Playing for Time

Chapter 2

Tonks ran. She had been running for a long time - every breath was laboured and painful. Darkness engulfed her and every way she turned she was blocked by tall shapes in black robes. She bolted, running this way and that, only to be forced to turn around once again. Suddenly she slipped and fell, and when she looked up she was surrounded. The men closed in on her, forming a circle that became smaller and smaller.

She scrambled to get on her feet again, but one of the men stepped forward, catching one of her hands and forcing her to remain on the ground. She could not see his face, but she knew who he was. Cold fear ran over her. The grip on her hand tightened, tears of pain rose in her eyes and she could once again feel the bones grind and break. Lucius Malfoy's voice, cool and calm, came to her as from a distance.

"Isn't it a pleasure, half-blood, to meet again? Let's start again from the point where we were so rudely interrupted before."

Tonks woke up, choking on a scream, her pyjamas wet from sweat. She looked wildly around her, realising that she was still in a bed at Grimmauld Place. Her hand had been healed and she was safe. Hugging her knees, she tried to calm down, diverting her thoughts back on the visit to St. Mungo's.

She had had luck, a mediwitch had looked at her hand almost straight away and mended it very quickly. It had not been as bad as Tonks had first thought, but it was clear that the mediwitch thought that it was her "husband" who was behind the injury and not the heavy door that Tonks had claimed was responsible. Poor Lupin had been eyed with a frown, his worn clothes and tired face evidently not good in evading suspicion. The only physical reminder of her unfortunate encounter was now only the soreness in her scalp where her hair had been so viciously tugged.

A knock on the door started Tonks, but she calmed down when Lupin's voice called out for her. She found her wand, the smooth wood of it a comfort to hold and she unlocked the door. Lupin entered, treading softly to her bed. He sat down at the end of it, eyeing her with some concern.

"Bad dream?"

Tonks nodded. "Yes, very bad."

Lupin waved his wand and was presented with two mugs of hot cocoa. Tonks sipped gratefully. The rich scent of chocolate relaxed her.

"I was going to let him rape me," she said after a minute. "That is, I thought I was going to let him, but I found that I couldn't, in the end. But it wouldn't have helped me." She drank some more of the cocoa. "I know - I have always known - and hated, what the Death Eaters stand for. I know what they have done, but I have never been affected so closely before. I think I have never fully understood how filled by hatred a human being can be. I don't know if I understand it now either."

Lupins stretched out his hand and she eagerly took it. She watched his face and thought of how much thinner he had became since Sirius's death. Too thin now, he didn't need to lose that weight. For the first time it struck Tonks how lonely he must be. She squeezed his hand and he gave it a gentle tug in response.

"Do you spend much time in the Muggle world?" she asked, feeling a need to let the conversation take a different turn. The small grimace he made told her that it was the wrong thing to ask, but he answered her anyway.

"No, not anymore. Not since I was bitten. Both my parents agreed that it would be best. Then they got divorced and I lost all contact with my Muggle relatives."

"I'm so sorry," Tonks whispered and Lupin smiled gently at her.

"Don't worry about that." He released his hand and stood up. "Try to sleep now. We will have a meeting as soon as you wake up, but try to sleep as long as you like, you need the rest ."

He left the room and though it took some time, eventually Tonks took his advice and slept again.

It was late morning when the meeting took place in the kitchen. Tonks, Lupin and Kingsley were all there, and so was Molly Weasley. Tonks felt glad when the older woman had arrived, as she had not wanted her own Mum to be worried about the events last night. Now she found that it was a comfort to sit close to Molly, who seemed to release waves of maternity to all around her. Emmeline Vance and Dedalus Diggle were also there. Along with Kingsley they had spent the better part of the night gathering information about Lucius's flight from Azkaban.

Tonks had re-told the events of last night and now Kingsley filled in the holes of the story. Apparently Malfoy had escaped just a few hours before he had turned up in Tonk's home. But not until Kingsley had shown up at the prison, was the escape discovered. Apparently a co-prisoner had been bribed, or threatened, to take Polyjuice repeatedly to cover the fact that Malfoy was gone. Exactly how a low-security prisoner had ended up in Lucius's cell or how the wizard had been able to get out of the prison, was as yet unknown.

The hopes of getting information from the imitator was quickly squashed. It turned out that it was not only Polyjuice in the small flask that had been found on his body, but also a slow-working poison. By the time the escape had been known, the man was already dying. He had not been able to provide any information - his last minutes alive were taken up by screaming as the poison ate away his insides. Tonks shuddered. A horrible death, which was pure malice. In a perverse way, it made sense to kill the accomplice, but none whatsoever to let him die in agony.

Then came the question of why Malfoy had wanted to bring Tonks to the Dark Lord.

"As a way to come into You-Know-Who's good graces again, of course," Tonks said. She was quite astonished that she was able to say that without letting her voice waver. "He must be in disgrace right now, for messing up at the Ministry and to be caught. It would probably have been an excellent way to humour You-Know-Who, if he brought me there. I am, after all, an Auror and now known to be closely affiliated with Dumbledore and Harry. Not to mention a half-blood."

Everyone fell silent. Some of her friends nodded and Mrs. Weasley gave Tonks a quick hug. After a while Lupin cleared his throat. He seemed uncomfortable and fiddled a little with his wand before he spoke. Tonks knew what he was going to say and she suddenly dreaded it. So far she had always been able to shrug off some of the terror she had encountered since she became a member of the Order. She knew many considered her giddy and foolish, but it had been a way to keep sane. She had never really laughed at the world. The flippancy she sometimes showed was just another way to hide the very real commitment she felt for her cause. A way to cope. But right now she felt weary and scared.

"Tonks," Lupin said. "I know this isn't a nice subject, but we have to discuss it. Why did you look like Hermione when Kingsley and I got to your flat?"

The surprised gasp from Molly told Tonks that the other woman had been unaware of that. It also told her that Mrs. Weasley grasped the implication far quicker than Emmeline and Dedalus, who merely looked puzzled.

"It was a guess," Tonks answered. "Unfortunately a lucky one. Hermione is everything he hates. A Muggleborn, intelligent, far more so than Draco, and she is Harry's friend. She is also growing up to be very pretty. It was a guess, but I'm afraid that it worked very well. She looked around the room. "I have to tell Hermione about it now, I guess."

"No!" Molly sounded very agitated. "Absolutely not. Hermione has enough to deal with. Beside, she is still a child and shouldn't be exposed to such things and she will be very well protected at Hogwarts!"

Lupin shook his head in disagreement. "I think Tonks must tell her, Hermione must be made aware of this. She may be young, but she has already been subjected to far more dangers than most kids. She is bright and if Lucius Malfoy has a special interest in her, she will need to be able to take precautions." He looked at Tonks. "I think you should go to Hogwarts today, if you feel you can cope with it. Dumbledore would want to hear about this from you as well. I'll apparate with you to Hogsmeade and follow you to the school."

Tonks nodded, avoiding Molly's reproachful stare. It wouldn't be fun to do this, but it was necessary. Hermione had to know.