Chapter Four: Nymphadora
(Disclaimer: Don't own any of these characters, except Igor, who could feasibly be my own creation. The rest belong to J.K. Rowling.)
The harsh, white lights illuminated the pale face of Tonks. She still wore the dress she'd worn to the wedding, but her face appeared pale and pasty. The perfectly white sheets and sterile hospital bed seemed an unfitting place for the witch with flaming red hair.
Beside the bed sat a thin, beautiful woman who could've been mistaken for a veela. In her wedding gown, which sparkled with diamonds sown into the collar and skirt, Fleur Weasley appeared like a vision of an angel. She seemed woefully out of place in the immaculate hospital room with its glossy floor and walls.
She was so brave, Fleur thought as she looked down at the girl. They'd run downstairs, where the main battle had taken place. The Death Eaters tried to sneak into the kitchen but found it occupied by Tonks, Hermione, and Ginny. Apparently, the Auror fought them off, and when they'd arrived, she lay unconscious on the floor beside the two young witches. They'd taken all three of them, along with at least two dozen other guest that had been injured, to St. Mungos.
She is like an older sister, except one that is a bit strange and can change appearance, Fleur thought. The blond patted Tonks's hand, having no malice in her heart for the witch. She quite liked her helping at her wedding and seeing her crumpled on the kitchen floor brought her true sisterly affections for Tonks to light. Mostly, from women she'd encountered spite and anger over her superior brains and beauty, but Tonks seemed to not have eyes for Fleur's faults and had become something of a confident, something she'd never had before.
"Love," Fleur turned around as her newly wed husband, Bill, spoke to her. He still wore his white tux, now speckled with blood and a mash of substances during the fight and its aftermath. "Mum said we should go. She chased me out of Ginny's room. She's begging me to get some rest, but I don't think I want to leave, but you can."
"What makes you theenk I would want to do zat?" Fleur defiantly told her husband. Bill smirked as he gazed at the slumbering witch. He found it odd that the two of them would become friends, but as it appeared in the case of Fleur and Tonks, opposites attract.
"They said she's actually going to be okay," Bill reassured Fleur. "Hermione got the brunt of the attack. She was almost dead when they brought her in, and Ginny suffered some injuries when the table collapsed on top of her, but Tonks, well, they said she appears okay."
"Do they know what happened?" Fleur asked, meeting her husband's brown eyes. Bill frowned slightly and shook his head. "They couldn't identify a specific curse. They think maybe an after affect from something ricocheting. It's anyone's guess, Love."
Bill took a seat beside his bride and held her thin, hands that could've belonged to a porcelain doll. He ran his fingers over the twenty-four karat gold wedding band that he'd slipped on her finger almost two days ago. The wedding bliss seemed like a distant memory, now obscured by the horrific and sudden Death Eater attack.
"Who else?" Fleur asked after several minutes passed in silence, staring at the unconscious Tonks.
"Ginny, Hermione, Shacklebolt, Vance, Jones, Moody, to name a few," Bill told Fleur. "Fred and George got banged up a little, but not seriously enough to be admitted. There were others, of course, guests, at least a dozen members of our family."
"My family is lucky," Fleur's voice held a note of quiet sadness in it. She'd woken up, panic stricken, and she'd watched one of Bill's cousins get shot out of a window. She'd panicked and searched madly for Gabrielle, only to find her huddled beside several of the students from Hogwarts who'd barricaded themselves inside a room.
"Love, get some rest," Bill coed to Fleur, stroking her face. She smiled and gave him a long, sensual kiss. She ran her hand through his hair and two exchanged a few minutes of lip locking in peace before a Healer strode in to check Tonks's condition.
"She's healing quite well," the healer checked her over quickly. He looked young, maybe an intern, and St. Mungos never settled down, especially now that He had returned. They'd been busier than ever, and this new batch of injured was just the same, if not in better shape, than most.
"How is Ginny Weasley?" Bill hastily asked the healer. He spun around on his heal, about to leave the room, but stopped when he heard Bill's question. He frowned slightly and gave a shrug before turning promptly on his heal again and striding out of the room.
"Go see," Fleur coaxed her husband to stand up. "I'll get someone else to watch 'er with me. See your sister."
"If you insist, I don't want to . . ." but Fleur silenced Bill's protests with a kiss. He smiled gently at his beautiful wife before walking out into the hallway. Fleur remained in her chair, which looked woefully plain next to her magnificent, sparkling dress fit for a princess.
She sat alone and in silence once more, as if waiting for someone to waltz into the room and remedy the situation. Fleur rested her fair face on her hands, propping herself up, despite her weariness. The weariness in her head wouldn't let her rest, and watching the sleeping woman helped her feel like she was important or doing something in a fashion.
"Madam, I'm going to ready Miss Tonks for bed," a polite nurse said soothingly to Fleur. The blond nodded, obligingly standing to walk to the other side of the room as the nurse pulled a curtain around Tonks's bed.
"Zee is being ready for bed," Fleur told the man to entered the room. Of all the people who'd come and gone, Remus Lupin had sat their the longest with her before leaving for about half and hour. Fleur hadn't been surprised he'd sat there so long, after all, Fleur knew they were lovers.
The nurse pulled back the curtain, and the pair advanced towards the bed. The nurse gave both of them both a quick look over, deciding that she'd never seen a more contradicting pair. Fleur looked like a vision of a goddess in her sparkling jewels and gown, while Remus looked painfully worn in his faded, gray suit. In age, there wasn't much similarity between the youthful vixen and the aged ex-professor who looked like he'd see several decades more of hardships than he'd actually lived. However, the sleeping lady in the bed was the one thread they shared in common.
Silence descended on the room once more, for both were too weary to feel like holding a conversation. Fleur leaned forward, resting her head on her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands. Her eyelids drooped over her baby blue eyes, as she drifted off into a half-awake, half-asleep state.
However, when Fleur closed her eyes for that one moment all day, she missed Nymphadora's body shift slightly in the bed. Her eyelids fluttered, and indeed, Nymphadora began to regain consciousness.
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I feel like shit, Nymphadora thought groggily as she moved. That mission scraped me up, but why do I feel like this? Nymphadora thought as she shifted slightly, seeing if she was able to move. She squirmed slightly, wiggling her toes and tensing and relaxing her muscles.
"Zee is awake!" Nymphadora's eyes shot open as a female voice screeched. She gasped as she looked up at the faces of two people she didn't recognize. They both looked concerned and weary, but Nymphadora really didn't care how they felt as she stared dumbly around the immaculate room.
"Where . . ." Nymphadora whispered as she studied the plaid nightgown she now wore. She fingered the fresh, crisp linen sheets, gazing intently at them, trying to piece how she'd gotten from their head quarters to this incredibly clean room, surrounded by people she'd never known.
"Zee is okay!" The girl wearing a very gaudy wedding dress squawked again as she went to hug Nymphadora. Nymphadora backed away, not in the mood to be embraced by strangers.
"Don't," she whispered hoarsely, but she found her voice didn't hold the threatening tone she desired. She swallowed the burning lump in her throat, trying to calm her fraying nerves. God, Nymphadora, you're never scared, she chided herself sternly.
"Zee is okay! I'll tell Bill!" The girl recovered from the moment when she'd tried to embrace Nymphadora. She stood up and strode off through two gray doors.
Bill? Nymphadora recognized a name she knew. Bill Weasley is here? Nymphadora hoped, but the very thought quieted her churning stomach, knowing an ally could assist her. She stood up, but almost sat back down because her legs wobbled like she'd had a Jelly Legs Jinx put on her.
"You should sit down," the haggard looking man spoke to her for the first time. Nymphadora didn't listen, but steadied herself. You fear nothing, she told herself, steeling her body to walk. "Tonks, we brought you to St. Mungos for a reason."
"What?" Nymphadora gasped and spun around, gazing furiously at the man. St. Mungos! No! They didn't bring me here! They're going to bloody send me to Azkaban! Nymphadora thought lividly. She looked around wildly for Sirius, and knew, instantly, that she'd been compromised and arrested somehow.
"Tonks!" The man screamed as she found the strength to storm into the hallway. Accio Wand! Nymphadora thought, her mind boiling in utter anger. I fear nothing, she reminded herself. I fear nothing, I fear nothing, she thought forcefully as she confronted the three people coming towards her.
"You need to lay down," Bill Weasley told her as he rushed towards her with Charlie and the girl at his heels. Nymphadora stared stupidly at the two men, waltzing down the hall of a bloody hospital! Her mind pumped, racing in panic, trying to contrive how to escape before they caught her.
"You were hurt. You need to rest," the man from the hospital room told her, his voice full of concern that only made Nymphadora sick. She scowled, deciding she had to escape before this mob of adversaries encircled her.
STUPEFY! Nymphadora's rage overflowed as she shot out a powerful, non-verbal spell at the four of them. She jumped the body of the girl, racing down the hallway. Her heart hammered in her chest, her body ached, but she kept dashing at top speed down the hospital halls in her barefoot.
Disguise, Nymphadora, before they find you! she calmed down her mind and began to think rationally. She saw a nurse walking towards her, and without a second thought, grabbed the woman and pulled her into a storage closet. She pressed her want to the woman's neck and whispered venomously, "Stupefy."
Immediately, Nymphadora stripped the woman of her clothes, and then, she studied her figure for a few moments before closing her eyes. In her mind's eye, Nymphadora meditated on the figure of the woman, trying to pin down as many features as she could in a pinch. Feeling satisfied, Nymphadora snapped her eyes open and dressed quickly in the nurse's frocks.
She grabbed some supplies, and then, casually, and with a perky look on the nurse's cheery features, exited the broom closet. She ambled down the hallway, searching for an exit. No one will suspect you now, relax, Nymphadora calmed herself down quickly, but clutched her wand tightly in a sweaty palm.
"Tonks! Tonks!" She willed herself not to turn around as two boys rushed down the hallway, screaming that name. "Did you see a witch with red hair like this rush past here?"
"Why, yes dear, she gave me quite a scare, but I couldn't catch her," Nymphadora replied, making herself sound disgustingly over-concerned. Ron Weasley, she realized, with a shock, that she knew the boy who spoke to her. It's . . . he looks woefully underdressed, and what are the Weasley's doing in St. Mungos? Nymphadora quickly pushed the questions out of her mind to maintain the illusion of a cheerful, plump hospital nurse.
"Thanks!" The other boy shouted as they raced down the hallway and through another set of gray double doors. He looks like that sniveling little man, Potter, Nymphadora mused as she continued on her way towards the stairs, deciding she would make for the exit soon. First, however, she stopped in another hospital room to grab a change of clothes and change her shape. She looked into a mirror, concentrating on thinning her features and dying her skin a beautiful mocha black. Then, she let her hair become a frizzy, ebony mane before exiting the room.
"Did a witch with ginger hair like this leave here?" Ron Weasley asked the desk clerk as she strolled into the lobby. Ignoring the two boys at the desk, who placed a look out on her, Nymphadora casually exited St. Mungos hospital and walked through the department store window into the bustling, Muggle street.
Bloody hell, what a horror, Nymphadora groaned mentally as she shuffled her way through the swarming crowd. Filthy Muggles, she thought bitterly while passing them. She grimaced as she touched their filthy clothes. However, as she ambled down the streets, her mind cleared up slightly and she began to maul over the strange events in her mind.
The Weasley's were at St. Mungos, but why? Nymphadora asked herself for the thousandth time. They wouldn't betray me, they'd get any wounds healed at headquarters, Nymphadora concluded. We have a bloody healer or two under the Imperius curse, Nymphadora growled mentally. She rubbed her temples as her mind spun around in circles like a dog chasing its tail.
Speaking of dogs, where is Sirius? Nymphadora asked herself again. She needed to see her cousin. Together, they were her Lady's best assassins and most glorified sadists of her Lady. Had he been taken to Azkaban again? Did that witch and warlock betray us some how? Nymphadora thought again, with complete loathing, of the two people whom she'd seen upon waking. She personally blamed them for bringing her to the hospital so the Aurors could cart her off to prison.
"Not today," she muttered. Her Lady needed her services, and if, somehow, the Weasley's had turned against her, siding with those who wished to destroy the Lady, she'd most certainly use the killing curse on them, too.
A newspaper, Nymphadora realized that reading one might be useful as she looked over at the stack of freshly printed Muggle papers. She headed around the city towards the shabbier part of town where the squalid poor Muggles lived. Confidently, Nymphadora entered The Leaky Cauldron and proceeded silently towards Diagon Alley, where she tapped the bricks in the correct order to enter.
She looked around, sneering at the warlocks and witches that passed by, all in big huddled groups, looking positively terrified. Finally, they fear my Lady, she thought with a triumphant smile. Then, she read a sign, warning of something called Death Eaters and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
"Lady?" Nymphadora pleaded quietly, as if talking to the poster she read. Where is my Lady? Who is this imposter, calling himself a Lord, that everyone fears? They should fear my Lady! Nymphadora thought as her mind seethed in rage.
Nymphadora made herself leave the poster to purchase a paper with the sickles in the witch's pockets she'd stolen. She then resumed staring at the blasphemous sign, trying to fathom how this fraud of a wizard could have replaced her glorious Lady. She clutched the paper in her white knuckles as anger pumped through her skull.
No, if they fear this wizard, they will fear my glorious Lady, Nymphadora concluded after reading the headline on the Daily Prophet:
Fear Sweeps Yorkshire after Muggle Attack
However, she smiled slightly, pleased that this wizard had enough sense to kill the filthy Muggles. However, my Lady is superior, Nymphadora reassured herself as she read about the two dozen Muggles that had died in the vicious attack. She flipped through the paper, reading about the various bunglings of the Ministry of Magic, although the name of the Minister and his staff didn't register most of the time.
'The Chosen One' kept coming up in smaller articles and editorials, but Nymphadora kept combing through the paper, trying to find the name of Sirius Black. However, she did read something interesting about Death Eaters, the servant of the usurping Dark Wizard who, Nymphadora thought, was trying to steal her Lady's rightful throne.
I will honor my Lady, Nymphadora pledged to herself, pressing her index finger and middle finger of her right hand above her heart, where the Kiss of Death should be. She felt her heart skip a beat because its familiar presence was lost. It wasn't there. I can still honor my Lady without it, Nymphadora told herself.
Avery's death will please her, Nymphadora reflected with pride. Sirius, my cousin, my partner, where have you gone? Nymphadora felt her spirits drop as she thought of the only relative that she'd ever trusted.
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Tonks tentatively opened the door, wand ready in her shaky hand. The heavy door slid open, and she stared at the room, bathed in feeble, wavering candlelight. No fires burned in this damp room, and only a long, polished, cherry table that looked like it could've been in the Great Hall sat on the floor, surrounded by a flock of stools.
"Nymphadora," Sirius said, motioning her to sit beside him at one end of the long table that stretched the length of the room. Tonks ducked to get under the low doorframe, and if she'd been any taller, the ceiling would've been too low, also. However, she obeyed Sirius, too stunned to really consider another option.
He looks the same, was Tonks's first thought. Sirius still appeared worn from Azkaban and his hair hung down to his shoulders in a raggedy mess. Tonks surveyed him as she cautiously ambled over to Sirius, who'd pulled out a three-legged stool for her to sit on.
"Ah, the famous Nymphadora decides to grace us with her presence," the raspy speaker spoke to Tonks as she sat opposite him and beside Sirius. It is a male, Tonks realized as she scrutinized the thin, almost corpse like figure sitting across from her. His eyes and cheeks were sunken into his face, and the long, unkempt and presumably unwashed hair that hung down his back gave this man a disturbing aura.
"Igor," Sirius snapped at the grotesque man. What horrid fingers, Tonks thought as she watched the man tap his thin, twig like fingers on the table, and his brittle, long nails clicked against the solid wood. In the faint light, his skin appeared a sickly shade of green.
"I'll not touch this one," Igor said quickly and nodded towards Tonks. "Ma Lady would torture me beyond the grave. Aye, I hear that's where you put Avery."
I killed someone? Tonks thought as Igor laughed, but it sounded more like a wheezing chew toy. Avery, that's a Death Eater, Tonks remembered the name, but then, remembered that the horrible Igor accused her of killing him. An uninvited chill shot up her spine.
"Stupid blood traitors," Sirius spat, interrupting Tonks's thoughts. Wait, aren't we blood traitors? Tonks mused. She tried to figure out the mess she'd been tossed into. She looked over at Sirius, who looked as scraggly and ragged as he did before he'd died.
"Well, what are you going to do about them?" Tonks ventured the question, trying to sound casual. Igor wheezed again, apparently amused, but Tonks watched as Sirius sat there, and then, a slow, devious sneer spread over his face.
"I'll gut her, the filthy little traitor, marrying a mudblood," Sirius began to talk slowly, his voice low pitched and full of obvious pleasure as Tonks saw the wheels turn in his head at the thoughts of death and torture.
"Then, I'll murder the mudblood husband, and we'll torture the boy, put him under the Imperius curse," Sirius grinned pleasantly at the thought. "Then, it'll be time to finish the other one, who got away. I'll purge the filthy blood from this world, one little traitor at a time."
"Aye, tell me, I'd like to see that. Maybe the Lady will let me lick the blood," Igor said eagerly, smacking his lips after he mentioned blood. He's a vampire, Tonks realized. Gods, he's a horrid vampire, addicted to blood and gore, Tonks thought, instantly becoming more alert. She didn't want to fall pray to a vampire tonight.
"Don't speak of Her like that," Sirius's voice became hard and stern again. Igor flinched slightly as Sirius's wand hand moved. For Tonks, hearing the delight of death gone from her cousin's voice relieved her. What have Sirius and I done? Tonks's mind raced, wondering why Igor feared Sirius so much. I know he's a skilled wizard, but . . .
However, Tonks's contemplation about Sirius Black disappeared as the basement door slammed open and a tall man ducked under the doorframe. He wore ebony black robes, but the hood that could hide his face in shadows hung limply behind him. I've seen his face some where, Tonks realized instantly that she'd seen this man before. He's . . . a Death Eater, one of them, she combed her memory, remembering a couple similar looking pictures, but this man appeared much healthier than any of the Death Eater's had in their Azkaban mug shots.
"I disposed of the body. After we're done, of course, they'll realize Avery is dead," the man said, as if picking up part of a left-off conversation. Well, maybe it was part of a previous conversation, Tonks mused, realizing she could've been there, but she still had no memory of it, which made her head ache as she tried to rationalize that piece of information.
"I wonder if they'll figure it out," Sirius sneered. "That is, until we have a family reunion."
"A family reunion, maybe invite a couple of Hogwarts school mates," the man chuckled coldly as he took a seat beside Tonks. He turned towards her, a huge grin plastered on his face. However, Tonks thought, it didn't look like he was angry with her. On the contrary, he had total admiration for her in his deep, brown eyes that looked like black pits that reflected the weak lighting.
"I heard you killed Avery," the man said as he locked eyes with Tonks, a note of loving caress in his voice. Tonks hesitated for a moment, but then nodded slowly. The man smiled triumphantly, looking away from Tonks as if expecting a whole room of people there to witness what he considered highly important.
"She's killed others," Sirius said stiffly, as if waiting for something to resume. Tonks felt sweat begin to form on her forehead. She tried to swallow and keep her mind strong so that these two wizards couldn't read it. I don't know what's happened to Sirius, but gods, this isn't getting better, Tonks realized frantically. Any reassurance she'd found in Sirius still looking the same completely evaporated.
"But to kill the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and his secretary, my, it is an accomplishment!" The man exclaimed proudly. He patted Tonks on her shoulder, and she fought the urge to cringe.
"Well, if they know they're dead yet, it's not much use, eh?" Igor cackled from across the table.
"It's also useless if my brother-in-law hasn't kept his promise to make the Polyjuice Potion for us," Sirius snapped again at the enthralled man. This time, the man-who-I-might-know, thought Tonks, turned to look at Sirius. He looked agitated at being snapped out of his reverie of Tonks killing a Ministry employee.
"Yes, yes, of course, enough for several days, and then some, to be safe," the man muttered, waving his hand as if this was an easy accomplishment. "Do you have the hairs, Sirius?"
"Of course," Sirius growled as he produced two little bags and handed them to the other man, who studied them over. "The clear one is the secretary's hair, and the larger chunk covered in blood is a piece I personally ripped from Avery while he happened to still be alive."
"Fabulous," the man muttered as he opened the bags to stare at the contents. He nodded his approval after a couple minutes before he stashed the two bags deep within the black folds of his robe.
"So, Sirius and I'll be in disguise as the Head and his secretary?" Tonks ventured the question, realizing that the two men planned to do something. It's probably not legal, and maybe, I helped plan it, Tonks thought bitterly as she realized she'd have to go along with whatever they suggested until she knew more about her odd situation that continued to frighten her more at every word she heard.
"Yes, you'll be the secretary, and I think Sirius should be Avery," the man suggested firmly. "He can't creep back into Azkaban the way he escaped."
"I could, you know, with the Dementors gone," Sirius replied staunchly. It didn't surprise Tonks that Sirius went to Azkaban, but hearing that he wanted to break into Azkaban? That can only mean one thing, Tonks realized as if she'd collided with a solid brick wall: Sirius was going back in to get prisoners out.
"Sure, but no chances. If you bungle this mission, She'll do worse than send you to Azkaban," the man threatened Sirius this time. Tonks looked between the two of them, watching Sirius's resolute and slightly arrogant air shrink under the crushing stern stare of the other man.
"Fine, but you're supposed to be on board, too," Sirius growled in a low voice to the other wizard, who reached inside his robes and pulled out a little pouch, which he handed to Sirius.
"I killed myself a boat man tonight," the warlock's voice lowered to a deep tone that chilled Tonks's blood. Killers surround me, but I'm supposed to be one? Tonks mused as she tried to piece everything together.
"I see," Sirius replied in an even voice. He nodded his consent, which seemed to end the argument between the two men. "So, Azkaban tomorrow."
"Yes, and then all four Lestranges will be back in Her service," the man spoke reverently of the idea.
But Tonks hardly heard him. She scrutinized him again and realized that this warlock was none other than Rodolphus Lestrange. He looked healthy, with a fully filled out face and no trace of the years in Azkaban etched into his features. Maybe he never went to Azkaban, Tonks pondered this absurd idea. Rodolphus got caught years ago and convicted to prison, silly girl, Tonks tried to reassure herself. But Sirius had died, too.
"Andromeda and I will finish what we started," Sirius said, now grinning in a lustful anticipation that twisted his features in a way that Tonks had never seen them before. A deadly sparkle glinted in his eyes, and Tonks felt terrified of the cousin she once loved.
"Mum," Tonks muttered, realizing Sirius had spoke about Andromeda. What's mum got to do with this? Tonks wondered, but she secretly feared the answer. If mum changed like Sirius, I don't know what I'll do, Tonks thought, trying to fight the fear welling up inside of her.
"Yes, and she'll be so proud of you," Rodolphus told Tonks again, his voice over whelmed in pride for her. "Her little daughter, breaking her out of Azkaban."
(I've heard an interesting rumor that author notes aren't allowed any more. SO, if they aren't, I'll remove this. But anyway, since I haven't heard back from the fanfic support group either way, I'm putting this up.)
Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. I appriciate it, and I've changed the title because I wanted something, well, different, or more interesting, ect. Anyway, this is the story, as it is for now, and I hope you like this chapter. Waiting to hear from you soon. I really do read and think about every review I get, so thanks bunches for those who review. Also, SSoV, Harry is coming in soon, but not yet, not even in chapter 5.
Chapter Five: Miss Trelawney
(Back to Hermione, who isn't having a very good day either, especially when she finds out she's friends with people she hardly knows, let alone likes.)