Chapter Text
I know I'm not one to talk
But remember this
If you’re running too fast
Then you're going to trip
“I’m just saying, muggleborns have the same right to magic and you and I do—“
BANG! Tonks’ eyes snapped upward. The attic had exploded, sending smoke and debris billowing into the sky.
“Blast you, Shacklebolt!” a furious, shrill voice rang out from beside her. Tonks didn’t pause, she sprinted for the building. She had to save Hestia.
#
Hestia would never be sure what had caused the explosion. The manor’s old foundations must have worn over time, centuries of accumulated residual magic had surely played a part, who even knew what potions Mrs. Mellory had been brewing with her friends, and yes, fine, Hestia waving her wand definitely had something to do with it, but one moment, the room was intact — cramped, dusty, slightly creepy— and the next it was ripped apart by light and sound. Her ears rang sharply, a high, piercing whine that drowned out thought. Something hot grazed her cheek. Plaster dust filled her mouth, gritty and bitter.
She forced her eyes open and examined the rubble. Shit.
The far wall of the attic had collapsed inward, bricks and splintered beams scattered among crushed boxes and torn fabric. The leather-bound volume lay in ruin, pages blackened and scattered, the cover the only thing that had survived the blast. Smoke curled lazily from a shattered bookcase. The table lay upside-down, one leg snapped clean off.
Tears sprung to Hestia’s eyes. It wasn’t fair, she’d planned the mission meticulously, and look where she was now. An uncontrolled explosion. Destroyed evidence. Material damage probably rising up to thousands of galleons.
Pounding footsteps on the staircase revealed a dishevelled, wide-eyed Tonks. “Merlin, are you all right?”
“Of course.” Hestia swallowed hard. She wasn’t. There’d be an inquiry, suspension, she’d be in disgrace, probably kicked out of the Auror’s training programme.
“We won’t say anything.” Finally, her mind clicked into gear. “We can fix this. Reparo, evanesco the residue, reset the wards. She’ll never know what happened.”
Tonks glanced past her, taking in the damage. “But we saw the explosion from outside, Tia. She’ll be here any minute now.”
“Memory charm. It’s fixable.”
Her friend shrugged, looking small and helpless. Tonks would go along with the plan, she wasn’t in a fit state to argue.
“Look,” Hestia pressed on, voice gaining momentum, logic stacking neatly, reassuringly. “I’ll do the memory charm later. You just run down and distract her for now, stun her if you have to. Meanwhile, I’ll fix this mess.”
She pointed her wand at the floor, vanishing some bits of plaster. “Evaneso. Evanesco. Fuck, Tonks, hurry up.”
“But I think—“
“GO!”
Finally, Tonks left.
Why did there have to be so much soot and rubble?
#
Tonks traipsed down the stairs, one foot forward, then the next. There was something about the adrenaline that made her brain clearer than it had been in weeks.
Exploded attic. Damaged property. No casualties. She clung onto that part, that was what really mattered, nobody had been hurt.
Stun Mrs. Mellory. That was out. Every spell had risks, possible side-effects, and she couldn’t stun a civilian for no reason.
Talk to her. Something in Tonks’ mind finally clicked.