Tonks opened her eyes to find Remus' face swimming through her vision. That had gone...worse than she'd expected. She'd guessed it would hurt. A lot. Which it had. What she hadn't guessed was that she'd black out the moment they arrived. At least she hadn't screamed this time. Not that she remembered, anyway.
"Talk to me, Nymphadora," Remus was saying, although his voice had an odd echo to it, as though he were speaking underwater. "Damn it, I shouldn't have agreed to-"
"Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus," she tried to say, her throat gone dry. It came out more of a whisper than anything, but from the relief that filled his face, he got the gist of it.
"Are you all right? Can you get up?"
It was only then that she realized she was half-lying on the ground, partially propped up against a wall, with Remus crouched in front of her. They were in an alleyway, overgrown with weeds and filled with rubbish that people had dumped over the years. It didn't look like anyone came here much, despite the houses and shops that backed up to the alley. She was relieved to see that the surrounding windows were all curtained or shuttered. Apparently no one appreciated the view.
There didn't seem to be any foot traffic on the street at the end of the alley, either. Still, if anyone showed up right at this moment, chances were good they'd scream bloody murder and call a bobby. Scruffy Remus, looking one step away from homeless, crouched over a young woman lying on the ground? Just slightly incriminating.
"Here, give me a hand up," she said, holding up one of her own.
The pain was already wearing off. With Remus' help she made it all the way to her feet, the wall keeping her upright. He handed her half of a large chocolate bar.
She saluted him weakly and took a small bite. "Ugh."
"What do you mean, ugh?" he asked reproachfully. "It's perfectly good chocolate."
"I hate raisins," she grumbled but took another bite when he practically shoved the bar back in her mouth.
"Eat. I'll try to remember your chocolate preferences for the next time you decide to keel over and nearly gut yourself on a broken bottle."
"Sorry. I'm not sure what happened. I didn't faint the first time," she frowned, thinking back.
"Is this going to happen on the way back as well?"
"How should I know? I wasn't expecting it to happen on the way here!"
"Lovely," he muttered.
"I don't suppose we could just keep this to ourselves, could we?"
The look on his face suggested that he was five seconds away from Apparating her back to Grimmauld Place and locking her in a closet.
"That's a no, then?"
He scrubbed his face with one hand and motioned for her to keep eating, which she did with increasing enthusiasm. Either Honeydukes did something to their raisins to make them more appetizing or healing from a traumatic injury made everything taste better.
"Against my better judgment, it's probably best that we not mention it to anyone yet," he said, surprising her. "It may just be a one-off. Let's at least see if it happens again."
Tonks inwardly hurrahed. "So now what?"
"Now you're going to finish that, and I'm going to scout the end of the alley. Try not to fall over."
It was probably good her mouth was too full to respond to that as he walked away.
They'd Apparated to a spot about ten yards from the alley entrance. By the time Remus had picked his way over through all the rubbish and discarded furniture, taken a good look around and picked his way back again, she had finished eating. The chocolate, surprisingly, helped a lot. Not just for Dementor attacks then, she made a mental note.
"Better?" Remus asked.
"Yes, thanks," she answered. The pain had gone, along with the lingering dizziness, leaving her tired but able to function. "See anything?"
"Not really. A few people walking, nothing suspicious. This area is fairly rundown. I'd guess that's how Boskin has managed to keep a foot in both worlds. Enough to keep himself fed and his shop open, anyway."
"What's he sell?"
"Herbs, mostly. He's set up like a cross between a medieval apothecary and a Muggle tobacconist. I have no idea how he's managed to clear that with the local authorities, but...oh," he stopped suddenly. "I hadn't considered… Look, I'm not sure that what he's doing is entirely legal. Is that going to be a problem?"
Tonks shrugged. "I'm not on duty, and unless he's doing something harmful or risking exposure to the Muggles, I don't care how he makes his living. Is he harming anyone? Selling illegal potion components to Muggles or stuff like that?"
"Not that I know of. I was thinking more along the lines of tampering with paperwork. I think you'd have heard of him before this if he was trying to pull something dangerous."
"Then we don't have a problem, do we?" She started walking again, putting her hands in her pockets.
The shop, identified by a peeling, faded wooden sign above it that simply read, "Boskin's," was located along a row of old, two-storied shophouses, the sturdy brick construction holding up better than the rusty security shutters that covered many of the windows and doors. The shops to either side of Boskin's were empty, displaying For Sale signs. There was a corner shop, a handful of pubs, a liquor store, a tobacconist. The Whining Pig was across the street and down a few properties to the left. Not much else still in business. It looked as though a few of the shops along this stretch of road had been derelict for years.
"Hiding in plain sight," Tonks murmured as they approached the front entrance.
"Some of us have to," Remus said, some bite behind the words.
Tonks steered well clear of that conversational landmine.
A bell tinkled when Remus yanked open the door to the shop and Tonks, casting a last, careful look around the neighborhood, stepped inside.
She was immediately transported back to Hogwarts and Potions class as the scents of a hundred different herbs hit her nose, bitter and green and floral and sharp, all tangled together. The only difference here was, all of that was threaded through with the heavy aroma of pipe tobacco. It smelled wonderful.
Behind her, Remus sneezed.
"Tell me you're not allergic to something in here."
"Not allergic, exactly," he said, sneezing again.
"Oh, shit," she realized. "There's wolfsbane in here, isn't there? Will you be okay?"
"Yes. It's not as bad as-" he hesitated. "It's not that bad."
She threw him a doubtful glance.
"Don't worry, I'll tell you if it becomes a problem."
Given that she wasn't in any sort of position to argue the point, she let it drop.
The small shop was crammed front to back with shelves housing dozens upon dozens of neatly labeled glass jars, alphabetically ordered. The walls had wooden shelves, some of them built in, some of them mounted on brackets that didn't look quite sturdy enough to do their job but were somehow managing anyway. Magic must be involved there, she thought. The floor space was a small warren of freestanding, cheap metal shelving, the paths between them barely wide enough for a grown man to squeeze through. Despite the crowded space, everything was immaculately clean.
Something tugged at her attention. She looked up.
"Does he usually have the electric lights on in here?" she asked quietly. Her hand had been on her wand the whole time, but now she pulled it out. Remus did the same.
"I've only been here once. I don't remember, but I think so."
She started slowly down the far right-hand aisle, signaling for Remus to take the left. There was no sound in the shop beyond their own careful footsteps. The shadows deepened the farther they went, something that the sunlight coming in the front window had masked at first glance.
Her eyes adjusted to the lower light as she reached the back, where the herbal smells were overwhelmed by the spicy sweetness of the pipe tobacco mixes Boskin kept there. She walked up to the glass counter display cabinet that stretched from one wall to the other, filled with pipes, cigarettes and cigars, and all the other strange paraphernalia that Muggles found necessary for smoking. Ordinarily she would have loved to poke around and explore.
"Anything?" she whispered to Remus, who had circled around to scan the remaining aisles.
"No. Let's check the storeroom."
"You think something's wrong?"
He nodded and headed around the display counter without another word.
There was no door to the back, just a thin, faded curtain hung on twine in the doorway. Tonks stood to one side and used her wand to ease the curtain open enough to peer inside, although that was useless. The room was pitch dark. She slipped around the doorframe and edged her way in a few steps as Remus followed.
They stood there, listening intently. Not a sound.
"Think we should risk a light?" Remus whispered.
"Yeah." She cast Lumos and the tip of her wand flared to life. She fed more magic into it until she could see a few feet in front of her, aided by the light from Remus' wand. "You all right?"
If the front room had smelled heavily of herbs, then the storeroom threatened to choke them. She could hear the faintest wheeze when Remus inhaled.
"I shouldn't stay in here for long. You go look over there," he pointed to two tables in front of them, "and I'll look for a lightswitch."
Tonks nodded and started toward the tables he'd indicated, which were messily scattered with empty jars, measuring cups, papers, labels, quills, and...
"Remus!" She hurried forward. As she got closer she saw the dark red puddle on the table had dripped off the edge to form a smaller puddle underneath. Her foot slid on something that scraped roughly along the floor, and she nearly went down.
"What is it?" Remus asked as she bent to pick it up.
"Broken glass. Careful."
"What is it with you and glass today?"
"Shut it." A closer look at the floor showed a shattered goblet, scattered in pieces at their feet. She touched a finger to the spilled liquid and brought it to her nose. "Nevermind. It's just wine. Did you find the lights?"
"No, but I found the staircase to the upper floor."
"Let's finish checking this room quickly, then."
The shadows loomed enormous as they walked around. There were more cheap shelves, loaded with boxes and bags of herbs, and crates stacked along the walls. The rear entrance, when they found it along the back wall of the building, was locked. Tonks noticed a cat flap in the door, which meant that when a large calico monster jumped out from between two crates a little while later, she wasn't as startled as she might have been.
"That explains the wine glass, I guess." She bent down to let it sniff her fingers, then watched as it slipped into the darkness. They found it again at the top of the stairs, scratching at the closed door.
"Ready?" she asked Remus, catching her breath. "We might just be surprising him in his bath."
Remus looked bleak. "I'm just hoping we find him alive at this point."
Tonks nodded. "Dim your wand a little. Go ahead in first, I'll cover you."
Remus tried the handle and found it unlocked. The door opened silently, and after a few tense moments, Remus stepped in, Tonks close behind him. A short hallway bisected the house from side to side. Faint lines of light showed from underneath four closed doors, two on either side, but otherwise the space in front of them was as dark as the storeroom downstairs.
Tonks was weighing their options when the cat wound around her ankles. It trotted forward a few steps to sit at the nearer of the left-hand doors, looking back at them expectantly. Its eyes shone green in the light from their wands.
She and Remus looked at each other, then moved toward where the cat waited. It scratched at the door once, then more impatiently as they listened for any sounds of movement in the room beyond. There were none. Once again Remus tried the handle. The door squeaked quietly on its hinges.
They looked into a small bedroom, the furnishings and linens old and shabby but clean. The room was painfully tidy. Whitewashed walls. A chest of drawers along the wall by the door. A small bed, positioned along the right wall, with a trunk at the foot and a bedside table on the far side. A lamp. The floor was bare of rugs, the surfaces were bare of any personal effects. No photographs or pictures on the walls. It was thoroughly depressing, considering how long the man must have lived here.
The cat immediately jumped on the bed, mewing, then down again on the far side.
They exchanged another look and hurried over, guessing what they would find.
They were right.
A/N: Doing schoolwork with the kids and trying to throw this in at the same time. End of school year insanity. My brain = toast. Have a good week, and thank you for reading/reviewing!