CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
Tonks had to help Norah and the others. It didn't matter that she was pregnant or not, that Ollie and Norah had lied to her or not. She just had to help! Tonks moved quickly to dodge Aragog's blow as its gaze was fixated on her, for what she had just done in killing one of his 'kids.'
Though the second she did that, the Acromantula turned its wrath on Lupin instead, who'd shot out his arm instinctively in order to protect his wife and unborn baby. He seemed hellbent on protecting Dora from Aragog, no matter what, which Tonks appreciated and respected, though by doing that, he was directly putting himself in danger's path.
"No! Don't touch him!" Tonks cried, grinding her teeth, and pointing her wand at Aragog. Hagrid's 'pet' or not, by setting its sights on Remus, it had just stepped on a big, nonnegotiable land mine. She was not about to let any harm come to her husband. Not after all they had been through, and that the pair of them had so much to fight and a newfound reason to live for. Her hand instinctively drifted over the flat of her stomach and she let out a wolfish growl of her own, resisting the urge to transform into her Animagus form. Aragog let out what sounded like a hiss as it clicked its pinchers threateningly, letting out another screech like a wounded animal as Lupin sent a Stunning Spell straight to its hairy chest, though not that the effort had any desired effect.
Lupin felt his fear return to him tenfold, feeling the beating muscle that he knew to be his heart almost ceased its rhythmic course the second he saw this massive creature lunge for his wife. Then, the crushing fear and panic that threatened to engulf him completely became overwhelmed with a new desire, courtesy of the Mad Beast within.
A bare instinct that he had never known himself to possess, but one that he welcomed in the heat of the moment. Defend. Protect his wife and their unborn baby. Kill, if need be, and it was this urge that caused Lupin to bear his teeth and tighten his hold on the young woman that was trying her very hardest to break free of his grip, and quickly spun Dora out of the path of the adult Acromantula as it lunged at him again.
Remus heard his wife squeak and stumble to the ground, surprised at his sudden roughness and almost violent way that he had shoved her out of the line of the spider, but for once in his lifetime, he did not apologize for the Wolf''s handling as he allowed his strength to take over.
He took several steps backward in order to put as much distance between him and his young wife that he possessively guarded currently behind him, and struggling, from the sounds of it, to get to her feet, as he heard Dora swear under her breath. He could not allow this creature to advance any further. If he did, Tonks's life and their baby's would be in danger, and that he was not about to allow to happen at all.
"One more step," Lupin growled, flinching only slightly as his voice did not sound like his at all, it sounded much rougher and escaped his chest as a low, threatening growl. This was the Wolf talking, the side that Lupin worked so hard to repress and bury, despising anything wolfish that reminded him of his condition, though in this moment, Tonks watched, eyes widened and round as a dinner plate with shock as she watched her husband embrace these urges. Tonks froze, watching the scene unfold with widened eyes, shuddering as a cold tremor of fear went down her spine at hearing Remus's voice.
"And I'll kill every single one of your children," the Wolf within him snarled viciously, with Lupin holding his wand at the ready, Ollie and Norah following suit.
Tonks moved as carefully as she could towards the ongoing scuffle. Lupin was effectively able to keep the adult Acromantula from killing him, but neither was he having any kind of success at landing a blow that would send it sprawling backward. Aragog was simply way too fast, and Ollie and Norah were in the midst of fending off his children.
But it wasn't too fast for Tonks, who it had disregarded, given that Aragog's attention was now solely fixated on Remus. Tonks stood a few feet away, slightly behind Remus, now that she had managed to get to her feet, though the sheer force of the blow that Lupin had dealt her to get her out of Aragog's path still left her feeling winded.
Her heart raced as she stood up straighter to her full height, desperately attempting to inhale, one hand over her ribcage, the other clutched in a firm grip around her wand.
At the fourth attempt, some air went in, not much, but just enough to pave the way for a bigger breath the next time. Tonks froze, biting down on her bottom lip, trying her hardest to blink back tears and controlling her breaths, which were quick, panicked.
She needed to wait for the right opportunity to jump in and help her husband. Even with her advantage of being kind of short, and most of the time able to sneak away undetected, this situation, this battle was still intimidating to her. She had never defended herself against a fully-grown adult Acromantula who could talk before, until right now.
Remus and Aragog were moving back and forth, both of them so fast they were almost a blur, and so violently against one another, with Lupin sending spell after spell, and Aragog simply side-stepping out of the way to avoid each new jinx that was sent.
Tonks bit down hard on her lip as she struggled to keep up with what was going on around her. A horrible, fatigued ringing filled her eardrums, and soon the screeching sounds of Aragog and his children, Lupin's shouts, as well as Norah's and Ollie's, were blocked, and all that filled her ears was this ringing that refused to part from her at all.
She knew that if she were to step in at the wrong bloody time, then Aragog would bump into her, turn its pinchers on her instead of Remus, and that would be it. End of the line, and it would know that she had managed to sneak up behind it.
Or worse, if she got in the way, then Remus might accidentally hit her with a spell, and it would hurt her, and judging by Lupin's current aggressive and violent mood as he battled the Acromantula, Tonks decided that she did not want to get caught at all in that crossfire.
Tonks watched, feeling helpless, as Lupin managed to send a spell straight at Aragog's chest that for a moment, knocked it backward, a particularly powerful Knockback Jinx, and for a moment, Tonks felt a surge of hope begin to ignite in her chest. Her husband was an exceptionally skilled dueler. She knew this about Remus.
Though, just as quickly as her short, one-second moment of triumph had come, it was extinguished as the Acromantula jumped right back up and lunged at her husband.
Was this battle ever going to end?!
This battle was taking bloody forever, and Tonks felt like her panic was going to consume her, and she swore she could taste bitter bile. Lupin sent another spell aimed at the spider's thick torso, but couldn't quite land the blow, and briefly, Tonks wondered if Acromantula' s skin was as thick as dragon hide.
Tonks stepped off to the side as quickly as she could and set her sights hellbent on damaging Aragog's legs as best she could. It couldn't jump at Remus or Norah or Ollie if its legs were cut off. She blew out a puff of air as she steeled her eyes, squeezing her eyes shut for a half-second, sending up a silent prayer to Merlin and Remus's mum and his friends, now that she had been proven there was an existence of an afterlife after all, and hoped that they were somewhere up there and watching out for her and Remus.
She pointed her wand with a slightly shaking hand at one of the Acromantula's back legs. "Sectumsempra!" she hissed the spell through gritted teeth, and she knew the spell had made its mark as crimson spurted from the spider's hind leg, as well as heard a pained shriek from the vicious monster that was going to kill them all if she didn't finish.
Tonks, under normal circumstances, supposed she would have felt guilty for trying to kill another living creature, if this spider had not ordered its children to attack them first and was trying to have a go at her husband. Hacking at something's legs while it was still alive was a cruelty that Tonks did not want to do if she were given another choice.
But right now, there was no other choice, and she heard Remus shout something at Tonks, and one quick glance up at her husband was more than enough. He seemed incredibly confused then, though he tried to shoot her a look of gratitude with his eyes.
Remus continued to send a myriad of different spells nonverbally at the spider and hacking at Aragog's legs had only provoked the monster further into its anger, then. Tonks gritted her teeth and continued firing the Sectumsempra spell at the spider's legs.
The blood left the creature's legs in violent jets of red, and Tonks's sensitive stomach rolled at seeing the crimson lifeforce gushed with sickening determination from Aragog's legs as Tonks continued until most of the creature's legs were taken care of.
Tonks managed to hack off the lower portion of Aragog's front legs before it viciously leapt at her without any sense of remorse, a screeching cry of rage leaving him.
Aragog knocked Lupin to the ground, the sheer force of his blow creating a sickening, shrieking sound, sending Remus sprawling to the ground, his wand knocked clean out of his hands, and Tonks let out a muffled little whine as her eyes widened.
Tonks steeled herself, knowing she had to act now if she didn't want Remus to be killed. She waved her wand and conjured a dagger, pocketing her wand, the fingers of her left hand curling around the hilt of the simple knife tightly, as if it were her lifeline.
She knew that it was, for without her husband by her side, then her life was nothing. Ordinally, Tonks would have been terrified. She would have panicked in a situation like this, for several bloody reasons. She was pregnant, fighting a giant spider.
Tonks would have been afraid for Remus, Norah, and Ollie's safety. Hell, she would have been afraid for her own safety, probably too horrified even to bloody move.
But not today. Adrenaline coursed through Tonks's veins like a fight or flight instinct. In this case, it was fight like hell to protect that which she loved the very most. Remus. Norah. Ollie. Her baby. Tonks felt the fear surging through her bloodstream, complements of the adrenaline as she took a step. She felt the fear. She took another step forward. And then, as if by some unspoken force, some unknown magic, Tonks found her courage.
Being brave means being afraid, or at least it did for Tonks. The two go hand in hand. First is the fear, then the determination not to be ruled by it. Tonks knew that she will always choose to face fear, to conquer it, not let it rule. Right now, however, the only thing Tonks felt as she allowed the feeling to take over until it consumed her was courage.
She and Remus had a newfound reason to fight and live for, after all, and she was going to be Merlin-damned if this spider took that from her. Though Tonks didn't really know where this sudden onset of courage came from.
Remus seemed to bring that out of her, somehow. She wondered if it was the Gryffindor of his spirt, as she knew her husband's heart was pure and true. Brave to the end, and loyal to a fault. Being courageous was much easier when her husband's life depended on it, and right now, Remus needed her to be the strong one in this regard.
Her husband had been there for so many instances when she had been weak, needing support. Well. Now Remus was the one who was in a spot of trouble, and she needed to be there.
A cry of rage escaped her lips, a battle cry of sorts, she guessed, and Tonks scrambled up onto Aragog's back, flinching in disgust at how bloody hairy he was, and slammed the dagger down into his back and then right through his forehead, in between his eyes. Tonks screamed and removed the dagger's hilt and plunged it again into Aragog's back, hoping that she could sink her blade deep enough to reach his damned vile heart.
If Tonks was being honest with herself, she had no idea where a spider's heart rested in its body, though she hoped its middle would be where the vital organs lay, so that was where she plunged the hilt of her dagger, over and over again as a series of memories rolled through the confines of her mind as the pressure building in her temples took over, and with it, equaled the hard, sickening ripping sound of bone and spider flesh. Crouch abusing her nightly, over and over again, seeing Ollie's face for the first time and realizing he was alive, after all this time, Norah, and her sweet, lovely Remus Lupin.
The most beautiful thing that had ever happened to her, and with death beating onto Aragog the Acromantula's back into a sick, squelching sound like sticky mush, it sounded as if the knife was screaming her husband's name. Remus…Remus…Remus…
Her repeated stabbing motions seemed to work, and Tonks's shoulders began to heave in the release of her life's worth of anguish and pain, her throat forming a silent scream as hot tears marred her eyes and stung, blurring the edges of Tonks's hazy vision.
Her bloodied, slimy fingers remained still as she dropped the dagger to the forest floor as with a final, horrible loud shriek that rent the air and caused the very trees themselves to shudder in fear, or at least, that's how it seemed to Tonks, Aragog gave one final shudder, one last twitch and fell to the ground, landing almost right on top of Lupin.
Or would have fallen on top of him if Remus hadn't moved away at the last possible second. The unexpected fall caused Tonks to fall off of it and tumble to the ground. Tonks let out a tiny groan and lay on her back where she had fallen, her breaths rapid as she stared with tear-filled eyes up into the Forbidden Forest's thick, dark canopy.
"Merlin save me…amen, halleluiah, and Chocolate Frogs, I—I never want to do that again, Remus. Guys? A—are you ok?" she croaked, swallowing down the lump in her throat. The others back at Hogwarts, Sirius, Molly, everyone, they weren't going to believe what had just happened.
She had—she had killed a fully-grown adult Acromantula with her bare hands. And then, she jolted upright and raked her bloodied fingers through her dark hair, before scrunching her nose and reverting it to a dark, rich fiery red color.
She had forgotten something. "Oh, my Merlin, I—I just killed Hagrid's friend!" she screamed, bolting upright to a sitting position and seizing on locks of her wavy hair, and tugging on them so hard that she felt the roots scream in protest. The Hogwarts Gamekeeper was going to bloody murder her.
Tonks had seen Hagrid's temper for herself firsthand when she and a few other Aurors had been dispatched the night of Harry Potter OWL'S to try and arrest Hagrid by orders from Umbridge herself. The Stunning Spells had been ineffective against him, due to his half-giant status, though she remembered Professor McGonagall intervening and taking four Stunning Spells straight to the chest, a remarkable feat for a witch of her age.
And she was still going strong and Minerva showed no signs of stopping. Tonks hung her head, bathed in crimson and shredded black bits of the Acromantula's flesh.
Up ahead between the convulsing catching of her breath that she did not recognize between her fits of sobbing and hysterical laughter, Tonks looked upward and behind.
Ollie and Norah stood by, their wands pointed at the spider's corpse, though they lowered it the second Lupin rushed to his wife's side and practically collapsed to his knees on the forest floor in his haste to comfort her, stroking her hair and whispering to her.
"It's dead, it's dead. It's going to be fine, Dora, we—we won't tell Hagrid, love."
Ollie and Norah's faces both were aghast, spoiled by the psychological disturbance as they gawked with open-mouthed at what Tonks had just single-handedly done alone. Tonks's wide gray eyes peeked out from behind her bangs, doused in sweat and blood, Aragog's blood, intermingled with that of her own as she lifted a shaking hand to her forehead, near her left browbone, feeling warm, moist, sticky blood begin to form.
I must have cut myself when I fell, she thought, blinking back briny, salty tears.
Tonks could see Remus looking at her, snapping his fingers in front of her face, trying to get his wife to look at him, and she blinked owlishly, swallowing back her tears. She had just killed a spider that was larger than all of them, and as big as a bloody freaking house!
Of all the things the young witch and Auror had been certain she would never do in her life, going up against an adult Acromantula that could talk hadn't been high on her list. "Dora!" Lupin called out in surprise, helping her to stand up, rubbing small circles into the small of her back, before practically flinging his arms around her in a rib-crushing hug. "What—what were you thinking?! I—I thought I'd lost you, sweetheart! Why?"
Tonks frowned as she reluctantly pulled apart and back from his embrace slightly to study her husband's face. She sighed and shook her head in disappointment, her left hand coming up to caress Remus's cheek. "Because you're my husband, Rem," she croaked hoarsely, wincing as she realized her plain gold wedding ring was now doused in the creature's blood, though a quick Scourgify Charm would clear that right up enough.
Norah, for her part, said nothing, though her blonde brows were furrowed in concentration as she, along with Ollie, carefully approached the spider's lifeless corpse.
The blonde She-Wolf kicked at its body, what remained of it, with the edge of her boot. "Dead," she announced grimly, a somber expression on her ashen face as she turned to regard Tonks and Remus with a look the newlyweds could only describe as admiration etched throughout her features. "Holy Merlin's balls," she cursed, shaking her head to clear it, as though Norah could still not believe her eyes. "I should have had more faith in you two, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. You continue to surprise the hell out of me, Merlin's Beard, and you both have proven your dedication and loyalty to one another," Norah complimented, folding her arms across her chest, and smirking at the pair of them both. "You are, without a doubt, the bravest witch of your age I think I've ever bloody met."
Ollie staggered forward, looking no worse for wear. There were mirror twin cuts on his cheek that were bleeding, and he was much paler than usual, though he looked otherwise unharmed, as he shot out a hand and with Remus's help, helped Tonks stand upright on her own two feet. "You good, T?" he murmured, concern and worry in his voice as he brushed off a stray leaf that had fallen onto Tonks's shoulder. "Are you hurt?"
"N—no." Tonks stammered in an incredibly small voice, unable to help but smile at Norah Jameson's words, thinking that coming from the blonde She-Wolf, that was as close a compliment as she was probably going to get. "Maybe…maybe I should have been in Gryffindor, after all, Rem," she panted, her weak attempt at making light of what had just happened to all of them as she staggered forward and clutched onto her ribcage.
Tonks was sure she wouldn't have been so damned brave and admittedly foolish if it weren't for the fact that Remus's life had been in danger not even a half second ago. It had been some instinctive adrenaline rush that had caused her to shove aside her fear and thoughts of pain and dying and allowed her to go after the spider, when her instincts would have otherwise told her to run, given they had all been outnumbered.
Tonks swallowed down hard and glanced at the carnage around them. Ollie and Norah had managed to succeed in killing all of Aragog's children, their carcasses laying in a similar fashion to the ones they had found upon stumbling into Aragog's hollow.
Backs to the grounds, and legs up (what was left of them), Tonks felt an overwhelming sense of relief wash over her body and she fought back the urge to cry.
She sniffed once or twice, turning her head to the side to cough and wipe at her nose with the back of her palm, though just when Tonks thought everything was finally okay again, a voice, a voice of a Stranger, one that she did not recognize, cut through the air and spoke to them collectively as a group. "That was quite the spectacle, She-Wolf."
Whoever the voice belonged to, it was eloquent, even, bordering on arrogant.
Tonks slowly and methodically swiveled her head in the direction that this new voice had spoken, just in the nick of time to witness an un-amused centaur standing on top of a patch of slightly elevated land. The same one who'd held the knife to her throat.
She gulped nervously as the creature's cold gaze surveyed the scene before him, looking somewhat angry, and was surrounding by a group of other centaurs, all males, each of them armed with bows and arrows.
Though the centaurs did not aim their weapons at the group, they did, however, keep their bows clutched tightly in hand, likely only as a reminder for Tonks and the rest of them not to make any sudden movements.
If Astelos recognized her, the purple centaur offered no stiff nod of recognition or a wave or anything similar of the sort, as his cold gaze flitted from Aragog's corpse to Norah, and Tonks emanated a tense breath through her nose as the pair locked eyes.
She needed to let Norah deal with Astelos if they were to bargain to get Umbridge back, and the best way for that to happen was to not speak up at all and make things worse. It did not escape her attention that the centaurs were looking incredibly off put.
Especially their leader. Tonks squeezed on Remus's hand, who too was favoring silence, wishing for nothing more than the ability to Disapparate and disappear entirely, but she was not about to leave the Senior Undersecretary to such a violent, harsh fate. That, and when they had already promised Norah they would talk to the Minister for her lingered in the confines of her mind, leaving now would not be a good idea at all.
Tonks wouldn't put it past the She-Wolf to track them both down and beat her and Remus within an inch of their lives if they were to ever go back on their word.
"I am Astelos," the centaur in the center spoke up as he scanned Lupin and then Tonks and Ollie, seeing no need to introduce himself to Norah as she knew who he was. "I spoke with the Hogwarts Headmaster yesterday evening at nightfall. Albus has requested that I come look for you, as the wizard was fearful of your well-being, humans." The centaur made a noise that sounded like a sniff of disapproval as he glanced
Norah scowled, furrowing her brows in a frown. "Did the Professor mention anything about the release of Dolores Jane Umbridge? We've come to ensure her release."
Astelos raised his dark purple brows so high onto his forehead that they almost disappeared into his hairline as he shot the young blonde werewolf a scrutinizing look. "The witch remains my prisoner back in our encampments. The Hogwarts Headmaster had told me that you would attempt to bargain for her release. Though there is no promise that you can make, dog, that I can trust, Albus Dumbledore has demanded her immediate turnover to him so that she may face justice for her heinous crimes and mistreatment against mine own kin," he growled, no semblance of warmth in his voice.
Norah nodded, her shoulders slumping in relief as she exhaled a tense but relieved breath through her nose as an almost incredulous look crossed over her pale features.
"Merlin bless you, Albus," she whispered low enough so that only her companions heard. Tonks nervously flitted her gaze between Norah and Astelos, waiting for Norah to respond. She watched in silence as Norah lifted her chin and jutted it out slightly defiantly as the young blonde werewolf directly addressed the leader of the centaurs. When she spoke, her German accent had hardened considerably, all traces of softness whenever she was around Tonks and Ollie and Remus gone. "I should wish to speak with you alone, Astelos. I request you allow me to negotiate the return of Dolores Jane Umbridge so that she may be brought to justice for crimes against her own people."
Tonks found her gaze drawn to Astelos, waiting for the centaur to speak to read the situation appropriately and decide what action would be taken either against them, considering she and the others were, by rights, trespassers into their domain, or if the leader of the centaurs would honor Professor Dumbledore's request and turn over Dolores to their custody. The centaur furrowed his dark purple brows in contemplative thought.
"Very well," Astelos murmured at least, though the beast sounded thoroughly disgruntled. "Though I would ask that you pocket your wands for the time being please,' he growled through gritted teeth, as though his request were causing him immense pain just to utter the words. "You have my word that my people and I live in a safe place, and as I do not know either one of you except for the She-Wolf."
Here, he shot Norah a quizzical glance, who merely proceeded to shrug her shoulders nonchalantly, though the twitching smirk that she was fighting back suggested she was pleased with her victory. Tonks bit the inside of her cheek and continued to stay silent, as did Remus and Ollie.
"…then I see no reason why the four of you would need to be armed. I can assure you that we live in a safe place, and as Professor Dumbledore has demanded the release of the witch, then no harm from any of my kin will come to you as long as you're—"
Though the centaur's gaze trailed off as his beady, blackened and narrowed eyes settled on Tonks as his inquisitive orbs curiously wandered the length of her body before settling up her hair and then the rest of her face, and Tonks swore she saw him flinch.
Astelos whinnied in frustration and stomped his front two hooves in a release of pent-up aggression. "You," he snarled, the edges of his lips curling upward, revealing his teeth. Though he made no move to step forward towards Tonks, and even if he had, judging by the fact that both Ollie and Lupin shot out the arms and stepped in front of Tonks to protect her, he would not have been able to get to her without going through the two men. "Are you not the same witch who broke my nose but three nights ago?"
Tonks blushed, feeling a fiery heat creep to her cheeks at a rapidly alarming pace and she ducked her head, allowing her hair to tumble in front of her face like a curtain. "Er…um…y—yes," she whispered hoarsely, thinking it would do her no good to lie in this situation, considering judging by the look in Astelos's narrowed eyes, he recognized her as the very same witch he had met in the Forbidden Forest's clearing.
His nostrils flared like that of an angry bull, and he had such a look of smoldering, fathomless rage in his listless eyes, that for a moment, Tonks thought there would be trouble, given how much rancor was etched onto his face alone, however, he stomped his hoof again and craned his neck upward and peered over Tonks's shoulder at the lifeless corpse of Aragog the Acromantula and his several dozen children in slight admiration.
"And this…little display," he emphasized darkly through gritted teeth, gesturing towards the scene of carnage behind the group with one of his arms, "was your doing, would I be correct in assuming this?"
"Yes," Tonks murmured lowly, still not wanting to meet Astelos's gaze, feeling her sheepish blush creeping along its cheeks intensifying.
Astelos merely offered a noncommittal grunt in response. He did not avert his gaze from Tonks or Remus, both of whom bore the worst battle injuries in the scuffle with the Acromantula, cuts and bruises on their faces. Tonks supposed she should have just counted herself lucky she'd gotten married before this, as no amount of makeup would hide these bruises, she thought, before forcing her mind to pay better attention.
"Kadas! Danys!" he barked, and almost immediately, two other centaurs stepped forward, throwing their heads up in the air, and offering a little whinny in response. "See to it our…guests… keep up." With a final snort and a flick of his black tail, he turned on his hooves and began walking towards where Tonks could only assume his herd lived.
Tonks instinctively reached for Remus's hand and the two of them followed in a single-file line behind Norah and Ollie, though there was no break at all to discuss what was happening, not with her husband, nor her best friend nor the blonde werewolf.
The other two centaurs were way too close, and Tonks and Lupin remained silent as they walked. Though Tonks wanted as much as Norah to see Umbridge answer for her crimes, she could not help but feel a small stab of pity, a faint flickering, in her chest.
If she had managed to escape the worst of what the centaurs could have done to her, Tonks didn't even like to think of and imagine what tortures Umbridge had suffered.
The two centaurs, Kadas and Danys, walked in sync, one on each side of Tonks and Lupin. It didn't escape her or Lupin's attention that the two young adult males' eyes crawled all over her backside, and she could practically see the rage smoldering in Remus's eyes and the shadow of the Wolf cross his bruised features, though he remained quiet.
The pair of centaurs kept a close enough eye on Remus, as though they perceived Lupin to be a threat, whilst Tonks was practically all but ignored, and for a moment, she felt insulted. What the bloody hell was she then, chopped liver?!
She (with Lupin's help) had been the one to kill a fully-grown Acromantula not even five bloody minutes ago!
And then Tonks remembered just what exactly she was dealing with her, and she shook her head to clear it. No one should trust these centaurs, not even the likes of her. She just had to get Umbridge out of this, had to help Norah out, but how to do this?!
The centaurs must not have been worried about what Tonks could possibly do.
The one called Kadas walked close to her. This particular centaur was stockier, more well-built than his leader, Astelos, shorter, and a light green in color, whereas Danys was taller and a light pale blue, almost a periwinkle. Tonks snorted at the color classification.
Though Kadas did not seem to expect Tonks to pull any kind of stunt or trick, and Tonks wasn't sure where to feel relieved by this little observation or insulted. Instead, it merely tried to proceed to make small talk with her, which only caused fear to bubble in the pits of her churning stomach. She did not want their attention, she'd had enough of that the other night, and wanted these creatures to leave her well enough alone!
"I cannot say that I've honestly ever seen a human witch before," Kadas spoke up in a kind, lighthearted voice, though Tonks's guard and defenses went immediately up.
If there was one thing she had learned while here in the Forbidden Forest, it was that appearances could deceive you, and she should not be so quick as to assume to trust.
"I meant no offense, little dove, you are a pretty little witch, but I was under the impression that you humans prefer to stay outside of the Forest's borders, quiet, safe lives."
Tonks sighed and shrugged her shoulders, tightening her grip on Lupin's fingers and felt his give a twitch of unease. She did not look at the centaur while addressing him. She was not about to give that beast the satisfaction, no matter how 'kind' it was.
"I was under that impression, too," Tonks grumbled reluctantly, upon sensing the centaur was not about to just let the matter drop. "Until recently. Our business here in the Forest is our own, centaur. You would do well to mind yours," she snapped irately.
Ollie, from up ahead, made an odd little muffled noise that sounded like a muted laugh. Tonks frowned, furrowing brows and prodded him in her impossible telepathy.
What, Ol? What's so bloody funny, huh? She demanded, quirking a brow his way.
You sounded like McGonagall when you said that, didn't you hear yourself? Came his response, though he sounded impressed enough with the young witch, though did not elaborate further upon Norah murmuring something unintelligible to him up ahead.
"Th—thank you," Tonks said at last in a somewhat shaking voice. She supposed she would not have minded telling the centaurs the truth of why she was really here, in their part of these dark woods if this were just her mission and her mission alone, though she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that both Norah and Remus wanted her to stay quiet on the matter.
The centaur certainly seemed friendly enough, but Tonks did not know this creature, and Norah especially seemed wary of the entire race of centaurs as a whole, and Tonks could certainly agree with that sentiment, having seen the brutal, violent, baser natures of their personalities for herself and had experienced it.
Tonks let out a sigh and continued walking in silence. She knew that for her own good, she had to stay silent and could not offer up any more information voluntarily.
It was probably best, if she did not want to disrupt their mission, that she stay quiet. Tonks squeezed her eyes tightly shut and shot up a silent prayer to Merlin above. Merlin, help me, she begged, biting the inside wall of her cheek, though she only had one prayer to say as she allowed the centaurs to lead her and the others to the site.
Don't let these centaurs tell Hagrid I killed his spider…
