1 Chaptered: Searching for a Change
Sep. 26th, 2007 06:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amorphousTitle: Searching for a Change; chapter 8 Rescue
Words: circa 2000 (this chapter)
Rating: PG (this chapter)
Characers/Pairings: Snape/Tonks
Warnings: Started before Deathly Hallows and now totally disreguards it!
Author's Notes: Thank you to my beta, the amazing![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jandjsalmon. All mistakes are mine, not hers.
Summary: (this chapter) Leaving Clare's house, he goes back on a mission. A rescue mission.
Previous chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Severus walked back down the drive, knowing that Clare was bound to be looking out her window watching him. He turned the corner of the street and once he was out of sight he stopped and Apparated back.
Clare's home did not have anti-Apparation spells protecting it. It was easy to get into her attic once he'd decided to do so. Looking around, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. The large attic was loaded with boxes and everything was covered with a heavy coat of dust. With a sigh, he crept to the trapdoor, and opened it slightly.
"He was here! Someone is looking for her!" Clare's frantic voice floated up to Severus easily, making him smile bitterly.
"He left. Forget him. He won't be there," a male voice told her. The male seemed unworried.
"He'll be back," Tonks' familiar voice said confident.
Correction, Tonks, I'm already here, Severus thought, feeling pride at her confidence in him.
Clare groaned. "Why did you take off her gag?"
"We aren't trying to kill her, Clare. Just trying to figure out how to erase her memory without harming her. Or ourselves," the male reminded her.
"Just kill her! We'll hide the dead body," the woman's voice was practically pleading.
"No! We can't. We already killed Craig. We can't kill someone else. It's too risky. Just find a damned spell we can perform properly."
"I've looked! There is none. Why aren't you better at magic?"
"What about you?"
"I'm a lady."
"So am I and I can do a simple memory erasing spell effectively," Tonks interrupted their squabbling, her patience obliviously wearing thin.
Severus grinned.
"Shut up!" Clare screamed. "Gag her!"
"Fine." Severus could barely hear the man's mutter.
"No!" Tonks yelled before her words were muffled.
"There happy?" the man shot back at Clare.
"Yes. Thank you."
"Forget about the man… What was his name again?"
"I think it was… Snaps. Snake?"
"Snape!" Tonks' voice rang out loudly. Severus pulled back from the crack he had been listening through.
"I told you to gag her," Clare complained.
"I did."
"Tie it tighter."
"No. Just don't gag me. I'll be quiet, just don't gag me again?" Tonks said, trying to compromise.
Severus never heard of Tonks trying to compromise before. She was known to give into compromises here and there, but never actually proposed the compromise without prompting.
"Why didn't you stay gagged before?" the man asked, obviously referring to Tonks.
"It was loose," Tonks admitted, "I pulled it down with my teeth."
"Next time, Leo, gag her tighter."
"Now?"
"No. No, as long as she keeps her trap shut."
"I will," Tonks promised.
"That's not keeping your mouth shut!"
Silence came up from the downstairs, making Severus nervous.
"Leo?" Clare's voice suddenly broke the stillness. Severus let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Yes, love?" Leo replied.
"Do you think anyone but her suspects us?"
"No. No one but her. The Aurors said it was an accidental spell backfire; everyone but her believes that." The man's voice was soft, like he was trying to comfort someone.
"She has to go. I can't go on knowing someone suspects and has enough proof to come here investigating. Why the hell was that Snape guy here?"
"To search for her. He's probably contacting everyone she ever had contact with."
Severus heard a stifled laugh from Tonks. It was unmistakable.
"Quiet!"
"She didn't say anything," Leo said in Tonks' defensive.
"She laughed."
"That's not the same thing as speaking."
"It is too! No laughing, no talking, no crying, no noise from you. Nod your head if you got that?" There was a pause. "Good."
"Clare, just calm down. He's gone and he won't be back. We are safe."
"What are we going to do with her?"
"Keep her here."
"Forever?"
"If we have to."
"Leo!"
"Clare, we'll have to go to extremes to keep this secret. Do you want everyone to find out Craig is dead, that he isn't not me?"
"Of course not! We came up with this plan so you didn't go on trail for murder!"
"So I was right! Leo did murder Craig!"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Clare screamed frantically. The panic and anger in her voice weren't masked in her screaming.
Severus leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of Tonks, but he couldn't see anything at all. Frustrated, he leaned back and pulled out his wand. Pointing it at the trapdoor, he whispered a spell to keep it ajar as he leaned back against the wall.
The silence that floated to him made him uneasy. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
"There! She's gagged and put in a closet. Are you happy now?" Leo's voice asked angrily.
"Yes," Clare's voice traveled up to him. He could barely hear her.
"Come here, love."
There was silence for a long time. Severus thought of taking the moment to go down and see Tonks, but knew, while he couldn't see them, that it was unwise. He couldn't risk causing her more trouble and he didn't even know what room she was in.
Severus had no clue how much time had passed before he heard a door close below him. The giggling and moaning were easy to hear, making him feel slightly sick that they could have sex while they kept someone locked up in a closest. Shaking his head, he opened the trapdoor all the way, breaking the spell, and leaned down. The noise was coming from down the hall, but when he had heard the voices before they had come from just below him.
He slid easily into the hallway. Creeping along silently, he walked to the nearest closed door, hoping it was the room Tonks was hidden in. When he placed his hand on the doorknob he was both surprised and relieved that it was not locked. Pushing the door open, he slinked into the dark room and shut the door behind him softly.
Pulling out his wand once again, he whispered, "Lumos," and the tip of his wand lit up to light his way. A closed door was directly across from him, making him nervous of how easy it was. It was too easy. Walking forward, he opened the door and bit back a sigh of relief.
"Tonks!"
The woman was gagged with her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied together. She was staring up at him with fright at first, and then her face changed into an expression of relief and happiness. Reaching over, he pulled the gag from her mouth.
"Severus!" Severus noticed the tears in her voice before he saw them running down her cheeks.
"Tonks," he whispered, undoing her feet and pulling her into an embrace. "You're okay."
"I'm okay," she agreed, her head resting on her shoulder as she sobbed.
As if suddenly realizing what he had done, he pushed her away and slid behind her to untie her hands. "What happened?"
Putting her finger to her lips, she whispered, "Not now."
"Right." Catching her eye, he delved in her mind, hoping for the answers he sought.
Tonks approached the door to Clare's place with an uncharacteristic look of seriousness.
When Clare opened the door, she greeted her warmly, introducing herself. Clare aptly shut the door again in Tonks face. Taking a deep breath, Tonks tried again. It took Tonks four tries before Clare finally spoke with her rudely, denying she knew where Craig was.
"Please Mrs. Asmen, just let me come inside and talk with you. This is really important."
"No." Clare moved back and slammed the door once again.
Tonks sighed with frustration and yelled, "Let me in or I'll get a warrant saying you have to!"
Severus almost laughed at the unsubtle way she was handing the situation now.
The door opened abruptly, and Tonks was pulled inside, a hand over her mouth to silence her screams.
The memory was fast; Severus exited her mind the moment he had the information he wanted.
"Don't ever do that again," Tonks whispered threateningly.
"What?"
"Read my mind. I'm not a book for you to read." She glared at him infuriated.
"This is not the time," he said calmly.
"You're right. There is no time for invading someone's privacy."
"Tonks! Seriously, we must leave now. Before they notice I'm here."
Still glaring, Tonks muttered, "Fine, but this discussion is not over."
Severus held out his hand to her. "Come on; grab my hand so we aren't separated in the dark."
A small smile playing on Tonks' lips now, she grabbed in his hand. "Let's go out the back."
"No. Let's Apparate to my house."
"We can't Apparate—" Tonks began.
"They aren't the smartest criminals, Tonks. How do you think I got in here?"
Tonks grinned. "All right."
Forgetting the pop that would happen when they Apparated, the pair disappeared.
---
"How on earth did you find me?" Tonks asked the moment they were in Spinner's End's living room.
"You left clues… whether or not on purpose I don't know," Severus said vaguely, sitting down.
She grinned. "You did come to my office then!"
"Did you know that you were going to be taken then?" he asked, ignoring her observation.
"Yes."
"How the hell could you know that?"
"I wasn't going to leave until I got answers. I was pretty sure Clare wasn't just going to give up her brother to me." She shrugged her shoulders. "I figured that would be the only way they'd know to get rid of me."
"To abduct you?"
"You said it yourself: they aren't the smartest people."
"Did you know about Leo then?" Severus asked.
"No. Actually, I just thought she had taken her brother in. I had no idea Craig died and not Leo. Or that Clare killed him."
"Clare killed him?"
"Oh yeah. I heard them talking about it. They are not smart. They stood right in front of me as they bickered about what happened and whose fault it was."
"How can we prove it's Leo and not Craig that's alive?"
"The body. We need to extract Craig's dead body from its grave and then figure out what magic they worked to convince the Mediwizards that it was Leo and not Craig."
"Polyjuice potion," Severus said calmly.
"It can't be Polyjuice. The effect would have worn off by the time the Mediwizards had looked over the body."
"I know it was Polyjuice."
"Potions are not forever, Severus. It wouldn't have fooled the Mediwizards."
"Mediwizards can't flawless, Tonks. If it's the right magic—"
"By those two people? They aren't smart enough!" Tonks seemed angry now, but he could tell that it was more frustration.
Severus sighed. "Where do we start?"
"By you agreeing never to read my mind without my permission ever again!" Tonks said, crossing her arms across her chest.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything! Severus, to work with you, I have to be able to trust you. I can't trust you if I think you're going to invade my mind any chance you get."
"Tonks this was special circumstances."
"Promise me. And mean it."
"I promise."
"Why don't I believe you?" Tonks countered with a sigh. She frowned at him.
"What do I have to do to make you believe me? And how the hell did you know what I was doing in the first place? My Legilimency is not easily detected."
"It was obvious. I don't think you've ever looked at me in the eye that unwavering before." She continued to look annoyed.
"Does that annoy you?" Severus prompted, feeling curious.
"It's my mind. Of course—"
"No. Does the fact I have supposedly not kept eye contact with you unwavering until today annoy you?"
"N—No—" she stumbled over her words. A pink colored flushed over her cheeks, telling Severus that she undoubtedly embarrassed.
"You're a bad liar."
"I am not!"
"Yes you are," he whispered softly. He stood up and walked over to her. She wasn't looking at him and he reached over and tilted her chin upward so her eyes met his. "I think it's endearing."
"Endearing?!" She seemed outraged by his remark. "I cannot believe that you just said endearing."
He chuckled. "Neither can I." He leaned down instinctively and brushed his lips against hers.
"Thank you for rescuing me," she whispered against his mouth before she leaned up and kissed him.
Words: circa 2000 (this chapter)
Rating: PG (this chapter)
Characers/Pairings: Snape/Tonks
Warnings: Started before Deathly Hallows and now totally disreguards it!
Author's Notes: Thank you to my beta, the amazing
jandjsalmon. All mistakes are mine, not hers.Summary: (this chapter) Leaving Clare's house, he goes back on a mission. A rescue mission.
Previous chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Severus walked back down the drive, knowing that Clare was bound to be looking out her window watching him. He turned the corner of the street and once he was out of sight he stopped and Apparated back.
Clare's home did not have anti-Apparation spells protecting it. It was easy to get into her attic once he'd decided to do so. Looking around, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. The large attic was loaded with boxes and everything was covered with a heavy coat of dust. With a sigh, he crept to the trapdoor, and opened it slightly.
"He was here! Someone is looking for her!" Clare's frantic voice floated up to Severus easily, making him smile bitterly.
"He left. Forget him. He won't be there," a male voice told her. The male seemed unworried.
"He'll be back," Tonks' familiar voice said confident.
Correction, Tonks, I'm already here, Severus thought, feeling pride at her confidence in him.
Clare groaned. "Why did you take off her gag?"
"We aren't trying to kill her, Clare. Just trying to figure out how to erase her memory without harming her. Or ourselves," the male reminded her.
"Just kill her! We'll hide the dead body," the woman's voice was practically pleading.
"No! We can't. We already killed Craig. We can't kill someone else. It's too risky. Just find a damned spell we can perform properly."
"I've looked! There is none. Why aren't you better at magic?"
"What about you?"
"I'm a lady."
"So am I and I can do a simple memory erasing spell effectively," Tonks interrupted their squabbling, her patience obliviously wearing thin.
Severus grinned.
"Shut up!" Clare screamed. "Gag her!"
"Fine." Severus could barely hear the man's mutter.
"No!" Tonks yelled before her words were muffled.
"There happy?" the man shot back at Clare.
"Yes. Thank you."
"Forget about the man… What was his name again?"
"I think it was… Snaps. Snake?"
"Snape!" Tonks' voice rang out loudly. Severus pulled back from the crack he had been listening through.
"I told you to gag her," Clare complained.
"I did."
"Tie it tighter."
"No. Just don't gag me. I'll be quiet, just don't gag me again?" Tonks said, trying to compromise.
Severus never heard of Tonks trying to compromise before. She was known to give into compromises here and there, but never actually proposed the compromise without prompting.
"Why didn't you stay gagged before?" the man asked, obviously referring to Tonks.
"It was loose," Tonks admitted, "I pulled it down with my teeth."
"Next time, Leo, gag her tighter."
"Now?"
"No. No, as long as she keeps her trap shut."
"I will," Tonks promised.
"That's not keeping your mouth shut!"
Silence came up from the downstairs, making Severus nervous.
"Leo?" Clare's voice suddenly broke the stillness. Severus let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Yes, love?" Leo replied.
"Do you think anyone but her suspects us?"
"No. No one but her. The Aurors said it was an accidental spell backfire; everyone but her believes that." The man's voice was soft, like he was trying to comfort someone.
"She has to go. I can't go on knowing someone suspects and has enough proof to come here investigating. Why the hell was that Snape guy here?"
"To search for her. He's probably contacting everyone she ever had contact with."
Severus heard a stifled laugh from Tonks. It was unmistakable.
"Quiet!"
"She didn't say anything," Leo said in Tonks' defensive.
"She laughed."
"That's not the same thing as speaking."
"It is too! No laughing, no talking, no crying, no noise from you. Nod your head if you got that?" There was a pause. "Good."
"Clare, just calm down. He's gone and he won't be back. We are safe."
"What are we going to do with her?"
"Keep her here."
"Forever?"
"If we have to."
"Leo!"
"Clare, we'll have to go to extremes to keep this secret. Do you want everyone to find out Craig is dead, that he isn't not me?"
"Of course not! We came up with this plan so you didn't go on trail for murder!"
"So I was right! Leo did murder Craig!"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Clare screamed frantically. The panic and anger in her voice weren't masked in her screaming.
Severus leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of Tonks, but he couldn't see anything at all. Frustrated, he leaned back and pulled out his wand. Pointing it at the trapdoor, he whispered a spell to keep it ajar as he leaned back against the wall.
The silence that floated to him made him uneasy. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
"There! She's gagged and put in a closet. Are you happy now?" Leo's voice asked angrily.
"Yes," Clare's voice traveled up to him. He could barely hear her.
"Come here, love."
There was silence for a long time. Severus thought of taking the moment to go down and see Tonks, but knew, while he couldn't see them, that it was unwise. He couldn't risk causing her more trouble and he didn't even know what room she was in.
Severus had no clue how much time had passed before he heard a door close below him. The giggling and moaning were easy to hear, making him feel slightly sick that they could have sex while they kept someone locked up in a closest. Shaking his head, he opened the trapdoor all the way, breaking the spell, and leaned down. The noise was coming from down the hall, but when he had heard the voices before they had come from just below him.
He slid easily into the hallway. Creeping along silently, he walked to the nearest closed door, hoping it was the room Tonks was hidden in. When he placed his hand on the doorknob he was both surprised and relieved that it was not locked. Pushing the door open, he slinked into the dark room and shut the door behind him softly.
Pulling out his wand once again, he whispered, "Lumos," and the tip of his wand lit up to light his way. A closed door was directly across from him, making him nervous of how easy it was. It was too easy. Walking forward, he opened the door and bit back a sigh of relief.
"Tonks!"
The woman was gagged with her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied together. She was staring up at him with fright at first, and then her face changed into an expression of relief and happiness. Reaching over, he pulled the gag from her mouth.
"Severus!" Severus noticed the tears in her voice before he saw them running down her cheeks.
"Tonks," he whispered, undoing her feet and pulling her into an embrace. "You're okay."
"I'm okay," she agreed, her head resting on her shoulder as she sobbed.
As if suddenly realizing what he had done, he pushed her away and slid behind her to untie her hands. "What happened?"
Putting her finger to her lips, she whispered, "Not now."
"Right." Catching her eye, he delved in her mind, hoping for the answers he sought.
Tonks approached the door to Clare's place with an uncharacteristic look of seriousness.
When Clare opened the door, she greeted her warmly, introducing herself. Clare aptly shut the door again in Tonks face. Taking a deep breath, Tonks tried again. It took Tonks four tries before Clare finally spoke with her rudely, denying she knew where Craig was.
"Please Mrs. Asmen, just let me come inside and talk with you. This is really important."
"No." Clare moved back and slammed the door once again.
Tonks sighed with frustration and yelled, "Let me in or I'll get a warrant saying you have to!"
Severus almost laughed at the unsubtle way she was handing the situation now.
The door opened abruptly, and Tonks was pulled inside, a hand over her mouth to silence her screams.
The memory was fast; Severus exited her mind the moment he had the information he wanted.
"Don't ever do that again," Tonks whispered threateningly.
"What?"
"Read my mind. I'm not a book for you to read." She glared at him infuriated.
"This is not the time," he said calmly.
"You're right. There is no time for invading someone's privacy."
"Tonks! Seriously, we must leave now. Before they notice I'm here."
Still glaring, Tonks muttered, "Fine, but this discussion is not over."
Severus held out his hand to her. "Come on; grab my hand so we aren't separated in the dark."
A small smile playing on Tonks' lips now, she grabbed in his hand. "Let's go out the back."
"No. Let's Apparate to my house."
"We can't Apparate—" Tonks began.
"They aren't the smartest criminals, Tonks. How do you think I got in here?"
Tonks grinned. "All right."
Forgetting the pop that would happen when they Apparated, the pair disappeared.
---
"How on earth did you find me?" Tonks asked the moment they were in Spinner's End's living room.
"You left clues… whether or not on purpose I don't know," Severus said vaguely, sitting down.
She grinned. "You did come to my office then!"
"Did you know that you were going to be taken then?" he asked, ignoring her observation.
"Yes."
"How the hell could you know that?"
"I wasn't going to leave until I got answers. I was pretty sure Clare wasn't just going to give up her brother to me." She shrugged her shoulders. "I figured that would be the only way they'd know to get rid of me."
"To abduct you?"
"You said it yourself: they aren't the smartest people."
"Did you know about Leo then?" Severus asked.
"No. Actually, I just thought she had taken her brother in. I had no idea Craig died and not Leo. Or that Clare killed him."
"Clare killed him?"
"Oh yeah. I heard them talking about it. They are not smart. They stood right in front of me as they bickered about what happened and whose fault it was."
"How can we prove it's Leo and not Craig that's alive?"
"The body. We need to extract Craig's dead body from its grave and then figure out what magic they worked to convince the Mediwizards that it was Leo and not Craig."
"Polyjuice potion," Severus said calmly.
"It can't be Polyjuice. The effect would have worn off by the time the Mediwizards had looked over the body."
"I know it was Polyjuice."
"Potions are not forever, Severus. It wouldn't have fooled the Mediwizards."
"Mediwizards can't flawless, Tonks. If it's the right magic—"
"By those two people? They aren't smart enough!" Tonks seemed angry now, but he could tell that it was more frustration.
Severus sighed. "Where do we start?"
"By you agreeing never to read my mind without my permission ever again!" Tonks said, crossing her arms across her chest.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything! Severus, to work with you, I have to be able to trust you. I can't trust you if I think you're going to invade my mind any chance you get."
"Tonks this was special circumstances."
"Promise me. And mean it."
"I promise."
"Why don't I believe you?" Tonks countered with a sigh. She frowned at him.
"What do I have to do to make you believe me? And how the hell did you know what I was doing in the first place? My Legilimency is not easily detected."
"It was obvious. I don't think you've ever looked at me in the eye that unwavering before." She continued to look annoyed.
"Does that annoy you?" Severus prompted, feeling curious.
"It's my mind. Of course—"
"No. Does the fact I have supposedly not kept eye contact with you unwavering until today annoy you?"
"N—No—" she stumbled over her words. A pink colored flushed over her cheeks, telling Severus that she undoubtedly embarrassed.
"You're a bad liar."
"I am not!"
"Yes you are," he whispered softly. He stood up and walked over to her. She wasn't looking at him and he reached over and tilted her chin upward so her eyes met his. "I think it's endearing."
"Endearing?!" She seemed outraged by his remark. "I cannot believe that you just said endearing."
He chuckled. "Neither can I." He leaned down instinctively and brushed his lips against hers.
"Thank you for rescuing me," she whispered against his mouth before she leaned up and kissed him.
