April 2001

Over a year on the same case, and Tonks felt like she was finally losing her sanity.

Harry and Neville managed to pass all of their exams, and Roofie became Ron's partner while Harry remained with Tonks and Neville was made partners with Jefferson, and yet they were still stuck with the dragon breeding ring case. Three more girls disappeared.

All had been Muggles and all had a personal item of theirs left in the area they were last seen. No bodies- Tonks was pretty sure she knew why- and no other leads.

She felt like she was going to go insane.

All of their attempts to get the attention of the scouts had been without success. Now, her and Roofie were waiting outside the warehouse, hoping for some activity that would give them enough cause to bring in the two they suspected of being scouts.

Harry and Ron were off work for the day, so they could go and see Ginny's first game with the Holyhead Harpies. Tonks was just hoping her and Roofie would be done their stakeout soon, she was supposed to go and have dinner with Bill and Fleur- she was mostly excited to go and play with baby Victoire. Teddy was cautious of Victoire, but he was good with her. It reminded her constantly that he'd be a good big brother, if she ever got pregnant again.

"How long do you think Dawlish expects us to sit here until we give up and say there's nothing happening?" Roofie asked quietly.

She would have rolled her eyes but they were both under Disillusionment Charms and the value of her eyeroll would be lost.

She was about to respond when two men appeared, barely close enough for them to hear. "Did you check for anyone?" An older man with wiry black hair asked.

The younger man, with a round face and golden hair, nodded. "I didn't see anyone. The Muggles have probably warned each other by now."

"Absolutely no one? You're sure?"

"Yes."

"We need someone new." The older man said. "You better find someone."

Roofie elbowed her. "I'm going." She hissed under her breath, leaving the bench they had been occupying. She hurried away, heading for the side street. She dropped the Disillusionment Charm, making herself look less like an Auror and more like the young girls they tended to go for. She tucked her wand into her boot and stepped out.

It was only a few minutes before the younger man approached her. "Miss, I'm looking for this address, could you help me?" He asked, holding out a page torn from a Muggle phonebook.

"Oh, of course, I know exactly where this is." Tonks said. She actually didn't, and was certain it wasn't an address in London anyway, but she was willing to bet he didn't know either. "You need to go four blocks that way-"

Tonks had expected the man to grab her the second she turned her back to point in the opposite direction, but she hadn't expected him to Apparate immediately. When they reappeared, she nearly vomited from the sudden pull and was intensely grateful she didn't appear to have Splinched.

"Oh, she handled that too well for a Muggle." The younger man said when she straightened up. "You a witch?"

They had appeared inside the warehouse. The older man had appeared now, circling her. "Search her." He finally said.

"Don't touch me." Tonks snapped, shoving the younger man away before he could reach for her. The older man pointed his wand at her. She felt the intrusion, even though he didn't say Imperio out loud. She fought back, the curse pushing its way through her mind. The man dropped his wand.

"Fascinating." He said finally. "Gregor, we've got an Auror."

The younger man looked between the two of them, his jaw dropped. "Again? Oh, those are my favourites!" Gregor said. "We're going to feed it, right?"

"Patience." The older man said. "First, we need a souvenir for her Ministry to find. Where's your badge?"

"Go fuck yourself. Where's Elroy?"

The older man held out his hand. "I don't come down here that often, but due to the lack of productivity, I had to." He said, dropping his hand when she didn't move. "It is both your lucky and unlucky day, Auror. You get to know my identity, but too bad you'll be dead before you can share it with your department." He approached her, circling her. "You'll get to meet my crowning jewel, as it were. A fierce beast. Takes an entire week to swallow its prey, alive. She hasn't eaten in a few weeks, because of your department scaring all of our options away. That's alright, though..." He stopped in front of her again, raising his wand. "You'll keep her going for a few more weeks."

Tonks' hand twitched at her side. She focused on summoning her wand and felt it wiggle out of her boot and fly into her hand a second later. She threw a Stunning Curse at Gregor, deflecting a curse from Elroy.

There was a loud bang behind them, a door being blasted open, and Roofie ran in. Since she hadn't been able to send a call, she assumed he must have been successful at tracking the Apparition point. Tonks and Roofie fired spell after spell at Elroy, but he was a skilled duelist. He was backing away from them, likely towards an escape route, she knew.

It wasn't ideal, but on the chance he did evade them, they knew his face now. Elroy blasted the floor between them, using the momentary pause in firing spells to turn and run up the metal stairs.

Tonks and Roofie ran up the stairs after him. At the top, he had seemingly vanished, but they hadn't heard him Apparate or any of doors open or close.

They exchanged a look, but before they could say anything, there was a loud eruption of flames in the corridor in front of them, the flames consuming everything in its path. The force threw them backwards, back down the stairs. Intense pain covered the entire left side of her body and the sound of the building coming down around them was the last thing she remembered.

When she opened her eyes, she could see orange flickering around her. She could smell the smoke, her lungs burning from inhaling it. She rolled over, trying to push herself up. One side of her body felt so intensely warm yet cold. Looking down, she could see her left arm was burned, but it didn't feel like any burn she had gotten before.

She was surrounded by flames, unable to see any exit.

"Roofie?" She called, but between the roar of the flames and her hoarse throat, her voice was lost. Something nearby exploded and she heard metal creaking as the building shifted violently. "Roofie!"

Patronuses- Neville's mongoose and Dawlish's eagle- whipped through the building, likely searching for them, the mongoose stopping in front of her. "If you get this, tell us where you are. Send back a patronus." Neville's voice said. "The Aurors are here, if you're inside, we need to know."

She held her wand tight, trying to focus. Something else exploded and the building shifted again. First, she tried to Apparate, but nothing happened. She figured as much, people didn't make it so easy to enter or leave secret hideouts. She knew they likely had certain wands that could Apparate in or out, considering she had been brought there by Gregor.

"I'm here, I'm alive." She muttered, trying to focus on summoning her patronus. "I'm here, I'm alive." She repeated it over and over, more desperate as the smoke began to choke her. The building popped and swayed again. Finally, the silver wisp tried to materialize. She hoped it was strong enough to reach the Aurors.

Could she blast a wall? It could lead her outside, but it could bring the building down faster. A freezing charm did nothing, neither did trying to conjure water. This had to be Fiendfyre, she figured. She tried again to push herself to her feet, but dropped when she heard another explosion. She crawled, trying to find a way through the flames.

The mongoose appeared again, this time darting in a few directions before it seemed like it began to lead her. She followed it, keeping low to the ground, her hands burning from the hot concrete beneath them. And then, a wall. The mongoose stopped in front of the wall before disappearing through it.

Just as Tonks thought she had been lead to a dead end, the wall exploded. Tonks nearly cried from relief when she saw Dawlish standing there, his wand aimed at the hole. He dropped his wand as she crawled out, grabbing her arms and helping her up, leading her away from the burning building.

"Where's Roofie?" They asked each other at the time. The horror on his face must have mirrored hers.

"He's not with you?" She asked.

"We thought he was with you." Dawlish said. "We got the patronus back, but couldn't hear a voice, it didn't take a shape so I assumed it was Roofie's-"

"No, he's still inside!"

Tonks turned, not sure if she intended to actually run back inside when there was another small series of pops. She heard the metallic creaking and the rest of the building collapsed into itself.

"No! Dawlish, we have to get him!" She shrieked as Dawlish grabbed her. She screamed, struggling against Dawlish. It wasn't until Healers forced a Calming Draught down her throat that she stopped trying to get to the building, even though she knew it was too late.

There was no body, but they still held a funeral. Tonks refused to stay in St Mungo's as long as the Healers had wanted her to, she refused to miss the funeral. So, mostly healed, they allowed her to leave in time to attend. She hadn't been as burned as she had originally thought. Her left shoulder and the left side of her neck would likely scar, but it hardly bothered her.

It was nothing compared to the pain of losing Roofie.

And when Harry started acting odd, she started to wonder. In dim lighting, Roofie and Remus could be considered similar. Both had brown hair, Roofie was a few inches shorter than Remus...

"Harry?" She called, when she heard Harry and Ginny Floo in from the Burrow a few weeks after the funeral. Harry said something quietly to Ginny, who nodded and went upstairs. "Can I ask you something?" Tonks asked. Harry didn't speak and she could tell he was uncomfortable.

"Have your visions changed?" She asked.

There was a tense silence before Harry spoke. "You already know, don't you?"

"I figured it out."

August 2001

"Teddy, wait!" Remus said, grabbing the blue haired boy's hand before he could try to wander into the crowd. "Dora, you two really didn't need to come with me."

"Yes, we did." She said, taking Teddy's other hand. "In a few years, we'll be doing this same trip to get Teddy's supplies for Hogwarts. Why not make it a yearly tradition to get yours too? Besides, I'll be at work tomorrow when you leave, I want to spend today together."

"I'll be back the day after."

"I won't be. Harry and I are going away, remember?"

"Right..." Remus said. He had clearly forgotten, honestly. In the rush to get ready for another year, with the full moon landing on the day before classes officially started, he had forgotten completely. He had also forgotten to go and get the last few things he wanted for this upcoming year and being in Diagon Alley two days before the full moon was his own personal Hell.

Having Dora and Teddy with him made the day marginally better, but Teddy was a busy three and a half year old now and keeping up with him was difficult. "Daddy, can we stop at Fred and George's?" Teddy asked. The twins had been showing Teddy some of their prank items lately and he was loving it. Remus and Dora were not.

"Not today, sweetheart." Dora said quickly. "I'll bring you another day."

"What about for ice cream?" Teddy asked.

"Oh, I don't know if we have time-"

"We always have time to take Teddy for ice cream." Remus said. "After I finish at Flourish and Blotts..."

"What do you need there?" Dora asked.

"There's a new book I want." He said, but she clearly wanted more. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell her, considering the dragon she had nearly had to face a few months prior. It sounded so similar to a lethifold, it had made Remus feel sick when she talked about it. She had cried for days when another girl disappeared, now that they had confirmation of what was happening to them. "It's about lethifolds, I think it would be great for the seventh years. The book I have is quite old, I imagine it could be inaccurate after all of this time."

"What's a lethifold?" Teddy asked.

"You never mind, you can learn about them when you're in seventh year." Dora said. "Or, never. Why are you teaching about them, Remus? I didn't learn about them-"

"No, but they're repelled by the patronus charm and seventh years learn that now." Remus said as they stopped in front of the bookstore. "Do you want to come in? I'll only be a moment."

"Make it a quick moment, don't get distracted by the other books." Dora said, and he ruffled Teddy's hair before disappearing into the busy bookstore.

"Mummy, look at the owls!" He heard Teddy cry, and spotted him pulling her towards the owl emporium.

October 2001

Harry and Tonks had Flooed into a scene of chaos. The dark robed figures had destroyed the recently repaired fountain, water spraying the terrified witches and wizards trying to flee.

Aurors and Magical Patrol flooded in, some working to steer the scared crowd to safety, but the majority going after the dark robed figures. The Order members who were among the crowd also headed for the figures. Harry lost sight of Tonks, and was able to dodge a Killing Curse, firing back a curse that knocked the masked figure back and glued his hands to his sides.

Harry felt the atrium spinning around him. Fuck, not now, leave me alone! Harry shook his head, trying to focus on the figures in front of him.

He was walking through trees, and could see her standing up ahead.

Harry shot a jinx at a robed figure who was advancing on him.

Death smiled at him, raising her hand as if beckoning him.

There was a green flash out of the corner of Harry's eye.

Only one figure appeared in front of her. A younger boy.

Harry swore to himself, spinning to try to see where the curse had struck. It was a message. Someone must have been hit.

"Percy!" Arthur's scream was the only thing Harry could hear above the chaos. Harry shoved his way towards the sound. And then there he was- Percy, clutched by Arthur, soaking wet and staring at a ceiling he couldn't see.

The other figures were fleeing now, firing random Killing Curses into the crowds. A ring of fire burst upwards, bringing Harry's attention back around. The flames disappeared just as fast, leaving a large bird burned into the floor.

Harry's heart was pounding, unable to focus on the bird or even ponder what it could possibly mean. It would be hours before he would get to go home, before he could write to Colin. He saw the pattern now. It would be someone connected to Colin, somehow. Not necessarily a relative, as Roofie and Remus weren't related, but they would be connected somehow.

It would be weeks before Harry heard back.

And by the time he did, he knew what the letter would say before he even read it.

He had seen it the night before the letter arrived. Dennis Creevey, alone in a London park. Taking his own life so his brother could live.