How Tonks made it through the rest of the day, she'll never know. Sooner than she had hoped, the day to send Severus to Azkaban was here. Quietly she roamed the halls, listening for Severus' voice. Finally, a few hours after lunch she heard him.
Come to me…
Since she wasn't under his spell, Tonks simply turned around and walked towards his voice. Draco was with him. She wondered when would be best to pretend to break the curse.
Follow me…
She followed Severus and Draco down to the dungeons for the second day in a row. Tonks looked at her hair, which was on her shoulders. In observance of what was to come, she chose black spiral curls. They didn't suit her at all.
Quickly, Severus opened the classroom door and the group walked in. Tonks noticed at once that Harry was lying on Severus' desk, passed out. She stood, waiting for more instructions.
Sit down…
She obeyed, sitting down at a table, with her back towards Harry, Severus and Draco. She listened to Severus and Draco conversing. "Do you have clothes for her to wear?" Severus asked Draco.
Draco didn't respond, so she assumed that he had nodded a response. They talked a little more, when she heard a groan. It was Harry. Severus and Draco stopped talking at once.
"Did you hear that?" Draco asked worriedly.
"Tonks," Severus asked, "was that you making the noise?"
"Yes," Tonks said, lying.
"What if she's lying?" snapped Draco.
"Draco, she cannot lie to me while she's under the Imperius Curse. I thought you would have learned that from Defense against the Dark Arts," Severus scolded.
"Of course I knew that," Draco muttered.
There was another groan. "I have a bad feeling about this, sir. Let's finish this," Draco said.
Tonks desperately wanted to turn around and see what was going on. She made herself look straight ahead. She would wait until she was actually commanded to look like Harry Potter before she pretended to break the spell.
Suddenly she heard Harry's voice, "What the hell?" followed by a wand dropping.
"Shit!" Draco yelled and she heard the sound of a punch. Tonks gripped her wand, knowing she should help.
"What is going on?" Harry demanded.
The next thing Tonks heard was "Stupefy." Then everything went dark.
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"Nymphadora," she heard a voice say.
Tonks felt very groggy. Was someone sitting on her? She struggled to open her eyes. She saw Albus Dumbledore looking down at her.
"Where am I?" she asked quietly.
Albus sat down in a chair next to her. She looked around. She was in a bed that was surrounded by curtains. "You're still at Hogwarts."
Thank goodness, she thought. She didn't like St. Mungo's. But why was she in bed?
"You were stunned this afternoon, Nymphadora," Albus told her.
The memories of the afternoon started coming back to her. How did the plan go so wrong? "Who stunned me?" she asked timidly.
"Severus did," Albus answered. "Don't worry, no one can hear what we are saying while we're behind these curtains."
"Where is he?" she asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"He's filling out some paperwork. Then he'll be giving a statement to the Ministry that will most likely send young Mister Malfoy to Azkaban."
Tonks head was spinning. Severus wasn't going to Azkaban? Nothing made sense.
"I see you are a little confused Nymphadora. I shall do my best to explain what happened. Apparently, Draco put you under the Imperius Curse. Then he stunned Harry. Who knows what would have happened if Professor Snape hadn't walked in the classroom and stunned everyone in order to get the bearing of the situation? At least," he looked down at her from his spectacles, "that is what we're telling the Daily Prophet."
She nodded. She was still very confused, but inside she was almost delirious. She hadn't sent Severus to Azkaban!
"Albus, I insist you leave, and let her get some rest," Madame Pomfrey's said from behind the curtain.
Albus rose from his seat. "Of course, Poppy. I just wanted to make sure the patient was doing well."
Madame Pomfrey entered the curtain, holding a goblet. She handed it to Tonks, "Drink this dear, you'll be out like a light for an hour, but when you wake up, it'll be like nothing happened."
Tonks looked at the potion in the goblet. It was a murky green and seemed to be steaming.
"Severus doesn't know his own strength. The fact that he was able to knock all three out at once still astonishes me," Poppy fretted. "Drink," she ordered Tonks.
Tonks pinched her nose and drank the potion in one gulp. As she suspected, it tasted awful. She placed the goblet on the bedside table next to her. And then everything went dark once again.
88888
As promised, Tonks did feel perfectly normal when she woke up. She actually wanted to finish her shift so that she could talk to Severus, but Calvin Wong insisted that she go home and rest.
Tonks paced around her room, unable to calm herself. No matter what angle she looked at the situation, it was bad. Severus failed the Dark Lord. He wasn't in Azkaban, but what if you-know-who decided to kill him?
Tonks lay down on her bed, trying to relax when she felt a prickling in her left forearm. Quickly she sat up and morphed her arm to show the Dark Mark. When the mark was visible, the prickling sensation went away and was replaced by a throbbing. She was being summoned.
Tonks jumped out of bed and found a Celeste outfit to wear. She scrunched her nose and the transformation was complete. Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she closed her eyes and visualized the Dark Lord. When she could see him, she quickly disapparated, hoping she would reach her destination.
When Tonks opened her eyes, she could see a large group of masked people standing around a bonfire. It was a set-up much like the other meeting she had attended. She was the only one not in a mask. She wondered if she should morph one.
"Celeste, here, you can wear this," she heard Severus say as he handed her a mask. She tried to look him in the eye, but could not since the mask was blocking most of his face.
"Thank you," she said gratefully, putting the mask on. She looked around. The mood around the fire was timid, like people knew something was wrong.
Suddenly, the Dark Lord appeared in front of the group. Severus left her side and walked towards him with the others from the inner circle. As the group surrounded the Dark Lord, Tonks watched in horror as he pointed his wand towards Severus. Slowly, Severus rose off the ground.
"You have failed me," Voldemort growled.
"Yes, my Lord, I have. Please allow me to try to please you," Severus said, not letting any fear in his voice.
"If I had any other followers in Hogwarts, you would be dead," Voldemort laughed softly. Severus had been raised at least six feet off the ground by this time.
"Crucio!"
Tonks had to put her hand to her mouth to quiet her scream. Severus started shaking and fell violently to the ground. He stayed on the ground for several minutes, twitching.
Voldemort waved his wand and the spasms stopped. Severus' hood had fallen off and Tonks noticed there was blood trickling down from his nose. Slowly, and with no assistance, Severus stood up and once again faced the Dark Lord.
"My Lord, please let me finish him," Lucius Malfoy said loudly, so that all could hear. "It is because of him my son is in Azkaban!"
Lucius raised his wand when Voldemort shook his head. "Your son was foolish. He could not even put a stunning spell on Harry Potter. We should be celebrating Potter's death tonight, and we are not because of your son!"
At that, Lucius started to back up when Voldemort yelled, "Crucio!"
Lucius started violently twitching. Voldemort let him stay on the ground much longer than he had Severus. "Had Severus not stunned your son, then he too would be in Azkaban. Who is more important to me, the idiot you call son, or my spy?"
Lucius did not answer. "Answer me!" Voldemort demanded.
"Your spy," Lucius stuttered. With that answer Voldemort waved his wand and left Lucius lying on the ground.
"Let that be a lesson to you all! No one is safe from my wrath! DO NOT FAIL ME!" And with that, he disappeared.
Tonks had every intention on simply walking by Malfoy, when she heard him whisper, "Celeste. The Arrow. Go now."
She nodded to him. She might be able to learn some valuable information tonight. Quickly, she apparated to The Poison Arrow, wondering how Severus was.
Almost a half an hour later, Lucius showed up, looking much more haggard than usual. She had a firewhiskey waiting for him, which he downed in one gulp. He rubbed his temple with his hands. "My son is in Azkaban, Celeste."
"I know," Tonks said softly. "I heard."
"If I hadn't been named as a Death Eater last year, I would have had him out in an instant. Now, I can do nothing. I'm like every other common wizard."
Tonks remained silent. She couldn't think of anything useful to say.
"I don't think he can last long in there, Celeste. His mother coddled him. I don't know if he has the temperament to survive," Lucius groaned.
"He might be able to escape, you know," Tonks said.
"He couldn't even properly use a stunning curse! How would he escape Azkaban?" Lucius yelled.
Tonks put her hand on his knee, "Lucius, keep your voice down," she said through clenched teeth.
He shook his head, "You're right. You're right. Let's go to my place." With that he grabbed her hand and pulled her up off of her seat. They walked quickly through the streets of Knockturn Alley. Before they went upstairs to his flat, he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her. Unlike the last time he kissed her, this was a softer, gentler kiss. If it were any other man, Tonks would have enjoyed the kiss.
Hand in hand they walked up the stairs to his flat. As he opened the door, Tonks felt an invisible lasso go around her body. She heard someone yell, "Accio wand!" and her wand disappeared from her robe. She looked wildly over to Lucius, who seemed to be tied up just as she was.
Tonks looked and saw some of her Auror colleagues in front of her. With pride in his voice she heard Kingsley Shacklebolt yell, "Lucius Malfoy and companion, you are under arrest!"