"That's classified information!" Percy spluttered, reaching out to snatch it from her. Tonks moved too quickly for him though. She dodged out of the way and tore the document open, ignoring Percy's screams of protest.
Three pages in was a large section on relative sacrifices, containing the ritual to bring someone back from beyond the veil. Tonks stared at Percy open mouthed it disbelief. How could the ministry have kept this under wraps? They were supposed to be pooling their information with the order and working together against Voldermort.
"I can bring him back." Tonks whispered, more to herself than Percy. He swelled up pompously and opened his mouth to stop her but she cut across angrily. "How long have you all known about this?" She snarled dangerously.
Quailing under her vicious glare Percy decided that it was better to be honest with her. "After Black fell through the veil the minister ordered an investigation into its uses"
"He didn't know about it already?"
"Of course not," Percy said rolling his eyes as though the answer had been obvious. "It was in the department of Mysteries after all. The minister tended to let them do as they wished, as long as they kept him informed of anything potentially dangerous."
"And they didn't think that the veil was potentially dangerous?" Tonks snorted in disbelief.
Percy shrugged his shoulders and straightened his glasses. "The first we ever heard of this veil thing was when your cousin fell through it." He said levelly holding out his hand for the document. Tonks didn't give it to him.
"Does Dumbledore know about this?" She breathed.
Tonks hoped desperately that he didn't. The thought that Dumbledore could hold something so important back from her made her feel sick. 'This must have been how poor Harry had felt all of last year!'
To Tonks' great relief Percy shook his head "No, the minister didn't want to tell him yet. He wanted to make sure that he had all of the facts before he went to Dumbledore."
"Still trying to cling onto his power was he?" Tonks shot at Percy. "Trying to have one up on Dumbledore again?"
"Mr. Fudge was trying to help." Percy replied through gritted teeth. His nostrils flaring dangerously. He looked like a Hungarian horntail defending its nest.
"It was a bit late for that!"
"Hear we go again!" Percy moaned exasperated. "Fudge wasn't the only person not to believe that you-know-who had returned you know? Yes he made a mistake when he didn't believe Harry and Dumbledore. One mistake doesn't… "
"It wasn't just one mistake though!" Tonks roared waving the file at him angrily. "He had the chance to stop this years ago when Sirius first escaped. He refused to believe Harry and Hermione's story He didn't believe Sirius was innocent and allowed Pettigrew to find You-know-who!"
"Peter had nothing to do with it. He only ran because he was frightened of Black." Percy shouted back. As Tonks' face fell he clapped his hand over his mouth as though he'd just said a very rude word
"Come again?"
"I.. It's nothing.. I didn't mean." Percy spluttered as he desperately tried to backpedal.
"Spit it out!"
Percy sighed and avoided her gaze. He moved slowly over to the large fountain and perched on the brim of the pool with his head in his hands. After a moment t or two he lifted his head but still found that he couldn't look at her. "Twelve years, do you think that any man would spend twelve full years as the pet rat?" He shook his head. " I'd know all of that time who he really was, he told me that he'd done something bad and that people would kill him for it so he had to stay hidden. I was too young to understand what he'd done but it didn't seem to matter at the time. I finally had a friend.
I didn't play with my brothers much as a child, they were always playing quidditch, it's not really my thing though. Which meant I was on my own a lot. When I found Peter it was the first time that I didn't feel alone. I had a friend, someone to share secrets with. He'd trusted me with his safety and that made me feel important.
As I grew up he told me more about what had happened. How he'd been bullied into helping you-know-who. He told me that Sirius was the one that forced him to…."
"He didn't," Tonks muttered, her eyes were bright with angry tears. Percy shook his head trying not to believe her, "He was lying. He gave James and Lily up!"
"He was frightened of Black!" Percy moaned.
"SO HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN!" Tonks yelled, "HE FRAMED HIM!" Her voice echoed back through the large empty room. She had bellowed so loud that the bronze ears of the house elf statue actually began to wobble, they had not yet been properly fixed on after the battle.
Percy shook his head defiantly "No," He muttered "Peter asked me to give him to Ron so he could be near to Harry and protect him."
"Hand him over at the first sign of danger more like!" Tonks spat
"Oh no!" Percy groaned. He looked even more miserable than he had done before but this time he didn't seem to be getting any sympathy.
"All the time you knew." Tonks whispered in a stunned and hollow voice. "You knew that Sirius was innocent and you let him rot in Azkaban with those…those…things because you didn't want to loose your little friend."
"You don't know what it was like for me." Percy protested, "How alone I felt. My brothers were always making fun of me…"
"They're supposed to it's what brothers do!" Tonks screamed at him, her voice echoing around the cavernous room. "How can you dare talk to me about being alone when you denied me the only relative who loved me and didn't treat me like I was something nasty they'd stepped in? When the dementers attacked my parents all I had was Sirius. At least you had a family!"
At this Tonks turned on her heel and marched off towards the Department of Mysteries. Percy rose to his feet and called after her angrily. "What do you think you're doing? You can't seriously be considering this!"
Tonks paused at the entrance. Her reply was so soft that Percy had to strain to here it. "Sometimes Percy," She said "We have to make sacrifices and do the right thing."
"How is killing yourself the right thing?" Percy called desperately.
"Harry NEEDS Sirius and we all need Harry." She said sadly. Tonks turned to face him. She looked absolutely terrified. Her tear stained face was pale and set. "I did what your dad asked me to. You'll be okay now but you need to hurry and warn the others that Azkaban has been emptied."
She didn't wait for Percy to respond. " If this doesn't work tell them all that I'm sorry, especially Harry…. If it does then… then tell Sirius not to feel bad. It's for the best."
And at that she left. Shaking slightly she marched to the lift. It's not that she wanted to die, far from it. But she couldn't see any other alternative. Tonks was sick of feeling so bad, everything seemed to have dissolved over the past week. She knew that it had nothing to do with Voldermorts return, he had been back a whole year and her life hadn't seemed that bad. No, Sirius' death had taken away any hope that she had and she couldn't live like that.
Harry needed something to fight for and the only thing that kept him going was the people that he loved. Since Sirius' death he had become a cynical shadow of his former self that didn't seem to care for anything. He couldn't continue on like that. Harry's their only hope. If he gives up then they're lost.
With her mind made up Tonks moved through the Department of Mysteries so lost in thought that she seemed to be in a trance. Through instinct rather than anything else she found the room that she was looking for. Tonks was rather impressed that she'd done it straight away. Last time Hermione's faded crosses had acted as a marker but this time there was nothing but the identical doors lining the room.
When they had stopped spinning she hadn't even thought about it. She went straight through the correct door and on to the veil.
As she entered the large room the air caught in her lungs and she choked on her tears. Tonks looked down the rows of stone seats to the dais where her cousin had died and wondered what he will say when he's brought back. Tonks knew that he'd be a upset and angry at her, but she couldn't help that. She just hoped that he'd forgive her for it. Her one regret was that she wouldn't be able to explain it all to him in person.
Unsteadily jumped down the huge drops between seats. It seemed to take ages for Tonks to reached the Veil. Slowly she opened the report to the correct page and clambered up onto the diasis. Her legs were shaking so bad it felt like someone had placed the jelly leg curse on her. "Get a grip girl!" She scolded herself aloud and prepared to raise the dead.
