AHH I can't believe how lazy I've been about this. I'm so so SO sorry, but so many things have come up (for more information, check out my new story She and Ron. but really, you should read it.) But I really don't have an exuse for this, so all I can do is apologize, and hope that you forgive me. Life gets in the way of everything, don't you think?
So here's chapter 11, and I hope you enjoy it!!
Disclaimer: Still not JKR, and it's really bumming me out.
It had been three days since the big scene at Grimmauld place. Sirius hadn't left Remus's side, except to go to the bathroom or get food. Padfoot knew that Remus would do something if he didn't stay. Tonks had been a wreck, calling in sick to work for three days straight. On the fourth day of this "time of despair", Moody had had enough, and during his lunch break, flooed to Hogwarts.
"Please excuse the mess, Alaster. You didn't exactly give me much warning," Albus Dumbledore said, as he swiftly cleared his desk of the paperwork that was strewn around. "Now, how can I be of service?"
"Albus, could you please get Minerva? We need to talk."
"Why of course, but what is this about?" Dumbledore asked as he walked towards the fireplace.
"Our two best members." Moody said.
"Ah, I see. Yes, Minerva told me about that fateful meeting. Very well, just give me a moment to call her."
Moments later, Professor McGonagall stepped from the hearth and brushed soot from her robes.
"Better make this quick – I have a class to teach in 20 minutes." McGonagall said crisply.
"All right, then I'll make this short. We need to do something. Both Remus and Nymphadora are eating themselves out. Nymphadora hasn't been in the office in three days, now four, and I heard Sirius hasn't been able to leave Remus's side for fear that he will do something drastic. As you both know, I was going to have both of them do this mission together, but then their argument sort of took the meeting in another direction. I think that we should proceed with the mission and have both of them do it together. Especially now, when the only thing that's going to get us through this god awful war, other than constant vigilance is," Moody looked pointedly at Albus. "Love. They need to learn to love each other again, and then we have a better shot at winning this. So I propose we hold an emergency meeting tonight. The sooner the better." Moody finished, looking at both professors in turn.
"Yes Alaster, that sounds wonderful. I'll notify everyone. We will meet at 5:30 sharp, and I'll have Molly cook dinner for us."
"Very well, I'm sorry to be in such a rush, but I do need to get going. I'll see you all at 5:30." And without another word, she was through the fire.
"Yes, well Dumbledore, I must get back to the office. I'll see you in a few hours." Moody followed McGonagall and returned to the ministry.
***
"Sirius, I don't see why I need to go to this meeting. Tonks will probably be there and I can't face her, I just can't!" Remus cried when Sirius announced that there was an emergency meeting.
"Moony, just come ok? I'm sure there's a good reason for you to be there, so just stop being so noble and selfless and just grace them with your presence."
"Do I have to?" Remus said, sounding like a protesting toddler.
"Do it for me. Please?" Sirius almost begged.
"Oh fine."
"Good. Now go get showered and dressed. You look like living hell."
"Yes, Mum." Remus said with a flicker of mirth in his chocolate eyes.
"M hm. Just go."
Half an hour later, Remus and Sirius were both ready to go to the emergency meeting.
***
"TONKS!?" Emily cried as soon as she got a piece of parchment that read: "Nymphadora Tonks, You are expected to be at the headquarters an hour before dinner time. Your presence is mandatory. If you do not show, there will be consequences. Your Mentor, A. Moody".
"What?" came a dull voice from the bed room.
"There's a letter here from Mad-Eye. It sounds urgent." Emily said as she opened the door to her roommate's room. She gasped in surprise when she peered around. Em knew that Tonks wasn't doing well, but she didn't know how just how bad it was. There were clothes strewn everywhere, bits of what looked like smashed glass, fuzzy food, and goodness only knows what else.
"What does it say?" Tonks asked, not looking up from the window.
"It says that you are expected at headquarters an hour before dinner time."
"I'm not going. Tell them I'm sick."
"I'm not done. It says it's mandatory and there will be consequences if you don't show up."
"Ugh fine, I'll go. I'll be home in a few hours probably. Eat without me. I bet they'll feed me. I'll see you later." Tonks said in a monotone.
"Bye Kiddo. Feel better," Emily said, genuinely concerned about her friend. Tonks raised her hand in acknowledgement before disappearing with a pop.
***
The rest of the Order was seated in the kitchen, awaiting the arrival of the two heavy-hearted wizards. "They have thirty seconds," Moody said tersely, looking at his watch.
"Calm down Mad-Eye, they're allowed to be a minute late," said Minerva.
No sooner than she finished, the secret society heard two pops from the main entrance.
"Oh boy, they're both here at the same time." Everyone jumped at the sound of Sirius's voice, for they assumed he was still with Remus. "What? I apparated here, so they would have to meet each other face to face."
"Smart of you Sirius, very smart," said Moody sarcastically.
"Shh!" Albus said, "Listen."
***
Remus and Tonks apparated to the front step at the same time. Remus was first to regain his bearings after they collided and fell down the front steps.
"Excuse me. I apologize," said Remus, who was trying to untangle himself from Tonks.
"What? Oh, um, yeah, oops," Tonks stuttered. Remus's ears perked up at the sound of her voice. It wasn't the same from how it used to be – it was more sullen, duller. He ventured to look at her for the first time in four days. The sight that met his eyes was enough to haunt him for the rest of his life – and that was including all the horrors he had seen from the war. Remus felt another part of his guarded heart die as he took in her sunken, sallow face. Her hair was a limp, mousy brown that was a huge contrast from the vivid pink. Her entire figure seemed dead – she was skinny, her shoulders slumped, and her head seemed almost too heavy for her neck. It was a sorry sight that Remus – had his conscience not been so logical – would have kissed and made up, just so he would never have to see her like that ever again.
"Oh no, it's fine. Let's head inside. I bet the Order is wondering where we are." Remus said, helping Tonks up from the ground.
Tonks let herself peak at Remus, and what she saw was startling. His thick, graying hair was limp, and looked greyer than it had a few days ago. His chocolate eyes that were full of warmth and love were now dull and empty. The difference was unsettling and she almost didn't recognize him.
Remus, being the gentleman that he was, opened the door for her and helped her not trip over the troll foot umbrella stand. The pair walked silently to the kitchen to where the rest of the Order was seated in a way so that the two suspected that they were trying to eavesdrop.
"Ahh, finally. We were worried you wouldn't come," said Albus, nodding at both of them in turn.
"Of course we are here. We just got held up at the doorstep for a few moments, but now we are here," replied Remus.
"Wait just a minute. What's this about a 'hold up'? Are you ok? Are you hurt? Do you need back up?" Moody said, rising, heading for the door, drawing his wand.
"Calm down Mad-Eye. There's no attack. It was just two people apparating to the same place at the same time and falling down," Tonks said with a shadow of a laugh.
"Yeah yeah." Moody growled. "Now that you are here, we can begin. Sit."
Tonks and Lupin took seats, and they just happened to be next to each other. Each had an inkling that that was planned. "Ok Moody, now what's this all about? Why are we called here?" Remus asked, though he had a good idea of what the answer would be.
It was not Moody who answered, but Albus.
"We have called this meeting because we still have a mission that needs to be completed. The events that brought the last meeting to an abrupt halt also brought our mission to a halt – for the moment. And not only that, but" Albus turned to Remus and Tonks. "We need to keep the love in this world in order to win this war. With every drop of love that lies between both of you, lies a drop of hope, and with every drop of love lost, a drop of hope is lost as well. We did not decide to put both of you on this mission as a punishment, but as a way to keep the hope that gets most of us through the day, alive." Albus finished with a tear in his eye.
"Let me get this straight. Even after you know that we are not together anymore, you still want to send us on a mission together? One where we will be together for days on end, and forcing us to get back together?" Tonks said skeptically.
"Yes my dear Nymphadora."
"Tonks. It's Tonks. And this is just great." Tonks crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.
"Minerva, you know how I feel about this. Why are you doing this to me?"
"Because we need you. We need both of you together, for you are stronger together than one without the other. You know what the sorting hat said this year. Well, actually, you don't, but in essence it said 'we must unite from within', and if we do, then nothing can hurt us, but if we break apart then we are each more vulnerable, and put everyone at risk. Don't you see Remus? You must go on this mission, and you must do it with Nymphadora," said Minerva.
"Man, tonight is a night for some serious talks, eh?" Sirius said. The Order chuckled and the mood was lightened considerably.
"Um, not really, because it seems as though Albus, and Minerva are doing all the talking, not you, Sirius." Remus said, with a shadow of a smile playing at his lips.
"Anyway, back on course. If I say yes to this mission, then what does that mean? What will I have to do?" Tonks said, finally understanding why her old professors and mentor were doing this to her.
"Well girl, you will be going to the Yorkshire Mansion." Moody began. "We have had extensive evidence that there is a considerable amount of Death Eater activity there. You will put up awarement charms, and because they might detect those, you will plant muggle spy thingys as well. Arthur will help you with that area. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, sounds like fun," said Tonks wryly.
"Albus, are you sure there's no other way?" Remus implored of the older man, still not wanting to believe the situation.
"Remus, I have told you before and I will tell you again, over and over until you understand. There is only one way that we can win this war, and that is Love. We need everyone to be loving each other, for that's the one thing that Voldemort cannot comprehend. If we are bonded not only by strength, but by Love, then Tom will have no way of breaking us apart, for he will not know how."
"All right, I understand. I accept this mission, and I accept it with graciousness," answered Remus, still not one hundred percent on board.
"Very well, with that out of the way, Molly, would you please begin supper?"
"Okay everyone, out! Supper will be ready in about an hour." Molly shooed everyone out of the kitchen into the sitting room.
"Remus, Tonks, please come with me, and we will talk about the muggle devices, or so Moody calls them 'thingys'." Arthur said, beckoning for the pair to follow him into the study on the first floor.
***
"Now then, let's give you a debriefing," began Arthur, shutting the door behind him. "There are many types of muggle spy equipment that we will be using. I'm sure you are familiar with some of them, Tonks, because your father is a muggle, and Remus because you have spent extensive amounts of time with muggles."
Tonks looked a Remus, but he just gave her a 'I'll tell you later' look.
"Okay Arthur. What are we going to be dealing with?" Tonks said, looking excited.
"We'll be using listening devices, camera monitors, and if possible, tracking devices. That will depend on when and how you go to Yorkshire."
"Okay, I know how those work, but how should we plant them and where are they going?" Remus asked.
"Let me call Alaster, he'll be able to answer that better than I," answered Mr. Weasley. He stuck his head into the floo and a moment later, Mad-Eye was climbing out of the fireplace, dusting shoot off his robes. "Alaster, they want to know where and how they should plant the bugs."
"Well, we will be planting cameras in every room, listening devices hear the cameras and along the perimeter. If you have time, put tracking devices on their robes," began Moody. Remus was ready to respond, but Moody cut him off.
'This mission will probably take you about a week, and you will plant a few thingys ever night, eventually ending with full coverage. And as you know, of course, they have Detectment charms and protection all around, so you will first need to break through those. That will have to be done every night, because when you are finished for the night, you will replace the charms, so the Death Eaters are not suspicious. We are planning the timing so to avoid as much interference with Death Eaters, but there will always be some there, no matter the time. We have been tracking them for a while now, and know that they have a big gathering every other week, and you will be going right after one, so you have approximately two weeks to complete your task. We are hoping that it will only take a week, 10 days at most. Do you understand?"
Remus and Tonks nodded, looking a bit apprehensive.
"Mad-Eye, when do we leave?"
"Tomorrow afternoon. You will arrive at around five o'clock, and begin your mission as soon as you have the proper cover of darkness. Death Eaters are not allowed to sleep there, so you will hopefully not run into anyone. This also means, though, that defenses will be even stronger. Good Luck." Moody finished just as Molly's head appeared in the fireplace, calling them to dinner.
Moody and Arthur went downstairs and Remus called to Molly's head that they would be down in a minute.
"So what's this about you staying with muggles?"Tonks said, in an effort not to broach the subject either of them wanted to broach.
"In some of my years of exile, I went to my cousin who married a muggle, and gave up wizardry to be with him. They have a quaint house about thirty miles south of here, and they run a full muggle household. He knows she was a wizard, but magic is a big no-no in their house, so I lived as a muggle for a couple of years." Remus said, looking at the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It was in the past, and I've gotten over it. Now I have this to keep me busy."
Tonks wasn't sure what 'this' was – the Order or their situation.
"What do you mean by 'this'?" She asked.
"This mission, the Order, you", he replied.
"Me?" She asked quietly.
"Yes. Tonks, I know it's going to take time for you to respect me again, and time before you take me back, if you ever do. And honestly, it will take me time as well. Now is not the time for us to be together, but hopefully, soon it will be. On this mission, will you agree to be just my friend, and nothing more?" Remus said quickly, as if he didn't really want to say the words, but was forced to.
"Of course Remus. And yes, you got that right. It's going to take time before I can consider being in a relationship with you again, but I think that this will only speed up with process. I will be civil to you as long as you don't treat me like I'm naïve and that I'm not strong enough to face the horrors of the world."
"Agreed. Though I'm still not too happy that you're going on this mission. I won't lie to you."
Tonks gave Remus a look that made him quickly continue:
"Ok, so I care about you. But please, I worry about you. All the time. Don't' do anything rash, please."
"As long as you don't either."
"Deal. Now, I don't think we should leave dinner waiting, so let's go bask in one more night of 'peace' before we go to our own personal hells, ok?" Remus said, offering his hand to lead her down to dinner.
"The calm before the storm," muttered Tonks as she grasped his hand and felt tingles travel up and her arms and through her body. She felt safer already. "Let's go."
See, Remus isn't all bad. Ok, maybe he is. But we can't have everything, so it is what it is. The next chapter will probably be the mission. In about 2ish weeks, I have 3 weeks off from school (holiday and school thingy) so I', hoing to get the craetive juices flowing and have a bunch of chapters up for you. Anyway, please review, and I'll see you soon! (I hope) ~mangotango101