Complicity
It was nearing nine o’clock, and Tonks’ shift was about to end.
Leaning back against the tree in the front yard, Tonks fingered her wand longingly and gazed up at the house. Through a window on the second floor, she could see Harry reading by the light of a single candle and felt fury well up inside her. The good-for-nothings couldn’t even give the boy a light?
Oh, how she wished…
But “ wait.
She shifted uneasily, her eyes narrowing as she saw Harry’s bedroom door open. Something didn’t feel right…
Vernon Dursley loomed in the doorway, and she could hear his shouts from where she stood.
The man had thirty seconds to shut his fat mouth before she “
The crack of an Apparition sounded behind her and Tonks spun on her heel, wand at the ready, only to see Mundungus Fletcher blinking blearily at her. The drunkard opened his mouth to greet her but a sudden movement from above caught the man’s eye.
Swearing a blue streak, Fletcher dropped his bottle of whiskey to the ground and fumbled for his wand. And Tonks turned around and looked up.
Nothing.
“Where’d they go?” Fletcher wheezed, and Tonks felt a chill down her spine.
“Oh, bloody“”
A hoarse scream echoed from the house, and the two Order members were racing for the door almost before it began. They blasted the door down and pushed past Petunia Dursley, frozen in shock as she gazed up the stairs, past Dudley Dursley, who stood in the hallway sniggering “
Vernon Dursley looked up, his fists clenched and bloody, and stared at the two Order members with relentless hate burning in his eyes.
“FREAKS!” the man screamed wildly. “I’VE HAD IT WITH YOU DAMNED“”
Glaring at the younger man, Mundungus Fletcher fired off a single spell and watched with drunken delight as Dursley fell to the floor in a dead faint.
“Nice one, Dung,” Tonks complimented mildly, stepping over the comatose man. “Now where is “ oh my God.”
Lifting his eyes from his handiwork, Dung stared at the dilapidated bed.
There lay the Boy Who Lived, battered and bleeding. Though it had taken Tonks and Dung less than fifteen seconds to get across the yard, into the house and up the stairs, Vernon Dursley had used that time very well indeed.
“Oh, Harry,” Tonks breathed sadly, stepping forward to brush his hair from his face. The wounded teen wheezed, his lungs contracting in a set of racking coughs, and Tonks winced. With a quick motion, she fired her Patronus “ a large, shaggy wolf “ and sent it off to Dumbledore.
“What’d’yeh s’ppose set ’im off?” Dung grunted, nudging Dursley with his toe, and Tons shrugged tiredly.
“Maybe Harry breathed too loud,” she said angrily. “Hermione and Ginny told me “ they told me he wasn’t happy here, but I never thought…”
Her voice trailed off as a silver phoenix swooped through the window and collided with her.
Remain where you are. I’ll send Poppy immediately. He must not leave Privet Drive.
“The hell with that,” Tonks said immediately. “Dung, find Remus and sent him to Hogwarts. We’ll meet you there.”
The drunken man nodded dumbly and turned to run down the stairs, disappearing with a sharp crack the moment he stepped through the door. A moment later, Tonks gathered Harry to her chest “ casting a quick charm to lessen his weight “ and carried him down the stairs.
With a single muttered word, they were gone.
***
Remus Lupin was an angry man.
He raced through Grimmauld Place, grabbing his boots out of the kitchen, his cloak out of the old parlor and threw a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace before shouting, “Hermione Granger!”
Moments later, a frantic Hermione had been informed that he was on his way. The Gryffindor girl insisted on contacting Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood while Remus Flooed the Weasleys.
Less than three minutes later, Lupin raced out of Grimmauld Place and disappeared with a sharp crack, reappearing in a cozy London suburb.
His feet had barely touched the ground before Hermione, waiting in the lawn, flung herself at him, and they disappeared with another sharp crack.
***
When Albus Dumbledore entered the Hogwarts hospital wing, the first thing he saw was a battered and bruised Harry Potter lying helplessly in a hospital bed, his eyes closed.
The second thing he saw was Hermione Granger holding Harry’s left hand, Ronald Weasley holding Harry’s right, Ginevra Weasley and Luna Lovegood sitting by his knees, and Neville Longbottom leaning against the bed’s footboard.
The third thing he saw was Severus Snape and Poppy Pomfrey bustling around the hospital wing, shouting to each other about which potions and spells to use to save the boy.
And the fourth thing he saw was the remainder of the Order, assembled in its entirety “ and all of them glaring at him.
“Nymphadora,” the Headmaster began, and the woman in question very nearly snarled at him. As his voice trailed off, Hermione’s head whipped around and the other four students rose to their feet, each of them “ even Luna “ eyeing Dumbledore as though he were a particularly annoying mosquito.
Though he was unnerved by their treatment, Dumbledore forged on.
“You removed Harry from that house despite my express orders to remain,” he continued, and Tonks, her face darkening, cut him off.
“Would you like to know what I think of your express orders, sir?” she demanded. “There’s only one word for what you’ve done: complicity. You knew, didn’t you?”
“Knew?” Dumbledore asked, his brow furrowed.
“Don’t play games, Dumbledore,” Remus hissed. “You knew he was being abused in that house. And you sent him back there, year after year.”
“I“”
“Don’t bother denying it,” Pomfrey said shortly as she bustled to Harry’s side with a tray covered in potions’ vials. “I already told them that you’ve been convincing me to hold my tongue “ against my better judgment “ since the boy’s first year.”
Dumbledore stared at the mediwitch, stunned, as Snape barked, “Weasley! Lovegood! Move!” and immediately bent over the spot the two girls had vacated, spreading a thick green substance over Harry’s ribcage.
“Will “ will he live?” Dumbledore asked wearily, and Snape snorted.
“Yes, Albus, the wonder boy will rise again to fight for you,” he said sourly, and Dumbledore flinched.
“I only “ I“”
“Save it,” Hermione spoke up suddenly, rising from her seat by Harry’s side. “You knew and you left him there. That’s all I need to know.”
“I’m going to get the Dursleys arrested,” Tonks said shortly. “If you talk real quick-like,” she drawled sarcastically, “I might leave your name out of it. This is your only chance.”
Dumbledore was silent.
“Coming, Hermione?” Tonks asked, spinning on her heel, and the younger girl hesitated, her eyes drawn back to Harry’s face.
Ron tried to smile reassuringly. “I’ll stay with him,” he said quietly.
“As will we,” Luna spoke up, and Ginny nodded while Neville shrugged.
“The Longbottom name is still good for something,” he said darkly, shooting a glare Snape’s way when the Potions Master snorted. “I’ll come along.”
Tonks nodded sharply, squeezed Remus’s hand and led the two students form the hospital wing. Glancing back, she saw Remus fall into Hermione’s chair, his head in his shaking hands.
Swallowing back her rage, she strode down to the Entrance Hall and across the grounds, grabbed Neville and Hermione’s arms, and disappeared.
They reappeared in the Ministry Atrium, and Tonks led them down to the DMLE. Ignoring Dawlish’s glare, Kingsley’s astonished stare as a bundle of paperwork fell from his arms, she walked right up to Amelia Bones’ office and knocked sharply on the door.
“Enter!” a voice boomed, and Tonks glanced questioning at Neville and Hermione, who nodded back.
“We’re here to report a case of child abuse and neglect, Minister,” she said evenly as she stepped through the door.
Bones frowned from behind her desk, twirling a quill absently in one hand as Neville closed her office door.
“Against whom?” Bones asked.
“The Muggle guardians of Harry James Potter,” Hermione said roughly.
The quill fell from Bones’s hand.