23: Under Cover
It was dark.
For an instant, Remus almost panicked. He felt himself stumble on something soft, felt Tonks’ small hand grip his robes for support as they staggered out of portkey-yanked nowhere into an unknown darkness, his eyes raking in search of something, anything to confirm that this was no trap, no cell. He heard Tonks tumbling, felt her fingers grasp again but miss as her lips expelled half-breathed curse and he snatched for her with one hand, grasping his wand more firmly with the other.
What is going on here?
“Lumos!”
And then there was light. The colourful decorations of Felisha’s office flooded across his vision as the globe spheres spaced around the wall glowed into life. Felisha herself gave an apologetic smile as she slipped her wand back into the sleeve of her robe; placing the portkey globe safely onto the table, she dropped her eyes to where the presumably only half visible Tonks lay tangled between cloak and rug at the foot of her desk. She looked rather disgruntled.
“Bloody hell!” she swore quietly. “Stupid place to put a rug!”
Felisha grimaced slightly. “I am sorry. And I’m sorry it was dark when we arrived. I extinguished the lights before I left in case any of my colleagues happened to see the glow and knock on the door to see why I was up so late. I should have warned you.”
Certain now that they were alone and safe, Remus swept the cloak off. “That’s okay,” he said, carefully keeping his voice low all the same. “It was a reasonable precaution and no real harm was done.
Tonks gave him a long look of irritation. “Speak for yourself, Lupin. The bruises I can live with but the damage to my dignity is a little more terminal.”
“That damage was done long ago.” Smiling innocently, Remus leaned down and offered his hand to the Auror. For an instant, her eyebrow rose dangerously; but then, with a quirk of her lips, she accepted his offer and allowed herself to be hauled upright, dusting off her crumpled robes on reaching vertical.
“I hope you don’t think I’m going to let you get away with that,” she remarked casually as she palmed her wand. “Now is not the time, Remus, but I have a good memory. I will get you back.”
“I look forward to it.” Remus extended the cloak towards her with a flourish. “But for now, we have a job to do.”
Felisha had been watching them both with a distinct edge of amusement. “Glad you remembered,” she remarked with a smile. “Now, I’m going to go to my room now “ if you need me desperately, follow this corridor to the blue door at the end marked Staff Quarters. My chambers are the second on the left. I’ll leave the door unlocked just in case.” Accepting their acknowledging nods, she then lifted the portkey-globe and deposited it carefully into her desk drawer. “When you’re done, the portkey is in the top left drawer of my desk. Tap it three times with your wand and it’ll take you back to the Three Broomsticks. Be careful. Don’t get caught.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Tonks flashed a grin as she shook out the now rather crumpled invisibility cloak and draped it around her head like a wimple. Remus found himself staring at the rather bizarre sight of Tonks’ hairless, bodiless face grinning wickedly at him from mid-air.
He folded his arms and raised a pointed eyebrow. “I don’t suppose your father hails from Cheshire, does he?”
The Cheshire Tonks chuckled. “Kent actually. Now come on Alice. Down the rabbit hole with you.”
Rolling his eyes as he smiled, Remus stepped forward and slipped under the cloak to join the Auror. The world without turned silvery beyond the shroud of translucent material as the full length Tonks appeared once more beside him, the warmth of her body pressing against his hip as they shuffled together beneath their limited concealment. Her conservatively dark and ruffled hair brushed against his cheek and nose, providing a sweet and inviting odour of fruity shampoo…
Stop that, Lupin. Right now. Friend, friend, friend, friend…
He clenched his jaw. “Tight quarters,” he offered with as much casualness as he could muster.
He felt rather than saw her shrug of response. “I was just thinking it was surprisingly roomy.”
“Are you ready?” Remus started slightly at the sound of Felisha’s voice; against his side, he felt Tonks do the same. The researcher was standing by the door now, her hand wrapped bracingly around the knob. She gave a wan smile, in the direction of the wall.
“Remus?” she queried.
Remus started to nod before remembering that of course, such a gesture was useless.
“We’re ready,” he replied instead. “I hope you won’t take it amiss if I say I hope we don’t see you again tonight.”
Following his voice, Felisha smiled in a more accurate direction. “As long as you don’t mind me saying the same. Good luck to you both.”
And then, with a deep intake of breath, Felisha pulled open the door.
Remus and Tonks were moving instantly, his arm wrapped around her waist in support as they hurried forward in tight proximity through the doorway and into the dimly lit corridor beyond. At the swish of the cloak against her hand, Felisha followed but she did not acknowledge their presence in any way, simply extinguishing the lights with a clipped “Nox!” and pulling the door closed behind her. Without a backward glance, she turned and strode away.
Tonks looked at Remus. Remus looked at Tonks.
The levity and awkwardness of a moment before was banished in an instant, as the full weight of their situation dawned. Here he was, standing beneath an invisibility cloak in a shadowed corridor inside the Feral Institute, about to break into his cousin the Institute leader’s office in search of evidence of suspected Death Eater activity, while knowing full well that if he was captured, he would probably never see outside of these grim walls again. At his side, Tonks’ expression had also melted into serious professionalism “ grasping her wand firmly, she mouthed two words.
Rebekah’s office.
Remus nodded. Slowly, quietly, they began to make their way towards reception.
If the Institute was grim by day, it was downright sinister by night. The globe lights had been dimmed to a mere glimmer, a flicker of light all but engulfed by drifting shadows and the lurking dark. The silence was deep and lingering, threatening to swallow whole even the barely heard shuffle of their footsteps. Remus was an old hand at sneaking around beneath such a cloak by night “ many of his Hogwarts nights had passed beneath a silvery sheen with one or other of his fellow Marauders, seeking out secrets and managing mischief. But Hogwarts by night, even in darkness, with the brush of passing ghosts and the ever glowing eyes of Argus Filch’s cat had never seemed as dark and threatening as here.
Terrible things were afoot within these walls. Remus was certain of it.
And they had to find out what. Before it was too late.
He could hear the expulsions of his breath staining the dimness beyond and the sound of his heartbeat pounding. It was too quiet…
Careful, Remus. Such are the thoughts that trouble is made of. Better watch…
SLAM!
Bugger.
Grabbing Tonks unceremoniously around the waist, Remus thrust his back against the wall as the echo of the slamming door and a flash of blue light reverberated past them to the accompaniment of a too familiar mutter. He was only just in time.
“Have it done before tomorrow… knows I’ve got better things to do…”
Cymone Wrigley shuffled around the corner from the dim reception chamber beyond, her round face twisted with disgruntlement as she plodded with a certain lack of grace down the corridor towards them. Her wand was thrust loosely and crookedly into the sash at her waist.
“Don’t know why I bother… no appreciation for me… never get a word of thanks…”
Remus felt rather than saw Tonks stiffen against him. The cloak shifted as one hand took a grasp of silvery cloth and began to extend, fingers tensed, out in front of them.
Into Cymone’s path.
It was Remus’ turn to tense.
What is she doing? If she feels us here, if she hears us…
He could make no verbal warning, no sudden move that might be heard. Cymone was just too close…
And then she passed, her trajectory so near that the cloak whispered with the shifted air of her motion. Tonks’ hand snatched down sharply and then retracted with equal speed, the folds of material closing around her fist as she sucked it back against her body, her eyes following Cymone’s retreat down the dim corridor with unmistakable uncertainty. But the assistant did not turn and a moment later, she rounded a corner and was lost from view. Her mutterings faded to silence in her wake.
There was a substantial pause.
Carefully, quietly, his voice no more than a whisper of breath, Remus lowered his lips to Tonks’ ear.
“What did you just do?” he queried, his voice admirably calm.
A flicker of a smile crossed Tonks’ features. Without replying, she bent carefully and, after a quick check of the corridor, she extended her free hand outside of the cloak and pulled something inside. A moment later, she flourished it in front of his nose with a distinctly smug smile.
It was Cymone’s wand.
“Wand-sealed drawer in Rebekah’s office, remember?” Tonks’ voice was just as soft but infinitely more excited. “Home of the mystery diary? I saw Cymone use her wand to open it that day which means we can now open it too. What can I say? I couldn’t resist when I saw it just stuck in her belt.”
“What if she’d felt you take it?”
“She didn’t.”
“What if she’d seen it hanging in mid air when you’d taken it?”
“But she didn’t.”
“No, she didn’t.” Remus gave a sudden smile. “So nicely done. Even if you did all but give me a heart attack.”
Tonks’ returning smile was broad. “You’ll get over it. But we’d better get going. I don’t think we want to be here if she misses it and comes back looking.”
“Agreed.”
It was a few moments’ careful walking to move into the dimly lit reception area and a few steps more to reach Rebekah’s door. Somehow, it seemed quite formidably sturdy.
It took Remus’ only an instant’s examination to assess the situation. “That’s new. It’s been wand sealed.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Remus ran his eyes thoughtfully across the closed door. “There’s always a distinctive taste to the air around a wand sealed object. It’s hard to detect unless you’re looking for it but I’d know it anywhere.” He smiled slightly. “Not to mention the blue flash was a bit of a giveaway.”
“So she’s got something to hide. It’s a good thing I borrowed this then,” Tonks shook Cymone’s appropriated wand with a flash of a grin. “Ready?”
At Remus’ nod, Tonks extended the wand. “Liber Emitto!” she whispered.
Blue light flared and then faded. The door clicked.
“Let’s go.” Tonks’ hand closed quickly around the doorknob. With Remus at her side, they hurried into Rebekah’s office.
“Don’t close the door.” Remus forestalled his partner as she reached back to close them inside. “That’ll reactivate the wand seal and Liber Emitto doesn’t always work from both sides.”
“Then you’d better keep watch.” With a quick glance back, Tonks abruptly ducked out from beneath the cloak as she moved hurriedly round the edge of Rebekah’s desk, stumbling slightly as she shifted to avoid knocking the pictures that rested on its corner. With a nod, Remus obeyed, shifting his shoulders beneath the concealment of the cloak as he lingered in the doorway, gazing out into the dim undulations of shadow and flicker for any sign of movement. A fresh mutter of “Liber Emitto!” and a new flash of blue told him that Tonks had successfully unsealed the drawer “ with a quick glance back, he saw her place Cymone’s wand on the desk top as she pulled the drawer open, using her own wand to light her vision. A moment later, he heard a curse.
“Tonks?”
His partner swore again. “The diary isn’t here “ she must have moved it. It’s just that black ebony box.”
“What’s inside?”
“I’m just looking.” Remus heard the creak of hinges. And then…
“Oh bloody hell.”
That did not sound good. “Tonks?”
A dark head appeared over the rim of the desk. “Remus, I think you’d better come and look at this.”
Remus was at her side in an instant, ducking out from beneath the invisibility cloak as he crouched at her side. The light from Tonks’ wand tip was pale, casting her features into sharp relief, but there was no missing the shock and concern within her eyes. In one hand, she held a flask. In the other, there was a small, drawstring purse.
“There are papers in there,” Tonks nodded her head in the direction of the now opened ebony box “ following her gaze, Remus indeed spotted a neatly written sheath of documents and a small pile of scrolls heaped within its dark confines “And I think that handwriting is the same as the writing I saw in that diary. But that isn’t what worries me. Smell this.”
Accepting the open flask from her outstretched hand, Remus took a sniff. The foul stench seared his nostrils almost made him retch “ he recoiled instantly with a gasp, risking a brief glance inside and catching a quick glimpse of a gloopy, mud like substance through the rim of the container before prudence forced him to replace the top or risk losing a substantial number of his nose hairs. Eyes watering, he stared at Tonks.
“What is that?” he asked with a shake of his head. “It’s revolting!”
“I can’t be sure until we’ve got it back to Snape for testing.” Tonks sighed deeply. “It’s been a long time since NEWT potions and I wouldn’t like to be wrong. But after seeing what’s in here…” She hefted the drawstring pouch. “I think I can make a fair guess.”
Gently, she extended her palm and upended the pouch above it. And Remus stared.
Oh no. Not again.
For lying there, glinting brown but with just a hint of redness, was a ribbon tied curl of hair.
Remus closed his eyes. “Polyjuice.”
Tonks nodded. “That’s what I reckon. And does this hair remind you of anyone?”
A wave of disbelief was rampaging through Remus’ psyche. It can’t be her. It just can’t be. Everything she’s done, her every response to me makes sense “ why would it make sense if she was not who she claimed to be?
But yet, the colour was right. And it was her office…
“Rebekah,” he whispered softly.
He saw Tonks sigh wearily as she decanted a sample of the potion into a glass vial she had transfigured from some blank notepaper. “Looks like I was right and wrong about the good Professor,” she said, dropping the hair back into the purse and she replaced it beside the flask in the ebony box. “She is our Death Eater. She’s just not Rebekah Goldstein.”
Remus breathed deeply. “But I don’t understand. She knew so much about me. And her family…” He broke off, eyes suddenly wide. “She’s been avoiding her family. Ruth told me so. And she told me that she hadn’t been herself lately…”
“And her sister would know best.” Tonks’ expression was weary. “Barty Crouch Junior convinced everyone that he was Mad-Eye for a year. He even fooled Dumbledore. With enough research and regular doses of Polyjuice, a good enough actor can be anyone.”
Remus shook his head once more, trying to shake away the cold as his preconceptions and assumptions about the situation in the Institute came crashing down around him. “How long, do you think? As long as we’ve know her? Or is it more recent than that?”
Tonks met his eyes with a frown, her face pale by the dull light. “Hard to say. But we need to make sure first.” She quirked an eyebrow. “For all we know for sure, this could be a patented beauty cream.”
“Somehow, I doubt it.” Remus ran his eyes over the ebony box, its secrets curled within its blackened grasp. “Let’s take a look at these documents and then get out of here. We may be able to find out…”
But Remus’ voice trailed away, his sentence unfinished. His eyes lifted to the door.
Footsteps. Coming their way.
“…Can’t believe I left it here! I just want to go to sleep…”
“Sod it!” Pushing the ebony box abruptly closed, Tonks shoved the drawer back into place and sharply extinguished her wand. At her side, Remus scrambled with the invisibility cloak, dragging it quickly over both of them as they dropped to the floor and froze.
They were only just in time.
The footsteps halted at the door. There was a pause.
“I could have sworn I closed this.” Cymone’s voice sounded slightly confused as her footsteps moved slowly into the office “ Remus tried to peer round and catch a glimpse of her, but a combination of the desk and Tonks prevented a decent view. But she was approaching the desk…
Cymone’s wand. It was on the desk.
Oh sweet Merlin.
But it was too late. Cymone had already seen it.
“There you are!” Remus caught a glimpse of a podgy hand “ he heard Tonks’ sharp but soft intake of breath as she too realised what was about to happen. But there was nothing they could do.
Nothing but lie still and listen as Cymone stepped out of the room and pulled the door closed. Blue light flared.
And there was silence.
Tonks stared at Remus. Remus stared back.
They did not need words. They both knew the seriousness of their situation.
The door had been closed. The wand seal had resumed. And the only wand they had to open it had gone with its owner.
They were trapped.