Rating:
PG-13
House:
The Dark Arts
Characters:
Draco Malfoy Nymphadora Tonks
Genres:
Drama Angst
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix
Stats:
Published: 07/18/2004
Updated: 07/19/2004
Words: 7,301
Chapters: 5
Hits: 1,570

Requital

AmethystPhoenix

Story Summary:
Sequel to Avocado. The past comes back to haunt Tonks when Charlie is murdered by none other than her cousin Draco. But is everything what it seems? Or is there more to the story?

Chapter 01

Chapter Summary:
Sequel to
Posted:
07/18/2004
Hits:
161
Author's Note:
This is the sequel to my fic,


REQUITAL

Chapter One: The Effect

"Tonks? Tonks?" Nymphadora Tonks' eyes snapped open. Someone was calling for her. Yawning, she made her way to the fireplace in her living room, causing a cloak-hanger to fall over on the way in her clumsiness. As soon as she had righted the cloak-hanger, she pulled the screen away from her fireplace and found herself looking at Hermione Granger, who looked tired and worn.

"Wotcher, Hermione. Aren't you supposed to be in Auror training still?" Tonks rubbed her eyes tiredly in confusion.

Hermione sighed. "Look, Tonks... Harry, Ron, and I came back a few hours ago because, well..." She trailed off. "Something's happened. Tonks, is it all right if Ginny, Fleur, Alicia, and I come over in a few minutes? We have to talk."

"Yeah, sure... come over," Tonks said, yawning again. Hermione nodded, and her head disappeared from the fire with a popping noise. Tonks stumbled over back to her bedroom (knocking the hanger over again) and dressed, looking at herself in the mirror. She hadn't been expecting company, especially not this early in the morning.

She had settled on shoulder-length brown hair and dark freckled skin when the doorbell rang. On her way to the door, she tripped over various objects, finally having to resort to shouting, "Coming!" When she finally reached the door, she pulled it open to reveal a grim-looking group of young women and a tall, willowy, older woman. "Mum!" Tonks said in surprise.

"Oh! We didn't know she was your-" Hermione said, flustered, as she smiled uneasily at the upright blonde woman. "I'm Hermione Granger. It's nice to meet you."

Andromeda waved a hand lazily at her. "Oh, don't worry, Hermione. I don't come here very often." She looked at Tonks. "Nymphadora, why do you like to change your appearance so often?" Then, without warning, she stuffed a large box into Tonks' arms. Tonks staggered under the weight. "I was sitting around with nothing to do yesterday, so I baked some biscuits. Maybe you can share them with your friends."

"Come in," Tonks said, trying to ignore the grim looks on the faces of the younger women. "Mum makes the best biscuits in the world." She thought for a moment. "Mrs. Weasley could give you a run for your money, though, Mum," she added, looking at Andromeda.

"Ah, but it was these biscuits your cousin liked so much," Andromeda said. "By the way, what happened between you two? I've been meaning to ask for years, but never got around to it. After he started school, you two just drifted apart..."

"Oh, it's just that we grew up," Tonks said breezily, feeling uncomfortable.

"Yes, I suppose that happens." Andromeda smiled. "Well, I'll have to be going, dear. I'll see you soon." She nodded at the others and Tonks, then swept off.

"Well, what is it?" Tonks said uncertainly, moving aside to let Hermione and the others in. "Is it something bad?" She added as she followed them into the kitchen. She put the box of biscuits on the table and motioned for them to help themselves.

"Um..." Hermione said nervously. "Let's not start off with that." She glanced at the others, who nodded. Hermione reached into the box of biscuits, took one, and bit into it. "Very good," she said. She glanced at a few pictures. Tonks was puzzled. Were those tears in her eyes? "So," she said, clearing her throat, "do we know this cousin your mother was talking about?" Tonks got the feeling that the four of them were stalling.

"I think so," Tonks said cryptically. She knew they knew Draco, but it was no good admitting that she was related to one of the Darkest families in England.

"Aw... come on," Alicia said, pasting a smile (very fake, in Tonks' opinion) on her face. "Don't tell us you're related to Oliver Wood or anyone as insane as him."

"No..." Tonks stared at the four for a moment. "All right, spit it out," she said impatiently. The four just exchanged sad looks. "Don't tell me Ron got his head stuck in a chamber pot again," she said good-naturedly.

Hermione gulped. There were definitely tears in her eyes now. "Tonks," she said quietly, "it's another Weasley brother." At this, Ginny stifled a sob. And Tonks knew. She dropped onto a chair, staring at the others open-mouthed.

"No." She became more frantic. "No! It's not true!"

"Tonks, my brother died honorably," Ginny said, her voice veiled by her sleeve as she wiped her eyes hurriedly. "He didn't give any information away, and we know he loved you."

"Well of course he bloody well loved me!" Tonks screeched as she lost control of herself. Tears began pouring out of her eyes, and she fell back hard against the chair. "He... h-he..." She was unable to continue.

Fleur noticed the ring on Tonks' finger. "Oh," was all she was able to say. "I am so sorry." A tear trickled down her cheek.

"You'll be my sister, always," Ginny said, sitting down on another chair and crying along with Tonks. She began to rock back and forth. "He taught me how to swing a gnome!" she wailed.

Tonks gulped as her tears slowed. Shivering and hiccuping, she looked up at the other three, feeling lost. Hermione patted her back awkwardly. Tonks sniffled for a while, and bit by bit, her blankness became fury. "Who did it?" she hissed.

"We think..." Alicia began. "We think it was Draco Malfoy."

Tonks' eyes widened. She couldn't breathe. Not Draco... As if from far away, a few memories she had tried to forget resurfaced:

"Let go of me, you ugly flobberworm!"

"I don't like you!"

"When I'm b-b-bigger, after I go to H-Hogwarts, I'll Avocado you!"

"Of course I know it's a killing curse. I'm a Malfoy, after all; we know lots of things. One day, Father's going to teach me it, and I'll use it on everyone who I don't like. Like that mean flobberworm back in the shop."

"Oh, Merlin..." she choked.

"I don't think you know much about him; we never told you we knew him, did we?" Hermione said, looking concerned. "We went to school with him. He was in our year."

"No, you don't understand." Tonks got up, wobbling unsteadily. She reached up onto a shelf and pulled down a photo album, heaving dry sobs. She put it down onto the table gingerly, as if it were made of glass. Fleur opened it gingerly.

"Eez zis you?" she said quietly, pointing to a picture of a teenaged Tonks with pale skin and pulled-back black hair. Tonks nodded, closing her eyes and focusing her mind on the image of her natural appearance. There was a collective gasp from the other four as she resumed her real look.

"That's... that's Malfoy!" Ginny said, surprised. She pointed at the tiny blond boy, who was beaming at them. In the background, a younger Narcissa Malfoy scowled, glaring at whoever was holding the camera. "His mother doesn't look too happy..."

"Aunt Narcissa never liked him associating with me," Tonks sniffed, glancing at the picture longingly. "Because Dad was a Muggle-born. But my mother was her older sister, and when they were younger, she was the one in charge. Besides, she wanted her son to be happy, and it was clear he was happy with me." She sighed. "After he went to Hogwarts, we drifted apart. I haven't seen him since."

"He was your cousin," Hermione said. She bit her lip. "I should have thought of that long ago. This... complicates things a bit, doesn't it?"

Tonks nodded. "He never liked Charlie," she whispered. "He was so happy when we had that falling out in our fifth year... You remember that, don't you, Ginny?"

Ginny nodded. "So... he killed my brother because he hated him personally?"

Tonks gulped. "It seems like it."

She didn't want to believe it. All those years she had spent, trying to get him to see that his father's views were wrong, that killing was wrong... It had turned out that Lucius had won after all.