Reviews:
Sh0ckWav3 : Yes, it was.
Lord Chronus: I'd like to answer but that unfortuantly falls under spoilers.
VincentFS: THe pairing had been like this for a pretty long time (maybe even from the start, I don't really remember) and I think this is the one time it actually works beyond fan-service as this is a literal story about two beings in one. What other story would a multi-pairing really work in?
Fire turtle: Just kissing and he'll check on them later
NovaKush: Owl actually.
sKidoodle: I will be trying to handle this in a more realistic and better way (hopefully.
GhostFang GF: To answer your questions in order:
1) I have some planned but nothing confirmed yet.
2) I just watched a new hope recently (I had watched it once years ago) and will try to get into the star wars franchise when I have time. I watched four/five seasons of game of thrones and I wasn't a big fan of it personally. It's not likely I'll post for either of those franchises
3) I just finished re-reading the story and am hoping to get the story done this month or early next month but I will be posting another chapter for this story before that.
4/5/6: It depends on what my patrons vote for, but I won't be posting new stories for a while as I want to finish up a few stories first.
7: Originally puppies but I've met a really cute cat at work and apparently their quite well liked in my religion so I'm going to answer with kittens (I was a bit heartbroken when the cat had been taken away)
8) No
9) I had to google it, I believe you're referring to Calvin and Hobbes. Also, FYI, for me it was the curry incident and I don't want Phillip at the next press conference.
Chapter 64:
Tonks let out a deep sigh as she sat at her desk, one thing that nobody had ever seen fit to warn her about was the large amount of paperwork that came with being an auror. It didn't really help matters that she didn't really have an office of her own, she only really had a small cubicle for herself with just enough room for a desk, a chair and a drawer to keep her paperwork in. Meaning that she could hear and see the very distracting aurors around her that also had similar setups.
Tonks had always wanted to be an auror, at first, she thought it would be nice to help people and be allowed to tell people what to do. But then she had heard about a particularly evil cow of a woman known as Bellatrix Lestrange. Her mother's sister and Tonks's aunt. Apparently, the woman was one of the most infamous dark witches of all time and you-know-who's right hand after Sirius Black (or at least she was until Sirius had been proven innocent). Hearing that she was related to such a horrible woman had made Tonks feel sick at that time, she had used that feeling as motivation and made her way into being an auror so that she could help the people of the wizarding world, hoping that she could maybe make up for what her aunt had done, maybe even just balance the scale a little.
Yet, sitting here, filling another report, she couldn't help but feel like she had done squat since joining. Sure, she had stopped some low-level criminals, but that was it. Even then, a small percentage of those criminals were back out on the street thanks to bail, 'accidental' and accidental errors, bribes (not that anyone here does that or suspects someone like Fudge of doing that) or simply because they were the 'right' sort. Instead of helping people she had to fill in reports while scum got free reign to do whatever they wanted.
"Tonks," Kingsley said as he walked over to her. "You've been called into the Head Auror office,"
"What?" Tonks groaned. "What does he want now?"
"I don't know," Kingsley said apologetically. "But I'd say it's best to just get it over with, yeah," He suggested, patting her on the shoulder.
"Might as well," She sighed before standing up and walking over to the office of Rufus Scrimgeour, the head auror. He was a man who had been in the game for a pretty long time, he'd started at the very bottom and had scratched and clawed his way all the way up to the top. Well...second to the top as far as the aurors were concerned as Madam Bones was technically above him. Once she stopped outside of his door she took a deep breath and knocked.
"Enter," He called, she opened the door and poked her head in, finding him sitting at his desk and signing some papers. He looked rather like an old lion with grey streaks in his mane of tawny hair, he had bushy eyebrows along with a pair of keen yellowish eyes and wore wire-rimmed spectacles. He was dressed in an immaculate suit as always. His office was just as stuffy as he was, holding only the most basic of things like furniture and books and such, the only noticeable things were the awards he had pinned to the wall behind him.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Tonks asked quietly, her hair now a dull brown as she knew that the head auror disapproved of her 'rather childish insistence on bright colours' as he once put it.
"Why are you waiting at the door?" He asked in a gruff voice, not yet looking up from the papers in front of him. "When I say 'enter' that means come inside, not perch yourself around in my doorway,"
"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir." She said, fully coming in and closing the door behind her.
"Sit," He finally looked up and gestured to the chair on the other side of his desk.
"Yes, Sir," She walked over and with a decent amount of grace, parked herself in the chair while Scrimgeour finished organising his work. She didn't say anything, waiting for him to finish. Once he was done, he steepled his fingers together and leaned back in his chair, staring at Tonks critically.
"Do you know why I have called you in here, Auror Tonks?" He asked in a slow voice.
"No, Sir, I'm afraid I don't." She said, shaking her head lightly.
"You've been stationed at Hogwarts for quite a decent time now, correct?" He asked.
"Yes, Sir," She nodded.
"It hasn't been too difficult for you, has it?"
"No, Sir," She shook her head.
"You are sure? You've not had any difficulties in there? Nothing too hard or dangerous there?"
"Um...no, Sir. Sir, may I please ask -"
"So, what you are saying is that you have not had any problems working at that school?"
"No, Sir. I have not,"
"Perhaps you might want to consider working there full-time then," He suggested lightly. "Maybe a permanent job there if you can find it, they are always looking for a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, unfortunately."
"What? I...Sir, are you firing me?" She gaped at him.
"No, no, we're not quite at that point yet, though I have considered that option multiple times, I assure you." He said, staring at her with an unamused expression. "You - along with several other aurors - have been placed in an environment that you all should be more than familiar enough with and all you have to do is make sure that no laws are being broken and take action if it is. That is what your job is. Now, will you please tell me why, of all the aurors stationed there, you must be the one to disobey my orders?"
"Disobey?" She blinked hard. "With all due respect, Sir, I don't know -"
"Respect?" He cut in. "You want to talk about respect, Auror Tonks? When I was given orders by my superiors, I obeyed out of respect. You did not do the same thing. Answer me this, Auror Tonks, are you or are you not still looking into 'Case Shifter'?"
Tonks froze, realising exactly what Scrimegeour was talking about. 'Case Shifter' was the name given to the case of 'Venom', the mysterious shape-shifter who had not only saved Tonks but had also mauled several people and permanently ended several more at the Quidditch World Cup. Before the World Cup, Tonks had been allowed to work on the case when she wasn't working at Hogwarts. But since the World Cup where multiple 'respected and esteemed' pure-blooded wizards had died (never mind if they were dressed like death eaters or not), she had lost the case and it had been given instead to Auror Dawlish since he was a far superior auror (massive kiss-ass).
That hadn't meant that she had dropped the case altogether though, she had been looking into it whenever she had a free moment at work. But thus far, she hadn't been able to find out much, especially since she had to be discreet and couldn't openly ask for information.
"Sir, I think there is something important about this case," Tonks tried to explain. "I don't know what it is but I feel it could be -"
"Feelings, Auror Tonks, are for children." He cut her off once more. "In this line of work, we work with cold, hard facts. The facts of this particular matter are as follows, you were on the case. Now, you are not. That should be quite simple."
"But, Sir, I know I could help with this case," She protested. "I am-"
"Auror Tonks, I did not ask if you could help with this case. There are many, many aurors that can help with this case, many that are more experienced than you, I might add." He frowned deeply at her. "I have told you before that you are not to work on this case anymore. It is a matter for Auror Dawlish."
"But I just-"
"Is that back-chat I hear?" He asked in a deceptively light voice. "I would hope not, the last auror who tried to argue with me is now currently working in the 'Goblin Relations' department. I am sure that a promising young woman such as yourself need not suffer a similar fate." He said, eyeing her dangerously. "Now, I would advise you to leave and go back to work. I believe that it's your turn to be at Hogwarts in about an hour or so, better to hurry along, Auror Tonks."
"Yes, Sir," She said in a subdued tone as she stood up, trying hard not to glare at the man in front of her. Though she did make her hair the brightest shade of pink she could as she walked out of the room just to piss him off.
"Will he be okay?" Narcissa Malfoy asked in a worried voice.
She and her 'beloved' husband were currently in St Mungo's hospital, she sat while her husband stood behind her. Sitting on the bed in front of her was her son, Draco, who was dressed in nothing but a hospital robe. The doctors had finally managed to grow his hair back, but she was still worried. She had all but fainted when she had heard about what had happened to her son. From what she heard, he had suffered through several broken bones and damaged organs, and the skin on the back of his neck had been peeled off and he now had a big, jagged scar that went from his forehead, all the way to the bottom of his chin. The healers hadn't been able to get rid of that, but they had thankfully regrown his tongue.
While she sat with worry, her husband stood behind with a stony expression that hid the fury he was feeling. Though she couldn't help but wonder, was this anger because someone had attacked his son or because someone attacked the Malfoy heir? Probably the second.
"He'll be fine, with a day or two of rest," The healer assured her. "Unfortunately, the scar doesn't seem to want to heal. I'll give you some cream to make it less visible, but there's not much we can do beyond that. I'll leave you three alone now."
"Draco," Lucius said once the healer had gone and he had cast several privacy spells. "Who had done this to you? I am hearing reports of a monster of some sort?"
"It was a monster, Father," Draco nodded in confirmation, wincing as pain flared in his neck. "I don't know what it was, I have never seen anything like it. It was some bird, made of red goo, but it was big, bigger than a hippogriff easily. It called itself 'Carnage'."
"Carnage," Lucius repeated softly, a thoughtful look on his face. "Why did it single you out? The other children only had broken bones,"
"It said it didn't want to kill me," Draco gulped, a shiver passed through his body. "It said that its father didn't want me dead, only maimed."
"Father? So, there is another beast?" Lucius hummed. "And it was targeting you specifically, an enemy of the family, perhaps."
"Maybe it was Potter, I had an argument with him just before this happened," Draco suggested.
"I doubt it," Lucius sniffed. "A Gryffindor like Potter would hardly be able to hide such a beast, perhaps more likely that it belongs to that oaf, Hagrid." A grin appeared on Lucius's face. "Oh, that will be a fun angle, the school board and the ministry would love to hear about this. Perhaps the newspapers as well,"
"Is that all you care about?!" Narcissa snapped at him, glaring heatedly. "Our son has been put in the hospital and all you are concerned about is getting one up on an old man?!" She then turned to Draco. "And you, I have told you repeatedly to stop antagonising Harry Potter."
"Why should I?!" Draco demanded. "I'm not scared of him!" He was, but he would not admit that. Despite what he says, Draco knows that Harry Potter hopelessly outclassed him and that knowledge pained him worse than his stay in the hospital. But for now, Draco was content to enjoy his fun as Potter wouldn't harm him while he was in school.
"For Merlin's sake, Draco! What do you gain by behaving like such a boorish little brute?!" She demanded. "Do not think that I am unaware of how you've been behaving at school. As for Potter, he is the boy who lived, he is going to have some influence when he's older that could make your life difficult. And that's without being the future head of the Potter house. Do not forget that with Cousin Sirius released, he is also likely to become the heir to the Black family."
"Both of which fail to compare to the Malfoy family," Draco sneered.
"The Malfoy family got more than half of its fortune from the Black family, Draco!" Narcissa glared at him. "You're father has made enough enemies, why must you insist on adding more to the list?"
"Enough, Narcissa, you are out of line," Lucius cut in firmly.
"Am I?" She stood and turned to face him. "Do not forget, Lucius, I know exactly what you did during the last war. Many others know as well, or at least suspect, damn near everywhere I go I hear the same things, the same whispers. How many orphans and widows must you have created Lucius? How many enemies? Which one of those enemies is now attacking our family? Which enemy of yours attacked my son? Am I next? Are you? Was it even an enemy of yours? Or did our son, who insists on following in your footsteps, create a problem with an entirely different individual?"
"Mother, enough!" Draco snapped at her. "Father is a great man, there is nothing wrong with the way either of us is behaving. We are not the common blood, we are the best of the best. The purest of purebloods!"
"And that makes you believe you are entitled to do whatever it is you want?! Do not forget, Draco, that I was born a daughter of the Black family, a family so old that we make the Malfoy family look like newborns, and if I acted the way you act when I was a child then I would have had my backside stung by enough hexes that I wouldn't be able to sit for a week. You, Draco are going down a path you do not need to go down, nor one that I wish for you to follow."
"It is not for you to decide how my son behaves or acts," Lucius glared at her.
"Your son?!" She stared at him with disbelief. "I think you fail to recall, Lucius, that Draco is our son. It was I who raised him in my body for eight months!"
"Eight?" Draco frowned. "Shouldn't it be nine?"
"No, because you were just as impatient and disobedient back then as well!" She snapped at him before turning back to Lucius. "The last blood war did nothing but harm our world. So many pureblood families lost because they didn't bend the knee to...to that man!"
"If they were so foolish to resist then they frankly deserved to be wiped out," Lucius said coldly.
"Lucius!" Narcissa gasped. "There were hundreds of children that died! Children who hadn't even become old enough to receive their Hogwarts letters!"
"I know, Narcissa," He drawled. "As you stated previously, I was well involved." Narcissa stepped back as if slapped, she looked at Draco who looked unbothered by his father's comment and then turned back to Lucius.
"Lucius, if the goal is to help the purebloods then surely wiping them out if they don't obey is counterproductive at best," She said, looking him firmly in the eye and not seeing anything, anything at all that showed he was remotely bothered by what she was saying. The only thing she saw was annoyance. "The dark lord could have permanently ruined us,"
"Enough, Narcissa,"
"If we keep going down this path then we will lose eventually, one day someone is going to have enough and we won't be able to recover. I am begging you, Lucius, to stop pulling our son with you and stop this. We need to make some changes or-ah!" She gasped as she felt her head snap to the side, a stinging sensation on her face. Her hand reached up and gingerly touched her face.
"If I wanted your opinion, Narcissa, then I would have asked for it." Lucius lowered his hand, a sneer on his face. She looked at her son and saw no sympathy on his face.
"You were out of line, Mother," Draco said coldly. "Father and I will continue as we wish, you can get used to it or move on. I have no love for blood traitors and I will not tolerate having one for a mother. Learn your place in this family."
"Well said, Draco," Lucius nodded approvingly.
"I see," Narcissa said shakily, lowering her head as she turned and walked out of the room.
"Do not concern yourself with your mother," Lucius told Draco. "Women are fickle, emotional creatures, I will handle her. For now, I must think about this attack," He said to Draco before he turned and walked out of the room without a word. Draco let out a small sigh before he leaned back in his bed. He closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep.
Though that quickly became unsuccessful as he felt the need to go to the toilet, with another sigh he prepared to get up and go to the toilet, only to feel something snap around his ankles and wrists. He opened his eyes and screamed when he saw Carnage looming over him, the bird had its talons on the bed while eight red tentacles poured out of its back. Four to hold itself up and four to restrain Draco's limbs.
"Help! Help!" Draco yelled, barely noticing that he had wet himself.
"No help coming, little Malfoy, your dumbass father forgot to take off the privacy spells," Carnage cackled as she flapped her wings. "You should have listened to your mother. While we're on that subject, let's talk about the proper respect one should show to their parents."
"Auror Dawlish," The auror in question looked up and blinked when he spotted the head auror standing next to his desk. Dawlish quickly leapt up to his feet.
"Yes, Sir?" He asked in a respectful voice.
"I wanted to know what your progress with 'Case Shifter' is?" Scrimgeour asked in a business-like tone.
"I'm still working on it, Sir, I've been looking into the background of all the victims and have been able to contact and speak with them or their families, all except one,"
"One?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Sir, one of the girls attacked at the World Cup, she and her little sister have been saved by this so-called 'Venom', but I've not been able to set up an interview yet. Her father is pretty high up in the French Ministry and it's a nightmare trying to get a meeting with him. His daughter is in Hogwarts at the moment due to the tournament, I got a statement from her given to us after the World Cup attack. I've been trying to meet with the father to see if the family has any enemies that could give us clues but I won't know until I manage to secure a meeting with Mr Delacour,"
"Delacour?"
"Yes, you know him?"
"The name sounds familiar," Scrimgeour gave a thoughtful frown. "Still, keep up the work, Auror Dawlish." He said before turning and walking away, heading straight out of the office and quickly walking into a nearby broom closet. Once he was inside, he looked around to make sure he was alone. Suddenly his face started changing shape, as did his hair and body, a second later the head auror was replaced by one Nymphadora Tonks.
"Fleur?" Tonks whispered to herself. "She'll know something," She said hopefully with a grin before she turned and walked out of the closet, looking around to make sure that nobody had seen her. She continued walking as if nothing was wrong, barely turning a corner before she found Kingsley hurrying towards her at a less-than-calm pace.
"Tonks! There you are, follow me!" He ordered, walking past her. She quickly followed after him with barely a blink.
"Shack, what's going on?" She asked.
"There's been an attack in St Mungo's, the Minister is livid! He wants all hands on deck!" He grunted.
"Shit, who was attacked?" She couldn't help but ask.
"Malfoy's son,"
"Draco?"
"You know him?"
"I met him a few times, he's an irritating little brat who could have used a few more spankings when he was younger." She frowned. "What happened to him?"
"I don't know, the last I heard, he had his tongue ripped out of his mouth."
A.N: Fun fact, I originally forgot I had Draco's tongue ripped out earlier when I posted this chapter on pat-reon and had to edit it.