Rescued

Chapter 6

Remus hesitantly reached a long arm around Tonks, as the car bumped along the uneven roads of Baikonur. He pulled her close to his side, more for his own comfort than for hers, he suspected, as she remained silent. His fingers burned to pull aside the veil so that he could gaze upon her face like a boy in love, but the only sign of relief Nymphadora showed was to allow her head to slump against Remus' shoulder.

"Tonks, did you recognize Jahad? Had you seen him before."

A long silence. "No."

Perhaps she was too young to remember Regulus.

Suddenly, the car slammed to an instant stop.

"We're here!" yelled Ilya, jumping out of the car.

"Where?" said Remus, realizing that he was so relieved to have Tonks in his possession that he hadn't even asked Ilya where they were going.

The car door opened and Ilya pointed to two horses tied to a scrubby tree and nibbling grain from a bucket. "You have your woman. Now you must escape."

Remus and Tonks scooted out of the car and over to the calm steeds. Above them, stars twinkled like Christmas lights, illuminating a vast stretch of desert before them.

Remus ran a hand over the nose of the brown chestnut before admitting, "These are our horses. How did you…"

Ilya put his hands on his hips and grinned. "I have my ways, Mr. Lupin. My own magic, if you like." Then plopping a large canvas bag on the ground, "Clothes, food, water are all here. Beyond the desert is the Aral Sea, then Mother Russia and the Black Sea. Take a boat to Greece. From there, a train, boat, or," his face lit up with an adventurous glint, "a new channel back to your home."

Remus was looking at the boy with awe. "You know a lot for a young man."

Ilya laughed. "Yes, yes. Hurry, you must go."

His brow knotted as he already knew the answer to his question. "You're not coming with us?"

"No," Ilya said, shaking his head and looking out across the wide desert.

Remus gently laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Come back to England with us."

"And what?"

"And be a child," he smiled sadly. "And let me take care of you."

"No, no," Ilya waved a hand in front of his face. "I will end up taking care of you, Remus, and I really do have other things to do with my time."

Even though he knew the boy would be fine, the thought of leaving Ilya behind was painful. Lupin turned to the horse where his tattered briefcase was already strapped. Removing a small cloth sack, he gave it the boy. "You'll be needing this, then."

Ilya greedily opened the bag and smiled at the gold coins. Then brows knotting, "This isn't your goblin gold, is it?"

Remus sighed. "It's the real stuff."

"You must be a wealthy man, Mr. Lupin."

Remus chuckled and looked at Tonks slyly, "In some ways, I am."

"Goodbye, Mr. Lupin. Good luck!" The boy waved, ran back to the car, and sped off into the night.

Going through the bag Ilya packed, he removed two parcels of clothes. One was printed "Lushkin" and the other "Lushkin's woman. "It seems that we are being dressed in nomadic finery," Lupin said as he fingered the thick wools and leathers.

Tonks finally removed her cloak. "Thank god. I fell like an idiot in this outfit."

Remus smiled to himself and tossed her the female parcel and eyed the binding gauntlets still on her arms. "I'll change over there. Let me know if you need help undressing." He immediately winced as he realized the underlying meaning of what he had just said. "Oh, sorry."

"No bother," Tonks said and let her cloak slip to the ground, her skin pale beneath the veil of starlight. "Uhm…Remus? Remus."

Lupin physically shook himself. Was I staring? He blushed deeply and quickly turned on his heel. "Yes, I'll change over here, then."

In a matter of minutes, they went from Russian mobster and Arabian woman of the night to two heavily-bundled nomadic tribes people. Remus magically apparated the sleeves of Tonks' robes around her arms then both awkwardly mounted their horses and rode off into the desert.

As the sun snuck over the Blundrian Mountain range, Remus spotted a small community of white tents. After speaking to the lead tribesman, both he and Tonks were ushered to a small white tent of their own.

"These are really nice living quarters for nomadic sheepherders," Tonks said, sitting on a thick pallet of sheep pelts and silken blankets to remove her heavy, wool-lined boots.

Remus put down his briefcase and canvas bag then began to count his gold to calculate how much they would need to get home. "Yes, but they're not exclusively sheep herders." He stopped to look at Tonks who was losing the battle to extricate herself from her outer robe and veil. "They run poppy. I suppose you'd say they're drug runners."

Lupin took out his wand and apparated her garment onto the floor. "Better?"

She looked at him smartly. "For now."

He glanced at her gauntlets and quickly turned away to move some of their baggage; but when he looked back at Tonks, she had snuggled beneath the blankets of the pallet.

"So how did you find me?" she asked, not looking at him.

He unwound his head scarf and sat on the bed next to hers. "I tortured the headmaster of the Durmstrang Institute. I tortured Malfoy by slashing him with a pen knife. Then Ilya and I stole a car."

Tonks flipped over immediately, eyes wide. "And you did this with Dumbledore's permission?"

Lupin averted his eyes and began unbelting his outer robes. There was a long silence before his pale eyes could manage to meet hers again. "I did this to find you."

Tonks frowned and Remus' heart hung in midair. Finally, she took his hand and squeezed it between hers. "I'm not worth what you did."

Without hesitation, he returned her tight grasp. "You're worth my life, Nymphadora. And my death."

Her lips turned upwards in a bittersweet smile, then thick lashes flickered down over dark, unmorphed eyes and she fell asleep, his hand still in hers.

Hours passed as Remus lay on his pallet and watched her. Finally, her hand fell out of his as she twisted to lay on her side whispering in her sleep, "Remus…no."

At this, Lupin sat up and conjured a quill and parchment.

Dear Headmaster,

I have Nymphadora. She is safe and in good health. We will apparate home as soon as possible. There is a dark wizard in Baikonur, Kazakhstan named Jahad. He is actually Regulus Black. I have no further information.

Yours truly,

Remus Lupin

Then leaving the tent, he looked up into the clear morning sky. Far overhead, a falcon was flying. He called it down, and it perched easily on his arm. "Well, good day ol' man." Remus smiled and petted the bird's wing with the back of his fingers. Cocking his head to the side, he asked, "Have you been following me?"

Remus gave the bird the scrap of parchment then removed the gold signet ring from his left hand. "And this goes to Ilya in Baikonur or Volvograd. I'm sure you'll find the young man. Chronic smoker. "

With those words, the falcon flew up high into the daylight sky.

Remus re-entered the tent, removed his boots, and lay prostrate on his pallet. Finally, he allowed his body to relax against the furs and goose-stuffed pillows; but his eyes focused on the black leather gauntlets nestled into the blankets and binding Tonks' wrists, their existence reminding him of their impending fate. As the sun rose above the white desert tents, Remus Lupin's tired soul gave into fate and his mind fell into a dreamless sleep.

tbc