"Renervate."
Tonks eyes opened slowly. Groggily, she looked around, not having any idea where or more importantly, who she was. She looked down at her clothes; she recognized them as Celeste's. Why was she Celeste right now?
"Look at me, child," a voice said cruelly.
Tonks looked to the voice, still confused. She tried to get up out of the chair she was sitting in. It was no use, she was bound to the chair. The voice started laughing. "You're not going anywhere, child."
She saw three people in front of her, Narcissa, Lucius and Severus. "I don't understand," Tonks started.
"We have ways of finding out things, child. I was very interested to find out that the Order was making plans to thwart our attacks. I didn't mind that they knew about the attacks, information has a way of leaking. But I did mind very much that they thought the attacks were tomorrow night, when you were the only person to think they were then," Narcissa said roughly.
She set me up, Tonks thought wildly. She was playing me like a fool the entire time!
Tonks looked desperately at Severus. He looked down at her, not able to show any tenderness towards her. She glanced at Lucius. Disgusted, she realized she had never seen him more aroused.
"Are you going to say anything to defend yourself, child?" Narcissa asked.
By now, the stunning spell's effects were wearing off. Tonks was ready to start using her Auror training to get herself out of there.
"Am I really that much of a threat to you, Narcissa?" Tonks asked.
Narcissa didn't flinch. "You're in no position to ask questions," she told Tonks.
Tonks knew she had to keep Narcissa talking. She had found her lifeline. They hadn't bothered to bind her up magically. Her wrists were bound to the chair simply with cloth. Luckily, her back was to the wall. Elongating one finger, she changed it to be very sharp, like a knife. She started sawing her finger back and forth over the cloth.
"How can you be so sure that I gave up the information?" Tonks flinched, she had just cut her wrist by accident. She could feel blood trickling down. One wrist was now free. Where was her wand?
"I know."
"How? Maybe the Order simply got the day wrong?"
Narcissa pulled out her wand and pointed it at Tonks. "I know it was you, child! Severus, you don't happen to have any Veritaserum on you, do you?"
"No, I don't. Why don't you simply use a spell?" he asked.
Narcissa waved her wand and said, "Veridicus."
Tonks wanted to jump up and down for joy. Severus knew that as an Auror, she was able to fight that spell on a whim.
"Who are you in contact with in the Order?" Narcissa demanded.
"I have no contact in the Order," Tonks replied, pretending to have the effects of the spell.
"Bullshit," Narcissa said softly. "Maybe this will help you remember. Crucio!"
Tonks gripped the back of the chair tightly. Having not expected the curse, she was in no way prepared to try to block it. Her head felt like it was on fire. Her insides where burning. Then the pain subsided.
"Who are you in contact with in the Order?" Narcissa repeated.
"I. Have. No. Contact!" Tonks screamed back. She had managed to free her other wrist.
Narcissa folded her arms. "Child, I can make you suffer all night long, if that is what you wish," she whispered.
"Narcissa, we aren't getting anywhere," Severus said quietly. Tonks watched as he lowered his hand into his robes. There it was. Severus was holding her wand. He had it waiting for her.
Tonks jumped up quickly. Narcissa barely had time to react when Tonks punched her right in the nose. Blood splattered onto Tonks' clothing. She pointed towards Severus and yelled "Accio wand!"
Her wand was in her hand the next moment. "Petrificus Totalus!" she yelled, pointing at Narcissa. Narcissa's body became rigid and she fell to the floor. Feeling Lucius grab at her, she let her body use her natural defensive charge. When Lucius recoiled, Tonks shouted, "Stupefy!" and he also fell to the ground.
Tonks made eye contact with Severus. She knew he would have to attack her now, seeing that Narcissa's eyes were on them. Gathering every last once of her strength, Tonks closed her eyes for a second and was able to apparate out of the room.
The moment Tonks appeared in her new location, right outside Twelve Grimmauld Place, she collapsed onto the pavement. She tried to lift herself up, but was too tired. She glanced over her body, hoping she hadn't splinched anything because of her exhaustion. Wiggling her fingers and her toes, she knew she hadn't left anything behind.
"Who's there?" a voice called.
"What's going on?" another voice asked.
Tonks didn't have the strength to morph to herself. "Wotcher!" she cried, "I need help, I can't get up!"
"Tonks?" the voice asked. It was Arthur Weasley.
"Wotcher!" she cried again.
Arthur ran down the steps and picked Tonks up quickly. Seeing the blood on her clothes, he asked, "My god, Tonks, are you alright?"
"Not my blood," she whispered. "Why aren't you fighting?"
"The fighting is done, Tonks," he said sadly.
"Can you please take me to my room?" she asked. He complied, and changed his path to go up the steps. Molly Weasley followed them up. Gently, he laid Tonks on her bed. He left the room, and Molly went to Tonks' closet.
"I'm going to find something for you to change into," she said.
Tonks stared at the ceiling. "How many died?" she asked.
Molly sighed. "We don't know the total yet. Why did they attack early?"
Molly sat down and took off Tonks shirt, "Can't you change into yourself? You're safe here."
Tonks shook her head, "I'm too tired," she said as Molly put a new shirt on her.
"Can I ask you a question, Tonks?" Molly asked as she took of Tonks' boots.
"What?" Tonks wasn't in the mood for small talk.
"You were the one that was caught with Lucius Malfoy, and was sent to Azkaban, weren't you?"
"Pardon?"
"I recognize you right now from a photo in the Daily Prophet. Are you spying on the Death Eaters?" Molly asked, concerned.
Tonks concentrated hard and scrunched her face, changing her body back to her natural state. "Yes," she said simply.
"Is it a secret?" Molly questioned.
"Yes," Tonks answered.
"Then I'll forget we had this conversation. I have to go Tonks. We're going to see if anything from the Burrow is salvageable," Molly said sadly.
When Molly closed the door, Tonks laid on her bed and started sobbing for all the lives that were lost.
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Tonks woke up hearing voices in the hall. She glanced at her hourglass and saw that it was already the afternoon. She couldn't believe she had slept that long. Getting out of bed, she realized she was still sore. Gingerly, she got dressed and changed her hair to navy blue curls.
She opened her door, trying to prepare herself for whatever news she was given. Considering she thought she was going to be killed last night, she decided she was ready for anything.
"Merde," she heard. She had opened the door right into Fleur.
"Fleur! Are you allright?" she cried.
"Yez, I am fine," she said, rubbing her nose, "You? I 'eard that you were 'urt?"
"I'm fine now, thank you. Can you, can you tell me what happened last night?" Tonks asked quietly.
She shook her heard. "I do not 'ave the words to explain," she said sadly. "Bill can tell you."
They walked down the stair quietly. "Molly and Arthur are out 'elping," Fleur added.
Bill was sitting on the couch in the living room, looking at some paperwork. Fleur sat down next to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He took her hand and smiled. For a brief moment, Tonks was so envious of the pair she couldn't speak. How she wished she and Severus could be open about their relationship like that!
Bill looked exhausted. His long hair was not in his usual ponytail, but flowing down his back. "It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been Tonks," he said, as if he was reading her mind. "I don't want to think what would have happened if you hadn't warned us. When we got to Headquarters, the four of us split up and flooed to different Order member's houses and to Hogwarts. We fought pretty well."
Tonks hoped he would answer the question she didn't want to ask. "Right now, it looks like only fifteen deaths. We lost two Order members though. Hestia Jones and Emmett Ramsbottom. We had a meeting this morning. Mum was insistent that we shouldn't wake you up."
Tonks closed her eyes. She had always like Hessie. "Thanks, Bill. So where is everyone?"
"Here and there. Mainly helping with the clean up now."
"I see. Well, I better get over to the Ministry. It's probably a mess over there."
"Tonks, wait. Dad asked me to ask you or Remus something. The Burrow's been destroyed. Can Mom, Dad, Fleur and I stay here for a while?" he asked.
"Of course! The more the merrier," she said. She then walked outside and apparated to the Ministry.
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"Is Dumbledore insane?" she asked Calvin Wong.
"No, he's quite serious. He wants the Hogsmeade trip to go on as planned for the students tomorrow. We're going to double the amount of Aurors guarding. Can you take an extra shift?"
"That's fine," Tonks sighed. She just wanted to know if Severus was alright. Tonks had just finished working an eight-hour shift. Even though she had slept till the middle of the afternoon, she was still tired. Tonks flooed home, instead of apparating. When she got to her room, she flooed again, this time to Severus' bed chambers.
He was lying on his bed, sleeping. She walked over quietly, and slipped under the covers next to him. He turned to his side, and with his eyes closed said, "I knew you'd get here eventually, Dora."
There was a silence. "Are you alright?" they asked at the same time.
Tonks giggled. "I need sleep, but other than that, I'm fine. What happened after I apparated last night?"
Severus sat up. "I fixed it," he said.
Tonks sat up quickly. "What do you mean, you fixed it?" she asked.
"As soon as you left, I stunned Narcissa. I did a memory modifying charm on both of them. They don't remember anything about trying to catch a spy. I wanted to erase all memory of Celeste, but that would've been too much," he said, taking her in his arms.
"So I'm safe?" Tonks asked.
"Celeste is safe, you mean. As far as Lucius and Narcissa are concerned, Celeste is just another toy of Lucius'," he said.
"This isn't meant to sound mean, but are your memory charms any good?" Tonks asked, hoping he wouldn't be offended.
A slight smile came across Severus' face, "They're almost as good as my potions work."
"So it means you're bloody brilliant at them," she giggled.
"When I was modifying Malfoy's memory, I realized that there is a small part of him that actually loves Celeste," Severus said softly.
"Really?" Tonks asked. "That would explain why Narcissa was so threatened by Celeste. As much as she hates his cheating on her all the time, I think she really loves him in some weird, twisted way. I wonder if I can use that to my advantage?"
Severus went to lie down again. "I'm sure you can, Dora. Did anyone tell you there's an Order meeting tomorrow night?"
She shook her head. Nestling herself in his arms, she closed her eyes. Within minutes, they were both asleep.
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A/N – Veridicus is literally "truth telling" in Latin