point in wishing things had been different. You—you lost control that night, it's true, but…there's still a chance to make things right for us. For her, and you can do that by helping all of us here in this room find her. Talk to Renee. If you can find her, we'll find Norah. She'll go wherever her brother is, I'm sure of it, Ollie," she whispered, pulling the man into a loose embrace.

Tonks was grateful that, judging by the look of sympathy Remus shot her, her husband bore no ill will from Ollie seeking comfort from his best friend in a moment of need.

"And it's going to take more than this little misunderstanding between you two to get rid of Norah. She's one tough nut to crack," Tonks joked weakly, hoping to lighten the mood. She was relieved when the faintest ghost of a smile flitted across the man's face.

She took a moment to gaze into her best mate's sky blue eyes, unable to break away from the sheer emotion within those irises of pale blue. Warmth seeped through every part of her whenever she was around Ollie, the man always filling her with comfort and a sense of belonging, whether he knew it or not.

The man was like an older brother to her.

"Hey!"

Annoyed, the pair abruptly broke eye contact, startled out of the unspoken moment of friendship that passed between the two, spun about to the left to see Sirius leaning against the doorframe of the front door, one foot positioned behind the other, and his hand on the brass doorknob.

He was looking rather annoyed about something, and it did not take an intellectual genius like Dumbledore to be present in the room for Tonks to know that he worried after Renee and Norah, not wanting either woman that he had wronged to fall into Everett's clutches and into harm's way.

"This is all nice and heartwarming, but could you get a damn move on, Brennan, and do you…whatever it is that you do?" he growled, wildly gesticulating with his hands to make his point, referring to Ollie's ability to communicate with those of his choosing.

Tonks, still resting against Ollie's chest, not willing to relinquish her grip on her friend just yet, felt the man stiffen at the biting retort, though thank Merlin, he kept quiet.

Sirius stared at Ollie Brennan, the man's blue eyes overcame with disbelief at the fact that his beloved wife had walked out on him, utterly wrought with disbelief and heartache, along with the fact that he could shock the man into anger (and hopefully, into action!)

"Be quiet!" Ollie barked hoarsely, his loud yell of annoyance and anger reverberating off the wall. He gingerly removed Tonks's arms from his shoulders and staggered backward. "I need to…to focus. I need silence to listen."

He hissed his words through clenched teeth more than spoke them and was utterly relieved when everyone in the room respected his wish and the room descended into total and utter silence, the quiet so still that Ollie could almost hear a pin drop.

Exhaling a shaking breath through his nose, Ollie squeezed his eyes shut, feeling nothing within his heart except an extreme sense of guilt and regret at what he'd done to Norah.

How deeply he had wounded his wife. He owed her a huge apology whenever he found her, and only hoped Norah might be given forgiveness for his misdeeds towards her. But the first order of business was as Tonks said, to find this Barreau girl.

Find her, and we'll find my wife, he told himself. To me…here…come back…to me…he probed… Behind closed lids, he saw nothing but blackness, and then…he could see…her.

The Barreau girl was utterly terrified, causing a pang of pity to prick at his heartstrings. When she lifted her gaze to plead with someone, most likely Norah's brother, Ollie felt himself give a start at the vision of the girl's lovely face.

My God, she—she does look like Norah, he thought wildly, still keeping his eyes closed, though he gave his head a curt shake to clear his mind.

He could not afford to become distracted. Ollie nodded to himself and refocused his attention on the girl's dark, damp environment. Wherever she was, it was cold. Tendrils of ice as he allowed himself to reach Barreau's mind swelled in his veins. His very heartfelt like a glacier, with an abstract of grey clouding Renee Barreau's vison, haunting.

Can you hear me, Renee? He was answered with a truly horrible ear-piercing scream that made him reel back. It was the sort of scream that bypassed the ears and spoke right to his shattered heart.

Ollie ground his teeth, biting his tongue hard enough to draw blood, forcing his mind to focus on anything that might discern where she was. In the darkroom she was in, even the ticking of the clock on the wall above the blonde's head had a relaxed feeling. But Barreau felt anything but calm.

The darkness was suffocating, pressing in softly, though Ollie, as the girl moved slowly and cautiously about whatever safehouse Everett had spirited her away to, through the living room.

He could tell from the threadbare sofa pushed up against the wall. His eye caught the glimmer of movement from Renee Barreau's immediate left, and though Ollie itched to probe her mind more, to see through her eyes what she was seeing, he had a job to do and his inquisitive, sharp blue eyes lingered on what looked like a copy of Witch Weekly, old, tattered at the edges, and not at all something he would have expected to find in Norah's brother's house.

Ollie felt his heart momentarily creep its way up into his throat as his eyes caught sight of the address on the bottom right corner of the copy of the magazine, no doubt delivered to Everett years ago by owl post.

He had him. He knew the address now. Got you, you vicious bastard, he thought, and that was when he opened his eyes.

Ollie grimaced, tearing his terrified eyes away from the alarming image of the girl suffering in his mind. The scream she gave off still resonated in his pounding eardrums. His shaking hands found their way to the top of his pounding head as he seized fistfuls of his black hair and tugged on them hard.

"What?" Sirius demanded, the first one to speak since Ollie had pulled himself out of his trance. "What was it? What did you see?"

Ollie breathed scattered, heavy breaths while his blue eyes looked towards the floor. She was…she was in pain and hurting. If they couldn't get to her fast, the girl was surely going to be Everett's next victim. The alarmed man blinked rapidly, trying desperately to rid his mind of his vision, sliding his hands down his face, clutching at a fistful of the material of his sweater.

He breathed in…out…in…out… but his exasperated lungs could simply not get in enough air to satisfy his lungs.

"Ollie?" Tonks's voice was close by and laced to the brim with concern and worry. Only when he felt the touch of a gentle hand upon his shoulder gingerly coaxing the man to lift his gaze and look at the owner did Ollie follow suit. He let out a low, pitiful moan as he looked towards Tonks, who was regarding him with such a concerned look of anguish and heartbreak he couldn't stand it.

"Hey…" Tonks's voice was low and softer than silk as Tonks gently cupped Ollie's chin in her firm hand and tilted it upward, forcing her best friend to meet his gaze. "Ol, tell me what happened. What did you see? Is it…Renee? I-is she…?"

Her voice cracked and trailed off as the nervous man's deep blue eyes met her pale grey irises. His shimmering orbs were filled with a sickening sense of dismay and dread. Tonks didn't think she could stand it anymore. She had to know the truth.

"What happened, Ollie? Tell us. Please," Tonks urged, close to tears, as his arms came up to grip both of her shoulders.

His wide, glazed eyes blinked rapidly as if the man were processing Tonks's words. Ollie was looking more than a little shocked by Tonks's calm reaction, as though he'd expected his best friend to lose composure. His breath hitched as he brought his arms down, but of course, his hands quickly found their way to his hair as he tugged on a strand out of a nervous habit, she noticed.

He was too nervous to eye the others for long. His eyes darted from Tonks, then to Lupin and Mad-Eye, before finally settling on Sirius, whose face had gone pale in anger and shock as he waited for Ollie to answer.

When Ollie did finally speak, his gaze was unabashed and unwavering, and the man never tore his blue eyes away from Sirius.

"I know where she is."

Well, Ollie, I would have said I told you so, but...oh, what the heck.

I told you so. I'm not sure what* he was expecting his wife's reaction to being, but hopefully, they can make amends and soon, before anything bad happens. I hope I tried to describe his mind-probing descriptively enough, as I've only ever really seen the flashbacks in the movies, and the books were good at describing Legilimens' abilities, but it's almost kind of like Ollie is seeing things through* Renee's POV, sort of like Harry did when he was possessed by the snake, and I feel like I'm rambling so I'll stop now, but I will say, Ollie's temper family past and history of coming from a long line of Death Eaters and knowledge of all things Dark magic may prove to come in handy against the fight against Everett, and that's the only hint I'll give. :)

Coming up in Ch. 34, Renee attempts to escape from Everett and gets some unexpected advice from Ollie, who invades her mind.