AN: This is just a random fic I thought of when I was walking around Busch Gardens on my band trip the other day. A bit random and not a shipping type of story, sorry about that. Turns out to be a bit angsty and discusses some disturbing themes and situations. Rating to be safe. Hope you enjoy it. Please leave me a review once you're are done.
Disclaimer:I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. Also, the Freefall refers to a ride I do not believe exists by that name. Yet it is very similar to some other rides. If in fact it does, no attempts to steal it are being made.
The Freefall
A rare feeling of excitement had descended over the Order of the Phoenix as a group of some of the younger members crowded around the folded pamphlet with the picture of a large yellow roller coaster plastered on the front. The Muggle pamphlet, even with its lack of moving pictures, still managed to make all the rides look rather threatening. On the center page folding out was a tall rectangle with four people strapped into seats on each side. In big bold black letters across the top were. "50 feet high! Ride the Freefall!" The new attraction seemed to be the focus of the Order members' attention. Tonks picked up the brochure and smiled.
"You know this will be a great time, something to get our mind off of everything…" Tonks muttered thumbing through the rest of the pamphlet. "Finally some fun in our lives for a change."
"Yeah…" Charlie Weasley said. "But those lines are going to be murder. Too bad there wasn't a way we could avoid them, without getting in any trouble for hexing muggles."
Tonks groaned and nodded at the thought. She knew that there was very little chance they'd get out of having to wait in the lines for the rides, and the ride they all wanted to go on was going to be the worst. The freefall was new and the muggles would want to go on the ride just as much as they did.
"Well you could always jump off a broom if you want to fall…There would be no lines for that." Lupin said jokingly, standing at Tonks's shoulder.
She turned around and glared at him. She rolled her grey eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.
"There has to be some way to avoid the lines." She flipped through the packet and smiled as she read a note one the back page. "Found it yes! 'We gladly give passes to skip to the front of the lines to the physically disabled visitors and their group to our park.' This is it! We can use that pass!"
"What do you mean? Unless we fake a broken leg or something, all of us can stand in the hour long lines. Even though we could do that…"
Tonks shook her head. "No we can go and not even have to lie."
He leaned back in the chair and stared at her. "And how do you plan on pulling that off?"
She smiled and glanced at the other end of the room. It was perfect. He could easily get them to pass the lines, besides, the man needed a break these days. He have a good time "We'll bring Mad-Eye along."
At the other end of the kitchen the old Auror sat in one of the high backed chairs reading over the morning's Daily Prophet with his real eye, and scanning the house with the other. He looked up when he heard his name and scowled.
"What about me?" he growled.
"It could work…." Charlie muttered. "Then we wouldn't run the chance of getting caught lying. Though I doubt the muggles would notice it."
"What could work?"
"How about coming with us to the amusement part Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked. "With that leg of yours you can get us out of the long lines we'd have to wait in. We'll have fun, take a break from this war."
"There is no time to take off from war," he said coldly. "Besides I don't like those places and I have too much to do."
Tonks stood up and aimed and playful punch at his shoulder, ignoring his flinch. "Come on Mad-Eye don't tell me you're afraid of a stupid ride. With all the Death Eaters you've dealt with in your life a silly roller coaster shouldn't bother you. Come on Mad-Eye."
She knew it was a bit of a low blow attacking her old mentor's pride that way, but Tonks was thinking for the both of them. He needed some time away from the war, they all needed it but he needed it more than any one. Everyone knew that."
He glared coldly and frowned. "I'm not afraid of the damn roller coaster," he snapped defensively half getting to his feet. "I just have too much to do to waste my time helping you lot cut lines!"
"Take a break Mad-Eye!" she urged, doing everything she could to convince him. "Have some fun you old man! You'll have great time if you just take a break!"
He put the paper down in his lap and continued to glare. "I don't want to go Lass! Even if I did couldn't! I can't exactly walk around a muggle park without getting noticed. I couldn't wear a hat to cover my eye; it would come off on your stupid rides. So find some other way to cut the line or just wait in the bloody line."
She put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Maybe but you have plain glass one don't you? You can use it for one day and enjoy yourself!"
"I do have one lass but," he protested nervously trying to come up with an excuse, "but I don't like being half blind, would you? Plus, I can't exactly sit on any of the rides with this damn leg of mine. I can't exactly bend it to sit on any of those rides. I don't have a damn knee to bend anymore!"
Tonks groaned, not knowing why she was bothering fighting with him. He was horribly stubborn. "I thought you had one with a hinge type thing!"
"And I told you I can't walk in the damn thing!"
"It's one day, you said you just had problems with it…" She said pouting.
"I'm not used to the thing and don't plan on getting used to it."
"Please Mad-Eye, we'll spend all day just waiting in line if you don't come. You'll have a good time if you just come with us! Please…" she pleaded. "I promise"
He groaned and looked away.
"I have no bloody choice do I?" he muttered weakly giving in.
Tonks smiled; she knew he'd break eventually. She spun and punched the air, almost falling. She smirked and steadied herself.
"You rock Mad-Eye, you will not regret it. I promise."
He rolled his eyes and went back to reading his paper. "I'll see about that, Lass."
"You will."
She did not notice the nervousness in his voice or the fact his hands shook slightly. All she cared about was the ride at that point. She was too excited to think of anything else.
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"O-oh, yes here you are sir, your line pass. I-I hope you enjoy your day at the park." The young man at the ticket counter said nervously looking at Mad-Eye.
He reluctantly took the red paper bracelet and put it on his wrist before limping off without another word. Tonks smiled looking at the commotion of the park. Muggle children ran around the park followed by their parents running after them as quickly as they could. The loud roaring of screeching metal as the coasters flew by. Tonks smiled looking at the sites and sounds of the busy park, it was just what she needed. She looked over at Mad-Eye with a smile, but frowned seeing the expression on his face.
He seemed nervous, upset about something, and it seemed to be past even his normal nerves. He looked pale…
"Is something wrong Mad-Eye?" she asked softly walking at his side. "You're not scared are you?"
He looked down at her sharply and shook his head. "I'm not scared lass; I just don't like crowded places like this…"
Tonks nodded mostly convinced. She knew he didn't like places like that, he was always nervous in crowds, but it seemed like more. But she didn't question it further because if the distance the top of the new ride struck up from the sky. A group of people already had gotten on the ride and Tonks watched excitedly as the seats climbed into the sky and dropped once they reached the top.
She quickly made her way along with everyone in the group to the line, Mad-Eye lagging behind. She bounced lightly one the balls of her feet staring up at the tall ride. She shielded her eyes against the sun to look up at the top. She couldn't wait to try out the ride.
Mad-Eye looked up at the ride and visibly shuddered as another group dropped, screaming. Tonks looked at him again.
"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked concerned.
"Aye…I'm alright." He glanced up at the ride again nervously. "Maybe I shouldn't go on this ride. It does say 'Do not ride this ride if you suffer from any preexisting medical conditions.' That takes me out."
Tonks groaned. Why was he so reluctant? It was just a ride.
"Mad-eye! You'll be fine. I know you will enjoy it once you get on it. We'll have fun."
He sighed weakly. "Fine lass…"
The group made their way to the side entrance where he reluctantly showed the red line pass. As the group took their seats and were strapped in Moody was taking all the time he could to take his seat and be strapped into the seat. Tonks smiled as the straps pulled over her head and she was locked in. Moody too the seat next to her sat there weakly, closing his eyes and breathing heavily. Tonks bit her lip slightly; maybe making him come on had been a mistake? She didn't want to scare him, but she was sure he'd enjoy it once it was over and done with. At that point, it was already too late. The seats slowly made there way up the ride, clinking with every level. Tonks looked around at the whole park as they made there way higher and higher until the reached the top. They hung there for what seemed like forever until they dropped.
Tonks let out a happy cry as they fell laughing as the world rushed past them, the ground coming up to meet them. Tonks smiled from the rush the ride gave her, that freefalling feeling.
"Now that wasn't too bad was it Mad-Eye?" She said beaming, but she quickly frowned seeing him quickly freeing himself from the restraints, despite the protest of the operator of the ride.
She watched as he came as close as he could to running and collapsed weakly on a bench not far from the ride. Even from the distance, she could see he was shaking.
"Is he alright?" Charlie asked as they got off the ride.
"I don't know," Tonks said softly shaking her head sadly. "I'll go talk to him…"
She realized then that maybe the ride had been too much for him, that she had made a huge mistake in making him go on the ride. It never occurred to her that he couldn't handle something like a ride with everything he had seen…some people were just not roller coaster people.
She walked slowly over to the bench where Moody sat with his head in his hands. She carefully sat next to him, but he didn't even acknowledge her presence.
"I'm sorry Mad-Eye." She said softly. "I shouldn't have made you go on that ride."
He was silent for a while, and didn't say anything. He looked up shortly to look at her and then looked back out into the distance.
"The ride wasn't the problem lass."
She looked at him sideways; something had clearly scared him. If it was not the ride than what was?
"Something is wrong Mad-Eye, even I can see that. If it wasn't the ride, then what was?"
He stayed quiet again before answering. He closed his eyes sighed sadly. "It was falling lass…falling like that brought back some bad memories, hell some bloody horrible memories."
Tonks looked at him nervously. She knew there was plenty the old Auror had plenty of bad memories, and somehow the ride had reminded him of one of the worst. She carefully put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry Mad-Eye…I didn't think about…"
"It's not like you knew lass…"
She sighed softly. She softly cursed her curiosity. She couldn't help but want to know what was that happened.
"Talking about it might help…"
He sighed deeply. "It isn't a pretty story, lass, but if you truly want to know…"
"You can tell me…" she said softly.
He nodded slowly, but still didn't look at her.
"It was when I was captured around fifteen years ago, just after the war had ended. We had been trying to drive out a last cluster of Death Eaters, but it ended up just being a trap. I had been there for about two or three days at that point… I was in pretty bad shape, but they hadn't done anything too serious at that point except blow out my eye…"
"I heard that they pulled it out…" she muttered softly more to herself than to him.
He slowly shook his head. "They had been hurting my partner, raping her over and over and forcing me to watch. I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't stand to watch them do that to her…hearing her beg them to stop but they wouldn't. They asked if I wanted to see anymore and I said no; I hoped they'd leave her and hurt me. Instead, they jammed a wand into my eye and nearly blew off that side of my face. That's why the scarring was so bad."
Tonks looked away and shuddered. "I didn't know…"
"Not many people do know lass…But they hurt me for awhile and I'm sure it had been a few days at least when I lost my leg." He paused and sighed sadly. "They had me hanging upside down by one ankle, and my hand were weighed down by some chain.. They…well they cut open my leg and stuck a wand inside it. Completely blew my leg to shreds, broke the bone clean in two."
He stopped and carefully rubbed his bad leg. She could see the pain on his face, but all the same, she couldn't help but listen and want to know more. He turned and he carefully wiped his eye, Tonks looked down in her lap and let him cry in peace.
"They lifted me up; more like whipped my up by my angle. Must have been a few stories…Thing was leg wasn't held on by much at all, just some muscles and skin so…" He shuddered. "It, i-it didn't hold my weight. It couldn't…It wasn't strong enough to hold me so…it ripped. It kept tearing…piece by piece until I fell."
He stopped and was quiet for awhile. "It was s-so bloody painful. Freefell from the sky…broke most of me ribs and my arm."
Tonks put her hands over her mouth and stared at him. All the time that she had known him, ever since her training started, she had never heard the full story of how what had happened. Sure, she had heard the rumors and listened to the stories people made up and even had some of her own as to how he had gotten to where he was. Others were more respectful than the others were, but none had him losing his leg in anything near as horrible as that. She shook herself and weakly laid a hand on his shoulder. She cursed herself for making him ride something like that. Falling could have only been traumatic to go through again.
She did have a huge respect for the retired Auror…even without the past he had. Even without knowing what he has gone through, he would admit, at least privately, that had been the best Auror of his time. And for some time to come as well. He did more during his career than some departments did for years. She knew her skills would never be that of his. She'd never tell him that, but she did know it all the same. She was always grateful to have him to give her some pointers, though he was normally as mean to her as she was to him. S
"Moody I never knew…If I knew I'd have never asked you to come on the ride. You should have said something," she whispered softly.
"It's not something I like talking about lass…"
"Still!" she said weakly, "You could have just said it brought back too many bad memories or something like that. It would have been enough Moody…We would have gotten the hint. Well the hell did you put yourself through that?"
He sighed deeply. "Well you lot wanted to go so much, and it really was the only way. I didn't want to disappoint you. And I have some pride left…"
"So! You don't need to go through that hell if you didn't want to! You should have said something; you have no idea how horrible I feel…"
"Don't…" he smiled slightly. "It's not your fault lass."
"I never had any idea. I heard rumors and I was sure it was bad but…I never pictured anything like that. I really had no idea… You seem fine on a broom, I'd think heights…" Tonks sighed softly. "I'm so sorry I made you do that. You had every right to be scared and I made fun of you for it."
"You do that anyway lass," he said gently.
She bit her lip, shook her head.
"I still pushed you into reliving the worst moments of your life, Moody. Attacked you pride I…"
"Lass please… I thought I'd be able to handle it…I was wrong though. It's been fifteen years now, and can handle heights. I couldn't do that before. I thought it would be better because I had something to hold on to…It guess it was still too soon. I loved all those things when I was younger, and I still would, it's just too many of them bring back too many bad memories."
She knew she couldn't rid him of his memories; nothing could do that. He fumbled with his hip flask, his hands still shaking slightly, and took a long sip from it. She felt horrible knowing that even drink could not rid him of the memories.
"There has to be something I can do to make it up to you, Moody. Anything…"
"Don't worry about it lass…"
She shook her head. "This is my fault, and I really don't feel like going on many rides anymore either."
And it was true, just hearing what happened made her not want to fall, and she owed it too Moody to try to make up for being as horrible as he had.
"Go have a good time Dora… You've been talking about this trip for days. Don't ruin it on my account. I'll just go home. Don't worry about me."
Tonks did not want to leave him alone in such a state. He didn't deserve to be alone after what she had made him go through.
"Your right, I do want to go on a ride, but this one you can come with me. And I don't even you will be scared of this one Mad-Eye."
He looked at her carefully. "Aye, and you said that before as well."
She smiled and carefully laid her hand on his shoulder. "I think you can handle this." She pointed toward the other side of the park where a small train was riding past, giving the riders a tour of the park. Silently she hoped nothing bad had happened on a train. "We can sit there for awhile…You can handle going on a train can't you? No bad memories from a train I hope."
He smirked, in away you had to know it to recognize it. "Aye that I could handle lass, and no bad memories, but some interesting ones at least."
"Well you can tell me about them on the ride," She said standing up and offering him her hand. "Come on Mad-Eye."
Her old mentor and friend looked at her shortly before carefully making his way up to his feet. He did not take her help, but soon enough he made his way to hid feet.
"Let's go get a seat on that train…"
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The End