Chapter Thirty-Eight – Aftermath
"Tonks?" Arthur called down from the top of the stairs.
"It's safe to come down, Arthur," Tonks cried back up. She heard Arthur practically running down the stairs. He stopped when he saw the bodies.
"Merlin's beard," he said quietly. He was then taken by surprise when Ginny threw herself in his arms, sobbing wildly. "It'll be all right, sweetheart."
Tonks walked over to the rest of the group and helped them up. Harry's eyes wouldn't leave Professor Dumbledore's body. It hit her then that she wasn't sure what to do next. Everyone in the Order had always waited for Albus' opinion; he always knew what to do. Who would organize them now?
"Tonks, why don't you take them back to Hogwarts? I'm going to find Professor McGonagall. She'll know what to do down here," Arthur said gently.
Tonks nodded, and took Ginny for her father's arms. "Can you all walk? Do any of you need any medical attention now?" Tonks asked. Everyone shook their head.
She started to make a portkey, but Harry stopped her. "We need to find the rest of the group first," he said determinedly.
"Draco and Neville?" Tonks asked.
Harry nodded. "And Luna and Nata."
Tonks' jaw dropped. "What was Nata doing here?" she demanded.
"We needed her," Harry said, not looking at her. Tonks shook her head and walked up the stairs with the group.
"I know where Neville is," Hermione said softly. "He was unconscious, so hopefully he's okay."
"Luna's probably with him," Ron said.
"Draco's probably still attacking Death Eaters," Ginny said, trying to put a bit of a smile in her voice.
"Nata was in the house last time I saw," Harry said.
"Tonks!" a voice cried from above. Tonks looked at and saw Nata standing next to a railing the floor above them. She ran down the stairs straight into Tonks' arms. Nata had a black eye and a small cut on her forehead, but looked okay.
"Have you seen Draco?" Tonks asked her. Nata shook her head. The group continued walking, and headed into a large dining room. "Spread out, but stay in the room," Tonks ordered.
They looked for only a few minutes before Hermione found Draco, underneath the large dining room table. He was half-awake. Tonks knelt next to him and whispered, "Rennervate."
Draco's eyes opened sleepily. "Is it over?" he asked groggily. Tonks nodded as she helped him up. The group had to go slower now, as Draco was limping.
"Where's Neville?" Tonks asked. Hermione motioned, and everyone followed her. They walked up a flight of stairs, passing Bellatrix' body on the way. Two hallways later, Neville could be seen, crumpled on the floor. Luna was kneeling next to him. Luna heard the footsteps and stood up faster than Tonks thought possible and drew her wand at them. She relaxed when she saw who it was.
Tonks performed the same spell on Neville. However, it didn't work; he was still unconscious, breathing evenly. Luna went to hold Neville's body, but Tonks had to stop her. "Luna, you're not strong enough to hold him all the way to Hogwarts."
Luna's eyes filled with tears. "I'm not letting him go," she said softly.
Harry knelt next to her and put his arm across Neville's chest. He gave Luna a weak smile. "Together, then."
Tonks nodded and took off the belt she was wearing. "Before I make the portkey, do we have everyone now?" she asked. Harry nodded. Tonks looked at the eight students in front of her. All of them had aged tonight. "Portus," Tonks whispered, thinking of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. "It'll go off in two minutes."
Everyone put a hand on the belt. Luna even took Neville's limp hand and placed it on the belt. Two minutes later, Tonks felt the tug at her navel. A moment later, the hospital wing appeared. Madam Pomfrey was at their side in an instant.
"Can I leave them with you?" Tonks asked. She was desperate to go back to the Riddle House to look for Severus.
"How did…is everyone…" Madam Pomfrey asked. Tonks realized how hard it must be the mediwitch, simply waiting for news.
"Professor Dumbledore is dead," Harry said in a hallow voice. Madam Pomfrey closed her eyes briefly. Then she got to work.
Tonks made her belt into another portkey and headed back. She practically collided into Kingsley when she appeared. He now had a piece of fabric around his head, covering his eye. Tonks wondered if he had lost it.
"You're bleeding, Tonks," Kingsley said.
Tonks brought her hand up to her cheek. She had forgotten about it. "Badly?" Tonks asked. She brought her hand down and saw nothing. "No, I'm not."
Kingsley reached out his hand and gently touched the left side of her forehead, where the skin met the hair. Fresh blood was on his hand. "Yes, you are." Then he looked into her eyes. Kingsley cast the Lumos spell and brought the light right into Tonks' eyes. "You have a concussion, Tonks. You should go back to Headquarters and rest."
"Hells, no," Tonks said adamantly. "I'm staying here."
Kingsley shook his head. "That's fine," he told her. Then he cast a healing spell to stop the bleeding. "We're trying to get a handle on who we've lost. Go into the house and check any room that doesn't have an 'X' on the door. After you've checked a room, close the door and mark it."
"Aye, aye, Captain Sir," Tonks said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "Are the Death Eaters still unconscious?"
Kingsley nodded and Tonks went into the house. She went up to the top floor, deciding to work her way down. Someone called her name the moment she entered the first room.
It was Bill Weasley. Tonks ran over to him. She was about to ask him if he could walk, but then saw that one of his legs looked like it had been crushed. "What's happened?" Bill asked quickly. Tonks filled him in while she set him up on a magical stretcher.
She quickly checked the rest of the room. It was empty. She led the stretcher into the hallway and closed the door behind her, leaving a fiery 'x' on the door. It took a while to get Bill downstairs. Arthur was on the front lawn and took control of the stretcher, giving Tonks a smile.
She was ready to go back upstairs when a voice stopped her. "Would you prefer body duty or Death Eater duty," Teddie Hollandsworth asked her. Tonks sighed; she didn't want either, she wanted to look for Severus. But she needed to be an Auror right now, not worry about personal relationships.
"I'll take Death Eater duty," Tonks told him. If Severus was unconscious, surely he would have been picked up.
Hollandsworth pointed to the large transport that had been conjured. "You'll be guarding. Tonks…" he trailed off, but started again, lowering his voice. "Tonks, the Dark Mark is gone. There's a chance we might have picked up some from the Order, since we didn't know. If you see anyone who shouldn't be in there, tell Tannika, and we'll get them out."
"Thanks," Tonks said quickly. She got to the transport as quickly as she could. She tried jogging, but immediately became dizzy. She would have to get her concussion taken care of soon.
Tonks climbed up the bars of the transport. Her jaw dropped seeing the number of Death Eaters that were in the transport, at least seventy-five. Her eyes scanned every body, hoping to find Severus. She couldn't find him, but she did see…
"Tannika!" Tonks cried. The elderly Auror was at Tonks' side in a moment. "That man there. His name is Elphias Doge. He's in the Order."
"You're sure?" Tannika asked.
"I'm sure," Tonks told her. Tannika waved her wand and raised Elphias' body, bringing him closer. "Take a good look, Tonks."
"That's Elphias," Tonks said. Tannika brought his body into a small cage, shutting one door, then opening another.
"Bring him over to the brick wall, then come back. We're leaving soon," Tannika ordered.
Tonks nodded and brought Elphias' body to Kingsley. "Thanks, Tonks," Kingsley said. She nodded and went back to the transport.
Before they left, at least ten more Aurors showed up to help guard the transport. Tannika stood up. "We've broken all of their wands in half, and have already taken them to the Ministry," Tannika told the group. "We don't know when they'll all wake up, so be careful, especially if any of them can do wandless magic. We're taking them to Azkaban. Madam Bones' orders."
Tonks sat herself down, next to Calvin Wong. He was favoring his right arm, which had been placed haphazardly in a sling. "You okay, mate?" Tonks asked gently.
"Bones are gone," he muttered.
"I hate skele-grow. I'm sorry," Tonks said. Then out of the blue, "Do you know how to heal a concussion?"
Calvin nodded, but pointed to his arm in the sling. "This is my wand arm, Tonks. I do really shoddy work with my left arm. Sorry."
"Best to leave the head case alone, then," Tonks joked. Her eyes continued to scan the Death Eaters, thinking she might have missed Severus.
"We're leaving!" Tannika yelled from the front. Tonks gripped her wand and was ready for any trouble. About halfway through the journey, the Death Eaters were slowly gaining conscienceness.
It took a bit before the Death Eaters realized they were prisoners. A few were able to create sparks from their hands without their wands, but that was the worst of it. Finally, they made it to Azkaban without incident.
They had to take each prisoner out, one by one. Then the prisoner had to be secured and then walked to a cell. It took two hours before every prisoner was locked away. Tannika looked at the Aurors in front of her. Tonks sighed, she knew Tannika was going to ask them to stay and guard.
Tannika stopped in front of Tonks and Calvin. "Your two are hurt, go get fixed up. Be back at the Ministry in four hours. There will be a schedule of guard duty by then."
Tonks nodded, thrilled that she would be able to leave. She and Calvin walked out of the prison. "See you at St. Mungos," Calvin said.
"I'm going to help with the Order. I'll see you at the Ministry," Tonks told him. Quickly she made a portkey to Headquarters. Slowly she walked inside. She closed the door softly, in case people were trying to get some rest.
"Nymphadora!" a voice cried out. Tonks looked down the hall, and saw her parents sitting on the bottom step of a staircase, arms wrapped around each other.
Tonks slowly walked to them. It obviously wasn't fast enough for her mother, because she jumped up and gingerly put her arms around Tonks. "I was so worried when I heard everyone leave!" Andromeda wailed.
A feeling of guilt washed over Tonks. She hadn't said good-bye to her parents last night before the fight. "Here I am," Tonks said weakly. She felt dizzy all of a sudden.
"What's wrong, Nymphadora?" her mother said.
"I have a concussion, Mummy," Tonks said. Tonks giggled. She hadn't called her mum 'mummy' in years. "Do you know how to heal them?"
"Nymphadora, I'm hurt you've forgotten. You were the clumsiest little girl. I think you fell on your head at least twice a year when you were a kid," Andromeda said. "But I was always able to patch you up."
"And now I'm the clumsiest adult," Tonks joked.
Andromeda sat Tonks down in a chair in the hallway. "This will take a few minutes."
Her father was at her side then, and placed a hand on her shoulder. He put his thought board in front of her.
How's Severus?
Tonks closed her eyes. A bright light was emitting from her mother's wand, pointed straight at her head. "I haven't seen him since the battle started," Tonks said. "I hope he's okay."
I'm sure he's fine.
Tonks gave her father a smile. "Thanks, Dad," she said softly. "I hope so too."
"There, you're all set," Andromeda said. Tonks stood up, and immediately felt better. The dizziness was gone.
"Thank you so much, Mum," Tonks said.
Andromeda smiled. "Well, now that we know you're safe, your father and I are going to get some sleep. We were up all night," she said.
Tonks nodded and watched her parents go up the stairs. She decided to head towards the commotion that she heard in the parlor. Tonks couldn't help but smile as she got closer. The celebrations had begun.
The moment Tonks stepped into the parlor, a large cry went up. "Tonks' alive!" she heard. "Another one made it!" someone yelled. The next minute someone had placed a butterbeer in her hand. She set that down quickly, though. She still needed to work in a few hours.
"Tonks!" Remus Lupin cried. He was holding a very large glass of firewhiskey and his arm was around his girlfriend, Dani. "You survived. That's wonderful."
"Are you pissed?" Tonks asked, trying not to giggle. She had never seen Remus drunk before.
"Of course not," Remus said, trying to sound dignified as Dani nodded her head, telling Tonks that Remus was indeed pissed.
"Why was everyone cheering for me?" Tonks asked Dani.
"They have been cheering everyone when they walk in for the first time," Dani said in her Indian accent. "Even I was cheered, and I did not fight."
"But you are fighting the greatest battle of all, love," Remus said, kissing Dani on the cheek. "You put up with me."
"He is making no sense to me right now," Dani said, smiling, and ruffling Remus' hair. "My English does not understand his drunkenness. And he knows we transform tomorrow, and therefore, should not drink."
Remus held up his hand, as if he was going to say something important. "Tomorrow is another day," he told them.
"That was very profound, Remus. Thank you for that," Tonks said with a smile. Not able to stand it anymore, Tonks asked, "Have you seen Severus?"
A look of understanding crossed Remus' face. "I haven't, Tonks. I'll keep an eye out."
"Thanks," Tonks told him. She was just about to go upstairs and take a shower, when Arthur Weasley stopped by to give, what he called, 'A Weasley Report."
Bill would be released in a day or so; the only thing he injured was his leg. Percy had been hit with a nasty curse, and could have a stay of up to two weeks. The worst one off was George. He had been hit with dragon's fire. The Healers weren't sure at this point if he was going to survive. Arthur then dashed out just as quickly, to go see his sons at St. Mungos.
"Poor Molly," Tonks said to Remus. "I saw the dragons. I surprised more people weren't hurt."
"Did you hear?" Remus said. "Apparently, Hagrid had raised one of the dragons, when the dragon was a baby. Norbert, he called him. Hagrid recognized him, and was able to get them to leave. Bloody amazing."
Tonks tried to join in on the celebrations over the next few hours. But every time someone new walked through the door, Tonks couldn't help but think the selfish thought that she wished it was Severus.
Finally, Tonks realized she needed to get ready for work. As she started to leave, Remus patted her shoulder. "No news is good news, in this case."
Tonks nodded, not believing him. Then she headed upstairs to take a shower.