Dany is going to begin tying up as many loose ends as she can manage with Tonks help before things get out of hand, now that she has an actual hint to what the final horcruxes are she is going to be significantly less reserved in her actions. As an aside, I love writing Dancia and Tonks buddy cop scenes, they compliment each other perfectly and their banter can range from tender to perverse at the tip of a hat and that is so much fun to explore.
Anyway, enjoy the insomnia update~!
Tonks disliked being side along apparated, always had and always would since her hard fought for balance and coordination went out the window as soon as they arrived at their destination and she would fall flat on her face much to her humiliation.
Thankfully little sis was aware of this and helped her remain upright as she shook her head to clear it while the younger witch waited patiently for her to collect herself. After a minute or so Tonks nodded and Dany let her go as they finally took in their surroundings, eventually Tonks let out a sigh and glanced at the fae like teen meeting her gaze evenly.
"Ok, where exactly are we?"
Dany took her hand and pulled her along guiding her out of the alley they had arrived in and Tonks was perfectly willing to follow, the stench of urine, rotting garbage, and rather distressingly, sex, making her want to vomit.
"Exactly? The Borough of Islington in northwestern London, it's about a solid twenty to thirty minute walk from King's Cross Station and currently not that great of a neighborhood, though it does eventually get better. We are now en route to our target which is the ancestral townhouse of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, 12 Grimmauld Place."
"Ok," Tonks began, "Why exactly are we going there?"
"To recover Slytherin's Locket, one of Riddle's remaining Horcruxes."
Tonks came to a stop and since she was still holding Dany's hand little sis stopped too and soon found herself staring up at the incredulous auror.
"THAT is why you woke me up before the crack of dawn on my day off? What the hell Dany why didn't we take care of this beforehand? Why are we taking care of this now of all times?"
Dancia stared at her a few moments, pink dusting her cheeks and the tips of her ears before she let out a tired sigh, "I have two very valid reasons why we haven't prioritized this one, along with a somewhat selfish one."
Tonks raised a single brow, "Elucidate."
Dany ran a hand through her hair then nodded, "First valid reason, the townhouse has been sealed since Walburga died in 1985, so there wasn't really a rush on the matter. Second valid reason, it's 12 Grimmauld Place, that house is like the Addams Family mansion met every horror movie cliche ever and quite frankly I hadn't wanted to deal with it if I didn't have to."
Tonks nodded, "And the selfish reason?"
Dancia full on blushed at that before muttering out, "I had no idea what the other horcuxes were and I sort of left this one dangling so I could keep my eyes on the prize. Now that I figured out what to do next, well... I wanted to take it out as soon as possible."
Tonks tilted her head to the side, let out an amused snort, then pulled her surprised little sis into a tight hug while whispering into her ear, "It's times like these that make me realize I truly am dealing with a teenage witch with some crazy memories instead of an old man trapped in a young girl's body."
Breaking loose from the older witch's grasp Dany scowled up at her which, quite frankly, made Tonks want to coo over how adorable she looked, Dany seemed to cotton on to that vibe because she let out a huff of indignation a moment later and stalked away from her grinning cousin.
"Whatever, look just keep in mind when we get into this place it's a death trap and should be treated as such. Harry and Ginny basically had to strip everything but the support beams out of the place to get rid of the Dark magic permeating it and even then random scary shite still happened on occasion. In the immortal words of Teddy, 'Yer off the map matey, here there be monsters.'"
Approaching the front door of what Tonks assumed was Number 12 she glanced over to Dany as her wand began dancing about scanning the edifice before them.
"Who is Teddy?"
"Your son, well, your son in another reality that is, honestly I think my greatest disappointment about this new life is being well aware that most if not all of the next generation will never exist. It is...depressing, considering Draco loved most of them like family."
There was dead silence after that declaration all while Dany's wand weaved through the air, eventually she let out a smug, "Gotchya," and the door unlocked swinging open on rusty hinges.
As they entered the foyer both Dany and Tonks pulled torches from their pockets and clicked them on in their off hands while holding their wands in a ready stance, the room before them was caked in dust, cobwebs, and permeated with a miasma of despair.
"Holy fuck I totally understand why you were putting this off..."
Dany nodded, "There was a reason Sirius bailed on this madhouse when he was a kid, probably the smartest thing he ever did honestly."
With that the pair of Black witches gently padded down the dusty halls, torches shining light into dark corners, waiting for something, anything to dive out and attack them in a moment of inattention which, all things considered, was to their benefit.
As they quietly explored the various rooms on the first floor Tonks eventually let her curiosity get the better of her and asked, "What was he like? I mean Teddy, I know he isn't my son but..."
Dany sighed, inwardly shocked that it had taken over two years for her sister to actually ask about something related to herself from her previous life, before deciding to be completely honest.
"I have no idea where the husband of the Tonks of Draco's reality is in this timeline is and honestly I don't care. He let his pride prevent his friends from helping him through tough times, listened to Dumbledore's word like it was gospel, and tried to abandon his wife when he found out she was pregnant. It took Harry threatening him with gelding and defenestration to make the fool behave like a man which is quite frankly pathetic."
"Wait...he threatened to cut off his wedding tackle and throw him off a building?"
"Hermione threatened to catch him on fire before he went for his final plunge as well. Anyway, that being said their son was brilliant. Teddy was a metamorph like you, and since Harry and Hermione were his godparents while having you as a template to emulate he became one of the best aurors Britain has ever seen. Married a wonderful witch, had six kids, and upon Draco's death was still the head of the DMLE. Only problem...he acquired Harry's sense of humor...ugh."
Tonks was about to reply when she gagged at a stench wafting out from beneath the kitchen sink, Dany for her part cast a bubble head charm on both of them before taking a step back, wand at ready.
"Now," with that whispered order Tonks swung the door open and recoiled when she saw the emaciated rotting corpse of a house elf resting upon an equally rancid rotting pile of rags, a shiny locket hanging from its desiccated neck gleaming almost tauntingly.
After a time Dany sighed and shook her head, "Well...explains why Kreacher never came to me when I called him... Ok...Dora, the necklace? Do your thing."
Focusing Tonks felt her body shift slightly as she put her game face on, pointed her wand at the gaudy trinket wrapped around the dead elf, and muttered, "Avada Kedavra."
As had become standard for such operations the necklace let out a blood curdling scream as a black cloud boiled forth from it, then silence.
The two witches remained silent for a few moments before they rather respectfully closed the cabinet and soon followed their trail through the dust caked halls until they finally exited the building. Casting every air freshener and grime cleanser they could think of on each other they eventually leaned against the front stoops guardrails for a time when Tonks let out a heavy sigh.
"Want to hit a cinema?"
Please, anything to distract from the memory of this...home.
Dany was quiet for a moment, then nodded, "Yeah, I think that'd be great."
"Ok heads, True Lies, tails, Forrest Gump."
Dany nodded and as the flipped coin flew upward she shot out with "Tails!"
The coin landed in Dora's hand, and she smiled towards her cousin, "Forrest Gump it is!"
Dora bought her little sis a massive tub of popcorn and a cola that she would likely never finish before bursting her own bladder and the pair soon entered the cinema with no real expectations, when they left hours later they were silent for a time as they eventually found a bench to sit on. "I...enjoyed the movie..." Dany began haltingly.
"But?" Dora led on.
"I kinda want to put Jenny under the cruciatus, honestly."
"Agreed."
"I mean if you want to be a slut and shag your way across the continent bully for you, have fun with the STDs, but the way she led Forrest along the entire time? How is he even sure 'his kid' is his kid? I mean she freaking shagged like...everyone..."
"Well..." Dora began slowly, "He at least has Lieutenant Dan to watch over him...right?"
Dany was silent for a time before shaking her head, "No, sorry, Jenny was a slut that took advantage of Forrest's simple good nature and that just...pisses me off."
Silence for a time, then eventually Dora drawled out, "So mindless action flick next time?"
Dany nodded in return, "Shite exploding at the expense of the taxpayers is always entertaining..."
When they returned to Dora's flat they were slightly surprised to see Neville and Harry playing on her Sega Genesis, both boys froze up when the witches entered the room and it was Neville who spoke up first.
"We can explain, really."
The girls exchanged a glance and shrugged as they plopped down on the couch as Dora drawled out, "Ok, explain."
Harry, focusing on his super sonic blue hedgehog blasting across the screen muttered out, "Apparently the responsible adults are arguing about some idiotic blood sport Hogwarts is hosting this year. It's a massive case of the right hand not knowing the left hand even existed and Fudge being Fudge put that fool Bagman in charge of the whole thing. Auntie decided children should not be in the middle of a Black Debate and told us to make ourselves scarce, Susie is at Hannah's and we decided to wait out the storm here but you two were out so we made ourselves comfortable."
"More things change the more they stay the same," Dancia muttered as she shook her head slowly.
There was a tense silence when Dora eventually shot up and turned the telly off, meeting her little cousins gazes evenly she grinned widely, "Well, since as Harry put it, the responsible adults are all busy plotting whatever, what say I take you lot out for pizza and an arcade?"
Dany could only smile as the boys stood up with echoing happy cheers, but in all honesty...she could not help be feel this was the calm before the storm.
How right she was.
Written in an hour and a half...I'm sure this'll need editing, I despise my sleeping habits...
Oh well, hope you all enjoyed!