Chapter Thirty-One – Which Witch
Tonks walked around the forest near the Riddle House, trying to find some activity. She cursed silently; the place looked deserted. She heard a twig snap, and she wrapped the invisibility cloak that she borrowed from Harry around her tighter.
She looked both ways, and to her relief, she saw that the noise had been caused by a deer.
"Damnit," Tonks muttered under her breath. She had been so sure that they would have taken Netta here. Now she needed to get back to Headquarters and come up with a new plan.
Quickly she took out the piece of parchment that Severus had sent her. She looked it over, trying to see if she had missed something. Why didn't he tell her where she was! The thought of Nata lying somewhere, under the Imperius Curse made Tonks sick to her stomach.
She shook her head, not quite believing what she saw. Tonks brought the parchment up to her face, as close as she could.
Look out for her. They know.
Tonks felt like laughing. He had told her where to go all along! The tail of the letter 'w' pointed up, and it looked like a very small arrow had been drawn.
Nata was in Knockturn Alley, The Poison Arrow.
Tonks concentrated and apparated all the way to the Leaky Cauldron. She stuffed the invisibility cloak into the carpet bag she was carrying. As fast as she could, Tonks raised the hood of her cloak and added about six inches and forty pounds onto her frame.
Without bringing attention to herself, Tonks navigated the twists and turns to make her way into Knockturn Alley. Luckily, Tonks blended in easily with the crowd.
As she stepped through the doorway into the Poison Arrow, Tonks couldn't help but shudder. This had been the place of many a meeting with Lucius Malfoy. Meetings she couldn't wait to forget. It was early afternoon, and the bar was practically empty; the clientele normally didn't come out until night.
Not wanting to be seen, Tonks promptly went into the ladies room, and locked the door behind her. Opening up the carpet bag, Tonks brought out a simple black robe. After taking off the rest of her clothes, Tonks put on the black robe. She had the invisibility cloak in her hand.
Tonks started to wave her wand to vanish the carpet bag, but luckily did not, just in time.
"Bloody hell, if you had forgotten that…" Tonks scolded herself. Tonks fished through the bag and brought out a vial of Severus' voice changing potion. It was her last resort. If she couldn't get them both out of here, Tonks was resolved to take Nata's place.
She placed the vial into her pocket of her robe, and vanished the carpet bag. Finally, she threw the invisibility cloak around herself.
Tonks took each step as carefully as she could. She had a fair idea where there was a secret room in the Poison Arrow; she just needed to find it without bumping into anyone.
She found the door, and waited for someone to come up from the basement so she could sneak down. It was almost a half hour before the door finally opened. Moving quickly, Tonks caught the door before it closed and let herself inside.
The first step creaked. Tonks didn't move for another five minutes. She heard a few voices downstairs, no more than three. There was no sound of taunting, so hopefully they hadn't done anything to Nata yet.
It seemed forever and a day before she made it all the way down the flight of stairs. Tonks found herself in a lab of some sorts. There was a long table on one end. The walls were covered in various old fashioned torturing devices. And there, on the other end was a small cage. And a frightened young girl curled up in a small ball was inside.
Tonks somehow managed to keep herself from shouting out Nata's name. She looked at the Death Eaters that were sitting at a small table. Tonks knew right away that none of them were Severus. Two were quite large; she assumed they were Crabbe and Goyle. She couldn't tell who the third was.
"When can we enjoy her?" one of the larger Death Eaters asked. Tonks closed her eyes. She knew that if any of these men tried to touch Nata like that when she was in the room, she would find it in herself to kill them.
Nata obviously heard what the man said and gave a soft whimper.
Thinking too fast for her own good, Tonks picked up a glass beaker and threw it as hard as she could up the stairs. Luckily, the men did exactly what she hoped. All three jumped up and ran up the stairs.
Tonks ran towards Nata, but tripped on the hem of the cloak, throwing it off of her. She heard Nata make a noise. Tonks looked at the girl and shook her head, putting a finger to her lips. Nata could make no sound now.
Quickly, Tonks morphed into a nondescript witch and put the hood of her robe over her face. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Tonks wanted to cry. She had messed everything up!
Only Crabbe and Goyle came downstairs this time. "About bloody time you got here, Bellatrix. I thought you'd never show up."
Tonks nodded. She couldn't quite believe how fast her heart was beating.
"Look, we gotta take a leak. We'll be back in a bit. Don't hurt the girl," one said slowly.
Tonks nodded again, and watched in disbelief as the Death Eaters went up the stairs again. When she heard the door close, Tonks ran to the cell.
"Tonks," Nata whimpered. "I knew you'd find me."
"Have they hurt you?" Tonks asked quickly. Nata nodded her head. Tonks cursed under her breath and took out her wand.
"Alohomora!" she cried. Nothing happened. "Nata, do you know where the keys are?"
"I don't know," Nata said, wiping her eyes. "I'm so sorry!"
"Nata, none of this is your fault. You haven't done anything wrong. You must believe that," Tonks said firmly. "I need you to stand up, Nata. Remember that morph you wanted to try?"
Nata slumped against the bars of the cage. "I'm so tired," she said softly. Only then did Tonks really look into Nata's eyes. She had been under the Imperius Curse. Tonks doubted she would be able to do any sort of morph.
"Can you stand up at all?" Tonks asked urgently. She looked up at the stairs. They didn't have much time.
Nata's eyes filled with tears. "I can't, Tonks," she cried. "I hurt so much."
"I know, sweetheart, I know," Tonks said reassuredly. "We'll get out of here, I promise."
"Promise?" Nata asked, closing her eyes.
"Promise," Tonks whispered under her breath. Then she made a quick decision. "I'm coming in there with you."
Tonks ran to get the invisibility cloak. But before she could take a single step, she heard voices coming down the stairs. Tonks tried to get the cloak, but there wasn't time. Knowing it was her only chance of survival, Tonks threw her wand back towards the cage, into the shadows.
"Stupefy!" a voice rang out.
And everything went black.
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Slowly everything started to come together. Tonks rolled her shoulders. Nata was stroking her hair. "How long have I been out?" she asked softly.
"Ten minutes," Nata answered. "They were really angry you didn't have a wand."
Tonks looked around the cell, searching for her wand. She couldn't find it. "Why I am alive?" Tonks said softly.
"They said you might have some good information," Nata answered.
"I see. Do I look like me?" Tonks asked.
Nata shook her head. "You're not you."
"Good thing."
"Stop that talking or you'll both be sorry!" a voice cried out.
With a shake of her head, Tonks woke herself up and took stock of the situation. She was willing to admit that it looked grim. Her wand was somewhere in the room, that was a positive. She didn't have the slightest idea where the invisibility cloak went. Tonks checked, and found that a dis-apparation jinx had been placed on her. So apparition was out of the question. But she had one huge advantage over the Death Eaters.
They didn't know it was her. Two Death Eaters were sitting in the corner. Tonks patted her pocket, and breathed a sigh of relief. The vial was still there!
"Do you trust me?" Tonks asked Nata quietly, turning their backs to the room.
Nata nodded. Tonks reached out and pulled out a few strands of Nata's hair. Gently, she uncorked the vial and placed the hairs inside. They dissolved quickly, and Tonks drank the potion in one gulp.
Tonks looked Nata over carefully. She was wearing a pair of dirty jeans and a torn sweater. Tonks sighed, there was no way she could copy that.
"I need you to take off your clothes," Tonks whispered. Nata's eyes went wide. Tonks turned around to look at the Death Eaters. They weren't even paying attention to them.
"Now, Nata," Tonks said softly. As Nata took off her sweater, Tonks scrunched up her nose and did a full body morph, a morph that would make her look exactly like Nata.
Tonks saw that Nata had a tight t-shirt underneath the sweater. "Keep that on," Tonks told her. She saw the relief in the girl's eyes. Tonks was even happier to see that Nata was wearing a pair of long johns. "Keep those on, too."
Tonks changed her naked body so that there was an appearance of clothes, the same clothes Nata was wearing. Finally, she took off the black robe she had been wearing. Tonks huddled up with Nata, and covered the two of them with it.
Handing Nata the vial, she whispered, "I need you to hold on to this no matter what happens, Nata. Do not let go of this vial." Nata nodded her head in understanding. Then Tonks waited for someone to notice that there were suddenly two Natas in the cage.
After fifteen minutes, no one seemed to realize any difference. Tonks saw that Nata had fallen asleep on her shoulder. Tonks looked up when she heard footsteps coming towards them.
"Crabbe! What's going on here?" Goyle cried. Tonks watched with a satisified smile as Crabbe and Goyle surrounded the cell. They both took their masks off to get a better view. She enjoyed the puzzled looks on their faces.
"Bloody hell," Crabbe said under his breath, scratching his head.
Goyle had a look of absolute confusion on his face.
"Which witch is which?"
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Crabbe and Goyle might not be the smartest wizards in the world, but they weren't Death Eaters for nothing. Tonks listened to them discuss what could possibly have happened. Finally, Crabbe decided that the witch they caught just happened to have some polyjuice potion on her.
The Death Eaters knew that if they informed anyone, they would be in a great deal of trouble. So they decided not to say anything until an hour was up, and the potion wore off.
Nata had woken up by that time, and giggled at Crabbe and Goyle's theories. Tonks knew she couldn't rush Nata; the girl had been almost pushed beyond her limits. Every minute they stayed in here was another minute Nata's body had to heal.
Tonks and Nata stayed silent, waiting for the hour to pass. Then Tonks would have to figure out a plan. Any plan. Anything would be better than simply sitting in this small cell, waiting to be killed.
"It's been an hour," Goyle said stupidly. "Why hasn't she changed back yet?"
"We need to tell someone," Crabbe said. "This is impossible!"
Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Tonks cursed under her breath. She would much rather have to just deal with Crabbe and Goyle.
"What's impossible?" a smooth voice called out in the shadows. Tonks looked up sharply. Even though she couldn't see him, she knew that Severus was now in the room.
"Two girls," Crabbe mumbled.
"I can see that," Severus said condescendingly. "But why are there two girls?"
"I dunno," Goyle said. "We've waited an hour. It's not polyjuice potion."
"You're sure it's not polyjuice potion?" Severus asked sharply. Tonks felt her breath caught in her throat. Surely Severus knew that it was her.
"We waited more than an hour. She hasn't changed,'" Crabbed told him.
"Excellent," Severus said. "Well, Nymphadora Tonks. I'm glad you finally decided to make things easy for us."