Authors note: Hello! I mean, I feel at this point, you're all probably feeling that apologies from me regarding the sporadic updating of this fic are empty...but I can assure you they aren't! I really am sorry. My laptop (which if you've read my other fics you'll know how unreliable it was), finally died a death. Even now I have a perfectly working laptop, as much as I'd like to give guarantees the next chapter will be up by a certain date, we all know I won't stick to it. However I promise I WILL finish this fic... I have the whole story in my head and it is one I've waned to tell for a long time! With that in mind, if you're enjoying this fic, please consider giving the story a follow, then you can come back to it each time I add a chapter. This fic is slightly AU and assumes that Tonks, when morphing can morph clothes (I mean she can turn her nose into that of a ducks...it's not impossible! I really hope you enjoy!
Chapter 13 - Good one Tonks!
The wind howled as Tonks wandered down from her quarters, she'd had a message to say that Harry was already out of bed and had been in the Great Hall from early that morning but seemed fine. Tonks and her team had been keeping a close eye on him since the incident at Halloween, but there had been no more sightings of Sirius, the murmuring from students had just about died down and if Tonks knew Harry – which she didn't, but if she could remember what it was like to be Harry's age, which she could, the past few weeks Harry was probably more focused on Quidditch than anything else.
Tonks was excited to see the match, it had been awhile since she'd been to one and she was going as herself. Technically it was her day off, but when Remus had asked if she would be interested in going to see the game, she'd said yes without hesitation. Since Halloween, they'd been talking more, not every evening like before, but a few times a week. He was exactly what he seemed – polite, kind, mild mannered, friendly and professorly and yet he was also everything unexpected and thrilling. He was exciting, told the greatest stories she'd ever heard and even occasionally showed just a hint of a wicked humour. There were moments, which sometimes lasted days, when Remus would revert in on himself and disappear, but this time, armed with the personal knowledge he'd trusted her with, she knew not to take it personally. He'd been through so much. She knew a little of what it was like back then but only from when her mum and dad had told her, or what she'd read but she would never be able to truly empathise with Remus.
Still, she hoped today would be a happy day for Remus. He seemed to really like Harry, who was exceeding in defence against the dark arts. She'd packed a thermos full of hot chocolate, charmed to provide as much as needed and she'd bought a bar of Honeydukes finest chocolate, something Remus seemed to always have some of on his person. As the rain and wind continued to get worse outside she was glad she'd chosen her water repelling cloak and shoes. It was undoubtedly going to be freezing and wet and she couldn't wait!
Tonks continued her relaxed pace until she neared the doors, she could already hear the chanting and chatter of students who were eagerly awaiting the start of the game. Her pace quickened, spurred on by her excitement for both the game and spending some time with Remus, during the day, off duty. As she excited the castle, surrounded by a smattering of student scurrying to cover their heads before stepping out into the rain, Tonks felt the full force of the cold wind and rain hit her square in the face. This was going to be one long, epic game of Quidditch. Surely even Galvin Gudgeon wouldn't be able to catch the snitch in this weather, so what chance did either of these schoolboys have. If she was lucky, the game might even go on well into the evening. Tonks chuckled to herself, perhaps spending so much time at Hogwarts was bringing out her inner teenager, she certainly felt more excited than she had in years. It was pathetic, but she didn't care. This was going to be so much fun.
Her heart beat quickened as she saw Remus, his normally composed exterior completely dishevelled by the howling wind. Even better, when he saw her, he gave her a beaming smile and waved. As she approached the entrance at the back of the bleachers, where they could climb to their seats, he offered her an arm to link. They climbed to their seats which were at the back, where no students could see them unless they were facing away from the match. Although as an Auror, Tonks was used to missions in miserable weather, she was thankful that in their seats, they seemed to be protected by the columns that surrounded them.
"I fear for those students on each team, this game may go on well into the evening." Remus looked up at the far too dark sky for the time and shook his head.
"I don't know how they can even see the goal posts, all I can see is a blur of red and yellow."
Remus smiled at Tonks as she leant forward eagerly trying to see more of the action. "I remember a game like this when I was at school." Remus sighed happily.
Tonks turned and could see that youthful look that Remus always used to get when he told stories of his school days, she sat back in her chair, excited to hear another tale of his school friends. She was already certain she'd have liked them a lot. Tonks pulled out the thermos of hot chocolate and poured Remus and herself a generous cupful. The steam warmed her face as she stared at Remus, waiting for him to continue.
"James was showing off, as he always did when he got onto a broom. He was talented for sure and when he put his mind to it, he was unbeatable but his ego sometimes got the best of him." The grin on Remus' face was priceless. In fact, Tonks blushed at the thought, it was beautiful. Gosh he was handsome.
"Oh, what did he do?" Tonks, everything around her forgotten, turned away from the game completely and curled her legs up underneath her, looking directly at Remus now. Remus mirrored her posture and the pair leant into towards each other, almost conspiratorially. In the back of Tonk's mind, her teenage self was trying to remind her of an article she'd read in Wickedly Witch magazine years ago, that said a sure way to know if someone liked you was if they copied how you sat. As Remus continued his story, she decided she could analyse that thought more later, right now she wanted to know what James had gotten up to this time.
"Well, to cut a long story short, he flew right into the goal post," Tonks could see Remus was trying not to laugh, "the wind was so strong, during the pre-match discussion at breakfast the other players were all worried about steering their brooms, but not James, he assured them all it would be a piece of cake. That he'd get up fast and high, spot the snitch and game would be over in a matter of minutes."
Tonks brow furrowed, James was a seeker, Remus had never mentioned that before – why was that tickling a part of her brain. It was that feeling – as though you needed to sneeze, but nothing was coming…
"Of course it didn't help that Lily had decided to join us for breakfast that morning. His showing off by this point was almost always for Lily. He got on his broom as promised and he went fast and high, only as any quidditch player knows, in this wind, fast and high are the two worst things you could do, almost immediately he was blown off course and unable to see much, the rain was so bad, he was blown straight into his own goalpost."
Remus gave a hearty chuckle. "Of course, the blighter was so lucky, the snitch happened to be hovering around the same goal post and he managed to catch it as he was bloody falling! Can you imagine, we certainly couldn't. Tonks, is everything okay?"
Tonks had stopped listening. That small itch in her brain now demanding to be scratched. James, seeker. Lily… Harry. Tonks leaped from her seat.
"Harry!"
The commotion happened in an instant. Tonk's whole body became so cold she felt as though she'd been plunged into an ice bath. The sensation was something she'd experienced when she'd been to Azkaban to interrogate witnesses with Mad Eye Moody, her mentor and it was that sensation of sudden coldness and crushing sadness that had made Tonks reach for her wand and spring into action. She was on the field before she really knew what was happening, the decision to morph into Dumbledore had been predetermined by a conversation she'd had with him about coming to the match, he'd told her he couldn't be there but that if she should need to intervene where Harry was concerned, she was welcome to use him as her disguise. She laughed at the time, the thought of her morphing into Albus Dumbledore just seemed utterly ridiculous and yet here she was.
Sprinting across the Quidditch pitch, wand raised above her head, she waved it at Harry as he fell, slowing his descent, she'd tried to halt it altogether but she was too far away and the wind and rain weren't helping with her normal impeccable accuracy. She then turned her wand on the dementors above them, shooting her Patronus at them full force. There were a lot of them and she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep them at bay, thankfully they left the stadium straight away.
She was furious. Why on earth had the ministry allowed dementors within a hundred miles of Hogwarts, of these kids. Kids that didn't need to know what dementors were, more than the stories they'd hear at school. Dementors, as far as Tonks were concerned were the foulest, lowest forms of creatures ever. They weren't weak and seeking power or fame or immortality, they simply wanted to cause despair and destruction and as much of it as possible.
Tonks fought to repress her rage, certain the Dementors, the immediate threat had been neutralised for now, she turned her focus back to Harry. She waved her wand once again and a stretcher appeared and she floated Harry next to her up to the Castle. He didn't look good. How could she let this happen, she should have been able to stop his descent completely or transfigure some grass into a cushion or something but the truth of the matter was the whole thing had just happened too fast. Less than 2 minutes ago she'd been sat with Remus in the stands and now she was almost approaching the doors to the castle. A whole stream of conflicting thoughts were pouring through her head, far too many to process. She knew about Remus now, she'd figured it out, his dirty little secret. Still that wasn't a matter for now, she'd have to deal with him later.
Tonks spoke to Poppy in the hospital wing only once she'd reverted to her own form, she'd learnt from Halloween not to stay in a morph whilst giving directions. "I managed to slow down his fall but he still hit the ground pretty hard, though thanks to all this rain it should have been a relatively soft landing." Speaking more to herself than Poppy, Tonks added, "Though I should have been able to stop his fall completely."
Poppy ushered Tonks to one side whilst she held her wand tight, levitating Harry off the stretcher and into a bed. "Don't be ridiculous." Ever the school nurse, her tone was matter of fact, not to be argued with, "How you even managed to get a clear hit in this weather, enough to slow his fall is a miracle." Tonks stepped back as Poppy rushed around Harry's still body flying her wand over every inch of him. After what seemed like forever, Poppy finally stopped the wand waving and turned to a pale Tonks and gave her hand a squeeze, "He's fine dear – nothing that a little rest and some medicine won't cure."
Tonks sighed in relief. Harry was ok.
Feeling suddenly exhausted and realising she still had a lot of work to do, Tonks arranged for Poppy to let Harry's friends and Quidditch team who had followed them up to the hospital wing, in to see their friend, whilst Tonk slipped onto a secret stairwell behind a painting of Lancelot the Healer, which led straight to the staff quarters.
Once back in her room she set about making sure Hogwarts was once again safe. She asked aurors to stay on the pitch until all students were back in the castle – she was sure the safety of the students was being co-ordinated by staff already. She sent a Patronus to both Dumbledore and Kingsley to let them know what had happened and asked that someone from the Ministry be sent to speak to the Dementors about not coming onto school grounds. She then, with the rest of her team did an inspection of the grounds – could it be that Black was at the quidditch match and that's why the dementors had wandered onto the pitch, was Harry just in the wrong place at the wrong time… again! After the incident on the train, she wasn't sure. Having worked with Mad Eye Moody, Tonks had been forced not to believe in coincidences. Still, the search of the grounds found nothing, Dumbledore was back and had been to speak to the Dementors and Kingsley was coming to see her in the morning.
She arrived back in her quarters at 1.45am and spent another 55 minutes writing, checking and double checking her report, knowing that with something so serious as Dementors attacking a student, without cause, on school grounds, Kingsley would want the written and proof-read document as soon as possible.
By the time she'd finished, she was barely able to keep her eyes open. Springing into action had been the last thing on her mind when she'd made her way down to the match just mere hours ago. She'd pictured an exciting day, watching a sport she loved with a man whose company she greatly enjoyed. She'd even hoped that this – spending time together, during the day, when she wasn't working, would be something they'd be able to do more often, until.
Her brain reminded her.
Until she'd realised that Remus had been lying to her.
Until she'd realised that he was probably just trying to get close to her to get information on the case.
Until she realised she'd been played for a fool.
Until she'd realised she was a fool.
James – quidditch – seeker – Lily… Harry.
She'd started to fall for Sirius Black's best friend. Good one Tonks!
uh oh, looks like Remus is in trouble! He might need a Protection Detail in the next chapter... I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Tonks!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you have any feedback, I'd really appreciate it!