Chapter Forty – Unexpected Consequence

Tonks walked up and down Diagon Alley with a smile on her face. Wizards and witches were out on the street, celebrating. She ran her hand through her hair, which was in its natural state. Tonks decided that for awhile, at least, she would be in her natural state all the time. It felt wonderful to walk down the street as herself, and not in a disguise.

She was already in her tenth hour of patrol, and the party still had not slowed down. Stores were open, people were cheering, even at two o'clock in the morning. Sometimes she joined in on the fun. The Leaky Cauldron was having an hourly toast to the Boy-who's-now-a-Man-That-Lived, Harry Potter. At midnight, Tonks had taken a flute of champagne and toasted Harry with the rest of them.

As she walked towards Knockturn Alley, a voice cried out, saying there was an important announcement to be heard in front of Gringotts. Curious, Tonks hurried over to listen.

"Sirius Black's been given a full pardon by Madam Bones!" the voice yelled. "The true murderer from that horrible night has been caught and has confessed all!"

Tonks stood still. Without realizing it, tears started falling down her face. It was years too late, but finally, her cousin's memory wouldn't be spit on anymore. She sat down on a nearby curb and hugged her knees to her chest. "Oh Sirius, I know you'd love to be here tonight," she whispered. "I miss you."

For sixteen years, people had been terrified of Sirius Black's name. But tonight, people all over Diagon Alley were shouting and toasting his name. Someone handed her a butterbeer as she wiped her eyes. Tonks lifted the bottle in a silent toast and took a sip.

Tonks was amazed at how information was being spread throughout Diagon Alley. An hour after the announcement about Sirius, it was finally released that Professor Dumbledore had been killed in the battle. At first, everyone seemed saddened. A few witches and wizards took off their hats. But then someone shouted in a booming voice, "To Albus Dumbledore!" and the crowd was cheering again.

She remembered hearing a story from Professor McGonagall about the first war. It had ended, and even though the Potters had been killed, Albus still felt the need to celebrate. Tonks decided Albus would be glad that people were shouting his name as opposed to a moment of silence.

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Everyone was worried that there would be a backlash like the first war. Tonks worked double shifts for a week. Her shift was the swing and night shift, and since Severus taught during the day, they actually went three days without seeing each other, only communicating through notes left on the desk in their room.

A week after the Final Battle, the Order had a small memorial for Albus. It was held at Hogwarts, by the lagoon. Professor McGonagall told them all that Albus had lived more than two thirds of his life at Hogwarts and that's were his resting place would be.

Tonks held onto Severus' hand tightly during the ceremony. Severus wiped her tears that fell when Albus' ashes scattered over the lagoon. Tonks had spent the last eight months learning all about Albus. And now she had to say good-bye. She had given Professor McGonagall the clothes she had worn as Albus. Except for the half-moon spectacles. Tonks knew she would keep those for the rest of her life.

After the first week, wizards everywhere tried to get things back to normal, but never did they seem to live in such an "un-normal" time. Tonks was down to one shift a day, the swing shift, which of course was the time Severus was available. She begged and tried to get her schedule changed, but she was still too low on the totem pole. But at least she was with Severus at night.

They made love often, neither willing to speak out loud what they were thinking. That this could be the one that leads to a baby. Tonks got into a habit of trying to change her hair color at noon, to find out if she was pregnant or not. And every single day her hair would change color. After two weeks, Tonks stopped. Her heart was breaking every time she learned she wasn't pregnant. It would happen when they were ready.

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Tonks learned from Severus that Harry wasn't speaking much. Nor was any student that fought that night. Tonks scheduled a lesson with Nata, hoping to find out how the young metamorph was doing.

Nata didn't give many details, which Tonks expected. But one thing did surprise her. "I'm going to be an Auror, Tonks," Nata said determinedly. "I stunned the Death Eater that tortured me. Then I put an anti-disappartion jinx on him. It felt really good. I want to do that again."

"That jinx is real advanced magic," Tonks said, impressed. "That's a N.E.W.T. level jinx, that is."

"We learned them in the D.A.," Nata said proudly.

Tonks smiled. "Well, you won't have to study for Concealment and Disguises. And as long as you do better than me in Stealth and Tracking, you'll do fine."

"I'm just glad those two Aurors don't follow me anymore." Tonks smiled weakly, not willing to tell the girl that one of those Aurors had been killed.

The next day, she managed to talk to Draco. He seemed more worried about the upcoming N.E.W.T. exams than what had happened during the Final Battle. This concerned Tonks at first, but Draco explained why.

Due in largely because of Tonks' efforts last year, all of the Malfoy assets had been frozen. When Draco left school, he would be literally penniless. He was determined to score well on the tests so that he could get a good job. Tonks' mum offered to let him live with Tonks' parents for a bit, but Draco didn't want to be a problem.

"I've been accepted in a Dragon study program in Romania," Draco told her. "Well, probationary, at least. I just need to get an E in Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and Potions, and I'm in."

"That's where Charlie Weasley works," Tonks told him, half wondering if that would make Draco change his mind.

"I heard that. I heard he's great with dragons," Draco said. "It might be nice to know someone out there."

"Draco Malfoy would consort with a Weasley?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah, well, a lot of things have changed this year."

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Tonks was in their bedchambers, enjoying a rare day off. The war ended three weeks ago, and so far, everything seemed to be getting back to normal. Well, not completely normal. Trials had started for accused Death Eaters. Tonks had been asked to testify for three of them, so far, and fully expected to be required to testify for more. She felt like all she was doing was work lately. She had her guard shifts, but then there was the countless hours of working with the Ministry's lawyers, preparing for trial.

Many of the top Death Eaters tried to bribe their way out of an extended sentence by accusing other Death Eaters. Luckily for the Ministry, they had most of the active Death Eaters in custody.

She was getting ready for the evening she and Severus planned. They were going to go out as a couple for the first time ever tonight. As soon as Severus came back from classes, they would be on their way. Tonks had even decided to wear a dress for the occasion.

Tonks expected him back by four, and when he didn't show by four-thirty, she tried not to be nervous. "He's probably just helping students," Tonks told herself. By five, Tonks was slightly panicked. She had just decided to go look for him, when the door opened and Severus stormed in the room.

Tonks opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Severus threw a book at the wall. He stood in the middle of the room, breathing heavily.

"Severus?" Tonks asked softly. "What's happened?"

He took a deep breath, and Tonks could tell he was trying to calm himself. "Your boss," he said slowly.

"Which one?" Tonks asked. "Madam Bones or Cleeve Dickerson?" Cleeve Dickerson was the acting Head of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Dickerson," Severus said shortly. He started unbuttoning his coat. "He apparently wants to make an example, Dora. That every person that had the Dark Mark will be punished. Including me. I've been named by several Death Eaters as one of them."

Tonks sat down hard on the couch. "Tell me you're joking," she whispered. "I'm testifiying this week, Severus. I can testify for you. That you were working for us the entire time."

Severus sat down on the couch next to her. "Minerva's already contacted Arthur. Hopefully he can use his position as Assistant Minister of Magic to work something out," he said softly. "But I've been requested to turn myself in to Azkaban by seven o'clock tonight, Dora. If I don't show, they'll assume I have something to hide."

"I don't believe this," Tonks said. "After all you've done! I can't believe Dickerson would do something like this."

"Barty Crouch was just like this after the first war," Severus said. "I was lucky enough to escape jail time then. Hopefully something can be worked out. I'll give testimony for anyone they want. I know plenty of names and activities."

"If you have to be there by seven, you better get ready," Tonks said. "They've put up wards; no one is able to apparate in or out anymore. The ferry takes forty-five minutes to get there."

Severus nodded and took off his formal school outfit and changed into much more casual clothes. Tonks changed as well, taking off the dress she had worn for the evening, and changed into work clothes.

"The dress looked nice," Severus said. "You never wear dresses."

Tonks smiled. "I know. But if you're going to be in Azkaban tonight, I'm going to volunteer to guard a shift there."

"You don't have to do that, Dora," Severus said, wrapping his arms around her.

"I know I don't. But I want to," Tonks told him. She was silent for a minute. "Leave your wand here."

"I need my wand," Severus said.

"They won't let you have it Azkaban," Tonks said. "They'll break it. Leave it here. When they ask for it, say you thought you wouldn't need it and that you left it at home. They'll do a search on you, but as long as you really don't have it, you'll be fine."

Severus took out his wand and looked at it for a moment. "I hate being without my wand," he said.

"Better to leave it here, than to watch it get snapped in half," Tonks said. Severus placed it gently on the chessboard.

Tonks could see Severus was struggling with himself. "Please don't come with," Severus said finally.

"I would only be there for support," Tonks said quickly.

"I don't want you to see me in an Azkaban cell, Dora," Severus said firmly.

Tonks gulped. "All right, then. I'll wait for you here." She hated the thought of being left behind.

Severus nodded and kissed her passionately on the lips. "Hopefully, this will be sorted out soon," he told her.

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When Severus wasn't back by midnight, Tonks finally decided to go to bed. She fell asleep quickly and was in the middle of a dream, when a loud crash woke her up. "Severus?" Tonks asked, getting out of bed quickly. She glanced at the hourglass and saw that it was almost six in the morning.

"It's me, Dora," Severus said softly. He was sitting on the ground, having just flooed from the fireplace.

"Oh thank goodness," Tonks cried, throwing herself into his arms. "You were released? What happened?"

"Arthur Weasley," Severus said. "He tried talking reasonably with Dickerson, but I guess he really wants to make an example, and wasn't willing to let me off. Weasley thinks it's a ploy for power. But Weasley threatened to sack him, and finally I was released, given a full pardon."

"Was it awful?" Tonks asked, shuddering. She was remembering her own Azkaban experience from last year.

Severus nodded. "At least I was only there for twelve hours."

"It takes a few hours for the bad memories to go away," Tonks told him truthfully.

Severus stood up, and took her hand, helping her up off of the floor. "I need some sleep. I wasn't able to get any sleep in there."

"At least you don't have to teach today," Tonks told him. She watched as Severus quickly changed out of his clothes and into a pair of black pyjamas. She settled herself next to his body.

"It's amazing what that place will do to you," Severus muttered into her hair. "After a few hours, I was convinced that you left me."

Tonks took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm right here."