Tonks waited patiently for Madam Bones to finish addressing the Aurors. Only when she asked for questions, did Tonks raise her hand.
Madam Bones looked at Tonks and smiled. "Tonks. I should have known you'd have something to say."
"Thank you, Madam. I'll make this brief," Tonks said quickly. "Has the Minister lost his mind?"
Madam Bones gave Tonks a warning look. "Tonks…"
"I'm serious!" Tonks replied. "Has he gone insane? Have we bothered to check lately?"
"I know this seems strange, but the Minister feels that this is for the best," Madam Bones said.
"Moving the prisoners out of Azkaban?" Calvin Wong pitched in. "That's for the best?"
Madam Bones readjusted her monocle. "Look everyone. I'll admit, I'm not happy about this either. But Fudge is insistent. We move the prisoners Sunday night to a new location. I need every single one of you working that night to make sure this goes smoothly. Half you of will be inside the transport watching over the prisoners. The other half, ones with good flying ability, will be circling the outside."
Mad-Eye stood up. "This is a good idea. The Death Eaters won't know what's happened. We'll be a step ahead of them."
"But-" someone tried to cut in. Madam Bones held up a hand.
"The last thing I want is of any of you to get hurt. I've planned and double planned this. If we work together, we'll get through this."
Tonks raised her hand again.
"No more questions," Madam Bones snapped. "You'll all report to duty at eleven o'clock Sunday night."
88888
There was an emergency Order meeting.
"He's under the Imperius Curse. That's the only explanation!" Tonks said in frustration.
"Do you realize how vulnerable we're going to be?" Emmeline Vance added.
Professor Dumbledore looked lost in thought. Tonks continued. "He's taking the Aurors off of their regular shifts. No Aurors in Diagon Alley. No Aurors in Hogwarts. This will be a perfect time for Death Eaters to strike anywhere they wish!"
Albus finally looked up. Now that Tonks knew he was dying, she wondered why she didn't realize it before. His skin was sallow. She noticed his hands shaking once or twice.
"Members of the Order will all be on duty that night. If the Ministry will not protect our interests, we will. Molly, will you draw up a schedule for that night?" Albus asked.
"Of course. I'll have it by tonight," Molly said briskly.
"What about Fudge?" Kingsley asked.
"Is there anyone in the Ministry that can get close enough to him? To try to find out your suspicion?" Albus asked.
The Aurors all shook their heads. But Arthur piped up. "I might," he said thoughtfully. "I'm drafting the appeal to Umbridge's half-breed law. We promised the werewolves we'd try."
"Good, good," Albus said. "Let us know immediately if you find anything out."
"Of course," Arthur said.
Albus started staring at the ceiling. "Is there any reason to suspect that there is an Auror who might be loyal to Tom?" he asked quietly.
Tonks, Kingsley, Emmeline and Mad-Eye looked at each other. Mad-Eye finally spoke. "I don't think so. Of course, I don't know everything that goes on."
Tonks shook her head. "I'll start keeping an eye out for anything unusual."
The meeting concluded, but Tonks stayed behind with Albus. She was hoping for another "learn how to be an accomplished, unclutzy wizard session," as she now started calling the lessons.
"Albus?" Tonks said gently.
"I'm worried Nymphadora. Very worried. I will concede that. Emmeline is right. It leaves so many people in a vulnerable position," Albus sighed.
The next thing Tonks knew, Albus seemed to jump out of his chair. "Now, we have to work on the walk. I've been told I almost seem to glide when I walk. We need to teach you how to glide, Nymphadora."
"We'll be here till next year!" Tonks moaned.
88888
Saturday morning arrived and Tonks woke up, feeling wonderful. While Severus was in the bathroom, Tonks changed in a robe Albus had given her. She was going to try to be Albus in front of Severus for the first time.
She concentrated, and felt her face changing. She ran to the mirror, and saw that she had gotten his face down pat. Even the waves in his beard were right on. She was extremely pleased with herself. For the final touch, she took a small sip of the potion. It tasted awful.
Severus walked out of the bathroom and did a double take. "Dora?" he asked warily. Tonks nodded in a regal way.
"What do you think?" Tonks asked, sounding just like Albus.
Severus walked around her, examining. "Your morph is perfect," he told her.
"Thank you, Severus," she said magnanimously.
"It's odd though. I see the old man in front of me. But I know somewhere in there is the girl I'd like to shag senseless," he said, smiling slyly.
"Ooh! Shagging sounds like fun," Tonks giggled. Even Severus had to laugh at the sound of Albus giggling like Tonks.
Tonks took out her wand. "Finite," she said, pointing at her throat. "Much better!" she said, sounding like herself again.
Severus just shook his head. "Please change back to yourself, Dora."
Tonks complied. "Let me change, and then we're off to Headquarters," she yelled over her shoulder.
"Why?" Severus asked, settling himself on the couch.
"I told you a couple of days ago. We're helping the Weasleys move back into the Burrow," Tonks said sternly.
"We're?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Tonks told him. "I promised Molly that we'd help."
"Why in the world did you do that, Dora?" Severus said.
Tonks faced him, her hands on her hips. "Because we're being nice. They'd help me if I was going to have a big move," Tonks said.
"That's great. You help them. Why am I going?" Severus said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Because…" Tonks trailed off. She didn't want to tell him the real reason. Because she'd seen that he doesn't have any friends. Because once they were able to be a couple in public, she wanted him to be not necessarily liked, but at least tolerated. She decided that he was going to start socializing whether he liked it or not.
"Because I said so," Tonks said finally.
Severus sighed and stood up. "The lady must be obeyed."
88888
Severus stood impatiently at the doorway of Headquarters, tapping his foot.
"Molly!" Arthur cried. "Are you ready yet?"
"Stop it," Tonks mouthed to Severus. Severus shrugged and moved next to her.
Kingsley walked over to her as well, and pulled on one of the turquoise pigtails Tonks had today. "You and your hair," he smiled at her.
"Part of the reason I'm so lovable," Tonks giggled.
"Are you flying or inside tomorrow?" he asked.
"I'm flying. You?" she asked back.
He nodded. "I'd rather be inside though. Intimidate some of the prisoners," he said ruefully.
"You certainly are good at intimidating," Tonks said cheerfully. Just then, Molly walked down the stairs, holding a carpetbag.
"Let's go!" Tonks said brightly, picking up a box. Kingsley and Severus both picked up a box as well.
"Is this everything?" Severus asked, shooting a look at Tonks.
"It is until we reach the Burrow, Professor Snape," Molly told him.
Tonks glared at him. She was willing him to be nice to the Weasleys.
"Severus," he said finally.
"Severus, then," Molly said briskly.
Tonks shook her head and flooed over to the Burrow. They spent hours setting up the house. It looked wonderful when they were finished. Then Molly made a huge dinner. Arthur opened up a bottle of wine, and Tonks eagerly accepted a glass.
Tonks was very proud of Severus over dinner. He and Molly came close to fighting, but Tonks was able to change the subject quickly. She barely realized that she had at least four glasses of wine. Severus seemed to be indulging as well.
Around midnight, Tonks announced she needed to sleep or she'd be a mess tomorrow. Severus and Kingsley stood up as well to leave.
"Thank you so much," Molly gushed.
"I had a very nice time," Severus said.
Tonks looked at him sharply. She knew he didn't have a nice time. Then it hit her. He was pissed! Tonks felt her forehead. She was pretty tipsy as well. The wine had gone straight to her head.
They headed for the fireplace. "Ladies, first," Kingsley said, handing Tonks the bowl of floo powder.
Tonks spread the powder of the flames and stepped inside the fireplace. "Hogwarts-"
Severus coughed loudly. She then realized her mistake.
"I think she's drunk," Kingsley whispered to Arthur, who nodded in agreement.
"12 Grimmauld Place. Tonks' Room," Tonks said loudly. The spinning did her no good. She tripped the moment she landed. Giggling, she stood herself up and reached for some more floo powder.
"Hogwarts, Severus Snape's bedchamber," she said, laughing. Oh, she hoped she went to the right place.
She clutched her head when the spinning stopped. Severus was standing by the couch, taking off his robe. Tonks took a few steps towards him and fell over.
"Are you drunk?" he asked her..
Tonks couldn't stop laughing. "Yep."
Severus quickly tried to place a silencing charm on the room, but couldn't seem to say the right words.
For some reason that struck Tonks as the funniest thing she had seen in a while, and continued to laugh, finally managing to place a silencing charm on herself, instead of the bedchamber.
"Hmm…we should explore this. You not being able to talk could be interesting," Severus said, finally helping her off the floor.
They somehow managed to stumble into bed. Tonks pointed at her throat, she wanted to talk. Severus cancelled the spell, and Tonks opened her mouth to yell at him, but he shut her up with a kiss.
They kissed sloppily for a few minutes. Severus rolled onto his back. "Darling…" he said, as Tonks started kissing his neck.
"Darling, the desire is there. But I don't think the performance can match it," Severus sighed.
Tonks didn't stop kissing his neck. She let her hand wander down. Normally, he would be ready to go. But there was nothing ready now. Tonks briefly thought about teasing him, but decided he mightn't appreciate that. So she settled herself in his arms instead.
He kissed her forehead. "A bit too much to drink, I'm afraid," he said, sounding embarrassed.
But he needn't worry; Tonks had already fallen asleep.
88888
"Constant vigilance. Constant vigilance," Tonks muttered over and over to herself. They had been in the air for more than an hour. So far everything was going well.
"Change positions!" Calvin Wong yelled. Tonks leaned forward and went to the front of the large transport. She felt a tingling in her back.
Mad-Eye was also heading towards the front. "Something doesn't feel right," he said softly to her. Mad-Eye's magical eye was twirling in every direction.
"I know," Tonks agreed. They flew in silence for the next fifteen minutes. Tonks felt a strange sensation in her chest. A flash of memories, all horrible ones went through her mind. Her breath seemed to be constricted in her throat.
She looked ahead. They were coming towards the transport quickly. The Aurors were outnumbered two to one.
Tonks looked wildly at Mad-Eye. He had an expression of surprise on his face. He seemed unable to move.
Finally Tonks was able to breathe. She cried out a warning as loud as she could.
"DEMENTORS!!!"