Tonks woke up to the irritating buzz from her alarm clock. "5 AM already. Bollocks," she muttered, gathering her things together. Her canary yellow hair stuck out at various angles; with a little effort, she managed to bring it to a turquoise pixie cut, ready for travel.
Remus was still asleep on the sofa, Ophelia purring happily on his side. "At least you'll enjoy yourself while I'm gone," she breathed. She looked at them together. Remus looked peaceful in his sleep; she resisted the urge to kiss his forehead on her way out; although she had not yet dared to hope that he might be interested in her, she remembered what Sirius had told her the night before:
"Remus is such a fine bloke, Sirius," Tonks had told him. "You're lucky to have him as a friend."
"He's as fine as they come," Sirius replied. "But you should know something, Tonks, if you truly want to be his friend." Sirius' eyes were unusually gentle and kind as he said this.
Tonks' ears perked forward at this. "What is it that I should know?"
"He's his own worst enemy," said Sirius. "He'll find any way to prevent his own happiness, if he's able."
"What does that have to do with friendship?"
"Let's just say that it takes a while for him to warm up to others," Sirius said. He hesitated and added, "Or, he thinks it takes a while for him to warm up to others. Be patient with him, Tonks. I've known him for almost 25 years now, and he's still the same self-conscious 11 year old I met on the Hogwarts Express as he is now. He'll do just about anything to be kind to others, being such a lonely bloke his whole life. Be kind to him in turn, and be patient. He'll be worth it."
Sirius' words rang through Tonks' head as she prepared to leave for her mission to spy on the giants. She wondered if Remus caring for her cat was another way of him trying to prove his own self-worth to her, as if he himself could never be worth her time on his own. A surge of pity went through her heart, beginning to understand what Sirius had said. Remus would go to the ends of the earth and back for others, if they asked him to, without ever expecting or hoping for it to go the other way around.
"I'll change that," she whispered. She found Ophelia's eyes meeting hers as she snoozed on Remus. "Now, you, you little monster," she told Ophelia, gesturing to Remus, "be nice to him. He's rather important to me." Tonks saw Remus face change ever so slightly; was that a smile? Her wand let out another alarm, indicating it was time to go. She grabbed her rucksack from the floor and left her flat, hoping she'd be back soon.
…
The rain got heavier and the wind got stronger as Tonks and her fellow Auror, Alfie, flew through the clouds to find the mountains where giants were supposed to be dwelling. Tonks kept her grip on the broomstick, fingers freezing underneath her dragonhide gloves. She was barely able to see in front of her, but the faint outlines of the mountains ahead guided her and Alfie northwards. They had been flying for the better part of the day.
"We're nearly there, I think!" Tonks shouted behind her, to Alfie.
"Fuck me, it's cold," replied Alfie. "Is that it ahead?"
"Finally, yeah," Tonks replied. She began to descend on her broomstick over the nearest peaks of the mountain, looking for somewhere solid to land and camp for the night. A crevice appeared on the side of a mountain, and she gestured for Alfie to follow her there.
The crevice opened up to a small landing. Alfie and Tonks landed with a lurch, steadying themselves on the jagged rock outside the crevice. It was too small for a giant to dwell in, but appeared deep enough for the two of them to camp there for the night.
"Homenum revelio!" Tonks cast the spell to determine if any other humans were there.
"No humans in there, at least," said Tonks. She stepped into the crevice and found small animal bones within a small cave. It was big enough for the two of them and their belongings, though she rued the cave's dimensions once she and Alfie were effectively sandwiched between the cave walls.
They cast protective enchantments and spells around them, and set to unpacking their belongings for dinner. Their Ministry-provided mess kits were far more rudimentary than she'd expected. The food was marginally edible, but the two were so hungry they scarfed down what was in front of them without saying a word.
"What I wouldn't give for a cup of tea," sighed Tonks. "You'd think the Ministry would have given us rations for tea. If they remembered chocolate, they could've remembered tea."
"Chocolate?" asked Alfie. "I don't have any!"
Tonks rummaged again through her rucksack. There was a sizable package of Honeydukes chocolate in it, with a note on it that she hadn't noticed before.
Tonks,
I know it's not much, but I hope this provides a bit of joy on your journey. Ophelia and I will be thinking of you. Be safe, and come back to us in one piece.
RJL
Tonks grinned widely. "The Ministry didn't give us chocolate at all, it was just for me!"
"You forgot you packed chocolate?"
"No, no, it was in here already and I didn't notice it," said Tonks, excitedly. "Want a piece?" She broke off a piece from the slab and handed it to him.
"Yeah! Who put it in there then?"
Tonks hesitated. "My parents," she lied. "They must have wanted a surprise for me." She wasn't ready to share her involvement with the Order, or her new friendship with Remus.
"Nice folks you have," said Alfie. "This is some of Honeyduke's best."
Tonks grinned giddily. Remus, you wonderful man, she thought, biting into the chocolate. "This is fucking delicious," she murmured, thinking of him.
"Want to plan for tomorrow?" asked Alfie.
"If we must, yes," replied Tonks. "I haven't the foggiest if this is where the giants really live, but once we find them, we'll have to keep our distance." She pulled out a text on giant behavior and culture. "They'll expect us to bring a present to their chief, the Gurg, if we want to get close."
"Did you bring a gift?" asked Alfie.
"Yeah, this." She pulled out a small jar filled with blue flame, just like the one Remus had warmed her with the first night at Malfoy Manor.
"They'll want this?" asked Alfie.
"Not like this. I'll have to put an engorgement charm on the jar and the flame. Once I do that, I'll place some unbreakable charms on it to keep from breaking. It's for the Gurg's personal use."
"Wow, how'd you learn to do that?" asked Alfie.
"A friend," she said, simply. "The novelty of everlasting, unbreakable fire should be good enough for the first gift."
"First gift? We had to bring more?" asked Alfie, an incredulous look on his face.
"Did you not read at all before we got here?" Tonks asked, her tone as incredulous as Alfie's. "Of course I brought more than one!" she snapped.
"I thought we were just going to observe!" Alfie exclaimed.
"We can hardly observe from afar. We have to get in there, and this is our best chance of doing so," said Tonks.
"Blimey, Tonks," said Alfie. "When they said our mission could be dangerous, they didn't say it would be this dangerous."
Tonks stayed quiet as she repacked the blue flames and textbook.
"Fuck, and they want us to be with werewolves too?" Alfie's eyes showed a fear she had rarely seen in them before.
"Not all werewolves are dangerous, especially if we avoid the full moon, as I suggested this week," Tonks said, matter-of-factly.
"I thought we were just going to spy on them, y'know, from far off!" Alfie's face was showing the fear more fully from realizing the severity of their task. "Werewolves are ruthless and bloodthirsty, even if it's not the full moon! What the fuck was the Ministry thinking, sending us into these situations?"
Tonks worked hard to keep her voice level. She happened to know one particular werewolf who was not ruthless and bloodthirsty, and in fact chose to self-injure rather than put others at risk. "Not all werewolves are like that, Alfie," said Tonks. "If you keep going off about that, they'll never trust us," she snapped. She fell silent again.
"We'll be fine as long as we stick to the right time of the month," said Tonks. "But they're not on our schedule tomorrow. Giants are." She grimaced. "Let's get some sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow."
…
Tonks woke to Alfie's face uncomfortably close to hers. It sent the wrong kind of shivers down her spine to be this close to him. While he had always been relatively harmless as a co-worker, she never wanted anything from him beyond cordiality. We need to find a bigger space today, Tonks assured herself, so he doesn't get any ideas. Though the mountain air was brisk, she chose to dress outside, trying to avoid Alfie's gaze at all costs.
Once she was fully clad in her boots, jeans, jumper, and Auror robes, she went back into the crevice to wake Alfie and eat before their journey further into the mountains. Alfie woke with a start, and within several minutes, they were on their way out of the crevice and back on their broomsticks. It was a much clearer day than the day before, and Tonks' hunch proved right: they were barely five miles from a giant settlement. The sounds of their snoring grew unbearably load as they got closer; the noises ricocheted from the mountainsides, echoing terribly.
This time, Alfie was able to find a small landing on a mountain, closer to the site of the giants' dwelling. From there, they were able to see the settlement properly for the first time. About twenty giants lay in heaps at the bottom of the mountain. Most of them were injured; gashes, bruises, and cuts littered their bodies. A throne of sorts sat in the middle of the community, with an especially brutal-looking giant stretched out in the throne. He appeared to be beginning to stir.
"That must be the Gurg," Tonks whispered. "That's who we need to give this gift to."
Alfie's face was blank. "To that…thing?"
"That giant, yes." Tonks was beginning to understand better why Remus felt so unwanted; for most wizards, he was subhuman. Although the prospect of giants left her uneasy, she hoped that the kindness she showed them might be enough to warm them up to her.
Over the next few hours, all the giants began stirring. Most of them looked confused, and a few of them struggled with one another over food. When they were calmer, as least as calm as Tonks hoped they could be, she whispered to Alfie, "It's time."
She procured the jar of flames and placed several charms on it to make it unbreakable. "I'll engorge it once we get closer to them," she assured Alfie, who had now become as pale as Remus did right before a full moon.
They ventured down the side of the mountain with the flames, having left their rucksacks and broomsticks up on the landing. "We'll Apparate back to the landing if it gets too dangerous," said Tonks. Though she felt fear herself, she felt she had to be brave enough for the both of them. Once they were close enough to the giants that they might see the two young Aurors, Tonks levitated the jar of flames above her head, slowly increasing its size as they got closer to the Gurg.
At last, they arrived in the vicinity of the giant settlement, with several giants making unintelligible sounds at them. Tonks held her head high, focusing her strength on the jar of flames above her head. The Gurg made loud noises and gestures to the other giants, allowing the young Aurors through the settlement. Tonks caught a glimpse of Alfie as he shuffled behind her; he looked terrified.
With a gentle motion, Tonks set the now-giant jar of flames in front of the Gurg and bowed, motioning Alfie to do the same. The Gurg picked up the jar and threw it against the stone. Tonks held her breath, but to her enormous relief, the jar did not break. It merely bounced off the stone and righted itself in front of the Gurg. The Gurg tried this motion many more times until he realized it could not break. He held the jar in his gigantic hands and felt the warmth, looking from it to the Aurors and back.
He shouted again to the giants; Tonks felt fear creeping up again. The Gurg grunted in the Aurors' direction. A smaller giant approached Tonks and Alfie, holding out a bloodied goat carcass to them. Tonks held her hands out, and the carcass landed with a thud in front of her. The giants made further sounds, sounding almost like laughs. Though it had not been a graceful receipt, she felt relieved that they had returned the gesture (no matter how revolting it was).
Tonks did her best to gesture that she and Alfie would return the following day with a new gift, and she and Alfie levitated the carcass back to the landing, in firm acceptance of their unusual gift.
…
"You did bloody brilliant out there, you did!" Alfie exclaimed, whooping over forkfuls of Ministry rations. They were back in the crevice from the previous night, having been unable to find a similar suitable camping spot for the night.
"Thank you," she replied, beaming. "I was so nervous. I'm still nervous for tomorrow, but I feel better."
"Ruddy fantastic work, Tonks! If you're that good with all the creatures on our list, we'll be just fine, even the werewolves!"
Tonks sighed at the mention of werewolves again; the giants had been far more intimidating to her than the prospect of werewolves. "Each one will have its challenges, Alfie. I'm just glad we got out of there in one piece."
"What gift do you have for tomorrow?" asked Alfie.
Tonks pulled out several large bottles from her rucksack. "These are healing potions. They should work just fine on the giants, and with another few charms, they will be big enough for the giants to use for awhile."
"Wow," said Alfie. "Has anyone ever told you that you might be the most brilliant witch in our department?"
"Not much of a compliment, as there are so few of us," chuckled Tonks. "But I appreciate the sentiment all the same."
"Tonks, stop me if I'm out of line here, but…" Tonks' stomach lurched.
"…are you seeing anyone right now?" Alfie asked, a note of caution in his voice.
Tonks considered her options. She didn't care to outright lie; she prided herself on being blunt with men. However, she considered, she didn't feel like giving Alfie any hope.
"No, not right now," Tonks finally decided. "I'm too busy for that, I think." It wasn't quite a lie; between the Order and the Ministry, she had precious free time left. Any of it was spent with fellow Order members (one or two in particular), and she had found great joy in that.
"Too busy?" Alfie looked surprised. "It's not like you're working late all the time."
"Mmm," Tonks mused. "True, but I'm only 22. No need to rush into anything, y'know?"
Alfie looked thoughtful. "Let me know if that ever changes, will you?"
Tonks gasped. This was one of the outcomes she was trying to avoid. "I'm sure I'll be the Minister for Magic by the time that happens," she muttered to herself.
"We should rest again. I have a feeling we'll need it for tomorrow if we're going to try to catch another carcass with our bare hands." With that, Tonks extinguished the lights they had in the cave, and drifted off into sleep.
…
The following morning found Tonks in a similar position as the previous one; Alfie was altogether too close to her, and she wiggled her way out of the crevice to dress herself again. It was nearly midday by the time the two of them made their way back to the landing from the previous day, hoping to find the giants awake.
The giants were certainly awake, although it appeared that they had new guests. Three cloaked figures stood in front of the Gurg, holding gifts above their heads.
"Fuck," breathed Tonks. "Who the fuck are they?" She fetched various scopes from her rucksack to try to determine the identities of the hooded figures. She knew, from their masks, that they certainly weren't associated with Dumbledore. They could only be Death Eaters.
"Alfie," urged Tonks, "look at these people for me. Tell me what you think."
Alfie used the scopes to stare at the cloaked figures. He looked through various lenses until he said, "I haven't the foggiest. They don't look like our people."
"Of course they don't," said Tonks, exasperated. "But we need to know who they are."
"D'you think Dumbledore sent them?" asked Alfie.
"Doubt it," replied Tonks. "Dumbledore's people don't skulk like that."
Tonks and Alfie spent the day observing the cloaked figures as they associated with the Gurg and his fellow giants.
"Should we try to give them our gift?" asked Alfie.
"Not yet," replied Tonks. "We need to see how this develops. If they get too chummy, we won't stand a chance. We'll have to spend days here, looking to see what they do."
"Shit," muttered Alfie. "Just when I was getting my hopes up."
"You and me both, Alfie," said Tonks, "but now isn't the time for that." She cast multiple disillusionment charms on them and secured the landing as best they could.
"We might have to camp here," said Tonks. "And sleep in turns. I don't fancy our chances going back and forth from that crevice with those people around."
Alfie looked terrified again. How had this fellow become an Auror, she thought. Apparently good marks weren't enough.
"You take the first shift. See if you can get some sleep while I keep a lookout," Tonks said.
…
The next several days passed in turns of watching and waiting with the giants and their new visitors. The hooded figures kept producing gifts grander than the ones they had previously brought. While Tonks had several gifts in her rucksack, the ones the hooded figures had brought were far nicer than the ones she had procured. Her heart sank with each day's fresh gift, knowing that she couldn't possibly compete with them.
Though the cloaked figures didn't expose their faces, Tonks had been tinkering with some of her scopes to try to reveal what might lay beneath the masks. Though not as successful as Moody's magical eye, by the fifth day she had managed to enchant one of the scopes to see behind the masks for a rough image of the faces beneath them.
She furiously scribbled down notes as she was able; the mountain landing was windy, wet, and cruelly bitter to her skin. Despite the many warming charms she cast on herself, she could hardly rid herself of the cold feeling that seeped into her bones. She hated the entirety of the mission, especially with Alfie's continuing advances. At least we're doing this in shifts, she thought, otherwise he'd be all over me.
The faces she saw underneath the masks were roughly identifiable. One of them appeared to be Lucius Malfoy, based on the color of his hair. Few men kept their hair in the same way. The other two were harder to pinpoint. She suspected one was MacNair, one of the Ministry's executioners for beasts. The last was unrecognizable to her; he was a shorter, stouter man with an almost mouselike demeanor. She struggled to identify them all, but wrote down everything she could.
It was unwise to try to overhear their conversation. Despite having an Invisibility Cloak and other accoutrements (natural or otherwise) to disguise herself, her clumsiness would inevitably reveal her presence on the rough mountains. The wind certainly didn't help; she guessed, at best, that they were Death Eaters intent on recruiting the giants for Voldemort.
Alfie became nearly impossible to work with as the week drew to a close. He didn't understand or care why they had to stay on the landing, in the bitter wind and cold of the mountains, particularly on their quickly diminishing Ministry rations. No matter how many times she told him, "We must wait until they leave," he grew surlier. Tonks was beginning to dread all their future missions together.
After seven days of spying, the hooded figures appeared to have left the giant settlement. They did not return for two days (Tonks insisted on staying an additional night, despite Alfie's loud protests), and Tonks decided it would be best to leave the giants without wishing them a farewell. After the Death Eaters' many gifts, hers paled in comparison and she feared that there could be little redemption, if any, in trying for her next set of gifts. At sunset, she and Alfie finally packed their things, and set off on their broomsticks for London.