52
NO sooner had Tonks and Lupin brushed the soot off their hands and stepped over the metal grate of Sirius's fireplace in Tonks's cousin's living room, than did the unmistakable shrill sound of Dolores Umbridge's raised voice as she was speaking to someone—probably Sirius—reached their eardrums. Tonks exchanged a dark look with Remus and shifted baby Teddy in her arms.
She would have left him back at home in the care of her mother, but if Ollie really had managed to come back to Headquarters with Norah like Sirius had mentioned in his Patronus, and was here with her, then she was bloody ready to murder the man herself with her own wand for daring to go back on his promise and not be by their side when she had gotten married.
A wall of caution welled with Nymphadora's chest as Remus led the way out of the living room and into the kitchen and when they crossed over the kitchen's threshold and stepped into the dimly lit room, they were met with harrowing sight indeed.
Umbridge was here, as anticipated, her pudgy face reddened in pure rancor, but so was Professor Dumbledore and Molly.
Sirius was the only one not seated in a polite manner at the kitchen table, instead of forsaking the comfort of a seat and choosing to stand stiffly at attention near the kitchen window. When he heard his cousin and his best mate's arrival, he barely turned his head to look.
"You two are right on time," Sirius remarked, his voice rising as his grey eyes unintentionally widened.
Tonks, despite the severity and precariousness of the situation, couldn't help but smile and stare at her cousin's awe.
"You seem shocked, cousin?" she teased.
Sirius pulled a face though he finally moved to step away from the window, pasting an expression of ambivalence on his face and motioned for the two of them to sit down.
"Please, sit, as you can see the others have," he said in a rather dry and sarcastic sounding tone as he plunked ungracefully into the seat next to Molly, who shot him a pointed look but said nothing.
Tonks and Lupin exchanged a brief look before Lupin slowly inclined his head, nodding his agreement.
Tonks could only comply, though not before she briefly glanced up towards the ceiling. She sensed him.
Ollie? She asked, biting at the wall of her cheek, and hoping the Legilimens could hear her. Can you hear me?
Tonks? Is that you? Came his voice, which sounded shellshocked to hear her voice inside his mind after a minute spent in silence.
Thankfully, Dumbledore was deep in the midst of a serious conversation with Dolores and the old hag did not notice the odd behavior of one of her own Aurors staring up towards the ceiling.
I ought to beat the shit out of you, Brennan! Tonks shouted, feeling a muscle in her jaw tighten as a lump began to form in her throat. One of her eyes gave a spasmodic little twitch in her growing anger. She inhaled a long, deep breath, willing her anger to cool a bit. She couldn't see it, but she heard him scoff in her mind, and Tonks could plainly imagine Ollie's mouth turning downward into his downward scowl, frowning.
It's good to see you, T, his voice sounded off.
You're a goddamned lucky man to be alive, Brennan, Tonks declared, still glowering up at the wall. Lucky to be alive, Ollie. You're lucky that I don't come up there and cut you down with my own wand for what you did.
Tonks, maybe we can talk about this later? Norah's sick, she needs time to recover, Ollie replied angrily.
We might not GET another chance, Brennan! Now might be the only time, Merlin damn it! You dare to come back here now! You—you two both promised you'd attend our wedding, and YOU WEREN'T THERE! You promised, goddamn it! Give me one good reason why I should help you right now, Ollie, you stupid bastard!
It was taking all of Tonks's resolve not to scream and rant at the man upstairs in their shared impossible telepathy.
Nevertheless, she knew that doing so would only draw attention to herself, so Tonks forced herself to try to remain calm, for Norah and Ollie's sakes. Breathing shakily and slowly through her nose, she willed her own temper to cool a little before continuing.
Umbridge is here with us. Dumbledore and Molly are here as well, and I think she wants you or Norah chucked into Azkaban. Can't you read her mind?! What's going on? Tonks bit down on her bottom lip and waited.
When Ollie did finally manage to regain control of his voice, even in her mind, she heard him trembling. His voice cracked and faltered as it broke as he spoke.
Greyback, Rookwood, and a few others are dead. I think so, at least, I hope that I—I killed them. They killed Norah's friend, Wes, T, and they were going to kill Norah if I didn't…if I didn't…I—I had to save her. I need you to know that! If Umbridge is here to try to arrest me then that must mean that that old bitch sent her a message somehow and put out a complaint against me. She must have somehow wormed the location of Headquarters out of someone. Dung, maybe, the skeevy git, I don't know. This is my grandmother's doing, I'm sure of it, Dora, it just has to be, he replied.
The anger dripping from her best mate's tone was unmistakable.
Tonks exhaled what little air was left in her lungs and shook her head at the vision that Ollie left in her brain.
Ollie continued undaunted, now that he knew the truth of Norah's true whereabouts these last nine months while his best friend had been pregnant with his godson.
I—you have no idea what Norah went through these last few months, Tonks, Ollie hissed through gritted teeth as he spoke, with Tonks now no longer looking towards the ceiling to divert suspicion away from herself and was instead fidgeting with her plain gold wedding band. Norah was kept captive in my own fucking cellar for nine months, Tonks! Nine! I—I had no idea that my grandma was torturing her, Dora, or keeping her there. If I had known, I'd have…
But his voice trailed off and he didn't complete his thought. His angry breaths came in spurts as he continued. I did what had to in order to save her life, Tonks! I'd kill a hundred more Death Eaters for her, Dora. I…I love her. More…more than anything, Tonks.
Tonks tried her hardest not to snort with contempt. She huffed in frustration and curled her hands around a freshly brewed mug of tea that Mrs. Weasley had gotten up to get a cup for her and Remus. She murmured a half-hearted thank-you under her breath and continued, occasionally glancing sideways at Dolores and Dumbledore, still deep in conversation.
The aging old warlock, the Hogwarts Headmaster, and the toad-faced Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic both were looking quite perturbed, their expressions as grim as graveyards, but especially Professor Dumbledore's face. He looked older, somehow. Tired. As if the long years of his life were finally taking their toll, though Dora supposed too that could have just been being forced to spend time with Dolores.
She imagined she would harbor a similar look on her face if she were forced to listen to whatever bullshit this bitch was now spouting that she wasn't paying any heed to, her attention fixated solely on warning Ollie. Remus, at least, thank Merlin, seemed to be paying very close attention, as he was leaned forward in his chair and wore a contemplative, thoughtful expression.
She supposed it would be up to her husband to fill her in later on their conversation when they got back. Her gaze briefly drifted and settled on Dumbledore. Tonks was almost certain she'd never seen Albus look so solemn and stoic before until now.
It frightened her if she was being honest with herself. Seeing Dumbledore frown and furrow his brows like this was never a good sign, and she knew with a sinking feeling in the pit of her churning stomach that Ollie had royally fucked up beyond belief by attacking his grandmother's own men, and Baba.
Jesus…she swore. Merlin's…Merlin's left buttock, Ol, why—why didn't you tell me you were trying to find her? I—Remus and I, we could have helped you, you prat, but you had to go and be a total bastard to us! Why did you? If you love Norah so much, mate, then why were you a total jerk to her the night Dumbledore kicked her out? You HIT her, Ollie, you said those horrible things to her! That doesn't sound like the actions of someone who loves another, mate. I—I know these feelings are new to you, Ollie, and this whole relationship is new, but Merlin, I really need to sit down with you one of these days and teach you what constitutes a proper relationship that doesn't involve HITTING THE WOMAN YOU LOVE. Tonks yelled, trying to emphasize her point. Why did you leave? Why did you go back home to Baba?
Tonks, Ollie started in a somber voice. C'mon, T. You're an Auror. You know better. You know why. He acknowledged. I had to—to save Norah. It was the only way I could think of at the time, feeding Baba lies about Norah's whereabouts, but if I would have known that bitch of a witch had gotten one over on me, I'd have—
Stop.
Tonks growled, looking over towards Dumbledore and Dolores, trying to feign an interest in the two beings' conversation.
Don't blame yourself. I know you already do, I can hear it in your voice, and if I were upstairs with you right now, I bet I could see it on your face. You don't need to say it. Baba would have killed her. She'd have tortured her. Hell, she did that enough as it was already, Tonks added, swallowing hard as she heard Ollie let out a guttural growl upstairs. She would have known that you no longer were hers to torment. She'd have heard it in your voice, felt it, mate.
Tonks let her gaze wander and she made to stare out the window for a moment, lost in a distant memory.
I think my grandma realized that Norah and I had feelings for each other the day of my dad's funeral, Tonks. We hadn't even really become aware of it then, or at least…Norah hadn't, I don't think, Ollie continued explaining in the hopes of beseeching Tonks. She'd been suspicious since that night in St. Mungo's, after you pulled Norah out of that stupid hole in the ground that I'm pretty sure she had a hand in setting up. She must have gotten Rookwood or Greyback or someone to do it. It wouldn't surprise me if all of them were in on this stupid plan from the start. But they're dead now, Tonks. At least…Rookwood and Greyback are. And Yaga's…
Not? Tonks finished dryly as the man's voice trailed off. Did you tell any of this to Norah, Ollie? She's one of the strongest witches and women I've ever met. A total and true Gryffindor if ever there was one. She can take care of herself, Ol. Surely, Norah would have understood.
N—not at first, Ollie confessed, sounding ashamed. But she and I talked, T. We're back together, but she's sick, Tonks. She—she needs a place to stay, somewhere safe where she can recover and get the rest she needs, and I can't take her back home, not while that bitch still lives, T. I—I'm going to have to go back, Tonks. I have to finish what I started. As long as my grandma lives, Norah and I are never going to be safe. She'll hunt us.
Just Ollie's words were enough to make Tonks's stomach coil and church at the thought of Yaga's vileness. The old bitch had always been a nag as long as Tonks had known her, harboring disdain for anyone who surrounded themselves in the presence of her pureblood grandmother that wasn't strictly pure themselves, and Tonks wasn't an exception to this rule. Tonks knew fully well what despicable acts Baba Yaga was capable of. She'd been on the receiving end of the Russian-Slavic witch's temper several times when she was a student at Hogwarts specifically.
One summer, she'd snuck over to Ollie's house in the summer shortly before their seventh year to climb up the window to visit him after dark. Yaga had caught her and had incorrectly assumed the two of them were shagging, and were a couple.
Tonks still had the scar above her eyebrow from the scuffle that ensued following the misunderstanding.
She stiffened as visions of that awful memory flitted through the front of her mind. Letting her hand drift towards Remus's lap under the kitchen table, she let her hand rest over the top of his, and gave it a light squeeze, trying to catch his attention subtly while not attracting any attention to themselves from either Dumbledore or from Dolores.
Remus? She prodded the man's mind as quietly as she could.
When she felt his fingers give a twitch, she knew that he was intently listening to her words now. Feeling slightly hopeful and more encouraged than before, Tonks continued with her request.
Ollie and Norah need a place to lay low for a while. If Umbridge and Yaga are working together somehow and are after them both, they can't go back to his family's estate, Remus. I—I was thinking they could stay with us, love?
Remus sat still and unmoved for a long while, staring at Dumbledore, Dolores, and Sirius, before barely moving his gaze to look at his young wife out of the corner of his peripherals and gave Dora a tiny nod.
Of course, he said, his tone sounding warm and kind. Tell Ollie they can stay as long as they like. But only if they agree to babysit Teddy on Saturday, he added, a slightly mischievous grin causing the edges of his mouth to tug upward. I'd like to take you out somewhere, love. It's been a while since we've gotten time together, just the two of us. If you're agreeable. They're welcome to stay for as long as they need. Tell him that.
He smiled and looked away from Dora, who exhaled a shaking sigh of relief. Tonks nodded softly to herself and glanced down into her steaming mug of tea, pretending to study it with interest while all the while conveying Remus's agreement to her idea to Ollie.
Come stay with us, mate. Rem's already agreed. Stay with us as long as you want, but don't you DARE think for a second that I've forgiven you that easily, mate. I don't give my trust and friendship to just anyone so lightly, and the fact that you PROMISED you'd come to my wedding and DIDN'T is a huge betrayal of that trust. Tonks furrowed her eyebrows, the edges of her mouth pinching down as her frown deepened. She continued.
You two aren't off the hook yet, but especially you, Brennan. You want my friendship back, Ollie, you're gonna have to earn it! And you two can start by babysitting Teddy with Norah on Saturday. Remus wants to take me out if that's okay with you.
Fine by me!
Ollie's voice sounded immensely much more relaxed, not to mention relieved, at least for a minute, and then his tone fell somber once more.
I have to go back, Tonks. To finish what I started. It's the only way I can ensure Norah's safety, and yours and Remus's.
Tonks, who had been about to take a sip of tea, almost choked as the sweet, saccharine beverage went down the wrong windpipe, burning and scalding her throat as it did.
She turned her head to the side and violently coughed, trying desperately to clear her throat and will air back into her lungs.
Pulling a face, she scrunched her nose and gritted her teeth against the pain of basically having all her taste buds burned off.
"Are you quite alright, dearie?" came Umbridge's falsely, honeyed, simpering tone that made Tonks want to puke with how faux her concern was for her being.
"I—I feel just fine, thanks," Tonks gasped, as Lupin leaned forward and thumped her on the back. Tonks waited to speak to Ollie again via their mental bond as Legilimens' until her violent coughing fit subsided.
Back? You're shitting me. You—you can't! What? Why? You're both safe now, you barely escaped from that crazy bitch the last time, Brennan, please don't go doing anything stupid! Think what it would do to Norah! Me and Remus are literally offering you a safe space, mate, and you'd spit in that in favor of what, blood out against your grandma? Look mate, I get it. You want revenge, but…just take a second to—to think about this and don't do anything half-cocked. Why don't you take Norah to the rooftop and Disapparate back to our place from there? Umbridge won't hear it from the roof. The bitch will never be any the wiser, and the four of us will sit down once Remus and I get back and we can make a plan. Together. You're not alone, Ollie. You're never alone, you never have been, and you never will be, especially now that Norah's back in your life, and me and Remus, too. Please let the Auror's handle your grandma, mate. Don't do this, Ollie. Let me extract your and Norah's memories from tonight, and they can be used as evidence via testimony in front of the full court of the Wizengamot. Please, Ollie, don't fucking do this, mate…
Tonks hoped her crestfallen expression wouldn't betray her to Umbridge right now. She swallowed down hard past a lump in her throat as Tonks caught sight of the shorter, stout witch eyeing her in a moment of curiosity, her lips pursed together. Tonks awkwardly coughed to clear her throat.
"The—the tea, it's—it's hot. Went down the wrong pipe, but I thank you for your concern, Dolores, I—I will be just fine, thanks," she stammered, shooting Dolores a little half-grin that she could already tell that it looked strained, because it felt it, and she knew it didn't reach her eyes.
Ollie, please, she tried again to reach him. Why?
T, you know why I have to go, Ollie's tone growled, and he sounded on the brink of losing his patience. We won't truly be safe while Yaga's still alive, he said, voicing what Tonks had already feared from the start the minute he'd revealed he'd left his grandma alive. Even your home would be a prison for Norah. You know what she would do to Norah if she ever left the house.
Tonks nodded deliberately in understanding, though she knew that Ollie could not see it.
You'll kill her, she acknowledged, pausing to take a sip of her tea.
I have to, he passionately told Tonks. I can't allow my family to be a threat to the woman that I love, he determined. The bitch doesn't deserve to live after what she did to Norah, and to her friend, Wes. I—I need to retrieve his body. He deserves a proper burial. Norah deserves to have a chance to say goodbye to her friend, T.
His resolve was steadfast and stern. The pair were silent for several long minutes until Dolores and Dumbledore resumed speaking, and Tonks temporarily pulled away from her and Ollie's conversation. She leaned forward in her chair to listen.
Umbridge, the witch, was in the midst of a sentence. "—You seem to be under the delusions of grandeur, my dear Albus, that I will simply allow this matter to go unresolved, but the fact of the matter remains that now both Mr. Brennan and Miss Jameson must be brought in for questioning for suspected illegal actions taken against one of our own Ministry officials, Albus."
"On what grounds?" Professor Dumbledore asked in a polite and courteous tone, though there was no mistaking the hint of steel in the aging warlock's voice.
Tonks could tell the man was losing his patience.
Umbridge puffed out her chest slightly, though the only thing this succeeded in doing was making the short, stout witch look bloated, and she resembled that much more of a fat, ugly, pink-clad toad.
"Miss Jameson is wanted for the assault of Aurors Dawlish and Dolohov when the pair attempted to bring her into the Ministry of Magic for questioning as to why she failed to properly register under the Werewolf Registration Act. She broke Dolohov's nose and very nearly killed poor Dawlish. Those things alone are enough to warrant charges being pressed against her," Dolores simpered quietly.
If Dumbledore was at all surprised by this revelation, the warlock hid it well as he laced his fingers together and peered at Umbridge over the rims of his half-moon spectacles.
"I see... And what of Oliver?"
At the mention of Ollie's name, Umbridge's pudgy face reddened slightly, and she sat up straighter in her chair and made a visible show of shuffling her clipboard's papers, before tucking her quill back into her bag, alongside her wand, as she made to stand to leave.
"The young man attacked his own family member, not to mention me," she added, almost as an afterthought, her face reddening in anger and embarrassment at the memory of that night in St. Mungo's. "He is a dangerous man, Albus. I don't think I need you here to tell me that. His volatile temper will be his undoing, and it is proving to be that way, isn't it?" she sighed and didn't bother to wait for Albus to respond. "It's only necessary that a warrant is issued for both of their arrests, my dear Albus. Surely, you can see the logic behind the nature of such an action, dear."
She slid the strap of her pink bag over her shoulder, glancing around Sirius Blacks' parents' kitchen with no small measure of disdain and disgust at all of the dust before she crinkled her nose and looked back at Albus.
Professor Dumbledore rose with Umbridge, copying her movements, and glanced around the room before his gaze landed on Tonks and Lupin.
He offered the pair a slight incline of his head and motioned for the two of them to follow him while he escorted Umbridge to the fireplace in the living room to return via the Floo Network back to the Ministry of Magic.
"I'm afraid, my dear Dolores, that I cannot," he said as courteously as possible, though the moment Umbridge's face flushed red in anger, he peered over his shoulder to look at Dora, his blue eyes twinkling as he shot her a wink.
He turned back around to face Umbridge as the pair stood in front of the fireplace as he calmly took a pinch of the familiar green Floo Powder and threw it into the fireplace, where the green flames roared instantly to life.
"It should merely be enough to question them, and I would insist that you interrogate both in my presence to ensure that no unethical procedures are conducted. There is no need to make a premature arrest without a lack of sufficient evidence. I insist you and I meet in the morning first thing to discuss. If it pleases you, Miss Jameson and Mr. Brennan shall accompany me to your private office, where I'm sure the pair of them will only be too delighted to relinquish their memories to use via a Pensieve to showcase the torment and horrible treatment they inflicted whilst they were in Yaga's care." His brows furrowed into a frown as he spoke. "You cannot have your team of Aurors making a false arrest, Dolores. It would paint the Ministry in an even more negative light than it already is. You require proof of Miss Jameson and Mr. Brennan's deeds before arresting either one. From what I understand of Mr. Brennan's actions, he had every just cause to act in the manner that he did, and behaved appropriately, it would seem. They could not be allowed to remain in such a hostile environment, Dolores. Need I remind that you that Ms. Yaga ordered Wes Walker murdered tonight as a form of humiliation to Miss Jameson. Such a heinous act cannot go unpunished. If I were you, Baba Yaga should be brought in as well, to corroborate their stories and the evidence. I will gladly bring them in tomorrow to speak to you, but before I do that, I would like to ask a favor of you, Madam Undersecretary, if I may."
The edges of his voice were hardened, suggesting that this was not up for debate. Umbridge looked as though she was half of a mind to say something, for she opened her mouth, but must have thought better of it because she clamped her lips shut.
Tonks's first thought of the older witch was she looked like a fish opening and closing its mouth whenever she did this, but Tonks remained silent. She drew in an abated breath as Dolores quirked a brow, seemingly suspicious of Dumbledore's intent.
"Which is?" She huffed, making no move to step over the metal grate of the fireplace and head out yet.
Professor Dumbledore briefly glanced behind him towards Lupin and Tonks and shot the pair a little wink.
"Kindly ensure that your heels don't trip over this delectable Persian rug, Madame Undersecretary. It would truly be a pity for you to fall and accidentally land in the wrong destination," Albus remarked airily.
Dolores furrowed her brows, but she glanced down at the crimson throw rug beneath her foot and lifted one of her pink wedge heels as if to confirm that the heel wasn't snagged on a thread fiber.
The moment she looked away for a fraction of a second, Albus hastily withdrew his wand with such lightning-quick reflexes that Tonks didn't even see the man move and pointed the tip of his wand squarely at the Senior Undersecretary's forehead, right between her eyes.
"Obliviate," he murmured, the edges of his beard twitching as Dolores Jane Umbridge's gaze became hazy and cloudy. Her eyes rolled back into her head for a moment as Albus held the spell intact for a moment.
Beside her, Tonks felt Lupin stiffen involuntarily as the Hogwarts Headmaster wiped Umbridge's memory of this entire conversation, clearing the witch's mind of any thoughts of putting out an arrest warrant for Norah and Ollie.
Only when Dumbledore seemed satisfied with the spell did the man lower his wand. Dolores swayed on the spot for a moment, stumbling slightly, but eventually, she recovered. Albus shot out an arm to steady her, gripping onto her forearm in a tight vice grip. Noticing the looks of stunned disbelief on their faces, he turned towards Lupin and Tonks, a grim expression plastered all over his lined, weathered face.
"She will not remember anything of this encounter, the warrants, or of the location of Sirius' parents' home," he added, almost as an afterthought, frowning as he realized Yaga must have revealed the location of their Headquarters for the Order, gotten it from Ollie involuntarily or even someone else, as the whole Brennan family was quite skilled in Legilimency, though Ollie and Baba were, to his knowledge, the only two naturally born with such a gift.
Smiling softly upon hearing Tonks let out a sigh of relief, he lifted his gaze, his blue eyes twinkling a bit.
"I do apologize for this interruption to your evening. Please express my sincerest wishes to Miss Jameson for a speedy recovery and inform the pair of them that I wish to speak to them both here in one week's time when they are much better rested."
His face fell, slightly crestfallen. "I believe I owe them an apology, as a start. Please inform them both that, should she wish it, Miss Jameson is welcomed back into the Order. There will, of course, be terms and conditions to this arrangement, but after… hearing certain snippets of conversation," he added, smiling at how Tonks blushed upon realizing Dumbledore had heard her and Ollie's conversation and had hung onto every word, "I see now that she was only trying to protect her partner and that of her new friends. However, I am astounded that she did not come to us sooner for help as it pertains to her father, and should something like this ever happen again, well, second chances with me do not come lightly, Mrs. Lupin. If you or Remus would kindly inform her of this, I would be most grateful. I eagerly await an owl with her response. Now," he added, glancing towards Dolores with a slightly rueful stare. "I should do our Senior Undersecretary the courtesy of escorting her back. Please. Excuse me. Remus. Nymphadora. Goodnight."
His piece said, Dumbledore politely excused himself and stepped over the metal grate with Umbridge in tow, the green flames whooshing up around them. Within a fraction of a second, they were gone, as if they had never set foot inside Grimmauld Place in the first place, leaving Tonks alone with Remus in the parlor.
Tonks grinned, throwing her head back to the ceiling to convey the news to Ollie, but not before flinging her arms around Lupin's neck and pressing her lips to her husband's mouth for a brief, affectionate kiss. When she broke apart, she looked to the ceiling.
Did you catch that, Ol? She asked, glancing back at Remus and saw the man's brown eyes were twinkling.
Every word, T, and I'm grateful to Dumbledore. I'm sure Norah will be thrilled to learn she can come back. But it still doesn't change the fact that I have to go back.
Tonks's smile instantly slid off her face like water falling over rocks.
But what about Norah, Ollie, huh? How will she feel about all of this? Tonks asked, sadly.
She heard Ollie snort and scoff.
Tch. About killing the bitch who held her captive in a disgusting wine cellar for nine months, who got her best friend and nearly herself and me killed? He sounded incredulous. I imagine I'll have to hold her back. She'll want that pleasure, Ollie predicted, almost sounding amused.
I mean about you leaving her, Ollie, Tonks clarified. You already left her once, she bluntly reminded him.
That was different, Ollie barked hoarsely. She could almost imagine his jaw tensing. I was a bloody fool, T. He admitted. Norah knows that I love her, he asserted. Surely, she'll understand why I have to do this for us.
He was trying to convince himself more than Tonks.
What if you don't come back? Lupin warned, using his own skills in Legilimency to chime in with his opinion, whether it was wanted or not. Tonks shot him a grateful look and tried to thank her husband silently.
Hey, Remus. It's… good to hear your voice. I'm sorry that I didn't attend your wedding. I hope I can make it up to you both. And to answer your question, sir, well, nothing's going to keep me from Norah, Sir. Nothing, Ollie swore, as if he and he alone were controlling the outcome of whatever plan he happened to be forming.
Killing your own grandmother is a dangerous mission, Lupin warned. There are still those among Voldemort's ranks that will protect her, especially now, after your assault on her. Do you honestly think that she would spare your life if it meant hers versus yours?
I appreciate your concern, Remus, sir, but it's not going to come to that, Ollie proclaimed, confidently. I know how to get to that bitch, privately. I know how to sneak in and out of my own house unseen, no matter how many protective enchantments Baba puts up, he reminded his friends. He'd spent his entire life in the shadows. I promise that I'll come back to all of you, T.
I hope you're right, Ollie, Tonks sighed earnestly, shooting a withering glower up towards the ceiling, wishing that her best mate could see it for himself.
But he couldn't, so she continued.
Bring Norah to our place when she wakes up. If she's hungry, we've got some leftovers from yesterday's dinner at the Burrow she's welcome to have. You know Molly always makes way too much food. We'll see you there in a while, but for now, try to get some sleep, Ollie, mate.
Thanks, T. Ollie sounded grateful but exhausted, and his voice tapered off.
Tonks imagined he was falling out. Though Tonks couldn't see it as she allowed Remus to put one hand on the small of her back as she cradled baby Teddy in her arms, steering her towards the fireplace to use the Floo Network to head back home, Tonks imagined Ollie smiling a genuine smile for the first time in a long time. Months, even, since Norah had left, and she wished she could see it for herself.
She allowed a faint ghost of a smile to flit across her lips as they headed home, thinking that, come a few hours, she would see it for herself.
And it would be one of the prettiest sights that she'd ever laid eyes on.