Hellfire in New York

Hellfire in New York

Chapter 13: The Genes of Nymphadora Tonks

The debriefing began soon after breakfast. Because of the large numbers of people - all the X-Men plus their wizard allies - Xavier decided to hold it in the large lecture room. Harry and his friends gave accounts of their adventures, and then Emma Frost took the floor.

"While I was monitoring, I took the opportunity to do some scanning around the Club," she said. "I left Selene alone because I don't know how good a Legilimens she might be. The same applies to Jason - he's not a telepath, but he is a Psionic Mutant, and he'd know he was being scanned. I did find some others, though, and it seems there's dissension in the ranks.

"Apparently, Selene's been using something called a Glamorus Potion?" Emma glanced at the wizards in her audience, looking for confirmation.

It was, of course, Hermione who whistled softly and said, "That explains a lot! Glamorus Potion is on the borderline of wizard legality. It makes you really charismatic - hard to resist. Damn! If I had my books here, I could whip up an antidote."

"No problem," put in Rogue. "I've got books an' a cauldron an' lots of ingredients. We could do it together, Hermione!"

Hermione stared at Marie in surprise. The Southern girl gave a sad little smile, and her eyes glistened as she said softly, "I've kept the Potions work up. I wouldn't want Professor Snape to be disappointed in me, wherever he is."

There was a moment's silence. Bobby put an arm round Marie, and then Emma went on.

"Well, it's not all going Selene's way! The Lestrange woman found out that Selene doesn't mean to bring some wizard back from Hell - guy named Voldemort? Anyway, because of that, Lestrange managed to get an antidote into Sebastian, and they've been working to undermine Selene. I don't know if it matters, but I think those two are what they call an 'item'."

It was Sirius' turn to whistle. "Jupiter! I'd never have thought Bella would be interested in anyone except Voldemort! This Shaw must be quite a specimen, but I don't know if I should feel sorry for him."

"Don't bother," Emma told him. "Those two are as near a pair as I've ever seen! Anyway, as for the rest of the Inner Circle, Donald is besotted with Selene, and Henry Leland is torn. Henry's been a friend of Sebastian's for years, but at the same time, he can't resist Selene face-to-face. He's taken to drinking heavily, and it's making him careless and ineffective, as Charm and Firebird found out.

"The Muggle mercenaries are loyal to Shaw, but the American wizards are all behind Selene. So are the other two English wizards, Rookwood and Pettigrew. If it comes to an internal fight it'll be Muggle against wizard. Selene has her demons, but Shaw controls the Sentinels, so I'd say the odds were pretty even.

"Also, there's another English wizard at the Club. Does the name Draco Malfoy mean anything to anyone?"

There were a few gasps, and a ripple of sardonic laughter. Peter rumbled, "Our old pal Jerko Malfoy's in town? It'd be nice to meet up with him and reminisce about old times."

"You mean like you scaring the shit out of him in the Library?" asked Ginny. "Or Bob sending him sliding the length of a corridor on his skinny arse? I'm sure he'd love to chat about that!"

"So Draco's working with Selene?" remarked Harry. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Emma shook her head. "Don't be too sure, Hawk. I got a good look at young Mr Malfoy. He's got a mind like an iceberg - big, cold and most of it under the surface - but he doesn't seem able to shield it. He's no friend of Selene's, though he's pretending to be. He found out that she's to blame for his mother's death, and he means to kill her for that. He also means to get Lestrange - something about her being responsible for his father's suicide?"

"Funny, I'd suspected that Draco himself was responsible for Lucius' and Narcissa's deaths," mused Harry. "Last time I spoke to him, I got the impression he didn't give a stuff for his parents, dead or alive!"

"He didn't," Emma confirmed, "but apparently it's a matter of honor." She turned to Xavier. "That's all I have, Charles."

Xavier nodded and thanked her, and Emma sat down, settling herself close to Remus, who for once didn't look uncomfortable about it.

"So," Xavier began to sum up, "from the information Charm and Firebird retrieved, we can draw two tentative conclusions. One is that whatever Selene's plans are, they will cause widespread disruption and possibly destruction. It may be that she plans to let her demons wreak havoc for a while, then emerge, along with the Hellfire Club, as some kind of savior, gaining political domination in the process.

"The second conclusion is that the Black King's long-range plan to infiltrate Mutants into positions of power has been temporarily suspended. The file Firebird found and copied not only confirms what Cerebro has told me, but also gives me a number of ways to approach the families of the young Mutants concerned. We may be able to get the jump on Shaw to ensure a better future for these children.

"As regards the technical data Sirius obtained, Hank has a better idea than I of its value."

Beast nodded from his seat. "It fills in the gaps in our knowledge of these new Sentinels. We salvaged what we could of the six that attacked the mansion a while back, but it wasn't that much. Storm melted one into slag, and the rest of you pretty much made scrap metal out of another three. Hawk and Ariel managed to blow the fifth to smithereens, and Hunter destroyed the sixth one's brain! Still, with the bits we have, and these schematics, I should be able to find if they have any weaknesses."

"Excellent!" Xavier smiled. "The most valuable information the exercise obtained, however, was the file Hunter copied."

"Thank you, fans," murmured Ron. "I'll be signing autographs later!" Hermione and Harry elbowed him sharply in the ribs from either side, and Ron subsided with a grunt.

With a twinkle in his eye, the professor continued, "I'll leave it to you wizards to study the Hell-Gate and find means to close it. As to the Seeing Stone, or the Stone of Isengard, as Selene calls it, that is also a wizard matter, though if what Selene wrote in her journal is true, and given Hawk's account of his experience with it, I am inclined to believe that the object is Harry's by right. I therefore propose that you give some study to the matter yourself, Harry.

"And there's the matter of Warren and his help. Since he is no longer an active X-Man, I'm afraid he can't be here today, but he does assure me that it was a pleasure. He says his encounter with Charm was particularly enjoyable."

Hermione went rather pink, but gave a pleased smile as she said, "I was delighted to meet him."

"I'll just bet you were," muttered Ginny, then blushed herself as the professor went on.

"I'm also sure that Spider-Man was very pleased to render personal assistance to Firebird. He has in the past been an ally of the X-Men, and it's always good to know we have friends in the world."

"He was sweet," Ginny remarked, "but he said my accent was weird!"

"Now whoi wud 'ee be sayin' thaat, Oi wunder?" replied Alison in a mildly exaggerated imitation of Ginny's soft West Country burr. Everyone laughed, including Ron, whose accent was similar.

Hermione shook her head. "Y'know, I've known both of you so long, I'd stopped noticing your accent. Do we really sound that different to you, Ali?"

Dazzler grinned. "Ouew yah, H'mione! Rilly diff'rent, y'kneau?"

"I don't sound like that! Do I, Ron?" asked Hermione. Before he could reply, Alison interrupted, "She does, doesn't she, Ron?"

He looked at Dazzler, grinned, and replied in a rapid, high-pitched approximation of her New York idiom, "You talkin' ta me? Are you talkin' ta me? I don't see nobody else here, so you gotta be talkin' ta me!" Alison howled.

"What is it with Brits and accents?" Rogue wanted to know.

Harry turned to her and drawled, "Ah purely got no ideah, sugah!"

"Oi vey!" said Kitty. "Accents, they're talking about! You vant an accent, you should hear my grandmother!"

"White man speak damn funny, you ask me!" Dani threw out.

"Och, ye've none of ye a trrue apprreciation of the tongue," Rahne informed them gravely.

"To be sure," added Seamus. "And doesn't it take a Celt to find the music in the language? All we're needin' is a Welshman to complete the set!"

"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!" said Hermione without batting an eyelid.

There was a short silence, then she added, "That always was a conversation-stopper! My nanna's Welsh, by the way!"

"And on that note," broke in Xavier, "I think we'll call this session closed. We all have our jobs to do, but I suggest we take today off. We're all due a little R and R, I think. Is that all right with you, Logan?"

Wolverine shrugged. "All work and no play, Charlie, you know what they say! I'm with you on this one, boss."

"Good!" The professor beamed. "Now, it's a beautiful day, so I suggest you all take advantage of it while you can. Lilandra and I certainly intend to! After, that is, I've conducted some more business, hopefully fairly quickly. Miss Tonks, would you join me in the Genetics Lab? By all means bring Mr Weasley as well!"

****

Tonks had never been in a Muggle laboratory before, and was surprised at how different it was from a wizard one. The labs in the Department of Mysteries were long, low rooms, lit by lanterns and lined with wooden benches and tables. They would have all kinds of paraphernalia scattered around: scrolls, books, stuffed animals, flasks, cauldrons and other bits and pieces.

The Genetics Lab at Xavier's mansion, however, was a high, white space, brilliantly lit by ceiling-mounted tubes that emitted an intense glare. There were benches, but they were much tidier than wizard ones, and the equipment and machinery they supported was in the main utterly mysterious to Tonks, despite the fact that she was a Half-blood with a Muggle-born father. The only thing she recognised as the three of them entered was the desktop computer that Dr McTaggart was using.

Xavier formally introduced Tonks and Bill to the capable-looking Scots scientist. Moira looked Tonks up and down and remarked, "So, this is the wee lass who's been givin' Cerebro all the trouble, Charles?"

"Trouble?" Tonks asked nervously. She was vaguely aware that Cerebro was the machine Xavier used to detect and monitor Mutants, and that it could also be used to detect wizards. Why should she be giving the thing trouble?

"Miss Tonks," Xavier began, but she held up her hand.

"Just 'Tonks' please, Professor. It's what everybody calls me."

"As you wish." Xavier shrugged, then went on, "Tonks, I am told that you are a shape-shifter, and that this is a rare talent even among wizards. Is this accurate?"

"As far as it goes, yes," Tonks confirmed. "But my talent is different from, say, being an Animagus like Sirius. That's a learned skill, not an inborn one, and it takes some doing. Harry's Dad was an Animagus, for instance, but Harry's never bothered to become one.

"You do get the occasional shape-shifter, someone who can change into almost any form they like. They happen in the same way that Seers or Sensitives do, or those witches or wizards who have a special affinity for fire, earth, air or water. It's what my Dad used to call a 'wild talent', whatever that means."

"I see." Xavier pondered for a moment, then said, "Are there any limits to the kind of things you can change into?"

Tonks explained, "It has to be a living thing, of course, and preferably an animal or human. There's a size limit, because my weight always stays the same. I mean, I could change into a full-sized dragon, but I'd still only weigh nine stone or so. It'd look good, but it wouldn't be much use except to scare people. By the same token, I could turn into an owl, but I'd be too heavy to fly unless I made the owl Tonks-sized!

"Big dogs, small horses and that kind of thing are easy. People are even easier. But it's tiring to hold a strange form for too long. I mean, I can change my hair colour pretty much at will, and keep it whatever shade I want as long as I'm awake. If I make myself taller or shorter, or alter my figure, I can keep it up most of the day. But if I have to concentrate on something else, like reading or flying or fighting, it gets harder.

"I've practised a lot, so I can do more than I used to be able to at first, but I find it's less tiring to stay myself most of the time.

"Professor, what's this about?"

"It's like this, Tonks," Xavier began. "When you all arrived here the other day, Cerebro flashed an 'Unknown Mutant' alert to the security board. Polaris, who was on duty, narrowed down the alert to yourself." He held up a hand. "Please, let me finish!"

"You know, of course, that Ororo is both a witch and a Mutant? Her Mutant powers manifested at puberty, as is normal for a Mutant of her type. Her wizard abilities remained largely dormant until Professor McGonagall recognized them and Ororo began to train as a witch.

"It would seem, Tonks, that you have had the opposite experience. Accepted as a witch from the beginning, you appear to be unaware that you are also potentially a Mutant! Tell me, when did you become aware of your 'wild talent'?"

Tonks was staring at the Professor, in mild shock, but managed to reply, "Oh! Er, I don't know. I must have been twelve or thirteen or so, I suppose."

Xavier nodded, "Exactly so. Towards the latter stages of puberty - for a woman at least.

"There is one way to be sure, and that is for Dr McTaggart here to perform a genetic assay on you. You won't be the first witch to undergo this procedure. Harry, Ron and Hermione all agreed to the testing when they were first here, because I was curious to see if there was a specific gene sequence that indicated wizard status. Since then, Ginny, Remus and Sirius, as well as Mrs Weasley and the late Professor Dumbledore have also taken part. Would you agree to this test, Tonks?"

Tonks had somewhat recovered herself; now she grinned at Xavier. "What have I got to lose? You've got me interested now, Professor!" She turned to Moira, asking, "Do I have to undress or anything?"

"Bless us, no!" Moira approached Tonks, showing her the swab she was holding. "All I need is a wee tissue sample from the inside of your cheek, lassie. Open wide, now!"

"Urgh!" moaned Tonks. "Every time Mum said that to me, she promptly shoved some bloody foul-tasting concoction down my throat!"

"Ah, well I'll not do that, never fear!" Moira smiled, then swiped the swab gently round inside Tonks' mouth.

She took the swab to a bench where, as Tonks and Bill watched, fascinated, she snipped off the end of it and dropped it into a small glass phial. Moira poured a little clear fluid onto the sample, shook it gently, then drained off the fluid into another vial. This vial was placed into one of the devices that lay around the lab, then Moira turned back to her audience.

"The advantage of workin' wi' a man like Henry McCoy is that I've always access to state-of-the-art gear. In another lab, ye ken, we'd be waitin' hours for the result, but we'll have it here in just a wee while."

As they waited, Professor Xavier explained to Tonks and Bill, "This isn't just a matter of curiosity. Clearly, it's important to Tonks here that she find out about herself. She has already learned all Hogwarts can teach her about witchcraft..."

Tonks interrupted wryly, "Not all, Professor! I'm no Hermione. I just barely got through my NEWTs!"

"Quite," Xavier smiled. "But it may be the case that my staff here can teach you, in various ways, how to make the most of your Mutant ability. That does not, I hasten to add, mean that you will have to attend Logan's Danger Room sessions, so you don't need to look so panic-stricken!

"What is perhaps more important, is that we now know that Storm's case is not so unique. Wizards, like other humans, are subject to the forces of evolution. It was inevitable that, sooner or later, wizard families would begin to produce Mutant children.

"Since it seems to be the case that the wizard pattern is genetically dominant, we must assume that any and all such children will possess wizard as well as Mutant abilities. Your community needs to be aware of this, and to prepare to deal with these 'special children'."

Bill scratched his head. "It strikes me that, what with the numbers of Muggle-born wizards going up every year, and more Mutants being born as well, there'll soon be no such thing as a Muggle!"

"You may well be right, Bill," Xavier agreed. "Albus was kind enough to provide me with the admission records to Hogwarts for the last hundred years. From them, I was able to produce statistical breakdowns of Pureblood, Half-blood and Muggle-born intakes, indexed against time. The percentage of Muggle-born children has been steadily increasing, year on year.

"I also compared the numbers of Muggle-born wizards with the British government's birth registers for the appropriate years. I already have as accurate an approximation as I can for the numbers of Mutant births occurring.

"If my projections from these aggregated figures are correct, then by the middle of the Twenty-Second Century, Muggles will actually be in a minority throughout Western Europe, North America, Australasia and Japan. Fully sixty per cent of the population will be either wizard or Mutant or both! We must assume this also applies for other parts of the world, but sadly, I cannot access their statistics so easily."

At that point, there was an insistent beeping sound. Moira went over to her computer and tapped some keys. A large screen on the wall displayed a coloured pattern that conveyed nothing to either Tonks or Bill, but Xavier's face lit with a pleased smile. Moira made some more adjustments, and two areas of the pattern were highlighted, one in blue, one in green.

Xavier pointed to the screen. "This is a schematic representation of Tonks' DNA pattern. The blue area shows the standard wizard markers, which we knew would be there. The green area shows, as we suspected, the Mutant genes."

Tonks stared at the screen, then asked quietly, "Does this mean my children will be Mutants, too?"

Xavier shook his head. "It isn't inevitable, Tonks. If you have children with a man who is either an operant Mutant, or who carries pre-Mutant genes, then yes, they would probably be Mutants, at least some of them. But unless those exact conditions are fulfilled, any children you have will just be wizards.

"If it's of concern to you, Bill here probably does not carry pre-Mutant markers. Ron doesn't, but Ginny does, as does Molly. We often find that pre-Mutant genes are passed either in the male or female line of a family, but seldom in both."

Tonks nodded, then smiled. "Well, that's been an eye-opener, and no mistake, Professor! I suppose I've got some thinking to do, haven't I?"

"Indeed," Xavier replied, "though, of course, you could choose simply to ignore the matter and continue as you have been. I merely felt that you should at least be in possession of all the facts, since they concern you so intimately."

"Well, thanks for that! But I'll bet Lilandra's waiting for you, and I'm sure Sean's wondering where Moira's got to, so we'd best leave it at that for now, eh?" Tonks took Bill's hand, and the two of them nodded and left the lab.

As they went along the corridor to their room, Bill said, "So, what d'you want to do, 'Dora?"

"Well," she said, "I'll have to have a good natter with Ororo. She's the only other one who knows what it's like to be both, as it were; even if she did come into it from the other end.

"But right now, young William, we need to work up an appetite for lunch! So we're gong back to our room, where you can roger me rigid for an hour or two, OK?"

"Now that's a good thought!" he grinned, and they quickened their pace.

****

The day passed lazily enough. The afternoon was gloriously hot and sunny, so Ginny and Dani changed into their skimpiest swimwear and secured loungers on the veranda. For a while, they luxuriated in the sunshine and the admiring glances of the young boys who dashed back and forth across the lawn, enjoying their games. However, they soon found themselves decisively outclassed when Fleur and Ororo, similarly dressed, took up two adjacent loungers.

"Oh, brilliant!" groused Ginny. "Now we're competing with a pair of half-Veelas!"

"Ah, well," Dani replied, "it was fun while it lasted! Let's just catch a few rays, Gin!"

They tried, but they were interrupted, then interrupted twice. The four young women decided that a third time would be totally out of order, so Fleur slipped quickly back in to fetch the three witches' wands. Then they waited.

Sure enough, they soon heard the shouts and yells, Roberto calling out, "Comin' through!" and Harry bellowing "Gangway!" The two lads came whizzing along the veranda on skateboards. As they got close to the loungers, Harry pointed his wand and shouted "Inclinatio!" The boards of the veranda obligingly formed a ramp, and the boys shot off it, aiming to jump over the four women as they had done twice before.

This time, however, Ginny and Ororo caught Harry and Roberto mid-jump with Levicorpus, while Fleur deftly fielded the skateboards. The two lads dangled upside down in mid-air, looking wryly at each other.

"That'll teach us to try jumping witches!" remarked Harry.

"Well, you're always jumping a witch; nothing new about that," Roberto quipped.

"Crude, as well as rude!" Ginny said sternly. "How long should we leave them up there, Ororo?"

"We'd better let 'em down," Storm replied regretfully. "They're blocking our sun."

"True," said Ginny. "On three? One, two -"

They dropped Harry and Roberto - none too gently - into a heap of tangled limbs on the veranda. There was a moment's silence, then Roberto asked, "Harry? You dead amigo?"

"Yeah, mate, I'm dead," Harry confirmed.

They untangled themselves and glared at the giggling ladies. Harry pointed at Storm. "You, I'll deal with later! Sirius tells me your duelling technique needs brushing up, so meet me in the Danger Room tomorrow nine sharp! Come to think of it, you can be there too, Fleur."

Both women stopped laughing and considered Harry.

"Ooops!" said Ororo, smiling.

Fleur assumed an expression of mock dismay, "Mon Dieu! I am to duel with ze man who defeated Voldemort? Is zere no ozzer way to apologise, 'Arry? Per'aps by sleeping wiz you?" she suggested teasingly.

"Don't you dare!" Ginny mock-growled. "Mine!"

"As for these two," Roberto put in, advancing on Dani. "I think vengeance is called for!"

"Oh, definitely!" Harry agreed.

Dani and Ginny exchanged an apprehensive glance.

"They wouldn't, would they?" asked Dani.

"Yes, they bloody would!" Without further ado, Ginny took off across the lawn, heading for the edge of the woods with Dani a breath behind her. Roberto went in pursuit, but Harry waited. Both girls were far too fleet-footed to be caught that way!

Ginny was maybe two metres short of the tree line when she heard the boom. Oh, Merlin! Then Harry was there, capturing the girls, a sinewy arm round each shapely waist.

"Gerroff!" howled Ginny.

"Let me go!" squealed Dani.

Harry laughed and squeezed them tighter, kissing both girls lightly before handing Dani off to Roberto, who had come pounding up. Then a terrible revenge began! Both girls were very ticklish, and both lads had long, strong fingers ideal for exploiting that weakness. Within moments, Ginny and Dani were rolling on the grass, alternately giggling helplessly and breathlessly begging for mercy - a commodity in rather short supply just then!

Ororo and Fleur watched as the tussling across the lawn became by degrees less playful and more amorous. They exchanged a smile as the two young couples finally made their way into the woods in slightly different directions.

"Nice to see the kids having fun," Ororo murmured. Then a deep voice behind her said, "Not as nice as having some yourself!"

Sirius slipped his arms around Ororo and began to kiss and nuzzle her just behind the ear. Ororo quivered. "Ohhh, Sirius, don't! You know what that does to me!"

"I know," he replied, and did it some more, until she turned in his arms and locked her mouth onto his. The two of them drifted into the mansion.

Fleur sighed, and lay back down on the lounger on her tummy, flipping through a magazine. She felt a presence beside her.

"Do your back?" asked Scott.

"Oui, s'il te plait,"" she answered.

Slowly, sensuously, he began to massage the lotion into her soft skin. Fleur began to sigh, then to writhe under his strong, gentle hands. After a while, she got up from the lounger and led Scott inside.

In the arboretum, Ron sat on a carved bench. In front of him, Rahne and Sam sat on the grass, holding hands. Ron scratched his head.

"So, what you're telling me is that you want to make love, but you don't know whether your god will approve or not?"

Rahne nodded. "Accordin' to our beliefs, ye shouldna' have sex until ye're wed properly."

"Ah!" Ron held up a finger. "Now, that's a different thing! Look, if I wasn't with 'Mione, and if Dani wasn't with 'Berto, we'd probably go to bed together, Dani and I. But that would be to have sex. It'd be just a bit of fun - two people who are fond of each other and fancy each other being...I don't know. Being extra-affectionate, I suppose, like a super-cuddle.

"Now when Hermione and I do that, it's different. We don't have sex, we make love, and it's a lot deeper and more complicated than just sex.

"What you two need to decide is which you'd be doing. If it's just sex, then you'll both feel awful about it, and it'll spoil things between you, I'll bet, but if you want to make love....

"Look, what is marriage? As far as I can tell, it's just standing up in front of people and making the same promises in public you've already made in private. Hermione and I have made those promises to each other already, and in a year or so's time, we'll do it again, with all our family and friends watching - you two'll be there to see it, I hope! But in the meantime, we can be together and make love when we want to because in our hearts, we're already married! That's how we see it, anyway.

"So, it's up to you. Sam told me once that your god is supposed to know what's in your hearts. If you two truly love each other, if you've promised yourselves to each other, then your god already knows that. So as far as he's concerned, you're probably already married!

"Gods! Listen to me! I sound like...I don't know what I sound like! Am I making a shred of sense here?"

Rahne smiled up at him. "Yes, yes you are!"

She and Sam got up, and so did Ron. Rahne came into Ron's arms, hugged him tight, then pulled his head down to kiss him soundly on the cheek. "Ye're sich a guid friend, Ron Weasley!"

She released him, and then Sam, to Ron's embarrassment, also stepped forward and hugged him hard, slapping him on the back. Sam and Rahne went off, hand in hand. Ron watched them for a moment before he flopped back down on the bench with a gusty sigh.

"Did I do that right, pet?" he asked. Hermione slipped out of the bushes she'd been hiding in, came up behind him and put her slim arms round his bull's neck, nuzzling close.

"Ron Weasley, you're such a sweet, sweet man," she whispered. "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you!"

He got up from the bench and led her back into the bushes. Once there, they began to kiss passionately, and then to undress each other.

Rahne led Sam to the room she shared with Dani, and locked the door behind them. "Draw the drapes," she told Sam. Wolfsbane's senses had told her just what Greyback had wanted with her, and Rahne was determined that whatever else happened, that monster should not have her virginity. So when Sam turned back, it was to see Rahne lying on her bed in only her bra and panties. She was blushing furiously, but her face was quietly determined. She had never looked so beautiful to him.

"Come here, Sam," she told him. "We've all afternoon, so let's take our time!"

It was more than an hour later when Wolverine, passing on one of his regular, restless patrols, heard Rahne cry out in ecstasy. Of all the people who knew Logan, perhaps only Mariko would not have been surprised at the warmth and gentleness of the smile that crossed his face.