Chapter 6
Tonks ran to the two wolves, desperately needing to know if Remus was still alive.
She was still too far away to see the wolves clearly when she was stopped by a man apparating next to her. She raised her wand, but let it down quickly when she recognized Charlie. He was holding Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem in the hand. He took the Basilisk's tooth he had brought to destroy the Horcrux out of his cloak. At the same moment two other figures appeared and immediately started to send curses at Charlie. She recognized the first one as her aunt Bellatrix, but didn't know the other one.
"Hold them up!" Charlie called.
Tonks did her best to fight both men at the same time, sending curses at the first and trying to escape the hexes of the second. She needed to buy Charlie enough time to destroy the Diadem.
Tonks ducked to escape the curse the first Death Eater was sending at her and used a shielding charm to avoid Bellatrix' curse. Meanwhile, Charlie was fighting to hold the Horcrux which had started tossing in his hands, trying to steady it long enough to stab it.
Tonks managed to stun the unknown Death Eater, but this time she didn't manage to escape the Cruciatus Curse Bellatrix sent at her. She fell to the ground, screaming in unbearable pain.
"It's time to clean my family's genealogy from an eyesore. Get ready to die were bitch!" Bellatrix raised her wand again and Tonks last coherent thought was that the face of her detested aunt would be the last thing she would see.
"Avada K..." Before Bellatrix could finish the spell she was attacked by an angry growling wolf. The wolf threw her to the ground and then forced the wand out of her hand by biting her arm. She started kicking and punching the wolf, but she didn't have a chance against the angry were wolf. Bellatrix screamed in agony when the animal violently scratched and bit every inch of skin it could reach. After only a few seconds her once attractive face was reduced to a bleeding mess. Tonks watched the wolf sunk its teeth in her throat, biting until she didn't move anymore.
The wolf let go of the dead Bellatrix and limped over to her. The werewolf was bigger than an average wolf and with Bellatrix blood around his mouth he looked even more dangerous. But Tonks wasn't afraid. She was now near enough to the animal to look into his eyes and she saw the recognition in the wolf's gaze. Remus had obviously taken the Wolves Bane potion before he had transformed, he wasn't a threat to her.
Tonks reached out to caress the wounded animal.
"Thank you," she whispered.
She took a closer look at the wolf and noticed several nasty looking wounds. "Lie down and let me look at your injuries, " she demanded.
The wolf shook its head and looked in Charlie's direction, signaling Tonks to focus on the fight now. His treatment could wait.
Tonks sighed, but she knew Remus was right.
"Wait here, I'll be back as soon as I can," she told him and walked over to Charlie, seeing he had won the fight against the Diadem and destroyed it.
"Only one left," he commented. "We need to find out where that snake is and fast."
Tonks nodded and followed Charlie back inside.
The tide had turned since they had left. Most of the Death Eaters were lying on the ground, either knocked out or dead. The only people who were still fighting were Harry and Voldemort. A kind of cage of light had built around them and their wands were joined by a magical band. There was a light ball where the two curses had met, which the fighters were balancing between them, each of them trying to push it towards the other. It looked like a strange reversed kind of tug of war.
Everybody else was standing around the cage, watching intently. Tonks noticed relieved that Hermione was on her feet again.
"The Horcrux is gone, Harry!" Charlie told him. The information seemed to distract Voldemort, because the ball of light came dangerously close to his body, but he soon regained his composure and fought back.
"I still have Nagini and none of you knows where she is!" announced Voldemort and this time it was Harry who seemed to lose his confidence for a moment.
"Snape does!" Moody stated. "We have to wake him up."
"He is too weak, Alastor, being woken up magically could be the last straw," Tonks objected.
"This is a risk we have to take. We don't have the time to get Veritaserum and force the information out of one of the Death Eaters."
Tonks knew he was right. They had to find the last Horcrux before Harry's was on the end of his robe. She rushed over to Snape, pointed her wand at him and said "Renervate!"
Snape moaned in pain and slowly opened his eyes.
"Snape, we need to know where Nagini is," Tonks told him urgently.
Snape opened his mouth to speak, but she could see that it was very difficult for him to form words.
"Malfoy Manor," he said with great effort. "Only one guard left. Pettigrew." When he had said the last word Snape's eyes closed again and his body went limp. Tonks checked his vitals. He was gone.
"Ron, Hermione, Luna, the twins, and Tonks come with me. The rest stays here in case he tries to escape."
They nodded, not really wanting to think about that case, because if Voldemort got the opportunity to escape it would probably mean that Harry was dead.
They apparated to Malfoy Manor and Moody decided that they should split up. He searched the ground floor, the twins took the cellar, Tonks and Hermione went to the first floor and Ron and Luna searched the attic.
When Hermione opened the second door she felt a sharp pain at her ankle and realized that Nagini had bitten her. She must have been right at the door. Tonks reacted quickly and knocked the animal out with a stunning spell.
"We've got her!" Tonks shouted and a minute later the other teams had joined them. "The snake has bitten Hermione!" Tonks stated alarmed.
"Don't worry," Moody said. "The venom is not deathly. If the wound inflames she'll get a fever, but nothing a healer couldn't handle. Let's hurry, we have to get back."
"What about Pettigrew?" Tonks asked.
"I found and stunned him. We'll collect him later," Mad-Eye replied.
Bill took out the Basilisk's tooth and stabbed the stunned snake. After that the group hurried to apparate back and tell Harry about Nagini's death.
They found the fighters in the same position they had been in before their departure. Harry was visibly exhausted, sweat was running down his face, his hand was shaking and the light ball came dangerously close to his body.
"Harry, she's dead!" Ron shouted as soon as they were back.
Voldemort was alarmed by this news and Harry took the opportunity to send the combined curses closer to him.
"You can do this, Harry! I know you can!" Hermione encouraged him.
Hearing her encouragement seemed to give Harry the strength to pull all his powers together and force Voldemort's own deathly curse back at him. The curse hit him and for a moment all the spectators could see was a blinding light. When they could see clearly again they saw Harry and Voldemort both lying on the floor. Voldemort way lying at the floor motionless, obviously dead. Harry had collapsed on the floor, having spent all his strength.
Moody knelt down next to Voldemort to confirm that this time he was in fact dead. Everybody else hurried over to Harry, but Hermione was the fastest. She knelt down next to him and threw her arms around Harry in a firm hug, unable to say anything.
Tonks' mind was elsewhere though. Of course she was relieved that Voldemort was gone and Harry was alright, but she couldn't relax before she had seen Remus and made sure he was going to be alright. She spotted him - still in his wolf form - lying in a corner of the room and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that his eyes were closed and he didn't move. She ran over to him and knelt down next to him, touching his head. To her relief he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Everything is going to be alright, Remus. We'll get Madam Pomfrey to look at you."
Molly, who noticed Tonks worried expression, took the initiative and insisted on getting everybody who was injured to St. Mungo immediately.
Moody and Charlie, whose faces were swollen and bloody, both muttered something about mere scratches and having had worse, but Molly would have none of it.
Hermione was going to receive the antidote for the snake's bite to prevent the wound from inflaming. After having heard about the bite Harry insisted to come with them, although Moody told him that Nagini's venom wasn't deathly. Harry had already lost too many people close to him though and he showed a tendency for over-reactions if he heard the name of a friend and venom in the same sentence. So he would accompany his friends, along with Molly who wanted to make sure that Charlie actually agreed to be treated.
Ron offered to get Madame Pomfrey so she could look after Remus, because everybody doubted that they would treat a transformed werewolf in St. Mungo.
Kingsley was going to give his report to the ministry while Bill would take Snape's body to Hogwarts and bring McGonagall the news. Fred and George were left with the most pleasant jobs: They were going to organize the celebration party.
Tonks looked at Ron: „Thank you for getting Madame Pomfrey. I really don't want to leave Remus right now. Will you bring her to my flat? I've got a feeling that Grimmaulds place won't be a very calm place tonight," she said with a glance at the twins and scribbled her address on a piece of parchment for Ron.
Ron nodded: "No problem."
Tonks gently took Remus in her arms and apparated to her small but cozy flat. She levitated him to her bed and sat down next to him, stroking his fur tenderly while they waited for Madame Pomfrey. Half an hour later she heard a knock on the door and quickly answered it.
"Poppy, I'm so glad you're here," Tonks greeted the Healer.
"I came as fast as I could. Where is Remus?" She asked.
Tonks led Madame Pomfrey to her bedroom and watched worriedly when she began her examination.
"Don't worry; he's going to be alright. The injuries look worse than they are. He, James and Sirius often came to me with worse when they were still at school."
Tonks smiled with relief. The healer cleaned Lupin's wounds and murmured a spell. When Tonks looked at Remus again the wounds looked like they were a few days old. The bleeding had stopped and the skin had started to heal.
"I will leave you some ointment. Treat the wounds with it for the next few days. Here is a potion Remus shall take when he has transformed back. Remus has lost quite much blood and the potion will help him regrow blood cells and regain his strength. And make sure he eats and drinks enough and rests a few days," Madame Pomfrey instructed.
Tonks smiled at her. "I will, I'll chain him to the bed and feed him myself if necessary."
After the healer had left Tonks gently treated Remus' wounds with the ointment and covered him with a blanket afterwards. Then she lay down next to him, not bothering to change into night clothes. She hugged the sleeping wolf and soon fell asleep with the soothing knowledge that she would wake up next to the man she loved.
