42
EVERYWHERE Tonks looked in Madam Malkin's, she was surrounded by a sea of pink and tulle and other frilly materials of fabrics that wasn't her. She almost burst into tears. She and Norah and Mrs. Weasley had been inside the shop now for about an hour and she'd not even tried on a single dress yet.
She had no bloody clue where to even start.
Mrs. Weasley's shrill and excited voice reached her eardrums, causing Tonks to turn slightly at the waist to regard her holding up a simple dress, though it was far from gorgeous. It looked…well, hideous.
"What about this one, dear? This one is quaint, isn't it?" Molly asked kindly, a sparkling glint in her dark brown eyes. Tonks gaped at the dress in disbelief. It looked as though someone had run the end through a shredder.
Tonks guessed Molly was attempting to help her find one that was 'unique and 'different' like her personality, but completely missing the mark and just not understanding what Tonks wanted.
"You can wear it, Molly," Tonks sighed exasperatedly, swiveling her head towards where Norah was calmly strolling along the walls of various bridal dresses and witch's dress robes. "I'm not wearing that. It's utterly ghastly."
She heard Mrs. Weasley grumble under her breath, but Tonks wasn't paying close enough attention to the red-haired witch. Her curiosity was admittedly piqued.
Norah had said almost next to nothing on how her date last night with Ollie had gone, though considering she'd seen the two kiss just before coming to Diagon Alley, it must have gone well.
Tonks was surprised when Norah's head swiveled around and the blonde werewolf regarded the pink-haired young Auror with a soft, knowing little smile, as if her maid of honor could sense Tonks was fed up with so much pink.
"What exactly are you wanting to look for?" she questioned in a curious voice, sounding genuinely intrigued. "We can't really help you, Molly and I unless we know what you like. But maybe you could tell us what you don't want," Norah added with a soft chuckle to Molly.
"Any of this," Tonks groaned, gesturing to the sea of pale pinks and light purple tulle dresses, scrunching her nose in a look of disgust.
Norah nodded in understanding, tapping her chin thoughtfully, her gaze drawn to a select few ivory dresses, not pink in color but just as pretty.
"Well, what's Remus going to wear?" she asked, furrowing her brows in a thoughtful frown as she turned back to look at her friend.
"Black dress robes, Ollie found a set for him in a shop that will do just fine," Tonks answered simply, already envisioning how handsome her future husband would look in a brand-new set, though her smile faltered as she thought of how the man's pride suffered at Sirius more or less loaning him the Galleons to buy a new set of robes, ones that weren't darned and hemmed.
Norah nodded again and turned back towards the sea of pink and scrunched her nose.
"Then I don't think you need any of these," she murmured in a thoughtful voice, waving an arm towards the pink and purple tulle. "What you need is something simple and understated. Like your and Remus's relationship," Norah murmured, chuckling at the flabbergasted expression on her friend's face.
She sauntered towards the wall of Madam Malkin's shop and held out an ivory dress, simple in cut, made of flowing chiffon, with short fluttery sleeves, a long A-line skirt, and a plunging backline that would show off Tonks's phoenix tattoo on Dora's right shoulder blade.
"Why not this one? It's pretty, simple enough," Norah asked, holding out the dress on the hanger to Tonks, practically shoving it forward in her arms, chuckling at the little sigh of relief she heard the Auror give out.
Norah and Mrs. Weasley waited while Tonks ducked into one of the fitting rooms and tried the dress on. Mrs. Weasley furrowed her ginger brows into a frown as she noted how skittish the young blonde werewolf was behaving.
The poor dear was practically rocking back and forth on the heels of her black ankle boots that were decidedly non-Muggle as she twisted her fingers together. Norah Jameson had a nervous habit of biting down on her lip and looking out the shop window, as though expecting to see someone unexpected and awful.
"Is everything alright, dear?" Molly asked in what she hoped was a kind voice, casting a curious glance towards Norah before turning her gaze back towards the fitting room Tonks had ducked behind. She hoped she wasn't coming across as pushy, but she sensed something was bothering Ollie's new girlfriend.
"Mmm?" Norah blinked, as though seemingly coming out of a hazy stupor. Norah noticed Mrs. Weasley watching her intently and her face flushed bright with shame. "I, oh, y—yes, Mrs. Weasley, everything is just fine, I'm just...lost in thought," she squeaked, her blush intensifying as she looked away. Molly's frown deepened, though she wasn't given a chance to react as the curtain swung to the side and Tonks stepped out in the simple ivory dress that Norah found for her.
"Well?" Tonks pressured the two witches, peeking back over her shoulder to look into the mirror behind her as Norah nudged beside her, their shoulders touching. "Don't just stand there, you lot, say something! How does it look? Okay? Should I get it?"
She turned around slowly once so Molly and Norah could see the back. Norah stifled a small smile. She'd been right. Tonks's phoenix tattoo was all the way visible, but Norah liked it. Tonks was definitely going to be a young bride with charisma and just a bit of attitude, but Norah suspected her new friend wouldn't have it any other way.
Norah waited to speak to Tonks until she turned all the way around to look into the full-length mirror herself. "I think, Tonks," Norah began speaking slowly and quietly to ensure Tonks heard her, "that you've found the perfect one," she said softly.
Tonks blinked owlishly at the young blonde witch and werewolf in minor surprise before giving a quick nod and calling over Madam Malkin to schedule her dressing fitting. It only occurred to the young Auror after she had paid for the dress that Tonks wasn't entirely sure if Norah had been referring to the 'perfect one' as her wedding dress or her partner.
Tonks smiled to herself as Madam Malkin ushed the trio of witches out of her shop, grateful for their business this morning, thinking that Norah had been referring to both.
"Well, now that Molly's gone, we've got free rein. Where d'you want to go?" Tonks asked in a casual and relaxed manner, feeling better than she had this morning when she'd first woken up, now that her business of finding a dress was out of the way.
She took a second to loop Norah's arm through hers as they walked, though not before bidding Mrs. Weasley a fond farewell, who apologized that she could not stay, but that she needed to be heading back to the Burrow. Tonks waited until Mrs. Weasley had Disapparated before turning back to Norah.
"We can go pretty much anywhere. We've got…" She paused to look at a clock hanging above one of the shops near Flourish and Blotts. "Eh, a little bit of time left before we're supposed to meet the guys for lunch. Where d'you want to go? We can go check out the sweet shop or the new Firebolt model in the window of the place that sells brooms?" Tonks questioned casually. "Norah?" she prodded again when the wolf didn't answer.
Tonks furrowed her brows in a frown as she caught the werewolf looking towards the entrance that would take them down into Knockturn Alley. Tonks repressed a shiver that went up and down her spine.
She couldn't be sure, though she swore she caught sight of a shrouded black figure stalking their way down the street towards one of the shops.
"Norah?" she prodded again, noticing the blonde werewolf had suddenly gone pale. Not liking the look on her friend's face at all, she grasped Norah by the shoulders and jostled her slightly. Not hard enough to hurt, just enough to cause her to break out of her stunned stupor at whatever she happened to be looking at. Which in this case, if Tonks wasn't mistaken, happened to be the figure.
Norah blinked once, twice, three times, slowly but surely coming back to herself. Her face flushed bright pink when she lifted her gaze to look into Tonks's concerned grey-blue irises. She swallowed and looked away. "I—I don't…I'm sorry, Tonks. I—I wasn't paying any attention. I thought I saw…"
She frowned and looked towards Knockturn Alley, though the figure was gone.
"Saw what?" Tonks asked, taking note of how the moment Norah looked up, her blue eyes were troubled. "Saw what, Norah?"
"Someone I know, I think he came here to see me," Norah mumbled in a faint voice almost too low for Tonks to make out. Tonks thought she might have missed it had she not already been hanging onto the blonde's every word. She swallowed hard and craned her neck to look at Tonks.
She couldn't tell Tonks she'd thought she'd caught the unmistakable flash of a closely cropped brown beard that could only belong to one rugged Death Eater.
Rookwood.
She shivered, but with anger. Norah swallowed down hard and looked towards Tonks, not wanting to divulge the little fact that she suspected the very man who'd attacked her a few weeks ago was now stalking her again a second time.
"Did…Ollie and Remus say when we'd be meeting them for lunch?" Norah questioned, a worried look in her blue eyes, hoping to change the subject away from this.
"Twelve, over at the Three Broomsticks, why?" Tonks asked, hoping Norah wasn't thinking of doing what she thought the blonde looked like she wanted to do, and that was dart off into Knockturn Alley alone after that strange, cloaked figure.
Norah hesitated, biting at her lip. She weighed the options of letting the brute go or trying to go after him herself and ending it once and for all. She couldn't let Rookwood attack her or Ollie again, much less any other witch he stumbled across that happened to catch his wandering fancies.
"Because I—I just realized that there's…something that I have to take care of, and I have to do this on my own. I'm sorry, Tonks, but I have to go, but I promise to meet you lot for lunch at The Three Broomsticks," Norah grumbled darkly under her breath. When she turned her head back to look in Tonks's general direction, Tonks barely repressed her cry of alarm as Norah's sky-blue irises had shifted entirely to gold.
The wolf within her was coming out. Tonks wasn't sure she liked the growing look of anger in the spritely blonde's darkening blue eyes. The only other time she had ever seen Jameson this pissed was the first night she met Ollie Brennan. She swallowed a lump in her throat.
"Why? Well, where are you going, I'll come with you, this person, are they hurting you, Norah?" Tonks volunteered, though she was instantly cut off by a low warning growl that emitted from Norah's lips.
"No," she growled in a harsh, wolfish bark. She flinched and would have taken back her words, but it was already too late.
Tonks shirked away from Norah in both hurt and surprise at her clipped, aggressive tone. Norah sighed, pinching her temples in frustration with her own temper.
"I—I'm sorry, Tonks, that I can't tell you why, but I know that person, I think. He's…a troublemaker, to put it lightly. I don't know for sure, but I think he's here today for Ollie, and I'm not going to let my partner and new boyfriend get hurt. This issue is between me and him," she said.
Tonks momentarily felt her heart give a surge of affection as Norah confirmed her suspicions of that little kiss the two of them had shared back at Headquarters. That Ollie's date must have gone better than she had anticipated, and Norah had said yes when he'd asked. Tonks narrowed her eyes.
This girl was already setting up her defenses. She'd caught snippets of her and Ollie's conversation on the rooftop the other night as they'd bonded over the topic of abusive fathers.
As uncomfortable as she was sure it was for Norah to talk about it, at least it seemed to have been a connection for the two of them to build on, and Ollie—oh, Ollie!
Tonks's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"You really think I'd let you go alone?" Tonks urged, shooting her arm out and winding her slender fingers around the werewolf's forearm as Norah turned to leave. "Ollie would bloody murder me, and so would Remus! No way!" she said.
Norah stopped dead in her tracks, her back facing Tonks. She didn't turn back around to face her friend, but instead, stared down at the cobblestone street beneath her boots. "He won't," she answered quietly.
Norah was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed her right hand drifted towards her left arm, gingerly rubbing the spot where Greyback had seen fit to punish her two weeks ago by means of an Incendio Charm and burnt her arm as punishment for breaking Rena's plate.
Mum had tried to put a stop to it, she really had, but when Dad got going, there was no stopping the brutal werewolf's rage.
Tonks peered over Norah's shoulder.
"You're hurt," she exclaimed, drawing in a sharp breath that pained Norah just to listen to. It tugged at her heartstrings.
The amount of concern laced through her voice that Tonks held for Norah was touching, and in the werewolf's mind, unfounded. She was not worthy of such affection or friendship or love from anyone here within the Order. Especially not Ollie.
"You know amongst the Order, we look out for one another, right, Norah?" Tonks said in a low voice. "If…" she hesitated, careful about choosing her words. "If there's something going on at home, in your…personal life, we're your friends, Remus and me. And Ollie, if you're gonna date him and make this work, you've gotta learn how to open up to him and trust him. If someone really is hurting you, you don't have to put up with it. we can keep you safe, but only if you tell us who it is and what they've done to you. The man down in Knockturn Alley, is it him?" she demanded.
As if to emphasize her point, Tonks jerked her head towards the dark alleyway.
Norah felt something dark and ugly rise within her chest as she spun around and stormed towards the pink-haired Auror.
Tonks retreated swiftly, keeping her hands raised in self-defense. "Whoa, easy! Norah, you need to calm down, I—I swear to Merlin, I didn't mean anything by this!" she exclaimed, hoping they weren't about to duel in the middle of Diagon Alley over this.
"It's not abuse!" Norah shouted, the last vestiges of her temper finally cracking.
Tonks felt a muscle in her jaw twitch as she continued backing away, almost tripping as the heel of her boot caught against a loose cobblestone that had come undone. She didn't want to start a fight with her friend here in the middle of Diagon Alley, but nor did she like the idea of someone in Norah Jameson's life hurting her. She had to find out the truth from her.
"No? Then why are you holding your arm like it still hurts? How come I've seen bruises on your arm? How you won't talk about your home life? That I overheard you talking to Ollie about how your own father beats you within an inch of your life, and you think that's just okay? News flash: it's not! Don't you wanna talk about what happened? I'm your friend, Norah, and Ollie is your new boyfriend. Let the two of us help you, but you've got to let us in. We can't help if you don't talk!" Tonks snapped.
Norah gaped at Tonks, lowering her wand as she stared at her friend in disbelief. She huffed in frustration and folded her arms across her chest.
"It's none of your business, Tonks," Norah frowned. "And no, I don't want to talk about what happened. Besides, you've probably already made up your mind about what to believe about me."
"Uh-huh, that's where you're wrong, Jameson," Tonks furrowed her brows in a frown, hardly daring to believe the words that were coming out of her friend's mouth. "I just don't see why you're getting so defensive. If someone, whether it's your dad or someone else, is hurting you, let us help."
Norah straightened her posture, stomping her feet on the ground to gain more leverage in the turn their conversation had taken. "Now, w—wait just a minute, Dora," Norah stammered, a fiery heat creeping to her cheeks. "Th—these bruises are nothing," she managed to gasp out. "No one is hurting me. I did them myself. During my…transformations," she finished lamely.
Tonks quirked a brow Norah's way, shooting the blonde a look that suggested she didn't really believe her words just now.
"C'mon," she mumbled, shooting out her arm and dragging Norah out of the middle of the street. "Not here. Let's not talk where we'll be overheard. Follow me," she said. But when Tonks tried to steer Norah towards the left and up onto the sidewalk,
Norah firmly dug the heels of her black ankle boots into the street, refusing to budge. Tonks grunted and gritted her teeth with the effort to get the young blonde to move, but Norah as a werewolf, was stronger than she looked, and merely stared at her blankly. Tonks gave up after a minute or two of trying, relinquishing her grip on Norah's arm, and throwing her arms up in frustration, placing her hands on her hips.
"Fine," Tonks snapped, "then we'll talk right here. Who's hurting you? Your dad? Can we at least talk about what made you snap at me just now?" Tonks asked, hurt.
But Norah stubbornly shook her head. Tonks felt frustration bubble within her chest, wondering how the morning had gotten off to such a good start and now this.
Though Tonks knew this conversation was going to have to happen sooner or later.
Might as well be now, Tonks bitterly thought to herself. Guess it's a good thing Ollie isn't here to hear us talk about it.
Norah spoke up in a clipped and angry tone, pulling the Auror from her thoughts. "I just don't like people saying things about my father, Tonks. Especially when they don't even know him," she spat. "It's one thing to mess with me and accuse me of things, I can take it, but to bring my father into it is way too much, so don't talk about him," Norah hissed.
Twisted though it was, and self-deprecating, there was a tiny part of Norah that cared for Greyback. He did, after all, take her in, despite Turning her into a wolf-like him. He clothed her. Fed her, gave her work. Made her feel like she belonged.
But that did not mean she was going to do this to Ollie now that they were dating.
Norah shook her head to rid her mind of her swirl of conflicting thoughts. He could send Rookwood all he wanted to check up on her progress, but she wasn't going to tolerate this shit any longer. She would take care of Rookwood right now, and send the man crawling back to Father with his tail between his legs and a message for her dear dad: that she was done.
Norah sighed heavily as she looked towards the only thing standing in the way of her goal, thinking she wasn't going to stand for this, but nor did she want to resort to using physical violence against Tonks. She liked Nymphadora, and very much considered the young witch a friend to her at this point. Perhaps even her best.
"Can you at least tell me where you got the bruises?" Tonks asked. "I want you to be honest with me, Jameson. Set aside any damned stubborn pride you wolves harbor for just a damn second and tell me honestly."
Norah sighed. This was getting to be more than a little bit ridiculous. She'd never catch up to Rookwood at this bloody rate.
She shrugged. "There's nothing to say about them, really. I got them by accident."
"How?" Tonks pressed, seemingly showing no signs of letting this go anytime soon, which vexed the werewolf to no end.
Without even thinking, Norah immediately took a staggering step backward away from Tonks. Then she silently cursed herself for it. She was quick to recognize her action probably made her look like a victim of abuse (which she was) but she'd be damned if she were ever going to admit it. Because that would mean telling Tonks the truth about her father's plan and her real reason for joining the Order. She would tell Remus and Lupin would tell him.
And Norah knew she didn't want Ollie to hear the truth from anyone else but her. She owed the man that much.
Tonks pressed on, sensing Jameson's hesitation.
"If your dad or whoever at your home is hurting you, we can do something about it," Tonks said, her grey-blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. "We can help you, make sure they won't do it anymore. You won't have to go back there, and now that Ollie is in your life, he'll protect you. There's no reason for you to be afraid, Nor."
Norah shot Tonks a look. If it were daggers, Tonks would have been pinned. Immediately, she zipped her mouth and swallowed, stress painted in her blue eyes.
Tonks frowned as a flash of shame lighted Norah's face and she shook her head, mumbling to herself under her breath.
"…he'll kill him if I don't…" she whispered, causing Tonks to feel a wave of cold wash over her body as her own fingers jutted out and clung to Norah's shoulders, shaking her. Norah blinked, seeming not to see Tonks as she was too lost in her own mind. "They'll kill him if I don't do this."
"Do what?" Tonks urged, a frantic note seeping its way to the surface of her voice. She hated to admit it, but Ollie's partner and new girlfriend—her friend—was really starting to scare her with this talking.
Norah lifted her gaze to meet Tonks's.
"I have to go back, Tonks," the blonde werewolf murmured in a meek voice that did not sound like Norah Jameson at all.
"Back?" Tonks whispered, feeling certain she had misheard her new friend. Had the world come to an end?
The young Auror stared at the werewolf as though the pretty blonde who'd captured her best mate's heart almost overnight had gone mad, wanting to believe she'd heard Jameson wrong. But the young witch was as grim as a graveyard and no hint of deceit or trickery was present in Norah's blue irises.
"Y—you can't…" Tonks's voice shook. "Look, Norah, whatever it is that creep in Knockturn Alley wants with you, he's not worth your life. Just stop and think about this for one second, would you? Ollie," she breathed frantically. "What if something happens to you and you get hurt? You could really do that to Ollie, Norah?"
Norah looked at Tonks with an almost pitying look in her darkening cerulean orbs. She shook her head sadly.
"I still can't tell you who it is or what he wants with me, Tonks. I wish I could," she admitted, truly sounding and looking remorseful, though she didn't let herself dwell on it as she shook her head to clear her mind. "You're just going to have to trust me on this, Dora. The same person that's…been hurting me," she whispered hoarsely, surprised to hear herself confess it to Tonks, "is after Ollie. H—he's been trying to use me to get to him, but I…I really like Ollie. A lot," Norah confessed, her voice more subdued and quieter than she had ever heard it before. "And I never want to hurt him. I won't let him get hurt anymore. That man has suffered enough on my account," she said, a hint of her Gryffindor courage shining on her pale features as a look of determination and resolve replaced her fear.
Tonks felt as though her body had been turned to stone as her mind struggled to process the weighted truth of Norah's claim. So, her family member who was hurting her was…out to get Ollie? Who?
And why? And did that mean that Norah's affections for Ollie meant nothing? She swallowed past a lump in her throat, not wanting to think ill of the wolf, but there were more questions swirling around in her mind than there were answers.
Tonks stepped forward in the hopes of rectifying the situation. "Let's—let's just take a step back and look at our options," she stammered, trying to keep her voice as level as possible. "Think about this, please, Jameson, for just a second. Don't be a mental bit," she snapped. "I can't just let you go down there alone. If it's the same wizard who's been hurting you, he needs to be apprehended and brought to justice for his crimes, and you should stay as far away from him as possible, Norah."
Tonks tried to sound firm, though she knew her voice lacked the conviction to sell the argument she really wanted to make to her friend.
"Did I mention Ollie?!" she almost shouted. "Think what would happen to him if something happened to you. H—he'd go ballistic and probably blow up Diagon Alley! Accident or not, if something like that happens, the Aurors will arrest him, they'll see my best friend—your boyfriend—as a menace to society! He'll be imprisoned! You can't do this!" Tonks cried in exasperation, thinking that one day, Brennan's temper was going to get him into a real bind, and next time, Tonks wouldn't be nearby to help out.
The next time Ollie lost control, he'd be jailed for his actions, Tonks was sure of it. She'd not forgotten the venomous look that Umbridge had shot her mate in the corridor outside of St. Mungo's for almost strangling the old hag to death. Though, secretly, in Tonks's mind, the bitch deserved it. Tonks swallowed past a lump in her throat and pressed forward, not wanting Jameson to do anything daft and stupid by putting her own life at risk to save Ollie.
Ollie was a man who could handle himself. Tonks shook her head, trying to convince the petite werewolf that her idea was utterly foolish.
"Let's—let's just wait for Remus and Ollie to meet us for lunch, a—and then we'll tell them everything. Together," Tonks quickly added upon seeing the dawning look of horror on Norah's face at the idea of telling Ollie the truth. "You don't have to do this alone," she urged, reaching for Norah's hands, enveloping Norah's cold hand into her own palm, and giving it what she hoped was a light, reassuring little squeeze. "I'll be right beside you the whole time if you want me there, but Ollie deserves to know the truth."
Norah shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut, looking like she was fighting back tears that threatened to escape from her lids. Her face crumpled, threatening to break down from the mask of indifference the blonde werewolf had perfected after enduring such a hard and shitty life as a wolf.
"I'm sorry, Tonks. I can't just sit behind Headquarters' walls in safety while the man that I've grown to care for is in danger because of me. All of this is my fault. I have to be the one to try to fix what I've wronged. I—I know you'll probably h—hate me, when the truth comes out, a—and that's fine, because I—I've been a horrible friend to all of you in the Order, and especially to Ollie!" She wiped at her eye as her throat hallowed. "He's so kind to me, Dora, he's a good man, Ollie is, with a good, good heart, I—I can't…can't do this to him anymore! It's my fault, and I have to be the one to stop this if I can..."
Tonks didn't hesitate to lock Norah in her arms as the young blonde witch let out a shuddering gasp that morphed into a frustrated sob. She sensed she wasn't going to be able to talk her friend out of her plan, suicidal though it was, she wasn't about to turn her back on a good friend in need.
Tonks exhaled a shaking breath through her nose, loosening her grip on Norah.
"What do we do then, huh, Norah? If I can't talk you out of this, then let me help you. I wanna help you, we're friends, aren't we?" Tonks protested wildly in anger.
Norah let go of Tonks, wiping frantically at her eyes with her index finger and straightening her posture. She shook her head.
"You won't be doing anything, Tonks. I'm not going to let you get in trouble with Remus or Ollie because of me. What I have to do, I'm going down there alone, and you're not coming with me. You can tell them both that I overpowered you."
Tonks blinked, feeling certain she'd misheard the young woman who was quickly becoming something like a sister and a best friend to her in a life where she was more or less surrounded by men or other witches that were vastly older than she was.
"What?" Tonks exclaimed numbly. Every muscle in Tonks's body seized up in protest as she gaped at Norah, open-mouthed in shock and surprise at the implication of what Norah had suggested.
A pained expression flitted across Norah's features, and for just a split second, Tonks saw the shadow of the she-wolf within her as a look of anger darted in her brilliant blue eyes.
She was briefly reminded of Ollie and the man's temper and then thought it fitting that the two should have entered into a new relationship. Their temperaments were a lot alike in that regard.
"I'm really sorry about this, Tonks," Norah apologized, and she really did look it. "But I'm going to have to hit you unconscious," Norah whispered faintly, fire starting to light her cold blue eyes. "It's…the only way…I—I can't have anyone following me, not even you, Tonks, and especially not Ollie. It's too dangerous." She sniffed and looked down.
Tonks sighed between gritted teeth. Sweat started to form on her hairline despite the cooling temperatures as grey clouds that looked like they promised a storm rolled in.
"Do whatever the hell you have to, Norah," Tonks growled, her friend's name sounding sour on the Auror's agitated lips. "But I want you to make me a promise that whatever happens down there, you'll come back. Ollie's gonna bloody kill me if you don't, and I'd really like to not die today."
Norah's face brightened, but only for a moment as the brief smile that flitted across her face slid off her features like Stinksap.
"Thanks, Dora," she whispered in a small-sounding voice. Once more, Norah Jameson was looking pained. "I'm really, really sorry about this," Norah said, her mouth tightening as she raised her wand and pointed it squarely at Tonks's chest. "Please forgive me, my friend." She frowned passionately and sighed. "Expect a slight headache when you wake up, Tonks…"
Tonks suppressed a breath and squeezed her eyes tightly shut as the inevitable bang of Norah's Stinging Jinx erupted from the tip of Norah's wand, hitting her squarely in the face above her left browbone, immediately causing her skin to swell.
The jinx was as hard as a stone as it made contact with Tonks's skin, the force of the spell hard enough to send her sprawling backward to the cobblestone street of Diagon Alley. Norah's apologetic face was the last thing Tonks focused her gaze on as Norah shot her a look before turning on her heels and fleeing into Knockturn Alley.
And then, Tonks slipped into sleep.
Ouch. Even though Tonks doesn't know who's* after Norah and Ollie yet, I still wanted Norah to have this conversation with Tonks, as I feel like she's the only one who would take the news of her real intention behind joining the Order of the Phoenix.
Coming up next, Norah confronts Rookwood, but will it go according to her plan?