Again thx to caracinous ^^

Playing for Time

Sitting with propped up elbows in front of his desk Dumbledore leaned his chin upon his folded hands.

Opposite Nymphadora Tonks was looking straight through him.

She had fallen silent after her „speech"and none of them had spoken for quite a while. Tonks was not going to tell her tale of her own free will as Dumbledore had easily realised.

Of course, he could ask Severus for a bottle of veritaserum but with some patience he could surely get the truth out of her as well.

There was no need to hurry as there was nothing left to do.

Nothing except getting to know why.

"For how long have you been serving under Voldemort, Nymphadora?"

Her eyes met his. Hers were still filled with distance and cold.

"It's Tonks, not Nymphadora, headmaster."

Dumbledore sighed.

"Well, for how long have you been a Death Eater, Tonks?"

She watched him attentively.

"Since I was a child", she whispered.

If he had heard this in any other situation Dumbledore would have surely been concerned but now he had listened to her words without any emotion.

"Your parents weren't involved with Voldemort. How did you get involved with him?"

Again, she thought thoroughly before she answered.

"When I ran away from home with eight and a half years I met him."

Yes, Dumbledore remembered. Nymphadora had run away and her mother, Andromeda, had been very worried because her daughter had always behaved a bit strangely especially towards her father and Andromeda had been afraid that Nymphadora could do something stupid. But she had come back a few days later and Andromeda had told him that her daughter had changed for the better after that though Nymphadora had never told why she had run away or where she had been.

"Don't you think it's easier to tell me the story in a whole?"

Of course, he could ask every single detail out of her but it would be hard to understand the context if he had to do it that way.

"I can't tell you."

Her voice was so freezing emotionless and unfamiliar though it was just a whisper.

"Why? What keeps you from telling me? Voldemort?"

Slowly, she shook her head.

"It's not him. He wouldn't mind me telling because my task is fulfilled. Telling you wouldn't change anything for the Dark Lord."

She sneered madly.

Dumbledore found it hard to concentrate. Her voice was so low and despair and numbness were forcing their way into his mind. But he had to do this. Due to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, whose bodies were lying dead on a field this very moment and to everyone else who had been stolen a future.

"Why don't you say it, then?"

"It's not only about the Dark Lord. It's about ... me. My feelings. My thoughts. My ... decisions. I don't want to think about the past."

Rather thinking about the future and the Dementors, don't you?

That thought showed Dumbledore that he had nearly reached his limits. He did use irony but he had never been sarcastic.

"I'm afraid you have to. You will be forced to tell your story at yor trial and it might be easier if you have told it once before."Though it would not change your sentence, he added without saying.

Nymphadore whimpered.

He waited. Any further attempt to make her tell would be in vain now. After some time, she would tell on her own.

He was right.

After about ten minutes of silence, she began to tell her story. She often broke up but after a while she did always speak again and told him everything.

It somehow fitted to her preceding speech. Lucky souls, who didn't know.

But in a way, he understood her now. As you understand the actings of someone who commited suicide or else. You do understand the person somehow though you would (hopefully) never do such a thing on your own.

At least, he tried to understand her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not a very nice ending for this chapter...but in the next chapter, there WILL be Nymphadora's story...and maybe, there could be the end of this story as well (I am not sure whether I am going to write one more chapter or two more...you'll see then)

and "Erinnerungen" is not dead... maybe I'll go on writing in the holiday (they're till April 15th )...maybe not ^^"

@Ella Palladino: One person who reviewed ^^ thx