Jumble Fic- Part Two
Title: Inquisition Part TWO
Author: Devonwood
Format: Fic
Rating & Warnings: PG-13/T
Prompts: Extendable Ears; Molly/Arthur Weasley, Harry, Umbridge; Ponder; Drama
Word Count: 3,353
Summary: “Case Number J10027, Remus John Lupin, Werewolf.”
Author’s Notes: This took so much longer than I’d anticipated....a little rushed at the end, though. I also have over a dozen fics to catch up with, so…I’m going to be busy for a while. :D
For some reason, this wouldn't post in one part (even though it's only 3,000 words), so I had to split it in half...
Sebring Finch coughed into his hand, and nodded towards Harry. “You are dismissed, Mr. Potter.” He turned towards the scribe again. “Bring in the next witness.”
The young boy quickly skittered down the aisle, and Remus had a calming feeling rush over him. That was one witness down, and he seemed to be winning over the panel. Some of the old codgers were already smiling a bit at him, but others still looked as though they wanted to run as far away as possible. When the doors opened again, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
Arthur Weasley tottered down the aisle, his gangly limbs nearly overstepping the short boy in front of him. He crawled semi-gracefully into the chair, and looked expectantly over to the Council. It was apparent that he had done this before.
“State your name for the record.”
“Arthur Neapolitan Weasley. W-e-a-s-l-e-y.”
Finch cut Umbridge off before she could even open her mouth, and turned towards Arthur.
“Mr. Weasley, you have been friends with Mr. Lupin for many years?”
“Many years, yes.” Arthur replied with a slight bob of his head. “We’ve known each other since Hogwarts-though I confess to being a few years older than him.” He grinned, and Finch gave a small grin along with him.
“Has Remus ever been hostile or…dangerous…in your presence?”
“Not at all, sir. In fact, he’s probably more of a gentleman than I am. Always pulling out chairs for women, greeting everyone with a courteous smile…Molly sometimes tells me I need to act a little more like him.”
Tonks smothered a chuckle into her hand, and Remus smiled warmly at the older man, who adjusted his glasses.
Finch coughed and looked back down at his paper, and pretended to shuffle the single sheet in front of him. “I think that’s all, Mr. Weasley.”
The red-haired man escorted himself to the door, the scribe trailing behind him yet again. Remus swallowed yet again, and stretched his hands under the table, stiffening his back like a board. Tonks rubbed a hand along his arm.
The scribe peeked his head back inside the door. “Uh, excuse me, Council. There aren’t any witnesses out there.”
Umbridge stared down her nose at Remus. “Are those all of your witnesses?” She began to grin, until Remus’s smile matched her own.
“No, Councilor, just one more.”
He nodded to Tonks, who stood up from her chair and walked around to the Witness stand. Umbridge looked like she had just swallowed a lemon, and the rest of the Council were murmuring between themselves.
“State your name.” Umbridge croaked, Conjuring a glass of water which she immediately downed.
“Nymphadora Vulpecula Tonks. T-o-n-k-s.”
Umbridge sneered a bit at her name, and Tonks’s mouth twitched at the corners, her eyebrows darting together a bit.
Finch shuffled his single paper, and craned his neck around the corner to see Tonks over the desk.
“Oh, sorry.” She mumbled cheerily. “I’m a little short today.” She screwed her eyes shut and suddenly the top of her head was visible over the desk. Several panel members gasped, or rubbed their eyes in confusion.
“A metamorphmagus?” Finch asked incredulously.
Tonks nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Is this your natural look?”
Tonks shook her head, but then realized she needed to elaborate. A blush rose on her cheeks, and she glanced at Remus, who smiled gently at her.
“No, sir. I thought this would be more appropriate.”
“The council wishes you return to your natural look, Auror Tonks, so as not to have an unfair advantage over anyone else.”
Her face paled, and her eyes darted wildly back and forth, until she met Remus’s again, and relaxed. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.
Tonks grew another centimeter taller, but otherwise her body structure stayed the same, save for a slight widening of her nose. Her hair became sleek black, and straighter than ever thought possible, trailing nearly halfway down her back. Her eyes were dark grey, so clouded that they were almost black.
It was only when she returned to this state that her connections to the Black family shown through. There was unease through the panel, but Tonks turned her narrow eyes towards them.
“I do hope that my family and appearance will not be taken into account here, Council, as I have proven myself many times through my work as an Auror, and I am not the one on trial.” She said icily, sounding more like a Black in that moment than she ever had.
“That you have, Auror Tonks.” Finch said smoothly. “It says here that you have fought against many dark creatures in your three-year career as an Auror.”
“I have, sir.” She replied
“Have you done any work with werewolves during your time as an Auror?”
“Yes, sir. Mainly tracking down new victims and providing them with a new home and counseling.”
“Noble work.” He nodded. “According to this report, you have done work on Mr. Lupin’s case, correct?”
“Yes, sir. I was in charge of collecting his reports while he lived with feral werewolves.”
“Feral werewolves?” Umbridge asked, her eyebrows darting to the top of her head. “Feral werewolves?
“Yes, Councilor.” Tonks replied stiffly. “Remus was on a top-secret mission in order to sway werewolves away from Voldemort’s forces, and bring them over to our side.”
Umbridge’s eyebrows darted even farther up her forehead. “How successful was the mission, Auror Tonks?”
“Remus managed to bring five werewolves out of the ferals, but had to abort the mission due to other circumstances.”
“What circumstances?” she asked testily.
“The death of Albus Dumbledore.” Tonks answered coldly. Everything went silent, until Umbridge cleared her throat.
“I see.” She mumbled, and Finch coughed.
“What is your…connection to Mr. Lupin? Was he your professor, a classmate, did you meet him in the course of your work?”
“He’s my fiancé.” Tonks admitted proudly, to the utter shock of the council. Remus, who had held his breath at the mention of he being her professor, let it out at the sight of their faces.
“Your fiancé?” Umbridge stuttered in a squeaky voice.
“Yes, Councilor. Certainly you didn’t think Remus would be trying to appeal the Marriage Law without due cause?”
“No.” Umbridge replied with a huff. “I was just amazed that anyone would fall in love with a dangerous beast. Did he threaten you into marrying him, maybe say he was going to attack you if you didn’t go through with it?”
Tonks looked as though she wanted to throw something. Her hair turned red at the roots, and Umbridge shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
“I find it highly inappropriate, Councilor, that you would even suggest something as heinous as that, especially after listening to reports on what a good and decent man he is. I was the one who pushed the relationship, not Remus. He didn’t want to subject me to things like this, because of his condition.”
“Then how are you here today, Auror Tonks?” Finch asked in a soft tone.
“I convinced Remus that the world could use a little more love during these times of war.” She answered in an equally quiet voice, and Remus thought back to McGonagall’s words on the eve of Dumbledore’s death.
“The world, however, does not need any more werewolves!” Umbridge replied harshly, slamming her first on the table. “With the two of you breeding, there would be an army of them running around, terrorizing the children.”
“Maybe you need to get your facts straight, Councilor.” Tonks answered coldly, with a flat tone that sent shivers up Remus’s spine. “Werewolves cannot be born-- the only way to create a new werewolf is to be bitten. When, not if, Remus and I have a child, you can be assured that he or she will be one-hundred percent human.”
Umbridge was unsure of how to respond to that, so Finch easily took over.
“Auror Tonks, do you love Mr. Lupin?”
“I do.” She replied with a giddy grin, the roots of her hair turning black to match the rest of her hair.
“You are dismissed, Auror Tonks.”
She gladly got up from her seat and walked over to the defense table, where Remus put a hand on the small of her back to help her sit.
“No more witnesses, then?” Finch asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No, sir.” Remus placed a hand on Tonks’s leg, feeling a reversal of roles as he tried to calm her down.
“Then let the council decree.” Umbridge said quickly, nearly rolling her eyes at the notion. “All in favor of allowing Remus John Lupin the right to marry?”
Many hands shot up, and Remus felt a peculiar feeling in his stomach, as though a million small butterflies were fluttering around at full speed.
“Any opposed?”
Umbridge’s hand shot up, naturally, but that was expected. The only other hand was from a gangly witch at the end of the row, with a broken nose and high set eyes. She sniffed as she looked around, and folded her hand back in her lap.
Umbridge looked furious, and her eyes boiled with rage. “The Wizengamot…” she managed to grind out through clenched teeth, “rules in favor of Mr. Remus John Lupin. Case dismissed.”
Remus’s grin spread all across his face, and Tonks practically leaped into his arms and showered his neck with kisses. He felt her hands reach into his pockets, and her grin against his neck when he stroked the exposed skin on her back.
The council filed through the back door, and Remus began to pack up his papers one-handed, as his other was clutched onto so tightly that he couldn’t move it. Tonks scrambled out of her position and pulled him down the aisle as quickly as she could manage, Remus’s briefcase flailing behind them as though it wanted to fly away.
“Come on, wolf boy. We have to tell the Weasley’s there’ll be a wedding.”
The grin she sported lit up her whole face, and Remus found it contagious. He looped an arm around her shoulder, and placed a light kiss in her hair. She looked up into his eyes and morphed her hair bubblegum pink, and Remus felt her shrink beneath him. Tonks nestled her head into the crook of his arm, and turned her head up, her eyes twinkling with mirth.
“So, d’you think we should put Umbridge on the guest list?...”