Friday, February 20
"This is the craziest thing you've ever convinced me to do," Charlie hissed while they crunched through the snow. His nose was rather red, flushed like his cheeks were from the stinging cold wind, but his blue eyes looked excited.
As they always did when there was an element of danger in play.
Tonks grinned and quirked her brows up at him. "Nah, remember when I talked you in to letting me in your common room so I could assign Pearson detention? And McGonagall caught us?"
"Aah," Charlie smiled in a fond look of nostalgia. "McGonagall was so confused that she gave Pearson a detention anyway. Those were the best two hours spent shining the Trophy Room I ever had."
"Exactly," Tonks laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "This is nothing in comparison to looking McGonagall right in the eyes and telling her you should have known I was an imposter since she was much prettier than me."
Instead of laughing, Charlie sobered suddenly and looked up at the castle they were approaching. "That's mad, Tonks. This is... this is absolutely more crazy."
Yeah.
Yeah, it was.
"It'll be an adventure," Tonks said with a grin. "Come on, let's hurry up and find Harry and Sev before we're supposed to meet with Johnny."
Charlie sighed again, but he caught up as Tonks began jogging towards the castle. Charlie was a good bloke; loyal, honest, brave, and, most importantly, always down for an adventure.
And this would be the biggest adventure of their lives, probably.
"Where do you suppose Harry will be?" Charlie murmured after they just breezed right in to the castle.
Honestly, security was laughable. It was almost as if...
Tonks lost her smile.
It was almost as if Albus Dumbledore wouldn't mind if Voldemort stalked right in to the castle and killed the famous Boy-Who-Lived. And, according to Severus and Tonks' theories, he probably wouldn't. Especially when Tonks considered that Dumbledore knew about the Hallows. He had once searched for them with Grindelwald. He had Harry's cloak the night his parents were murdered.
So either Dumbledore didn't give a damn about helping Harry survive removing the horcrux (Severus' leading theory), which held some credit, since Tonks was certain that something about Harry unsettled Dumbledore at best, and outright terrified him at worst. Or... or Dumbledore didn't think becoming the 'Master of Death' would actually save Harry after all.
Tonks wasn't sure which would be the worst scenario.
She shook off her pessimism and tried to remember Harry's schedule. "He doesn't have any classes on Friday, so..."
If Tonks were a mentally altered sixteen year old recently returned from prison, where would she go?
"Library, maybe?" she shrugged. "He's probably behind on assignments or something."
"I doubt Harry is hanging out in the library," Charlie snorted. He did turn to follow Tonks in that direction though. "Wouldn't it be easier to just go find Snape first? See if he knows where Harry is?"
"I told you, there's a method behind the madness," Tonks murmured quietly, conscious of the portraits on the walls.
And there was a method in use here. That method involved getting Harry's cloak and getting the hell out of the castle without Severus being fully aware that she had the cloak. Because if he knew she had it, he might guess at what she was doing, and then he'd insist on going with her.
Severus' freedom and life carried much more weight than Tonks' did. Not that she thought she'd die or get arrested, but it was a possibility. Severus couldn't take a risk like this would be. Without Harry, Voldemort would win the war. And without Severus, Harry would go entirely mad and everyone would wish Voldemort won the war.
So, yes. She had a method.
They made their way to the library quietly, attempting to not draw attention to themselves. Which, Tonks glanced at Charlie's hulking body, wasn't really their best plan. But they made it to the library without being stopped; so far so good. Tonks scanned the room for a familiar head of messy black hair, and followed Charlie's finger as he pointed towards a table in the back.
"Guess I was wrong," he whispered.
Tonks tried to approach Harry's table as nonchalantly and casually as she could while still not making her presence immediately noticed by Madam Pince.
"Wotcher, Harry," she grinned when she approached. "What are—"
Harry had looked up from the book he had been reading and went immediately rigid and pale at the sight of Tonks. Then he clenched his eyes closed as tightly as his fist was now gripping the table.
"I didn't do it. I'm sorry."
Tonks exchanged a mystified look with Charlie.
"Er... want me to talk?" Charlie whispered when it seemed as if 'I didn't do it. I'm sorry' were the only things Harry planned on saying.
"You can try," Tonks said. She stepped to the side a little, letting Charlie step up. Charlie slowly pulled the chair out from across Harry and sat down.
"Hey, Harry," he said with a pleasant sort of neutrality in his tone. Tonks imagined that it was the same tone Charlie used when he talked to the dragons that he rescued. "It's Charlie."
"I didn't do it."
"Of course not, because you're here, in the library, studying," Charlie said. "Whatcha studying anyway?"
Harry bit his lower lip before slowly opening his eyes back up. He didn't look very happy to see Charlie, but minimally more happy than he looked when he glanced at Tonks again.
Maybe she should have changed her appearance? Tried imitating Sirius? Would that have been kinder or more cruel to do to a teenager dealing with all sorts of heavy shit?
Probably more cruel.
"I've b-been here all day," Harry said to Charlie while his eyes kept flicking to Tonks. "I'm not lying."
It took entirely too long for Tonks to realize why all of a sudden Harry seemed terrified of her.
"Sev told you I don't work for the ministry anymore, right?" Tonks asked slowly. "Because I'm not an auror anymore, and I'm certainly not here to arrest you."
"Riiiight," Harry said slowly. "And we're just going to the m-ministry to 'clear up a misunderstanding'."
"Nope, I'm not even really allowed in the Ministry anymore," Tonks said brightly. "I just wanted to ask you for a favor then we'll be out of your hair."
Harry laughed coolly while he narrowed his eyes at the two of them. "I'm not trusting a cop and a m-murderer. I'm not going back."
Tonks glanced at Charlie. Did Harry think Charlie was a murderer? Did he not hear her say that she wasn't a cop anymore?
Charlie didn't look as perturbed by Harry's peculiar statement though. He kept up a passive expression as he placed his hands on the table in a nonthreatening gesture.
How Charlie could be the strongest bloke in any given room and look as threatening as a newborn kneazle was beyond Tonks' comprehension.
"Nobody is taking you anywhere, Harry," Charlie said patiently. "You haven't done anything. Tonks and I wanted to ask you for a favor, but if you'd rather we just leave, we can do that too."
"Ronald's brother lives in Romania, it may be difficult to acquire a favor from him," Harry muttered quietly before biting his bottom lip and cocking his head at Charlie with a spark of curiosity in his eyes. "What kind of f-favor?" he asked after a moment of thoughtful silence.
"We'd like to borrow your Invisibility Cloak," Charlie said. "Do you want a favor from me in exchange?"
Harry seemed to consider it for a while. He stared hard at Charlie's face, all but forgetting Tonks was there it seemed. Charlie stayed patient as he held eye contact with Harry and didn't move or fidget or anything.
Eventually, Harry's eyes looked a little glazed and Tonks thought maybe he'd lost his train of thought entirely. Tonks cleared her throat quietly, causing Harry to startle and blink quickly at Charlie.
"What do you say? You loan us your Invisibility Cloak for a couple days and tell me your favor in exchange," Charlie said, tactfully reminding Harry of their conversation without drawing attention to his lapse of attention.
Harry smirked slightly, looking more like himself than Tonks had seen since before she went to Germany. "You don't have any-any thing I want," he said slowly, "b-but you might one day. You can borrow my cloak if you make a v-vow and remember you owe me a favor."
"What's the vow?" Charlie asked, seeming for all the world as if it were a normal request to make.
"Th-that you'll return it."
Perfectly reasonable.
"That you're not using it to k-kill or arrest me."
...a bit paranoid, but not entirely unwarranted.
"And that you're not a ghost or inferi."
There's that insanity Severus was worried about.
Charlie grinned and very slowly offered Harry his hand. "You strike a hard bargain, Harry, but I accept."
Tonks watched with bemusement as Harry quickly touched Charlie's hand instead of shaking it and then Charlie took the oddest Unbrekable Vow she'd ever heard before in her life.
"I, Charles Septimius Weasley, swear on my life that I will return Harry Potter's invisibility cloak to him. I swear that I am not using it to arrest or kill Harry Potter. And I swear that I am neither a ghost nor an inferi."
Harry nodded in acceptance as the thin magical chains dissipated on Charlie's wrist. He pulled his purple cloak from his backpack and handed it to Charlie. "You owe me a favor," Harry reminded him. "I used to-to say 'no murder', but I changed my mind."
"Understood," Charlie grinned as he stuffed the cloak in his satchel. "I've never killed anyone before though, just so you know."
Harry scoffed, "You couldn't k-kill a ghost if you tried." And then he just turned back to his book, entirely disinterested in them once more.
"I should have warned you that Harry's been having a rough go of it since he got out," Tonks murmured to Charlie once they made it back in the corridor and turned toward the dungeons.
"Are you kidding?" Charlie raised his brows at Tonks. "That was the most civil conversation I've ever had with Harry."
It was not the most civil conversation Tonks had ever had with Harry. Even though Harry seemed much more sane than he had when he first left Azkaban, Tonks kind of desperately wished Harry would get better faster, she missed the old mischievous and chaotic Harry.
The old Harry used to like her even if she had been a cop who slept on his sofa.
"Wait out here," Tonks told Charlie when they approached Severus' office. "Duck under that cloak if you have to, just... give me like ten minutes, alright?"
Charlie glanced at his watch and grimaced. "Better make it five, Tonks. Johnny told us to be there by two."
Tonks sighed and nodded. "Five then, I'll be right back."
Tonks knocked once on Severus' door then stepped inside with a bright smile to hide her guilty feelings.
"Nymphadora," Severus politely stood up from behind his desk as she entered. "You're quite early."
"I'm afraid I can't say," Tonks said, giving him a genuinely remorseful frown. "Can we raincheck for next week?"
"Of course," Severus agreed, just as she hoped he would. "Has something come up?" he asked thoughtfully, as she hoped he wouldn't.
She wouldn't lie to him, but she wasn't going to tell him outright either. "I have a thing with Johnny and Charlie today," she said truthfully. "In fact, I might not be home for a few days. I just wanted to tell you so that you weren't worried if you didn't hear from me."
"You have a thing with Charles and Abbott and you won't be home for a few days," Severus repeated slowly. "I see."
Tonks grinned as she thought he looked a little jealous, but too mature to say so. "Don't be jealous, it's for a job," she said, technically not lying.
"I am hardly jealous," Severus rolled his eyes. "Did you and Abbott accept positions with Charles' company? I thought he was on leave still."
"No and he is," Tonks said. "It's a different job, but I didn't want to go without letting you know so you wouldn't worry when I didn't show up this weekend."
Severus' expression was perfectly blank, but she saw a small bit of curiosity in his dark eyes, just as she saw it in Harry's earlier. "Oh?" he said evenly. "What job is it?"
Tonks hesitated. "If I said I can't tell you now, but I will when I get back, would that work?"
Severus snorted and walked over to her side. "You are a grown witch, Nymphadora, you do not have to tell me anything." He touched her arm, softly, hesitantly, "You will be safe?"
Tonks considered their half-arsed plan and barely kept from grimacing. She didn't look at Severus when she answered. "You know me, Sev, I'm always safe."
Severus didn't look very amused, so she changed topics quickly.
"Try to not let anyone get arrested this time, alright?" she grinned. "There's only so many times I can break in to Azkaban without getting my own cell assigned."
Her tactic worked as Severus scoffed.
"I hardly allowed it the first time," he said drily. "I suppose I will see you when you return?"
"Of course." Tonks smiled genuinely up at him, pleased when he returned her smile after a moment. Severus wasn't a man who smiled often, and he showed his emotions even less, so every time he did- she considered it a victory. She leaned up and pressed her lips firmly on his. "I'll be back before you can miss me," she murmured.
Severus' eyes were soft as he stared down in to hers, eliciting a warmth in her that she didn't have time to pursue at the moment.
"I doubt that," he said.
Another victory.
"You're bloody mad, Tonks," Charlie scoffed as they made their way to the Hogs Head.
"Am I?" Tonks hummed happily as she waved her hand around carelessly. "Shame."
Charlie eyed her speculatively- looking over the contentment in her eyes, the faint smile on her lips, the lightness in her steps. "You've fallen for him, haven't you?"
Tonks shrugged shamelessly. "Well, I worked quite hard to get him, you see, so I would have had to, wouldn't I?"
"I'm asking this as your friend and from god damned intense curiosity, but what do you see in him?" Charlie asked, his face open and honest, not hiding any mockery or disdain. "I mean... Snape? Didn't we spend seven years hiding from the man?"
Tonks bit her lip to keep from laughing, certain Charlie wouldn't appreciate it. "Well, when you're eleven, you don't quite appreciate the sensuality of Severus. And not when you're twelve, but..." Tonks smirked, "When you're thirteen, it starts to dawn on you."
"Disgusting," Charlie sputtered, probably only partially joking. "Merlin, Tonks. I certainly never found Professor Snape to be 'sensual'."
Tonks sighed wistfully. "Surely now you've noticed, even for a straight bloke, there's something special about him Charlie. I'm surprised nobody ever bothered to look past his startling hatred of humanity to see his beauty."
"Can't say I've ever noticed Snape's beauty," Charlie snorted. He grabbed a snow covered branch sticking out in their path and chivalrously held it out of Tonks' way. "Hatred for humanity? Sure."
Tonks laughed at Charlie's cynicism. "Another lovely thing I've discovered, you know how Severus is such a detail oriented and meticulous brewer?"
"Sure."
"Well those skills translate quite excellently to the bedroom," Tonks winked, driving another sputter and blush from Charlie.
Charlie coughed and then shook his head at her in exasperation. "Do you just get your kinks from being terrified? Is that it? First the auror job, then dating Severus bloody Snape, the most terrifying bloke I've ever met?"
Tonks raised a very Severus-like brow at Charlie. "Says the bloke who plays with dragons for a living and bought 'Susan bloody Bones' roses for her birthday."
Charlie's ears went red as he mumbled, "Touché," and held the door to the pub open for her.
"Fucking finally," Johnny grumbled, leaping from his barstool and stubbing out what Tonks had been pretty sure was a joint on the ashtray the old bartender slid him. "You were almost bloody late, and I can't get this twice. C'mon now, out back."
"How did you even manage to get it this time?" Charlie asked, not as used to Johnny's endless less-than-legal connections as Tonks was.
Johnny grinned and spun the glass bottle in his palm once they were in a dead-end alley behind the pub. "It's all about who you know and what they owe you," he said cryptically.
He probably thought he sounded mysterious, but Tonks knew that Johnny just sold a lot of muggle street drugs and illicit potions to various ministry employees. He had probably either cashed in on someone who owed him a pile of gold or blackmailed someone in to doing him this favor.
Hufflepuff's had a knack for working hard, but that didn't mean they never got their hands dirty in that work.
"Twenty seconds, you sure about this Nymphadora?" Johnny drawled.
"Absolutely, Johnathan," Tonks said with a sharp and pointed smile. Johnny liked being called his full first name as much as she did. Though, if she had been named after a junkie who overdosed a few years after leaving her with relatives, she'd hate the name 'Johnathan' too.
"If you boys want to back out though, no hard feelings," she winked at the two of them.
Charlie snorted and put his hand on the bottle beside hers.
"To Nurmengard we go then," Johnny said just before the portkey activated and the three of them were whisked from Hogsmeade to the Austrian Alps.
***
"Alright gentlemen, listen up."
Tonks huddled with the boys over an interior map of the inside of Nurmengard Castle beneath three heavy privacy shields at a table in a loud and overly populated bar.
"Once I get here," she pointed to the entrance to the staircase, "there should only be a few guards up top, so I can take them out solo. What I need you two to do is distract the ones here-" she pointed at the gate entrance then the castle entrance, "-leaving me free to slip inside under the cloak, unnoticed."
"Or, and correct me if I'm wrong, or you could just use your bloody abilities to morph in to one of the guards we can stun and steal the uniform off?" Johnny suggested. "Then you could just waltz in his room and ask all the secret questions you want."
"Or..." Charlie squinted as he studied the map. "Or you throw the cloak on, fly to the top of the tower, climb through the window, and no one's the wiser."
"Oh yeah, I'll just pull a broom out of my arse, shall I?" Tonks rolled her eyes.
Charlie gave her a sheepish smile, the same smile he gave her on their second day at Hogwarts when Tonks kicked a boy in the groin for picking on him.
It was the smile that started their friendship really.
"I have my broom," he said. "It's shrunken, in my bag."
Johnny let out a startled laugh while Tonks shook her head.
"Of course you do," she grinned. "Mister Pride of Portree."
"No!" Johnny gasped, his lips curling up in excitement. "You played for Portree?"
"No," Charlie said with a modest shrug. "I got the offer, but I got it a month after I got the offer from Romania to join their program and my heart was already set."
"That's why he wasn't there when you started," Tonks told Johnny, who had been a first year in her seventh. She leaned over and ruffled Charlie's hair playfully, "My little Charlie-Poo ran away to play with dragons and left me behind to become an auror all by myself."
"That's enough," Charlie said, knocking her hand away with a grin. He grabbed his mug of lager and kicked back the last of it. "So, what'll it be? Blunt force, impersonation, or flying?"
"Hmm..." Tonks tapped her chin as she quickly went over the pros and cons of each plan. "Let's start with flying, but I think there going to be some sort of powerful wards on the windows to keep me from just climbing in. Maybe I can talk to him through the window though? If not, we'll go with impersonation, and if that fails- we fight our way to the top."
"This is positively mad," Johnny smirked. "Charlie, how'd you let yourself get talked in to joining a suicide mission, don't you have anything to live for?"
"Same way as you," Charlie said. "Tonks is a bloody good negotiator."
"She'd have to be," Johnny said solemnly, "did you know Harry said she makes Professor Snape smile?"
"She's also terrifying," Charlie said drily, eyeing Tonks' smug face wryly. "Witches are terrifying, Johnny."
"They are," Johnny agreed while Tonks nodded emphatically. "Remind me to tell you about the terrifying witch I've accidentally fallen in love with while Tonks has a chat with bloody Grindewald, eh?"
"Deal," Charlie laughed. He pulled a few coins from his pocket and tossed them on the table to cover their drinks. "Come on then, let's go see if we can't cause a scandal."
And cause a scandal they did.
"Polyjuice, you daft bint," Johnny hissed as they stood back to back, slinging spells and dodging hexes less than an hour later. "Our bloody faces are going to be all over every paper if we don't end up in a cell."
"Bridge," Tonks snapped, ignoring his snarky (and totally fair) comments.
Johnny immediately bent over at the waist and Tonks shot off a slew of stunners at the wall of advancing guards before turning back to her side and letting Johnny pop back up.
"You could have told us you couldn't bloody fly," Johnny said as he slashed his wand viciously. "Or, better yet, let Mister Pro Seeker do it."
"That would involve telling Charlie about my secret questions," Tonks reminded him.
Was it her fault that the two of them were now in this position?
Technically, yes.
But it wasn't as if she'd purposefully fell off Charlie's moody broomstick and caught a tree branch on her way down. Not only had it immediately alerted the guards in the courtyard of her appearance, but the bloody cloak was stuck and wouldn't respond to her summons.
"Oh yeah, forgive us if we're a tad bit curious about your sudden desire to speak with an imprisoned Dark Lord," Johnny drawled.
It was a good thing he was so damn good at nonverbal spells, because he was a mouthy son of a bitch.
"It's not as if I've lost my job assisting you the last time you wanted to get a Dark Lord out of prison," Johnny went on. He disarmed two of the guards and snapped their wands carelessly before throwing them to the ground by their feet. "Will we be liberating Grindelwald as well?"
"No." Tonks laughed as she also disarmed a few guards, smugly holding up three wands before following Johnny's lead and snapping them and dropping them. "We won't be taking Grindelwald home with us."
"I think he and Potter could be allies though," Johnny said with what she hoped was heavy sarcasm. "Shit, there's Charlie. Be ready to swap."
"Meet you at the rendezvous point in an hour?" Tonks asked, quickly shielding them from a sickly green spell aimed right at their heads.
"If we aren't in prison or dead," Johnny quipped. "On three then? One... two..."
"Three!" Tonks yelled. She quickly began flashing her hair an array of different colors, hoping to distract the guards for even a fraction of a second. She ducked to the side and snatched the cloak from Charlie, who was sporting a rather long cut down his cheek.
"Go!" Charlie barked, taking Tonks' spot.
Tonks weaved in and out of spells as quick as she could while she threw the cloak on, causing the guards to start yelling out in a language she didn't know. She silenced her feet before darting behind a pillar and peeking around to make sure they truly couldn't see her.
Satisfied that she was entirely invisible, Tonks shot off the only mostly invisible hexes she knew towards the guards by the entrance, trying to help clear the way for Charlie and Johnny, before carefully grabbing a set of keys off a stunned guard. She doubted if Grindelwald's cell was locked, but they wouldn't hurt to have just in case.
Just as she hit the staircase, at exactly the sixty second mark, Charlie threw a handful of powder in the air, sending the room in utter darkness, and Tonks began sprinting up the stairs.
As much as Johnny complained, Tonks knew that Johnny, Charlie, and herself would make an indestructible team. Tonks and Charlie had over ten years of friendship between them. Charlie dove in with his wand the instant he saw the first leaf on that tree rustle because he knew that Tonks must have fallen.
And Johnny was quick, cunning, a bit cruel, and she trained him herself. They used the same style when they fought, and they'd never lost a fight since he started with the aurors.
She didn't know that Johnny and Charlie would hit it off so well, but she was certainly pleased about it as it made their current mission much easier.
Tonks slowed and focused all her senses on her surroundings as she felt like she was nearing the top of the tower.
And wasn't that hysterical? Gellert Grindelwald, the powerful and feared Dark Lord of his time, locked in the tallest tower like some damsel in distress.
It was less hysterical when Tonks reached the end of the stairs, which led to a single door.
A single door with four guards.
She had hoped that the one plus of causing such a scene downstairs would be that there wouldn't be many guards up here. Why waste time guarding a room enchanted to keep Grindelwald eternally imprisoned?
From what Tonks understood of Grindelwald's history, he had built the room to lock Dumbledore in. He invented the spells and charms himself to be unbreakable. All he had to do was key Dumbledore's magical signature to the wards, and Dumbledore would have been locked in the room. The only way to leave the tallest tower in Nurmengard Castle was to accept the loss of your magic. And once Dumbledore trapped Grindelwald in his own creation, Grindelwald conceded. He refused to live even a second of his life without his magic.
Which was the stupidest bloody thing Tonks had ever heard since he couldn't even perform magic within the room.
But most Dark Lord's were normal wizards who took a wrong turn somewhere and wound up batshit crazy, so perhaps it all made perfect sense to Grindelwald.
Perhaps she'd ask him when she got in there.
Alright, Tonks, it's four to one, the odds aren't brilliant. They're certainly not the worst odds you've ever faced though. You've got the cloak on your side, you've got the element of surprise. Now, constant vigilance! What's the quickest way to take them all out at once before your spell can give you away...?
Tonks took as much time analyzing the entry point as she could spare. The instant she shot a spell off, her location would be compromised, cloak or not. And she'd rather not have a full duel out in the open, on a staircase no less, when she was drastically outnumbered by four wizards who didn't have the same legal constraints on their spells as she did.
... who didn't have the same legal constraints on their spells as she did.
She wasn't an auror anymore...
She wasn't even in the United Kingdom anymore.
And... and one of the most terrifying parts of the imperio curse was it's transparent, misty, appearance. Virtually invisible, nearly impossible to detect.
It was why aurors trained constantly to throw the curse off, and why Tonks doubted that any of the aurors in the British Ministry were doing a damn thing they didn't want to do.
Tonks inhaled, focusing on her desire to control the wizard closest to the wall she stood pressed against. She flicked her wand beneath the cloak and watched as the guard she aimed for slumped slightly as his eyes went hazy.
If he could throw the curse off, she only had moments.
Stun the other guards, she ordered him. Do it, now.
She could feel resistance building in him and she ground her teeth together. Do it. NOW. Stun them!
Her battle of wills beat his and the wizard turned his wand on his coworker, quick as a fae, and had the one next to him stunned before the third one stunned him and Tonks hastily stunned the fourth one. The third one spun around, undoubtedly looking for where her spell came from, and Tonks had him stunned before he could fire off another spell.
As Tonks tied the guards up and levitated them in the air, ensuring their bodies wouldn't roll down the stairs and draw attention, she could see why people were so fond of the imperius curse... it certainly was effective.
Then Tonks took a deep breath, centering herself, calming the swirl of magic in her veins that a good duel always stirs up, and she stepped inside Grindewald's cell.
"Well, well, well... this is quite the surprise," the thin wizard sitting calmly on the side of a surprisingly neatly made bed said, his eyes lit up as he stared at the supposedly empty doorway.
Tonks took her time studying Grindelwald while she was hidden beneath Harry's cloak. There was no tactful way to explain it, Grindelwald was just...
Disappointing.
He had a clean appearance, reinforcing Tonks' belief that there were more humane ways to treat prisoners that the United Kingdom refused to acknowledge. Despite his clean blue nightclothes beneath a darker blue robe, also neatly pressed, Tonks could tell that Grindelwald was a frail old man. He was pale, thin, and his cheeks were sunken beneath his long grey beard. He had his hair pulled back in a tidy ponytail, leaving his stormy blue eyes on full display.
"What do I have the pleasure of doing for you, Mister Potter?"
Tonks deliberated for a split-second on if she should morph to mimic Harry's appearance, since he was who Grindelwald was obviously expecting, but then she spotted the stack of newspapers in the corner of the room, tidily placed on a worn wooden desk, and changed her mind.
She could look just like Harry down to the scar that decorated the right side of his face, but she would never pull off the indescribable affects that made reporters clamor to post Harry's photo and quote him in their articles.
"I'm afraid I'm not Mister Potter," Tonks said. She pulled Harry's cloak off and tucked it securely in her bag. She didn't miss the way Grindelwald's eyes tracked the cloak, nor the startled look of surprise once he realized she wasn't Harry. "Funny you'd be expecting him though, he never mentioned you two being pen pals."
"Well..." Grindelwald clapped his hands together and let out a chuckle that raised the hairs on the back of Tonks' neck. "Shut the door, girl. You worked hard to get to me, it would be a shame if you were caught now, wouldn't it?"
"It would," Tonks agreed cheerfully. She kicked the door shut behind her, keeping her eyes on Grindelwald. "You're a bloody difficult man to get to."
"And you're quite the tenacious witch for achieving it," Grindelwald said. He smiled widely, showing off a mouthful of yellow teeth. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage here, you clearly know me, and I have no idea who you are."
"Dora Oswald," Tonks lied smoothly. "You'll forgive me if I don't offer you a hand, I'd hate to be tossed out that window. I never did get the hang of broomless flight."
Grindelwald laughed again, his eyes lighting up at Tonks' wit. "It's a difficult magic to master," he said with a hint of mockery to his tone. "Though, I'm sure, my dear girl, that you didn't come all this way and fight so hard merely to find out how to fly unassisted."
Tonks laughed too, attempting to keep the conversation light while she could maintain the upper hand of mystery. "You really were mates with Dumbledore, weren't you? 'My dear girl', I feel like I'm in detention now."
"Aah, so you're one of Albus'," Grindelwald said. He narrowed his eyes and then he broke out in to a dismissive smirk. "I don't think he'd be very happy with you if he knew you were here, casting scary 'dark magic' and speaking with me."
"Probably not," Tonks agreed with a casual shrug. She morphed in to Dumbledore, enjoying the startled gasp that Grindelwald let out. "I'm afraid, my dear boy, I don't work for Albus though, do I?"
"Voldemort's then?" Grindelwald asked, his eyes and smile both bright as Tonks shifted back in to her typical appearance.
"Try again," Tonks grinned.
Grindelwald watched her thoughtfully while Tonks leaned against the wall in a mockingly casual pose.
"Not... oh my," Grindelwald's smile grew wide enough that Tonks could see that the yellowing color of his teeth went clear back to his molars. His eyes darted towards the bag on her bag quickly before returning to her face. "Has dear Harry created a following?"
"He calls it an alliance, better for recruiting," Tonks winked cheekily. "He's the reason I'm here."
"I wasn't worth Mister Potter traveling here himself?" Grindelwald asked with a bushy grey brow raised high. "I'd be insulted if I weren't so curious what he sent a messenger for."
Tonks would never have Severus and Harry's abilities to size a person up and manipulate a conversation with them oh so perfectly, but she wasn't daft either. Grindelwald was obviously interested in 'the Boy-Who-Lived'. In fact, if she squinted just right, and the candles flickered ever so perfectly, she would almost say that there was a glimmer of respect in Grindelwald's eyes when he mentioned Harry.
Which, admittedly, make quite a bit of sense. Grindelwald was known as a 'Dark Lord' due solely to his belief in magic supremacy. Grindelwald wasn't Voldemort with his all-consuming thirst for power for himself, his personal disgust of muggles, or his desire to single-handedly rule all witches and wizards and build their world in his image.
Grindelwald's methods were subtle- political, manipulative, and done in the public light. He wasn't above fighting dirty, or using what was labeled 'dark' magic to achieve his goals in freeing Wixen from hiding. His followers of thousands were due to his inclusivity- if you had magic, he wanted to sit down with you, explain his views, and by the end of it supposedly you couldn't help but agree with him and follow his causes.
It was an all too familiar story.
De-age Grindelwald, give him green eyes and a charming smile. Take away the label 'Dark' from his story (and wasn't history written by the victors?), and Grindelwald and Harry's differences were minimal.
"Harry's a busy man," Tonks answered him evasively. "I, however, recently came in to an abundance of free time and offered to make this journey on his behalf."
"Delightful," Grindelwald said. "And what does Mister Potter want with an old imprisoned wizard, Miss Oswald?"
"Your wand," Tonks said bluntly, watching his reaction carefully.
He wasn't even surprised.
She would bet that he knew what she wanted the second she purposefully removed the cloak in front of him.
His smile widened and his eyes twinkled in a way terribly reminiscent of Dumbledore. "My wand," he repeated in a soft and calm tone. "Mister Potter sent his message girl to a man locked away forever to ask for my wand? I was under the impression that he doesn't have much of a need for a wand."
"He's in the market for a new one," Tonks said with a small grin. "He prefers elder, of course."
"Of course," Grindelwald murmured as he returned her grin. His had a bite of amusement to it that she didn't quite like though. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid that Mister Potter has nothing to offer me, and, thus," he spread his thin arms wide, "I can't imagine why I would give up such an ancient artifact."
It was a risk.
A bloody high risk.
But Tonks knew that Voldemort wasn't the only name on Harry's hit list, and she doubted if Grindelwald appreciated that one of Dumbledore's crowning achievements was his defeat.
So it was a risk, but not an uncalculated one.
"How would the death of an old enemy work for you? Or... or friend, I suppose," Tonks winked knowingly, causing another delighted look to flash over Grindelwald's face. "I don't suppose you'd give up your wand in exchange for knowing that the second death it would cause would be Albus', would you?"
"Oh, dear girl, please," Grindelwald gestured towards the simple wooden chair pushed up against his desk. "Have a seat. I can tell we have quite the stories to share."
Tonks smiled as she pulled the chair out and settled down to get down to business. She checked her watch and did some quick math. "I've got approximately thirty minutes before I have to meet with my allies. So, how about I tell you how Harry is going to unite the hallows and kill Dumbledore and Voldemort both, and when I'm done, you tell me where that magnificent wand is hidden at."
"Mmm..." Grindelwald stroked his beard and studied Tonks with blatant amusement. "I'm afraid that Mister Potter will have to kill Albus before he unites the Hallows."
Grindelwald said nothing as he watched the pieces click together in Tonks' mind.
"But... I thought the wand could only pass through death?" she blurted, flabbergasted.
The history of the Elder Wand was bloody. All the lore said it had to pass through the blood of its previous master. It was the sole reason that she had been prepared to kill Grindelwald before she left.
And he must have known it too.
Grindelwald roared with laughter. "The wand has worked well for Albus since our rather famous duel, hasn't it?" he said. His smile shifted from something less genial to the cunning look of a man who had their opponent in a checkmate. "And, as I'm obviously alive, despite your intentions, my dear, I presume we can venture to say that defeating an opponent will reassign the wand's allegiance, can't we?"
Son of a bitch.
"So Harry has to defeat Albus Dumbledore in a duel if he wants the wand?"
"Don't be so downhearted!" Grindelwald cried, clearly enjoying himself quite a bit. "Why think so small? I see no reason why Mister Potter couldn't simply kill Albus and take the wand. What I am curious about, is why the darling Boy-Who-Lived wants to master death?"
Tonks had what she needed. She had no more reason to be there.
"Tell you what, you come to Britain sometime, and we'll get tea and I'll fill you in, alright?" she said with another cheeky wink. She got to her feet and pulled Harry's cloak out once more, a cloak that Grindelwald must have somehow deduced the owner of, and threw it over herself. "Maybe I'll tell you why Harry wants to master death and you can tell me how to fly without a broomstick, hmm?"
Grindelwald's joyous laughter followed Tonks clear down the staircase back to the entrance hall.
Really, Grindelwald wasn't all that bad. It was a shame it took so much work to get to him, Tonks had rarely enjoyed a battle of wits with such high stakes as she had with him.
Maybe when Harry became Minister he'd move Grindelwald to Britain, as a favor to Tonks as he now unknowingly owed her more than one.
***
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Severus yelled after Tonks told him the whole tale.
It had taken her a few days to get back. Johnny had managed to secure them a portkey out of the country, but they knew they couldn't return the same way. Not if they didn't want added to a list of Wixen who travelled to 'suspicious locations', if the request was even granted in the first place.
No, it was smarter to travel back with muggle methods. It had been exhausting and boring, riding endless trains and ferries while play acting as muggles then carefully charming their way past immigration checkpoints, all the more exhausting due to some odd tension between Charlie and Johnny that cropped up during Tonks' time with Grindelwald, but they finally made it back.
And Tonks left the boys at the Hogs Head to have what was clearly a much needed conversation with a firm order to sort their shit out. She even eased their way a little by prepaying for a few rounds of drinks for them.
It was truly the least she could do after they loyally risked so much to go on a dangerous mission with her despite their utter ignorance on the ultimate goal of the mission.
Severus' eyes were now dark with anger and his jaw had dropped in surprise when Tonks finished her tale. "What happened to 'we could be arrested'? No, wait, what happened to 'we'?" he hissed.
"We couldn't risk you getting arrested, and I knew this was too important to not follow up on," Tonks said stubbornly. "You can be mad, but what's done is done."
Severus seemed to silently repeat her words for a moment. "'What's done is done'?" he said softly. "Has everyone surrounding me lost their god damned minds?!"
Tonks raised her brows as he began pacing, ranting, and throwing his hands in the air.
She didn't think she'd ever met anyone who needed a vacation quite as badly as Severus.
"Harry is still convinced he is dead and checking around every corner for dementors! Theodore has knocked up his girlfriend—"
It took every ounce of control she had to not sputter that apparently little bookworm Theo had knocked up little prim Hermione.
Thank Merlin that Tonks' only teenage charge was stuck on Charlie. She could trust Charlie not to get Susan pregnant.
...she should probably double check that Susan knew about proper protection though, just in case.
Severus was still ranting, apparently on quite a stride. "And now you went to Nurmengard and broke in to Grindelwald's cell... For the love of God! When did Lovegood become the least problematic person in my life?!"
"I can go, if you're busy being an arse," Tonks said coolly. "I know you're frustrated and you're worried and stressed, but there's no point being worried about me now. It's done. We know where the wand is. Let's move on to getting it."
The most impossible plan yet, really.
Harry couldn't out duel Albus Dumbledore.
She was certain that Dumbledore would defeat Harry in any duel, despite Harry's magical prowess.
No, she was sure, as she suspected Severus was, that killing Dumbledore was Harry's best plan. But even that would take skill, talent, tactful planning, and more luck than even Felix Felicis could provide.
Severus halted his pacing and spun around to face her. "You have no self-preservation," he said irritably. "You could have died."
"It's sweet, your concern, but I'm a grown witch and I took a risk for the good of a war, Sev," Tonks reminded him. "I'm fine." She held her arms out and wiggled her fingers and her eyebrows. "See?"
Severus looked her over slowly, as if checking to see if she was hiding any injuries from him then nodded curtly. "You would have been well-suited for Gryffindor."
Tonks laughed, "Why? Because you think I'm impulsive?"
"No, though you are impulsive." Severus gave her a fond look. "You are also brave beyond logical reason."
Tonks' face lit up with happiness as she stepped towards him. "Perseverance had an excellent reward," she said, placing her hand on his chest coyly. "What reward comes for bravery beyond logical reason?"
Severus dipped his head down to hers and, in a moment that Tonks would privately swoon over for the rest of her life, he kissed her forehead. "Whatever you want," he murmured against her skin.
Tonks held back a blush at the way that Severus was somehow ridiculously romantic without even trying. He wasn't some conventional fairytale prince, but fairytales were terrible stories anyway.
Sit in a dress and wait for your prince to show up?
Hardly.
Tonks would rather grab a sword and fight the dragon alongside him.
"I've got a few ideas," she said in what she hoped was a sexy voice.
"Oh?"
Tonks stood up to whisper one of those ideas when there was a light knock on the door and Severus stepped away from her quickly while clearing his throat.
"Come in," he called after shooting her an apologetic grimace that she rolled her eyes at.
Harry slipped inside and then stopped just inside the entrance and stared unblinkingly at Tonks for a few very long seconds. "You said you're n-not a cop anymore, did I dream that?"
"No," she assured him quickly, "I'm not. I got— I quit a while back."
No need for Harry to blame himself for her and Johnny's removal from the department. Though, maybe Harry would be pleased about it. He really disliked aurors.
"And, here." Tonks pulled Harry's cloak from her bag and tossed it to him. "Charlie said thank you."
Harry nodded and then turned to Severus in a blatant dismissal of Tonks. "What d-does 'little horcrux' mean?"
Severus raised his hand to his lips and froze as he stared at Harry. And Harry, probably picking up on Severus' sudden mood swing, also froze.
"See you guys later," Tonks said, slipping right out of the room.
That was a 100% Severus-Harry only conversation. Tonks had her fill of near-death experiences for the month, thanks.