In Egypt 3/15
In Egypt 3/15, Merlin the Happy Pig
Characters: Tonks, Fleur, other
Rating: PG
Part One Part Two
Many thanks to my beta, schemingreader!
Merlin the Happy Pig
Grey mist swirled as the dark creature crossed the threshold, like a freezing whirlpool being sucked into the chamber. Its black robes fluttered once, then glided into an unnatural stillness. Fleur, lying in a shivering heap on the ground, attracted the thing’s attention. Its hooded neck flowed sinuously down towards her, sniffing at her fear.
Tonks lifted her wand at the creature, but let her arm droop just like Fleur’s had a moment ago. What’s the point of fighting any more? she thought, as icy tendrils wisped their way across the room. Nothing matters very much. What were all those years of Auror training and study in aid of, anyway? All they did was tire me out. I just want to lie down on the soft ground and have a nice, long rest.
No! Tonks’s arm snapped back up and the endless hours of Patronus practice washed back over her. She concentrated on remembering the memory of the happy day when she became a fully-qualified Auror.
“Expecto Patronum!”
She recalled receiving her golden certificate from Scrimgeour… her Mum and Dad smiling at her fit to burst, dressed in their best and slightly-too-bright robes… getting sloshed afterwards with the other Aurors… singing tunelessly and loudly with Kingsley on the way home about Merlin the Happy Pig…
A silvery guardian erupted from the end of her wand and slammed hard into the Dementor, driving it all the way out of the chamber with a whoosh! of expelled air. Sunlight and warmth bathed Tonks’s body again, the clammy hopelessness forgotten and the sweat already starting to dry on her palms. She exhaled shakily with relief and went to check on Fleur.
“Hey, how’re you doing? Sorry I don’t have any chocolate about me, but I don’t usually think to bring the goblins treats when I visit Gringotts.”
Tonks was in a good enough mood now to appreciate the changing expressions that were passing over Fleur’s face. The last vestiges of fright were giving way to relief, which was quickly masked by a look of practiced indifference and disdain at being caught out in a moment of weakness. Watching her mask slip, just for a second, almost warmed Tonks to her. Almost.
Still, Tonks knew that Dementors liked to travel in packs. The sooner they were out of there, and somewhere safe, the better. She’d have to take her chances with Fleur’s dubious allegiances in the meantime.
“Come on now, up on your feet.”
“Leave me alone.” Fleur protested, but she struggled to her feet and held her wand firmly before her nonetheless.
Tonks grabbed the bag with the glass lotus in it, How long before I manage to break this, I wonder? she thought, and, keeping an eye on the shadowy door at the rear of the chamber, cautiously stole out into the bright desert. What she saw puzzled her.
“C’mere Fleur, you’ll want to see this,” she called over her shoulder. “What do you make of that strange cloud, then?”
A long way off a morbid grey cloud drifted strangely near to the ground, hanging in an otherwise scorchingly pale blue sky. Tonks pointed her wand at her own eyes and muttered a standard issue far-sight spell.
Now she could see that below the cloud a group of Dementors were swooping around and about a group of large vehicles, creating a fog of rain and gloom. There sure were a lot of them; Tonks was glad that they were so far away. As she looked on, another shadow joined the mass. Was that the Dementor she had just repelled? And was that a huge pair of Sphinxes walking alongside them? Weren’t they only used to guard really valuable treasures? She’d never even seen one before in real life.
The wagon train moved slowly off into the distance. Fleur looked around at the miles of rock-strewn sand stretching out to the distant, heat-shimmering hills.
“I recognise that mountain - over there,” said Fleur. “Bill took me to his dig last week. It was very near to here. Gringotts owns many tombs for treasure hunting all over this valley.”
“Bill? Are we talking about Bill Weasley?” Tonks had known Bill for years, mostly as the big brother of her school friend Charlie. She’d visited Charlie three weeks ago and he hadn’t said anything about Fleur.
“But of course. He breaks curses for the goblins in the Egyptian tombs and earns much gold.”
Fleur reached into her miraculously unrumpled robes and came up with a pair of stylish sunglasses. She casually put them on, tilting her head up to enjoy the warmth of the desert.
The hot sun beat down on Tonks’s head. Her short, wilting hair offered no protection whatsoever against the blistering rays. She felt the sweat already prickling at the back of her neck and dripping down the runnel of her back. Tonks was beginning to suspect that Fleur lived life by different rules than ordinary people.
Who on earth brings sunglasses to work at a bank? she asked herself angrily. How is Bill Weasley so cosy with this slippery French witch that he’s suddenly inviting her to Egypt to take a look at his secret scarabs? And what on earth is Fleur’s interest in this mysterious glass lotus in the first place? Sod being polite, now the Dementors are safely gone it’s time to get some answers.
“Listen, Fleur,” Tonks squared up to her, sweatily. “That glass lotus was a Portkey, and it didn’t activate when you were holding it. It only apparated us after I touched it. Now, I wonder why that was?”
Fleur simply lifted one eyebrow in response, as if the question was not worth a reply.
“Would you like to tell me the answer to that?” Tonks continued, becoming irritated, “Or maybe you’d like to tell me why you were so incredibly insistent that Shacklebolt open the bag with the lotus in the first place and show you something that was clearly confidential and none of your business?”
Fleur pursed her lips delicately while thinking this over.
“No, I believe that I will not tell you why that is. But thank you for saving me from the Dementor. I am very grateful for that, I promise you.” She emphasised this last statement with a nod that sent her long silvery hair cascading.
Tonks pulled out her wand for the second time in as many minutes, this time to aim at Fleur.
“Why should I trust you at all, then? Seeing as you’re being so terribly open and co-operative. Why shouldn’t I just hex your sorry arse stupid and leave you for the sun to bleach your bones?”
Next chapter
Characters: Tonks, Fleur, other
Rating: PG
Part One Part Two
Many thanks to my beta, schemingreader!
Merlin the Happy Pig
Grey mist swirled as the dark creature crossed the threshold, like a freezing whirlpool being sucked into the chamber. Its black robes fluttered once, then glided into an unnatural stillness. Fleur, lying in a shivering heap on the ground, attracted the thing’s attention. Its hooded neck flowed sinuously down towards her, sniffing at her fear.
Tonks lifted her wand at the creature, but let her arm droop just like Fleur’s had a moment ago. What’s the point of fighting any more? she thought, as icy tendrils wisped their way across the room. Nothing matters very much. What were all those years of Auror training and study in aid of, anyway? All they did was tire me out. I just want to lie down on the soft ground and have a nice, long rest.
No! Tonks’s arm snapped back up and the endless hours of Patronus practice washed back over her. She concentrated on remembering the memory of the happy day when she became a fully-qualified Auror.
“Expecto Patronum!”
She recalled receiving her golden certificate from Scrimgeour… her Mum and Dad smiling at her fit to burst, dressed in their best and slightly-too-bright robes… getting sloshed afterwards with the other Aurors… singing tunelessly and loudly with Kingsley on the way home about Merlin the Happy Pig…
A silvery guardian erupted from the end of her wand and slammed hard into the Dementor, driving it all the way out of the chamber with a whoosh! of expelled air. Sunlight and warmth bathed Tonks’s body again, the clammy hopelessness forgotten and the sweat already starting to dry on her palms. She exhaled shakily with relief and went to check on Fleur.
“Hey, how’re you doing? Sorry I don’t have any chocolate about me, but I don’t usually think to bring the goblins treats when I visit Gringotts.”
Tonks was in a good enough mood now to appreciate the changing expressions that were passing over Fleur’s face. The last vestiges of fright were giving way to relief, which was quickly masked by a look of practiced indifference and disdain at being caught out in a moment of weakness. Watching her mask slip, just for a second, almost warmed Tonks to her. Almost.
Still, Tonks knew that Dementors liked to travel in packs. The sooner they were out of there, and somewhere safe, the better. She’d have to take her chances with Fleur’s dubious allegiances in the meantime.
“Come on now, up on your feet.”
“Leave me alone.” Fleur protested, but she struggled to her feet and held her wand firmly before her nonetheless.
Tonks grabbed the bag with the glass lotus in it, How long before I manage to break this, I wonder? she thought, and, keeping an eye on the shadowy door at the rear of the chamber, cautiously stole out into the bright desert. What she saw puzzled her.
“C’mere Fleur, you’ll want to see this,” she called over her shoulder. “What do you make of that strange cloud, then?”
A long way off a morbid grey cloud drifted strangely near to the ground, hanging in an otherwise scorchingly pale blue sky. Tonks pointed her wand at her own eyes and muttered a standard issue far-sight spell.
Now she could see that below the cloud a group of Dementors were swooping around and about a group of large vehicles, creating a fog of rain and gloom. There sure were a lot of them; Tonks was glad that they were so far away. As she looked on, another shadow joined the mass. Was that the Dementor she had just repelled? And was that a huge pair of Sphinxes walking alongside them? Weren’t they only used to guard really valuable treasures? She’d never even seen one before in real life.
The wagon train moved slowly off into the distance. Fleur looked around at the miles of rock-strewn sand stretching out to the distant, heat-shimmering hills.
“I recognise that mountain - over there,” said Fleur. “Bill took me to his dig last week. It was very near to here. Gringotts owns many tombs for treasure hunting all over this valley.”
“Bill? Are we talking about Bill Weasley?” Tonks had known Bill for years, mostly as the big brother of her school friend Charlie. She’d visited Charlie three weeks ago and he hadn’t said anything about Fleur.
“But of course. He breaks curses for the goblins in the Egyptian tombs and earns much gold.”
Fleur reached into her miraculously unrumpled robes and came up with a pair of stylish sunglasses. She casually put them on, tilting her head up to enjoy the warmth of the desert.
The hot sun beat down on Tonks’s head. Her short, wilting hair offered no protection whatsoever against the blistering rays. She felt the sweat already prickling at the back of her neck and dripping down the runnel of her back. Tonks was beginning to suspect that Fleur lived life by different rules than ordinary people.
Who on earth brings sunglasses to work at a bank? she asked herself angrily. How is Bill Weasley so cosy with this slippery French witch that he’s suddenly inviting her to Egypt to take a look at his secret scarabs? And what on earth is Fleur’s interest in this mysterious glass lotus in the first place? Sod being polite, now the Dementors are safely gone it’s time to get some answers.
“Listen, Fleur,” Tonks squared up to her, sweatily. “That glass lotus was a Portkey, and it didn’t activate when you were holding it. It only apparated us after I touched it. Now, I wonder why that was?”
Fleur simply lifted one eyebrow in response, as if the question was not worth a reply.
“Would you like to tell me the answer to that?” Tonks continued, becoming irritated, “Or maybe you’d like to tell me why you were so incredibly insistent that Shacklebolt open the bag with the lotus in the first place and show you something that was clearly confidential and none of your business?”
Fleur pursed her lips delicately while thinking this over.
“No, I believe that I will not tell you why that is. But thank you for saving me from the Dementor. I am very grateful for that, I promise you.” She emphasised this last statement with a nod that sent her long silvery hair cascading.
Tonks pulled out her wand for the second time in as many minutes, this time to aim at Fleur.
“Why should I trust you at all, then? Seeing as you’re being so terribly open and co-operative. Why shouldn’t I just hex your sorry arse stupid and leave you for the sun to bleach your bones?”
Next chapter