AN: Many thanks to all my lovely reviewers and followers for all your support! I was working on original fiction over the summer – hence my slowness to update here – but I should be updating Recruits more regularly from now on.
Also, a random sidenote: I recently attended my first ever LeakyCon in Dublin! It was such a remarkable experience – to be surrounded by so many people who are as passionate about the Potterverse and its inhabitants as I am. I even attended a talk on fanfiction and felt so completely at home. To the organisers of LeakyCon: you are amazing.
Righto, on we go!
Disclaimer: As always, anything from the books belongs to JK Rowling.
Trigger Warning: Scenes of violence and injury, and suggestion of sexual assault in this chapter.
Chapter Nine
The Absence of Light
There was fire in his chest.
At least that's what it felt like, because he couldn't breathe.
Remus tried to sit up, but he could barely raise his head off the ground, let alone the rest of his body. He felt battered and thoroughly bruised, as though he had just been trampled by a herd of hippogriffs. His right side was sticky and far too warm; he was definitely injured, but he couldn't bear to look there yet. First, he needed to breathe.
Yet, no matter how hard he tried, his lungs wouldn't cooperate, clenching their sides together as his diaphragm refused to shift. He had to stay calm; he would lose more oxygen if he panicked. Turning his head to the side, he tried to spot Proudfoot through the maze of table legs and overturned chairs, but he couldn't see properly.
Largely because Lily Potter was blocking his view.
You know, now is not an ideal time to go into shock, she said, crouching beside him.
"I know that!"Remus tried to say, but his lungs tightened even more. Black spots began to swarm in front of his eyes, and he felt very dizzy, even though he was lying down.
You need to breathe, Remus! Lily said. Your partner needs your help. You need to breathe and get up!
"I'm…try…ing…" Remus gritted, every syllable like a knife in his chest. The light was fading in front of his eyes, and darkness was swiftly closing in, like spilled ink spreading across yellow parchment.
Well, I'm all for trying, but this is one of those occasions where you have to transition from trying to doing, tout suite. C'mon, Remus: breathe!
Remus dragged his uninjured left hand up to his chest, and repeatedly, desperately, slammed it against his ribcage.
Breathe Remus! Right now – BREATHE!
With a mighty heave, Remus pushed himself onto his left side and gasped, finally dragging in a deep lungful of air.
And you said I was crap at motivational speeches, Lily said, smirking.
"Yeah, yeah," Remus muttered, and then bit back a yelp when he saw his right arm. Numerous deep, bloody gashes ran from shoulder to wrist, and he could feel a persistent throbbing in his right side underneath the blast vest he was wearing. Miraculously, his right hand itself was uninjured, but that wasn't of much use to him. He might be able to hold his wand, but he sure as hell wouldn't be able to wave it.
Speaking of which, where was his wand?
He looked around the floor, but he couldn't see it anywhere. Panic started to rise within him, but he forced it back down again. He could still perform wandless magic, but it would be stronger if he actually had his wand near him when he did so.
"Auror Lupin?" a sing-song voice called out. "Where are you?"
It was the blonde wizard, making his way across the pub, casually ducking to avoid the jets of light from Proudfoot's duel.
Great, this twat, Lily muttered. You'd better move. Quick, that way!
Remus looked to where she was pointing and saw a narrow passageway through a maze of smaller tables in the darkest part of the pub. If Remus stayed low to the ground, the blonde might not see him.
Go go go!
Staying down on his hands (well, hand) and knees, Remus gritted his teeth and edged quickly along the floor. His wand arm hung uselessly at his side, leaving fat droplets of blood behind as he moved. Remus whispered a healing spell, but whatever curse he had been hit with would not allow the blood to clot. It would be moments before the blonde wizard found him, in a twisted Hazel-and-Gretel trail. Muttering Evanesco at the floor behind him, Remus continued on his way, half-crawling, half-dragging himself past several civilians who were huddled beneath their tables.
He knew he should say something to make them feel better; to be reassuring in his capacity as a law enforcer, but all he could think about was getting to his wand. He heard bangs and shouts, and looked through a gap in the chairs to see Proudfoot duelling two wizards – the one with the hook-nose and another, younger wizard with caramel skin and jet black hair.
She's pretty good, Lily whispered beside him. Ever think of going for an older woman?
"She not interested in men," Remus whispered back. "Now shush and help me find my wand." Lily rolled her eyes, but continued to follow behind him.
Finally, Remus spotted his wand, lying beside an overturned chair, underneath one of the long tables Tom used for larger parties. He was about to move towards it, when he heard the blonde wizard's voice again, this time too close for comfort:
"Oh, you've left a trail for me. How considerate – for that, I may kill you quickly."
Bollocks. Had the cleaning charm not worked?
Not daring to look back, Remus lurched forward, ignoring the pain in his side as he practically threw himself underneath the table. Stretching out his good arm, he tried to grab at the wand, but he couldn't quite reach –
Suddenly, a hand shot out and snatched it up, and Remus felt his heart constrict.
Until he saw Nymphadora Tonks peering up at him from the other side of the table, her face pale and eyes bright. He didn't think he would ever have been so pleased to see her.
"Quickly, this way," she said, gesturing for him to follow her behind a large, wooden pillar. Remus barely hesitated, crawling quickly after her.
"How many suspects are still active," he whispered, when they were both well hidden.
"Just your blonde stalker, the tanned one, and the one with Snape's nose." She handed Remus his wand. "The rest have been knocked out – aside from the guy who's still break-dancing. Cool spell, by the way!"
Remus nodded and then frowned. "Snape's nose?"
"Snape, the Hogwarts potions-master."
"Yes, I'm aware of who Snape is."
"Well then, I don't understand your confusion about the nose comment."
"I wasn't confused; it just wasn't the first thing that came to mind when I saw that wizard, that's all."
Tonks raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Really?"
Okay, it might have been the second thing that came to mind, but he wasn't going to tell her that. Instead, Remus peered around the side of the pillar. The blonde wizard was standing roughly twenty feet away, staring at the ceiling and cocking his head from side to side, as though listening for something. Whatever he was doing, it wouldn't be long until he found them, and Remus was in no fit state for open battle. He needed Proudfoot's help.
"Do you have a plan?" Tonks mouthed.
"Sort of," Remus replied. "Stay where you are, Nymphadora."
"But -"
"Stay where you are."
"You can barely hold your wand!"
"Don't exaggerate."
"Your arm looks like it's about to fall off."
"How very comforting. Now, stay where you are – that's an order!"
Remus could feel Tonks glowering after him, as he crept from his hiding place towards Proudfoot and her two opponents. Wandless magic was usually no problem for him, but he was growing weaker by the minute from blood loss, which would not help his case. They needed to finish this battle quickly.
Ducking behind an overturned table, Remus focused all of his energy on the young, tanned wizard. It took a few seconds, but he was quite proud of the Stunning Spell he produced, catching the wizard square in the chest and tossing him backwards.
Proudfoot let out a whoop and began a ferocious new attack on the Snape-nosed wizard, driving him back. Which only left –
"Look out!"
Hearing Tonks's shout, Remus didn't need telling twice and threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding a yellow jet of light. When he looked back, a large scorch mark smouldered on the rug where he had been sitting.
The same rug the blonde wizard was also standing on, ten feet away. Which gave Remus a fairly stupid idea…
"Well, well," the blonde wizard said, with a smirk, pointing his wand at Remus's chest. "You thought you could actually get away from me."
"I hope that's not a line you use on women," Remus replied, slowly rising to his knees, clutching his wand behind his back. "It might need a little work."
The blonde's smile stretched wider, "I don't use lines to get women to do what I want."
"No?" Remus said. His wand was slippery with blood; he couldn't grip it right. "Forgive me, but you don't exactly strike me as an accidental Casanova."
The younger wizard's laughter was jarring. "You're very naïve, Auror Lupin. I only meant, why use words on women when I can use spells instead?"
The implication of what he meant made bile rise in Remus's throat and his eyes flickered from side to side, searching. He needed a distraction for his plan to work; for the bastard to turn his back for just a moment –
As if hearing his thoughts, Tonks popped up from her hiding place.
"Oy, dingbat!"
The blonde turned and quickly blocked the hex she fired at him. He raised his wand to fire back, but Remus dropped forward, gripped the rug in his good hand and yanked hard. The wizard tripped forwards and slammed his head on the side of a table on his way to the floor. Thin ropes shot out from the end of Tonks's wand and wrapped around the wizard's unconscious form, rendering him immobile. Remus finally let his own wand slip through his fingers.
"I thought I told you to stay out of it," he said.
"No, you told me to stay put," Tonks replied, grinning as she walked over to him. "Which I technically did."
Remus took the hand she offered and pulled himself to his feet, trying not to wobble. He really was feeling very light-headed now.
On the other side of the pub, Proudfoot finally managed to stun and bind her final opponent and gave a loud, victory cry. Scattered applause broke out across the pub, growing louder when the patrons realised the danger was over, but Remus barely heard them; he had just noticed the spell Tonks had used to bind the blonde wizard.
"Individual Anti-Disapparition Jinx combined with Incarcerous? I didn't know you had been taught this combination yet."
"We haven't, but I thought it would be useful, so…" Tonks trailed off, her eyes wide. "Not that I think our classes are going too slow, or anything! I just thought it would be good to stay on top of things, and –"
She continued to ramble about useful combinations she had seen Aurors use in training, and Remus felt himself becoming strangely amused by her. She was a little clumsy when speaking, her thoughts tumbling out in haphazard, imperfect bursts; particularly when she was flustered. Every other member of the Black family Remus had met possessed an unrivalled verbal eloquence and wit, even when emotions ran high and tempers boiled over. Even Bellatrix had expressed her deluded assertions with a sophistication that belied her wild eyes and vicious character. Tonks clearly didn't have any trouble expressing herself – considering the speed at which words were leaving her mouth – but there was something uninhibited about it. Whatever other traits she shared with her family, a silver tongue wasn't one of them.
"– so, that's what led me to combine that hex with, oh, what's the name of that other hex. You know, the one that causes your fingers to swell to the size of cucumbers? Oh, it's –"
"It's perfect."
Tonks stopped mid-babble, her cheeks pink. "What is?"
"The spell you performed." Remus ran his wand over the blonde wizard's bindings. "It was perfectly executed; I couldn't have done it better myself. Well done."
Tonks blinked and her cheeks flushed brighter as she bit her lip against a smile. "Really? I mean, thank you, sir!"
"You're welcome."
The young woman continued to beam and Remus suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze. Clearing his throat, he turned to find his partner in the crowd.
"Proudfoot, you okay?"
"Never better, Lupin my good man," Proudfoot called back, waving her wand to bind their unconscious attackers together. She had a large cut across her chest and another across her cheek, but she grinned over at him nonetheless. "Who needs a proper team, eh?"
"It would have been useful all the same. Is Paisley alright?"
"I think my dad is looking after him," Tonks said.
"Your dad?"
Remus looked over to see a fair-haired man leaning over Paisley, passing his wand over the young man's limp form.
"Yeah, he's a healer at St. Mungo's – specialises in spell damage."
"Right, well, that's…convenient, I suppose." Remus turned to Proudfoot, who had just appeared at his side. "We should contact Scrimgeour before the media gets wind of this. Maybe contact the MLEP too, see if they have any officers to spare."
"On it."
Proudfoot waved her wand, and her eagle patronus soared above their heads for a moment, before disappearing through the wall. She turned back, her eyes wide as she took in his arm.
"Are you alright?"
Pub patrons started to emerge from underneath tables and were giving them curious looks. Remus hoped none of them were armed with cameras.
"I'll be fine," he said, even though he felt like throwing up and fainting, in no particular order.
"You should sit down," Proudfoot said, giving him a gentle shove towards a chair.
"Really, I'm fine."
"I can take a look at that arm, if you like?"
Tonks's father stood beside him. Paisley was now awake, sitting slumped in a chair, looking pale and exhausted, but thankfully alright. Proudfoot marched over to him, as Remus turned back to the shorter man. "It's Mr Tonks, isn't it?"
The man's face was familiar; Remus knew they had met before, but that had been another life entirely – one that sometimes felt as though it had only been a dream.
"Ted, please." The man stuck his hand out to shake Remus's, and then laughed a little. "Sorry, wrong hand."
"Yeah." Remus briefly clasped the man's warm hand and let go. "Well, thank you but I'm fine. Really."
Ted looked at his arm, which could barely be seen under all the blood, and then back at Remus, good-natured amusement evident on his round face.
"Since I can currently see part of your radius bone, I'm afraid I have to disagree," Ted said.
"You'll have to force yourself on 'im, Healer Tonks," Proudfoot called. "He'll never admit how badly off he is."
"Proudfoot, really –"
"One time, he'd been hit with a nasty slicing spell – nearly took his leg clean off. But Lupin being Lupin, he just dragged himself along, smiling and saying, 'Don't worry – 'tis but a flesh wound!'"
Tonks giggled and Remus felt himself begin to colour. He didn't like attention when he was injured. Ted, however, did not laugh and leaned in close to Remus.
"I promise I'm good at what I do," he said, quietly. "And you are losing a little too much blood at the moment. I'm concerned that you may pass out."
Unless the walls really were wiggling, Remus thought the healer may be right...
"Alright," he muttered, allowing Ted to steer him towards a chair as Proudfoot strode off to speak to Tom, who was staring around his ruined pub with an expression of utter dismay.
Ted waved his wand a few times, frowned when nothing happened, and then stared at Remus's arm for a full minute before clicking his fingers.
"Ah, I've got it!"
He passed his wand over the ripped flesh again, and the bleeding finally stopped. Another wave of his wand, and the blood began to smear, as though being wiped by an invisible cloth.
Once all the blood had been cleared away, Remus could see just how damaged his arm was, and he felt his stomach turn over. The gashes were bone deep and too numerous to count, each several inches long. A small gasp from behind him told him that Tonks had seen it too, and suddenly the idea of her seeing him vulnerable was unbearable.
Her cousin, the traitor, would have cracked a joke at this moment – how werewolves should have better reflexes than this, how he was clearly losing his skill, how he hoped Remus performed better than this in bed. Remus had spent the past ten years trying to banish that voice from his mind, and he had been largely successful. He didn't need another Black family member to take its place.
"Tonks, why don't you see if Proudfoot needs help," he said, shortly, not looking at her.
"I'm fine, I can handle it."
"That doesn't –"
He turned around and promptly swallowed his words. Tonks's face was ghostly white, and she was biting her lip so hard it had started to bleed. Nevertheless, she kept her gaze fixed on his arm, barely blinking, as though forcing herself to do so. Despite his discomfort, Remus felt a pang of sympathy. Family connections aside, she was only a recruit, and this was possibly the worst – if not the first – serious injury she had ever seen. Even worse, it had happened to someone who had years of experience duelling dark wizards.
Trainee and Junior Aurors often quit once they witnessed the severe injuries their colleagues suffered, and the brutal and unpredictable attacks that were part of the job. Remus thought the nasty little voice in his head might have been happy for her to reconsider her position on the squad, but he just felt sorry for her. He remembered the first time he had seen a colleague wounded in battle; he still saw it sometimes, in his nightmares.
"I'm sure you can handle it," Remus said at last, "but if I pass out, I would rather have as few witnesses as possible. Reputation is important in this line of work, you know."
Tonks finally tore her eyes away from his arm and gave him a small, forced smile. "Okay, I'll help preserve your street cred."
"I appreciate that."
She walked away towards Proudfoot, straightening her back as she went. Remus looked back at Ted, and found the other man giving him a curious look.
"I thought a department run by Alastor Moody would ascribe to a more terror-inducing mode of training," he said, "You know, scare them until they piss their pants type of set-up."
"Oh, he did that with my generation," Remus said, "Then he realised how difficult it is to get the stains out of the carpet."
Ted laughed loudly and waved his wand again. The pair of them sat in companionable silence as Ted worked, first cleaning the cuts and then stitching the skin back together.
"I haven't seen this curse in a long time," he said, thoughtfully.
"Really?" Remus winced as his skin slowly began to knit together. "I can honestly say I've never had the pleasure of its company before now."
"It was a big favourite at one point during the war, but it takes quite a lot of skill to cast, so dark wizards generally relied on easier curses. Thank Merlin." He glanced up at Remus. "I'm sorry I don't have any painkilling potions on me, but I can send Dora out for something if you –"
"No need, I have a pretty high threshold for pain."
"I can see that," Ted said, raising his eyebrows, "Normal people cry at this part."
"I can start wailing, if you'd prefer it that way."
Ted snorted. "You know, the angle that curse hit you at, I'm surprised you weren't more seriously injured."
"I think my blast vest took most of the impact," Remus said, shifting a little and wincing again when his ribs protested.
"Well, I'm glad to see that some of the Auror squad have taken to wearing those," Ted said, with an approving nod. "Five years ago, you'd swear wearing any form of protection was a sign of weakness."
Remus gave a huff of amusement. "Oh believe me, to some of them it still is. I had to force Proudfoot into one this evening."
He glanced over to where his partner was reading the Magi-Legal Rights to their prisoners, while Tonks checked their bindings. Two members of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol had turned up and were taking statements from witnesses, looking important and puffing out their chests as they strutted around the room.
"Rather impressive, being able to hold off a dark wizard like that while injured," Ted said.
"Not really, when your other options are death or dismemberment," Remus said, watching as his arm slowly became a little less raw. Magic was such a wonderful thing.
"I beg to differ," Ted continued. "In fact, I'm rather glad you're teaching my daughter."
That pulled Remus up short. "You are?"
Ted fixed his bright blue eyes on Remus's. "Yes, I am. Don't imagine I'm ignorant of the part you played in capturing Bellatrix nine years ago. Alastor Moody came to us that night and told us. You undoubtedly saved my daughter's life then, and I know you'll do your best for her now."
Guilt felt like a leaden weight in his stomach. Saving Andromeda and her family had never been part of the reason he had pursued Bellatrix the way he did. Only revenge had driven him back then.
"Anyway, shirt off, Auror Lupin," Ted said, sitting up in his chair once more.
Remus blinked. "Er, this conversation is taking a strange turn."
The other man laughed loudly. "Vest or no vest, you might have some internal injuries from the force of the curse. I need to examine you."
"Yeah, I don't think I'll be taking my shirt off in the middle of The Leaky Cauldron. Thanks all the same, though."
"If you're concerned about the spectators, I can conjure a screen for you to hide behind?"
Remus was mid-laugh, when his eyes locked on the person standing a few feet behind Ted, staring back at him from the shadows of the room.
Bellatrix.
But it was impossible – she was in Azkaban. And yet, there she stood, her dead eyes fixed on him. Cold fury flooded into his chest and he yanked his arm from the healer's grasp, pulling his wand from its holster and taking aim.
But before he could curse her into oblivion, Ted grabbed his wand arm and forced it down, earning a gasp of pain from Remus. What the bloody hell was the man thinking? Remus twisted away, shoving Ted to the ground and aimed again. He wouldn't let her escape; not now, not ever –
"STOP! Lupin, stop – that's my wife!"
Remus paused, but didn't lower his wand. Ted moved in front of him, holding his hands out as though he would catch whatever spell Remus cast.
"That's Andromeda, not her sister."
The woman stepped forward into the light and Remus could see her properly; how her hair was light brown instead of black, how her eyes were wide and frightened, not heavy-lidded and promising death.
His mind felt fuzzy and overloaded, his thoughts dragged away into a whirlpool where he couldn't reach them. This was some kind of trick, it had to be, and yet... He had met Andromeda before, but she had looked different, he was sure she had! He couldn't think properly. Lily would know, she would –
With a lurch, Remus realised he hadn't seen her since he had found his wand under the table. He looked for her face in the crowd, but he already knew it wouldn't be there. Lily was gone. He felt all the rage drain out of him and bone-deep loss take its place, chilling him more than a hundred dementors.
"I…" Remus finally lowered his wand, suddenly aware of all the eyes on him. "I'm sorry, Mrs Tonks."
Andromeda moved forward, as though she wanted to say something, but Remus quickly thanked Ted for his help and walked away to where Proudfoot was moving the prisoners out to the alley and a waiting Portkey.
"Hang on, I've only half healed your arm," Ted called after him.
"Then it's only half as bad as it was," Remus replied.
As he passed her, he could feel Nymphadora Tonks's dark eyes on him, but he couldn't look at her. All he could see was the absence of light.
(-)(-)(-)
The next morning, Tonks arrived at the Ministry, both exhausted and wide awake. After the battle in The Leaky Cauldron, she had been unable to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw flashes of red and yellow light, and shadowy figures with their wands drawn, pointed at her. She saw blood dripping from the ceiling, while a blonde wizard laughed and laughed and her parents lay dead on the floor...
Rest had not come easily.
But what really had her stomach in knots this morning was Lupin – what on earth was she going to say to him? Thanks for saving my life and then almost killing my mother by accident?
The annoying thing was, she had actually been getting along with him for once – like colleagues, rather than student and boss who avoided prolonged eye contact with one another. He had even been impressed by her spellwork! But then all of that had gone to arse when he had looked at her mother and seen Bellatrix instead.
Tonks had always noted the resemblance between the two sisters; it was impossible not to, really. But she had seen the differences more – their hair, their eyes, and how her mother's smile, though sometimes overly polite, held no trace of malice. That Lupin could have mistaken Andromeda for her sister seemed absurd. But then again, Tonks had never known her aunt. Perhaps there was more of a resemblance there than she realised?
Andromeda had been almost silent after Tonks had accompanied them home for a glass of wine after dinner. Normally, her mother would tell her to wipe her feet and hang up her cloak properly, not drape it over the bannister. But this time she said nothing; only wandered into the living room and sank slowly into an armchair, her eyes staring but unfocused.
"It's been a long time since someone mistook Andy for her sister," Ted had whispered to Tonks. "During the war, it happened all the time – your mother wound up cutting most of her hair off so the Aurors could tell the difference. Didn't really work though. I think she was relieved when we went into hiding. There was nobody to see us then."
Tonks barely remembered that period in her early life; when they hid away from the world and never strayed outside. The only thing she did remember was her parents fear – how they were constantly on edge and fretful, barely letting Tonks into the back garden or near the windows at night. Bellatrix had sworn to eliminate her sister's family and, according to Ted, she had meant business.
Finally arriving in the Auror department, Tonks stifled a yawn behind her hand. Maybe she should get a cup of coffee to wake herself up – but what if Lupin was in the tea room? She stuck her head around the door and immediately relaxed.
The only occupant was Miriam, who also looked exhausted (although probably not for the same reason). She waved Tonks over.
"I've just made a fresh pot," Miriam said, pouring them both a coffee. "You ready for this?"
Tonks just nodded. She had performed the jinx perfectly at The Leaky, but what if she couldn't replicate it now? At least she had a witness; Lupin had seen her cast it. She was hardly going to ask him to testify to that fact, though.
They made their way towards the training room, where Auror MacDermott was cleansing the space of previous enchantments and setting up new targets. The rest of the recruits were wandering about the room, waving their wands in practice and muttering to themselves.
MacDermott looked up as they entered and frowned through her fringe. "Tonks, what are you doing here?"
"Er, I'm here for the test, ma'am?"
The Auror raised an eyebrow. "You've been given an exemption. Didn't you get my owl this morning?"
Tonks blinked. "No, I must have missed it. An exemption?"
"That darn owl keeps getting lost," MacDermott muttered, "I think it might be time to retire her. Anyway, you don't need to sit the exam this morning – you've been given an automatic pass."
"But why?" Tonks said, confused, although she was seriously enjoying the startled look on Grayson's face. "I don't understand."
MacDermott sighed, as though Tonks was being deliberately obtuse and shooed her outside, shutting the door behind them.
"Auror Lupin informed me of what transpired last night at The Leaky Cauldron. It is his opinion that since you have proven you can perform the Individual Anti-Disapparition Jinx perfectly while under pressure in a real-life situation, you have more than proven your proficiency. I trust his word on this."
Tonks felt as though she had been hit with a Stunner. "He really said that?"
MacDermott ignored her. "You have been awarded full marks for this assignment and therefore have the rest of the morning off. I suggest you use your free time wisely."
And with that, she turned on her heel and vanished back into the room, closing the door behind her. Tonks stared at it for a long moment, before striding back down the corridor towards Lupin's office.
He was there already, leaning against the wall outside, mug of tea in hand as he frowned at a scroll. Tonks dithered a little, then mentally smacked herself and marched up to him.
"Good morning, Auror Lupin," she said, brightly.
Lupin visibly stiffened and turned to look at her. "Good morning, Tonks. How are you?"
"I'm very well. Bit hungry, but that's what happens when you skip breakfast."
"Er, yes, that's true I suppose..."
He was pale and exhausted, black shadows hugging the skin beneath his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept at all, either.
"I wanted to say thank you," Tonks continued, before she lost her nerve, "For what you said to Auror MacDermott and – well, for getting me out of that exam. It was really great of you."
Lupin cleared his throat and looked back at his scroll. "You don't need to thank me."
"Yes, but I want to –"
"I understand, but you really don't have to –"
"Okay, but I still –"
"Tonks, really, I –"
"You know," Tonks interrupted, "you could just say "you're welcome Tonks, now get lost"."
One side of Lupin's mouth curved upwards. "Yes, I suppose I could. Although I doubt it would have the desired effect."
Was he teasing her? Tonks bit back a smile of her own. Maybe all was not lost.
"I always find its best to be direct in what you want, sir. Less of a chance of a person misreading the situation, or interpreting any unintended subliminal messages."
Lupin was definitely smiling now. "You really are strangely like Moody at times."
"Ouch."
"Oh don't worry – as long as you don't start hiding in the gents toilets and yelling 'Constant Vigilance!' under the cubicle doors, you should be fine."
His eyes twinkled a little at Tonks's look of horror, even as she giggled into her hand.
"You can't be serious."
"I wish I wasn't; some of the men are afraid to use the loo anymore."
Tonks was extremely glad Moody had not been born a woman. Lupin returned to his scroll, a smile still playing about his lips, and Tonks felt her heart pound against her chest. This could be it, her opportunity to prove to him once and for all that he could trust her. She took a deep breath.
"Since I'm now free for the morning, sir, I was wondering if you needed help with anything? You know, with paperwork or – or anything, really. I'm all yours."
Lupin stared at her for a long moment, looking unnecessarily surprised. Perhaps he didn't function well on zero sleep? She could sympathise with that; the week before her NEWT examinations, Tonks had been like a mother dragon – unpredictable and fairly vicious.
Finally, Lupin seemed to sort his thoughts out. Whatever he had been planning to say was quickly lost, though – his eyes shifted to look at something over her head, and instead he said: "Good morning, Mr Tonks."
Tonks spun around to see her father walking towards them, dressed in his green healer's robes.
"Dad? What are you doing here? Is it Mum – is she okay?"
"She's fine, Dora," Ted said, giving her arm a squeeze. "I'm here on business." He turned to Lupin. "I'm looking for Auror Jamieson?"
"Down the hall and around the corner, fourth door on your left."
"Thank you."
"Well, I must get on." Lupin dropped his gaze to Tonks's. "Thank you for the offer, Tonks, but I'll merely be conducting interviews all morning. Rickburn might need help though; he has quite a caseload at the moment."
He seemed genuine, so Tonks tried not to feel too disappointed. "Of course, sir."
Lupin gave her a swift smile and offered his hand to her father. "Nice to see you again, Mr Tonks. Thank you again for your help yesterday."
"Not at all. And it's Ted, please. We'll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on."
"Will we?"
Ted's eyes flickered to Tonks, before he said: "I've just been assigned as one of the new St. Mungo's liaisons to the Auror squad."
Lupin looked about as shocked as Tonks felt, although he probably wasn't half as furious.
"You're what?" she said.
Lupin muttered something about being late and vanished quickly down the corridor.
"Now, before you say anything, Dora –"
"There's nothing to say, because you're not going to do this."
"I've already agreed to it. Every healer in my department is supposed to do a stint with the Auror squad. I'm the only one who's never done it before."
"And you decide that now is the perfect time? When your daughter starts working here? How convenient!"
"It's really not a big deal," Ted said, folding his arms.
"Of course it's a big deal – people are going to think I need my daddy to come to work with me!"
"They won't think that. Besides, I'll only be here a few days a week – you'll hardly know I'm here."
Tonks stared at him in disbelief. "Dad, this is the worst thing you could possibly have done. I can't believe you!"
As she listened to the various flimsy reasons her father gave as to why it was now his turn with the squad, Tonks felt she would rather have taken MacDermott's exam after all.
(-)(-)(-)
"Bloody hell," Remus muttered, joining Proudfoot outside Interview Four.
"What's up?" she said, chewing a quill as she flicked through several scrolls.
"Tonks's father is our new department healer."
Proudfoot's head shot up and the quill fell from her mouth. "Are you serious? Is she pissed?"
"She didn't seem overly pleased."
"Well, of course not; I wouldn't want my dad coming to work with me either." Proudfoot narrowed her eyes. "You don't seem overly pleased either."
Remus shrugged and stared into the interview room, where the blonde wizard was sitting, chained to the table. He hadn't slept a wink all night and felt as though he had been run over by the Hogwarts Express, more than once. Molly had fussed over him when he had returned to The Burrow late, after all the kids had gone to bed, force-feeding him supper while Arthur finished healing his arm. Molly had even made up a bed for him on the sofa, but he had simply stared at the ceiling all night, until the soft fingers of dawn crept under the curtains.
He hadn't 'seen' Lily in years. After the war, she had appeared to him a lot, offering advice or chastising him for not taking care of himself properly. But as he started putting his life back together, he had tried to push her to the back of his mind and focus on the future – on living again. And then one day, he asked her to leave, and she listened. He hadn't seen her since.
Years later, he realised that she had never really been there; that it was probably his mind's way of coping with the trauma of her death, as well as James and Peter's. And even though he still missed her terribly, seeing her would only make him feel worse.
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he turned to Proudfoot. "Did you find a name for this guy?"
"Nope. No record of him on file, and he wasn't carrying any sort of ID."
"I'll contact Minerva McGonagall later, see if she remembers him from Hogwarts. He can't have graduated that long ago."
Proudfoot gave a nod of approval and led the way into the interview room.
"Well, well," the blonde wizard said, as they sat down. "The gang's all here."
"You've been made aware of your rights, Mister –?"
"They call me Shaz. And yeah, I know all my rights."
"Well then, Mister Shaz," Remus said, as Proudfoot snorted, "You are declining to have a legal representative present at this time?"
Shaz gave a bored shrug. "I don't need some stiff-shirt telling me things I already know."
"Very well. You said that 'they' call you Shaz. Who are 'they,' exactly?"
Shaz smirked and leaned back his chair. "Oh, everyone and anyone, I expect."
"You should probably take this more seriously," Proudfoot said. "You're currently being charged with possession of counterfeit potions, the assault of an Auror and –"
"Aw, I didn't hurt your feelings did I, Lupin?" Shaz drawled. "Making you crawl around on your belly like a dog in that dirty pub."
"Oh, don't worry about me," Remus replied, "I wasn't the one taken down by a carpet."
Shaz's smug expression flickered and quickly slid back into place, but not before Remus saw a hint of fury on his face. The blonde didn't take well to being mocked – they could work with that.
"Is that the first time you've used a room's furnishings to outwit someone, Remus?" Proudfoot said, clearing thinking along the same lines.
"Now that you mention it, I do believe I caught the Acton Alchemist with a pair of drapes."
"Yeah, it really was curtains for that guy in the end."
"Well, it was his own fault for hanging around."
Shaz's face was growing redder by the second, but he kept his smile firmly in place. Remus started to feel uneasy, although he wasn't quite sure why. Something about the wizard was off…
"Who was that young lady that was with you last night?" Shaz asked, suddenly. "The one with the pink hair? I'd very much like to make her acquaintance."
"I'm afraid I don't know who you mean," Remus said, "Now, as to why we're all here –"
"Of course you know who I mean," Shaz continued, "Fresh-faced, barely legal I'd imagine. Nice tits on her, too."
Remus simply stared back at the wizard, although he wanted nothing more than to slam him into a nearby wall. Next to him, Proudfoot clenched her fists under the table.
"You're involved in the counterfeit potions ring we've been investigating," she said, her voice steady.
"Am I? I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. As far as I can tell, you and your boys surrounded my friends and me while we were drinking at our local watering hole. Of course, we had to defend ourselves."
"Odd collection of friends you have," Remus said.
Shaz grinned. "What can I say – I'm a welcoming sort of bloke. And except for the two flagons of potion I was carrying – which I can assure you, I had no idea were fake – you've got no proof of anything else."
"We've got ten other wizards in custody who are falling over themselves to incriminate you."
"No, you don't. They won't say a word."
He was right; none of the others had spoken a single word, merely sat in silence as they waited for legal representation. But how could he have possibly known that?
"So," Shaz continued, "failing a reputable witness, I do believe your case will fall apart."
"Is that so?" Proudfoot said, "Well, we've just been handed a court order to retain you, regardless. The potions we confiscated from your possession last night mean we can hold you here for the next twenty-eight days without charging you. So, I suggest you consider cooperating with us. And I promise you, the Ministry holding cells are no fun – they don't even let you have dessert."
Strangely, the blonde man smirked. "That's fine; I'm not a dessert man anyway."
That was not a normal reaction; even the holding wizard in the corner looked taken aback. Proudfoot raised her eyebrows at Remus, as if to question if Shaz was mentally well.
"You are aware of what we just told you?" Remus said, "You'll be held here for the next month, without parole."
"Yes yes," Shaz said, kicking off his shoes and stretching his legs. "Can someone find me a cell, then? I'm knackered."
The young man yawned widely and Remus was suddenly seized with dread. His heart began to pound, as his mind told him what his body had known all along.
The man across the table was a werewolf.
AN: Uh-oh! Two werewolves, one room – how will this end? Tune in next time to find out ;)