"Dora, please tell me you're joking!"
Nymphadora Tonks winced as a crushed expression quickly stole over her sister's face. "Rach I am so incredibly sorry, but you understand why they want me in there."
"You're still a trainee." Rachel whined. "Why do they need you to try find him?"
"Kingsley just wants as many extra bodies in as possible." Tonks explained patiently. Seeing Rachel's face fall, Tonks felt horrible. "I'm sorry, kid. Why don't you take Tina with you?"
Rachel perked up slightly. "Maybe I will, she's still obsessed with Marion." Shooting Dora a venemous look, Rachel began to pick up her shopping bags. "Well I suppose I better go meet the folks alone then." She caught her sister's eye and suddenly grew serious. "Be careful Dora, okay?"
Tonks nodded and kissed her sister on the cheek. "I will. I'll see you later." And with a pop, she disappeared and reappeared almost instantly in the Apparation room on Level 2 of the Ministry of Magic.
"Ahh good, Tonks, you're here. I've been waiting."
Tonks turned to her superior, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and straightened up a little. "Sorry I took so long sir, I was out shopping with my sister."
Kingsley faltered a moment, and glanced at her in concern. "How is she taking the news?"
Tonks hesitated. "She's okay. She's put up a bit of a front. I think it'll take a while before anyone sees what she's really feeling about the whole thing."
"And how do you feel about it?" Kingsley persisted as they walked through the Atrium towards the elevators.
Tonks shrugged and pressed the button, doing her best to avoid Kingsley's eyes. "I can barely remember him. That's not what bugs me."
"It bugs you to see how badly he's affected your family." Kingsley said slowly.
Tonks rolled her eyes. "Yes." Was all she said as they stepped onto the elevator and made their way towards the Auror headquarters in silence. When they reached the office, Tonks made as if to go straight to her cubicle, where she knew a mountain of paperwork would be waiting for her. However, Kingsley put out a hand to stop her, pulling her in the opposite direction towards the nearby conference room.
"It's not paperwork we're after today, Tonks." Kingsley looked as though he was trying desperately hard not to smile. "You're coming out on the field with me."
Tonks glanced at her boss with a frown. "But I'm still a cadet, I thought we weren't permitted to-"
"Tonks, you're the best Auror cadet we have." Kingsley cut in gruffly. "And I'm pretty sure you'll be a brilliant Auror in the future. But the reality is we don't have enough man-power. We need as many people as possible on this hunt for Black, and I know you're able to handle extensive fieldwork because Moody recommended you personally." Tonks glanced at him in surprise, he was no longer smiling. "I'm not telling you this to make your head inflate, Tonks, it's a tough job I'm asking you to do. You have personal interest in the case, and it could come back to haunt you if you don't manage to keep the personal side seperate."
Tonks nodded vigorously. "You know you can count on me, sir. I won't let you down."
Kingsley smiled. "Good. Now, what we need to do first is having a meeting with the rest of the squad and make sure we have Auror's spread across the whole of the UK. The last thing we want to do is station half the squad in London if Black's hiding out in Scotland, so that's where we're headed. After that, we'll make a list of potential suspects who may or may not have aided Black in his escape."
Tonks nodded and let this sink in while she seated herself in between Proudfoot and Savage, who were patiently waiting for Kingsley to start the meeting.
"Nasty business this, eh?" Savage mumbled, glancing at Tonks and Proudfoot. Proudfoot turned his entire body so that he could converse with his two colleagues. "How'd you reckon he done it?"
Proudfoot shrugged. "No-one knows do they? I'll bet there's a lot about Sirius Black that no-one knows." They both turned to Tonks expectantly. "Everything alright, Tonks? You're rather quiet."
Tonks shrugged. "I'm fine. I just... it's personal, you know how it is."
Proudfoot looked confused, but Savage's expression suddenly turned understanding.
"Your sister." He said with a firm nod. Realisation dawned on Proudfoots features and they both turned sympathetic. "She doing okay?"
Tonks shrugged. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to her about it. But she's just a kid, how do you expect her to be?"
Savage opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as Kingsley started the meeting. Despite her excitement at finally getting to do proper fieldwork on a proper case, Tonks still found herself bored to tears as the meeting droned on and on. Kingsley and Scrimgeour kept mentioning how important it was to find Black quickly, but Tonks reckoned they'd find Black a hell of a lot quicker if they cut these tedious meetings at least two hours shorter.
Eventually, the torture
was over, and Tonks rose to her feet and made her way to the door.
"Tonks, may I have a word?"
Tonks turned in surprise to her boss, who was standing a little way from Kingsley, gazing at her expectantly.
"Uh, sure." Tonks approached him and waited patiently. When he didn't say anything, she cleared her throat. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Shacklebolt has just informed me that he's requested you for the field." Tonks knew of Scrimgeour's talents as a Legillimens, and she averted her eyes quickly, instead focusing on her own two feet. "I hope you understand the severity of this situation."
"With all do respect, sir," Tonks glanced at him, and when she felt the tell-tale tingle on her scalp, she blocked his attempts to penetrate her mind effortlessly. There was certain advantages to being a member of the Black family. "I think I understand more than most people."
Scrimgeour penetrated deeper, and Tonks allowed one solitary image of her sister to surface. Understanding dawned in the older mans eyes.
"You believe you can keep the professional and personal seperate, do you?"
Tonks raised an eyebrow. "I do."
"Good." Scrimgeour suddenly broke the eye contact, and beckoned Kingsley over. "It's a tough job, Tonks, and you have your Auror exams in less than a year. I hope this won't clash with your studies."
"It won't." Tonks and Kingsley said in unison. Sharing a small smile, Tonks spoke again. "The experience will do me the world of good sir."
Scrimgeour nodded and looked at her, sizing her up a little. "I know that out of all the cadets we have, you're the best one for the job. I have faith in your abilities Tonks, Shacklebolt will keep me informed how well you do."
Tonks watched as her boss walked away, and then turned to Kingsley with a small smirk. "Is he always so invasive?"
Kingsley laughed. "I knew you were a good Occlumens, otherwise I'd have pre-warned you."
"Well, either way, he didn't get anything out of me except my family tie to Black." Tonks glanced back at the view-board, where a picture of Sirius had been attached. Underneath it, pictures of his Godson Harry Potter, and his daughter Rachel Black resided.
Kingsley followed her gaze and frowned. "She'll be okay Tonks. There's no safer place than Hogwarts."
Tonks smiled. "I know. It's not really Rachel I'm worried about." She turned her attention back to Kingsley and shrugged. "If she finds out he's after Harry, she might do something stupid in her attempts to keep Harry safe."
"That's why we're here, to make sure nothing like that happens." Kingsley assured her, then beckoned to the door. "Shall we?"
"So where are we off to first?" Tonks couldn't help but feel a little thrill of excitement. This was her first serious assignment - no pun intended - and she was adamant she was going to make a good go of it. This time next year, she would be a fully fledged Auror.
"Back to the office," Seeing her face fall, Kingsley chuckled. "We have to make a list of people we think Black might try to contact. I don't believe anyone helped him escape Azkaban, but I do believe that someone may be helping him stay hidden."
"Alright," Tonks felt a small sense of forboding as they came to Kingsley's cubicle and took seats opposite each other at his desk. "Who do we start with?"
Kingsley gave her a knowing look. "Who do you think Black would turn to in a time like this?"
Tonks didn't need to look very far to know. "Well, him and my mother were very close. And... well.... his friends from school-"
"Remus Lupin?" When Tonks nodded, Kingsley quickly scribbled something down on a spare piece of parchment. "I know he's Rachel's Godfather, Tonks, but we still have to talk to him. I knew Remus, he was Prefect when I went to Hogwarts. He's a good man, but at this point, everyone's a suspect."
Tonks swallowed thickly before nodding. She could only imagine how Rachel would react if she found out Tonks had been interrogating her Godfather and deeming him a prime suspect in an important case such as this. "I know that.... Remus just got back from Spain yesterday, so he should be home."
"Great." Kingsley settled himself more comfortably at his desk. "But we need more than one suspect." He opened a file that sat neatly in a pile on his desk. "It says here that his parents died whilst he was imprisoned, brother dead before he even went to prison," Kingsley whistled. "Half this family are either dead or behind bars. Are you the only good grape on a bunch of sour branches?"
Tonks felt her irritation flare immediately. She knew Kingsley didn't mean any offence. But Tonks had grown up knowing how much her mother hated her family, and in turn had grown up hating the rest of her family as well. Rachel was more embracing of the Black family, and Tonks knew she occasionally talked with their cousin Draco whilst at school. Tonks wasn't proud of any of the terrible things her family had done, but she was proud of her mother for breaking away when she had the chance. "It seems so, doesn't it?"
They spent the rest of the day going over possible suspects, locations where Black could be hiding and people he might get in contact with whilst on the run. The day had been long, boring, and filled with paperwork and brain storming. And when six o'clock came, Tonks was exhausted, but overjoyed when Kingsley told her she could go.
"Be back here at seven tomorrow," Kingsley said, not looking up from the pile of folders he was poring over. "We need to make plans to escort your sister to Kings Cross."
Tonks hand hovered over the doorknob. "Wait, what?!"
Kingsley finally glanced up at her, a frown quickly creasing between his brows. "Tonks, it's far too dangerous right now to let Rachel wander off anywhere herself. Black might be after Potter, but do you really think he won't try get in contact with his only child as well? Rachel's in as much danger as Potter, and Scrimgeour has ordered an Auror escort when she boards the train on Monday."
Tonks suddenly felt rather ill as she remembered leaving her sister earlier that day to let her wander around Diagon Alley on her own. "I get it, I do. But she won't like it."
"Of course she won't." Kingsley said with a smirk. "She's a teenager." He glanced at the clock and then back at her with a grin. "I think if you hurry, you might still be able to catch that gig tonight."
Tonks suddenly remembered herself and let out a squeal. "Oh God yes! Thanks King, see you tomorrow!"
"Goodbye Nymphadora." A few moments later, a ball of paper hit him on the back of the head. Kingsley picked it up and unscrunched it, laughing at the words written there.
Don't call me Nymphadora, Shacklebolt!
Kingsley sighed and threw the paper into the trashcan. Sirius Black escaping was something the Ministry did not need right now. And trying to find such a powerful wizard would definitely be a struggle for the Auror department. However, with Tonks as his partner, Kingsley knew he was in for a fun ride.
She was a Black, after all.