A/N: Kia Ora! I'm hoping you're all still reading and enjoying the story and have been looking forward to this chapter. So what are you waiting for? Get reading & ENJOY!


THE JOURNEY HOME

Chapter Five - The Trouble With Nymphadora

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Harry dumped his armful of scrolls onto his desk and ripped a photograph off the cubicle wall. He glanced briefly at the image of his two best friends before flinging it into an open draw and pinning a moon chart in its place. He'd done what Tonks had suggested and spent the rest of the night studying the papers she had given him. She had been right, she usually was. Ron was onto something. But she had also lied to him.

"I didn't exactly lie to you."

Harry's head snapped upward to see Tonks leaning over his cubicle wall. "If it wasn't a lie, what was it?" Harry shot.

"An omission," Tonks shrugged, "you obviously know nothing about politics Harry."

Harry frowned.

"Alright look, if I had told you Ginny was going would you have agreed to do it?"

Harry sighed. "No, probably not."

"Precisely. Ron needs extra bodies a.s.a.p., but I need an auror and a healer to accompany any recruits on a mission. You and Ginny are the only people I know who'd agree on such short notice. Now you're not going to bail on me, are you?" Tonks asked.

"No, of course not," Harry replied.

"I didn't think so," Tonks had obviously not been the slightest bit worried he'd let her down. "Now, hurry up would you Harry. Everyone's waiting."

Harry grabbed his tramping pack from under his desk and followed Tonks to her office. The group of five recruits stood to one side of the office all chattering enthusiastically and looking nervous.

"Where'd Ginny go?" Tonks asked, collapsing into her chair.

"To get her backpack from her father's office," replied the recruit that had reminded Harry of Percy the previous evening. He stepped forward bravely and offered his hand to Harry. "Mr Potter, I'm Joshua Herts."

Harry eyed Joshua, mildly impressed with his courage. "The name's Harry," he replied accepting the recruits hand. Glancing over Joshua's shoulder he saw Tonks smirk, which she immediately hid behind a sheet of parchment.

"It's a real pleasure to meet you Mr - I mean, Harry," Joshua beamed.

"Yeah, likewise," Harry replied, without much sincerity. He glanced down at his hand, which Joshua was still shaking vigorously.

"Oh - ah - sorry." Joshua dropped Harry's hand and shuffled back to his fellows.

"Miss me?" Ginny joked, stepping into the room.

"Right, now everyone's here lets get started," Tonks announced, standing up.

"Looks like you made a new friend," Ginny whispered as she slid past Harry.

"Lucky me," Harry hissed back. Ginny chuckled and Harry felt his heart give a little skip.

"Recruits, this is Harry Potter, a real live fully trained Ministry auror and Ginny Weasley, one of St Mungos finest Healers. They will be your instructors on this mission and as such I expect you to treat them with the same level of admiration and respect as you do me. Harry, Ginny, meet your charges. Joshua Herts," Tonks motioned to the tall sandy-haired recruit Harry had already met.

"Agrius Hooper." The blond boy standing next to Joshua nodded to them.

"Alice Hooper." A thin blond girl poked her head out from behind her brother and smiled.

"Gabriel Charm." A suave looking dark-haired boy waved from the back of the group.

"And Enya Carmel." The long-haired brunette next to Gabriel gave no sign she had heard her own name and appeared to be staring dreamily at Harry.

"Your contact is an old friend of mine, he'll take you as far as the base. After that you're on your own." Tonks passed Harry a bright green bucket hat, which he offered to the others to grab hold of. A moment later he felt the familiar tug behind his navel.

"G'morning. You must be Tonks' lot," a short bald man greeted them. "Get a move on would you, I haven't got all day." He hobbled out of the small run down shack they had appeared in and left the others to pick up Gabriel, who wasn't as suave as Harry had original thought and been the only one to fall to the ground after the portkey.

"Come on then." Ginny led the way after the man. They followed him down a road full of people coming and going. Many of the locals stared at the group as they dodged in between market stalls and carts.

Harry stared back for a moment before he finally realised what they were so fascinated with. "Take your cloaks off," he hissed at the others, then jogged to catch up with their guide, pulling off his own cloak and shoving it under his arm. "You led us through a muggle populated area without warning us?" he demanded angrily.

"Seems that way," the man replied, glancing around at the marketplace.

"Why?" Harry asked angrily.

"I didn't make you wear them cloaks did I? Besides this place is too busy for anyone to take any notice of you lot. They mind their own business round here. Don't worry, Potter."

"I am worried," Harry muttered. He glanced nervously at the faces of the crowd, trying to determine if any were suspicious.

"I think we're okay," Ginny whispered from beside him.

"Lets just hurry," Harry replied picking up speed. The recruits behind him followed suit and soon they had broken through the crowd and arrived at a wire fence.

"Over you go," the old man instructed, "across the field and straight up the mountain, you should be there by tomorrow evening."

"Thanks a lot," Harry muttered with a hint of sarcasm.

"You're welcome," the man replied cheerfully, and then with a wave disappeared back into the crowded market place.

"Tonks has some real odd friends," Ginny commented, climbing the fence and dropping into the field on the other side.

"He didn't even tell us his name," Alice added, following Ginny over.

"That's not unusual," Harry explained, "a lot of auror contacts, especially in remote places, don't tend to want their names on record so they don't supply them. Some even give fake names." He tossed his bag over and leapt the fence in one.

"Really?" Joshua asked. "Like, what sort of names do they use?"

"Fairly normal names mostly, Bill Smith, John Doe, that sort of thing," Harry replied.

"Those are normal?" Agrius commented with a laugh.

"One guy, I think it was when I was in Alaska, wanted me to call him Captain Beany," Harry laughed. The others joined in and Gabriel, who was half way over the fence, slipped and fell face first into the dirt. Harry and Joshua grabbed him under the arms and helped him to his feet.

"You alright?" Ginny asked, reaching for her bag.

"Fine, fine," Gabriel insisted, dusting himself off. "Happens all the time." Ginny nodded and flung her bag over her shoulder.

"So tell us more about your other missions, Harry," Joshua coaxed eagerly. They trudged across the field and began to feel the slope of mountains base.

"What do you want to know?" Harry questioned.

"Something exciting, like an undercover operation or something," Agrius suggested.

Harry shook his head. "Sorry folks, never done any undercover. That was Tonks' area of expertise."

"I have a question," Alice began nervously, looking a little apprehensive.

"Go ahead," Harry prompted.

"Nymphadora Tonks, everyone said she was a really great auror, so why'd she take a management job?"

Harry stopped in his tracks and exchanged a look with Ginny.

"Never mind," Alice said quickly.

"No, it's alright," Harry replied, "Tonks doesn't care, it was Ginny and I who wanted to keep it quiet."

"For good reason," Ginny exclaimed, glaring at Harry.

"I told you if somebody asked I wasn't going to lie to them," Harry countered. He turned to Alice, "Tonks is dying." The jaw on every one of the recruits dropped. "A few years ago we were tracking two wizards, both of which were suspected of being involved in some dodgey goings on. We locked onto their location and determined our two suspects were planning an exchange, so we went in for the intercept. There was an altercation and Tonks got hit by a couple of weird spells. Ancient magic's that we'd never encountered before. Turns out they were more dangerous than we could have ever predicted. St Mungos is still looking for a cure, but until then the effects are slowly weakening her heart and eventually they will kill her." Harry glanced at Ginny, who had stopped shooting daggers at him and was now staring at the ground almost in tears. The entire mood of the group changed completely after Harry had finished speaking and it was a long time before they finally began chatting again. Harry tried to join in the conversation, but Ginny seemed much more reserved and trudged a few paces ahead of everyone else until Harry announced he thought it was time to set up camp for the night.

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