Remus and Tonks arrived back at Grimmauld Place to find some other members of the Order of the Phoenix at headquarters. Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Mad-Eye Moody were in the kitchen with Sirius, holding a discussion with their heads bent towards each other.
“What do you think is going on?” Tonks whispered to Remus, peeking her head around the corner. He shrugged.
Tonks stepped quietly into the kitchen. “Kingsley, Mad-Eye, Sirius,” she began, her voice shaking slightly. “What’s going on?”
Their discussion stopped immediately. Kingsley looked over to Tonks and said, “The war has officially begun.”
Tonks gasped. “What? What do you mean? Aren’t we already in the middle of the war-”
“No,” Kingsley cut her off. “This is truly the war. The kids- Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and two others- are at the Ministry of Magic at this moment, fighting off Death Eaters, we believe.”
“No!” Remus exclaimed, hurrying over to the table, pulling Tonks with him. “That can’t be true, they wouldn’t go there, would they?”
“It appears they already have!” Moody barked, his magical eye swiveling to look through the table, to where Tonks’ hand clutched Remus’. She saw this and quickly pulled it out of his.
“But, what would cause them to decide to go there on a whim?” Tonks asked. “Don’t they understand that this is so incredibly dangerous it could cost them their lives?”
Sirius spoke now. “You know, Tonks, I think they do know that. But, I am also sure that Harry believes that he has to fight for his friends, and, apparently, they want to fight for him too.”
“Yes, I am sure that is the case,” Moody said gruffly. “Now that we have established that, the four of us need to be on our way to help the kids with this damn mess!” He turned to look at Remus and Tonks. “Do you have your wands with you? You’d better, missy, being an Auror!”
Remus and Tonks pulled their wands out from their pockets and showed them to Moody.
“Great!” he barked, then stood up. “Alright you three, let’s go!”
“Wait one bloody minute,” Sirius said, standing up, a look of fury in his eyes. “Don’t any of you damn go anywhere without me!”
“Sirius, you have to stay here,” Kingsley said. “I am sorry, but considering you still haven’t been cleared by the Ministry-”
“I don’t give a damn about me being cleared by the bloody Ministry or not!” Sirius yelled, looking at the other four. “Look, Harry is my godson, and I haven’t exactly been around for him in times before this. Now is my chance to show him, and I am not going to just sit back on my arse and wait for him to possibly die, or just let you people defend him! I can’t jus sit here, not knowing what is happening!”
“Sirius,” Remus said, going over to his friend. “Look, there is already a chance that one of us is going to be killed there, Harry doesn’t need you dead too. You are the only family he has left.”
“I know,” Sirius said, tears in his eyes now. “That is why I have to go. I don’t give a damn about any person at the Ministry who could catch me. I don’t give a damn about any damned Death Eater. All I care about is that I need to defend Harry… and if that means I die in the process, so be it!”
Moody shook his head and barked, “Alright then. If we want to have any chance of saving these kids and kicking some Death Eaters’ arses, then we had best get a move on and get out of this bloody house!”
Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Sirius ran after Moody to the door. All five of them flew out of it, Tonks toppling over Remus and falling to the ground.
“Ow!” she yelled, rubbing her arm. Kingsley reached down a hand and pulled her up.
“Are you okay?” he asked her in his deep voice.
She nodded, wincing as she did so. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Let’s just go before we seriously run out of time for these poor kids.”
Tonks looked down to see Remus lying at her feet. “Oh, God, Remus, I am so sorry!” She reached down and helped pull him up.
“Thanks,” he murmured.
“Alright, now that everyone is done falling down and tripping over people,” Moody began, glaring at Tonks. “Now, let’s get a move on! We don’t have all this time to just waste like this!”
“Well, Mad-Eye, if that is the case, then why don’t you just stop lecturing us so that we can leave?” Tonks yelled.
“You know what, Missy-” Moody began, but was cut off by Sirius.
“She’s right,” Sirius said. “Harry and the others need our help, and we are bloody wasting time by yelling at each other. We need to get going right now!!”
Moody looked in silence from Sirius to Tonks; he had never been addressed like that by the two of them, and wouldn’t put up with it. “Look here!” he began, but Tonks and Sirius both yelled, “Shut up!” at the same time.
“Listen, Moody,” Kingsley said. “You are the one wasting our valuable time here, by yelling at them for yelling at you. You ought to just drop it and let us be on our way to help these poor kids!”
“Fine!” Moody barked. “Let’s be on our way then, to help these kids out of this mess they’ve gotten themselves into.”
“Mad-Eye, do you know exactly where they are?” Remus asked.
“No,” Moody said gruffly. “But I have a feeling that they aren’t in the main part of the Ministry. More than likely where no one would find them except for Death Eaters or someone on duty.”
“Do you mean the Department of Mysteries?” Tonks asked timidly.
“Yes, that is exactly what I mean,” Moody answered. He surveyed the four of them. “Look, Potter’s already had dreams with the Department of Mysteries, we know that. How else would we have found Arthur that night? The only logical thing is that he somehow had another, shall we say, vision that had to do with the Department. I say that is where we head. Agreed?” He surveyed all of them with his magical eye. The other four nodded.
“Let’s go then!” Moody said, turning on the spot and Disapparated.
Next, Kingsley turned, followed immediately by Sirius.
“Shall we?” Remus asked, looking to where Tonks stood; but all he saw was the last of a cloak spinning. Quickly, he turned and Apparated to the Department of Mysteries.
They arrived at the entrance to an eerie quietness.
“What do we do now?” Tonks whispered.
“Look,” Kingsley said, pointing to a black door at the end of a corridor. “That should be it.”
Sirius strode forward and pushed the door open. “Come on you guys!” he yelled over his shoulder. “Hurry up! I think this is it!”
Kingsley, Mad-Eye, Tonks and Remus rushed forward and into the room Sirius stood in. The walls formed a circle with around a dozen doors on them. Blue flames were all around on torches, forming an eerie and strange sort of blue glow.
Sirius strode to the door straight in front of him. He pushed it open quietly. In front of him, there was a room with a tank full of brains in the center. “Everyone, follow me,” he said, stepping inside the room quietly. “Look, all we need to do is see if we can see any Death Eaters or the kids around here, got it?”
The other four stepped quietly into the room, then split up. Remus and Tonks went together, looking in corners, behind shelves and under large objects for any sign of a Death Eater or one of the kids.
“Do you see them anywhere?” Tonks whispered, looking at Remus.
“No,” he replied. “But, it does look like they were in here before.” He pointed to a few shelves that had fallen down.
“Where do you think they could be then?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Remus answered. “I think that we ought to leave, though. There’s nothing here.”
“Psst!” Tonks hissed from where she stood. “Sirius! We need to get out of here. There’s no one.”
Remus and Tonks slid out from behind the shelves and ran over to the door, motioning everyone out.
The five met up in the room again.
“Alright,” Sirius said, looking at the others with worry. “We need to hurry. Come on!” He strode to a door to the left of where he stood and pushed it open.
“Oh my God!” he said, motioning the other four forward. He was looking down at a scene of battle about one hundred feet below where they stood. In the center, he found Harry, battling head on with Lucius Malfoy.
At once, all five of the adults sprinted into the room. Tonks shouted, ”Stupefy!”, stunning Lucius before he could get in a good hit at Harry.
“No!” Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked, turning away from Neville Longbottom and turning her attention to where the five adults were, rushing down the steps, sending spell after spell at the Death Eaters, who were all taken by shock.
Bellatrix kicked Neville and then rushed forward, sending curses up into the stands of the auditorium-like room where the Order members were running. Sirius was closest to the bottom, so Bellatrix chose to fire her first curse at him. He dodged it and jumped the last few steps, running over to fight Rookwood.
Kinglsey and Moody ran forward next, immediately getting into a duel with two other Death Eaters.
Remus looked back at Tonks, but she yelled, “Go!” to him, as she was now in full battle with Bellatrix.
Remus leaped the steps four at a time until he reached the bottom, beginning a fierce duel with Rodolfus Lestrange.
Lestrange grinned wickedly at Remus as he sent curses flying in Remus’ direction. Remus was fighting as hard as he possibly could, but he was still evenly matched with Lestrange, possibly a little bit less.
Suddenly, Remus heard a scream from above him. He turned quickly to see Tonks falling down the stone steps, her body limp, her blue hair flying out behind her.
No! Remus thought. Not Tonks, please not Tonks! Dear God, please don’t let her be dead…
He wasn’t able to concentrate any longer, but he knew he must, for his friends’ sakes and for the kids.
He turned back to face Lestrange, but then saw that he was in a heated battle with Sirius, along with Rookwood. Remus dashed forward to help, casting any spell he could think of that would possibly hurt them as much as they had hurt him.
“Well, buddy,” Sirius shouted to Remus. “Looks like this could be one of our last battles!”
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Remus shouted back.
“Oh, did I really say that?” Sirius asked. “What I meant was, it is time to kick some lazy, scummy Death Eater arse!”
They now stood in front of a dais with a veil draped on it. The battle was becoming vicious between the four of them, not including what was happening all around them. Flashes of red, green and golden light raced by in every direction.
Suddenly, a voice shouted “Dubbledore!”, cutting through all other sound. Remus didn’t know what it meant, and he didn’t have the time to look away at the moment.
Then, out of nowhere, Bellatrix appeared next to Lestrange and Rookwood, casting curses far fiercer than the other two had yet used on Sirius and Remus. The two fought back hard, Sirius laughing all the while.
“Come on!” he taunted her. “Is that the best you’ve got?”
Not a moment after he said it, a flash of green hit him in the chest, and Sirius fell gracefully, slowly into the veil.
“No!” Remus shouted over Bellatrix’s loud, maniacal cackles. "Sirius!" He began to cry. He couldn’t lose both Sirius and possibly Tonks, too.
Suddenly, Harry ran out from where he and Neville had apparently been hiding during the battle. Remus met him at the dais, grabbing his arms to restrain him from running to the veil, where surely only death awaited.
“Let me go!” Harry shouted, using all the force he could muster to free himself from Remus’ grasp.
“Harry,” Remus said, trying to choke back tears. “Harry, listen, he's gone."
“No he isn’t,” Harry yelled. “He’s still there- Just on the other side! Let me go!” He fought harder to get away, but Remus held him tighter.
“Harry, listen to me,” Remus said, tearfully. “He’s gone. He’s not on the other side. She killed him.” Tears were now falling freely down his face, and he didn't bother to even try to stop them.
Harry finally stopped fighting as realization set in. Then, he saw Bellatrix running away and ran after her.
Remus ran after him, yelling, “Harry! You must stay back!”
“No!” Harry yelled, running faster. “She killed him! Now, I’ve got to kill her!”
Remus chased after him, but stopped at the room with the doors, as he heard a shout from behind him. He looked back and saw Kingsley calling his name.
Kingsley was now battling Dolohov, Lestrange and Rookwood by himself. Lucius Malfoy still lay unconscious on the ground from when Tonks had stunned him, but he could be waking up at any minute.
Remus joined in the battle with Kingsley, praying in his mind that Harry had enough sense not to go after Bellatrix and that somehow he would remain safe.
Dolohov sent a curse flying in Remus’ direction. Remus yelled, ”Protego!”, managing to deflect the curse at the last second. Rookwood and Lestrange were now battling just Kingsley. Remus sent a stunning spell in their direction quickly, then turned back to Dolohov.
Remus and Kingsley managed to hold off the last three Death Eaters until workers from the Ministry arrived with Dementors to arrest the Death Eaters.
Once they were taken away, Remus ran over to where Tonks lay in the stands. He bent down close to her.
“Tonks!” he said, shaking her. “Tonks, wake up. Tonks, the battle’s done.” He looked around desperately. “Nymphadora, wake up!” He shook her a bit more, but she wouldn’t budge.
“Kingsley!” he yelled, looking over his shoulder.
Kingsley ran up the steps, saying, “Remus, what is it?” He looked down to Tonks and said, “We may want to get her to the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. Come on,” he said, lifting her up. “Help me get her out of here.”
Remus stood up, then bent down, grabbing Tonks by the arms, helping Kingsley carry her out of the Department of Mysteries.
“Do you know what happened to her?” Kingsley asked, breathing heavily.
“Bellatrix hit her with a curse,” Remus replied softly. “I don’t know what it was though.” He studied the way Kingsley was moving more carefully. “Kingsley, do you think you will need the Hospital Wing too?”
Kingsley nodded his head. “How much farther till we get out of here, do you think?”
“I don’t know,” Remus said. “Do you think it would be okay if we just Apparated to Hogsmeade from here?”
Before Kingsley could answer, there was a shout from over by a fireplace.
“Hey!” a woman yelled, running over to Remus and Kingsley. “You two, do you need to get somewhere with that woman?”
“Um, yes,” Remus answered, puzzled.
The woman led them over to a fireplace. “Here, you can use the Floo Network, alright?”
“But, aren’t all the fireplaces being watched?” Kingsley asked.
“Well, this is an emergency,” the woman answered. “Besides, I can hook this fireplace up to any one you want, since I work here; you’ll just need to hurry. Where is it that you need to go?”
“We need the Hogwarts Hospital Wing,” Remus answered.
“Okay,” the woman said, and she turned around to connect the Floo Network. After a few minutes, she turned back and said, “Okay, now if one of you men wants to go with the girl, just step in here. Take the powder like you would do normally, but make sure you hold her tight, so that she doesn’t get off course.” The woman held out a pot filled with Floo Powder.
Remus stepped forward, taking Tonks with him. He reached out his hand and placed it into the pot, bringing it out with a handful of a glittery powder. Making sure he had Tonks firmly, he stepped into the fireplace.
He adjusted Tonks one more time against him, then threw the powder down and yelled, “Hogwarts Hospital Wing!” He left Kingsley and the woman behind, spinning fast, catching glimpses of other grates before he and Tonks finally landed at the Hospital Wing.
Love Keeps Us Together (Sometimes Apart) by DontCallMeNymphadora
Chapter Notes: Here is chapter seven. Most of it takes place in the Department of Mysteries at the first battle. I hope you enjoy it! Review it, please, and tell me what you think!