21. No-One Is Quite The Way They Seem

Wednesday 14th October 1994

Ashford greeted Tonks and Cassius with an air of resignation when they arrived at his house a couple of days later. "Come in then, if you must," he told them. "Have you got the document to sign?"

"Yes, Mr Ashford." Cassius handed him what had turned out to be a surprisingly long piece of parchment, once all the disclaimers and binding charms insisted upon by the legal representatives of both parties had been added.

Ashford scanned it with an expert eye and then nodded. "That all seems to be in order." Tonks was thoroughly impressed; she'd lost track somewhere around the fourth 'heretofore' of the sixth sub-sub-clause. He began to rummage around in a desk drawer without enthusiasm looking for a quill, and Tonks had a feeling that it would require a lot of persuasion to convince him to leak the details to Mickey.

"How come the Ministry have decide to hand out an import licence, anyway?" she asked brightly, for the sake of getting him talking.

"Some political thing," he told her absently, still searching. "If they import creatures directly, the rules say they have to inform the Muggle government. On the other hand, if they place a contract through a private dealer, they don't have to bother. It'll cost them more money this way, but I'm not complaining. That sort of bureaucracy paid for everything in this room."

"I see. No, don't blame you, it's nice stuff you've got in here – in fact it's a nice house altogether. Have you had it long?"

He found the quill and turned to her with a sad expression. "Forty years. I brought the kids up here after their parents were killed. I never thought any of them would turn out … the way they have." Tonks' face fell; evidently she hadn't picked the best topic for light conversation. "You know, I was so happy when Charlie passed the Veritaserum test? I should have known there'd be another storm just around the corner. I never believed Mickey would do this either."

"We're sorry, Mr Ashford," said Cassius quietly.

He snorted. "So am I, Smethwyck. So am I." He did indeed seem under strain, but to Tonks' eye, he wasn't as crushed as he had been in the hospital. That puzzled her for a moment, until he continued, "I suppose it's a little easier – or a little less hard, anyway – the second time you hear it. I've got used to the idea. I'm never going to like it."

Tonks and Cassius exchanged worried glances. It didn't sound at all likely that Ashford would be willing to set his nephew up. "You didn't suspect him then?" she asked.

Ashford gave her a bleak look. "Not really, no. Oh, it's easy to be paranoid when something like this happens. I suspected everyone I'd ever been in contact with – relatives, friends, business rivals. Hid myself away here. But I never seriously thought it would be any of the kids. You know, I really, really hoped it would turn out to be that idiot Witherspoon getting mad over the contract? But Mickey …" He sighed. "He's always been a bit of a wastrel, I knew that, but I never thought he'd turn out this way. Maybe that girlfriend of his put him up to it," he added hopefully.

"Very possibly," said Tonks, trying to sound sympathetic. Privately, she suspected that Mickey had been just as enthusiastic about the idea even if Jacqueline Carrack had been the brains of the operation, but it didn't seem like a good time to say so.

"I don't like to ask this, Mr Ashford …" began Cassius.

"But I bet you're going to," he said flatly.

"… er, yes, I'm afraid so … We really need to get the information about where and when you'll be going there to Mickey, so …"

"No."

"I'm sorry?"

"No, Smethwyck. Just … no. I can't do it." He threw his hands up in a helpless sort of gesture. "I'm letting you set this trap up – against my better judgement – but I … no. I won't lure him in myself. Not my little Mickey. Please?" he added, sounding surprisingly plaintive.

Cassius studied him for a few moments, and then sighed. "Very well, Mr Ashford. I can see your point. We can probably do this some other way. But please consider it in case we can't." He picked up the signed parchment and nodded towards Tonks. "Come on then, young lady. We've got things to do."

Tonks smiled in vague sympathy at Ashford as they left, hoping that Cassius really had judged him correctly. She wasn't sure who else might help.

-----

Friday 16th October 1994

"Charlotte?"

"Yes, why not?" Cassius looked surprised.

"Well, because she hates our guts, maybe? She's never wanted to help us before."

"She wasn't aware that her cousin had tried to get her sent to Azkaban for his own crimes before," he pointed out. "And she agreed to come into the Department again to meet us, that has to be significant, surely?"

"Er, yeah, I suppose so." Tonks sipped at her coffee, wondering if Charlotte Perks would really turn up, but barely had time to check her watch before their invitee was shown into the interview room, to the accompaniment of an I-told-you-so wink from Cassius.

"What do you want then, Smethwyck?" she asked brusquely.

Cassius outlined his ideas to a grim-faced Charlotte, who as far as Tonks could see wasn't any happier with them than her uncle had been. When he'd finished, she stared at him tight-lipped.

"So let me get this right," she said eventually. "You want me to pretend Uncle's told me about this meeting of his because he trusts me now after you gave me that … that stuff, and to tell Abby about it ever-so-casually, in the expectation that she'll pass it on to Mickey because she always does?"

"That's a very good summary, yes," said Cassius politely. "Do you think it will work?"

It wasn't the question Tonks would have asked first – will you do it, please, pretty please? was more what she had in mind – and Charlotte seemed to feel the same way. Her nostrils flared. "Oh I'm sure it'll work, Smethwyck," she said acidly. "Abby's a meek little thing but she gossips, if Mickey asks her she'll tell him. What I want to know is why the hell you think I'd do it for you?"

"Because it's necessary?" put in Tonks, almost apologetically. "I know you don't like us, Charlotte – can't blame you, really – but well, you know something's got to be done before they try again. And maybe succeed this time."

Charlotte stared at her for quite a while, then sat back in her chair in resignation. "Yes, I do know that, you're right. But why me? Why do you bastards want family to betray him?"

"There's no choice," said Tonks with a shrug. "No-one wants a family betrayal –" she shivered a little, as she always did when the subject arose "– but you're smart enough to know it has to be done. And to be brutally honest, it's not like he didn't start it."

"You think I should be looking for revenge on the little bleeder?" She shook her head. "Maybe I should. Portia keeps telling me I shouldn't feel bad about helping to stop him, and of course she's right, but …"

"Please?" said Tonks simply (she didn't dare add the 'pretty please' in case Charlotte took it for mockery). Cassius nodded, and as Charlotte looked back and forth between them her shoulders slumped.

"Oh all right," she said in a small voice. "I hate this, but I'll tell Abby what you want me to tell her. Don't ask me to do any more, though."

"We won't," said Cassius. Charlotte Perks examined him closely and seemed to feel he was sincere, as she nodded in acknowledgement. He looked relieved. "Good. Thank you. If you'll excuse me, I have people to see. Tonks, if you would be so kind as to show Miss Perks out?"

An awkward silence fell between the two women as they walked down the corridor. Charlotte was the one who broke it. "I gather you've been seeing Ches?" she said in neutral tones.

"Oh … er, yes," said Tonks, startled by both the abrupt question and its subject matter. "I didn't know you knew about it?"

Charlotte snorted. "He came to check on me the other day. Said he'd heard bad things had been happening to me from what you told him and wanted to see if I was all right. Is that the latest Auror tactic then, seduce your suspect's friends and pump them for information?"

"No, it isn't!" snapped Tonks. "For your information, I tried to avoid telling him anything about you. I didn't want him thinking something like that, when it's not true at all." She hesitated, then with a touch of defiance added, "He asked me out, as it happens, and I actually like him a lot, for what that's worth. He's a nice bloke."

"Yes, he is." Her face broke into a reluctant half-smile. "And he seems to think you're a nice girl, and likes you a lot too, so I suppose I'll have to trust his judgement on that. Even if you are a Ministry hack spouting the official line. I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course."

Tonks gave her a uncertain look. She didn't think spouting the official line was a particularly good description of some of her recent behaviour, but now wasn't the time to talk about that. "Well, thank you," she said, putting as much irony into her tone as she could manage. "I'm glad you were so kind as to tell me."

"Don't mention it."

They stepped into the lift to make their way back to the Atrium. This time it was Tonks, unable to contain her curiosity, who broke the silence with a personal question. "Charlotte? This isn't an official inquiry or anything like that, so don't answer if you don't want to, but … well, you and Portia? You seem such an … unlikely couple."

Charlotte looked at her. "What – you mean our differences in age, brains, and social standing?"

"Well, yes," said Tonks uncomfortably. "Doesn't it bother you? Or her?"

She wasn't sure Charlotte would answer, but as the lift slowed and came to a halt she said shortly, "I worried about the age – Portia didn't. She worried about the brains – I didn't. Neither of us give a toss about social standing, except she doesn't want to embarrass her parents until she can somehow get them used to the idea. And you forget – she's a sweet person, and … well, I'm not, I know, but I do at least try to be a bit less than a total cow. It works, despite our differences – it was totally unexpected, but it just works, dammit. And we're happy that it works. Isn't that enough?"

"I suppose." Tonks considered this, and was surprised to find that she rather agreed with her. "Actually, yeah, it is." She offered Charlotte her hand which, after a moment's hesitation, was shaken. "Look. Thanks anyway for agreeing to do this."

Charlotte shook her head. "I don't like it – but I'm not so stubborn that I don't know it's got to stop, if you're right. You do realise I'm still hoping you're wrong and Mickey is OK really?"

"I know, but …" She shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah, I know. I feel the same. Erm, Nymphadora?"

Tonks winced inwardly, but said "Yes?"

Charlotte Perks spoke with real effort. "Good luck."

-----

Monday 19th October 1994

Tonks had never expected to be deeply involved in the planning of a multi-departmental sting operation a few short months into her career as an Auror. Now that she was, she couldn't help but catch the air of excitement among the team as their plans slowly came together. Everyone assured her that it was much the same however long you'd been in the job.

As expected, the senior people in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures had taken a great deal of convincing before they were willing to let their offices be used, but had eventually come around. Cassius reported back to the team that Will Poppleford and Beatrice Easton had been designated as the Aurors' contacts.

"Beatrice?" asked Tonks in surprise. "I can understand getting Will on board, he knows us and we can trust him, but why her?"

"Well, as a matter of fact it was because I asked for her," said Cassius. At the sight of Tonks' raised eyebrows, he added, "I wanted someone who already knew about Liquor of Jacmel, and so understood the significance of what we'll be doing. And frankly, I wanted someone who wouldn't be at all inclined to gossip on the subject. Her actions with regard to the supplier don't really stand up to close scrutiny, and she's only too willing to make amends. Don't worry, I haven't told her the details of our plans, just that we're setting a trap."

"Not to mention that if we catch Mickey and Mascarra – er sorry, Carrack, I still keep thinking of her as Marcella Mascarra – it might give us a lead to that 'Butler' bloke," added Tonks. "Beatrice can't be feeling especially safe with him still on the loose, especially after what happened to Ballantyne – assuming that was him?"

Cassius snorted. "No, I don't think there's any doubt that the Butler did it. Unfortunately, that doesn't help in the slightest. It's the converse of this case, ironically enough – we know who must have done it, we just don't know their identity. But you're right, either Mickey Ashford or Jacqueline Carrack must have done business with him to get the Jacmel they used. So if we catch them, we may catch him in turn."

"How about the Atrium security?" asked Cornworthy.

"They'll help keep a watch out for her on that map o' theirs," said O'Gregan. "That fellow Eric Munch will be on duty, and he's promised to let my darling girl here sit in the back room to let us know if either of them shows up."

"And even if they arrive during the morning rush and we lose them in the foyer, we'll be able to pick her up once they get to Level Four," added Rhiannon, frowning at him. "Not as many people around there …"

Cassius rapped on the table for attention. "That's all very well, but we need to decide how we're going to be in a position to catch them if they try anything. We can station people at the key points of the Magical Creatures Department all over Level Four, but we don't know exactly what they'll try or where they'll try it."

"Just have someone tail them when they get here?" suggested O'Gregan.

"How, though, Don?" asked Cornworthy. "That's a good point Cassius made – even if they bite, we can't tell what their plan will be. There is a sort of reception area on Level Four – we could have someone there to pick them up when they come out of the lift – but if they try to get to the room itself, well, that's a narrow corridor outside and someone following would be obvious. If they realise, they could just walk straight on past the door and we wouldn't really have anything on them."

"We'll just get out the old Invisibility Cloak again, Arnie," O'Gregan reassured him.

"But that wouldn't necessarily help," argued Cassius. "As Arnold says, that corridor is narrow – if they bumped into someone invisible there, or in some other cramped area, it would be rather a giveaway, wouldn't it?"

"Someone they won't pay any attention to, then?" said Rhiannon. "Someone who looks like they're just there doing their own thing?"

Everyone looked stumped. "I'm not sure who could be invisible enough to be ignored without actually being invisible," said Tonks eventually.

"Yeah, so unless we had a spare house-elf or something …" O'Gregan trailed off. They all turned to look at Tonks, whose jaw dropped as she realised what they were thinking.

"What? No! No way!"

"But you said yourself, you thought you could look like one if you wanted to," pointed out Rhiannon, a huge grin starting to spread across her face.

"That doesn't mean I do want to!" cried Tonks.

Cassius held a hand up for quiet, although he too couldn't keep from smiling. "Just a minute. Tonks, can a Metamorphmagus actually do that? I've never been sure exactly what your limits are."

"Well … I suppose an elf's basically humanoid, so in theory it should be possible to get the look, more or less," said Tonks, with great reluctance. She could see this providing material for jokes at her expense for at least the next decade. "I could probably make my ears big and scrunch up my face and hold it for a while. Not sure about the height though."

"How big or small can you actually go?" asked Rhiannon, with simple curiosity.

"About half or double my real height," admitted Tonks. "Perhaps two and a half to three feet tall on the low side? Any more than that and the strain gets a bit too much – the Healers I talked to when I first found out I could do this said I might do myself some damage if I tried. And it gets quite painful to … well, compress myself like that for any great length of time. A few hours is about the limit, and even then I'm going to be aching all over the following morning!"

"A hour or two would be more than enough. Three feet is on the tall side for a house-elf, but not impossibly so …" mused Cassius. "You know, this might actually be a worthwhile experiment? In my experience, nobody actually looks at a house-elf when they have their mind on something else, not even Muggle-borns. Rhiannon, would you help Tonks with this and see if it could work?"

"Oh, I'd love to," said Rhiannon, seizing Tonks' arm and grinning broadly. "Come on, Nymphadora dear. Let's go and find out what you can do!"

Tonks followed her out of the room with a feeling of immense trepidation.

-----

Wednesday 21st October 1994

"Gentlemen, allow me to present … er, Tonky!" Rhiannon waved her arms in a flourish as Tonks walked into the office, trying not to feel too self-conscious. She was quite proud of herself for getting the look down pat in such a short space of time; but on the other hand, she was currently three feet high, with enormous ears, and dressed in a teatowel, which left her feeling both uncomfortable and exceptionally stupid

The others applauded, although their twitching lips made Tonks sure that someone was going to start laughing soon. Sure enough, O'Gregan said "Nice towel, Tonky," and that set everyone off, including Rhiannon Davies, who was leaning against him holding her sides.

She scowled. Et tu, Rhiannon? "One more crack like that, Don, and you can find some other idiot to do it."

"Just trying to help you get into your role, so I was. I is thinking you is not quite getting the speech patterns yet. Now then Tonky, would you toddle off and get a pot of tea for the masters and mistress, there's a good elf?"

Tonks glared up at him. "Master can be shutting his gob now. Or Master might be getting it hexed off."

"Ah, but you house-elves can't have wands, now can you?" he said, smirking. "What a shame."

A very un-elflike evil grin spread across Tonks' face. "Oh, but Tonky is not needing a wand, Master. She is being a house-elf. She is just doing magic like this!"

She pointed her index finger at the Ballycastle Bats badge pinned to O'Gregan's robes. There was a loud bang as it Transfigured into a real bat, which squeaked loudly and flew away across the office, drawing startled looks and ribald jeers from the other cubicles. Everybody except Rhiannon jumped in shock and stopped laughing.

"How … how did you do that?" asked O'Gregan weakly. "You surely cannot really get house-elf powers when you make yourself look like one?"

Tonks smiled mysteriously for a few moments, but then took pity on him. "No. Look." She scraped at her arm, and peeled off a suddenly visible strip of cloth, revealing her wand fixed underneath. "Latest development of that wand holder gadget Portia's dad sells. K managed to wangle a prototype. Extended range invisibility spell on the cloth to hide the wand as well. The ideal solution for the discerning witch or wizard who find themselves in a situation where it's necessary to carry a wand while appearing to be bare-armed – or at least, that's how the adverts will read."

"I'll say," said O'Gregan, still looking rather disconcerted by what had happened to his badge. "Handy."

"You bet," said Cornworthy with respect. "You know, I'm beginning to get a good feeling about this plan?" Cassius raised his eyebrows. "No, I am, Cassius. Everything seems to be coming together nice and smoothly."

-----

Tuesday 27th October 1994

By the time the following Tuesday evening rolled around, even Cassius had been forced to admit that things seemed to be perfectly in order for the following morning.

When the team gathered, Cornworthy reported with glee that the door of Marcella Mascarra's premises had acquired a notice saying that the shop would be closed the following day due to private bookings. Even better, and against all expectation, low-key investigations had turned up one of her customers who had been 'seen' in Lore of Yore on a day she could prove she was elsewhere. And the local Aurors had managed to uncover some interesting gossip about her previous boyfriend – who was rumoured to be involved in nefarious activity; and not too keen on her seeing anyone else.

"Good job she and Mickey kept it quiet, then," sniggered O'Gregan. "Mind you, it gave them the chance to try this without anybody knowing they were linked, so maybe it's a pity, so it is."

"Yes, well, never mind that for now, Donnacha," said Cassius. "Is everything ready?"

"Absolutely, old son," he said. "Rhi will be in place in the map room to watch the arrivals – neither of them have Apparition licences, but even if they've learned illegally they've still got to come through the Atrium. Ashford sends this fine vintage –" he handed Cassius a bottle of muddy-looking liquid "– which has got what you want. Arnie and myself will be stationed near the secondary entrances to the level, and we've drafted in some people from the Patrol to help us watch the other key points. And little Tonky here is ready to do her shrinking stuff when needed." Tonks gave him another death glare, which was ignored.

"Very well. In that case, I've only got a couple of things to add. Firstly, if you would all give me your watches, please."

Mystified, Tonks joined the rest in handing hers over. Cassius touched his own watch with his wand, muttered "Proteus," and quickly tapped each of the others in turn. Tonks realised when he handed them back that they now had an identical appearance, including of course the time on the dial.

"Cool," she said, privately hoping that Finite Incantatem would work to restore them to normal afterwards.

"Thank you. Now then, we'll all be in different parts of the Ministry, but communications are important, and we need something a little less obvious than those mirror phones …"

"What then?" asked Rhiannon.

In answer, Cassius opened a small bag that was lying on the table and shook out a number of small flesh-coloured tubes, about half an inch long. "I wasn't sure if we still used these, but fortunately K had some left in stock," he said proudly. "'Earworms', we used to call them."

"Ew!" said Tonks. "Cassius, you realise that's disgusting, don't you?"

"Probably." He smiled. "If you slip them in your ear, you can hear what anyone else who has one is saying. The charm only works at short range, I'm afraid, but within the confines of the Ministry building we shouldn't have any problem. One for each of us and one for Mary Edgecombe in the Floo Network office – she's promised to keep a watch on the fireplaces for us. Try to keep the rest of us up to date on anything potentially important that's going on."

O'Gregan and Rhiannon exchanged awkward glances; Cassius noticed and said with delicacy, "You might want to wait until tomorrow morning to start using them. Try to keep the chatter to a minimum, people, they're quite loud and we don't want to give everyone a headache. Now then, are you all sure what you have to do?"

They all nodded.

"Good. Go and get a decent night's sleep, then, and report back here at six-thirty tomorrow morning. Chop chop."

-----

Wednesday 28th October 1994

By half past seven the following morning, Tonks was loitering unobtrusively in her house-elf disguise in the wide foyer of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. True to expectations, none of the witches and wizards hurrying through to begin their daily departmental tasks gave the 'magical creature' waiting there so much as a second glance.

She could hear occasional comments via the Earworm from other members of the team, but nothing of great interest. She began to tense up slightly as the hands on her watch neared eight o'clock. If either Mickey Ashford or Jacqueline Carrack intended to make their way into the Ministry, the morning rush hour would be an excellent choice of time to do so.

Sure enough, at eleven minutes to eight, there was a cry from Rhiannon Davies. "Ha! Got her! Carrack!"

"Where?" Several voices spoke at once.

"She's in the …" This was followed by loud swearing – so loud it drew cries of protest, which only made things more painful. "Sorry, everyone!" came Rhiannon's voice after a moment or two, sounding frustrated. "I thought I saw her pop up at the visitors' entrance, but she's not there now, and she's not in the lift. Maybe I got it wrong."

"Or maybe she simply balked at being asked to state her name and business and decided to try another way in," said Cassius sharply. "Get someone to go up and check."

"Hang on a second." Tonks could hear Rhiannon calling to the watchwizard; there was a short pause and then her voice came through again. "Eric didn't see her come through the Atrium, but he was distracted by some idiot asking a question. And she could look like anybody, anyway." She hesitated. "I'm not totally sure I read the name right. I was looking at the Floo arrivals, I only just saw it out of the corner of my eye."

Cassius spoke again. "All right. Keep looking. Mary, could she have decided to try entering the Ministry by Floo instead? Is there a trace for her?" He paused, but there was no reply. "Mary? Are you there?" There was still no comment from Mary Edgecombe, and Tonks could hear Cassius mutter in annoyance.

Tonks waited with even greater anticipation than before at what was at least the first hint of a bite. From where she stood against the wall she scrutinised the people passing by as closely as she could, on the off-chance that she might pick out Carrack just from her body language, but without much expectation of success. Rhiannon Davies would definitely be watching the Level Four foyer on the map.

At the edge of her attention, she could hear one side of a frustrated conversation that Cassius was carrying on with somebody in the Floo Network Authority offices down on Level Six. Evidently Mary Edgecombe was not at her desk, although apparently her borrowed mirror phone and Earworm had been left there. The person on the other end didn't seem to know where she was or what they were supposed to do about it. Tonks smiled, then jumped suddenly at a voice coming from a short distance away.

"You there! Elf! What are you doing?"

Startled, she turned to see a Ministry wizard with a scrubby beard, who was carrying a large stack of parchment. She remembered him vaguely as having been with Barty Crouch's group at the World Cup campsite, and only just managed to bite back her first instinctive response and stay in character. "Oh … oh, I is doing nothing sir! I is just waiting here for orders, Master!"

The wizard examined her critically. "You're one of the Ministry elves, are you? I hope you're not slacking off."

Tonks shook her head frantically, hoping that was what house-elves did. She remembered just in time to let her oversized ears droop slightly.

"Well, I've got orders for you," he said, pushing the parchment into her hands with a stern expression on his face. "Take these to the Department of International Magical Co-operation, next floor down. Tell them we have an important contract signing ceremony today and we need one of their representatives to sign off on these papers. Got that?"

"Yes – I, er, you is wanting me to go downstairs and be getting these papers signing by the Department of Magical Co-operating, Master," said Tonks – improvising rapidly, with a fervent wish that house-elves had learnt to speak using everyday English grammar. "But I should is be waiting here, sir …"

"Why? Didn't you just say you didn't have any orders?"

"Well … yes I is saying that, sir …" She looked around, flustered. This little scene was attracting far too much attention.

She could hear muffled curses from Cassius through her Earworm. "Oh, just go and do what he wants," he said quietly. "Arnold, send that Patrol fellow near you to take over from her. Tonks, stall until he comes, and be quick. Luckily, it's quite early, and our target doesn't appear to have got here yet. Damn."

The Ministry wizard was still looking at her through narrowed eyes. She drew herself up to her full height (currently not an especially impressive gesture). "But that is not mattering, Master! I is good house-elf and will … is happy to do what is needing to be signed …"

"Yes, yes, all right," he said in irritation. "You don't need to make all this fuss over it, elf, just go and do it."

Tonks spotted a face she recognised at the other end of the foyer, one of the people from the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol who had been with them when they captured Barry Lewis, and breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Yes, Master! I is going!" She dashed towards the lifts as quickly as she could run.

-----

There were far more people actually at work in the Department of International Magical Co-operation than there had been during her previous visit. She rapidly reviewed her options for getting the papers signed without argument, smiled briefly, and skidded to a halt in front of Percy Weasley's desk.

"Sir, I is being sent by Magical Creature Wizards to ask important International Magically Co-operational Wizards to sign papers! Can Master do this please?"

The redheaded young man seemed almost to preen. He took the top sheet of parchment from her hands and read through it carefully. "I see … Yes, of course I can. Just wait there." He wrote his signature meticulously at the bottom.

Tonks could hear Cassius' voice in her ear again, broadcasting to the team, "Listen everybody, William Poppleford's just reminded me that his Departmental bigwigs and a representative from the Press will be here shortly, so I need to get myself into character, as it were. We'll be in the little anteroom. Keep me informed."

There were murmurs of assent from O'Gregan and Cornworthy; Tonks took one look at Percy Weasley and decided to keep her mouth shut. She fought an impulse to groan and shuffle her feet as she watched. He was carefully reading every sheet before signing it.

Rhiannon Davies' voice now came through. "I don't think you need rush, Cassius. Eric here has shown me how to narrow things down on the map, and neither Ashford not Carrack are showing anywhere. Might have scared her off?"

"That could be …" Cassius was interrupted by a new voice, female, that Tonks didn't recognise.

"Cassius? Did you want me for something?"

"Ah, Mary! Good. I just wanted to know if your people had spotted anything, but they said you were away from your desk and had left the Earworm behind?"

"I just nipped out to the Ladies, if you must know," she said stiffly. "I'm afraid this girl in there delayed me a little. She was looking terribly queasy, poor thing. Of course, I stopped to ask if she was all right, but she just snapped 'fine' and dashed off. No manners these days. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we've seen nothing happening in the Ministry fireplaces that'd be of any interest to you. All right?"

"Good. Thank you Mary …" He tailed off; Tonks, watching with frustration as Percy Weasley painstakingly read yet another document, was surprised when he continued with more urgency. "Wait a minute. This girl. What did she look like?" Tonks was confused for a moment, then her heart sank as it dawned on her what he might be getting at.

"Oh, I don't know, I didn't really pay much attention," said the Edgecombe woman, sounding a little put out. "Youngish, brown hair, average height, quite nice looking I suppose …"

"Cassius? Are you thinking that this girl might be Carrack in some disguise?" put in O'Gregan

"I wouldn't be at all surprised," he said, echoing Tonks' suspicions. That would make sense, go into the Department of Magical Transportation to change, members of the public are in and out of there all the time doing Apparition tests and stuff …

"I've finished with these, elf," said Percy Weasley, interrupting her train of thought.

"What? Oh, yes, er, Tonky is thanking you Master!" she squeaked. She practically grabbed the parchment from the disapproving redhead and ran out of the Department towards the lifts. She briefly considered discarding the papers, but settled for shrinking them using her concealed wand and tucking them inside her teatowel.

She could hear the team arguing in her ear. "She can't have been Carrack, Don, I'd have seen her on the bloody map!" came in furious protest from Rhiannon. "I am looking carefully down here, Cassius!"

Tonks relaxed slightly at what seemed to be a fair point, and began to move at a more sedate pace back towards the lifts, trying to shake off an uneasy feeling that there was something she'd overlooked. She sighed at the queue that had formed; a house-elf would hardly push to the front, although with a bit of luck she might be able to squeeze into a small gap …

"Tonks?" Cassius was calling her. "Where are you?" He sounded slightly queasy himself, and she suspected that he'd just swallowed his own dose of Polyjuice. She checked her watch surreptitiously; it said eight thirty-two, which should give him ample time to get everything done.

"Tonky is good elf and is just waiting for the lifts," she muttered, mindful of the company. Fortunately, none of them were interested in a house-elf apparently talking to itself.

"Good. Oh, and Rhiannon – my apologies. I was worried for a moment."

"Thank you," she said, not without heat. "Or do you think Sirius sodding Black is wandering about the place as well without us being able to see him on the map?"

"Of course not. I'm sorry. Excuse me, Rhiannon. I'm trying very hard not to lose my breakfast at the moment …"

Tonks felt a sudden chill as Rhiannon's words registered; she suddenly remembered discussing with Kingsley Shacklebolt the possibility of Sirius Black not showing up on a security map. Oh bugger … She spotted a nearby stationery cupboard and ducked into it out of sight. "Rhi? Cassius? Listen," she said quietly. "I've just thought – that book that appeared at Lore of Yore! Could Carrack have been the one who sold it back?"

"What book?" came from several mystified voices after a moment or two.

"'How Not To Be Seen' – I remember making a bloody note of it on the watch list! It went into detail about Nonlocatability Spells, and you can use them to keep you off those maps, can't you?"

"Oh bugger." That was Cassius' voice, to her surprise. "You're right. I'd completely forgotten about that – I suppose I didn't imagine anybody would know that!" She heard him suddenly groan in anguish. "The visitors entrance, Rhiannon! She appeared and then disappeared – if I remember correctly it's a reactive charm, you have to step inside the mapped area first before you can cast it!"

Tonks groaned too, but then she realised that if Carrack had left the Department of Magical Transportation some time ago, she was wasting time sitting in a cupboard discussing it when she needed to be in position elsewhere. She threw open the door and jumped out, to startled and disapproving looks from the people in the Level Five corridor, which she ignored. Tonky is very sorry but it is time she is throwing caution to the winds, people. "I'm on my way back!" she cried aloud, using her small size to weave her way through to the lifts.

"You mean she might have been wandering around inside the Ministry for the last three-quarters of an hour got up as anybody at all?" That was Cornworthy, in a rather strained voice.

"No problem," came from O'Gregan, somewhat mordantly. "Just look for someone wearing a badge saying Jacqueline Carrack, Murder Attempt and we've no problem, now …"

There were some mutterings that sounded very like Rhiannon Davies talking to someone without an Earworm, and then she came back, loud and clear. "Don? It's even worse than that! Eric tells me that nobody actually checks what the charm records when you arrive at the visitors entrance. She could have told it anything she liked and no-one would notice. We won't even have a record of her arrival!"

"Oh bugger." This time it came from several voices, including Tonks. The people around her looked scandalised at the unusually foul-mouthed house-elf, but she didn't care; the lift had arrived and she jumped in as soon as it stopped.

"I'm on my way back now," she muttered as quietly as she could, leaning against the wall of the lift and taking a few deep breaths as it made the short journey to the next floor up. "You can send that Patrolman back when I get there …"

She jumped out as soon as the door opened. To her alarm and confusion, the Patroller who had been sent to cover for her didn't seem to be there any more – although the wizard with the scrubby beard was, talking to a witch that Tonks recognised after a moment as Honoria Biggar (she was surprised she hadn't heard her from the floor below). She quickly expanded the papers and stuffed them into the wizard's hand. "Tonky has the papers signed for Master but Tonky is very sorry that she is being given orders to wait here now!" she said, all in one breath, then stationed herself next to the lift, and prepared to wait.

Nothing happened for about a minute and a half, except for some mutterings from the bearded wizard and some unflattering comments from Honoria, who probably imagined that they had been made in an undertone. Then she heard Cornworthy's voice again, sounding puzzled. "Tonks – why didn't you stay in your house-elf disguise?"

"I did!" she said indignantly. Then a chill hit her once more. "Hang on, Arnie, what do you mean?"

"Well, the Patroller's just got back here, and he said you came back from the offices as yourself and relieved him, you seemed as confused as he was …" He trailed off. "Um, Tonks, did you …"

And at that point, a number of things suddenly clicked into place.

"That was her!" shrieked Tonks. "Curse her arse, she's using my appearance!" Honoria and the bearded wizard looked shocked, but she had no time to spare for them now. "Cassius, can you put out a call to arrest … er, me?"

Cassius was already doing so. She could hear him calling into the office for extra help. "Get people down to the Atrium!" he was shouting, presumably into his mirror phone, as she couldn't hear the other end of the conversation. "You know what Auror Tonks looks like, yes? If you see her, arrest her!" There was silence for a moment while some protest was made at the other end. "Yes, I know she's a Metamorphmagus, dammit! She won't be able to change at the moment. Yes, I'm sure! Just get anyone spare down there now!" He paused, and spoke more quietly so they could hear him only via the Earworm. "Tonks, can you give me a better description? It might be a good idea if you didn't change back to your own face just yet …"

"I wasn't going to! I'm not that daft." She fished out the mirror phone from inside her now somewhat ragged teatowel and called the Auror Office, hoping they would take a 'house-elf' seriously. "Yes, that's right," she said after the preliminaries. "She's five foot four, slimmish, heart-shaped face, and –" here Tonks gritted her teeth, it definitely wasn't her favourite part of her natural appearance "– mousy brown hair. Have you got that …"

The voice Tonks now recognised as Mary Edgecombe interrupted as she retreated to the lifts yet again, for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour. "Cassius? I heard what your people were saying. I've put a block on outgoing Floo connections from the Ministry – my assistant is going to announce it's for routine maintenance. Will that help?"

"Bless you, Mary," said Cassius with evident relief. "Tonks, are you … What? Oh damn …" His voice came back after a short pause. "Look, everyone, that was Poppleford again. People are starting to arrive in the outer room for the signing ceremony. I'll have to go through with it now, regardless, because of that wretched contract. I'm taking the Earworm out for the moment, but if anything I need to know happens, get in touch via the mirror phones and damn the ceremony. At least we seem to have headed her off before she could do anything. Don, you're in charge." His voice cut off abruptly.

Tonks glanced at her watch as the floors passed by; it was now eight forty-three, and Carrack might well have had time to get away. Fortunately, it did at least seem that Cassius was right, and that her encounter with the Patrol wizard had stopped her putting whatever scheme she'd come up with into operation. On the other hand, it had also warned her off, and Tonks really didn't care to imagine what Scrimgeour might have to say if they let a criminal get away again for lack of evidence.

Then again, she mused, she doesn't know that we don't have enough evidence …

The lift opened onto the Atrium just as a voice boomed out of nowhere announcing the temporary Floo hiatus. Tonks, slipping out as fast as she could, made a point of watching the crowds of people milling about. Most merely displayed varying degrees of annoyance at the news, but it was the one who suddenly froze that caught her attention. She couldn't see her face, but she could see her clothing, and that was enough to call out.

"Rhiannon?" she said, hoping very much that she still had her Earworm in. "I think she's – I'm, whatever – the one in the plain grey robe sidling towards the visitor's entrance lift." She began to wriggle through the crowds towards her quarry. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you. OK, I'm watching for her."

"Can you see her anyw–"

"Hey, you – what are you doing?" Apparently she could. Tonks winced at Rhiannon's shout – she could hear it twice, once from the other side of the Atrium and again much louder in her ear.

As she worked her way closer – many people, startled by the shouting, had stopped to watch – she could hear the grey-robed woman say, with patent insincerity but admirable coolness, "I'm an Auror. Can't you see the badge, woman?"

Tonks was now close enough to see Rhiannon give an evil grin in response to that. "Well, now, isn't that a coincidence? So am I. And you're under arrest. Incarc– "

"Protego!" Carrack shouted desperately, bringing up her wand. Her Shield Charm didn't seem to be cast with any great expertise, but by sheer chance it did succeed in distracting Rhiannon Davies, as the ropes from her Incarceration spell bounced up off the shield and back at her. Before she had time to disentangle herself Carrack gave her a shove which sent her sprawling into the Fountain of Magical Brethren, and then broke into a flat run.

By this time, everyone else in the Atrium had stopped whatever they were doing to stare – after all, it wasn't every day that visitors to the Ministry were treated to the sight of an Auror sprinting towards the exit to escape from the building, while another Auror and a house-elf tried to stop her. Out of the corner of her eye, Tonks could see that Rhiannon was still climbing out the water, and so she let loose a stream of hexes at her target as she ran. Unfortunately, none of them hit, and as Carrack reached the lift she made a desperate jab at the button to open the door …

… which remained stubbornly closed.

Carrack whirled round with sheer terror on her face, and Tonks had the singular experience of seeing someone else disguised as herself, rather than the other way round.

"Game's up, Jacqueline," she said quietly.

"No!" screamed Carrack, raising her wand again, but she never got the chance to cast a curse. Two jets of red light came from behind Tonks and hit the fugitive square in the chest.

-----

As Carrack crumpled to the floor, Tonks turned sharply, to see Rhiannon and (to her great surprise) Kingsley Shacklebolt running up to them.

"Remind me to thank young Eric for blocking off the lift door," said Rhiannon, dripping wet and panting.

"Yes, please do," said Kingsley absently. For some reason he was looking down at the unconscious Carrack with an expression of utter disgust on his face. "So, she was just a cheap little criminal after all?" he said, half to himself. "I don't think I've made an error of judgement like that in a long time." He looked back at a confused Rhiannon. "You know, I convinced myself that she was trustworthy, despite all her past history? I even suggested her as … well, I'd have vouched for her as having the right stuff. I thought I'd got to know her."

Tonks exchanged mystified looks with Rhiannon. "I didn't know you did know her," said her teammate. "I mean, it's not like you need a hairstylist, is it? Where did you meet her?"

Kingsley looked incredulous. "Where did I meet her? She's been with us, what, nearly half a year now? What did she do? Was she involved with the campsite rioters in some way?"

Light dawned on Tonks all of a sudden. "Er, Kingsley," she said hesitantly. "You do know that isn't m … er, the real Nymphadora Tonks, don't you?"

"What?" He looked down at her, astonished. "What are you talking about? There was a full-scale alert out to capture her!" He seemed to realise for the first time what kind of creature he was talking to. "And while we're here, would you mind telling me since when a Ministry house-elf has behaved like you're doing?"

"I'll punish myself later then, shall I?" she asked sardonically. The import of what he'd said was just beginning to sink in and rile her. "Like the cheap little criminal I am?"

"I beg your pardon?" He stared at her for a moment, then his eyes widened and a look of absolute horror appeared on his face. "No … you can't be …"

Tonks glanced back into the main part of the Atrium. The rest of the Aurors had already set up barriers part-way along the hall, and were urging the crowds away towards the lifts and fireplaces with blithe assurances that there was nothing more to see here. Rhiannon was hiding her from view, and no-one could see what she was doing at such long range. So she let herself relax and grow into her natural face and figure, remembering to also Transfigure the otherwise wholly inadequate teatowel into a set of robes. She made sure that her hair was pink. Unnatural or not, it might be necessary to convince Shacklebolt that she was who she said she was.

"Looks like she is," said Rhiannon, grinning at Kingsley's expression. "You didn't just put your foot in it, Kingsley, I think you soaked it in Swelling Solution first."

"I … I … I'm, I mean, er … I'm sorry, Tonks," he stammered, obviously finding it hard to look her in the face. "I didn't mean …"

"Oh yes you did," she said flatly, turning her back on him. She began talking in clipped, professional tones, trying not to show how much his words had stung. "Rhi, I'm going upstairs to tell Cassius what happened. He must be worried at not hearing anything, but there's no point in interrupting that ceremony now. I'll see you back at the office when her Polyjuice has worn off. Please call through and tell them to call off the hunt now, I don't want to spend the next few hours in the cells." As she walked away, she half-turned her head to look back at a still highly embarrassed Shacklebolt. "I convinced myself you thought I was trustworthy, Kingsley. Guess I made an error of judgement as well, eh? I thought I'd got to know you, too."

She strode off with her head held high, determined to depart the scene before either her anger or her bitterness could show on her face.

-----

Beatrice Easton was waiting outside the door of the signing room, and gave a quick, tremulous smile as Tonks arrived and stuck her head around the door to give Cassius (in his Mackenzie Ashford disguise) a quick thumbs-up. He beamed with relief as she shut the door again.

"Is .. is everything all right then, Miss Tonks?" asked Beatrice. "Did you get who you wanted?"

"Yeah, she's Stunned and under arrest," said Tonks, glancing at her watch, which told her it was a few minutes past nine. She was finding it hard to believe that so much had happened in the last hour and a half. "How come they haven't started yet?"

"Oh, I think Mr Ashford – oh sorry, it's really Mr Smethwyck, isn't it? – was trying to drag things out a bit until he knew what had happened. Just in case something went wrong."

"Right. Well, we put a stop to her plan, so nothing did." She looked at her companion and smiled. "Long time, no see, Beatrice. I haven't seen you since the last time we tried a sting operation!"

"No, I suppose not," she said, this time with a more confident smile. "Well, apart from earlier this morning, I suppose."

"Yes, I supp …" Tonks trailed off. "Er, did we see each other earlier this morning?"

"Well, yes," said Beatrice, looking bemused. "When you came in to see everything was all right, while Mr Smethwyck was in the annexe getting ready? You wanted to check the quills, didn't you?"

"But I …" Tonks' jaw dropped in horror as she remembered two things that hadn't struck her as important before. First, that Beatrice Easton had never been told the details of the plan, and therefore didn't know that Tonks was supposed to have been disguised as a house-elf; second, that the Patroller had said Carrack-as-Tonks had come back from the offices to relieve him …

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion.

She burst through the door, yelling at the top of her voice. "CASSIUS! DON'T …"

She saw Cassius just about to pick up a quill to sign the document, and carrying through with the motion by instinct while looking up in surprise at the interruption. She reached him just him time to grab it from his hand, but her momentum carried her forward into the table and she tripped. The quill in her hand touched the sheet of parchment on the table, and she heard a crack as it split open, showering her with some darkish liquid that probably wasn't ink.

Cassius was at her side in two strides. "Tonks! What's going on?"

"That woman was in here earlier on, disguised as me. She brought in this quill, she must have booby-trapped it … Don't touch it, you idiot, it's probably poison! " she spat at the Departmental official who had moved to clear up the mess.

Cassius' face had gone very white. "Are you all right?"

She looked at Cassius sombrely as she caught on to what she meant. "I seem to be at the moment …" She moved back towards the desk and suddenly slipped, clutching at it for support. "Oh. Maybe I'm not as all right as I thought … Cassius, I'm starting to feel a bit dizzy …"

"Tonks!" He grabbed at the nearest potion-free object, a book of Departmental rules. Ignoring the protests of the officials, he touched his wand to it and muttered "Portus," then shoved it into her hand as soon as the blue glow faded. "Beatrice!" he called to the startled-looking woman in the doorway. "Go and get the Aurors in here!"

"Will, listen," said Tonks urgently to her friend (who had looked equally startled at first but who now seemed to have caught on). "Don't let anybody touch ANYTHING until the experts get here, it could be dangerous …"

"Ready, Tonks? One, two, three …"

She felt a tug behind her navel as the Portkey carried them both away.