Rubble, that's all it was. This wreckage could never have once been his home. The flowers that Lily had planted the very day they moved in were nowhere to be seen. She had said that the flowers would always be there, no matter what the season, thanks to a handy little charm she had found. And where the green grass Lily had made James water and mow should have been, was brown grass and dirt. The, thing, which stood in the spot of his house was just a burned shell of a house. There was no glass in the windows, and if there was, it was broken from things being thrown through it. From the outside you could tell that the inside was deserted, empty and disgusting. Just like the outside. No, this defiantly could not be his home.
How long James just stood in front of the wreckage, he didn't know. He was now completely soaked from the rain. But he didn't even notice. All his thoughts were on what was in front of him. If he still had his doubts was to what had happened to Harry, the sight before him would clear away all of them. It amazed him that the thing was still standing. Then, just like when he had left the library, his feet started to carry him. This time, they led him into the house. He had to see the inside for himself.
CRASH!
"Oh bloody hell." Tonks said dully before her great aunts shrieks filled number 12. Looking at her legs, it was no shock to her to see them tangled in that damn umbrella stand. What was the reason for it being there? It wasn't like anybody used the damn thing. Why hadn't Sirius chucked the bloody thing?
"FLITH! DISGRACE OF MY BLOOD! LEAVE THIS PLACE! FREAK! BE GONE! AND YOU! BLOOD TRAITOR! LEAVE FROM MY HOUSE!" Mrs. Black shrieked as her usual self, adding the last insult at the sight of Sirius.
"Tonks, must you announce your arrival every single time you enter this house?" Sirius yell above his mothers insults, dashing over to close her curtain. After pulling them shut and stopping his mother remind him that he was a traitor, he turned to look at his second cousin. She looked up at him from her place on the floor.
"Oh no Sirius. Please don't assist me off the floor, I can do it by myself." Tonks said sarcastically. Sirius just smiled down at her and held out his hand to her. Grabbing it, Tonks heaved herself to her feet. Once up and standing straight, she held up a brown bag she had been holding and returned Sirius smile. "Brought some lunch over." She said.
"Good. I was getting hungry," Sirius said and started to lead the way down to the kitchen. "What is it?" He asked as they reached the kitchen.
"Chinese." Tonks said simply and placed the bag on the table, took off her cloak and sat down in one of the chairs. Sirius moved to the cabinet to get plates and utensils for them.
"Butterbeer?" Sirius asked opening the refrigerator after setting plates, forks and spoons on the table. When Tonks nodded her head (which was currently surrounded by lime green hair) he grabbed two butterbeers from inside, closed the refrigerator door and joined her at the table. They sat in silence while they got the food they wanted and began eating. "I thought it was Kingsley turn today?" Sirius said suddenly.
"What?" Tonks asked in surprise, some rice falling off her spoon as she brought it to her mouth. It was pretty clear that she wasn't really listening to him, as she was waging a war against her food.
"I said that I thought it was Kingsley's turn to baby-sit me today," He said, taking another bit of his own food. Tonks looked up at him when she had finally got her food into her mouth and stared at him.
"Wat ou ean? Aby it ou? She said with a mouth full of rice. Sirius some how understood what she had said.
"Please don't insult me Tonks. I know the little routine you guys have. You lot take turns on who will come and make sure I haven't run off anywhere," Sirius said not trying to disguise the anger that was laced into his voice.
"No we take turns on who will eat lunch with you. Not to keep an eye on you. We do it one: because we know how much it must suck to be stuck here. And two: we all can't come on the same day or anything cause that would look odd," Tonks said once she had swallowed her food. Sirius remand silent. Tonks looked at him while she took a swig of her butterbeer, trying to decide if she should tell him about what was happening at work. As she watched him she knew that he would be just as pissed as Summers had been. Probably even more so. She wouldn't say anything thing to him about it till they knew what was going on for sure. As of now, all they knew was that someone had done magic in the Potter Family mausoleum, broke open James Potters tomb, stunned three Aurors, and did this all while looking like James Potter himself according to Scrimgeour. Yea, probable would be best not to say anything about it to Sirius.
"You didn't answer my question though," Sirius said in between bites, looking down at his plate still.
"Huh?" Tonks said, she had been thinking about why she shouldn't say anything about work to Sirius when in interrupted her thoughts.
"We're really out of it today aren't we Tonks?" Sirius said with a laugh. "I said, that you didn't answer me about why you're here and Kingsley's not."
"He got hung up at work," Tonks said not meeting Sirius' eyes. She wasn't lying to him, she was just not telling the whole truth. Kingsley was at work. But he wasn't doing real Auror work. He was trying to clam Scrimgeour down after Summers pulled rank on him. Again.
"Tonks," Sirius said slowly, knowing that there was more to the story then she was letting on.
"He's claming Scrimgeour down." Tonks said simply. There. That was the truth; she could look at him when she said that. But, she had forgot that Scrimgeour had been talked about at meetings lately as he was still asking funny questions. At the mention of Scrimgeour name, Sirius sat up right.
"Why? What happened?" he asked quickly looking intently at her.
"Oh, nothing. Really it was nothing," Tonks said looking back down at her plate. She could feel Sirius' eyes still on her.
"Nymphadora…" Sirius started. Tonks visible flinched at the name.
"Don't bloody call me that," she said through grit teeth. "He's clam him down cause someone pulled rank on him and took a case away from him all in one sweep."
"What case and who?" Sirius asked, taking a bite of his food again.
"God, what the hell is with the questions today?" Tonks asked going back to her food. Hoping that Sirius would just stop. But she had more of a shot of Snape asking her out on a date then that happening. She nearly gagged at the thoughts she had just put into her own head.
"Gee, I don't know Tonks. Why don't you want to answer my questions?" Sirius asked her right back. This was defiantly sparking his interest. What could be going on that Tonks didn't want to tell him about? Tonks looked at Sirius for a moment before answering him.
"I hope you know that telling you this is going against my guts. And I really, really shouldn't be telling you this. You have to swear though, that if you react badly, I can stun you to keep you from leaving. Alright?" Tonks said to him looking very serious. Now Sirius interest was completely peaked.
"Alright," Sirius said. What could she be about to tell me that I would flip out about? If it was anything important, like anything Harry related or Order related she wouldn't have beat around the bush, she would have told him up front.
"Ok. Well first I guess I should tell ya bout these damn knew things that theAurors got. When an Auror moves up to fieldwork, they get a Stun Detecting Spell placed on them. They way it works is that when the Auror gets stunned, their wand blinks a little white light, and headquarters is alerted that there's and Auror down. Get it? Well these things are really bloody annoying when they go off in headquarters. And they've gone off four times today." Tonks said eating some food in-between sentences.
"So that means that Aurors are being stunned?" Sirius said in somewhat shock.
"Yea. Well the whole thing started with the git of an Auror being down in Magical Law Enforcement flirting with one of the bimbos down there. They get a call of magic use in a muggle area, nothing new or big. Well the git, trying to look suave says he'll take care of it. Only problem's that he gets himself stunned. So two others are sent to go and fetch him. No one really thought much about it. Everyone thought that he must have been mistaken for someone from MLE and someone stunned him to get out of a getting fine." Tonks paused to take a sip of her butterbeer.
"So the other Aurorsgo, and that bloody alarm shuts up. But then threealarms come on. It was so annoying. But it meant that now all three of them had been stunned. Scrimgeour declared it a case and went off to sort things out. But, er, another Auror after hearing what had happened wanted to take over, and she left and took over. So that's it. Scrimgeour's pissed cause, well lets just say this isn't the first time that this Auror has done this to him." Tonks ended with a little laugh.
"Who's this Auror?" Sirius asked returning to his food. Why did Tonks not want to tell him this? It wasn't anything important or anything. "They must have a lot of weight to be able to push Scrimgeour around."
"Oh, well she does," Tonks said, also returning to her food.
"Well who she?" Sirius asked again
"Summers," Tonks said in a voice that sound as if her answer was really a question. And in a way it was. She was asking herself why the hell did she just tell him that? She had of course heard about the relationship they had had. At Tonks answer Sirius' fork froze, half way to his mouth. He snapped his head up to look at her.
"Paige Summers?" He asked.
"Yea," Tonks said not looking at Sirius. But Sirius wasn't looking at Tonks. He was staring at the wall just behind Tonks' head. Thoughts racing.
"What was it about this case that made her want it?" Sirius asked Tonks sharply. He knew Paige well enough to know that she would never do boring work like collecting newbies if she could help it.
"Well," Tonks said slowly, trying to feel through her robes for her wand incase she need to stop Sirius. "She kinda had a connection to the case."
"What kind of connection? And stop beating around the damn bush Tonks and just tell me." He said in a commanding voice.
"The magic was done in the… It was done in the Potter mausoleum and the people that saw the guy described someone that looked like James Potter. And well she was pissed. So she took over." Tonks said watch Sirius for any tall-tale signs that he was going to go and help Summers in her search for the guy that was behind this. She knew that she had left out put the part about James' tomb being blown open. She also left out, the even scarier part, that his body wasn't in the tomb.
Sirius hadn't said anything. He was trying to take in what Tonks had just told him but was having a hard time in doing so. Someone used magic in James' family mausoleum. Someone had stunned three Aurors and that same someone was walking around looking like James. Those facts kept running around his in mind. Making thinking properly a hard thing to do.
"We have to alert Dumbledore of this," Sirius said finally.
It was perfectly clear why the muggles had thought it was a fire that had done this to the house. The house fit the picture just right. Standing just inside the house James looked around him. To his right was the dinning room, where Harry had his first birthday cake in. At his right was his living room. Where he had failed. It was the room where Voldemort had beaten him and James let him walk upstairs and kill those most important to him. Walking into it, James looked around. The pictures that had hung on the walls weren't there anymore. And if they were, they were burn so badly that the picture its self could not be made out. The books on the overfilled bookshelf were all black. Seeing them, James felt a pang as he thought of how mad Lily would be to see her precious books dirty. Moving across the living room, careful of where he stepped, as in some spots the floor would surely give way, James made his way to the hallway where the stairs where. If he had thought the floor in the living room looked ready to give way, it was nothing compared to the stairs. There were already holes in some of the steps. He had to go up though. He had to see upstairs.
Ever carefully, James started up the stairs slowly. Tensing when one would creak underneath him. But he made it up. To his right was the way to his and Lily's bedroom. To the left was the guestroom… And Harry's room. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that very thing had happened in Harry's room. Walking to Harry's room still careful of the floor, James felt the pain he had been feeling in his heart since seeing Lily's tomb, intensify. When he had reached Harry's room he saw that the door wasn't even there. It had been blown off the hinges. Even from outside the room, James could see that some big had happened in it. It seemed as though a bomb had gone off in his son's room. Taking a step inside, his feeling of a bomb going off increased. The walls had the markings one would expect to see from a bomb or even a large firing. Scorched. And the center of the blast seemed to come from… Oh god. It seemed to come from the place where Harry's crib had once laid. James couldn't breath. 'Oh god. Oh my baby. No this…Oh god. Not this way' He had to put a hand on the wall to keep himself from falling on the floor. The pain he had felt in the mausoleum came back in full force, and them some.
Along with the pain though, came the anger. Thou this time, none of it was toward Lily. All of it was toward Voldemort. The pain and the anger were physically hurting him. If he very saw Voldemort again, or anyone of his death eaters… James suddenly punched the wall he had been using to stand. He needed to get some of the anger out. But now his hand was stuck in the wall. Taking a step closer, James used his other hand to pull the trapped one free. When he got it out, he saw that his knuckles were bleeding. And he found that he didn't care in the slightest.
Seeing what he needed to see, James walked out of the room. Not caring about the floor anymore, he walked out of the room and down the stairs and out the of the house. He was so consumed by anger that he couldn't bring himself to care about anything. Let alone keeping himself safe from things like falling through the floor. He was so blinded by his anger and pain that he didn't see the women standing 20 feet in front of him, in the still pouring rain, with her wand on him.
"Who the fuck are you?" She said in a dangerous voice. Looking up at her, James stopped. She looked like Paige Summers. An older Paige, but it was Paige no less. But then, he realized that there was no way, with Paige being the way she was, that she would have lived this long. She was a kick ass Auror and a very powerful witch, but she was so much like him. A big risk taker and not to big on thinking her actions through. This could not be her; she would have died a long time ago. The women standing in front of him had to be a death eater.
"Answer me!" she yelled at him when he still hadn't answered her. James didn't answer her. He just pulled out his wand quickly and started firing curses at her. But she was ready for it and she sent spells as well. Their first spells hit each other and went souring in other directions. But those spells were barely out of they way when the next ones had been fired. Much to both duelers annoyance, the other was matching them, spell for spell. Spells were getting in on both sides, true, but the numbers was small. A Slashing Hex had hit James across the chest, but he fired one right back and Paige caught some of it with her shielding charm, but the rest got through and cut her across her cheek.
The battle wagged on, both getting slightly hurt, but both to engrossed in the battle to really notice any injuries. Both were also completely and total pissed now. James wanted nothing more then to snap this death eater in half. The anger felt in the house making him perform even better then his usual leave. If punching the wall, got some of his anger out then hurt this death eater immensely help his pain.
Paige was pissed because she wanted nothing more then to snap the death eater in front of her in half for having the balls to pose as her old partner. Also she was pissed at the fact that she hadn't done so already. There were very few people that had ever been able to match her like this. Sure there had been those that could completely kick her ass (and had) and those who's ass she could kick. But few who could match her. One was Moody (and she would matching him), some select death eaters, Sirius, and James. And it could be none of them. Moody was getting old and she felt that she might be able to take him know (it had been a long time since they dueled each other), this guy couldn't be one of those death eaters cause those death eaters were in Azkaban or had a completely different dueling form. And as for Sirius, well he had a different form as well and he wouldn't be posing as James, and James well…
Finally, after count less spells being fired, one of Paige's got through, sending James flying back. Before he had even hit the ground, she fired a stunning spell. He hit the ground, and stayed there. Breathing heavily, Paige stood there for a moment, to make sure that he was indeed stunned and wasn't faking it. Once sure that he was really stunned, she walked over to him, wand trained on him the whole time. Could never been too careful. Especially with a death eater that could keep up with her like this one had. Reaching him, Paige kicked him to roll him over. Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't really see him clearly through the rain, but now, standing above him… It was James. It was just like looking at James. And god it pissed her off to see him. 'This bastered must have big fucking balls' she thought as she looked at him. She stood there, standing above the man laying on the ground, for a few minutes. She wanted to know who he was. Badly. And if she brought him in, they would take him away from her. And she wouldn't be able to question him. Oh and how much she wanted to question him. Deciding what she was going to do, she pulled out a quill from within her robes, pointed her wand at it and said,
"Portus." And watch the quill glow for a moment before going back to normal. Bending down next to the man, she picked his hand and held it in hers so that he touched the quill. Making sure that both of them were touching the quill, she lifted her wand, which was in her free hand, and pointed it at the quill.
"One, two, three." She said, and felt the familiar jerk from behind her navel. When the portkey stopped she looked around her. She had been her only once before, and it was at the very begging of the summer. She was a little off on her destination. She had placed them in the middle of the road. Thankfully, it was getting later and rain clouds were heavy and black in the sky, making it darker then it usually was at this time. Standing up she pointed her wand at the man next to her so that he was float, and then she started across the rest of the street and into the very unkempt yard of the very unkempt house in front of her.
When she had reached the door, she rang the bell and then turned, took off her cloak, and placed it over the man's face. She wasn't really sure who would open the door, but she had a feeling who would. And that person was likely to have a heart attack if they saw this man. After waiting a little bit the door opened.
"How many times do I have to tell you people not to ring the door bell?" A low growling voice said annoyed as the door opened. "Well hurry up and get in." Added the voice when the Paige just stood outside. She knew whom the voice belonged to without seeing the person who had spoken.
"This would be my first time hearing it," Paige said flatly, finally stepping inside; bring the man floating in with her. Once both in and when the door and been shut, she turned to look at Sirius and said, "We have a slight situation on our hands. Got any veritaserum?"
A.N-Well? Please let me know. I had a kinda hard time with this one. I would have updated last night but I had a concert for my school. And I'm sorry if its kinda hard to follow, I'm having a hard time getting that line thingy to work.Now, to tell you guys the truth, while I LOVE! all the people that have viewed for me, I'm still a little nervous. So if you would just review for me, just a "i'm reading this" if you don't lik writing big things, it would make me soooooo happy. Please! Please! Please! Thanks guys